Sunday, 10 February 2013
Thursday, 31 January 2013
SlasherEG4: Cherry Falls
(2000) Geoffrey Wright
PRODUCED BY: Fresh Produce Company, Industry Entertainment, Rogue Pictures
DISTRIBUTED BY: USA Films (US), Entertainment Film Distributors (UK) (full list)
BUDGET: $14m
RATINGS: IMDB 4.8
MY RATING:
WIKI, OFFICIAL SITE
Friday, 25 January 2013
Assessing past coursework
Tiny Terror:
Initial titles based upon those used for 'Scream' (1996) Wes Craven.
Soundtrack includes long, drawn out notes that are commonly used in slasher films. Opening shots have connotations of a POV shot as the camera is positioned looking through hanging branches. A slight wobble further suggests that someone is watching the main character. This then leads into a false scare, as the POV character turns out to be known to the main character.
An ellipses acts as a bridge between the outdoor scene and the bedroom, fading to black in the space between. There is some use of exposition in dialogue. Short shots of a box opening very gently and a bra later being tossed over it to suggest sexual activity.
An example of a good technique used is to place the camera in a cupboard or other space that can help break up shots and provide more coverage. Tension isn't quite used effectively here, due to a couple of misplaced ellipses.
More over the shoulder shots are used to show the killer doll, as well as several cut away shots and use of the doll's giggling, established in an earlier scene.
Underground:
After first shot, titles come in using white font on black background, signifying realism. First character introduced is carrying a bottle of beer in his hand, immediately suggesting his vulnerability. A brief POV shot helps to confirm his drunken state, and afterwards a shot from just off the path suggests another figure watching.
The following scene in which the character collapses is not as effective, as it lacks any diagetic sound which would connote an attack. There is a much more successful example of narrative enigma straight away though, as we only see the figure dragging the first character away from the legs down, and we have nothing to anchor ourselves with.
The scenes set in the underground room are introduced with a shot that suggests a CCTV camera, before we see multiple shots of the character chained to a pipe.
Red Run:
Opening titles are animated and matched to a sequence of a kettle being filled and turned on. There is a lack of diagetic sound that is a problem; it breaks the verisimilatude.
Thursday, 24 January 2013
Points on the slasher genre
Music heavily influences the fear factor in slasher films, as it effectively increases the tension.
15-24 is the age range commonly targeted by slasher films, as it's considered the ages people are most interested in the features offered by slashers; explicit violence and sex. People of this age group can also be genre fans, and can be drawn in by intertextual references to other films. The secondary target audience includes both younger and older ages, including some in the 24-34 age range, as well as some aged 15 and below. But it's the 15-24 range that remains the most popular, making up around three quarters of the audience figures. Older adults are often useless authority figures, and a common character is a sheriff, usually the parent of one of the teen characters.
Halloween is an exception to Todorov's rule of equilibrium, as it ends with the state of disequalibrium maintainted, with the sequel continuing immediately on from the first film.
The false scare partially demonstrates hybridity as it usually creates comedy by causing the audience to laugh. The cat scare is a common example of a false scare, as is the backwards walk.
20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. are both examples of high-budget production companies, while an indie company such as Warp Films is low-budgeted.
The final girl, a term created by Carol Clover in her book 'Men, Women and Chainsaws', that suggests that viewers initially share the perspective of the killer, before shifting to the final girl towards the end of the film.
15-24 is the age range commonly targeted by slasher films, as it's considered the ages people are most interested in the features offered by slashers; explicit violence and sex. People of this age group can also be genre fans, and can be drawn in by intertextual references to other films. The secondary target audience includes both younger and older ages, including some in the 24-34 age range, as well as some aged 15 and below. But it's the 15-24 range that remains the most popular, making up around three quarters of the audience figures. Older adults are often useless authority figures, and a common character is a sheriff, usually the parent of one of the teen characters.
Halloween is an exception to Todorov's rule of equilibrium, as it ends with the state of disequalibrium maintainted, with the sequel continuing immediately on from the first film.
The false scare partially demonstrates hybridity as it usually creates comedy by causing the audience to laugh. The cat scare is a common example of a false scare, as is the backwards walk.
20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. are both examples of high-budget production companies, while an indie company such as Warp Films is low-budgeted.
The final girl, a term created by Carol Clover in her book 'Men, Women and Chainsaws', that suggests that viewers initially share the perspective of the killer, before shifting to the final girl towards the end of the film.
Slasher films history (continued)
In the 50's and 60's, horror cinema was either gothic or creature-features, involving monsters and other villains. Universal produced films such as 'King Kong' and 'Godzilla'. Hammer studios made films revolving around characters such as 'Dracula' and 'Frankenstein's monster'.
The main characters were mature adults, usually upper-class. It was the switch to working and middle-class, and younger characters in later horror/slasher films that marked a great change in how the films worked. These older films often look more theatrical and stagey, whereas later films featured a greater use of more 'realistic' settings.
Although a couple of the earliest slasher films, 'Psycho' and 'Peeping Tom' came out in 1960, fears over the violence in them led to the major studios to not dare releasing any imitators. It took the success of 'Halloween' and others a decade later for the sub-genre to really get going.
The main characters were mature adults, usually upper-class. It was the switch to working and middle-class, and younger characters in later horror/slasher films that marked a great change in how the films worked. These older films often look more theatrical and stagey, whereas later films featured a greater use of more 'realistic' settings.
Although a couple of the earliest slasher films, 'Psycho' and 'Peeping Tom' came out in 1960, fears over the violence in them led to the major studios to not dare releasing any imitators. It took the success of 'Halloween' and others a decade later for the sub-genre to really get going.
Wednesday, 23 January 2013
Slasher films history vodcasts
Millie, Kate and Poppy:
Psycho - archetypal slasher film; an early, highly influential film, introducing a scream queen and a masked, sexually confused killer
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
Introduction of more realistic violence, and feature gore and nudity. Along with Last House on the Left, was made on a very low budget, featuring first-time directors and actors
Black Christmas (1974)
Action takes place in one location, a single house. This was a way of keeping the budget down, but challenges the director to keep the film interesting.
All three of the above films have had remakes and/or sequels. Introduction of using a camera to show the killer's point of view - thought to be made in Halloween, but actually introduced in earlier films such as Peeping Tom.
Halloween (1978)
Relies on tension and scares than extreme violence and gore. Launched the career of Jamie Lee Curtis who went on to stare in several other slasher films influenced by these films, such as Prom Night and Terror Train.
Friday the 13th (1980)
Spawned a massive franchise that continues to this day, with several sequels and a pair of modern remakes. Initially set around the murder of teenage campers at an abandoned summer camp.
Final girl theory suggests that the female lead has some androgynous characteristics, such as a unisex name and later trates of mausculinity. They are often more academic and resist the temptation of vices, unlike other characters, and are often virginial.
Long notes subconsciously encourage the audience to hold their breath; faster notes interfere with their heartbeat and cause it to beat faster. This combines to form physiological effects on their body, causing psychological feelings, making the audience feel more involved in the action, often tense and on the edge of their seats.
Peeping Tom (1960) Director: Michael Powell
An example of a proto-slasher
Psycho (1960) Director: Alfred Hitchcock
A who-dunnit, keeps the killer's identity a mystery
Later films introduce supernatural elements, in Halloween Jason is unhuman and seemingly industructible. Friday the 13th also makes its killer unhuman, and Nightmare on Elm Street plays with this idea by making its killer only effective in people's dreams, as he doesn't exist in the real world.
Later slashers featured hybridity, combining the genre with other genres, creating such things as a slasher-comedy. Sequels and the building of franchises continued throughout the decade.
The 90's introduced the post-modern slasher, which includes self-referentiality and intertextual links, as well as self-aware characters.
Psycho - archetypal slasher film; an early, highly influential film, introducing a scream queen and a masked, sexually confused killer
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
Introduction of more realistic violence, and feature gore and nudity. Along with Last House on the Left, was made on a very low budget, featuring first-time directors and actors
Black Christmas (1974)
Action takes place in one location, a single house. This was a way of keeping the budget down, but challenges the director to keep the film interesting.
All three of the above films have had remakes and/or sequels. Introduction of using a camera to show the killer's point of view - thought to be made in Halloween, but actually introduced in earlier films such as Peeping Tom.
Halloween (1978)
Relies on tension and scares than extreme violence and gore. Launched the career of Jamie Lee Curtis who went on to stare in several other slasher films influenced by these films, such as Prom Night and Terror Train.
Friday the 13th (1980)
Spawned a massive franchise that continues to this day, with several sequels and a pair of modern remakes. Initially set around the murder of teenage campers at an abandoned summer camp.
Final girl theory suggests that the female lead has some androgynous characteristics, such as a unisex name and later trates of mausculinity. They are often more academic and resist the temptation of vices, unlike other characters, and are often virginial.
Long notes subconsciously encourage the audience to hold their breath; faster notes interfere with their heartbeat and cause it to beat faster. This combines to form physiological effects on their body, causing psychological feelings, making the audience feel more involved in the action, often tense and on the edge of their seats.
Peeping Tom (1960) Director: Michael Powell
An example of a proto-slasher
Psycho (1960) Director: Alfred Hitchcock
A who-dunnit, keeps the killer's identity a mystery
Later films introduce supernatural elements, in Halloween Jason is unhuman and seemingly industructible. Friday the 13th also makes its killer unhuman, and Nightmare on Elm Street plays with this idea by making its killer only effective in people's dreams, as he doesn't exist in the real world.
Later slashers featured hybridity, combining the genre with other genres, creating such things as a slasher-comedy. Sequels and the building of franchises continued throughout the decade.
The 90's introduced the post-modern slasher, which includes self-referentiality and intertextual links, as well as self-aware characters.
Sunday, 20 January 2013
Slasher films
An American Werewolf in London
Director: John Landis (1981) $10m
Director: Fred Walton (1986) $5m
Director: Jonas Barnes (2008)
Director: Geoffrey Wright (2000) $14m
Director: Tom McLaughlin (1986) $3m
Director: Mark Jones (1993) $900k
Director: Joel Schumacher (1987)
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