Codes and Conventions of a horror - Scream

We watched Scream as another bit of research for horror. The film is mostly dark light with allot of shadows. It is light inside the house but dark outside. The curtains are not drawn and the house is very open as it has allot of big glass windows. Scream can see her in the house but she cannot see him as it is dark outside. This builds up allot of tension. The house is posh and very big which shows the family is wealthy. It is isolated, in the middle of nowhere. This brings more tension. There are many props such as the knife. A knife is used nearly throughout of the opening in the film. Scream uses the knife to stab people but the girl pulls it out as she is on the phone talking about another horror film (Halloween) which has a knife in it. The girl is cooking popcorn on the hob on the cooker. As the popcorn gets bigger the tension of the film builds up to and the voice of scream builds up to. Scream is wearing a long black cloak and a mask so it covers up the identity of who he is.
There is a reaction shot of the young girls face as the phone rings a second time, this shows that she thinks it weird that the phone rings again just as she has put the phone down. There is allot of medium close ups and close ups. These shots show the expression on peoples faces. There are many point of view shots throughout the opening. There is one where the young girl looks out of the window to look in the garden. There is another one of the parents looking at the young girl hanging from the tree. The knife with the blood on it and the door lock are inserts to the shot. There is a shot of the girl when she is on the phone with allot of background showing, this shows that something is going to happen, or that someone is the in background but you can not see them yet. The camera follows her around the house as if she is being following, which is ironic because scream is watching her from outside. There is a shot of the tree while she is on the phone, this is significant as she is hung there. There is a long shot of the car coming down all the winding roads (this is what she can see when she is running away), this shot builds tension.
There is slow motion of the girl trying to run away. The way it is in slow motion is that the girl had a chance to escape but then the chance was slowly slipping away, it also draw attention to what is happening in the scene. There is a freeze frame on the knife just as he is about to stab the girl. This show you that he is about to stab her, and is focuses on the knife. There is a specific couple of shots which draw you. It starts with the mum screaming, then on the girl hanging from the tree, then on the mum and dad then a very quick zoom on the girl hanging from the tree. There are quick flashes of the character scream of him in the house. This makes you think what is going to happen next, who is he (unknown). The text 'Scream' is in red as this represents blood as many people get killed in the film and as it is a horror.
There is allot of different noises such as when the knife goes into the girl is makes a squishing noise, this makes it more gory. There is a heart beat which is a base sound which makes it more dramatic. The music builds up and then goes back down again, this is parallel to the action in the scene.

Codes and Conventions of a Thriller - Red Dragon

As more research of a Thriller we watched 'Red Dragon'. The orchestra starts the film off which is set in a theatre. Upper class and intelligent people go to watch the orchestra so this shows you that Lector is clever as he is sitting watching the orchestra. The shot of the Orchestra is an Establishing shot as it shows you what the set is. >>

The shot is a long shot as zooms in very slowly but goes with the music. As the music gets louder and more powerful the shot gets more into the center piece of the opening of the film.

There is also many different props such as scrapbook, pictures, knifes, guns, paper articles, reading books and cook books.

Lectors house is big and old. The furniture is very traditional and expensive and the house is artifacts and cultural. There is allot of books and ornaments around the house. This shows that Lector is wealthy, cultured, clever and educated. As Graham looks at the cook books he realises that Lector is the killer. This shot is a reaction shot as is shows us the characters expression on there face, such as when Graham finds out Lector is the killer.

There lighting is very dark as this reflects the mood and the characters.

There are many pans as this shows the spatial awareness of the shot and scene.

There are allot of cuts which are slow and steady, but there are also quick cuts so it bring you into the film. There is also allot of continuity editing.

The sound goes with the clips and shots which is called parallel shots. There are also alot of strings, screething, and edgy sounds. It also builds up allot. This occurs when Graham is looking at the cook book then realises Lector is the killer, then the music goes up as Lector stabs Graham.

The text of 'Red Dragon', one word is in red and the other is in white. This shows that there are two sides to a person. Such as Francis he has good and evil in him, and Lector is very clever but is twisted.

Codes and Conventions of a Romantic Comedy - Love Actually

There are many different codes and conventions to a romantic comedy. They are:

• Funny
• Romance
• True Love
• Resolution - usually happens but not always
• Couple
• Barriers/ why they cant be together
• Third Party
• Middle/Upper class
• Different in class
• Soundtrack and music is normally common and cheesy.

For a romantic Comedy we studies the opening to Love Actually and Bridget Jone's Diary. I will start explaining Love Actually.

There is allot of mise-en-scene. There is allot of different sets such as an airport with families meeting and hugging, a music studio which adds comedy, a wedding, a posh office, a bedroom and the priminister's house. There are many different costumes which match the set such as at the wedding people wore wedding outfits. In the music studio the singer is wearing bright coloured clothes as he is trying to act young. The weather is Christmas weather as that is the time it is set in. Although it is snowing everything is still bright.

There are also many different camera shots, angles, movement and position and also editing. At the airport there were many close ups so show the reality of people. There were also many pans. There was a zoom out and a slow motion to make you concentrate whats going on. At the music studio there where close ups to see there reaction on there faces. There is medium shots and a pan. There is a zoom out to end the scene. In the house there is a two shot with the mother and daughter speaking and there is also a shot reverse shot. At 'number 10' there is a two shot between Hugh Grant and Martina. There is also a reaction shot when Hugh Grant looks back at Martina, this shows you what he may be thinking, that he may like her. There is also a high angle shot as to show that Hugh Grant's role is high in the film as he in priminister. At the wedding there is close ups and medium shots so show you what is going on. There is also a shift in focus as Keira Nightly walks threw the doors, this shows that she looks lovely and it her and her fiances big day. At the museum there is a track. There is also an establishing shot of the city (London) and the big Christmas tree. There is old common tracks playing in the background of the opening throughout. One of the songs is being sung in the studio which is 'Love is all around' by 'Wet Wet Wet'. The title had been edited with the way 'Love' is written in red which shows love and the word 'Actually' is written in white which shows Christmas.

Codes and Conventions of a Horror - Halloween

There are many different codes and conventions of a horror film such as:

• Red herrings
• Death
• Scare
• Survivor/hero
• Darkness
• Devil
• Teenage victim - young girls/innocence
• Fate/chance
• Jump
• Gore
• Evil
• Supernatural
• Scary music and sound.

In lesson we watched 'Halloween' and most of these codes and conventions came up. There were many different camera shots such as point of view shot, objective shot and long shots came up the most. There was a point of view shot at the house, after this there is a zoom onto the house. There is a close up on Micheal's face so show you who the killer was. The house is very dark inside as there is no lights on. When there is little lights on you can see shadows, this gives you a scared, intense feeling. As the light turns off in the top bedroom where the young girl and her boyfriend have gone there is a high tone screech. As the film starts after the credits there is music with children singing Halloween songs. There is also a very high pitch tone in the background. This shows you that it is not a calm film as it is a horror. The set is in a suburbia street therefore the killer could be your next door neighbour. There is a knife involved in the opening. Micheal is wearing a clowns outfit as some people find clowns scary. He is also wearing a mask which decisis his face, the killer.

Codes and Conventions of a Thriller - Seven

There are many codes and conventions to a thriller. They are:

• Close ups
• Angles - objective
• Theme - Crime - Killer?
• Dark, creepy settings
• Sound - strings
• Tension builds
• Pace
• Red Herring
• Twist and turns

As a part of my research of a thriller film i watched seven. The purpose of the opening is so it sets the film. Seven had a hook towards to it to bring in into the film. It introduced us to the characters and it also set the mood and atmosphere. The lighting was very dark, gloomy. There was also color filters in the camera and there was a silver effect. The costumes were traditional detective clothes. Detective Mills (Brad Pitt) wears a leather jacket throughout of the film. The leather jacket shows that he is cool and rebellious. A leather jacket shows an unprofessional side to people. Detective Mills is very messy in which he wears is clothes. His tie is just thrown round his neck and isn't tied properly. He is also very emotional in his job than Detective Somerset. Detective Somerset is very clean and smart. His house is very particular and so is he. He is very clever at his job and is also calm. There is a very big contrast between Detective Mills and Detective Somerset. The set is dirty and is a urban environment. The weather is always raining in most of the scenes. Even if it is sunny there is still rain. The rain is like a religious symbolism as in the rain is washing the sins. There are many different camera shots and editing. There are shot reverse shots, Long shots, medium shots. There are many zooms so you can see what is going on clearly or you can see peoples expressions if it is on there face. There are many different props such as scrapbooks, photographs, cutting up paper, writing, droplets of blood. All these things make you piece things together and make you think what is going to happen. There are also different sounds such as a heartbeat, distorted screaming, scratching and ticking noises. There are many more noises but these are just a few.