Action Genre Cliches

Action Genre Cliches

• world-weary assassins, navy seals, mercenaries
• one last suicidal mission
• one will stay behind and most likely die
• lots of upper body strength
• betrayal, stabbed in the back
• antagonist are foreign with thick accents

Preliminary Task Analysis

Preliminary Task Analysis

Strengths

• Range of shots
• Established scene geography
• Good cuts

Weaknesses

• Needs more dynamism
• Camera wobble
• Prolonged match on action

In the preliminary task, we had to produce a short clip containing three different types of shots, sticking to the 180 degree rule as well as the 30 degree rule. We also had to have an match-on-action shot and shot reverse shot.

We used a variety of shots to meet one of our objectives including match-on-action and shot-reverse-shot. We used match-on-action to emphasise the essay and involves the audience, submerging them in the action. We used shot-reverse-shot by also doing an over-the-shoulder shot to get the point of view of the person listening and what they would see when looking at the other person. At the start, we established the scene geography when the teacher presents the essay, showing the classroom and audience.

One of the cuts appear slightly jurky because the camera was not steady during filming so this has become more oblivious when the film is edited and the shots have been sequenced together. However, if we used a tripod during filming the camera would be stable and the shot would be focused so it would stabalise the final film, making it smooth and realistic and would not look like a jump cut.

Film Scenes Analysis

Shot Reverse Shot

This scene from No Country For Old Men uses shot reverse shot in the famous coin toss scene. The shot reverse shot is used to show the deep conversation the two guys are having,showing their facial expressions and when they are talking.

Match On Action

In this scene from American psycho, they use match on action to show their business cards. As they take out their business cards, the camera switches from them to the cards that have been placed on the table. This emphasises the action they have just done, making the action seem more important that it would usually be. This makes the scene and action dynamic.

Horror Profile - Target Audience

Horror Target Audience Profile

The target audience for a horror will range from 15 - 30 years old.The youngest age certificate for a horror would be a 15, even though there have been horrors with an age certificate of 12, for example The Woman In Black is a 12.

People watch horrors because they want to experience the thrill and adrenaline from watching them, and they can contain a good story line with strange and confusing cliffhangers and twists.

Horrors considered the best horror movies of all time are:

• The Exorcist 
• The Shining 
• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 
• Psycho 
• Alien 

Horror Codes & Conventions

Titanic Opening Scene Analysis (Romance)

Titanic Opening Scene Analysis

Sound

Non-diegetic sound is used when soft, gentle music is played with a woman singing with it. This is typical of a romance as you would not usually find loud, strong music in romance genres as this would take the romantic genre atmosphere away. A woman singing goes along with the genre because people generally don't associate men with romance as much as women are known for it.
Not much diegetic sound is used until right at the end when you hear the submarines go down into the depths of an ocean and shows how deep they are going, and this could link because there might be deep stories that went down with the titanic and the titanic also lays deeply under the Atlantic ocean.

Camera Angles
There a lot of different camera angles used in the opening scene, showing all the things that are happening on the historic moment.
Long shots are used to show the whole titanic and the people waving goodbye to each other reflecting on how special and important that moment was as that would be the last they would see of them.
The camera goes under water and a submarine emerges from the shadows, going towards the camera. This shows how deep they are going and shows the start of an enormous journey.
The screen is also in black and white which implies that it is an old story that is about to be told. A lot of romance genres are set in the past as this creates a more deeper story that can be told and shows it will never be forgotten.

Characters
The main characters are not shown in the opening scene, but thousands of people are shown waving goodbye to each other. This is a significant moment in the film because you can see how many people the story has an impact on. Movies that have a big travesty in them usually are of the romantic genre and a lot of them start their movies with happy moments, which can make them more sadder and powerful.
There is thousands of people there which shows that this is an event that doesn't happen very often in this period, so everyone is celebrating, like they have accomplished something and nothing can't surely go wrong.

Enigma Codes
After watching the scene, the audience will want to know what journey all the people are going to be having, and what will happen.
Also the submarines descend into the depths of the water at the end so the audience will want to know where they are going, what they are doing and why are they doing it?

Props/Costumes
The people are all wearing old, Victorian/pre-world war 1 clothing and shows that it is set in the early 20th century. Props being used are hats flying in the air, waving goodbye. This is a old, tradition that used to happen when someone would take their hat off to greet or say goodbye to someone. This also shows this is an old event.

The Woman In Black Opening Scene Analysis (Horror)

The Woman In Black Opening Scene Analysis

Sound

Non-diegetic sound is used to create an eerie sound and suggests something important is about to happen. It creates suspense and tension and reflects the change that the little girls go through during the scene. This shows it is a horror as these genres tend to do this, especially with something that seems to be innocent.

Diegetic sound is used not for speaking but as the girls walk towards the window, the dolls and tea cups break as they step on them, like they don't know they are there and therefore are not themselves as they were just enjoying playing with them. Also, after they jump out of the window, you hear a woman screaming in terror as she has just witnessed her kids commit suicide. This intensifies the atmosphere.

Camera Angles

At the start there are medium shots to show the girls having an innocent tea party. As they turn different, a long shot is used to show all of them looking at one place in the room at the same time and the camera cant see what they are looking at. As they stand up and walk towards the window, close up shots of their feet breaking cups and dolls make the scene more intense. Then another long shot is used to show all of them jumping out of the window at the same time. The camera is placed right at the back of the room and after they jump, it starts to zoom out, slowly showing a mysterious, figure in the shadows.

Characters

There are three main characters in this scene - the three little girls. This is very typical of a horror movie as a lot of them include innocent children and something bad happening to them. This connects the audience with the film as you don't want bad happening to them. Also right at the end of the scene, the antagonist is slightly introduced as you see a dark, mysterious figure that has just watched the children jump out of the window and do nothing about it, this makes the audience assume that it made them do it.

Enigma Codes

An enigma code in this scene is right at the end, when the children just jumped out of a window for no reason and the mysterious figure is there, this makes the audience wonder why they did it, did the figure make them do it, why would it do that and what the figure actually is as you only see the back of it.

Props/Costumes

The dresses that the girls are wearing are old and so does the house. Also they are having a fake tea party so this suggests that it is not set in modern times. This is typical of a horror genre because a lot of them are set in the past as the past was mysterious and a lot of tales and paranormal stuff supposedly went on which makes up modern day horror movies. Also old dolls are used because a lot of people find them creepy and too innocent, like when they constantly stare at you and a lot of them are linked to paranormal activities.

Clichés
A cliché in this scene is that children are the victims, and a woman in a black dress is the one that seems to make them do it. A lot of people associate with women as being ghostly and therefore scary in horror movies, especially when they are dressed in black.