For the opening credits most films I researched had red lettering in a sharp cerif font (scream), which signifies blood. In scream this was later linked together by a red flash over the screen just 13 seconds into the film before any narrative had started. When the production company's name is played on the screen a sound relating too the movie is normally played e.g. a non-dijetic sound of a knife which was demonstrated in Kidulthood through the credits although this isn't a horror film it is a common convention of horror films.
The music of the start of the film is crucial; as in Scream (1996), the non-dijectic music is a long sustained note this helps to build up the atmosphere. There is also a fast heartbeat, which is another non-dijetic sound which helps to build up tension; this has an intertextual reference to our film as we play a heartbeat and a sound effect of a man breathing over the top of scenes. Bride of Chucky (Rony yu) also includes the heartbeat therefore i have noticed that this is a common convention of horror movies. From researching on the Internet it seems to be apparent that common codes of horror includes the victim seems to scream at some point in the opening before anything happens as what happens in ours, it is commonly located in more rural areas as well; again this links to our film.
Blue tint lighting on the screen is another popular way of signifying the genre of the film as done in both films mentioned already plus Friday 13th.This particular lighting connotes the idea of danger that something’s not right, in the dark scenes it also makes lighting look more 'spooky' while giving it a supernatural feeling. In many horror films some shots are done on a Dutch angle, which illustrates a strange atmosphere to the film and is a common code of horror.
Many horror films have a hybrid genre-most often a horror/slasher aswell, as a horror Friday 13th is a slasher/sci-fi/ comedy. This is used by filmmakers to appeal to more audiences and put an interesting twist onto the film. As for intertextuality it is a post modern view that it is impossible today to be original, for example Jason x includes a killing scene which includes a move which is a direct lift from American wrestling; this will appeal to the male audience which they would recognise this.
It varies in how much of the narrative is revealed from film to film, sometimes the longer this is left the more interesting the film becomes and has polysemic meanings. For example in Scream its around 12.24 seconds before the narrative is assured. From the research done i have found that some directors put in post modern humour or puns that will appeal to audiences from other films they have directed before. Again scream is a good example of this- 'The first one was good but the rest sucked' here the character is talking about films which the director of scream has produced himself, unexpectedly he directed the first film out of the set. Post modern humour is also used in Scream as the girl is making popcorn which people in the cinema will also be doing, the popcorn rising when she’s on the phone is also a visual metaphor which illustrates the strange but flirtyness of the conversation.
In horror films stereotypical characters are also heavily used- it usually starts off with a blonde haired girl, which could be seen as sexually available who ends up dying (scream queen). There is usually a binary opposition of a brown haired girl who is seen as a 'final girl' by her mise-en-scene this character is usually presented as being intelligent and may be a survivor of the film.
Overall in the opening of a film we tend to find an active question which will leave the audience intrigued for more, Film producers tend to use signifiers to give the audience a view on the genre and possible narrative enigma all of which is effectively done to keep the audience watching.
As researched from Legacy of blood (Jim Harper 2004), A Nightmare on Elm Street seems to have intertextual references to our narrative; it has reliance upon the stalking and slaying of teenagers and has the presence of a typical slasher heroine; who in ours is a brown haired purely signified girl who is in the film from the start.
No comments:
Post a Comment