Camera Angles which create Tension during a Horror Film.

An Extreme Close Up - This is used to emphasise something, for example if the close up was of the actions somebody was going through using their hands then it would be emphasising that, that individual was about to do something of important relevence. If it was highlighting the inidviduals hands holding a knife then it would be higlighting then maybe something bad was going to happen involving the knife. The connotation of the image would be violence involving the knife.

Close up - This is where the subject being filmed fills the frame, it is often used to show the emotion felt by the subject being filmed. If for example the subject had just done something of significane and was showing the necessary emotion this shot could be used to connotate that and empahisise the emotion that the individual is feeling at that moment in time.

Dutch Tilt - This is a shot used by which the subject or object being filmed is tilted to an angle. This shot is often used in horror films to represent disorientation and confusion. A tilted shot type such as a dutch tilt often connotates confusion or panic.

Extreme long shot - This is a shot by which the hole setting fills the frame. This shot is often used so that the audience can establish what the setting is, mise en scene ect. This shot is often used in horror films to create atmosphere and tension and to also inform the audience of the creepy setting by which the scene is going to take place.

Medium shot - This shot consists of half of the subjects body , with their costume and face still visible. This can be used to show the surroundings of the individual but also the emotions there are feeling at the same time. It is effectively used in horror films especially when creating tension of somebody coming up behind the subject.

                                                         - Jack -

Ancillary task research - A Range of Zombie Movie Posters

- Ben -

Comerical and Thriller Zombie films.



Scene from 28 later.

Zombie films started with the aim to produce completeley serious pieces of text which the audience was meant to watch and feel that it was believeable, to feel that if zombies did actually exist then this is how it would be. Technological and generally text improvement has made this easier to suceed this objective over those years. However in contemporary zombie films producers have began to see the advantages of bringing  a comerical theme to the screen when producing zombie films, that the zombies are used as a metaphor for the victims of comericialism, Dawn of the dead is an example of this as it is set in a typical American shopping mall .Films such as 28 days later directed by Danny Boyle is an example of how these zombie films have been related closely to society giving it realism and in effect giving the film more of an edge. This is due to having these films so closely related to civilisation and what might actually happen if the world was to break out in an infection. The close relation to civilation brings an element of realism to such films and what makes such zombie films so effective to the audience. It is an example of another strain of zombie films, and is one based on disease and outbreak rather then the super natural, this being one of the main aspects i believe that brings realism to the screen.

Comerical zombie films such as "Shaun of the Dead" bring a completley diffrent theme and narrative to the screen. The fact that zombies are non existent makes it easier to bring humour into such a film, as the audience is comfortable that zombies arent real its easy to represent them in this way, that fact that their non existent makes it harder for the audience to take zombies films seriously. This can work to the advantage of zombie films as it helps bring a comerical element to it.  Using zombies to create a comerical theme is easier done then bringing a serious element to it. The fact that zombies are abnormal also makes it easier especially when they are potrayed as quite ugly looking human beings. However overall Thriller zombie films give out a much more intense atmosphere and  takes alot more skill, time and effort to produce a realistic piece of text which portrays sombies realisticly. Saying this the audience has nothing to relate to with the representation of what zombies should look like, but making sure that what the film represents  what zombies should look like is a difficult representation to put across effectively.




Zombieland

 Zombie- Land set in America  follows a group of four people trying to find their family members in a time of desperation, is a zombie film which i belive manages to bring an element of tension but also an extreme comerical element to the screen. The fact that they manage to do this makes it a very enjoyable piece of text as it puts out on the edge of your seat but also manages to give you and your friends a laugh while doing so, which tends to tone down all the blood and guts which are shown, which can sometimes also make this sort of film more appealing towards somebody who doesnt enjoy so much blood and guts and just likes to watch a funny film. . At the top written is one of the many comerical rules that the main character follows to try and stay alive, these rules seem to be constucted stupidly on purpose to add to the comerical part that the main character plays. These rules constructed by the production company offers an element of structure and seriousness to the text, but can also be realted to Video Games and is comerical in this way. On the left is a screen shot taken from the motion picture and gives an example of how these rules pop up on the screen throughout the film, reminding him when he break`s them ect, which again brings this element of the video game idea to the screen.
                                                - Jack -

                                                                

How to connote panic in a film - an ongoing theme in zombie/infection films

[Setting the scene]
During a military evacuation of a city for unknown reasons, one man is frantically searching for his son, rushing past the thousands of frightened people who are moving fast towards the boarder.

Expressionism - and

Shot Types
Close-up - This shot shows the man's emotion more clearly, it is also intensified, causing the audience to sympathise with him.
Crane shot - This would be used to show the audience the effects of the evacuation and the man's giant task of finding his son amongst the thousands of people.
Shaky-cam - This technique would intensify the action and would replicate the man's struggle.
Pan - This technique would be used to replicate the man searching for his son -- looking from left to right -- combined with the shaky-cam.
Tracking shot - This technique would be used to employ the feeling that the audience is following this man's journey.
Eye line-match - This would put the audience in the protagonist's position; they see what he sees.
Reaction shot - This would explicitly show the man's fear and panic.

Fast transitions convey a sense of panic perfectly, they reflect the man's jumbled thoughts and his reaction to the situation.
There should be no sound bridges, as these are used to create smoother, less jarring transitions between shots. It is important to make the sequence as uncomfortable as possible. 

Expressionism - The man's frantic search for his son and his fear for the loss of his son.
It would be important to convey a sense of struggle fear and claustrophobia, this would be achieved by maintaining a shallow depth of field. The lack of focus on the individuals around the protagonist would create a loss of identity, which would lead to fear. Close-ups would reinforce his fear for the loss of his son.

The weather should be grey, dull and cloudy. This choice would reflect the man's emotions and what he's going through - Clouds in the way of the sky (people in the way of his son) Upon finding his son, it should start to rain, symbolising a cleansing of the man's brain. The rain also replicates the man's tears as he embraces his son.
Natural lighting maintains a sense of realism, there will be no artificial action.

- Ben -

Marixism in Film

First off, here's a brief outline of Marxism; it has 3 main components:

- The dialectical and materialist concept of history - Humankind's history is fundamentally a struggle between social classes. An example of this is slavery.
- The critique of capitalism - In a capitalist society, the bourgeoisie dominate and exploit an economic majority -proletariat-. Marx stated that 'the capital makes a man a prisoner, he is no longer free, they begin to depend on it' "Capitalism takes a man's individuality away"
- Advocacy of proletarian revolution - The working class must seize political power through a social revolution. Material foundation classes would be abolished and all forms of inequality would dissolve. 

Extract from Wikipedia:
Sergei Eisenstein and many other Soviet film makers expressed the ideas of Marxism through film:
Eisenstein's solution was to shun narrative structure by eliminating the individual protagonist and tell stories where the action is moved by the group and the story is told through a clash of one image against the next (whether in composition, motion, or idea) so that the audience is never lulled into believing that they are watching something that has not been worked over.
French Marxist film makers, such as Jean-Luc Godard, would employ radical editing and choice of subject matter, as well as subversive parody, to heighten class consciousness and promote Marxist ideas.

Films that explore Marxism include:
- Metropolis (1927) Dir. Fritz Lang
- Intolerance (1916) Dir. D.W. Griffith
- October (1927) Dir. Sergei Eisenstein

- Ben -

Typography research

Our project is of the horror/thriller genre but to be more specific; virus/infection movie. We have found in our research that the conventions in typography in horror movies has changed quite drastically through the decades, so here are a few examples:

Dawn of the Dead (1978)
The colour co-insides with the word 'Dawn' as it represents the colour of the sky at dawn, (The sun rises up at dawn and the zombies rise up from the ground). The font is fairly simplistic and conventional - its big and bold - but a closer look shows that it has minor scratches on the letters, informing the audience that something (zombies) has tampered with it. The title is spread on the negative space which makes it look - to the audience's eye - that it is laying on the ground, thus forwarding the assumption that zombies have roamed and tampered with it. The title draws that audience's eyes to the ground - the ground is an important aspect of the film as that is where the zombies come from.

28 Days Later (2002)
This is a modern example of the same genre, with noticeably different typography but however with similar intentions. This example displays further tampering with the letters to a greater extent than Dawn of the Dead, perhaps showing a greater attention to detail in more contemporary productions. This technique is developed by placing the letters at slightly different heights to which implies the situation isn't running smoothly.

Carriers (2009)
The title is very stark; Red on white, space between letters, deformation of certain letters and an Ariel font.
Blood is obviously one of the main components to the title, it informs the audience what to expect from the film. Blood is hardly presented in a subtle manner; rather than blood drops there is blood splatters - this, again, teases the audience about what type of film it is - It adds a menacing tone to the title.
The word 'carriers' -in this context- means the infected. The spaces between each letter connotes the separation of the 'carriers' and the normal people escaping from them and killing them (blood splatter).
The distinction between the normal people and the carriers is also implicitly shown by the change of style within the title. The first half looks fairly conventional - pure red Ariel font - (representing the normal people), whereas the second half looks gruesome bloody (representing the carriers or infected.

- Ben and Stephen -

The map of Cherwell School, our possible shooting location, highlighted orange areas are the ares we plan on using.