Friday, 29 November 2013
Blue is the warmest colour - Success
Blue is the warmest colour is a french independent film that had a budget of $5.4, so far it has made $6 worldwide. The plot of film revolves around the life changing journey of a girl called Adele as she falls in love with another girl called Emma. The audience for this film is fairly limited in the UK, The running time of over three hours, combined with its spoken language being french with english subtitles limits the appeal to a wider audience, constricting its audience to art film houses, who would be inclined to watch the film due to its social message, the critical acclaim and film awards and its offer of something different to watch compared to the usual hollywood fare.
Monday, 25 November 2013
Aims and Context: Creative Project
Practical Coursework
Aims and context:
-Horror, climactic sequence
-Extended Step Outline
-Target audience of 18+ horror fans of both genders
-Apply cinematography techniques similar to other films of the same genre such as Silent Hill and Chernobyl Diaries
-Explore codes and conventions of genre
Aims and context:
-Horror, climactic sequence
-Extended Step Outline
-Target audience of 18+ horror fans of both genders
-Apply cinematography techniques similar to other films of the same genre such as Silent Hill and Chernobyl Diaries
-Explore codes and conventions of genre
Wednesday, 20 November 2013
Reflective Analysis - Film Noir Production
The genre our group was given was Film Noir. We aimed to make a scene about a dangerous femme fatale and her love interest, while staying in line with typical narrative conventions of the film noir genre such as murder and corruption. I think we were fairly successful in achieving the look and style of what we were aiming for, however I think the use of the background music combined with the use of some slow motion shots and the dead body, which are also conventions of horror as well as film noir meant that the scene could almost be mistaken for a horror if the viewer wasn't aware that we had intended it to be a film noir. I believe this issue could have been rectified if we had had more time to complete the project and specifically if we had had more time to film extra shots to use in our film which could have expanded the plot of our clip and better expressed the genre we were aiming for, unfortunately we didn't get the chance because of members of the group being absent on the day we had extra time to do so. I believe that as a group we could also have cooperated and organized ourselves alot better as there was alot of confusion while filming as to what the actual plot of what we were filming was going to be due to poor organization during the time we had to storyboard and plan the scene.
Tuesday, 5 November 2013
Analysis of One Missed Call- draft
How does the use of mise-en-scene and lighting create suspense in the reality TV sequence from One Missed Call.
The plot of the film is based around a curse that is transmitted through voicemail recordings of the characters death, sent from the immediate future via the characters own cellphone. At this point in the film three of the group of friends central to the film have already died through falling prey to the curse. The character this scene is based around, Natsumi, also receives one of these messages and is bombarded by film crews and journalists who have heard about the curse. One of these television crew members offers to help her, claiming to know a priest who can perform an exorcism, her friend is afraid they'll exploit and embarrass her on television but Natsumi is so desperate to stop the curse she agrees to go with them to the studio. This is where the scene I'm analysing begins. The mise-en-scene in the beginning of the scene immediately features extremes of the colours red black and blue in the background, these contrast heavily with each other and could represent the extremes of emotion being portrayed in the scene by the central character. The colours also seem to be significant of different aspects of the narrative; the black or darkness representing the unknown aspects of the ghost, the red representing the danger of the situation or possibly the presence of something satanic or hellish, the blue represents the cold and isolation felt by the character, trapped in her own world of fear. The use of red is recurrent within many aspects of the mise-en-scene. Almost all of the camera or on air lights seen in the background are red and present a stark contrast to the low key, shadowy lighting. During a mid-angle mid-shot of her praying, the red lights in the background look especially sinister, almost like eyes watching from the darkness. There is also red in the use of the wooden flame torches, mirroring the hellish connotations of the red in the scene. Following this there is a low angle extreme long shot of the studio, this could almost be a POV shot from the perspective of the ghost, foreshadowing the fact that the danger later in the scene will be based at floor level. There is also a panning shot to cover the length of the studio, highlighting the fact that the scene is taking place in a television studio should work to make the viewer feel secure as typical horror conventions dictate that nothing bad can be about to happen if the protagonist is within a large group of people, however here we are given the strong impression that the exact opposite is true and the use of a brief voiceover narrative where she mentions how alone she feels highlights this. Despite the feeling of security the studio should be offering her we are given the impression that she believes nothing can be done to save her, making the safety of the studio and people around her redundant and inducing a sense of dread and anticipation in the viewer. Building on this sense of dread is another aspect of the mise-en-scene in the use of a straight cut to an extreme close up of a timer counting down. This creates a frustrated reaction in the audience as we are made painfully aware of the futility of the efforts to save her from a fate that the audience is already well aware is inescapable.
The mise-en-scene used in the decoration of the studio could be seen as symbolic of the superficial nature of the reality TV show and its attempts to help Natsumi as a whole. Through an extreme long shot of the studio floor, there are plastic trees visible in the background, the idea of an unnatural recreation of something that was originally natural and living is almost a metaphor for the the ghost. There is also a cut to close up shots of the priest performing the exorcism as shown on the monitors in the studio, highlighting the fact that the exorcism is being orachstated for entertainment value as opposed to a genuine desire to help Natsumi. In One Missed Call there are overarching themes of cynisism and distrust towards cellphones. Disturbing uses of modern technologies is a theme prevalent throughout many recent Japanese horror films, The Ring (1998) and Shutter (2004) are both example of which in their portrayal of televisions/video tapes and cameras respectively. In both these movies there are many other similarities to One Missed Call in both mood and conventions. Japanese horror conventions are different in many ways to western horror conventions. One of the most well-known Japanese horror conventions is the ‘Asian ghost girl’, typically identified by extremely long black hair that covers her face and a white gown. This convention has featured in many recent Japanese movies and arguably began with The Ring(1998). This convention has since become so well known even across cultures, that it was recently featured in a western horror movie in the deconstruction/comedy sub-genre of horror in Cabin in the Woods (2012) Although western remakes of Japanese horror films typically fall short of achieving the same reception as the Japanese originals, The Ring’s western remake was actually very well received. This could be in part due to the use of the original convention of the Asian ghost girl. However the western remake of One Missed Call was given a very ill reception. This could be due to the shift from the coventional ghost girl as the main supernatural force to a more benign villain.
The Ring features many of the same conventions used in One missed Call, there are basic similarities in narrative structure as well as the use of associated diegetic sounds with the ghost girl’s appearance. In One Missed Call there is the iconic ringtone, whereas in The Ring, there is the use of static and squealing violins. However the two are dissimilar in that when heard out of context the ringtone could be said to sound sweet as opposed to sinister. This eventually causes an associated reaction of fear to the ringtone, as the connotations of the phone ringing contrast heavily with the disarmingly sweet tone. However, the use of static and squealing violins in The Ring are now a horror convention, thus when they’re used the viewer is instantly expecting something to happen. Another similarity to One Missed call within Shutter is the use of the long black hair of the ghost appearing in unnatural places to invoke both fear and shock in the audience. Both films also make use of the extremely low key lighting and shadows to hide the ghosts in the background of the shot until the audience notices them, causing shock or a jump scare. An example of the fear created by hiding a ghost in the shadow is done during One Missed Call, where a mid angle two shot of the frightened character at the forefront of the shot leads to the use of a focus change to bring only the ghost in the background into focus, surprising the viewer. It is also very similar in its frequent useage of red light. Red light is used within One Missed Call after she draws back repulsed from the ghosts hair entangling her feet, which is shown through a low angle shot to illustrate that the ghost is based at floor level, there is a low angle close up of her face as a red light falls across it. This could represent the extreme fear she is feeling during that point of the scene, or an indicator of the immediate danger she is facing. Red light is also featured within One Missed Call during an extreme close up of the cursed phone ringing, the lights on the outside of the phone flash between red and green. The red could represent danger or a warning while the green represents the sickly and unnatural nature of the reason the phone is ringing.
As the scene draws to a close, the originally slow pacing begins to change as through a low angle long shot of the studio floor we see the priest performing the exorcism literally blown backwards and through the set by the supernatural force, this alone could represent that the evils at work are more powerful than religion. As the scene begins to quicken in pace even more and things get out of hand, we see clearly the sets collapsing through high angle extreme long shots as the crew members flee in fear. This could also represent the illusion of safety being presented to her collapsing, as the cold dark walls revealed behind the sets contrast heavily with their previous red fabric coverings, adding to the extremes of heat and cold presented in the scene. By losing the religious iconography, as well as the collapse of the set, there is the unnerving sense of all safety being lost. Following this, during the climax of the scene, the characters body begins to become twisted and distorted by the ghost. Here there is the use of many dutch angles and switches in camera shot, from mid shots to close up and then extreme close ups of the girls agonised face, cut together to create an extremely fast pace, contrasting heavily with the slow paced build up of the start of the scene.This all comes together to make the scene even more disturbing to the viewer as it creates a sense of disorientation and dizziness, combined with the flashing blue lights in the background and the extremely low key background lighting it becomes difficult to clearly see the characters face besides through the extreme close ups, where we can clearly see the pain and fear on her face in minute detail. It also becomes extremely difficult to take in what is actually happening during the scene, again creating fear in the viewer through the fear of the unknown convention.
The plot of the film is based around a curse that is transmitted through voicemail recordings of the characters death, sent from the immediate future via the characters own cellphone. At this point in the film three of the group of friends central to the film have already died through falling prey to the curse. The character this scene is based around, Natsumi, also receives one of these messages and is bombarded by film crews and journalists who have heard about the curse. One of these television crew members offers to help her, claiming to know a priest who can perform an exorcism, her friend is afraid they'll exploit and embarrass her on television but Natsumi is so desperate to stop the curse she agrees to go with them to the studio. This is where the scene I'm analysing begins. The mise-en-scene in the beginning of the scene immediately features extremes of the colours red black and blue in the background, these contrast heavily with each other and could represent the extremes of emotion being portrayed in the scene by the central character. The colours also seem to be significant of different aspects of the narrative; the black or darkness representing the unknown aspects of the ghost, the red representing the danger of the situation or possibly the presence of something satanic or hellish, the blue represents the cold and isolation felt by the character, trapped in her own world of fear. The use of red is recurrent within many aspects of the mise-en-scene. Almost all of the camera or on air lights seen in the background are red and present a stark contrast to the low key, shadowy lighting. During a mid-angle mid-shot of her praying, the red lights in the background look especially sinister, almost like eyes watching from the darkness. There is also red in the use of the wooden flame torches, mirroring the hellish connotations of the red in the scene. Following this there is a low angle extreme long shot of the studio, this could almost be a POV shot from the perspective of the ghost, foreshadowing the fact that the danger later in the scene will be based at floor level. There is also a panning shot to cover the length of the studio, highlighting the fact that the scene is taking place in a television studio should work to make the viewer feel secure as typical horror conventions dictate that nothing bad can be about to happen if the protagonist is within a large group of people, however here we are given the strong impression that the exact opposite is true and the use of a brief voiceover narrative where she mentions how alone she feels highlights this. Despite the feeling of security the studio should be offering her we are given the impression that she believes nothing can be done to save her, making the safety of the studio and people around her redundant and inducing a sense of dread and anticipation in the viewer. Building on this sense of dread is another aspect of the mise-en-scene in the use of a straight cut to an extreme close up of a timer counting down. This creates a frustrated reaction in the audience as we are made painfully aware of the futility of the efforts to save her from a fate that the audience is already well aware is inescapable.
The mise-en-scene used in the decoration of the studio could be seen as symbolic of the superficial nature of the reality TV show and its attempts to help Natsumi as a whole. Through an extreme long shot of the studio floor, there are plastic trees visible in the background, the idea of an unnatural recreation of something that was originally natural and living is almost a metaphor for the the ghost. There is also a cut to close up shots of the priest performing the exorcism as shown on the monitors in the studio, highlighting the fact that the exorcism is being orachstated for entertainment value as opposed to a genuine desire to help Natsumi. In One Missed Call there are overarching themes of cynisism and distrust towards cellphones. Disturbing uses of modern technologies is a theme prevalent throughout many recent Japanese horror films, The Ring (1998) and Shutter (2004) are both example of which in their portrayal of televisions/video tapes and cameras respectively. In both these movies there are many other similarities to One Missed Call in both mood and conventions. Japanese horror conventions are different in many ways to western horror conventions. One of the most well-known Japanese horror conventions is the ‘Asian ghost girl’, typically identified by extremely long black hair that covers her face and a white gown. This convention has featured in many recent Japanese movies and arguably began with The Ring(1998). This convention has since become so well known even across cultures, that it was recently featured in a western horror movie in the deconstruction/comedy sub-genre of horror in Cabin in the Woods (2012) Although western remakes of Japanese horror films typically fall short of achieving the same reception as the Japanese originals, The Ring’s western remake was actually very well received. This could be in part due to the use of the original convention of the Asian ghost girl. However the western remake of One Missed Call was given a very ill reception. This could be due to the shift from the coventional ghost girl as the main supernatural force to a more benign villain.
The Ring features many of the same conventions used in One missed Call, there are basic similarities in narrative structure as well as the use of associated diegetic sounds with the ghost girl’s appearance. In One Missed Call there is the iconic ringtone, whereas in The Ring, there is the use of static and squealing violins. However the two are dissimilar in that when heard out of context the ringtone could be said to sound sweet as opposed to sinister. This eventually causes an associated reaction of fear to the ringtone, as the connotations of the phone ringing contrast heavily with the disarmingly sweet tone. However, the use of static and squealing violins in The Ring are now a horror convention, thus when they’re used the viewer is instantly expecting something to happen. Another similarity to One Missed call within Shutter is the use of the long black hair of the ghost appearing in unnatural places to invoke both fear and shock in the audience. Both films also make use of the extremely low key lighting and shadows to hide the ghosts in the background of the shot until the audience notices them, causing shock or a jump scare. An example of the fear created by hiding a ghost in the shadow is done during One Missed Call, where a mid angle two shot of the frightened character at the forefront of the shot leads to the use of a focus change to bring only the ghost in the background into focus, surprising the viewer. It is also very similar in its frequent useage of red light. Red light is used within One Missed Call after she draws back repulsed from the ghosts hair entangling her feet, which is shown through a low angle shot to illustrate that the ghost is based at floor level, there is a low angle close up of her face as a red light falls across it. This could represent the extreme fear she is feeling during that point of the scene, or an indicator of the immediate danger she is facing. Red light is also featured within One Missed Call during an extreme close up of the cursed phone ringing, the lights on the outside of the phone flash between red and green. The red could represent danger or a warning while the green represents the sickly and unnatural nature of the reason the phone is ringing.
As the scene draws to a close, the originally slow pacing begins to change as through a low angle long shot of the studio floor we see the priest performing the exorcism literally blown backwards and through the set by the supernatural force, this alone could represent that the evils at work are more powerful than religion. As the scene begins to quicken in pace even more and things get out of hand, we see clearly the sets collapsing through high angle extreme long shots as the crew members flee in fear. This could also represent the illusion of safety being presented to her collapsing, as the cold dark walls revealed behind the sets contrast heavily with their previous red fabric coverings, adding to the extremes of heat and cold presented in the scene. By losing the religious iconography, as well as the collapse of the set, there is the unnerving sense of all safety being lost. Following this, during the climax of the scene, the characters body begins to become twisted and distorted by the ghost. Here there is the use of many dutch angles and switches in camera shot, from mid shots to close up and then extreme close ups of the girls agonised face, cut together to create an extremely fast pace, contrasting heavily with the slow paced build up of the start of the scene.This all comes together to make the scene even more disturbing to the viewer as it creates a sense of disorientation and dizziness, combined with the flashing blue lights in the background and the extremely low key background lighting it becomes difficult to clearly see the characters face besides through the extreme close ups, where we can clearly see the pain and fear on her face in minute detail. It also becomes extremely difficult to take in what is actually happening during the scene, again creating fear in the viewer through the fear of the unknown convention.
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