Digetic and Non-Digetic Sounds

In our previous Media Lesson, we have been learning about Digetic and Non-Digetic sounds are.

• Digetic Sound: Sounds which exist within the film. A character in a film would be able to hear Digetic sounds. Digetic sounds could be a door slamming or footsteps along a hallway etc.
• Non-Digetic Sound: Sounds which no character inside the film can hear. These sounds could be music playing in the background or a voice over portraying a characters thought for example.

An example of Non-Digetic sounds can be heard in the Film hunger. When Bobby Sands dies sad music can be heard playing in the background. There are also examples of Digetic sounds in this film when the prison doors slam and there are footsteps in the hallway. Lastly, when Bobby Sands dies the audience can hear the faint sound of birds flying away from the tree, this is another example of a Non-Digetic sound.

I can use both Non-Digetic and Digetic sounds in my Film opening. As my Film Opening is a horror I can use Digetic sounds such as footsteps and loud crashes and bangs to amplify the fear of the the audience and to induce jump scares more efficiently. I could also use Non-Digetic sounds such a scary background music and a voice over to show the audience the characters fear. 

Mise En Scène

In the last couple of lessons we have been learning about Mise En Scène. When analysing a sequence of Mise En Scène, you have to look at how the different elements and techniques work together in order to:

• Tell a Story
• Evoke and atmosphere
• Give the audience information
• Provoke the audience to respond
• Highlight key themes.

In Chicken Run, the sky is red when Mrs Tweedy - the antagonist of the film - enters the Chicken Cage. The sky is red to signify danger. When Edwina is carried off to be killed the sky goes dark and the mood changes the scared. After Edwina has been killed, the Sky behind Ginger reflects her sadness by turning a dark blue. I can use different effects to make the sky different colours in my own film opening. As my film opening is a Horror, I can use darker and more sinister colours such as black or brown.

Also, Mise en Scène is used in the film, The Duchess. In this film, different settings are used to portray her departure from civilisation to pure isolation. The settings that are used are:

• The streets of London.
• The courtyard of Devonshire House.
• The hallway of Devonshire House.
• The bedroom where The Duchess awaits the arrival of her new husband.

The streets of London are presented with brown colours, to give it the look of uncleanliness compared to Duchess' carriage which is pristine. Shen then travels through and archway to the courtyard which is clean and more richer and well kept than the streets. Going through the first archway signifies one more step into isolation. She then goes through another archway into the hallway. The hallway is big and grand, this signifies herself in total isolation. The bedroom where she awaits her new husband is small and dark which portrays her as trapped and isolated. I could use different settings in my Horror film opening, to emphasise isolation from Civilisation like in The Duchess. 

Cinematography

In Chicken Run Mrs Tweedy is film from a low angle shot to portray her power over the chickens. This low angle shot portrays her a tall and makes her the evil character due to her facial expression. The chickens are relatively small compare to Mrs Tweedy. Close ups are also shown of Mrs Tweedy's face. This portrays the evil and malice on her face as she prepares to choose which chicken will meet their end (getting their head chopped off) There are also close ups of the chickens faces to portray their fear of her, as they see her as a tall and frightening. After Edwina has been killed, there are several close ups of Gingers (the main character) face. The close ups of her face portray her sadness and teary eyes as she has lost her friend.

In Wallace and Gromit, there is close ups on Gromits face in the scene where they brainwash the rabbits. There is a mixture of emotions like fear and disbelief. Also, the camera is still whilst focusing of Gromit who is a calm and sensible character and when the camera focuses on Wallace who is in the midst of the action, the camera is slight shaky and at different angles to represent chaos. Framed shots are used in Wallace and Gromit. These shots are used when Wallace and Gromit surround the cage containing Hutch (the rabbit that has been brainwashed). Wallace is half inside the cage with hutch and Gromit if on the outside of the cage looking sceptical. Once Wallace and Gromit leave , hutch shakes. This creates tension for the audience as to what is going to happen next.

In my own Horror Film opening I will use a range of close up shots of the protagonist characters to portray fear and a range of emotions in their faces. I will also use close up shots of the antagonists face to portray their evil and malice on their faces. I will also use low angle shots of the antagonist to represent how scary and tall they are compared to the protagonists. Lastly, I will also use framed shots in my Film Opening to give a feel of isolation to the protagonists of the Film Opening.

 

The Key conventions of a Horror film

• Horror films are usually set in scary, dark and haunted places. These places could range from haunted houses, to streets, to gardens and dark and damp alleyways.
• Key themes of horror films are the good versus the evil, nightmares, beyond death, suicide, murder, ghosts and mainly the supernatural.
• In every horror film special effects are used to make the film more terrifying and to induce jump scares to frighten the audience and to keep their attention and interest throughout the film.
• Horror films are designed to scare and unsettle the audience.
• Other settings are usually in isolated places to make the character feel cut off from civilisation. This makes the character feel trapped and isolated in a haunted and ghostly place. This creates more tension for both the character sand the audience.
• They can be sometimes set in a place that has a dark past. For example an abandoned house or mental asylum.
• Sometimes in horror films children will play the more sinister role.
• Props like knives and chainsaws can be used to create more fear.
• Costumes are used to create more fear in the antagonists. 
• In my own film opening I will use some of these key conventions to create more fear and tension and to make my film opening more scary. Also, using the key conventions will make my Film Opening more interesting and I could use the key conventions to make the audience more unsettle and frightened. 

My Preliminary Task

For My Preliminary Task, I had Person 1 coming in and sitting down and having a formal conversation with Person 2. 

Horror Film Directors Research

Alfred Hitchcock

• Alfred Hitchcock as nicknamed "Master of Suspense" because he interpreted a kind of psychological suspense in the films he directed. 
• Alfred Hitchcock was born on August the 13th 1899 and he died on the 29th of April 1980. 
• Alfred Hitchcock directed films such as; Rear Window, The 39 steps (1935), and Psycho (1960). 
• Alfred Hitchcock is renowned for his depiction of violence and suspense.
• Alfred Hitchcock joined the Film industry in 1920.
• He also made appearances in the start of his own films. This was because he knew the audience were watching for him, however he only appeared at the beginning of his films in order not to take the audiences attention away from the plot of the film. 
• This relates to my genre, horror, because Alfred Hitchcocks work has inspired me to try out some of his own shots and scenes which I can base on some of his scenes. 

Wes Craven

• Wes Craven directed; A Nightmare on Elm Street, Dracula 2000, Red eye, The Hills have eyes and the most popular one, Scream.
• Wes Craven has become known for his genre bending and innovative horror and challenging audiences with his bold visions.
• He was born on the 2nd of August 1939 and died on the 30th of August 2015.
• He also directed A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 with a known horror antagonist, with the name of Freddy Krueger. 
• This relates to my genre,, horror as his storylines, plots and characters have made me think of what type of horror film I would like to do for my film opening and the different types of antagonists I can use and what characteristics the have.
  
  

Storyboard for my Preliminary Task

Three key rules definitions

Match-on-action: Match-on actions means editing techniques of films and videos where the editor will cut from one shot to a view which resembles the first shot's action.

Shot-reverse shot: This is a film technique where a character is portrayed looking at another character and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character.

180 degree rule: This is a cinematography guideline which states that two particular characters in a scene should maintain the same left/ right relationship with each other. Also, the camera should pass over an invisible axis which connects the two characters. This is called crossing the lines which makes the shot become a reverse angle.

Various shots from Horror movies

Below I have chosen a few different types of shots from various genres to gain inspiration for my own film opening. I have chosen the genre of horror for my film opening. These pictures give me an idea of the different types of shots I can do to make my film opening scarier. One of the pictures shown below Is of a shadow, this makes the horror movie more scarier and it may increases the tension of my own film opening.

My Chosen Genre

My Chosen genre for my film opening is Horror. I chose Horror as my genre because I can use all the different camera shots and angles. Also, I will be able to chose and apply different sounds and visual effects in order to make the film opening more terrifying and interesting to watch. I have also decided the plot of my movie opening.