Genre Analysis (Horror/ thriller) - BFI Statistical Yearbook

BFI Statistical Yearbook – Genre Information

In order to amass quantitative data on the Horror/ thriller genre, we have referred to the BFI’s 2015 Statistical Yearbook as it is far beyond the scope of any survey that we could ever hope to conduct. In the BFI’s own words, ‘The Statistical Yearbook presents in one place all the available statistics on K film and the UK film industry.’

The table below shows top performing titles by genre, the films illustrated in the table are UK films.

From the table above I can see that the Women in Black Angle of Death is the top performing title of the Horror genre, which is the genre me, Hannah, Siarah and Amaal will be focusing on for our main task. We can incorporate the opening of this film in the preparation for our main task so we can get a clear idea on what top performing titles present to draw attention to their target audience.

Table 9 Releases of UK independent films in the UK and Republic of Ireland by BBFC film classification, 2015

BBFC classification	Number of releases	% of releases	Gross box office (£ million)	% of gross box office	Top performing title
U	6	3.3	16.2	11.9	Shaun the Sheep the Movie
PG	19	10.4	19.9	14.6	The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
12A	43	23.6	49.9	36.7	The Lady in the Van
15	92	50.5	31.0	22.8	The Woman in Black: Angel of Death
18	22	12.1	18.9	13.9	Legend
Total	182	100.0	136.0	100.0

 

Analysis:

The table above shows that the Horror genre was not significantly successful in 2015:

• The Horror genre grossed £34.9 million, accounting for only 2.7% of total box office.
  
• However, it did surpass other major genres such as family, romance and fantasy.
  
• There were 44 Horror releases in 2015 making up 5.8% of the total releases in 2015.
  
• The Woman in Black: Angel of Death was the highest performing Horror film of 2015.
  
• The Woman in Black: Angel of Death was the highest performing 15 classified film of UK independent films.
  
• Poltergeist is the seventeenth highest 3D release in the UK and Republic of Ireland with a total gross of (£4.o million) with a 3D gross of 1.8 million
  
• Jaws was the eighth highest ranking movie between the time period of 1975-2015 where the UK box office total amounted to £81.7 million
  

Significance:

Horror films are undoubtedly very popular with the British public; there is clearly a lot of demand for Horror. The main effects of Horror is to make the audience jump, feel nervous or be 'creeped out' by something that has or is happening. However, Horror films were not particularly successful with the British public in 2015; which therefore suggests there is clearly little demand or the movies did not meet the expectations of the target audience. The women in Black: Angel of Death was the top Horror film of 2015, this is useful information because the film opening we intend to create uses the same typical Horror conventions as the movie. The fact that the

The fact that the most successful 15 certified independent film was of the Horror genre, is potentially useful information; it tells supports our initial idea to aim our film at age 15-24.

The Registrar General's Social Scale - 

The Registrar General’s Social Scale is the way the British Government defines the populace through their occupation.

A benefit of the Registrar General’s Social Scale is that it can help companies to target audiences. However, the scale has been criticised for being both crude and rigid

Film Opening Analysis

On Fridays lesson with Mrs Mallet, in class we were looking at film openings to begin to understand what makes a successful film opening. Me, Hannah, Amaal and Sairah were focusing on the Horror genre, however the film openings we looked at were based on the Drama genre. We will still be incorporating certain aspects we noted down in class.

what we had to look for:

• shot sizes
• shot angles
• shot durations
• sound effects
• use of music
• transitions
• colour pallet
• lighting
• setting
• tone/mood
• atmosphere
• title founts

The Judge

• High key lighting
• Extreme long shot of city
• Colour tones - blues, whites, greys
• Ambient sound
• Close up on glasses
• Transitions - slows fades in and out
• Title - Serif, white, traditional
• High angle looking down on the city
• Change in music - faster pace  
• Guitar - fades in and out
• Depth of field - flowers
• Cool palette
• Dialogue in office toilet

Forrest Gump

• Happy and gentle mood 
• Natural lighting
• Setting - large town
• Warm pure colours
• Dialogue at a bus stop
• Simple soft piano melody
• Has a slow pace
• When the shot gets closer to the ground - more ambient sounds ( e.g.. wind)
• Title stands out
• Slow music following feather sets out a slow pace
• Shot: begins at the top of the building, ends at street level

The Time Traveller's Wife

• Setting Christmas/winter
• Low key lighting
• Quick transition - fast pace
• Yellow title represents warmth
• Small shot sizes - eye level
• On going melodic voice ( Mother singing in the car)
• Violin played over production title
• Tense, threatening and worrying
• No extreme long shots

The Descendants

• Hawaiian music - ukulele
• Medium close up of woman
• Setting - Hawaii
• Context is set in voice over
• Sound - up beat musical instrument
• Changes to sad, melodic music when the hospital is shown 
• Hawaiian flower background, mix of warm and cool colours

The Age Of Adeline

• Extreme long shot - birds eye view
• Plot is not shown
• Third person narrative giving us an introduction to the character
• Tone is mysterious, calm and serious
• Title - thin, handwritten - not intrusive
• Changes to sad, melodic music when the hospital is shown
• Character is intelligent and observant

Media Language

Media language refers to the way in which meaning is created in media texts. Below are some of the terms we have been learning about in our AS Media studies lesson.

Camera:

Establishing shot: The opening shot in a dramatic scene that establishes the disposition of people and objects in the mise-en-scène. As such it is usually a wide shot, and is likely to be followed by a succession of closer shots.

Two-shot: A shot in which two figures appear in the frame

Over the shoulder shot: A camera shot in which the subject of the shot is filmed from behind a person’s head and shoulders, which are framed to one side in the foreground.

High angle shot: A camera shot taken from a higher level than the subject, and angled down towards them. This shot can have the effect of diminishing the authority of the subject, making them look weak.                     

            . 

 Low angle shot: A camera shot taken from a lower level than the subject, and angled up at them. This shot can have the effect of enhancing the authority of the subject, making them look powerful.

Canted angle: A cinematic device where the camera is physically placed at an angle so that vertical and horizontal surfaces appear diagonal.

Pan: A horizontal camera movement left-to-right or right-to-left on a fixed axis. The word is short for ‘panoramic movement’. A pan following a moving object suggests that we are viewing it from the point of view of an observer.

Tilt: A camera movement up or down on a horizontal axis.

Tracking shot: A camera movement achieved by mounting the camera on a dolly and moving it along a track. Typically, tracking shots are used to follow characters or other objects in motion.

Point of view shot: A camera angle in which the viewer seems to see with the eyes of a character in the scene.










Sound:

Diegetic sound: Sound that can be heard by the characters in the world of the film.

Non-diegetic sound: Sound that cannot be heard by the characters in the world of the film.

Synchronous sound: Sound that is directly matched with what is being viewed.

Sound bridge: Editing technique in which visual cuts are deliberately not matched with audio cuts. For example, the editor may cut to a completely new scene, but allow sound from the preceding scene to run on for a short time. Alternatively, we may hear the sound of the next scene before we see it.

Dialogue: The conversation that happens between characters in a work of fiction, or the lines spoken by actors.

voiceover: A type of non-diegetic, asynchronous sound in which the audience hear a voice that does not have a source either within the frame or within hearing distance and which is not heard by the people on screen.

Incidental music: Music used in a film or play as a background to create or enhance a particular atmosphere.

stings: A short musical phrase primarily used as a form of punctuation.

Ambient sound: Sound which is natural to a setting.

Mise en scène:

Mise-en-scène: The look of a film, derived from its use of sets and settings, lighting, colour, costumes hair and make-up, props, actor movement, and the overall placement and visual composition of these elements by the director.

Location: A ‘real’ place, as opposed to a studio, in which something is filmed or otherwise recorded. A location might be a New York City street or a desert.

Set: An interior that has been constructed to look like a real place when filmed; the set helps to identify the time and place in which a narrative will unfold.

Costume: The clothes worn by characters in a fictional text. The costumes are part of the mise en scène and as such are an important part of signification (for example, as a generic or period identifier).       

Make-up: Cosmetics used to change the appearance of a performer.

Prop: Short for ‘property’. A small item used in a film or TV production to add realism, assist with the narrative or act as a motif.

High-key lighting: Lighting which eliminates most of the shadows.

Low-key lighting: Lighting which emphasises shadows.

Editiing:

Cut: The commonest form of edit in moving image texts, this is the instantaneous change from one shot to another in an edit.

Shot/reverse shot: A convention for showing a dialogue sequence. We cut between the two speakers, showing each person’s point of view.

Eye-line match: A visual code used to make it clear what the subject is looking at.

Graphic match: A compositional device onscreen, whereby objects of common characteristics of shape or colour are used in successive shots.

Match on action: Two shots in which an action begun in the first is completed in the second, thus disguising the fact that there has been a cut.

Dissolve: In editing, a cross-fade between two shots: one fades out as another fades in.

Wipe: A shot transition in which the new image wipes over the previous one.

Superimposition: is the placement of an image or video on top of an already-existing image or video, usually to add to the overall image effect, but also sometimes to conceal something.

Long take: Not to be confused with a long shot, a long take is a shot of comparatively long duration.

Montage: The production of a rapid succession of images in a motion picture, usually accompanied by music, to illustrate an association of ideas or a passing of time.

Post-production: The various processes that take place after filming in order to create the final cut of a film.

Preliminary task, story board

Preliminary task, prop and shot list

Shot List

1.      Establishing shot

2.      Over the shoulder shot

3.      Two shot

4.      Tracking shot

5.      Close up

6.      Point of view shot

7.      Shot reserve shot

8.      Low angle shot

9.      Over the shoulder shot

10.  180 degree rule

11.  Medium shot

12.  Close up

13.  Tracking shot

14.  Match on action

15.  Wide shot

Prop list

       1.      Knife

2.      Fake blood

3.      Hand bag

4.      Glasses

5.      Computer and key pad

Preliminary task, treatment

1. Working Title:

 Codes

2. Synopsis

The film is about a young female student who is wealthy. She is the victim as she is being hacked by a hacker whom wants to take her wealth. The victim is going to walk in and catch the hacker. The hacker then kills the young woman to prevent himself from being caught.  In addition, the victim’s friend walks in and sees her friends body on the floor with the hacker stood over her body. The friend then asks the hacker what has happened. It is then ends on a cliff-hanger.

3. Characters

 The Victim-Is a young female student.

                      She is a very wealthy woman.

                      Innocent.

The Hacker- A jealous man.

                      Conniving.

                     Murderer.

The Friend- A young student.

                      Confused.

                      Worried.

4. Film Techniques

I will be filming this scene using different types of shots and camera movement. Examples of the different shots that I am are going to use are; establishing shot, over the shoulder shot, two shot, point of view shot etc. Examples of camera movements I am going to use are; Tilt, pan, crab, zoom, dolly etc.

5. Production Considerations

I am going to film it in a computer suite as it goes with the story line. I will need a fair amount of space as the body will need to be placed on the ground.

Preliminary task, script

Codes

In the computer room, Brandon types away as Charlotte walks in and peers over at the computer screen. Brandon quickly stops typing and gets up. Charlotte questions Brandon about what he was doing. Brandon denies everything.    

Then Kate walks into the room and discovers Charlotte laying on the ground. Kate is in shock and cannot believe what’s in front of her. Kate questions Brandon to find out what happened.

 

Kate

 Wh-wha-what happened?!...Oh my go- CHARLOTTE!!

 

Brandon takes a long pause while breathing deeply.

        

Brandon

Uh-uhmm, nothing happened. Everything’s fine.

 

Kate

OBVIOUSLY NOTHING IS ‘FINE’!... Who are you?

 

Kate is breathing heavily while waiting for a response. A scared/horrified look is on her face.

Brandon does not respond back to Kate he returns to his computer and begins to type again.