Psycho Shower Scene Analysis

This SlideShare presentation highlights aspects of Sound,Mise-en-scene,camera angles and editing.

Psycho shower scene analysis from nisharajan01

Below are the notes I made whilst analysing the "shower scene" clip.

Levi-Strauss' Binary Opposition

Levi-Strauss' Binary opposition theory is consistent of the parallels in the horror film industry.He stated that narratives are driven forward by conflict caused by opposing forces. I have presented contrasting ideas in the wordle below.

 Contrasting ideas such as the ones below are particularly effective in horror films as it enables the viewers to distinguish evil and good easily.It's the idea of setting a hero in order to set a villain- to know what good is, you should experience evil.

This clip from "The Conjuring" explicitly presents Levi Strauss' binary opposition. NOTE: The transition from light to dark is evident from the cloud moving over the sun at point 0.09 and the pan from 0.19 over the leaves into darkness. 

Camera Angles

In terms of horror film, a variance of angles are used to depict different emotions and atmospheres, 

For example, the low angle would be used to highlight a sense of high status, power and dominance to that particular character as they would appear to be looking down at the camera and other characters, In a horror film, this angles would typically be used by the villain to assert dominance.

The high angle would be used to potentially make the victim or main character appear vulnerable or uneasy. They are being looked upon as prey from this angle as well as the bird's eye angle. However, the bird's eye angle could also be used upon the villain to highlight their tracking or stalking movements.

Both of these angles can be seen in action in the clip below from the American TV show Scrubs.

The eye level camera angle would be used to establish characters in a room to introduce them to the viewers and is typical of most if not all film genres.

The canted angle is widely used in horror settings to create an illusion of distortion and unease. This feature is widely used in the film "The Conjuring" to illustrate  distressful scenes of demonic possession around the home setting and between characters, Here I found a clip from the movie Slumdog Millionaire which features canted angles to represent themes of distress and transition in the main character's life.

Horror genre conventions

This Emaze presentation highlights the conventions within the horror genre.

Horror Timeline

The Slidely below presents conventions of horror films created between the 1800's and the 2000's.


Horror Timeline by Slidely Slideshow

Propps' 8 Main Character Roles: The Woman in Black

This list illustrates the eight main character types in The Woman in Black. The film itself doesn't not have the roles of the "Donor" or "False Hero". Apart from that, Propps theory works well in applying the eight main characters types to this.

Wells' research into horror audiences

How does The Conjuring link to the horror media theories?

Propps' character theory is incorporated into The Conjuring from the very beginning of the movie. 

The director initially sets the father as the "hero" character but, as the film progresses, the "Helper" characters take on this role too. The "Helper" characters are a couple and are depicted in a religious light in a supernatural and satanic environment. This is a feature of binary opposition and is presented in Levi-Strauss' theory. The "Princess" characters are taken on by the five young girls and the mother however, the film takes on a twist in the middle and the mother takes on the role of the "Villain"!

Going back to Levi-Strauss' theory, binary opposition is a important factor of horror films and reoccurs in The Conjuring. Use of shadows and darkness against light, for example; a dimly lit room with a streaks of light coming through, are conventional. Also, the darkness appears to spread in specific scenes and illustrates the gradual decline of order to disorder and destruction. 

The film does comply in terms of Tovodor's theory in the sense that the events takes place in a cyclical order and the bulk of the film is set around the attempt to repair the disruption. Moreover, the equilibrium is disturbed early on in the film when the family dog is found dead and the clocks around the house stop and 3:07.  

In my opinion Aristotle's theory applies to most horror films. The idea of setting an idyllic theme with family and friends is conventional of most horrors. In the Conjuring, the supernatural events happen to a very content and young family, they appear very happy and this is helpful to highlight the extent of the horror later on in the film. 

  

Horror Poster Deconstruction 2014-15

Point one highlights that the film has been "BASED ON A TRUE STORY". This is a feature present in many recent horror film posters and adds an element of suspense to the film as viewers feel as though the events presented in the film could happen to them;this sense of intrusion into personal lives is conventional of horror films. The writing is black (4) and reflects well on the light background (2) however, the title is in white and this is conventional of horror posters. The poster also uses a shocking image which draws in passers by,the hand looks distorted and the skin looks unusual from that of the model; this is another conventional feature of horror posters. At the bottom of the page, there is a paragraph of text which features the names of actors,producers and directors , This is featured on all the horror posters I have deconstructed below and is conventional of horror posters

Point one informs viewers of previous films that have been created by the producer of this one, this conventional feature is effective as it draws in viewers who may have enjoyed the films mentioned on the poster. The image (2) has been taken using a close up shot and brings forth connotations of supremacy and fear. The model is also wearing a mask which adds elements of the fear of the unknown which is a conventional feature of horror films and posters. The title appears in a conventional white colour (3) and the bottom left of the page includes a hashtag which enables fans to stay up to date with information about the film. This is a fairly new feature present on more modern film posters. 

Point one is a conventionally used feature on modern film posters and contrasts well on the dimly lit background which also contains a hidden image of a face within the clouds (2), this eerie feature is also conventional. The title (3) is in a bright coloured font and has a glare to it which subverts the convention of bold, neutrally coloured titles.However, the title was made to resemble fire, this could potentially foreshadow later events. This feature is used widely in horror movie posters as it gets the audience thinking about what could happen in the film. For example the Insidious movie poster below highlights the letters "S" and "I" and this has caused a lot of controversy and as a result, buzz around the film's franchise. 

How do you feel about horror?

Horror is a very effective genre and appeals to a wide audience as, if it is delivered well, it can be suspenseful and thrilling.

 I personally love horror films however, I have not always felt this way. Horror films were never a favorite of mine whilst growing up and I believe this was hugely due to the film The Witches which was initially a novel by Roald Dahl. My parents bought the film on cassette when I was seven years old and till this day I'm still too scared the watch the film in it's entirety!



Horror films depend widely on their soundtracks and choice of music as it's the core of horror films and responsible for the element of suspense which is vital in horror. Furthermore, the unpredictability of horror films make them all the more scary, the fear of the unknown is one which is we all share and a good horror film can successfully exploit what we think of as comforting.

Introduction

I am looking forward to starting the A2 media project as the horror genre interests me greatly. The genre itself is very entertaining and its success is widely due to how it makes viewers feel - anxious and eagerly anticipating more.I particularly enjoy the Insidious franchise as it links onto each film very well and has a very engaging soundtrack throughout.

I am hoping to blog a lot more this year in order to be much more prepared during the production of my work; hopefully with more background research my product will be more original and work better with the brief. This was a problem I faced last year and it left my work missing all elements of the chosen genre.

By posting about the history of the horror genre as well as recent events in the world of horror movies, I will have a comprehensive overview of what to include in my own work.