Horror poster analysis

Name & genre of film	Friday the 13TH. Horror.
Key image (camera shot/angle – purpose); expressions, posture/body language. How do they reinforce the genre?	The key image is a low angle shot looking up at the character. The purpose of this would be to show how dominant he is, as he is the murderer and his victims are obviously scared of him. This reinforces the film genre as it is a horror film and he looks scary and makes you feel scared from looking at him.
Lighting & how it influences the meaning of the text & genre.	the lighting is very low key as it reinforces the genre as it creates a scary atmosphere for the audience, and with the murderer standing out in very high-key lighting reinforces his dominance again.
costumes/dress codes; icons/props, make-up – how do the challenge or reinforce the generic conventions.	the costume of this character is a dark cloak, making him look dangerous. He also has a mask on reinforcing that he is the murderer and he doesn’t want people to see his face. The mask also makes him seems scarier than actually being able to see his face. In his hand he has a machete which is an extremely dangerous weapon, reinforcing the genre of this film.
Background, colour( connotations) & layout & how they influence meaning.	The background of this poster is a woods, and is very dark and gloomy reinforcing the genre as woods are usually associated with danger at night. Reinforcing the terrifying atmosphere for the audience.
Copy (text) – Size, font style, colour & content (title/tagline/credits/ratings etc.)	`Friday the 13th’ is written in big red writing, making it look like blood. It is also the biggest writing on the front cover making it stand out. Above the title it says ‘from the producers of chainsaw massacre’ which is a well known gruesome horror film. This would give us an idea s to what the film may be like, reinforcing the films genre. It also says at the top  of the poster ‘welcome to crystal lake’ again giving us a clue to what and where the film will be revolved around. The text of the credits etc. is all in a ghostly looking font, reinforcing the horror genre.
Target audience	The target audience of the film would be people who enjoy horror films and want to be scared at the cinema or at home. It ranges from ages 15-18 as it would be too scary for anybody under those ages to view it.
Representation of Characters – Age, race gender, Culture, sexuality etc. Do they challenge or reinforce the genre conventions.	As the main character of this appears to be a man, this would reinforce the typical horror steretype of the women being the victims.
Institutional	Details of the producers and directors are found underneath the film title. It was directed by Marcus Nisbel, it is rated an  18. Details of the producers and directors are found underneath the film title. It was directed by Marcus Nisbel, it is rated an 18.
Enigma/Narrative image (How does the poster create a ‘story’ & entice its intended audience to go see the film?) What questions does the poster ‘ask’ of the audience?	The narrative created by this poster is that this man on the front cover enjoys killing people who visit ‘crystal lake’. All the events that take place in this film happen on Friday 13th, and the number 13 is known to be unlucky. It entices the audience as although this character is on the front the do not actually know what he does. By just showing you the main character of the film and making it look gruesome and ghostly, it will entice the audience and make them want to see the film.

Film Magazine Analysis

Creep Analysis

Creep analysis

Film Settings - Charing Cross

-The film is set in the London underground station Charing Cross. This is a good choice for a horror film setting as at night time they are rather eerie places. However they are also considered safe places, as at night they are locked up and guarded but were also commonly used during the war for shelter during air raids. Our main character Kate becomes trapped in the underground, which makes the underground suddenly dangerous.

-Where the killer brings his ‘prey’ is an zoo like room, with separate cages filled with water, where he waits for his captives to die. This is where we are introduced to George again from the beginning of the film.

-The operating room where we see the homeless girl Mandy again, lying supposedly dead on an operating table. This place is extremely dirty and stained with blood, a typical feature of a horror film. Also in this room are many test tube babies, and cribs with names on. This place has a strange and eerie feeling about it.

Characters

-Kate is the main leading character who survives the whole film which is extremely unusual for horror films. She seems to be rather rich as throughout the whole film she is handing out £50 notes and £20 notes to the homeless people. However she does have the typical ‘damsel in distress’ characteristic as she relies on the homeless guy and the security guys to save her. In the end she uses all her strength to kill the creature ‘Craig’, resulting in her saving the day, even though everyone is now dead. At the end of the film she ends up looking homeless and we see a guy walk past and drop some money for her.

-The killer who we find out later is called ‘Craig’ we do not actually see until halfway through the film. Until we actually meet him, it is unsure to us as an audience what he actually is, a man or a creature. His body is disfigured as well as his face which is frightening, and his body is covered in blood. He obviously is slightly psychotic as in the operating room he thinks he is washing his hands with no running water.

Iconography
-The start of the film uses blood and it can be seen on the floor, hinting to us its going be a bloody and gory film.

-The horror genre is not enforced until we actually meet the killer and we see him opening the chest of a victim and using the insides to feed rats. We also see this when he ‘operates’ on the homeless girl Mandy. Both scenes have an extremely bloody outcome.

Camera work

-At the start of the film a close up of a bloody woman’s face comes out of the dark, reinforcing the horror aspect and then quickly cuts to a party leaving the audience in suspense, as they don’t know what happened or what was about to happen.

-POV shot used to see Kate as she is looking for an exit. This leads us to thinking that perhaps she is being watched, but by who/what we do not know.

-Close up is used on the peep hole of the train driver door and then a reverse shot to see a close up of the drivers bloody face with some kind of surgical implement on his face. Which we understand is from the killers room later on.

-As Kate is running through the tube there are three camera positions used (all hand held) behind her, in front and POV.

-Interesting shot used as she is running from the tube and through the station it appears as if the camera is running towards her. As she stops we see as close up of her face – nowhere to run/ being stuck this is furthered as the camera circles around her.

-The shot from the top of the escalators is very poignant, as they look so steep from the top giving the impression they are a very long way down giving the impression once you go down you’re not coming back up.

-Use of CCTV shot used after the homeless girl Mandy is captured – showing that they are of no use, a contrast of what CCTV cameras are meant for – or the person in control of them is not doing their job because as we saw, he has been killed.

Lighting

-There is very limited lighting throughout the whole film as it is set underground. Mostly torchlight and train headlights are used. Use of lighting in the tunnel in the start of the film is limited to the torch light of the workers helmets– this encourages the audience to look elsewhere in search of what may be lurking in the shadows.

-Use of dramatic irony a shadow of ‘something’ is seen so the audience know that ‘something/someone’ is there but the character is not yet aware of this.

-Torchlight and shadow used again when the lights go off on the tube – the torchlight is used to hide the identity of the person holding it and it’s so bright that Kate is unable to identify the person holding it. She believes it is the driver but the audience know different

-When Kate finds a door and enters she uses just the flame of a lighter to guide her in the darkness – much the same as the torchlight

-Use of torchlight again in storeroom. Kate turns it off and then on again but this time we see the killers face for the first time (this would make the audience jump)

Sound

-with the credits at the start the subdued screams of a female along with the blood would mean danger.

-Use of sound to create premature terror – the audience know that it is horror and so are awaiting the moment that will make them jump – but some moments are put there just to keep them on their toes.

-As one of the workmen head down a tunnel alone a creepy soundtrack begins, indicating that he may be heading for danger, also fitting with convention that one character goes off alone something is bound to happen.

-Music used to signify danger and aid the narrative rather than take it over or lead it.

-First attack (Guy) we see him dragged from the tube but the accompanying sound is far more potent the use of diegetic sound but no use of images to show what is happening to Guy this allows the audience to use their own imagination.

-Sound of babies used when the preserved ones are seen on screen, this adds to the unsettling images, and creates a terror within the audience.

Extra notes

-The opening credits move on the screen mimicking the movement of a tube train hinting to us what the film may involve.

-Clearly British first clue the use of accents.

-When a tube arrives at the station Kate believes that she may be able to get out however the audience know different as we are shown that another ‘body’ also gets on to the tube.

-Rats are pest/vermin and can carry diseases using them in the film signifies some kind of danger.

-The sound of the killer performing his ‘operation’ on Mandy along with the image of blood spraying in his face, would be a scene that the female audience with empathize with due to the fact that he has inserted the bloody, rusty knife into Mandy’s vagina in a way only the women can really relate to the pain that is being inflicted on this body. This is typical of a horror film as the woman is the victim.

secondary research-Review of a horror movie 'Haunting In Conneticut'

THE HAUTNING IN CONNECTICUT is a film I had assumed would be another ridiculously overdone Hollywood production, along the lines of Jan de Bont’s terrible remake of The Haunting (1999). Instead, to my surprise and delight, it is exactly the opposite: a beautifully crafted little gem of a movie that harks back to the more subtle and poetic ghost stories that have always defined the very best in the genre – Movies like Jack Clayton’s The Innocents and Robert Wise’s The Haunting. As in both of those films, first time director Peter Cornwell seems to realize that in this area, as Christopher Lee points out, less is more. As a result, we have one of the scariest haunted house movies to grace the screen since Poltergeist.

Supposedly based on a true story of a 1987 incident that took place in Southington, Connecticut, screenwriters Adam Simon and Tim Metcalfe apparently used this incident as the perfect opportunity to put their own fascination with the supernatural to good use. Metcalfe explains, “Our mutual interest in the occult as represented in literature, film and history really helped us shape the story.” Indeed, their script follows the classic format of haunted house stories, but improves on them by introducing several intriguing new elements, such as the focus of the haunting being on a 16-year old boy who is dying from cancer. His proximity to death and the world beyond seems to give him a much greater receptivity towards seeing spirits than the other members of the household. The house itself is a former funeral home, where horrific séances were held during the 1920’s, making for a suitably creepy atmosphere and providing quite an intriguing reason for the house to be haunted in the first place.

To reveal any more would spoil the story, but suffice it to say this is New England Gothic of the kind H. P. Lovecraft might easily have dreamed up. The screenwriters also give the story a backbone of solid relationships for the actors to work with, including a touching love between Virginia Madsen playing a strong and willful mother, who must deal with the probable death of her teenage son, and the young boy himself, whose ordeal in facing death and undergoing his cancer treatments, is nearly as horrific as the ghosts he eventually encounters. Actor Kyle Gallner, playing the part of the youngster, gives it the kind of credibility that is usually the weakest link in these movies, while Virginia Madsen is equally good in her role as his mother. Elias Koteas plays a Reverend (who is also dying) with the kind of quiet understatement that is exceptionally rare in this kind of part, making his theories on why the haunting is taking place all the more believable.

What is also especially remarkable about the film is the solid technical craft it displays, on what must have been a fairly limited budget by today’s movie-making standards. I’ve certainly never heard of any of the behind-the-camera talent before, but they all contribute work that seems as if it were turned in by veteran Hollywood experts. For example, I could have easily mistaken the beautifully precise editing of Tom Elkins to be the work of Dede Allen. The moody and dark cinematography provided by Adam Swica, compares quite favorably to Freddie Francis’s shadow play in The Innocents. The set designs of Alicia Keywan make the house as memorable a character to the story as the much larger Gothic mansion designed by Elliot Scott for The Haunting. Perhaps best of all, the score by Robert J. Kral wraps the entire production up in exactly the kind of lyrical quality needed, before abruptly switching gears to a sudden dissonance that will jolt viewers out of their seats. Since Kral studied under Jerry Goldsmith, it appears he has picked up some key ideas from the Maestro.

Unfortunately, it appears that Lionsgate is going for a very quick playoff with this movie, and it most likely will be exorcised from theaters within a few weeks, before any positive word of mouth can spread. Which is rather a shame, because seeing this wide screen film on DVD in your living room will certainly not be half as scary as seeing it at a theater. So my advice for anyone who wants to see a wonderfully atmospheric supernatural ghost story, without the usual overdone gore and guts, is to see the film at your local cinema as soon as possible!

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