RESEARCH: Horror

RESEARCH: What Lies Beneath

What Lies Beneath

Year: 2000

Genre: Horror

Director: Rober Zemeckis

Writers: Clark Gregg, Sarah Kernochan

Opening Two Minutes.

Originally we just see a black screen, and then a fade in transition is used to show a water background, the sound track to the film is being played through out this. The sound track is high pitched and sounds ghostly; you can hear wind and shuddering. The music is classical and is creating tension more than the visual image at this point. There is a bird’s eye view shot used as the title “What Lies Beneath” appears in a ghostly grey and white colour, this is positioned in the middle of the scream but just below the surface of the water. From the title we can establish that along with the use of music that the film is a horror movie, “lies beneath” being a phrase to suggest death. The title fades away and a tracking shot is used as we pass through the surface of the water and continue, the non-diagetic music is still being played. The music makes you feel like the surroundings are empty, and that no one else is around. The screen then goes dark again and then we get more light, we can see weeds, making us presume we have reached the bottom of the water. We get shown a flicker of half a face very quickly through the water. A screeching noise of water being drained away is introduced and quickly gets louder. The camera speeds up and it feel as if you are being pulled towards something; at this point a ghostly face appears, it looks tired or not living, there is also bruising around the eyes. Then the eyes quickly open and we quickly zoom out of the water, this is when we have a bird’s eye view of a lady in the bath, the camera quickly zooms out as she sits up out of the water gasping for air, as she was previously holding her breath. The music is stopped when the blonde haired lady in the bath is introduced, we can now just hear her gasping for air.

The camera then jump cuts to the doorway of the bathroom, the camera is positioned low to the ground, in a long shot and is slowly zooming in towards the lady in the bath. The camera continues to zoom in, as we watch her gasping for air and trying to get her breath back, she is holding onto the side of the bath tub. Once she gets her breath back she starts to relax and we hear her pull the plug out of the bath.

There is another jump cut to a close up of the blonde lady picking up a hairdryer, the camera pans from right to left with the hairdryer as she holds it up to a steamed mirror. The hairdryer stops working and match on action is used as we watch her click the fuse, which sparks making her and the viewer jump. We are then shown a close up of her face, then the camera slowly pans back to the left until we are looking at her reflection in the mirror. The only noise we hear here is the sound of the hairdryer.

There is a jump cut into a mid shot of the blonde haired lady now opening the curtains in a bedroom, we can hear wildlife coming from outside. The camera zooms in very slowly as we see her open the curtains. There is a jump cut to a girl sleeping on a bed in the room, we track the blonde haired lady as she sits on the bed next to the girl to wake her up, the camera jump cuts to the other side of the bed and stays in line with the bed angled slightly upwards; “good morning beauty” this is the first relationship shown in the film and it is clear that it is a mother-daughter relationship.

RESEARCH: Horror

RESEARCH: Scream

Scream

Year: 1996


Genre: Horror


Writer: Kevin Williamson


Director: Wes Craven

Opening two minutes.

The scream film titles appear, these are white but flashing red, you can also hear a high pitched creaking which then turns to a loud crash. At that point the noise of a single telephone ring is introduced. The titles then turn to red and a loud scream and slicing noise can be heard. This immediately shows us that it is a horror film.
The first thing shown is a close up shot of a telephone ringing; you can still here the scream fading. This is where the first character is introduced, with the camera still focused on the phone a hand is shown picking it up and them the camera quickly pans up to reveal a female character. She is shown having a conversation with an unknown person, the voice of the person is calm and steady.
The character is shown walking away, but still peering at the phone for a moment, the phone instantly starts ringing again. She stops and looks at the phone for a bit longer this time before walking back to pick it up again. Match on action is used here, as the camera watches the character turn around and then jumps to a hand being placed on the phone to pick it up. It can also be noticed that there are no curtains drawn in the house, but there are lights on in the house, this giving the impression that you can see in the house but not outside, this can also give the impression that someone could be watching.


The scene then jump cuts to outside, the camera is focused on a tree, at first on the top and then the camera pans down using an establishing shot slowly revealing that it is outside a house. This can lead the viewer to question whether it is outside the house, that they were just inside or if it is another place. This also links to being able to see in the house from outside as the lights are on. As the camera pans down a swing swaying slightly is also made visible, you can hear diagetic sound from the noises of wildlife, but the viewer can also hear a creaking noise, which can also be suggesting movement.

The scene then jump cuts again to a gas cooker being lit, with a sudden noise, as the phone rings for the third time the camera pans across the room following the character where she goes, an effective mid shot is used here, letting the viewer understand the relationship with the person on the phone. Sound effects are also used in this part of the scene. A tracking shot is then used to follow her down a hallway into another room; it is also made apparent that she locked the door on the way.

RESEARCH: Horror

RESEARCH: Prom Night

Prom Night

Year: 1980

Genre: Horror

Writer: William Gray

Director: Paul Lynch

Opening Two Minutes.

The establishing shot that we see is a close up shot of the reflection of an old building in a piece of glass or mirror. The camera focuses on that shot for a few seconds and then it starts to pan from right to left out of the reflection as well as slowly rising upwards. At this point we can just hear non-diagetic noise this is a high pitched screeching noise, this noise is not only creating tension but it also suggests that were leading up to an important part in the film. We pass some rubbish and over grown grass, giving us the impression that no one goes to this place anymore or that no one should be there, we can now see a long shot of the building which was originally shown in the reflection. The building looks old an run down with broken and boarded up windows. As the screech slowly rises in volume we can then here a voice of some one counting, there is also banging noises which sound like movement, we can presume that the voices are coming from inside the building that we can see, as we haven’t been shown any other place. The camera jump cuts to the left hand side of the building and pans from left to right, the camera then briefly zooms in on a ground floor window, we can still hear banging noises and some one saying “the killer is coming”. There is then another jump cut to a separate part of the building and the camera now pans from right to left along the building in a long shot, with the camera angle low and pointing up towards the building. This time the camera zooms in on an upper floor window, the voices that we can hear are now sounding more violent than before “the killers are coming” is now said but you can hear more than one voice saying it together. The non – diagetic screeching noise is still being played.

There is then another jump shot to the left of the building, the camera then very quickly pans from left to right, we can heard short but fast notes of a violin being played and as a scream is heard the camera focuses on an upper floor building, suggesting to us that that is where the scream is coming from. There is then another short burst of violin notes.

The camera then jump cuts to a mid shot of the main doors, we can see bikes left outside, which suggests that the voices we heard were of children. The camera is quickly zooming in on the doors; we can hear the voices now saying “kill, kill” an also laughter.

The camera jump cuts and we are now in a dark hallway with the camera high up and angled down on the hallway, we can still hear the distant shouts of “kill, kill”, which makes us believe we are now in the building we were originally outside. We can hear laughter and the short burst of violin; the hallways keep changing and the camera heights. A characters name is now introduced and we know there is at least two people, “Wendy your it”

The camera then cuts to a long shot of two children in the doorway, one child who is leaning against the wall, as she starts to count two more children become visible as they run off. They are all breathing heavily and it is obvious that they are looking for somewhere to hide. There is a tracking shot used as we follow one boy with a cap on down a hallway to the left. There camera cuts to show the other two children looking down another corridor.

The music changes hear and a non-diagetic sound of an orchestra is introduced, playing high and low pitched notes, creating more tension.

We follow one child up a staircase, where something fall down, the camera jump cuts to show where the other children are hiding.

We then cut back to the doorway where the character, Wendy, was left counting. She walks towards the camera; we then see a close up of her face. This shows her expressions.

The camera cuts to a zoomed in shot of the window facing towards the driveway of the building, we see three more characters now. We can hear classical music, but it then abruptly stops as we cut to outside with a mid shot focusing on then as they walk towards the building. These people as well dressed and look smarter dressed then the children who were inside the building. The music is stopped and we see the different responses the children have to seeing the boy in a cap on the roof of the building.

RESEARCH: Horror

 RESEARCH: Dawn Of The Dead

Dawn Of The Dead

Year: 1978

Genre: Horror

Director: George A. Romero

Writer: George A. Romero

Opening Two Minutes.

We first see a red, rough background; at this point we can hear a loud low pitched note being played, which then turned to a high pitch. There is also synchronous diagetic sound of people shouting and talking. The camera then zooms out and pans from left to right to reveal that is the corner of a room. There is a blonde haired lady sitting curled up in the corner; it is clear that she is having a nightmare, she is moving her head and cry quietly. The movie title then appears on the screen in a white font “DAWN of the DEAD” the words “dawn” and “dead” being in capitals are putting emphasis on the fact that this is going to be a horror film. The blonde haired lady screams loudly, making the music abruptly. A male character is introduced and an over the shoulder shot is used when he talks to her “are you alright?” . the camera then cuts to a bird’s eye view shot of the room, showing us that we are in a studio for a television centre, people arguing can still be heard outside.

A two shot is sued now to show a conversation between the blonde haired lady and another lady, they are watching a television screen on a news reporter arguing. The situation is shown to be very stressful “still dreaming”, the situation seems to be unreal.

There is a jump cut to a mid shot of the man leaving the studio to the busy space outside, which is an operator room. You can hear a significant change in volume from everyone arguing outside. Another lady walks into the studio room and gives the blonde a drink. They discuss the situation and show that they are concerned; you can see their body language that they are worried.

Match on action is used as the blonde haired lady leaves the room, and enters the operator room where there are a lot of people, running around, shouting and on phones, everyone is very busy and look stressed. When the blonde haired lady leaves the studio the high pitched tone starts playing again, here is also diagetic sound of people having conversations, the camera slowly panned down from left to right, and focused in a mid shot on a man and a woman who are having an argument.

The camera focuses on different television screens, before jump cutting to a news reporter having an argument, they are discussing the ‘living dead’ showing that it is a horror film, by discussing the cultural meme of the ‘living dead’.

The camera jump cuts to a long shot of the television studio, in the background the news reporter can be seen arguing.

We then jump cut to a long shot of the operator room, at this point the main sound being heard is the high pitched classical tones. Match on action is used as the blonde lady walks over to an older man to find out about rescue station. They discuss inoperative rescue stations, and show their concerns at them not being in use. This shows that there is a big worry being mutually shared, this is drawing the viewer in wanting to know what they are all so concerned about.

The camera then uses several different jump cuts to show close ups of peoples different arguments in the operator room; with the sound here being a mixture of voices and the high pitched notes.