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.