Existing product research

The Falling

Firstly, this clip starts of with non-diegetic sound as it is a voiceover, which appears to be a girl reading a poem of some sort. This is informative as she is explaining what has or is happening to her. When she is talking, you can still hear what is going on in the scene. For example, at the beginning she is looking at a women spraying her hair with hair spray. This is diegetic sound as the character can hear it. There is then a sound bridge, which makes the transition of scenes run more smoothly. When it suddenly switches to the rapid change of shots, there is a sound of a bell ringing, which starts of being a non-diegetic sound. When the flash of shots stop, the bell continues to ring, which is another sound bridge and becomes diegetic sound as the girls in the scene can hear it. The bell then stops. After the two girls exchange a few lines of dialogue, the bell then continues to ring as they walk off to class. 

The camerawork is also interesting. It starts of with a big close-up of a bruised arm, at this point we don't know who's arm this may be, which acts as a enigma code. There is a medium shot of the back of a woman's head. There is then a pan from the girl, across to a women looking in the mirror. Throughout this scene we are not shown clearly what she looks like, which could signify that she is not a significant character in the film. 

The pace of editing starts of slow, and then there is a sudden switch of fast pace editing. Almost like a fast forward or remind, this is used to tell the audience that there is a change when cutting to the next shot. This is called a montage. Also, at the beginning there is a eye line match between the young girl and the women getting ready.

I would argue that the target audience for this film is mostly young females, aged 15 and over, as it is about young girls in high school. 



It Follows

The clip begins with an establishing shot of the classroom. It then pans, across one side of the classroom to the other. At the end of the pan, the female protagonist is shown sitting at her desk listening to the teacher, you could say that the beginning shot was a point of view shot as thats where she is looking. However, you wouldn't know this until the camera reaches her at the end of the pan. There is then long shot of outside the window and then a medium shot of her again at her desk, this happens several times. However, each time it cuts to the long shot of outside, the camera gets closer and closer building up suspense. Then there is a straight cut to a guy looking at the female protagonist, who is looking out of the window. There is then another pan, which follows the female protagonist get up and leave the classroom in a hurry. A tracking shot is then used to pick up the pace of the scene. There is then a straight cut to the protagonist walking towards the camera. 

The mise-en-scene in this clip helps the audience understand the female protagonist as her facial expression at the beginning of the scene was quite relaxed and then changed quite dramatically when she saw the women outside walking towards her. The female protagonist is almost always the main person in frame, especially at the end of the scene, when she is walking towards the door, the elderly lady is walking behind her, out of focus so that the audiences attention is drawn to her and her facial expressions.

The pace of editing doesn't really change, however, the use of sound makes it feel like it is getting faster. When the girl is looking out of the window, there is a eyeline match, the use of repeated juxtaposition makes the audience feel like they are almost experiencing what she is in the film. During the end of this clip, when the female protagonist runs out of the classroom and then says 'hello', the use of straight cuts makes it feel more intense, as the camera keeps going back and forth from the young girl to the elderly women. 

The target audience for this film would be young adults, aged 15 and over, due to most of the characters in this film being in high school/collage. I would say that the audience in terms of gender is fairly balanced as boys do end to like the gory side of horror films.

A Nightmare On Elm Street (2010)

The clip starts off with an wide/establishing shot of the classroom, full of students. The the camera pans, showing the female protagonist in a medium shot, writing at her desk. There is then a medium shot of a male student, whom is also at his desk writing, then he stops to look at the female protagonist. The camera then continues to pan. There is then a couple of wide shots, showing other students in the class and the teacher talking. The close up of the book, which has images of hangings and weapons, this connotes violence and acts as an enigma code. There is then a medium close-up of her realising she is in a dream. She is then transported to a dark room, there is then a medium shot of a dark clothed man at the black board. The girl then runs out of the classroom, which the camera pans to follow her movement. There is then a over the shoulder shot as the two characters come face-to-face in another room. The camera then shows a long shot of both characters, which then pans once again. There is a slight tilt to the camera when shown the medium shots of the male villain, to perhaps show dominance in this situation.  

The pace of editing is also interesting, at the beginning it starts of slow. When the female protagonist is transported into her 'dream'  the editing becomes much more fast pace, when she wakes up, it becomes slow again. There is mostly straight cuts used in this clip, there is one jump cut, when the girl wakes up and is suddenly back in the classroom. The use of juxtaposition is used when she looks at he book, with violent images in. There is then a eyeline match towards the end, where she looks at her desk and then picks up a piece of her hair, which has been cut.     

The target audience for this film would be young teens aged 15 and over as there are violent scenes throughout. I would say that it is a mix between men and women as it is quite gory.

Oculus

The mise-en-scene in this clip makes us interpret the female protagonist as fearless and someone who is intrigued about what she is investigating.  The lighting in this struck me the most as it sets the atmosphere perfectly. The use of low-key lighting and having a blue undertone makes the atmosphere feel cold and tense. This makes the audience feel uneasy and anxious about what is going to happen next. Her facial expression is very stern looking, which makes the audience see her as someone who is strong and authoritative. The props used in this clip, such as cut glass, connotes violence and/or danger. 

The clip opens with a couple of medium close ups, when she opens up the laps for light, there is a low angle shot when she looks down at the floor. There is then a medium shot of her walking away from the camera. Followed by another medium shot of her walking down the stairs. This is quickly followed by a close up of her feet, stepping onto some cut glass or material of some kind. There is then a close up of her hands holding the piece of shattered material. There is then a slight tilt of the camera when she pulls out her phone, followed by another close up of hands holding the phone this time. 

The pace of editing is quite consistent throughout, the beginning starts of with fast straight cuts. There is a jump cut at the end of this clip, which forces the audiences' attention to the creepy looking women that suddenly pops up. There is several uses of eyeline matches, when she looks at the cut pieces of material and her phone.

  

The target audience for this film, in terms of gender, fairly balanced once again, as the film has strong bloody violence throughout the film which male audiences are typically attracted to. 

The Blair Witch Project

The use of handheld camerawork creates realism for the audience and making them feel like they are actually experiencing these events themselves. This makes it even more terrifying as it is more realistic. The use of the handheld camera also creates shakiness and unsteadiness. This makes the audiences feel tense and on edge and again almost transports the audience, making them feel like they are part of this journey too. The camera does drop a couple of times making it very realistic again and also forcing the audience to listen to the sounds. 

The use of the black and white/ monochrome camera creates a very spooky and gloomy atmosphere. Black and white almost brings an element of death and unhappiness as when you think of happiness you would usually think of bright, vibrant colours, however, in this case all the colour has been stripped back. This, therefore, creates a lifeless atmosphere. However, it isn't all in black and white, some of it is in colour, this could be to confuse the audience about what is real and what is not.

The sound is also interesting as there isn't much of it. This almost forces the viewer to watch in order to know what is going on. There is some dialogue, but not a lot, this is perhaps to make the audience focus on screen. This is a clever thing to do as normally in horror films you can look away, but still be able to understand what is going on. 

The Blair Witch Project would be both aimed at male and female, aged 15 to 30, this is because most of the characters are quite young, which appeals to this type of demographic.