Film Analysis: The Woman In Black

The Woman in Black is a gothic horror/ghost film about a man trying to solve the mystery of the woman in black and why people keep dying and doing dangerous things that no ordinary person would do. It is set in the past rather than modern day, which is evident through the clothing and language used.

The opening scene of the film shows three young girls in a bedroom, having a tea party with a China tea set and China dolls and they all seem to be enjoying themselves. You can tell immediately that it is not set in a present day time drama as they are all dressed in an old fashioned way and playing with toys that children these days wouldn't be seen playing with. The film seems to be set in England, based on the clothes, the toys, and later on the accents that can be heard from the characters.

The lighting is quite dream like and soft, making the young girls seem very innocent and angelic, although the lighting has a slightly cool tone to it, suggesting that something bad may happen. The camera angles are fairly basic, however, sometimes they are slightly offset as not to show the whole picture to create a sense of mystery and so that the audience isn't in the know about everything, making them curious to find out. The overall effect of the camera angles and the lighting is quite a spooky, spine chilling one as it looks too bleak and innocent and we can't see everything at once and so get the feeling that something is watching.

There are a lot of cuts from one shot to the next rather than continuity as this means that the audience is only really seeing snippets at a time, creating an elect of mystery to the film as they'll want to know what exactly is going on. However, because it is not yet out right horror, a lot of the cuts are quite soft and change from one shot to the next without too much jolting to continue with the sinister, dream-like effect of the film.

Everything in this film seems to be slowed down ever so slightly, not quite enough to be your typical cheesy slow-mo, but enough to make you feel paranoid whilst watching it as you can see what's coming and all you can do is sit there and watch whilst  it happens extra slowly to make it more horrific and hard hitting. For example, when the tea cup drops, we can see that it is going to hit the floor, however it seems to take forever to happen and so more suspense is held. This is further intensified when the girls walk towards the windows and proceed to open them, as we can all see what's coming next yet can do nothing to prevent it and so are forced to watch as the three young, innocent girls all jump out of the window to their death. This particularly adds to the creepy, sinister feel as it is not at all gory or dark or typical of a horror movie, but instead more light an innocent, making it feel more like it could happen in real life, thus scaring the audience.

The set and the costume etc is mainly realism, as they are all wearing clothes that would have been normal of the time period and it is set in England in realistic houses, however, sometimes the lighting can be almost as if it is in a dream-like state, especially at the start and at other times when characters have been possesed.

It follows a fairly simple narrative structure as there aren't really any flashbacks or any chopping and changing and mainly just follow the mans day to day activities over a fairly short time span, however not too short. This is to make it seem realistic to the audience, as horror movies are scarier if it is actually more believable that the thing it's about could really happen.

There is a lot of dialogue in The Woman In Black as the main character searches for clues about the woman in black bay asking various people and going around the village trying to find out as much as he can. However, there are some bits with less talking as the character is 'alone' in the house, and so may talk to himself or his dog or whoever else he feels is there with him. The acting style is very naturalistic and there are no big exaggerate characters, only seemingly normal ones to add to the horror factor.

Film Analysis: Pacific Rim

Pacific Rim is a film about the world ending due to giant monsters escaping from the ocean. In order to fight this, robots that can be controlled are created to fight the monsters.

The opening scene shows various news clips and documentary-like footage of these monster/alien attacks to give the audience an idea of what is happening and so that they can empathise with the characters in the movie as it allows them to see all the damage and destruction in a way that they would see it if it was real, making it a more realistic experience for them.

The main character is also introduced in the opening scene of the movie, along side his brother, we cannot tell straight away which one is the main character, however because they have both been introduced near the start, we can assume that one or both of them is going to have quite an important role in the film.

There are a lot of establishing and close up shots in the beginning of this film, which is typical of the action/adventure/sci-fi genre as it gives the audience a good chance to both get to know the setting, whether it is a fantasy setting or somewhere realisitic and also who the main characters are and what kind of people they are. The establishing shots in Pacific Rim show the viewer that it is set in a realistic world, in real places, however features unrealistic characters such as the monsters and the robots. It also presents the main characters as a bunch of average guys who have signed themselves up to this robot thing, much like the average, day-to-day guys that sign up to the real armed forces etc.

There is some cutting form one shot to the next in Pacific Rim to create the idea of chaos and disaster as the choppy shots give he idea of confusion and make it more disorientating for the audience to watch, rather than it being smoother and easier to follow, which would make it seem more calm. Other shots flow from one to the next more smoothly and naturally, to contrast with the chaos and make an obvious distinction between the bits where bad things are happening and the parts where it is more calm and relaxed.

The lighting and setting throughout the film is quite realistic as it is set as though it is in real life cities featuring ordinary people and not in a made up place, however, a lot of fx and cg is used to create the sea monsters and the robots, as these aren't exactly real things that they could actually use, and so an elimination of the film is unrealistic, however, the unreal element being in a real setting makes it seem less questionable to the audience as it seems more natural and will be more relatable if it is in a setting that they are used to.

The narrative of the film is fairly straight forward with not really any flash backs or flash forwards and the story is mostly told as it is happening through use of dialogue and also through what is happening visually. However, there are some flashback scenes when they are going inside the robots, which give the viewer some insight into the characters past, making it more interesting as bits are revealed along the way.

A very naturalistic style of acting is used in Pacific Rim and all the characters seem to be relatively normal and average-person like. I think this is used to make it seem as real as possible to make it more relatable for the audience if the characters are just regular people with regular families.

There is a lot of diegetic sound in the film such as characters voices and the sounds that supposedly come from the sea monsters  and the robots. Yet again, I believe is is used to continue the natural and real  life like effect of the film. There is also some non-diegetic sound such as dramatic music, which is very typical of films of this genre as it helps to build tension and create drama, as well as potentially foreshadowing coming events.

Film Analysis: 10 Things I Hate About You

10 Things I Hate About you is a Teen Comedy film about a boy who bribes another person to date a girl, so that he can date that girl's sister. It is set in a high school and was made in 1999.

The film opens with a high angle shot of a city, to set the scene for the rest of the film. This is effective as it instantly shows the audience what to expect from the rest of the film and having the setting as the first thing shown shows the setting to be quite an important part of the film.

It then continues to zoom in until it reaches a road, where we see the car the music is supposedly coming from. The road has quite a few cars on it full of young people, suggesting they are teenagers trying to get to school, which tells the audience what kind of age the main characters are going to be.

The film uses fairly basic camera angles such as establishing shots, mid shots and close ups in it's opening scene. These are used to set the scene completely for the audience as it gives them insight on the setting and the characters, as well as the characters in the setting and how they respond to other characters within their setting, such as when another girl in a car pulls up next to the group listening to the opening music.

It has quite a neutral atmosphere and it seems to be shot on a clear sunny day and all the characters seem to be in a good mood and the basic, non-dramatic shots, angles and lighting helps to reflect this and give the movie a normal, every day feel to it. Basic shots like this are quite conventional of the genre as teens who are watching this kind of movie aren't really looking for any tense, dramatic build ups or mystery.

The editing in the opening scene of the film is also pretty smooth and basic as with this kind of film, it is more about the plot and the characters and the narrative than the editing as editing isn't the kind of stuff that'll appeal to the target audience. A lot of continuity is used for the first bit, as it starts out zoomed out quite far so that you can see lots of buildings and houses but then it zooms in right up until you get to the car, giving it quite a seamless and easy-to-follow effect when watching it.

It then cuts a couple of times to show the audience the person in the other car, and also shows peoples feet with hockey sticks to give the audience more information about the scene. The cutting shows that these different shots are fairly unrelated and are at different places/times. It then goes back to another fairly continuous shot where it moves up from the close up of the group of teens to show the whole scene, zooming out and upwards to show many more people as well as a building. This is used to continue to set the scene and it suggests that the film will be set in a high school.

The film is realistic and nothing about it is fantasy-like. The lighting is natural looking and it is set in an average looking town/city which you would get in real life and nothing stands out as out of the ordinary. This shows the audience what kind of genre the film is and provides them with a relatable setting, making them think it will be a relatable movie.

Film Analysis: The Perks of Being A Wallflower

     The very first scene of the film begins with a teenage boy sat at a desk in a moderately dark room. There is a desk and a lamp and he is writing a letter. This could suggest that he is in school and so has this stuff to do his school work and so it helps to set the scene for the audience. The furniture looks homely and the boy looks relaxed in the room, suggesting that it is his bedroom and so the viewer already knows where it is set.

     The lighting remains quite dark and warm and homely, adding to the bedroom like effect and the camera angles are not very direct, so that the character is in the centre of the shot, however, they are being looked at at an angle. This suggests that the person on the screen is the main character. The camera zooms out from the character, slowly revealing more and more of the room, which suggests the character is more important than the setting as the boy comes foremost, then his bedroom. However, because we are shown it near the start, it implies it is quite an important setting in the rest of the movie.

     The opening scene doesn't really consist of many different shots, however, when it does change from one to the next, it does so fairly smoothly to keep the relaxed, homely tone to the film. The only point it changes from being in the bedroom is when it quickly switches to another scene and then back again, to give the audience a little more insight.

     The set, costumes and lighting are all quite realistic, which shows that the film will probably not be fantasy of any kind and will be set in a normal place.
   
  The film follows quite a simple narrative structure as it starts with it being fairly calm and then there is an issue and then the issue is resolved, as with most films of any genre. However, there are some flashbacks, which help to give the audience more information about the characters background and past and can help to further explain current happenings in the film, such as when it goes back to explain about his present and his aunt in the car crash.

     There is quite a bit of dialogue in the film, however because it is done in quite a diary like style, as the main character is often writing letters, there is also often a lot of the character talking to himself and giving a narration of sorts about his life and reselling things after they have happened, which gives the film quite a personal feel as a diary and letters to someone are quite personal things and so the viewer feels as if they know quite important details, which draws them in and causes them to like the main character.

     There is a lot of diegetic sound such as the characters talking to one another and music being played as a lot of the film revolves around music and there is music playing at their school dance thing as well as when they are in one of the characters car.

     As well as this, there is some non diegetic sound, such as music that the characters aren't aware of and also the fact we can hear the characters thoughts out loud is not something we'd normally be able to hear, and so is obviously edited in as sometimes we can hear the character saying things, but can't actually see his mouth moving.     

Film Analysis: Now You See Me

     Now You See Me is a film about magicians and has an action based genre. The opening scene consists of each of the different magicians performing a tick in front of an audience, either a large one or a small one.  

     The first magic trick involves a close up shot of a man surrounded by a crowd in a city at night. The man is holding a deck of cards, about to perform a magic trick. The close up is to distract your attention from the magic trick so you don't figure out how it works.

     You can tell straight away that the film is set in various big cities as the city names come up in captions at the beginning of the film and you also see shots of each of the cities that the trick takes place. Some of the establishing shots show smaller places such as a boat or a cafe and less of the city as a whole which shows that the characters are just normal people in normal places.

     The beginning of the movie is set in both dark and light places, rather than just sticking to one kind of place/lighting to show how different all of the characters lives are to give a bit of background knowledge to the audience. There are a lot of long and mid shots as these show more of the scene at once and so is helpful for setting the initial scene for the audience. These kinds of shots also help the audience to get to know the characters as not only are they seeing the character but they're also seeing how the character acts amongst other people and so what kind of a person they are.

     It usually flows quite smoothly from one shot to the next to avoid it being jumpy, making it smoother which helps with the whole theme of magic and illusion as if the audience is always focussed on the same part of the screen, they are less likely to notice the slight of hand magic tricks or the give away to the illusion, making the audience feel as though they are really there.

     The films set in very realistic as it is meant to be set in real cities rather than a fantasy place, and so real cities are shot to show this. The lighting is also very natural; harsh where it needs to be but softer and more natural in other places to show the variation of real natural light.

     The narrative of the story is mostly various magicians doing their magic tricks, usually including dialogue between the magician and the person or people they are performing the trick on. This kind of style makes the viewer feel like a spectator and like they are watching the man or woman perform the magic trick on someone.
   
A very naturalistic approach is taken with acting to add to the idea that it is in a real life setting and ugh many of the characters have bike and outgoing personalities, they are acted in a relatable and human way rather than it being too over the top and comedic.

The sound uses in mostly diegetic, such the frequent dialogue between the magician and the person they are performing the tricks on as well as noises such as the flipping of cards or background noises from boats and passers-by. Despite this, there is often also non-diegetic background music used to add tension and dramatic build up to the reveal of the magicians trick to make the audience become as excited as the actors as they wait in anticipation to see what the magic trick is going to be.

   

Comparison of editing: Interstellar and The Lego Movie

     Interstellar opens with close-up clips of various people talking in an interview-like situation, suggesting a documentary like style. It often cuts between these close-ups of people to establishing shots of the things they were talking about, such as the crops and the dust storms, which helps to set the scene for the viewer and helps them understand what the characters may be thinking. Interstellar has quite a sci-fi/action kind of genre and although interview style shots aren't exactly conventional, they're not unheard of amongst the genre and can be very useful to set the scene and give the viewer some insight on the situation.

     There are then some close up shots of a man inside a plane. There are quite abrupt jump cuts between these shots to give the idea of confusion and panic as the plane seems to be about to crash. Using these shots helps the audience understand the characters emotions as when jump cuts are used it is hard to keep track of what is what and so they'll feel the same confusion as the character.

     The beginning of Lego Movie has many establishing shots and mid shots which help to set the scene for the audience. This is important for films like the Lego Movie because there might be younger children watching it and so it's less confusing if they can see what's happening and also because it makes it easier to show off the Lego stylisation of the film, as everything is made of Lego pieces and they live in a Lego world.

     A lot of mid shots are used when focussing on the character rather than long shots as Lego characters are obviously going to have a lot less facial expression than real human actors and so using a mid shot allows their limited range of facial expression and gesture to be seen at the same time to help show how the character is feeling.

     There are quite a few high angle and birds eye view shots at the beginning of the movie, which are also used to set the scene, such as the cars driving through the city, to emphasise the methodicalness of the characters lifestyles and how everything is done in such a basic way.

     Because the films are of two very different genres, there is quite a difference in what is used. For example, there is a lack of interviews in Lego Movie (although there are some later in the film, however, they weren't used for establishing). Just as there is a lack of birds eye views in Interstellar. This is because Interstellar has more of a drama genre than Lego Movie, and so doesn't show everything at once to keep some mystery about what is happening, where as Lego Movie is more about action and is more of a child's movie and so keeps things simple by establishing the scene in an obvious way immediately so the viewers can focus more on the plot than where they are.

Movie Genre Conventions: Documentary

    A documentary film is often based on real life happenings reenacted by professional actors to tell the story in a more dramatic and interesting way. These films can often be quite educational if portrayed well and not exaggerated too much, as they often contain video footage of the real incident happening if such footage exists.

    

    Documentary films do not have to always be based on real life events though. Some documentaries could be completely fictional action or horror films where the conventional documentary style filming and commentary is used to make the film seem more realistic and personal as the viewer will feel as though they are witnessing these events first hand and more privately than if it was made in a more ordinary style.

    Actuality is the term used to describe said clips of real footage rather than actor recreation. Explanation, commentary and dramatisation are also conventional of documentary films as they are used to make it feel as though the viewer is being directly spoken to and dramatisation makes the story line for intriguing for the reader because if it's quite a boring event, it will seem more normal to the viewer and so they will be less drawn into it.

    Voice-overs are often used in documentaries, which are usually spoken by the protagonist, or the person 'filming' the documentary (when it's usually actually a professional.) There is also some duologue in documentary films, often between the cameraman/woman and the/a person in the shot. This can often be in the form of an interview, which is particularly effective in showing the potential points of views of the people there at the time.

    Archival footage is the word used to describe the footage used in actuality. Archival footage is footage from a real life happening stored in a library or archive, which can later be inserted into a film or other footage.

    Documentary films frequently start with exposition which is used at the very beginning of the film and is there to introduce important themes. Common themes of documentary films are non-fiction, disaster, drama, action, horror, romance or sci-fi. Documentaries can basically be done with any theme/sub-genre as you can document anything really.

    A documentary is not really limited to any particular kinds of shots, however, it is unlikely to find unnatural camera angles such as birds-eye views as this is often unacheivable when using a hand-held camera, unless you're stood above someone. Mid shots and close ups are typical of this genre as well as establishing shots.