Linear
Linear narratives normally follow a chronological order of events within a story. These are stories which start at the beginning, follow through to the middle and finish at the end. Some stories in films build tension such as horror films. Therefore, using the linear narrative structure will be the most suitable.
EXAMPLE: The Purge
For our opening, we plan to making the narrative linear to ensure that the audience can follow the plot easily and understand what is happening throughout. Also, we wish to build as much tension and suspense as we can, therefore, a linear narrative supports us in doing so.
Non-Linear
This structure is when the events in the story does not follow chronological order. Therefore, the story moves about in time throughout the film. This means that the beginning of the film, starts by showing the end. This is a good structure to use when you want to create dramatic irony. This is when the audience is aware of the outcome but the characters are not.
EXAMPLE: The Killing
The horror genre category in the movie business are generally the most profitable and the cheapest to make. Horror films are made with low budgets due to the lack of special effects needed. For example; 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' left people terrified with just a man with a murderous power tool and it only cost $140,000 to make, gaining $26 million in return. Therefore, it makes the genre ideal for taking small risks and it is likely to gain large profits. Many new filmmakers and producers tend to be involved in the horror genre first to gain a successful reputation. For example, 'Paranormal Activity 4' only cost $5 million to make and made a huge profit of $135 million domestically and overseas.
Claude Levi-Strauss was a french anthropologist and ethnologist (28th November 1908 - 30th October 2009) who came up with the 'Binary Opposition Theory'.
He created the idea of binary opposition with the idea that every story unconsciously reflects the values, myths and beliefs of a culture. The binary opposition is a pair of related terms of concepts that are opposite in meaning. He came to the conclusion that we make sense of the world, people and events by using binary opposites.He was influenced by several leading media theorists including Saussure Jakobson, Mauss etc. Examples of binary opposites are:
Tzvetan Todorov's narrative theory suggests that most films follow a five step structure where the beginning is an equilibrium, where everything is balanced.
The five stages are:
EQUILIBRIUM - This is when the film begins and everything seems to be normal
DISTRIBUTION OF EQUILIBRIUM - This is when the balance and normality is disrupted by a certain event
DIS-EQUALIBRIUM - When the characters have a realisation of the disruption
ATTEMPTS TO REPAIR DISRUPTION - When characters attempt to repair and restore the issue
REINSTATEMENT OF DISRUPTION - When the problem has been defeated and restored back to the new equilibrium
In opening credits, the main people involved in the film are listed. This could be the camera man/woman, actors or actresses, directors and writers which will be displayed on the screen at the very beginning. Then, the title of the film should appear. These generally have hidden connotations and use iconography for the audience in order to give them a sense of what type of genre or plot the film has. These connotations are usually showed though the use of colour and font. For example, the title of the film 'Saw'' is shown in a red, crooked font which connotes blood and gore. There is also a black background which can foreshadow death.
The type of film can also be portrayed through credits by sound. This has been shown in the title of scream as when the title appears, a girls loud, scream is heard at the same time.
As soon as the the film starts, you immediately know that it is a media res as it doesn't have a beginning. Two protagonists are shown in the car having a conversation and making use of the technique, shot-reverse-shot. By using this technique, the audience are able to see both of the characters faces and emotions. Furthermore, you can see that they are both portraying happy and flirty emotions.
However, by listening to the music and seeing the woman's facial expressions, the audience feels as though the woman is quite mysterious and sneaky. Also because she isn't telling the man where they are going. The music is fast and mysterious which can be seen as representation of a vampires characteristics and it gets the audience intrigued, keeping their attention.
The credits that have been added are in a font and colour that matches the genre. this is because the red font connotes blood, gore and anger. The clear, boldness of the writing represents horror and demonstrates that it is not a comedy or romance. By thinking about fonts and colours for credits is key iconography that plays a part in the making of the genre.
After this, the camera immediately films the woman leading the oblivious man through what looks like a butchers factory. However, the camera is filming from a side profile of the two characters instead of filming face on. This is so that the viewers can see more of the setting and what they are walking through. As a result of this, the audience is still finding the scene quite odd as they can see hundreds of dead animals hanging up. The mise-en-scene is appropriate for a horror as it is a weird setting, pale lighting and the music continues to be quite fast, building up the suspense. Non-diegetic sound of chain saws has been included which gives the audience an idea of what is happening to these animals.
By looking at this shot, this presents the characters personalities without the need of speech. It shows that the man is a stereotypical American who has no clue on where is, what he's doing or who he's with. It portrays that men can be thoughtless when in the presence of a female. The woman has red, vibrant hair, pale skin and shows no emotion, letting the audience realise that her mood in the car was fake. It guides people to thinking that she is going to do something bad to him or take him somewhere dangerous as she herself seems dangerous.
The camera angle then changes to show their faces. However, by this point, the mans attention has already been grabbed when a dozen transparent bodybags pass by showing dead human bodies inside. Its was at this moment where she began to start worrying. This part can be seen as foreshadowing what could happen to him, meaning he could end up being the one in a bodybag. The mysterious women is now shown to be wearing all black under her blue coat which could have been used as a disguise in order to look innocent. She seems to act like she is confident and knows what she is doing as well as coming across quite bored. This makes us think that this isn't the first time she has done this.
As she progresses closer to the door with the security guard, you hear the sound of club/party music playing making the audience wonder even more about what is on the other side of the door. She shouts out something to the guard in a different language which could be swedish or another language that vampires are known to speak. This confuses the man even more and as a result of his worrying, the woman suddenly kisses him. This stereotypically represents men as being able to be tamed by women by women doing the smallest of actions. The confusion of the audience continues as they wonder why there would even be a guard in a butchers. The guard then opens the door.
They walk through and are immediately introduced with the busy atmosphere of a club that has pounding, blaring and fast music with hundreds of dancing people. Within the filming of this, there are fast shots, slow motion shots, out of focus shots and close up shots. This then shows what the club atmospheres are like.
You also notice a close up of a hook hanging from the ceiling as the camera circles around it. This is shown to support the horror genre and makes you reflect back to when they characters were outside, walking in between dead animals and humans on HOOKS. It is difficult but some may notice a few people wearing bags.
The vibrant red head joins another girl in all white which connotes an angel. The blond American man then joins them but is roughly pushed back but the character in all white. The woman who the man came with is not fazed by this and now ignores the man.
I have also taken into consideration the way the people are acting with each other. most of them seem to be acting quite sexual with one another. This then links their promiscuous actions to vampires as vampires stereotypically have this characteristic.
After the man has been shoved into the middle of the crowd, he suddenly feels something drip on his hand. This drop is blood which is shown by using a close up, point of view shot of his hand. The camera gradually lowers, soon revealing the ceiling as the music starts to become faster. The shot then changes to the DJ as the lights behind him light up to reveal two disturbing words, 'Blood Bath'.
There is then a close up of sprinklers on the ceiling with suddenly release a red substance which the audience has no gathered that it is blood. The people then liven up even more as we have now gathered that the American man is surrounded by vampires. Close up shots of the vampires are taken as theystart to hiss and show their fangs at the man who is now terrified. These close up shots are used for effect. Non-diegetic sounds for the vampires have been added such as hisses which make the scene scarier.
Someone punches the man which is shown in a point of view shot which makes the audience feel as though they are getting punched. The man falls to the floor and the camera drops down to his level, catching him crawling out of the crowd. As he gets out, he is still crawling until he comes across a pair of black, leather boots and black trousers which do not have one drop of blood on them. as he looks up, the music lowers in volume greatly but is still playing faintly in the background. The sprinklers then stop as well as the music and the only music that is playing is faint, slow and suspenseful.
The camera angle is looking down on the American man as he looks up at the man in black who we are yet to know if he is good or bad. the camera then jumps onto the mans waist and travels upwards revealing that the man is wearing all black, leather clothes. The camera is now low and looking upwards which makes the audience feel as though the mysterious man is tall and powerful. All of the people have stopped dancing now and clear a walk way for him which gives us the idea that the man is there leader. We then see the mans full appearance.
Lionsgate
It is a small Canadian entertainment company. As of 2007, it was the most commercially successful independent film and television distribution company in North America. Most of the genres they base their films around are thriller, action and drama. However, they have made some horror films also. The best horror films Liongate have made are:
Saw 3D (distributed) - released in 2010 - Budget: $17 million
Saw 1,2,3,4, (distributed) - all released between 2004-2008 - Budget ranging between $1.2 - $10 million
The last exorcism (distributed)
My Bloody Valentine (produced and distributed)
The Eye (produced and distributed)
From the films I have researched, I have found that most of their horrors have been distributed and a small number have been distributed and produced. Ideally, my group wish for our film to work in synergy with a company with plenty of experience in both areas. Therefore, our group do not plan on working in synergy with this company.
Universal Pictures This conglomerate is one of the six major movie studios and is one of Americas oldest movie studios that are still in continuous production. It was founded in 1912 by Carl Laemmie. They create and distribute theatrical and non-theatrical filmed entertainment.
Some of the well-known horror films created and/or distributed by Universal pictures are:
- Drag me to hell (produced and distributed)
- The Strangers (distributed)
- Dead Silence (distributed)
- Dracula (produced)
However, in recent years, their profits have not been as high as they used to be which has resulted in there film budget being lower. Due to their fairly low budgets, we have gone against the idea of working with them as we believe that the success rate for their films in the horror genre have decreased due to the financial issues.
Miramax It is an American company which is known for being very good at producing and distributing many films and television shows of different genres. Its headquarters is in Santa Monica, California and was founded in 1979. It is now a subsidiary for the oligopoly, Filmyard Holdings. Well known horror films Miramax has produced and distributed is 'Scream' and 'Scary Movie' which were extremely successful with 'Scream' receiving $173 million and 'Scary Movie' earning $278,019,771.
Warner Bros Warner Brothers is a conglomerate and are a big and popular film studio that is based in California and New York. It is the global leader in the creation, production, distribution, licensing and marketing of all forms of creative content. They create many films of different genres such as comedy, romance, action, horror and fantasy. Warner Bros have created a large number of films and have been in the production business for longer than 20th Century Fox. They have also produced and distributed a larger number of successful and well-known horror films than 20th Century Fox for a longer period of time. They are dedicated to producing films which will be liked by all different audiences. Some of the best horror films created by Warner Bros are: - Orphan (produced and distributed) - Friday the 13th (distributed) - One missed call (distributed) - Sweeny Todd (produced and distributed) - The Wicker Man (produced and distributed)
Even though this company has created many films in its time, their horror industry has not been the most successful genre as their are not any horror films that are found in the top 20 for Warner Bros. Therefore, they do not have great experience in the horror genre and my group have decided against the idea of working in synergy with them.
20th Century Fox They are one of the six major American film studios founded in 1935. The majority of their successful films are comedies and family genre films such as 'Night at the museum'.
Even though 20th Century Fox are known for their family comedies, they have also made horror films such as: - From Hell (distributed)
- Alien (produced)
- The Omen (produced)
- Jennifer's Body (distributed)
- Shutter (distributed)
- The Haunting of Molly Hartley (distributed)
An issue that my group faced with this institution was that their top grossing films are not from the horror genre. Therefore, drawing us away from the idea of working in synergy with them as they seem to not have a large amount of experience with this genre.
Hammer Films This institution is based in the UK, founded in 1934. They are best known for their gothic horror films which were produced between the mid 1950s until the 1970s. They based all of their films on the horror genre which make them unique and are one of the smaller institutions. Another difference between Hammer Films and other American film studios, are that they are better when producing independent films whereas American films produce mainstream films.
Some of their most successful work is:
- The Curse of Frankenstein
- Dracula
- The Mummy
- The Phantom of the Opera
At first, my group were deciding between Miramax and Hammer Films. However, Hammer Films did not grab my groups attention as it is a much smaller company with less money. Another reason is that their most successful work has been made during the 1900s and early 2000s which leads my group to believing that their recent horrors have not be successful due them possibly being 'old-fashioned' and also that the gothic horror genre has died out.
Therefore, after researching institutions that have made horror films, we have decided to work in synergy with Miramax for my own horror opening as they have more experience in the production and distribution of films. Also they have been running for a very long time, producing many successful films of a variety of genres including horror. Another aspects that draws me in towards Miramax is that it have produced and distributed many series films. This is beneficial as it keeps the audience intrigued as to what the next film will be like. Also, from my research, i have discovered that most of their horror films are for ages 18 and above. Therefore, as our film is certified as a 15, we thought we could introduce a wider range of ages which would provide a larger audience
