3 May 2013
18 April 2013
22 March 2013
Permissions
I got permissions from all my actors to be in the film and to have their names shown in the opening credits.
Alice Rowlands (narrator and the Mother)
Libby Woolven (The rider and the friend) and Karli Ellis-Williams (The girl who gets killed.)
Alice Rowlands (narrator and the Mother)
Libby Woolven (The rider and the friend) and Karli Ellis-Williams (The girl who gets killed.)
7 March 2013
Analysis and Target audience
I analysed the beginning of Pan's Labyrinth directed by Guillermo del Toro, and released in the UK in 2006. The video I watched this from was in the original Spanish with subtitles in Dutch, so quotes may be different.
In chronological order:
Right at the start, there is only sound, there is the wind, wolves howling and heavy breathing while the opening credits roll. Because wolves are associated with horror films because of werewolves and also their roles in traditional fairytale. (For example Little Red Riding Hood.)
Humming is then added, which does seem a little out of place, because of all the horror conventions and then there is a calming presence via the humming, and it sounds like a lullaby, and adds to the non-diagetic sound at the start. It could connote that the audience is being lulled into a false sense of security, or that the humming is trying to put us at ease.
Then there are two still of writing, which set the time, place and the context of the film. (Which is Spain, 1944 while ruled by the fascist government.
The camera movements are very slow with a lot of pans and zoom ins used, with a mixture of cuts and fades used in the transitions.
The camera then pans to a girl - we now find that this is the source of the breathing.
A voice-over starts. He has a very slow and calming voice, so it reminds you of when you were a child and having a bedtime story read to you, which connotes that this could all be a story made up by a child.
The zoom-in into and 'through' the eye shows what's inside her mind, and things about her, because 'the eye is a window to the soul'.
The buildings connote a fantasy setting because they are similar to Greek and roman architecture, and the Romans and Greeks were known for their mythological beasts which connotes a fantasy genre.
And because you now know the girl is a princess, the semic narrative attached to a princess is that they need rescuing.
Like the girl in the story there is a blinding light, especially after all the dark shots! And white can connote a lab because of the colour coats and also white in sci-fi films is used a lot in costume. (Example: All of the clones in 'The Island' wear completely white uniforms.)
After the panning, there are two characters riding horses, they are hunting because there are dogs there and they mention later that they won't find anything to hunt.
And after that you see the shadow of a unicorn on the ground, this still leaves an air of mystery around the unicorn because the audience has not yet seen it for themselves.
One man is dressed very much like Robin Hood, the cap and tunic, so if he features on later in the film, he may have a personality and qualities very much like Robin Hood. Also the colours he wears connotes that he is young and inexperienced, as people with little experience are referenced to as 'green' which is the predominant colour in his dress code, and he also acts for the audience, as he asks a lot of questions, so the audience finds out the right information before the story gets underway.
The other man appears older because he is bald and has a very long beard, which is a media convention of old age, this is also anchored through his speech as he sets up the story for the audience and knows of the background story, which indicates that he is the wiser of the two, and older people are generally more wiser than their younger selves.
My Target audience is fans of horror and thriller films. And the age range would be 12-15 as there is no gore, no swearing and things like that, and the older range because they wouldn't identify with the characters as easily and the film would be gory/more scary, and there would be a lot more films that cater for that. Also the actors are around the age of 12/13, so a younger audience would be able to identify with them more.
In chronological order:
Right at the start, there is only sound, there is the wind, wolves howling and heavy breathing while the opening credits roll. Because wolves are associated with horror films because of werewolves and also their roles in traditional fairytale. (For example Little Red Riding Hood.)
Humming is then added, which does seem a little out of place, because of all the horror conventions and then there is a calming presence via the humming, and it sounds like a lullaby, and adds to the non-diagetic sound at the start. It could connote that the audience is being lulled into a false sense of security, or that the humming is trying to put us at ease.
Then there are two still of writing, which set the time, place and the context of the film. (Which is Spain, 1944 while ruled by the fascist government.
The camera movements are very slow with a lot of pans and zoom ins used, with a mixture of cuts and fades used in the transitions.
The camera then pans to a girl - we now find that this is the source of the breathing.
A voice-over starts. He has a very slow and calming voice, so it reminds you of when you were a child and having a bedtime story read to you, which connotes that this could all be a story made up by a child.
The zoom-in into and 'through' the eye shows what's inside her mind, and things about her, because 'the eye is a window to the soul'.
The buildings connote a fantasy setting because they are similar to Greek and roman architecture, and the Romans and Greeks were known for their mythological beasts which connotes a fantasy genre.
And because you now know the girl is a princess, the semic narrative attached to a princess is that they need rescuing.
Like the girl in the story there is a blinding light, especially after all the dark shots! And white can connote a lab because of the colour coats and also white in sci-fi films is used a lot in costume. (Example: All of the clones in 'The Island' wear completely white uniforms.)
2nd Analysis - The Last Unicorn (1982)
The start starts off dark, getting lighter then going through blue to green and then a yellow based colour scheme, showing the night and then the progression into day. This connotes through mise-en-scene that it is safe and not scary as monsters and things like that are associated with the dark and night time, so the sun has 'banished' them for the day. There is a slow zoom in and then it pans to the right, showing us the forest and then other scenery found in the forest and the surrounding places. The flutes anchor the fact that it isn't real because they are associated with fairytales and soft pieces because of the sound that they make.After the panning, there are two characters riding horses, they are hunting because there are dogs there and they mention later that they won't find anything to hunt.
And after that you see the shadow of a unicorn on the ground, this still leaves an air of mystery around the unicorn because the audience has not yet seen it for themselves.
One man is dressed very much like Robin Hood, the cap and tunic, so if he features on later in the film, he may have a personality and qualities very much like Robin Hood. Also the colours he wears connotes that he is young and inexperienced, as people with little experience are referenced to as 'green' which is the predominant colour in his dress code, and he also acts for the audience, as he asks a lot of questions, so the audience finds out the right information before the story gets underway.
The other man appears older because he is bald and has a very long beard, which is a media convention of old age, this is also anchored through his speech as he sets up the story for the audience and knows of the background story, which indicates that he is the wiser of the two, and older people are generally more wiser than their younger selves.
My Target audience is fans of horror and thriller films. And the age range would be 12-15 as there is no gore, no swearing and things like that, and the older range because they wouldn't identify with the characters as easily and the film would be gory/more scary, and there would be a lot more films that cater for that. Also the actors are around the age of 12/13, so a younger audience would be able to identify with them more.
Costumes/Props
I don't use any props in my film.
Costumes for the rider will be dark clothes, because then they are more mysterious, they won't need to be in complete back as I'll be darkening the image in post-production.
For the two girls they can be in normal day clothes because so show that they are just every day and aren't anything special and to lull the audience into a false sense of that 'everything's fine!'
Costumes for the rider will be dark clothes, because then they are more mysterious, they won't need to be in complete back as I'll be darkening the image in post-production.
For the two girls they can be in normal day clothes because so show that they are just every day and aren't anything special and to lull the audience into a false sense of that 'everything's fine!'
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)