What is your opinion of the shown extract?
I like the composition and the angles used to shoot this extract, however I find the images within the scene very disturbing which is what I dislike about it.
In what ways is this example of a generic construct? (What makes it the Genre that it is?)
Blade consists of three genres, Action, Horror and Thriller. I think that it is partially Action because there are many varied visual images such as a large group of people dancing with a lot of movement happening in a short space of time. However to some extent the extract contains horror features. This is portrayed through the disturbing images and special effects such as the blood sprinklers and the fact that the audience is unsure of what is going to happen next. Finally, the third genre concludes Thriller characteristics. This is because it makes the audience on edge about the sequence of events going to happen. Also we can relate to the character in the fact that he is fearful and confused about the incidents going on around him.
What do you think happens in the next narrative?
Having only seen the short opening extract, I have no idea what is going to occur. Although, I think that the main character is possibly hallucinating from a type of drug. I think that he had his drink spiked by one of the other people in the club. This is because everyone seems normal to begin with and then the panning gets quicker and the time shot on one image gets shorter and everything becomes quicker.
Who do you think this extract is targeted at and why?
I think that this extract is targeted at perhaps middle class people, of the male gender between the ages of 16 – 30. The reason I think this is because men can handle a lot more of the disturbing images shown and that men generally like action, horror and thriller films more than women. However anyone could watch this film or extract of the film depending on the genre they are interested in.
From the grid that you have constructed in the lesson, how was the extract put together?
The framing and composition is a wide and short shot, probably meant for the cinema and large screens. The extract uses different shot types, angles, and camera movement for example there is panning throughout. There are also shots from straight ahead filming people dancing, from below looking up to the blood sprinklers and also from above looking down at the main character (the only person who is not a vampire, possibly hallucinating) on the floor surrounded. The lighting is very bright and flashes a lot in short bursts. This, along with the loud club music (Public Domain), helps to make the setting more realistic in the club.
Does the extract remind you of any other stories/films that you know?
I can’t recall any stories or films like this. However there are similarities between Twilight and Blade simply because vampires exist in both films.
Following our brief to create a horror poster, I created my poster for the movie ‘befriended’. A poster is to make people aware of the product which is trying to be sold. In this case, I am trying to make the audience aware of and want to watch my movie, ‘befriended’. I chose a primary close up photograph of an eye because I wanted to connote intimate thoughts of the antagonist. The solid black pupil is supposed to convey to the audience an insight into the stalker’s mind, the antagonist. The eye is not looking directly at the audience, it is looking just to the left, this is because I want the audience to feel uneasy when looking at the poster.
I used a font which denotes hand written qualities to portray part of my narrative, which is the fact that the stalker writes notes to the victims in the movie. The blood on the bottom left corner of the eye is used to connote that this is a conventional horror film; however it is used to denote that the stalker is a murderer.
For my poster, I have used a female eye, this goes against the social expectations of people thinking that the stalker is a male. The film’s slogan is at the very top of the page because people generally read the title and then look up here to read this. I have used a slogan to give the audience a brief insight into the narrative of the movie, however I have not given it away because I want to attract people and draw them to the film rather than spoiling the plot.
I have used five different font sizes, the largest being the title of the movie, this is because it is the most important and I want it to stand out the most. The title also covers two hot spots which is very important because these are the things which we may be draw to first. The font I have used for the director is also fairly large because I want to draw the audience in to the fact that I have a good director and this is a primary selling point.
I have also included three of the main actors and actresses names as this is a huge selling point with a movie. Although their names are quite small the simple background makes the poster look straightforward and easy to read, also people will want to know which main actors are in the film so this will be read even if it is not on a hot spot.
I have used a white background to represent good, pure and heavenly in juxtaposition with the evil, tainted eye. However it is a metaphor to show that on the outside people can seem innocent but on the inside people can be evil, which depicts the stalker. The image is smudged in to the background to demonstrate that the stalkers evil side is portrayed gradually however I have used just an eye to make the audience want to find out about the rest of the character.
I find the syntagm effective because of the paradigms, such as the solid black pupil and the lines going from the inside of the iris to the outside of the iris. The large area of black shading to the left of the iris contrasts with the smaller white area on the right of the iris. I am originally attracted to the white area first and then the darker area. This represents that the stalkers good, innocent side is first revealed, however she has a dark side to her.
Hey,
I'm Amy and I'm at Hurtwood House studying Mathematics, Psychology, Sociology and Media Studies. I have two old brothers, Ben 17 and Alix 20. I have chosen Media Studies through reccommendation of Alix, who also came to Hurtwood House and is now at AIB studing Film Production.
I'm in the middle of my third week here at Hurtwood, and i love it! I'm in Cornhill Manor House sharing a room with Francesca Burns. My house master and his wife are so nice and last night she made us cakes!
My favourite type of films are Romantic Comedies, I mostly always cry at films. I like different types of music, there isnt a specific artist, song or genre i like, however heavy metal is going a bit too far.
Through the past two and a half weeks in Media Studies, we have been creating and deconstructing poster and trying to use photoshop.
