Dawn Of The Dead 2004 Outside The Mall

This scene from dawn of the dead is when the zombies have just started taking over the world, they escape them by hiding in the mall. This uses institutional context as consumerism in america is popular and the film tries to get this across.

This also uses the narrative loneliness and isolation as the characters are all alone in the mall together and isolated from the outside world.

This scene uses Propp & Todorov's narrative theory as the equilibrium of the film is disrupted by the zombie attack on the world. This was proven in their book Morphology of the Folktale (1928). The common characters that reoccur in most films is the economy of narration which is the zombie outbreak, the goal-directed protagonist which is the survivors such as Anna, Kenneth and Michael. The antagonist the zombies.

Dawn Of The Dead 2004 Escape On Boat

This scene is one of the final ones in the film, where the survivors escape the zombies on the boat leaving Michael behind as been bitten by one of the zombies. This scene uses Cinematography of Close Ups on Anna's face to show the emotions on her face when she says goodbye to Michael who she has fallen for since the zombie apocalypse began. The scene also uses Historical Context as the american flag is shown in the background to depict freedom of them escaping from the zombies. Which could mean the terrorists as the war in Afghanistan began about the time the film was released and the terrorists are depicted as the zombies in the film. This proves Janet Staiger Audience Studies (Interpreting Films 1992) which is that different audiences react differently to the same film, as the audience at the time will still be concerned about terrorists as 9/11 is still in their minds so the flag in the background shows that America is freedom from the zombies in the film.

Favourite Image Analysis

My favourite scene and image from my horror research is from Reuben Fleischer’s Zombie land (2009).

This scene uses different uses of the horror genre checklist, such as it uses loads of body horror and gore when Tallahassee is shooting the zombies, it also uses creepy locations as it is set in an abandoned theme park.

This scene also uses character archetype for Tallahassee as he is portrayed as the male hero with the phallic symbol of his gun to sacrifice himself to save the others, but he survives as Zombie land is a Horror/Comedy it would ruin the comedy of the film if one of the main characters in the film dies at the end of the narrative.

I want to make this type of horror but without the comedy aspects to maintain seriousness. A straight action/horror would still combine two of the most popular film genres together so still would gain a wider range of audiences due to being multi-generic.

Dawn Of The Dead (1979) Roger Death

My final scene from Dawn of the Dead (1979) is when Roger gets killed by Peter before he turns into a zombie. This scene uses restricted narration as when Peter shoots at Roger we only hear the gun shooting and it killing Roger, we see a shot of Fran and Stephen in the other room looking scared at what’s just happened. 

This scene also uses cinematography as the close up shot of Roger's face shows the fear in his eyes that he is coming back to life as a zombie.

This scene also uses Propp and Todorov’s Classical Hollywood Narrative Structure as the unhappy ending of Roger's life is usually used in most horror films as shown in their book (Morphology Of The Folktale 1928). This then leads to the final scene of the remaining survivors trying to escape the Mall which Peter and Francine escape in the helicopter, which is an open ending which may then lead to a sequel. 

Dawn Of The Dead (1979) Zombies In Mall

This scene from Dawn of the Dead (1979) is when the characters try to leave the mall. This scene shows historical context as the consumerism of malls was growing in America at this time. This is also an auteur style of George Romero as he likes to link to context, which backs up Andrew Sarris' Auteur Theory in his book Film Theory and Criticism. Romero’s other films also use historical context as in Day of the Dead (1985) was about scientists and soldiers hiding in an underground bunker from the zombies above which relates to the cold war between the soviet union and usa who could use nuclear weapons at any minute.  

The contrapuntal music playing in this scene is the cheesy “musak” usually played in malls which goes against what is actually happening in the mall. The mise-en-scene used in this scene is creepy locations as abandoned buildings usually have low key lighting to make them more scary and claustrophobic for the audience.

This scene also uses Montage/Slow Sequence as it shows a lot of clips of the zombies in the mall to show the audience that the zombies are everywhere in the mall waiting to get the survivors stuck in the mall. This montage shows a Tense emotion as nobody knows what will happen next.

Dawn Of The Dead (1979) Biker Gore

This scene from Dawn of the Dead (1979) is where the biker gang get into the mall and let the zombies out and they start killing people. This shot shows that the institutional context of the horror industry has changed since the days of Psycho as it has more gore in it. This backs up the important of Thomas Schatz's Genre Theory as it has all of the features of a gory horror film, (Hollywood Genres 1979) and therefore appealed to its target audience when it made $30m on a budget of just $1.5m.

This scene uses body horror well as the guts of the biker are being pulled out of the biker’s stomach and you see it all happen. This was controversial and shocking at the time as was one of the first films to have this much gore in it, which is why the film was unrated at the time in the USA. The special effects in this film were done by Tom Savini who also did the special effects for other films such as Creep show 2 and Red Scorpion.

There was also parallel music in this scene as there was action music played throughout the scene of the action sequence of the zombies attacking. There was also montage/quick sequence in this scene to emphasise the action that was taking place in the mall, this is shown by the shooting of the zombies in the mall. This montage produces a panicky scared emotion as the zombies could attack any of the characters at any moment.

Psycho (Norman's Mother)

This scene from PSYCHO is the scene where we see Norman’s mother for the first time and realise that Norman is a psychopath. The first time you see her is in the basement of Bates House which is a creepy location and backed up with the low-key lighting represents evil in Norman through her mother.

The music in this scene is very tense as don’t know what Norman’s mother looks like which is Parallel music as matches the emotion in the scene.

The psycho killer in the film is Norman as he keeps his dead mother in his house which is an example of Necrophilia and also oedipal complex. He has poisoned his mother’s lover, and how he loves his mum so much he dresses up as her when he does his murdering. This reflects the historical context of the time as Ed Gein as he did similar things by keeping his victims as trophies after he killed them, this only happened a few years before the film came out so this shows Janet Staiger’s Interpreting Films (1992) is right as you need to understand a film’s context and who the audience is at the time.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           This scene backs up Thomas Schatz Genre Theory as shows that the film is a Psychological horror as the main killer in the film is a psychopath. This is shown in his book (Hollywood Genres 1981)  

Psycho (Norman Peeps)

This scene from PSYCHO is the scene where Norman is peeping at Marion through a hole in the wall. He is looking at Marion undressing in her room which is an auteur style of Hitchcock as he enjoyed voyeuristically blonde women in his films, which was the Auteur Theory by Andrew Sarris (Film Theory and Criticism 1979).

The film uses cinematography with the Point of View shot when Norman looks through the hole in the wall; you see what he is seeing. Montage is also used in this scene as it keeps switching between shots of Norman and Marion to emphasise the emotion of Norman falling in love with Marion.

This scene also has the ideology of sexism towards women/misogyny as Norman is only seeing Marion as an object and not as an equal human being.

The low key lighting in the scene draws the audience to focus on Norman looking through the hole in the wall, this combined with the close up shot of Norman shows that he is alone and that he falls in love with the first women he sees due to his sexual frustration 

Psycho (Death Scene)

This scene from PSYCHO is the first scene where we see the first death in the film. The low key lighting in the room emphasises the danger and suspense of what is happening in the scene.  The suspense is the auteur style of Alfred Hitchcock which shows the importance of the “Auteur theory" by Andrew Sarris formulated in his book (Film Theory and Criticism 1979).

Restricted narration is used in this scene as you don’t see the knife go into Marion because of Hayes Code, this shows the institutional context of the horror industry as Hayes code was still enforced up until the late 60’s.

There was a lot of slow and quick editing in this scene as when the killer approaches the shower it uses a slow montaging to create tension and then when the killer strikes it uses quick montaging to emphasise panic of the actual attack and used together this contrast also creates collision cutting between these two moments in the scene.

Marion is the female victim in the film and is shown in this scene because she has a blonde hair another one of Hitchcock’s auteur influences, as he was renowned for becoming obsessed with female stars like Grace Kelly and Tippi Hedren.  She isn’t wearing any clothes which all emphasises a female victim in most horror films.

There is also a theme of loneliness and isolation in this scene as Marion is all alone in her room where the attacks about to happen which is a very common generic convention of Psychological horrors which shows Thomas Schatz interest in the Genre Theory (Hollywood Genres 1981) is accurate because Hitchcock is clearly aware of important genre features.

Second Film Review

The film I did a review for was Zombieland a comedy horror film which was produced in 2009 and directed by Ruben Fleischer.

The plot of the film is a shy student trying to reach his family in Ohio, a gun toting tough guy trying to find the last “Twinkie”, and a pair of sisters trying to get to an amusement park join forces to travel across a zombie filled America.

The first scene that impressed me the most was the scene in the store where they unleash their anger by smashing up the store, it uses slow-motion to make the scene more dramatic it also used contrapuntal music of classical music to make the scene more memorable and potentially funny for viewers. The other scene that impressed me the most was the final action sequence in the amusement park because it combined well with the fast montage aspects of action films with loads of long shots and slow-motion, it also used conventional aspects of horror films with Collision cutting, which was used when the two girls are on the drop down tower and the guys are trying to kill the zombie, and creepy locations to appeal to a wider audience.

Watching this film has helped me understand the genre of making horror films by using my horror genre checklist I have seen which aspects are in most horror films.

The characters and representation in the film was the Male Hero in the film which was Columbus because he saved the 2 sisters at the end of the film. Quick smart monsters are the zombies which are shown by them running around the Theme Park but not stereotypically smart as get easily distracted when Tallahassee shoots his gun to get all of the zombies to chase him while Columbus saves the 2 sisters. The final girl in the film was Wichita as she is able to use a gun and doesn’t have sex with Columbus whilst they are in Bill Murray’s house.

The Mise-en-Scene and sound in the film included Body Horror which was used when Tallahassee and Columbus find a new car after the 2 sisters steal there’s and they find a pair of decapitated hands on the steering wheel. Creepy locations are also used in the film in the abandoned amusement park as the zombies could be hiding anywhere in the park waiting to jump out and attack. Low key lighting is also used when Wichita goes into the electric room at the theme park to turn the power on for all the rides, the room when she enters is dimly lit. Parallel music is also used when Columbus and Tallahassee first meet as when they point guns at each other tense music is being played to make the audience feel tense as well as they don’t know what could happen next. Contrapuntal music is also used in the store scene as classical music is being played when smashing up the store but when you think of destruction rock or heavy metal music would be playing.

The editing used in Zombieland often includes a clever use of montage which is used when Tallahassee remembers his son as lots of different moments where they spent time with each other in the past are put together. This slow montage makes the audience feel emotional towards Tallahassee. Collision cutting is also used in the film when the zombies are running towards the 2 sisters as they are riding on the pirate ship as they are happy and enjoying themselves on the ride as meanwhile the zombies are running towards them. Montage (quick-slow) is also used when the zombies are attacking the girls it cuts back to Columbus and Tallahassee saying goodbye to each other. Close ups are also used when the Columbus escapes the bathroom with the zombie in it and shuts the door thinking he’s trapped it in there but then you get a close up of the zombies’ hand opening the door of the bathroom. Expressionist angles are also used in the toilet scene as when the man is on the toilet a zombie sneaks under the door and attacks him. This uses a high angle showing the fear of the man when being attacked when he is most vulnerable. Handheld camera is also used at the start of the film as someone is recording some zombies then the monster attacks him. A Point of view shot is also used when Tallahassee gets a pair of shears and walks up to the zombie   and you see what he sees as he chops the head of one of the zombies.

The themes and narrative in the film are sex of taboo as when driving in the car Columbus and Tallahassee talk about sex. Threats to yourself and family is also used when the 2 sisters are on the drop tower and the bottom is completely surrounded by zombies and is slowly moving down towards to them. There is also an open ending to the film as Columbus says “until the next time” which suggests there may be a sequel to the film. Institutional context is evident in the film as the zombies look gorier than films in the past for example compared to the zombies in Dawn of the Dead. They have more blood on them showing the changes in the horror industry over the last 30-40 years.

Some of the aspects of the film that I would like to include in my trailer is the cutaway scenes as these parts of the film I enjoyed as they added a certain edge to the film as made it less horror like and more action/comedy films I prefer to watch. I also liked the slow-motion sequences in the film for example in the store scene and when Tallahassee is shooting the zombies in the theme park as these create more dramatic sequences to keep the audience on the edge.

The aspects I would avoid when creating my horror trailer is the extra-diegetic narration as this tells the audience only exactly what the main character is thinking and I don’t think this works well in a horror film and mainly works in comedy films.

The best moment in the film in my opinion was the scene with Bill Murray hanging out with Wichita and Tallahassee as it shows some historical context of Ghostbusters and shows that he likes to get high on drugs. In horror films this means you are likely to die in the film which he does when he creeps on Columbus and he shoots him thinking he is a zombie as Murray is dressed like one to protect himself from the zombies.

The auteur style of Ruben Fleischer is action films as most of his other films have the action film aspect involved. Some of Fleischer’s other films are Gangster Squad and 30 Minutes Or Less these films are both involve a lot of action which is Fleischer’s auteur style. Many action aspects are used in Zombieland, for example the action sequence in the Theme Park is just like a scene from an action film as uses a lot of long shots and other aspects used in action films. He also uses slow-motion sequences which are also used in action films as in the Theme park scene when Tallahassee is shooting the zombies. Guns are used a lot as well in all of his films, these are phallic symbols used throughout the film to defend themselves from the zombies.  

First Film Review

The plot of the film is a boy inadvertently breaks 3 important rules concerning his new pet and unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters on a small town.

The scenes that impressed me the most were Mrs Deagle’s death as throughout the film she is threatening to kill Billy’s dog and the gremlins kill her because of this showing that deep down they’re still nice. A lot of close up shots are used in this scene to show the petrified face of Mrs Deagle which emphasises what’s going on in the scene.

The other scene was the pub scene where a load of gremlins were hanging out; this impressed me because it balanced humour with horror happened throughout the film. A lot of montage was used in this scene to show a variety of gremlins doing different things to show how bad they are.

This film helped me understand the horror genre as most of the things usually in the horror genre featured in the film.

The characters and representation in the film were the male hero Billy, quick smart monsters the gremlins, the female victim Mrs Deagle and the final girl Kate.

The mise-en-scene in the film utilised restricted narration in the opening scene where it sets the plot or diegesis of the film, creepy locations were used throughout the film for example the shop where he buys Mogui. Low key lighting was used also in the shop when we first see the gremlins.

The sound in the film was parallel music which was in the Christmas scene as Christmas music was playing throughout. There was also contrapuntal music when Billy’s Mum is looking for the gremlins in the house. An upbeat song is playing on the stereo, which contrasts the horror of the scene.

The editing in the film included montage this was used when the gremlins were hatching as continuously changing locations where eggs were hatching. Collision cutting was also used in the quite empty school then suddenly the alarm goes off. There was also quick to slow montage to build tension when Billy’s mum was looking for gremlins as she slowly looked for them then suddenly something would happen like a plate hitting her.

The cinematography in the film included a close up of Billy’s Dad’s face when he first see’s Gizmo for the first time. A canted angle was also used when more gremlins spawn from Gizmo to show confusion to what’s happening. There was also a Point of view shot when Gizmo drives the toy car to save Billy’s life, the shot was used just before the jump.

The themes in the film were loneliness when the professor is alone with the gremlin he is studying. There is also a threat of death whilst the gremlins attack billy’s home.

The narrative at the end of the film is an open one as the shopkeeper who sells Gizmo takes him away and says to Billy “You can have him back when you are ready” this may lead to a sequel of him getting Gizmo back.

A key horror ideology in the film was sadism as the gremlins enjoyed inflicting pain on the town’s people even though they don’t always kill them.

The aspects of the film I enjoyed of the film were the unusual deaths like killing from microwaves and stannar stair lifts. This would be good in my trailer because these scenes would be memorable and make people watch the film. Also the use of dark creepy locations would also be good in my trailer because they would emphasise any horror moments in these particular scenes.

Aspects of the film that I would avoid would be minimal jumpy scenes as these scenes I think are better moments in horror films, for example in this film when the gremlins suddenly throw a plate at Billy’s mum which is a jumpy scene but not that jumpy. Also the setting of the film is at Christmas which isn’t a particularly scary time and would be much better at Halloween.

The most enjoyable moment was the gremlins as the monsters are always the most memorable characters in horror films. The monsters in my trailer need to be memorable and also ideally like them to have bizarre features to stand out. 

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