Shots and Transitions

Microelements in Horror - Carrie

In the 2013 version of the horror movie, Carrie, there are certain elements that make this movie a horror, these are the micro elements. The miseducating-en-scene, the cinematography, the editing and the sound. The scene I will analysing for this is towards the end of the film. Carrie has just been crowned prom queen and then a bucket of blood gets poured on her head. She is angry and goes out to find the teenagers responsible.

The setting of this scene is a road near a petrol station, and there are no cars to be seen other than the car that Billy and Chris are in. The lighting is dark, suggesting the time of day and also creating an eerie look. There are three characters in this scene; Carrie who wears a simple, purple dress which in this scene is hard to distinct as the fake blood spilt over it and the lighting has a red hue; Billy who wears a leather jacket and a black shirt and Chris who has a similar look of a black leather jacket. The outfits of Billy and Chris suggest that they are the 'cool' kids and the bullies of Carrie. Carrie's hair is drenched with blood which sticks to her face, covering it slightly, creating a creepy look and with the blood on her face and dripping from her eyes almost acts a mask which brings out her dark side. As for Chris and Billy, their hair and make-up is contemporary until they both die and Chris's face is covered in blood with sharp shards of glass stuck into her skin and Billy has blood all over his nose and mouth. There aren't any props used in the scene other than the car as there doesn't need to be as this car is the main focus of the scene. The character expression and movement vary due to the character. Carrie walks slowly, slightly hunched, with her arms parted from her body, almost like how a monster would walk. She has the same look on her face with eyes widened and she tilts her head to make it look creepy. Chris and Billy start off as confident, arrogant characters who are laid back but that soon changes when the car is under the control of Carrie, so different facial expressions such as panic and fear are shown as they start screaming. Body gestures are also used to exaggerate.

The cinematography used is vital in a horror movie. Establishing shots are used to show the setting and so the viewer can work out what is going on. A crane shot is used to show the car driving off into the distance. A close up of Carrie's face is shown, showing her emotions yet she looks emotionless even though she's angry. Dolly shots are used to follow the road that is cracking up to the car and to show the movement of the characters, creating suspense. Medium shots are used to get a wider view of the action going on and how Carrie is controlling the destruction with her body. A POV shot is used from inside the car, showing what Billy and Chris are seeing. Over the shoulder shots are used to show the different expressions from the two characters in the car as well as over Carries shoulder to see what she is doing to the car.

Sound is also important in a horror film. It creates the tension and suspense and often gives away the idea of a jump scare or something scary is about to be revealed. Without music a horror movie would have a different perspective. There is dialogue throughout the scene, and it's a conversation between Billy and Chris. There is no Foley, narration or soundtrack in the scene as these are unnecessary for the scene, however score is included. It appears to be an orchestral sound, mainly strings which gets high pitched and fits the scene perfectly. It jumps to a higher octave when it gets intense. It is an example of a classic horror movie background track and isn't used the whole way through. There are sounds such as an explosion and the car engine and screeching as it crashes that have either been added in after or recorded live. 

The editing of a horror movie is key as it is at this point, what is decided to be kept in and what is being cut out. Despite only one transition used, cut, the scene doesn't need to have anything fancy because it would take away the suspense. By having lots of short jump cuts, showing the key parts of what's going on, creates more tension and fear to the viewer, making it more fearful. This is important because it. There is a lot of match on action shots and cross cutting in the scene as this gets a key part of the scene from different angles, showing different perspectives. This is important because we get a better understanding of what's going on. Shot/reverse shot is used in the car when cutting from one character to another as this shows the characters expressions and movements at different parts of the scene. As the focus of the scene is a car crash it is difficult to get a shot of it as it happens so quickly, so they have specifically slowed one of the clips down to emphasise the effect of the crash. It makes it more intriguing to the viewer and it's easier to decipher what has just happened.  

Film Opening Task - Video

Film Opening Task - Audition Footage

Casting:

James - Friend

Katie - Friend

Millie - Friend

Lucy - Runaway Victim

Esme - Present Victim

Joss - Narrator

Jacob/Daniel - Killer

Film Opening Task - Location/Sound/Lighting Recce

Footage 1 and 2 takes place where the main conversation and present time will be filmed. Footage 3 and 4 takes place on and around the bridge, which we may use for the flashback; it doesn't matter if sound is recorded, as the flashback will be muted, so narration can be overlayed. The daylight will be good for filming, as the shadows through the trees will help to create contrast.

- Caitlin

Film Opening Task - Final Script

This is the final script for our horror opening. Some lines were improvised, as we added and removed dialogue during filming where we felt it was appropriate.

*Some changes have also been made during editing, removing some of the narration, and also adding some different narration.

- Caitlin

Film Opening Task - Final Props List

Killer:

Mask

Knife

Runaway Victim:

Backpack

Fake Heart

We didn't make any additional changes to our props.

- Lydia

Film Opening Task - Final Hair/Make-Up Choices

The most significant makeup I did for our filming was for Lucy, who was playing the first victim of the killer. Firstly, I ripped a hole in a white shirt, then I used liquid latex and started to layer it on the area I wanted the wound to be. Once the liquid latex was dry I tore pieces of tissue paper and started to layer it on top of the latex. I kept layering the tissue paper until it resembled torn/shredded skin. I used a mixture of brown, black and red face paint to darken the corners and under the edges of tissue paper and try to make some basic definition and the illusion that the wound was a deep hole in her chest. I layered and blended the paint and then put concealer on the tissue to make it look like peeling skin. I then added a lot of fake blood around the wound and all over her shirt which made it look a bit more realistic. If I were to do this again I would buy a larger amount of fake blood because I think the more there was the more realistic the wound would look. As for the hair, this wasn't very significant to our piece, Lucy had her hair down which was effective because leaves got caught in her hair and made her look like she'd struggled for her life in the woods. None of the other characters had any makeup because it wasn't going to add anything to the scenes.

- Hannah S

Film Opening Task - Final Costumes

Final Costumes - Hannah S

An important costume in our opening was the costume of 'the killer', we decided the actor would wear all black so there would be a sense of anonymity and mystery. The mask was significant to this scene because it made the anonymous figure more threatening and scary, the LED lights were effective in the darkness and made the character more memorable than just being faceless.

 

For one of our main characters played by Esme we asked her to wear clothes that were suited to a forest environment and clothes that suited her age and weren't too bold so the audiences attention was drawn to her acting and not her clothes. I like this still of her because I think the river behind her looks pretty in the lighting and she is central in the frame. I also think her expression is moving, she looks very afraid and perplexed.

For one of our main characters played by Lucy, we chose a white tshirt for her to wear as the blood would show up much clearer and bolder on a white tshirt. We had her wear brown boots and jeans to show she was running away from home and dressed practically in the forest environment. We also had her wear a scarf because we needed to cover up the wound as we did the effects makeup forgetting we had to film her without the wound, although on camera the scarf seemed to cover the wound well and wasn't noticeable in the scenes she wasn't meant to have it.

For Katie's costume we allowed her to wear what she wanted, although it had to be practical for the forest we were filming in, so she wore trainers and jeans. This outfit makes her look like she's meant to be playing a girl her age and it’s not too bold so it doesn't take any attention away from the acting and the scene itself.

For Millie's outfit we also let her choose what she wanted to wear as all we wanted to get across to the audience was that she was dressed to be walking in the woods and she was of high school age. All the girls were wearing similar outfits and so they all looked like they were friends and meant to be in the same scene.

Film Opening Task - Researching Existing Film Openings in Horror

For this task, we watched existing openings for horror films. 

Once we completed this task, we came to the conclusion that we didn't want our opening to be funny and cliche. 

We realised we should use a drone to make establishing shots to introduce the viewers to the eerie setting.

We wanted our opening to jump straight into the action and tense situation to keep the audience hooked.  

- Sara

Film Opening Task - Deciding the genre

We decided to do a horror film opening because we thought we would achieve more views as a lot of people these days are into gore and horror.

Also because the other Film Studies group were also doing horror so we thought it would be more of a competition if it was the same genre.

Also a horror film would have a very tense atmosphere keeping  the audience intrigued and on edge.     

Horror seemed like quite a fun idea as it would be exciting to get creative and make  all the gory scenes.

- Sara

Bus Stop Montage