generic conventions and iconography report

Narrative

The Synopsis



The Messenger

There are 4 girls on there way back from a party, when there driving down the road they see a girl close to there age hitch hiking on the edge of the road, because its dark and late the 4 girls decide to be good samaritans and allow the girl in the car, they drive for a while but they run out of petrol they break down next to a chruch, the hitch hiker suggests that they stay the night in the church because no recovery services will be running this late. The girls agree and enter the church, as the night goes on the hitch hiker suggest the girls play a truth or dare game to pass time. At first the girls are reluctent to tell there secrets to a girl they have just met but give in and say it will be a bit of fun. So the girls end up telling there darkest secrets to eachother but little do they know the hitch hiker they picked up is a fallen angel to do gods work and punish the girls for there sins. She uses there secrets to decide which way to kill them. One girl used to self harm so the fallen angel decides to kill her in that way. The twist is that the girl with the biggest secret doesnt die and escapes but everyone thinks she will be the most likely one to die because her secret is so sick and twisted but she escapes on to the road as a hitch hiker little does she know she has been possesed by the fallen angel, and when a group of boys pick her up the cycle continues.. 

The media language analysis of the house of wax trailer

•  this trailer is approxmatley 2 minuets long and i think that this is a good amount of time for the audience to get the feel of the movie because it doesnt give too much away but it gives the audience enough to go see it.
• there is about 70 different clips used in this trailer and i think the dirtector did this too show the tgood parts in the film in random order so the audience is confused and will want more. Each clip is changed with a transistion and most of them between each clip the sreen just goes blank but it works well becuase it changes in time with the sound track. I think this is a good method because it gives you a second sneak peak of the killer etc. Makes the viewer want more there for resulting them in seeing it.
• each clip is approxamatley a second long the longest one is 3 seconds, they probably did this to catch the audience attetion and keep them intrested.
• the logos that are included in this trailer are warner bros, from this the audience then knows that this film has potential to be good because warner brois is a well known film company.
• there is also other text that appears on the trailer which basically explains whats happening e.g. where its set "in a place not listed on any map" the graphoics they use on this text makes it look like the text is melting like wax so it relates to the the title of the film "house of wax". Also by saying "in a place not listed on any map" it shows that something bad is going to happen because there in a deserted place.

the trailer........    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DnFKwVcM10

 poster analysis of "the shinning"

• The target audience of this film would be people who are intrested in horror fillms and this certain audience can idnetfy that this film would be horror/slasher effectivly because of this film poster, e.g. the character on the poster is holding a big axe, and through non verbal communication you can see that he is mental through his use of facial expression (he looks like he is doing an evil laugh)
• The posters anchorage text is the title of the film in big bold red letters this could connote the danger that is expected in this film. Its  also written in different cases e.g. THE SHiNNiNG this could connote the main characters mental stability in the film. 
• You can see who the dominant character is in this film poster my the way the characters are posistioned and how they are holding there weapons, you can clearly see that the woman is not going to be able to defend herself from the dominant character because she the way she is holding the kitchen knife, she looks like she has no powere where as with the male character he is confidently smashing through the door with an axe and he is taunting the female with a smile makes you feel uneasy because you cant tell how hes feeling by his emotions. Split personailty maybe?
• You dont know how to feel about these characters because the poster giuves you mixed emotions it makes you uneasy.
• You expect to see from this film poster you expect too see a slasher when you go top see the film because it shows the typical conventions of a slasher e.g. knives and axe's.

the narrative analysis of "the black swan"

• The narrative structure suggested in the trailer for black swan is eposodic. You can see this because it shows random clips from the film arranged in a random order. This is alotr like the fiolm "momentum" i think the director chose to make the trailer like this because it leaves you thinking "what just happened?" it gives you sense of confusion and excitment, this could also suggest that this is what the main character could be feeling in this film, so therefor the audience of this trailer will more likely want to watch this film because they can realte to the character and they will want too see more which is obviously the aim of the trailer.
• This trailer suggest that this film uses a restricted narrative. I think they have used this becuase it can excite the audience and make them want too see it more because they wont know whats happening  and will try and figure it out for themselves.
• With this trailer you get too see some of the best parts of the film randomly put not in the right order this method gives enough away to catch peoples attention  but doesnt give enough away to spoil the whole film i think this is a really good method to attract different audiences other than people who enjoy thrillers/horrors
• You also get the jist of what genre this film is from the trailer theres a bit when she turns round in the mirror but her reflection stays the same this is a very sterotypical convention of horror as a genre. It also gives the vibe that the film will include some kind of paranormal activity in it. 

The trailer... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jaI1XOB-bs

genre analysis for "the ward"

• The director of the ward is John Carpenter, he also made halloween and the thing, so the audience can tell that this is going to be a horror based genre because its directed by him. These two films are very well known so horror lovers will want to go see this film because they have high expectations of the scariness of the film.
• The film is set in 1966 in a mental institution. During this time in mental institutions people were treated really bad and inhumanly so people can tell that inhuman things are going to happen to the characters in the film, and this is a stereotypical convention for genre films.
• In the trailer you get shown glimpses of the "monster" who you can see is deformed almost zombie like. Zombies are always paired with horror as a genre so the audience can tell from the trailer that its going to be horror but they can also see the sub genres of this e.g. zombies, supernatural.
• The setting could suggest that this particular film could be physiological horror, one that confuses you and leaves you asking questions and then there will be more shock when then film twists because its set in a mental institution.
• The trailer starts of with a non diegetic sound of a youg child singing and this is a sterotypical convention of horror, a lot of films play on a child innocence to scare the audience e.g. paranormal activity 3.
• They show stock characters in the trailer like the dumb blonde who is the main character, the audience will then think that she will ndie first because she is shown running through tight corridoors and burning things down. so the audience will go in expecting to see one thing but becuase of the twists of this horror they will see something else and it will shock them.
• The way they use the camera work makes it feel like your in the movie, especially during the chase scenes it feels like your stumbling and tripping up with the character.

The trailer... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buF-keImNYk