horror animation

Case study- exploring the horror genre

Case study- exploring the horror genre

For my media coursework i am required to make a 2 minute opening scene for a film. Me and my partner Tom decided to consider horror as one the genres we might pick. We chose genre because its very easy to make a successful horror film on little budget. As we chose to consider horror as one of the genders we are considering, I decided to explore it in more genre and post my research about the genre.

Dark knight movie review

The Dark Knight review

The bat returns and there's a new villain in town.

After a successful first film Nolan's Batman is back on the big the screen and this time he has a run in with everyone’s favourite clinically insane clown, The Joker. The Batman's arch nemesis, the joker has been terrorizing the streets of Gotham city and it’s up to the Batman and his entourage of Gotham city's police departments finest to stop him.

The Dark Knight the much awaited sequel hits the screens the first time this summer, it’s been 3 years since we last saw Christian Bale suit up for the big role and this time with scarier bad guys, bigger explosions and tons of sequences that will leave you on the edge of your seat.

Since Batman begins Nolan has set the bar high, Batman fans will be critical as the past movies let’s say...were a tragedy, Tim Burton’s Batman was more comical than the Joker himself. Never the less Batman fans can sit back and relax; the latest edition of the DC comic adaptation will exceed your expectations.

The main question everyone seems to be asking, is Heath Ledgers performance as the Joker spot on? To sum it up yes. Heath Ledger's portrayal of the menacing clown was outstanding; he captures the random and psychotic characteristics perfectly. He makes Jack Nicholson portrayal of the Joker look amateur. What you can really appreciate about Heath Ledgers performance is that he focuses more on the mental aspect of the super villain, in the past we have seen a more comedic take on the role, but this time the joker is terrifying, insane and power hungry. The performance of Ledger will definitely give him a well-deserved Oscar nomination and most likely ensure him the academy award himself. So to sum it up Heath Ledgers performance was spectacular, he will go down in history as one of the best villain portrayals of all time.

The general acting in the film was all on point once again, although their performances will get overshadowed by Heath Ledgers outstanding efforts, we can’t discredit them. Gary Oldman once again nailed it as Gotham city police commissioner Gordon. It was almost like the veteran actor was born for the role, not only does he give an accurate portrayal of the commissioner, he looks almost identical, it’s like they’ve taken the character from the comics and brought him to life. The return of Bale is always enlightening to see. Once again he portrays the eccentric billionaire Bruce Wayne and the caped vigilante Batman perfectly. The croaky voiced hero was smarter, stronger and generally fantastic. We also see the return of Cillian murphy as Dr Crane, better known as the Scarecrow. Although he makes a short appearance at the beginning of the film, he’s performance was satisfactory once again. Aaron Eckhart makes his way onto the big screen as the infamous Harvey Dent, another fresh face to the series puts in a brilliant performance as the disfigured villain Two Face.

Although the acting is far from poor in the new blockbuster, it’s not the only thing the film can credit for. Cristopher Nolan once again can safely say he’s produced another masterpiece of a film. The dark knight has everything you would hope for in a super hero movie, he’s saved the Batman series and will soon be recognised as somewhat of an idol amongst Batman fans. The film was captivating right from the begging, the opening scene involves a bank heist which is cleverly carried out and you won’t anticipate how it unravels at all. There were several scenes which had me on the edge of my seat screaming at the screen, the battle of wits between The Dark Knight and the Joker was exhilarating I was glued to my seat constantly questioning who was going to make the next move. The characters were developed perfectly; we really see the characters in their true colours in this film. Over all the writing was impeccable, Nolan can give himself a pat on the back after the release of this film.

So in conclusion the Dark knight rises will have Batman fans, superhero fans and general movie lovers in awe. The film was highly entertaining throughout, Nolan has outdone himself. I highly recommend you see this film; in my opinion not only is it one of or maybe even Christopher Nolan’s best pieces of work and the best super hero movie I’ve seen make its way to the big screen, but it’s also one of the best films of this decade. Perfect acting, perfect story and perfect directing the Dark Knight will receive a well-deserved 5/5.

 

 

-A must see

 

camera shots/angles

Camera shots/angles-Low angle

              

The low angle, camera shot is when the camera is placed low and is looking up at something. The two examples i chose were from the movies, Transformers and Inglorious bastards. The low angle is widely used in movies to make something look powerful, large and physically dominant. The low angle facing upwards gives the effect that the audience are almost looking up at something. For example in the low shot taken from Transformers (picture on the left),

the low shot is used to make the robot seem tall.

The way the robot towers over the picture,gives the effect to the audience that the robot is large and physically  dominant.

In the picture to the right taken from the film Inglorious Bastards, the low angle used makes the two figures seem dominant and threatening as they're looking down at the audience. The low shot is used a lot in Tarintino movies, a very popular low angle, which is frequently used in Tarintino movies  is the famous 'car boot' shot. Its a low angle shot which is from perspective of a car boot. Tarintino has used this in a different way, instead of using it to make a character look powerful or dominant, he has used it to add mystery to the scene to get the audience questioning what the characters are looking at.  

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camera shots/angles

Different examples of camera angles and shots


Wide Shot

The wide shot, is a shot covering a wide angle. This wide shot is taken from the film Zombieland, in the shot we can see the 4 main characters from the film in what looks like a large expensive house. The wide shot is generally used to establish the scene. We can clearly see this in the example above, in this scene the wide shot has been used to show the audience the environment the characters are in. The wide shot gives a detailed, large picture for the audience to see clearly. It also shows the scale of the scene compared to the characters. For example in this scene we can see that the four characters are in a very large, grand house.

Camera shots/angles

Different examples of camera angles and shots

Close up

A close up is a framing in where the object in is shown in a large scale in the scene. Most commonly a persons head from the shoulders up or an object which fills most of the screen. This example of a close up of Brad Pitt, is taken from the thriller Se7en. The close up is usually used to capture and portray the characters emotion\reaction in the scene, for the audience to see clearly. For example in this close up, we can see how the shot is used to capture the emotion on the characters face. We can clearly see that he is upset or confused, also that he feels threatened or he is angry as in the shot we can see he is holding a gun. Another example of close ups is when there is a close up shot of an object, this is usually done to signify the importance of an object or show how its is relevant to the scene for the audience.

Survey Response

From the research i carried using my survey results i concluded that:

Genre

8 people answered my survey and out of the 8 genres they chose...

2 people chose horror 

2 people chose action

1 person chose drama

No one chose comedy or sci-fi
1 person chose Romance\Romcom
1 person chose thriller
1 person chose option as other

Age
Out of the 8 people who answered all were aged 16-18

Gender
Out of the 8 that answered my survey...
6 were male and 2 were female