Film Title: Hellraiser (1987)
Genre/Genres: Thriller, Horror
Director: Clive Barker
Personal Rating: 7/10
Synopsis-
Hellraiser follows the story of Frank who purchases a puzzle box from a dealer of antiques whilst in Morocco. He then becomes somewhat obsessed with the box and attempts to open it. He succeeds and is met with a very grizzly and gorey end, after his body is torn apart with meat hooks and robed figures known as the 'Cenobites' take him away. Frank's brother Larry (Andrew Robinson) and his wife Julia (Clare Higgins) move into Frank's house and decide to renovate it a bit. Larry cuts his hand whilst decorating and the blood that drips into the floorboards resurrects his dead brother Frank as a corpse. Now Larry's wife must get Frank more blood through murders so that he can be whole once again. After Frank cheats death, it isn't long before the Cenobites come looking for him to seek his comeuppance.
Which two scenes impressed you the most? Why?
One scene which impressed me was Frank's last scene after he becomes mortal again when the Cenobites come after him as they trap him. The Cenobites rip into him with many large meat hooks, just as they did the first time round at the beginning of the film. There's a nice use of restricted narration that's used here to show the hook digging its way into Frank's skin. The camera uses a mid shot as we see him run towards the daughter character whilst claiming "you set me up" in an attempt to kill her, and the camera cuts to one of the Cenobite's faces as the audience hear the hook going in, the camera then cuts to an close up of the hook embedded within the flesh of Frank's arm. Then the camera cuts between Frank's pained face to the cenobites one by one, before we hear the hook on the chain sweep down into Frank's back. Now comes a montage of different hooks, with some cuts of the hooks tearing into the flesh, this movie was low budget but the effects used within the montage are hard to study closely and look very good upon a glance. The audience are then treated to a close up of a sawblade clawing its way up the back. And we are then placed face to face with Frank with the many number of hooks pulling his body apart. We are then treated to collision cutting from a fast montage to Frank laughing and uttering his final words "Jesus Wept" then the scene speeds up and the audience catch a glimpse of the body being fully torn apart with blood splatters covering the attic. I really love this scene for the fact the effects are good for such a low budget movie ($1 million) The pacing in this scene is also really good, there isn't a dull moment in this final gore fest, and Clive Barker's use of montage helps to really ramp up the pacing of this scene and make it exciting for audiences. We may not see the hooks going directly into the skin, but we are treated to the bloody aftermath where we get a good five second look at the damage done. I think this scene was probably one of the most exciting in the movie, it's nice that we have all of the Cenobite characters arranged around Frank to come and claim him. As for the sound used here, it is an ominous mix of screeching violins and a very high note on a keyboard. It's a horrible sound but I think it fits well with the nature of the scene.
Another scene which really impressed me was the part where the Cenobites come to find the puzzle box and claim it back from Larry's daughter Kirsty (Ashley Laurence). I found this scene really unnerving but effective because it had a nice blend of the classic horror conventions. It's also the first time we see all of the Cenobite characters for a good while instead of the brief mention they get earlier towards the start of the film. The location is a hospital room and all of the lights go out when the Cenobites make their entrance into the mortal world, there is a nice use of low key lighting here around the Cenobites with a unearthly blue tint around them which helps to create a lot of shadows in the room, to make it seem like Kirsty is surrounded by these monsters with no way out. I also really liked the mise en scene used within this part, It had parallel music to compliment it, it was a slow monotonous sound, which made the Cenobites seem all the more terrifying. The cinematography for this scene was well constructed too, when the "Chatterer" character took Kirsty hostage and started to strangle her, a lot of close ups were used on her face to show the pain she was in to the audience and her strive to get her father back. I also liked the close up shots used on the Cenobites because it allowed the audience to study them a little closer and see just how gruesome they really are as characters, some have gore constructed onto them such as the "Chatterer". He has his mouth peeled back so there is a large set of teeth protruding at the front of his face so his skin is very bloody and gory. As far as the character development goes in this scene, I really enjoyed it in the sense that we learn how devious the Cenobites are in order to capture Frank and claim him as well as the box, which puts them under the quick, smart monster category due them them being able to deviate a plan to get what they want. There was a nice use of collision cutting here too, Kirsty goes into a passageway that opens in one of the room's walls and it's very quiet here, until a monster charges towards her then it gets very loud, very quickly and it works in order to shock audiences.
How has watching this film helped you understand this genre of filmmaking? Which features on the genre checklist did you spot in the film? When? How?
This movie was relatively low budget as aforementioned with a total budget of $1 million, so this film has shown me that in order to create a successful movie (made $4 million on the opening weekend) This film contains classic elements of the horror genre such as having a final girl, the character of Kirsty endures some pain in a number of ways such as physically, emotionally and mentally but despite all that she pulls through well in the end. The locations of the movie are creepy, the main set being the house which has an isolated victorian feel to it. It's an old large wooden house and the main action takes place in the attic which is a classic location also used in many horror films such as in Amityville Horror (1979). The lighting of the attic is very low key which helps for dramatic effect when Frank first looms out of the shadows but it also helps to build that creepiness of the scene. A lot of body horror is used too, the main part being when Frank is standing in the middle of the attic and the hooks are shooting out and tearing into his flesh before being taken back by the Cenobite characters. The gore effects are very effective and are all practical effects from what I can see, which means that there was no CGI based effects used which most of the time don't look great. As for the ending of the movie it was an open one because we see the box end up back in Morocco with the same dealer, so it is as though the cycle has started again. And this ending led to a number of sequels which are all still rated pretty well. The narrative is pretty strong throughout the film and I think it was good that they left it open, because I wanted to see more of the Cenobite characters, so by used Propp and Todorov's open ending narrative theory Clive Barker was able to continue making films within the Hellraiser franchise. As for the thematics of the film, there is a strong element of sadism used within the film such as how Frank enjoys watching people get killed so he can feast upon their blood.
Which aspects of the film would you like to include in your own trailer? Why?
Personally, I'd like to include some of the creepy monster characters as seen within this movie, I feel contextually within modern day horror films, they focus too much on psychological horror as opposed to the classic slasher monster movies like Friday the 13th (1980) or Halloween (1978). I'd like to have a creepy monster of monsters to play the role of the antagonists, so i'd like to include something similar to the cenobites from Hellraiser. Despite it being a low budget movie it skillfully built tension elsewhere with the music (composed by Christopher Young) which I think can make or break a movie. The music has to go well with a scene otherwise it turns into contrapuntal music such as the ending scene of Dawn of the dead (1978) with 'The Gonk'. It took away any horror element of the movie and I don't think it worked. So I would like to try and use music that helps fit in with the horror genre as displayed within this movie. I'd also like to find a suitably creepy location, similar to the large house in this movie, but maybe a church seeing as they're used contextually within a lot of gothic fiction, the house in the movie seems pretty ordinary but it's old and wooden so it's got that ageing feel about it. Most of the action horror takes place in the attic of the house with the minor exception of the hospital, it's pretty small so it adds that sense of claustrophobia to it, also it's extremely dark and uses low key lighting to create shadows which adds character to the the scene, and helps to build tension with the moments that happen here. I loved the gore effects too, I'd want to do something with that and try to add an extra dimension of horror to the film, but I would stay with practical effects as opposed to the computer generated ones.
What aspects of the film would you like to avoid in your own trailer? Why?
The only thing I can really pick up on from this film is some of the very ill fitting dialogue and it feels like it's been put in there just because it can be. I'd say it broke my personal immersion from the movie and actually made me laugh at some points, it gives it a very dated feel. An example of this would be Larry cuts his hand open on the nail and Julia doesn't really give any reaction to it, despite it being a deep cut so I'd like to avoid this stale reaction in order to shock audiences more, I want to build that tension as opposed to tearing away from it.
What was the best aspect/ more enjoyable moment in the film? Why? How can you recreate this in your own trailer? How?
The best aspect of the film for me was actually the character creation, and how the Cenobites act as a purgatory council to reap souls and claim the box to keep themselves safe. I found the backstory of the characters interesting and it made me want to see more of them, which would explain why I liked the sequels that came after this film. I'd like to use a creepy monster within my trailer and completely break away from the standard psychological horror with ghosts that Hollywood tends to replicate so much now. The quick and smart monsters are very effective and combined with collision cutting and make quite a good few jump scares which are good tricks commonly used within the horror genre. I can recreate the effects the Cenobites have on them such as how the character of Pinhead (Doug Bradley) has large pins protruding from his skull all the way over his head. I can also help my research by looking into how Clive Barker has chosen to portray these characters to his audiences through the films,and look into detailed horror masks online or better yet how to recreate the effects through use of liquid latex.
How does the film show the influence of its "auteur" director? How does it show the director's filmmaking style and soul? Give examples of three scenes from the movie that show their auteur style.
Clive Barker is a very interesting man within his own right not only is he a director, he's a best selling author, openly gay, excellent artist and very proactive about filmmaking. And it's through his zaney character that he is able to create and display some of the most interesting characters to ever grace the screen. Barker has actually said he has a love for latex effects to help create such an effective horror movie. I think he really hones in on this during the production of Hellraiser. One scene of the movie where I think he pays homage to this trait the most is the Frank's last scene in which we see an incredible amount of latex effects used within a montage of hooks ripping into skin. The creative genius of Barker really shows in this scene with the alien like characters standing around as they deliver pain unto Frank, the fact that the Cenobites aren't human or anything remotely close is an interesting tidbit on Barker's part and shows his unique ability to create memorable characters such as "Rawhead Rex" or "Candyman" which both did okay as movies.
Another scene which would show Barker's artistic talent would be with the part where Kirsty makes an attempt to capture all of the Cenobites inside the puzzle box. During this scene we see all of the Cenobites get sucked into the box after trying to kill Kirsty and get the box back in their control. Because it was such a low budget movie some of the effects after reading into them, are a little bit bit improvised, much like some of the dialogue in the film but I'll get to that later. During this scene where Pinhead rises above Kirsty and in order to do this Barker had a seesaw with a heavier person than Doug Bradley on the other side so it looked like he was floating. Contextually this is interesting as Barker had never directed a film before and the only way he would release Hellraiser as a movie was if he got to direct it. He actually tried to take out a book on how to direct a movie but the library had them loaned out already. I think this reflects Barkers style within the movie because he had to try and get around these issues through sheer trial and error, and the scene looks incredible so finding that out really made that scene special for me.
The last scene I am going to talk about is the one where we have Frank in his fleshy corpse smoking the cigarette whilst talking to Julia. The actor who played Frank (Oliver Smith) liked to smoke cigarettes before filming his scenes, Barker actually saw this as an opportunity to make the character of Frank a little more rough around the edge and give him a bit more "fleshing out" as a character. Barker told Smith that it should go into the movie, and I think this kind of split second thinking to put little parts into the movie reflects Barker's character well as a person. He is a very creative man and was heavily interested in art, and this is quite an arty shot to look at within the movie. It also looks quite nice too, there is low key lighting used to shadow Franks face, so all you see from the darkness is a little bit of the red flesh from his head and cigarette smoke drifting upwards.
Wednesday, 31 December 2014
Tuesday, 30 December 2014
1st Personal Review - A Serbian Film (2010)
Film Title: A Serbian Film (2010)
Genre/Genres: Thriller, Horror
Director: Srdjan Spasojevic
Personal Rating: 9/10
Synopsis:
A Serbian Film centers around the character of Milos (SrđanTodorović) who is a semi retired porn star. Whilst looking to turn his career in a different direction, he agrees to a job given by a big time director; Vukmir (Sergej Trifunović). The Job is only described as an "art film" but Milos isn't allowed to enquire into the nature of the film. However, to Milos's horror he finds that he is drafted into making a pedophilia and necrophilia based snuff film of which there is no getting out of.
Which two scenes impressed me the most and why?
-The first scene that I was really impressed with was the climactic scene where the big reveal is shown to the audiences of Milos having sex with his own son alongside his own brother Marko (Slobodan Beštić). I found this scene really interesting because it completely tears away from Vladimir Propp and Tzvetan Todorov's classical Hollywood narrative theory. The film doesn't end with a happy ending, in fact it's quite a sad ending as Milos kills himself and his family in order to escape from the horror that has bestowed upon them.It's completely unexpected and exactly what horror should do, make people shudder and feel uncomfortable. It uses cinematic techniques such as restricted narration when Milos penetrates the antagonist's eye socket with his own penis during the fight scene. It's sickening to watch yet, slightly captivating. The whole movie focuses on the gorey and the taboo which are both used commonly within horror movies, an example of this would be the necrophilia aspect of the movie with Milo and his son towards the the end of the movie. It's this that helps drive up the horror aspect of the film. It also utilizes the use of creepy locations, the setting of this scene is in a grey abandoned warehouse which has an element of loneliness to it. It isn't an inviting setting for the audience and it would be somewhere where bad things usually happen within horror movies, an example of this would be the movie The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence) (2011) where we see this gray warehouse in which the centipede is moving around, it's dark and dingy and very uninviting. The Mise-en-scene of this part is very minimal, we have a mattress in the middle of the room, the camera in which the "art film" is being filmed by, and the bag over the victims heads. I feel the lack of props used here really helps to bring out the emptiness of Milos as a character and the sleaziness of this scene altogether.
Genre/Genres: Thriller, Horror
Director: Srdjan Spasojevic
Personal Rating: 9/10
Synopsis:
A Serbian Film centers around the character of Milos (SrđanTodorović) who is a semi retired porn star. Whilst looking to turn his career in a different direction, he agrees to a job given by a big time director; Vukmir (Sergej Trifunović). The Job is only described as an "art film" but Milos isn't allowed to enquire into the nature of the film. However, to Milos's horror he finds that he is drafted into making a pedophilia and necrophilia based snuff film of which there is no getting out of.
Which two scenes impressed me the most and why?
-The first scene that I was really impressed with was the climactic scene where the big reveal is shown to the audiences of Milos having sex with his own son alongside his own brother Marko (Slobodan Beštić). I found this scene really interesting because it completely tears away from Vladimir Propp and Tzvetan Todorov's classical Hollywood narrative theory. The film doesn't end with a happy ending, in fact it's quite a sad ending as Milos kills himself and his family in order to escape from the horror that has bestowed upon them.It's completely unexpected and exactly what horror should do, make people shudder and feel uncomfortable. It uses cinematic techniques such as restricted narration when Milos penetrates the antagonist's eye socket with his own penis during the fight scene. It's sickening to watch yet, slightly captivating. The whole movie focuses on the gorey and the taboo which are both used commonly within horror movies, an example of this would be the necrophilia aspect of the movie with Milo and his son towards the the end of the movie. It's this that helps drive up the horror aspect of the film. It also utilizes the use of creepy locations, the setting of this scene is in a grey abandoned warehouse which has an element of loneliness to it. It isn't an inviting setting for the audience and it would be somewhere where bad things usually happen within horror movies, an example of this would be the movie The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence) (2011) where we see this gray warehouse in which the centipede is moving around, it's dark and dingy and very uninviting. The Mise-en-scene of this part is very minimal, we have a mattress in the middle of the room, the camera in which the "art film" is being filmed by, and the bag over the victims heads. I feel the lack of props used here really helps to bring out the emptiness of Milos as a character and the sleaziness of this scene altogether.
-The second scene that really impressed me was the final scene in which we as an audience witness the death of the "happy Serbian family", Milos's son Petar (Luka Mijatović) is placed in the middle between Milos and his
mother Marija (Jelena Gavrilović) who both have their hands on the trigger of a gun. This scene was also very unexpected and was a huge shock for me as spectator, again it breaks away from Propp and Todorov's narrative theory, because of its very downbeat ending. I felt this scene was strangely good for the movie, as it was a way of showing a way out of their hardships as a family, they died together as a result of this. However they are actually subjected to the entire process again by being part of another "art film" with another necrophiliac and a movie camera. The scene again follows the rest of the movie with its downbeat tone and makes the audience shudder as you watch their death which is what a horror movie should do. Cinematic techniques used are restricted narration as you don't actually see the gunshot penetrate their skulls, however you are shown the bloody aftermath of the family as they lie in their beds, it completely breaks the boundaries as opposed to early censoring of movies with the Hays code, this film contrasts that brilliantly. The sound used for the gunshot is diegetic as the camera uses an extreme close up of the trigger as the shot is sounded. The gun used is a phallic symbol as it connotes the duty of the man (Milos) to end the family's suffering once and for all. The mise-en-scene used here is also in complete contrasts in comparison the scene listed above, as opposed to an empty warehouse we are located in the family home, with all their possessions which actually gives the scene a homely feel as opposed to the loneliness of the other scene. The taboo is also used again here as it deals with the topic of suicide with the family killing themselves, and by using both gore and taboo; Srdjan Spasojevic really captures the true horror genre with this movie. Janet Steiger's "Audience Studies" theory also comes into play here and particularly her words in her book Interpreting Films (1992) where she mentions the term Polysemy. Spasojevic wanted people to see how Milos's family were suffering so he put an end to it but some audiences may see this as a downbeat ending as opposed to an ending where the family found happiness through their gorey demise.
How has watching this film helped me understand this genre of filmmaking? Which features on the genre checklist did I spot in the film? When? How?
The film's ideologies and beliefs are far from the CDI. For example the topics and subjects of the film as aforementioned are both controversial and taboo. It deals with necrophilia, incest and suicide. Also, acts sadism play key parts during the heavier and more uncomfortable scenes of the movie. An example of this would be the scene in which Milos is beating his wife during the first time we see them together. As far as the characters in this movie go, I'd say that Milos is somewhat of a male hero in the sense that he took on the job to bring money in for his family and he chooses to end all of their suffering at the end of the movie with the gun scene. A lot of restricted narration is used within the movie too to cover up some of the more taboo scenes of the movie but keep the audiences minds peaked. An example of restricted narration would be during the scene where Milos's brother is in the bathroom masturbating, and even though we don't see it happening the audience feels perverse being in that private moment, it adds an element of griminess to the movie. As for the locations of the movie, there are lot of them that are used such as the dark street which has low key lighting to create a sense of fear for the audiences after the scene in the warehouse takes place. This movie as helped me understand this genre of filmmaking in the sense that the word 'Horror' derives from the latin word 'Horrere' which translates as 'to shudder'. This movie has uncomfortable scenes and isn't afraid to push boundaries which is why is is still outright banned in countries such as Spain, Finland and Malaysia. That alone is what I personally believe a good horror movie consists of, to the point where countries are scared to release your movie, the point of a horror movie is to shock and scare, and make people feel uncomfortable, and this movie; though its use of sexual violence, gore and political correctness has shown me what power the horror genre has within cinema.
Which aspects of the film would you like to include in your own trailer? why?
As aforementioned within my review, I think A Serbian Film is a great modern example of the horror genre, so I would like to borrow some of the elements within this film to cleverly use within my own almost to pay homage to it. For me I really liked the big reveal at the end of the movie, it was a big shocker which is what I ultimately want to do with my horror trailer, I want to shock people and make people feel uncomfortable. So I think in that context, the idea of mystery is a good one to use within the horror genre, the whole mystery factor can really be played on to get the most out of a movie and the audience reaction wise. I want to push boundaries and keep people guessing whilst only revealing the extent of the narrative at the end of the trailer.
Another aspect of the movie I really enjoyed and thought worked well were the special effects that are used, specifically the body horror effects. One that I thought was both difficult to watch yet effective was when Milos was smashing the directors head in. The blood wasn't too light, and it actually looked like blood, as opposed to movies like Heat Stroke (2008) in which the blood was CGI and had a pink tint to it. These effects in A Serbian Film were practical however and more hands on with a Tom Savini edge to them. The blood effects were good and overall didn't give a comical edge to a good movie. So I would like to replicate the use of the body horror effects within my trailer, and look at how the effects were done in this movie so I can produce up to scratch effects within my own trailer.
Which aspects of the film would you like to AVOID in your own trailer? why?
I'd wish to avoid any possible links to the darker and more controversial topics that this movie used such as Necrophilia and Pedophilia, whilst they may be good topics for a horror movie on a major scale budget, I do not believe they'll translate that well for a college piece of coursework. Also the key factor as to why I want to steer away from these is that they aren't really conventions of a slasher movie or an action horror. I think that you can make people shudder and feel uneasy without delving into the controversial and taboo, especially since the setting for the trailer is within a church.
I'd also like to avoid including a in depth visuals of 'xxx' related content. I don't feel that I need this in order to achieve 'horror' but instead could focus upon the violent side as opposed the sexual exploitation within many horror movies. Whilst on the topic, I wouldn't consider a blend either of sexual fuelled violence, for it wouldn't fit within the context of my trailer, it would seem as though it was placed there because it can be placed there. Whilst some elements of nudity within "red-band" trailers i used to portray the loose morals of characters, a lot of it could be deemed as straying away from the horror genre, and deriving into the category of "torture porn" such as The Human Centipede (2009).
What was the best aspect/ more enjoyable moment in the film? Why? Can you recreate this in your own film? How?
I think the best aspect of the movie was the final battle in which we see Milos brutally beat the men behind this sick idea of an "art film". It had the male hero character type within it with Milos beating the men that subjected him to the horrors he underwent and also a final girl whom was once a victim which was interesting. Of course, by this I mean the character of Milo's wife, Marija. Marija is an interesting character because there is interesting character development with her, she starts off by being the female victim character used within horror movies such as when Milos beats her, but she transforms into this final girl where she rips out a man's throat in the climax. As for the 'monster' of the movie, I would say that it was the role of the director; Vukmir. Whilst he isn't a monster in the classical 1930's Hollywood sense such as Dracula, he still behaves in a dark and foreboding manner so as for the character types, I would depict him as the Quick, smart monster because he does what it takes for his "film" to be good. The body horror in this scene effects wise is really nice and very effective. We see the use of restricted narration blended perfectly with body horror when Milos penetrates a camera man's eyeball with his penis, and whilst you don't see it the sound effect is enough to piece together what is happening, the camera then cuts back to a mutilated eye socket with blood around it, and it looks real which adds to the gritty horror aspect of this movie. I really liked the location for this scene, the dark and empty warehouse, the lighting contributes a lot to this scene too, it's dark but with motivated lighting to create shadows around the outskirts of the warehouse, as though this seedy audience is watching, it looks creepy and adds another great creepy element to this horror film. For me personally, I liked the themes of the movie, I liked how Srdjan Spasojevic held nothing back whilst creating this and threw in a lot of taboo subjects with the necrophilia and the incest. I enjoyed the brutality of it all, and how you're forced to watch it much like Milos is forced to take part in Vukmir's film. Another thing I really enjoyed about this scene was the cinematography, it used a lot of close ups to show the emotion of Milos in particular towards the activity, but when his brother is revealed the use of close ups help to capture that horrible surprise. We also see a lot of expressionist angles used with the sexual act in this scene to help convey the skewed nature of the situation.
How has watching this film helped me understand this genre of filmmaking? Which features on the genre checklist did I spot in the film? When? How?
The film's ideologies and beliefs are far from the CDI. For example the topics and subjects of the film as aforementioned are both controversial and taboo. It deals with necrophilia, incest and suicide. Also, acts sadism play key parts during the heavier and more uncomfortable scenes of the movie. An example of this would be the scene in which Milos is beating his wife during the first time we see them together. As far as the characters in this movie go, I'd say that Milos is somewhat of a male hero in the sense that he took on the job to bring money in for his family and he chooses to end all of their suffering at the end of the movie with the gun scene. A lot of restricted narration is used within the movie too to cover up some of the more taboo scenes of the movie but keep the audiences minds peaked. An example of restricted narration would be during the scene where Milos's brother is in the bathroom masturbating, and even though we don't see it happening the audience feels perverse being in that private moment, it adds an element of griminess to the movie. As for the locations of the movie, there are lot of them that are used such as the dark street which has low key lighting to create a sense of fear for the audiences after the scene in the warehouse takes place. This movie as helped me understand this genre of filmmaking in the sense that the word 'Horror' derives from the latin word 'Horrere' which translates as 'to shudder'. This movie has uncomfortable scenes and isn't afraid to push boundaries which is why is is still outright banned in countries such as Spain, Finland and Malaysia. That alone is what I personally believe a good horror movie consists of, to the point where countries are scared to release your movie, the point of a horror movie is to shock and scare, and make people feel uncomfortable, and this movie; though its use of sexual violence, gore and political correctness has shown me what power the horror genre has within cinema.
Which aspects of the film would you like to include in your own trailer? why?
As aforementioned within my review, I think A Serbian Film is a great modern example of the horror genre, so I would like to borrow some of the elements within this film to cleverly use within my own almost to pay homage to it. For me I really liked the big reveal at the end of the movie, it was a big shocker which is what I ultimately want to do with my horror trailer, I want to shock people and make people feel uncomfortable. So I think in that context, the idea of mystery is a good one to use within the horror genre, the whole mystery factor can really be played on to get the most out of a movie and the audience reaction wise. I want to push boundaries and keep people guessing whilst only revealing the extent of the narrative at the end of the trailer.
Another aspect of the movie I really enjoyed and thought worked well were the special effects that are used, specifically the body horror effects. One that I thought was both difficult to watch yet effective was when Milos was smashing the directors head in. The blood wasn't too light, and it actually looked like blood, as opposed to movies like Heat Stroke (2008) in which the blood was CGI and had a pink tint to it. These effects in A Serbian Film were practical however and more hands on with a Tom Savini edge to them. The blood effects were good and overall didn't give a comical edge to a good movie. So I would like to replicate the use of the body horror effects within my trailer, and look at how the effects were done in this movie so I can produce up to scratch effects within my own trailer.
Which aspects of the film would you like to AVOID in your own trailer? why?
I'd wish to avoid any possible links to the darker and more controversial topics that this movie used such as Necrophilia and Pedophilia, whilst they may be good topics for a horror movie on a major scale budget, I do not believe they'll translate that well for a college piece of coursework. Also the key factor as to why I want to steer away from these is that they aren't really conventions of a slasher movie or an action horror. I think that you can make people shudder and feel uneasy without delving into the controversial and taboo, especially since the setting for the trailer is within a church.
I'd also like to avoid including a in depth visuals of 'xxx' related content. I don't feel that I need this in order to achieve 'horror' but instead could focus upon the violent side as opposed the sexual exploitation within many horror movies. Whilst on the topic, I wouldn't consider a blend either of sexual fuelled violence, for it wouldn't fit within the context of my trailer, it would seem as though it was placed there because it can be placed there. Whilst some elements of nudity within "red-band" trailers i used to portray the loose morals of characters, a lot of it could be deemed as straying away from the horror genre, and deriving into the category of "torture porn" such as The Human Centipede (2009).
What was the best aspect/ more enjoyable moment in the film? Why? Can you recreate this in your own film? How?
I think the best aspect of the movie was the final battle in which we see Milos brutally beat the men behind this sick idea of an "art film". It had the male hero character type within it with Milos beating the men that subjected him to the horrors he underwent and also a final girl whom was once a victim which was interesting. Of course, by this I mean the character of Milo's wife, Marija. Marija is an interesting character because there is interesting character development with her, she starts off by being the female victim character used within horror movies such as when Milos beats her, but she transforms into this final girl where she rips out a man's throat in the climax. As for the 'monster' of the movie, I would say that it was the role of the director; Vukmir. Whilst he isn't a monster in the classical 1930's Hollywood sense such as Dracula, he still behaves in a dark and foreboding manner so as for the character types, I would depict him as the Quick, smart monster because he does what it takes for his "film" to be good. The body horror in this scene effects wise is really nice and very effective. We see the use of restricted narration blended perfectly with body horror when Milos penetrates a camera man's eyeball with his penis, and whilst you don't see it the sound effect is enough to piece together what is happening, the camera then cuts back to a mutilated eye socket with blood around it, and it looks real which adds to the gritty horror aspect of this movie. I really liked the location for this scene, the dark and empty warehouse, the lighting contributes a lot to this scene too, it's dark but with motivated lighting to create shadows around the outskirts of the warehouse, as though this seedy audience is watching, it looks creepy and adds another great creepy element to this horror film. For me personally, I liked the themes of the movie, I liked how Srdjan Spasojevic held nothing back whilst creating this and threw in a lot of taboo subjects with the necrophilia and the incest. I enjoyed the brutality of it all, and how you're forced to watch it much like Milos is forced to take part in Vukmir's film. Another thing I really enjoyed about this scene was the cinematography, it used a lot of close ups to show the emotion of Milos in particular towards the activity, but when his brother is revealed the use of close ups help to capture that horrible surprise. We also see a lot of expressionist angles used with the sexual act in this scene to help convey the skewed nature of the situation.
I'd like to try and recreate the gore effects used without the use of CGI, I prefer the hands on practical body horror effects as opposed to the ones created by computers, so I wish to use that to help boost the nature of my action horror. I feel the gore use will help to boost that sickly feeling people get when watching horror movies, and really build up the horror within my trailer. I'd quite like to use the close ups in the same way this film used them with the climactic scene, I want to capture that emotion that characters have, because to help build a bond between character and audience and then completely destroy that by revealing their "true colours" will create a real sense of nastiness for my main villain.
Thursday, 18 December 2014
Mood Board
1- We have chosen to include the infamous killer Ed Gein within our mood board because we have decided to base our killer 'Father Crowthorne' on his innocent nature to the point where people contextually didn't suspect him. We feel that this change will have the ability to shock audiences more as opposed to having an outright killer.
2- Jekyll and Hyde is another ode to the idea of two sides to people in one persons body, this way we can really emphasise the idea of a monster character residing under the innocent and calming layer of a religious figure. Dr. Jekyll in the novel was a respected gentleman throughout the town, and people came to him for advice and services, but little did they know he turned into a murderer after the transformation.
3-For the third image on our mood board, we chose to include a historical figure of Father Hans Schmidt of Germany. In 1913, Schmidt was having a sexual relationship with a housemaid, who he got pregnant. After finding out about this, Schmidt slit her throat and cut her up, disposing of her body in the East River. We chose to include him because we felt we could base our killer around Hans and his murderous intentions.
4- Norman Bates, is the sweeter side to a schizophrenic personality from Alfred Hitchcock's PSYCHO (1960) We have included Bates because much like the Hans Schmidt choice, we can base the sweeter side of our killer 'Father Crowthorne' around that. Hitchcock's choice of this innocent character made the 'big reveal' all the more satisfying for audiences, we hope to recreate that effect within our own horror trailer.
5- The graveyard is within our mood board for a couple of reasons, the first being that it is a typical location within the horror genre. At night it can be used as a very spooky and creepy location in which the main action of a horror movie can happen. As a group, we wanted to include a scene within a graveyard for an ironic reason as well as a sickening one for our audiences, the irony being people dying in a place where the dead are already buried.
6- Our horror trailer is going to have a really Gothic feel to it, in the sense that we have a priest murdering "sinners"and this is why we have included one of the most influential horror writers to date. Edgar Allen Poe made it onto the mood board because his work is creepy and a good example for horror fans. We wanted to pay ode to Edgar Allen Poe by looking at his texts and possibly using some of his work to influence our creative process.
7- NUN (2005) is a movie about a ghost nun who has come back to haunt former students, we felt we should include this on our mood board because it's similar to what we want to do with the idea of a religious figure murdering for the sake of it, but rather than have an apparition doing the haunting, we want an actual serial killer.
8- For one of the highlights within our trailer, we wanted to have "holy water" burning away at a victim's face. If we are to do this then we need to recreate the effect with latex and the building up of layers using tissue paper. We needed to research into different horror makeup effects with latex for burns and the one of the mood board is the one we wish to try and recreate, it looks severe and very bloody. As a group we wanted to have gore in the trailer, and this is how we wish to do it.
9- This is a piece of religious art depicting the crucifixion of Jesus Christ whilst pictured inside a larger picture of Jesus Christ's head. Our group felt inspired by this art work because it helps to capture the mood of the church we'll be using to shoot our trailer within. We felt we needed to look into and include religious art and texts in order to capture the overall feel of the location.
10- This is a picture of the actual church we will be filming our trailer at, we felt we should include it on our mood board because it will be the main setting for the trailer, also a church is a typical horror location, and helps to tie in with the graveyard location well. This way we shall have a continuous ambiance throughout the trailer.
11-The picture of the mist is included in the mood board because firstly, mist is a natural horror convention, and is used to deceive and disorientate audiences. we included this because mist is also because it has an element of the unknown, and that's what we wish to capture within our trailer. We want to shock audiences with stuff they don't see coming.
12- This line from William Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' is interesting because it pays tribute to biblical terms, it mentions hell and how that devils ram the earth. this comment about people being evil is interesting as it's how we wish to base our killer character, we want him to be part demon underneath the skin of an innocent priest.
13- This is an image that is relevant to the context of the time, we now have female priests being included within the church system. We wanted to include the female priest because we are using a 'final girl' whom is a priest and it's through her purity that she tries to eradicate the father.
14- The director Tom Six has been included on our mood board because we want to push boundaries within our trailer much like the movies of Tom Six. One of our shots is a male victim being penetrated through the skull with a crucifix which is a controversial idea in itself. Our trailer wants to include some of the raw cinema elements within it that makes it difficult to watch in order to help convey the idea of horror in a big way to our audiences.
Sunday, 7 December 2014
Horror Magazine cover analysis 2
The masthead of the magazine has a nice effect around the font, it consists of large capital lettering in order to capture the attention of target audiences, but to connote the idea of toxicity there is a pink stroke effect around the yellow text to convey the idea of radioactivity. The colour scheme of the magazine mainly consists of yellow and orange, which are used within horror as colours of decay, but in this circumstance it could be to continue that idea of radioactivity, it could also be said that by using bright and bold colours you capture the target audiences attention quicker.
The main cover image consists of classic horror characters such as Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and Michael Myers from Halloween (1978) which would be an instant appeal to fans of those particular franchises and horror fans around this time period. The coverlines use a lot of popular movies around the time when the magazine was released (1989) and includes famous characters like Frankenstein and the Phantom of the Opera, and by using these they entice fans of the horror genre from many different areas because they include a variety of characters.
The tagline for the main headline is 'can they still cut it' which is a nice play on words with the characters weaponry, seeing Michael Myers at the bottom of the page with a knife in his hand. The background of the magazine cover is very plain and is a combination of gray and brown, which could be a connotation of the grittiness and griminess of the horror genre for the target audience.
Saturday, 6 December 2014
Horror Magazine Cover Analysis 1
The Masthead for the magazine is in large capital lettering in order to capture the attention of the target audiences, in this case horror fans. The main title of the magazine is FANGORIA which sets the tone of the magazine by incorporating the play on words with gore, this will create an appeal to the horror audience. The titles is literally made up of two words which separate into "fan" and "gore"combined, which explains why it features many gory horror auteurs and gory horror, such as the likes of Tom Savini as shown at the bottom of the magazine. The red colouring of the text connotes danger and gore and is a common feature within horror magazines, and when combined with the main cover image furthers that idea of gore by portraying a picture of innards. The colour scheme of the magazine cover is primarily black, red, yellow and white which have different connotations. The black for instance is used a lot in horror to connote darkness and shadows which create senses of eeriness, whilst the red connotes blood and gore, a common feature within horror films. The yellow is used in certain movies such as The Exorcist (1973) to give the central character Regan's skin a sense of decay and disease. The main image is the iconic moment from VideoDrome (1983) which shows guts coming from a television set, this image is very gore driven with the blood lining the innards, which creates a sense of sickliness and creates another appeal for horror fans, also by using this type of image it will draw in fans of the movie and make the magazine eye catching for audiences.
The headline of the magazine is 'Videodrome TV with Guts' which is a nice pun included in the title, it also helps to emphasise the main image, the headline uses the sickly yellow colouring to continue the colour scheme of the magazine. The strapline of the magazine is a play on the word 'exclusive' but in fact it reads 'Acksclusive' which is using the noise of general sickliness, by doing this it helps to fit the overall thematics of FANGORIA magazine. The coverlines of the magazine are all coloured yellow which is again playing on that unsettling colour scheme idea, it also helps to draw attention to these titles in order to capture the target audiences attention on particular items such as the Tom Savini article. The magazine's coverlines also mention some pretty big names such as David Cronenberg and Tom Savini who are both contextually horror nuts, Cronenberg is known for other horror movies such as SHIVERS (1975) and The Dead Zone (1983) and by using David Cronenberg on the front cover it will entice fans of his other movies to purchase the magazine. Also they use the other big name of Tom Savini who is contextually considered to be the master of practical horror effects with liquid latex such as in the hugely successful Dawn of the Dead (1979) and by using such a big name it will draw fans of his work, which around the time was greatly influential.
The subimages at the bottom of the magazine all include monster characters, in the first we have a wolf beast, in the second we have a zombified woman and then a large monsterlike character in the final shot. By using these images it helps to capture the attention of the horror audiences. The border used around these images is a mockup of a piece of film strip which continues the idea of horror movies.
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