Group - Prelimary Task

NC Mood Board (Noir Teen Thriller)

RW Mood board (Thriller Noir)

Treatment for 'Will Wonder'

The film is situated around the goings on in William Wonder's hollow existence. Will is a 17 year old boy attending school where he is a nobody, however when he's out of school everything changes and his life turns into an absurd obstrocity. The film is based around the events that occured on the 15th of March 2034, A chase where the audience is led to believe that a murder has taken place, not knowing if Will was the killer or the victim. The storyline slowly suggest that Will is the killer but in the final moments the killer strikes again and Will is infact innocent.

NC Analysis of 'Amityville Horror'

Genre

• The film is definately of the 'horror' genre.
• The audiences generic expectations are matched, in horror you expect murder and people in fright for their lives and this is exactly what the opening sequence shows. Also horror films are dark moody and 'Amityville' definately portrays dark and moody with it being night time and also the thunder and lightning.

Film Language

• Misc-en-scene doesn't play a very important role because the sequence is very dark, however the misc-en-scene does help with iconigraphy, for example the shotgun, pyjamas, closets and broken tv's.
• The sound is mainly diagetic, with thunder and lightning and the shot of a shotgun but these sounds have been amplified so the only thing you can hear is the thunder and then the shots fired, the sound anchors the image for example when you hear a shotgun fire you know the man has killed someone.
• The man says nothing except murmuring once and the little girl screams, the man standing over the little girl reinforces his power because the little girl is curled and screaming.
• The director fades to black and fades out quickly very often in the sequence, this is too emphasise the lightning and darkness more vividly and also to set the mood for the sequence.

Narrative

• The narrative is linear using continuity editing, no flashbacks or flashfowards in the sequence, the man gets uo and then goes around killing the other people in the house.
• The audience are positioned with the man but oppose him for his atrocities.
• The man is identified with the gun symbolising his control and power, the audience is positioned with him but are stangely alienated from him because of his actions
• Tension is created when he picks up and cocks the shotgun and maintained by the sound of the thunder and flashes of the lightning.
• The major themes in the narrative are murder and a strange sense of power and darkness.

Representation

• The representations in sequence are white American families and people with mental health issues.
• The framework is constructed by semiotics, denotational scenes/images consist of the man's picture of him graduating connotating that he was once a successful person with prospects.

Media Audiences

• The target audience for this film is for people who enjoy psychological and gruesome horror films, the age range would probably be 15-50 year olds.
• The audience reading of the film would be that a 'psycho killer' kills his family and that there is something deeper to the storyline because it seemed he was in some way possessed.
• As a British teenager I find the opening sequence as shocking as it shows a man killing people with a shotgun horrificly, worst of all the young girl. This is because this is something that is certainly not in my everyday life and something that will never effect my life whatsoever, this is why the film is intriguing to me.

Institutional Context

• The film has know bankable stars, not even very many known stars, Ryan Reynolds is one of the few but the again not too well known. The fact that the film has no 'major' names is good because that means the film is more focused upon the storyline rather than who's in it.
• The film was co-produced by 'Radar Pictures' and 'Platinum Dunes'. 'Radar Pictures' are an independent company and 'Platinum Dunes' specialise in horror films.
• The institutional context isn't clear and dry in the sequence although you can tell that the film has a decent budget by the impressive editing and the misc-en-scene.

RW Analysing an opening sequence

Genre
The film belongs to the crime-drama genre. The opening sequence (2 minutes) doesn't really fufill the audiences expectations as the mise en scene of the sequence involves chickens being slaughtered, people singing and dancing and food being prepared. However it does feature knives being sharpened which can be a visual signifier of crime/drama and the cutting rhythm and pace are the only signifiers.

The text does conform to the genre but only in an ironic comic manner as later in the film it becomes clear that the chicken escaping is a metaphor.

Film language
As explained above the mise en scene is rather interesting as the escaping chicken is a metaphor.

The characters first shown are high in spirit and people are singing in the background however there is a more threatening feel and tone to the sequence as the sequence doesnt explain very much and is rather mysterious.

A series of closeups is used showing knives being sharpened, slaughtering chickens, and cutting carrots are used. A closeup of the fire lighting up on the hob also conveys a sence of death.

Between the knives being sharpened there are cuts to black; this also symbolises death. The angle of the shots are high and low and the camera is tilted so it feels as if the audience is positioned with the characters (high up) and then lower down (with the chickens).

Sound is very important in this sequence because it is used ironically as guitars are played in the major key clashing against the sound of knives being sharpened that connotates a more sinister tone. The loud sound (selective sound) of the knives emphasise the images of the knives.

The characters look very happy as if they are having a good time however there is a quick shot of people dancing and they look quite wooden as if they are not really having a good time and that the dancing is false as if they are forced to be seen to be enjoying themselves. This adds to the mystery of the opening.

The director also uses a few shots of musicians playing their instruments so it is made clear that

the sound is digetic and that the music is live. This connotes that the people having the barbeque

can afford to have a live band or are part of an organisation or gang and so the musicians have no

choice but to play for them.

Narrative

The narrative is structured in a linear or asyncronous way however the edditting used is montage. The audience is positioned with the characters enjoying the party and preparing food however it is also positioned with the chickens waiting to be slaughtered. The most prodominant theme in the sequence is death however ironically false happiness and enjoyment is also present. Tension is maintained very cleverly as one by the one the chickens are killed and the audience is left positioned with one single chicken throughout. The cutting rate is quick and the audience is hooked as it doesnt know if the chicken that the audience keeps seeing is going to get slaughtered or make an escape.

Representations and ideologies

Poor Brazilian musicians and Brazilian cooks are the two social groups portrayed in the sequence it is obvious they have a low standard of living as the food is being cooked outside and not in a kitchen and the cooking utensals are being used for a variety of different purposes.

There are few values and beliefs portrayed in the sequence other than that even with a low standard of living people can have fun and enjoy good food.

Media Audiences

The target audience is a niche audience that might be into the cinematography or gangster films because its been compared to Blood Brothers and so City of God is very much a crossover film.

The audience could read the text in quite a comic fashion however it also has quite a unerving feel to it too.

As a Brittish teenager the extract seems very foreign and i cannot really relate to it.

Institutional context

There are no stars in the film and this is probably due to such a low budget and trying to make the film as realistic as possible.

Miramax made the film and it is a rather small independant company.