Reflective Analysis of Short Film

Reflective Analysis - Short Horror Film



Our objective is to produce a piece of horror/thriller film around a minute long. We were going to include conventions of both such as: hand-held shots, extreme close-ups/ close-ups and mid shots. We will film these using canted angles, low angles with some panning and tiling. All of the shots that we will film will be used to make the audience feel shocked, nervous or on-edge. We filmed this in black and white and used a simple setting so that the audience can relate to it and experience a similar feeling just like the characters felt in the piece of film.

After filming the 14 shots that we filmed we managed to include the horror conventions as listed above as that was our aim to try and make the audience feel uneasy. We also included shots where the characters walk away from the camera and shots where the camera pans and the character comes into view. This adds to the effect of making the audience feel worried and slightly claustrophobic as the first few shots were filmed in a small room. This is a good convention as normally horror/thriller films are filmed in small spaces; it gives the sense that the character who is trying to run away will get trapped and caught. This makes the audience even more scared as they empathise that they can't get away as they are confined, which could leave them wanting more as they will be curious to know if the main character escapes or they get captured.

I think that teenagers and adults will benefit more from this film compared to younger children and it might scare them. As a result of this I think that the rating of this film should be a 12/12A rating. As a character dies it makes it a violent production which some viewers may not want to see. This is also a convention that you would find in a horror film as it links with death and normally someone dies in a horror/thriller feature. Another convention that we used was to film it in black and white which makes it darker and more mysterious. As most horror films will include low key lit places I thought this would be a good idea to include because it takes away at least some light causing the image to seem darker. This is also a good idea because light can be associated with hope or faith so taking this away can also take away the hope of the character who is being chased. Someone being followed or stalked is another common convention in thrillers as it is a very real thing but at the same time irregular. Irregular behaviour much as stalking another is well used in the genre of film and as we were able to include all of these conventions, I believe that this is a good piece of film which can be described as a horror/thriller film.

Whilst editing this, I looked at many sound tracks to see which ones sounded creepy enough. I couldn't find a specific one, so I overlapped two to make the sound louder and more shocking towards the audience. I also added the laughing at the end to make the audience feel uncomfortable as it is a manic style of laughter at the expense of someones death. I used a black screen to show this, so the audience can't focus on anything else, but the sound of the deranged, manic laughter.

Face/Off Warehouse Fight Scene Analysis

In the scene, there is a fight between good and evil. It is a stereotypical gun fight, where the characters fit in with the conventions of the genre. The villain (Nicholas Cage); slightly psychotic, powerful, and well-dressed. The hero (John Travolta); fighting against the villain, caring about other people and is skilled at fighting. The fight leads to just the main hero and main villain, where the villain runs out of ammo, asks to be shot, has a knife and then gets trapped in a wind tunnel and is knocked out from his back hitting a metal cage.

During the build-up to intense moments in the clip, non-diegetic sounds is quiet, but gets slightly louder when action is taking place. Sound then becomes diegetic during the fights, as it is the conventional gun shots, explosions and shouting. These sounds are loud so my attention is drawn towards them and their source; and it keeps audience on edge as they want to know what will happen next. 

The scene begins with a long shot of a wind tunnel. The camera then pans from right to left to focus on Cage's eyes in an extreme close up. There is non-diegetic dissonant sound that makes a crescendo when Cage is in the shot. This shot makes makes the viewer feel uncomfortable and intimidated as they would not usually get that close to someone. Low key lighting is used to suggest mystery and danger. The next shot is a high angle establishing shot which shows the warehouse where the majority of the scene will take place. It is noticeable that the tunnel where the fight ends is much more well lit than the rest of the warehouse and illuminates much of the room. The third shot in the scene is a high angle shot of John Travolta's character who is holding his gun out at arm's length. This shot introduces the FBI agent and makes him look vulnerable and nervous as he will soon be engaged in a deadly battle with the dangerous criminal.

The next shot is a close up of the criminal's face looking downwards. In this shot he looks menacing and excited that he is about to shoot people. this paints the impression that he is insane and scary. In the fifth shot, we are then shown what he is looking down at- his gun which he is loading. This is followed by diegetic sound from his gun being loaded. The sound is clearly diegetic as in the following shot, the agent hears the noise and reacts to it by sharply turning. The next shot is another close up of Cage's gun, which is gold, being loaded. This shot implies the death that the criminal is about to cause. It is a convention of the action genre for guns to have their own shots, to signify their importance.  The scene then switches to a mid shot of an armed man in a suit turning on the spot to face the camera. We are shown this this from the point of view of the villain as this man is then shot. He is clearly an ally of Travolta's character as the hero attempts to save him by shouting 'Down!'. We are then shown a medium close up of Cage's character with his gun pointed towards the camera as he shoots. The next shot pans quickly around Travolta and the dying man who he is holding. This is followed by an extreme close up shot of lots of blurred sparks that cover up and illuminate the shot. The contrast of low key and high key lighting makes the explosion stand out. The blurry light objects could symbolise the light of heaven in this scene as if the sparks landed on someone, they could kill them. The next shot is a medium close up of the villain shooting. As he is in the centre of the frame and takes up much of the picture, he looks powerful and important. This is an example of the use of rule of thirds as Cage is in the middle third of the screen.

In the next shot, back lighting from an explosion is used to illuminate the dark room and make everything including the running hero look dark and unseeable. The next shot is a tracking shot that follows the agent as he runs to dodge explosions. The shot keeps the action fast-paced and shows  the viewer that the hero has survived the explosion. The next shot is a mid 2 shot of the hero running towards another agent who has his gun pointed. This then cuts to a medium close up of the two agents' faces. Travolta's character is shouting 'Down!' and looks worried. In a high angle long shot the criminal Cage can be seen dropping his machine gun. This shows he has control as he only needs one gun to fight. A close up of the villain grabbing his pistol is shown- informing the viewer that he is going to shoot yet again.

In this bird-eye view shot (see screenshot), the rule of thirds is used. This is aesthetically pleasing, as it looks symmetrical and neat. The hero has some white in his costume, which people know to be a pure, clean colour showing that he is good. These shots are longer, as it is a conversation, and not much action is used. The next shot after this, shows Travolta with a high-key lit face, as contrast to the low-key lighting on Cage's.

During the fight scenes, some key moments are in slow motion to mark their importance and slow the pace down slightly. It also draws attention to that moment, as your brain can register the action better.

Kill Bill Vol.2 Analysis

Kill Bill Vol.2

Kill Bill Vol.2 is a 2004 film which follows a bride and her venture to complete the hit list she has written of all of the people who have done her wrong, including her ex-boyfriend and boss Bill, who tried to have her killed four years ago during her wedding. In the scene The Bride talks to Bill in a dream or flashback style of clip. The whole scene is in Black and White.

In the first shot, The Bride is walking through a church, initially with a happy facial expression, until she hears a non-diegetic sound of a flute playing. Her face then turns into a shocked or somber expression. The camera tracks backwards following her walking pace. It is a mid-close up as the audience can see half of her torso, whilst her still being the main focus of the shot. It uses the rule of thirds. This keeps the scene looking symmetrical and her facial expressions set a calm or happy mood.
In the second shot, the camera is static and captures the exit of the church. This puts the camera in the Bride's point of view. It is a long shot, as you can see the whole door frame. There is a high key and low key lighting contrast, suggesting that the outside is an uncomfortable heat, but the inside is unsafe. It also makes the sound diegetic, so the audience knows where the flute playing is coming from.
In the third shot, the bride turns to look over her shoulder and has a shocked facial expression. This is a reaction shot, and the camera stays static for half the shot, then continues tracking backwards at walking pace. This shot again allows us to feel as if we are walking with the character, and we can see she is the point of interest.
In shot 4, you see the back of the bride walk outside and look to the left. It is done in a long shot, but the shot seems quite tight. The camera is static. This is to show that it is the point of interest for the shot.
In shot 5, you see a man playing the flute with the bride not looking at him. It is a low angle two-shot and the sound is diegetic. As she turns to look at him, there is lots of space between them, telling us that she is cautious of this man. Also in all shots, she is on the right and he is on the left. This could mean a moral righteous.
In shot 6, it cuts to a close up of the bride, as she turns to look at the man. She is on the right side of the shot. She is looking down on him, so it means she is better.
In shot 7, there is a high-angle close up of the man, as he finishes playing his flute. This could mean he is in the wrong. A shot-reverse-shot is also used, and the music/editing speeds up in pace. This reminds me of the key scene from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
For shot 8, Bill turns to look at the bride, and begins speaking to her. It is a higher angle close up, and he is again, to the left side of the shot.
In shot 9, the bride looks over at him. There is lots of negative space behind her and the telephone posts look like religious crosses. The negative space represents that she has a bad past with Bill. The crosses behind her tell us that she is morally right.
In shot 10, the man is talking to her and walking towards her with a slow pace. There is a pole in the middle of the shot, creating a symmetrical shot. This is a high-angle mid-shot, which pans and tilts to the left. For shot 11, the bride starts talking to him. It again has a pole in the middle to create symmetry.
In shot 12, the bride is walking towards Bill. The shot tracks from right to left, and it is a low angle shot, where you can only see her feet. She is again on the left. Shot 13 is the same, but Bill is the subject behind the camera. The same sequence of shots is repeated.
In shot 15, their feet are together. The rule of thirds is used. The fact that it is their feet, means they don't actually want to be together.
For shot 16, their faces are shown very close together for a conversation. It is a close up two-shot. The shots are of longer duration, and the rule of thirds is used again. This means they are over the awkwardness and are more comfortable talking to each other.
In shot 17, a tight over-the-shoulder shot is used, as the camera focuses on Bill. She is again on the left and he is on the right. In this shot, they seem closer even though they don't move. The mood is now more comfortable.
And finally in shot 18, she looks up at him. This is a close up, and over-shoulder shot. She isn't scared anymore.

In my personal opinion, the scene is rather boring as nothing really happens in it. The scene, when taken out of context from the film, may be confusing to people who haven't seen the film, as it is a part of the narrative, but doesn't move the story line along at all.