Formal Assessment : Essay

The 3 Horror film openings I've looked at are 'Dead Wood', 'Dead Mary' and 'Wrong Turn'. I've studied and looked at the Technical Codes, Symbolic Codes and the Conventions used in the openings.

Technical codes are the use of the camera, how its moves and the shots used. Its how the sound is used to create the right atmosphere and scare the audience. Symbolic codes are how the costume is used so create an opinion on who the character is. Its also the use of make up and how the fake blood is used. Its also the use of props and how they can give hints to how they are used later in the film and hints on what the film is actually about. The location is a symbolic code as it give the audience an ideas on what the film will be about and where its set. 
Conventions are what is expected in a Horror film and what you expect to see like a car break down this a convention used to make the film scarier to make the audience wonder if the people stranded will live or die. Some of the conventions used are stereotypical like a male and female, where the make is strong and brave and the female is weak and vulnerable. 

Technical Codes

Use of camera

 In both Dead Wood and Wrong Turn there is a establishing, crane shot which turns into the camera focusing on where the action is to take place. In all of the openings there is a close up or a extreme close up of the characters facial expression, usually as a victim being chased (Dead Wood) or seeing there companion being killed (Wrong Turn) or just generally being bored (Dead Mary). In Dead Wood and Dead Mary there is a point of view shot, Dead Wood its where  the character is being chased and in Dead Mary its from the threat rustling the trees near by.  In Dead Wood there is a crane shot in the beginning, going in to the action, then at the end the crane shot going out of the action. Theres a shaky movement of the following of the action when the character is chased in Dead Wood it creates more of a scary atmosphere, also the audience feel like they are experiencing the action like the character. In both Dead Wood and in Wrong Turn there is a crane shot over the girls to show the vulnerability of them and show there not powerful.

Editing

In Dead Wood when the character has to jump across a small brook the jump is slowed down until the point of him grabbing the side of the bank for support, then it returns to its normal speed. In Dead Mary the conversation there is shot reverse shot of the 2 characters talking. In Wrong Turn there is quick editing shots of the girl being pulled up the cliff edge shot using a range of extreme close ups, long shot, and mid shots.

Sound- Diegetic

Diegetic sound is used in all of the film openings, all of them are set in the woods so in all bird noises can be heard and the sound of rustling trees also is heard, this can create  eery  atmosphere as the bird noises will be made so the audience feel scared and know there is something wrong by the way the character reacts to the trees rustling for instance. In Dead Wood the breathing is amplified to show the panic the character has. In Dead Mary the sighing of the girl is clear so it shows the audience how bored she is, also when she is tapping her fingers on the top of the car it shows she is bored and the sound of the tapping fingers emphasises this. In Wrong Turn the sound of the climbing equipment can be heard when the girl is pulled up the sound of the rope moving is an example of that, when she is pulled up the sound of the rope moving is sharp and quick powerful in the way it makes the audience jump every time the rope is pulled as the wonder when or if she'll be pulled up to the top and who or what is pulling her up.

Sound- Non Diegetic

There is non diegetic sound used in all of the openings. In Dead Wood and Wrong Turn there is non diegetic right at the beginning of the film both of them have quick eerie music so already the audience can know that the film is a Horror and is going to be scary, where as Dead Mary uses diegetic sound of a swing moving backwards and forwards, this can be quite creepy and sinister as the slow squeaky sound of the swing moves. Non diegetic isn't greatly used in Dead Mary theres more of diegetic sound like its is in Dead Wood and Wrong Turn.

Titles

In Dead Mary the titles are in lower case and the font its self looks damaged and distorted, the white colour looks safe and then it changes to red which symbolises blood and danger. It shows the contrast of the safeness to the danger which is used in the film. There is no use of titles in Dead Wood nor in Wrong Turn.



Symbolic Codes

Costume and Make Up

In all 3 openings the clothing the characters where is quite casual no short skirts and heels or bright make up its all quite natural. In Dead Wood the man wears quite a typical outfit of a shirt and trousers, however the girl wears a skirt with a slit up it which is slightly tarty but she doesn't wear much make up and really her outfit is boring just mainly brown clothing she wears. In Dead Mary the girl wears a strappy vest top and very short shorts this is appropriate as the weather is quite warm so the character would wear what they have, due to the weather, if she was wearing a lot of make up then she may be tarty, but because she isn't she's wearing what she is because of the weather. In Wrong Turn the characters wear climbing gear which is appropriate, the man wears quite a tight top showing off his muscles and the girl wearing quite short shorts but again you wear that type of clothing in climbing and also the weather looks warm. In all of the openings the characters look early 20's, dressed in casual clothes appropriate for their setting.

Location

All of the openings have the location in common, Dead Wood and Wrong Turn are set in the woods in the day time, where as Dead Mary is set in the day time as well but set on a road next to a Forrest. Dead Mary and Wrong Turn are set in the summer due to the clothes they are wearing. Dead Wood is set in the Autumn is the trees are brown and most of the trees are mostly dead with the branches bare, which creates quite a dead and creepy atmosphere  the tent is on the bank of a small brook, so the tent is isolated.

Props

The props used in Dead Wood is a tent which shows the characters have been camping. A car is used in Dead Mary its quite a sleek quick car which could suggest that the quick car does come in handy in some point of the film. Also the fare gun is shown which again the flare gun may be needed later in the film which is why it is shown in the opening to give a slight hint to the rest of the film in which the characters could be in danger and could need it to get help. Climbing gear is the prop used in Wrong Turn which uses rope, the woman is pulled up by the rope and is later tripped over by the rope so it plays a big part in the opening scene.


Conventions

There are some conventions that are used in all 3 openings such as a secluded location, which is a typical location for Teen Horror film.  A male and female character is another typical convention used in all of the openings. The venerability of the girl characters also is used in all, in Dead Wood the girl is left in the tent alone and the crane shot also shows the weakness of the girl, In Dead Mary the girl is left in the car alone while the man goes to find petrol and she cant find signal which shows she venerable is something happened to her she couldn't call anyone, In Wrong Turn the girl is weak at climbing and finds it harder getting up the cliff than the man, she is then left alone when he is killed. An establishment of the threat is shown in all openings, in Dead Wood the man is killed by something which shows the girl wont be alone in the woods, in Dead Mary there is a point of view shot from the threats point of view as it hides in the woods, In Wrong Turn the girl sees the trees rustling and echoing of a creature as it moves. In Dead Wood and Wrong Turn there is 2 deaths that happen quite quickly, also in both films the characters trip over as they try to escape the threat. In all 3 openings there is no help near by which is a common convetion even the character says in Wrong Turn 'Your 50 miles from anyone who you screaming for?' emphersises  the factthey are completly away from any sort of help. In Dead Mary it is typical for a car to brake down.

This is an Establishing shot in Wrong Turn