Research- Mise-en-scene

Hi blog! I recently researched on my previous posts about technical elements but thought it was also important to research in depth about mine-en-scene. I always thought it was interesting how mise-en-scene is used all throughout films in all different types of ways. To research this I will be reading multiple articles, researching mise-en-scene elements within horror movies and then taking notes on how it creates the effect it does.

Research 

The term mise-en-scene refers to anything that is placed in front of the camera like setting, lighting, costumes, props and the actors placement. It plays a huge role on how horror films build tension and convey fear to audience. To not get confused with cinematography, which is built on camera work, it primarily focuses on the visual effect a director builds on screen without using sounds or movement. Every aspect that has to do with an object, a costume or details has to do with mise-en-scene and is specifically put their to make the audience feel uneasy.

 Additionally, in horror, films, lighting, and color are often two components that work together with physical aspects to create tension. The use of low-key lighting and shadows are examples of mise-en-scene, which makes the audience question what they’re unable to see. An example of this is in a dark setting they may see abandoned houses or Erie buildings that give a sense of danger being around. Costumes and makeup also take part in this, for example: Pale skin, worn down clothes and abnormal outfits hint towards a threat being around without real words being spoken. The visual effects also include props like, teddy bears or bloody objects which help build a horror feeling in the atmosphere, conveying an unsettling feeling.

 

A good example of mise-en-scene is in the film Get Out. This is because the home appears clean, bright and welcoming, but in reality, there are tiny details that make it unsettling. The costumes appeared normal while background details such as the placement of servants or family members hinted towards danger before the plot is really shown. The calculated use of setting and visual detailing Allowed horror to develop overtime rather than using typical elements like jump scares.

Reflection

By researching mise-en-scene, I learned that it plays a huge role in creating fear. Every visual detail is specifically chosen to create discomfort. Horror doesn’t always depend on action or violence, but also visual storytelling, creating a sense of tension before anything actually happens. This research helped me realize how this is used to guide the audience’s emotion and build up fear.

Sources

-https://nofilmschool.com/mise-en-scene-horror

-https://nofilmschool.com/mise-en-scene

-https://www.byarcadia.org/post/horror-film-101-behind-the-mise-en-sc%C3%A8ne

Research- Technical elements

Hey blog, welcome back! Now that I know a little more about who enjoys horror films and what they’re intended to do, I want to study the technical elements that make them the way they are. In this post, I’m hoping to learn more about how to create a horror film by researching multiple articles and taking notes. I will be letting you guys know my key take aways, and what popular films used these elements.

Research

Horror films depend a lot more on technical elements to create the feeling of fear and uneasiness rather than depending on a story line alone. One of the most important technical aspects I took away was cinematography, especially the lighting and the camera angles within it. For example, horror films usually use low-key lighting to create shadows that limit what the  audience can see. This forces the audience to imagine what these figures could possibly be. An example of camera shots could be tracking shots. Films like The Shining use slow tracking shots and wide framing to make the empty area appear abandoned and threatening making the setting itself create a sense of fear.

Another component of technical elements that are prominent in horror are sound designs which are often more important than even the visuals. Films within the horror genre use eerie background music amd ambient noises are use to build fear. Also, random moments of loud sounds are prominent to create jump scares, while random silence is the build up of suspense for them. In the film Psycho, a sound of a rusty violin echos during a shower scene which built up panic alone by just using music. Sound often plays a major role in horror films because it warns the audience of danger  before anything visually appears on screen.

Additionally, the use of special effects practical techniques help create a more realistic and uncomfortable setting. Most filmmakers often prefer practical effects like prosthetic makeup and physical blood effects because it makes the movie seem more believable and realistic. The film, The Thing, has creatures turning into things in a more graphical way making it uneasy. Using these techniques make the threats seem real and evoke the emotional fear from the audience. It also makes the fear more real and almost believable.

Lastly, The use of editing and pacing plays a major role in creating the horror experience. Most horror films use a slower pace and longer takes to make the audience uncomfortable while waiting for something to happen. When some type of scare occurs, fast cuts and sudden edits are used, so that the viewer builds up a sense of fear and discomfort. The mix of slow buildup and quick action makes the fear more intense. Horror films like It Follows, rely on extended shots to keep building up the plot and making the threats clear.

Reflection

By researching, I learned the horror films use a very specific use of technical elements to evoke the fear out of the audience. Rather than just telling a story, the technical elements are the real foundation. Cinematography, sound, editing and special effects work hand in hand to create specific emotions from the audience at specific moments. This research helped me have a better understanding on horror as a genre and that it requires enhanced technical skills to create the real psychological tension and fear.

Sources

-https://www.elratonmediaworks.org/northern-new-mexico-film-tv-blog/30-horror-making-techniques

-https://collider.com/best-horror-filmmaking-techniques

-https://nofilmschool.com/basics-of-horror-cinematography

-https://www.afi.com/robert-detail/53260-PSYCHO/

Research- Marketing Strategies

 Hey blog! After watching The Housemaid I realized that I watched clips of this movie in all sorts of apps before actually watching it. This is definitely because of all types of different marketing strategies it used to make sure it was a success. I decided that today I should do an in-depth research on how marketing affects a films success.

Research

Horror films generally have to use a unique strategy of marketing so advertise and show how much better it is then just the ordinary horror film. Building suspense in viewers is often important to do even before they actually watch the film because it gets them hooked onto the movie. What makes horror marketing successful is teasing and not revealing. It is important to give the audience just enough information to spark some interest, while not revealing to much information about plot twists or characters. These strategies are often promoted through trailers and campaigns. An example of this is in the trailer of the movie A Quiet Place where  the trailer hints towards danger, without showing a monster or villain.

Also, real word campaigns such as, The Blair Witch Project, was marketed as a documentary with missing persons posters and websites showing the characters to be “missing.” This method made the audience grow interest in the film, and made it one of the most successful horror film advertisements in history. After that films like Smile used actors with an unsettling smile and placing them in public to promote the movies central idea of their evil smile. An example of this is when thy hired people to go to a baseball game wearing the smile shirt and having a creepy grin on their faces. This use of marketing has been one of horror most successful ways of advertising films and have reflected based on film views.

To add on horror, films use social media and public networks when advertising to build their audiences. The movie M3GAN was a huge hit for the horror world because its connection with social media. The main characters (M3GAN) dance sequence was advertised on all platforms from TikTok to instagram. Not only did this boost interactive engagement but provided a memorable moment for the audience which is why this movie was so successful. Marketing clips from films to social media is one of the most common and well used way of advertising horror films for these industries.

Sources

https://solinwords.medium.com/horror-movie-marketing-516d3c99f1fa

https://collider.com/best-horror-marketing-campaigns/

https://mintadvertising.com/scream-worthy-marketing-how-horror-movies-master-the-art-of-fear/

Research- Target Audience

 Hi blog, hope you guys are having a great day cause I sure am! You may ask why, and my answer to that is because I started researching more about my up to come film opening! I never realized how enticing the horror genre would be for me. In fact, just yesterday I watched a horror movie called “The Housemaid,” which is within one of the sub-genres (psychological horror) I just researched about, and I loved it! Which is ironic because today I was planning on researching the target audience for horror films. Now that I’m done chatting about my weekend, let’s get straight into target audience!

I think horror films are a particular genre because it is one of the few that are really not meant for children.  They’re typically aimed towards young adults, around 19-24 years old, but are also enjoyed wider age ranges than just that that. Those who typically enjoy it are people looking for a high suspense and heart pumping adrenaline experience. People who watch horror films usually aren’t bothered by graphic or uncomfortable scenes. In fact, usually these type of scenes are what they enjoy most because they search for intense and fearful emotions. This genre isn’t for everyone, but for those who do like it, it creates a space to have fear while being able to control their emotions.

While researching, I also realized that this type of genre is more enjoyed by women than by men. This definitely takes me by surprise because of the assumption that men seek high adrenaline moments. I guess this can confirm to not be fooled because I alongside of many others would not think women would also gear towards this genre more than men. 

When researching audience I also came across the idea of low-cost excitement for either solo watchers, or group viewers. Typically groups of people enjoy watching horror movies together because they’re cheap, easily accessible and thrilling, conveying fun excitement for large parties of people. Overall I think this genre is geared towards young people who are in search of interesting, thrilling and exciting viewers. This helps create an understanding on why different production choices are made.

https://lewisprintmediablog.wordpress.com/2016/02/10/target-audience-unfinished/ https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/horror-film-target-audience/40556563

Research- Reviewing Film Openings

 Hi Blog! Im back at it today with another post. I decided it would be a great idea to research some film openings and jot down a few tips I could use from them. I think this is an essential starting point to build my knowledge on creating film openings, so let's just get straight in to it!

Glorious Day - An AICE Media Studies Film Opening

• begins with an establishing shot, allowing the audience to become familiar with the setting
• builds suspense with dim lighting and shallow music
• It seems very quiet which can sense the fear in the characters
• Seems to be Sci-Fi/ Mystery/ Horror based because of the images appearing on screen
• Minimal camera movements makes the setting appear eerie
• This film opening consists of a lot of close ups, making us have a main focus on what is going on and that it seems like any normal day, but it’s really not
• The costumes are casual and makes the situation seem like it’s just any ordinary day
• There are diegetic sounds with movement, but a lot of non-digetic noises making the film opening seem like something is out of place
• Analyzing this film opening helped me get a better understanding on what the objective of what I’m doing should be. It also serves as a good example on how multiple components build spa story line like sounds and cameras.  
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti9l3jaPMro

Reflection:

Now that I was able to watch a recent film opening relating to the “horror” genre I’ve been researching, I think this could give me a good basis to work on. I’m not sure the details on what I want to create yet, however, I plan on viewing more film openings so I could get more ideas. 

Research- Horror Sub-genre

Hi blog, welcome back! As mentioned previously, we've been researching a lot about different potential genre options and what things are used to build this media. I've always enjoyed the Horror genre but didn't realize how much more there is to it than what I am watching/ reading. Today I will be going step by step on how I began my in-depth research of Horror and bringing you guys along with me.

The Horror genre is something I find so interesting because it is solely composed of unexpected challenges and constant events building up suspense. Some may say Horror is senseless violence or inhumane, but in reality that is to subjective to categorize it as that. There are so many sub-genres that it would be impossible to list them all, but some that I have primarily noticed are horror romance (horromance), psychological horror and horror- mystery.

Horror Romance (horrormance)

The sub-genre horror romance is one that I’ve seen very often. An example of this is Bram Stroker’s Dracula (1992). This film contains romantic sub-genre traits by showing Dracula’s belief that Mina is the reincarnation of his beloved late wife. He shows their connection like a tragic love containing a mix of fear with passion. Additionally, there are tropes like forbidden love and love through shared blood which makes this a film categorized as a gothic horror but also dark romance.

Psychological horror

This sub-genre is a genre based on horror focused on emotional fears and mental instability rather than their being a specific villain or monster. The movie Black Swan (2010) is a Psychological horror that demonstrates a ballerina facing hallucinations and paranoias as she is trying to live up to the image everyone has as her. This film incorporates intense emotion and romantic issues through previous relationships with families and friends. Something primarily different with this film and Dracula are the tropes. The main character struggles with duality of identity and an intense obsession with having to be perfect.

The genre horror has such wide variety of sub-genres, but the horror romance one is my primary interest. It is a comforting sub-genre that many could relate many but then have an interesting plot twist. Many different components are included in genres, but it is important to establish a familiar sub-genre and include what things make it up. I think horror is a genre filled with endless storylines and plots containing things all types of people could find interest in. 

Until next time blog!

https://graciescaglione.home.blog/2019/01/29/researching-the-horror-genre/

https://blogs.ubc.ca/kevinluigrsj224/2014/11/25/blog-12-weeks-11-12-compare-stokers-and-coppolas-dracula/

https://www.criticfilm.com/psychological-themes-in-black-swan/

https://plotmind.pro/black-swan-symbolism-themes-explained

https://www.cinemaessentials.com/2020/05/bram-stokers-dracula-1992.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com&m=1

Research- Genres to Consider

Hey blog! I'm back with some more insight on the world of Media Studies. This week, I decided to go in depth and research multiple different genres to learn about all my potential options. It was amazing to see how every genre is different from each other, and why they are this way. 

Horror

    To begin, the first genre I researched was Horror. My typical definition of Horror beforehand was solely based on a story full of fear and intense reactions in high stress situations. However, there are a lot more things that make up horror depending on the tone or style chosen. Depending on this, they're categorized into things called sub-genres which take in information that has to do with setting, location, suspense, and so on. Sub-genres help classify the big picture of what to expect.

    When building a piece of horror media there are some “rules” that should be followed to keep it successful. To begin it is important to have theme reflecting societal fears or something people can believe is realistic. When thinking about setting, this can be versatile, from creepy graveyards to outer space, there are multiple options to choose from. When building a horror film, including music is important because of the crucial role it plays in building atmospheric pressure. Horror may be a genre that isn’t for all, but I have realized that there is a lot more to it then gruesome and violent events.

Thriller

    When I first began to look at my genre choices I had no interest in building a media text with the genre of thriller but I decided to give it a try and branch out of my comfort zone. First off, the thriller genre is a genre full of suspension and dark stories to catch a long-lasting attention on readers. After learning about sub-genres in romance, I researched a few in thriller including political thriller, crime thriller and mystery thriller. I realized how highly important it is to categorize the sub-genre you are planning to create and follow the elements used to create it. Something that was interesting to me was when I found out that thriller always must contain something called "three C's." The three C's include the contract, the clock and the crucible. To sum this up, the contract is a promise made in the beginning of the story about what will be delivered, the clock is pressure/ suspense created and the crucible is something that contains the characters making them feel a desperate need to escape or flee.

    When creating a piece of media with thriller there are a list of things that are needed to be included. These start off with what is most commonly known, a feeling of suspense. This helps the reader stay attached to it and carry their interest. There are also three characters that are always included which are a hero, a sidekick and the villain. Also, plot twists and cliffhangers keep the audience attached, and on their toes. The thing I believed was the most important after researching was to include an intense climax. This is what builds an emotion inside the audience and make up the whole reason onto WHY something may be going on. Thriller is definitely a genre I am not used to watching or experiencing, but I enjoyed researching something almost completely new to me.

Comedy

    Lastly, I decided to research the comedy genre because it is one of the genres that I love to watch most, alongside with many others. At first I thought that this had to have been the easiest genre to compose, however, I began to realize that there is no genre that is "easy," they all have their challenges that the audience never realize. I'll begin with a few things that almost every comedy genre needs to be considered comedy. To begin, there is almost always some type of drama in every single piece of media. It is important to build up relatable characters so that the audience doesn't get bored. The more transparent he characters are about their life, the more comedic and attached the audience becomes. Additionally, there is usually always a goal intended to be achieved by the main character, keeping stakes high and interesting. I think what is most important is making it not look like you're trying to hard. The comedic sense should appear natural and unexpectedly funny.

    In comedy, there are multiple different places to find inspiration. For example, there are comedic screenplays. You should be researching sub-genres like romantic comedies and physical comedies. There is also standup comedies where you can see punchlines created or how they set up normal situations and create them to be a funny environment. If lines are overused and forced, the audience won't typically enjoy it, people generally enjoy the unexpected jokes that weren't seen coming. I definitely underestimated how difficult it would be to create a non-tacky, creative media withe the genre comedy.

Sources

• https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-horror-
• writing-101-what-is-the-thriller-genre-definitions-and-examples-of-thriller-in-literature
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZRZplIAv30
• how-to-write-a-comedy-screenplay-a-guide-to-writing-a-comedic-screenplay-that-will-make-audiences-laugh