1920- Evil Returns

1920 Evil Returns was an interesting film for me to watch as it had a whole different take on the classic Horror genre, the way that 1920 confronted love in the film is different to how other horrors confront horrors for example in "The Woman In Black" the main character has lost his wife so seeks out the ghost to prove to him self that there is a life after death. but in 1920 the connection of love seams to run deeper into the life blood of the film, and this is a key convention of Bollywood films and is one of the big contrasts between a Bollywood and Hollywood films, in 1920 the male and female are in a hotel room but rather than having sex the male character walks away, i don't want to say that Hollywood films are all about sex but i feel that if that if two characters in Hollywood film had ended up in a hotel room together the same level of restraint may not have been kept.

1920 is a Horror and keeps to the same conventions as you would expect from a horror; dark lighting, jumpy sounds and a stalking camera. but the film is also a romance and keeps to the conventions of a romance; damsel in distress and something keeping them apart, 1920 keeps to the conventions and narrative of a Bollywood film; love story, poetry and strong family bonds, 1920 also attracted some well known actors such as Aftab Shivdasani.

The technology used in the film is good but i feel that a little more resistant could be shown i have to say that in comparison to some other Bollywood films that they are starting to understand that a film is not merely measured  number of effects. and this shows that they are getting better but i still feel that 1920 did some times use effects in times that were just not needed.

Resident Evil

Resident Evil is a Si-Fi horror based around the Resident Evil video game series, three of the key ways to tell that this film is a Si-Fi Horror is to look at the way the production team have used sound, lighting and camera shots. Within Resident Evil you can find many cases where the production team have used the sound to build tension, for example when the team first encounter zombies they are not meet by the image of an undead person they and the audience first hear the sound of an axe being dragged along the ground.

Another key point about Resident Evil is the production context of the film, due to the success of the games Hollywood found and opportunity to turn the games into a film, and in 2002 the first Resident Evil film was released, the large budget and resources that Hollywood has allowed the Resident Evil franchise to evolve, the actors and writers of the film show just how powerful the influences of Hollywood are. The dialog and narrative of Resident Evil are extremely clever as they work well as a film but at the same time keep true story, locations and dialog of the games. 

One of the highlights of the film for me was seeing how the film used special effects, in a big holly wood block buster you expect to see lots of effects and Resident Evil is no exception, but one of the great things about Hollywood is there ability to know when an affect is effective and when it is over used, this for me is key to making a good film as even the best crew and biggest budget can destroy a film if the effects are used every two seconds.

Silence of the lambs

<!--[if !supportLists]-->1)    <!--[endif]-->Discuss three points within the film that semiotics were being used?

In a horror you expect to jump there are many places in the film that do this, one of these places is when Starling enters the car in the storage garage under the name of Moffet upon entering the garage Starling sees a car that ones examined on the inside reviles the decapitated head of victim of a cruel and brutal murder. This scene starts by build tension for example; in the garage you can see hardly anything, the room is filled with clutter which in a horror film you expect someone to jump out of every corner. Then the audience comes to the crescendo of the scene when the head is revealed to the audience.

Through the film the lighting plays a massive part to building tension and a sense of fear. For example when “the silence of the lambs” reaches its highest point of tension there is no lighting at all, in this scene starling has just discovered the serial killer “Buffalo Bill” when she attempts to arrest this dangers and brutal man he runs away into his seller, kills the lights in an attempt to have the upper hand on Starling. In this scene you only clear images we see are the images through the night vision googols of the killer; this green tint to the world is intended to makes the audience feel on edge and in my opinion this works very well the fusion of no lights, being in a strange place mixed with seeing the world through the eyes of a killer and mad man builds up the tension and confusion of the audience which intern strikes fear in to their hearts.

In “The Silence of the lambs” we see the world through the eyes of a woman        

A trait not normally used in horrors, this makes the audience feel on edge right from the start because normally in a horror you expect the woman to be the defenceless,  week and pathetic character who cry’s and is then killed of straight away. From very early in the film we learn that starling is asked to conduct an investigation into the mind of Dr Hannibal Lecter a sociologist, cannibal and all-round dangers man. The fact that the film puts a woman with little experience up against a master of the mind and the comparison of a man verses a woman gives us the audience a sense of being weak and defenceless.

   

<!--[if !supportLists]-->2)    <!--[endif]-->How was the genre communicated?

In “Silence of the lambs” as with many other horror films conveys the genre in a number of different ways I feel that in the film some of the most prominent are the use of music and sound and the way the camera is used at follow Starling.

The music in “The silence of the lambs” is one of the most important conventions, without the music one of the most iconic horrors of all time would just be an average horror with a good story. For example when Dr Hannibal Lecter is in his cage the music is calm this sets a scene a tranquillity and relaxation. When in fact this scene makes the audience witness the most brutality in the whole film. The contrast of brutality and tranquillity creates an unforgettable sequence of horror and violence.

 One of the other important semiotics for”The silence of the lambs” is how the camera moves throughout the film, in the open scene for example as Starling runs through the woods the camera follows her in the classic style of “stalking” this means that the camera mover in the style a killer may move to follow a target this in the opening sequence of the film confuses the audience as they think that Starling is running from a killer when in fact she is only performing a training exercise. Late on in the film Starling is in the house of the killer and the camera takes on the role of the killer so we can see the power he has over Starling in the end sequence, this use of the camera also shows the audience how defenceless Starling is, and I feel that that part of the scene has a deeper meaning of saying how everyone is week when they are blind to the evil all-around them.   

<!--[if !supportLists]-->3)    <!--[endif]-->How is the main female character portrayed?

Towards the start of “The silence of the lambs” Starling is shown as a very stereo typical woman of horror; week, defenceless, innocent and sexualised.

In the start of the film Starling is used only as an item of sexual attraction towards Lecter as a way to gain information, but as the film progresses Starling breaks out of the stereo typical format for a woman in a horror and becomes a much more of an independent strong character, using her own indicative to achieve her goals.     

<!--[if !supportLists]-->4)    <!--[endif]-->How is the queer theory relatable to the film?

In “The silence of the lambs” the main killer “buffalo Bill” has a deep inner desire to be a woman. “Billy hates his own identity, you see, and he thinks that makes him a transsexual. But his pathology is a thousand times more savage, and more terrifying”- Dr Hannibal Lecter Silence of the lambs

within the film he shows traits you would expect to see in a character of the queer theory for example he uses camp gestures, bill in the film is not realy a “camp gay” instead he is a manly king of “gay”

<!--[if !supportLists]-->5)    <!--[endif]-->The most memorable moment in the film?

For me I have to say that to pick one part of this film and say it is my favourite is something I just cannot bring myself to do. As a young Harry this was one of the first “proper” films I watched and was certainly my first horror. Without this film I do not feel that I would have the same passion for films that drove me to take on a course like TV and Film. At the same time I have to say that both the young Harry and the Harry of today have an interest in Characters in the insides of the minds that drive people to do things. So for me some of the best parts of the film are when Starling and Lecter are having conversations about their pasts, there drives and the inside of Buffalo Bills mind. 

Hellbent

this film follows the queer theory with giving the film a really clear homosexual name Hellbent". other examples of this are;      

In "Hellbend" the homosexuals are portrayed as helpless in the opening scene of the film this is an important aspect of the queer theory.







the homosexual at the start of the film is important to his character as they show his innocence and as the scene moves on we find out  that they are a gift to his mother.His concern for his mother helps to aid the audience with feeling sad for him when he dies. are affections towards the character  help the audience to dislike the killer right from the start of the film.

Eddie played by Dylan Fergus

As the film progress  we are introduced to a Eddie a homosexual police officer, as you would aspect he is your stereotypical gay; camp, well groomed and within his police duties he pays special attention to men of the city. 
      
Later on in the film Eddie and a group of friends are at the West Hollywood Halloween festival, on the way to the festival they are picked out by a psycho killer praying on homosexuals, this is important as the homosexual being the target of a crime of the crime is a convention of the queer theory.

Horror deconstruction 2 –Feminism film theory

The shining- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oip6YUn95ig

Woman is completely defenseless to child; she has a look of complete fear and helplessness.

The child is closer to the screen than the mother to show that she has far less power than him.

The woman in this film is portrayed in the style of a feminism theory.

Playing to the stereotype of the woman being weak and defenseless  this is an important aspect of the genre because the woman in a horror is the lady that will be chased and killed; also she provides the crying and screaming to the horror which is a key convention of horror

Horror Deconstruction- The Silence of the Lambs

 

In this scene the lighting is used to make a dark feel to the room and the way the light streaks past the body paints a sinister angelic mood to the location.  
  

The close up on the face of the policeman shows this fear, as an audience this makes us feel uneasy. The music adds to the sense of unease, this sense of unease is created by the deep bass and the contrast of the high pitched harp strings.  The shadow on the man’s face sets the dark feel to the room.

 

In the clip you can clearly tell that the person displayed on screen is a murderer and probably a cannibal. We can tell these things by the blood on his face and chest and also by the half smile on his face displaying a sense of achievement towards his kill. The camera then pans out to show the full extent of carnage in the room. The music add a layer of sinister contrast to the visual display by presenting us with The Goldberg Variations, a piece of classical music that would normal be used to set a calm mood.