rEal OTS ANALYSIS
For the success of our OTS we must understand how they are created and how they are edited to effectively work as a horror film.
For this we decided to pick Dawn of the Dead opening scene , this is a great opening title sequence as it conveys the genre of horror very well through the use of props, camera angles, varied shots and editing. We can clearly see from the first few seconds that it gives us the impression that something is not quite right due to the camera tracking over a sleeping couple towards a semi open door. This gives the impression they are unaware of something or someone filling the audience with suspense and expectation (feelings typical of horror). It is not until we cut to focus on a door slowly opening that a feeling of suspicion and anxiety is felt by the audience. This is when we see what looks to be the figure of someone who is out of focus, showing mystery and filling the audience with a sense of fear due to a dread of the unknown. Later in the scene, the figure is shown to be a little girl that has clearly been harmed. This reflects the genre of horror as gore and blood is typical of this film type.
For this we decided to pick Dawn of the Dead opening scene , this is a great opening title sequence as it conveys the genre of horror very well through the use of props, camera angles, varied shots and editing. We can clearly see from the first few seconds that it gives us the impression that something is not quite right due to the camera tracking over a sleeping couple towards a semi open door. This gives the impression they are unaware of something or someone filling the audience with suspense and expectation (feelings typical of horror). It is not until we cut to focus on a door slowly opening that a feeling of suspicion and anxiety is felt by the audience. This is when we see what looks to be the figure of someone who is out of focus, showing mystery and filling the audience with a sense of fear due to a dread of the unknown. Later in the scene, the figure is shown to be a little girl that has clearly been harmed. This reflects the genre of horror as gore and blood is typical of this film type.
Already having an infamous reputation in the horror genre, the Scream saga OTS's are usually hard hitting and tension building. Ghostface is an iconic horror figure and is often seen doing what he does best albeit stabbing his first victim or in this case victims. The original Scream film depicted a blonde female character home alone. The location was a large family house in the middle of no where. The same can be said for this OTS where two female characters are isolated and therefore a sense of vulnerability is conveyed to the audience. Jenny and Marnie are the two unsuspecting victims discussing the horror movie they had just watched which is common in a Scream film as in their cinematic universe there are other horror movies that the killer often refers to while he toys with his victims.
They receive the ominous phone call where Marnie asks who's calling. The response is a chilling statement in the classic killer voice- "this is the last person you're ever gunna see alive." This builds suspense until Jenny reveals it to be only a joke to tease her friend. This leaves the audience in a false sense of security before the jump scare in which Bonny is swiftly dealt with. The high view, low view as the victim dies distinguishes the balance of power between characters. The killer is clearly dominant.
Jenny goes to investigate, sensing a prank and comments on the phone on the floor that Marnie tried to use to call for help. Another phone call, Ghostface replies with "not an app" and "do I sound like a Trevor to you?" He also refers to her as a "dumb blonde" which links to the stereotypical idea of the victim characterised as a young, blonde female. His closing statement, "you better start running" builds anticipation, followed by the window smash and the chase scene. Music intensifies. Stabbed in the back, there is little gore so the key horror aspect are the jumpscares. Jenny is close to getting away, the audience feeling a mixed sense of foreboding and hope, but as we see the knife go down it's too late.
They receive the ominous phone call where Marnie asks who's calling. The response is a chilling statement in the classic killer voice- "this is the last person you're ever gunna see alive." This builds suspense until Jenny reveals it to be only a joke to tease her friend. This leaves the audience in a false sense of security before the jump scare in which Bonny is swiftly dealt with. The high view, low view as the victim dies distinguishes the balance of power between characters. The killer is clearly dominant.
Jenny goes to investigate, sensing a prank and comments on the phone on the floor that Marnie tried to use to call for help. Another phone call, Ghostface replies with "not an app" and "do I sound like a Trevor to you?" He also refers to her as a "dumb blonde" which links to the stereotypical idea of the victim characterised as a young, blonde female. His closing statement, "you better start running" builds anticipation, followed by the window smash and the chase scene. Music intensifies. Stabbed in the back, there is little gore so the key horror aspect are the jumpscares. Jenny is close to getting away, the audience feeling a mixed sense of foreboding and hope, but as we see the knife go down it's too late.
The beginning of this OTS pictures a character alone in his room about to go to sleep. Him being alone reflects a sense of isolation and therefore vulnerability to the audience. The fact he is about to go to sleep intensifies this feeling of vulnerability as sleep is a state in which most are unable to protect themselves. A dog barking in the distance can also be heard along with what sounds like wind blowing through an empty street. These sound effects add to the sense of isolation and therefore, again, vulnerability. A feeling of tension is created due to the repetitive ticking coming from a metronome in the character's bedroom and is reiterated by the slow tracking of a camera from the character's face to the metronome which also creates a feeling of dread and expectation as the audience begin to suspect a jumpscare is ahead. The sudden blackout that follows this almost foreshadows the sudden jumpscares that are to be seen in horror films, creating a feeling of expectation and suspense in the audience. A drawing of mangled hands is then shown; the drawing is seen on top of graph paper and has a thick red line running through the middle of the hands. The nature of the hands paired with the colour of the line conveys a sense of foreboding due to the connotations of the colour red (blood, death) and the reflection of the theme of gore (from the misshapen hands) that is typical of horror. Flashing images and a red tint on what is shown become frequent after this and a creaking sound can be heard in the background. The flashing images almost give the audience a feeling of paranoia and anxiety as when these feelings are heightened people can become very hostile and 'twitchy' in their movements whilst also being fairly unpredictable-like a flashing image. The deep red colour of the tint, once again, reflects the theme of gore giving the audience a feeling of anticipation while the slow creaking sound creates a feeling of fright as people don't tend to open doors or what have you that slowly. It seems unnatural and is therefore unnerving. Following this is someone crossing out words and peoples eyes with a black pen. This has connotations of death as people often cross out peoples faces in pictures once they are dead (typical of crime investigations: crossing someones face or name out lets others know they are deceased) which, like the mangled hands and the colour red, reflects the theme of horror and gore as they are typical of this genre.
In this opening scene the family are sat in a car in the middle of a traffic jam where they are confused at why they are waiting. This opening scene pulls the audience into their situation where their knowledge of the situation is limited to what they infer. Furthermore, a motor cycle bolts past taking their left mirror off. "Jerry" the main protagonist proceeds to exit the car with a confused expression in which a police officer cycles over and tells him to stay in his car. This shows the audience that something is wrong and that it's dangerous to be outside their car. As the police officer shouts at him through the window, a bin lorry rear ends his cycle and his body fly's off the cycle leaving it crushed and him injured. The fact that we are following Jerry's point of view leaves the audience confused and distraught. Once the cyclist is hit the audience know that something is wrong in which Jerry takes the opportunity to escape creating tension and suspense. The incident accelerates leaving chaos and destruction in it's wake. They are then rammed by another vehicle and as the car comes to a halt they exit and run. As they run they turn back revealing the situation and that they are dealing with zombies which is shown through glimpses between people rushing about. As they are running they see a man on the floor who has been bitten. This man was previously in a car with several other people. They then begin to play a radio which counts up giving the audience a clue as to how long it takes to turn. He then begins to attack the people in the car who he was with showing the disease can turn your loved ones against you. Therefore, it leaves the audience with the sense that the situation is hopeless. The playful sound of counting presents some eeriness to the situation. They then pan out to see the large amount of chaos that have spread across the city showing that this isn't one incident but that it's a pandemic.