Mad Max: Fury Road Analysis

Mad Max: Fury Road Analysis

This is the opening of an action movie called Mad Max: Fury Road. To show that it is an action film, there is a car chase scene happening. This is effective because in most action films there are always a car chase scene, because it makes the scene more thrilling for the audience as this will make them engage more in the film. For example there are many car chase scenes in these films, such as Spectre, Ride Along, The Dark Knight etc. Other thing that it shows it is a action film, is that there is a big fight scene happening between one guy and some bad guys because this guy who looks like he is the main character, runs off and fights off the other men and it ends up being one big fight scene. This is effective because in any action film there will always be a fight scene and normally this happens between the hero and the villain, but in this film it is between one guy and a lot of bad guys. This also makes the scene thrilling for the audience as there is a lot of tense moments happening.

We then have the camera shots and angles of the opening scene. One of the camera shots would be long shot, wide angle and this is shown at the start of the opening scene, where Max is standing next to a vehicle, looking over at the view in front of him. This is effective because not only that we can see Max in the scene, but we can see a lot in this scene and what Max's view actually is and this is because of the wide angle. One other shot type is a medium shot, this is shown later on in the start of Mad Max, where a guy goes and burns a skull imprint onto his skin, but before that happens, we see Max's facial expression of what is going on and he looks angry, confused but also scared because he doesn't know what is going on. This is effective for the audience because we can see Max's facial expressions of what is going on and this makes the scene very tense, thrilling and kind of wild because it is different to any other fights from other action films.

In the opening scene of Mad Max: Fury Road, there isn't much music being presented, as we can hear the sound effects of the cars getting exploded or the cars swirling around, also we can hear Max talking over some of the scenes, telling us his background story of what had happened to him, which is good because the audience get to learn something about the character. We then hear music when Max gets taken away from the bad guys, the music sounds very tense and thrilling which makes the film 10x better because it most action films, you need the music to make the scene much better for the audience so that they can still stay engage with the film. 

Target Audience Profile for Horror Films

Target audience profile for horror films:

The target audience for a horror movie is normally between teenagers and young adults, making that between 15-30+. The reason for this is because most protagonists in a horror movies are normally around this age. Another reason for this is because there are a lot of jumpy and scary scenes which wouldn't be appealing for the younger audience as they wouldn't want witness watching scary scenes. Young people in friendship groups enjoy watching horror movies as well because they can witness the film together and after watching it they can share their point of views of the film with each other. 

Drag Me To Hell Analysis

Drag Me To Hell Analysis

This is the opening of a horror movie called Drag Me To Hell. By knowing it is a horror movie, the start of the scene, is a little boy's parents asking a woman to help their son as he can hear voices as he had stole something from other people and hadn't given it back. Other thing showing it is a horror movie is that when the young boy is laying down on a little sit and hands are coming from the roof, looking like the hands are going for him and while this is happening, tense music is in the background to make the scene more scarier for the audience while watching it. There are more things to show that it is a horror movie and the finally one I am going to talk about is when the boy has been thrown onto the floor and the floor starts to crack up, while this happens, the boy tries to escape but a demon creature grabs the boy and takes him down into the ground also known as "Hell", when this has finished the floor goes back to normal and the film title pops up with high pitch music. 

We then have the camera shots and angles in the opening of Drag Me To Hell. At the start of the clip, we can see a long shot of the house, this is effective because we can see where the scene is being set but also what is happening and the audience will get an idea of how the scene is being presented. The next shot is a close up shot of the young boy laying day on a rug, this shot is very effective because we can see the facial expressions of the boy and by his facial expressions we can see how scared he is and the sweat on his face makes him look nervous, the audience will be more engaged into the film because they want to know more what is happening but also why the boy is scared. The final shot and angle is a a medium shot, low angle. This is shown when the women in leaning over the banister as the boy has fallen off it, this makes her look like she is in power because of how the camera is being used. This is effective because we can see the type of clothes she is wearing, how her body language is and also seeing her facial expressions, which by the looks of it is worried, scared and really not sure what to do. The audience will be very engaged into the film as the scenes are becoming more tense and frightening.

Of course we have the music in this film, because with the music it becomes more exciting and tense for the film but also for the audience. At the start of Drag Me To Hell, there is non-digestic music being playing which sounds very mysterious but also tense at the same time, this sets the mood for the audience being intrigued and curious of what will happen next. Towards the end of the opening scene, the music comes back again. The music is very dark and tense and this makes the scene more of a horror because of what is happening in the scene and as you can see, we see the boy being dragged down into the ground while the music is increasing each time. This is called Non-Digestic music because the characters can not hear the music being played but the audience can.

The Cabin in the Woods Analysis

While watching a clip from The Cabin in the Wood, I can't really tell if it is a horror movie. This is only because the start of the clip, we see a guy driving in his car, but he is smoking something that he shouldn't and upbeat music is playing while this is happening, as other characters come to this guy and tell him off for what he has done, he walks off pretending not to care about what the others say. From my perspective of watching the opening scene, is that it looks more like a comedy rather than a horror, only because of the body language the characters are using  and the way the music is being played in the background. As this is the opening scene of the film, it may have a little bit of comedy in it as this can make the audience more engaged and interested of the film because it having two genres in one film. But later in the film, the scenes can become tense. more scarier and seeing the characters change a little different. 

 We then have the camera shots of the opening scene. One of the camera shots would be a medium angle and also shot. This is shown, when the women is standing out of the caravan and we can see her head to her shoulders but not her body as it is a medium shot. This is effective because we can see her facial expressions of what is happening in the scene, her facial expressions seem a little shocked as she has seen the guy driving his car, but it could be because of something else. We see her body language also and she doesn't seem to be bothered of what is going on and is minding her own business. While watching the opening scene of this film, we mainly see a lot of different types of angles and shots. One other shot type, would be a two person shot, this shot is effective because it shows two people in one shot, which is really clever as we can see what the characters are doing in one shot. With this shot, we can see a women and a man looking very confused but also shocked at the same time suggesting something bad has happened or will happen. By the facial expressions on the woman's face, she looks shocked and angry because of the guy smoking something he shouldn't, also same with the man, he looks more confused than shocked as he isn't sure what is going on. With the woman's facial expressions  and her body language it shows us that she is desperate to find out what is going on but also to find something out. 

In most horror movies you always get upbeat and happy music in the first few minutes of the film, this is because the audience will be interested of what is happening but will be more engaged. This film is a good example as at the start we hear upbeat music being played in the background while the characters are speaking. But later in the film, there will be tense music only because it will make the scenes more tense and frightening as most horror movies needs tense scene to get the audience more into the film.

Paranormal Activity 4  Analyse

In the opening of Paranormal Activity 4, we kind of get the idea that it is a horror movie because it starts off with the date  saying October 31st 2011 and everyone mostly know that this date means its Halloween. This is actually a good time for horror movies to come around as it makes the film more scarier but also makes the audience more engaged with the film. Also showing that it is a horror movie, there is children going trick and treating for Halloween, but also we see a little boy running away from the camera and it shows he might be scared or even excited because he is going to knock on some doors and get some sweets as he is a young boy and Halloween is around.There is one more thing in the opening of Paranormal Activity and that is when the man (known as Ben) holding the camera as he is filming everything, he goes towards a scarecrow, proving to the young boy that there isn't nothing to be scared of, but once he gets to the scarecrow, the surroundings become silent and Ben then gets a jump from the scarecrow. Paranormal Activity is actually a horror movie series and this film is the fourth one in the series.  

  In most horror movies, there is always tense, quiet music. In the opening of Paranormal Activity 4, we don't hear much music in the background, which is a little weird, but really it is actually good for the audience because it makes the scenes very tense and the audience will be engaged with the film more and will also make the film more interesting. As of course it is the opening scene of the film, so it may not start with music, but throughout the film, music can appear in some scenes which is good as if there wasn't any music in the film, the film would be slightly boring in a way as it would be just people talking, but with music, the film will be more scarier and fun to watch!

 Moving onto the camera shots of the opening of Paranormal Activity. In the opening of this film, we see a little boy making noises while running from the camera, when the boy is running from the camera, the camera is running as well, this is because a character from the film is using the camera to film parts of the film, to make it look like it is from his POV. The main camera shots being used in the opening scene are two people shot, this is where two people are in one shot and we see that being used a lot for the girl and the young boy and walking around doing trick an treating, but we also see a lot of medium shots as we get to see what the character is like and what type of body language they are using. 

Conventions of Horror Movies 

  

 Here I have made a spider diagram to show all the conventions that happen in a horror movie. I have done this because it is giving me an idea of what there is in a horror movie. 

Harry Potter and the Philosopher Stone Analyse

In the opening scene of Harry Potter and the Philosopher Stone we can already tell that this film has the genre of fantasy, lots of magic and also mystery to it. We know this because we see a guy in robes and having a hat on his head, which some people don't know who is, but as a Harry Potter fan, this person is Dumbledore and he is a head of wizardry. Reason why we see magic in the opening, is because Dumbledore has a little cylinder button (not really sure what it is called) thing and he is in the street, making the cylinder thing suck the light as he doesn't want to wake the neighborhood up and also doesn't want to be caught doing magic. 

There is also more magic being used as we see a cat turn into a women which is a little weird and abnormal and this wouldn't normal happen in the real world. This is shown as a normal magic trick for the film to make the audience more engaged. We then see a bright light in the distance, as it gets closer we notice it is a flying car coming into landing... Now we know this is magic because really? This wouldn't happen in real life because I don't think anyone has see a flying car yet. The audience now assume this film isn't based on a true story or these things happening in real life as they now know it is a fantasy.

Obviously there is always music in films as it makes it more effective but the audience will then be more engaged if music is added. At the start of the opening scene, we see that the scene is quite dark so we know that it is night time. The camera moves on to a owl on a road name which is "Privet Drive" suggesting that this is where the scene is being held, while this is happening, in the background we can hear magical, mysterious music so this can make the scene more tense and intriguing. This is known as non diegetic music. This kind of music fits great with the genre of the film and makes the film even more better! This music in the background then becomes a little quieter and we hear a violin being used and it increases as Dumbledore makes his way down the road, suggesting that he could be one of the main characters of the film. The violin sounds goes low to high a couple of times until it changes into a calm sound as the character has stopped. 

As the music has stopped, we can still hear the non diegetic music in the background. We then hear some sound effects being used when Dumbledore is using something to absorb the light. These sound effects are like swooshing and little twinkles to add more affect but also to make it more realistic on what is going on. The music then starts up again but being much louder, this is because the motorbike is coming down to landing. We then hear the sound effects of the motorbike as it is being used and of course the audience will be more engaged with this object because of the sound effects. The sound effects of the motorbike show that it is still a motorbike but it is a flying one because of the magic being used so it can be used to fly in the sky.

There of course is the camera shots in this opening scene. One main camera shot being used is the close up, this is being used on the baby, who is known as Harry Potter, the main character of the film. This close up shot is effective at this moment, because it is zooming into the baby's forehead as he has a lightning strike scar on his forehead. When the camera is zooming into the forehead, the music starts up again and the scar makes a sound effect like you are ripping something, this is showing that it is ripping into something because the scar then goes straight into the name title of the film, with the theme music being played at that moment, making it more intense but magical for the audience. With this music and how the opening scene are being used, it shows that this film is actually a fantasy genre with a lot of magic!