Media Studies (Film)

                                       The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) The Texas Massacre (1974)-Tobe Hoper  Opening/Titles-  The opening of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre   is very unique when compared to the previous horror films researched. The audience is caught up to the events of the attack via a long paragraph on a black background. Incidental music slowly gets louder as the paragraph reaches the end. A sudden cut is made to a close up of a mutilated body. The camera zooms out, accompanied by similar incidental music to the opening paragraph. There is a visible tint of red over the entire shot which helps give a affect of dread. The opening credits appear on by themselves on an bloodstain  solid background. Finally the opening cuts to a a series of quick mid shots of the slasher swinging his chainsaw vigorously revealing nothing about the plot ...

                                                          Friday the 13th (1980) Friday the 13th (1980)- Sean S. Cunningham    Opening/Titles-   The opening of Friday the 13th   doesn't delve into the background of the Antagonist, but kicks off the film by showing the iconic formula that most of the kills will follow. This includes lengthy long takes shot on a skay cam that not just help to build up the suspense to the ultimate sudden kill, but it gives the illusion of that the audience is the slasher spying on the "prey", which is a clever way to sneak in many character building moments. Minimal Incidental music is used, promptly dialogue is used to set the mood. There is a scene in a boat house that use mise-en-scene with a ski mask and a machete that hint at the antagonist. This film choose to not show...

                                            Child's Play (1988)   Child's Play(1988)-Tom Holland Opening/Titles- The opening of Child's Play 's  is very different compared to the previous horror films research for this project. The opening has a more intense action sequence retelling the possession of the Chucky doll. The sequence plays out with a series of short mid and wide shots that have the antagonist robbing and later evading the police with the only close up being the Chucky doll at the end and the insert shot of blood running into the doll . This is accompanied by very fast paced incidental music making it seem more like the opening of a action film rather than a horror film. This however keeps the audience more attached to the film. The opening credits are more elongated giving the audience more time to take them in. Of the job titles they inclu...

Halloween (1978) John Carpenter Halloween (1978) Opening/Titles- In the first two minutes of Halloween, It's director, John Carpenter, decided to have a insert shot of a jack-o-lantern slowly zooming to a close up of the eye. The rule of third was used with this shot, having the pumpkin on the left with the opening credits fading in and out to the right. Job titles that were prominent were jobs such as Director of Photography, Dean Cundey, Music, John Carpenter, but no actors names were shown. A fade to black is later cut to text fading in out of the setting, Haddonfield , Illinois. A sequence that consisted of a single long take of , Micheal Meyers slowly making his way around and inside a house occurs with the climax being him killing his sister. This is accompanied by pure ambiance sound building the suspense, surprising the audience with the sudden and loud incidental music at the end when Michael stabs his sister. This is all done via handheld camera from his point o...

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) Wes Craven A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) Opening/Titles-      In the first two minutes of A Nightmare on Elm Street, it was used to give background on the creation of the knife glove that will be later found out belongs to the antagonist of the film Freddy Kruger. It is shown in a smaller window allowing for many of the credits to appear underneath it in the open third a too rest of the credits. In the credits, job  titles included the director, Wes Craven, producer, Robert Shaye, director of photography, Jacques Haitkin, and many of the principle actors. From this sequence the title of the film wipes dissolving into the premise of the film. The following sequence of long takes of wide and mid shots of a women wandering a smoke filled room, successfully giving the illusion that she is in some kind of dream like state. playing over the scene is a rendition of the theme. This sequence is drawn out creating true suspen...

Project Selection- My Decision   For the AICE paper, the project choice that I decided on is to create the film opening. The reason that I ended up deciding on the film project is because I am interested in the challenge of trying to create a open ended story in the allotted 2 minutes. Also, I posses skills that would aid me in this project. The most important of them being, that I having prior experience in making a film,  due to this I should be able to write and direct a short film opening with ease. As well,  I posses a decent handling in editing. I am planning to create a film in the 80's horror/slasher genre that revolves around a serial killer butcher possessed by a demon clown that kidnaps and kills people and sells their body parts as organic meats. This idea came from the popular issue of people debating where their food comes from , but taking a more twisted take on it. I plan to work on this project by myself as I already have a vision for the project ...

  Project Selection-Film      Based on the varies films, documentaries and in-class activities on film production, I have learned about the many aspects of the process. The film making process has many equally important  parts that need to work together in order for a film to run smoothly. However the pre-production of a film is the most important part, as it sets the foundation for the film. This phase is all about preparation to shoot the film. The script is developed and varies technical problems are worked out. This is all to lead to the next phase, which is actually filming the movie. Then, it all gets wrapped up in  the post- production phase to make the film continuous and make sense. This entire process interest me because if it is executed effectively the result is a piece of entertainment that can be timeless and intrigue an audience of all ages not just narrowed down to one specific demographic. When it comes to the film option, the skills tha...

 Project Selection -Magazine     Based on the varies films, documentaries and in-class activities on journalism, I have learned about the many aspects of the process. Since journalism's main purpose is to find and inform the truth to the people, the research process is one, if not the most important aspects of journalism. When researching a topic, the information retrieved should come from both perspectives to make sure the information is not misleading. This brings up the importance of valid sources, as brought up in the the HBO series,  The Newsroom. This is because if the source is not very reputable it could skew the article with some misleading information. In The Newsroom  this situation occurred as they ran with the information from a source that they didn't double check resulting in their rating dropping. This shows that checking a source as credible is very important. These aspects interest me because if they are accomplished successfully it cou...