The Terrible Place

Production Revision

2010-05-24T03:36:00.000-07:00

Production

• Different Genres
• Horror (sub-genres - vampire, zombie, ghost, slasher, monster)

• Thriller (sub genres – crime caper, detective, film noir)

• Comedy (sub genres – road movie, romantic, zany, dark)

• Social Drama

• War (usually historical)

• Sci-Fi

• Musical

• Fantasy

• Animation

Target Audiences

• White male largely student 15 – 25
• White female largely student 15 -25
• Female Married with children (25 – 45)
• Professional male (Arthouse cinema 30 – 50)
• Working class male/female (multiplex 16 – 40)
• Young teen female 12 – 15
• Young Teen male 12 - 15
• Fans of specific genres
• Fans of book to film
• Cinema as a social night (male and female 20 – 40)
• Additional audience drawn by viral marketing
• Multi cultural segments (Asian)

2008 Int 2 Past Paper – Analysis Q1

2010-05-21T03:19:00.000-07:00

A study of Narrative deals with narrative structure and narrative codes. With reference to a text you have studied, explain the narrative codes and structure
and how they are linked to at least one other key aspect.

How to tackle this question

Stage 1
Break down the question so you know what you’re being asked.

Media Analysis questions always have a key phrase(s) which is what they want you to respond to.

So you have to show your knowledge of Narrative and one other key aspect Audience/Representation but it must be angled towards the key phrase!

The key phrase in this question is how they are linked
The thing to remember is that the way the question is phrased you should try to refer to how they are linked in the two main sections of your essay

Stage 2
Now you need to think about the links between narrative and either representations or audience and how it can be discussed in relation to Let the Right One In.

You need to be clear which structures you will discuss. Notice that the question mentions codes as well as structures. So you could discuss either CNF, Todorov or Strauss. But you would also need to touch on Barthian codes such as enigmas and action codes.

But how is narrative linked to one other key aspect?

Linked to representations!
What is interesting about LTROI is that its representations are quite challenging. After all that is why we studied the film. Eli is crucial here – she is a monster and a friend to Oskar.
She is the narrative disruption
She is also the narrative resolution
These are aspects of narrative change normally associated with male constructs!
The representations challenge the Vampire genre and the audience segments and they also affect the narrative structures of the film!

Linked to Audience!
Segments of the audience will find LTROI a challenge to their own assumptions which may well see females and males as more traditional constructs.
Audience members might also find it challenging and pleasurable that the female construct of Eli drives the narrative.
There are plenty of pleasures in the narrative for the audience segments such as gore (visceral) and cognitive pleasures (who is Eli? Who is Hakan? Will Oskar discover who Eli is?)

Stage 3
Now it is time to tackle the writing of the essay.

Since the examiner has provided you with a key phrase with which to discuss the key aspects it stands to reason that you should reference this key phrase in your response

For example somewhere in your opening paragraph you might want to write something like

Let The Right One In is a film which takes the vampire sub genre in a new direction and which provides an interesting links between the key aspects of narrative and representation (or audience)
Obviously narrative will be the first part of your essay since that is the main focus of the question so you will talk about structures and codes in that section making integrating points about the other key aspect where you can.

In the other section either on Narrative and Audience you must also use the key phrase when you can. For example discussing narrative you might say…

Applying Todorov’s narrative formula to LTROI reveals interesting links to represenatations since the main female construct disrupts the equilibrium and although she is the otherness she also attempts to repair the disequilibrium.

If linking with Audience you can refer to the key phrase of the question by looking at the pleasures and challenges that the segments of the TA may have for example…

Narrative is linked to audience as they will take many pleasures from the narrative structures such as the arrival of the disequilibrium in the shape of Eli. It is also linked with narrative codes and audience pleasures as much of the TA segment will find visceral pleasuresin the film and some will enjoy its enigmas.

Tackling Exam Questions

2010-05-21T02:19:00.000-07:00

2007 Past Paper – Analysis Q3

With reference to Representation and at least two other key aspects, analyse the ideological discourse(s) of a text you know well.
How to tackle this question

Stage 1
Break down the question so you know what you’re being asked.

Media Analysis questions always have a key phrase(s) which is what they want you to respond to.

So you have to show your knowledge of Representations, Narrative and Audience but it must be angled towards the key phrase!

The key phrase in this question is ideological discourse

The thing to remember is that the way the question is phrased you should try to refer to ideological discourse in all the main sections of your essay (Representations Narrative Audience)

Stage 2
Now you need to think about ideological discourse and how it can be discussed in relation to Let the Right One In.

Ideology relates to the mindset/beliefs of the filmmakers. Quite often their deeper beliefs about gender etc are sub-consciously reflected in the film.

So DO NOT say that they put their ideological views in deliberately!

What is interesting about LTROI is that its representations are quite challenging. After all that is why we studied the film.

The representations challenge the Vampire genre and the audience segments and they also affect the narrative structures of the film!

How do they do this? Because the central character of Eli is a challenging female construct. The other central character Oskar is a challenging male construct.

Segments of the audience will find this a challenge to their own ideological discourse which may well see females and males as more traditional constructs.

Audience members might also find it challenging and pleasurable that the female construct of Eli drives the narrative.

She is the narrative disruption
She is also the narrative resolution
These are aspects of narrative change normally associated with male constructs!

Stage 3
Now it is time to tackle the writing of the essay.

Since the examiner has provided you with a key phrase with which to discuss the key aspects it stands to reason that you should reference this key phrase in your response

For example somewhere in your opening paragraph you might want to write something like

Let The Right One In is a film which takes the vampire sub genre in a new direction and which provides an interesting challenge to its audience in terms of ideological discourse..

Obviously Representations will be the first part of your essay since that is the main focus of the question so you will talk about ideology in that section (e.g. that the otherness is both a monstrous female and a female who provides redemption), making integrating points about the other key aspects where you can.

In the other two sections on Narrative and Audience you must also use the key phrase when you can. For example discussing narrative you might say…

Applying Todorov’s narrative formula to LTROI reveals interesting aspects of ideological discourse since the main female construct disrupts the equilibrium and although she is the otherness she also attempts to repair the disequilibrium.

For Audience you can refer to the key phrase of the question by looking at the ideological assumptions that the segments of the TA may have

The audience obviously comes to the cinema with their own needs and gratifications and ideological assumptions. Their reading and decoding of the film will be challenged by the representations and narrative which present a different ideological discourse to their own…

Let The Right One In

2010-01-15T08:01:00.000-08:00

The title is worth some consideration. On one level it refers to the concept of inviting a vampire into your home. However the title also touches on the intertextual element of the film - the growing affection between Eli and Oskar and their isolation from the 'wrong ones'. It could also refer to the sleepy community which does not realise it has let a monster into its midst.

Eli's challenge to the audience is considerable. We have cultural views about little girls. Eli is a monster who is also a little girl and this evokes sympathy and horror at the same time. Her representation is the last place we would expect evil to reside. Oskar ultimately accepts Eli. This is unlike previous Dracula movies such as Hammer Horror where there is a form of negotiation between the Vampire and the community. In LTROI there is more than negotiation, there is warmth and full acceptance of the abject. In a way for the narrative to be fully resolved the monsterous Eli has to be accepted by the audience as the 'right one.' This challenges our own cultural views about good and evil

One Missed Call

2009-09-21T12:51:00.001-07:00

Which was better - American or Japanese version?

Barthes and his Codes

2009-09-06T12:25:00.000-07:00

Roland Barthes was a thinker closely associated with Levi-Strauss. he came to the conclusion that narratives could be understood in terms of codes.

The three main codes were enigma, action and cultural. All these codes interlinked. Enigmas were snares which hooked the audience into the film. Although it is not always obvious to the audience why enigmas occur (such as why is David so interested in Michael) they enjoy trying to discover the solutions.

Action codes were caused by the characters in the film who are seeking answers or are seeking to 'act'. The audience enjoy action codes since they propel the narrative forwards. For example Michael follows David's gang to their cave and what he discovers there leads to his subsequent problems. This leads to the involvement of his brother and the Froggs and to his romance with Star.

Cultural codes are things which the audience as a group or society share with the film. For example the idea of vampires is a shared idea which helps us with the film. So too is the rebellious behaviour of the youngsters. Our society has similar problems. Cultural codes are very similar to the verisimilar idea in Classic Narrative Formula.

Dawg get your Claude Levi Strauss On :)

2009-09-06T12:06:00.000-07:00

Levi-Strauss was known as part of the Structuralist school of thinkers. One of the main parts of his theory was the concept of BINARY OPPOSITIONS

Strauss argued that we can understand many things in this way. This theory is often applied to understanding narrative in cinema. It is a good theory for understanding genre in cinema.

So for example if we were to take the example of The Lost Boys we can explore binaries within the film and then look at how they fit or don't fit when The Lost Boys is placed within the Horror genre and the Vampire sub-genre.

In the Lost Boys we have good forces in opposition to evil forces. There is also the chaos of Santa Carla and the order which the Frogg Bros try to restore. There are other binaries such as those between the lure of the otherness and revulsion at the otherness. There is the also the opposition of Night to Day and between youth and older age.

It is interesting that Binaries compliment Classic Narrative Formula in the sense that CNF is concerned with equilibrium and disequilibrium. For Strauss these are binary oppositions!

Our film for June

2009-06-10T13:45:00.000-07:00

How are females presented in this film? The Church actually assists Dracula in his bloody attacks!

Let the Right One In

2009-03-27T12:58:00.000-07:00

Perhaps the most hotly anticipated horror movie of the year! Scandinavian vampires!

Whisky Street

2009-02-22T05:29:00.000-08:00

This extract would be suitable for the medium of film for several reasons. Firstly it suggests to me several very visual ideas such as the central character/narrator who has lost everything 'documents, passport, licence...' and even the will to live when he tells us 'there was nowhere left to run, no way out...'. He is a character who with proper casting, my young target demographic could connect with and I feel I could make a film which would engage them in his dilemmas which we read about in the extract when he tells us about the revolver in his coat pocket.

Secondly the location of Whisky street with its vividly described colours and noises (garish purple bruises and sirens) would be ideal in the medium of film and could be created to stunning effect with green screen technology in the same style as Frank Miller's Sin City. This again would help target my student demographic.

There are other compelling reasons for making this text into a film including the fact that screen adaptations of novels have usually always been succesful in cinema. Also because I feel this film/text lends itself to two very succesful genres in cinema, namely Horror and Thriller. This intertextual mix would be appealing to the demographic in the same way as Fincher's Seven has been. The horror elements are suggested by the genre markers such as the terrible place - Whisky St and the 'ghostly footsteps' and of course the night-time setting. On the other hand the man faced with a situation he does not understand suggests one of the key markers of the Thriller. It might be possible to introduce a double crossing female into my film thus giving the movie a Film Noir aspect.

I see this film attracting a young student demographic 15- 25 who are the most common cinema goers and who are keen on the thriller/horror mix. The film I intend to make would undoubtedly be a multiplex movie with action and enigmas which would seek to please its target audience with visceral and cognitive pleasures. It being a multiplex movie there would be a need for a good sized budget, a 15 certificate and perhaps an A list star to generate the kind of profits expected from multiplex screenings.

The film would as I have said, rely somewhat on a major star to bring alive the narrator of the text. Discussions with my Casting Director would centre on Josh Hartnett as one possibility or Mark Ruffalo (pictured above) or Colin Farrell. The casting of any one of these established actors with their distinctive features would help the mise en scene of the battered and troubled narrator and his life on Whisky street. A blonde Ann Hathaway or Jessica Alba would broaden the draw of the film for its audience and would also be considered in casting. Of course their availability and willingness to undertake the progress plus their fee would have to be taken into consideration.

The description of Whisky Street in the extract is so evocative and precise with its 'dark sheets of rain' that the only sensible option in terms of location would be the use of a soundstage with green screen and post production CGI to recreate it. My locations manager and producers would be looking for a studio with these facilities in order to maximise complete control over the colours and types of rainfall and the camera work needed to visualise the moment in the text which describes the gun. the text also mentions a good deal of foley (even the noise of the gun chamber is mentioned) so my Sound Editor would benefit from a controlled environment in which to record these fx.

My Cinematograher and I would need to have lengthy discussions about the look of my film. As I have suggested horror combined with film noir there is a need to film with a view to using a lot of shadows and light (as Hitchcock did with Psycho or like the noir films of Nicholas Ray). Therefore the possibility of shooting in grainy b/w should be discussed or even de-saturated colour. I would of course be looking for 35mm standard which would be pleasurable to my audience as would be the b/w.

The music for the film most try to create for the young demographic the mood and feeling of Whisky Street and the troubled narrator. This being the case I would discuss with my Music Director the need for a dark electronic, original score and even the possibility of a signature piece of music which help the audience understand the darkness of the street. Craig Armstrong or Thomas Newman (who has worked closely with Sam Mendes on Jarhead and Revolutionary Road) are two composers capable of sonically conveying the darkness of Whisky street with 'its filth and grease...'

I would like to explore now some of the Technical and Cultural Codes for the opening shots of this movie.

Without doubt the location is one of the stars of the movie and integral to its success with the target audience. It has to be gritty and powerful and memorable to the audience. Therefore my first shot will need to be a panning wide of the street using green screen as indicated above. The right to left pan in moderate speed will attept to convey the darkness and danger of the street to the the audience presenting them with a pleasurable sense of fear and anticipation. The shot will be at eye level possibly the view of a pedestrian. Sheets of rain will seem almost white against the purple sky with other aspects of mise en scene present such as demolished houses, burnt out cars, neon lit clubs etc. This combined with the signature music mentioned above will anchor for the audience the sheer presence of this location and its dangers.

The second shot will be a continuaion of the pan which will grind to a halt at our narrator slumped in the tunnel wearing a large shapeless coat in dark colours suggesting he is powerless and hopeless. The pan will then zoom to a midshot of our anti hero as he contemplates his future, the rain driving into his face. The fx of rain and sirens and shouts will then be heightened for the audience anchoring a sense of his inner torment and need for escape. the signature music will then rise to a crescendo as he fumbles for his old rusted gun in the shadowy low key lighting.

Shot three will be a choker close up of the gun ( a special set up will be needed here as the audience is taken into one of the chambers and can see the bullet there) the noise of the chamber can be heard. This shot will be angled down on thebullet anchoring the sense that it will be fired soon.

Shot four will zoom out from the man and tilt slightly upwards in the direction of the tunnel entrance. The mise en scene here will be of a tunnel like the opening of hell, dark and foreboding with the foley of 'ghostly' noises approaching. Here the signature music will switch dramatically to a horror chord anchoring for the audience along with the dark shadowy lighting with expressionistic colourings, the sense of danger to the anti-hero narrator. Sound editing will be crucial in the creation of the otherness.

Revolutionary Road the novel is better!

2009-02-17T13:38:00.000-08:00

I thoroughly enjoyed the Richard Yates' novel so I was looking forward to the film. It was a fairly good film but put against other Oscar contenders such as Benjamin Button and Slumdog Millionaire, it felt pretty ordinary. One of the things I noticed was how few people were in the film! Although the central parts were convincing you couldn't help but think that what they were worried about (loss of their dream and ideals) wasn't worth getting really worked up about. Oh and the amount of smoking was unreal as was the amount of time pouring drinks!

2009-02-15T03:54:00.000-08:00

Jonathan Demme really made a gripping movie here!

believing is seeing

2009-01-18T13:31:00.000-08:00

El Orfanato/The Orphanage directed by Juan Antonio Bayona and produced by Guillermo del Torro in 2007/8, is in many ways a classic horror movie which I believe provides an interesting differential reading in terms of Audience, Narrative and Representations.

Despite being a foreign language film, The Orphanage was successfully released in America (Box Office $8m) and Britain (£1.5m) in both multiplex and art house cinemas. It was subsequently released onto DVD format in 2008. There are in my opinion several crucial factors in its success with its targeted demographic which would include the 15-25 student range but might also be extended for reasons outlined below, to include a broader 29-40 range.

Firstly although intertextual in some ways, the film is clearly of the popular Horror genre. Indeed it can be argued that it is a film which uses very traditional horror elements as opposed to CGI and gore to entertain and please its audience. There are ghostly noises, night time sequences a creaking old house as the terrible place and many more dry, psychological horror elements. It contains many enigma pleasures for the audience such as the mysterious Tomas, the disappearance of Simon and intriguing female characters such Benigna and Aurora. Significantly the film also uses children as the otherness or more specifically as connected somehow to the otherness.

This is an aspect of the Horror genre which would help target and please an audience as it has done historically in cinema. Films such as Village of the Damned, The Shining, The Omen and The Exorcist have all been successful in this way combining children with otherness and the punishment of adults. Furthermore the film is similar to The Others/2001 (also made by a Spanish speaking director) and this was successful with cinema goers. The film’s central idea – a mother’s desire to be reunited with her missing child is universally verisimilar to audiences and can be seen often in cinema, most recently in Clint Eastwood’s Changeling.

A second key factor in our discussion of Audience is the recent success of foreign language films, especially horror films, with American and British cinema goers. Asian cinema provides an excellent example of this with films like The Grudge, Ring, The Eye and The Host.

However it is also true to say that in recent years Spanish and Mexican film makers have had a great impact on Audiences. Film makers such as Cuaron (Children of Men/Harry Potter), Inarritu (21 Grams) and especially Del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth/Hellboy) are all leading Directors. So it is true to say that audiences would be interested in their products. The Orphanage was sold to audiences with the tag line ‘From the makers of Pan’s Labyrinth’ showing the pulling power of del Toro. Indeed the two films have many similarities which would appeal to the targeted demographic, using children and other worlds as the centre of their stories.

I would also argue that broadly speaking Spanish speaking film makers also present females as very powerful constructs in their film which is true of The Orphanage with the central character of Laura and I feel this would help strengthen the film’s attraction to a young, modern audience who find less stereotypical female constructions more appealing in films.

A differential reading of The Orphanage also reveals a good deal about its narrative aspects. I believe that the Classic Narrative Formula can be applied to the film. As I have mentioned earlier the film has a strong verisimilar world. The loving couple setting up home with their adopted/ill son is something which a 15 -39 audience would immediately recognise as would the old orphanage building with its many secrets. Laura’s subsequent battle to recover her missing son and the lengths she will go to be reunited with him are all verisimilar.

In line with CNF the film can be divided into three acts or sections. The Equilibrium is established at the start of the film with the brightly lit garden full of floating flower seeds and the warm foley noises of children at play. The hide and seek scene is shot in a wide with the house in the background and the whole scene anchors a feeling of happiness.

There are potentially several moments of disequilibrium for the Classic Narrative. The first is with a phonecall to the orphanage which one of the ladies takes with her back to the camera. In a slow zoom we learn that Laura is to leave. This action could be said to be the start of Laura’s struggle to restore happiness.

Another possible disequilibrium is the argument between Laura and her adopted son, Simon. Simon rebukes his mother for not telling him the truth about their relationship. This then leads onto to his disappearance and the body of the film. However it is the disappearance of Simon which is the must obvious moment of disequilibrium as this in turn causes the exploration of the house and the revelation of its dark secrets. This proves to be highly pleasurable for the demographic as in engages them in the unravelling of the film’s enigmas.

The restoration of equilibrium comes with the discovery of Simon’s body and Laura’s decision to take her own life thus reuniting her with her son and her murdered friends. This although a depressing ending is signalled by strong light from the lighthouse and uplifting music so in a sense it provides a decisive and satisfying narrative closure for the audience.

Undoubtedly the film works in a cause and effect sequence. The removal of Laura from her friends creates a mystery about what happened to them and when Simon goes missing a series of events are caused which results in Laura’s discoveries about what becomes a very menacing house (throughout the disequilibrium section the house is often shot at a low angle in low key lighting).

A differential reading of narrative of The Orphanage also suggests that the film can be understood in terms of Propps morphology or 31 narratemes as they are sometimes called. The 1st and 2nd narratemes are clearly evident – someone goes missing and the hero is warned. These obviously apply to Laura and the disappearance of Simon. As is suggested in Propps later narratemes the hero chooses action - we see Laura act decisively in her pursuit of the truth even to the extent that her husband leaves her alone in the terrible place as the final girl.
It is interesting when applying Propp’s 31 narrateme – hero ascends the throne – as in a sense Laura has ascended but to the place of the dead with the murdered children. However she is shot sitting with the children surrounding her which suggests her high status to the audience.

As stated earlier the film successfully engages and pleasures its audience with many hermeneutic codes. There is an abundance of Barthian snares especially in the equilibrium and disequilibrium sections of the film. Who are Simon’s friends? What is his illness? Where has he gone? Who are Benigna and Tomas? What is it that Aurora sees during the séance? Furthermore Laura’s dramatic discoveries in the shed and her invitation to the ghosts to play, are exciting action codes for the demographic.

Laura is a fascinating female construct. She clearly is stereotypical in some aspects of her portrayal. She is a doting mother caring for her son. This is underlined by her comforting him during the night with stories. In this sense she fits with the traditional construction of females in American cinema as either mothers or objects.

However it quickly appears that Laura is brave and perceptive. We see this in her tackling of Benigna and her refusal to rule out any possibility that her son may still be alive. Her determination is cleverly contrasted with her husband’s surrender and departure from the house. It is also interesting to note that her journey through the film throws up many physical obstacles. Her hand is smashed in the door, her leg is broken, she climbs into an oven and is covered in flour (making her ghostlike) as she discovers body parts. There is something of an action hero about Laura. Indeed her decision to destroy herself at the end to be with her son and old friends goes beyond usual action hero endings. This reading of Laura’s character shows her in many ways as an archetypal construction which is enjoyable for a modern audience.

Furthermore the film has three other strong and varied female constructs in Benigna, Aurora and Pilar and these females all present different attitudes towards Laura’s crisis. Benigna is perhaps the most stereotypical in terms of the horror genre as she is part otherness and killer. Her construction is complicated however by the fact that she too is a mother who lost a child. Aurora is also connected with the otherness in the sense that she is a paranormal psychic. The idea that most psychics are female could be argued but Aurora’s words of guidance to Laura ‘people say seeing is believing but it’s the other way round’ become very true as the narrative unfolds. Pilar offers the audience a female authority figure as she is connected with the Police and the investigation into Simon’s disappearance. She is rational and compassionate as is seen in her exchanges with Laura in hospital. However she is also filmed in a two shot with Carlos underlining her disbelief in the psychic powers displayed by Aurora.

I believe it is true to say that the film presents a range of powerful and engaging female constructs which the demographic would find pleasurable and to an extent verisimilar. It is possible to argue that the film presents a matriarchal world as opposed to a patriarchal one which is usually the case in a male dominated cinema industry.

However one could also argue that all the females in the film are engaged in the discovery of Simon who is a male. Indeed Laura is partly to blame for his death and destroys herself as a kind of atonement for his death. Therefore there is an argument that the females ultimately are organised around a male. These readings all amount to a very interesting study of El Orfanato.

Che Part 1

2009-01-04T09:25:00.000-08:00

I was looking forward to this movie starring the amazing Benicio Del Toro and directed by one of the most intriguing directors of modern cinema - Steven Soderbergh. The film is shot in colour and b/w showing Che the soldier and Che the politician. Some of it is amazing such as the battle sequence at the end which reminded me of Ken Loach's film about the Spanish civil war, Land and Freedom. I have to admit that some of the film was hard to follow in terms of the many characters and it also lacked some od Soderbergh's usual style. Overall though the film is held together by the stunning central performance of Del Torro.

2008-12-03T13:36:00.000-08:00

'Please could you direct me to the canine rescue centre?'

Scenario - The Horizon Dogs
I feel the text is suitable for the medium of film for several reasons. Clearly the picture included in the text of the mutated corpse of a dog like thing immediately suggested to me a kind of otherness which would be instantly recognisable in the Horror genre. It is described in the text as being like 'no animal anyone had seen before...' It is also described by one eye witness as a 'monster'. The horror genre has had an enduring appeal to audiences almost since cinema began. More specifically young audiences are traditionally associated with this genre so I would target this movie for them.

In addition the fact that we have the image of the abject and a newspaper story also suggests a film treatment as many newspaper stories etc are successfully transferred to the big screen. Furthermore the fact that the abject was discovered on an american beach causing panic, is also suggestive to me given the resurgence in the Horror genre recently in response to 9/11.
There are a number of film products which have successfully explored anxieties about terrorism and which have been popular with the demographic I've indicated above. Examples of this are Cloverfield, I am Legend, Children of Men, Diary of the Dead, The Host and The Mist. I feel my intended demographic would be familiar with these films and the genre and that i could make a successful film from this scenario on a conservative budget.

In terms of my production the primary concern would be the abject itself. Modelling and CGI would be vital in creating a believable and terrifying otherness like the darkseekers of I am Legend or the Clover monster from Cloverfield. This would be the important task of my design/fx team who I would work closely with. Audiences expect a convincing standard of illusion and they find great pleasure from the terror of the abject.

In a sense the abject would be the star of my film but because I am targeting a young demographic I should be mindful of a young verisimilar cast. I would work closely with my Casting director to find a young rising star who would not outshine the otherness but would provide a link into the film for the audience. For example Robert Pattinson (Twilight) and Alison Lohman (Drag Me To Hell) both young actors who are familiar with the horror genre and whose fee will not absorb the money need for CGI.

Although I would contract a crew to film establishing shots of the Montauk area and the beaches where the Horizon Dogs are washed ashore (echoes of Godzilla for the audience), I would film on a soundstage using green screen technology. This would enable me to work closely with my special fx team and actors in creating the terror which the Horizon dogs bring to america. The soundstage allows control over sound and lighting and all other aspects of mise en scene so is very practical.

This film with its weird abjects washed ashore on a popular beach has echoes of Jaws but musically I feel the score would be different. I would be looking to work with my Musical director on a post -rock soundtrack which reflects the fear and anxiety of the monsters and heightens the pleasures of the audience. I would be looking for something stylistically similar to Stars of The Lid and Autechre.

The opening of the film would be crucial in setting the tone for the audience and raising their expectations for fear and anxiety which they would find pleasurable. Staying within the genre markers of the Horror genre I would open the film at sunset thus suggesting the power of oncoming darkness. I would start with a low angle wide of the emptying beach. I want a low angle along with edgy music to anchor for the audience a sense of unease.

Although it is a pleasant beach it is somewhat disturbing. I would heighten this feeling with foley of the Horizon dogs emerging slime like from the sea, crawling into the shot making ghastly noises. I would then film the abjects in a tracking close up at the same low angle with low key lighting so that the audience are aware of their shapes and noises but are not allowed at this point to see them in detail thus creating pleasurable enigmas for them.

I would then cut to a side on profile shot of the otherness again at a low angle and retaining the beastly noises. The thing would stop and turn violently on the camera which would then cut to black. Hopefully this would frighten the audience who themselves through this shot are the ones under attack and this is something along with the shadowy lighting and foley noises which would anchor pleasurable fear for the audience!

It's NAB Time - Come On!!!

2008-11-17T04:16:00.000-08:00

Marlena explodes - strong female or female acting like a strong man?

NaB feedback
Narrative
•How is Cloverfield Verisimilar?
•Shots of city including iconic landmarks such as Central Park - Brooklyn Bridge - Statue of Liberty
•Costumes of characters are contemporary
•Age and language of actors is contemporary
•Anxieties and fears are recognisable to us
•Use of hand held camera / Youtube style
A verisimilar world is pleasurable to the Audience

The three act set up
Equilibrium = Beth’s Dad’s apartment – The excitement of the party – the arrival of Rob – The flirting of Hud with Marlena
Disequilibrium = The argument between Beth and Rob -The whispering in the kitchen between Lily and Hud - The blackout, screams and the fleeting glimpse of the abject. The journey through NYC- the death of Marlena – the helicopter crash
Equilibrium Restored = As Rob saved Beth she saves him from Copter wreckage. Two shot to camera in Central park declaring their love. Final shots of Coney island.
The 3 act set up is familiar to audiences and pleasurable

You must include the following
The other aspects of CNF = cause and effect, the actions of the characters, strong narrative resolution
Action Codes = list several
Enigma Codes = list several and refer to Barthes
These are narrative pleasures for the audience

Representations
You are building an argument and that argument is –
Cloverfield when read differentially reveals a predominantly male ideology.
This can be argued by exploring Rob, Hud, Lily, Beth as familiar types.
Show how they fit a type and try to use cinematic examples!

Representations contd.
•The argument is complicated by Marlena and the monstrous abject.
•What kind of females are being presented here?
•Is Marlena strong because she acts in a masculine way?
•Does the monster suggest that we see females as threats to us.
•This contrasts with Beth who is seen as a sex object.
Audiences draw pleasure from familiar and unfamiliar types

Audience
Film’s purpose – target a certain demographic for profit and entertainment
How does it achieve its purpose?
Use of the Horror genre and the visceral pleasures of the genre and other intertextual elements
Use of CGI
Use of a verisimilar world locations/types and verisimilar anxieties
Use of youtube style
Use of production team with proven track record – JJ Abrams etc
Closeness of the product to other products

Music & Horror

2008-11-07T07:03:00.000-08:00

Control - Being one who has never heard Joy Divison's music before I wasn't sure what to expect of this Black and White film. Following Ian Curtis through the events that lead to his marriage, music career and young death. Anton Cojibn's directing blends the music of the band with the story well. I would recommend the film to all. Stuart cheated to win the poster just to let you all know.

The Orphanage - "Reminded me of a cross between changing rooms and most haunted" - Lewis Urquhart, "If I hadn't been so scared I would have cried" - Kimberley Rome, The Orphanage is the Spanish Psychological Horror Film we all expected. The audience reacts in different ways but were all united in the scary moment that is.....

Thomas Biggans

Could This Be Film Of The Year???

2008-10-19T13:36:00.000-07:00

Gomorra

I went along to see Gomorra at the Glasgow Film Theatre during the October break and was really impressed by this movie. Made by Matteo Garrone and based on Roberto Saviano's bestseller of the same name, it's about the Italian mafia who operate in the housing estates of Naples. Like the similarly amazing City of God, the film is shot in a very naturalistic style covering the violent lives of various people (many of them very young) and their different ways of surviving the Camorra (the mafia). It is a sad and powerful film with many amazing moments. Try and see it soon!

National Film Week coming soon!!

2008-10-19T12:52:00.000-07:00

Wednesday November 5th both Media classes will be at The Robert Burns Film Theatre to view two great movies - Control and El Orfanato. Both screenings are free as part of the National Film Week for Schools.
Control is a great British movie about the brief but influential life of Ian Curtis, lead singer with Joy Division. Shot in black and white by Anton Corbijn I thought it really captured the mood of the late 70s and early 80s. Of course the music is immense in the film and was played live by the actors themselves. Sam Riley is remarkable as Curtis, capturing his mood swings and hypnotic stage presence. I remember seeing Joy Division when they supported fellow Mancunians The Buzzcocks in Glasgow (yes I was young once!). It was a memorable evening. The band's second album, Closer, was released after his death. I recommend a listen as it still stands as a great set of songs. Another great reason for watching the film is the amazing Samantha Morton!

In the afternoon we will be joined by the Higher Spanish class for Juan Antonio Bayona's stunning El Orfanato, a Mexican/Spanish collaboration which is good old fashioned ghost horror. This movie is beautifully shot using children as otherness in the classic way of films such as Village of the Damned, The Exorcist and The Omen. The masks the kids wear are very creepy. Yes you will be scared. I repeat YOU WILL BE SCARED!! There were at least two moments in the movie when I lept out my seat! All in all a great day at the cinema.

I Am Legend, The Day After Tomorrow and Cloverfield

2008-10-11T09:40:00.001-07:00

'I'm a better actor than you punk ass and I'm only CGI!'

Can Cloverfield, I Am Legend and The Day After Tomorrow be compared? Yes they can with some interesting conclusions.

In terms of Narrative and in particular Classic Narrative Formula we can argue that Cloverfield is a verisimilar world. So too is the world of Day After Tomorrow. We have scientists, Doctors, Politicians, teenagers (that’s the 24 year old Jake Gyllenhaal I’m referring to!) and we have a climate change issue which all of us recognise. The behaviour of the characters in response to the eco-tragedy is also familiar to us as are the main locations.

The same cannot easily be said of I Am Legend. A city/world populated by 1 man is not really verisimilar to us as an audience. However there is something familiar about the possibility of this kind of situation which seems verisimilar and that is the Robinson Crusoe aspect of the man’s life and his need for survival and human contact. The possibility of human annihilation due to mass viral infection is also something which is verisimilar to the demographic.

Does the Day After Tomorrow have a 3 act structure like Cloverfield? Yes it does. However in the Day After Tomorrow the disequilibrium comes almost immediately into the film with forecasts of global catastrophe. Equilibrium is restored at the end in terms of the reuniting of father and son and the space crew confirming that the weather has changed for the better. I Am Legend on the other hand seems to begin in disequilibrium and the restoration of equilibrium is signalled by the arrival of Anna and Ethan in the final third of the movie.

However some may argue that through the use of narrative flashbacks the audience understand the whole story of Robert Neville and how the disequilibrium came through the virus. It is interesting that Cloverfield also uses flashbacks though the camera which Hud carries.

All three films are similar in that the narrative is created and propelled by the cause and effect actions of the characters.
Both I Am Legend and The Day After Tomorrow differ from Cloverfield in the sense that they both have strong narrative closure. Indeed the closure of both films is fairly optimistic despite the world of the films being radically altered. It is Cloverfield alone which has the problematic ending.

Both I Am Legend and Cloverfield share a similarity in terms of enigma codes or snares (as Roland Barthes called them). The snaring questions about the monster in Cloverfield are similar for the audience questions regarding the Dark Seekers of I Am Legend. The Day After Tomorrow is a film packed with action codes where the global catastrophe causes the various fight or flight reactions of the characters. Perhaps the only enigma of The Day After Tomorrow might be…why the suddenly huge scale of the eco disaster?

'I am Vladimir Propp! Do you like my charming Formalist beard?'

The work of Vladimir Propp on Narrative formulas is interesting. Several of his narrative functions can be applied to all three films such as –
 An interdiction is addressed to the hero ('don't go there', 'don't do this');
 Villain causes harm/injury to family member
 Hero and villain join in direct combat;
 Princess (Prince): Individual(s) which need help, protecting and saving. (From Propp’s Seven Spheres of Action)

Represenations of gender in all three films are really interesting. All three have almost stereotypical male heroes. They are men of action, doers, fearless and determined. In fact The Day After Tomorrow manages to have two male heroes in Dennis Quaid and the 24 year old teenager Jake Gyllenhaal. In fact it is these two who survive while the heroes of the other films die in conflict with the otherness.

The females in all three films offer a complex range of representatons. Lily from Cloverfield is not unlike the representation of Lucy Hall in The Day After Tomorrow and Anna from I Am Legend. All three present traditional aspects associated with females in cinema – carers nurturers etc. Similarly Beth from Cloverfield and Laura Chapman from The Day After Tomorrow seem to share Propp’s ‘quest object’ status.

However Marlena from Cloverfield stands out as a strong archetypal female representation.

It is also interesting that female otherness is significant in both I Am Legend (the female Dark Seeker) and Cloverfield (the monsterous abject terrifying New York City).

So who are the target demographic for the three films? I Am Legend and Cloverfield share the same target demographic. We know this through the genre of the two films. Both have major horror elements, a terrible place, an abject/otherness, a final girl and the traditional use of night and day for audience pleasure. Indeed it is the 15-25 demographic who have the highest attendance at cinema and horror movies.

However it is true to say that Will Smith (the genetic scientist with a six pack) will attract a larger audience due to his A List status since it is clear that certain stars carry their audience from film to film across genres. In addition the director of I Am Legend (Francis Lawrence) comes from a music video background so his appeal to a young market is obvious.

The Day After Tomorrow directed by Roland Emmerich is very much broader in appeal like his other blockbuster, Independence Day. Incidentally Emerich also directed a version of Godzilla which JJ Abrams has said inspired his movie Cloverfield.

One thing which unites all three films in terms of audience is the visceral pleasures they offer which is achieved mainly through the use of sophisticated CGI – yet another attraction for a young audience.

All three films deal with an America threatened by a terrorist apocalypse but they all differ in their view of how to deal with terrorism. I Am Legend and the Day After Tomorrow present an ending with hope for survival whereas Cloverfield does not.
Despite the common theme of America under attack from terrorism it is interesting how all three films have gender representations which which are mostly traditional!!!

Work in Progress 2008-2009

2008-10-04T08:06:00.000-07:00

All the projects this year are exciting…almost on a par with a bowl of pomegranates, two fig rolls and a cup of raspberry infusion.
The synopsis for each project has been sketched and the storylines and visuals are all pretty promising.
The video gives you a flavour of all but one of the projects which is still to be uploaded.

The first scenes from work in progress are from a horror genre project. A seemingly harmless janitor is in fact the stealer of children’s souls. The twist is that when the soul is taken the children behave perfectly in class…(yes it’s a horror FANTASY!)
I love that even in these rehearsal shots, Rory already looks the part with his limp and glasses. The jars are to be filled with red bull and egg yolk. Is that what a soul looks like????
The film is reminiscent of The Faculty Village of the Damned
and Die Welle (The Wave)

The next sequences are from a kind of CSI type thriller in which a student is murdered and there are 5 suspects for the killing. I like how this film starts with the aftermath of the killing. The enigma codes such as ‘who is the victim?’ and ‘who killed her?’ all work well in this project. Work is underway on developing the 5 suspects into different personalities. The narrative structure of the film will also require flashbacks which are not attempted too often by students. It reminds me of films such as The Usual Suspects
And Hitchcock’s classic Dial M for Murder

The Charm is a simple story with a lot of scope for good acting and suspense. A lucky charm is found in a school but all anyone gets who finds it, is bad luck. What’s interesting about the synopsis is that each successive person who finds the charm encounters worse luck than the last owner! I love the shots on the bag in the sequence which reference Hitchcock’s Marnie.

The Next sequence is from an all girl production similar to Heathers And other films like The Basketball Diaries and The Stepford Wives I like the way the four actors are working on visual unity with the same cups and eventually the same clothes. Also the piece is pretty dark since if anyone breaks away from the small, tightly knit group for any reason then they will be punished. And also there are unusual representations in the film where males are the victims.

The next piece (with the syringe!) is a very small scale film similar in big ideas to blockbuster films of recent years like Children of Men Minority Report And I am Legend The idea is that vaccinated girls in a school turn to zombies in a world where there is only one male left who is hunted by them. They are also karate experts so expect some good action sequences!

The next shot sequence is something quite different in tone! A sort of modern ‘stoner’ comedy where two morons decide under heavy influence of TV watching, to become superheroes. Costuming is excellent with poor robes and big pants. I think they are going to take the longest to make their film simply because they’ll be laughing for a lot of the time!
It reminds me of Superbad Be Kind Rewind and Nacho Libre

The final sequences in the film are for another comedy idea. In this synopsis the idea is that a seriously overweight man is knocked into shape by a lunatic grizzled coach. The big aspect of the production will be on convincing the audience about the extent of the weight problem and how funny the coach is! However I’m pretty optimistic it’s going to work out. The film reminds me of classic Jerry Lewis comedies such as The Nutty Professor
Shallow Hal And in a strange way of Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket

The one film not shown is equally as exciting as the rest. Like one of the projects mentioned earlier it is an all female group and they are filming the idea of a sweet sixteen birthday party which ends in tragedy for one of the girls. It is a character piece with some good actors in the group with echoes of
Girl Interrupted I’ve Loved You So Long And
In Her Shoes
More info on progress in a while!

Why I like 'mobiles'

2008-10-04T07:54:00.000-07:00

This very short film was made by St Joseph's College media students. It shows how much you can do with a fixed position camera. The emphasis is then on the actors' movement. The piece also shows what can be done in post production with such things as black and white, colour balance, contrast and fx such as ghosting. Using echo/reverb on the first section gives the piece a dream like quality that could be useful in those films where you want to use flashback for example. However the thing I like the most about mobiles is the way both classes went out and tackled the whole thing with enthusiasm and good humour.
Behind the scenes
1. In the second part of the film Kelly actually hit Chris with the umbrella in one of the takes!
2. Michael made his last appearance on a St Joseph's film! We wish him well for the future!

mobiles

2008-10-03T13:26:00.001-07:00

One Missed Call

2008-10-02T13:49:00.001-07:00

Mirrors

2008-10-02T13:39:00.000-07:00

Cloverfield essay

2008-10-01T13:50:00.000-07:00

Analyse Cloverfield in terms of representations, narrative and audience.

Cloverfield, produced by JJ Abrams and his team (Matt Reeves and Drew Goddard), is a pulsating, visceral horror movie with intertextual elements of sci-fi and romance. Set in New York where a terrifying monster rampages through the city, the film provides non stop pleasure and entertainment for its audience but also I felt attempted to explore through the monster, how people must’ve reacted to the 9/11 terror attacks on the city. A differential or oppositional reading of the film provides several worthwhile areas for analysis.

I felt that the target audience/demographic for Cloverfield was most likely in the 15-25 student range. There are several reasons for this. It is clear that the film is a Horror movie.

It displays most of the key genre markers for horror. There is an otherness/abject in the form of the monster. This otherness/abject although mysterious in its motives and behaviour is nonetheless a part of the genre which a young audience will recognise (other examples being King Kong, Jaws and Godzilla). Monster movies have a good track record with young audiences/demographic. The monster terrorises the people of New York which in terms of the Horror genre is the terrible place. The monster emerges and attacks at night (after midnight in fact) something which would excite a young audience as they have come to expect the exciting connection between night and the otherness/abject. Furthermore like most movies in the Horror genre there is an element of punishment (the city, females) which again would add to the pleasures of the film for the audience/demographic. Horror has been a profitable genre for Hollywood since the beginning of the industry and has recently undergone a resurgence with the influence and popularity of Asian horror (Cloverfield was inspired by the 1954 Japanese Gojira/Godzilla).

As I have indicated the film has many pleasures which would draw in and engage a young audience/demographic. There are many scenes in the film of visceral pleasure. The main characters, trying to find their way through the carnage in search of their friend is gripping throughout. A big part of the pleasure is the fear and excitement generated by the monster’s unpredictability and the gruesome spiders which it seems to spawn. This can be clearly seen in the underground scenes where the characters battle for survival.

The film was made by JJ Abrams and his team. This also helps to identify the target audience/demographic. Abrams, Reeves and Goddard are best known for the hit series Lost and Felicity and the Pallbearer and with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. These programmes all have young audiences not unlike the one which would be targetted for Cloverfield. Like these TV hits it is true to say that Cloverfield has a young attractive cast which help target the audience.

The film also displays technical aspects which would attract and excite a young demographic. These include the highly effective and highly believable use of CGI in the film which young audiences have come to expect. The decapitated head of the Statue of Liberty thundering down the street was an astounding moment. The film also uses an interesting film technique appearing to use a non professional video camera throughout and naturalistic lighting. This heightens the excitement for the audience as they experience the terrors of the monster with the main characters. The style of filming is in my opinion very reminiscent of Youtube videos, a mode of instant film-making which would be very familiar to a young demographic who are the main users of Youtube.

A differential reading of the film also helps us understand narrative aspects of Cloverfield. The film in my opinion can be understood in terms of Classic Narrative.

The world of the film is most certainly verisimilar. New York is instantly recognisable as is the romance aspect of the narrative. The young people are easily understood and can be related to by their young audience. I also felt that their anxieties also seem real even though the source of those anxieties (the otherness) is not verisimilar. The verisimilar world of the film will undoubtedly help engage the audience.

The film roughly adheres to a 3 act structure of Classic Narrative. The equilibrium is established in the first 20 minutes of the film with the party and the Coney Island trip and the romance between Beth and Rob. A good deal of the equilibrium is shot in daylight naturalistic lighting. The disequilibrium is clearly the arrival of the monstrous abject which is signalled in the film with the power cut and lights of the skyscrapers going out. Most of the disequilibrium is shot in low key naturalistic lighting. It is debatable to what extent equilibrium is restored since the main characters are all destroyed. However the final shot of the film is of Rob and Beth at Coney Island arm in arm suggesting that they have found each other and expressed their feelings for each other.

The narrative of the film is propelled by the cause and effect actions of the characters. The monster attacks the city and the four main characters respond in various ways trying to survive and find their way to Beth. The search for Beth is caused by Rob and her disagreeing at his surprise party.

I thought it was interesting when considering whether the film had a strong narrative closure which is usually pleasurable to a young audience. The abject survives and is in fact seemingly indestructible. Nowhere in the city is safe as Beth and Rob discover as they shelter in a tunnel in Central Park. A normal narrative closure would be a confrontation with the monster and its defeat. However it is the main characters who are destroyed not the monster leaving several unanswered questions. On the other hand we can argue for a strong narrative closure insofar as Beth and Rob are finally together and have pronounced their love for one another. This is uplifting since their pledges of love are the last things we hear before they are destroyed by the otherness and it can be seen as a courageous statement which the monster cannot destroy even though it extinguishes life. This is underlined by the final scene which is from the Coney Island sequence.

The film’s main codes are action codes. Having said that, the film does seem to have enigma snares especially in the disequilibrium stages of the narrative. Questions such as what is happening to the city? Who or what is attacking them? Why are they being attacked? How will they survive? Will Rob make it through the city? – all act as snares as Roland Barthes defined them, hooking the audience into the unfolding narrative. The action codes which mainly centre around Rob’s journey through the city and the actions of the army against the abject all serve to raise the excitement level and engagement of the demographic. Examples of action codes in the film were when Rob receives the call on Brooklyn Bridge from Beth thus beginning his epic search for her. Also the arrival at the underground military base which propels the action towards Beth’s crumbling apartment. The action can be described as non stop from the arrival of the monster till the end of the film providing a relentless but satisfying cinematic experience for the young target demographic.

The final part of my analysis will look at representations in Cloverfield specifically female representations although I would also like to add some thoughts regarding the portrayal of New York in the film. Although the film is part of the Horror genre I found it interesting that the usual portrayal of females in that genre did not always apply in Cloverfield.

In fact the females in the film offer an interesting and complex range of representations when read differentially.
There are clearly examples of female courage in the film for example with Marlena in the tunnel when she saves Hud from the spiders. Also Beth shows courage in surviving in her building then dragging Rob from the helicopter wreckage. These actions perhaps challenge traditional views of gender.

On the other hand we see females in the film organising Rob’s party and showing care and thoughtfulness when the monster attacks. They follow Rob who is clearly the leader of the main characters but they do suggest alternatives to his plan which seem more cautious and logical.
Beth is ‘saved’ by Rob whom she calls for help. She can be described as the ‘female quest object’ (Propp) trapped in her ‘tower’ waiting to be saved by the male hero. This is a traditional representation of females in the film. Beth is represented here as a passive weak female who is dependent on the help of a man.

The males Rob and Hud are men of action – Rob seeking out his love, Beth and Hud determinedly recording the terror of the otherness on the video camera. Therefore we may say that male representations in the movie are traditional and conform to what we regard as normal.

Perhaps the most interesting representation in Cloverfield is the monster itself who may be considered female as it seems to spawn fleshy spiders. If so this suggests a monstrous female and therefore females are represented as destroyers and as the otherness. It could be argued that the female monster is bringing destruction to an essentially peaceful, young society and it is the men in the film who lead the action against its rampage.

As I mentioned earlier it is interesting to think about the representation of New York in the city. As has been mentioned earlier, the film can be seen as an exploration of 9/11. There are other films which explore this theme such as The Dark Knight, I am Legend and The Mist. In JJ Abrams’ Cloverfield the view of NYC is of a city in panic being wildly destroyed. Its wealthy young inhabitants have no idea what is attacking them or why they are being attacked. The terrorists are represented by a monster who brings meaningless chaos to their streets. Abrams seems to be suggesting that Al Queda terror can be explained in other films but what is important for the Cloverfield audience is that they experience what it feels like to be caught up at ground level, in a terror attack.

cloverfield

2008-10-01T13:45:00.000-07:00

Cloverfield Notes

1. Technical and Cultural codes

How is the film shot?
The film is shot with the look of a handheld video camera. This accounts for the shaky, erratic shooting. No tripods, dolly, cranes or rostrums seem to be used. The illusion of the amateur shooting is maintained by the use of a video camera light and night vision light in the subway section. The eye witness idea of the hand-held camera is also suggested by the official titles at the start of the movie suggesting that the tape was ‘recovered’ in Central Park by the military.
The style of camera use is clearly reminiscent of an uploaded Youtube video. This style of filming helps creates the illusion of a real experience. The camera is the ‘witness’ to the terror the city and the main characters feel. The first person viewpoint of the camera seems to be an authentic account of what happened and is suggestive of the footage which was assembled after the 9/11 attacks on New York where the film is set.

How is the film lit?
The film stays true to the hand held amateurish style of filming by using naturalistic lighting throughout. The light sources are those we would expect from someone filming at night, the street lights, nights of the city etc. This adds to the sense of a real experience for the main characters and the people of the city. It also helps add to the sense of terror as the monster is only caught in glimpses in the darkness.
Although naturalistic the film does have several moments of powerful and memorable lighting for example
The subway attack by the spiders where night-vision is used to powerful effect
The army base where the powerful white lighting suggests disorientation.
The final sequence in Central Park where the daylight looks weak and feeble.

What sets, colours, costumes and props are used?
NYC seems to be very real in the film as though it was actually filmed in the streets there. This was seen in the opening sequences which conveyed a wealthy Manhattan with young mainly white Manhattanites. However it is clear from the action of the film that CGI was used extensively in the film. However the realness of the setting is powerfully conveyed. The sets, notably the subway station, the army base and the party apartment help create a verisimilar world for the audience.
The colours of the film are in keeping with the night and the destruction of the movie. An interesting aspect was that of the monster which appeared pale and almost fleshy, its anaemic body tones acted as a contrast to the darkened city it was terrorising.
The costumes were interesting especially those of the main characters as they were dressed for a party and as the film and the terror of the otherness unfolded, their costumes became more torn and destroyed underlining the destruction of the city and the world they knew. Their costuming was also a stark contrast to those of the soldiers in the underground base conveying the contrast between the soldiers’ military purpose and the bewilderment of the four main characters.
The main props which are significant were the camera which is often referred to in the narrative and the use of mobile phones which are used effectively when the otherness first attacks. The Manhattanites film the head of the Statue of Liberty again underlining the Youtube aspect of the filming.

Sounds/Music
The film is filled with the visceral sounds (foley) of terror – explosions, screaming, gunshots, helicopters, general panic. Most notably the sound of the monster is particularly striking. It is the noise of otherness, a wailing rage which causes excitement in the audience and helps underline the directionless nature of destruction through the city.
It is interesting that the film does not use music to help engage audience pleasure which is normally the case in this genre of movie. There is no horror chord. Instead the characters and the audience react to the noises of the destruction and the rampaging otherness. The film still manages to engage audience pleasure through the powerful foley sounds of the movie.

Genre
Cloverfield is in many ways an INTERTEXTUAL movie with elements of romance (Rob’s search for Beth), Disaster (reminiscent of The Day After Tomorrow, Godzilla) and some Comedy (Hud’s often comic commentary on events) and Sci Fi (The War of the Worlds and Independence Day)
However it is predominantly a Horror movie. The genre markers for Horror can generally be applied to Cloverfield –

The Otherness is clearly the monster which terrorises the city (in many ways the film uses the monster otherness as a metaphor for the Twin Tower attacks of 9/11). The otherness of Cloverfield reminds us of classic monster movies such as King Kong, Godzilla and Jurassic Park, movies which the film’s demographic would recognise and which would draw them into the cinema.
The otherness of Cloverfield strikes us as quite interesting for several reasons.
Unlike other monster movies, the Cloverfiled monster defies understanding for the audience. Questions such as where did it come from? Why is it attacking? What does it want? What is its purpose are not explained. This is not disappointing for the audience in terms of narrative as we are more concerned with the experience of the four main characters.
The monster is grotesque and ambiguous in its terror. Is it wailing in pain or pleasure?
It is indestructible as an otherness
Is it female (spawning vicious spidery things)? If so it suggests an interesting representation which will be discussed later.
The otherness comes to society much like classic horror but it is not confronted by the main characters of the film who try to flee its floundering, flailing limbs.

The Terrible Place is New York City and more specifically, Manhattan, the wealthiest area of the city and the location of business and the former Twin Towers. The essential nature of New York, its sky scrapers and night life are decimated by the otherness in the space of a few hours. During the attack all areas of the city change their nature, with each street, building shop or subway station a place of the otherness to attack.

Punishment is a key genre marker for Horror. In Cloverfield as explained above, it is unclear why the city is being punished or why it is the young people who we see being chased who are the victims of the otherness. The film instead focuses on the reactions to the attack. In some ways it could be argued that the otherness itself seems unsure of its purpose.

As with most horror films there is a clear and significant difference between
Night and Day in the film. The daylight scenes deal with happier times – the trip to Coney Island by Beth and Rob and the preparation for Rob’s party. The daylight trip to Coney Island and its romantic element is effectively cut into the video recording of the nigh-time terror of the otherness. The terror strikes at 12.20 – after midnight an almost iconic time for otherness to emerge. The night time shows the lights go out across Manhattan suggesting the power of the otherness. The night hides the whereabouts of the otherness and in particular its spidery babies who infest the subways etc.
However as the film comes to its narrative closure we note that it is dawn and the otherness is still attacking suggesting that its power is unaffected by the time of day unlike other monstrous otherness such as Dracula.

The Final Girl is perhaps the one genre marker for horror which is problematic in categorising Cloverfield. There is no final girl who is brave and who confronts the otherness as in other horrors such as the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Scream or The Orphanage. The females in the film do show courage (Beth and Marlena are examples of this) however they all are destroyed by the monstrous otherness as the narrative unfolds.

Representations in Cloverfield
In discussing representations it is important to ask
What are the activities of the males and the females? Are those activities different? What are the differences and do those differences conform to what we believe?
The females in the film offer an interesting range of representations when we read the film differentially.
There are clearly examples of female courage in the film for example with Marlena in the tunnel when she saves Hud from the spiders. Also Beth shows courage in surviving in her building then dragging Rob from the helicopter wreckage. These actions perhaps challenge traditional views of gender.
On the other hand we see females in the film organising Rob’s party and showing care and thoughtfulness when the monster attacks. They follow Rob who is clearly the leader of the main characters but they do suggest alternatives to his plan which seem more cautious and logical.
Beth is ‘saved’ by Rob whom she calls for help. She can be described as the ‘female quest object’ (Propp) trapped in her ‘tower’ waiting to be saved by the male hero. This is a traditional representation of females in the film. Beth is represented here as a passive weak female who is dependent on the help of a man.
The males Rob and Hud are men of action – Rob seeking out his love, Beth and Hud determinedly recording the terror of the otherness on the video camera. Therefore we may say that male representations in the movie are traditional and conform to what we regard as normal.
Perhaps the most interesting representation in Cloverfield is the monster itself who may be considered female as it seems to spawn fleshy spiders. If so this suggests a monstrous female and therefore females are represented as destroyers and as the otherness. It could be argued that the female monster is bringing destruction to an essentially peaceful, young society and it is the men in the film who lead the action against its rampage.
It is true to say that Cloverfield provides a wide and complex range of female representations in the film when we read it differentially.

In addition it is interesting to think about the representation of New York in the city. As has been mentioned earlier, the film can be seen as an exploration of 9/11. There are other films which explore this theme such as The Dark Knight and The Mist. In JJ Abrams’ Cloverfield the view of NYC is of a city in panic being wildly destroyed. Its wealthy young inhabitants have no idea what is attacking them or why they are being attacked. The terrorists are represented by a monster who brings meaningless chaos to their streets. Abrams seems to be suggesting that the terror can never be explained and what is important is that we experience what it feels like to be caught up in a terror attack – hence the hand held camera etc.

Narrative
It is interesting when we try to understand Cloverfield in terms of the Classic Narrative Formula (CNF).
The world of the film is most certainly verisimilar. New York is instantly recognisable as is the romance aspect of the narrative. The young people are easily understood and can be related to by their young audience. Their anxieties also seem real even though the source of those anxieties (the otherness) is not verisimilar. The verisimilar world of the film will undoubtedly help engage the audience.

The film roughly adheres to a 3 act structure of Classic Narrative. The equilibrium is established in the first 20 minutes of the film with the party and the Coney Island trip and the romance between Beth and Rob. A good deal of the equilibrium is shot in daylight naturalistic lighting. The disequilibrium is clearly the arrival of the monstrous abject which is signalled in the film with the power cut and lights of the skyscrapers going out. Most of the disequilibrium is shot in low key naturalistic lighting. It is debatable to what extent equilibrium is restored since the main characters are all destroyed. However the final shot of the film is of Rob and Beth at Coney Island arm in arm suggesting that they have found each other and expressed their feelings for each other.

The narrative of the film is propelled by the cause and effect actions of the characters. The monster attacks the city and the four main characters respond in various ways trying to survive and find their way to Beth. The search for Beth is caused by Rob and her disagreeing at his surprise party.

It is interesting to ponder whether or not the film has a strong narrative closure which is pleasurable to the audience. The abject survives and is in fact seemingly indestructible. Nowhere in the city is safe as Beth and Rob discover as they shelter in a tunnel in Central Park. A normal narrative closure would be a confrontation with the monster and its defeat. However it is the main characters who are destroyed not the monster leaving several unanswered questions. On the other hand we can argue for a strong narrative closure insofar as Beth and Rob are finally together and have pronounced their love for one another. This is uplifting since their pledges of love are the last things we hear before they are destroyed by the otherness and it can be seen as a courageous statement which the monster cannot destroy even though it extinguishes life. This is underlined by the final scene which is from the Coney Island sequence.

Codes
The two main narrative codes which can be read in Cloverfield are Hermeneutic (enigma) and Proaretic (action) codes. The film uses enigma snares especially in the disequilibrium stages of the narrative. Questions such as what is happening to the city? Who or what is attacking them? Why are they being attacked? How will they survive? Will Rob make it through the city? – all act as snares (Barthes) to hook the audience into the unfolding narrative. Furthermore the action codes which mainly centre around Rob’s journey through the city and the actions of the army against the abject all serve to raise the excitement level and engagement of the demographic.

Audience
There are several indicators which suggest that the target demographic for Cloverfield is the largely student 15-25s range.
The film is a Horror which is traditionally very popular with this demographic who are the ones who use the cinema the most and are the ones with the largest disposable income. Of course as well as being a Horror it also has appealing intertextual element (mentioned earlier) which again has proven popular with young modern audiences.
The film is a similar product to films such as The Blair Witch Project, The Host, Children of Men, Godzilla and Peter Jackson’s King Kong which have all proven popular with young audiences. In addition JJ Abrams and his creative team have had great success with TV with Lost and the teenage orientated Felicity. Therefore there is a strong understanding by JJ Abrams of his targeted demographic.
As mentioned earlier, the film is reminiscent of a Youtube video and of course this is an internet site enjoyed mainly by the 15-25 demographic.
Cloverfield has a young cast of actors which helps create the verisimilar world for its young audience and the concept of a city under attack is one which young audiences find appealing.
The film also has many visceral pleasures for the audience. Through the use of the handheld camera the audience can enjoy the illusion of witnessing the terror of the abject at first hand. Fear and excitement are the prevailing pleasures for the demographic. However there are some cognitive pleasures as the source of the abject is puzzling as is the character of Marlena.