The Shark Bite

The Shark Bite is when the film is split into 3 parts, The Bite, The Body and The Tail. The Bite is the first 10 minutes of the film and is meant to attract the audience straight away by including action in the very first part of the film.

Some films which have the shark bite opening are:

• The Hangover
• Harry Potter

Synopsis of a horror film

Todorov's Narrative Theory
Todorov suggested that conventional narratives are structured in five stages:

1. Equilibrium
2. Disruption of the equilibrium
3. Recognition of disruption
4. An attempt to repair the disruption
5. Reinstatement of the equilibrium

Typical Horror Storyline
A teenage girl is getting ready for a camping trip in her bedroom when she sees a figure in the mirror, all goes dark and creepy. Opening the door, everything vanishes and goes back to normal.
Her and her friends go camping in the woods one friday night, one girl goes to find wood for the fire and stumbles across a dead body by the side of a river! She screams and runs back to the camp, only to find a mess of tents and blood!

Alone and terrified the girl runs through the woods, not knowing she is heading in the opposite direction to the exit!


She finds herself deep in the woods and realises she is lost. She hears footsteps in the leaves and a voice whispering her name. Frozen on the spot she realises she is not alone, she spins around to see a dark figure in the shadows. The girl struggles and struggles to get out of the woods, but all the time is avoiding the dangerous grasps of this monster.

Finally she defeats the monster and gets out of the woods safely.

Not a Typical Horror Storyline

The girl starts to notice strange beings around the woods, ghosts and zombies. The movie flashes back to her bedroom and we see the same unhumanly figure. Through the chase in the woods she encounters demons and hears scary noises.

The twist to this movie is that we find out that the girl is mad and has been hilusinating all these figures and spirits and it was really her who killed her friends but she has no memory of it as she is crazy. The film ends with her getting taken away, we see an extream close up of her angry, lunatic eyes and we realise she has been the evil one all along.

The Notebook, Film Poster

What is the film about?

From this poster you can tell this is a romance film, its looks very emotional and full of love. The passionate embrace of the two characters show that it may be a sad film and the rain adds to the romantic effect of it. From the poster it seems this involves the couple being forced appart and having to cope without each other. The picture on the poster looks like it could be from the scene in the film when they are reunited, which is why it looks so passionate.

Where is it set?

From the background of the poster it we assume this love story is set in the countryside, which adds to the romantic effect and brings it back to nature.

When is it set?

'The Notebook' could be set in the past, as the clothes make them look slightly old fashioned and the poster reminds me of an old film poster.

What type of enigmas will occur?

I think this film will see the main characters through their love story, and there will endure hard times and seperation, but as it is a romance there will be a happy ending.

The Strangers, Film Poster

What is the film about?

Straight away from this film poster we can see it is a horror film. The title gives away that it is a horror and also makes you think of danger and evil, maybe because you are always told not to talk to strangers and the title could bring back childhood fears. The main image could be seen as a normal living room in any other context, but the darkness and the fear on the womans face tells us this is something to be scared of. Also the face in the darkness gives away that in this film things will be lurking in the shadows and we assume the girl in the picture will be the hero. Plus the tag line at the bottom 'inspired by true events' makes the film seem even scarier as they will actually believe this could happen to them.

Where is it set?

I think the film looks like it is set in America, from the clothes the woman is wearing and the living room. It looks like the film is set in a house by the poster, but we assume some of the action takes place elsewhere. I think the film will be set in a normal setting but it will become scary when the 'monster' takes over.

When is it set?

The film looks as though it is set a few years ago as the clothes are slighty old fashioned and plain, but i don't think the time is relavent to the film as what seems to be the theme could happen at any time.

What kind of enigmas will occur?

This film poster makes the horror film look stereotypical as the woman will be the one running away and fighting the villian. But I think this film has a darker element to it, the colours look very creepy and the face in the dark looks menacing and makes you wonder what sort of danger the woman is in. I think there will be a weird storyline and that the woman will end up defeated in the end.

The Hangover, Film Poster

Who is the film about?

The film is about 3 rough looking middle aged men. Their facial expressions are all different which shows the variety of personalities in the characters. You can tell by the characters faces that they have some sort of adventure and the baby makes you wonder how it ended up with the 3 men. The two men on the right have direct mode of address which draws the audience in, whereas the man on the left has an indirect mode of address which makes him seem like he's in another world and possibly a bit eccentric.

Where is it set?

From the slogan at the top of the poster we straight away know this film is set in Vegas. It is clear that there will be mishaps and problems as it says 'Some guys just can't handle Vegas'. Also the lights in the background reflect Vegas life and give a glamourous element to the film.

When is it set?

'The Hangover' is set in the modern day, we know this because the characters are wearing modern clothes and the language on the slogan is up to date. You can tell this also from the characters' style of hair and poses they are pulling.

What type of enigmas will occur?

From the look of this poster the characters are going to run into trouble in Vegas and face a few injuries. The film looks chaotic but the characters look interesting and have a comedy element to them. You can see from the poster that the film is a comedy as there is a look of hunmour about it and it is a genuinly amusing film poster.

Genre

What is meant by the term genre?

The term genre describes a kind; a stylistic category or sort.

(www.wiktionary.org/wiki/genre)

Give one example of a film genre and list the typical codes and conventions for that genre.

Horror genre

• Dark shadowed lighting


• Isolated location


• Female victim


• Disruption of normality


• Sub-plot of male/female relationship


• Defeat of 'monster'

(www.wiki.answers.com/Q/)

Take your favourite film/ film you have recently watched. State the genre of the film and explain some of the codes and conventions used to make it recognisable as belonging to the genre stated.

The film Harry Potter fits into the fantasy genre and it uses a lot of iconography and sound to suggest this genre. In the Harry Potter films there is loads of magic and magical creatures which easily gives away this film is fantasy, but because it all fits together we get dragged into the fantasy world and believe what we are seeing. The film uses the camera to add dramatic effects to the magical world, such as when they are flying the camera follows them to make the audience feel like they are there. Also the costumes are very abnormal but in this film the audience sees them as normal and accept they are part of this fantasy world. Colour is also used to represent good and evil in this film. For example when danger is approaching it goes dark and black. Overall Harry Potter is easily recognisable as a fantasy film as.

Some films contain more than 1 genre, these are called hybrids.

Why might producers and audiences like hybrid films?

Hybrid films appeal to audiences as they enjoy watching more than 1 genre of film and hybrids have that element. Also more people will like hybrid films as they like to see their favourite genre but could enjoy the other genre too, therefore advertising more genres. Producers might like hybrid films because they are going to attract a wider variety of audiences, therefore they will sell more.

Some genres have sub-genres within them. Can you think of any examples of possible sub-genres?

• Chick Flick
• Disaster
• Thriller
• Mystery

Why is genre important to audiences?

Genre is important to audiences because they can catagorise the films they like and find more from the same genre to watch and enjoy.

Why is genre important to producers?

When a genre is a success, producers can then make more of the same genre and they know audiences will enjoy it. Also, they need to know the type of people they are aiming the film at and catagorising them into genres helps producers be successful.

Brief: Short Films

The brief for this project was to create a short film and advertising products to sell it. The two concepts that must be included are TIME and TECHNOLOGY.