Psycho (1960) Thriller
What the movie is about
The movie psycho is about a young women who stays the night at a motel after taking the back roads to avoid the police after she has stolen £40,000 from her employer. While at the motel she is introduced to a young man who has an interest with taxidermy and has a rough relationship with his mother. He becomes fascinated by this young women and when he does not get what he wants from her he decided to stalk her, and when she is in the shower he kills her by stabbing her continuously with a knife.
Action
The films opening consists of no dialogue it is a really old film so the technology was limited in the 1960's therefore the opening of the film was not of any particular scene or person it was a blank screen with different colours e.g. black, white and grey to show the audience the movies title, the actors starring in it and the producers of the film. The lines in the opening scene resemble the knife slashing scene in the shower, this is one of the most iconic movie horror scenes in movie history. The title sequence was created by Saul Bass who was a very famous man as he created movie openings that revolutionised the making of film openings and their credits. Thousands of other films have used Saul Bass's design in the opening of their film as it is iconic of his work, stylish and modern.
Fonts and Styles
The fonts used are very basic as in the 1960's there was a lack of technology that could be used to create stylish and creative openings. The fonts consisted of white writing and a black background, many films nowadays use a black background especially in horror movies as it gives the elution of darkness. The use of the grey lines could represent the knife slashed that occur in the film as they are in time with the music that plays over the opening scene of the film.
Sounds/Music
The music used in the opening to Psycho resembles the knife slashes in the iconic shower scene. This is used cleverly to give the audience a taster of what is going to happen later on in the movie. It is a clever piece of ingenious work created by Saul Bass. The music is perfectly in time with the lines that appear from all four sides of the screen, these lines represent the knife slashes that occur in the films iconic shower scene. The music used in the opening scenes are also used in the iconic shower scene. This is almost used to indicate to the audience the horror and demented scenes that happen in the movie.
All of these combined create a dark eary atmosphere that is commonly known for in horror films. If one of these elements was missing then the opening for this film would not be as eary and scary as it is and would not impact the audience in the way that it has.
Dawn of the dead (Zombie)
What the movie is about
The movie Dawn of the Dead is about a women who finds out that her daughter has turned into a zombie and has attacked and killed her father. She manages to escape and seek refuge at a nearby camp where she finds a group of people who are willing to help her in fighting the un dead and making sure that the world can go back to what it once was.
Action
In the movies opening scenes we are introduced to vast amounts of chaos and horror. We are emerged to watch people run from the un dead and save loved ones. There are news reports which makes the movie look lore realistic as there is a theme of using the news to make it seem like these events are taking place at this very moment. This gets the audience more anxious into watching the movie as they want to know what the news reporters are reporting on. There is a cut scene to where we see a scene of one of the un dead, this is both scary and interesting at the same time as it allow the audience to finally see what the news reporters were talking about. Also it allows the audience to get a look at what the zombies in this film look like. Finally there is a scene where there is a human cell that seems to become mutated which suggests the reasons why all these people are turning in to zombies.
Fonts and Styles
The fonts used in the opening scene are those that are commonly used in a horror film. The bog, blocky and red. The red fonts represent blood and this theme is used as the film is about zombies and gore. In order for there to be gore there needs to be blood. Furthermore the way the text disappears on screen suggests that of when blood runs on the floor. This is used to again indicate at the blood and gore that the audience will experience in this film. Finally, the black background represents darkness, also darkness resembles that there is no hope. This is what the film is based on, the fact there seems to be no hope for survival.
Sounds/Music
The music used in not of what you would expect from a horror movie, however if you listen to the lyrics then you would take into account that the lyrics are a hint at what the film is about and the chaos that occurs in it. Also the sounds in the background of the opening scenes are harrowing. There are people screaming, news reporters reporting on the events. Which gives a realistic feel and the sounds of the zombies grabs the audiences attention at that is what they wanted to watch.
With all of these elements combined together it creates a really scary, eary feeling that is common of horror movies. They all combine well and create a really creative, scary theme which grabs the attention of the audience and makes them really excited for the rest of the movie.
SAW 1 ( Slasher)
What the movie is about
SAW is a film about a psycho maniac that calls himself 'Jigsaw'. He is diagnosed with cancer and is given only months to live. So he plans to torture people that have done wrong in their life such as murderers, drug dealers and thieves. He devises many traps that will cause severe pain to all of the people that are taking part in his 'Games'.
Action
In the opening scene we are introduced to two men who find themselves locked in a room, chained to a pipe with a dead man in the middle of the floor with his brain splattered everywhere. They find a tape next to the dead body and they are told that only one of them will survive. We are shown the pain and mental torture these two men are faced with and we are not sure what they are going to do next as they try to figure out firstly how they got there and how they are going to escape alive.
Fonts and Styles
The fonts and styles used in the opening for SAW are only the title of the film and the company that produced it. There are no other fonts what so ever we are dropped straight into the action. The fonts are big and thin, the colour of the fonts are blue. This is unusual of a horror film as the colour would normally be red, to represent blood. However in this film the fonts are blue.
Sounds/Music
The sounds in the opening scenes consist of splashes of water which could represent panic as the men are fighting in the dark to get loose from their chains. Also there is one piece of music that is used to build up the anticipation of what they two men are looking at, the music gets louder and faster the closer we get to what these two men are looking at. We are finally shown what the two men are looking at and it a dead body on the floor surrounded in its own blood.
All of these combined create a real scary atmosphere and as the audience watching the film you feel like the film is not just gory and bloody but also psychological. With all of these together the scenes really work well together and just by watching the beginning of the film, you are both scared and hooked into wanting to watch more.
Cloverfield (Science fiction)
What the movie is about
The movie is about a group of people who film the event of the destruction of New York City by a massive alien like creature. The film is full of scary scenes of traumatic pain of loosing loved ones, and action scenes of when the government try and take down this alien predator.
Action
In the opening scene we are introduced to the group of people who happen to be the main characters filming on top of a rooftop when there is an explosion. When this explosion occurs everybody rushed down to the streets to find their friends and loved ones. They then discover that the statue of liberty has been destroyed as its head comes tumbling towards them. They then talk about where everyone is and their next plan of action. They then decide to take cover and shelter in a nearby off licence shop.
Fonts and Styles
There are no fonts displayed in the opening of Cloverfield it is all action. This gives the audience a feel of realism as the filming is also filmed on what looks like a camera phone or digital camera. Not using any text and fonts gives the film a documentary type feel. As there is no text and it is just the filming that is going on. It makes the audience focus on the actors expressions and not the text that would have been displayed on screen.
Sounds/Music
There is no music used in the opening of the film. However the sounds that you can hear really set the mood. There are all types of sounds over the course of the opening scenes. The sounds include screaming, people talking wondering where people are, people shouting and explosions and dust settling throughout the street. These sounds help give the audience a feel of realism and that they film is happening in real life.
All of these combined set the tone and allow the audience to feel emotion towards the characters as you can really see their emotions and the situation they find themselves in. All together with the use of sounds, the use of the camera that looks like a normal person is filming it, and the use of the people running through the streets it really gives a sense of realism.
Scary Movie (Horror Comedy)
What the movie is about
Scary movie is a movie where the scenes consist of different famous horror movie scenes however there is a twist. The scenes are comedy based. Each scene has some scary scenes that make you jump but then immediately transform into comedic scenes.
Action
Fonts and Styles
The fonts and styles used in the title of the film are not of what you would expect from a horror film. The font itself is long and thin and black, and it has a blue outline. Most horror movies have a red font to portray blood or death. Although this films title does have a black background which is typical of horror movies it does not have the red fonts that are commonly used in horror movies. The reason why the font is blue and not red is because the movie has a comedic feel and it not all horror based.
Sounds/Music
The music used in the opening scene to this film is used to suggest fear and how scared the female character is when trying to escape from the scream murderer. The sounds like the eary voice of the scream murderer over the phone adds some more horror to the scene as you find his voice creepy so you don't know what he would be like in person and you feel sorry for the female character as she has to deal with the games that the scream murderer likes to play.
All of these 3 elements combined show both the comedic and the horror elements of the film. The music is eary but not as scary as the music you would get from a pure horror flick. This is because scary movie is a comedy horror therefore they can use different traits that you would not normally find in a horror movie.
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