By Daniel Richardson
I have chosen the film ‘SAW’ to analyse, as the genre of the film in the same as our film we have produced, a Horror Thriller hybrid genre. Although the film is an 18 certificate and includes far more violence and gore than our film, it follows a similar storyline of a sadistic killer, who captures and kills his victims, Jigsaw in SAW, the hangman in our film ‘The Hanger’. Therefore I found the film suitable to analyse.
At the start of the film, the production company ‘Lionsgate Pictures’ as well as the credits for the film appear. This is obviously to inform the audience who the film is by, who stars in it, who directs it and to give an idea of the genre of the film. We get this idea from an eerie soundtrack that plays over the titles. The film titles appear in the colour blue, suggesting a cold feel of the film, and that the film is set in a cold setting. This is correct, as the blue fades to a key, shot underwater in a close up, which appears to be sucked down a plug hole. The camera then switches to a close up bird’s eye view shot of a man who is underwater, in a bath. He sits up sharply and dramatically, putting the audience into immediate suspense as we wonder who the man is, and why he is been kept in a bath, but has apparently no idea on how he has got there.
The man falls out of the bath shot in a medium close up tracking shot. He rolls out emphatically, screaming in apparent shock at his situation. Judging by the fact we are only 1min 19seconds into the film, we can see from the start that twists and turns are going to be around every corner. We are straight into the film, straight into the action, giving off an impression of ‘expect the unexpected’.
The camera stays fixed on the man, in a medium tracking shot, as he stands in the dark shouting for help. Out of the blue, we here another man’s voice. This startles the first man, as he asks what is happening, and if the man can turn on a light. The man does this, and as he does this jump cuts occur from the first man to a set of lights. This repeats 3 times, as the colour blue lights up the room. The lights are shot in a low angle shot looking up, showing the lights are pivotal in revealing the setting of the film, showing without them the protagonists and the audience have no clue to the whereabouts of the film.
The camera then switches to a medium shot of a man sat down on the floor, hand cuffed to a pipe on the floor. He is scruffy looking and appears weak; he appears to have been stuck in this position for at least a couple of days. This again prompts the audience to ask a number of questions, such as who this man is, and why both these men are stuck in the same position. This keeps the audience on the edge of their seats, not knowing any answers at this moment in time.
The camera then switches to a point of view shot from the second man. He looks through blurred vision at the first man, who looks surprised to see another man in the setting, which we now see is some sort of a large bathroom. The camera then zooms out, where before angling down to a dead body, where the camera spins round zooming out at the same time, obviously to shock and disillusion the audience. Dramatic bangs also appear at each shot of the dead body, creating a tense and dramatic atmosphere. A series of jump cuts then occur, from the dead body, to the first man, the second man and this cycle repeats quickly, showing a gun, and a tape recorder in the hands of the dead body from a bird’s eye view close up shot, showing the importance of these items, giving the audience some clue to how important these items will be in the film. However this also disillusions the audience, as they have no idea what is going on at all apart from the clues. This could also be to represent the disillusion of the two characters, who also have no idea of what is occurring.
The camera then reverts to a shot of the first man, again shot in medium close up, who looks around frantically to try and determine his situation. He looks down, and the camera follows, to a chain wrapped around his ankle, chained to a pipe like man 2. He then starts to panic, the camera jump cutting to a series of close ups of the man and the chain, showing the audience a feel of panic also, maybe also stressing the importance of the chain to the storyline. The music at this point changes in tempo and volume quite dramatically, and continues to do so until the shot is done. All this gives an impression of disarray.
A series of shot reverse shots, match on action and eye line matches then occur, as a conversation ensues between the two men. All the shots are medium close ups, as man 1 tries to break free from his chains, while man 2 calmly stands and quizzes man 1 about his memory of how he has ended up in the bathroom. The conversation is quick, man 1 obviously in no mood to talk, wanting to escape. It is apparent his attempts are pointless, as he cannot free himself. This gives is the impression that the men will be stuck for the rest of the film, because of the deserted setting and the fact they are chained up to a pipe, giving the audience the impression that they are not supposed to escape. And this is then confirmed by man 2 who says “by the look of these chains, someone didn’t want us to go very far.....” The audience now must be thinking why are they been kept prisoner? And this is the main basis for the rest of the story.
The conversation then continues, using the same types of shots, as both men begin asking the same questions as the audience, such as “why are we here”, “how long have we been here?” and “what does whoever is keeping us here want from us?” as well as personal questions such as each other’s names, professions etc. It is then revealed man 1 is called Adam, and man two Lawrence, and a little back story is told, giving the audience some idea of how the story will unfold, but not too much as obviously they need to be thrilled. This all takes place in the first 7 minutes of the film, which sets the scene straight away, and we now know we are in for a treat in regards to the horror thriller genre.
A series of close ups of the both Adam and Lawrence’s bodies then take place, focusing on the bottom half of the body, where firstly Adam dips into his pockets, revealing a plastic packet with his name written on it. He is then shot in medium shot again, as he empties his packet, a close up revealing a tape which says ‘Play Me’. The camera then switches to Lawrence who does the same, revealing a tape in his plastic packet, as well as a bullet and a key. The shots then alternate to medium shots between the two men who question the contents of each packet, as Lawrence tries to unlock his chains with the key, but to no avail. Both men then spot the tape recorder in the dead man’s hand, and Adam claims it using his shirt and a plug hole from the bath. The tape recorder is then shot in extreme close up, emphasising its importance.
The music then deepens to a more sinister tone, showing even more the tape recorders importance. The audience must now have the impression that the tape recorder carries answers, obviously along with the tapes both men have discovered in their plastic packets. And indeed this is true, as the camera focuses on Adam who plays his tape. A dark menacing voice then speaks, revealing that Adam could be in the place of his death. This is the end of the first ten minutes of the film, and we have our first major answer, that obviously someone is planning to kill Adam, maybe Lawrence also.
I have chosen the film ‘SAW’ to analyse, as the genre of the film in the same as our film we have produced, a Horror Thriller hybrid genre. Although the film is an 18 certificate and includes far more violence and gore than our film, it follows a similar storyline of a sadistic killer, who captures and kills his victims, Jigsaw in SAW, the hangman in our film ‘The Hanger’. Therefore I found the film suitable to analyse.
At the start of the film, the production company ‘Lionsgate Pictures’ as well as the credits for the film appear. This is obviously to inform the audience who the film is by, who stars in it, who directs it and to give an idea of the genre of the film. We get this idea from an eerie soundtrack that plays over the titles. The film titles appear in the colour blue, suggesting a cold feel of the film, and that the film is set in a cold setting. This is correct, as the blue fades to a key, shot underwater in a close up, which appears to be sucked down a plug hole. The camera then switches to a close up bird’s eye view shot of a man who is underwater, in a bath. He sits up sharply and dramatically, putting the audience into immediate suspense as we wonder who the man is, and why he is been kept in a bath, but has apparently no idea on how he has got there.
The man falls out of the bath shot in a medium close up tracking shot. He rolls out emphatically, screaming in apparent shock at his situation. Judging by the fact we are only 1min 19seconds into the film, we can see from the start that twists and turns are going to be around every corner. We are straight into the film, straight into the action, giving off an impression of ‘expect the unexpected’.
The camera stays fixed on the man, in a medium tracking shot, as he stands in the dark shouting for help. Out of the blue, we here another man’s voice. This startles the first man, as he asks what is happening, and if the man can turn on a light. The man does this, and as he does this jump cuts occur from the first man to a set of lights. This repeats 3 times, as the colour blue lights up the room. The lights are shot in a low angle shot looking up, showing the lights are pivotal in revealing the setting of the film, showing without them the protagonists and the audience have no clue to the whereabouts of the film.
The camera then switches to a medium shot of a man sat down on the floor, hand cuffed to a pipe on the floor. He is scruffy looking and appears weak; he appears to have been stuck in this position for at least a couple of days. This again prompts the audience to ask a number of questions, such as who this man is, and why both these men are stuck in the same position. This keeps the audience on the edge of their seats, not knowing any answers at this moment in time.
The camera then switches to a point of view shot from the second man. He looks through blurred vision at the first man, who looks surprised to see another man in the setting, which we now see is some sort of a large bathroom. The camera then zooms out, where before angling down to a dead body, where the camera spins round zooming out at the same time, obviously to shock and disillusion the audience. Dramatic bangs also appear at each shot of the dead body, creating a tense and dramatic atmosphere. A series of jump cuts then occur, from the dead body, to the first man, the second man and this cycle repeats quickly, showing a gun, and a tape recorder in the hands of the dead body from a bird’s eye view close up shot, showing the importance of these items, giving the audience some clue to how important these items will be in the film. However this also disillusions the audience, as they have no idea what is going on at all apart from the clues. This could also be to represent the disillusion of the two characters, who also have no idea of what is occurring.
The camera then reverts to a shot of the first man, again shot in medium close up, who looks around frantically to try and determine his situation. He looks down, and the camera follows, to a chain wrapped around his ankle, chained to a pipe like man 2. He then starts to panic, the camera jump cutting to a series of close ups of the man and the chain, showing the audience a feel of panic also, maybe also stressing the importance of the chain to the storyline. The music at this point changes in tempo and volume quite dramatically, and continues to do so until the shot is done. All this gives an impression of disarray.
A series of shot reverse shots, match on action and eye line matches then occur, as a conversation ensues between the two men. All the shots are medium close ups, as man 1 tries to break free from his chains, while man 2 calmly stands and quizzes man 1 about his memory of how he has ended up in the bathroom. The conversation is quick, man 1 obviously in no mood to talk, wanting to escape. It is apparent his attempts are pointless, as he cannot free himself. This gives is the impression that the men will be stuck for the rest of the film, because of the deserted setting and the fact they are chained up to a pipe, giving the audience the impression that they are not supposed to escape. And this is then confirmed by man 2 who says “by the look of these chains, someone didn’t want us to go very far.....” The audience now must be thinking why are they been kept prisoner? And this is the main basis for the rest of the story.
The conversation then continues, using the same types of shots, as both men begin asking the same questions as the audience, such as “why are we here”, “how long have we been here?” and “what does whoever is keeping us here want from us?” as well as personal questions such as each other’s names, professions etc. It is then revealed man 1 is called Adam, and man two Lawrence, and a little back story is told, giving the audience some idea of how the story will unfold, but not too much as obviously they need to be thrilled. This all takes place in the first 7 minutes of the film, which sets the scene straight away, and we now know we are in for a treat in regards to the horror thriller genre.
A series of close ups of the both Adam and Lawrence’s bodies then take place, focusing on the bottom half of the body, where firstly Adam dips into his pockets, revealing a plastic packet with his name written on it. He is then shot in medium shot again, as he empties his packet, a close up revealing a tape which says ‘Play Me’. The camera then switches to Lawrence who does the same, revealing a tape in his plastic packet, as well as a bullet and a key. The shots then alternate to medium shots between the two men who question the contents of each packet, as Lawrence tries to unlock his chains with the key, but to no avail. Both men then spot the tape recorder in the dead man’s hand, and Adam claims it using his shirt and a plug hole from the bath. The tape recorder is then shot in extreme close up, emphasising its importance.
The music then deepens to a more sinister tone, showing even more the tape recorders importance. The audience must now have the impression that the tape recorder carries answers, obviously along with the tapes both men have discovered in their plastic packets. And indeed this is true, as the camera focuses on Adam who plays his tape. A dark menacing voice then speaks, revealing that Adam could be in the place of his death. This is the end of the first ten minutes of the film, and we have our first major answer, that obviously someone is planning to kill Adam, maybe Lawrence also.
First ten minutes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrmyerTTIO4&feature=related
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