Film analysis (draft) (2004) IMAGE 3

The scene where the image comes from is at the end of the film when the survivors are on the boat sailing as Ana watches. It shows a very patriotic view of America and at this scene the American flag is put subtly around the shots to signify that the Americans beat the zombies. It gives the viewer the impression that they are the heroes of the story and will live happily ever after- however in the credit sequence, they all get bitten. The intense lighting and natural light as well connotes an almost blurred way of life that the whole 10 minute scene was all so fast and such a blur. As well as this it almost signifies happiness how they are at peace with everything and everyone’s going to be safe. Ana is the main Final girl in the film and beat the fast moving monsters (zombies).

Film analysis DOTD (2004) (draft) IMAGE 2

This image shows Ana (the final girl) killing a zombie through the eye using a golf club. It shows how unlike Fran from the original Dawn of the dead, Ana is not afraid to kill zombies her way. The fact Ana has blonde hair shows us that she goes against the horror stereotype, through most of the film she wears a t-shirts and jeans with her hair in a semi pony tail. As well as this the zombie she is killing is one of the refugees which died from a bite- it shows she is not sentimental or even sympathetic towards her; however she follows the rule of “Kill or be killed”.

The low key lighting and the props within the mise-en-scene all show it’s almost like a home environment where they all feel comfortable. The brightness of the zombie as well as the white top she is wearing connotes she is an innocent victim in all of this, but also to scare us. The gore effects or body horror are very good with the pole going through her eye. It seems believable and would scare us more than the original DOTD (1979) with blue face paint and red paint for the blood- it shows how far we have come to scaring people and how relaxed we are now about seeing gore and violence.

Film analysis DOTD (1979) (draft) IMAGE 3

The image I have chosen is where zombies have taken over the mall. It gives the idea of how even after death there is still consumerism. It indicates how we act in today’s society how in a way we are the zombies just travelling from shop from shop interest in objects and things. [[[ADD IN MORE DETAIL ABOUT THE CONTEXT HERE AND HOW IT REFLECTS ROMERO'S HATRED OF ALL THE NEW MALLS OPENING UP IN THE 1970s. COMPARE TO ANOTHER OF HIS HORRORS THAT REFLECTS ITS CONTEXT]]]

The lighting and the camera angles (where the shops are above the zombies) connotes that the shops and corporal business overpower our needs of things and how as people are weak and small to the big industries which consume us. As well as this the canted angle and the use of a Point of View shot shows that without the zombies nothing would have changed from this shot. The lighting in this image give the impression that the whole mall is lit up with fluorescent lights and colourful neon signs, which connotes consumerism is rampant even at night.

Film analysis DOTD (1979) Draft IMAGE 2

In this image and scene Fran has just had sex with Stephen and by their faces it wasn’t a happy experience. Their boredom indicates their love of each other is going down as well as their love of consumerism, the mall now seemed like a prison to them.

This also challenges the horror stereotypes as Stephen is not exciting or good with the ladies, which are not usually what films have done in the past. At the end with the film when Fran and Peter go off together it hints of a mixed race relationship which was a controversial topic.

The whole Sex and the Taboo loosened since Psycho and the Hays Code, where there were no naked people or no swearing. However in this image you could see Fran’s nipple which gives us the image of a much more relaxed BBFC. [[[ADD HOW THIS SHOWS THAT THE INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT HAS CLEARLY CHANGED]]] Now you are usually allowed to show anything as we have toughened up, and this film later features a lot of body horror when the bi

PSYCHO IMAGE 3 Image analysis (draft)

The image is showing Norman peeping in a hole, looking at Marion undress. It shows a creepy side of Norman in a way that hadn’t been seen before, in the 1960’s sex and the taboo were usually cut from films so breaking this habit really showed Hitchcock’s work and genius.

The fact that the hole was originally there shows that this could have happened before with another guest… or victim. The low key lighting really connotes how shady Norman is being, and how the hole is bringing light to his face may also connote that Marion is somewhat pure and innocent and that is why Norman is looking at her.  The whole eeriness to the scene shows why the “Mother” side came out and how Norman may never have been in a relationship before. This scene is quite sad and shows he is lonely, but it is also the first time we realise Norman has a dark side. [[[ADD HERE HOW THIS SCENE USES LAURA MULVEY'S THEORY OF THE MALE GAZE AND HOW IT WAS COMMON IN HITCHCOCK'S FILM BECAUSE HIS OWN “AUTEUR” INFLUENCE SHOWED HIS OBSESSION WITH BLONDE WOMEN]]]

PSYCHO image analysis IMAGE 2 (draft)

This scene is an indication of how Hitchcock used mise-en-scene without using much too over powers it. He did this to create tension and add eeriness, just by a 2 minute clip, yet it adds such an unsettling atmosphere through subtle lighting and cinematography techniques.

This scene introduces the start of the realisation that Norman is not “normal” in the way he seemed in this scene overly attached to his mother even though he didn’t really like her. In PSYCHO and this image it shows that Norman Bates has a quite obsession of birds: “I-I don't really know anything about birds. My hobby is stuffing things. You know - taxidermy.” This quote foreshadows the end of the film, where we see Norman has also stuffed “Mother”.  [[[ADD IN HERE HOW THIS ALSO REFERS TO THE CONTEXT OF ED GEIN. HE ALSO DUG UP HIS MOTHER AND PRESERVED HER BODY]]] The shot shows low angle of Norman Bates showing he’s more powerful over Marion and a stuffed bird of prey connotes what is going to happen to Marion later on in the film. The low key lighting gives of a shadowy effect which gives Norman and the Birds a very creepy eeriness to it as well as this the shadow effect which half’s Normans face in a shadow shows the schizophrenic way he is divided form him and Norman.

Throughout the film Hitchcock references the use of Norman’s birds. For example Marion’s full name is Marion Crane, and Norman “You-you eat like a bird” to further his obsession with Marion. This could also fit into another Hitchcock’s film “The Birds,” where birds become evil forces. [[[NICE USE OF QUOTES]]]

Practice horror poster

Film analyses DOTD 1979 (final) IMAGE 1

The image is from the film Dawn of the Dead (DOTD). It shows Stephen or “Fly boy” trying to shoot Zombies but keeps on missing. It challenges the horror stereotypes of the handsome white man failing at a simple task. This shows the influence of Romero as auteur because he likes to flip characters stereotypes. Compare to another of his films... such as day of the dead, where he has a drunken man as one of the main heroes, or in martin where he has a sympathetic vampire. In the image Stephen’s face shows he is almost feels emasculated as Roger takes his place. Roger is a small-ish man who is in the SWAT team which could be considered bad in some way. So it is a shock to see the roles are almost reversed. The guns they use in DOTD are large guns which symbolises female power, and the way Roger shoots better than Stephan it connotes that Roger has more male power than Stephan which again flips the stereotype.

The natural lighting connotes that the zombie apocalypse is only starting and it will get darker and darker along the way. And the medium shot gives a quite plain appearance which could connote how they feel - they could only shoot zombies as now civilization doesn’t exist.