American Horror Story: Freak Show
Each season of AHS is conceived as a self- miniseries, with a different set of characters and setting. some plot elements of each season are loosely inspired by true events. It opened with red curtains opening as if you were entering a circus and it shows a miniature version of a circus. In the background the music is sharp, fast and unsettling. It then shows a moving Merri-Go round which then glitches and starts spinning faster and quickly shows shadows on the ceiling of the tent. It does a hard shot to show the shadow of a ferris- wheel on a truck from the circus which then cuts to show a wonky camera angle of the backs of the trucks. A baby doll then peeks behind the side of the truck. It does another hard cut to a close up of a long, orange ballon getting pumped up by a clown. It's put in fast motion how he is making something out of it and has a loud squeaking of the balloon getting manipulated into place. It then quickly shows the clown pop the balloon with a knife. It shows a disfigured skeleton on a bicycle with the main characters name. It cuts to an unsteady moving camera showing the skeleton of the Simees Twins. It then shows a half bull half human toy trying to walk with another actors name. The camera cuts to an old and broken spinning clowns head, the theme tune to AHS then gets added in with the music that was already playing. It cuts to a toy man in a wheel chair with enlarged legs and two male toys walking one stilts in the background. It then shows a toy with two head on a spinning table getting thrown knives at with another actors name. It then shows a rusted man toy with disfigured hands and feet sitting on a wooden box. It then glitches to a mid shot with a name of an actor. The camera cuts back to the spinning clown head but this time the clown looks evil. It cuts quickly to show clown figurines moving their heads and cuts back to the clown with is now spinning very quickly and then cuts back to the figurine spinning its' head as well. It shows the walls of the tent and the shadows which makes it seem almost abandoned. The camera does a hard cut to a scratched up, evil looking circus monkey toy that looks up to the camera. It cuts to show the figurine turning its' head to look at the camera under one of the trucks. It then shows a creepy clown head riding the roller coasters and then cuts to a toy with nails all over him nailing nails into his nose and showing the name of an actor. The camera cuts to show another actor and a clown skeleton with two bodies dancing and it then cuts to a female toy putting swords down her throat and showing another actor. The camera does a tracking shot of a female clown with three legs and when it reaches to her face she quickly turns and looks at the camera. Then it shows another spinning clown head with another actors name. The camera goes back to a close up of the clown making the balloon figures and suddenly hears a pop and moves on to a spinning toy clown with a red balloon staring at the camera which then cuts to show a deformed doll babies in a cage with blood and taking off their heads. A circus male toy on stilts, drags the name of the series which then cuts to a women with two heads. The last thing the audience sees is the evil circus monkeys' face and then it blacks out and the music comes to an end.
The Conjuring (2013)
The Conjuring fits in with the theme of our film opening because we are doing paranormal/ supernatural based opening, horror. https://www.artofthetitle.com/title/the-conjuring/
The opening of the trailer shows two old, black and white pictures of a family called The Parron family. Through out the trailer it has a suspenseful violin music in the background which adds to the creepiness feel to it. It slowly fades to show a picture of the Warren family. How it is formated makes it seem like something might have happened to those families and it will intrigue the audience to want to know what happened. It fades to a dark black and white picture of a house with the directors name. It the shows an edited moving newspaper that looks old and it has who it is written by and it shows a hand turning the page and showing the producers and a picture of Ed and Lorraine Warren doing a talk. The hand turns the page again to show the executive producers. Whispers begin in the background as the hand clumsily gets the newspaper in place to show the director of photography. Bells start going off as if someone walked into a shop and it then shows the production designer. The hand then places it which shows who it was edited by. Then the pages start flicking though showing a man called Patrick Wilson and it flicks again to show a picture of a lady called Vera Farmiga. The sides of the newspaper blacks out to transition to show a family picture with the name Ron Livingston. The hand then takes the paper and tap it against the table to make the newspaper ordered; he then puts it down to reveal another family and the name Lili Taylor. It turns the page to show more of the actors names and then the next page he turns to is a grave yard which then church bells start ringing in the background; it shows more of the actors names. It starts to have more creepy pictures and after a few pages it shows production company "A New Line Cinema presents" with crow noises in the background. It does a small jump scare of the doll Annabelle and flicks the page to show "A Safran Company/ Evergreen Media Group presents". A loud voice of a women singing comes on. It shows a picture of everyone at the table doing an exorcism and shows "A James Wan film". It flicks to a view of the back of the house and then the name of the movie, The Conjuring, flicks on and then suddenly everything blacks out and the music dies down quickly.
Insidious (2010)
I chose Insidious because it has a similar theme to my opening as we have included paranormal experiences https://www.artofthetitle.com/title/insidious/
The opening of the trailer shows a dark room with a big window with a view of a planet. The camera moves quickly towards the window and out of it as if the camera was falling. While it is falling, it shows a billboard of a woman with pink hair and a costume mask on. It carries on falling and on the way to the floor it is shows lights from the buildings around. The camera is pointing down to the road and as it is about to hit the floor the camera suddenly looks up and shows a big main road and the city lights. It then shows a banner of the film production name "Film District". While this is all happening the background music is slowly progressing louder and louder. It then slowly blacks out. It then shows another production name with a different more intense background music. It then blacks out again with a constant ringing sound. The name "Film Districts Presents" comes up with smoke coming off it. It shows more names of productions with the same effects. Then the camera comes down to show a light with the name "A James Wan Film" which then starts to turn upside down and the letter disappear and it turns into a light of a little boy's room. It shows him sleeping a single bed with with his multi coloured bed sheets and teddy bears. The camera moving across his room showing his toys eg lava lamp. The camera carries on moving as if it was someone walking around the house, and goes to the next dark room. There is a woman's silhouette by the window and then disappears. The camera follows her and it slowly zooms into the woman's face lit by a candle. Then the name of the movie shows up with the effect of it flickering like a candle. It then shows a black and white picture of a house with the starring actor name. It the fades out to show another black and white picture of a hospital room with more names. It carries on showing pictures of around the house almost like a montage. It then shows a close up of one of the main characters face waking up and looking around. Then blacks out.
American Horror Story: Freak Show
ReplyDeleteYour style is very much a blow-by-blow description of what the audience sees, without any critical distance. Aim to write in a more analytical way, for example, by explaining the visual codes that make this title sequence grotesque and horrifying, so that it embodies all the disturbing qualities of a 'freak show'. There are other elements to comment on, such as the choice of period font (Charles Rennie Mackintosh)and the soundtrack (like a monkey-grinder's organ).Overall, it is a dark and unsettling, with some unpleasant hints of dark sexual violence.
The Conjuring:
ReplyDeleteYou Do draw attention to the elements that make 'documentary' style with its newspapers and photos. You refer to the frightening quality of the visuals and the use of jump scares. You pick up on horror genre conventions like graveyards and exorcisms. However, again, aim for more critical distance - write an analysis rather than a description next time.
Insidious:
ReplyDeleteYou have picked this because of the horror treatment, which you clearly understand. Which particular elements (genre conventions) are common to all film openings?