Unit 10, learning aim A report

The two contrasting films that I have chosen to compare and analyse are
Clueless and Human Centipede, the first sequence. I chose these two films as
they are obviously of two contrasting genres.

The film Clueless is an American chick-flick about a rich high school student
who tries to boost a new students popularity, but reckons without affairs of the
heart getting in the way. Clueless is an entertaining and captivating movie;
personally I enjoy the movie as its relatable considering Im a teenage girl and
have attended an American high school. To other people the audience would
attract them due to the verisimilitude, comedy and also romantic story.
Verisimilitude is the believability of a film; this entices audiences as they can
relate to the story line and characters because it is realistic. The director of this
film, Amy Heckerling, studied Film and TV at New York University and also got a
masters degree from the American Film Institute. Amy also directed episode for
TV shows such as, The Carrie Diaries and Gossip Girl. Both of these TV series are
of a very similar genre to Clueless. These shows are also about teenagers in
America and their experiences in high school and generally surviving teen life
and the issues that may come with. Clueless was released on October 20th 1995,
so it is quite dated at this time. The budget to film this was an estimated
$12,000,000 and in the opening weekend it made an impressive $10,612,443.
The run time of Clueless is approximately 97 minutes, which puts it in the
category of being a feature film. This film was produced by Paramount pictures
who have also produced other films such as Mean girls, which is the same genre
as clueless. They have also produced Baywatch, Gnomeo and Juliette, and
Star trek. The target audience for this film is teens, specifically females, as it is
relatable and mainstream as its characters conform to be stereotypical American
high school students so there would be a lot of potential audience members who
can relate to the narrative.

In comparison I will be looking at the horror movie Human Centipede, sequence

1. This movie is a psychological thriller in which a demented surgeon kidnaps
and mutilates 3 vulnerable tourists to make them look like a human centipede by
stitching their mouths to each others rectums. This film is a graphic and realistic
film considering it would be possible for this to happen. The verisimilitude of
this film encourages the audience to watch it as it increases the fear factor due to
its potential reality. Horror movies are constantly trying to push boundaries so
this was apparent with this movie as multiple investors refused to invest in the
film due to its content. Originally the film was denied to be released by the BBC
due to its graphic content, but after being cut to a less offending and graphic film,
it was allowed to be shown in the UK. The director, Tom Six, was born in the
Netherlands on August 29th 1973. Tom is an accomplished director and writer,
who has worked on The human centipede 1,2, and3. One of Tom Sixs well know
quotes is I try to create original films, why write stories that are done a hundred
thousand times? Create something new, push boundaries, why else bother? this
statement shows that as a director Tom Six is not scared to subvert genre
conventions. The human centipede (first sequence) was released on the 27th of
March 2012. The budget for the film was 1,500,000 and on the opening
weekend it only made back $12,424. The total run time is 92 minute, which
makes it a feature film. Six Entertainments produced the film. The target
audience for this film would be a niche audience as this is not a mainstream film.
The audience would most likely be young thrill seekers who are looking to be
scared.

In the opening 2 minutes and 20 seconds of clueless we are immediately aware

of the genre through its conventions. The opening scene is of teenagers all sat
around a swimming pool with the protagonist, Cher, narrating. This informs the
audience that the film is going to be based around the lives of teenagers. The
scene then moves on to the main character introducing herself and giving the
audience some background as they watch her get ready for school. This is
conventional as chick flicks commonly have lots of costumes and costume
changes, as that is stereotypical of a teenage girl. The camera work and editing at
the very beginning is quick to inform the audience that Cher lives a very exciting
and action filled lifestyle, as the introduction continues, the camera work slows
down to show that her life is also calm and not chaotic. There are close up shots
to make the audience feel close to char and her friends. The settings of the
opening 2 minutes vary, with the very first shot being of teenagers around a
pool. The scene then changes to Cher getting ready for school in her bedroom, we
then follow her going downstairs into her kitchen. During the kitchen scene we
are introduced to her dad. The shot continues and moves to her talking about her
car whilst shes driving it, after a few seconds she pulls up outside of her friend,
Dionnes house. We are informed by this shot that she is very wealthy as her
house is an impressive size. The scene then changes to the girls walking into
school, which is typical American high school. These settings are typical of a
chick-flick genre due to their connotations of America, for example, the
swimming pool connotes hot weather and the high school is recognisable for
being a public high school because of them wearing their own clothes.
This image is one of the first that we see whilst the narrator is talking. The image
is of a teen girl wearing sunglasses and stylish earrings sat by a pool. These
props encourage the stereotype of young teen girls as they are overdressed and
being stylish by a pool, proving that theyre more focused on looking good than
being practical. The dialogue says okay, youre probably going, is this a Noxzema
commercial or what?. Noxzema is a beauty product that is used to clean skin,
this is another clue that the film is going to be based around teenagers as
Noxzema is a well known and widely used product by teenagers. The bright
sunny background sets a happy mood and gives the audience an idea about the
type of settings they will see throughout the film. This adheres to the
conventions of a chick flick as they usually start out happily and showing people
having a good time before something happens. This is following Todorovs theory
of equilibrium. In the film the equilibrium is disrupted when the new student
moves to the school, as Cher takes her under her wind and issue eventually
happen because of that. During the beginning there is quick editing, which
shows that Cher lives an exciting and eventful life. There is also flash backs of
things Cher has done which gives the audience some background information
about her. This non linear structure is used to engage the audience by giving
them teasers about potential characters they may meet and settings they may
see narrative take place in. The editing then goes on in chronological order to
show her typical day and give the audience some background in her home life.
We learn through this that she is a female, due to the voice over, and she is a
teenager, references to school through the graphics and also parties. This links to
the genre because they are typical settings for a chick flick to be placed in.
This shot is conventional of a chick flick because we see the back of a man head
and shoulders that are about to walk down some stairs. We can see that in front
of him is a large expensive looking chandelier, informing the audience that who
ever this is, theyre in an expensive building. The building its self has a wrap
around staircase which is a common feature in expensive houses. Due to the
narrator, Cher, the audience are informed that this man is her father. Daddys a
litigator informs us of their relationship and his job. The audience may know
that litigators make a lot of money so we assume that this building is their house.
The adjective daddy is strange for a teenage girl to refer to her father as, the
connotations around this name is that teenagers who refer to their father as
daddy are spoilt. This follows the conventions of a chick flick film, as it is
common to have a main character that is rich and spoilt. The camera work
clearly enables the audience to see the setting and props which all connote
wealth.
Further in the opening two minutes we see Cher drive to her friend, Dionnes
house in her expensive white jeep. As Cher pulls up outside of Dionnes house it
is obvious that Dionne is wealthy also as she has a large house as well. We are
told that this is Dionnes house through Cher narrating. Dionnes character
represents Vladimir Propps theory of a helper as we can immediately tell that
Cher and Dionne are best friends and they will both be important characters
throughout the film. We know the two girls are main characters due to the
narrative focusing on them for so long. A helper is the person who helps and
comes up with solutions and gives support. These characters are stock
characters of a chick flick because it is a female teen and her best friend is also a
female teenager.

In this shot we see Dionne get into Chers expensive jeep wearing a rather
eccentric outfit. This costume supports the fact that the girls both come from rich
families and can afford designer outfits. These costumes are also not what the
average American teenager would wear as theyd be afraid of being made fun of
and they are also over the top outfits to wear just for school. But to these two
girls they know that they are popular and they do not need to impress anyone
and can afford to wear these outfits casually. We also see Cher lift her hands up
and do a very stereotypically girly hug. These conventions are all typical of a
chick flick as it is common that the film is either based around the rich popular or
the underdog.
In the opening two minuets and 18 seconds of The Human Centipede, First
Sequence the audience first sees a camera panning a long shot of what looks to
be a highway whilst credits are seen on the screen. This immediately creates
enigmas, as we dont know where this is. Enigmas are questions that are created
through the narratives that the audience have to wait to find an answer to. The
only sound is the diegetic sounds of the cars on the roads as well as an eerie low
pitch hum. As the camera continues to pan round it appears that there is a side
road off of the highway. On this road is a parked silver Mercedes. This
immediately creates more enigmas for the audience, who is in the car? Why are
they parked on the side of a highway? The camera then zooms into to a close up
of a middle-aged man sat in the drivers seat of his car. The actor is wearing a
beige trench coat, which connotes the role of detectives, and hes also wearing
aviators, which also connotes detectives and mystery, this continues and
supports the enigma. As the shot continues we can see the man in the car looking
at some rather disturbing images of dogs who have been sown together to look
like a centipede, we see this from an over the shoulder shot. This gives the
audience a foreshadowing of what theyre about to see in the film. Behind the
silver Mercedes, a lorry pulls up and parks also on the side road. The truck driver
hops out of his cab carrying toilet paper and walks into the woods to go and
relieve of him. After the mysterious man notices that a truck driver has got out of
the truck, he himself gets out of his car and walks to the back seat of his car. He
opens the door and removes a shotgun, which he then hides under his beige
trench coat and then proceeds into the woods after the truck driver. This creates
even more enigmas for the audience, as they dont know who the truck driver is
or why the man would need a shotgun.

The first few seconds of the opening is a slow moving pan of a highway and some
wooded areas. The setting connotes a feeling of change and loneliness, as people
are always constantly moving and not staying for long amounts of time there.
The lighting is high key lighting, which subverts the usual low-key lighting that is
commonly used in horror films. The sound is an eerie low pitch hum underneath
the diegetic sound of the cars on the highway. Through out the opening the
editing is slow to add suspense and mystery to the scene. The editing is also in
chronological order to keep the scene basic and simple. The continuity of the
film enables the audience to keep focused with the one continuous storyline.
As the camera continues to pan around the audience sees that there is a high
class Mercedes car parked on a side road off of the highway. This creates
enigmas, as the audience want to know who is in the car and why they are
parked there. High key lighting continues to be used but seems to be come more
low-key closer to the car, as there are shadows from the trees. The choice of car,
a Mercedes, is interesting as it is common for horror movies to use cheap and
dirty looking cars and prop as they connote a feeling of danger. Who ever is
behind the wheel of the Mercedes we immediately think that they are wealthy
and hold a good job a`s its an expensive car.

As the camera continues to pan it then zooms in on the driver of the Mercedes. It
appears to me a man wearing a beige trench coat, almost like one that a detective
would wear. The man is also wearing aviator sunglasses; these costume pieces
seem to be insignificant as they are quite ordinary. The sunglasses connote the
feeling of mystery as they somewhat hide the identity of the man in the car. The
man in the car is holding a photograph of dogs who have been stitched together
like a centipede, this image foreshadows for the audience of what is about to
come in the film. The man is stroking the image with a cloth, this action seems to
be ritualistic and almost possessive, making it seem like there is something odd
about the man. This creates more enigmas for the audience, why is he
worshipping this photo? Who is this man? High key lighting is continued in this
shot, which adds a sense of safety as the audience can see whats happening and
whats in his surroundings.
After a truck pulls up behind the man in the Mercedes, he proceeds to go to his
back seat and retrieve a shotgun. Immediately we know that the man is going to
go and follow the trucker into the woods and shoot him. In this mid shot we see
that the man is wearing a suit along with his trench coat and sunglasses, proving
that he is a well-dressed and wealthy man. This costume subverts the
stereotypical idea of a killer, usually killers in films wear rough, blood stained,
dingy clothes. These costume pieces make the audience feel like the character is
rough and dangerous and cant be trusted. This costume subverts those
connotations because of how wealthy and well dressed the character is.
But the audience also know that the man is demented due to the photos hes
been looking at and him rushing to get the gun from his back seat. High key
lighting is continued in this shot, which exposes the fact that the man has a gun,
where as if low key lighting was used the audience would have a harder time
seeing what he was getting. The actor has a determined look on his face as if he
was angry and wants to get revenge but this does not make sense to the audience
as the trucker has only just pulled up as awe have seen, has just gone to the
toilet. As we see the man go follow the trucker into the forest it creates a sense of
danger and unknowing as the forest is a big and deserted place, meaning that
there is no one else there to help the trucker who is being followed. Throughout
the whole opening there is no dialogue and no music, just the diegetic sound of
the highway and the low pitch hum. This creates a suspenseful and eerie feeling
throughout, keeping the audience on edge.

In comparison, Clueless immediately makes the audience feel happy and

comfortable in the first few seconds of the opening as there are multiple actors at
a pool party where as in The human centipede there are only 2 actors in a very
quite and eerie setting. The quietness and emptiness of the sound and the
setting makes the audience feel lonely and anxious, as they dont know what to
expect. In contrast the opening of Clueless is narrated by the main character,
Cher, this lets the audience feel closer to the character as they know more about
her. The opening of The human centipede is in the same location throughout the
whole 2 minutes, therefore adding uncomfortable connotations of calmness as
the audience are wondering whats going to happen. Unlike the human
centipede, clueless has multiple settings in the opening, which lets the audience
know more about the character and what might happen in the film. The
costumes in clues are exaggerated and important, as they are significant to each
character as they are recognisable, the costumes also tell the audience about
each character. The costumes for Cher and Dionne are expensive where as the
costume for the man in the human centipede are plain and not significant to his
character. Due to these conventions it is clear that the movies are of completely
different genres.