Horror film comparisons

Film-‘The Doll Maker’-

This film is about a couple who lose their child

to cancer and the wife wants to buy a doll
that looks like the child. So it like the child
never left. Within the story the doll that is
being used is an illusion and when inside the
house, it is actually a child and does
everything the child would do, but when they
take the doll outside the house it turns back
into the doll. Furthermore the film states that
if someone spends too much time with the doll then they will start to go crazy and start to
believe that the doll is real. Towards the end of the film the dad is getting worried about the
wife because she is spending too much time
with the doll. The dad then loses his mind and
pulls the mum out the door to show her that
the doll isn’t actually her child. The mum and
doll then both turn into a doll. The dad then
proceeds to call the person that they brought
the doll off and ask what can he do, the man
explains that he can’t do anything and did warn
them not to abuse the doll or bad things will happen. The film then ends with the dad
sobbing that he has lost his wife to this doll.

I like this type of horror film because it

odd, I like how the story is quite complex
and is very thought through. This has
given me ideas and influenced me to
make my film more complex and a
bigger storyline. The reason why I am
doing this is because I believe that if a
horror film has a good storyline and keeps the audience thinking, and then the effect of the
film actually being scary will be a lot better. This means that the film will have a greater
influence on the audience. Also within this film there are many horror conventions such as
when they are buying the doll they are in a dark basement. This is a convention to horror
films because a dark basement is scary and isn’t really a place where you would buy
something off someone. So at the start of the film it gives off a scary atmosphere to the
audience straight away. Furthermore another convention of horror within this film is the
doll. The doll within this film is very scary
and made very well because it has tears
and holes in it. This suggests that the doll
has been damaged which gives the
audience the idea that the doll is
dangerous and has been through a lot of
owners. This is a convention of horror
because in horror films you expect the scary things to be old and damaged. In addition this
film is different to most horror films because in most horror films the audience won’t see
the villain or anything till the end of the film so it builds tension. Throughout this film they
use a lot of iconography such as mise en scene, editing, cinematography and sound to make
it obvious to the audience that it is a horror film. The reason why they have done this is in
order to achieve the directional intent (preferred reading).

The cinematography used in this film lets the audience understand the film more and makes
them think about the film more. Also the cinematography used helps the audience
understand how the dad feels about this whole situation. For example throughout this film
close ups are used so that the audience will understand how the dad feels during these
certain events that happen in the film. Close ups and extreme close ups are always used
throughout horror films because it is the easiest why for the film to get the audience to
understand how the film is scary. Also when the shot is close up to the character it makes
the audience think that this film is more personal to them. Furthermore the first scene of
the film lets the audience understand the setting of the film, they do this by have the first
scene in a dark basement, and this automatically makes a tense atmosphere for the
audience because it’s gone scary straight away. This straight away lets the audience know
the characters surroundings and emotions of what is going on. Furthermore horror films are
normally based in houses this is because then it will be related able to the audience and
make the audience feel like the film is more personal to them. This will cause the audience
to pay more attention to the film and therefore understand the storyline a lot more. This
horror film that I have selected involves a family being affected by this doll. The reason why
I like this film is because it will relate to every person watching it because it is about how a
family is being ripped apart and getting affected by this doll.

This film has been edited to have a lot of short takes for example when the camera is
focused on the doll itself the shot is very
quick. The reason why the editors have
done this because then it makes the doll
more scary and mysterious to the
audience, which will result in the
audience being more, scared of the film.
At the start of the film the characters are
being spectacle about the doll, but as a
horror film the audience knew that the couple will end up with the doll. Furthermore this
makes the narrative more clear and understandable towards the audience.

Film- ‘A tap at the window’

This short film is about women who is

getting ready to go to bed and hears a
tap at her window she then goes to
the window to check what it was. She
looks threw the window and nothing
is there. She then walks away from
the window and then hears another
tap at the window she then goes back to the window and yet again nothings there. She then
proceeds to close the curtains and as she closes the curtains she hears something outside
her window. She opens the curtains and there is a lady lying on the floor looking hurt. The
girl runs to her door and opens it but when she gets outside the girl is not there. This makes
the girl go to bed. Then the film continues with the girl asleep in bed and gets woken up by a
tap on the window. She then walks out
of her room to check it out. Then the
girl appears at the window. The girl
that outside then suddenly appears
threw the curtains and grabs the girl
living in the apartment.

This film has used very dark lightening. The reason for this is because then the film audience
have to concentrate on what is happening and therefore will make the audience have a
greater understanding of the film. I will be doing this in my film because my film needs to
feel like a horror film and I need to make the audience feel like they are scared. Within this
film there are very few props used, the reason
why they have done this is because they
obviously had a low budget and therefore made
the film scary and made the atmosphere tense
through the use of the camera. This is very similar
to my film because I will be using very few props.
This means that within my film I will need to set
the narrative and atmosphere by using the
camera and using different shot types to get the audience to feel a certain way. Also the
apartment that she is in is very dark and hard to see about. The reason why they have done
this is because then the audience will know straight away that the film is a horror film. This
is a good way to get the audience to have a better understanding of the film. This is a
convention to horror because most horror films have dark atmospheres and dark settings to
show the audience what genre it is at the
start of the film.

I like this type of horror film because it is

different, and I like the way they have
used the camera to show the audience the
setting of the film. Throughout the film
they used all different types of shots.
These include close ups the reason why they use these types of shots is because then the
audience will see what is happening and understand the film more and have a greater
understanding of the events that are occurring.

Throughout this film the film sound is very quiet; the reason why they have done this is so
that when the audience are watching the film they are always on their feet wondering what
is going to happen. When some event does happen in the film the noise goes suddenly loud.
The reason for this is because then when this certain event occurs the audience will feel
more tense and feel like the film has more of an impact on them. I like this idea and will put
this in my film, the reason I will do this is because then my film will have a more of an
impact on the audience.

Film- ‘the smiling man’

This film is about a supernatural being

who uses a balloon as bait to incise a child
out of her room this is similar to the
movie IT by Stephen king and using
similar narrative codes, such as the red
balloon to hint to a clown like creature.
The child then follows the balloon
downstairs presenting the child as vulnerable and easily manipulated .The child then follows
the monster without knowing into the kitchen. When the child gets into the kitchen the
child appears frightened and shocked by the clown like creature sitting on the floor. The
clown is covered in white paint with red lipstick over his mouth smudged messily, the clown
 also has his teeth sharpened taking
inspiration from IT. The child then
starts to like the monster because
he is doing performing magic to
distract the child from the
frightening exterior of clown. The
clown performs a magic trick
presenting the child with a dead
body, this is conventional to the
horror genre as it takes is
presenting the protagonist with her fears. The fear of death and clowns are one of the most
common phobias and so the audience would most likely be scared of what’s happening in
the narrative.

The short film uses low key lighting to highlight the protagonist and monster as well as the
balloon as they are the key elements in the short film, whilst also keeping the background
dark in order to create a sense of mystery of what is in the surrounding areas. This is in
order to scare the audience by causing a tense atmosphere. The film uses close up profile
shots in order to show the emotions of the characters face, scared and tense toward the
clown. The film uses the same shot to show the monster however instead of showing
emotions the close up is used to highlight the horror elements of the design of the clown,
such as the yellow teeth.

Film- ‘the mop’ (comedy)

This short film is about a cleaner who’s is cleaning around then suddenly finds a dead body.
The next part of the film is the cleaner trying to sneak the dead body out of the building and
into his car so he can get rid of it.

Cinematography- within this film there are a lot of close up shots, for example a close up is
used to show the audience that the cleaner is cleaning his mop. They have done this to
show the audience what is going on and makes the audience understand more of what is
happening. Furthermore this film also uses a lot of wide shots, this is because then the
audience can easily see what is going on and can see the surroundings around the character.
This makes the audience build a better picture of what is happening in the film. This makes
them understand the film a lot more.

Editing- within this film there are many scenes where they have edited so it is fast, they
have done
Film- renegade

This short film is about a young boy who robs some credit cards off a long-time friend just so he can
get the money. The boy that gets the credit cards stolen from him finally finds his old friend and try’s
to rough him up but ends up killing him.

Cinematography- within this short film many close ups are used to show the tension between some
of the people. For example at the start of the film when they are in the chicken shop and talking the
camera comes to a close up, this makes the audience feel more involved in the conversation and feel
more amerced. Also within the film they use a shot reverse shot within the conversations to show
facial expressions and how each character reacts to each other. Also in the short film they use low
angle shots mixed with long shots to show tension.

Editing-within this film the editing used to sequence the shots together has been done in a fast pace
to show the tension, and show a more in depth story. Also within the film a lot of cross cutting have
been done to show that when he is chasing the other boy down it shows it is happening quickly and
simultaneously.

Film-‘mr wigglesworth’

Within this film its story is about a teacher that gets a new job at a school, the teacher though is
corrupt and does all the naughty things students will be doing, such as smoking, drinking and
running from other teachers. This gives off the feeling that maybe the teacher hasn’t grown up and
wants to live the life of a student again. This is also shown at the start of the film when the teacher
has been told he has the job, the teacher then says ‘this will make mum very proud. This suggests
that he still has not grown up since school.

Cinematography- within this film many different shots are used to show many different meanings.
For example when the teacher goes to grab the Gin bottle, they do POV shot from the bottle. The
reason why they have done this is to show that the teacher was looking at the bottle and thought
about it before he started to drink it. Also shows such as high angle shots are sued to show
dominance; this happens when the teacher is looking into the camera and sees a student smoking
and goes to run after the student. This shows that he has dominance over the student.

Editing- within this film the cuts of each scene are well done because after each cut you know where
the characters are going and that you don’t get confused on what is happening within the film. Also
throughout the whole film the pace of each scene is at the same speed so the audience feel a sense
of calm but confusion when watching it.