Paranormal activity

Paranormal activity


This film builds suspense and creates a tense atmosphere without showing the viewer a lot of action and detail. It does this using a lot of techniques.


Camera
This film is shot in a home video style. This film contains mainly point of view shots and tracking shots and still long shots of the room. 
The point of view shots work well to create a tense atmosphere as us as an audience feel like we’re there as well. It shows the psychological state of the character. It shaking shows the characters nervous and afraid which then has an effect on how we feel. Following the screams and action builds suspense as we are waiting for the person to get there to find out what is happening. We feel like we’re there as we see things the same time as the characters do. 


Sound
The sound plays a big part in creating tension in this film. The sound elements used in this film are all diegetic but are created to sound louder and more intense. The noises heard such as foot steps, door slamming and creaking, scratching, groaning, screeching and dialogue all add to the tension. They create an eerie atmosphere and make us aware of danger without actually showing us.


Lighting
The lighting is all natural coming from sources within the setting. These create shadows and result in most of the film being in darkness. This instantly makes us feel scared and unaware of the surroundings.

Mise en scene
The setting is a normal home with a normal couple which in its own way makes the film scarier as it makes people relate to real life and feel that this situation in the film could be a reality. 
The characters facial expressions and body language create a lot of the scary atmosphere as their responses to what is going on in the house show their fear. 
The male character has a lot of pride and feels he should take care of the problem as its he’s girlfriend being haunted. However he soon realises the situation is out of hand and becomes very nervous. We don’t see a lot of his facial expressions but his point of view shot is always shaky and disorderly which shows he’s nervous. 
The female character is very vulnerable and scared. She is dependant on the male and is always showing how frightened she is. Her crying, screaming, grabbing hold of the man in panic and her general facial expressions build up tension. 
Their dialogue also contributes towards the atmosphere as they are always talking in fast paced, panicky tones.


All of these aspects create the atmosphere without needing to show us a lot of action. Although we never see what is actually haunting the woman, the noises it makes and the fright it causes still scares the audience. 

Source code

Source Code- Duncan Jones 2011

The opening of this film is an establishing shot. It shows us the setting which is the city, trains, cars, roads etc. This shot is accompanied by non diegetic music. There is then a sound bridge as the music merges with the sound of the train. 
When it changes from the establishing to the train, all of the sounds are exaggerated such as the coffee spilling onto the main characters foot and a can being opened. These noises being exaggerated creates tension. The cuts are very short as the man keeps looking at different people with confusion. His facial expressions show us that he is feeling very disorderly. His eyes are always moving and he acts very nervous. When there is a point of view shot it is shown shaking and unsteady to show the psychological state of the character. It shows his confusion. The tension builds as he continues to get confused and begins to shout. It keeps building and the shots get quicker. The train then explodes and the shot is very dramatic and captivating. 
The camera work plays a big part in creating the tension as the close-ups of the exaggerated sounds and the quick changes of shots build it up. 
This opening is very effective. The director makes us want to watch on as we want to know what has happened to the man. The impact of the explosion grabs our attention. The lighting and colour used for the explosion is so bright it captivates our attention.

No country for old men & Zodiac

C L A M P S


C     Costume
L Lighting
A     Actors
M Makeup
P Props
S  Setting




No country for old men

This film starts with the sun set fading in from black. The shots show time moving on as the sun changes its positions. For the first minute and 40 seconds there are continuous cuts showing us different parts of the desert like setting whilst a voice over is speaking.

 The first movement we see is a mill type propeller turning in the wind, we then get closer up to this and the shot changes to a pan of a man being arrested.

The setting is a lifeless desert. It is full of dull, brown colours. This setting straight away makes me think of a cowboy type film. Another thing that makes me think this is the police officers uniform and car and also the voice overs accent. The style of the police car and the officers costume shows me that this film is set in the past.

This beginning scene is an effective opening as the voice over is telling us a story in his life. The speed of the cuts showing the scenery are about six seconds which makes us carefully listen to the story as what is on the screen is calm. They get slightly faster just before we see the arrest as it is getting to the end of the voice over.

Zodiac

The opening scene creates suspense using mise en scene. They do this so to grab the audiences attention so that they watch on.
This film starts with what we assume is a couple enjoying a celebration. Although the male character is dressed casual, the female character is dressed up which suggests she has made an effort for the occasion. This tells us that they hope to enjoy the night. The opening sequenceis full of fireworks and big crowds. The firewworks give off alot of light and noise which grabs our attention.
Going from this noise and light into an isolated situation (in the car) immediatly creates tension. The girls facial expressions show us that she feels someting is going to happen. She begins to look very nervous when a car appears. When fireworks are aimed at them it gets tense and we begin to know something bad is going to happen. This makes us as an audience want to carry on watching to see what happens to them.