Box Office (gross): $161, 451, 538 (worldwide)
Distributor: DreamWorks Pictures
Studio: DreamWorks SKG, BenderSpink, MacDonald/ Parkes Productions
Critical Acclaim: Won BMI Film Music Award at the BMI Film & TV Awards and an ASCAP Award (Top Box Office Film) at the ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards.
Key Characters/ Stock Characters
In the clip we are immediately introduced to both the antagonist and the protagonist. The antagonist in this clip is a supernatural and unearthly being. As with the protagonist, we are introduced to an average appearing woman. There are no stock characters in this clip. This gives the sense that only the woman is left surviving which is typically something that can be expected from a horror movie.
Narrative/ Stock situations
Due to the fact that we see the antagonist crawling/chasing the protagonist up a well we are already given the location of a well. In the dark we can establish the clip already reflects the genre because the dark is a key concept used in horror movies when a character emerges from the depths of it. As our association is such we understand from when the girl comes out of the water that the film reflects the genre. We can assume that the woman in the well will be followed by some other supernatural being and that she will get out of the well because of the fact she seems to be one of the last surviving characters which is always typically a woman.
Genre Iconography
In this clip there is no specific iconography which conveys the genre. However i can comment on the fact that the clip still conveys the genre through filters, lighting and the location despite not being a central and specific part of the iconography. In the clip low key lighting using a blue filter has been used.
Themes of genre
The typical themes of this genre include the unknown and also a theme for creature from beyond. We instantly establish the theme, unknown, from the way there is a supernatural being of whom is an unknown and unearthly creature. Also the theme unknown can be interpreted in the way of a plot twist and thus the unknown eventuality of the antagonists plans. As with the theme, creature from beyond, we establish this through the way the antagonist moves erratically in an inhuman fashion suggesting she is a creature from demonic origin and not human.
Score
In this scene i really wanted to comment on the music because it plays a huge element in making the genre clear and distinguishable to the audience that this is a horror movie. At the start we can just about hear a mixture of the diegetic sound of the water lapping and the woman's breathing and scratching as she climbs the wall. At the same time, incidental non-diegetic music plays in the background. As soon as we are shown a low angle middle shot of the woman (protagonist) the music fades to silence. A close up shot shows tilts down where the non-diegetic sounds of screaming can be heard. The incidental music proceeds from this point which is then interspersed with the diegetic sound of the protagonist breathing and climbing as well as the antagonist climbing, which is assisted by non-diegetic sounds too. As the antagonist falls into the well we hear the diegetic sound of the water splashing and there is silence before different harsh and abrupt incidental music begins again. The sound motif pitched alongside the protagonist's heavy breathing helps to indicate the genre. In one way, the woman's breathing reflects her desperation which can be expected from characters in horror movies. In another, the sound motif gives the illusion that the antagonist is moving fast and gaining on the protagonist. In horror movies the antagonist will always hunt down the protagonist which is what is done so effectively here, through the use of sound.
Typography
In this clip there is no title because it isn't the opening clip. Therefore i cannot comment on the typography in it's style nor the way in which it appears on the screen.
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