Specific Film Opening Research - Gothic Horror 12/10/10

Interview with a Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles by Neil Jordon 1995 [IMDB]

• It had a budget of $6o million
• It begins with the audio bridge of a child choir singing quite high pitch and slow to create tension
• The camera pans round a bridge then zooms into a city then pans down to a street getting closer to the setting of the film
• It is night which signifies horror
• There is a slowly tracking long shot through a street in America
• The street is modern which juxtaposes and contrasts the gothic old fashioned music
• There is a man waving his arms around who looks homeless signified by his shabby coat and clothing this is a stereotypical representation of the working classes and is similar to the mob in Van Helsing therefore using intertextual references provides anchorage as to the genre of the text and leads us into the preferred reading that the narrative has something to do with Satan.
• The mise en scene along with the choir provide exposition although there is a lot of polysemy to create narrative enigma
• The typography is sans which signifies that this is like a documentary
• As we track up to a normal building the camera pans up to a low angle shot of the building
• Like in "RocknRolla" we only see the back of the villain the vampire's head to create polysemy therefore narrative enigma
• There is the binary opposites of the modern and weak journalist and the powerful and old fashioned vampire
• The journalist is siginfied by his dakr thick glasses frames which also signify he is a geek, the scruffy shirt and braces and the typewriter
• The opening minutes conatin little shot variation which I shouldn't do.

The Phantom of the Opera by Terence Fisher 1962 [IMDB]

• There have been many versions of this narrative
• This film did badly at the box office figure not available
• It is based on a novel and isn't highly regarded because it doesn't appeal to as wider audience because there is no romance between the protagonist the Phantom and his lover Christine
• This film comes after the introduction censorship hence there is no blood, violence, cleavage and big stars like there are in other versions
• It begins with a long shot of a theatre this provides anchorage as to the setting of the text
• There is the slow tones of an organ which are low pitch a signifier of evil
• We cut to a long point of view shot within a cave this darkness is typical of Horror
• The camera pan's as we see a lot of pre-20th century elaborate Gothic furniture though the exact date is not clear this is typical of the gothic horror genre
• The victim signifed by his curled up stance is countertypical because he is male
• There is then a close up on the villains fingers on the keys he is signified as a villain by not revealing his identity and showing power in his height
• Again there is the binary opposites of powerful and mysterious and weak and vulnerable
• The villain is dressed in black while the victim is dressed in brown trousers and a white shirt in Edwardian style clothing this signifies the date and the positions of the characters
• The identity of the villain the Phantom is then signified by an extreme close up on his face
• Something is signified as not quite right by the fact he is wearing a grey mask
• The picture is now still there is music of harsh trumpet and symbol clasp to signify the preferred reading that this is frightening
• The credits come up as the images fade between each other they are a series of still images that zoom closer to his eye
• The typography is blue to signify coldness and sans font to signify this is documentary style

Zombies! Zombies! Zombies! by Jason Murphy 2008 [IMDB]

• This film was low budget and had a budget of $30,000
• The poster has the slogan "Strippers vs Zombies" and use of semi naked women on it appeals to the male gaze
• This film is rated 18 an is and has no stars in it because it's beyond their budget to hire them to be killed off
• It appeals to a male 18-34 audience
• This is more a comedy horror adding comedy to appeal to a wider audience
• It begins with a black background and the audio bridge of a high pitch sound as we see green typography
• We countertypically have a black protagonist as we see a two shot of him and a girl coming through a door this signifies they have some kind of relationship
• The female is dressed in a skimpy cheerleaders outfit with ice skates to appeal to the male gaze while the male is holding a bag and dressed in a tracksuit this signifies they have been doing some exercise
• There is a point of view shot as the protagonists see the Zombies approaching
• The female stereotypically cradles the male in fear while he goes off to fight them
• As he fights them the takes become shorter to signify action
• When the male dies the female counterypically then fights the zombies as wee see the special effects of on of their eyes bleeding
• The audience are mislead as to the identity of the protagonist as we cut out to a television screen of the same film and hear a girl screaming and cut over to the girl using a high angle shot to show her fear.
• The use of her green and red glasses signifies that she is seeing the film in 3D her age of 3 signifies that her parent's don't look after her that well
• There is a blue light shining in the room we see as wee see the father rushing in this is stereotypical of horror
• There is a close up of his face to show his shocked reaction.
• The titles then appear in red to signify blood and gore.

Dracula by John Badham 1979 [IMDB]

• Begins with the sound of a howling wolf and a black screen to create narrative enigma. 
• There is the typography of gothic sans font in metallic grey to provide expostion as we hear a harsh shreak of violins to signify something is unsettled.
• There is a polysemic blue cloud behind the grey mettalic titles on the black screen. It increases and looks like a tunnel the blue signifies horror. 
• We hear the sound of trumpets as we see the silouette of a bat to signify the bat's dominance.
• The tunnel opens up to an establishing long shot of a a sea with a castle in the middle, it is dusk and the sea is still.
• The camera tracks up to the castle and pan's up to a low angle shot of it to signify it is dominant , it then flies over the castle. This along with the discouncerning music signifies evil is lurking.
• We then cross fade to a  long shot of stormy sea at night with a wooden ship in it. 
• The lighting and rain a signifier of dissetlement. The darkness a signifier of evil. The woodenship signifies the past.
• There is a few polysemic close up's of the ship to provide expsition.
• The protaganist is not revealed yet signifying he is powerfull.
• There is the sound of howlilng of a wolf which signifies anger the mise en scene of the words dracular on the crate are shown the same time lightening strikes to signify evil it also provides exposition.
• The sea men are stereotypically, poor, male and foreign.
• There is a point of view shot from Dracula's point of view as his hand breaks out of the crate and strangle the seamen.
• The blood commonly used in horror to signify death.
• The next shot is an establishing shot of  large mansion with a grave in the corner also a common signifier of horror.