CARRIE - 1976

Carrie White is a shy, friendless teenage girl abused by her insanely religious mother, Margaret. The girls at Bates High School also harass Carrie, with Chris being especially cruel. Carrie experiences her first period while showering after gym class, and, due to her sheltered life, becomes hysterical, thinking she is dying.

Famous Shower Scene - "PSYCHO"

I watched PSYCHO, a 1960 horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. This scene was shot from December 17 to December 23, 1959, and features 77 different camera angles. The scene "runs 3 minutes and includes 50 cuts. "Most of the shots are extreme close-ups, except for medium shots in the shower directly before and directly after the murder. The blood in the scene is in fact chocolate syrup and the sound of the knife entering flesh was created by plunging a knife into a melon.

Examining the opening of NOSFERATU

Some of the ideas introduced include the vampires, one of the characters travelling far for greed and Greta Schroder, the wife, who shows her femininity at the beginning of the video. A long shot of the wife knitting is shown portraying womanly nature and independence. This is a classic example of how women used to be in their households and is amazing how this idea is still being acknowledged till present. Another scene of the wife is when she is eagerly waiting by the window for her husband to get back from work. This is a sign of women house wives and staying at home whilst the man works to earn money for the household. The wife is also seen stroking a cat, again expressing femininity.

We are introduced to the cast of the film. This consists of the wife Greta, her husband. They live together in a house of their own, the man works to earn money for the house and it is in the man’s hands to have a job as this portrays responsibility and independence. We are also introduced to Knock, who is a creepy looking old man with a hunched back and bushy eyebrows. Through his facial expressions and body language the audience acknowledges the fact that he may be the baddie. He is seen to have a talent in reading strange signs which outshines his creepy character. Count Orlok is another character who we are introduced to. We are introduced to him because Knock received a letter from him which explains what he needs to do to get some money. Knock looks like the evil man because he doesn’t do anything himself. He sends another man for his work, reducing the chance of Knock being in any potential danger. He also doesn’t inform the other man that this may be dangerous and the whole purpose of greed is being developed throughout the film.

The video is mainly in sepia at the beginning of the film through till the journey when the man goes to visit Count Orlok, showing a little bit of colour which gives us the feeling of happiness and a calm and stable environment. We also see a negative effect in the video when the man is on his way to see Count Orlok. This makes us feel as though something is wrong, however we may not know exactly what’s coming for us to watch. This feeling of anxiety makes us have sympathy for the man on his journey as he is clueless about what he is about to encounter. The negative effect is in black and white. The connotations of this are isolation, loneliness and possible danger.

I would personally describe the music at the beginning being depressing. The rhythm that it’s playing at is really slow which doesn’t give the audience a sense of excitement. Even though it’s a horror genre, a lot of the horror films don’t have sad and depressing music. I would describe the music as lonely and painful. At some point in the film, most likely at the beginning, the music sounds a bit funky and childish, almost like the music they have in cartoons. This is also combined with the yellow colour font and type that is shown as the only dialogue in the film. This idea enhances the cartoon theme and makes it seem more realistic.

The themes introduced are greed, femininity from the wife, religion, the cross seen as an icon in the film. The theme of evil is also portrayed by the negative and black and white effect which resemble with dark, evil actions.

Dracula Films

Nosferatu (1922)-mainly wears black clothing
-long fingers
-hunchback - almost closing in himself
-zombie looking

Dracula (1958) - Director: Terence Fisher
-human look alike
-wears a dark suit
-Christopher Lee(name), a realistic human name
-ICONOGRAPHY - CROSS, LIGHT, DARK, FANGS, CAPE, BLOOD

Bram Stoker's Dracula: Coppola (1992)
-red clothing
-exotic hairstyle
-shows emotion - crying and anger
-rapunzel looking hair
-ICONOGRAPHY - CROSS, RED SKY, DARK, WOMAN LEFT BY HUSBAND, SUICIDE

As years have gone past, Dracula films have changed in several ways listed above to attract their audiences. Howeveer, the main themes of these films are...
-PURE MONSTERS
-PURE EVIL
-BLOOD AND GORE
-DESTRUCTIVE
-DON'T EXPECT HUMOUR
-BIG BUDGET
-NORMAL-BUT DECEPTIVE?
-DON'T EXPECT A LOVE STORY
-GARLIC??
-EXPECT SHADOWS