AS FOUNDATION PORTFOLIO JORDAN BARCLAY: January 2012

Textual Analysis – Tears – Horror

Representation

· Very little to talk about in the first two and a half minutes of the film – occupied by credits.

· There is no male presence in the first four minutes and the supposed antagonist (ghost/zombie) is female, indicating a strong, heavily female dominated film.

Represents the little girl as helpless and vulnerable. She doesn’t run away from the ghost, but bravely and intriguingly stares at it, slowly backing off, which is a positive representation of brave children.

Editing/Camerawork

· The first scene is a two minute credit sequence. Shot type does not seem to apply but there are some clouds very slightly visible in the background, possibly a panning shot.

· The titles and credits fade in and out eerily as if they themselves were ghosts. This subtly helps to establish the horror genre. This flows well with the slow instrumental orchestral music and immerses the audience.

· The editing is subtle and hard to spot. The film was produced on a budget of 10k so there isn’t much CGI apart from the seemingly animated tears behind the titles and beams of light. These link with the film title and help to establish and convey the horror genre.

· The jump cut when the ghost goes to grab the girl’s neck is sudden and scares the audience with it’s sudden, spontaneous and unexpected appearance. It also jump cuts towards the camera at the end of the clip.

Sound

· The sound is parallel and non-diegetic although there is no ‘actor’s world’. The orchestral nature of the music gives it an eerie feeling that should make the audience feel tense. This also helps to convey the genre and also builds up to the opening scene.

· In the first scene of the girl swinging on the swing, synchronous sound of wildlife ad nature is used. The reason is unclear as it bears no strong links to horror, but it does set the scene and makes the little girl seem separated and alone. This sound becomes quieter and an eerie ghostly noise fades in when the ghost appears on the camera. This interrupts the tranquil mood with its presence.

Mise En Scene

· The scene is set in an empty, secluded light forest area. The costume of the girl is white connoting happiness and freedom whereas the ghost is completely black and shadow in a dirty white shirt. The colour connotations help the audience to tell who is who in this genre of film.

· The blood on the ghost and dirt on the shoes of the child add dirty details to enhance the gritty presence in the film. It is a rarity to see perfectly clean characters/clothing in a horror.

How is the genre established?

The clip opens with a two and a half minute credit sequence accompanied by synchronous non-diegetic sound that builds and adds atmosphere. During this time it is possible for the audience to make the connection that it is a horror film, due to the presence of the sound and presentation of the ghostly text effects and tears running down the screen. When the sequence ends, it fades to black and then fades back into the first scene of a girl on a swing set, alone in a forest. The camera peeks through some trees, giving the audience the idea of a 1^st person perspective, and also cuts to a close up of the swinging rope. This relates to being hanged. This is reinforced by the shot of her feet barely scraping the ground.

The camera cuts to a long shot from the side of the girl swinging as a dead body swings in to view, hanged from the neck. The sound reaches a crescendo and the body falls to the floor and reaches out to the girl, with the sound now extremely eerie and terrifying. The camera cuts to an extreme long shot/establishing shot of the ghost walking towards the camera, then jump-cutting into the camera fading to black. This connotes the horror genre with the use of blood and gore, symbolism of hanging, and dark music.

Credit to Jordan Barclay.