Media Research; Audience

Audiences:

Audiences of films are one of the most influential factors of film making. Dependent on the Genre and also content, films are fitted and made around the audience member's interests, hobbies and what they would or will find engaging. For my 3 minute scene I have decided to do both genres of "Horror" and "Comedy" this means that the audience's ages can fall from a horror 18+ to a 12A or 15 due to the comedic values of the scenes. This also means that the scene can appeal to both Horror fans who prefer blood and gore and to comedic fans who enjoy over exaggerated, funny slow motion voice over scenes. I decided to research single genre Horror films, Physiological Thriller films and double genre Comedy Horror films, exploring the different scenes and techniques used in them. Films like: the Saw series, Child's Play, Orphan, and Paranormal Activity all had scenes of intense chilling and scary scenes or "Blood and Gore" scenes, which I found quite hard to watch from behind my hands. Deciding to move to mm ore comedic horrors I was influenced by films like Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland which both are more "action packed" and Comedic Horrors which I feel suit me better. From watching them I like both the ideas of; Shaun of the Dead's, Comedic Horror with small action ;and Zombieland's, Action Horror with small comedy.

Shaun of the Dead:

Shaun of The Dead is Comedy Horror, directed by Edgar Wright, a about a young guy who feels like today is the day to get his ex-girlfriend back. Unfortunately for him that so happens to be in the middle of a Zombie Apocalypse but luckily for him this comes as a chance to prove himself to everyone that he is worthwhile. Hoping saving everyone and killing all the zombies will get him recognition- and his ex-girlfriend back. The film is certificate rated a 15, due to the high use: of Blood and Gore (rated 9/10 on IMDb); Profanity (10/10); and Frightening/Intense Scenes (7/10). Although the ratings of "Blood and Gore" and "Frightening/Intense Scenes" are high the reasoning into why they are not 10/10 out of ten is because of the comedic genre and overtone of the whole film. This tells me that my film can become less scarier and intense if it is more comedic meaning the audiences members can be of a younger ages which widens the amount of people able to watch the film. However, comedy does take away the intense glorification of a horror film due to that fact that it makes it quite "babyish" and less impressive to say you've watched it, as a lot of reviewers have said. By having a comedic Horror film you will find that it is more Comedy than horror which loses the aspect of scaring the audience and fully engrossing an audience and bringing them in. The scene that I have chosen to make is either a chase scene or a fight scene so I decided to analyse the fight scene in Shaun of the Dead.

Shaun of the Dead, John Fight scene

 
Music and Narrative of this scenes is extremely important as the music beat, effects the given impression of the narrative. The music played by the Jukebox, Queens- Don't Stop Me Now, completely contrasts the action of the scenes context. Shaun and his small party all face the problem of  a zombie in the pub and the rest of the zombies getting into the Pub. A extremely manic and petrifying scene but with the happy Queen song playing in the background explaining how much of a 'good time' they're all having. It makes the scene decreasingly less scary and increasingly more funny. The use of the extremely contrasting use music is a key technique that I will find myself using in my three minutes. Making my first idea of the "chase" scene a lot more comedic with happier music although it should be a very intense moment or making my second idea of an amazing, action packed 'winning' fight scene, very sad and depressing foreshadowing what is next to come. (The death of the co-starring character) A lot like my second idea Shaun of the Dead uses the song to foreshadow the fact that they won't be stopped after this death of their friend John. The joyful beat played by the drums and bass is used which makes the scene once again a lot less terrifying and more lighter. Also the joyful music effects the Narrative of the scene because without the music: we are shown a zombie old man trying to be killed by three people, as the forth person realises there are more zombies coming and the other two are standing watching. However with the music we are shown three clumsy people trying to kill John with synchronised dance "killing" moves to music, whilst the forth guy tries to turn the music off but accidentally discovers that the zombies have found them, meanwhile the other two subtly dance along whilst watching the scene. The Narrative and the story of the scene played out is extremely clever, but because of the comedic fast pace of scene, the clever foreshadowing is lost. Edgar Wright chooses to show the reasons of  John's death right at the start of the scene. Where we shown the rifle that is used to hit John and the Jukebox he falls into and dies. The ironic part of the whole scene is the fact the rifle Shaun uses he accidentally shoots after killing John, although he thought the rifle was fake at the start. Another ironic part about the scene is that Shaun also becomes angry with the song and the jukebox and wants it to be turned off, and as soon as John falls in it, it breaks. Subtle foreshadowing of what is to come is something I would like to put in my clip for definite. The music in this scene makes the scene more funny which loses a lot of horror fans but increases the amount of comedic and younger fans. However the Horror fans are given more scenes throughout the film that feature more blood and gore bringing them fans back in. 

ZombieLand

Zombieland directed by Ruben Fleischer, is a film about a shy young boy, Columbus, trying to escape a zombie populated Texas to Ohio where his family lives. Along the way he meets a gun fanatic tough guy and two sisters who are trying to get the a non-zombie populated amusement park. The plot of the film is extremely complex which is something I love and want to do but when trying to write out the plot of my own film I found it extremely hard to follow. However, when watching Zombieland I realised the reasoning into why it is so easy to follow is the fact that it is in first person. The audience follows Columbus' problems, decisions and choices which is an aspect that I want in my film. The way Ruben Fleischer does this is by using voice overs, straight away from the start. I wanted to research openings and felt like the opening of Zombieland is the best and most effected one. By using the "Rules for Surviving" theme, the rest of the film is followed by these chronological rules that pop up before and after certain scenes. What I love so much about the rules is the way they're shown as Columbus speaks in his voice over.

Zombieland, Rules Opening

Unlike many other films we jump straight into the action watching a fat man being chased by a zombie, we hear Columbus' voice as he explains the first rule. What I like so much about the first scene is that it is slightly unconventional because normally we would see a boy in high school or just waking up but this jumps straight into the action, engaging the audience immediately. We then have an establishing shot showing the audience that we are on a football field and why the fat guy is being is being chased. What this allows the audience to do is understand that we are in the past and let's Columbus explain questions that the audience would as further into the film like, How did the Zombies get there? Why were they there? and Why wasn't Columbus killed? By using these simple rules Fleischer allows the audience to create a back story in their heads without showing what actually happened. My second favourite thing about the rules is the fact that they're right there on the screen in

the scene allowing Columbus to be right there in the scene again without being there. Also the rules either fly in or become part of the scenery which brings a contrast making the scenes become more fun and lighter than they actually are. A lot like Shaun the Dead. After the first four rules are shown we then are taken to the present. I feel like the transition between the past and present is made so smoothly due to both the voice over and the rules. Without using an establishing shot straight away it really uses a softer approach to understanding the back story of a character. The way in which I want to use this approach is by having
my main character use the voice over near the middle or the end
explaining the past, when before her friend dies, reminiscing about the
times they shared before the zombies found them. However the use of
voice over and style of the rules could also be used in my "chase" scene
explaining why the two friends are being chased, and why it is only them
to. So both these effects can be used for both a starting and an ending.
Another technique used by Robert is the way that he increases the blood and gore more and more as the rules go on. Pulling away from the funny comedic fat guy being eaten to a more realistic "make sure you're wearing your seatbelts" death. The reasoning why the Seatbelts rule is the most horrifying is because it could happen to anyone in the audience. Which makes the scene a lot more scarier than it is. However although these rules do get scarier and scarier the voice over of Columbus expresses more or less what the audiences would be thinking or feeling when watching it when he says things like "don't go to the toilets" and "ewl". Making a character address to the audience or think like the audience engages them even more allowing them to be able to agree or disagree with the characters and feel more involved with the film. By putting Columbus in a position where he is both the audience watching the scene and playing the character explaining the scene makes the audience not feel directly involved making the scenes a lot less scary.