Hi, I'm Dillon O'Connor and welcome to my blog which will track the production of LS29's debut production, Red Run.

Thursday 17 November 2011

Representations In Child's Play 2

Representations In A Horror Movie
Child’s Play 2
First scene with Chucky’s eye being gorged out after he’s been burnt - I think this represents violence and was done to reflect on all of the violence an pain that Chucky has caused. As his eye is being gorged out, his face looks angry and annoyed, representing his evil character and how he’s out to look for revenge. There is a camera angle owner of the Good Boy’s company that produces the dolls and the angle is of his car in front of New York sky scrapers. It’s a low angle shot and I think that this represents the power of the company but more importantly Chucky and how he’s going to come back and haunt Andy, after all there wouldn’t be a film if he didn’t.
The next shot is of the burnt material being scraped off the doll on the burnt corpse of Chucky. I think this was done to represent more violence and it may give the viewing audience pleasure to see Chucky being hurt without him being able to do anything. Also, the tool being used to do this is a scalpel which is obviously a very dangerous weapon and this could possibly represent one of the weapons that Chucky could use. As the doll is being repaired and the face is put on, the doll looks happy and this could be representing irony as in fact the person who’s soul is inside the doll is far from happy, he’s an angry serial killer that’s desperate to get out from the doll’s body.
There’s a shot of a Good Guys doll on a billboard outside of the factory that the dolls are being produced in and the billboard is moving; the dolls arm is waving could be used for humour and representing the fact that one of the dolls really is alive, even if on the billboard it’s only moving for advertising purposes. The man in the car from the first scene arrives at the factory and as soon as they pull in, another man runs to the long car with blacked out windows and opens the door for him, this connotes that the man is of some importance and makes the audience worry about him as it will be him that undoubtedly makes the decision that puts Andy Barclay in a troublesome situation with Chucky.
A man is talking to the man that seems of high importance and he says that a one of the workers is a bit of a joker and tampered with one of the dolls devices to make it say ‘I’m Chucky and i’m going to kill you.’ This represents Chucky being alive and it’s narrative enigma in order to tell the audience that Chucky is alive and will be coming back. Six minutes into the film, the doll that was supposedly tampered is having the eyes put into it using a manufacturing machine as they are testing it to see how it was made to speak differently to the other dolls and as the machine is about to place the eyes in...the machine stops representing the power of Chucky. Once the machine works again, it puts the eyes into the doll and then stops once again, electricity flows through the machine causing lightning bolts and killing the worker, representing the re-birth of Chucky.

Wednesday 16 November 2011

Attack The Block - Semiotics (SD)

The first scene is the camera looking up at the stars, this gives us a feeling that space or stars may have a key meaning or important role in what is going to happen in the film. The camera then starts coming down showing fireworks, this could then mean that the film or opening scene is set on bonfire night or some sort off other celebration. In the next scene there's a woman on the phone in the underground, this tells us that its set in London. The camera then follows this woman throughout the first couple off scenes as she appears to be walking home, By this time it shows us that this woman is a important character in the film or she's linked with a key event in the film. During this it tells us that it is made by/associated with Studio Canal, Film 4, UK Film Council and is produced by Big Talk Picture.
The woman then gets confronted by a gang of masked youth's and gets mugged, followed by a meteor or star shooting down out of the sky and destroying a car next to the mugging that was taken place, this gave the woman time to run away, and this is where we see the "monster" this film, as the gang ring leader got attacked by it. They then start to hunt the creature down and this is where the plot of the film starts.

Attack The Block - Film Poster

Screen shot from Attack The Block

Monday 14 November 2011

The Wind That Shakes The Barley - Opening Scene

The film starts with diegetic sound of young men shouting, laughing and talking in southern Irish accents and also sheep making noises in the background; this connotes that the film is set in Ireland and with the scenic background of hills and mountains, it's tranquil, peaceful and quite. The men look to be around their early 20s and they're playing Hurling which also connotes that they're in Ireland. The clothes that the men are wearing are old very old fashioned and wouldn't be worn now, denoting that the film is set in the past, roughly the 1920s or 30s. Also, with the condition that some of the men's clothes are in connotes that they could be poor. However, the men are laughing and cheering whilst playing sport which connotes that they're happy and having a good time. More connotation that the film is set in the past is the fact that their Hurleys aren't a modern shape with bands or grips on, they are old fashioned Hurleys.

A serif font is used. The style looks Gaelic which also adds to the idea that the film is set in Ireland. The first character to really stand out from the crowd is a big guy that argues with the referee, connoting that he's an aggressive man and that he may be one of the main characters in the film. Almost 2 minutes into the film, non diegetic music fades in. The music is slow and it sounds like a sad military song that would be played at a military funeral or remembrance connoting that these men are involved with the military. The men start talking about the British and slagging them off, quoting 'They all lick the King's arse'. This denotes that they don't like the British very much.

The first house that appears in the film is a tradition farm house and looks very old fashioned. It's been made fairly clear by this point that the film is set in the past. Once again, there is peaceful diegetic sound, this time of birds and I think that this was done to show how peaceful Ireland is. Another character enters, she is old and one of the young men starts to talk to her in a friendly way, connoting that they are nice men and are respectful rather than abusive. He talks to the old woman about how he's going to London to be a doctor, denoting that he's clever.

3 and a half minutes into the film, you hear shouting and a group of men dressed in Black and Tan military uniform running around the corner, confirming suspicion and denoting that the military is involved in this film.
They are agressive and ask for the men's names, not letting them speak in Irish, connoting that they don't like the Irish and seeing as though the Black and Tans were British and they are speaking with a British accent, it suggests that the film is about a battle between both the Irish and the British. The Black and Tans were violent, unfair and horrible and as this film is written from an Irish point of view, that point is certainly put across. The leader of the group calls all of the Irish men 'Bastards' and states that they're not allowed public meetings and to play games such as Hurling, although he calls it 'Your poxy games'.

Because one man won't say his name in English, the leader of the group says that he's speaking riddles and he's taken into a barn and killed. This denotes that the men are brutal and violent and as soon as he's killed, slow non diegetic music fades in. It's sad music which certainly suggests that the film is going to be sad, which indeed, it is.

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