Film Review - The Conjuring

Film Review – The Conjuring

Director: James Wan

Year of Production: 2013

Genre: Psychological Horror

Brief Plot Outline: Ed and Lorraine Warren are paranormal investigators who help out the Perron family with the dark spirits in their new house.

Which two scenes impressed you the most? Why?

The first scene that really impressed me was the exorcism scene as the camerawork is a bit different from the rest of the film. Two examples are the ZIDO shot of the mother whilst she is possessed which instantly makes the viewer uneasy and the camera follows Lorraine through the hallway from the top of a door and flips upside down – this happens a couple of times like when the child looks under the bed and makes the viewer slightly confused and disorientated.

The second scene I was impressed by was the jump scare of the woman on top of the wardrobe is unexpected as it quickly zooms in to her face and cuts away again when the viewer expects something to happen inside the wardrobe. This is also an example of several kinds of collision cutting: quiet to loud, slow to quick, pleasant to unpleasant.

 

How has watching this film helped you understand this genre of filmmaking? Which features on the genre checklist did you spot in the film? When? How?

It helped me understand that although using the same techniques repeated does make the movie predictable it also gives it more suspense as the viewer knows something is about to happen but not what it is.

-Body Horror = the mother (when possessed) bites the policeman’s cheek, when the ghost possesses her she throws up blood.

-Restricted Narration = in the cellar when the mum is trapped the lights go off but we can hear her being attacked.

-Creepy Locations = the haunted house is in a remote location. The camera has a low angle in shots of the house to show its power and zooms in/out of the house to make it seem more evil.

-Parallel Music = to add to the atmosphere e.g. the Annabelle Case scene.

-Lots of Close Ups = mainly reaction shots and extreme close ups of the Annabelle doll and ghosts to create claustrophobia and shock.

-POV Shots = e.g. through the lens of the camera when Ed investigates the cellar.

-Handheld Camera = when the parents try to find the door that’s slamming, the camera bobs up and down like the viewer is walking behind them.

-Quick Montage = when Lorraine is attacked in the cellar however the pacing is generally slow.

-Collision Cutting = quiet to loud to make the viewer jump.

-Has both themes of violence to your family and the fear of being trapped (in the cellar).

 

Which aspect of the film would you like to include in your own trailer? Why?

The director uses collision cuts and jump scares to put the viewer on edge and although the repetitiveness makes the scary moments more foreseeable James Wan scares us by using non-obvious objects. For example, when April shows her mother the music box and asks her to look in the mirror for “Rory”, we expect an extreme close up of Rory’s face in the mirror but instead the child jumps on her mother as a joke.

James Wan also makes the camera move quick and smoothly, e.g. when the Perron family first moves in the camera tracks around the house, this leads to the audience feeling dizzy and disorientated.

The camera often shows little details using reflections off windows and mirrors making the audience paranoid.

Which aspect of the film would you like to avoid in your own trailer? Why?

The film jumps around between the two families continuously and helps to provide structure by using a yellow, typewriter font. However, the jump to different places and years often becomes confusing.

 

What was the best aspect/more enjoyable moment in the film? Why? Can you recreate this in your own film? How?

The most enjoyable moment in the film for me was the cellar scene with Lorraine and the jewellery box as it explains important parts of the film and is full of suspense and jumpy moments.

To recreate this you would have to film slow montages in a creepy, low lit setting with plenty of collision cuts and jump scares with a plot twist to shock the audience.

How does the film show the influence of its "auteur" director? How does it show the director's filmmaking style and soul? Give examples of three scenes from the movie that show their auteur style.

Other films James Wan has directed: Saw (2004), Dead Silence (2007), Insidious (2010), Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013). With the exception of Saw, James Wan only uses a small amount of body horror and tends to favour collision cutting and jump scares to make the audience shudder. Both Insidious and The Conjuring have semi-happy endings but left open with The Conjuring focused on the music box whilst both families reunite safely.

 

Three Scenes:

1) James Wan uses a specific look in several of his films including The Conjuring and Insidious (2010) which looks kind of washed out/bleached. An example of this is when Lorraine Warren hangs out the washing and the storm clouds bleach out the colours of the film for a few minutes.

2) The director likes to focus on creating a tense atmosphere by mainly using slow montages to create suspense, an example of this tense atmosphere is the scene when the mother plays "hide and clap" with her youngest daughter April.

3) James tends to direct ghost/demon films and has a weird fascination with puppets which usually star in his films= Annabelle doll in The Conjuring, Jigsaw puppet in Saw.

Solo Trailer Review - The Grudge

Year Released: 2004

Genre: Psychological Horror

The trailer is a quick montage of the scariest moments of the film.

Successful aspects of the trailer were the font effects that enter the shot via a water/wave effect which is superimposed into the trailer. This makes the trailer eerie whilst suggesting that water is a plot point in the film. I also liked that there is a lot of close ups including an extreme close up of an eye which shows the reflection as well as creating a sense of claustrophobia for the audience. A clever aspect was that all the scary things happen in the background of the shots which makes the audience pay extra attention. Another factor that I enjoyed was that there is a cctv camera effect during the trailer which suggests that she is being followed.

The only unsuccessful aspect was the lack of a jump scare at the end as the trailer just didn't feel finished.

I give this trailer an 8/10 as I could not find many flaws and it made me want to watch the film which is, after all, its aim.

The Six Panel Practice Storyboard

Solo Trailer Review - The Purge

Year Released: 2013

Genre: Action Horror

During the trailer it varies between slow montages and quick montages and focuses more on the action than the gore.

Positive aspects of the trailer that I especially liked was the contrapuntal classical music that was used in the background near the end which gives the trailer more length as it links to the context of the film. This context is that crime levels are increasing in America and the flag at the end shows the patriotic nature of the film. I also liked that during the quickest montages there is a heartbeat effect in the musical score for the trailer. This score included a metallic noise which suggests a knife and other sharp objects that matched the pace of which the trailer was edited to.

However, unsuccessful aspects include that I found the font style boring and thought that they could have included the plot more using footage than text which was not as effective as it could have been. I also found that the shots fading to black quickly became boring and then irritating.

I give this trailer a 8/10 as I thought that the use of sound and context in the trailer made it interesting and more original than other trailers I have watched and it successfully held my interest till the end.

Solo Trailer Review - Catching Fire

Year Released: 2013

Genre: Action

The trailer starts as a slow montage of movie highlights which slowly sped up.

A clever aspect of the trailer was that the music increased its pace to match the pacing of the montage and is the main technique used to build tension. I liked the way the percussion matched the movement of the weapons and the whipping shot. The trailer also uses a small amount of body horror during this sot which adds to the dramatic tone. Another positive aspect was that although the trailer uses a huge amount of dialogue the focus of the dialogue switched several times between dramatic scenes and humorous moments.

The one aspect of the trailer that I did not enjoy was that although the tension built throughout the trailer there was no collision cutting to actually startle the viewer.

I decided to give the trailer a 6/10 as I found it enjoyable but they could have shown more film conventions as the dialogue can get a little monotonous.

Stereotypical Fan

Name: Anastasia ‘Stasia’

Age: 23

Job: Library Worker/University Student

Likes: Reading, Poetry, Thrill-seeking Activities, Coffee Shops, Politics, Protests

Dislikes: Ignorant People, Celebrities,

Extra: Has a natural fashion sense and takes care of her appearance, but does not actively follow fashion. Actively takes part in protests against civil injustice and in marches for human rights. In a stable long-term relationship and is living with her partner with no children. Is currently studying for her master’s degree in history and works at her university library to support herself.

Demographic: C2; Skilled Worker

Psychographic: Reformer, she wants the world to change/ Mainstreamer

Class Trailer Review - Evil Dead

Released: 2013

Genre: Gory Horror

In the trailer it shows a girl being attacked in the woods by a demon/girl. Due to the trailer being red band instead of green band the trailer shows a quick montage of body horror.

Successful aspects of the trailer include realistic gore which was quick but at a good pace. The trailer achieves drama by using good and short/effective dialogue with likeable music. It also showed a lot of horror conventions which showed the audience which genre it was from the offset. This trailer also uses collision cutting throughout which creates a tense atmosphere; the horror is broken up by text which helped outline the plot.

 

Unsuccessful aspects were that some of the audience could argue that there is too much gore but if this was a problem then they probably wouldn’t watch a red band trailer in the first place.

My Mark: 7/10

The Trailers Average Score in Class: 8.5/10

 

Choice of Trailer

Our group has decided to create a highlights trailer so that we would be able to show the plot line of our horror trailer. The plot is a key feature which is shown in psychological horror and is therefore important in our own psychological horror trailer.

In our trailer we will use these horror conventions:

·         Creepy Location – we will be filming in the college and hospital as a "psychiatric hospital"

·         Body Horror – in our trailer there will be a throat being slit

·         Collision Cutting – we intend to have more than one jump scare
  
.      Canted Angles - during psychiatric shots of the girls we will use expressionist angles to convey the madness further

.      POV Shots - To show "Delirium" we will show him through the girl's eyes

.          Lots of Close Ups – To create a sense of claustrophobia and panic.

·         Psycho – the audience will see Anna and the girls go insane in psychiatric shots as well as the demon "Delirium"

·         Fear of Death/Violence – The characters succumb to the fear of death as it is a better alternative to reality. They are also shown self-harming.

·         Loneliness Theme – The characters will all be shot alone in the psychiatric hospital which adds to the extremity of their madness

.      Feeling outside the CDI - The girls estrange themselves from the CDI by taking drugs and going into rehab

Class Trailer Review - Day of the Dead

Name of Film: Day of the Dead

Released: 1985

Genre: Gory Horror

In the trailer ... it begins by introducing it as a Romero film which is a sequel to Dawn of the Dead and Night of the Living Dead. The trailer then goes on to show an audience in a cinema supposedly watching the film and ends with a zombie in the cinema doing the same.

There are not many positive aspects of this trailer but I liked the originality of having a zombie in the audience and showing an audience in general. I also liked how it draws from the success of its predecessors from the beginning.

However, disappointing aspects greatly outnumber the positive. These negatives include:

- There is a cheesy voiceover which makes the film look cheap

- The trailer shows no gore despite being one of the goriest zombie horror films that George Romero made

- The pace of the trailer is too slow; when the popcorn falls it seems to focus on the action for too long

- It focuses too much on the audience instead of showing parts of the actual film. The audience looks bored which makes the film look unsuccessful in general.

- The zombie in the audience has a rushed look which suggests they didn’t put much effort  in the zombies appearance. The zombie also looks more comical than scary which ruins any effect the trailer could of had due to originality.

My Mark: 2/10

The Trailers Average Score in Class: 2/10, overall this was the least liked of all the trailer we reviewed.

Class Trailer Review - 30 Days of Night

Name of Film: 30 Days of Night

Released: 2007

Genre: Action Horror

In the trailer it shows some of the key dialogue to briefly outline the plot and then shows horror conventions (collision cutting etc) when the vampires initially take over the town.

A clever aspect of the trailer is the jump scare at the beginning as it grabs the viewers attention at the start so that they take notice of the film as trailers are often ignored when people view films in the cinema. I also liked the use of bleached colours as it created a bigger contrast between the snow and the blood whilst also making the trailer more dramatic. This also emphasizes the text which although they’ve chosen a standard font bleeds throughout the trailer. Another interesting aspect is that the camera does not stay on the vampires for very long creating mystery and suspense. This is due to the editing showing short “flashes” of the vampires as the shots only last a few seconds

Unsuccessful aspects were that some of the audience may become bored as, especially for a horror trailer, it does not show much gore which suggests that the film is more belonging to the action genre. Another point that did not work was that all the short shots faded to black which became repetitive and slowed the trailer down significantly.

My Mark: 6/10

The Trailers Average Score in Class: 7/10 as although it has several positive aspects the unsuccessful were too significant to ignore.

Favourite Image Analysis

My favourite choice of scene from my horror research is from James Wan’s Insidious (2010).

This shot is extremely low lit and shows the main antagonist in the top left corner. Because he is mainly in shadow the audience takes a few seconds to see him which makes the shot more intense.

The “bleached” colours of the image show some of James Wan’s auteur style as he has used this effect in several other films including The Conjuring (2013). This gives the scene a more dramatic and gritty atmosphere and helps add to the vulnerability of the young boy in the bed. The darkness connotes all the evil trying to take over while the lamp on the side illuminates the bed that he is sleeping in showing the main protagonist’s symbolic hope. The fact that the antagonist’s hand is reaching into the light connotes that the antagonist is slowly taking over the life of the boy.

From this, I would like to make a psychological horror with a main protagonist and antagonist with limited use of gore. The limitation of gore is due to many successful psychological horrors which tend to use restricted narration rather than show gore. This does not impact on the success of the film due to the genre that is chosen. This is reflected in Insidious. For example, the main Antagonists make up has no latex or fake blood. The shadow of the character reminds me of Nosferatu (1922) whereas the clawed hands and eerie shadowy presence connotes that he is not human and is an evil character. His red and black make up also connotes danger and mystery and creates a devils image. Meanwhile, the Protagonist (the child) is surrounded by childrens toys and soft furnishings connoting his innocence.