Analysis of an Opening scene - Hereditary

Hereditary

Film Poster Analysis (Mise-en-scene) - Star Wars

 The poster that i have chosen to analyse is the original star wars poster. The poster displays five visual characters. Two people dressed in white (who we can assume are the main characters of the movie) a person wearing a black mask (who we can assume is the main antagonist) and two robots standing along side the two protagonists. The two protagonists are wearing white which is a symbol of purity and innocence, further pushing the narrative that they are in fact the protagonists of the movie. The main protagonists are also surrounded in a ring of yellow which is symbolic of optimism and joy.  The masked figure is wearing a black mask which symbolises mystery and is most commonly associated with antagonists in movies. The two robots that are placed directly aside the two characters in white which associated them with the protagonists. 

The poster displays the movie to be set in space as we can see the faint image of stars in a galaxy behind the conflict and characters, and you can see space ships in the background. The genre of this movie is sci-fi as the characters are yielding space-esque weapons, and there are robots and space ships displayed. The text “a long time ago, in a galaxy far,far away” is also printed on the poster.

Along with the characters on the poster there also appears to be conflict as one of the protagonists is holding a weapon into the air while there appears to be space ships in black (associating them with the black masked antagonist). The conflict in the background builds tension to the audience because it displays the message that there is going to be a battle between the sides of good and evil within the movie. The masked black figure is also much larger in size compared too the characters dressed in white which insinuates that the evil may rise to power over the forces of good, thus building more tension to the audience. However the black masked figure has a small amount of yellow surrounding him, similar to the yellow ring surrounding the two protagonists, which could give the impression that there could be a connection between the protagonist and antagonist.

The placement of the characters also holds significance as to why the protagonist and antagonist can be distinguished. The two characters dressed in white, although smaller in size compared too the masked black figure, they are at the forefront of the poster and striking powerful poses. The masked blac figure is bigger in size and appears behind the two people dressed white insinuating that he is shadowing them or watching them in an ominous way.

The two characters dressed in white are appealing to the male and female gaze. As the female character is wearing a low cut dress, to show off her chest, and the dress also has a slit going up the legs on each side to display her legs in a sultry way. The male character is also drawn as extremely toned, and his shirt is half open revealing his chest. The reason that this is used in because when people find the actors on the posters attractive they are more likely to come and see the movie to see the actors that they found attractive on the posters 

The poster also uses techniques like displaying the actors names on the poster to draw in an audience. When people see names like Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamil, and Harrison Ford, who were all renowned actors at the time, it gives a reflection of the quality of the movie since so many great actors are cast in it. I think that the audience for the movie would be people that are into action and sci-fi movies, as the poster clearly foreshadows both happening within the movie

How tension is created in an opening thriller from a sequence made last year

 Stranger

The Conjuring review

Favourite Film review

The Conjuring two.

Set in Enfield, London, 1977, is the paranormal investigation by Ed and Lauraine Warren of Hodgson family home. In the movie we see the possession of Mother, Peggy hodgsons youngest daughter, Janet after she decided to make herself vulnerable to the spiritual realm though the means of an Ouiji board. Janet proceeds to be possessed by the former owner of their home “Bill”. After further investigation by Ed and Lauraine it is revealed that the entity that is possessing Janet is in fact a Demon named Valak, who is using the spirit of the former owner Bill as a pawn or distraction. Directed by James Wan in 2016, starring Vera Farmiga, Partick Wilson, and Madison Wolfe. The conjuring two was the first horror movie I ever watched, and ever since then i have been a massive horror fan. The first time that i watched it was with a group of friends, when the idea was initially suggested i was definitely not happy about having to watch a horror movie. But there was something about the thrill and uncertainty of the jump scares that has stuck with me ever since, and i can honestly say i am a massive fan of being scared during horror movies now. The film uses different camera angels and lighting techniques to symbolize different entities or foreshadow different happenings in the movie. For example in some shots the camera flips upside down when shadowing a certain character or entering a certain room, according to director James Wan this is symbolic of a demonic or highly negative entity being present in the current or next scene. Another thing that i absolutely love about all the conjuring universe movies is that they all have little easter eggs that link them to each other in the background, and even little tributes to other classic horror movies. One of my favorite things about the movies is that Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson consulted the real Ed and Laurainne Warren about their story of paranormal investigations so that they could portray the characters in a more realistic way. I think that the fact that the story of the enfield poltergeist is a true story and was moderated by the actual Lauraine warren makes it so much more eerie. The conjuring two is probably the movie that really got me into horror and more importantly the Conjuring universe movies (which are some of my favourite movies of all time).