Deconstructions of existing films: Superbad

For our final deconstruction, we decided to do a completely different genre to horror and did a comedy film called "Superbad". We chose a completely different genre so that we could see the differences and similarities between the two genres. This will allow us to see what needs be included in all opening scenes for it to be successfull, not matter what genre it it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9AAG0dL9Xw&feature=fvsr

The opening scene to superbad begins with the recognisable logo of "Sony Pictures Entertainment Company" who are part of the making of this film, the Second still shows another company involved in the production of this film: "Columbia Pictures",

The Third Still then introduces the title of the film along with a silhouette of someone dancing, this continues into the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth still along with the names of actors/actresses starring in this film. In each still the colour varies of the background in the shot and the colour of the silhouettes.

All the while, an up-beat temp music is being played creating a happy vibe for the audience, suggesting that the film is a happy/comedy film. The music playing is The bar-kays - too hot to stop. 

Deconstructions of existing films: Secret Window

This deconstruction is of a film called "Secret Window" which is a thriller. We decided it would be a good idea to deconstruct films of a different genre to compare to the "Horror" genre. Also this genre is closely linked to "Horror" so therefore i think it would be a good idea to compare the two so that we can investigate the variation between both genre's. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuy69tY7bgM

First Still: The first still introduces the main character looking directly at the camera, and he is talking to himself in his head and we hear his thoughts, therefore producing non-digetic sound. The shot is a close up of the main characters face which allows the audience to see his expression clearly and have an idea of his feelings. We can hear the windscreen wipers and rain coming down on the windscreen of the car and also the sound of the engine in the car. This still is very tense as it gets straight into the film, the shot is dark also which can be quite unsettling. 

Second Still: The second still doesn't contain a lot of sound, but is still a very emotional scene. The emotion that us as the audience feel is by the expressions on the characters faces. We see the main character burst into a motel room to find a man and a woman in bed together, as the main character enters the room, the couple are obviously shocked. We are not clear exactly what the situation is between these three characters which confuses the audience. It is unclear what sounds we hear from the characters as there is wind is overpowering their voices, the main character exits the room with his head down obviously upset by what has happened, nearing the end of this still deep and intense music starts to play.

Third Still: This music that was playing at the end of the second still continues to play into the third still. In contrast to the previous shots which were dark, this shot is much brighter. The camera starts by panning up from what seems to be a lake, to a long shot of a house and forest, which sets the scene for us as the audience. During this part, the actor "Johnny Depp"'s name is along the bottom of the screen in the centre.


Fourth Still: This shows a closer shot of the main setting. Also displaying the title of the film "Secret Window" in the middle of the screen near the bottom. It is shown in a white font which then turns to red, this is quite unnerving for the audience as white and red are very opposite colour, with white often representing peace and quiet and red representing danger and blood, Again the music that is played in the second and third shot continues. 


Fifth Still: This shot continues to show writing along the bottom, of people who have participated in the production of this film for example the editor and production designer. Also the intense music continues to play through out the scene becoming more and more distant and quiet. 


Sixth Still: Displays the main character lying on a sofa with his back for the camera asleep. At the bottom of the screen, the words "six months later" which further sets the scene for the audience. During this scene we hear the noises coming from outside the house like birds. The main character is then awoken by a constant knocking on the door until he reluctantly gets up to answer the door.

Deconstructions of existing films: Saw VI

The first deconstruction that we did was of another horror film "Saw VI"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uppd-6DM4fQ

Similarly to "The Grudge" we thought that Saw VI would also be a good film to deconstruct because not only is it a successful and good example of a horror film but it is a different way of presenting this particular genre. It includes more blood and gore, rather than a physocological horror like the grudge.

First Still: This film begins with showing on of the companies that were involved in the making of Saw VI - Lionsgate. This title is shown amongst what appears to be red clouds/ mist or could even be fire. The colour red in itself suggests danger and blood which are both very negative. The sounds that we can hear are like gears grinding, and gates creaking open which aren't pleasant sounds to hear for the audience. This already creates fear and tension preparing the audience for this film.

Second Still: Similarly to the first still, it is another company that have been involved in making this film - Twisted Pictures. This time the text is in white against a completely black background. We can hear the nail in the middle of the words 'twisted' and 'pictures' actually twisting the barbed wire around it, creating scratching, nail grinding and high pitched sounds which often make people feel very uneasy. 

Third Still: It is unclear to know exactly what is happening in this still, all we can see is that there is a cockroach crawling up a girls hand onto her arm, because of how dark this shot it, and close up to the hand, it makes it very difficult to see everything in shot, making the audience feel on edge and afraid of what might happen next. In this part all we can hear is the high pitched sound of machinery.

Fourth Still: In this still, it goes back to showing the credits, a hollow ghost like text is against a dark background. During this part we can here a high pitch creek and the opening of a door. 

Fifth Still: This is when the film actually starts, a man and a woman are trapped and have to complete the game to come out alive. This is to sacrifice flesh so that the one that weighs more, will be freed and the one that doesn't sacrifice enough flesh will die. Obviously this is a very dramatic scene, therefore we can hear wining, screaming, panic. The Women is sawing of her arm to try and outweigh the man, therefore we here hacking noises and breaking bones. 

Just as the body parts are being thrown onto the scales in a struggle, the timer clicks indicating that they have run out of time and is the end of time, which could be a metaphor for the ending of someone's life which is what is about to happen.

Sixth Still: The ending of this scene with the title of the film 'Saw VI' shown again in a hollow ghost like font to try and create fear and tension for the audience. We can hear a fast pace rhythm to the music playing and again machinery.