Textual Analysis'

Over her dead body

There are a lot of romantic comedies out which have stereotypes in the way the film is presented from its opening sequence. At the start of ‘Over her dead body’ (OHDB), the music is slow and romantic which shows it is just like a typical Rom-com beginning. When the audience sees the pictures of the man & woman together, this tells them straight away that it is a romantic comedy as it shows evidence of them being a couple. It also shows a marriage certificate of theirs which makes it all realistic and fits the mise en scéne. After the marriage certificate is shown, a loud and jolly up-beated music is played which makes it more energetic. This is used as it is the day of the wedding so they want it to be more lively with the music being faster. The setting of their wedding being organised is a typical romance scene as in most romantic comedies, the couple either get married or live happily after. This is not that stereotypical as in most films, this scene happens towards the end of the movie whereas this was right at the beginning, not showing any of their romance before that.

One of the main characters (the lady) is shown when telling the waiters what to do and how to set everything out. Soon after, her husband is shown in the scene and it shows they are the couple by them hugging. This is something that rom-com’s do, by showing the main characters straight away into the movie so the audience knows exactly who the main people are. The editing between the shots is invisible. The credits of the names and the title fade in and out throughout the sequence. With the editing there are no fade outs. There is a mixed range of cuts between the shots and some shots are used as following the characters as to where they were going. Some shots also zoomed into some shots to make the shots into medium i.e. close-ups when the couple were hugging. Close up shots are used when the man is explaining the ice sculpture. There are also non-diegetic sounds used for the happy, jolly vibe of the wedding. There is no narrative voice used in the sequence. There is a jump cut when the lady falls on the floor and the screen turns black until she re-appears by fading into the scene. This is a special effect used on the opening sequence.

Scream

In the horror film ‘Scream’, it has a title as the first thing. The title goes from big to small font and is in the colour white at first and flashes in red, then eventually changes to a red font. This represents the colour of blood and shows a sign of danger in the movie. Special effects are also used when the red title zooms into the screen making the whole screen red. There is non-diegetic sound added when the title is shown too. It has sounds of a girl screaming, hence the title and also adds a sound of a knife cutting something which gives the audience a vague idea of what the film is going to be about - a horror film. It is predictable that the film is going to be scary as when the voice on the phone is heard, it is croaky and echoey which shows that it is mysterious. One of the main characters are shown straight away as the scene begins which tells the audience who one of the main characters are. There is a scene from outside where it’s dark and it shows a tree, and a swing moving. This shows someone is there and creates suspense for the audience. From shot to shot, there is invisible editing and no fading used. There is a jump shot from the outside shot to the shot of the fire turning on the hob where the popcorn. This is another sign of danger for the audience to look out for. The character slides the knife up from the holder when describing the scary movie which is also another sign of danger. This mise en scene makes it predictable about what is going to happen and makes it all create suspense. The sound of the popcorn sizzling and the bag getting bigger and the popping creates tension. The mist in the garden looks spooky and mysterious when the girl is looking for the stalker. The camera angle on the phone when it is in the first scene of the movie is a medium close up as it shows the phone has to do with most of the sequence (and the rest of the film). The camera moves from the phone to the girl picking it up and that’s where she is first shown. The facial expressions on her face are shown by a close up shot. When the girl is running there is non diegetic sound of loud beats which creates fear and tension for the audience. The setting looks more darker and spooky to give it that extra effect.

What Lies Beneath

What lies beneath is a thriller which has stereotypes which gives it away to the audience as soon as they see the opening sequence of it. The movie starts off with slow, dark music. It gives it a scary effect. There is a blue mist which then turns into a pitch black screen - this happens twice. It creates a mysterious effect of what the blue mist could be and also takes its time to get to the first scene to add suspicion to the audience. Credits are used in middle of these blue and black screen shots which are faded into and out of the scenes. The credits are of ‘21st century films’ and ‘Image movers production’. There are no names in the credits used at the opening sequence. The title is shown in capitals showing it is the title. A special effect is used on this as it seems like the text is in water, and the text is moving the way the water is. After the title is shown, the screen turns black again. This shows that it is cut in between the shots. Non-diegetic sounds of whispering noises are used to scare the audience, and warn them what kind of movie it is going to be. When the lady is in the water and comes out of the bath choking, a screechy sound is used. These non-diegetic sounds are used to create a scare to the scene and make it jumpy. She is the first character which is shown in the movie as soon as it starts which points out to the audience that she is one of the main characters who are used in the film. A close up shot is used when her face is first shown. A long distant shot is used of her sitting in the bath and then it zooms into it. The camera movement is following where she is moving to and where she is putting her hands. When she is choking whilst getting out of the water, when there is a misty mirror, when the socket blows and she gets an electric shock and when the hairdryer stops working, this adds up to the fact that the story is bound to be jumpy and scare the audience. In the bathroom scenes, invisible editing is used. When the shot is moved from the bathroom scene to her daughters’ bedroom, there is a jump shot. The scenes change dramatically as in the bathroom, it was very jumpy and shooken and in the next scene, it is of her waking her daughter up and opening the curtains just like a normal day which makes the movie look a bit confusing at first but then it gets deeper.