Introduction
The films that I have chosen to talk about are Scream and Hairspray.
Scream
This film was made in 1996 it was set in California in the 90s. This film was produced by Cathy Konrad, Cary Woods and was directed by Wes Craven. The certificate for this film is an 18. The target audience of this film is for adults aged 18 or over.
Hairspray
This film was made in 2007 it was set in 1960s Baltimore, Maryland. This film was produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. It was directed by Leslie Dixon. The certificate of this film is PG. The target audience of this film is for all ages when there is an adult present.
In this report I am going to apply 3 different types of analysis. I will be talking about Genre analysis, Narrative analysis and Film content analysis. At the end, I will summarise what I found out about these movies.
Scream
This film is about an ‘anonymous’ serial killer that calls its victims before they are about to be killed, Sydney (main character) who the killer wants dead most doesn’t die whilst everyone around her dies. Sydney finally finds out that the killer is her boyfriend and his friend (they also killed her mother the year before) Sydney kills the two boys then lives her life normally.
Hairspray
This film is about a girl who want equality in the town she lives in and on her favourite show she watches. She makes some new friends and decides to make a change; she goes through some struggle but eventually changes things in Baltimore.
Scream
Genre analysis
This films main genre is horror. A sub-genre of horror is slasher which this movie is. I know this because throughout the movie there are scenes where they show a victim getting stabbed, then blood would squirt out of the wound, then they would show the knife with blood on it. Also, they show the victim's lifeless body. Another way the audience would know what type of film this is because of the sound effects used. In this movie there are sound effect like a knife getting pulled out from a pocket, you can hear the knife going inside of the victim. They also use silence as a sound effect this has been done to tell us that the killer is near and is about to take its victim's life. Various amounts of lighting.
Narrative analysis
Plot- The plot of this movie uses Todorov’s theory where there has to be a structure to the film.
Equilibrium- The movie starts off with two people getting killed. Then it moves on showing a happy couple.
Disruption- The main character encounters the killer that killed the first two people, then she realises that the killer could be her boyfriend who then gets arrested.
Realisation- The killer is still out there terrorising Sidney and killing others.
Restored Order- She forgives her boyfriend and tries to forget that there is someone after her, but realises that she has been lied to.
Equilibrium Again- The killers are now dead and Sidney can live life knowing that no one is after her.
Character- The characters in this film are;
Sidney- The main character aka The prize
Tatum- The main character's best friend aka The victim
Billy- The boyfriend/killer aka The villain
Stu- Friend/killer aka The villain
Dewey- Police officer/friend/ brother to best friend aka The helper
Gale-The News reporter aka The False hero
They are all integrated with each other because they are all linked to each other and the main character.
Setting- This movie was set in the 90s in Woodsboro, California. This setting compliments the film because it is a quiet neighbourhood where bad things like a serial killer is on the loose.
POV- The audience would see and understand the story because it has a clear storyline. The movie has proairetic code, the movie lets the audience know what will happen next.
Theme/message- The message/theme of this movie friendship, revenge and betrayal. The movie starts of with everyone being friends, to find out in the end that all the killings were happening for revenge.
Film content analysis
Language used
The language used in this movie was regular, slightly strong at some points in the movie there was some use of slang e.g. “goon-fuck”
Music- Sounds that have been used in this movie is a high pitch piano key, in some scenes this has been used when is alone and the killer is about to kill them. Music genres used in this movie are rock, pop.
Special effects- Camera techniques that have used are Wide shots, Long shots, Close ups. Lighting that have been used in the movie like dark lighting this has been used to show that the killer is coming. In the movie there are scenes where the character is alone in a house or in another building.
Hairspray
Genre analysis
The genre of this film is a musical / comedy/romance; I know this because they are singing throughout the movie. In the movie there are scenes where the characters would say something embarrassing and other person would hear them. Specific camera shots would show two characters staring at each other. There are some sound effects like the sound of spray coming out of the bottle.
Narrative analysis
Plot- The plot of this movie uses Todorov’s theory where there has to be a structure to the film.
Equilibrium- The movie start of with singing/dancing and everyone doing what they would do on a normal day to day basis. Tracy and Penny rush home to watch their favourite show.
Disruption- Tracy gets in trouble and gets sent to detention, which happens to be where all the black students are.
Realisation-Negro day gets stopped and Tracy thinks that there should be more than ‘negro day’ and all the kids should be mixed up.
Restored Order-They have a protest for equality, Tracy gets arrested, she then gets bailed out of jail to dance with everyone on the Corny Collins show.
Equilibrium Again- Tracy and Amber compete in the pageant but Inez wins, Then all the kids get to dance in the show together.
Character- The characters in this film;
Tracy- Main character aka The hero
Penny- Main character's best friend aka The helper
Link- Love interest aka The The helper
Motormouth Maybelle- Friend aka the donor
Amber- Enemy aka The villain
These characters are all integrated with each other because they all are link to the main character. Either they are friends with the main character or they have a problem with the main character.
Setting- This movie is set in 1962 in Baltimore, Maryland. During this time there was segregation, especially on TV. It compliments the story being told because during that time people of the different races were not allowed to do stuff together.
POV- The audience will see and understand the movie because it has a clear storyline and everything is structured. This movie uses the binary code of Black vs White.
Theme/message- The message/theme of this movie friendship and hero. The movie has Tracy as the hero bringing everyone together, making them become friends with each other.
Film content analysis
Language used- The language used in this movie is regular, they also use slang that was used in the 60s e.g. Groovy, hip, Negro, Swish etc.
Music- The music used in this movie are all original songs. The style of the songs are Rock & Roll, Soul and Pop.
Special effects- Camera techniques that have used are Long shots, Close ups, WIde shot, Two shot. Camera movements that have been used are Zooming, tracking. Another effect that has been used is when the spray comes out of the bottle and smoke on the floor. Lighting used were dark lighting and coloured lighting.
Conclusion
Overall, I think that both movies were good for the genre that they are. They both include the components that make them the movies that they are. Reading other reviews i found out the 79% liked the movie scream and though it was classic horror and has a shock value. Reading the reviews for Hairspray I found out that 84% of the people that reviewed it liked the movie and though it had a brilliant and music. I think that Scream was a good movie, the effects used in the movie made it more interesting, I would recommend this movie if you like things that have detailed blood, guts and gore you should watch this movie. I think the hairspray was a good movie because is has an informative storyline and it is a musical with makes the movie more fun. I would recommend this movie if you like musicals.
