IT (Tommy Lee Wallace 1990): Solo Trailer Analysis 1

Name of film: IT

Year Released: 1990

Genre of Trailer: Horror

My Overall Review: 5




Brief Outline of the Trailer: We are shown different shots of Pennywise attacking children and some of his transformations. The video is surrounded by what looks like red paint which could be reminiscient of clown make-up. It is a highlights trailer that mainly focuses on the monster of the film.
Positive Aspects: It introduces the character of Pennywise well and shows exactly what the film is about
Negative Aspects: The red lines at each side of the frame does not seem necescary and distracts the viewer when they are trying to watch the trailer. The sound quality is also very bad and the dialogue can be barely be heard over the music

Storyboard

Mood Board (Flickr Analysis)

Click on image to view Flickr analysis.

Dawn of the Dead Remake Shot 3

The American flag in this still image represents the idea of America vs the world. Everybody on the boat represents typical American people but are not the usual survivors from a horror film. We have a blonde final girl in ‘Anna’. A black guy- ‘Kenneth’, a young male- ‘Terry’ and a young girl- ‘Nicole’, all of whom would usually be victims dying in the film. We also have the male hero shooting himself in the head in this scene in order not to turn into a zombie, a stereotypical example of how he’s sacrificed his life to save Ana. Lots of horror movies also feature the American Flag as it is a common addition, another example would be The Hills Have Eyes.

Dawn of the Dead Remake Shot 2

This scene links back to an earlier one in which Steve tells Ana that if he turns into a zombie, to shoot him and Ana happily agrees to it.  This is foreshadowing for the scene when Steve actually does turn into a zombie and Ana does indeed shoot him in the face. Ana acts as the final girl in this scene which is atypical because the final girl does not usually have blonde hair. The action is much quicker in this film due to the fact that it is an action horror. This is further reinforced by the quick montage that happens after this moment.

Dawn of the Dead Remake Shot 1

This montage after the opening credits of Dawn of the Dead (2004 seems to show how the zombie plague spread and from this shot it appears that it started from the Middle East. This fits in with society’s fears at the time the film was made because it was shortly after the 9/11 attacks. The zombie virus also links to the modern worlds fear of disease such as the anthrax scare and the mass hysteria about the dangers of Bird Flu. This links to the context of the time and peoples fears.

Dawn of the Dead Original Shot 3

George Romero made this film to as a comment of mindless consumerism in society. Here we see the zombies going to the mall and it is said they go there because it’s the place they always were in a previous life. A light-hearted piece of music is also played to make the zombies seem less threatening and the scene funnier. The music used in this scene is contrapuntal and goes against what would usually be expected of music in a scene like this. In the 1970’s malls were also beginning to open and people were flocking to them like mindless drones just like the zombies are doing.

Dawn of the Dead Original Shot 2

This scene shows the comparison between Stephen and Roger in terms of who is a better male hero. They are using phallic weapon (the rifles) which shows their male dominance. Roger stops Stephen from shooting because Stephen is being ineffectual and proceeds to kill the zombie that Stephen was trying to shoot. Part of Romero’s Auteur style is that he liked to reverse stereotypes. In this film we have Stephen who should be the male hero because he’s good looking and he’s a TV reporter. But instead Stephen is useless at lots of things and the male hero status is shifted onto Roger and Peter.

Dawn of the Dead Original Shot 1

Here we have the final girl of the film who is named Fran. She is different to the usual final girls because she is blonde. We also have Peter who looks big and scary on the outside but is actually a nice guy who cares about other people. Peter and Roger act as better male heroes in this film than Steven does. This scene represents Auteur theory and showing that George Romero was both anti-racist and anti-sexist , due to the fact that we have a blonde female survivor and a black male hero, showing some diversity in the cast of characters. George Romero also featured a black male hero in his film, Night of the Living Dead

Psycho Shot Analysis 3

This one of the scenes that is very Ed Gein-like in nature, with Norman dressing up as a woman like the serial killer Ed Gein did due to his schizophrenia. Norman in this scene plays the role of psycho killer and is revealed to be the villain behind the whole film. Lila is also in front of Norman playing the role of the final girl. She also fits the stereotype of the final girl as she is not blonde and tries to get things done herself. Sam, who bursts in after plays the archetypal role of the male hero who saves Lila from Norman. In Janet Steigers ‘Interpreting Films’ she talks about different audience members reacting in different ways to films, a concept known as Polysemy. The audience in 1960 would have reacted much more strongly than an audience today due to the much more recent Ed Gein murders, which happened in 1957.

Psycho Shot Analysis 2

This scene shows Norman as enjoying voyeurism which links into Laura Mulveys theory about the male gaze. This was talked about in her essay, ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ This is a result of the Male Dominated Cultural Dominant Ideology due to the overwhelming amount of male directors and producers. Psycho is no different due to being directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Auteur theory states that a directors films reflect his personal creative vision, which can be seen with Hitchcock. Hitchcock was much of a voyeur in real life with a thing for blonde women. For example Hitchcock developed a strong obsession with actor, Tippi Hendry after working with her on The Birds and bombarded her with cruel sexual overtones and ruthlessly tried to control every aspect of her life. The painting he takes off the wall to look through is called the rape of Lucretia. This connotes that this is what Norman is imagining and it is almost as if he is raping her with his eyes.

Psycho Shot Analysis 1

This is the first time in Psycho that we see the iconic Bates Motel. Low key lighting is used in this scene to create a gloomier atmosphere. The Bates Motel looms ominously in the background. This scene is set at night in the rain which is very common in horror films as darkness connotes evil and evil things find it easier to hide in the rain. This is an example of a pathetic fallacy as the gloominess of the weather reflects the overall gloomy mood of the film. You also see the shadow of Normans ‘mother’ in the window about 30 seconds before Norman comes out, giving a clue to his identity.

Favourite Image Analysis

This is a shot showing Captain Spaulding from the movie House of 1000 Corpses. This plays to the social context of a lot of people being afraid of clowns, this is called Coulrophobia. His dirty teeth and unkempt beard denote uncleanliness which is shunned upon in society. He looks like a stereotypical psycho killer from horror movies although he does not primarily play that role in the film. Clowns are a common occurrence in horror movies, for example there is Pennywise in Stephen Kings IT, who is probably the most iconic killer clown in all of horror, or Mr Caruthers who is the psychotic killer clown from The Clown at Midnight. In this scene, Spaulding shoots a man using his phallic gun to represent his male dominance. The black lipstick he wears also connotes evil and the make-up connotes the fear of the unknown as you cannot fully see his face.