Mid Term Part A Codes in Film Analysis (Section: 3 [2/2])

 Previously, my class was assigned to complete the first part of what would be our mid term. The mid term which we had to complete included 5 sections and some of which were a bit lengthy. In this blog, I will be posting about the second half of Section 3 of the mid term assignment.

Part D: Costume Hair and Makeup

Costume is basically the outfits that the actors wear to physically represent the character in the film. Most of the time, the costumes give the audience an idea of the character’s personality. Hair and makeup are a facial way of representing a character in film. The personality of the character; the situation that the story brought the character to; the actions of the character.

Hair and Makeup: 

The time period was 2013, her social standing is not very high, anyone could treat her poorly and her characteristics do not include outgoing. This means that her makeup would be very dull, or she wouldn’t have any at all. The hair and makeup would indicate that she cares less about impressing people knowing that she doesn’t like being around anyone. It might also indicate that there may not be makeup or proper hair products nearby. Looking at the hair and makeup, it is unlikely that the purpose of the movie is about business/ fashion/ etc. 

Costume:

Her sense of place, being in the forest, and her personality being introverted leads to the conclusion that she would wear dull clothing and nothing near fashionable.  Her characteristics exclude fashionable, as her choice of wardrobe is only decent to walk around in the evening. The audience can connote that she cares more about survival and protection and actual necessities. The setting is more than likely remote from a clothing store and the purpose of the movie, again, doesn’t include anything revolving around fashion. 

Poor choice of wardrobe is an example of being an introvert and isolation and another example of not having access to a lot of clothing. This puts more concentration on survival and less thriving, which brings us back to the genre ‘horror’. 

Part E: Color

Color is used to set the tone of a scene without the actors speaking. 

The color supports the genre because horror films do not use bright colors. The reason for this is bright colors represent happiness whilst dark colors either represent sadness or fear. 

Part F: Composition and Lighting

Composition refers to how the elements on screen (actors, scenery, props, etc.) appear with respect to each other and within the frame itself. Blocking is basically the placement of the actors, props, and the camerawork. 

The girl was in the woman’s arm which meant she was probably too small to walk as fast as the woman. The boy was holding the woman’s hand because he couldn’t lose track of her, and the woman was placed center-screen because the shot was focused on her. Their movement was quick because they needed to get to the boat as soon as possible. 

Framing is when the camera films a person in a certain way, including how many people there are, the angle of the shot, what the camera is facing/seeing, etc. 

Depth of field is the zone of sharpness. Another way to explain it is what the camera focus is on. If the depth of field is narrow, the camera focuses on fewer things. If the depth of field is large, the camera is focused on more things. 

Lighting forms a visual mood, atmosphere, and sense of meaning for the audience. It refers to the manipulation of natural or artificial light to selectively highlight specific elements of the scene.

2.  

High-key lighting reduces the lighting ratio of the shot; makes the lighting more even in the frame. High-key lighting makes the mood happy and optimistic. Low-key lighting has more shadow, contrast and blackness.

The lighting is not very low-key. But the lighting isn’t very high-key either. The light allows the audience to see the woman’s face but not down to her neck. The light is facing her from the right of the screen which casts shadows to the left. This gives off a serious, yet mysterious/scary tone. 

Part G: Tone

Tone is the mood of a movie or movie clip created by the filmmaker to make the audience feel a certain way. (E.g. formal, informal, serious, comedic, sarcastic, sad, cheerful, etc.) The tone in the film is mysterious, scary, and suspenseful. Dark colors, casted shadows (due to positioned lighting), close-up camera and serious faces, dark and eerie setting, and deep and serious tone of voice were all used to form the tone of the film.