Shot Analysis- Mr Brooks

Shot Analysis

The film that I shall be analysing is Mr.Brooks, I'm analysing it because it is the same genre as our film, which is psychological horror. This film is about a socio path (Mr.Brooks) who is a serial killer.

The title sequence of the film starts off with a pitch black screen and then some text comes up. The text straight away signifies that something is wrong with Mr.Brooks. The way that it is also just black, shows us that it is mysterious and it also builds up to tension as we don't know what is going to happen. The sound on this is Mr.Brooks praying, so we don't know what he has done, yet. Also with the black background it signifies darkness, and anything can happen in the dark.

Here it shows a medium long shot of Mr.Brooks, looking at himself in the mirror in the bathroom. He seems to be trying to sort him self out, so we already know that he isn't stable. The surroundings around him are very posh, he also is wearing a suit, so this represents power, he must be very important in some way. There is also a slight low angle, which could state his sense of power in the profession that he is in.



This close up of Mr.Brooks shows us that he isn't feeling alright. The way that everything else is blurred out except from him, makes us focus on him only. He looks worried like something is bothering him. Also the way that he is in an environment that is dark shows us the mysterious vibe once again. His outfit represents class. His eyes are pierced and seem to be focusing on something.

This close up of Mr.Brooks driving home with still a worried look on his face showing that he is unstable. The person behind him seems to be intimidating him in some way, and it is the voice inside his head. Still, the dark environment around him represents his mood.

This close up of Mr.Brooks shows him praying, this time with a light in the background. This could signify that there could be some hope in whether God is going to forgive him for his mistakes. Still the background is blurred and all of the focus is on him. He looks even more stressed than he was before with his shirt undone, no glasses, this could represent the loss of power.

This medium close up, shows Mr.Brooks in a different light. He doesn't have formal clothing on, he has a simple black jacket and t-shirt, as if he is about to do business. The look on his face shows us that he is planning on doing something, and it doesn't look like it is going to be anything good. He seems also in a different environment such as his work shed, where he keeps all of his things.

This medium close up shows that Mr.Brooks has broken into someones house. His facial expressions are not nice, they look very nasty. He looks like a different person to before. It is dark again, which represents his mood. A lot of the shots are in darkness, this represents the un-stable person that he is, and he is living basically in the dark because of the secret that he is trying to keep his secret from his family and everyone else.

This close up shows us that Mr.Brooks has just done something that he kind of regrets, but he still has a demeaning look on his face. The low angle shows his power, that he is looking down on someone. His eyes are very piercing and it looks as if he is staring right at us. The way his head is tilted, shows us that he is concentrating on something.






This long shot shows Mr.Brooks praying, with no clothes on. This shows him stripped back, no classy or formal clothing on, just himself. Regretting that he has just killed someone. The way that he is crouching down shows his loss of power, that he is weak. The furnace shows us that he is burning evidence, and trying to wash away the bad sins that he has just committed. The light from the fire is on the same level as him, this shows that he is in the light for what he has done and not hiding in the dark.

Conventions of a psychological horror

Conventions of Psychological Horror

Character: The type of characters that we would find in a psychological horror film would be very mysterious, dark, and gothic in looks, they would also be mentally unstable and emotionally unstable. Sometimes you would not be able to guess that they would be the killer, as they could act like someone else, but that is what makes them unstable. The character would be very creepy, someone that would keep an image in your head of what they look like, and freak you out a little. They would also be very clever with the things they do if they are trying not to get caught, and also very threatening towards people if they don't want to get caught. Other characters would be normal, but very suspicious of the person, or on the other hand, they could be not suspicious at all and just not even notice, which is worst when the audience could know who it is, and this creates a more interesting storyline.

Music and sound: The music would always be very tense, creating a tense atmosphere. It would build up to a moment that would scare everyone. Some of it would be slow, and then when something is happening such as a fight, fast music would be played. There would be less dialogue, to keep the audience guessing what is happening, and focusing more on the action. Music can set a scene straight away.

Set: The set would be very dark and gloomy, setting a scary atmosphere, they would be set somewhere conventional such as in someone's house, school, or hospital. Somewhere with places to hide, if they were being chased. Or they could be set in a woods, which feels enclosed like you have no where to run, it gives a feeling of claustrophobia.

Storyline and cinematography: The storyline would not be expected, there would be a twist at the end that would shock people. There could be flashbacks to give clues, or twist the story even more. Most psychological horrors are really confusing to watch, but when the twist is revealed, it all makes sense in the end. There is always blood and gore, because if there wasn't, it wouldn't be a good horror film.

Examples: An example film of psychological horror would be orphan, the character who is the killer is a little girl. She has dark hair, dark eyes, and a very mysterious look about her, as you can see she is a little child, but she turns out to be freaky, and a face that you wouldn't forget. We know throughout the film that she is the killer, but we don't find out the big twist about her till the end of the film. There is tense music, because she creeps up on a lot of people, and when the fight is happening at the end, there is fast music played.

Psychological Horror Genre

Psychological horror is a sub genre from horror. Aspects that make the genre different from horror is the characters fears, guilts and beliefs with eerie music to match. The Psychological horror tries to include elements of fear that the audience can find common ground with. 

Final Storyline - 'Something About Her'

Final Storyline

The film starts with Violet sat on her bed, in her dark black bedroom. She picks up her phone and sees that she has a couple of voice mails from her friends Charlotte, Amy, and Lucas. As she listens to the first voice mail, we get to see her whole reaction to it. When the second voice mail is playing, we see flashbacks of her friends in the woods, all sorts of flashbacks happen, such as someone killing someone else, them running away from something, arguing, falling over dead people, different things happen to play with your mind when you are watching it. The flashbacks are from a camping trip that all of the friends went on, Charlotte suggested to go. In the middle of the flashbacks Violets face is shown of her crying and reacting to the voice mails. Different voice mails are shown with different flashbacks.When the very last voice mail is heard from Charlotte, we get to see her walking through the woods, so scared, she sees that her friend Amy is dead after tripping over her, she crawls towards the camera and then after a tense moment of hearing a twig snap, she gets dragged away. We then see Violet in her bedroom, her father shouts up 'vi your dinner is ready', after wiping her tears she puts on a smile and walks downstairs. The title then comes up saying 'Something About Her'. The next scene is of the girls being together all happy, shopping, having sleepovers, gossipping, stuff that best friends do. It then introduces the newest friend Lucas and him joining the group, it also shows the reaction of Violet's face to when Lucas starts hanging around with them. She isn't very happy, not happy at all. Another scene is shown of Charlotte and Amy talking about Violet and her past, acting worried because Violet has been acting strange lately. A scene is shown of Violet in her bedroom praying and worshipping the cult, with candles around her, whispering weird things. The scenes jump from serious to not serious, we see the girls and Lucas at school at dinner talking about what they are going to do on Friday night, and Charlotte suggests the camping trip. The next scene is the camping trip of the friends around the camp fire, suddenly Violet walks off, leaving them alone, noises are heard and screaming is heard. This is when the flashbacks from the beginning start to happen and it all makes sense. After Charlotte gets dragged by Violet, the last scene shows her funeral, along with Lucas and Amy's funeral too. As everyone is crying and extremely upset in the graveyard, the camera flickers to Violet who is stood in the background smiling to herself, she walks off and turns round to look at the camera. The screen then goes off.

Audience Profile

Audience Profile

The age range that we want for our film is between 15-40. The gender can be both female and male, but not for families as some scenes are upsetting. The film is not for children younger than 15 so the certificate we would give it would be a 15, because it includes violence, strong language and some mild horror. The people who would watch this film, would be interested in other horror films, such as 'Strangers', 'Paranormal Activity' and 'Haunting In Conneticut'. This is similar to some horror films like orphan, and identity, because those films have psychological horror in them. This film is not aimed at any particular regional audience, but should be interesting to mainly British audience however it could also have interest to other English speaking countries. Our film would be an independent film because it would attract a niche audience, it is not based on books, so there wouldn't be an original fan base. Also there are films out there that are quite similar, so people might not want to watch it because they have seen something like it before.

Individual Story Line

A girl, who goes by the name of Annie is visiting her grandmother in a mental asylum. due to not seeing her in over a three years she in nervous and starts reminiscing old memories of her childhood in the car, with an occurring lullaby.

She's is lost in thought as is woken by her single parent farther shouting her for the third time. This is his first hint that she is not well. She walks from the car and up to the hospital and suffers from a mental breakdown, she falls on the floor as more and more flash backs of her mother start to occur, she is trying to scream and shout, but she cannot produce any noise, it is now made clear of her illness and how it is of an emotional one.

Her father helps her to her feet and try's to offer comfort, but is gently dismissed, as she does not want  any help, and more so doesn't not want to admit to her hallucinations. She enters the hospital ward and again hallucinates all the ghosts of people that have died in this hospital, some include a boy and mother skipping down the hallway chasing a balloon. While others include ancient grandmas and grandfathers slowly wheeling them selves somewhere within the hospital.

Suddenly there is a back cloaked man looking face down to the floor, he is immediately picked out by the audience as he is wearing all black, whereas all the other hospital patients, and ghosts are in a light shade of grey effect.

The cloaked man starts to walk slowly towards her, his head turns up and is a scarred and bloody face, she starts to run, but the man is infront of her wherever the goes. She falls to the floor and screams for her mother.

Individual Storyline

There is a normal average family and they're all very happy. They have a big house and the two children, both teenagers, get everything they want.  There is a good length of time showing hoe happy and good the family are but slowly we start knowing that something is wrong. The parents go for a 'romantic break' every two weeks, leaving the two teenagers in the house alone. Although when they were younger they did have a babysitter. There is a slow increase to the climax and the teenagers slowly start to uncover something peculiar about they're parents.

Firstly, they wonder why no photographs have never been taken every time they go away even though they're parents take photos of everything! They have never met the other part of their family and their parents never really speak of them. When one of the teenagers asked how her parents met they say 'oh darling its a long story but it was very romantic, ill give your father that' and nothing more is ever said. They come together and speak about their parents. They both have their suspicions.

The story reveals clues and revelations about the strange parents and they find out that their parents actually belong to a clan that sacrifice their children to satan and the two teenagers are disgusted and they follow their parents to the clan meeting area. Theres a chase, a murder and a scream. the shots will be confused and messed up. The audience wont know what is going on until the end when they see the older teenager, the boy, holding a knife and looking broken.

Individual Storyline

Individual Storyline Idea

The film starts out with am extreme close up of the male character's closed eye. Whilst this is going on there are quick cut shots of strange happenings like fights, screams and shots of the rest of the characters running all from the shot of either POV or long shot. The pace of these shots gets a lot quicker, builds up in sounds of white noise and then it cuts off, the shot is then silent, flicking back to the eye, which then opens and stares into the camera.
We then see a 2 girls, sat outside on a door step outside a house, with big bags made for camping or a journey. They are deeply conversing when the topic of conversation switches to the 3rd girl that we haven't met as of yet. Girl 1 makes the point that she doesn't really know the girl but she does seem nice. Although she is a tad odd and tends to stare at her quite weirdly. Girl 2 laughs and reminds the other girl that she doesn't know her like she does, and reveals to the audience that she was her best friend when they were growing up, she did have a weird family, especially her brother but they were never horrid to her. Girl 1 agrees that she'll be nice to her, but she still thinks there's something weird about her, a car horn then sounds. We then cut to a shot of the car pulling up, and the third girl opens the passenger door and waves at them to come and get in the car. Girl 1 looks over at Girl 2 as they pick up their bags and mouths to her "Is that her mum?" To which Girl 2 replies with a nod and whispers "She is a bit weird, but be nice" The girls put their bags in the boot and get in the back seat of the car. The girls both greet girl 3 and her mother. The mother smiles politely, but her full face is never revealed and looks at the girls shiftily in the rear view mirror. To which girl 1 and 2 look at each other and shyly snigger. They arrive at the edge of a woods after a journey of a while. They get out of the car and thank the mother, she doesn't reply. After the 3rd girl gets out of the car, the mother drives off quickly without saying goodbye.
The shot cuts later when the girls are in the woods and the girls have found a place to which they have set up 2 tents, and attempted to make a small camp fire that is providing most of the light as it is getting later. Girl 2 goes off to find more twigs for the fire and looks at Girl 1 to hint to speak to her. Girl 1 tries to make conversation and asks about Girl 3's family, to which she angers her resulting in her shouting and throwing her soup all over the floor and storming away leaving Girl 1 alone. Girl 2, whilst the third girl is missing, starts to hear noises and breathing around her and runs back to the camp. She gets back to the camp and doesn't mention anything to Girl 1 at the camp. She then asks about the other girl and tells Girl 1 to go and look for her. She does this and finds a little shack with lights on in it, thinking she might be in there. You hear footsteps coming towards her and then her slightly scream and it goes off.

My Individual Storyline

Individual Storyline for movie:

People working in my group are Jodie, Annie and Saul.
I think a good title for our film would be 'I only wanted friendship'. I want our film to be interesting, but very creepy and jumpy, and also have a big twist at the end. I think it would be a good idea that if us three girls were best friends, we did everything together. The first minute or so would show our friendship, and how close we were, such as us shopping, on the phone, talking about boys, and other girly things. After that, Saul would be introduced to everyone, as one of our boyfriends. He was very smitten with whoever he went out with but he was a little over protective. One of the girls don't really like Saul as she thinks that the girl is pushing her friends out. After a while, things start to go wrong, people in the girls family start to go missing, and no one knows who it is that is taking them. People would think that it is Saul because of the way he comes across to us, so there would be screenshots that make him out to be the one taking it. Saul's girlfriend splits up with him because she is dealing with too much. In the end it ends up being one of the girls. She has been lying about herself and turns out to be a psychopath. No one ever knew about her, that she was a little bit crazy. She starts to turn mad and starts to kill Saul one night when he is walking on himself home. Because she never really got along with him, she didn't want anyone to interfere with her friendship with the other girls. As she kills Saul, a few days later, she starts to chase the other girls, as she kills one, she captures the other and there would be a close up on the crazy girls face talking to her, and she whispers 'I only wanted friendship' and as she goes to stab her you hear a faint scream coming from the room that they are in and then the title would come up. There are a lot of quick cuts, that switch to each of their faces, so it is very fast paced. The title of the 'I only wanted friendship' would be in red, which symbolises blood and danger. The music would be very upbeat, and leading to the ending. It would build up tension, so that when you are watching, you are very nervous for what is going to happen. Everything in the beginning would be really bright colours, to symbolise happiness, and then when everything goes wrong, there is a lot of dark colours and darkness, to make it more scary.

horror movie posters

Horror Movie Posters:
SCRE4M:
This is the poster for 'scream 4'. You can tell that this is a horror movie because his face is shaped like a sharp knife, and this is what he probably kills people with. Also the colours of the black and metallic grey represent darkness and darkness is linked with horror movies a lot. The red from the '4' represents blood and danger. Also the person doesn't really have a face because it is more mysterious to be hidden under a mask. From the facial expression that they are pulling, you can't forget what they look like.

THE EYE: You can tell that this is a horror movie because of the cold chilling colours represented in this poster. The boldness of the eye and how open it is, stays in your mind. It is also a little creepy that there is someones hand coming out of the eye, so this movie isn't normal.

IT: You can tell that this is a horror movie because most children don't like clowns, and this one looks extremely scary, especially with its hands looking like sharp gremlins fingers. This contrasts with the other posters because of how its bright colours are made to look scary. The facial expression of the clown is disturbing, it looks like it is having fun but about to come and get you so watch out. The colour of the red in the title and how bold it is represents danger and death. The clown doesn't look like a normal clown, it looks very sinister and evil. It's face is very bold and bright so you won't forget it. How it is creeping over the edge of the teared paper shows that things are not right.




I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE: Straight away you know that this is a horror movie, because of the weapon that the girl is holding, and it looks like it is stained with blood, so we know that there is some killing in this movie. The title is also red again so this represents blood, danger and death. The fact that her face is hid in the darkness and you can only see a few of her features, and her blood stained hands, then this shows that she is mysterious, she could maybe be the killer in this movie. Her stare pierces at the camera, it makes you feel chilling, as if she is coming for you. The caption 'it's date night' is making something innocent to be scary.

Examples of Similar Genre Films

Examples of Twisted/Psychological Horror:

Audition:

This is a Japanese horro from 1999 that achieved the title in 2003 as 'History's Sickest Film'. The films graphic nature and gory scene really do give it the run for its title. This film is good to look into as a comparison to the type of horror films that we are wanting to create. We are wanting to create a film that is twisted, jumpy and is also a twist and messes with your head. This is a good example as it puts you in the position of the killer which messes with your head.

The Devils Rejects:

This is the 2005 sequel to the Rob Zombie film House of 1000 Corpses. This film is a good film to look into for our movie idea because the film is also very twisted. It shows the killings from the killers point of view and because of the way that it's filmed you almost side with the killers. This is a good relation to the kind of twisted movie we want to make because it makes you question who's side you're on and your own morals.

IT:

This film is the definition of a psychological thriller. It's a film that plays on the characters previous years and past events and plays on their fears to scare them to death! The film is set out skipping between between past and present which is a good idea as it messes with the audiences mind and makes them as unstable as the characters as. The unstability adds to the tension of the film, creating an easy atmosphere adding to the psychologically uneasy atmosphere that the film is trying to present.

Scream 4:

The plot for this film is practically the ideal plot line for the kind of horror film that we want to do. We like the idea that someone who you didn't expect was in on the entire plot which adds on to the tension and the excitement of the story. The twist adds so much more character and personality to the story line and grasps in the audience by giving them a twist and something that they didn't think about through out the story. This is a good element to have because this could entertain the audience and give them something they didn't expect and to make the film stand out.

The Amityville Horror:

This is a twisted horror based on true events. I think that we could use the ideas from this because most of the shots are quite dark and this definitely adds to the tension of the story as it creates the eerie atmosphere that sets the scene and already creates the feeling of being scared, the 'edge of your seat' feeling. Also, the film sets itself in a normal family based situation to create a feeling of comfort, but then is affective because it breaks down that idea of normality when the father figure of the family, the power of the family, turns insane and tries to kill the rest of the family. This is effective and could be useful because it really does mess with the audience emotions, like a psychological thriller/horror that we want to create. We want to mess with the emotions of the audience and create a high tension atmosphere that leaves them guessing who's side they are on.

Horror film history

History of the first horror films

It is believed that 'Le manoir du diable' was the first ever horror movie made. The title means 'the house of the devil' and it's a 2 minute video containing Methistopheles summoning ghosts and gouls. There is an ongoing argument that is that another horror film, the execution of Mary Stuart, was also the first horror film. This is just a 18 second film of Mary Stuart being executed. Both films were estimated to have been filmed in 1895-1896.



The first ever full length horror film was a german film and was made in 1920. This film was called 'The Golem' and it is about a Jew that creates a clay monster to save other jews from persecution. Although this is the first full length horror film, the first one in America was the classic story 'Frankenstein' and it was filmed in 1931 and this was based on Mary Shelley's novel. The film was classed as horror purely because it involves a non-human monster that likes to eat people and ruin lives. Although me and my group do not wish to involve a monster in our film we do think that anything we want to do is achievable by knowing about Frankenstein.

Woman In Black

Woman In Black My second trailer of choice is the Women In Black. I have chosen this horror movie as its genre is the same as outs, as phycological horror. Features such as extreme close ups and and the charming eery wind up toy effect, I feel should be included in our film, as it exaggerated the tension, and creates an unsettling atmosphere. I also like the props used in the trailer such as old wooden dolls, and ratty chairs. I feel due us being an artistic group we can create some props similar to what is used, this could be a key feature to our film. I also admire the setting of this film, although it may be difficult to find an alone and abandoned house in the middle of a swamp,I feel confident that we could find something with the same unsettling atmosphere. As far as shots are concerned, I really admire some of the establishing shots used, as they really set the scene and produce the dis equilibrium. Other shots i hope to use include the point of view shot, and extreme close ups.

Alien (1979)

I have chosen Alien (1979) as it has a similar genre to what we are aiming for. The sound tracks and effects are a good reference for us to take inspiration from as heart beat, and phycological screaming may be included in our own film. In addition, many of the shots used in the trailer we are able to use in ours. for example, some of the tracking shots with rhythmic editing building up to a cresendo to create suspense and tension. this is exactly what we are aiming for. Make-up and dress style also look achievable if we are wanting to include them in our film, as it is mainly casual, and sweat, we could substitute for oily water.