Analyses of Vampire Horror Film Scripts

Shadow of the Vampire (2000);

http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/Shadow_of_the_Vampire.pdf

The layout of the script is formatted in the a shooting script layout; (The term shooting script is the script with scenes arranged in order in which they will be filmed in movie's or TV programmes .This definition has been taken from dictionary.com)  for Shadow of the Vampire seems to be very simple yet effective, but includes a lot of text which at times may confuse the person who is reading it. This is due to the different conventions that have been used. 
The use of Scene Headings makes it easier for the actors and directors to know what part they are reading and it also helps organise the layout. These can be scene from the use of either Interior or Exterior, the time of day, and the setting. This is included as we can see that with a new scene, the producer has used "EXT. MEDIEVAL CITY-- DAY". This gives a quick image of what is about to happen and where. 

Throughout this script, the use of Narrative has been very important as it shows how the character is supposed to be feeling or acting. Even though we cannot visually see what is written on the script in the movie or TV programme, the way it is acted out gives us the idea. "ALBIN GRAU, producer and art director, walks over: late thirties, something of an Aesthete." This is not scene unless the actors are seen acting out. 

Dialogue is important written on the script and when it is being said whilst recording, as without this is the audience will have no idea what is going on. However in silent films, there would be no use of dialogue, however there scripts will be full of descriptive analysis. When the actors are speaking, the dialogue written is bought in to the middle of the page, in order to show that, that is what is being said. This makes it less confusing, as all of the bits that need to be acted out are written to the left. 

Representation of Young Women is horror films.

Representations of the two genders, male and female have been seen as very stereotypical in society, especially in the different forms of media, ranging form tv shows/dramas to films or magazines. Men are seen to be the more dominant and heroic ones, whereas women are seen to be the weaker sex in any form. 

In horror films women are usually represented as the ones who are powerless and who need to be saved from the killer and the ones who usually have no idea with what is going on around them. Or either the cause of trouble. This shows how conventional the horror genre is, in order of gender. Due to this, women are the ones who are seen to be attacked and killed first in the films, especially young blonde females. We can see this from the horror film, Scream (1996) which within the first 10 minutes sees the death of a female character, resulting from her not co-operating with the killer. This connotes how men are physically and emotionally stronger then women, representing inequality between the two. It shows that they are the dominating gender, which many feminists would disapprove. In comparison to this, in Jennifer's Body the main character is a young female who is completely opposite to the general stereotypical view of women in horror films. She is the dominating character who kills people especially men. 

In some films, the killer or the bad guy usually goes out for a women, but then doesn't kill her because of there feminine use. Therefore, women are also seen as sex objects. This shows that in horror films, they are seen to be the beautiful ones whereas the men are the gruesome frightening ones. This can be seen 70s film, Vampira, from the characters look, (skinny waist yet very curvy) she was seen as the beautiful young women. It can also be seen in Sorority Row where there are 4 beautiful young women who are the sufferers of a horrible prank that goes wrong.

However, the roles of women changed as the ways the were being portrayed. By the late 90's, women were seen to be more of the female protagonists  who often had unisex names. An example this can be scene in the horror, Scream with its main character called Sidney. This could've been done purposely to tell the audience, that the main protagonist is not full female, and that she could have strong features as male protagonists would. It also connotes that the use of unisex names are done in order for the film to relate to both genders of the target audience. 

Directors.

Action/Adventure-
Christopher Nolan; he is known for creating blockbusters such as the Batman trilogy and Inception. He started of making low budget films but then went onto bigger and better things.

Justin Lin; he is known for making high action films such as most of The Fast and The Furious films.

Brett Ratner; He is known for directing films such as the Rush Hour Trilogy and is known for directing the pilot episode of the TV Drama, Prison Break. This shows that he has a variety of ways in order to film which engages the audience for its genre.


Horror-
 Christopher Gans; he is a French director who specializes in horror and fantasy films. In a way these two have completely different conventions but shows how different his directing ways are appreciated. His most well known horror film is Silent Hill.







Jaume Collet-Serra;  He is a Spanish director and is well known for the remake of House of Wax and The Orphan.










John Carpenter; he is a well known American director who has directed films for many different genres, but the ones for Horror stand out the most. His work for Halloween and Escape from New York were seen as one of the best. 

Master Shot.

I missed the first two lessons of Media, but got to review Farhana, Muna and Humaira's Master Shot piece  From this I learnt what a master shot was and how it could be used in various forms. It also showed me that filming continuously for one shot saves a lot of time, and is very quick whilst editing.