FILM ANALYSIS: Pearl (2022)

FILM ANALYSIS: PEARL (2022)

dir. Ti West 

BBFC 15 , MPAA R 

Opening Length: 6 minutes

Budget: $1 million 

Box Office: $9.7 million

Theatrical Distribution: US and Canada only

Production Company: Mad Solar Productions, Little Lamb Productions

Distributor: A24, Universal

Synopsis: In 1918, a young woman on the brink of madness pursues stardom in a desperate attempt to escape the drudgery, isolation and lovelessness of life on her parents' farm. (IMDB)

LINKS: wikipedia , imdb, boxoffciemojo, artofthetitle

Trailer: 

.......

Possible Influences For My Film: The slasher genre, killing methods.                                  

Companies/Idents: 

The idents for the companies are shown. They all last between 8 seconds, and are silent. This is very unconventional, as typically idents vary in length, and always contain non-diegetic music, or an audio-bridge. 

Opening Shot: 

The opening shot is an ELS of a dark barn door. The darkness creates narrative enigma, as there is some light coming through the windows and cracks. The shot tightens as the camera zooms in, and the barn doors then open. The ELS is conventional, as it is also known as an establishing shot, and gives information about the narrative. However, it is unconventional to have such a dark opening shot. 

Titles: 

The first title (A24) appears on a black background with white letters to make it stand out. The title font is used for the company, and a sans-serif capitalised font is used for the linking words. The same is seen in the second production title, but the text appears over the opening shot. 

The cursive font signifies the primarily female target audience, as well as being an intertextual reference to the technicolour films of 1940s America, specifically The Wizard of Oz, 1939.

The remainder of the titles are centrally framed, and appear over the opening sequence. There is an effect on them where the letters appear one by one, which gives an analog and vintage effect.

The main title appears 6 minutes into the sequence, and is a freeze-frame of Pearl feeding a dead goose to a crocodile, which is foreshadowing for the remainder of the film. The title covers the majority of the screen and is centrally framed, with a fade to black to continue to the remainder of the film, and signify the end of the opening sequence. 

Mise-En-Scene/First Five Shots:

The ELS of the farm exterior reveals exposition of the previously built up narrative enigma. The house and machinery seem dated, placing the setting in the past. 

There is a panning shot at a close-up showing an old black and white family photo, further reinforcing the past setting. The photograph is of the protagonist and her parents, and denotes the close bond between the family. The panning continues around the room, revealing small details about the protagonist. 

Here, the pan has ended at a medium shot of the protagonist looking at herself in the mirror. Exposition is immediately revealed here and the dress anchors the film as a period piece. She is wearing a stereotypically feminine pink and lace dress of the time, and has her long brown hair tied up in 

ribbons. She wears no makeup or jewellery, which denotes the simple life she lives on the farm. 

The lights abruptly go off and then turn back on, showing her dancing in a dark room in front of the mirror. The use of light here emphasises the protagonist, and symbolises her love of performing and dancing. 

The lights then turn back on and there is a panning shot to the door, where her mother walks in. This over the shoulder shot denotes conflict and tension due to the distance of the characters. Binary opposition is seen, as the pink and feminine dress of the protagonist, is juxtaposed by the structured grey and modest outfit  of her mother. She also has her hair tied back, but this is seen as a practical measure rather than a conscious fashion choice, like her daughter. 

Sound: 

There is a bright orchestral soundtrack playing with many strings, that intertextually references the technicolour productions of the 1940s. When the barn doors open, and the lights turn back on in the mirror this music increases and conveys the dramatic narrative. Once the protagonist is seen, the strings quite down and wind instruments are heard, and sound more sinister. When the door opens, the sound of a vinyl scratching is heard, and the music abruptly stops, signifying that the illusion is over. 

Film Analysis: Cherry Falls (2000)

FILM ANALYSIS: Cherry falls (2000)

dir. Geoffrey Wright

BBFC 15/18 , MPAA R 

Opening Length: 11 minutes

Budget: $14 million 

Box Office: n/a 

Theatrical Distribution: European only, US TV movie

Production Company: Rogue Pictures, Good Machine, Industry Entertainment

Distributor: USA Films, October Films

Synopsis: In the small town of Cherry Falls, a psychotic murderer is killing off the virgins of the local high school. (IMDB)

LINKS: wikipedia , imdb

Trailer: 

.......

Possible Influences For My Film: The flipping of final girl/scream queen tropes. The use of a female serial killer wanting revenge, the opening sequence.                                  

Companies/Idents: 

This was the only ident shown, as one of the production companies. The ident only lasted 5 seconds, which is unconventional and very short for a main ident in a film. 

The use of a single ident is unusual, especially considering the time of filming and co-financing of the project. 

Opening Shot: 

The first shot is an Extreme Long Shot (ELS) of a spire. This framing is conventional as films often open with an ELS or establishing shot, to set the scene. 

Titles:

There are no titles before the opening shot excluding the ident. The title of the film is seen 4 minutes in, to transition to the main part. The font connotes a gothic and eerie style, and the white connotes innocence and purity, an interesting contrast against the dark background.

The lack of names or other idents is highly unconventional, and could be due to the straight to DVD format of the film. 

Mise-En-Scene/ First Five Shots: 

This ELS provides exposition of the town. The covered sign is a small detail perhaps connoting the hiding of town secrets. The picturesque, bright setting is unconventional for the opening of a slasher film. 

The shot of the sun setting further creates a sense of peace, as well as creating an ellipse to transition into the night. 

The shots and sounds of nature and water are typical for a slasher, as they conventionally take place in a forest or isolated location. The cryptic shots build up narrative enigma as well. 

The lighting slowly transitions to dark and the reflection of the water continues the unsettling atmosphere. 

The full moon has connotations of the supernatural, magic and horror. This ends the sequence and the pitch black shows the change of timing into night. 

Sound: 

There is an audio-bridge of instruments with a wailing song. This creates a gothic atmosphere and contrasts the bright opening images. This is amplified by the diegetic sound of the church bells and water. Once it becomes dark, the music quickly switches to a fast paced track matched with the drawn out wailing from before, creating contrast and discomfort for the viewer. There is a voice-over of a conversation, and the character is introduced around 10 seconds later, further building up the narrative enigma and suspense. 

Film Analysis: Heathers (1988)

Film Analysis: Heathers (1988)

Michael Lehmann (1988)

BBFC 18 , MPAA R 

Opening Length: 11 minutes

Budget: $3 million 

Box Office: $1,1 million (US)

Re-Release: $55,000 (UK)

Theatrical Distribution: US only

Production Company: Cinemarque Entertainment

Distributor: New World Pictures

Synopsis: At Westerburg High, where cliques rule, jocks dominate and all the popular girls are named Heather, it's going to take Veronica and a mysterious new kid to give teen angst a body count. (IMDB)

LINKS: wikipedia , IMDB , Box Office Mojo, art of the title

Trailer: 

.......

Possible Influences For My Film: I like the dark comedy genre and the "accidental killings" of the film rather than murder like in most horror. I also think the idea of a clique, wearing matching costumes could be an interesting idea.                                         

Companies/Idents: 

This was the only ident shown, as the distributor. The ident only lasted 20 seconds, which is conventional for a main ident in a film. 

The use of a single ident is unusual, however as this film is from the 80s it was common to only show one ident at that time. 

Opening Shot: 

The first shot is a Close-Up (CU) of a girl tying her hair with a scrunchie. This tight framing is unconventional as films usually open with an Extreme Long Shot (ELS) to reveal as much exposition as possible. This opening does the opposite, as it doesn't give much exposition and builds up narrative enigma (Barthes). 

Titles:

The titles before the opening shot show the production and distribution company first. The linking words between them are in a separate font and case, to highlight the companies, which is a title convention. 

The font used for the names is uppercase and uses white and pink/red. These colours have a feminine connotation, which shows the primary target audience for the film. This could also be seen as satire or humour from the director. 

The first two names that appear, Winona Ryder and Christian Slater, play the two protagonists, and as they are A-List actors of the time, the audience will be able to identify the protagonists easily.

The remainder of the titles continue in the conventional way, and don't highlight anyone else specifically. 

They are also on the side of the screen, further showing their importance. 

The main title of the film, also in the same font and style. The use of cursive connotes sophistication and the sentence case creates a more casual effect. The title is in the centre of the screen and in the largest font size, showing its importance. 

Mise-En-Scene/ First Five Shots: 

The garden is clearly presented with the flowers, furniture. The flowers surrounding them cleverly shows their isolation. Three characters are introduced. The marble statues and croquet connote sophistication and wealth. 

The shot of the girls stepping on the flowers is a well shown metaphor for their disregard of others, exposing a lot about their personalities. The croquet is also anchored here.

The shot tracks the girls walking from behind a tree. This angle gives a voyeuristic feel. The statue further anchors wealth, as well as the vast garden. This shot shows the three girls wearing distinctively differing clothing, and showing them as individuals. 

This shot shows the clear colour distinctions of the girls and their separate identities within the group. Their synchronised steps also show their group mentality. Using a Close-Up (CU) of their feet also builds up the narrative enigma. 

The final shot of the sequence finally reveals the characters, giving a shot of their clothing and faces. This reveals exposition on the characters after the build up of the previously cryptic shots. 

Sound: 

The audio-bridge is very light and airy, giving a lighthearted effect. The song and singer are very light and connote a church choir. The lyrics are also of an Italian song, connoting wealth and using Bordieu's cultural capital to create a reference. The first diegetic sound heard is of the girls stepping on the flowers, a clever choice from the director to foreshadow and represent their personalities. 

Film Opening Re-Pitch

Since my initial pitch, I have made the following changes: 

- Working with Sasha and combining our ideas together.

- Using slasher genre conventions and archetypes (binary opposition of final girl and scream queen).

- Creating a clique rather than only one girl.

- Having a prank gone wrong rather than a revenge film.

- Changing the narrative to remove crowded or public spaces such as a church.  

Working Title: GobStopper 

Genre: We decided to combine horror and teen rom com for our film. We were inspired by the films Heathers (1988), Jennifers Body (2009) and Jawbreaker (1999). 

Synopsis: A group of girls decide to prank their friend on the night before her birthday by kidnapping her. They accidentally kill her, and the rest of the film follows them covering up their tracks with the scream queen dying at the end to pay for her crime. 

Opening: The film starts with a flashback of the girl being murdered, with exposition being given through the use of missing posters and radio voiceover. It then cuts to two girls kidnapping their friend, the scream queen killing her using a gobstopper, while the final girl tries to stop her. They realise she's dead and quickly attempt to dispose the body, forgetting to properly cover up their tracks while burying her in the forest. To transition to the main film, they are seen in school the next day talking of the crime. 

Audience: Our primary audience would be females aged 15-24+, and our secondary is male and female aged 25-44+

Setting/Location: Our sets would be the girls room (exposition and keeping to teen audience), the school (teen audience) especially the lockers (false scare). The forest would be used for the digging/burial scene and the car would be used for a boot shot. 

Costume: Our costumes are mainly inspired by Heathers (1988) with the colour theme and matching skirts or bows, we also want to create a teen movie feel so we would replicate the styles they used at the time. 

Props: Our main props would be a shovel, a gobstopper and schoolbooks. We would try and keep the props limited and focus on the mise-en-scene instead. 

After re-pitching we have decided to make the following changes: 

- include a stalking scene (slasher convention and false scare)

- include a party as a plot point 

- use missing posters instead of a radio voiceover

- blur the roles of final girl and scream queen by having the final girl die first instead

- create narrative enigma (Barthes) with the burial scene and not explicitly show her friends burying her 

- not use a gobstopper but have her drink being poisoned (easier to shoot) 

Film Analysis: Jawbreaker (1999)

 FILM ANALYSIS: Jawbreaker (1999)

dir. Darren Stein

BBFC 15 , MPAA R 

Opening Length: 4 minutes

Budget: $3.5 million 

Box Office: $3.1 million 

Theatrical Distribution: international, 19 territories

Production Company: TriStar Pictures, Kramer-Tornell Productions, Crossroad Films

Distributor: Sony Pictures Releasing

Synopsis: Three of the most popular girls at Reagan High accidentally kill the prom queen with a jawbreaker when a kidnapping goes wrong. (IMDB)

LINKS: wikipedia , imdb, art of the title, boxofficemojo

Trailer: 

............................

Possible Influences For My Film: The use of a clique, the killing method, the outfits and locker decor, the school setting, the stepping over books.                              

Companies/Idents: 

This was the only ident shown, which is conventional as it is the production company. The ident only lasted 5 seconds, which is unconventional and very short for the main ident in a film. 

Opening Shot: 

The first shot is an Extreme Long Shot (ELS) of a school corridor. This framing is conventional as films often open with an ELS or establishing shot, to set the scene. There is a voiceover detailing exposition of the scene and the characters that are going to appear. 

Titles:

The production, distribution, and director titles appear before the main title, and the linking words are in cursive, which the names are capitalised and in a sans-serif font. The cursive is a typical denotation of femininity, which works well as the primary target audience for the film is teenage girls. The titles appear and disappear with a s swirling effect, which matches the swirling of the sugar being mixed for the jawbreakers. 

The main title of the film is seen 4 minutes in, to transition to the main film. The colouring and effect on the title is similar to that of a jawbreaker, and the cursive font is used again, and connotes femininity. The black background and effect of jawbreakers matches the title well, and separates the title sequence from the opening, showing a clear transition.

Mise-En-Scene/ First Five Shots: 

This shot immediately reveals exposition about the characters. There is a voice-over describing them, which also gives exposition about them. They have a similar appearance and clothing style, but are distinct in the colours and varied, giving them the sense of a "clique", while also revealing their individual personalities. The school corridor is a relatable location for the primarily targeted teen audience. 

The stereotypical nerd is seen appearing. She is dressed in muted colours and is more modest, creating binary opposition within the characters in the scene. 

The characters personalities are revealed as they do not help the nerd and step over her. This denotes them as the popular "prom queen" archetype.

However, one of the girls stops and helps her, and this is emphasised as the shot tightens into a MLS. There is still binary opposition within the two characters (conservative vs exposed, muted brown vs bright pink, long loose hair vs short ponytail). This shot signifies that the pink member of the clique is different to the others and is kind and caring. This is a counter-typical representation of a popular girl in a clique. 

There is an ELS of the exterior of a house. This house is large, detached, has a big garden, many windows, and multiple floors. This reveals exposition about the characters and signifies them as wealthy.  

Sound: 

There is no audio-bridge over the idents, but there is a black screen with an initial voice-over that then transitions into the opening shot. Once the girls appear they are named as the "fabulous four" and described individually, revealing exposition to the audience immediately. It also accompanies the shots as when the pink girls is seen helping the nerd, the voice-over calls her "special", anchoring the preferred reading (Hall). For the main titles, a rock soundtrack with female vocals plays, conventional of teen films of the time, but once again appealing to the primary target of a teen female audience.