Assignment5:film study &convention in a film (partner task)Person 1 (Helen)Person 2 (Fatou)

The Unborn (Horror)

Target : Colour choice : yellow

The things we have to do are : Exploration Film of choice and reasoning Genre Subgenre Hybrid Stam’s theory Mittel’s theory Semantics Syntax Conventions list of genre in relation to all films Conventions analysis Dominant ideology Audience Audience theory

Exploration of film

Choice of Film and reason We chose the movie, ‘The Unborn’ because it has a good amount of sub genres and hybrids within it. The fact

that its horror added with different elements that emphasises the horrific

and brutality that is included in the movie.

Genre The main genre for this

film is horror. Evidence to show this, is

that throughout the movie there were graphic imagery, that were quite horrifying to set your eyes on. Also there were scenes that could leave you feeling disgusted and scarred, because of such deep context. For example in the unborn, there is a scene where the grandmother is running away from one old man who is possessed with an evil spirit trying to kill her.

Subgenre of the unborn Psychological horror is subgenere of the unborn film because relies on the character fears, guilt, beliefs,

sound effects, relevant music and emotional instability to build tension . You can see here how really scared she is by her facial expression and her body language .

Supernatural is subgenre in the film of the unborn because it combine element of religion into plot. Common themes in supernatural horror film in the unborn are devil ,ghosts and demons.

This is an orderly person however in side this person’s body there is and demon that why this person is being un orderly.

Teen is one of the subgenre of the unborn that revolves completely around a teenager or a group of

teenagers. Mostly have a hero or heroine, however the main girl in the film of the unborn is a heroine .

The laptop is more associated with teenager therefore she is a teenager.

Her body language tell that she is a teenager .

Hybrid Hybrid

Mystery - the unborn has an element of mystery because during the movie there are parts that very mysterious and keeps you questioning yourself on what it is that's lurking about or disturbing the peace, to the audience and also to the characters in the film.

Thriller - the unborn also has an element of thriller, because during the course of the film, there are such fast pace parts that keep your eyes on screen, not wanting to remove them. The thrill keeps you anticipated and on the edge of your seat, making you want to see more and more.

Stam theory Stam’s theory says that genre is not so easily defined under the ‘main genres’ but can be

classified in other ways such as budget .Ethnicity focus or performer based. In the film of the unborn there are more then one of the main genres. There is a pure horror with

in the film however there are other subgenres like the Psychological, supernatural and teenage horror which they come together which create there own conventions and code in the film therefore the audience would like it because it is not too predictable. Another way which to classify the unborn as romance as it have love relationship in the film .Gothic which involves psychological terror in historically ,romance setting ,there is mysteries ghost ,madness . Thriller there are such fast pace parts that keep your eyes on the screen, not wanting to remove them.

Romance mysteries Thriller

Mittel theory Mittel’s theory argues that

industries use genre to sell products to audiences. This relates to the genre in ways such as selling books, selling films/DVD’s and sometimes for the audience in gets turned into a theatre. Also they can sell such products like toys, clothes etc.. That are fit for the genre

Semantics of the unborn Semantics How these are evident in the

film (in a relation to its genre/subgenre/hybrid

Characters Lead/main character, victim(survivor), villain,demon,family and friends .The creepy child .

Locations Country roads-associated with creepy looking animals and trees.

Story traits For the girl to be free to kill the demon that is hunting her down and her loved ones.

Costumes The ghost inside the little boy was wearing old clothes which are dirty however the other character with in the film were dressed normally .

Props Religious symbols and symbols of supernatural. Weapons.

Syntax the unborn The syntax of the unborn film is to pleasures the audience watching the film as they

will associate the pure horror with in the film which would entertain them .This happen in the movie when the girl is in the room by herself and she can hear noise however as soon as she think it stopped she walked away. When hear the noise again she went to check and she saw the demon .This immediately grab the audience attentions .

When she hear the noise again She goes to check on it she Turn around to see what it is. she see a little boy in the mirror.

Usually we expect to see the potential happy family to move in a "murdered" zoned house. Then whilst they get settled we see that the enigmas begin to encounter, whether its a deranged killer back from the past, or a haunted past coming back to victimise the new family. This all usually ends up tragically in most of the people dying and maybe only one of them surviving. Most of the time there are twists and turns to the usual plot.

Tone the unborn The lighting in this picture, is quite gloomy and fairly dark but not

too dark. This creates an eerily feel to it, the mood seems to be quite mysterious and suspicious, making you feel as if something bad is about to happen, the anticipation to know what happens next, the lighting matches the mood. This reflects back to our genre because When you find that something bad is about to happen, it's frightening and usually gruesome, leaving you too feel disgusted and sickened.Fast pace music for tense scenes or action scenes when the main girl

is by herself the fast pace music start suggesting that something is going to happen.

Convention list of that genre/subgenre/hybrid Conventions of genre/sub/hybrid

Examples from range of real films

Victims (cowers in front of a window or door)

Scream

Investigating(strange noise )

The ring

Build up of tensions The others

Isolated setting Saw

evil/ghost /demon The unborn

Violence The underworld

Vulnerable teenagers I know what you did last summer

Convention analysisConventions of genre /sub/hybrid

Examples from your film

Comparison to other films in the same genre/sub/hybrid

Point of view In the beginning she sees a glove and changes to her point of view to see what it is

Paranormal Activity – When the man films from his point of view

Religion When she gets an exorcism performed

The Exorcist – They also perform an exorcism

Supernatural/Beyond the Dead

The Twin Brother who wasn’t born, that comes back to haunt and kill

The Ring – A girl watches a tapes and the phone rings informing her that shes going to die in 7 days

Dominant ideology Dominant ideology Example/evidence from film

Disgusting Creature Disgusting creatures an example of this in the unborn film is when the girl is in the toilet in there was an small unknown creatures that were trying to eat her and also when the woman tune in to a monster.

Danger /killer The killer is mostly to be a dangers person and the fact they never die for example the demon inside the little boy’s body.

Monster Monster in a horror film most people expect to see a monster in a every horror film its their belief to be whit in the film .In the unborn film there are people that change into monsters

Audience The film “The Unborn” is for a mass

audience, because its mainstream and would attract a lot of people to watch the film; it also aims for what the audience want to see. Its also familiar and recognisable for a mass audience.

Audience

Details of audience Target audience Secondary audience Explanation of why they would be attracted watching the film

Age 15-24 25-34 Because it offers curiosity which is accompanied with real fear

Gender Male Female Horror offers extreme violence and a bit of sex

Ethnicity White, Black Asian, Latino, Indian, Because of ethnicity roles that are played

Social Class Working and middle class Upper Class They want to see how their class is portrayed in the film

Social Group Religious People Goths Because of the religious context in the film

Sexual Orientation Straight Homosexual They want to see how their sex is portrayed

Profession/Role Student Teachers Because of how much it focuses on students

Audience theory (Mcquail )

Reasons why people watch the film

Explanation

Entertainment

People may watch the film ‘ the unborn’ to entertain them for example when the character is in pain might give them a creepy feeling and put them at the edge of their seat which people find exciting and fun.

Information People can watch a film to inform them what’s happening it can be different things ,however, in the film of ‘the unborn’ is mostly to inform them about spiritual/religion world how the demon come back and try to live in another persons body and kills everyone in that member of family. From the film the main girl grandmother said “they like our family blood”.

Personal identity A film that is hard hitting make you realise that as a person or an individual you can help that experience severe poverty by watching documentary . In the unborn the girl never new her grandmother this might have a reflect on the audience .