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Coraline Analysis
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Recommended: Coraline Analysis
Coraline is a movie about a girl who learns to be brave and overcome her fears. It is based on the book which was written by Neil Gaiman and published in 2002. This movie is written and directed by Henry Selick, famous for his Nightmare before Christmas movie. Henry Selick has used many tried and tested horror techniques to build suspense. It was released in 2009 to reasonably favourable reviews.
Coraline’s normal world is very dull thereby leading the viewers to think that it is dull. When she enters the Other World for the first time it seems very bright and happy especially when compared to her real world. This makes the audience think that Coraline seems better off in the Other World. However, as she slowly starts to see what the Other World is really like, the Other World seems to get darker as it leads the reader to the climax, when Coraline faces off against the Other Mother. There is a scene in Coraline where the wallpaper peels up as she passes. This also adds the perception that the Other World is slowly being torn apart. When the camera’s perspective is from Coraline’s view it is always shaking, which creates suspense, tension and horror. Camera angles and colour are not the only thing that make a movie. Music is also a crucial factor of movies, especially horror movies.
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At many points in Coraline, the music is very upbeat even when the scene is very dark and scary. This contrast in emotional tone creates a very jarring feeling which builds suspense because the audience knows that something bad is going to happen. An example of this is the first scene in the movie when a haunting, joyful tune plays while the Coraline doll is being
Though complex and brilliantly written for its time, the plot of Alfred Hitchcock’s film, Vertigo, is only half of the genius behind it. Alfred Hitchcock’s unique presence as an auteur is truly what sets his films apart. There is symmetry to his shots that give the film an artistic feel, as if each frame were a painting. Many times, within this symmetry, Hitchcock places the characters in the center of the frame; or if not centered, then balanced by whatever else is adding density to the shot. For example, as Madeline sits and looks at the painting in the museum, there is a balance within the frame. To counter-act her position to the right of the painting, Hitchcock puts a chair and another painting on the left side, which is visually pleasing to the eye of the audience. The use of red and green not only adds a visual effect as well, but later serves as a clue that Madeline is not actually dead, when the women who looks like her is wearing a green dress.
The sound effects grabbed my attention and continued to make me yearn for what could come next. The sounds bring me to a place where I can’t help but believe in the situation that’s happening. The music heightens my mood and helps create illusion. For example, the first extraordinary sound technique I noticed that the filmmaker used was the echo effect. It was not only used to support the mood the characters were at, but also to express that idea of the ‘emptiness’ in them. This technique dominated the audio when I was taken to a story in the film of a boy who was 18 and poisoned by his own sister. Those are some of the dominant examples of sound usage throughout the movie The Poisoners Handbook. The entirety of the soundtrack is a solid cocoon for the film to stretch and grow
For example, Marlowe discovers that Geiger's books store was a smut book racket, the identity of Carmen's blackmailer and his murderer, what really happened to Eddie Mars's wife and the identity of Sean Regan's murderer. Nonetheless, the resulting fast paced plot engages the viewer. Unlike reading a novel, watching a movie involves one's auditory senses. In this case, music was carefully composed and selected to emphasize the confusion and rush. For example, fast paced music creates a feeling of tension and can be used to build suspense.
One of the techniques used to promote fear and suspense into the audience is the use of the music. This technique makes the audience afraid of the shark, whenever the theme song is played the audience is to expect another horrific attack from the deadly shark, which adds a lot of suspense and build-up to the scences following. Spielberg uses this particular sound to build-up the scene, such as in the beginning when the shark attacks the girl swimming. Spielberg uses this non-diegetic sound which is only heard by the audience, not by any of the characters in the film. A non-diegetic sound defined by film sound says, a sound neither visible on the screen nor has been implied to be prese...
These have been adapted from the early twentieth century, and have developed a whole series of genre conventions into a familiar variety of scary settings, iconography, and stereotyped characterisation. Audiences have a clear understanding of this, and they use it to their advantage. They can keep putting the audience through the jolts that horror conventions continue to give. An effective way of keeping the horror fresh would be to break the cycle, by breaking certain conventions. The isolated setting in the two films is a key device used to establish a threatening atmosphere.
Each camera angle has an explanation to how it wanted to make the viewer feel in each shot. The camera angles create a dramatic illusion that makes the audience feel they are in the movie. The beach scene is the most intense scene where different potent camera angles are shown. In
The films musical score alerts the viewer to an approaching attack of the shark and they automatically build this association with the music in their mind. Horror films often make use of high string instrument notes that irritate viewers and increase tension. Music plays an important role in film editing and the editor must choose its placement wisely to ensure its intended effect on the viewer’s mind and
...successful collaboration of sound, colour, camera positioning and lighting are instrumental in portraying these themes. The techniques used heighten the suspense, drama and mood of each scene and enhance the film in order to convey to the spectator the intended messages.
People flock to horror movies each year. Usually to be scared. Another is to solve the question of Who done it? Unfortunately, a lot of these horror movies fail to scare people or make the killer so obvious the audience gets bored. Occasionally, there are a few horror movies that stick out. Scream, directed by Wes Craven, is one of them. Wes Craven is always toying with the viewer's fears. Always finding ways to scare the audience at every turn. He also plays with the viewer's head, and has them second guessing themselves. How does he do it? Well, as one of the characters in the movie exclaims, "There's a formula to it. A very simple formula. Everybody's a suspect!" This paper will discuss how Craven uses sound, camera shots, and mise en scene
In the film, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, every time there was a close up of Augustus Gloop in the candy room, sinister music would play. This foreshadowed that something bad was going to happen to him in that room. It puts the viewer on edge and creates a mood of suspense because they don’t know what is going to happen. He also uses music to foreshadow events in the movie Edward Scissorhands. Every time Edward saw Kim happy, angelic music would play which foreshadowed that something would happen between them and also gave you a hint about his feelings towards her. Burton used music to show foreshadowing in the movie Dark Shadows as well. When Josette was walking toward the edge of the cliff suspenseful music played create a mood of suspense and fear that Barnabas wouldn’t make it in time and she would fall to her death. One of the many other cinematic techniques Burton often uses in his films is using lighting and color to show
Music can decipher a narrative event by indicating a perspective. To unify a set of diverse images and provide rhythmic and formal continuity and momentum, a film’s structure is more often than not, directly articulated by a musical structure. Music can assist the dialogue and visuals of film and often is inaudible (e.g. music is meant to be heard unconsciously, not consciously). Music has been used by directors to reinforce or strengthen certain weak scenes in film and then on the other hand when music is not needed to reinforce a scene
Sound is an extremely important element to a film. Music, the sound chosen in this scene, is categorized as non-diegetic, which means that the music is not in the story world. The directors use deep, dramatic, intense music when Nick is interrogating Judy about her speech. The music in the scene helps the audience feel the anxiousness that Judy is feeling towards predators, particularly Nick. As the music plays in the background, the intensity of the scene grows immensely. The directors use the music to help heighten the emotion during this encounter and reveal Judy’s inner fear of predators that gets the best of her in this
The film The Birds (1963), by Alfred Hitchcock, is a brilliant illustration of a horror film. The strategy of a horror film is to ensure that the audience will experience some type of suspense or terror. The use of the horror genre would be an appropriate method to present The Birds. True to the horror genre, the use of cinematography and sound were put to effective use for design of fear. Hitchcock uses a varied selection of camerawork to capture the fear and suspense which unfolds the subsequent horror provoked by the sight of a mere bird.
In essence, Coraline is presented to be the polar opposite of the typical quest structure. Coraline begins with an unhappy family, disruption in the form of desire (Coraline’s ideal happiness), and the return to Coraline’s world with significant character change. Not only does it contradict the typical quest structure, but also Coraline’s quest focuses on the character changing aspects of the quest. The coming of age quest is used to emphasize the changes Coraline goes through during the quest. As a final act of releasing her childhood, Coraline buries the hand of the other mother in the real world. Coraline finally cuts all connection with her childhood and the other world with this act.
There are thousands of movie composers in the music industry, a few who triumph and whose work is well known to almost half of the world. One example of that can be the famous Maestro John Williams. John Williams is the musician for Jaws, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Jurassic Park, E.T and lots more. But there is a piece which everyone recognizes, and that is the theme from the movie Jaws. Imagine Jaws without the music. People would not feel scared; they would laugh at the plastic shark. And that is why music is one of the most important elements in cinema. John Williams in a late interview said this: “The music is part of a whole, which if I try as a composer to take that part of the whole, like in a concerto. I would not succeed, because the attention would go only for the music and not for the picture” (John Williams Interview). In Jaws, the music blends with the picture and acting; there are no imbalances. The picture and the music need to be in perfect harmony. Therefore, in Jaws, every time the daring melody comes out; the audience knows something bad is going to happen, and the music may anticipate a particular situation, but without the music overpowering the actors and sound effects.