Analysis of student blogs - 'HOMOCIDE'

Genre:

From watching the clip, the genre that I picked up was crime/thriller. I thought it could be crime because of the woman (1) walking through a block of flats/council estate on her own, with the music playing in the background. This had connotations of danger towards the woman and also it connotes fear towards the woman, as she is walking through somewhere quiet to hide, as she knows she has done wrong. I found thriller because of the scene in the tunnel where one woman hits another woman (2), attempting to kill or hurt her. Also the scene in the room with the police investigator is a scene that happens in most crime films/programmes, therefore this was a giveaway that the opening scene is for a crime film.

Sound:

The sound used in the clip is very appropriate to the chosen genre of the film. The music is has quite a deep tone to it. This adds tension into the clip, and makes the audience believe that woman 1 has done something wrong, before even watching the scene in the tunnel between the two women. During the scene in the tunnel between the two women, there is no change of music when woman 1 attacks woman 2 in the tunnel, however it would’ve been more effective to have some sound effects there, for example a hitting sound or a reaction sound from woman 2. This would’ve made the scene more realistic and better for the audience to watch. Also when the film title ‘HOMICIDE’ appears on the screen, there is also no change of tone in the music, where there could have been. A lot of crime/thrillers have a change in sound when the title appears on the screen, to add more dramatic effect, but where there is no change of sound for this, it doesn’t look as professional as it would do if there was different sound effects used. During the scene between the investigator and woman 1, the same tune is played throughout the whole clip, however I think that if the music was turned off for the conversation, it would be a lot more tense and the audience would feel more into the clip, as a lot of crime films don’t have any music playing throughout interviews, to add tension.

Camera angles:

Throughout the whole process of woman 1 walking through the streets, into the tunnel, there is not one close-up on her face. This is done to add effect, by not letting the audience see her face, in order to add more mystery into the piece, and possibly to try and make the audience want to ask questions. During the scene where woman 1 attacks woman 2 in the tunnel, there is a very quick close up on woman 1’s face, allowing the audience to see who it actually is, but only for a brief moment. This adds tension to the piece as it gives the audience an idea of who the killer is, but doesn’t give too much away and doesn’t allow them to fully understand who the killer is. During the scene between the investigator and woman 1, there is no change of camera angles throughout. A shot-reverse-shot is used, however I think a close up should be used on woman 1 at some point in order for the audience to see her emotions about being questioned about the killing. This would’ve added effect and also it would’ve made the clip seem more realistic, as a lot of crime shows today will use close ups on in interviews, aimed at the people being questioned, in order for people to see their facial expressions.

Mise:

The location of the clip I think was very appropriate, as an abandoned council estate would be a good place to commit the crimes that woman 1 did, and films such as ‘Kidulthood’ and ‘Harry Brown’ also use similar locations, and this works well as they are similar genres of films, and they have been quite successful compared to other films in that genre.

The clothing that is used for the film opening is in some places appropriate, however in other it is not. During the scene of woman 1 walking and then attacking woman 2, the clothing on woman 2 is good as she is playing the part of an innocent woman, however the clothes on woman 1 are not good as she is wearing very casual clothes, but she is playing the part of a killer, and in most films that involve killings, the killer would normally wear un-revealing clothes, to keep their identity a secret; something that woman 1 is not doing.

The lighting in the scene I think is very good, and it doesn’t make it awkward for the audience to see what is happening at any time. For example, during the walking scene by woman 1, the shot isn’t too bright or too dark, therefore you can see woman 1 walking, and everything set around her. During the tunnel scene, the light is a good brightness as the scary darkness of the tunnel is still there, however you are still able to see the faces of both women.

Titles:

The titles in this film opening are wrongly positioned. Evidence for this is that the director's name should always be the last credit to be shown in any film, however in this film opening it is the first name we see. Another piece of evidence to back up my point is that the film title should be in the middle of the main actors and the smaller actors, however in this piece all the names are placed before the film title. It is clever how that whenever a name appears on the screen as part of the title sequence, the screen turns black, allowing the audience to see who is starring in the film without any difficulty, however the titles are also not in a very appropriate font, which makes the film look a lot less professional. It is a font that can be found in Microsoft Word, and if they want to improve their piece, that should be one of the first things that change about it as it is not an appropriate font to the genre.

Characters:

Some of the characters in this opening are clearly shown, however, some are not so clear. It isn't clear at first as to who or what woman 1 is or what she has actually done. The audience only find out this information when she attacks woman 2 in the tunnel.

 It is unclear who woman 2 is and why she has been attacked by woman 1, as there has been no explanation or reasoning to why she was killed. However as it is only a film opening, the reason to the killing could be shown later in the film.

It is clear who the investigator is and what he is doing by the tone of voice he is using whilst talking to woman 1 in the interview room, and the clothes he is wearing. He is wearing a plain black suit with a white shirt, which is stereotypically what most investigators/detectives wear at work.

The woman who walks into the investigation room at the end of the opening is not clearly portrayed and most people watching would think it is a random woman with no meaning to the storyline, however like woman 2, the reason to why she is involved so early on could be shown later in the film.