Characters-V for Vendetta & Children of Men

V- Hero Character, could be viewed as terrorist to.
Eve- Damsel in Distress
Chancellor Sutler- Villain
Prothero- Antagonist
Creedy- Antagonist
Dietrich- Fatherly Figure

Theo- Hero
Kee- Damsel in distress
Jasper Palmer- Fatherly Figure
Julian Talyor- Leader, Rebel
Syd- Villain
Luke- Antagonist

Essay Draft

 I am writing about the films Twilight and Stakeland, the main focus of my essay is the development of the horror genre and I will be comparing what people would class as a conventional horror film to a unconventional version of it, and then go into depth on how they’ve have gone from one extreme to another of being shown very masculated to very emasculated, what I mean by emasculated is very humanised and not threatening at all, which is not a convention of the genre. The conventions of the Horror Genre been completely broken and the idea of a Vampire’s have been completely broken, this is shown through the costume and the camerawork although there is the stereotypical make-up used, for example the pale face. I will continue to write about how some scenes show this in the two films.

 One thing from Twilight, which shows vampires as very emasculated, is that they consider themselves as ‘Vegetarians’. This is because they only kill animals and not all the time only when they need to shown in one of the scenes. In Stakeland people fear nightfall, as the vampires are mindless killing machines that kill anything that move and it has become a apocalyptic future were people are trying to get to a safe zone, they move round in groups for safety and fear even one. One scene that backs up this point from Stakeland is when they tie up a pregnant women kill her baby and let her bleed to death like an animal.


 In both Twilight and Stakeland one typical Vampire stereotype that is broken in the use of costume. For example you would expect a long black cape, smart suit, black shoes and maybe a medallion. Twilight has dressed them in your typical every day close which completely emasculated them as they look exactly the same as the humans it also takes aspects of fear from it. Stakeland has had a very different approach to the costume, they have took something you would associate with 'zombies' for example dirty and ripped clothing. In fact it seems as if they have based the Vampires on Zombies in some of the things they do. The make up is also that of a zombie as they do not gave the clean pale face with a bit of blood dripping from the edge of there mouth, it is more dark dirty skin with blood splattered all over there face and also in there hair, their teeth are rotting but still have the fangs. 

 One convention broken in Stakeland is the final girl that you would find in a horror film. This is because although there is a female in it she does not survive all the way through and instead of coming down to one female, there are a couple of male's in the end. Although in Twilight there is a final girl 'confrontation' but she loses and it falls down to the male to come and save the day, which ends up in a fight to the death and he wins. So in this case one convention is broke in both, or changed in some way.

 When you are first introduced to the vampires in Twilight you develop no fear. This is because when they are first introduced, the main character Bella looks out the window of the school cafeteria and see’s them all walk past. It is in slow motion and you get to see all of them individually in some detail, which takes the fear out of them, it implies in some ways that it is normal to be a vampire as it is only her that is interested in it. They are all dressed in typical teenager clothes jeans, top, jackets and trainers, this scene also breaks one of the biggest conventions surrounding the genre the fact that they are out in the day light and they are not dying let alone being injured. It is a very different experience when you are first introduced to the vampires in Stakeland. In the scene you see the main character Martin and his family hiding in a barn and there dog runs of and Martin chases there dog and then hears screams, when he goes to the barn he see’s his family dead and the baby getting eaten alive by a Vampire. This shows them as brutal savage creatures the complete opposite of humanized, the lighting in the scene is very low key too and the shots are mainly of the faces this shows there fear.

 One of the scenes in Twilight were you really see that vampires have been Emasculated, in the scene Bella is standing in the car park and a car skids out of control Edward then uses his ‘Vampire Powers’ to save her they then pause and gaze into each others eyes. This shows vampires as extremely humanised as they are not supposed to have emotions and feelings; it is mainly shown through the camera work as it has a close up of the two gazing deeply into each other’s eyes. A scene from Stakeland is when Mister saves a nun from two bandits. When he is killing them he looks at the nun and pauses for a second and the camera focuses on him and has a close up of his face showing his emotion. This backs up my point as he is human and he is showing emotion over a person. In Twilight they even go as far as developing the emotions so when Bella is in trouble he believes it is his duty to protect her. In one scene they find out a very ‘vicious’ more ‘traditional’ vampire is hunting her. Edward and his family then protect her. This shows them very humanized as they all have developed emotions and feelings and it is not just one.

Stakeland is an independent film this means that it does not have a large budget this means that it cannot rely on CGI to carry the film, they get around this by putting heavy violence and gore into the film itself.

 In Stakeland and Twilight the way that the Vampire is shown in the horror genre has changed completely, spiraling of in many different directions from being shown very masculine and feminine. During the film however you do see some of the traditional representations of a Vampire in both for example in Twilight they bite the neck and in Stakeland they can’t go out during the day. One thing that could of influenced this is the fact that the director of Twilight was a Women and the director of Stakeland was man so they could of expressed there views on what they believe vampires to be through the films. Another reason behind this could be the fact that following your typical genre conventions is becoming boring and predictable this means films makers have to mix up the conventions to make it interesting again to keep the audience guessing.

Plan

Essay Plan

Introduction:
I am writing about the films Twilight and Stakeland, the main focus of my essay is the development of the horror genre and I will be comparing what people would class as a conventional horror film to a unconventional version of it, and then go into depth on how they’ve have gone from one extreme to another of being shown very Masculated to very Imasculated. I will continue to write about how some scenes show this in the two films.

Body:
Twilight-  Vampires Humanized, people not scared- First appearence of Vampires (the Cullens)- Editing Slow motion look at there faces which removes and mystery from them as you see them.

Stakeland- Terrafying vampures very masculated- Martin’s family all killed by vampires- Cinematoghraphy, way it is shot only shows faces to show fear.

Twilight- Vampires now show feelings and emotion- Saves Bella from being hit by a car- The use of Editing in this clip backs up my point as focuses on his face showing emotion.

Stakeland- Backing preivous statement but also shown humanized- Mister saves a Nun- The editing is also used in this clip to show emotion as its focuses on Mister’s face breifly when he’[s in the car and see’s the Nun.

Conclusion:
In Stakeland and Twilight the way that the Vampire is shown in the horror genre has changed completley, spiriling of in many different directions from being shown very masculine and femine. During the film however you do see some of the traditional representations of a Vampire.

Thesis Statement

I am writing about the films Twilight and Stakeland, the main focus of my essay is the development of the horror genre and I will be comparing what people would class as a conventional horror film to a unconventional version of it.

Propaganda Poster

Twilight vs Stake Land

 This is a presentation on Stake Land and Twilight on how the horror genre conventions are used in the film. To view the presentation Click Here...

Dystopian Themes Children of Men

Children of Men- Messages and Ideas

300 words analysis of Editing Techniques & Narrative Meaning in V for Vendetta

In these two stills we see both Eve and V getting ready this technique is called Cross cutting or Parallel editing, as it is showing the two getting ready simultaneously or at the same moment. This could show that these two characters are destined to meet each other, or they are some how connected in a way, this plays off something called the 'Enigma Code' which means something will happen that causes the audience to ask question which will later be answered, in this case it is ho are these two characters connected and shortly after this clip V saves Eve from being raped by to men. Many of the shots in the starting sequence are edited to make them seem like there happening at the same time. The main Reason for Parallel editing is to make the whole film flow better and makes it look nicer as if there was just a load of different shots just put together and it was jumping around you wouldn't quite understand, with continuity its not just because its happening at the same time the fact that it also includes match on action which forms a closer bond between the characters involved.

Juxtaposition?

Juxtaposition is two opposing things put next together in a clip to create some sort of meaning.

If you were to show V (top still) knocking over some dominos then him standing up and walking off the shot would seem rather pointless, but by putting the two clips of V knocking over the dominoes and then see a clip were a voice over says start of riots, you can make a connection between the two by saying the dominoes represent all of the little things V has gone out and done and to get things ready for upcoming events, by know him knocking over the dominoes it shows all of his plans falling into place. One of the things being shown here is the riots showing after the death of a girl, that was wearing a Guy Fawkes mask. V may of counted on the government getting on edge and doing something stupid eventually which would help spark his idea pushing it onwards, in the end leading to there own demise.

V for Vendetta Themes Collage

these two shots are both completely unrelated as they juxtapose as the shower seems clean and the water is running ans she is dead. It could also symbolize that its not her time to die by symbolizing things are still going on without her.

300 Word Analysis of V for Vendetta

Chancellor Sutler's Introduction:

In this scene from the film V for Vendetta, the Chancellor is addressing a table of officials on the shady character named 'V'. I will now talk about the different shot type, angles and movements of the camera used in this scene.

Chancellor Sutler 

One type of shot that is used most commonly throughout this scene is close ups. You can get a better understanding of the emotions a character is feeling from a close up, from these close-ups you can see Evey (middle still) seems very worried and Chancellor Sutler has a very serious look. V is the only odd one out as he is wearing his mask, although it could portray his emotion.



 The film has a very low key lighting this adds the suspense to it, because if the film was in a high key lighting it would more suggest it was happy and upbeat like a comedy or a romance. Most of the shots in the clip are stationary and focus on one main main character at a time instead of panning across the room and looking around, it makes sure that you keep focus and look at the character at all times, making you feel like you cant escape. Especially with the Chancellor Sutler shots and it makes it look like we are looking up to him giving him dominance over us, showing us that he is in charge.

This is another example of the previous point, but in this shot there is only light on the character and no were else on screen giving you no were else to look making you feel intimidated, this is also a mid shot and you can really see his facial expressions due to the lack of light in the background constantly adding suspense and tension.

This is a wide shot of a panel of people, this make you feel as if you are being judged by them as they all seem very formal and again with the darkness behind giving you no were else to look making you feel trapped.

Alice in Wonderland Set Re-Make

For my set re-make of Alice in Wonderland in the theme of alien, I focused more on the mechanical side of it, turning the rabbit hole into a mechanical liar. I still included the iconic Alien though too making it into a table holding the two trays with a 'drink me' potion and a 'key', the potion was in a bowl and I changed the design of the key too look like a tooth, this would only work in one doer, like the original. The table itself is on a platform with 'levitated paths' leading to the different doors.

This is the overall set.

Instead of just having the walls plated, I added pipes and cogs to emphasise the mechanical detail. I also shaded the area around them to try and add depth to look like it was actually in the wall and not on top.

This is my re-design of the table in the iconic 'Alien' design.