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 subgenre of the unborn film relies on the character fears, guilt, beliefs, sound effects, relevant music and emotional instability to build tension and further the plot.

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(the unborn) are after life, devil ,ghosts and demons.

This is an elderly 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 as the main girl is a heroine .

The laptop is more associated with teenagers as they’re most likely to use it for social use and interacting with each other.

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 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 our genre, as producers will make familiar codes and conventions that the target audience can recognise. This is done in ways such as theatre, cinema (films), Television series and books.

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 one.

Costumes The ghost/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 of The Unborn What is the overall message of “The Unborn” ? You have to always that you can conquer over evil if you put the right work in. Never give into the fear, as the loss of your loved ones can be the consequence of it. It is a matter of Good vs. Evil Good must overcome it all

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.

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

Supernatural The unborn

Violence The underworld

(high phased music) Twilight

Convention analysisConventions of genre /sub/hybrid

Examples from your film

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

Point of view When she is dreaming and she ends up on the top of her bedroom ceiling looking down upon herself and her twin brother “Jumby”

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

Religion When she gets an exorcism performed and when they fight the demon/evil spirit by the power of the bible

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 she's 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 their was this small unknown creatures that were coming to her and also when the woman tune in to unknown and disgusting creature .

Danger /killer The killer is mostly to be a dangers person and the fact they never die e.g. 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 there are quilt a lot monsters for example the half animal and half unknown face.

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”.