Genre Research: The Clovehitch Killer (2018)

The Clovehitch Killer, like any other, was filled with camera shots, angles, and movements. Among the camera shots were establishing shots, over the shoulder shots, many close-ups, long shots, medium-long shots, medium close-ups, and medium shots. It’s important to bring to attention that the establishing shots were very important in this movie. Showing where the characters were or were about to enter also told the audience whether this was out of the ordinary. For example, when the main character’s dad entered one of his victims’ houses. Camera angles frequently used were low angles and mainly eye level. I saw few to non-oblique and high angles. Lastly, recurring camera movements were tracking shots, pans, tilts and tracking shots.

     The costumes in the movie were regular, for the most part. However, there was a scene where the main character’s dad dressed up as a woman using his mom’s clothes. He put on a mask and took pictures of himself being choked by a rope. This costume, in particular, stood out extremely from the rest. Before this scene, the costumes were normal civilian clothes. The only one that strayed from this were Boy Scout uniforms. The costume additionally composed of heels was the father's attempt to satisfy his desires by using mock pictures. The lighting throughout the movie is quite dull. It fits in with the small-town feel, the small-town aura. There is occasional dark lighting creating an eerie feel to the corresponding scenes such as when the main character discovers his dad’s secret room under the house. The props in this film are especially important. The Polaroid pictures and licenses found of the father’s victims, his camera, the clovehitch knot found at all of the scenes adds to that character's signature.

     The sounds, or lack of sounds, in The Clovehitch Killer adds an especially eerie and suspenseful mood to the film. While watching the film you can hear a pin drop! There’s a scene where the family is having dinner and the awkwardness felt by all of them is very realistic, down to the faint chewing noises that can actually be heard at a real dinner table. The lack of diegetic sounds that can be found in cities or suburban areas adds to the small-town feel. One of the only songs played throughout the movie is when the dad is alone in the house dressing up as a woman and taking pictures of himself. It’s shut off when the main character’s love interest knocks on the door and he immediately goes around the house hiding evidence of what he was doing.

     Like any film, the creators of the movie utilized many editing techniques. One of the main techniques being cross-cutting. Throughout the film, the scenes are cut from what the main character is doing and what his father is. In one of the most vital scenes where the main character catches his father in the act, shot-reverse-shot is used in the conversation they have in which the father convinced the main character to give him the hunting rifle. Before this, the main character’s love interest looks at a revolver placed on top of a dresser, where we see an eye-line match. Another example of crossing cutting is right at the end when the main character is giving his speech while being promoted from a Boy Scout to a leader and we see what really happened to his father after the altercation in the scene before the jump cut. Speaking of, between the altercation where the main character confronts his dad there’s a passage of time. When this scene ends a missing poster of his dad is shown stapled to a light post. There are many other examples of editing in the movie, we would be here all day if I went over them.

     The Clovehitch Killer follows many of the conventions that come along with thriller movies. One of those being the intense eye contact in pressing scenes. There is definitely suspense-fulness throughout the movie. A good example of this would be one the main character handed over the gun he had been pointing at his dad and his dad says “I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed,” he then points the gun to his son’s heart at pulls the trigger and is shocked to find out that the gun was unloaded. There is a slight moment where the audience doesn’t know what’s going to happen and then the son takes the gun and they begin to have a physical fight. The film goes against conventions in the aspect of noise. There is barely any noise at all throughout the scene; there is no jaws theme song playing in the background, it’s mostly absolute silence otherwise than the dialogue.

     I have an opinion about the elements of this movie, just like any other. As a general comment, I liked the movie. I liked the plot, I liked the silence, I liked how it was not all about the main character and his love interest. I also very much enjoyed how the movie begins with a Boy Scout meeting and ends with one as well. I didn’t like the girl in the beginning who finds the Polaroid picture and blames the son, but that’s just my opinion about that character. I feel like the fistfights were a little scrawny. The movie was dragged on quite a bit; you would think it was coming to an end and boom another scene is introduced. However, ending the movie where it did was really good. The final words “Dad if you’re hearing this, I love you,” really left me thinking. After all, it was his dad. However, I feel as if more emotion was needed from him, he remained very calm throughout, it was a little unrealistic. Overall, I liked the movie I would watch it again, however, it’s not an absolute favorite.

Genre Research: Get Out (2017)

 There are multiple different camera angles & shots used throughout the entire movie. Some of them being: tilt, pan, zoom, shot reverse shot, and more. Whenever two characters were speaking with each other, there would be a shot-reverse shot focused on those specific characters, and their emotions and expressions. Throughout the majority of the film, it would stay at an eye-level angle, with the occasional high angle and low angle, of course (especially in intense scenes). The reason for this is to fully immerse the audience into the film, for them to have a better experience and to feel as if they are among the characters and as if they were in there, too. There were many fighting scenes in this film, and whenever those would occur, there would be tilts, pans, and zooms. This is mostly done to give the fighting scene more life and action. The film would also have many close up shots. Mostly whenever a character would cry, get a nose bleed, ponders, or is just speaking in general. Many establishing shots would also occur. This is done to let the audience know where the current scene is about to take place in (e.i. Rose's House, The Police Station, etc.).

   In the film, the camera tends to move frequently, especially during intense scenes. There is a scene where Chris tries to leave the house and the white people confront him. In this scene, he realizes the situation he is in. There is somewhat of a fight between him and the others. The camera pans and tilts a lot, as they go back and forth between Chris and the white people. In the end, Chris falls to the ground, and the camera is at a high angle, as the others look down at him. Later, in another fight scene, Chris escapes the room where he was placed in before, unconscious. He attacks the person in his room who is unaware of his presence. As he kills him, the camera does a close-up of his face and a high angle of the body on the ground. It then pans to a deer head mounted on the wall. Then, the scene cross-cuts to a man operating on a man's head in the room nearby, when the camera follows Chris as he runs into the man with the deer head, killing him.

   The costumes and clothes used in the film were meant to be distinctive, between the rich, old, classy white people who wore more fancy and traditional clothing, while Chris and his friends wore more modern attire. The lighting in the film is also very ominous, especially in important scenes (like fighting) where it was very dim and tense. The action in the film is very present, as there were many important and violent encounters between the characters. The makeup is not very noticeable in the film, but you can clearly see it on the characters. Makeup is especially used on the white people at the house, to show how cleaned up and classy they were, while Chris wasn't. Many props were used in the film. Mostly used to show that they were in a fancy house. Such as very expensive and fancy furniture all throughout the house. The setting of the film is meant to appear to be a small town, with some urban areas, but then Chris leaves to the suburban areas with Rose, where he spends most of the film in.

   Throughout the entire movie, there is a lot of eerie music, to give the film an ominous tone and sense. As well as numerous editing techniques, like the cross-cutting, and CGI used in the film. Some of the elements that I enjoyed about this movie was the music and the lighting. The music gave me a very nervous and chilling vibe throughout the film, knowing something bad is about to happen. The lighting also did this, many of the scenes took place at night, using dim lighting. This can be considered candles, street lights, and simply dim indoor lighting. However, I disliked the climax and build-up toward it. I felt as if it was too direct, and I wish it were more mysterious. Some elements of the Thriller Genre used in this film was the dim lighting, tense music, diegetic sound of breathing, and quick cuts. All of these were used throughout the film in one way or another.

Genre Research: Joker (2019)

There are several different camera angles and shots used throughout the movie. For discussions between two characters, the film mainly used shot/reverse shot to capture each of the characters' emotions and dialogue. One of the character's shoulders would block half the screen so that the main focus of the shot is on the other character's face. The film usually stays at an eye-level angle. This is used to immerse the audience, make them feel like they are a citizen of Gotham. Unlike other movies where they use a drone to establish a location, the film uses a pan at eye-level looking up at the location. Almost as if the viewer was there themselves and turned their necks to get a better view. There is one scene in the film where Arthur Fleck dances with his mother in the living room. It is a two-shot filmed from the kitchen of the apartment. The camera is handheld and moves a bit to make the audience feel like they are just witnesses of what is happening from the inside of their home.

          The camera moves a whole lot in this movie. The only time it is not moving, is when characters are talking to each other. There is one scene where Arthur and his mother are having an argument and you really feel like you are there. The camera is placed a little under eye-level so its as if you are looking through the eyes of a child. The camera follows Arthur's mother to her room where she screams and then shuts the door on the camera. Then the camera turns and faces Arthur when he bangs on the door really loudly. Arthur then walks away from the door and the whole time the camera follows his movements. Another scene happens where Arthur chases a couple of kids that stole his sign. The camera appears to be on top of a car as it follows both Arthur and the kids. The camera then comes to a complete stop when the kids head into an alleyway.

          The score for this movie was really good. Some pieces that happen during emotional moments that will stick with me forever. The cello on the piece "Call me Joker" really hits home the disturbing feel of this movie. Also, the lack of any music during some pretty tense moments really builds suspense. When Arthur's co-workers pay him a visit, it becomes really suspenseful because of the lack of any background sound.

         Editing is used to full effect in this movie. Some scenes would transition into other scenes using a multitude of transitions. Sometimes, the film would use a swipe using a car for example. When Arthur found out he was adopted, it turned into a flashback of what really happened to his mother. And fast shots scanning headlines of what his mother and her boyfriend did to him were used to really emphasize the scale of the trauma. The editing combined with Arthur's uncontrollable laughter is used to make the audience feel sympathetic towards Arthur.

         Elements of Joker I enjoyed were the amazing acting and the story. Joaquin Phoenix did a great job with the character Arthur Fleck. Even after all the bad things he does, you can't help but feel sorry for the guy. Also his laugh is haunting. I can still hear in my head while I am writing this. There were only a couple of elements of Joker I disliked. Some scenes were a bit ham-fisted. For example, the scene revealing that Arthur's relationship with Sophia was a delusion was a bit much. I would have liked it if it just ended at, "Why are you in my home?"

Genre Research: Kidnap (2017)

  There is a multitude of angles, movements, and shots in this featured film. Considering that many movies use a lot because they are very long in time length. I have seen establishing shots of where scenes will take place, and especially close-ups of character's faces to get their reactions. Two and three-shots are involved in the beginning, however, progressing more into the plot, there are extreme closeups of many objects, including the eyes of the mother, who is in panic and in tears. Some movements in this thriller would be rapid camera motions, such as flash pans when the mother is trying to look for her son. In order to make most of the scenes intense, there are tracking shots of the mom chasing the kidnapper and trying to retrieve her son. For more than half of the movie, the main character is pursuing to catch the child abductor in her car. Aerial shots of this chase are displayed in order to show what is happening on the highway from a different perspective.

        Costumes are ordinary, casual clothing for the mom and other people in a public setting; kidnappers are in sketchy outfits, for example, hoodie and sunglasses, trying to conceal who they are. For most of the movie, there is natural lighting, but at the point where the mom finally finds her child, it is at night, in low to no light. At some point in the film, there is dim light when the cars go into a tunnel. The setting is in a small town but later turned into a car chase on the highway to a location ending up in the woods. Weapons, phones, even a toy that records sound are used as props in the movie.

        Moving into sound, the producers added incidental sound to go along with the mood portrayed in the scenes. The music is very intense, making the audience be at "the edge of their seats." The diegetic sound is very unique because only certain sounds become louder as the scenes are becoming more intense. When she is driving and gets into a crash, the scene goes silent since she is in shock. Dialogue appears throughout the whole movie as well. For editing, flashbacks are included, such as a montage of the son and pictures of his childhood. Related to the flashback would be when the mother is listening to the conversation of the kidnapper and her son (before kidnapping takes place), and it keeps crosscutting from the conversation to her listening to it on the device. There are eye-line matches of the main character searching for something in her surroundings, then it cuts to the next clip of what she is looking at.

        Thrillers are described based on the moods they elicit, which would usually cause heightened feelings, such as excitement, suspense, and anticipation/anxiety. With the movie 'Kidnap,' it invokes anticipation during the entire movie. Most likely causes a "rollercoaster of emotions" to the audience by incorporating as many camera movements possible to confuse, and sound to make scenes dramatically intense. Some elements that appealed would be the situations that the mother would run into, in order to keep the movie interesting, and leaving the audience to overwhelmed as to what will happen next. The action in this movie is very entertaining because it portrays how a mom will not stop at anything in order to get her child back, safe and sound. The only element that was not favored in this film was how long the chase took in order to find her son. The rising action was when she finally stopped the chase, but in order to really get her son back, the mother had to keep looking for the location her son was at. The climax was when she finally found him and other children, and how she would be able to escape safely.

Final Genre Choice

   Horror and Thriller were the final contenders to choose between from. The genre that my group and I finally agreed on was Thriller. The reason behind it was because we enjoyed the pitch about a kidnapping movie, and these types of movies are mainly under this genre. Most of our favorite movies are thrillers and contain a lot of action, so we were excited to continue our research upon them. We also had to acknowledge that it would be pretty hard to record the opening scenes for a horror movie, without knowing what a good pitch would be. With a thriller, you can begin the movie with anything, such as background information, or present the characters directly. Like previously mentioned, the group will be researching more about this genre, and how some movies lead up to their climaxes and entertain audiences.

Two More Genre Research

Horror Genre Research

Thriller Genre Research

Common camera movements and angles used in this movie genre are pans, zooms, tilts, tracking shots, and every angle possible. If the situation is intense, the angle will be at eye-level and will zoom in on the character's reaction. High angles are also used to catch everything that is happening, and to make the subject look inferior to whatever it is looking upon. Canted angles can sometimes be incorporated to confuse viewers. Common shots that are used in these films are closeups, extreme closeups and long shots, and handheld shots. Sometimes, handheld shots while running away from something causes more anticipation with scenes, that way the audience is more entertained. Whoever is watching would not know if they can get away, or get to where the character is going in time, since there is so much camera movement.

Lighting that is commonly found in thriller movies is low lighting because the darker it looks, it evokes a more sinister feeling. There is also the use of natural lighting, before and after movies, probably even throughout. Sound that is heard in thrillers would be diegetic, where characters hear whatever is in their surroundings, there is obviously dialogue and incidental sound. Incidental sound involves the feeling that a scene gives off, and the music to match with it. An example would be the killer looking for its victim and he is getting closer, so the music gets louder and scarier. 

Costumes for thrillers all depend on the type of movie it is. When there is a plot of a killer or abductor, they will be dressed in something suspicious, especially to cover their faces, like a mask. Thrillers are usually situations that could happen in real life, where people would actually be nervous if it happened. Regular clothing would be worn, but if the actors get harmed in any way, their makeup and clothes will definitely show it. For example, getting hit in the face will lead to a bleeding lip or nose, or getting thrown out of a car causes your clothes to be torn up and dirty. Actors have to play their act fully, like being anxious and scared, but still fight for their life when they have been kidnapped. Locations could range from a small city to a large known state, like California, New York, or Florida. However, they sometimes take place partly in exotic settings such as foreign cities, deserts (snow too), and at sea.  

Some elements that come from thrillers are when the movies create a suspenseful feeling to the audience, giving the anticipation of what is going to happen next. This usually happens when the plot is surrounding the idea of the character being placed in a situation that is dangerous or a trap that is impossible to escape. Audiences want to be entertained, kept on edge, surprised. Thriller movies fit this criteria exactly. It gives them a reason to continue watching the movie and to see what happens in the end. Although, elements that do not appeal could be how a movie can be too predictable. Examples of these predictable endings are when a person is being chased and are caught and killed, or have to escape. Alternatively, thriller movies can have very unexpected endings. These endings leave the audience in a shock or surprise that leaves an imprint on them, even after the movie has ended.

Common camera movements and angles used in this movie genre are pans, zooms, tilts, tracking shots, and every angle possible. If the situation is intense, the angle will be at eye-level and will zoom in on the character's reaction. High angles are also used to catch everything that is happening, and to make the subject look inferior to whatever it is looking upon. Canted angles can sometimes be incorporated to confuse viewers. Common shots that are used in these films are closeups, extreme closeups and long shots, and handheld shots. Sometimes, handheld shots while running away from something causes more anticipation with scenes, that way the audience is more entertained. Whoever is watching would not know if they can get away, or get to where the character is going in time, since there is so much camera movement.

Lighting that is commonly found in thriller movies is low lighting because the darker it looks, it evokes a more sinister feeling. There is also the use of natural lighting, before and after movies, probably even throughout. Sound that is heard in thrillers would be diegetic, where characters hear whatever is in their surroundings, there is obviously dialogue and incidental sound. Incidental sound involves the feeling that a scene gives off, and the music to match with it. An example would be the killer looking for its victim and he is getting closer, so the music gets louder and scarier. 

Costumes for thrillers all depend on the type of movie it is. When there is a plot of a killer or abductor, they will be dressed in something suspicious, especially to cover their faces, like a mask. Thrillers are usually situations that could happen in real life, where people would actually be nervous if it happened. Regular clothing would be worn, but if the actors get harmed in any way, their makeup and clothes will definitely show it. For example, getting hit in the face will lead to a bleeding lip or nose, or getting thrown out of a car causes your clothes to be torn up and dirty. Actors have to play their act fully, like being anxious and scared, but still fight for their life when they have been kidnapped. Locations could range from a small city to a large known state, like California, New York, or Florida. However, they sometimes take place partly in exotic settings such as foreign cities, deserts (snow too), and at sea.  

Some elements that come from thrillers are when the movies create a suspenseful feeling to the audience, giving the anticipation of what is going to happen next. This usually happens when the plot is surrounding the idea of the character being placed in a situation that is dangerous or a trap that is impossible to escape. Audiences want to be entertained, kept on edge, surprised. Thriller movies fit this criteria exactly. It gives them a reason to continue watching the movie and to see what happens in the end. Although, elements that do not appeal could be how a movie can be too predictable. Examples of these predictable endings are when a person is being chased and are caught and killed, or have to escape. Alternatively, thriller movies can have very unexpected endings. These endings leave the audience in a shock or surprise that leaves an imprint on them, even after the movie has ended.