Film 1 – The Smiling Man.

(Horror)
The film begins with a close shot of the house, this is done to show
that it is a normal house, this makes the audience wonder wat could
be wrong with the inside of the house or what could happen.
Iconography is used throughout the film, one of the props is balloons,
most notably a red balloon, this is intertextual to Stephen king’s film,
“It”. The balloons link to another horror film which shows that it is also
a horror film. If the balloons were not shown then it would take longer
for it to be recognized as a horror film. Another way it could be
recognized as a horror film is through the use of sound and editing.
The sound in the film is used to emphasize that the house is quiet and
empty, this makes it seem as if the girl is home alone until the balloons
start being left around the house for her to follow so that she can find
the “Smiling Man”.
The film begins with a restrictive narrative as it focuses on the main
character, the little girl. This is needed as it helps us understand who
she is and why she is doing what she is doing. However the story then
becomes unrestricted as we as the audience can tell what is happening
while the little girl can’t. This film starts with following Todorov’s
theory as in the beginning there is an equilibrium and the ”Smiling
Man” comes to disturb this, but at the end the story does not follow
this theory as a new equilibrium wasn't reached due to the film ending
with a cliffhanger.
Film 2 – The Last Halloween. (Horror)
The film begins with a tracking shot a child dressed up on Halloween,
this shot is used to show that the film will follow the story of the child,
this is done to make the audience believe that the child will be the one
affected in the story. Iconography is used throughout the film, this is
mainly done to show danger. One prop used is a shotgun, this prop
indicates danger as the person is using it to protect themselves, this
links to the horror genre as the person believes that anyone could
harm them including the children that are trick or treating. This makes
it easy to identify as a horror film as the person is very paranoid, which
shows that supernatural things could be occurring. Another way it can
be identified as a horror film is through the use of editing and sound.
The sound used in the film is very intense towards the end as this is
when the action takes place, during the buildup the sound is just of
the surrounding area but towards the end of the film music is added
to show the intensity.
The film begins with an unrestrictive narrative as it is following a group
of children and anything could happen. This is done so that it can
create suspense as the audience doesn’t know what will happen. The
story then becomes restricted as it follows a man and his wife who are
then attacked by the children who aren’t really children but appear to
be. This film does follow Todorov’s theory as there is an equilibrium in
the beginning and this is then disrupted through the man being
attacked and a new equilibrium is reached as the does not end with a
cliffhanger.
Film 3 – Tuck Me In. (Horror)
The film begins with an over the shoulder shot of a father looking at
his son. This is done to show the beginning of the sequence. This
makes the audience believe that this is just a normal night for this
family. The iconography used in this film is the bed, this prop helps
show that it is a horror film as it creates a barrier between the two
characters that are portraying one another. Without this prop the
film would not work as it would not create the barrier that is needed
to create the aspect of horror. Another way the horror genre is
shown by the sound and editing. Towards the end of the film there is
no noise as the father does not know what to do and is shocked and
scared.
The film begins with a restricted narrative as it begins with the child
going to bed. This restricted narrative continues as the whole film is
about a child going to bed. This restricted narrative tells the audience
that this is on a linear time line which is important as if it was not
linear then it would not make sense. This film does begin with
following Todorov’s theory as there is an equilibrium in the beginning
and a disruption but due to there being a cliffhanger there is no new
equilibrium so it can’t follow Todorov’s theory.