A.

4b

No Caller ID

No Caller ID is a short horror film about a women living on her own with her dog.
The woman in the film is up at 2am on Friday the 13th which is known as an
unlucky date where things go wrong date. While Heather is up during the night,
her television is turned on with no signal and her dog barking at the television
and the door as if something is outside. The character that is considered evil
wears a mask throughout the whole of the film which is already conventional for
a horror film as the characters identity is hidden. In most horror films there is
usually a spirit of some sort or an evil character that is trying to cause a
disruption to the min characters life, in this short film the evil characters aim is
to kill .

The cinematography that has been used in this short film has a huge effect on the
audience because it consists of jump scares which are mainly triggered by the
movement of the camera. One example of a shot that is used multiple times in the
film is a basic close up shot of the victims face, this shot creates tension for the
audience because they becomme less aware of the chracters surroundings which
makes them worry and become scared for the character. The use of a close up
also allows the audience to see the characters facial expressions which helps
them understand how the characters are feeling. There is one specific close up
shot where Heather is in her bathroom brushing her teeth. The initial focus is of
her with a blurred background however, as this scene progresses we begin to see
movement in the blurred background and a silouete appear. This silouete is of
the evil character in the film and we know this because the focus point switches
from Heather to the character in the background where we can then see the red
mask. Another example of the cinematography that is used in the film would be a
tracking shot. This shot is used in this film to scare the audience and catch them
by surprise. This shot is when Heather walks over to her dog by the glass door in
her house because of it’s consistant barking. The camera follows Heather’s
movement throughout this clip including as she bends down to fuss her dog. As
Heather begins to stand up again from fussing her dog the camera quickly
switches focus to the outside of the house through the glass where the evil
character is standing. This is made sudden for the audience and makes them
scared because of the quick camera work used putting them on edge. This
tracking shot therefore contributes to the genre of horror because it makes the
audience scared which is what horror films are ‘suppose’ to do, making the film
conventional. Overall the cinematography is used to make the audience feel the
emotions that the characters feel as well as feeling scraed themselves. The
tracking shots that are included in this film are very important with making the
audience scared as they are followed by unpredictability which it what scares the
audience the most.

The sound that is used in this short film has a huge impact on the film being a
horror film as it is the key factor of scaring the audience and putting them on
edge. The way that sound is successful with doing this in the film is because it is
sudden and has a loud, deep tone to it which is unexpected for the audience. This
is also includes a long build up of background music which becomes more
intense for the audience the nearer to the climax that they get. The background
music and sound that we hear in the film is known as ambient sound which often
foreshadows upcoming events in the film. This build up of ambient sound that
we hear is very common in horror films, the sound becomes more intense which
then lead’s to the film becoming more unpredictable therefore scaring the
audience more. In this short film, there is a large amount of non-diegetic and
diegetic sound used. The main example of non-diegeetic sound in the film is from
the phone, when it rings and also when we hear the characters talking to each
other through the phone. This signifies the importance of the phone and suprises
the audience as they hear it for the first time. Because the film is called ‘No Caller
ID’ the audience are already aware that a phone will be involved in the film. The
non-diegetic sound of the ‘evil’ character on the other side of the phone line to
Heather is also a very important aspect of the film because it allows the audince
to fully understand what is happening in the film as we know what they are
saying to each other. This therefore makes the film more intense overall and
createssuspense for the characters.

The costume that is used in this film is quite conventional for a horror film
because it follows the patternof hiding the ‘evil’ characters identity and exposing
the victims identity. The costume that is used for the villain in the film is a very
simple costume which also connoets to horror. This is because the character is
dressed in an all black tracksuit. The colour black often connotes to crime and
danger which therefore makes the costume that the character is wearing
conventional within the genre of horror. The mask that the evil character wears
in the film is red, the colour red connotes to blood, anger and revege which
therefore connotes to the genre of horror. In addition to this the character is also
wearing a ‘haloween’ mask as quoted in the film. As we know halloween is a
yearly celebration. The celebration involves people dressing up as supernatural
creates, murderers and film characters. This therefore makes the costume of the
film conventional for a horror film. However, Heather (the victim) in the film
wears typical clothing that a victim would. Because she is the innocent character
in the film, she is dressed to portray this to the viewers.

The editing in this film mainly just consists of long takes and short takes apart
from the occasional editing of sound put into the film. The use of different sized
takes makes the audience notice which parts of the film are imporatant and what
is happening during each part. The short takes often include jump scares because
they are suprising and unpredictable, on the other hand the long takes are used
when we as an audience are finding ut information and getting to know the
chracters in the film. For example, when we first see the evil character in the film,
it is from a long take of the victim which switches ficus but allows us to see the
characters rough outline and mask through the blurred window.
The Dollmaker

This short film is about a young couple who lost their child at a young age. They
wanted to get the child back but knew there was no way. The Dollmaker is a man
who makes little dolls for people who have lost someone they love or care about.
The doll’s that he made would come alive when touching them and when inside.
If you took the doll’s outiside when holding them, they would not be alive and
they would just be a toy doll . The Dollmaker would require a few things from the
person wanting a doll. He would need a head of hair from the deceased and a
personal belonging of their’s aswell as some clothing which cannot be washed.
The young couple in the film get the Dollmaker to make a doll of their son. The
female character in the film seems to want the doll more than
the male character. This is made obvious when she picks up and
holds the doll in her hands and begins calling it her son and
talking to it. When the Dollmaker asks the characters for the
money for the doll, the dad say’s how he thinks it is too much
money for a stupid doll, that is until he touches it.

The cinematography that is used in the film has quite a

large impact on the film as it shows the dominance and
the different opinions that the characters have in the
film. There are a few top shots within the film which
look down on the character of the boy/doll. These shots
are taken from the same place to show that they are suppose to be the
same character and also to make their similarities stand out. These screenshots
of the film show the child in his coffine and the doll in a box which signifies its
‘coffine’ where it is suppose to be kept overnight to stop it from destroying the
characters lives. The technique that is used when we see the actual Dollmaker
himself is often shown with a close up shot to express the characters power in
the film and also to show the audience who is in control and the importance of
him within the short film. One example of an importat close up is when the
Dollmaker s talking about the imporance of the time that the characters should
spend with the doll. The use of a close up helps the audience understand that this
is an extremely important part of the film and of keeping the characters sane.
One of the close ups that is shown on the right hand side as a screenshot focuses
on the timer and blurs out the Dollmaker looking at it in the background, this
suggests to the audience that the timer is significantly important in the film as,
possibly even more important than the Dollmaker himself.

The costume in the film has a huge importance within the film, this is because the
Dollmaker needs some clothing of the deceased characters to ensure that he can
make it seem like the real person. The costume that is used in the film also helps
the audience the age of the characters, which may make them sympathise for the
characters because they will gain an understanding of their age and realise how
young they are. The costume that the doll wears changes from when we see it as
the doll compared to when we see it as the child itself. This show’s the strength
of the illusion that the doll can have on the characters in the film as we notice
them seeing a change in the costume when they hold the doll. This therefore
makes the costume in the film a very important aspect as it show’s the effect that
the doll has on the characters. However, the costume that is used is quite
unconventional for a horror film. This is because we would expect to see a scary
and unusual costume on a supernatural creature which we do not see in this film,
as the supernatural character wears normal kids clothing which is not scary for a
horror film.

The setting of this filim is set in two main places, the families house and also the
Dollmakers basemeant. The basement certainly has some form of link to the
horror genre, this is because basements are considered to be spooky and scary.
The fact that the Dollmaker makes the dolls in the basement is ironic because
basements are also considered to be secretive, as demonstrated by this short
film. The locatio o the families house is not considered to be scary beause it is
just a normal family house, however, the fact that the doll is now in their house
makes the audience feel uncomfortable for the family because of the dangers that
we are made aware of. The overall setting of this film is unconventional
althought there are small aspects of it which make us believe that it ciould be
conventional because of the atmosphere that we get when there is a scene in the
basement. The reason we feel this is because of the darkness and minimal
lighting of the basement and also the quiteness of it which suggests to us that
there is not much life around making the audience feel on edge.

The editing in the film consists of both long and short takes which help the
audience understand the events that are happening throughout. One main
camera editing technique that I have noticed within this film is when we see the
characters waking in and out of their house. This is first shown when the female
is holding the child and she goes outside and back in. from the audiences point of
view, we see this from behind the doorframe. The camera follows the character
using a tracking shot but as they walk though the door, the setting changes from
being in the house to outside and also shows how the doll changes when outside.
Another example of when editing has been used is when the Dollmaker is talking
about the importance of the timer. This take involves the timer only but involves
the editing technique of a cross cut which shows the events that happen if the
timer runs out and the characters abuse the time spent with doll. It shows the
events that happen with a montage included in the cross-cutting. This editing
technique allows us as an audience to understand
what will happen to the characters if they spend too
much time with the doll before any of the events have
actually taken place. This is therefore an example of
foreshadowing in the film which is likely to keep the
audience interested in the film.

The music and sound is the most important aspect of making the audience jump
and feel scared throughout the film which is done though the use of different
sound, edited into the film and also sound that the camera picks up, an example
would be non-diegetic sound with the music and speech that is heard which is
not coming directly from the characters voices. Within this short film, there is a
large amount of non-diegetic sound used in this short film to make the audience
stay interested in the film and also to increase the tension within the film to
make it more unpredictable. An example of when non-diegetic sound is used is
when the Dollmaker is talking about the importance of the timer and the camera
is focusing on the timer while evets are taking place within it. When this clip is
taking place, we hear the Dollmaker’s voice over the top of it which then makes
us fully understand the consiquences of using the doll too much because we can
hear it and also visualise it. We hear the Dollmaker talking in a first person
narrative which is said in a creepy tone and therefore maks the audience feel on
edge, contributing to the genre of horror.

Backstroke

This is a short film about a young couple that are running away from there home,
heading towards Florida. While on their journey, they stop off in a forest and find
a gun in the glove box of the car which they decide to play around with, leading
to the young couple playing hide and seek. The girl runs away she eventually
ends up at a huge lake, where she decides to go swimming while waiting for her
boyfriend. She leaves the gun that they found at the edge of the lake. She is then
found by a man she has not seen before who give off a very a scary and odd vibe
who starts wanting to know information about the girl. We soon find out that the
man has killed the young boy. This then shows the girl swimming away from the
man when we then see him disappear.

The cinematography that is used in this short film has a large effect on the
audience and keeps us curious as we do not see the man from a close up shot at
the begging of the introduction with have to him through the
young girl. This creates a tense atmosphere for the audience and keeps them
interest in the film. However, before this scene where we are introduced to the
man, we see a large range of other camera shots. An example of one of these is a
mid shot that is used when the couple are shooting the gun. This shot is taken
from in front of them and shows the camera pointing to the camera. This puts the
audience on edge and makes them feel vulnerable. . In most horror films there is
often a relationship between two characters, whether they’re friends or couple.
Within this short film, a shot reverse shot is used to show the conversation
between the couple in the film. This shot is very common in the genre because
there is often lots of normaliilty at the beginning of horror films which makes
things seem normal. This therefore makes the film conventional in this sense
because it is common across the majority of horror films. The setting that is used
in this part of the film shows the young couple in a forest on their own in an area
that seems empty and lifeless. We understand the setting of this scene from the
regular use of mid shots and long shots in the film, which show the characters
surroundings at the current moment. The close up’s that are used in this short
film help us distinguish the characters as we are able to see their face’s in more
detail which therefore means that we are able to gather an idea of their
intentions that they have within the film. For example, when the close up camera
shot is used on the mysterious man that we see by the lake, we can see that he is
being aggressive towards the girl from the dropped eyebrows that he has and the
angry look on his face that he also show’s

The costume that was used in the short film was general clothing on each of the
characters, for example, the young couple had jeans, t-shirts and jackets on
which is the stereotypical dress code of a young American teenager. This is
similar to the older mysterious man as he wore the normal clothes that a middle
aged man would however, this is slightly unconventional to the genre of a horror
film as he was in a buttoned shirt and jeans which we would not expect the
(monster) to wear in a horror film. Because we see the mysterious man in
normal clothes we don’t expect him to be the ‘monster/villain’ in the film until
we hear him talking and asking the girl questions that are not necessary. The fact
that he just randomly appears also contributes to this as he is just standing
watching her with an intention that we as an audience are unaware of. A similar
example of another film that uses a normal kind of costume in a scene is from the
shining where Jack Torrance (the evil/ murderer in the film) is wearing jeans
and a jacket but is still attempting to kill innocent people without hiding his
identity. This therefore shows the iconography of the movie as being an
unconventional horror movie as most of them usually include either
supernatural creatures or murderers with masks.

For the editing, the film mainly uses long takes which
emphasise the important parts of the film and also the intense
parts of it. However, it does also use some short takes in some
parts of it when characters are in disagreement or an intense
conversation. The long takes also create an atmoshphere which
suggest to the audience that they should be worried.
An example of when a short take is used in this film
is when the young boy and girl are having a conversation with each other about
the gun and what they are going to do with it where we see them questioning
each other and worrying about what to do. On the other hand, an important
example of when a long take is used is when the mysterous man has appeared
and is talking to the young girl while she is swimming on her own in the lake.
This shot is used in this scene to keep the mans identity unknown to keep the
audience interested in the film to create tension. This is very unconventional for
a horror film and this is because most of them include jump scares to make the
audience feel uneased in the film, whereas in this short film there are no jump
scares, instead there are long takes and long shots used to prolong the unknown
identity of the man to make the audience see him as an odd man on his own.

Another aspect of this short film is the sound that is used

within, this inlcudes diegetic sound and very minimal non-
diegetic sound. One example of when non-diegetic sound is
used is at the beginning of the film during the scene where
the camera shot is from inside the car and the young couple
are walking towards it, while this is happening, we hear the
non-diegetic sound of a phone ringing which then goes
through to a voice mail from the young girls mum where she sounds very
worried about where her daughter is. The main use of sound is the dialougue
that is used within it which allows the audience to understand the storyline in
depth. Dialogue is used throughout the whole of the short film which mainly
keeps the audience interested in the film because the storyline is made more
clear but also because it makes the film more scary when it comes to the male
character that we see at the lake. The reason dialogue has a huge effect in this
film is because the mysterous male character that we see by the lake seem’s to be
a very normal man at first, however when the character begins to talk we notice
that his voice sounds slightly different compared to other characters in the film
and this becomes creepy for us as an audience. The longer that this character is
in the film, the more odd we find him because of the kind of things that he is
saying and asking the young girl which is information that he does not need to
know, which confises the audience.