Student research - analysis

Title Graphics
What?: Gothika, directed by Mathieu Kassovitz, starring Halle Berry, Robert Downey Jnr and Charles S. Dutton. Produced by Dark Castle entertainment, Columbia Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures.
When?: The main production company name appears at the very beginning before the film has started. Then the other production company's names appear, followed by the lead actress' name. The film title is displayed imediately after this, before any camera work has come into play. There are about three minutes of film shown at this point to establish some of the characters, and then the other actors names are displayed, followed by the production team's names.
How?: To start with the productiion company's and lead actress' names are shown as ghostly white writing on a black background, helping to set a sinister feel for the film before it has even started.
Why?: The beginning titles fade into focus, whilst moving away from the camera. When they have been displayed they dissolve into the next title which enters in the same way. This goes along with the idea presented in the film that the mental patients in the hospital see a distorted image of the world, because the titles are distorted. The titles displayed over the film are in the same style, but they fade in at the bottom of the picture, and fade out again. This way they are not as noticable and they do not distract from the film.

Sound:
Music is used from the beginning, even before the picture starts, to help capture the audience and set the mood for the film. Sound effects are used to enhance the actions which are happening, for example the creaking of a door being closed. They help to give the film an eerie feel from the word go. As different camera shots are used, sound is used to match them and add effect, for example as the camera zooms out revealing where Halle Berry is when she wakes up in the psychiatric hospital there is a screeching/swooshing noise as is commonly used in horror films, but which makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.

Camera:
The first piece of film we see is a close up of one of the mental patients looking, all in all, mental, which helps to set the scene and give the viewers a feel for what the film will be like before it has really begun. Wide pan shots are used to enhance the creepy feel as they reveal the look of the hospital, with long, echoing corridors and heavy duty doors. These are establishing shots. The close ups of characters faces help to build tension as you can see the panic and fear in their expressions, but you can also not see what else is going on. In this way the camera work is very effective. Fast pan shots help to add to the tension because there is the feeling that as they have moved quickly there might be something your eyes have missed.

Mise en SceneThey use rain and thunder in order to create a scay mood, which lets the viwer know something odd is going to happen. Also they settings used are life like in order to create the feeling that you are part of the film and so you feel connected to the characters.

Characters The main character that is introduced in the opening scene is Dr Miranda Grey. We see that she is a psychologist and we are introduced to one of her patients. We can see that the main character is good at working with menatally unstable people and she is shown to be mentally fine.

GenreThis genre is a teen thriller.

NarrativeThe story is being seen from the psychiatrist miranda grey, who gets possesed by a girl. The story is shown through what miranda remembers and sees.

Editing They have placed the shots to get together in a way that makes the action move quickly to create susence. Also they have used scenes of lightening flasehes to switch from image to image to create tension and horror. They also use disolves to switch the text on the screen to another piece of text.

Target Audience The target audience would be teenagers as they are most likely to enjoy the thriller genre but the rating is a 15 so it will be watched by only people in the later teens.

Overall effectsThe overall effects are to create tension, an to create a feeling that you nd the character dont know whats going on. It helps you to see the characters point of view and feelings.