Analysis Of First 15 Minutes Of A Similar Film - Sweeney Todd

This particular horror film, uses a range of Camera angles/ Cinematography, Editing, Mise-en scene and Sound to portray the horrific nature of the film and to stress the importance of the dominant characters past.

Cinematography and camera angles are a key aspect in a horror production as they create suspense and a sense of uncertainty amongst a particular character. An establishing shot is used to set the scene of the film, which in this case is a shot of a a cloudy, dark sailing ship travelling along the Thames towards Tower Bridge, this immediately establishes that the film is set in London, as Tower Bridge is one of the most iconic structures in London and in addition this shot also shows that the film is set in the past as the means of transport is a sailing ship rather than a car or plane.

A medium close up, is used on two characters on board the ship travelling into London; this is used as way of showing the two characters conversation and expressions, but also shows a contrast in the two characters, for instance one is that of a older, hard done to man, with a sense of knowledge and understanding, whereas the other is that of a naive, young boy still learning about the world, listening intently to the truths Sweeney Todd explains about the cruelty and harshness of the world.

Close up is used on the main male character showing his harsh facial expressions as he talks to the second male character, this expresses a sense of hatred and contempt within this characters personality, in addition a side view of this character also expresses his emotions from a range of angles.

Close up of characters face. 

Side view of the dominant character.

In addition a medium shot of Mrs Lovett, working behind an empty shop counter, expresses that despite the shop being empty she hasn't downgraded herself to prostitution, which shows her as a strong character as her morals seem to remain intact. However in comparison to one another, an establishing, long shot of Sweeney Todd's wife, expresses how different his life was before, and how he is now befriended Mrs Lovett out of desperation, seeking to find out what happened to his innocent, pure wife.

Establishing shot, shows a contrast in Sweeney Todd's beautiful wife comapared to Mrs Lovett.

Editing is also used throughout horror films, Cuts are used throughout to join the pieces of edit together continuously but also Graphic editing is used in this film, to show a contrast in the dominant characters life before and how he is seen now, this expresses that due events that took place, he is a changed man, a more callous and cruel individual due to everything he loved being stripped away.

How Sweeney Todd is now.

What his life was like before/, bright and colourful to suggest happiness, compared to the dark and dreary life he has now

Spatial edit matches the eye line of the main characters to the dark streets of London, as he travels past prostitutes and drunks, this represent the London streets as seedy and moral less. This reinforces his image of London being a heartless city, full of worthless individuals that in Sweeney Todd’s eyes do not deserve to live.

Shot of the type of characters Sweeney Todd see's on the streets of London.

Mise – en scene is also a key feature of how horror films are portrayed and seen in the audience’s eyes. In the case, Lighting is used to expresses the characters dark traits, for instance side lighting on the characters face expresses that he has a dark side, which suggest he is hiding something; there is also the use of shadows which represent a sinister presents, they are ghosts from characters past, and like shadows you can never run away from.

Shot of the character with only half of his face been seen in the light.

The dim lighting on the London streets, suggests that the streets are bleak and emotionless, this sets the tone for the film as this movie is meant to be dark and sinister therefore the environment would mirror this.

Long shots of the streets/back alleys of London.

The costumes of the characters, along with the props expresses the setting/time period of the film as there wearing olden day clothes, this also expresses  that they are both without money as both Sweeney Todd and Mrs Lovett look quite dirty.

This particular Long shot, expresses the time period for the film as the audience get a clear shot of the costumes, which are olden time clothing and this shot shows some detail of Mrs Lovett's shop.

Over the shoulder shot, of Mrs Lovett, we see her making a drink which re-establishes the time period of the film.

Similar to this both their make-up is dark which expresses they are not the most innocent of character, this contrasts with Sweeney Todd’s past life as he looked smart and clean cut, but due to remorse and sorrow, he has become a more ruthless character and expresses a sense of hatred towards those who he is disgusted by.

Medium shot of what Sweeney Todd looks like now. 

Close up of a young Sweeney Todd expressing his beauty and how that's all changed.

Acting as a whole, is an important aspect of horror films, and in this particular film acting shows a characters fear, nervousness, hatred and a sense of anticipation within a characters actions. In the first 15 minutes of this film, a range of different expressions are portrayed as a result of the characters acting, Sweeney Todd expresses a sense of hate and anger towards London, as the city caused him so much pain, Mrs Lovett on the other hand, uses particular facial expressions to empathy that she is intrigued into finding the truth about who Sweeney Todd actually is.

Medium shot of both characters as Mrs Lovett begins to tell a gruesome tail,  facial expressions and acting portray the story as horrific.

Close up on Mrs Lovett's  face expressing her facial expressions as she acting.

The sound used, in this particular film, is both diagetic and non diagetic both the main characters speech is harshly spoken with a sense of anger, this sets the tone of the film as if the words were spoken softly they would suggest the film would be of soft nature, however due to harsh words and a sense of hate being portrayed in the words spoken, this generates a eary nature to the film and a sense of fear. The non diagetic sound includes the music added to the production that sugegsts something bad is going to happen or did happen, this establishes that the film is a horror as the music is used to create a sense of scaryness and imitates the characters menising behaviour.

This film, is similar to that of our production, as the main dominant character in Sweeney Todd and our media product, both have a hidden past, which leads them to commit crimes on the innocent. Sweeney Todd is a prime example of the type of mysterious, dark character that we wanted to portay, he uses one main weapon of significance to attack his victims and despite this film being a musical has a hidden messgae of the main character, releasing his anger and anguish on his chosen vitims.