Research: Aspects of Teen Horror: The Blair Witch Project

The Blair Witch Project



Institutional Information:
The Blair Witch Project was made in 1999 and directed by both Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez. The film was produced by Haxan Films, and filmed in Adamstown, Maryland. At the box office, it was initially budgeted at $60,000, and on its opening weekend, received $1,512,054 on 27 screens.

Again, similarly to The Ring, the target audience is also late teens, due to firstly, the 15 age certificate, but also again, the leading characters in the film are student film makers, and therefore it appeals more to that age group.

In this film, one of the stereotypical horror conventions in The Blair Witch Project is the use of diagetic sound, which is applied to the film in order to create effect. Alike in the Ring, the use of diagetic sound allows the audience to hear directly the same as the characters. The directors may have chosen to include a lot of diagetic sound within the film in order to make the audience connect with the characters greater, and include them within the story further, in order to try and make an impact on them. By feeling as though you are in a horror film, you are likely to be more scared when something happens, and this meets the target of horror films.

If we choose to focus on mainly diagetic sound, we will make sure it is lots of common noises, such as trees rustling, snapping twigs, and footsteps in order to build up the tension within the opening scene. This is likely, as with the Blair Witch Project, to entice the viewers into the opening scene, which is vital to guarantee they are interested and continue to watch the film.

The opening sequence in the Blair Witch Project is very effective therefore because it immediately draws you in, and therefore we most definitely need to consider the use of diagetic sound in our opening, to hook our audience.

Research: Aspects of Teen Horror: The Ring

The Ring



Institutional Information:
The Ring was made in 2002, and directed Gore Verbinkski. It was produced by DreamWorks SKG, and filmed at various locations such as 5TH Avenue & Stewart Street, Seattle, Washington.
At the box office, it was first budgeted $48,000,000 and on the opening weekend, on 1981 screens, the film made $15,015,393.

The target audience for the Ring is generally a teenage age. Firstly, the age limitation for the film is 15, and therefore, this means that the producers are aiming at a late teens, early twenties age. This is also evident through the films plot, as some of the characters are student aged people, which means the audience can therefore reference the characters better. A key part of the story is also the television, and this indicates that it is for people more likely to be television literatre, usually the younger generation. There is quite a bit of violence in the film which suggests the target audience’s age is older, but above all the whole plot and story is very dark which suggests viewers of a young age group would not find viewing it appropriate.

As the psychological style of the Ring is similar to our initial ideas for our own production, the target audience may be similar, as the content may be quite alike that of the Ring.

By analysing the Ring, I aim to get more ideas for the planning of my own productions, for instance, I will have greater knowledge of the used mise en scene elements in horror films, in order to create equally scary effects on my production. For instance, the green tinted lighting effect, during the Ring, is used as a metaphor for the video tape spreading like a disease, and killing off people one by one.

I chose mainly to focus on these lighting effects, as I think it would be a useful effect to use in our own production, mainly because alike in the Ring, our thing is a bit of a disease. I found this really effective whilst watching the Ring, because not only does it give everything an ill look, very derelict and sickly, but also it makes you notice the other colours in the film a lot more.

http://www.cinemovies.fr/fiche_extrait.php?IDfilm=911

The setting also contributes to the lighting effects. By filming lots of the action in Seattle, the weather is almost guaranteed to be dull and rainy, which is conventional for a horror film. Due to this weather, the natural lighting is often poor, and therefore contributes to the mise en scene.



As we are going to be concentrating on the opening of a horror film for our own production, I thought looking at the opening scene for the Ring would be a clever idea. In the opening, the audience is introduced to two teenage girls, home alone, the typical victims. They then start to talk about a horror film rumour, and then one begins to get haunted/psychologically attacked, and ends up a victim of Samara (the demon child in the Ring). In this opening sequence, the film uses everyday things to scare the victim and the audience, such as the fridge door and television.

The film overall uses many different typical conventions in order to keep to the genre of horror. There is a scene where one of the female victims is in the shower, and apart from that there isn’t much sex and nudity.
There is a lot of violence and gore involved in the ring, there is a suicide scene and a lot of disturbing clips.
The victims also go in the direction of the killer, and do things like answering the phone, whilst the audience know it’s a bad idea. Many of the scenes are very dark, and when the characters first talk about the myth about the video tape, the killer comes. There is also a lot of diagetic sound used which adds to the eeriness. The poor weather conditions also exist as a stereotypical horror convention.
However, in this the typical hero happens to be a female, a strong woman who tries everything to uncover the truth and save herself and her son. The location also makes the audience realise that horror can defy traditional things, as it is set in a bustling city, yet it is still scary.

Overall, the Ring is effective because it uses a mixture of the expected and the unexpected in order to scare the audience. Therefore, when it comes to filming and editing the opening of our horror film, I think it is important to add things which the audience do not suspect.

Initial Horror Film Ideas

Horror Trailer Ideas on Prezi

Case Study: Scream

Case Study: Scream (1996)

A year after the death of Sidney Prescott’s mother, two students are also killed. When a serial killer then appears, Sidney begins to wonder whether the two deaths are linked. No one is safe in the film, and the death count steadily rises. The film adds suspense because everyone is framed as a suspect.

It was rated an 18 due to the strong graphic horror violence, and for the language used during the film.

It was a US film by Dimension films and Woods Entertainment; it was budgeted at $15,000,000 and made $6,354,586 on it’s opening weekend. The film took from the 15th April 1996 to 14 June 1996 to be filmed.

It features actors like Drew Barrymore, Courteney Cox, and Neve Campbell.

Reviews about the film say that it is an effective horror film due to the plot, and that it is a well made movie, and whilst the slasher movie conventions are very original, the new directors manage to make the scenes unpredictable to the audience. Many reviews also comment on how Scream has revived the horror slasher genre.

Conventions of a Horror Film

In films, conventions are the individual things which help the audience to define the type of film. Horror, in my opinion has these conventions:

- Setting - A dark castle, graveyard, deserted hospital, scary mansion or old house. These are all places where the supernatural would seem more likely to occur, and the oldness of again suggests this. A lot of the settings are very dark, lonely places, as dark is associated with the devil and evil, as is black, and lonely, because it creates suspense.

- Monster - fictional, comes from behind you, creepy, wears dark, can pretend to be your friend.

- Victims - young girl who screams, younger people, people who refuse to believe the supernatural or monster.

- Atmosphere - bad weather, very dark/night-time, cold atmoshpere, very quiet, fog. This gives the monster the opportunity to suddenly get his victims.

- Sounds - creaking stairs, footsteps, thunder, old noises (organs), screams. These are all things people associate commonly with fears.

- Other things - blood, gore, weapons, murder. These all focus on things which people nowadays are scared of, because then they can get to the audience better, and provide a good thrill.

Timeline of Horror Films

Timeline of Horror Films

The 1920's
The first horror films were silent and couldn’t contain some of the modern horror conventions such as shadows due to the technology of the era. However many other conventions used in these are still used in today’s horror films. They talk about early folklore and legends of Europe. Sadly, due to the fragile nature of the early horror films, they have been lost.
Films such as:
The Golem (1915/20) – this was one of the first monster movies, and involves a man built of clay.
The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1919) – It features a evil doctor and a madman in a lunatic asylum, and the audience never can tell who is or isn’t sane through a clever framing device.
Nosferatu (1922) – the first vampire movie, which plagiarises the Dracula story, but using different names.

The 1930s
Horror movies changed in the 1930’s. The sound which was available during this era impacted horror films greatly – adding suspense, and signalling the threat and added an extra dimension to the film, or for instance, footsteps down a corridor. These films were set in fantasy lands, in period costume and with strange accents.
Films such as:
Dracula (1931) – The film included common conventions such as crumbling castles, howling wolves, and strange eyes. It was the first film to be very successful for Universal.
Frankenstein (1931)
The Mummy (1932) – the Tutankhamen exhibition was touring during this era, and it centred around an ancient curse which was part of a contemporary urban legend.
Freaks (1932) – This horrifies instead of frightens, and was banned in several countries.
King Kong (1933) – a very successful monster movie, about what lurks behind our civilisation.
Bride of Frankenstein (1935) – Burning mills, crumbling castles, and witty/camp humour, and the evil doctor in the film is a corpse stealer.

Mad scientists and monsters were a big part of the 1930’s horror film industry, and in the years as Nazi Germany began, horror films shot up.

The 1940s
During the war, horror films were banned in Britain, and were purely from an American source. Many of the films involved men or women having an animalistic identity.
Films such as:
The Wolf Man: It is debatable whether this came from the name “Adolf” meaning noble wolf. The film depicted a horror big bad wolf, and eating people, and murders were all part of it.
Cat People (1942) – A woman who will turn into a cat if she consummates her marriage – very psychological.

The 1950s
Human faces became attached to the evil, and a huge monster had been created. After the second world war, less people wanted to see films, and the war had created a fear. The creation of the atom bomb lead to horror films of the 1950’s being about science and technology, and the monsters became even bigger than earlier ones such as King Kong. The humans represented a force for good against these monsters.
Films such as:
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) – Atomic testing in the arctic leads to a monster awakening and destroying New York.
The Wasp Woman (1960) – A scientist mixing things wrong, combining human and insect bits, and this then lead to killings.

The 1960s
A sexual revolution which saw events like Manson family murders, with low budget films, and violence and sex became part of the horror films. The horror was made from more reality, and something everyone could relate to.
Such as:
Pyscho (1960) – Based on the real story of Ed Gein, it features a knife in a shower scene, and a screeching soundtrack.
The Birds (1963) – Strange behaviour from the birds, blue screen work, and a spooky soundtrack which is half silence and artificial bird noises.

Ghost films were also part of the 1960’s, with minimal special effects and black and white photography. The characters do not believe they are being attacked by the supernatural until it is too late, and women were often the victims of these horror films. A suffering beautiful heroine and a final sacrifice are common themes during this era.
Films Such as:
Carnival of Souls – organ music, and absence of dialogue are similar to the silent movies of the 1920’s, and therefore the diegetic sound can cause you to be startled when it returns. Minimal special effects, and lots of ghouls.
Many of these films were very low budgeted, and therefore and the first splatter movie was created - Blood Feast (1963), and there was also the creation of Hammer Horror, which was completely x rated, and added erotic themes to those of earlier monster movies.
Night of the Living Dead also became one of the first zombie films, where zombies chase a group of humans, and try to eat their brains.
Films were also themed on anti-natal problems, like the reality of women taking Thalidomide in order to ward of the morning sickness, but having children without limbs. In Rosemary’s Baby (1968), strange things start happening and then the character gets pregnant, and is given herbal drinks by elderly neighbours, and good things happen, like getting the best obstetrician in New York, but gets really paranoid about all of the bad events that are going on around her. The camera is at a constantly low angle, and misses vital faces, suggesting further paranoia, and her naivety leads to her downfall, and she gives birth to the devil.

The 1970s
Society was going through a bad time, and horror films got a bigger budget, and addressed psychological fears. They focused on deep seated paranoia, children, and also that the enemy could be found in your own home.
Films such as:
The Exorcist (1973) – Lots of special effects, but differs from most horror films because it takes the subject seriously, and there is no humour. The devil is inside a little girl, and causes horrific things to happen.
The Stepford Wives (1975) – Satirical thriller, about women who want more than the home, and marriage. Large Houses, middle class people, leafy streets, and women who aren’t complying to normal life, and being too feminist, and the irony is that the maternal instinct seals her fate, she has the opportunity to run, but won’t leave her children. Dark mansions, thunderstorms, horrific things in daylight.
Also, the children of this time had been growing up with television, and had already seen previous movies, and universal horror films, so knew all about typical monster movies.
Jaws (1975) – Steven Spielberg, small budgeted films, based on the novel, and it gave horror goers a monster who was neither human or inhuman, but perfectly real.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974): Horoscopes tell the truth, and all of the warnings are ignored. Banned for 20 years in the Uk, and the murderers motives are never revealed.
Carrie (1976) – when a young girl who is not very popular and very drawn back from society is played a trick on and murders many people. Lots of blood.
The Omen – big budget horror film, about another demonic child like the Exorcist. It has stunning special effects, evil and lots of shock.
Halloween (1978) – A teenage baby sitter, and lots of shadows make this film really frightening.

The 1980s
In the 80’s, visual effects caught up with the special effects, and other forms of technical advances led to an introduction to body horror films. The American Werewolf in London and Re-Animator, were themed upon deformed or defunctioning body parts, and in this era, zombies also came back. Aliens were also a big part of the era, in films such as The Thing and Alien, combining human biology with alien.
The VCR had just been created, and watching films in private was therefore possible. Teenagers talked about the grossness of films, body parts explosion, amputation, decapaciation, and a lot of blood/gore. These also encouraged the rating system, as young children could get hold of films too horrific for their eyes.
The Evil Dead – college students going into a woods, finding things they aren’t supposed to find and demons coming. It uses a POV camera, and therefore gives a better showing of the peoples view.
Nightmare on Elm Street – this was a horror monster who didn’t hide behind anything, and each of the killings are very separate.
Childs Play (1988) – a dummy who is a murderer, the doll comes after you. He is a toddler who never sleeps, and you run away from, and is restricted by plastic.
The Hitcher (1986) – A thriller about a hitch hiker, which plays on a phrase all mothers say – don’t pick up a stranger.

The 1990's
The 1980’s horror film industry was so full of gore it had almost lost the power to do anything else other than shock and amuse. This era centred around the horror of a realistic serial killer and again psychological fears. The murders of America’s Ed Gein is sometimes found to be an idea behind films of this era. The serial killers communicate through notes and phonecalls, and can appear to help the victim, and the length of their killing sprees is varied, such as in Silence of the Lambs and Se7en. Supernatural and psychological horror films were also part of this era, with things like Jacob’s Ladder. It talks about medieval images and of heaven and hell, and life and death. There is a transformation scene, and a twist, where the victim is actual seeing himself, and he is the demon.
Scream (1996), provides a slasher to the era, and is full of death and a lot of blood.

The 2000s
The earlier films in the previous era almost predicted that the next century wouldn’t be pleasant. 9/11 changed the horror film industry greatly, and many wanted horror films to be banned to encourage world peace. But by 2005, many of the audiences wanted a good form of escapism to the tragic society, like during the war.
Final Destination provided real life horror to the audience. The first one almost foresees the 9/11 tragedy, and shows the audience real life things going wrong, in order to horrify them, and everyone is in danger.
Asian girls were also brought into the horror scene, in films like Dark Water, where the hair creates a scary effect.
Films focus on things happening which could happen to members of the audience, and therefore scare them more than unrealistic things like monsters.

Researching Camera Shots

Match on Action:
This is an editing technique for continuity editing, where one shot cuts to another shot, but still displays the the action of the subject in the first shot. By doing this, it creates a sense of continuity, where the action continues to distract viewers from being aware of slight cutting or continuity issues.

180 Degree Rule:
This is a guideline used in filming where the actors involved in the scene should have the same left-right relationship, and filming takes place within 180 angle. This gives a sense of continuing direction, which overall allows the audience to have a good sense of the scene's location.

Shot/Reverse Shot:
Alike the Match on Action, this is also a continuity shot, that is used in conversations or for characters looking at each other, or objects.
This is done when you have a shot of what the character is looking at, (possibly point of view or over the shoulder shot), followed by a reverse angle shot at the character looking at it/the other character looking back at them. Directors often link this shot with the 180 degree rule in order to retain continuity, and therefore does not distort the viewers sense of the location in the character shots.

Evaluation of "Butterfly"

Natural Health Beauty magazine is a very appropriate magazine for the advert of my perfume “Butterfly”. Its title suggests it is about the world and natural beauty rather than celebrity gossip, which is perfect for my perfume; you can see my perfume is trying to promote nature and natural beauty due to its natural setting, the flowers and the slogan – free your senses. The magazine “Natural Health” immediately shows us that it is not about figures and things, more happiness and health, and the people in my advert suggest that they are not bother by clothing, due to the plain black and boring clothes.
The people who are likely to read this magazine are women who are into natural beauty and happiness through health. I feel that this is the perfect target audience for my perfume, as women/ladies like this are likely to ignore diamante and celebrity labelled perfumes, and therefore my perfume suits them more.
Also, at the bottom of the cover of Natural Health magazine, you can see it mentions “organic beauty”, which is the whole point of my advert. It aims to promote confidence in your natural face, instead of being someone you’re not.
I think my advert for “Butterfly” went really well, I think it easily promotes the target audience and appeals to the needs like aesthetic needs. I am pleased with my progress on Adobe Photoshop, I managed to create almost a mirror image of my original idea. If I was doing it again, I would concentrate on the people involved in the picture to give an even better
display of the perfume’s target audience.

Perfume Advert "Butterfly"

Experimenting with Adobe Photoshop

Experimenting with Adobe Photoshop

I chose a picture from an copyright free website, and then transferred it to photoshop. The photograph in the top left hand corner is the original; I first adapted the brightness and contrast of the photo, as you can see in the middle picture. I chose to make the background darker using the contrast, and therefore the flowers stand out more, and are the main focus of the photo. Next, I chose to experiement with gradient, again trying to make the flowers the most important part of the focus. I placed the dark area of gradient in the left corner, as you can see in the bottom left picture, because it had nothing but a green background in it, and this way, the foreground of the flowers is more prominent. Also, this makes good use of the rule of thirds, because it ensures that the audience look at the flowers on the vertical lines. Next, I chose to try and change the colour of each individual flower bud, and this would give it a contemporary modern look to engage with younger audiences. This was challenging, but we managed to draw around each flower shape and then change the fill of each flower colour, but also so it remained slightly transparent to allow us to see the natural lines of the flower. Next, in order to make the picture look like it was for a perfume advert, I managed to copy a cut out layer of a perfume bottle onto the image. This I found quite difficult, because I didn't really understand how to do it.

Perfume Advertisement Collage

Butterfly is a natural perfume meant for those who are into the outdoors, or want to be. It is the smell of freedom because a butterfly is free to fly around, and needs a lot of green colours to represent the natural theme. I also feel the butterfly trail is nessecary because it adds a feminine touch to the advert. Also the couple holding hands represents love and belonging, and therefore shows that it appeals to those needs in Maslow's Hierarchy.

Designing Perfume Advertisements

Butterfly

Free your senses...

My perfume is called Butterfly, and is targeted at those on Maslow's Hierarchy who need Belongingness/Love, security and for those with aesthetic needs. This is because the main idea around Butterfly is love, nature, beauty and of course freedom.

There are lots of things to think about when deciding the whole mise en scene, but because a butterfly is a natural creature, I think green, and trees need to be involved in the advertisement, because it indicates nature. I also think Butterfly conjures up the colours of pink, purple and blue, pastel colours, which are quite feminine and floral, like a butterfly.

The lighting needs to be dark around the actual perfume bottle to emphasise it and to make it the focus of attention in the bottom section of the advert, however, in contrast, the picture needs to be light, like a butterfly, with a sunny impression.

The actors need to be naturally beautiful people, which will keep the target audience happy. The man's clothing must be very plain, just normal, but classy, perfect for a walk in the park. The girls clothing is more important, because it is a perfume for the female. She needs a flowy long dress, emphasising a butterfly's freedom. It could be any neutral colour, such as white, showing the nature and simplicity.

The butterfly against the bottle should be a pastel coloured one, that doesn't clash or be the same colour as the perfume bottle. This is to emphasis the animal, and it's life.

The font used should be readable, but elegant/floaty. This emphasised not only the gender, but the sense of freedom.

Words from September

Social Groups

Mainstreamers - Largest segment of consumers, seek security and tend to buy well-established brands.

Aspirers/Social Climbers - This groups motivation is status and often buy high tech/fashion goods to give them a better image.

Succeeders - These people have climbed the ladder, and want control of what they have.

Reformers - They want to make the world a better place, educated professionals, they buy eco/healthy products, and have an influential voice.

Individuals - People who respond to advertisements which emphasize individuality/quirkiness.

Mise en scene - everything in the scene - the lighting, actors, costumes, sound, set etc.

Conotation - what something implies.

Denotation - what know from what you see.

Ideologies - ideas.

Anchorage - words/images that create a meaning to pull the audience in.

Camera Shots

2 shot – encompasses a view of two people and is used to show the emotional reaction between subjects.
Over the shoulder shot – Filmed over the shoulder, frames two characters having a discussion, usually follows an establishing shot because it helps the audience to place the characters in their setting.
Establishing Shot – establishes a scene, and indicates where or when a scene takes place.
Tilt Shot – a shot on the tilt, to show the vertical significance of something.
Low Shot – Gives a sense of speeded motion, a sense of confusion to the audience, and powerlessness within the scene.
Eye-Level – neutral shot, the camera is positioned as though it is a human actually observing a scene.
High Shot – elevated above the action, they make the object photographed seem smaller/less significant.
Worm’s Eye Shot – can make an object look strong and tall.
Canted Shot – suggests transition, imbalance, and instability, and can suggest point of view shots.
Bird’s Eye shot – directly overhead, puts the audience in a god like position, looking down on the action, and so people become part of the wider scene.

The Audience of Eastenders

Eastenders Audience

Janine Butcher: Janine is a self centered person, she is a D audience (unskilled manual), and after her return this year, she gets lower and lower. I would put her as a social climber/aspirer, because she wants to be wealthy and popular. I would give her aesthetic needs, because I think she wants to be appreciated, but also has esteem needs, because she longs for status.

Heather Trott: She is employed in a laundrette so I class her as a D audience, and also she would be an individual - she often wears very interesting clothing. She has a belongingness and love needs, because she is really wants love and happiness.

The Audience of the Simpson's

The Simpsons - Audience

Homer:- I would class Homer as a C2 audience (skilled manual workers), due to the fact that he works in the Nuclear plant and has to be skilled to do so. However, he has a family, and often makes mistakes, which leads me to think that on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, he would be categorised as Physiological and Safety needs. I think his family need is also considered sometimes. Homer fits the category of a mainstream audience most, due to his appearance, it is plain and normal.

Mr. Burns:- This character would definitley be a class A audience (Higher Managerial), as he is the manager of the power plant. His accomodation is grand, and he wears a suit, indicating this. I would class him as a succeeder, because he wants to keep hold of his wealth. Therefore on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, he would be Self-Actualization. I do not think he goes as far as trying to help others reach his position, and so cannot be classed as Transcendence.

Otto:- As a bus driver, I think Otto has to be a D audience (semi/unskilled manual workers), because he is a bus driver. I again think he would be a mainstreamer, because he shows no desire to progress and seems happy with what he's got. I think he has similar needs to Homer, in that he needs safety and physiological needs. We never know about his family.

Audience

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Transcendence: Helping others to achieve self-actualization. Self Actualization: realising personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences.
Aesthetic Needs: appreciation, beauty, health and form.
Cognitive Needs: knowledge and meaning.
Esteem Needs: self-esteem, achievement, indepedence, status, dominance.
Belongingness/Love Needs: family, affection, relationships and work groups.
Safety Needs: protection, security, law and stability.
Physiological Needs: air, food, drink, shelter, warmth and sleep.

Representation of Gender

Representation of Gender: Kermit the Frog

Kermit the Frog can be defined as male through his image. Although he has few features which enable us to distinguish between male and female, his posture in the centre picture shows him almost cross legged, but the one knee up suggests masculinity because stereotypically females would need to sit different because they wear dresses and skirts. His facial expression also goes to suggest he is male, because it is smiley, but wide and big, and generally females are supposed to have small delicate mouths. Kermit does not display any features, such as eyelashes, like Miss Piggy, which help us to believe he is male. His collar also appears almost like either a jester's costume or a shirt, both of which are associated with male rather than female.

Comparing Cosmetics Adverts

Comparing Cosmetics Adverts

Euphoria: - The advert displays a man and woman expressing sensual feelings for the perfume; we can tell this due to their body language. The advert suggests that the perfume is pleasing, yet the mouth position of the man makes you think that the perfume makes you want the female for their bodies more than their lips. The low level lighting indicates that the perfume is more of a night scent than an everyday.

Promesse: - This advert suggests that the perfume brings out the romance through everyday things such as sitting on the bench, which would usually be boring. Instead it shows happiness and true love by their facial expressions towards each other. It maybe suggests that the perfume is a gift and a special thing, due to the couple appearing as newlyweds; the advert shows a wedding ring and a bridal bouquet.

Overall, the adverts differ greatly, in theme and in mood. Whilst Euphoria has a more sexual, passionate feeling to it, Promesse is themed more towards love. Therefore the target audience is different; for instance, Girls who dream about true love and romance are far more likely to be interested in Promesse. However, both adverts give the impression that their scent is not an everyday smell, it is special; Promesse by the image of marriage, and Euphoria by the night time (suggested by the mise en scene). Promesse has a more positive image, whilst Euphoria is more flirtatious.

Breaking the Rule of Thirds

Breaking the Rule of Thirds

Most photographers will place the most important parts of the photo at each intersection of the grid. However, some break this rule, such as this one. The main part of the photo, the inside of the flower, is in one of the corner boxes, and therefore diverts the audience's attention to a different area than usual. This can sometimes be effective because it places emphasis on other parts of the photo, such as the fact there are many flowers.

13th Sep 2011 - Rule of Thirds 2

The palm trees, which are positioned along both of the vertical lines, show the location, and almost frame us to look between them at the boat and the sun which are just off centre. This gives us the impression of serenity and freedom. The sea covers the majority of the bottom half of the bottom horizontal line, and shows us that it is a big part of where they are. The fact that there is two palm trees indicates that they are common in that location.

13th Sep 2011 - The Rule of Thirds

The Statue of Liberty is positioned along the right vertical line, which makes it the most dominant part of the picture, and because the bridge is along the centre, it shows that it is also important, but less than the Statue of Liberty. The reason the people are positioned at the bottom of the picture is the contrasts the sizes of the statue and themselves, representing that the statue is wonderful.