Gothic film report

http://www.zonehorror.tv/clippreview.aspx?clip=8021a273-4fa7-4bcf-ba54-668da3122bdf

The first film I chose to write about came from the Zone Horror website and is called “The Pigeon”. It is only a couple of minutes long but captures a gothic theme in it throughout. The scene is set in a castle, the actual film is very dark and the lighting very low to create a gothic scene. The main character is dressed in Victorian clothing which sets the scene of being either very old or a ghost. The use of a scary castle, dark lighting and old props like candles and cobwebs creates a very eerie mood and ghostly setting. At the very start of the film the use of a wide angle shot to show a dark castle sets the scene of an old and creepy location, the castle looks run down and as if it hasn’t been used for years. The use of thunder at the start of the film creates tension as most people create negative thoughts from thunder and instantly associate it with horror and spooky events. The film is shot at night which is again spooky and the audience will associate this with ghosts or horrific events. The director has used lightening to show the audience short shots of what the castle looks like this is also very random and shocks the audience creating excitement and a sense of foreboding as lightening is also associated with horror. The dialect used in the voiceover is also quite old and the use of poetry creates age and mystery, the actual voice used in the voiceover is very deep and foreboding, this makes the audience sit up and listen you are engaged in the entire film from start to finish. The director has used eerie music throughout the film and chiming of clocks to create a ghostly scene. The table in which the Duke sits at is very old fashioned and gothic and having a character play a duke makes the film more gothic and old fashioned, how the table has be laid also helps create a gothic scene. As we get to the middle of the film the Duke starts to chase to eat it this seems odd to the audience as in modern day people don’t normally eat pigeons (I think). The use of time in this film is very clever and gives a ghostly feel as it never seems to change the time is always nine-thirty. The director changes the scene when the Duke returns and makes it cobwebbed and old as if loads of time has passed but the Duke is stuck in one place. This is very eerie and by this point I was beginning to think he was a ghost, and then the audience is shown a skeleton of the Duke on the floor and find out he is. This is very gothic as skeletons are used a lot in horror. The use of rhyming is very clever and using time to create a ghostly setting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxQcBKUPm8o&feature=PlayList&p=3884EDDEF3E82F35&index=4
The next film I chose I found on YouTube, a Tim Burton short animation. I thought this was a brilliant film and very clever. Although it is animated I still thought it portrayed a gothic theme very well being in black and white helped this. Particular aspects of gothic I picked up on while watching the animation was the use of creatures like bats and cats. It was particularly dark and creepy and the animation made everyday objects like trees seem creepy and dark. I particularly liked the use of font in the film this was very gothic and intricate. The use of poetry also in this film seems to give it an edge in which you are encaptured from the start and watch it until the end, it draws in the audience especially using Vincent as the voiceover. The film is set in a house which is made to switch from normal to gothic throughout the film, the character also continues this theme of switching genres and the audience almost forgets the little boy until he is switched back to himself as the storyline and sub-stories are so enticing. There is a lot of use of lighting in this animation to show switchover from gothic to normality also shadows are used a lot. The theme of zombies comes up in the film also and is set in London which is a good location for gothic horror stories. Church bells are also used in this film, which are used in gothic films to create an eerie atmosphere. There are also many skeletons and skulls which pop up throughout this short film similar to others I have watched, other symbols such as crosses and graves also appear in this film and the character is actually made to like quite thin and pale with shallow sunken eyes which relates to vampires and other gothic films. The theme of insanity and madness also appears in this film which is common to some other gothic films I have watched. The way the film ends is very gothic with a quote from Edgar Allan Poe and a complete back-out with sad music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wug4q-enhkY&feature=PlayList&p=3884EDDEF3E82F35&index=43
Next I chose a really odd film I found on YouTube. It is a stop motion animated short film. . This film is set in a graveyard. It starts with just clips of twigs and graves. Played over these clips are various noises of night time and animal noises you probably would not find scary in the daytime but would at night as it is entering the unknown. It uses very typically scary noises you might associate with ghosts, there is again thunder used in this film which has been an ongoing theme of all the films I have watched. The film uses a technique in which it focuses in and out of certain objects this makes the object more dramatic, for example a gravestone with RIP wrote on it. In this film there is only one character and he has been made out of material so you can only just make out a face which looks quite pale and shallow which is similar to the other films I have watched. He is a really creepy character and has blood on his robes to enhance the horror. He is made to seem magical and is carrying a staff in which he moves things with and creates religious symbols out of twigs. This film is overall very eerie and creepy.