Textual Analysis

Poster Analysis

The Crazies Textual Analysis

Introduction:

I chose this film opening which is 4:36 seconds long because the first few seconds of the opening got me engaged with the first shot which is a tilt shot of a fire, first we only see the top of the fire with smoke and fumes being released and then we are shown a building burning and what is in front of the building such as a car, meaning people may have lived there.

Narrative Context:

The film is set in a small fictional country town called ‘Ogden Marsh’, whose residents’ water was infected due to a military plane crash.

Enigma Codes:

Enigma codes are an important feature within films because to make the audience want to continue watching the film they must be questioning what is going to happen which makes them want to find out and leaves an element of suspense.

·         Why are there buildings on fire?

·         Who lived there?

·         How was this caused?

·         Who did it?

How are the characters established and represented?

The first character we are introduced to is a young woman called Becca, in a medium shot with a panning movement round showing her walking through the door. We can infer that she is young as when we first meet her she walks through the doorway and picks up her phone from her desk to check it and smiles. This is because her boyfriend Scotty is texting her about meeting at the baseball game if she can get out of work.

We as an audience have established that she works in the medical centre because she is in a white clinical uniform and has her hair tied back. We can connote that she has a boyfriend because in the next shot we see of her she is talking to a woman sat at her desk, a Doctor called Judy Dutten, about wanting to get out of work to meet her boyfriend Scotty. Becca is represented as an unreliable and dishonest character as she lies to Judy saying she wants to visit her aunt because she is sick. We could also say that she could be a little rebellious at times as we see her wearing a black choker type necklace with some black bracelets on, even though she is working in a Clinic. She is a typical Character of the Thriller Genre because she turns out to be one of the victims in the film. She fits this role because some of her character traits support this in being vulnerable and quite shy as she is afraid to ask her boss for some time off but makes an excuse up.

Dr. Judy Dutten is presented to us as in an over the shoulder shot wearing a long white Doctor coat, and we can tell she is busy because whilst she is speaking to Becca she is still working and moving files around on her desk in the office. We can already tell that she is a friendly character, especially with Becca as she smiles at her and even though she knows Becca is lying to her, she jokes around with her and still lets her go to see her boyfriend.

     

The next character we meet is Sheriff David Dutten, who when we first see him is in his uniform going to see the baseball game. Before we are properly introduced to him we can tell he is married as there is a shot of him driving his car, with a close up shot of his hand showing his wedding ring which we assume he might be married to Dr. Judy Dutten. This is a close up shot to emphasise the concern or worry the audience may be feeling for him and his family in advance to the position he is put in where Rory points the gun at him.

One of Sheriff Dutten’s key character traits is he is brave and shows he is a heroic character when the character of Rory walks onto the baseball field holding a gun David is the first person to literally drop everything and run onto the field and keep everyone safe by telling them to stay back. He is a typical thriller character because he is trying to keep everyone away from harm and save the day. 

We first meet Becca’s boyfriend Scotty in a medium shot for a few seconds whilst he is on the field playing basketball, which implies that he keeps what he does close to him and enjoys sports so he is an active person.

The character of Rory is first shown walking onto the baseball field with a gun in his hand in a long distance shot as he is approaching closer. Our first impression on Rory is that he is quite insane and abnormal because of the gun in view, and because he has a slightly sinister look on his face with tells us that he must have bad intentions. However, we could infer that Rory is usually quite a friendly character because of how quick David was to advance towards Rory to calm him down and console him.

Locations:

Countryside – This is not a typical location of the Thriller Genre because Thrillers are generally set in cities as they are busy and usually based around crime or blackmail. It is unlikely for there to be violence and criminality on-going in a quiet place like the countryside.

Baseball field – This is not a typical location of the Thriller Genre, but has been used because it is a place where lots of people may congregate so it could be easy for someone to target. There is also trees that are bare and a cold look to the field which could support the use of this location.

Title:

The title ‘The Crazies’ is shown on a black background in white font writing. It is shown in very small font and in the far corner of the screen to connote that the title almost does not want to be seen as it is not central or big and bold, and the town is ashamed that there is crazy people living there and they do not want to be given a bad name.

There is a screen shown with Satellite images and the title ‘Ogden Marsh Township, Population 1,260’. This gives the feel of someone searching for something in the town as it was focused in on Rory lying on the floor in birds eye view and soon zooms out. There are many ways we can assume why we were shown this as an audience; it could be as the population number is so small it is trying to highlight the insignificance of what happened to the town because it is so little, or it could be suggesting that someone is trying to deliberately put the town in danger.

Camera and editing techniques:

In the opening we are presented with a tilt movement of the whole fire burning the building along with a long shot of the town burning down with slow paced editing to show the audience in depth how destroyed the town is. In the long shot we can see a banner with the town name burning down to connote that this is the town that is no longer Ogden Marsh, a happy and friendly place to be.

It then cuts to a black screen with the title ‘Two days earlier’ to give the audience some of the background of the town. There is then a contrast of several images showing a calm and tranquil environment in comparison to the earlier scenes of chaos and wreckage of the fire.

There is a long shot of a happy family scene to display that the town is a welcoming and pleasant place to be. A pan shot of children having fun riding their bikes with no distractions is shown to reinforce this.

There is a pan shot showing the car of Sheriff David Dutten driving in to see the baseball game and then a long continuous movement showing the whole field.

When the character of Rory walks onto the baseball field and the Sheriff follows, Rory is shown from a lower angle than him implying that the Sheriff has more authority over Rory.

Use of Sound

At the very beginning of the opening, we can hear diegetic sounds showing a fire burning with the flames building up. This creates suspense and tension for the audience as we fear for the town resident’s welfare. (0:11)

Further on from this there are scenes showing the depths of the fire and the damage it has caused following on with the diegetic sounds gradually getting louder as we see the town banner falling. (0:27)

Seconds after we are introduced to non-diegetic sound with a Western style piece of music, creating a different mood for the audience as it is happy and upbeat. This supports the producer’s efforts of trying to change our perspective of the town whilst we are shown joyful images of what it was like before the fire had taken place. (0:30)

Soon after Rory steps foot on the baseball field we can hear a non-diegetic high pitch screeching noise, trying to change the audience’s mood from the crowd cheering. It is representing that something bad might happen in the upcoming moments. (2:50)

When Sheriff Dutten drops his coffee cup to go and investigate what is wrong with Rory on the field, there is a non-diegetic sound added to the shot to emphasise the way the Sheriff drops everything to keep the town out of danger. (3:02)

We can hear a chainsaw-like sound of a blade cutting through something when Rory approaches the Sheriff. This makes the audience feel worried about what Rory might proceed to do next. (3:14)

A diegetic shotgun sound can be heard when Rory goes to pull his trigger towards the Sheriff and the Sheriff shoots him to defend himself and the people in the crowd. (4:00)

After the shooting had occurred we can hear non-diegetic sounds of a guitar playing softly and slowly in the background to change the mood now that the people are safe from any threat. (4:14)

Intended target audience

The target audience for this film I would expect to be around 15-20 years old, this is because the features of this film follow the typical Thriller Genre and involves younger characters. Younger audiences would not be so interested in these films because it is a Horror Thriller and they may get scared easily. Older audiences would not be interested in watching this film because there isn’t any themes that involve anything older people could relate to or find stimulating.