A mood board is a type of poster which consists of different images or text which may reflect the genre of a film. It can range from a famous character or scene for the genre, or it maybe a setting which is typical to appear in the genre. Graphic designers and writers are an example of people who create mood boards.
Thriller
In this mood board, I have used the image of a crime scene as most thrillers usually involve some form of crime investigation. The next image is a photo of James Bond who is an iconic character for the spy films. The next image is a photo taken form the movie Flightplan, which was a successful thriller. The noir picture is quite old fashioned and almost seems like a film involving gangsters and crime. The actor at the bottom is Bruce Willis who has starred in many thrillers. The final image is a group of riot police, which suggests violence and crime, two key elements in a thriller.
Horror
This mood board incorporates different images which reflect around the horror genre. The first image is a sharp dagger covered with blood. The dagger is a common murder weapon within horror films, and the blood is also used to symbolise death which is an important part of the horror franchise as most of its audiences are interested in gory murders. The next image is taken from the movie Insidious and shows the face of the deamon. This is used to show that the horror genre expands into supernatural or sci-fi as sub genres. The next image is a photo of the jigsaw doll from the movie Saw. This is an iconic and well recognised character within the horror movie franchise because, most horror fans may have seen at least one Saw film therefore this character is instantly recogisable. The next image is a picture of a ventriloquist dummy which can be used as a prop in horror films because, it symbolises innocence which is ironic as it can involved in a bloody murder film. The final image is of the actor Peter Cushing who is a very famous actor who has appeared in many horror films, such as some Dracula films playing the character of Van Helsing.
RomCom
The first picture of the RomCom mood board is a picture of the actor Hugh Grant. He is significant with this mood board as he is a very famous RomCom actor who has appeared in many films of this genre, such as Bridget Jones. The next picture is an image of a rose. The rose is a flower which symbolises love, whcih is a key theme within RomComs and used by most RomComs. The next image is a silhouette of a couple. Silhouettes have been featured in many RomCom posters as they can express compassion between a couple, which is why it is has been used in this mood board. The film poster advertises the famous film Just Like Heaven. This film is very likeable by most RomCom fans and is considered to be one of the best by movie goers. The final image is of a wedding. When most RomComs involve couples, it will usually result in a wedding ,which is why I have chosen to use it in this mood board.
Christian Metz in his book 'Language and cinema' created in 1974, explored the development of genre film and used the idea that that genre films fall into four different categories of existance.
Experimental - This is the period where the type of horror film has only just been intrduced and new ideas and elements have been incorporated. Nosferatu (1922) is an example of this.
Classic - This is the phase of films which established the narrative conventions of the horror genre in its most successful and defining period. These inclde films such as Dracula.
Parody - Films which mimic another film in a comical way. Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein is an example of this.
Deconstruction - These are films which have taken another genre as its sub genre, however its is stil classed as a horror. Scream is an example as is it also a teen movie.
However films such as Halloween are hard to categorize. This is because even though they were the first slasher films, they are not in the experimental period. Therefore are classified as classic films.
In the pre-opening sequence of Red Dragon, the first scene shows HannibalLecter watching an orchestra playing in a theatre. A crane shot sweeps over the audience showing the juxtaposition of Hannibal showing he is an important character. His body language is also important because, when one of the musicians makes a mistake, he twitches his eyes showing that has become offended by the mistake. This automatically creates a link between Hannibal and the musician because, Hannibal feels musician must be punished for offending him.
The next scene is where Hannibal is in his house with dinner guests as they hear news that a musician has dissapeared. While Hannibal circles around the guests, one them uses the word "herd" which is quite ironic because, as Hannibal circles around his guests, they represent a herd and Hannibal represents a herd leader. Also the setting inside Hannibal's house is quite british and old fashioned. This could show that Hannibal is of a high class within society and he is important.
In the next scene, Hannibal welcomes a new character by calling him "special agent Graham". This could show that both characters are important because, it shows that the FBI agent is important within crime solving, and it shows that Hannibal is a professional and important man within society. The lighting on the characters is also key as it establishes which character is good and which one is bad. There is a bright yellow light shining on the FBI agent showing he is good, however with Hannibal, it is slightly dark showing he is an evil character.
The final part of this sequence is the tooth fairy's scrapbook with shocking images. One of the images shows the human anatomy linking to a dragon which is very significant with the Tooth Fairy as it shows a transformation of a human to a red dragon. This is also shown by a religious reference shown underneath the images. Also, the titles are shown in the colours red and white. Again this another reference between the difference of good and evil.
How to lose a guy in 10 days directed by Donald Patrie
In the opening sequence, special lighting is used to identify the genre of the film and what type of mood is present. The lighting is very bright and shines on the character Andie. This gives the audience an idea that atmosphere is quite bright and happy because, there is no dark colours identifying that the genre is a Rom Com. Also, the fact that the character Andie is in the center of the audiences view (juxtaposition) showing that the film is obviously tageted for women, imlying it is a Rom Com.
Horror analyses - Inidious directed by James Wan (2010)
In the opening scene of Insidious the lighting is artificial and is very dark. The artificial lighting could indicate that the insident, which is about to happen within the scene, is in a domestic home and due to it being so dark. It could also imply that a dark force or energy is present in the vulnerable child's home. Also within the titles, there are numerous child toys present such as a rocking horse. This has cleverly been used by the director to make the scene seem innocent which makes the viewer restless or scared as they don't expect anything bad to occur.
As the scene takes us into a creepy bedroom, the director shows further uneasiness by using a handheld camera angle, in order to make it look like a piont of view shot. This automatically puts the viewr inside the film, which will create tension, due to this shot making it seem more realistic and scary for the viewer.
The director uses the technique of sound well aswell. The incidental music played in the scene when an antagist becomes present is like broken orchestra strings being played. This horrifying creepy music is brilliant for the scene as send an impulse of chills down the viewers body making them feel restless and nervous for what's about to happen.
The cuts in the opening are very slow and definately not seamless, which unusual but clever. This carries on the slow build of tension within the scene which is great because, it makes the viewer feel nervous longer through the, which is what the objective of a horror film is, to create tension within the audience.
