HOLIDAY HOMEWORK: Research 2

MOVIE: The Stepfather

 

At the beginning of the movie, it takes quite a while until we see who the man truely is and what he is truely doing. The introduction to the character is very slow and he seems very normal and I think that was done purposely just so that we can feel the suspense even more. When we then realise that he is a serial killer, we then understand why the introduction to the 'normal-looking' side of him is so long.

 

Right at the beginning of the movie, the character apperas to be so normal due-to the props used. Even the fact that he has cut himself shaving anf he puts a piece of tissue over it is quite normal. The house looks very ordinary and when we follow him into the kitchen, we get an even bigger sense that he is normal due-to the way it looks.

 

 

We see the character making his breakfast like a normal person would. The use of the bread popping up from the toaster suggests that he may look normal at first, but the sudden popping up of the bread may forshadow that something maybe unexpected is going to happen.

The first thing we hear as the film starts is this creepy and sinister non-diegetic music which goes on upto when he gets downstairs, where this holy music then starts playing but a very slow and quite scary version of the music. We then begin to realise that there may be something wrong with this man.

 

With the camera work, it is all normal until a certain point. There are all types of shots like long shots, close ups and medium shots throughout the opening. Also, when the character goes into the kitchen, the camera tracks him which also made it more interesting when I was watching it. However, when the weird things started coming up like the people that were dead, the camera adapted different camera angles.

With this angle on the left, we can see that it makes the film much more diverse and interesting to watch as again it forshadows that bad things are going to happen throughout the movie.

 

 

 The editing of the opening of 'THE STEPFATHER' is simple yet effective. It has a narrative opening and the titles are also quite simple and do not get in the way of the action. The titles all appear in the same manner and they are also all in the same font. They come up on the screen in a 'floaty' type of way which looks mysterious and emphasises on the Thriller genre.

 

 

 

I noticed that all the titles were in the correct order. The film title came after the producers and the distributors and the actors began coming up after that. It followed the order of the conventions of a film opening and it was therefore very enjoyable to watch.