A2 Textual analysis of a similar product

Title: I know what you did last summer

Date of release: October 17^th 1997

Name of director: Jim Gillespie

Genre: Horror / mystery/thriller

My textual analysis of a similar product is about a horror/mystery/thriller film called –‘I know what you did last summer’. I chose this particular movie because I thought the suspense of the horror action was very well made in this film. ‘I know what you did last summer’ has also got similar narrative to the short film I’m planning to make for my A2 production. This is as my film also consists of few teenagers getting killed of one by one by a mysterious character that has their reasons.

The narrative structure for “I know what you did last summer’

Equilibrium is 4 youngsters going home after a night of celebrating Helens win at a beauty pageant.

Disruption is when they hit and apparently kill a man with Barry’s car and decide to dump the dead body in the ocean and never talk of it again.

The new equilibrium is Julie in her second year of college receiving a letter to go to a pool party. This occurs at the end of the film.

Genre codes and conventions

“I know what you did last summer’ has a lot of typical stereotype characters in it. The lead character that is the survivor of the film is a smart, good girl called Julie, her friend is a beauty queen Helen who wears short dresses and dates the high school jock Barry who has a brand new car in which they cause an accident. Ray is Julie’s boyfriend who is a typical easygoing guy; we see this when he brakes up a fight between Barry and another guy.

The killer of the film carries the typical codes and conventions of a horror film by using the same weapon to kill, which is a hook. He is a mentally disturbed man who wears a black raincoat and we can’t see his face.

Sound is very important in horror movies and this is not an exception we hear a lot of tension raising music that builds up before the killer appears on the screen.

The lighting in this film differs from scene to scene but is mostly low-key high contrast. The scenes where the killer is seen is mostly shadow full dark places that help with increasing tension and fright to the movies audience.

Settings are mostly those that are everyday places as usual for a horror film. As that gives the effect to the viewer that this could happen in real life.

Editing at the scary parts of the film is mostly fast pace, but the editing pace varies throughout the movie corresponding to the action that we see.

There’s a lot of close ups in order to show the characters facial expressions that are full of fright in the movie, long shots are also dominant in the scarier parts of the film like the chase scenes, so we can see the running properly. Two shots and mid close ups dominate the rest of the films cinematography; they create a safe, friendlier environment.

Detailed textual analysis of 2-3minute extract

The extract is from the part when Helen comes back home and the killer enters her room unnoticed.

The first shot of the extract is a panning shot of Helen entering the kitchen and opening the fridge. Her body language and facial expression makes her look calm.

The next shot is a close up of a TV screen that shows a baseball game.

We see a man sitting down on a sofa sipping on a drink in the living room. His shot is a mid close up, but we see most of the room and in the background we see a light shadow moving bigger and bigger and then a figure of a man suddenly appears in the shadow.

 Then there’s a cut to a high angle shot from the stairs to the corridor where we also see the shadow.

Cut back to Helen with a can of cola in her hand, this is a pan from right to left of her picking up an empty glass from the table.

Fast cut to the door, where we see a tracking shot towards the killers figure and he closes the door.

Cut to a close up of the drink can that gets opened and poured into a glass.

Cut to a warm’s eye view of the killer in a black raincoat who straightens his arm and we see a very shiny big hook in his hand.

Cut to the close up of the TV screen, and then cut to the mid shot of a man on the sofa.

Cut to a low angle close up of Helen drinking a glass of cola.

Cut to the view from the door, tracking towards the light that seems to be coming from the kitchen.

Cut to a close up of Helen putting down the glass on the table and walking away.

Cut to further tracking towards the light coming from the kitchen.

Mid shot of Helen, fast cut to the tracking shot again and cut to a pan of Helen walking out of the kitchen.

We see a long shot of Helen who enters the corridor, as she walks towards the camera we crane downwards and tilt to the top of the stairs before she looks up to climb the stairs we see the killer but he enters a room when she walks up.

We see a high angle shot from the top of the stairs her walking up and taking her earrings off. Cut to her point of view going up the stairs and a cut back to the high angle of her coming up and a little pan when she turns to enter a room.

Cut to another pan (left to right) of her entering the room and putting her bag down and then panning to the left again following her and then stopping at the slightly open closet, she exits the shot. Then we zoom in to the closet and there’s a little tilt up.

Cut to her putting a shirt on, mid shot. Pan to the left her back to us. Zoom in to Helen holding a crown and we see a hand reaching for her shoulder.

 She jumps up and turns around.

Cut to a long shot of Helen and her sister. Pan to the left following Helen who puts her crown next to a mirror, we can see her sister in the mirror as well as her. Pan to the right where Helen sits down on her bed and starts brushing her hair (close up), the focus is on her sister in the background who is talking to her.  Focus moves back to Helen who replies.

 Her sister exits the room and closes the door.

Cut to the close up of an open closet.

 The mise-en-scene of this extract is very usual everyday life like, the average home; Helen is wearing casual clothing- jean shorts and a t-shirt. Helens room has ice skates hanged on the wall, flowers in a vase, the beauty pageant crown and a mirror. Helen has a typical clean girls room.

Sound is very horror movie typical that rises tension.

The cinematography of this extract, especially the use of shadows to show the entry of the killer into the house is very effective in order of frightening the audience as we don’t actually see the killer yet we know he is there.

Editing in this extract is fast and gets quicker with every shot, until the red herring of when her sister turns out to be the one who taps her shoulder.

The lightning and color is mostly high key low contrast except for the killer entry to the house shots where its low key high contrast. This is typical to a horror movie as usually when the killer is shown it is dark.