Character Profile: SAMANTHA

This is a new and improved character profile for other characters we have in the film.

Group: 19
Production Company Name: ERP PRODUCTIONS
Film Name: NEXT
Character Name: SAMANTHA COLLINS

Role in the Story
The character of SAMANTHA plays the role of the best friend of ALEXANDRA. She is the Deutoragonist character of the film, and is the one that gets killed in Alex's dreams. After the creepy dream, she is the one that comforts her friend with laughter.

Age and Description
She is 17 years old. She is of 5'3", of average weight, as blue eyes and big black curly hair. She likes to be stylish, and girly, and is never seen wearing trousers, she always wears flowery skirts and boho style dresses.

Core Traits
She is kind and gentle to friends when they need her help. She is friendly to everyone, and is very caring. She also seems very innocent, and wouldnt do anything to hurt anyone.

Character Subtext
She worries about Alex, as she is her bestfriend and she doesnt lioke to see her shaken up like this, but tries to turn it into something light hearted, even though shes think that there could be some truth behind it. As the story progresses, she becomes more and more aware of her fate.

Flaw
Because sheis innocent, it also makes her very naive. If she had thought her friends dream through more, then maybe alex would get killed later on.

Character Arc
She laughs about her friends dream to start with, but the arc begins when she finds out about Alex's death on the same day and begins to realise the same could happen to her. She goes from jokey and humoruous to fearing for her life in a very short time.

World View
'Why has this horrible being murdered MY best friend, and why is he after me?'

Want/Need
To stay alive.

Mission/Agenda
At firs tit is to comfort her friend, but when her friend dies her mission is then to find out who this killer is without getting herself killed.

What Makes this Character Unique?
Although she may seem very innocent and naive at first, after the death of her friend she realises she has to be strong and becomes less scared, showing a change in a young teen that some people in the audience may relate to.

Locations in college

 

This is the study base in College where Alexandra is filmed revising for a certain subject. She is shown to not really be doing anything and not getting the work done that she needs to do because her mind is elsewhere. By being in the study base there is loads of noise which can be why she is not concentrating on what she needs to do.

 

 

 

This is where Alexandra is filmed coming into college. This is needed to show that she is allowed into the building.

 

 

 

This is where the conversation between Samantha and Alexandra is shown at dinner, giving the sense that they are completely alone and that they do this everyday; showing they are going about their normal routine.

 

 

This is the location where we filmed Alexandra in her music lesson, not getting the music that needs to be played or not playing along. This gives the sense that she is in a lesson.

 

 

This is another shot where Alexandra is shown to be going out of college, this is needed to show that she has left and is on her way home.

 

 

 

This is the location where Alexandra is filmed doing her work looking completely out of it. With other people being in the room, this shows that it is actually a lesson that she is in. 

Title Sequence Analysis

CABIN IN THE WOODS

Title Sequence at Art of The Title
(Click above to see full title sequence)

Here we have the title sequence for the horror film Cabin in The Woods.

This title sequence was designed to be more of a parody mocking the rest of title sequences, which is shown through the imagery and the way it is laid out. The first thing we see in this 'title sequence' is a liquid trickling onto the screen, almost the colour of blood, which can annotate blood/danger etc. There is also an image with in this blood like substance, and looks to be someone pulling the blood and guts of another human out of there stomach. This could give a omen of what is to happen in the rest of the film.

The next shot after that has some text on it. It has the same blood like liquid flowing across screen but has a different image in it this time, and looks to be a person offering a gift of some sort to a Hindu God-like figure. This makes the audience one edge, and adds to the idea of the horror film itself. The text is in red, and looks like it could start dripping any second.

The liquid looks like genuine blood now, as it has become darker and harder to see where that ends and the pitch black background begins. There is another different image flowing in the blood now, where it looks to me as if there are two humans tearing a woman apart, limb by limb with an unlit fire underneath, ready to cook her. All throughout this first gruesome section there is some very majestic, powerful music playing, and this could maybe show that the people who are killing are of some status and have some form of power above most people.

This next image shows that well. Here, in the blood again, show a hooded man with his hands in the air holding a staff in a powerful position, looming over what looks to be a naked woman with her whole front cut open. This could also give a clue into the film, that the women could be the first to  be killed, or that their deaths would be the most significant.

The blood like stuff that was taking up most of the screen has transformed now, and has become a mostly gold colour, and this could show who is responsible for the blood, as gold usually represents expense, and in older times or kings and powerful men could have gold. The gold has also changed into shapes, which look like people.

What looked like blood before now looks like fire, which can still suggest danger in different ways. The flames are shaped in a way that looks like old fashioned sculptures and paintings, which back then where mostly made up of naked men and women, usually to express heaven and hell and other things like that. This could show there may be a religious side, or it could be going back to old rituals or sacrifices throughout the film.

After the flames for a couple more seconds, it swiftly morphs into this. This sets a drastic change in mood for the audience, where they will probably become very confused, as did I. 

It then flicks back a little, and shows two older men in a office like environment. Now, this does not help the audiences' confusion, as it looks as if editing went wrong and they've put two completely contrasting film together by accident. However, in my opinion i think that it was the creators intention, which keys in with the idea of it being a parody of a title sequence.

There is then an establishing shot of this 'office' , or as it was probably first thought by the audience. This place looks much too big to be a regular office, and looks very clinical, sterile and pale, which is the complete opposite of what was seen in the very first shots of the film.

Now it shows these two characters in more detail, and one seems to be older than the other. Compared to extras seen in the background, who were wearing lab coats etc., these two are wearing shirts and ties, this could suggest that they could have lower status as the lab coats show more authority, but as they are two of very few wearing ties, they could have a higher status as executives maybe of this unknown organisation.

A woman then joins the two men. All throughout this part of the title sequences there isn't any names given, which could show that although these characters are giving an insight to the film, they aren't the main characters of the rest of the film, and aren't very significant. You can tell by the facial expressions of the men and the way they talk to this woman that they are not interested in what she is saying.

As the three walk into the next room, there is another establishing shot of a room that looks very much the same as the last, and looks even more sci-fi and high tech with all the chrome everywhere, looking very hospital like and clinical.

The men then get into a little vehicle, still looking bored at what the woman is saying, showing how completely uninterested they are. Throughout this part of the title sequence, there is none of the blood red text shown, almost give the idea that the film has already started.

The two men then have had enough with this woman, and drive off leaving her mid-sentence. They carry on with their conversation about baby-proofing the house, and i think the audience is seconds away from leaving, as they probably think they've gone into the wrong theater.

Then the whole films stops, and huge letters showing the title come onto the screen in blood red, with screaming and other creepy noises blasting on to the film. This probably wakes the audience up, and then they stood collecting their stuff and go back to watch the horror film.

However, the horror doesn't start their. The screen then morphs again (in the same way it had from the beginning part to the office scene. This then shows another establishing shot of a suburban area, with a teen skateboarding in the middle of the road. The cringe-worthy horror sounds from before have morphed into happy, upbeat singing, which changes the tone of the film yet again.

The shot then sweeps (or pans) up and across, and begins to zoom in on a red and white window, where a girl looks to be packing her things in just a t-shirt and pants; the first main character. This films holds a few stereotypes for horror characters, and these characters are all introduced in the title sequence.

The first character, from the first glance of her half nakedness, could be portrayed as the girl that sleeps around, when you realize she is putting books into a overnight bag, the audience will completely change opinion and pin her as the 'Nerd', or the smart girl.

In these parts of the title sequence (the suburban area), the text has come back on, showing different actors names etc. It is also in the same font and colour as before, proving that it is still the same film, just a very unconventional way to start a horror film. This shot show a little more of the room she is in, almost an establishing shot, and shows that she likes to draw and is very art-y, and also has a very cluttered room, which is conventional with most students.

The girl moves away from packing, and turns to notice a book, which makes her facial expression turn solemn, making the audience wonder what is in the book to make her so sad.

It turns out to be a sketch book, and shows a pencil drawing of a man to the side, who looks a little older than the girl. This could suggest some sort of relationship between the two people, but because the man is only a sketch it shows his insignificance towards the plot.

It then flicks back to the girls face in a close up shot, showing the melancholy sadness in her eyes, which makes the suggestions of a relationship between the two people stronger. 

In the next second, another head pops into the screen at the side of the smart girl, which is the introduction of the next character; the ditsy blonde. She comes into shot very close to the first girl, which shows they must have a a close relationship as friends and/or roommates. The blonde shows a look of disgust, which shows she clearly doesn't approve of this drawing.

Now the main focus of my analysis for this shot is the text. Not only are the titles red and have the connotations of blood, they also start to smear in parts significant part of the shot. The text now looks like blood more then ever, and fairly obviously looks like it too.

The ditsy blonde now plays to her characters stereotype with the classic hair flicks and talking about her hair, which has ironically recently been dyed blonde. she then makes a joke about this man in the drawing and decides to take action.

This is an insert shot of the notepad, and show the blonde tearing drawing out of the sketch book, revealing a page of paint splodges underneath. This could also show connotations of blood and gore, also giving a clue to where the film could be heading.

The girls then have some dialogue back and forth, and as she tries to but this very revealing bikini into the smarter girls bag, she notices the books she put there earlier. The  titles are there again, and i think the creators have strategically placed the titles so that when there isn't something in the image that shows horror or blood, then the text is their as a small reminder that this is still a horror film, as it has took a very girl turn at the moment.

It the goes to a two shot of the girls, showing the confusion and pure disgust that her friend would think of studying on their 'vacation'. 

There is then the introduction of the next horror character; the jock dating the ditsy blonde. He looks very out of place in the extremely girly house, creating a huge contrast between the purple and his football (rugby ball). In this part of the scene he launches the ball through the window straight past the girls, showing his macho strength as a 'jock' figure.

As you can see, the girls are not very impressed by this, flying out of the way of the ball, missing narrowly getting hit by it. This near miss could show there may be a few near misses throughout the film.

Then comes the introduction of the next main character, and the final main character in the whole title sequence. Here, is the jocks friends, who i could set a stereotype to as he is only sen this once in the title sequence. He is stood in the middle of the road trying to catch the ball the jock has just thrown.

Here comes the next rear miss. As the friend tries to catch the ball, he jumps, catches it, and a car has to break very sharply to miss the guy in the middle of the road. Because it was quite foolish of him to be in the middle of the road int he first place, you could say that his stereotype would be the 'fool' or the comedy guy of the group, always playing pranks etc.

As the car brakes, the screeches of the tires becomes very loud, and as the car jerks backwards the titles that were against the cars are smudged, almost showing an alternate ending to the scene.

The scene then cuts back to the girls bedroom where the jock sees the blonde with the books from the smart girls bag. His face then turns angry, a you can see above. This could give the impression that maybe he has something to do with the blood shown so much, but then after the girls sarcastic reaction and playful storming off the audience then realizes it is all just a joke.

He then turns to the smart girl, and starts to shatter the stereotype given by the audience as the jock. He begins to talk about what is involved in the books, showing he is much more intelligent than your stereotypical jock in a horror film.

He then walks over the to cluttered book shelf, and suggests a different book, explaining that he prefers this one better than the two she had in her bag. They show that he has intelligence as well power and strength, show that even though he may not fall into the stereotype of the sporty jock, he could be seen as the stereotypical 'perfect' character, someone that guys want to be and girls want to be with, and that could have an effect on him throughout the film.

After speaking about the books, he points out to the girl that she isn't wearing any trousers, as she had forgotten she was walking round in her pants. She then starts to hide herself from the window in a very embarrassed way, so the guy outside doesn't see her. This shows she could have innocence compared to her blonde friend, who was suggesting provocative wear earlier in the scene, and that innocence may bode well for her in the rest of the film, as it is conventional in horror films for the innocent not to be killed, as they are 'pure'.

The final screen shot I have is the last location shown in the title sequence. it is down at the back of a camping truck, but this is not what i wanted to focus on. The lettering this time isn't smudged in a significant way, but is splattered, as if it is dripping from a weapon, or maybe a body, onto the screen. This again is the final impression that this IS a horror film and it IS soon to be filled with gore or blood.

Film Review Two

SILENCE OF THE LAMBS

OVERVIEW

Jodie Foster plays a Clarice Starling, and FBI Agent in training who is assigned to a kidnapping case where she has to find the lady who has been kidnapped before a serial murder skins her. Throughout this case, she finds herself in confidence with Hannibal (The Cannibal) Lector, played by Anthony Hopkins. Lector is a world-renowned psychiatrist turned serial killer, and lives at the Baltimore State Hospital For the Criminally Insane. The FBI need Hannibal's help in solving this case, but young Starling must first earn his trust before he thinks of giving any information away. Believing that it 'takes one to know one' the FBI use Hannibal's better skills to move them in the right direction to capturing the serial killer known of Buffalo Bill. 

Review

I give this film a rating of 9 out of 10

I was extremely reluctant to watch this film, and after having my boyfriends beg me for weeks to watch 'this amazing film' I'm glad to say i gave in. 
Foster shows her character with extreme 'Girl Power', as a woman that will not only negotiate with a behind bars man-eater, but will also go off on her own to tackle another human monster, even though she is in a very male heavy environment. There is also a fascinating twist int he male perspective, as Starling seems to get more courteous behaviour from the horrendous Lector than from the so called 'normal' men around her at the FBI.
 Parts of the story also pulled on my hearts strings, with the ambitious but vulnerable orphan just trying to persevere with the world, and this is the main base plot, the only part that involve the drama and humanity of it.

I also enjoyed some of the cringe worthy scenes involving Lector, and even though some of the things he says are quite graphic, gruesome and not something you'd see fit in everyday life, it is said in such a light-hearted way that you just simply chuckle in shock, not really hearing what he saying; 'A Census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti', this would in real life be faced with ohrror and disturbance, but here it is expected and this is fundamentally strange to me, but also very intriguing.
Throughout all of the Hannibal Films, his character is very strange, as although he is a brutal murderer that eats his victims, his story is protrayed in such a way that the audience feels sorry for him, and I think thats what makes this film so different to tohers in the 90's, and I think thats what makes me enjoy it so much.

 

Other Opinions

Rotten Tomatoes Reviews

BBC Review

Empire Review