English 356 was a course about analyzing films to interpret the meaning of what the directors made. This class was laid back and a nice change of pace because it was information I had already learned. That does not mean I did not gain anything significant from this class. It reminded me of techniques and styles I had forgotten about over the semesters, and it also reinforced my writing capabilities and critical thinking skills. Due to how English 356 was constructed, it was a discussion-based class, and it was captivating and interesting. This class style allowed people to share their thoughts and how they personally interpreted a scene and allowed others to provide helpful feedback.
The majority of the films that we watched were thrillers, horror, or artistic films. As such, there were some repetitive stylistic choices that we could study as our teacher chose films that were contained within the same genres. The class started picking up on the nuances of various techniques such as shot distance, lighting, sound design, and framing. From the teacher’s interest in horror, I got to explore a genre I was not very familiar with but discovered I enjoyed. I enjoyed it so much that when the honors students were given their honors project, I decided to further analyze techniques in classic horror films and highlighted the monster and villains of these films to discuss what made them scary to the audience.
I had to start by giving the audience a definition of what horror as a genre is, and I defined it as a film that is purposeful in trying to scare and disgust the audience. Fear is a driving faction in horror films, and if humor is present, then it is used to disarm the audience. Then I explain techniques and describe what they are so that the audience and I are on the same page. Next, come the film analyses, and I highlighted four movies in my twelve-page analysis: Halloween, Friday the 13th I and II, and Hellraiser. I talked about each film and villain through the particular stylization used in each movie and discussed why they were used. In Friday the 13th I and II, non-diegetic sounds, point-of-view shots, and close-up shots are analyzed. For Halloween: shot distance and framing are examined. Finally, for Hellraiser: lighting and proximity are looked at in-depth. Each film masterfully uses these techniques and movements to unsettle and unnerve the audience.
Above is the paper if you are interested and want to see my detailed thoughts on the subject.
Overall, this class was very insightful and gave me a lot of time to ponder how filming skills are used and how I can apply them to the animations I use. After all, film and animation are all about communicating an idea across, and the best way to do it other than saying it is to show it. If people do not understand what is being shown then it was not a good product, which is the art I am trying to master.