Wednesday 13 November 2013

Genre Research 2: The Lost Boys


 (prod.)

Budget: $8.5M; US box office: $32M

Opening duration: 2:55/6:30
Rottentomatoes.com 75%; IMDB 7.1.


Summary/Ideas I Might Use
Showing the antagonist first. Red in the titles to signify genre. Contrasting between the antagonist and protagonist to create binary opposition in the opening. Disequilibrium set up in the opening.
Synopsis
After moving to a new town, two brothers are convinced that the area is frequented by vampires.

Idents/Titles
There is 1 ident at the start of the film (Warner Bros.) It lasted for 13 seconds.
There are 2 titles before the main title and opening, company names and director. The titles are white font on a dark background. In the main title there is red accents which the audience links to blood. The red is a genre signifier. 

Mise-en-scene
The opening shot is an extreme long shot of the pier. This is setting the scene and showing what sort of place it will be set in. We see the antagonists in the first part of the opening (although we don't know they are the antagonist), and they are causing havoc at the fairground. This sets up a binary opposition of sorts between the antagonists and the setting. The setting is very happy and bright and what you would associate with fun holidays, and the antagonists are the opposite.

The mise-en-scene is mainly showing contrasts, especially in the second half of the opening. We see this shown especially when we see the sign for Santa Carla. The sign looks very nice on the front, but at the back is graffitied and says 'murder capital of the world'. This shows the contrast of the nice part and not so nice part of the town. We see this even more emphasised by the montage of different people in the Santa Carla area. Some are dressed in light clothes and shorts etc for holiday goers, whereas others are dressed in black, different hairstyles, and general gothic-ness. 

Representations
The antagonists are shown in dark clothing and alternative hairstyles and accessories. This tells us they are different from everyone else and gives us a hint that they might be the antagonists even though the audience isn't sure. They are represented as mischievous because they are breaking the rules by walking on the carousel and the security guard tells them off for this. The security guard later goes missing and this tells us that he messed with the wrong guys.

The protagonists are shown as binary opposites to the antagonists through their clothing and their speech and mood. They are seemingly happier, shown through the fact they wear brighter clothing and smile more.
Narrative, Genre, and Exposition
In the opening we see a disequilibrium set up because the security guard goes missing (presumably been killed). Also there is a narrative enigma because we don't know what has happened to the security guard either. This straight away hooks the audience. 

We learn that the two brothers are moving to Santa Carla with their mum in the second part of the opening. This sets up another disequilibrium because the brothers are moving to a new place and need to settle in.
Soundtrack
There is an audio bridge between the ident, titles, and opening shot of non-diegetic music. This continues through the opening.

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