By George Ring

Codal Analysis

Codal Analysis

For the following Codal Analysis, I will be taking three film openings from my chosen genre – horror, and looking at the different codes and conventions for the topics..

• Visual

• Audio

• Technical

• Narrative

• Enigma

The three I have chosen are,

The Woman in Black

THE WOMAN IN BLACK

Visual Codes

• At the beginning of the film opening. They portray some clips of a childstea party. We know it is a tea party through the different shots on the porcelain tea sets and props such as the childrens toys. The teddy bears also conform to this child like play, however it is the next shots which subvert this. The audience is then shown the children walking over and breaking the cups. This subverts the previous scene and expectations as it is a complete change in character.

• The location is set in a victorian styled house which makes it out to be old, and sets the era of the film. We see this by the old furniture and the high ceilings.

• The costumes of the characters and the dark lighting also appear to the audience as being very bland and dull.

Audio Codes

• Throughout the film opening. We are played mostly non-diegetic music behind the clips. It is a quite sinister, creepy tune and is played continuously. This adds to the creepy effect on the audience and also conforms to the horror genre.

• The only piece of dialogue we hear stands out and is extremely effective. The loud scream at the end of the clip shows emotion while is effective because it is the only dialogue used. Its emotions conform to the genre and links to the silent clips the audience see.

• There are also sound effects which are added in, to enhance the effect of certain scenes of the clip. For example, the smashing of the porcelain.

Technical Codes

• The use of the different close ups add to the sinister feeling the scene gives off, which emphasise that it is a children's party. This is through the use of props, they are feeding it to the toys and there is no water in the mugs. After this, we see we see a tracking shot of the children getting up and walking towards the window. While they are doing see, we see a range of tilt and tracking shots. The tracking shot follows them walking to the windows, while the tilt follow the items they are dropping on the floor.

• At the end of the clip there is a final shot which zooms out from the window to show the room getting bigger, and a final shot showing there is no longer anybody there. This makes it seem as though the girls are drifting away from the audience as they have died.

• There are also high angle shots used in the room to make the girls appear vulnerable and susceptible to danger.

Narrative Code

• In this film opening, the narrative is not shown clearly. Although the emotions that come off from the scenes display a general idea of horror. At the beginning of the clip, there appears to be nothing wrong as the girls are playing with their dolls. Then, the atmosphere changes as the music follows when the girls look directly at a subject we cannot see. It appears that something has possessed them into doing so as they break their toys and simultaneously walk towards the window and jump it.

Enigma Code

• There are a few strong enigma codes in the opening scene of the film that lead the audience to questioning what is going on. Firstly, we see the girls playing with the dolls without talking to one another. Why are they doing so? The lack of communication in the opening scene appear sinister.

• Then, towards the middle of the clip. We see the three girls look towards the corner of the room, however the subject is not shown in the frame. This leads the audience questioning who it was they looked at? Why did it change their mood so rapidly and cause them to jump out of the window?

SCREAM

Visual Codes

• The use of the telephone prop is iconic in this film opening as it takes something that everyone owns and transforms it into something creepy, conforming the horror genre.

• The setting is in a large, American styled home which is open plan. This makes it scary as there are no separate rooms that are closed off by doors and therefore there are no places to hide.

• She is running around, which amounts to the fear among the audience. She is clearly disturbed by the man behind the phone as he knows who she is and information about her boyfriend.

Audio Codes

• Suspense is built in the film opening mainly by the diegetic dialogue the man says on the phone. His word choice such as ‘I want to know who I’m looking at’ builds tension as it shows he’s around her.

• When the tension builds and the man hints at the prospect he could be outside, there are noises such as a dog barking which usually happens when they are disturbed.

• The crickets symbolise isolation as they show she is alone.• The door bell adds tension as it makes the audience question. • When the female then gets scared, tension and fear is built by the

tone in her voice and her increasing anger. At the beginning of the film opening, the mood is relaxed as the girl is doing her day to day jobs… however, when the phone continues to ring, her mood is enhanced through the anger and build up of the non-diegetic horror sound in the background.

Technical Codes

• There are a range of different close ups in the film opening. Such as at the beginning, when the girl is doing normal things, such as the popcorn. We also see close ups of the girl picking up the phone which is symbolic in the film opening as it is the crisis. It subverts what we would expect of the norm of answering a phone.

• We also see reaction shots of the girls face as her tension builds and she becomes more panicked.

• There are tracking shots showing her tension as she runs across the house in a place to escape.

Narrative Codes

• In this film opening, the narrative is shown clearly as we are shown a crisis and given details into the characters. It is also clear what is going on as the character is in fear of being stalked. There is just a linear narrative as there is one storyline, although it pans out to include her boyfriend and brings other characters into her crisis. The atmosphere is calm at the beginning of the opening, then at the end it is rapid as the fear of the character is at its peak.

Enigma Codes

• In the film opening, there are many enigma codes present which lead the audience asking questions and entices them to continue watching. These include…

• Who is the man behind the phone?• Why does he want to harass her?• Who is her boyfriend?• How does he know who she is?• What happens next?• These questions leave unanswered strings as the

audience can relate to the protagonist, they want to watch on and find out what happens.

FINAL DESTINATION

Visual Codes

• Throughout the opening, the whole of it is filmed on the plane which makes it the setting. There is a lot of iconography that follows with this which is highlighted through certain camera shots, such as, the windows and the air hostess outfits.

• The costumes and makeup are all normal day to day clothing, until the plane crash happens and they all have blood on their face. This makeup subverts what we saw at the beginning and conforms to the horror genre.

Audio Codes

• When the plane is about to take off. We hear the diegetic sounds of the plane and what we would normally hear. There is no non-diegetic music playing in the background, however there is dialogue of people talking on the plane.

• Next, as soon as the plane is malfunctioning, the fear and atmosphere is enhanced through a range of different sounds such as the beeping which suggest something is wrong. After this, music is built up which creates fear.

Technical Codes

• Throughout this film opening, most of the shot types are medium close ups as all of the passengers are sat down. At the beginning, we can an over the shoulder shot of the man looking out of the window. We also get a extreme long shot of the plane on the run way.

• All of the shots are placed at a high angle to look down at the characters and show how vulnerable they are.

• At the end we get a reaction shot to show the fear and emotions of the protagonist, we know it is him as he gets the most airtime.

Narrative Code

• The main narrative code in this film opening is shown when the disruption of the equilibrium occurs. When the plane takes off, all is fine, until after when they start rapidly descending. Then when this happens we see the plane is going to crash. Then at the end, we see him blink as it was only a premonition of what was about to follow.

Enigma Codes

• Throughout this film opening, the main enigma code that arises is about the ending when it was all just a vision. Therefore the main question for the audience is what is this premonition?

• Why does he get them and was able to see into the future?

• Also, another of the main questions is why was the plane about to crash?