{Audience and Representation Analysis: The Grinning Man

Settings and LocationsThe location for where the film is set is an everyday street in a housing estate where the man lives. The choice of setting follows Wood’s theory of fear that normality is threatened by the monster. The location allows the audience to relate to it because many people live in an ordinary street with lots of houses around. Films of the horror genre are often set in an abandoned location which is typical of horror films to make it scarier for the audience as it is an unknown place. However more horror films nowadays are set in familiar locations such as everyday houses to tap into that fear of consumers of being scared of the person living next door. Colours

The colours in the film are dark, mostly black and dark blues and these dark colours allow shadows and darkness to be created which reflects the typical fear of the dark that society have. Tapping into society’s fear is related to John Cawelti’s theory that the horror genre reflects aspects of society. The fear makes the audience apprehensive of what could be hidden in the shadows and this taps into the fear of the unknown, again, a fear of society.

Iconography of Genre

Stock Themes and ElementsA stock element in the narrative is the use of the phone as a way the ‘grinning man’ communicates with the man. The phone is used to encode fear to the audience as nowadays consumers of horror films decode the ringing of a phone in a horror film to be something bad and they then become apprehensive about who or what is on the other end of the phone. A stock theme in this film is the unknown within the shadows. The dark shadows encode the unknown for the audience and they decode the shadows to represent that something or someone could be hidden there. The grinning man uses the dark shadows to hide in the film for example when he emerges from the shadows behind the man and enters the house. The audience the fear the dark as they know the grinning man is there but they cannot see him. Anther element in the narrative that the audience can associate the grinning man with is the electronic interference that happens when the grinning man is present. It happens twice when the man is on the phone and the signal cuts out and it also happens to his alarm clock when he is sleeping. The audience can understand that when this happens the grinning man is close.

Character Representation The Grinning ManThis character is the monster in the film and is an entity who takes control bodies. Therefore, following Neal’s theory, he is the external monster who has come from somewhere else. He is represented clearly as the monster by the creepy smile on his face, as a fixed emotion, and his slender body and when the camera shows him there are eerie sounds that the audience can decode that something bad is going to happen as a result of the grinning man. When the camera does show the grinning man he is either shown stationary and just standing there or he is walking very slowly and when he speaks it is not a normal voice, it is deep and raspy and unusual to what is considered normal in society. The audience will read this and decode the character to clearly be the monster in the film because he is unusual and does not look normal and his looks are likely to scare the audience. His costume is a black coat and trousers and this is representing darkness and the audience decode him as a negative character. In the ending scene of the film the the grinning man’s entity takes over the body of the protagonist and the audience can understand this because the man has the grinning face of the grinning man and the unusual voice.

The ManThe man in the film is the victim and his character is just an ordinary man and the audience can relate to him as he is representing a normal man in society. This representation is reinforced by the mans costume of a shirt and jeans and the audience will decode this as typical clothing for a normal man in society. He is the only protagonist in the film apart from the ending scene there is nothing for the audience to decode to make them fear the man. When the grinning man calls him and appears to be at the front door of the house the man finds a weapon and approaches the door with caution and the audience can decode this as the man being brave. Later in the film when the grinning man appears in the mans room the man looks shocked and scared and the audience will become apprehensive about what is going to happen next. The grinning man’s entity takes over the body of the man in the last scene and this is shown by the smile on the mans face, his eyes and the voice. The audience decode this and then fear the man who is now the antagonist.

Sound DiegeticThere is diegetic sound throughout the film and the sounds of the internet connection failing on the mans phone is emphasized, using sound effects, as to indicate to the audience that something is about to happen. The first time it happens is the first time the grinning man shows himself briefly and after this first appearance the audience associate those sounds with the presence of the grinning man therefore making them scared and apprehensive. When the man is approaching the door to see who is there there is a jump scare created by the mans phone after there is silence and this makes the audience jump. Silence is used a lot in the film as this is typical for horror films because it creates a tense atmosphere and the audience are left to anticipate that something will happen. Silence is used in also used to show how alone characters are and it is used in this film to show the audience that even though the location is in a housing estate the man who is the protagonist is alone. When the man is sleeping the sound of the phone’s ringtone suddenly cuts in and is also a jump scare for the audience and they can decode the sound to mean that someone or something bad is going to be on the other end of the phone. They can decode it to mean this because a phone is a typical prop in horror films. Steve Neale has a theory that audiences become scared through repetition of elements in the horror genre. The phone being used as a negative prop in horror films is repeated and the audience have become scared of it.

Non Diegetic There are soundtracks used in the film that cut in before the grinning man shows himself such as the first time he appears to the man there is a soundtrack that begins when he is shown and fades out. It is sudden and dull and the audience can decode it to mean that the grinning man is present. When the man is sleeping in the last scene the grinning man appears again and there is another creepy soundtrack when the camera shows the grinning man. He disappears and then reappears and the soundtrack cuts in again. Throughout the film the audience can learn to associate this soundtrack with the grinning man. Each time the soundtrack is played it gets louder and is player for longer and this is to help the build up to the final scene when the entity changes bodies.

Editing of Sound The non diegetic sound in the film cuts in and fades out however in the final scene the soundtrack crescendos whilst the entity is changing bodies. The diegetic sound effects of the phone signal cut in and cut out throughout the film. The cutting in and out of the sounds are sudden and reflect the

Inter-titles TypographyThe title of the film is shown using a font that I think represents the grinning man. He is tall and and slender and the font is tall like him. The credits are shown using a different font that is not bold or filled in and this represents an eerie atmosphere. This is reinforced by the background of the drawings of the grinning man. The drawing are creepy and reflect the horror genre suitably and have the focus on the monster who is the grinning man.

SoundWhen the title of the film appears there is a soundtrack which crescendos and it is eerie and appropriate for the genre and narrative. There is a different soundtrack for the end credits but it still creating the eerie atmosphere for the audience.