Genre:
-Oculus (Flanagan,2013) has the sub-genre of supernatural horror, and this is evident with the vulnerable children being traumatised by a ghost-like figure with glowing eyes, who seems to be possessing a male figure. This shares other conventions of supernatural horror films, with having a blue tint to the colour grading, which is iconic of other films, such as the Woman in Black (Watkins,2012)
Film Language:
-Handicam is used to position the audience with the children who are running away from the gun-wielding figure, thus creating a sense of sympathy towards them when they are cornered by the villain.
-The transition between the man pointing a gun abruptly cuts to the same man pointing his hand in the shape of a gun, using the same shape of the weapon to link together different scenes.
-The mise-en-scene primarily is used to portray the fear that the children have in the opening shot, with the set design of the door being almost closed and having the girl only timidly peering through shows her reluctance to be in close proximity to the male figure holding the gun.
-The girl is portrayed to be a more powerful character than the boy, as she hurriedly tells him to be quiet, as to not give away their location to the assailant, and through the use of non-verbal language her powerful and brave personality is shown, as she maintains a stern and strong face without crying, despite being at gunpoint, and she positions herself in front of the villain to shield the boy.
-The dramatic sound of the gunshot concludes the climax of ominous music in the sense, breaking the tension previously made by the ominous music, thus creating a sense of shock that the girl has presumably been shot.
-The visual technique of SFX has been used to make the ghostly woman seem more supernatural, with her eyes glowing a bright white that starkly juxtaposes the dark surroundings.
-The title of ‘OCULUS’ is presented at the very start of the opening, which is a smooth and bold font, with the colour varying between grey and white in various patches, varying the surface of a mirror, which the film is centred around. The title fades in from previously being blurry and slowly grows in size in the centre of the frame, before cutting to the scene.
Narrative:
-In the opening, two children are in their house and running from a male figure with a gun in his hand. They retreat along the hallway and reach a door, however it is locked and they cannot escape their pursuer. The boy sees a ghostly woman, and the girl silences him, however now the villain is upon them, the girl steps forward to protect the boy and then gets shot by the male figure. The stock character of a protective older sibling, a presumably possessed figure and a ghostly woman are all used in this opening.
-The audience is positioned with the children in the narrative, and follow them trying to escape, however this soon changes to the man with the gun after the shooting transition.
-The main themes presented in the narrative are of supernatural possession and sibling protection.
- Tension is created through the action code of the children not being able to open the door and escape, thus creating a sense of desperateness and futility to escape death, which is heightened by the dramatic music. The enigma code of who the ghostly woman was and what happened to both siblings is presented.
Representation and Ideology:
-The social group of children are represented in this extract as being vulnerable victims to a villain of an older age, portraying them as defenseless, however the dominant ideology that children are weak and cry in the face of danger is challenged with the girl, who bravely stands in front of the gun.
-The binary opposition of males being strong and females being weak is also opposed in the opening scene, with the girl displaying the traits of strength and repressing emotions which are marked as culturally positive, but often connoted with masculinity.
Media Audiences:
-The target audience for Oculus generally caters to 15-25 males, generally being fans of the genre, with a frightening film such as this being unsuitable for a family with varying ranges of age, such as too young or old.
-The dominant reading of the opening scene would be a possessed male figure being led to kill 2 children in their house, the man being influenced by the sighted ghostly woman. However, this could be interpreted differently based on personal experiences, and a negotiated view that the male figure with the gun was not possessed at all, as one may not be as knowledgeable of gender tropes such as possession leading someone to commit murder.
-The dominant reading of the opening scene would be a possessed male figure being led to kill 2 children in their house, the man being influenced by the sighted ghostly woman. However, this could be interpreted differently based on personal experiences, and a negotiated view that the male figure with the gun was not possessed at all, as one may not be as knowledgeable of gender tropes such as possession leading someone to commit murder.
Institutional Context:
- Blumhouse Productions, WWE Studios and Intrepid Pictures produced the film, and Oculus was distributed by Relativity Media. Blumhouse Productions have also produced other notable supernatural horror films, such as Paranormal Activity and Insidious.
-Oculus is an independent film with the low budget of $5 million, with its various production and distribution companies being independant and not part of a conglomerate.
-The film starred Karen Gillan, who could be considered an A-lister, but is a notable actor, and played ‘Amy Pond’ in Doctor Who.In reflection, I feel that this opening sequence has influenced my horror film production, and I will use the horror conventions shown in Oculus to enhance my work, such as a dark and atmospheric colour grading and gradually climaxing ominous music.
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