Examples for inspiration - The Others

 This 2001 horror/thriller was written, directed and scored by Alejandro Amenabar. I have incorporated it into my research because I think it is very well made. It tells the story of a young woman who believes she has been given a second chance from God after attempting to smother her two children in their sleep and then take her own life. Both of her children suffer from a rare disease causing them to be unable to handle exposure to sunlight, causing their daily life to be focused around a series of fixed rules to ensure their health and well being stays in tact. Through out the film there are growing disturbances in the house such as unexplained noises and the moving of objects. Grace Stewart (played by Nicole Kidman) begins by blaming her new housekeeping staff however she comes to believe their is something worse going on. Her children claim to be seeing ghosts and it eventually gets to a point where the family is unable to continue on with their lives until something is done. (There is a very clever twist however I won't divulge that!)

Environment and characters

The films is set just after World War II, so the design of the house and the areas surrounding it will automatically be quite antique. The fact that the two children can't be exposed to sunlight is a convenient aspect because this has triggered a very lugubrious mood to the film. We constantly see dark rooms, with only an oil lamp to give any illumination. The house itself is quite plain and actually very depressing, which I think gives off the right kind of vibe for this film. However some people could argue that it is very cliche. But we must remember the time this adaptation is set in.

Although there are no assigned "goodies" or "baddies" in this film, there has been some deliberate dispositions placed on certain characters to make us feel a certain way towards them. It makes the audience uncertain about who they should be vulnerable towards. The two children are contrasts of one another, the boy being very timid and easily frightened and the girl being quite rebellious and finding great fun in making her brother scared of "ghosts"

Audio

The opening title sequence used has inspired me significantly. This is because, the music itself which was created by Alejandro Amenabar is very gentle and slightly eerie however it isn't overly scary. This might also be because the first scene of the film begins with a scream from the lead character as she wakes up suddenly, so the jump from the introductory music to this is quite a shock. The Title sequence itself along side the music is very effective, because it shows key parts of the film in a hand drawn version. The lighting of this is similar to the lighting in the film, very dark and it look a lot like somebody is hovering a candle or a lantern over it. This helps put the viewer in the right mindset, after the title sequence they will be expecting a very dark film, not just literally but also psychologically. 

Through out the film, especially during scenes of suspense there is actually a lack of audio which I think gives the whole thing more suspense and makes it more believable, and put the viewer in the position where they feel like they are there in the situation with the character. (and lets face it, if theres no music, your expecting a big thud at some point, so that'll have you sitting there on edge)

How this has influenced me..

Up until now I had had the idea of using stop motion animation for my sequence, however after re watching the title sequence for this film, it has led me to broaden my ideas when it comes to the method of animation, because I really admire how effective the hand drawn art is. I think I found it so effective because it is very melancholic and monotone, which reflects the mood of the film and also the time it is set in (my chosen story is set in modern day so this is something I will need to take into account)