Narrative: Lance Preston and the crew of "Grave Encounters", a ghost-hunting reality television show, are shooting an episode inside the abandoned Collingwood Psychiatric Hospital, where unexplained phenomena have been reported for years. All in the name of good television, they voluntarily lock themselves inside the building for the night and begin a paranormal investigation, capturing everything on camera. They quickly realize that the building is more than just haunted - it is alive - and it has no intention of ever letting them leave. They find themselves lost in a labyrinth maze of endless hallways and corridors, terrorized by the ghosts of the former patients. They soon begin to question their own sanity, slipping deeper and deeper into the depths of madness, ultimately discovering the truth behind the hospital's dark past...and taping what turns out to be their final episode.

Camera shot 1 Camera Shot –Wide shot

Sound – Non Diegetic sound of static energy, high pitched noise.

Content –One of the institutions is shown but the effects whilst it is being shown are uneasy and distorted which gives the audience an idea of what the film may be like. Also a transition of static energy and end with camera shutting off.

Camera shot 2 Camera Shot – Wide shot

Sound – Diegetic sound of fire and non-diegetic sound of a car engine revving and a whip lash then more non diegetic sound of a fast car speeding up.

Content – Another institution, fire connotes destruction which could also link to the film. The dark colours support the film genre.

Camera shot 3 Camera shot – Wide shot

Sound – Almost like a sound you would hear in a sci- fi movie, sounds like some kind of spaceship zooming past but used for the words. (Diegetic)

Content - Another institution is shown. The transition also (to me) creates a uneasy feeling because of the high pitched zoom sound.

Camera shot 4 Camera shot – Wide shotSound – Diegetic sound of characters dialogue, sounds serious

Content – A character is introduced, they have shown his name (which suggests he is important and they want the audience to remember his name), the date (which again suggests the fact that they want the audience to remember that date), and his occupation (which is a crucial piece of information as it links to the whole movie). His clothing is casual but smart and the electrical equipment behind him looks like a working environment as well as looking busy.

Main Characters : Ben Wilkinson , Jerry Hartfield ,Sean Rogerson , Lance Preston ,Ashleigh Gryzko ,Sasha Parker ,Merwin Mondesir ,TC Gibson.

2011 92 min Age rating : 15

Camera shot 5

Camera shot – Medium Close up

Sound - Diegetic sound of characters dialogue, sounds serious

Content- The zoom in on him suggests they want the audience to see his facial expressions more than his body language.

Camera shot 7

Camera shot – Medium Shot

Sound - Diegetic sound of characters dialogue, sounds serious. Through his dialogue the audience get the idea of what the film is based upon.

Content – The zoom onto him (again) may make the audience feel agitated or tense. His talk about ghosts and paranormal things also make us feel intrigued.

Camera shot 6

Camera shot – Medium Long Shot

Sound - Diegetic sound of characters dialogue, sounds serious

Content – The zoom out on him suggests they want the audience to see his body language, which he looks uncomfortable and frigid on talking about the people. This also suggests that something bad happened. His dialogue supports this.

Camera shot 8

Camera shot – Very Long Shot

Sound – Dramatic, loud non diegetic music

Content - The view of the gravestones connotes death and the fact that he is shown alone may suggest something bad may happen. His dialogue makes him seem and sound professional and he knows what he is doing.

Camera shot 9

Camera shot – Medium Close up

Sound - Dramatic non diegetic music and dialogue from one of main characters, sounding very dramatic and sinful

Content- Again the view of the grave stones connote death and the fact that he is blessing himself with that look on his face suggests that things could go bad and that he seems to be a religious man and so links to spirits and the devil.

Camera shot 10

Camera shot – Close Up

Sound – Dramatic non diegetic music and dialogue from one of main characters, sounding very dramatic and sinful. He is telling the audience his story of events.

Content- The monochrome effect suggests how old the photo is and the dramatic background music help bring his dialogue to sound concerned or more dramatic.

Camera shot 11

Camera shot – Wide shot

Sound - Dramatic non diegetic music and dialogue from one of main characters, sounding very dramatic and sinful. He is telling the audience his story of events.

Content – Again, The monochrome effect shows how old the photo is and the dramatic non diegetic music creates tension.

Camera shot 12 Camera shot – Wide shotSound - Dramatic non diegetic music and dialogue from one of main characters, sounding very dramatic and sinful. He is telling the audience his story of events.

Content – The picture of the sign suggest some kind of cult was involved and may make the audience feel agitated (with help from his talk about paranormal activity and the dramatic background music).

Camera shot 13 Camera shot – Medium Close UpSound - Dramatic non diegetic music and dialogue from one of main characters, sounding very dramatic and sinful. He is telling the audience his story of events.

Content- His dialogue is very dramatic as well as his facial expression and the zooming in on him. The shot looks very disturbing to me because of the gravestones in the background and the effects on the writing.

Camera shot 14 Camera shot – Medium Long ShotSound - Dramatic non diegetic music and dialogue from one of main characters, sounding very dramatic and sinful. He is telling the audience his story of events.

Content – The night vision effect suggests how dark it is where they are, and because the audience know what they do, it creates even more tension

Camera shot 16

Camera shot – Very Long Shot

Sound - Dramatic non diegetic music and dialogue from one of main characters, sounding very dramatic and sinful. He is telling the audience his story of events.

Content – The transition before this shot helps make this shot more effective because they both link together. It looked like the camera taking a picture effect belongs to this shot. Also the shadow, ghostly like figure and the orbs surrounding it, in the cemetery creates an anxious feeling and his dialogue still helps create this.

Camera shot 15

Camera shot – Medium Long Shot

Sound – Very loud Diegetic sound of a camera shutter

Content – This transition is effective and easy because it works and flows really well

Camera shot 18 Camera shot – Very Long ShotSound - Dramatic non diegetic music and dialogue from one of main characters, sounding very dramatic and sinful. He is telling the audience his story of events.Content – The 3 characters shown look like they are no scared given the fact that they are associating with paranormal and ghostly activities. They look dominant. Now that the music has become more dramatic and tense this may make the audience feel the same way.

Camera shot 17 Camera shot – Medium Close UpSound - Dramatic non diegetic music and dialogue from one of main characters, sounding very dramatic and sinful. He is telling the audience his story of events.

Content – The distorted effect on this shot and his dialogue may make the audience feel a little edgy (with help from the strange sound effect at the end).

Camera shot 22

Camera shot – Medium Close Up

Sound - Dramatic non diegetic music and dialogue from one of main characters, sounding very dramatic and sinful. He is telling the audience his story of events, un-settling noise.

Content – The distorted, disturbing effect is used again to keep the feel that they have already made. The un-settling noise adds to the effect also. An image of a gravestone indicates that death is going to be linked to this film.

Camera shot 21

Camera shot – Medium Close Up

Sound - Dramatic non diegetic music and dialogue from one of main characters, sounding very dramatic and sinful. He is telling the audience his story of events.

Content- Her facial expression doesn’t really suggest anything other than the fact she doesn’t look as disturbing as the second character shown does.

Camera shot 20 Camera shot – Long Shot

Sound - Non Diegetic high pitched noise used in transition with non-diegetic dramatic, loud music, unsettling noise.

Content- The branches against the effect used looks very disturbing and the fact that it is over them may suggest something bad will happen.

Camera shot 19 Camera shot – VLSSound – Non Diegetic high pitched noise used in transition with non-diegetic dramatic, loud music. Content- ‘THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE’ this being shown along with the distorted background supports the tense and uneasy feeling.

Camera shot 23

Camera shot – Medium Close Up

Sound - Dramatic non diegetic music and dialogue from one of main characters, sounding very dramatic and sinful. He is telling the audience his story of events.

Content- His facial expression is very serious and unhappy, unlike the first, second and third character shown. Its low key lighting

Camera shot 25

Camera shot –Medium Close Up

Sound - Dramatic non diegetic music and dialogue from one of main characters, sounding very dramatic and sinful. He is telling the audience his story of events.

Content – Again the same with shot 24. His dialogue is still very dramatic.

Camera shot 24

Camera shot – Over the shoulder Shot

Sound - Dramatic non diegetic music and dialogue from one of main characters, sounding very dramatic and sinful. He is telling the audience his story of events and what himself and his team are going to do.

Content- From the night vision effect, the audience knows that majority of the film is set at night.

Camera shot 28

Camera shot – Long Shot, Walking into space shot.

Sound - Non Diegetic, Dramatic dialogue of one of the main characters, he is telling the audience what his documentary is about. Non-diegetic high pitched noise leading to the transition of next shot.

Content- The low key lighting is still looking sinister.

Camera shot 26

Camera shot – Medium Shot

Sound – Non Diegetic, Dramatic dialogue of one of the main characters, he is telling the audience what his documentary is about.

Content – To me, this shot looks quite sinister, due to the darkness of the shot and the night vision effect. And still, his dialogue is very dramatic, he also tell the audience what he is going to be doing.

Camera shot 27

Camera shot – Long Shot

Sound - Non Diegetic, Dramatic dialogue of one of the main characters, he is telling the audience what his documentary is about.

Content – The characters are back in the graveyard and again this connotes death, which could link to the characters.

Camera shot 29

Camera shot – Wide Shot

Sound – Non diegetic high pitched dramatic noise.

Content- I believe this translates into ‘Grave Encounters’ but I’m not too sure. But even without the translation when we read ‘paranormali’ I think the audience would think paranormal which then gives us the idea that this is what the film will include.

Camera shot 30

Camera shot – Wide/Mid Shot

Sound – Diegetic dialogue of character talking about the other main characters documentary.

Content- We see the first character that was shown again, which now suggests that he has more to say about these three characters.

Camera shot 33

Camera shot – Medium Close Up

Sound - Diegetic dialogue of character talking about the other one of the main characters documentary. Then character sounds serious when talking about ‘episode 6’.

Content- Zoomed in very close to show his facial expression, which to me looks distressed and agitated, obviously because of what he talking about. This and his dialogue suggests to the audience that something bad happened to the three characters whilst filming an episode for their tv show, and may link it to paranormal activity.

Camera shot 32

Camera shot – Wide/Mid Shot

Sound - Diegetic dialogue of character talking about the other one of the main characters documentary. Then character sounds serious when talking about ‘episode 6’

Content- Zoomed out to show the characters body language and to me it looks very uncomfortable, obviously because of what he is talking about.

Camera shot 31

Camera shot – Mid shot

Sound - Diegetic dialogue of character talking about the other one of the main characters documentary.

Content- They then zoom in to the character to maybe show his facial expression more than his body language

Representation: The three main characters are shown as determined and daring. I believe that the main male character is represented as the most dominant out of the three characters because he is always the person in the middle and the other male character and female character are always just behind him, also I assume that the dialogue/voiceover is his voice and words and only his story is told at the beginning. The representation of adults is the fact that they are not scared and can go and do anything because they are older. Each of these characters are presented as normal, everyday people who have a passion for the abnormal, making the film more realistic towards the potential audience and more relatable. Each crew member have their own unique style which shows the audience the type of person they are. The costume used for the characters show that they didn’t expect the unexpected and weren’t prepared for the abnormal activity

Genre: The genre is horror, which I believe is clearly shown through the first two minutes due to the tense atmosphere that is created from the dialogue of characters and the effects that have been used against the background music and sound effects, the uneasy effects that have been used really connote horror or thriller which then helps the dialogue of the characters to become more sinister and serious. Also the low key lighting is a key thing that is needed in a horror film and most of the lighting in the first two minutes is indeed, low key. The tone of the characters voices support the fact that this film is a horror, this is because the tone of their voices are very sinister and distressed but the character ‘Lance’ sounds most sinister. I think the fact that the beginning of the film we (the audience) are told that it is a found footage movie and that the footage they found was edited together for us (the audience), creates the idea of how real it all seems.

Stereotypes/ Ideology: The main stereotypes I can see are the fact that a male is the main person who is controlling where they go and what they study and is the main voiceover. Also another stereotype that is noticeable is the fact that the characters are all in dark clothes and you mostly see this type of thing in horror movies because if you have characters who are wearing bright colours like; red, yellow, orange, pink etc… then it does not connote horror due to the brightness of the clothes they may be wearing, it’s just logical to have the characters wearing dark clothing. The stereotypes of men are clearly shown also, because the fact that the two men seem more fearless and dominant compared to the female just shows that in most horror films men are believed to be the more dominant and are presented as heroes. From the dark/low key type of lighting throughout, it’s obvious to the audience that the film has been shot at night, which is another typical horror convention, as all unexplainable events seen to occur at this time. The night vision effect will make the audience feel uneasy because the night time will connote unexplained events to them, which is scary.

Theories and theorists: The theorist Stephen prince states that any horror film will convey ‘synchronic association, ideological, and social messages that are a part of a certain period or historical moment.’ He explains that horror films go deeper in exploring more fundamental questions about the nature of human existence and this is what this film is doing. Also Vladimir Propps theory relates to this film because the hero is ‘Lance’ and the villains are the ‘spirits’ and maybe the heroin being the female character

Camera shot 34

Camera shot – Big Close up

Sound - Diegetic dialogue of character talking about the other one of the main characters documentary. Then character sounds serious when talking about ‘episode 6’ then all sound stops and film is completely silent when moving to the next shot.

Content- The extreme zoom up to his face is very effective as it shows his facial expression reacting to the subject he has been asked about. To me it looks like he has a tear in his eye, his facial expression is very serious and it looks very believable that something actually happened to these three characters. Also his dialogue and the close up are really effective together as it adds more tension.

Camera shot 35

Camera shot – Wide Shot

Sound – No dialogue, just silence.

Content- This shot gives some detail about the show and what they were filming about. The word ‘THE HAUNTED ASYLUM’ is quite disturbing and we know that it will not end well. The fact that this shot is shown straight afterwards may make the audience believe more that this is real footage.

Mise-en-scene: I believe that low key lighting is used more from the amount of footage I have seen. This is used to create a tense and uneasy feel ing for the audience as the genre is Horror. The characters clothing does not, arguably, connote horror as the clothing/costume looks like a normal, everyday outfit. The biggest piece of Mise-en-scene in Grave Encounters is the handheld video cameras that the characters used to film the film trailer with. These are essential for the film to work as without them, it wouldn’t fit within the genre. Another big prop that is used is the flash lights and torches. They don’t light up the area that well which helps add darkness and horror to the film; the fear of the unknown. There are also examples of when the characters are using ‘ghost hunting’ equipment. This again helps the film fit in with its genre of it being a horror but also a ‘mockumentary’. The location that the film is set is in an abandoned insane asylum, which is very stereotypical for a horror film.

Sound: Overall the sound used in the first two minutes is very dramatic and sinister. There is no sound other than the characters dialogue up until shot 8. So throughout the shots of 8 – 28, background music is being played and the background music sounds very sinister and haunting. Special sound effects like a screech sound may make the audience at unease and uncomfortable. Also the well-known ‘snap’ of a camera taking a photo is used a lot within the extract.

Dual Narrative / Chronological or linear structure

Editing: The editing is very sharp and quick when the documentary of the three main characters is played, this may be to show how quickly the film is going to start getting horrific or to, again, create an uneasy feeling. Also the effect of the night vision filter connotes darkness, which may also connote horror (which is what the film genre is). Through the interview of Jerry Hartfield there are jump cuts, this may be to show the more interesting things that he is saying and the relevant things being said about the events.

Camera Shots: The camera shots are varied which could help support the need of wanting the film to look more realistic, as if this event actually happened and this happened to these people, which the audience may or may not know. The close up shot used at the end really shows the characters emotion, and the fact that the film starts to show the three characters documentary (which is what the film is based upon) creates the realistic vibe to the film. The jump cuts used when the interview with Jerry Hartfield is shown creates a fast paced, uneasy setting and so this effects the audiences viewing as they may be intrigued into what is going to happen.

The dialogue throughout the first two minutes is a number of things, one thing that it is definitely not is happy or upbeat, and it’s almost depressing and low. This is obviously one of the key conventions of a horror film so that it sets the mood and creates the element of unease. The male protagonist ‘Lance Preston’ is telling the audience about his encounters with spirits, ghosts and paranormal activities when he was a child and ever since then he has wanted to prove their existence. He says ‘the things I encountered have stayed with me forever’ after hearing him say this the audience may feel at edge/uneasy knowing that at such a young age he had to live with these, as what he describes as ‘haunting’, encounters. Before the clip of the ‘documentary’/film is shown, the male character ‘Jerry Hartfield’s dialogue is very normal and seems nothing out of the ordinary, then when he starts to talk about ‘episode 6’ he disrupts his smooth dialogue with an uncomfortable cough and then looks to the ground, this clearly connotes how uncomfortable this subject is for him to talk about and even look at, and so now we are starting to see more and more conventions of a horror film. Then the last words that we hear from this character sounds very serious and demanding, he states that the footage that we (the audience) are about to be shown has not been tampered with, doctored or manipulated in any way, this can now build a more thrilling and alarming feeling for the audience.