Urban Legend Analysis

Urban Legend – 1998 – Jaime Blanks

The titles appear in a specific order which is the two production companies, the producer, title of the film, the lead and most famous actors, casting, costume designer, the music, the editor, the production, the photography and the executive producers. This will influence my own film by having the appropriate titles in the right order.

Mise-en-scene

The weather in the opening is shown to be raining with thunder and lightning at night time when the titles are starting, it then shows a car driving through the woods, the effect on the audience is that it sets the atmosphere for the opening few minutes. This will influence my own film as we will include an effective establishing shot.  The colours are very dark for example the trees are dark shade of green and the car is black, the effect of the audience is that they should have recognised that the opening is going to start with something negative in this case the first victim of the film. This will influence my own film as we can use certain colours to send subtle messages to the audience.

Sound

The non-diegetic sound is an eerie sound the effect on audience is that it makes the atmosphere feel tense, this will influence my own film as we can use eerie music in order to make the scene tense. There is diegetic sound which is played in the car called ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ which contains the phrase ‘turn around’, the effect on the audience is that they will find it ironic that as the killer is at the back of her car. This will influence my own film as we can include a song that is ironic for the future events.

Editing

When the camera cuts to the close up man at the gas station up against the window, the effect on the audience is that the audience will be scared as they might have been startled by the man suddenly appearing and they also think that the woman is about to murdered by this man. This will influence my own film as we can use this editing technique to create fear for example we can cut to the killers face at the end of the 2 minute opening.

Camera shots and movement

The aerial shot of the car driving down the road in dark is effective on the audience as it sets the scene of the opening sequence which is set in a dark, isolated and dreary location. This will influence my own film as it is an establishing shot which we need to feature in order for the viewer to know where that scene is taking place.