Evil Dead 2013 Analysis

Synopses

'Five twenty-something friends, David, his drug  abusing sister Mia and his friends Eric , Olivia and Natalie become holed up in a remote cabin. Mia promises to stop using drugs, when they discover a hidden basement containing witchcraft and the Book of the Dead, they unwittingly summon up dormant demons living in the nearby woods, which possess Mia, Olivia and Natalie in succession until only one is left intact to fight for survival.'

Sony Pictures Entertainment

Evil Dead is a supernatural horror film remake of the 1981's classic 'Evil Dead'. Co-written and directed by Fede Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues, produced by Bruce Campbell, Robert Tapert and Sam Raimi. It is the fourth installment of the Evil Dead franchise. It was distributed TriStar and made $ 97.5 million in box office, with a budget of about $ 17 million.

Producers & Distributors

Ghost House Pictures is an American horror movie production company that was founded in 2002 by Robert Tapert and Sam Raimi which works with big and independent films. It co-produced the film with TriStar.

Production of note

The grudge, 2004

Drag me to Hell, 2009

Poltergeist, 2015


TriStar distributed and released the film on April 5th. TriStar Pictures is an American film production/ distribution studio of the Sony Picture Motion Picture Group owned by the Sony subsidiary Sony Pictures Entertainment. It was founded in 1982.

'The concept for TriStar Pictures was the brainchild of Victor Kaufman, a senior executive of Columbia Pictures (then a subsidiary of the Coca-Cola Company), who convinced the studio, HBO, and CBS to pool resources and split the ever-growing costs of making movies, creating a new joint venture in 1982. On May 16, 1983, it was given the name Tri-Star Pictures (when the new company was formed and did not have an official name, the press used the code-name "Nova", but the name could not be obtained as it was being used as the title for the PBS science series). It was the first new major Hollywood studio to be established since RKO Pictures was founded in 1928.


The studio's first produced film in 1984 was The Natural starring Robert Redford. Their first release however, was the film, Where the Boys Are '84; a 1984 remake of the 1960 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer picture, Where the Boys Are that was co-distributed on behalf of ITC Entertainment after Universal rejected it; the film was a commercial flop.^[During this venture, many of Tri-Star's releases were released on VHS by either RCA-Columbia Pictures Home Video (now Sony Pictures Home Entertainment), CBS/Fox Video (now CBS Home Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment), or HBO Video. In addition, HBO would gain exclusive cable distribution rights to these films, and broadcast television licenses would go to CBS.'

Production and Distribution of note

Where the boys are, 1984

Places in the Heart, 1984

Fright Night, 1989

Jumamji, 1995

Jerry Maguire, 1996

Matilda, 1996

Jawbreaker, 1999

Timeline

Opening credits end at 5.10, content analysis ends 02:13

00:00-00:21: The Film starts with the Tristar title. There is a long fade from black to reveal a detailed surreal (like its been painted) sky. From the middle cloud cluster a light beam grows larger until it almost fills the screen, and at 00:12 the beam is blocked by a pegasus coming from the centre and above it is the title 'Tristar' which begins to fade on in the centre top centre of the screen. As the horse moves forward and becomes clearer so does the logo until it's clearly revealed in metallic,gold, large, rigid font just above the white pegasus horse which below in much smaller and thinner writing reads 'a SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT company'. The clouds below the pegasus move outward both sides and there is a slow fade to black.

00:21- 00:40: then there is a straight cut to  dark abandoned warehouse looking room and the an extreme zoom to the windows which are central in the screen and there is an ariel  view of an apocalyptic looking earth which moves the left of the screen and appears to be an actual screen with this image. As the camera continues to zoom out of the window to the top of a large industrial building with a screen beholding the image of an old film projector. Then the camera pans down with a tilt dow to an ariel extreme long shot of a busy New York street and many screened billboards, the camera continues to track down to the street. Then the camera tilts in motion till its a horizontal view (not from the ground) of the futuristic New York'esk town square. Then at 00:36 the FILMDISTRICT logo fades on as if its being projected onto the centre upper screen. The font is thin and black, mirroring its underlining colour and the rest of the background is an old golden painted ceilings like you get in cathedrals etc. The screen fades to black at 00:40.

00:40-00:52: There is a quick fade from black to an extreme close up of a door handles of an old slightly open wooden door, which at 00:042 quickly slams shut without anyone to so. The light grows harsher and the camera zooms quickly in towards the key hole, the door handle is metal and brassy looking with old victorian styled details. At 0:46 the camera stops zooming to an extreme close up looking through the key whole, the view turns from darkness to a quick jump on screen from a skull looking back at the audience. This then triggers a quick pan out to a longer shot of the skull on the other side of the brass key hole, and there are little spaced out white smoke clouds in two rows which then turn into the white credits, which on the left side of the key hole say ' GHOST' and on the right  'HOUSE' and below in smaller writing read 'PICTURES', revealing the production companies logo. This then fades to blackness letting the credits linger on screen until 00:52 when the screen is fully black.

00:52-01:05: Then the credits 'TRISTAR PICTURES FILMDISTRICT AND GHOST HOUSE PICTURES PRESENT' fading from left to right and appear in distressed red writing Ranging in bold and standard font and continuing the black background. Then there is a straight cut to an establishing shot of a foggy forest and in the centre you can just make out a person in the distance. The trees are leafless and jagged, there are slight rays of light from above but the vision remains limited and the overall colour tones are grey and blue so cold tones. The camera movement is subtle but is slightly zooming in and the person is swaying.

01:05-01:16: Here there is a straight cut to an over the shoulder tracking shot of the figure, however know the audience can tell it is a girl. Her hair is dirty blonde and her dress is pink. She appears to be walking slowly forward . Then there is a straight cut to a close up over the shoulder shot allowing us to see the side of her face and that her hair is wet and frizzy, the camera movement isn't shaky but moves makes long swaying movements, similar to the way she is walking. At 01:11 there is a straight cut to an extreme close up of her shoes which are dirty and there appears to be blood dripping down her leg. The ground is covered in fallen branches etc.

01:11- 01:27: A straight cut takes us to an extreme close up from behind the girl to see her hanging hand with dripping blood and again there is swaying camera movement. There is a straight cut again to an unfocused ( focused on background showing forest ) close up of the girls chest and lower face, there is blood and her dress is tattered and worn, she steps forward bringing the foreground in focus and we quickly see her face which looks sweaty and there is more blood. At 01:20 there is a straight cut to another extreme close up of the hem of her skirt and thighs and the camera tracks upward with a tilt to a low angle and momentarily out of focus view of the girl until it tracks upwards cutting off half her head.

01:27- 01:39: There is a straight cut to a long shot of the girl walking through the forest from a side angle, the foreground (two trees on either side of the girl) is out of focus. Until a dark figure runs past bring the foreground into focus, only the legs are seen. This takes us to a straight cut to an extreme close up of the back of her head, when she begins to quickly turn her head and there is a second straight cut to a front close up view of this action. The girl looks as if she heard the running figure and looks concerned but as if she knew they were there and looks around for them. There is a straight to a close up over the shoulder view but as she is turned we can see the bottom half of the side of her face  -the background is out of focus- then she turns forward. At 01:35 there is a straight cut to an over the shoulder shot where the background comes into focus to allow us to see a dark figure holding a shot gun in the distance. The girl is still and so is the figure but the camera movement remains mobil.

01:39-01:48: This is a straight cut to a close up of the girls face focusing and un-focusing, her expression seems almost disconnected. She begins to move forward and quicker when theres a straight cut to an over the shoulder shot and it is clear she is limping. The camera cuts a low angle close up of her shoulder and the light hits the camera frequently from between the trees and the camera tracks her shakily.   

01:48- 02:02: There is a straight cut back to a close up of her face with varied focusing and camera movement. The girl quickly turns her head to the left side of the screen. At 01:50 there is a straight cut to a mid shot with the focus on the foreground of the girl limping towards a tree to hide behind. The camera zooms in on her and she is breathing heavily until she looks over the side of the tree bringing the background in focus to see plain fog an a few faint tree and the camera pans around the side of the tree revealing more trees. It continues to pan right passing the girl and revealing a man stood over her right shoulder, at this moment it is from a low angle making him seem more intimidating. He quickly pulls a bag over her head and pulls her towards him.

02:02-02:08: The man swipes the girl around throwing her to the ground in two straight cut shots. The first is a mid low angle shot allowing us to see her leave the ground and therefor the sheer force the man pulls her around with. The second is a side angle mid shot from the ground showing her being forced into the dirt and the man weighing her down. Then there is a straight to a close up of the mans face and him restraining her with the black bag over her head. She is struggling and the man seems very aggravated but also struggling to hold her down. Then there is a straight close up at 02:06 of mid shot on ground level from behind showing the mans body on top and her legs moving attempting to free.

02:08- 02:13: Here there is a straight cut to an over the shoulder shot of the man with the background out of focus but another man standing over them with a gun can be seen. As the man is on the ground it create a low angle shot of the man with a gun as well as an over the shoulder shot. As the gunman moves closer he becomes in focus and is looking down on the girl with anger and disgust. There is a straight cut to a close up of the mans face struggling to hold her down. At 02:011 There is a straight cut to a completely in focus long shot of all three characters, the man stood over them with the gun hits the girl in the head and the screen cuts to black at 02:13.

Costume

Teenage Girl

PINK DRESS

The girl in the opening of this film is wearing a pink dress. This is very typical way of portraying a young girl as it displays femininity and innocence (as in our society pink is seen as 'a girls colour' etc.) As it is covered in blood and seems dirty it would be assumed by the audience that she is a victim by associating her with this innocence, the blood wouldn't be assumed to be from her doing. This creates a harsher image of the girl as we symphysis for the character and grow concern. By dressing her this way it also makes her seem younger, a teenager, as it is a recognisable and informal way to dress. The buttons down the middle remind me of old undergarments suggesting this may be set in the past or that she isn't wealthy, either way it portrays the character as venerable.  

WHITE TRAINERS

As there are a lot of close ups it allows us to focus on individual parts of her costume. We can see the girl is wearing white canvas trainers, again white is also a colour associated with innocence and purity, contrasting with the character. Trainers are also informal, telling us more about the setting. It is also noted that there is blood dripping down her leg and onto her shoes, this flags the audience attention as this is 'gruesome' and also tells us the blood is from something recent and that danger must still be present.

HAIR and MAKEUP

The girls hair is messy, bloody, damp and frizzy. This suggests she's in a humid climate but also that she has been possibly fighting or struggling. The girl seems 'sweaty' suggesting again she has been in a struggle or possibly running from something and the blood is an obvious danger sign to the audience. Her eye makeup is very smudged, this can mean she's possibly been crying or hasn't taken it off for a long period of time. All these things put together tells us she isn't taking care in her appearance (not that she's necessarily had a choice) which tells the audience that there is another focus in this opening as she's probably been attacked, rather than trying to make her seem unrealistically perfect and fit the typical portrayal of female characters in horror movies.

The two Men

Both the mens costumes in the opening aren't very detailed or focused on. The it is very reminiscent of the 'trucker' stereotype. The cut off sleeves are highly informal and suggest they are in a humid swamp type location. The backwards cap is also highly informal and the ragged hair suggests reminds me of the typical bully you would see in a 'teen' movie. This associations can suggest a violent nature. The clothes are dirty suggesting he may have been involved in the possible struggle suggested from the girl's clothes or that he doesn't depend on his appearance. The large shot gun is more effective than a hand gun as it is more intimidating and it is also associated with people defending their land, this hints towards the idea  that perhaps he is the one defending himself.

This man's costume has a similar effect as the other. However, you can see more of the man's facial features, such as his tanned skin, rotten teeth and long hair. Tanned skin could suggest he does a lot of manual labour and historically this is associated with lower class, and the rotten teeth as well as gruesome also tells they don't care about their appearance which doesn't fit social constructs. The tattoo's could perhaps also make him more intimidating.

Setting

The opening of Evil Dead is set in an American, foggy, humid forest. The trees are rigid and the fog is highly effective when creating a creepy atmosphere.

The lack of light from fog and trees creates a cold colour scheme which relates to the genre of the film. I find the greys and blues to be isolating which adds a fear factor and makes the girls seem more venerable. The mist creates 'walls' creating the impression she's trapped in the forest.

The trees in this forest are very jagged and lack life. This links to the themes of death which is very prominent in this film. It also makes the forest dangers as the branches are like spikes. Before the two men are revealed I liked the effect that the fog had when creating shadows and masking the assumed threatening character's, by not revealing the danger it makes the audience not trust them and uneasy.

Effective shots/ Transitions

I find the cut from the movie credit to the establishing shot of the girl in the woods quite effective. I find it subtle but notable the quick and emphasised straight cut from the credits to the first filmed shot and the striking effect it has on the audience.

There is also a lot of effective use of manual focusing to emphasis foreground and background. The most effective use of this in my opinion is the shot where there is a manual focus to the foreground to show a close up of legs running. By using a range of focus and shaky camera movement it adds to the theme of uncertainty which is good in building tension in the audience and helps assume the main character emotions and uncertainty.

Towards the end of the opening there is a low angle shot of one of the men stood behind the girl. This use of a low angle shot works well to present the man with more power and strength than the girl and therefor makes her appear more vulnerable.

Typography 

The film credits are in black and white, following classic horror ideography. The colours of red and black are very common throughout the film and this can connote danger and evil for the audience. The font is very distressed and not completely clear, as horror is often about the danger of the unknown and characters are often unsure about situations this in a way foreshadows these feelings of unsertanty as it's as if you have to make out what the credits are saying .

Title credit. This is not in my opening analysis but I found it an effective use of design. The title itself is very dark and in your face as 'evil dead' is an obvious dark subject. The title follows the colour scheme set, yet the font is much larger and in a more gothic font. It is also different as it isn't just distressed like the other credits, it actually had silhouettes of branches, as the film is set in a sinister forest it is foreshadowing the danger associated with the setting.



Sound

" La-La Land Records, TriStar Pictures, and Ghost House Pictures present the original motion picture score to the 2013 feature film Evil Dead, starring Jane Levy, Jessica Lucas and Shiloh Fernandez, and directed by Fede Alvarez. Composer Roque Banos (The Machinist) creates a heart-stopping thrill ride of a horror score that launches this all-new, acclaimed re-imagining of the original Evil Dead into the Horror Hall of Fame beside its legendary predecessor. "

The sound in the opening isn't heavily music, rather suited sound effects. I found this unexpectedly more effective when creating isolation because rather than suspenseful non-diegetic music, there is just like white noise and wind sounds. This creates silence and reminds me of being alone which can make the audience uneasy, it emphasized sudden movement, also such as the men running because it breaks the silence and creates jump scares. I believe this opening demonstrates the idea that less is more.

How It will Influence my Film Opening

Out of all the films I have analysed this is the most recent. For this reason it is the most influencial when setting our film. I also like the use of setting and weather to create creepy atmospheres so if possible we will look to set our opening on a particularly foggy day. I also like the use of audience assumption to throw twists and unncertainty in the audience, although this isn't particularly demonstrated in the opening. So when concidering our opening as if it was a whole product it has inspired me to think more about how we will initially portray the 'victim' of the opening. The camera work and use of manual focus is also very effective in this opening so this will encourage me to think more creatively about ways of filming our piece.