Genre Pleasures Homework

Genre Pleasures Homework.

Let the Right One In

1. I am a horror fan when the film concentrates on the movie and tension is built and there is a clear focus but when there are subtitles taking the focus off of the film I don't enjoy it as much. Due to having to concentrate on the words as I cant understand the language of the film.

2. The trailer builds up tension showing previews and certain pieces of the film, the way the trailer leaves the viewer on a cliff hanger, builds suspense which makes me want to watch more. It doesn't show in the trailer that it is not in English and has to have subtitles.

3.

Familiar Conventions	Different Conventions
Spacious surroundings, very empty, lonely feeling	Eli protects Oscar who is a ‘normal’ human, then falls in love as she is a gentle person
Shadowy dull, dark lighting/setting (graveyard, forest. etc)	Eli ends up to be the weaker person nearer the end rather than Oscar
The method of death- the actual tool that is used, the way the killing is going to happen.
Blood (drinking blood) , gory scenes violence.
Vampires not coming out in daylight

 Eli ends up to be the weaker person near the end of the film when she nearly gets killed then a 'normal' human has to save her. This is a different convention as this doesn't usually happen, the vampire has higher status over the humans but this is switched. 

Throughout the film the familiar conventions that I wrote about were shown. There was lots of blood shown as Eli seemed to have blood around her mouth throughout. another convention that was shown was the loneliness and the forest. When the father hung and killed the man in the forest the blood and loneliness was shown as all we saw other than the main characters was a dog running through the trees.

The method of killing was also shown as a vampire, using their teeth and biting, along with that the dark scheme of lightening and shadowing was used.

4. The sense of the two main characters, Eli and Oscar being 'outsiders' visually is shown through a scene which puts their bedroom windows next to each other in the same shot. This may show that they feel close as two people but on the other hand they feel isolated and different from everyone else in society. 

Where Eli's window is blurred this could represent her character and along with hearing her arguing with her father. On the other hand Oscars window is not blurred which represents his personality as coming across as innocent.

5. Personally I liked the characters. Eli I liked as i feel that she was a 'normal' child but you could also tell that throughout there was another side to her and that she was hiding something. This could allow people to relate to her. Oscar I feel that people who have been bullied in the past and just deal with it- are able to relate. The way Eli knew that her and Oscar couldn't be friends as they were different but she kept him thinking they could which was quite mean.

6. The friendship part of the narrative appealed to me and how they are from two different backgrounds but still go on so well. they became friends and his moment comes at the end of the movie when he gets to save Eli. This shows throughout how they got along with different things, like the bullies and how she wants him to stand up to them.

7. The relationship Oscar and Eli have could be considered as unusual, as in 'normal' horror films they don't usually use two children to play the good and bad person. They wouldn't usually have the close relationship that occurs in this film. 

If Eli was not a vampire then the relationship wouldn't seem so unusual as they are two close friends and she wouldn't necessarily be hiding such a big secret but the way they are still a hero and a villain would out way the relationship. A clear two people, hero and villain, needs to be made clear but not too much so that it is predictable like a original horror film.

8. When a vampire is in a predictable setting such as a scary house, haunted house or a grave yard we loose the suspense and tension because we can tell what is happening, the mise-en-scene is clear. Where it is in a domestic surrounding people can relate to it and it is not necessarily expected. People can be aware and weary that it can happen in their domestic surroundings. I think we are encouraged to be scared of the vampire figure as she is seen as 'normal' with something to hide where she is larking about. This puts the audience in a situation where they should be on edge and aware in their own domestic environment.

9.I don't think Eli's father is represented to have a stereotype of a vampire. When its put into context that he just comes out after dark and Eli is like his 'partner in crime' it is more understandable. The behaviour seems to be passed to Eli as well but she tries to hide it more with her and Oscars relationship. His behaviour shows Eli to be powerful as he is seen to do things for her, like she has got him under control.

10. I think that at the beginning of the film where he is hanging the boy in the forest purely to collect blood he comes across as a bad person but when the film carries on, the love shows towards his daughter. It showed how much he cared for his little girl.When he poured the acid over his face and he ended up in hospital he put his life on the line for her. This gives a twist and a different approach to the horror genre. I think my sympathies lie with Eli's father as he is only trying to do the best for his daughter.