The Phantom of the Opera is a 2004 film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1986 musical of the same name. Directed by Joel Schumacher, the film was also produced and co-written by Lloyd Webber. The story follows a soprano, Christine Daaé, who becomes the obsession of a mysterious, disfigured musical genius known as "The Phantom of the Opera".
Studio- Really Useful Films
Joel Schumacher Productions
Odyssey Entertainment
Scion Films
Distributed- Warner Bros.
Budget- $70 million
Gross Revenue- $158.23 million
Based on 163 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, 33% of the critics enjoyed The Phantom of the Opera, with an average score of 5/10. "The music of the night has hit something of a sour note: Critics are calling the screen adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s popular musical histrionic, boring, and lacking in both romance and danger," the consensus read. "Still, some have praised the film for its sheer spectacle."
Opening Sequence
The film begins in 1919, where the dilapidated Paris Opera house holds an auction in selling pieces. Raoul the Vicomte de Chagny (Patrick Wilson), now an old wheelchair-bound man, purchases a coveted music box. During the auction, Raoul spots a familiar figure: Madame Giry (Miranda Richardson), whom he met as a young man. Madame Giry is now an old woman, almost 50 years later. But he is distracted for the next piece, a broken chandelier now restored and electrically wired known as Lot 666. As the auctioneers display the restored chandelier, the opening crescendo of music wipes away the years of decay from the opera house as the black and white turns into color, and the audience is transported back in time to 1870, the beginning of the story, when the opera was in its prime.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phantom_of_the_Opera_(2004_film)
The Phantom of the Opera is very different from the horror sequence we are going to make. As it has musical elements it breaks it away from the horror genre making it unique. Because of the musical production it also had an already made audience which ours obviously does not. However what we can take away form this film is that is shows how important music can be, and will influence us when choosing music.
Saw is a 2004 horror film directed by James Wan and starring Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, and Danny Glover. The screenplay, written by Leigh Whannel and James Wan, is based on the short film of the same name. It is the first installment of the Saw film series. The film's story revolves around two men who awaken kidnapped and chained in a dilapidated industrial bathroom. They are given instructions via a micro cassette recorder on how to escape by following the "rules" of their "game". Meanwhile, police detectives investigate and attempt to apprehend the criminal responsible — "Jigsaw".
Studio- Twisted Pictures
Evolution Entertainment
Saw Productions
Distributed- Lions Gate
Budget- $1,200,000 (estimated)
Gross revenue- $103,096,345
Critical responses varied. Some critics denounced the whole movie as nothing more than a "sadist gore fest" and a "low quality" and "cheap snuff film", while others commended its stylish visual tricks designed to camouflage cheap effects and called it a true "chilling" and "terrifying" horror film. Despite mixed reviews, Saw was a financial success at the box office.
Opening Sequence
Adam (Leigh Whannell), a photographer, and Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes), a doctor, awaken at opposite ends of a grimy, disused bathroom, Adam in a water-filled bathtub. Both men are chained at the ankle to the pipes. Between them lies a corpse holding a revolver and a micro cassette recorder. Adam and Lawrence discover tapes in their pockets; the men learn from both tapes that Adam must escape the bathroom, while Lawrence must kill Adam before six o'clock, or he'll lose his wife and daughter and be left to die. They find a bag containing two hacksaws, though neither is able to cut through the chains. Adam breaks his and throws it at a mirror in frustration; Lawrence realizes that they are meant to be used on their feet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saw_(movie)
Saw again is very different to our sequence and in some parts is the complete opposite. For example Saw throws the scene straight into the narrative which contradicts ours as we want to set up the drama first. Saw combines genre's to make it into a detective puzzle to make it more interesting. This was a thought we had at the beginning but decided against because we did not want to have to create gory scenes in our opening sequence as it would look tacky with the lack of funds and equipment we poses. This is again the opposite as Saw contains very gory elements.
Mirrors is a 2008 horror film directed by Alexandre Aja, and stars Kiefer Sutherland. The film was first titled Into the Mirror, but the name was later changed to Mirrors. Filming began on May 1, 2007, and it was released in American theaters on August 15, 2008.
Studio- Regency Enterprises
New Regency
Distributed- 20th Century Fox
Budget- $35,000,000
Gross Revenue- $72,436,439
The film received generally negative reviews. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 13% of critics gave the film positive reviews based on 67 reviews. Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 35 out of 100, based on 13 reviews.
Opening Sequence
The movie begins with an terrified man running across an subway platform. He ends up in an locker room, and all of the locker doors swing open. Each door has an mirror on the inside, and each stops once the mirrors are facing him. To his horror, the room's larger wall mirror begins to crack as he approaches it. He desperately apologizes to his reflection therein for running away, asking for forgiveness, he begins fervently cleaning it, and an piece of the fractured mirror falls off. He notices his reflection begins acting of its own accord as it picks up the shard of broken mirror and then slowly slashing its own throat. As the man experiences the effects of this, his throat slices open, blood erupting from the wound, despite him not doing it to himself. He collapses and dies.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirrors_(film)#Box_office
Mirrors is also different as it has a more complicated theme. Like 'Saw' it throws you straight into the narrative where the audience sees immediately the twisted way in which the film is written. It is presented as a detective story, truly making you think, and confusing at times. The film's protagonist is played by well known actor Kiefer Sutherland, so the film gets the advantage with the audience filled with his fans, which our film cannot compete with. However to our advantage the reviews on this film were mainly negative so we don't think this type of story will be appropriate, so will take another rout into the horror theme.
The horror film genre is very popular with a number of different ages and has a definite market appreciation. Especially with the teenage group as they just love to get scared and push their anxiety to the limit. As the genre has been around for so many years and the films are still pouring out, we can see that it is an ongoing type of movie which is going to continue striving forward with twisted imaginations and load screams making you to scared to sleep. And although many horror films initially get negative reviews the films are still watched and loved by thousands of individuals as they cater for a number of people.
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