Textual analysis of 'Get out'

Sound

All of these are conventional for horror.

Diegetic sound: 

• Birds and crickets chirping showing the secluded area, dialogue (some was mumbled), footsteps, a car pulling up, music from the car, shouting
• "sore thumb out here"- highlights this fact as he is a black man in a predominantly white neighbourhood which isn't the type of place he would usually visit, this foreshadows what will happen. Additionally, he is slightly helpless and becomes scared as he displays whilst talking to himself.
• low rev of the car which shows the person has likely done this before
• lack of diegetic sound tells the audience that the character is alone and therefore no one will be able to help.
• cannot hear the footsteps from the man in the car or the first opening of the car door, sneaks up on you and makes the jumps care better.

Non-diegetic sound: 

• Continued music louder, music notes growing loud at the end (devils chord- music to make you feel uneasy)
• The song run rabbit: volume increases to reflect the sadness, connotes he is being 'hunted', foreshadows the narrative of the film
• song released during the 40s when racism was rife.

Parallel sound: 

• car movements, exclaiming from attack

Contrapuntal sound: 

• The song 'run rabbit' is upbeat although the action seen is threatening and therefore makes it even more sinister. 

Camerawork

• Tracking backward is used as a POV shot
• Starts as a long shot, moves to a mid-shot to single him out and display his face to introduce him as a character.
• Camera moves to now showing his back
• 360 pan of the character at the point when he realizes he is in danger- used to confuse the audience by reflecting his confused emotions
• The camera pans, following the oncoming car to highlight the importance of the vehicle.
• The camera places him on the side of the screen with the car in the back, focuses on the car
• Wide-shot/ establishing shot to show the audience the empty street, the abductor gets away with it. Nothing has changed, highlighting his insignificance as well as how isolated he is.
• Over the shoulder shot, tracking the character as he walks away from the car- senses danger, the audience can see what the character can see
• Static movement, just before the attack takes place, highlights the vulnerability of the character.
• Low angle while he is being dragged, highlights the abductor's dominance and inferiority of the victim.
• No shot of the abductor's face, creates mystery and creates an enigma.
• Long shot to ensure the entirety of the scene is visible

Enigma: raising questions for the audience.

Editing

Cuts- 

• there is only one cut, it occurs when he is in the car and is no longer with us- the relationship with the audience has been broken as the character is stuffed into the car

Transition- 

• straight/invisible cut to highlight the reality

Duration of the shot- 

• 2 minutes for the first take, 30 seconds for the second 

Is it linear/ chronological why?- 

• linear, tells a story and builds up the narrative for the rest of the film.

Mise-en-scene

Colour- 

• dark, blues and greens, the white car opposes the darkness, juxtaposes the black man. The white car challenges the stereotypes of purity and peace 
• White kidnapper: stereotype conformed = white power and dominance
• Black victim= countertype 

Costume- 

• abductor is in all black clothes; conventional for an abductor, trying to blend in 
• Victim: informal speech and costume to highlight the fact that he doesn't belong there

Lighting- 

• street lights are very sharp and bright when they are usually a warmer orange tone, red brake-lights on the car
• Car headlights: bright white light to put him in the spotlight
• Car brake lights: red to foreshadow danger contrasts 
• Streetlights: direct focus on the soon to be victim, spotlight; colour white as though the neighbourhood is looking down on him

Time of day-

• night, conventional for the genre, when dangerous activities usually occur

Body language/ facial expression- 

• looks nervous, hands in pockets to make the body smaller as a nervous reaction of the situation and begins to speak to himself, confident on the phone but this switches when he hangs up

Location- 

• empty, dark street. An affluent area that contrasts the horrible abduction

Extra: 

• blocks the number plate of the car to raise more questions for the audience

Credits: 

• light blue colour is used, reference to the Shining which also uses this and is also a horror movie
• -Intertextual reference- when one media product refers to another

EXAM QUESTION

Structure:

Introduction; 1-2 sentences- paraphrase the question and state the media text you chose

3 paragraphs- Point, Example/ Evidence, Explain (how it links to the question), Theory (the different theories discussed- the Todorov theory)

Analyse how the genre conventions have been used to create meaning in a media product you have studied (12 marks)

The 2017 horror film 'Get Out' uses many typical conventions to convey the horror theme. In this response, I will analyse how the conventions have been used (and subverted) to create meaning, with a main focus on the first scene.

'Get Out' begins the film with a stereotypical equilibrium, through the use of diegetic sound. The scene starts with chirping birds/crickets in a secluded neighbourhood at night. Instantly, the emptiness of the street is highlighted to the audience, conveying the character is isolated and vulnerable, the significance of the chirping further connotes the silence of the street. Furthermore, this suggests the conventional horror themes as the audience anticipates what is to come- further bringing themes of mystery and suspense into the scene. Significantly, Todorov's theory can be applied here as the scene begins with equilibrium, and several events occur, taking us through all the stages until a new equilibrium is reached. 

The first scene uses mise-en-scene, specifically lighting, to foreshadow dangerous events that will occur. Barthes's theory would propose that this can be used as an enigma for the audience, who will question what the danger will be. Interestingly, the car displays bright red headlights as a foreshadowing of the abduction which will occur at the end of the scene. Often red is used to represent a sense of danger or anger, further connoting the significance of these present brake-lights within this typical horror genre film. Additionally, the use of street lights which realistically would have a yellower tone is a more harsh, white light. This acts like a spotlight upon the character and therefore isolates him further, connoting additional themes of danger.

Finally, the film subverts expectations by counter-typing the common use of a black criminal and a white victim within the media industry. The film uses juxtaposing colours to emphasise the subversion used by Jordan Peele. These colours are on opposite sides of the spectrum and therefore show a clear opposition between the two characters involved. This relates to Stauss's theory of binary opposites, the different sides show clear opposing themes of good vs evil and black vs white which are common occurrences within the horror genre.