The crazies

Kiah Bennett Date: 22/11/16

The crazies

The film is set in a small town in Iowa when the water supply gets contaminated with mysterious toxins, which causes the towns people to become insane and leads them to death. The film was made in 2010 and was directed by a man called Breck Eisner.

I have chosen this film opening because it creates suspense and a dark atmosphere. This is because they use elements of thriller, enigma and horror. I will be analysing the mise-en-scene, sound, locations, cinematography, characters and editing techniques.

An enigma was created when one of the locals walked on to the baseball field and tried to kill people. The spectators wanted to know why Rory came on to the baseball field with a shotgun and what did he want? Also, the character seemed that he wasn’t himself and that it was almost like her was possessed. Furthermore, this theme was also used when the title ‘Two Days Earlier’ came up after the spectators seeing the town burnt up and destroyed. This caused the spectators to want to find out how this happened and why?

The stereotypes used in the opening of the film The Crazies were that they were typical Americans. This is portrayed when they used a baseball field as this is a popular sport in America. Also, there weren’t just police officers they were sheriffs which is typical in small towns in America. In America there is a high rate of weapons this is demonstrated when the character Rory walked on the baseball field with a shotgun.


Furthermore, sheriffs typically drink coffee; they are respected in the community and have authority. Also, they are mostly male and stereotypically young and strong. This is revealed when a local from the town named Ben said ‘A sheriff never pays for his coffee’. This proves that they are respected within the town. Authority was proven when the sheriff approached Rory and demanded him to put his gun down.

The character Rory was represented as suspicious, harmful and possessed. Rory is seen as suspicious when the sheriff was talking to him and Rory just stood there in silence. Also, he was proven to be harmful when he had the intension of injuring others as he picked up his shotgun and pointed it at the sheriff, also the baseball game is packed up with many of the town’s people proving that this was his intension.

In the opening of the film they used juxtapositions to prove the rapid change and how fast the contaminated water has spread through the town. The town at the beginning of the opening was burnt, destroyed, chaotic and manic, but in the flash back the town was peaceful, united town, blissful, blue skies and clean. Furthermore, the baseball game began joyful and calm, but when Rory entered darkness crept in and the attitude changed. This was proven when they used low key lightning to suggest that Rory was dangerous and reckless.


They used cross cutting to demonstrate the different locations which were the doctors and baseball game. The doctor’s is a typical location in a thriller film because this shows that the town’s people can get help and there is a safe place. On the other hand it can be a dangerous place. This is seen in other films such as The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and shutter island. A baseball field is used in many thriller films too such as, The Fan and Night Game.

A Long shot was used at the beginning of the film. The shot demonstrated the ‘The Ogden Marsh’ burning and falling down. This reflexes the destruction of the town and how it has fallen in the past two days. This shot is effective because it portrays that the town is destroyed and empty. Also, that there is no town anymore. What I mean by this is that the town’s people have either disappeared or died and the town is lifeless and inhabited.


A point of view shot was used when the other sheriff was looking at Rory entering the baseball field. This demonstrated that there was something bad about to happen, this creates suspense and tension. This causes the spectators to feel uneasy and suspicious. They feel this because they have no control on the situation and that the threat is coming closer towards them.

Dialogue was used in the opening of the film when Becky and Dr. Judy Dutten were speaking about Becky meeting Scotty. This is stereotypical of women as women typically like to gossip and talk about relationships. This gives the spectators and suspicion that something is going to happen at the baseball field, or when Becky and Scotty meet. Dialogue is a great way to give spectators more information and used to create dramatic irony.

Diegetic sound was used at the beginning of the opening where they used the sound of the fire crackling. This gives it a sense of realism and causes the audience to feel like they’re there watching the town go up in flames. This causes the audience to sympathise the town’s people, and creates dramatic irony. This is because the spectators know what’s going to happen to the town in the next two days but the locals don’t.


The titles ‘two days earlier’ and ‘the crazies’ were positioned in the same place of the screen with the same font and background. This demonstrated that these titles had an importance to the narrative of the film. The word ‘crazies’ suggest that the town’s people go insane and there’s a lot of chaos. The font suggested that it could be end and that the story is not going to be blissful, this is because the font didn’t use serif instead the font was san’s serif. The background being black and the writing being white shows that the locals may have hope of living or there is a protagonist within the film.

The intended audience for this film is the ages of 15-40. This is because it’s got many sub-genres such as action and horror not just thriller, causing the film to be fast paced and create suspense. This doesn’t appeal to a very young and elderly audience, because it may be gory and be bloodcurdling. This is why teenagers and young adults would be enticed to watch the film as it is thrilling and spontaneous. End.

Education

The crazies