Contextual Studies - Critical Review for a TV Show - American Horror Story: Roanoke

"One of television's great contributions is that it brought murder back into the home, where it belongs". - Alfred Hitchcock, National Observer, 15th August 1966

In this Critical review, I will be looking at the latest miniseries installment to the popular TV show American Horror Story. Based loosely on the missing colony of Roanoke Island in 1590, the show creator Ryan Murphy explores his tale of uncovering the mystery through horror and exaggerated themes in unusual ways that keep the show fresh and popular.

The clear genre of the show is Horror as suggested by the title but it's clear by the codes and conventions used throughout the series. The use of violence is used heavily with the use of props including knives, chainsaws and impalement on sharp objects like spikes. Gore is used in many types of horror to implement the realism of the terrifying situation but also to create shock and excitement which Ryan has clearly tried to exceed. The show also contains many monsters and supernatural happenings to the protagonists to create fear and cover the sub-genres of slasher as well as supernatural in Horror. He has done this to appeal to a wider audience playing on at least one fear of a viewer. The location is set in an abandoned house which looks a bit like Norman Bates house. It is a purpose built set for the program in an isolated location. This allows the audience to relate to the fact the characters are on their own with limited help often used in many other horrors like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Friday the 13th. We as an audience can tell it's a set due to the hyper-realism that Murphy portrays in a cinematic viewing approach. Everything Murphy does is exaggerated on a grand scale and this is reflected in this series with close relations to The Shining. 

Bates House

Roanoke House

Interestingly half way through on episode 6, the show changes from a telling of a reenactment to a real life, found footage, documentary style horror approach like The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity. We can tell this by the way the program has adopted documentary conventions and technical changes like the switch to handheld camera’s and camera settings displayed around the border of the screen, occasionally blurred and out of focus shots, talking to the camera, a confession booth, off-centered camera angles and the use of night vision. Being distinctly opposite to what we have seen in previous episodes of beautifully lit scenes and panning shots, we recognize as viewers that things have changed and using the conventions, it's easy to see we are meant to be viewing a documentary. Ryan has done this to create realism to what we were previously watching and to add to the question if what we are watching is real or fake.

The characters costume change throughout the series as it time-hops through different eras. Making it easier to understand we see that when it goes back in time the outfits look like they are from a Georgian period and display wealth rather than modern day clothes and abandonment. They also emulate western and Asian archetypes of Good and Evil. With the innocent wearing white and the evil wearing black for western but also when it's referencing to Asian horror films, with the Asian possessed family, the ghosts wear white to show paranormal and the protagonist at the time wears black to show heroic status. 

There is many uses of sound used both diegetic and non-diegetic. With diegetic, the uses of dialogue are used to tell the narrative and ambient sounds like footsteps, car noises, and birdsong to create realism. With non-diegetic, there is a clear soundtrack to create tension and build up. 

Overall it's clear that the show takes on many challenges emulating classic horror to modern horror. "I think it's only natural to be influenced by filmmakers and things that you gravitate to when your younger" - Ryan Murphy. It is clear the show has been made to satisfy all horror fans and adopt many conventions that different horrors follow. 

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/roanoke-colony-deserted
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0614682/bio?ref_=nm_dyk_qt_sm#quotes
http://wikimapia.org/176431/House-from-movie-Psycho

Storytelling Unit - Critical Evaluation

This unit has taught me a lot about many different aspects of storytelling through the process of workshops, lectures, practical work and independent research. The main outcome by the end of the project was to be able to produce a 10-page screenplay, film the first 2 minutes of the screenplay and have evidence of a continuous blog showing posts throughout the unit of how we got to the completed product.

With the story being about 2 people meeting, I decided to base mine on 2 characters having an affair. After developing my characters further and coming up with a rough storyline I presented a 25-word pitch to the class and explained what I was aiming to do which created intrigue and showed that I had something worth working on. I then attended lectures on how to write a screenplay including what makes one compelling and how they are laid out and formatted. In between these, I was also attending editing workshops to learn about the program Adobe Premiere Pro and how to make a film look professional when editing it together. After going out and filming, redrafting my script to its 3rd state and researching throughout the project, I had a final piece of work to hand in.

The main thing I loved about the project was the editing side of things. I believe after getting to grips with the software and spending time compiling clips together, It was very rewarding when I got to see the final piece of work and what I had achieved. I also loved going out on shoot and filming as it went very smoothly due to my preparation of visiting locations beforehand, creating schedules and compiling a shot list.

With the film, there were a few things that I wish could have gone better. Once I had shot the film and started editing I realized that some of the clips were blurry and out of focus. Although this is usually down to the person on camera I should have checked the footage before moving on. One shot was also speckled where the lens had got dirty so I will make sure on future projects that I wipe the lens clean and to check footage as I go along.


In regards to the script I struggled a few times to come up with idea's and lost where the story was going but when I sat and focused I managed to get a rough first draft done in a few days. Once this was completed I submitted it to Steve and he gave me some constructive notes. The characters didn't work as their personalities changed half way through. This was done on purpose as I was trying to reveal hidden and complex layers but since it was a short story the change was too quick and didn't work so I had to keep the characters the same and more simplistic. After 2 more drafts I believe the characters made more sense and I added more details from Steve's notes. Although I found this to be the least enjoyable about the unit I still tried my best to my ability to create a finalised screenplay.

In regards to research, I believe I did this well in order to make sure I was well prepared to understand the aim of the unit but I would like to have expanded it more and pushed myself into further research if I had more time to do so.

Overall I have thoroughly enjoyed the process of this unit and I am happy with the blog and the final pieces of work I have submitted. Most importantly I have learnt a lot and have gained an insight on how to improve for future units and will surely put this into practice.

Storytelling Unit - Final Draft Of Screenplay

After redrafting my screenplay using Steve's feedback and then redrafting for the 3rd time I have finished my screenplay. There was a lot to take into consideration with grammatical errors and evolving the story so it makes more sense.

Although he said he liked the story and it flowed well with good twists, the characters did not work as they were described in one way and then they behaved in another. I took this on board and made sure from the outset that Harriet was a tease and was only having the affair for sex all the way through. I also showed that she progressively got more and more insane as the story went on rather than a sudden switch of being feeble and weak.

Another thing that Steve described was that the sex was very vanilla and didn't work with it being instigated as it needed to be bold for it to tie in with the story line and the characters behaviours. I decided to add the sex scene in and made it cold and rough to align with the characters personalities and to portray the desperation of both their needs. He said I need to be brave and take the story to the next level so writing a sex scene, although difficult, really added to my story.

I finished the screenplay and I am happy with the adaptations I have made to turn the story into something that flows better and makes more sense.

Storytelling Unit - Opening 2 Minutes Of My Short Film - The Affair

Below is the opening 2 minutes of the short film I created called 'The Affair': 

I am very pleased with what I have managed to achieve in the way of how it looks and the editing of it although I did have some Issues with it. I managed to get a lot of coverage so I was spoilt for choice when It came to editing but some of the vital shots were blurred and speckled when it comes to the park conversation scene. I had to use them in order for the story to flow but In future productions I will check footage as I go along and make sure I communicate before every shot to make sure that its in focus and that the lens is clean. 

Although I white balanced before every shot some of the hues were to warm creating an orange glow in the bedroom. I used colour correction tools and Lumetri scopes in order to balance the colour out making it consistent all the way through. Also the scene where Harriet is sitting on the sofa the lens made everything into a curve stretch. I resolved this by using a lens correction tool to pull it into perspective and straighten it out. 

I'm happy with how the films turned out and I'm pleased with how the process went. 

Storytelling Unit - Shooting The Affair

Yesterday I spent the whole day shooting the opening 2 minutes for my short screenplay. I had encountered a problem the night before as the actor I had lined up to play the role of Lewis dropped out but after contacting a few more actors I managed to get another in place ready for the shoot the next day.

After sending out all the shooting schedules before hand the crew knew what time we were meeting at the studios and I had arranged to pick up the actors at the train station. Once we were all together and signed the equipment out we headed to the first location which was the Bearsted woodland trust. although this is the second scene I decided we would shoot this first due to the lighting conditions. The shoot went successfully as we finished ahead of schedule and all the team were professional.

In some points we had trouble with the wind which affected the audio but it eventually died down and we were able to shoot scenes fine. There was another problem I hadn't foreseen with the bench I was going to use being near a main road so we had to choose a different bench to cut down on traffic noise. 

Once this was finished we moved onto the second location at my house to work on the other scenes. This was a lot more time consuming than I thought as there was a lot more involved in the way of many different shots and angles I wanted to get to make sure the coverage was sufficient and the story was told in the right way. Although some scenes took a little bit longer to shoot it still finished in time and worked well with the lighting as we were ahead of schedule from the other location. 

Storytelling Unit - Casting Call Pro

Due to the nature of my screenplay I wanted to hire actors to be the characters of my screenplay. I was told I could use friends and family or people from the course but hiring actors would allow my project to be more professional. I used a recommended website called Casting Call Pro which enlists professional actors available to hire.

I created an account and posted an advert explaining that I was a student who needed a male and a female actor to play the parts for my film. As I'm a student I explained that there would be no payment for the role but they would get a copy of the final edited footage once complete. After a week I had 12 men and 12 women apply for the role. After reviewing there previous show reels I have whittled it down to the 2 people I wanted to play the roles.



After sending them my script and explaining what I wanted done they were very happy to accept the terms and play the parts of my characters.

Story Telling Unit - Shoot Preparation (Shot List, Risk Assessment and Schedule)

As I am going to be shooting the first 2 minutes of my screenplay there are many different things that I need to plan in order to make sure everything is organised and the shoot goes smoothly. The first thing I have done is write out a shot list. This allowed me to look at the script and adapt it into what scenes I wanted to shoot and what coverage I needed to obtain. As I have already visited the locations I was able to visualise in my head the types of shots I wanted to do for example Long shot and close up so that it was relevant to what was required. I will be able to follow this list on shoot so that I won't leave anything out. The shot list can be seen below.

The next thing I did was write out a risk assessment for the 2 locations making sure I was taking into consideration the problems that could occur on set in regards to the health and safety of the cast and crew. When looking at the risk assessment for the Bearsted Woodland Trust park I realised there were several issues to consider. An example would be the fact that its outside and being in a park the terrain may not be even. This would be resolved by making sure all cast and crew are notified and they must wear appropriate footwear on set. This prevents the likelihood of a trip or fall. 

When looking at the risk assessment for the house location there were a few other things to consider. In the event of a fire there, the park would not be as hazardous being in an open place. When inside  building it becomes a lot more dangerous so I had to consider fire exits making sure they were kept clear and to have planned exit routes. There is also furniture and objects that could be a trip hazard so keeping things tidy was important and items were not left in an inappropriate manner. 

Once the risk assessments were signed off by the course leader I was given the go ahead to shoot my film in the locations. My next step was to produce a shooting schedule so the cast and crew know whats happening, when its happening and what is expected time wise throughout the day. I made sure I included the date, location, the crews names, roles and there contact details as well as the equipment that will be needed. As we will be shooting outside I wanted to add a weather section so that when I sent them out to the cast and crew they could prepare appropriately. Underneath this was the time and activity throughout the day to follow and make sure we were on track and got the shoot done on time as we were up against losing day light. 

Overall I think I have planned my shoot very well and believe I have what I need in order for things to go smoothly. 

Storytelling Unit - Viewing and approving Location's

We had a talk with a woman from the Kent Film office about the permissions and requirements that we had to take into consideration when filming in a public place. This was very useful for me as I was able to understand what I needed to organise before requesting a location to be approved.

Since I only need two locations the first would be set in my house so no permissions were required. The second was to be in a park so I took the time to visit a few locations that I thought could work well. My first thought was mote park but when listening to the Kent Film Office talk I was made aware that they require a fee to film there so I decided to think of somewhere different as I could not afford the expense. I visited a place called Manor Park Country Park and took some pictures of where I could ideally shoot the scenes I needed.

Although this was a good location there was a fee for parking and it was a 20 minute drive from the other location.

I then decided to go and take a look at the Bearsted Woodland Trust park and take some photos of this location. I found this to be more ideal as the scenery was better for the shoot as well as it being only a 5 minute drive from the other location and a free carpark.

With Bearsted Woodland Trust being my first choice for location I emailed the Kent Film Office to make them aware that I wanted to film there. Unfortunately I had a reply back saying that the land was privately owned and I would not be allowed to shoot there unless I gained permission from the owners themselves. From this I then found the contact details on their website and emailed them expressing what I wanted to do. After a few emails back and forth with the deputy chairman of the park John Wale I have been given formal permission to film there on Wednesday 16th November.

Contextual Studies - Sitcom's

When understanding genre, its a type of media that shares common codes and conventions looking at the social, political and historical contexts. Its very identifiable with an audience. For example if a group of people were sitting at home and in the mood for a horror, they could scroll through a streaming service like Netflix and pick a horror program/film from that section. When watching the horror they will be able to identify with the codes and conventions they are used to in a horror like its score, characters (monster/ killer, survivor), Props (Knife), Location (Isolated areas i.e. an old house) and jump scares or gore. This leaves the audience satisfied as they're prepared to experience these conventions.

When looking at the sub-genre of Sitcom, its a situation comedy that only applies to television. It involves characters resolving a comical situation in their lives. When looking at the Technical conventions of sitcoms filmed in a studio they are generally edited as if the audience is watching it live. This links into the canned laughter that is used in the background to make you feel like you are with a studio audience watching it. For example when watching friends there is laughter throughout at the jokes and gasp moments when something is revealed. Location sitcoms follow slightly different conventions. There is no live laugh track and they are edited in post production. They often have a story for each episode rather than a continued story throughout the series like Arrested Development or Parks and Recreation. Most sitcoms have an ideology based around a family i.e. the work family, nuclear family, extended family and co-habitees.











Sitcoms are done in episodes and generally last around 30 minutes. They use comic traps in there narrative to give depth and add to the story. They start as an equilibrium, then a problem is found, the characters go through the problem, the problem is solved, everything returns to normal. Its done like a cycle and obtains this set up in every episode.


There are many different types of sitcoms in a way that comedy can be shown an example would be a parody. This is a mockery of original work as it imitates the subject they are showing. Its similar to a spoof however this usually makes fun of a genre in its entirety like the Scary Movie films. A satire tends to have a lot more serious issues involved but it makes us laugh when it goes wrong and gets worse.

In terms of mise en scene there are classic things that they use. It generally focuses around something central like a sofa or an office desk. The audience identify this as where the characters lives revolve around. In Friends they use a coffee shop sofa where they all meet to discuss there problems and issues they are having. since friends became more evolved it had many more focus points like their apartments and Rachel's work.

There are general Archetypes/ stereotypes in sitcoms:

The Rebel -a character who uses a more harsh sense of comedy and is very sarcastic
The Libertine - someone who is hyper sexual and uses innuendos
The Authority figure - this character tries to control the situations
The fool - a person who is not very self aware and has the reputation of being stupid.

All of these characters can be seen in Modern Family. We have The rebel who is the eldest daughter of the Dunphy's Hayley and also Luke the youngest, the authority figures Claire Dunphy and Jay Pritchett and the fools Phill Dunphy and Gloria Pritchett. We could also say Gloria is the libertine as well although she is not aware of it.

Storytelling Unit - Script Feedback (1st Draft)

I have received some very interesting feedback from Steve Coombes about how I can improve my script. He explained that the sex was not as intense as it needs to be so this will be something I need to adapt. He also said my characters are quiet confusing. I understand this as I have attempted to make characters with many layers and floors and to switch there personalities and behaviours half way through as a shock tactic. Although this could work with a feature film as there would be more time to give a lot more depth but for a short film it becomes confusing and people can get confused with why the characters are acting the way they are. I will try to make the characters have similar personalities the whole way through to improve this and focus a lot more on there needs and why they are having the affair. Steve also mentioned my spelling and grammar which I need to make sure I am doing.


I will write at least one more draft before developing the final version of my script.

Contextual Studies - Short Film Review 3 - Call Back

My third and final short film that I am reviewing is called Call Back. Its about a man who has killed his wife and lover after catching them having an affair. After instantly regretting what he has done, he is offered a dose of hope for a way out by a mysterious man over the phone. Can the man be trusted? Is this a genuine escape route?

As soon as the story begins its intense from the start. The use of fast cut editing and the enigma created due to not revealing whats going on immediately grabs the audience with mystery. There is a rumbling low atmospheric track playing in the background to let the audience know that something dark and dangerous is happening. A non diegetic sound of the phone ringing is heard showing several different close ups of a bloodied hand and a gun before cutting to a birds eye view of a woman covered in blood, laying on the bed. There is also a man dead on the floor. Its done from an audiences perspective looking in at the whole scene. Without saying too much the audience can draw conclusions of infidelity from this scene as well as seeing a close up of a wedding ring.

There are many close ups used through out this film mainly to add to the intensity of the film for example the door handle moving as the police are on the other side of the door and the needle as the protagonist is injecting. It heightens the action that is being carried out.

There is a scene where after the man has injected the liquid we see everything has been edited in slow motion. This allows the audience to simulate a high, drug feeling of what the character is experiencing. It takes us from watching whats happening, to being in the scenario ourselves. This is also helped by switching to a POV shot and blurred vision.

In terms of audio, this film is heavily focused on post non-diegetic audio. There is the eery score in the background throughout most of it as well as the sound of a slowed down, pounding heart beat allowing us to align with the characters own heart. There is also a scene where the sound goes quiet and then there is a loud knock at the door using a jump tactic to get the audiences heart going.

Over all this is a thrilling and captivating short film that use's great techniques to help add mystery and tension. For my own film I will take the use of eerie music and less dialogue to help create mystery and suspense.

Storytelling Unit - Finishing My Script (1st Draft)

Over the past week I have been writing my script and on Monday I had completed my first draft. I found that the lectures, workshops and my own research helped greatly towards this first development helping me to minimise the challenge of it. Developing my characters was the first thing I did. By exploring the depths of their layers I felt like I knew who my characters were in my head. I could visualise them and know what they would do in normal situations so when it came to writing my script I could picture them and describe their actions to how they would react from normal to extreme.

Once I knew my characters I needed an Idea. I already had in my head that I wanted to do it surrounding an affair but I needed more substance. The first thing that I learnt from Steve Coombe's talks was to come up with an ending. I pondered on a few but decided to go with the fact the husband was dead and she felt like she was having an affair because she never got over the grief and loss of him. I felt this idea was exciting and would give viewers an unsuspecting twist, an element of surprise that could not be predicted until the revealed moment.

I wanted to create a big change in my story. I managed to achieve this by playing on the layers of my characters. Harriet is strong and together, she has a good job and always looks nice. Lewis is charming, flirty and magnetic, he's pleasant. As soon as we hit half way through the story this completely flips. Harriet is weak, crying, scared and fallen apart. Lewis is anything but charming, he is vindictive and nasty making the audience retract from what they felt before. I wanted to do this to create a virtual alarm that people aren't always what they seem, people have fronts and can be someone completely different deep down. It also is entertaining and helps create tension when viewing this.

When it came to writing the script it was a lot easier than I thought. I knew my ending, I knew my characters, I knew my change and all I needed to do was play it out on the page. As I started it seemed relatively normal to what I had imagined. I could briefly describe Harriet but also show her characteristics through her emotions and actions. I already embedded the false idea that she was married by her shouting up the stairs to someone called Adam. I was also able to hint at the fact that she was having an affair by use of body language and the way she was doing herself up. As I wrote on to after the affair, the change happened. It was quick, sudden and a lot more of a change than I intended. Lewis became more horrible the more I wrote but I enjoyed writing a mean character so I stuck with it.

I had never thought about Lewis following Harriet home but as the writing flowed this is what happened. By doing this it worked out well as I was able to go beyond the twist for my ending and create a really tense and thrilling climax. The unplanned ending was unexpected but in a good way. I am very pleased with the progress that I achieved when writing the first draft.

When printing it out and proof reading over I noticed there was a considerable amount of grammatical errors. My grammar has never been amazing so I had to go back and correct as much as I could see. I also left the story open ended as although I quite like it this way, part of it was due to the fact I didn't quiet know how to round it off.

Contextual Studies - Review a British TV Drama

I am reviewing Doctor Foster for my British TV drama. I chose this as it has the adult themes that are similar to what I am doing in my film. Its a short TV mini series created by Mike Bartlett commissioned by the BBC about Gemma Foster, a head doctor of a practice who has the perfect job and family, until she suspects her husband is having an affair. As she begins to investigate things turn deeper and darker as secrets unfold and her perfect life starts falling apart.

Mike Bartlett managed to captivate audiences being one of the years most successful drama's on TV and was immediately commissioned for a second series. It won several awards including Best new drama at the National Television Awards and the lead actress Suranne Jones won a BAFTA for best actress.

When looking at the complexity of the characters they hold many different attributes to their personalities. He has clearly developed many layers that show the different sides of them creating a more compelling and intriguing hook to discovering new things about the characters as the series unfolds. I want to bring this to my film as I believe this is the way to good story telling as well as the protagonist playing a strong woman like mine.



When watching the series I particularly focused on the first episode looking at key camera angles, sound and other aspects that had been done to make the episode highly watchable. There are many close ups used to display emotion and an importance of an object as well as uses of mid, long and establishing shots. I love that there are a wide variety as the audience will never get board and it never stays on one shot for too long. When looking at sound I particularly like the way its used to build mystery and tension. When she first discovers a Blonde hair on her husbands scarf there is no audio at all making the focus all about what we are seeing. When Gemma slowly starts unraveling her husbands affair the score turns to a dark and tense sound that indicates something is wrong. I will use that in my film to add the tension as mine is a Thriller/ Drama.

The series as a whole is thrilling and captivates the viewer into Gemma's tragic breakdown of what seemed to be the most faultless marriage as it disarrays into tragedy and despair.

Storytelling Unit - Soft Trailer

After learning about trailers I created my own for the short film called SOFT. I used lots of different footage from the film and added audio to give the film more atmosphere and to build tension.

It shows narrative of what the film is about but it doesn't give too much away hinting at the problem with the aggressive youth gang but not disclosing how it is dealt with or if it is even dealt with at all.

I wanted to start with the Sundance Festival overlay as this would entice viewers knowing it was recognised by a film board and has won awards. I then show clips that set up the narrative of a boy being bullied by the youth gang and showing the aggression of their nature. Once this was viewed I wanted to edit together sequences of the father encountering an attack by them. This builds up the tension and lets the audience question what is going to happen as it seems they are not afraid who they target. I finish on a scene where the farther and son are peering out the window and the gang is looking at them from outside hinting at a possible showdown or a large climax for what is going to happen. This leaves it on a cliffhanger and builds suspense. I then finish with the title at the film at the end.

Contextual Studies - Short Film Review 2 - UNLOCKED

The second film I'm reviewing is called Unlocked. Its an 11 minute drama about a woman who is getting over the loss of her mum to cancer. She meets a man on the street who is asking for help towards his cancer charity. But things aren't quite what they seem. The film can be viewed below:

I thought this would be a good short film to review as its a drama about 2 people meeting in a melodramatic situation which is similar to what my short film is. At first the film relies on a lot of dialogue to tell the narrative of the story. Towards the end the film gets more intense and it changes to a more visual approach. This is done to help the narrative flow as it sets up the story and then allows to effectively create tension by what we are seeing without getting lost as an audience.

The types of camera shots used are mainly close ups allowing us to connect with the characters emotions but also to show that something is important. One particular scene that I thought this was done very well was the part where he was cutting off her hair. It was zoomed very close into her face as we could see the fear but also keeping what was going on a mystery as we could not see entirely what the man was doing and how much of her hair he was cutting off.

Whats also interesting about this scene is the lighting. Its very dark but only half of their faces are illuminated. This could convey a different meaning for each character. For her it could be that she is a good person but whats happening to her is dark and sinister as the cutting of the hair starts from that side. For him it could be that he appears to be nice but he has a very dark and evil side to him.

when in conversation the 180° rule is used throughout the film making sure both characters are in the right place and there is plenty of over the shoulder shots that focus on what character is speaking at the time.

As I'm using a phone to tell a part of my story there is a scene which shows a close up of a phone call coming in from the protagonists dad so I will use a similar technique.

When focusing on audio it contains diegetic use of dialogue and natural background noise to help the film seem more real. With non-diegetic audio there is the intense sound of the clippers after she has her hair cut off and she's reliving the moment. The sound starts off quiet and gradually gets louder and louder creating an unnerving feeling to the audience. 

Overall I love the style of this film as it has a lot of drive behind it all the way through keeping the audience hooked and intrigued.