The credits of the James Whale version also bring mystery into the film. The credits of the person who played the monster was replaced with a single ‘?’. I found this highly noticeable and I found that this brought a sense of mystery to bear in mind during the film.
In the Kenneth Branagh version the writing tells us slightly more about the film and where it is set. The writing that appears on the screen is in plain capitals. The letters are white, which are on a black background which is more dramatic than black on white. The style of writing is of a fairly old fashioned style, telling the viewer the time period in which the film was set in.
In both adaptations, the use of camera techniques was used adeptly. With the two introductions being different, the camera angle varied in accordance to how the director wished the film to be viewed. Branagh has an incredibly actions packed introduction, whereas the Whale version is more focusing on the sinisterness of the film, and throwing us straight into the film.Branagh uses a lot of high frequency shots and montage, which builds up tension and suspense in a gripping way. He uses these particular techniques when the ship gets into trouble at sea. During this, Branagh also use long shots of the ship, making the ship and the people on board appear vulnerable in comparison to the intense waves. This made me sense that the people may end up failing in whatever they are commencing on. I felt this because as they are failing so early in the film, then they probably wont be able to last all through the film.
The Whale version, on the other hand uses camera shots to confirm the setting. There are also two main events in this introduction. One which is emotive and another which introduces us to the characters of the film. The emotive scenes are where a funeral is taking place. There is a very sombre atmosphere conveyed the way the camera acts round them. The camera closely pans round the mourners, focusing on their facial expressions, By starting the film with sadness, this tells the viewer that some of the film may be sad or may end in upset. When I watched this I sympathized with the mourners and I felt the camera established the atmosphere by its slow movements.
The other key part is when Dr Frankenstein and his accomplice are taking parts of bodies from graves. The shots used here are mainly high angle shots, making both people seem like minions. I felt that the directors had chosen to show them doing this when a funeral was taking place so that we would feel they were doing something doubly wrong, stealing bodies (which is wrong any way), but doing it when a funeral was taking place made them seem evil and like they had no respect for anything.
Often, the camera makes Frankenstein seem superior in comparison to his accomplice who seems insignificant. This means that the camera made Frankenstein seem taller and more powerful by how he was perceived and the hunchback would seem like nothing stood next to Frankenstein. This is a stereotype of accomplice’s, who are often made out to look stupid and irresponsible compared to the main character, who is made out to look superior.
In the Whale version the lighting is used in co-ordination with the events that occur in the opening scenes. The lighting techniques vary, but are all doing their job well, in my opinion. During the introduction with the theatre manager, low key lighting is used to create a scary atmosphere. The effect of using this is that more shadows have been created by the low key lighting. This is more eerie than a brightly lit room with no shadows. By doing this Whale has made the audience feel intimidated and the effect of this is making the viewer feel that the rest of the film may intimidate them as well. Whale uses the same lighting techniques at a different part in the introduction scenes, and has the same motive for doing so. He uses low key lighting on the hunchback and the body that was hanged on the gallows. This creates long shadows, which ultimately have a daunting effect on the audience. A vast majority of Whales lighting is uses to scare the audience, although as this version is in black and white the use of lighting doesn’t become obvious, unlike Branaghs version, which is filmed in colour as it is more recent.
Branaghs adaptation also uses lighting in order to produce shadows. I feel this is due to the genre of the film as low key lighting is a good feature of horror films. As well as using low key lighting to produce shadows, Branagh also uses it to create pools of light on the characters faces. This makes the audience feel edgy, making them more aware of the characters facial expressions. In the scene where the boat is visible from far away, Branagh uses back lighting to make the ship stand out from the snowy white background. By making the ship stand out, Branagh has placed emphasis on them, and also as the ship stands out it makes the viewer question wether they should really be there.
At one point Branagh uses high key lighting, which creates no shadows which ultimately creates a safer environment for the audience, as if to give them a break from the tension already created by the director.
Iconography is a key feature in both verisons of Frankenstein. At the start of the Whale version, the audience can hear church bells echoing throughout. Bells of this sort are often associated with misfortune, which the film features. By coincidence this adaptation is in black and white. This is not because the director chose it this way, but because of the time period it was created in. However, this adds to the on going theme of Gothic horror because Gothic themes are often shown in black and white. A hunchback is present throughout the introduction scenes. This is a stereotype of the horror genre, adding this to the first impressions of the audience.The most obvious use of iconography used by Whale is when a sword and a skeleton can be seen by the viewer. When I saw this I automatically thought of death. This is the desired effect because by doing this the director has planted a thought of death into minds of the audience.
The iconography used by Branagh is less obvious on first viewing. It is, however, in your mind, you just aren’t fully aware of it.
At the start, the characters involved are in conflict with each other. The director has created the impression that the characters are not going to get on too well, thus creating the feeling they will not all get along during the film.
Branagh also chooses his camera angle to develop iconography. He uses fast montage, which stimulates the mind of the viewer, making them increasingly aware of the other things in the scene. This also creates a horror effect on the viewer, making them more aware of mise en scene, other iconography and other things to do with the film.
Branagh tells us how to think, which works really well in making the viewer see the film from a certain point of view, a point of view that if it was interpreted incorrectly, then the film would more than likely of been unsuccessful on the viewer. Branagh shows some dogs being killed be the monster, but does not show the most graphical parts of the killing. He has taken into consideration a famous quote of Henry James’ ‘ let them think the evil’ and has made the viewer conjure up their own visions as to what happened. By doing this, Branagh has made the audience strongly inclined to dislike the monster as we sympathize with the dogs. When I saw this I immediately thought that the monster was a barbaric and brutal. This is the desired effect of the director as it makes one, the viewer side with the initial characters.
The music used in Whale’s version is atypical of the horror genre. The music has a tendency to be loud and the type of music is linked to the time period of the film. Whale has chosen not to use a lot of music, for the simple reason to create more atmosphere and suspense. The only implication of this is that it increases the overall expectation from the audience by having more suspense, the audience expect a good film which is atmospherical.
Branagh uses music as an initial pointer and at one point in the introduction, it represents the thoughts of some characters. As any director would, Branagh uses music to build up tension. The volume varies in accordance to what is happening on in the scene. When the dogs are killed by the monster, there is silence. This is because the action is intese enough and no more tension is needed.
Branagh also uses music to connect the viewer with the emotions of the characters. The audience can feel the emotions by what they see but Branagh combines this with music so the viewer becomes involved in the film, keeping their attention throughout.
An example of Branagh using music to add to the atmosphere is when a hand (obviously the monsters ) appears on the screen. A sudden outburst of loud music adds to the shock of the hand appearing. Although this is somewhat corny, unoriginal and clichéd it does shock the viewer, which it was aimed to do. The music awakens the viewer to what the film may be about.
The costume worn at the introduction of Whales version conjures up slight confusion. The introducer is wearing a dinner suit, which makes him seem formal, but at the same time makes the viewer question what they believe about what he is saying. The reason I felt this was because the suit felt slightly out of place and made the man look comical.
Stereotypes are strongly enforced in the Whale adaptation. Dr Frankenstein wears a suit, whereas the hunchback accomplice is dressed in rags. This antithesis makes Dr Frankenstein seem much more important than the accomplice.
Branagh uses costume to make contradictions such as clothes vs background. The characters wear dark clothes, but as they are in the Arctic, they have white snow on them. Also the background is of a perfect white which makes the characters stand out from the snowy background. Another contradiction used by Branagh is the actual body temperature of the characters. They wear big coats, which make them seem warm, but we can evidently see that they are cold by their faces. By contradicting things Branagh has successfully placed emphasis on certain things. I picked up on the contradictions on my first viewing of this version, and they highlight certain things about the film. I noticed that the characters were in cold climate, as the snow on their dark coats made the scene appear freezing.
After viewing these 2 different adaptations of Frankenstein, I feel the recent 1994 Kenneth Branagh version was more enjoyable than the James Whale version. I believe this is because it was produced more recently, therefore the filming and graphics were profoundly better than the 1931 James Whale version. Also, Kenneth Branaghs version links more closely to the text. One can establish this just by looking at the films title “ Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein” Having read the text I was able to familiarize with Branaghs version, whereas I found that more difficult with the Whale version and I found myself responding negatively it for this reason and pointing out where it had been different and what it had done differently. If the viewer had not read the text then perhaps they would not have had this problem and would have found it more enjoyable than I did.
