When the title of “The Lost Boys” is presented at the start of the film I thought it was unusual because the letters all start at the same height but start to hang down in different sizes. This is irregular and could give the audience idea linking to vampires.
In the opening scene of the film there is an important camera shot going on, a point of view shot of a creature flying over the water, which eventually leads into a and if you listen very carefully you can hear a drum beat that could relate to a heart beat, this could make the audience become jumpy or scared because it could make them feel as if they were there. That camera shot is effective because it begins to involve the audience. The camera shot continues over the water and up until you have a point of view of Santa Carla and the rides, because it is night time have is a slight horror element because most villains and monsters get their prey at night. Straight after that we go into a close up of David and his gang and the people he fights with on the carousal, this is when we get our first glance of who David is and makes the audience ask questions like, “ Is that the vampire?” When David attacks the man on the carousel we get to see what he is going to be like throughout the film. In the camera shot after this we can hear flapping and laughing of the creatures suggesting that it is a vampire of some sort. This part of the film, this would make the audience jumpy because it goes from a close up on the guard to show his fear and a point of view shot from the creature to show its getting closer. When the creatures finally get the guard we see the door been ripped off and screaming of the guard, the cameras very cleverly disguise is to the audience can not see what is been ripped apart. This would build tension because the audience would want to known what is happening and what the monster is meaning they will have to wait until further in the film.
The camera shots that are filmed in the day part of the scene also bring the horror element to the film. At the very start of the day scene it is a similar camera shot to the start of the night scene, due to it looking like a point of view shot over the water, yet again. When entering into Santa Carla on the back of the welcome sign it says” Welcome to the murder capital of the world” in a red paint. This is a moment of iconography because the colour red is the same colour as blood and gore. At this time the Mother says
“ I know what we have been through over the last couple of years.” This is ironic because of what has happened so far suggests that this will not be much different from what they have had before. All the characters in the car are completely oblivious about it and do not know what will happen and what is happening.
During the next scene we get a camera shot of a close up, on the people of Santa Carla with inter cut ups of missing posters suggesting that Santa Carla is a weird place going with that and the weird people. This shows quickly that Santa Carla is a weird place and has some strange problems. That part of the film links to the song that is going on at this point, “People are strange,” the part of the film fits in with the song because the people of Santa Carla are actually acting very strange.
The non-diagetic sounds in the night scene create horror. When the director chooses to put a drum beat to sound like a heart beat when the lights go out, this creates tension and hints to the audience that someone might be dying in the next couple of minutes. Also when the bell goes of on the carousel, this suggests bad things for example a fire bell. We also hear many other noises like people screaming on the fairground rides; screams suggest pain, discomfit and chaos, we also do not know if these are screams of happiness and joy or pain and sorrow. The non-diagetic sounds in the day scene create a strong juxtaposition -an act or instance of placing close together or side by side, especially for comparison or contrast. – between day and night. In the day everyone seems happy in the car listening to the radio but the mood completely changes making the audience feel uneasy at night when the guard has been brutally murdered.
The dialogue in the night time shows, on the carousel the guard says to David “ I thought I told you to stay off the board walk.” Therefore this shows past conflict between them, meaning that they have been there before, also this shows that the boys are rebellious, making the audience ask questions like how they break the rules and why they do it. David responds saying, “Ok boys let’s go.” This shows that he is the gang leader and they all look up to him.
In the daytime scene, when the family arrive at Santa Carla the young boy says, “ Smells like someone has died.” That quote is linking to horror because when death is involved in a film it suggests that it could be of a horror genre. This is iconography of horror because the night before the guard did die. Also Patric ( Michael) asks for a job and he gets a response saying, “ Nothing legal,” This links to the horror element because it suggests that he must do things that he should not. At this point the audience start to see what Santa Carla is really like and what they will predict to happen.
At the start of the film the music lyrics are similar to the 10 commandments. The main lyrics are:
“Thou shall not harm,
Thou shall not fly,
Thou shall not feed,
Thou shall not kill”
At this point we can not see who is singing however we can assume that it is off a child’s voice. This would make the audience feel scared or worried because people would not expect a child to say these things. This also relates to the horror genre because the words of the commandments are spooky and relate to vampires or death.
Those commandments are slightly different to a Christian’s belief. The final commandment refers back to the horror genre with death.
There is also another song in the opening sequence of the film, which the lyrics are, “ People are strange,” This builds up a strong mood in the film. The lyrics of “People are strange,” suit the music to the video that is happening. At the point of when the music is playing we see clips of people of Santa Carla and they are strange.
The lighting in the night scene is fake bright lights which suggests happiness but we can see how unnaturally bright they are. We also see a full moon that gives out a white light which also has a relation to horror. When the lights go out this builds horror because it makes the audience feel like they would not want to be in the situation of the guard, pitch black in a dangerous place. Also due to “The Lost Boys” been a horror film the audience could be accustomed to a monster jumping out and giving them all a shock, so tension is built.
The costumes between the vampires and the family is completely different due to vampires always been a dark colour like black. Most people would be stereotypical about vampires and think they are all like Dracula wearing capes and having big pointy teeth, however the vampires in this film are nothing like that.
The family all wear bright and colourful shirts, which describes their mood as so far they all look very happy from what I have seen so far.
The mis-en scene used in the piece creates horror well for example: In the night scene when you see the guard walking towards his car and another car drives off leaving the guard isolated, then suddenly the vampires attack. The iconography of this is that the guard’s only hope is his car and him been alone, the audience pretty much no what will happen to the guard.
Mis-en scene is continually used in the daytime scene when the audiences see the wanted posters and hear the happy music at the same time and seeing what Santa Carla is really like. That has dramatic irony in because the family do not see the posters and are not sure what is going on.
Overall, the horror genre is created in many different ways from many different techniques like different camera angles, music, and dialect from the characters, which all mix together to make an eerie and creepy start to what looks like a very good film. After watching that part of the film it made me ask many questions like “Why are they doing this?” and “What will be the conclusion of this film” and can not wait to finish watching it!
