P3) Section B: Animation/Cinematography: Creaking stairs, moon, shadows and the like are all traditional images of the horror genre. So is the frightening figure beating out the notes in the clock. A cuckoo could be far cheerier! I must focus on the set for this has such a dominant effect on the atmosphere. The film is very sombre, as it lacks bright colours; the colours that are displayed in the film are very dark and sharp with a lot of shadows on the walls, for example when the boy is climbing the stairs to his bedroom. This gives the film a horror effect as nothing is bright and cheerful. And the shadows make the audience think that something could be behind them if they were watching the film in the dark.
The staircase is huge, coarsely timbered and shadowed. Even the living room induces a dark, oppressive mood. The animation is beautifully crafted with a firm grasp of the psychology of fear and nightmare. There is also a frightening climax together with some haunting images after the credits have rolled. I must focus on the set for this has such a dominant effect on the atmosphere. The staircase is huge, coarsely timbered and shadowed. Even the living room induces a dark, oppressive mood.
P4)Section C: Characterisation: The puppeteer’s manoeuvring of the Sandman himself is a key ingredient. This is no sprinkler of magic sand into the eyes to whisk a child into the land of sleep and dreams. From his first appearance behind the moon to his creeping up the stairs there is a predatory threat to the fiend. The animation is beautifully crafted with a firm grasp of the psychology of fear and nightmare. There is also a frightening climax together with some haunting images after the credits have rolled. I must focus on the set for this has such a dominant effect on the atmosphere. The staircase is huge, coarsely timbered and shadowed. Even the living room induces a dark, oppressive mood.
When the boy is climbing the stairs there’s a view point angle from the bottom of the stairs to the top of them. This suspects that the boy has got a long way to climb, creating suspense for the audience where the top of the stairs lead to. The camera angle on the boy when he’s in bed is a high angle which makes the boy look small and vulnerable again. This shows the audience the boy is terrified. Another angle in the film is a zoom, and this angle occurs when we see the boy’s eye sockets without any eyes. This sudden zoom angle to the boy without any eyes shocks us and gives us the most horrific impact from the whole film.
P5) Section D: Music & Sound: The Sandman is entirely in pantomime, with barely-there incidental music accenting the creaks, groans, winds and other incidental sound effects that permeate the film with dread. This is really effective and essential for the movie as it helps make the audience more engaged within the film. This is a big key as the audience have to stay engaged and the music and sounds within the movie help it create and keep suspense and tension.
P6) Section E: Comparison:
The sandman meets the criteria need to fit in line with the genre gothic incredibly. It has all the features needed to appeal to the target audience which is children aged 10+ as it may not be suitable for little kids. The film has so much effect as a gothic that it even affected me to a certain extent. Compared to the short animated film “Alma” by Rodrigo Blaas it is far more effective in actually grabbing the audience’s attention and creating and sustaining its tension and suspense throughout the film. Even though both films start off with a more cheery beginning as in the sandman the boy playing his drum and in alma the boy skipping down the street, they end up have tragic endings however the sandman’s ending is far more effective than alma’s and this is why the sandman is much more suited for gothic than alma is.
P7) Section F: Conclusion: The Sandman combines many of my favourite things, which of course is why I like it so much. Stop-motion is one of my favourite forms of animation and the Sandman executes it beautifully. The horror is gothic and surreal, telling the tale of the mysterious Sandman only through music and visuals. You don’t know much about the monster, just that he’s terrifying. And honestly, that’s enough. When I was a kid, a little kid, I was scared to death of the Boogeyman. I thought for sure that there was a monster living in my closet that would creep out in the dead of night and try to eat me. The Sandman is a perfect realization of that childhood nightmare; monsters lurking underneath your bed or in the shadowy corners of your room. You can’t see them, but you know they’re there.
