"Sleepy Hollow" and "Frankenstein" films compared. Both films frighten the audience by using the unknown and stereotypical gothic scenes.

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Media Coursework                                      Molly Clements

Sleepy hollow is about an unorthodox police constable Icabod Crane, who is sent to investigate the mystery of a murderous headless horseman in sleepy hollow. Sleepy hollow was directed by Tim Burton based on Washington Irving’s story. The stars who got involved with this film were Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci. Sleepy hollow mixes comedy with horror which makes it less frightening on the other hand Frankenstein is quite a dark, menacing production. Frankenstein is about how Victor Frankenstein becomes obsessed with the idea that living creatures can be created from dead matter. Frankenstein is determined to prove his theory correct with the deadly consequences for himself and all he loves. Frankenstein was directed by Kenneth Branagh. The film was set in the late 18th century, and starred Robert De Niro & Kenneth Branagh.

In sleepy hollow they use a range of camera shots and angles like in the opening shots there is a sequence of close up shots on an envelope that has red wax dripping onto it. The director uses these shots to scare us by making the red wax look like blood also this is a very stereotypical shot for gothic landscapes because it is red on white. The pace of these first few shots is quite fast which makes it seem like something that is important but secretive. Then there is a long shot of a passenger in a carriage, they use this long shot to frighten the audience because you can see the scene around him and how it’s all very dark and gloomy. You can tell something bad is going to happen because you can only see the carriage and lots of tall grass so it’s all very mysterious. This shot has a much slower pace because the director wants to build tension.

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Frankenstein uses the same kind of shots but uses them in a very different way like the first close up is of frightened boat crew this scares the audience because the people on the screen are portraying fear also it is very fast paced to show the urgency of the scene. This scene is over very quickly but it is the dismissal of this scene that can be quite scary because you don’t know why that scene is important and the audience is scared of the unknown. Frankenstein also uses a long shot of the arctic tundra which makes ...

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