Paired Activity - Henley and Jemma

For our AS production, we created the opening sequence for a horror film. We focused mainly on the mise-en-scene micro element in order successfully to portray our genre. We also looked at several technical codes including sound, camerawork and editing. According to Roland Barthes there are two levels of meaning, this is known as the connotation and the denotation. Denotation refers to the objects placed within the media text and the connotation is how the audience and individuals interpret the text. For example, in our opening sequence we showed a teenage girl walking into a forest with a wooden gate slamming shut behind her. This was constructed through a medium shot showing her walk through the gate into the forest. This suggested a connotation for the audience, that something bad was going to happen. The micro element of sound also contributed to this denotation as spooky music stopped when the gate slammed shut creating an eerie atmosphere.