Buffy the vampire slayer

The original Buffy

Use of camera-
The film starts with a title saying, 'dark ages', or something like that suggesting that it is a flashback to what has happened in the past. There is a short sequences where a girl is being made a vampire slayer and this is crucial to the plot as the non-diegetic voice over explains that there is always a female vampire slayer, Then we get a title coming up and it flashes to the present and there is a group of cheerleaders doing a routine. The camera focuses on the girl in the centre of the formation and of all the shots- she is the main focus. This tells the audience that she is important and has something to do with the plot. Also when the two time periods overlap, the old slasher puts up her hands and then there is a graphic match to the head cheerleader with her pom pom in the air and then she carries on with the routine. This suggests to the audience that there is possibly a connection there.

Editing-
The editing in the opening is very classic and normal for a teen film. When the first part of the film was shown- the flashback- there was only two or three shot types which gave the clip a rigid, formal, old-fashioned feel to it. Then there is a contrast when it flicks to the present and it's faster paced, jumpy and with lots of different shot types and edited together quite quickly.

Sound-
At the very beginning there is a non-diegetic voice over and this introduces us to the film and explains about the title and starts the film very well. This may be something to consider when doing our film but we would have to find an adult to do it so that the audience would take us seriously. When the film flashes us back to the present, the cheerleaders as dancing and the diegetic cheer music changes the tone and pace of the film to an upbeat teen movie. But, as we've seen the previous sequence we start to look out for clues that more is to come.


Mise-en-scene-
Props in the opening were kept to a minimum and costume was typical of the time period that the film was original filmed in. There is a suspicious old man in a trench coat who we don't know if he is a good guy or a bad guy yet. Because he is in a trench and hat we suspect him to be bad but he doesn't have vampire style features like the pale skin with snaking veins or dark eyes and red lips. We have also been told that a vampire hunter needs to have a helper, like a coach to teach her to become a vampire slasher so we aren't sure whether to trust him yet.


Threat is introduced-
The antagonist is not introduced for a while and we start to wonder if there is one, and then a creepy old man in a long trench coat and a hat with an unshaven rough face appears in front of the main girl for a few seconds mysteriously and we as an audience realise there is more to the film than it seems and start wondering who he is and what purpose he has.


By Megan Wildsmith