Horror and Suspense

1. I personally do think M qualifies as a horror film, it is much more a thriller than a horror movie. When I think of horror movies I imagine a person terrorizing a town or small group of people, granted M does meet this requirement however there are other aspects necessary to be a true horror film. M never shows any true violence, they only mention the horrors that the antagonist has committed. In other horror films such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the villain is shown killing his victims in very brutal ways unlike M. M does have a suspense factor but unlike most horror films the viewer and characters know who the villain is early in the film as other horror films wait on revealing a shot of the character until late in the film. Most horror films have scenes where you want to look away but can't, M never has a scene reach this level of magnitude, which in my eyes makes it much more of a thriller than horror film.

2. The only sub-genre that M could fit into would be psychological horror, as it relies on the emotions of the characters. All is well in the mind of the killer until he realizes he has been marked, and the movie quickly jumps into a rapid pace. M also relies on music and sound, the unique whistle of the killer is at first a frightening sound yet it turns into a symbol of hope as it is the only way of identifying the killer to the blind man. 

3. Sound and music play huge roles in the success of M. The killer is identified by his unique whistle late in the film, it reveals his one flaw in his actions and eventually leads to his capture. Before the killer is captured he is trying to escape from the room he locked himself in and when he is very close the door the knob turns as the criminals looking for him. The music slows in this scene to reveal the suspense the killer and criminals felt. 

4. Believe it or not, one sound in the film M is both diegetic and non-diegetic. At first the killer's whistle is only heard by the audience to show the horror of a scene as a little girl is found, later the whistle is heard by both the audience and blind man that later identifies the killer. 

5. Major characters are introduced using shadows, I believe this is to create suspense as to what the person actually looks like. This also creates an eery feeling when watching. 

6. I honestly do not know what the title M is supposed to tell us about the movie however I believe it refers to murderer as the killer is referred to as this before his true identity is revealed. 

7. I watched the movie King Kong, it is about a film crew that goes to shoot a movie on an unknown island and find themselves fighting for their lives against the indigenous people, animals, and most notedly King Kong in order to save an actress that was taken by the people and offered to Kong. This films falls under both the nature and science fiction horror genres. It is set in a jungle and contains many animals and creatures we would see today, except they are much larger than normal and thats where the science fiction comes in, as there is no way there could still be dinosaurs and a 60 ft tall gorilla. 

8.I watched the movie King Kong, sound is used mostly for a suspense and fear factor in the film. Before the giant beast takes Anne into the forest, the indigenous people of the island are playing loud drums to build up the revealing of Kong. When they sense Kong is close the music suddenly stops and they wait, this truly builds up the scene. When Anne sees the beast, she lets a truly horrifying scream, this shows the fear she was experiencing. 

9. Major characters are introduced in a simplistic manner in King Kong, the camera goes to a close up of just the face and another major character introduces them. Usually they are being exemplified as the best at what they are in the film, or the perfect fit for that scenario. Anne is scene by the director Carl and he clearly shows that she is just the girl he needs for his role. 

Early Silent Films

1. The main reason actors and actresses were not instant movie stars in early films is because of the studios that produced all of the early silent films. Actors were not credited for their work so it was very difficult to know the name of actors and who they were outside of their films. Studios believed that if the actors were credited they would demand more money. Another problem was that acting in movies was seen as lesser than acting in theatre at the time. Also, films back then rarely had close ups of actors and if they did the same person was not featured multiple times so very few actors had instant recognition like they do now.
2. The Great Train Robbery was a breakthrough film because it was the first narrative film and it introduced many techniques for the very first time. These techniques include minor camera movement, shooting at a location instead of a studio, and editing the film after shooting.
3.  The Edison Trust, also known as the Motion Picture Patents Company, was founded in 1908 and dissolved after ten years and was made up of all the major American film companies. The independent film makers absolutely won the fight. The MPPC relied too heavily on their patents which eventually led to their fall. By the time the big name companies released their first feature films hundreds of feature films had been released by independent film makers.
4. While Edison, Melies and the Lumiere brothers operated in the same time they were immensely different in the films that they produced. Edison used the sun for lighting but was still shot within a studio. They generally only lasted for 30-45 seconds from a single long shot which meant no editing. The camera also never moved in Edison's films, it was a single set with no movement of location. Edison's films also never contained any true plot or material value. They seem to be meant purely for visual entertainment with no message.
The Lumiere brothers were quite different from Edison but still shared some similarities. They too used the sun for lighting and shot from a single long shot angle. They also never edited their films. The Lumiere brothers' films were slightly longer at 60-75 seconds and contained scenes of everyday life. However the people featured in their films were average people, not actors like Edison and Melies used in their films. The Lumiere brothers shot out of studio at locations unlike Edison which was very different for the time. They also dabbled in small movements of the camera in some of their films but like Edison their films had no real plot.
Melies was by far the most different of the these three film makers but still had a few expected similarities. In his films there was no editing within the scenes, they were shot from a single long shot angle and contained no camera movement. Yet unlike Edison and the Lumiere brothers, Melies films were many minutes long. This meant multiple strips of film had to be edited and cut so they could be made into one film. His films also had a real story to tell to the audience, it was not meant for purely visual pleasure. It was meant to make the audience actually pay attention to a film for an extended period of time. Melies films used fabricated sets, so the set was made specifically for that scene in the film. These sets did not just include actors, his films had actors, acrobats, and magicians. A few of Melies films contain camera tricks, like the stop trick, which is pausing the film and adding or removing an object then the film was started again, making appear as if it had just magically appeared there. Lastly, some of Melies films had colored scenes which was very time consuming as each frame had to be painted by hand one by one. However the image it created was much more appealing to audiences.