The Quiet Ones - Film Deconstruction

Lucy Heaney

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Quiet_Ones_(2014_film) The Quiet Ones is a 2014 British supernatural horror film directed by John Pogue.Released theatrically on 10 April 2014 in the United Kingdom and 25 April 2014 in the United States, the film stars Jared Harris as a college professor attempting to prove poltergeists are manifestations of the human psyche and not supernatural beings.

The film is loosely based on the Philip experiment, a 1972 parapsychology experiment conducted in Toronto.[3][4][5]

The context of the film is based and inspired by actual events that happened in 1972. The main plot of the film is about the professor who moves to a abandoned house in the countryside to out take experimental treatment on his latest patient named Jane Harper. He takes 3 of his best and most trusted university students with him to live in this house and spend months working on this case. Throughout the time of being at this house we learn more about the patient and her condition. There are many different plot twists which are extremely unexpected of a film in this genre. Such as, the camera man and the patient herself falling in love and the professor having a uncomfortable obsession with Jane. However we learn that the professors past is very different to how we are first introduced, as we learn that his first patient Thomas was actually his son. The film shows us the different types of experiments that out go in the house and the dangerous effects of them. We are also made very aware of the determination and extreme lengths these people will go to get the results that they want.

Film Context

Producers and DeveloperAt the beginning of the film, there are the usual producer and developer advertisement logos. The first logo that is advertised is the Lionsgate logo. Here is where some of the music begins. Over the presentation of the lionsgate logo,there is some quiet, simplistic, almost emotional music that begins to play.

The next logos to be advertised are the HAMMER and TPSC logos. At the end of the HAMMER logo presentation,the simplistic, emotional music stops and a lowermore dark and tense chord of music plays. Over the TPSC logo presentation there is no

sound or music to be heard. After this advertisement fades to black, this iswhere the title sequence for the film begins.

Producers and Developers Hammer - This production company is known for promoting horrors. This company along with many other companies that are similar are used frequently used and promoted in

Film TitlesThe title sequence first begins with a black screen. Lionsgate reappears but in a different style, (as seen to the right).

Next, the screen goes from black to a dull-ish, worn screen with markings

from, what looks like, an old book or old markings. This is quite a daunting

yet intriguing screen to begin with as it intrigues the audience to find outthese markings/images mean or represent.

The style and font colour links in the with films old fashioned theme and instantly looks like an older font, which compliments the opening sequence. This is because the background in the opening scene is showing old fashioned markings, drawings and writing. Between transitions the titles slowly fade in and out of the scenes, this is very complimentary to the sequence also as it is not a prominent part of the opening title.

Film TitlesThe background of the titles continues to be the worn old markings. The actual presentation of film title is quite low key as it is not a dramatic title presentation at all.

As you can see the bottom right, the picture shows how the title The Quiet Ones is presented.I feel the font of the title is very fitting forthe background, as is fits with the old,old fashioned, ancient theme of the markingsand images.

The sound that is played over the title sequence,does seem to get slightly louder/more powerfulhere, which gives this a slightly more interesting/intriguing opening title sequence.

Opening Sequencehttps://vimeo.com/114684169The link above is a link to watch the opening sequence of the film. After the advertisement for the producer and developers logos have been presented at the very beginning of the film, the film goes straight into the opening title sequence where there is no actual acting footage.In the couple of minutes of the opening title sequence, we are able to learn a small amount about the film we are about to watch. For example, the main theme of the backing of the titles is based around the markings of the devil/tribe that we learn about through the professors patient. We also start to see things such as pictures of the professors previous work and patients (who we learn about more in the film). There is a small sheet of paper that is shown with the name Jane Harper presented on it, this sheet of paper looks like a patient form as it also has some notes and details written about her experimental treatment and her conditions. There is also a lot of hints into the hand held camera which is a key element of the film. We see this through the film tapes that are shown through multiple shots in the opening sequence. I feel that after watching the film and looking back more closely at the opening sequence, the view of this could be a type of POV from the camera man, as throughout the film we see that he looks through things like this, such as important paperwork, footage, film tapes and uses small microscopes to look at older footage and images. These are all the things that are presented to us in the opening sequences. I feel as though by this we are getting a look into his work and some of the things that he sees personally.

Camera WorkAfter the opening sequence, and the actual footage of the film has begun,straight away we begin to see a range of different camera shots, angles andtechniques. All in which are used to create a very intriguing atmospherefor the audience. The very first few shots are extreme close up shots of Jane Harper who weknow as the latest patient of the professors. There are many shots that are focused on one particular area of the shot,for example, the very first shot is a close up shot of Janes feet/toes. In this shot, only her toes and toe nails are in focus which direct the audiences eyeline to this area of the shot. All throughout the opening 5 minutes of the film there are a huge range of camera shots, for example; close up, pan, OSS, low shot, mid shot, long shot, POV shot, shot reverse shot etc..

Camera WorkOn the right are a range of different screenshots that are taken throughout thefilm. I feel these pictures capture a smallamount of essence of the different shots used throughout the film. The two pictures circled in red are two screenshots that are within the first 5 minutes of thefilm. These two shots are some of the first shots which are shown through the lense of the professors camera man in the film.Quite a lot of the action shots in the film arepresented to us through this old fashionedhand held camera. We can also see some more of the camerashots used here, such as OSS shots and 2 person shots

Camera WorkDuring the opening footage of the film, we learn about some of theprevious events that have happened in quite an interesting way.In the presentation by the professor who is in charge of the experimental treatments displays his previous encounters of similarevents through a projected video.As the film is based/inspired by true and actual events, this is a very clever and good way of presenting these events to not only the students in his class, but to the film audience. The projected video which is being shown to the professors studentsis now our full screen view. The quality of this footage decreases massively and it is also very jolty and distressed.This is a way of showing that the footage is old and adds to the idea of the films plot, that paranormal activity has been around fora centuries.

Camera WorkThroughout the film, the majority, if not all of the main pieces of action are presented to the audience through the old fashionedcamera which is used to film the whole experiment by the professors camera man. We can see the camera and the camera man in the top right hand corner. I feel that this is a very clever and effective camera work/camera techniques as by presenting the action of the film through the camera instantly creates a huge amount of tense atmosphere as the audience are instantly more involved. Therefore meaning that they are more engrossed and focused of the film and what is happening.

EditingI personally feel that the editing of this film is one of the best edited films that i have personally ever seen. This is due to the amount of precise detail that is in almost every scene. One of the best examples i can give is the attention to detail in the way the sound and the footage shots fit together, due to the editing. Meaning i find it very interesting how the footage shots are cut and ended with the music/sounds. This is a very clever technique as it is more of a realistic representation of what is going on, and as i have previously stated, the film is repeatedly making the audience viewers feel involved in the film but in very discrete and implicit ways. ^ An example of the above would be the repeated use of the clapper board. As we know a clapper board is used within filming to show what, where and when the shot was filmed. The use of either a hand clap or the actual clapper board is edited together with the appropriate and expected sound. When either the hand or the clapper board comes together, and the sound is made, the screen suddenly changes or simply turns to a black screen. The general editing of the film is very impressive as all throughout the film, it is very naturalistic, realistic and believable, which therefore makes the film more believable as a whole, which furthermore makes the audience constantly more intrigued and focused on what is happening.It is also very well linked to the context of the film, meaning the film is more tense.

SoundIn this film, there is very minimal music used. I feel that the focus is more on the sound effects and the atmospheric sounds. For example, the music at the beginning is not a stereotypical thriller/horror film piece of music. There is almost a choral choir type sounding piece of music that is played over the title sequence, this is a very chilling piece of music to open the film with, instead of extremely loud, and low toned, bassy music. (which is a stereotypical idea of thriller/horror film music)Throughout the actual film, as previously stated, the main music / sound is the sound effects.These are some of the different sound effects/types of sounds that are used throughout:1. Sharp, loud noises2. Claps3. Machinery screams/sounds4. Bangs5. Actual music played in the film (heavy metal music within the experimental treatment)6. Equipment noises7. (music) low and higher pitched sounds, which build tension.

Mise-en-scene / Setting of the Filmhttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt2235779/locations

The mise-en-scene in this film is very simplistic and realistic. The setting and location to begin, at the beginning of the film is in Oxford. I feel that this setting in itself is very well chosen as the film is an english film, we recognise the area and the setting of the film. This instantly makes the film more believable and more realistic as we, as the audience, are able to recognise the location as somewhere most of us are familiar with or have even visited in real life.There is not many extreme/unexpected props used throughout the film, again as it is clear to see that as this film is based/inspired by a true story or actual events, the directors and producers want the setting of the film to look as realistic as possible.

Target AudienceThe age rating of this film is either a PG-13 or a 15, dependant of the cinemas and area.

By this, this shows that the target audience is of the mid teens. This is very interesting as through research it is known that the most common age for cinema viewings is of this age range, meaning that many 15, 16, 17 and above teenagers are going to the cinema. Making a film with this target audience is going to make a large amount of money as this is the most popular age for viewings. I personally also feel, that as this film is a thriller, teens of this age range are more likely to go out and watch these sort of films in the cinema with their friends. I know this through my own experience as i am in this age range, I do this.

I also went to see this film in the cinema with my friends when it was released in 2014, proving that this is a popular and money making age range to pitch a film on.

Personal OpinionsMy personal opinions of this film are that I extremely enjoyed this film. Personally, horror and thriller films are my favourite genre of film. Although this film wasn't exactly scary or a horror. I thought the editing of the film was incredible and extremely clever which brought the film to life and made it very believable and realistic. I personally felt engrossed with the film and was intrigued all throughout. After watching this film in the cinema, i have watched it multiple times. I feel that after seeing this film more that once, it is one of my favourite films. I would definitely look at creating a film like this, with this detail as it is very realistic and intriguing for the audience, this is a inspiring technique to look at in more detail for my own work in the future.