AS Media Harry White: Case Study

The Number 23

1)Institution
Name: The Number 23
Director: Joel Schumacher
Production company: Contra Films/Firm films
Distributed by: New Line Cinema
Release Date: 23rd February 2007
Country where made: USA
Budget: $30 million
Box office returns: Gross revenue was $105,036,499
Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Drama
Certificate: Rated R for violence, disturbing images, sexuality and language.
Awards: 4 nominations
Running Time: 98 minutes
2)Audience
The Number 23 is a thriller film, with sub genres of mystery, drama and aspects of horror As this is quite a diverse range of genres, I would expect that the films target audience is quite vast. From looking at the films genres, I think that the target audience would mainly be fans of horror movies as from looking at the film poster and trailer, the horror aspects stand out a lot, suggesting that this film is aimed for horror lovers. The user rating of IMDB for this film is 6.2 out of 10. One user of IMDB commented: "A well written thought provoking story". Another said "A below-average, washed-up wannabe psychological horror film". The film looks like it has achieved to please the minds of the majority of the viewers with an average rating of 6.2 out of 10, however there are some people that suggested that the film had too many flaws and the plot line was lost towards the end of the film.

3) Technology
With technology ever changing and evolving with time, popularity of films have increased dramatically, mainly down to advertising. There are many ways in which the film can advertise including: banners on the internet, trailers on the tv and cinema, film posters in bus shelters and on buses, websites. As there is more technology when it comes to advertising, the general public's knowledge of the film will be increased. This may make more people come to watch the film in the cinema or purchase the dvd. New technology may have also increased audiences access of the film. For example, there are many ways in which people can watch films now days including: cinema, dvd, tv, ipod/itunes, streaming online (illegal). As there is easier access to watch films, and alternative methods to watch films, there will be an increase in accessibility.

4)Codes/forms and Conventions of the thriller genre:
The title sequence of The Number 23 consists of an off-white backdrop of paper/parchment in which a lot of numbers appear in black. The numbers show some calculations, which could put forward the theme of working things out, e.g the plot and the mystery. There are also a lot of number 23's jotted about in the screen. This could suggest that this is a main idea and recurring event, that the audience would expect to see in the film. In contrast to the black and white, there are blotches of red stains, that look like blood, that smear across the screen. The fact that the red smears look like blood could suggest that the film is quite violent and brutal, which emphasises the sub-genre of horror. The use of parchment and the text's font is as if someone is typing them up using a type writer and when the blood is introduced it could signify that the person is going threw pain to write down the information, which could later be rectified in the plot. As the title sequence goes on, there is more and more blood up to the last point where the screen is full of blood and the number "23" appears. This could represent that the person using the type writer has died and the number "23" could represent the cause of their death, creating a lot of questions for the audience. The colour red really stands out in contrast to the more neutral black and off-white. Red also connotes thoughts of danger and blood. The non-diegetic sound track is quite eerie and features a lot of drums. The use of drums makes it seem spooky, possibly representing violence because years ago, drums have been used as war drums to scare the enemy. The range of dynamics also help build up a lot of tension by having soft music followed by dramatic loud music. The sound track sounds quite electronic and the use of sound effects and phasers give the track an almost sci-fi feel to it, which again builds up tension.

There are many aspects throughout the film that genre is utilised. The main example of this is the fact that the mysterious theme is slowly unravelled throughout the film. Throughout the film, many questions arise, that later become answered. This is a typical feature of thriller and horror films and keeps the audience interested and engaged in the film. The first shot we see is an establishing, followed by a slow zoom to Walter, who is sitting in his van. The use of the establishing shot is a useful technique of setting the scene and giving the audience a quick, simple and effective understanding of the location and situation. These opening shots show Walter in his everyday life, on duty as a animal control officer, about to finish his shift, the time is shown by a point of view shot looking at the radio clock in the van. A few minutes until he has finished his shift, he receives a call in from a women secretary who has a grudge on him after a Christmas work do. We then see a flashback, represented by rewinding very quickly. Flashbacks are typical conventions of thriller films and they act as a explanation of occurring events. A scene with his family at home shows summarises his life and shows the audience that he has a good, enjoyable life and gets on with his wife and son. This could act as a contrasting device as towards the end of the film, him and his family become more corrupted. The next scene, Walter is attempting to capture a vicious bull dog. An interesting shot used in this scene is the point of view shot of the dog behind the cage. The camera moving out from behind the cage signifies the movement of the dog as he confronts Walter. Walter gets bitten by the dog after failing to capture him and has a serious, deep wound to his arm. This could act as foreshadowing of events to come as blood is involved and Walter is very stressful. Another convention of thriller films present in the film is the use of fast paced editing when a action scene is involved. Fast paced editing makes the audience feel as they are in the situation as it is real time and everything is happening so quickly. It also helps show perspectives of other characters to give the audience a fuller understanding. Fast paced editing in action scenes also contrasts with slow, calmer cuts and editing in other parts of the film, which gives variation to the film and makes the action scenes seem more excitable.
Isolation is a key theme in this film and a typical convention of thriller films demonstrated by uses of long shots and the main character, Walter on his own a lot of the time. Walter, who plays the main character, gradually becomes more and more isolated as his mind becomes possessed. The isolation creates thoughts of being vulnerable and the audience may develop a fear of the character because as he becomes more isolated he becomes more Infatuated. Another convention of thriller films utilised in The Number 23 is the use of foreshadowing through means of the mysterious book. Foreshadowing is a device used that give hints and clues about things that become developed in more depth as the film unravels. There is also cases of red herrings when it comes to discovering what the actual number "23" is all about. The use of red herrings is to send the audience in the wrong direction so that there is a twist in final scenes of the film. This makes the ending a lot more effective and is a typical feature in thriller films and mystery films/TV programs. For example murder TV programs such as midsummer murders often use red herrings in a way that makes the audience believe that one character is the murderer, but in actual fact, later on in the program the audience discover that it is actually someone else who was less expected that was the murderer. It is a very effective way to end a film/TV program as it makes the audience think and possibly leaves them in awe.

Mise en scene