Plot
synopsis:
“The
film opens with Super 8 footage depicting a family of four standing beneath a
tree with hoods over their heads and nooses around their necks. An unseen
figure saws through a limb acting as a counterweight, causing them all to be
hanged.
Months later, washed-up true crime writer Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) moves into the murdered family's home with his wife, Tracy (Juliet Rylance), and their two children Ashley (Clare Foley)-- a gifted artist who is allowed to paint on her walls-- and Trevor (Michael Hall D'Addario), who begins re-experiencing bizarre night terrors upon moving into the home. Only Ellison is aware that the house they are moving into was the crime scene. Ellison intends to use the murders as the basis for his new book, and hopes that his research will turn up the fate of the family's fifth member, a little girl named Stephanie who disappeared following the murders.
Ellison finds a box in the attic, which contains a projector and several reels of Standard 8 mm footage that are each labeled as if innocent home movies. Watching the films, Ellison discovers that they are snuff movies depicting families being murdered in various ways, including having their throats slit in bed (Sleepy Time '98), being burnt to death in a car (BBQ '79), being drowned in their pool (Pool Party '66), being run over by a lawn mower (Lawn Work '86) and the hanging that opened the movie (Family Hanging Out '11).
The drowning film proves especially disturbing for Ellison after he notices a demonic figure watching the drownings from the bottom of the pool before turning to look at the camera. Ellison eventually finds the figure observing the murders in each of the films, along with a strange painted symbol; inspecting the underside of the lid of the box containing the films, Ellison discovers numerous crude drawings depicting the murders, along with crude drawings of the demonic figure, identified as "Mr. Boogie."
Consulting a local deputy (James Ransone), Ellison discovers that the murders depicted in the films took place at different times, beginning in the 1960s, and in different cities across the country. He also learns that the families were all drugged before being killed; and that a child from each family went missing following every murder. The deputy refers Ellison to a local professor, Jonas (Vincent D'Onofrio), whose expertise is the occult and demonic phenomena, to decipher the symbol in the films. Jonas tells Ellison that the symbols are that of a pagan deity named Bughuul, who would kill entire families so that he could take their children into his realm and consume their souls.
One night, Ellison hears the film projector running and goes up to the attic. There, he finds the missing children in various states of decay, watching one of the films. Bughuul suddenly appears on camera before physically appearing before Ellison. Ellison takes the camera and the films to the backyard and burns them. Then he wakes his family to tell them that they are moving back to their old house.
At his old home, Ellison receives a message from Professor Jonas, who sends him scans of historical drawings associated with Bughuul; each had been partially destroyed because ancient cultures believed that Bughuul lived within the images, and that they acted as portals between his realm and the mortal world. Ellison then discovers the projector and films in his attic, along with a new envelope of film labeled "extended endings." During this time, the deputy tries calling several times, but Ellison never answers.
The next time the deputy calls, while Ellison is assembling the films, he answers. The deputy informs him that he has discovered a link between each of the murders: Every family had previously lived in the house where the last murder took place, and each new murder occurred shortly after the family moved into their new residence. By moving back to his old home after living at the site of the previous murders, Ellison has placed himself and his family in line to be the next victims.
Ellison then watches the footage. He finds that it depicts the missing children coming onscreen following each murder, revealing themselves to be the killers before suddenly disappearing. Before he can react, Ellison becomes light-headed; inspecting his coffee cup, he finds a note reading "Good Night Daddy" and a green liquid inside the cup before losing consciousness.
Ellison awakens to find himself, his wife and his son bound and gagged. Ashley approaches holding the 8 mm camera, and promises him that she will make him famous again. Ashley then proceeds to murder her family with an axe, using their blood to paint images of cats, dogs, and unicorns on the walls. Her work complete, Ashley adds a new drawing to the box lid, complete with the drawing of "Mr. Boogie." She views the Super-8 film of her murders, which concludes with an image of the missing children watching her. Bughuul appears, green blood covering his hands, causing the children to flee. He lifts Ashley into his arms and disappears into the film with her.
The film concludes with an image of the box of films in the Oswalt family's attic, now accompanied by a reel labeled "House Painting '12". Bughuul suddenly appears, warning that the viewers are next.”
Months later, washed-up true crime writer Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) moves into the murdered family's home with his wife, Tracy (Juliet Rylance), and their two children Ashley (Clare Foley)-- a gifted artist who is allowed to paint on her walls-- and Trevor (Michael Hall D'Addario), who begins re-experiencing bizarre night terrors upon moving into the home. Only Ellison is aware that the house they are moving into was the crime scene. Ellison intends to use the murders as the basis for his new book, and hopes that his research will turn up the fate of the family's fifth member, a little girl named Stephanie who disappeared following the murders.
Ellison finds a box in the attic, which contains a projector and several reels of Standard 8 mm footage that are each labeled as if innocent home movies. Watching the films, Ellison discovers that they are snuff movies depicting families being murdered in various ways, including having their throats slit in bed (Sleepy Time '98), being burnt to death in a car (BBQ '79), being drowned in their pool (Pool Party '66), being run over by a lawn mower (Lawn Work '86) and the hanging that opened the movie (Family Hanging Out '11).
The drowning film proves especially disturbing for Ellison after he notices a demonic figure watching the drownings from the bottom of the pool before turning to look at the camera. Ellison eventually finds the figure observing the murders in each of the films, along with a strange painted symbol; inspecting the underside of the lid of the box containing the films, Ellison discovers numerous crude drawings depicting the murders, along with crude drawings of the demonic figure, identified as "Mr. Boogie."
Consulting a local deputy (James Ransone), Ellison discovers that the murders depicted in the films took place at different times, beginning in the 1960s, and in different cities across the country. He also learns that the families were all drugged before being killed; and that a child from each family went missing following every murder. The deputy refers Ellison to a local professor, Jonas (Vincent D'Onofrio), whose expertise is the occult and demonic phenomena, to decipher the symbol in the films. Jonas tells Ellison that the symbols are that of a pagan deity named Bughuul, who would kill entire families so that he could take their children into his realm and consume their souls.
One night, Ellison hears the film projector running and goes up to the attic. There, he finds the missing children in various states of decay, watching one of the films. Bughuul suddenly appears on camera before physically appearing before Ellison. Ellison takes the camera and the films to the backyard and burns them. Then he wakes his family to tell them that they are moving back to their old house.
At his old home, Ellison receives a message from Professor Jonas, who sends him scans of historical drawings associated with Bughuul; each had been partially destroyed because ancient cultures believed that Bughuul lived within the images, and that they acted as portals between his realm and the mortal world. Ellison then discovers the projector and films in his attic, along with a new envelope of film labeled "extended endings." During this time, the deputy tries calling several times, but Ellison never answers.
The next time the deputy calls, while Ellison is assembling the films, he answers. The deputy informs him that he has discovered a link between each of the murders: Every family had previously lived in the house where the last murder took place, and each new murder occurred shortly after the family moved into their new residence. By moving back to his old home after living at the site of the previous murders, Ellison has placed himself and his family in line to be the next victims.
Ellison then watches the footage. He finds that it depicts the missing children coming onscreen following each murder, revealing themselves to be the killers before suddenly disappearing. Before he can react, Ellison becomes light-headed; inspecting his coffee cup, he finds a note reading "Good Night Daddy" and a green liquid inside the cup before losing consciousness.
Ellison awakens to find himself, his wife and his son bound and gagged. Ashley approaches holding the 8 mm camera, and promises him that she will make him famous again. Ashley then proceeds to murder her family with an axe, using their blood to paint images of cats, dogs, and unicorns on the walls. Her work complete, Ashley adds a new drawing to the box lid, complete with the drawing of "Mr. Boogie." She views the Super-8 film of her murders, which concludes with an image of the missing children watching her. Bughuul appears, green blood covering his hands, causing the children to flee. He lifts Ashley into his arms and disappears into the film with her.
The film concludes with an image of the box of films in the Oswalt family's attic, now accompanied by a reel labeled "House Painting '12". Bughuul suddenly appears, warning that the viewers are next.”
Referenced from:
09/11/11
Production:
“Jason Ferus Blum (born February
20, 1969) is an
American film producer. Blum is the founder and CEO of Blumhouse Productions. He won
the 2014 Primetime Emmy
Award for Outstanding Television Movie for producing The Normal Heart, and
was nominated for the 2014 Academy Award for Best Picture for
producing Whiplash “
Produced other films such as:
- 1995: Kicking and Screaming (associate)
- 2000:
Hamlet (executive)
- 2002:
The Adventures of Tom Thumb
and Thumbelina (executive)
- 2004:
The Fever
- 2006:
Griffin and Phoenix
- 2006:
The Darwin Awards
- 2006:
Graduation (executive)
- 2007:
Paranormal Activity
- 2008:
The Accidental Husband
- 2008:
The Reader (co-executive)
- 2010:
Tooth Fairy
- 2010:
Insidious
- 2010:
Paranormal Activity 2
- 2011:
Paranormal Activity 3
- 2011:
The FP (executive)
- 2012:
The Babymakers
- 2012:
Sinister
- 2012:
Lawless (executive)
- 2012:
The Lords of Salem
- 2012:
The Bay
- 2012:
Paranormal Activity 4
- 2013:
Dark Skies
- 2013:
The Purge
- 2013:
The Green Inferno (executive)
- 2013:
Insidious: Chapter 2
- 2013:
Plush
- 2013:
Best Night Ever
- 2014:
Paranormal Activity: The
Marked Ones
- 2014:
Whiplash
- 2014:
13 Sins (executive)
- 2014:
Creep
- 2014:
Not Safe for Work
- 2014:
Oculus (executive)
- 2014:
The Purge: Anarchy
- 2014:
The Town That Dreaded
Sundown
- 2014:
Jessabelle
- 2014:
Ouija
- 2014:
Mercy
- 2014:
Stretch
- 2014:
Area 51
- 2015:
The Boy Next Door
- 2015:
The Lazarus Effect
- 2015:
Exeter (executive)
- 2015:
Unfriended (executive)
- 2015:
Insidious: Chapter 3
- 2015:
The Gallows
- 2015:
The Gift
- 2015:
Sinister 2
- 2015:
The Visit
- 2015:
Jem and the Holograms
- 2015:
Paranormal Activity: The
Ghost Dimension
- 2016:
The Veil
- 2016:
Visions
- 2016:
Curve
- 2016:
Hush
- 2016:
Martyrs
- 2016:
Amityville: The Awakening
- 2016:
In a Valley of Violence
- 2016:
The Darkness
- 2016:
Incarnate
- 2016:
Lowriders
- 2016:
The Purge: Election Year
- 2016:
Viral
- 2016:
The Belko Experiment (executive)
- 2016:
Split
- 2016:
Ouija: Origin of Evil
- 2016:
The Keeping Hours
- 2016:
Sleight (executive)
- 2016:
Stephanie
- 2017:
Get Out
- 2017: Halloween
Referenced from:
09/11/16
Distribution:
SUMMIT ENTERTAINMENT
“Summit
Entertainment LLC is an American film production and distribution company. It is owned by
Lionsgate and is
headquartered in Santa Monica, California “
Film Distributor history:
- UK and Ireland
- Momentum Pictures (2005–2008)
- Entertainment One (2008–2016)
- Icon Film Distribution (The Beaver only)
- Lionsgate UK (2016–present)
- Universal Pictures UK (Step Up film series)
- Entertainment Film Distributors (rarely)
- Australia/New
Zealand
- Roadshow Films (2004–present)
- Hoyts (2007–2013)
- Icon Entertainment International (2009–present)
- StudioCanal
Australia (2013)
- Sony Pictures Releasing Australia (2013)
- Entertainment One (2014-present)
Referenced from:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summit_Entertainment#Film_distributor_history
09/11/16
ALLIANCE FILMS
“Alliance Films (formerly Alliance
Entertainment, Alliance Communications, Alliance Atlantis
Releasing Ltd. and also known as Alliance Vivafilm in Quebec) is a
Canadian motion picture distribution and production company, which had served
Canada, the United Kingdom, and Spain. Because Entertainment One acquired Alliance Films
in early 2013, it was dissolved into that company. It was one of the major
motion picture companies to distribute independent films outside the United States and other countries.”
Disruption history:
- Apparition (2009-2010)
- Artisan Entertainment (1998-2004)
- CBS Films (2010-current)
- FilmDistrict (2011-2013)
- Focus Features (2002-current)
- Freestyle Releasing (2006-2012)
- Lionsgate (2011-current)
(distributed by Maple Pictures from 2004-2011) - Open Road Films (2014–current)
(some titles released by VVS Films or Elevation Pictures) - Miramax (1989-2008,
2011-present)
(distributed by Maple Pictures from 2008-2010) - New Line Cinema (1989-2010)
- Orion Pictures (select titles,
1992-1996)
- Overture Films (2008-2010)
- Relativity Media (2011-current) \
- Rogue
Pictures (2005-2013)
- The Weinstein Company (2005-current)
- Dimension Films (1995-current)
Referenced from:
09/11/16
MOMENTUM PICTURES:
Momentum Pictures is a film distributor owned by Entertainment One. Prior to 2013, Momentum was a brand of
Canadian distributor Alliance Films used for its releases in the United
Kingdom, and was
one of the leading independent distributors in the UK and Ireland; following
eOne's purchase of the company, Alliance and its divisions were folded under
the eOne brand. The Momentum brand was revived in 2015 as part of a venture
with Orion Pictures to jointly acquire films for distribution in
North America and international markets.
1.
2016
·
Theatrical releases:
- Quartet
- V/H/S
- Movie 43
- Antiviral
- Safe Haven
- Dark Skies
- The Bay
- Robot & Frank
- Welcome to the Punch
- In the House
- 21 & Over
- Snitch
· 2012
·
Theatrical releases:
- Shame
- Haywire
- The Woman in Black
- The Divide
- Act of Valour
- Jo Nesbo's Headhunters
- Safe
- Cafe de Flore
- The Raid
- Red Tails
- White Collar Hooligan
- Red Lights
- Lawless
- Tim and Eric's Billion
Dollar Movie
- Hope Springs
- The Players
- Anton Corbijn: Inside Out
- House at the End of the Street
- Sinister
- The Babymaker
- Hit & Run
- Gambit
- Seven Psychopaths
- Dead Europe
2. 2011
·
Theatrical releases:
- Season of the Witch
- The King's Speech
- The Mechanic
- The Fighter
- Chalet Girl
- Limitless
- Red Hill
- Insidious
- Hobo With a Shotgun
- Troll Hunter
- Weekender
- Justice
3. 2010
4. Theatrical releases:
- 44 Inch Chest
- Youth in Revolt
- The Crazies
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- The Spy Next Door
- Dear John
- Brooklyn's Finest
- Another Year
- The Rebound
- Frozen
- La Horde
- Catfish
- Skyline
- The Girl Who Played With Fire
- Tamara Drewe
- The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest
Referenced from:
09/11/16
The movie cost only $1.2 million dollars to make and made $55 million dollars profit.
Referenced from:
https://modernborefare.com/2012/10/08/sinister/
09/11/16
Timeline:
00:00-00:06: The clip begins with a transition from a black screen to a blank super 8 film, with orange colouring. There is incidental music which is slowly building up, to create suspense.
00:06-00:07: The clip then cuts to the super 8 film to a long-shot of 4 characters, all with nooses around their necks, bags over their heads, and hands tied behind their back. The clip has low-key lighting, along with some warm, autumnal colours, creating a creepy, and dark sense. There is a musical sting, as the audience are shown the new scene.
00:07-00:17: The clip then cuts and goes through a sequence of the surrounding trees/bushes swaying about. The music continues to build tension as the scene goes on, the 4 characters standing still. Along with the music, there is ambient sound of the super 8 rolling.
00:17-00:27: For the duration of the 10 second clip, the shot and surroundings stay the same, as it the clip continues to 00:27 the right hand two characters are being lifted by their noose, the audience is sat to watch them suffer as they begin to wriggle about, while the other two are still standing there. The music stays the same during the duration of this whole clip.
00:27-00:29: This clip shows the 4 characters being lifted and a branch off of the tree they're hanging from has clearly been cut as it begins to fall to the ground. Music is still the same, as is the shot angle and distance.
00:29-00:34: By the time of 00:34 all 4 of the characters were all high in the sky, clearly scrambling about, as well as this the branch which held onto them is clearly on the floor. By the end of this clip, the music had a sting, at the tree branch hit the floor.
00:34:00:44: Through the duration of this clip, the scene showed the 4 characters struggling as the leaves off of the fallen branch were flying everywhere. By this point the music had returned to its original low-key pitch, creepy music.
00:44-00:54: The clip shows 2 characters still struggling for life, as the other two had suddenly stopped struggling, and instead just swung there.
00:54-01:04: For the next 10 seconds the audience watched the last two characters struggle for their life, and then they slowly stop and join the other two swinging. Music is still the same, constant suspenseful along side the ambient sound of the super 8.
01:04-01:08: There is then a transition to a gap in the super 8 film which has the words "Sinister" etched into it, with no additional sound of music but a sound of the super 8 playing over a clear film.
FILM ANALYSIS:
FILM ANALYSIS:
SETTING ANALYSIS:
The setting of the entire opening scene is the forest surroundings, the (presumed) family of 4 all with a noose around their neck, which is being sourced by the big tree in the middle of the garden. This connotes to the audience a scary, sinister theme towards the audience as the characters within this scene are not struggling yet, nor are they moving at all.
LIGHTING ANALYSIS:
The lighting throughout this clip, is vey low-key which connotes danger, and creates suspense. The colouring lighting is predominantly green, with suggestions of orange, overall quite autumnal colours which suggests a dark, creepy, and horrific theme to the entire movie.
COSTUME ANALYSIS:
The costumes used in this scene are to enhance the rise-en-scene of the movie, also creating the verisimilitude for the type of characters they are trying to play: a family, as they all have casual clothing on. As well as that, they also have sacks over their faces, to keep then anonymous. This connotes an innocent family in a corrupt situation.
There is no obvious use of make up as all the characters skin is covered up.
SHOT ANALYSIS:
This entire opening scene is filmed with a long shot, which has doubled as an establishing shot for the entire movie.This shot puts the audience in the vantage point of the person who has set up this to-be murder.
This shot allows the audience to see everything in its surroundings, this not only raises more questions, i.e. "who pulled them up?" but it adds extra suspense as there is no logical explanation, this makes people want to continue watching to find out their questions.
This shot allows the audience to see everything in its surroundings, this not only raises more questions, i.e. "who pulled them up?" but it adds extra suspense as there is no logical explanation, this makes people want to continue watching to find out their questions.
MOTIF ANALYSIS:
Throughout the entire clip, the motif is seen to be the tree, as during the duration on the clip, it is the only object that moves, and therefore has an impact on the characters in this scene. Throughout the movie, there are a number of films that are through the lens of the super 8 camera, it can be suggested that the super 8 is also a motif throughout the movie.
However, during the opening sequence as there is not a lot of movement, shot changes, or transitions there is no real motif shown.
TRANSITION ANALYSIS:
During the whole opening scene, this is one of the only transitions: from the empty frame to one with a subtitle, this is a rolling cut which pops up towards the end. This adds an element of fear to the audience as they had suspense built throughout the duration of this clip, and until the end when the title "Sinister" pops up, there have been no sudden movements.
MUSIC ANALYSIS:
The music used in this clip stays very calm, yet dark the entire time, with no really stings or change in pitch, volume, etc. There is also an ambient sound of the film camera rolling. There is no diegetic sound, this connotes a horrific theme to the audience as the audience are not able to hear the real life sounds of what is happening to the people and in the surroundings, this makes people feel as if the video being watched is being shown as a threat.
CREDITS/TYPOGRAPHY ANALYSIS:
CREDITS/TYPOGRAPHY ANALYSIS:
The typography of this title is written in horrific font, in childish handwriting to connote to the audience a sense of ambiguity as to who was the reason behind the scene. This could have also been the fault of someone who was in a rush as the film looks as if the materials were not taken good care of, as the material itself looks like its breaking down, this create suspense and further makes the audience feel uncomfortable.
FOCUS GROUP RESPONSES:
Amy Murphy:
Amy thought that the opening was scary in the way that there was no dialogue or natural (ambient) sounds, so it was clear to her that this was planned. She would continue watching as she felt that she was 'hooked' already.
Rebecca Bateson:
Rebecca felt scared while watching this opening as she found that she was very curious as to why those people were chosen, who did it, and who is meant to be filming them. Rebecca would want to continue watching as the techniques were used effectively to make her feel suspenseful and at the same time curious.
Isabella May:
Although the opening was creepy, the techniques used made her curious and fearful Although, she was unsure to whether this video was made as a link to the rest of the film. Overall she said she would continue watching the film as she would want to find out why the video would link to the rest of the film.
Amy Murphy:
Amy thought that the opening was scary in the way that there was no dialogue or natural (ambient) sounds, so it was clear to her that this was planned. She would continue watching as she felt that she was 'hooked' already.
Rebecca Bateson:
Rebecca felt scared while watching this opening as she found that she was very curious as to why those people were chosen, who did it, and who is meant to be filming them. Rebecca would want to continue watching as the techniques were used effectively to make her feel suspenseful and at the same time curious.
Isabella May:
Although the opening was creepy, the techniques used made her curious and fearful Although, she was unsure to whether this video was made as a link to the rest of the film. Overall she said she would continue watching the film as she would want to find out why the video would link to the rest of the film.
Fran Aghoghovbia:
Fran felt that although the opening was scary and question raising, and that the techniques were used well to create suspense. She would continue watching only as she wants to know who was behind the video, rather than the plot line its self as she felt that it was fairly plain.
What have I learnt from this?
From the movie 'sinister' I have learnt that the use of having one long shot can be just as effective as having an opening with multiple shots.
Throughout my film, I will want to utilise this technique as well as having other shots, as I want to use other horror movie conventions. However, having one long shot suggests to the audience that the person who is in danger (or in 'sinister's case, people.) has no other route except this one, in this case it was death and only death. This is effective in creating suspense in an audience, therefore I would like to have an element of this convention.
Fran felt that although the opening was scary and question raising, and that the techniques were used well to create suspense. She would continue watching only as she wants to know who was behind the video, rather than the plot line its self as she felt that it was fairly plain.
What have I learnt from this?
From the movie 'sinister' I have learnt that the use of having one long shot can be just as effective as having an opening with multiple shots.
Throughout my film, I will want to utilise this technique as well as having other shots, as I want to use other horror movie conventions. However, having one long shot suggests to the audience that the person who is in danger (or in 'sinister's case, people.) has no other route except this one, in this case it was death and only death. This is effective in creating suspense in an audience, therefore I would like to have an element of this convention.
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