thirteen ghosts analysis - steve beck - 2001

'Thirteen Ghosts' is a film that conforms to the conventions of the horror genre because it contains the styles that are commonly attributed to horror films. One of the main conventions that it has is a man who can communicate with the afterlife and appears to be possessed. The audience's generic expectations of this text are met to a great extent because with the involvement of the individual that appears to have been possessed, it suggests that this character is going to be pivotal with the storyline. The title 'Thirteen Ghosts' can be seen as slightly enigmatic because it makes the viewer wonder where the ghosts came from and how they died.

When the opening sequence starts it is not neccessarily a typical location for a horror film because it is in a junkyard, however there police and army officers which denotes that something serious has happened and it connotes that it there is something very dangerous behind it. The fact that the possessed man is being used to track the creature or person that is behind the situation connotes that the person behind it could be a supernatural being or creature. This means that it is from the supernatural horror genre because it conforms to conventions related to this genre and subgenre. This film has an asynchronous narrative because it only has one storyline going the whole way through the film, meaning that there are no other storylines being followed or focused on throughout the film. There is what appears to be a flashback or flashfoward in the opening sequence which is a classic convention of film noir, but it is only used to show the victims of this supernatural being, which denotes that the being committed the the crimes on the humans, but also connotes that it is a sadistic, heartless being searching for revenge.

By using semiotics to analyse mise-en-scene, we can say that the car wrecks on top of one another are signifiers because they denote that the setting is a junkyard, but also connotes that there is something hiding. The cars driving through the junkyard are leading lines as they lead your eyes towards the area that is being searched by the army and police officers. The low music is used as a way of suggesting tensity in the area and it connotes that something sinister or even horrific might happen to the people investigating the area. This gives the idea of the creature being demonic because when its victims are shown, it connotes that the being has no remorse and can do things to people that no human being could. It is also filmed in a night time setting meaning that a filter may have been used to give the illusion of nightime and a light blue wash has been used to connote coldness or something terrible that might happen.

Slow motion is used when the possibly possessed character is trying to take some painkillers to take away some of the pain that he is experiencing from his contact with the creature from the afterlife. This suggests that he has been having regular contact with this creature or person as he say the painkillers are ' to take the edge off' meaning that he may have used them before so that he could find the being without suffering immensely. The slow motion is used to give the impression of the tabets falling slowly and the mans pain is highlighted as he watches them fall in front of his eyes. BCUs r used to show the pain the possessed individual is in and also to show things or people that may be significant to what is going on in the narration, e.g a body or a main character. Tracking shots are also used to follow the vehicles so that the audience has an idea of the area that the sequence is set in. Finally a steadicam is also used when looking from the creatures point of view so that the audience can feel as if they are looking at exactly the same think and feel as if they are in the sequence. The scene is also blurred to connote that the being is moving quickly and the sounds made also connote fast movement because we hear panting.

In terms of ideological discourse invovled in 'Thirteen Ghosts' traditional gender traits of men and women are reinforced as the men and women involved in the scene appear to be treated differently, for example, the male opinion is valued higher than the female opinion. This relates to the two characters giving their views of what is going on or what has occurred just before they arrived at the junkyard. because the main people shown are a high ranked detective and a man who is used to contact the supernatural being or to trace it. Semiotics can indicate that the detective is highly ranked because of the way he talks to people and also low angle shots are used in order show emphasise his superiority over the 'possessed' man. When a female character is introduced, she is stereotypically treated as less able to perform the tasks than a male character. This is reinforcing the typical stereotype that men are commonly perceived to be supposedly better than women. The ideology of gender is therefore represented due to this because it is using typical stereotypes of men and women as the male characters are represented or perceived as more dominant characters. The female characters are treated as if they are lower down the order in terms of rank, meaning that they appear to be the more likely victims of this being.

With the supernatural being involved and the connotations that it caused the injuries and murders, the probable reading intended for the target audience is that this super natural being is behind the murders. A possible reading by the target audience is that these beings or creatures may exist and they can possibly be extremely dangerous. Therefore the target audience for this film is young adults as they are more likely to acknowledge the probable reading of the film and to understand what is going on in the film and opening sequence.