Week 2: Film Genre Research

Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPZVjxWMLpo

   Camera Shots, Angles, and Movement: 

    This horror-comedy film opens up with a fade from black into an insert shot, revealing some sort of bottle falling into a murky puddle of water. As we pan away from the puddle, we're met with an establishing shot featuring Mushnik's Flower Shop, a run-down, flower shop in skid row. Our logo fades in, reading "Little Shop of Horrors" in a funky red, blue, and yellow font. As a car drives by, the camera slowly pans in its direction and leads us to 3 women singing Prologue (Little Shop of Horrors.) The camera continues left as the women walk in the opposite direction before stopping. We cut to a medium close up shot of each of the girls singing their respective "look out!" parts. We then cut to a medium long shot of the women singing and dancing as lightning flashes around them. We cut to an insert shot of a black cat, possibly symbolizing some sort of bad luck or bad omen yet to come. A long shot shows our girls now on the balcony of a building and we slowly pan towards them. It cuts to an over-the-shoulder high angle shot above the girls as they point down at the flower shop shown earlier. We cut back to a medium long shot and slowly pan upwards as the women raise their hands upwards and hold a high note, lightning and rain still flashing around. We slowly pan left to a high angle establishing shot as we see skid row in action, rain pouring, cars driving, and people scurrying around. We cut to a low angle long shot of the girls again, singing and dancing down the sidewalk as the camera moves to follow them. It cuts to a medium long shot again, then straight to a mid shot as they turn their heads, and back to a medium long shot as they turn around and walk away. We cut to a shot inside the shop itself as we watch the girls through the window. The camera follows them as they walk, still visible from inside the store. We cut to who we can only assume is the owner of the shop, holding a newspaper with the title, "Unexpected Total Eclipse," maybe this has some sort of relevance... As the girls walk back into the frame, they're shown to be singing/talking to the man, however, he doesn't acknowledge them. This confirms that nobody else can see these girls and they're likely for musical and storytelling purposes only. We go back to a medium long shot and slowly pan towards the women as they walk into another room. As they walk down the stairs, we're met with a low angle until they reach the basement floor. We then shift to an over-the-shoulder shot revealing our main character, Seymour.

    Sound Techniques: 

    As a bottle falls into a murky puddle of water with a "splash," we're met with an absolute banger of an opening song, "Prologue (Little Shop of Horrors.)" The song opens our story and gives the audience a feel for the show, introducing the musical aspect. Paying attention to the lyrics, we can likely assume something spooky is yet to come. As the music plays, roars of thunder can be heard as lightning flashes throughout the frame. We hear the engine of a car passing by as thunder continues to echo. As rain starts to pour, we can hear the pitter patter of the raindrops falling against the concrete. The stormy weather highlights the dinginess of the setting and gloomy atmosphere in contrast to the upbeat, optimistic melody of the song. As the rain falls, you can hear dog whines and other city noises. 

    Mise-En-Scene Elements: 

    The outfits of the three woman carefully contrast the overall dull, run-down atmosphere of our skid row setting. By wearing frilly, light blue dresses we as the audience can immediately clock that these girls are meant to stand out. Compared to everyone else's suits and other boring clothes, these outfits stick out like a sore thumb...in a good way. A frequent theme throughout this opening scene is the contrast of bright colors and dull scenery, be it the cartoonishly colored title card, or the poofy blue dresses worn by Crystal, Ronnette and Chiffon, the horror-comedy genre makes itself known through stylistic choices.

    Production and Distribution Information: 

    Little Shop of Horrors, directed by Frank Oz, had a budget of around $25 million and grossed around $39 million at the worldwide box office. The film was considered a commercial disappointment due to overall high production costs as well as the expensive re-shooting of its original, darker ending where Audrey II eats both Audrey and Seymour and takes over the world. You can find the original ending here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kyG5F98iZE but, yeah. Not very cheap to make. The film was produced by the Geffen Company and distributed in the US by Warner Bros., and internationally handled by partners like Columbia-Cannon-Warner.

    Opening Credits Description:

    The title fades in to reveal "Little Shop of Horrors" written in a funky red, blue, and yellow colored font. The brightly colored font contrasts the dull atmosphere of skid row, mirroring the horror-comedy aspects of the film. Throughout the title sequence, we're met with bright green colored text in a cartoonish font, reinforcing the horror-comedy genre.

    Awards/Nominations:

    Little Shop of Horrors has gathered a total of 2 wins and 14 nominations for various  production, acting, and directing categories. Winning 1987 winner for Best Music and 2013 winner for Best DVD/Blu-Ray Special Edition Release at the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA, the film also took home four other nominations from that academy alone.