Class Based Research (1) - Looking at Film Titles (Denotation & Connotations)

In class I done pieces of work which I done to show different film titles. I showed the connotations and denotations of 4 film titles I looked at in class

The first title I looked at in class and research about was"Due Date". When hearing the name for this film I instinctively suggested that it was a horror movie and I didn't think for a second that it would be a comedy film. I suggested it would be a horror which was connected with a long awaiting court case. However this could be because I am a Media student , if someone else was to be asked whatkind of film they thought the "Due Date" was they most probably connect it with pregnancy and of course they'd be correct. After realizing this , it has taught me that the name for my Horror movie doesn't have to be a "typical" horror name for it to have a horror genre.

The second film title I looked at was "Case 39". When hearing the name for this film I didn't have a doubt it my mind that it wasn't a horror movie. All the pieces fitted together , from the name to the actual styling of the film title. Looking at the connotations for the film title before looking at the denotations was helpful because it lets your mind wonder about what kind of horror it may be e.g the story line it may have. If I decided to look at the denotations beforehand I would have easily guessed what story was and type of horror it may be.

The third film title I looked at was "Let Me In". Hearing this name instinctively gave me different story lines but straight away I knew it was a horror movie I wasn't unsure what genre it was. I was contemplating on different story lines e.g. Danger , Intruder and Psychology. However once again I wasn't using my Media knowledge to go against stereotypes and my ideas were wrong. The film has nothing to do with what I have mentioned. This has shown me that a
name of a film especially horror doesn't need to have anything to do with the actual story-line.

The fourth and last film I looked at was "The American". Before I looked at the poster for this film my first instincts were that the film was about someone immigrating from another country to America. I also had ideas about a typical 'American' film consisting of a high school and typical American themes. However when I was finally faced with the poster for this film it showed me that all my ideas of what the film would be about were all wrong. Sterotypically hearing the name 'The American' you would instinctivly think it was to do with some of the above ideas.