Film Project Research- "Childern of the Corn"

    In Stephen King's "Children of the Corn" little of the story is told in the first few minutes, it instead acts as a hook for the film. In the first few minutes there is a happy diner scene that quickly turns horrifying , when a group of kids kill everyone, except a little boy, in the diner. This is essential as it convinces viewers to continue watching  to know more about the mysterious children.

  This film uses many camera shots and editing techniques to successfully make a unnerving opening scene. For example, wide shots are used to show the drought and how their corn and church is a large part of their community. This allows for the viewers to characterize the community. The beginning of the film has many long takes and once the killing begin it transitions to short, abrupt takes. These takes show the quick nature of the killings. There are many close-ups throughout the film, to show the quick and dramatic change of each person's emotions before and after the killings begin. A hand-held camera is being used once the killings begin, which shows the surprise and fastness of the event. Moreover, eye line match is used to show the young boy's reaction to each of the murders, his look of surprise and astonishment. This film uses many camera and editing techniques to effectively convey a realistic murder scene.

    Furthermore, "Children of the Corn" uses many sound and mise-en-scene techniques to create a suspenseful and realistic opening scene. For example in the beginning there is a sound of a church bell ringing and wind blowing. This allows viewers to assume that church is a large part of the community, and that it hasn't rained in a while. There is also music being played during the killing, adding a unnerving mood to the situation, as it gets faster when more killings occur. Blood is also widely used to realistically show the death of many people. Moreover, the children were using farming equipment to murder the victims, suggesting that their family works on a farm or near a farm. The overall, color scheme of the scene was brown, alluding to the dry climate and the lack of happiness. The set design in the beginning of the film is in a time appropriate diner, which gives a false sense of security and happiness. This causes the killing to be a surprise, adding to the foreign but realistic theme on the film. "Children of the Corn" used many sound and mise-en-scene techniques to create a unforgettable opening scene.

    This film mentioned the producing companies and the writer of the story. The budget for this film was 800,000 and the revenue was 14.6 million. Since the film was released in 1984, there are no awards or nominations mentioned.