This thriller opens with a small establishing shot of a visually normal house, however the music seems to suggest otherwise. The music is a very sinister, high pitched tone that creates suspense and mystery from the get go. The camera stops in front of the door and the large, san-serif text 'BLUE MOON CINEMA' appears in the middle of the screen, making the film look professional and sleek. As soon as the text leaves the screen, the scene starts straight away. From as soon as the main character comes out his front door, the scene continues to show spooky flashbacks of dolls, doll faces, doll bodies, doll hair, all the way throughout the scene. The first time these spooky images appear, it suggests curiosity and mystery as the audience will be wanting to know what relevance they have to the narrative. It suggests that this character has a hidden side to him, and that the whole movie may give the audience closure on what the main character is doing with these dolls. The music rises just as the flashbacks appear on screen, adding suspense to the scene. All flashback scenes are black and white, which contrast to the coloured image of the rest of the film, this adds to the thriller genre as typically, black and white add suspense to the scene, and could create curiosity for the audience, it also separates the images from the present time and what the male character is doing in his garage, which also links to the dolls. This paints a very clear view of the direction that the film is going in, and that the full narrative would expand more after the ending of the opening sequence, and would include the main character and his seemingly huge obsession with dolls.
Around 20 seconds into the scene, you see the main character approach a gate to his back garden, however he suspiciously looks around him, maybe seeing if anyone is looking at him. This creates mystery and suspense and will give the audience narrative enigmas like 'why doesn't he want anyone to see him?' 'Where is he going?' 'Who is he?' 'What is he doing?' All which puts the audience on the edge of their seats. All the text used is white San serif font, telling the audience who is involved in the movie, the simplicity of the titles draws the attention onto the scene itself and encourages the audience to pay attention to what the character(s) are doing rather than the intricacy of the titles. There is then many close up shots of the character going through the gate, there is a low angle close up of his foot, a close up of his hand unlocking the gate, and another close up as he walks through the other side. The music is still eery and thriller based, however as he opens the gate there is the diegetic sound of him unlocking it, this sound has been amplified to add suspense, as well as the sound of the gravel cracking underneath his feet, and shutting the gate. The flashback images begin to appear much more often, and faster as he approaches his garage door, again sparking narrative enigma as well as keeping the audience on the edge of their seats as it is clear that the character is shifty and up to something, and whatever that is is about to be revealed behind the door. As soon as the character enters the room, the music changes dramatically. Instead of the spooky, high pitched tone sounds that were playing, the music is now jumpy and very different, it kind of makes the character look abnormal and the audience will wonder what this music has to do with the narrative. The music becomes string based, including violins, and sounds like something you'd hear in a psych film, circus or again, a thriller, therefore is suitable to the scene, however it may spark questions like 'what does this music have to do with this scene?'.
When in the shed, there is a pan shot where you eventually get to see what the character is doing at the desk, and throughout the rest of the shot he gets to work on the dolls that have been shown in flashbacks from the start. This portrays the character in a dark and eery light, as the audience will be thinking 'why is he doing that?'. The shots that come next are close ups of his hands, banging the hammer on the dolls, shaping them into what he wants them to look like. The film uses a range of shots throughout the rest of the film, including close ups, extreme close ups, pans, over the shoulder shots and long shots, all creating tension and making the piece look as professional as possible, as well as the editing that solves continuity problems, and makes the scene flow much more professionally. Towards the end of the piece, the music becomes higher in pitch, coming to a crescendo, exciting the audience and preparing for the whole narrative to start. The thriller has a few lines of dialogue to end the scene, which are starters that would proceed onto the full thriller movie, they hold the audience captive and again, spark questions that eventually should be answered throughout the course of the entire film.
As a group, we successfully finished our filming, editing, and planning in time. I feel as though the planning went well, and it helped us to create and set the mood of the piece, instead of just doing what came to mind on the set. If we had done that then the filming may have become much more difficult and would not have ran as smoothly as it did. The camera cutting out on the first day of filming acted as a lesson to us as individuals and as a group, and that when it comes to filming again we should always make sure that the camera is fully charged, or that we carry spare batteries or a spare camera just in case that type of problem occurs again. Not only is the camera essential, costume is too. If i was needing to re-shoot any part of my scene, the costume is not too complex or hard to recreate. I am confident using the equipment I need responsibly and effectively, however if in my thriller video i need the aid of a boom mic, assistance may be needed as we did not use this piece of equipment whilst creating the preliminary task. Adobe Premiere Pro is a very complicated editing software that needs practice, i was able to practice and expand my editing skills during the prelim task, as I got familiar with different editing tools which may come in handy whilst doing my thriller. As said before, one problem I faced whilst using this editing software was compromising the sound levels and making one sound more prominent in the scene than the other. This problem was overcome with the aid of the teacher, and we were able to successfully mix the sounds to our preferred choice.
I think, for our first task, our prelim was a success. The editing made a huge difference to the piece, and allowed it to flow smoothly. One thing I have learnt from this task is that the camera is a major piece, and that any disruption or wobbling of the camera can cause the scene to look messy and unprofessional, for this reason I will take extra care with my camera when filming my thriller. I can use a tripod to help me with this, or lay the camera on a table (this could also give the scene a very mysterious view of the scene, linking to thriller) and any other equipment that is available to me. This does not only apply for camera, as sound equipment that is available to me will also come in handy and will help me achieve the best possible thriller I can make.
Once all of the filming had been completed, we started to edit our shots together. To do this, we used Adobe Premiere Pro CS4. We edited the footage in order to make everything fit together smoothly. We added effects, trimmed the clips added sound effects as well as adjusting the existing ones, we also added non diegetic sound when and where appropriate. We added straight cuts and transitions to make the final footage look as professional as possible. As a group, this was our first time editing, so our first problem was actually working with the editing software efficiently and productively. We did this by asking for advice from the teacher, as well as students who were already familiar with the editing software. By becoming familiar with the editing software during the preliminary process, I hope this will make it easier for me to edit my final task for my coursework. One problem we faced when editing our prelim was that some of the footage was slightly blurred, and so this footage had to be deleted in order to make our piece the best quality. Some of the footage was not continuous, which was also a problem, however this was easily solved by using the 'trim' tool in the editing software. This acted as a lesson that i shall learn from when editing my Thriller, as i will need to gather more than one footage for each shot, this can be done by repeating scenes more than once, which could lead to getting a successful and continuous thriller without cut backs, making the narrative flow, and the piece as clean as possible.
We
decided to film a short thriller scene in order to prepare us for our
coursework, our scene included short dialogue including information that
would encourage the potential audience to continue watching and find
out what happens. Our shots included various angles, shot from different
distances. I was filming the piece, and had to get in the suitable
position to film shots such as extreme close ups, low angles, and pan
shots. Filming the piece wasn't that difficult, however we originally
filmed the piece in a different setting on a different day, but the
camera died half way through so we were not able to complete it without
it having continuity problems as the actors in the scene would be
wearing different clothes. We filmed the piece again the following day,
however chose a different setting as we found that it suited our script
more, we were able to have access to a tripod, backdrops, and lighting.
These all helped to create the best piece as the tripod kept the camera
steady, the black backdrop we used set the scene, and the lighting used
help create suspense and was changed to meet our specific needs. We
filmed the scene from different angles, when one character was talking
we shot an over the shoulder shot so you was able to see them talking,
the same applied to the other character, we then edited this into shot
reverse shot. I also filmed the two characters in a two shot,
with visible capture of the setting, the table is clear and at the end
of the piece you are able to see Emma smack down on the table. A two
shot of the characters is much more suited here than say a close up of
Emma's face, this is because you are able to see the facial expressions
of both characters, Emma being the angry one, and Amy being the scared,
upset character.We allocated different roles to the members of the
group, myself and Chloe filmed, whilst Amy and Emma were the actors. We
worked well as a group, deciding together which camera angles would be
the most suitable for our piece as well as using the equipment
responsibly.
In the planning for our prelim, we did a brainstorm to publish our ideas on what it will include, the actors, the sound, the editing, mise en scene and the camera.
Storyboard;As a group, we sketched out each shot of our prelim video, and annotated what was to happen within each shot, this allowed us clear visual representations of what we wanted to create and helped us guide our way through shooting. We learnt that this helped us to create the scene as accurately as possible and it is a good idea to plan before you do.We decided on this dialogue as it allows the audience insight on what the film is about, and the suspicious dialogue could make them want to watch it.
DIALOGUE; "Did you do it?"
"Yes"
"Did she see you?"
"I'm not sure, she came past but i dont know if she saw anything"
"THATS NOT GOOD ENOUGH"
Sunday 8 November 2015
Shutter Island - opening credits analysis. Shutter island is a 2010 american psychological thriller directed by Martin Scorsese. The film is based on Dennis Lehane's novel with the same name, which was published in 2003. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as a U.S. Marshal Edward 'Teddy' Daniels, who is investigating a psychiatric facility on Shutter Island. Directed by: Martin Scorsese Produced by: Mike Medavoy Arnold W. Messer
Bradley J. Fiscner Martin Scorsese Screenplay by: Laeta Kalogridis Steven Knight (uncredited) Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio Mark Ruffalo Ben Kingsley Michelle Williams Patricia Clarkson Max von Sydow Cinematography: Robert Richardson Edited by: Thelma Schoonmaker Production Company: Appian Way Productions Phoenix Pictures Distributed by: Paramount Pictures The opening scene starts with a shot of a darkly lit corridor. The music is sharp and full of suspense and the dark red credits add colour and danger to the piece, creating visual tension. There is then the spiraling image of a staircase, and the credits stating who produced the film, the credits blurred throughout their duration on the screen which creates suspense for the audience, maybe portraying uncertainty or decision making. There is then a straight cut to another darkly lit image of a gate. The ambient sound of the rain and the non diegetic music both add to the morbid setting, sound mixing is used to make the rain sound louder over the top of the music. The creepy mis en scene of this scene makes the audience anxious as to what will happen next. The camera then moves to a close up shot of a hand. The identity of this character remains unknown, and the quick, jolty movements the hand makes alludes to some type of physical struggle. At this part in the sequence, the music crescendos and becomes louder as the image changes, putting the audience on their toes as if something bad is going to happen. The next shot is of another gate, however this time the camera moves closer towards the gate as if it is going to enter through it, the camera acts as if it is a person, and what you see on the screen is what that person would see in their eyes, you are able to go through the gat and see what is behind it, adding mystery to the sequence. The scene then changes to a room engulfed in flames as the credit for 'Ben Kingsley' appears clearly and bold, all credits are in capital letters so the audience are able to see. The scene then cuts to a shot of a gun facing the audience. The gun is held down by someones foot, and is dragged away, this adds danger and crime to the scene, this is a convention of a thriller and is what the audience are expecting to see. The shot then fades to a dark shot of snow falling, this movie presents the people starring one at a time. The use of the colours black and red, and the powerful music makes the overall mise en scene full of danger and tension. Many of the shots are replaced with another by using the editing tool of fading, an image is placed underneath another as one fades out, so you can see 2 shots at once, however one grows more into focus as the other is removed from view. This adds to the quick, messy state and suggests that their are a lot of continued mysteries within the film. There is then a mid shot of a room full of chains, the room looks quite old, and has barred doors like it is a prison, this adds suspense and mystery as the audience will be wondering where this movie is to take place, this room and the gate images all add to the idea that part of this movie will take place within a prison. There is then a sudden flicker of a match, which is the only shot that has real lighting throughout the sequence. When the match is lit, the music stops and the screen turns to black, this adds tension and suspense and leaves the audience on the edge of their seats waiting to see what happens. The music then starts again, (heavy based tones), as the camera changes to a long view shot of a dark, isolated island. This connects to the idea of being isolated in a prison, which was suggested throughout the opening sequence. The music then stops again, and then starts again when the title of the movie is added to the screen, the music is so deep and full of suspense, a typical convention of thriller films. The title 'SHUTTER ISLAND' is blood red and bold, capitalised letters, which creates visual tension and is very clear to read. The title is then zoomed on dramatically, as the camera goes through the 'R' in 'shutter' to begin with the film.
Seven - Opening credits analysis. Seven is a 1995 psychological thriller film directed by David Fincher, and stars Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, and many more. The film is based on the screenplay by Andrew Kevin Walker. When retiring police Detective William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) tackles a final case with the aid of newly transferred David Mills (Brad Pitt), they discover a number of elaborate and grizzly murders. They soon realize they are dealing with a serial killer (Kevin Spacey) who is targeting people he thinks represent one of the seven deadly sins. Somerset also befriends Mills' wife, Tracy (Gwyneth Paltrow), who is pregnant and afraid to raise her child in the crime-riddled city. Directed by: David Fincher Produced by: Arnold Kopelson Phyllis Carlyle Written by: Andrew Kevin Walker Starring: Brad Pitt Morgan Freeman Kevin Spacey
John C. McGinley Gwyneth Paltrow Music by: Howard Shore Cinematography: Darius Khondji Edited by: Richard Francis-Bruce Distributed by: New Line Cinema The title sequence starts off with a close up shot of a book lying down, you are able to see a out of focus hand touching the book in the background, however the focal point of this shot is the book. This creates a sense of mystery for the viewer as they do not know what the book signifies or what it means. There are credits placed over the top of the book, showing who distributed the movie; NEW LINE CINEMA PRESENTS. The text used to display this is very ghost like, and fluorescent, it looks like something you'd see in a derelict area at the movies, again creating suspense. The music in this scene is very subtle, it is not all violins and high screech noises. Instead, it captures noises that sound very realistic. For example, throughout the clip, there is a high pitched noise that reoccurs, which could force the viewer into thinking the noise is someone screaming. This connotes danger and adds to the conventions of a thriller movie. There is then a high angle, birds eye view shot where we are able to see what is on the books pages, it is revealed to be a hand, and then many objects appear after this. These objects are insignificant to the reader at this moment in the film and are not relevant, this keeps the audience suspicious and guessing. There is the razorish, harsh sound to the music at this point. Every time a credit appears on screen the background turns to black, first is BRAD PITT, and then a short clip of a man twisting a razor between his fingers, then MORGAN FREEMAN. With each credit, once it is screened, the text shudders and flips for a mili second, this creates mystery and suspense for the reader, along with the use of reverse blocking to highlight the text. There are a lot of images including dead bodies and murderous images, this could indicate to the reader what this film could involve, and connotes danger. The lighting in this opening sequence helps add to the ominous feeling as it is very bleak. There are a lot of tones, browns, whites, blacks, in this extract, and very little colour. This could be to demonstrate the dark mood that policing can be and sets an aroma for the film. There doesn't seem to be any happy images within the title sequence, which could mimic that of a police mans/women's life, with the same routines and that the job is hard work and nothing happy. The title of the movie then comes onto the screen, it starts off small, and then jumps to a huge 'SE7EN' in the middle of the screen. More titles follow this; GWYNETH PALTROW, RICHARD ROUNDTREE, & R. LEE-ERMEY. These titles are seperated by images that are fast paced edited together, each video clip is short and snappy, each revealing something that will have future reference in the movie. This helps add suspense and mystery to the sequence, as well as the colours used, up until this part in the sequence, the colour scheme was pretty bland, however just before R. LeeErmey's name came on display, the screen flashed blood red. The music simultaneously raised in pitch, creating a tense atmosphere and putting the audience on the edge of their seat already. There are no long shots in this title sequence, disallowing the viewer to see what is fully going on, which reinforces the mystery of the movie. Throughout the clip, most of the camera angles are high angles, or at eye level which could suggest that the filmmaker does not want you to see anything of real importance yet, keeping the audience suspicious and on their toes. Throughout the rest of the opening sequence, there are the continuing images of books and items that are to do with FBI and mystery cases. This reinforces the subject of the movie and thrills the audience into wanting to know more. The editing helps set the mood of the sequence, and adds to the curiosity as the shots including the books and writing being highlighted in a slower pace than the other shots. This signifies importance and makes the audience wonder what the person is doing behind the scenes. The background music holds a heavy beat and is quite fast, this is typical of a thriller movie as it creates suspense and draws the audience in. Towards the end of the sequence, the music becomes much more intense and louder, coming to a crescendo, which could tell the audience that the opening sequence in nearly over and its time for the action to take place. Throughout the entire piece, credits continue to pop on to the screen, it seems to be the main cast's names that come on first, and then ending with the least important people and those involved in the production.
Saturday 7 November 2015
The Silence of the Lambs - opening credits analysis.
The Silence of the Lambs is a 1991 thriller that also contains aspects of crime and horror. The film is based on Thomas Harris' 1988 novel that holds the same name, featuring canabalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter. In the film, the main character Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster), a young U.S. FBI trainee, seeks the advice of the imprisoned Dr. Lecter to apprehend another serial killer who is only known as "Buffalo Bill". Director - Jonathan Demme Producers - Kenneth Utt Edward Saxon Ron Bozman
Screenplay by - Ted Tally Starring - Jodie Foster Anthony Hopkins Scott Glenn Ted Levine Music by - Howard Shore Cinematography- Tak Fujimoto Edited by- Craig McKay Distributed by - Orion Pictures
The film opens displaying the company that distributed the film, and then music starts to fill the screen. The music starts off as creepy and high pitched violin sounds as an image of the woods appear to start off the movie. You are able to see the woods, and the serif text 'Woods near Quantico, VA' appears on the bottom right hand side of the screen, telling the audience where the location is, the use of serif font also portrays to the audience as informative. The music sporadically changes pitch, one second it is very high pitches and it then changes to low pitch straight after, this creates a sense of uncertainty. "A STRONG HEART/DEMME PRODUCTION" comes up at this point to tell the audience what other companies are involved in the making of this movie. All the titles are in capitals and bold black print. "JODIE FOSTER" is the first name to appear, soon followed by "ANTHONY HOPKINS". Each name is placed in the centre of the screen and takes up the majority of the screen. They do not come on to the screen in any particular way, they just flashed up and flashed back down to reveal the next name, there is no swiping or dissolving of the names. 3 names appear first, and then the title of the movie, which stays on the screen for a longer period of time than any other credits so far, this tells the audience what the title of the movie is. There is a high angle shot showing the pathway in the woods and you are able to see a character running up the hill. There is heavy mist in the air creating suspense and mystery for the audience. More credits appear soon after, including the names TED LEVINE, ANTHONY HEALD. There is then a pause in the names as you see the main character come to the top of the hill. There is then a tracking shot from behind Clarice as we follow her running through the woods, we are able to see her movement as if we are a person following closely behind. This helps build character and enables the audience close contact with the main character and an insight into her every day life. There is then 3 names projected on top of the video footage, BROOKE SMITH, DIANE BAKER, & KASI LEMMONS, the music still continues to play violin music, however it has taken a much more sinister tone as it develops into the sequence. 3 more names appear on screen; CHARLES NAPIER, TRACEY WALTER & ROGER CORMAN. The font of these names are very bold, and are jet black in the middle and have white outlining, this could signify and mimic the character of Hannibal who we are yet to meet, as things may seem okay and safe on the outside (white) however dark, dangerous and mysterious on the inside (black). There is then a frontal mid shot of Clarice, allowing you to see her up close, there is the diegetic sounds of her heavy breathing and her clothing is very utilitarian and boxed standard. There is a lot of straight cuts throughout the piece allowing us to see Clarice from many different angles, by doing this it creates the illusion that someone is watching her, and solidifies the genre of this film being creepy and dark. The opening scene holds many enigma codes, these are questions that are being asked whilst watching the film. Questions include why is she in the woods? Why is she running? Is someone after her? These all hold suspense for the audience and lets them try and discover what the film is about. Their questions do become answered eventually as they continue with the film as later on in the sequence you find out she is actually doing extra training for her policing work, showing she is a very hard worker and takes full care in what she does. There is multiple shots of the characters feet, and you can hear the diegetic sounds of leaves crunching over the non diegetic sounds of the music. 3, more names come up onto the screen, RON VAWTER, DANNY DARST, & FRANKIE FAISON. The music intensifies and we get a close up of Clarices face as she tenses her jaw. More credits appear: PAUL LAZAR, DAN BUTLER, & CHRIS ISAAK. We then see the character climb up a wall made out of wood and rope, indicating her police training and her extra hard work, the camera moves from shooting the back of her, to being in front of her and watching her climb over the wooden beams at the top, it does not edit at all whilst making this shift. Nor does it edit or straight cut when she continues to run through the forest. We hear another characters voice at this point, and it is the first voice we hear in the sequence. The music becomes quieter as we are introduced to a conversation between the characters. Sound in this part of the extract is key as we hear the male character say 'crawford wants to see you in his office', and Clarice replies with 'thank you Sir'. This shows a very informal relationship between these characters and signals the audience to start asking questions about who this women is and whose office she is being sent to. We immediately get the answer to this question as the male character turns to watch Clarice run in the opposite direction, we see he is wearing an FBI hat, indicating they are in the police force. There is then a short break before any other casting names come into screen, where we see Clarice enter the policing sight and we can see many other people training, we are able to hear diegetic sounds such as chatter and running, there is also the banging sounds added to the non diegetic music. As the scene progresses, names appear on the screen sporadically, these include the costume designers name, COLLEEN ATWOOD. Who the music is by; HOWARD SHORE. Casting by; HOWARD FLEUR. The music eventually fades completely from the scene, and we are now able to hear ambient sounds from people within the police office, we hear dialogue between colleagues, whilst still getting credits, the credits that come onto the screen at this point are not as important as the ones that came onto the screen at the start of the sequence.
From as soon as the main character comes out his front door, the scene continues to show spooky flashbacks of dolls, doll faces, doll bodies, doll hair, all the way throughout the scene. The first time these spooky images appear, it suggests curiosity and mystery as the audience will be wanting to know what relevance they have to the narrative. It suggests that this character has a hidden side to him, and that the whole movie may give the audience closure on what the main character is doing with these dolls. The music rises just as the flashbacks appear on screen, adding suspense to the scene. 
All the text used is white San serif font, telling the audience who is involved in the movie, the simplicity of the titles draws the attention onto the scene itself and encourages the audience to pay attention to what the character(s) are doing rather than the intricacy of the titles. 
