Finally Done Another Textual Analysis

I have fianlly managed to do another Thriller opening analysis, so will post full essay up soon!
I watched the begining of 'Hard Rain' with Morgan Freeman and Christian Slater. Watched the rest after- great film...very wet though!!

Story Boards!!

As promised, here are the sacred storyboards.

Progress!

So I think we are pretty decided on Alternative One now, following our poll and the opinions of other media students, although we are still planning to make rough cuts of our other two plot takes, so we are able to run a focus group for added opinion later.
Good news...after many an hour I have finally completed the storyboards!! Yes that right.. finished!! Well. Theres one gap where we havent quite decided how we're going to shoot the grandads death..but I have my idea, it just needs to be put past Lydia.

Tomorrow I shall scan and put up all the planning nothes and storyboards..going to watch the amazing Sweet Charity!

'Some Thing Has Found Us'....Classic

Watched Cloverfield! and didn't get sick at all...don't know what everyones stressing about its fine.. Was really good in a blair witchy way.. all in first person etc.. however what was up with the monster!? They could have been a little more creative.. did it have legs coming out of its back?? V.Odd..but we didn't get to see it all that well so it passed. To be honest I spent most of the monster sequences giggling...oversized cockroaches making stupid noises...hooray for desensitised youth! Doesn't really relate to my thriller idea as monster thriller isn't what we were going for.. however if we are going for voyeuristic shots some handheld esque stuff could be good for stalker... (though now I'm not sure if the stalker stuff is happening, we seem to be strolling towards supernatural killer clock idea). Back to cloverfield...all i can think is bring on the scary movie version! Spent more time laughing than cowering, but overall it gets thumbs up.

'If you look close enough, you'll find everyone has a weak spot'

'Fracture' (2007) by Gregory Hoblit, starring Sir Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling.

Described as a psychological thriller, Fracture follows the prosecution of murderer Ted Crawford (Anthony Hopkins) after he shot his wife. Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling) is the nominated prosecution lawyer, who accepts what he views as a walk in the park, with a signed confession and weapon with prints. However, Ted has manipulated the legal system to the extreme, handing his own case without a defence lawyer, and tearing all evidence to shreds, making a mockery of Willy's 97% conviction rate, and therefore placing his new promotion in jeopardy.

So after watching this the first thing I went to do was to check the genre description on IMDB (yes, i know how sad that is) 'coz it just didn't seem all that thrillerisht. Whilst still containing trademark shadowy sequences, plot twists, police and murder, I felt that there was very little tension building, fear or suspense achieved. However despite this I did enjoy the film, which contains clever plot twists, (and great acting by Anthony Hopkins, who made me laugh out loud more than once) but found it very easy to predict and was disappointed at the realisation that I find CSI more scary! On reflection this could be because there was no audience connection to the main character, or that the killer doesn't actually seem all that menacing- and that we know exactly who he is.

However there are a few things I would like to take away from 'Fracture'. I especially liked the use of the marble mazes- a metaphor for the mechanical mindedness of Ted. They pose a mystery within the film- 'What the hell is that!?' (Willy) and are aesthetically pleasing to the audience, the attention to detail and clarity with which they are shown mirrors the attention to detail involved in the solving of the case, and their seeming serentity and solidity juxtaposes the fragility and high tempers of the case. This is something I would like to incorporate into our film, possibly using close-ups of the clock face impassive to the events surrounding it. Another thing I admired within 'Fracture' is the use of lighting- I felt that each scene was lit well using both visible lighting in the mise-en-scene and lighting off set, creating subtle moods for each scene and hinting at the characters' disposition, a small technical element that in my opinion made the film.

Work, work, work, work.

Wooo!! Fixed computer!!! Well, home one anyways... and its still slow :( However, good news :). Digital Deceit Productions is one step closer to producing!! After today at school, we figured that apart from some more audience research there isn't all that much more planning to go... Which is great. The aim is for me to complete the storyboarding (ahh.. mammoth task!!), script and research so that we are all ready to try out some test shots in the first week back. Which hopefully we can do, although we may want to incorporate some of the thriller reasearch done over the hols into our plot, which possibly might throw things back a bit. However, camera is booked, so hopefully schedule will commence!! Also, solution to the whole plot dilemma thing. We figured that the main bulk of the plot contains the old man's death, which we will film, and the various beginnings and ends of each variation are few enough shots for all of them to be filmed, enabling us to roughly edit all plot versions and use a focus group to determine which one we use. So there we are. Updated again :).
Ella xx

Yay!! Laptops Broken!! :'(

Aaah!! Help!! Teenage computer geek without her computer. What will come next? Purple hair...quite likely actually. Bottom line is I won't be able to post on here for a bit... especially my Memento essay.. Can't remember if i backed it up :( However we will persevere. Planning to cram as many thrillers into Friday night as I can, so hopefully can nab a mates computer or something if I find anything enlightening to post on here. My home PC is illful too :( However thumbs up to all that money I poured into insurance :) It means I wont be skint this half term....

Memento

Heres a short summary clip of the thriller 'Memento' by Christopher Nolan. I have included my detailed analysis of the film, and the ideas and concepts that inspired me.

How does Christopher Nolan use film language to establish narrative genre, and audience engagement in the opening scenes of ‘Memento’ (2000)?

For part of my coursework research I analysed the opening of the thriller ‘Memento’ (2000) by Christopher Nolan, focusing primarily on the Generic Conventions of thriller in addition to technical features such as camerawork, editing, mise-en-scene and sound. There are many Generic conventions we expect to see in thriller, and many of these are present in Memento. It takes concepts such as the principle of concealment to the extreme point, where things are no longer in chronological order, and even the main character is unaware of his position. The main part of the film also uses the classic ideas of voyeurism, a chase sequence, foreshadowing and many classic film noir characteristics such as the black and white, femme fatale, unknown policeman, shadowy seedy sets, and a rugged main character with nothing to lose.The opening scene of ‘Memento’ relies heavily on camerawork and framing to create an effective and dramatic introduction to the film, in a fashion converse to our concept of a traditional thriller opening. Instead of starting in a calm environment with wide shots to display setting and establish characters we are introduced to memento at its climax; witnessing the shooting of a man, and the shadows of his killer. A theme in memento is to keep the audience ignorant of goings on within the film, and this is achieved by tight framing and extreme close ups, preventing us from seeing the set or gaining a full view of the killer and victim, and teasing the audience by panning and tilting throughout the set, yet still using tight framing so as not to reveal the characters or setting. This incorporates the audience from the very beginning; creating enigma codes to be considered and keeping them curious about the plot to come. However, the audience are presented with the key aspects of the film, just in an unconventional way. The scene opens with a creative extreme close up shot of the Polaroid picture Lenny takes of Teddy’s body; an unclear introduction to the setting; tilted at an angle and too small for the audience to make sense of but clearly showing blood, and an unknown dead body, raising the enigma codes. We follow the picture up to the camera, and this gives us an unclear shadowy view of Lenny, the killer’s face, and we follow with a high angle shot looking up at him, and a low angle of the victim, Teddy. There are many extreme close ups of various objects that are used to help convey the idea of time receding, and a Dutch tilt is used to convey that something is wrong when the blood running up the wall, yet still using tight framing to keep the audience in the dark as to where the event has taken place. In the next shot we see Lenny in a cheap motel room, describing his confusion. We see him at a high angle, showing his vulnerability in not knowing where he is, and giving the idea of voyeurism, it seems as if we shouldn’t be there- almost as if it’s a CCTV camera shot. There are close ups on objects on the room, as Lenny takes in his surroundings, and conveying his confusion to the audience. Sound is effective in this scene, using silence and enhanced diegetic noise to help the audience to integrate into the action onscreen. There is a low, orchestral piece in minor key that bridges the credits to the narrative, creating a smooth transition. The background music is replaced with a low drone which brings forth the diegetic sound to the audience’s attention, which engages them more into the scene. The shaking of the picture engages the attention of the audience and makes the action more powerful, taking on more meaning, and makes it more obvious what the picture is, and that it has been taken recently. The click of the camera starts the dramatic sound sequence as it rewinds to Teddy’s dying moment, and the shock of the gunshot and cry adds to the tension and shock of the moment as well as contrasting the unsettling stark silence of the motel room in the next scene. In the motel room there is a voice over from Lenny, explaining his dilemma at waking in an alien room. This voice over is accompanied with a low, heartbeat sound, which conveys Lenny’s distress to the audience. Lenny’s voice is calm, analytic and level headed, which contrasts his accelerated heart beat, and this betrays that he is used to the situation, that he often finds himself analysing unfamiliar circumstances, which makes sense due to his condition and past profession.There is an interesting use of editing in Memento, both in the opening scenes and the rest of the film. Unlike most thrillers, there are a range of editing techniques used, such as dissolves and reveals, which help the audience relate to Lenny’s confusion as they find themselves in the same state of ignorance as himself. Nolan’s choice to edit the film using a non-chronological order worked perfectly with the plot, and kept the audience guessing until the very end scenes, where the shocking revelation was made. The use of reverse motion in the opening scenes kept the audience grasped the audience’s attention well and was a good introduction to Lenny’s condition, and the length of the shot mirrored the time span that Lenny’s memory would last for. The title cards also worked well with the film; blue and clinical like Lenny’s thoughts, and a reflective and calm colour, which made a good contrast to the blood and gore of the first scene.The colours used in the opening scenes worked well, the haunting greys and blues and the dilapidated building a good backdrop to the blood and gore that had taken place. The light coloured linen suit also gave Lenny an important air, as if he were a detective or someone of importance, and the light colour implies his innocence, which is contrasted by his general appearance, with unkempt hair, tattoos, an unshaven and cut face, giving a mixed impression as to his position and innocence. Make up and prosthetics is used a lot in the first scene also, to create the cuts and blood on both of the men, and this creates an atmosphere heavy with tension and violence, the calm after the storm, it lets us know of the events that went on beforehand. The next scene however has a huge contrast in mood, removing all of Lenny’s previous power by showing him in his underwear in a vulnerable state, and the calm clinical state of the room makes him seem confined and unsure of himself, devoid of personal possessions, which supports her mental state. Overall Memento uses many techniques very effectively to enable audience integration and narrative genre, and adds many of his own takes on conventional aspects.

Updates

Here to inform you all of the progression in our ideas since todays double lesson. As well as solving a few matters of concern (we might be able to use Lydia's Dad's recording equipment-Yay!) we came up with some new takes on our plot ideas-

At the moment we have 3 different takes on the plot, all in which the nursery rhyme, clock, and grandfather star. We were thinking about different angles from which we could portray the events, and were keen on reliving the death as a flashback through the grandchild's eyes.

Baisically, the 3 ideas go:-

Original Idea

• Grandfather looking after child
• Grandfather is being stalked
• Child is picked up by parent/s
• Grandfather is killed
• Clock stops

Alternative (from Grandchilds P.O.V as a middle aged man)

• Man (supposedly the grown up Grandchild) walks into the room with the grandfather clock
• Looking at the clock provokes a flashback in which the man recounts seeing the death of his Grandfather and the clock stopping.
• Cut back to room

Alternative 2 (From Grandchild's P.O.V as an old man)

• Old man (supposedly the grown up Grandchild) is sitting in his living room.
• He looks at the old fashioned wind-up mantlepiece clock that is sitting on the shelf as it hits midday (and makes the strange clunky sound that wind-up clocks tend to do)
• This provokes a flashback in which he recounts seeing the death of his Grandfather, with the nursery rhyme playing overlaid with the clock chiming the hour.
• With the last chime he is brought back to the room as the clock finishes its chime
• Our old issue with this is with the decision as to whether we should come back to see the 'grandchild' dead or alive but disturbed. I think we favour alive at the moment!! However at present this is our favourite idea.

There were also several technical things we considered, like whether to make any shots from the clocks' point of view (in some supernatural time kills take on things!) but this might cut out the whole voyeurism thing that we liked. We also wondered about doing the flasback in sepia tone, or black and white... Comments??

Also, had a good idea for our film name...TIME TO KILL any good or too cheesy?? Have to get Lydia's opinion! Your opinion would be great, Ella xx

'The Fugitive' Opening Sequence Textual Analysis

The sequence opens with a sound bridge of background music, it is mysterious and chilling. A large ‘bang’, clap of thunder or jail cell door slamming sound happens when the blue, flashlight styled titles appear with the two main stars of the film and the name of the film too. It echoes and could be likened to the echo of a gun shot. The Police sirens in the background in the city let the audience know that there is something not quite right and juxtaposed with the back and white sequences makes the audience think that the Police are there because of the killing. The same ‘bang’ used during the titles is used to introduce the back and white shots throughout the sequence we watched. They make you jump the first time you hear it and to add to this the black and white sequences are a bit shocking too. A TV presenter in the street tells the audience the details of the going’s on so far and this has the same effect as a voice over, even though it is a sound bridge across a few different shots. A gun shot is heard in one of the back and white sequences and this is really over exaggerated (louder then usual) as it is one of the only sounds that the audience can hear at that point.
The first shot we see is a flyover/helicopter shot over a large city at night where all you can see is the lights, we assume it is in America and we find out that it is Chicago from the side of an ambulance. During the black and white sequences, the camera stays in close ups and mid-shots which conceals the rest of the scene from the audience, the camera does follow the action but the framing is quite tight so the audience doesn’t get to see any of the location the scene is set in and also not the killers face. When we see the ambulance, the camera follows it from the same spot and when the driver parks and gets out, it lifts up (most likely on a crane) and reveals the location; a Police Station plus lots of Police cars and others too. During the negative type photo shots around the apartment and of the dead women, there is almost a Dutch tilt used to put the audience on edge and the negative photo look adds to this as we can’t see very much of the scene at all.
The negative type photo shots suggest that they were investigator photos and this was backed up by the two men wearing the same trench coat, detective costume in the Police Station walking down the stairs and leading the Harrison Ford character to the car. The blue titles are gloomy and suggest an ominous tone and mood from the beginning. The black and white sequences are in slow motion which could be created digitally or through over cranking the camera while filming. This intensifies the struggle of the women and also creates the idea that it could be a flashback. Continuity editing is used to make the film flow and make sense, also cross cutting is used between the black and white and colour sequences to show that they are possibly linked.
The whole look is dark, apart from the colour shot of the apartment where it was light, warm and homely colours maybe suggesting what life used to be like for the main character. The film is set in an urban location which is a common convention of the Thriller genre. There is blood on the Ford character’s white t-shirt, did he kill the women? He also has a longish beard which shows that he has maybe stopped caring for himself as he also looks a little depressed.
The audience from the beginning are trying to work out what has happened, who the characters are and also who could have killed the women; enigma codes.Some things that I saw from the extract that I thought might be good to keep in mind or include in my Thriller production are: black and white to suggest flashback/forward, integrated titles, mysterious music that isn’t too upbeat to ruin the tension.