Our powerpoint presentation on the thriller openings

Presentation of idea 2 - presented by me

mgm moodboard

I chose to use MGM to promote my Thriller as it is a well known company for producing some of the best Thrillers. It has produced thrillers such as Bond, My gun is Quick, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and many more. I am wanting to make my Thriller opening as good as any of these thriller films. I will be looking into some of the techniques that MGM have used to make these certain thrillers as successful as they are today.

28 days later opening anaylis

28 DAYS LATER OPENING ANAYLIS

28 days later is a Zombie Thriller/Horror. It starts with activists who try to release monkeys who were infected by a deadly disease called Rage. A monkey bites one of the people as they let it out, and within moments you turn from being sympathetic to the chimps to terrify of them by this act. During the arrival of the activists the chimps are all crazy banging the cage, then the camera follows the views of what a monkey is being forced to watch. We then see the activists see the monkey in this table strapped down with monitors above it. On the monitors we see violence. As one of the activists takes pictures, the camera flashes and we see what the picture was taken looks like. During the pictures, there are sound bridges of the monkeys screeching to keep the action moving. This keeps the audience tense and stops them losing interest. At this point, the music is slow and quite eerie, but is slowly building speed and suspense. Once the cage is opened, the camera goes wild and shows a first person of the monkey charging at the woman where it ends up as a close up of the monkey biting the woman. Within moments, she pukes up blood, and acts like the monkeys were like, crazed and angry. The editing is very powerful in the way the fast transitions are done and the shots of the camera angles. You would expect the camera to be distance and away as far as possible from the danger, but in this movie, it shows you the danger as close as possible. This is what makes 28 days later a horror type, rather than thriller, the fear is created in the physical viewings rather than mentally. The lighting that the special effects create is very powerful. There are very dark red ambient lights in it to show blood, rage and anger. There may also be a dark red filter put over the top. This whole sequence leaves you wanting to watch more and more of the movie, as you are kept in your seats with the powerful music and fast transitions, never showing you the finished result.

The camera is set as if it is a person standing idol in the scene, switching from first person to third. This is creating a very dizzy effect on the audience, as they don’t quite know where they are. Are they in the scene or are they a character in the scene? This is also related with the music. Due to the high strings sound, and distorted feelings we get from hearing this music, we feel uncomfortable watching this. The way the camera switches from one view to another, while the music still, slowly drones on with slight highs keeps us watching for more!

The location is very typical of a horror in this. They managed to get pictures very early in the morning of London landmarks with nothing or no one there but destruction and wreckage. They use these locations as it scares us. Some people, usually the target audience, use this place daily, and know how busy it is, and seeing it in this state, scares them. The animal testing facility is also very strong in the way that you never know what horrors they will be doing to the animals. This is also a controversial issue at the time this movie was created, therefore it linked in well with the timescale It was created. The lighting is one of the things that make this movie and other horror movies powerful. There is lots of flashing lights showing close ups of the faces of the victims and the zombies, making it a very hectic situation, and instead of showing a slow whole shot with no transitions, it shows snap shots of the danger. The natural daylight is also very good in the way it creates an eerie atmosphere when the man is outside the hospital. There are dress codes used in these scenes that give us a clue to the genre as well. We first see the hero in a hospital, completely naked. The semiotics of being in a hospital enough shows how vulnerable this man is, yet he is completely naked, isolated, being the only one in the whole hospital. The scientists are first seen coming in drinking what we would think as coffee. We drink coffee when we are tired, and due to the lighting, it looks like night. This tells us that the scientist must work late nights, and is probably really stressed. His body language also shows this. He is very submissive, yet anxious about letting the monkeys out. During this, you would expect the camera to show lots of low angle shots at him, due to the other characters yelling and swearing at him, although the camera is always shot grouping him with the other characters. This is bringing all the characters together, showing that there is no pro or antagonist in this scene, that they will all be attacked by the chimps similarly.

Evaluation on pre-lumiary

EVALUATION ON PRELIMINARY


The pre-luminary video that we had created included match on action, 180 degree rule shot and shot/reverse/shot. Within our video we included a small amount of dialogue and over the shoulder shots.

 

We worked in a small group of three. We had a day of filming and a day of learning of how to edit our material on iMovie.  As a group we came to a decision of basing our pre-luminary film on the TV show “Made in Chelsea”. From doing this we wore the type of clothing that the character in the show would wear eg fur coats, and high heels. We decided to use the 180 degree rule shot as it helps to establish the position of each person, and get the feel of looking at one person from the other's point of view.

 

The next shot that we decided to use was a Two Shot. Two-shots are good for establishing a relationship between subjects. The two actors have equal prominence in the frame; the implication is that they will provide equal input.

 

As a group we felt that we created a detailed story board which included what shots and what camera angles we would be using, we also did not need any extra filming time as we completed the task during the lesson. I also feel that we learnt the lines quickly and capably which helped us to film the pre-luminary more efficiently, and we learnt how to use the camera effectively.

 

However we found some parts of the filming rather difficult, for example when we finally uploaded the video the IMovie we struggled to edit some parts of the film which limited our time to finish the movie. To overcome this error next time we can spend more time working and learning how to use IMOVIE. We also struggled to find a room within the school which had the correct lighting for each of our scenes, to avoid this next time we shall try to book a specific room which we feel will look most effective within our thriller opening.

 

I have gained many skills and knowledge from creating this pre-luminary for example; I have learnt how to use some parts of IMOVIE which I shall be using next time for when we create our next movie. I have also learnt how to use the tripod, and the camera that we used within the thriller opening.

 

To conclude I have fully enjoyed creating and editing our pre-luminary. When creating our next thriller opening I shall be making sure that I know how to use IMOVIE to edit our movie in an effective and professional way.

 

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Analysis Of Citizen Kane

Analysis Of CitizenKane

Welles uses the technique of using extreme close ups. This is particualry noticeable when the male subject is whsipering the word " rosebud". This has the effect of zooming in on the extreme detail and shows the important detail on an object. This is a very artifical shot and can be used for a dramatic effect, the audience could then ask why this particular shot has been used for this particular part of the scene. It achieves this effect by zooming in onto a specific part of the males face eg his mouth, it has also got the effect of feeling trapped and confined. Some audience members may feel confused as they do not know who the male subject is talking about.
At the begining of the film there is a shot taken of where the film has been set, within this shot the camera pans in on a fence.This could make the audience think of inprisonment or jail, and could make the audience ask why the there is only a specific part of the fence being shown within the shot. On the gate there is a sign saying " no trespassing" which could lead to suspense and mystery as the audience do not know what is behind it. Within this shot Welles used alot of dark shaddows which helped to create a sense of mystery as the audience could not see any of the characters faces or props clearly and would keep the audience interested. When we watch further into the scene we can see that Welles uses the technique of using a variety of props. We can see that this is particulally noticable when the male subject suddenly drops a snowglobe from his hand. This could have caused some distraction for some audience members as this certain prop had not been explained as well as others. This certain prop could have made some audience members ask what is the snowglobe significance and why is there so much focus on it. After the snow globe had been smashed the camera slowly zooms onto the broken glass from the snowglobe, from the reflection of the glass we can see there is a womanly figure entering the room, this certain effect created a feeling of mystery as the audience could not see the womans face. This effect has been achieved by this certain shot not being explained as well as others.
Welles uses the technique of slow paced non- diegetic music. This technique is particually noticable at the begining of the film when the shot is on the castle. As well as being slow paced the music is also rather low which creates a sense of mystery and suspense for the audience. This makes the audience think of horror and dispair as this music is related to fear. This could make the audience ask why has this particular peice of music been used for this particular shot. This effect has been achieved as it made the audience feel fearful and reluctant.
Welles uses the technique of fade to blacks, this is particually noticable at the begining of the film when the camera is zooming in on the castle. This certain effect is rather disturbing and uneasing as the camera is moving at a slow moving pace and can leave you feeling tense and rigid as you are unware of what could happen next. At the side of the shot there are some monkeys which could make the audience ask if the castle is still being used or whether it had been abandoned. By using this effect it could make the audience ask whether this scene has been set in a tropical country or a colder country.

No country for old men anaylis

 No Country For Old Men Anaylis

 

In the opening of No country for old men there are some still shots of the landscape, this is indicating to the audience that there is no one there. However whilst the landscape shots are being shown there is a male voice narrating in the background to which we believe is him describing a certain character within the film. With the audience not knowing who the narrator is it creates an immediate sense of mystery and suspense, these still shots of the landscape has been filmed as extreme long shots. Extreme long shots are very artificial shots ,they are used for a dramatic effect and the tight focus required means that extra care must be taken when setting up and lighting the shot - the slightest camera shake or error in focal length is very noticeable.

Further on in the opening scene some of the main characters within the film are shown, but in small factors. When the male police officer is walking towards the car with a man with whom we believe is the villain, the shot has been taken from behind (back shot). The two male subjects within the shot are in a silhouette; this creates something slightly more visually intriguing that might have the viewer guessing what it is. When we look closer in at the shot we can see that the clothing that the police officer is wearing can indicate to the audience when the film could have been set in and to help us to understand who the two male characters are.

The moment the officer placed the unknown item into the police car we immediately asked ourselves why is this person using this weapon? And overall what is the weapon? When looking at it in closer detail we can see that it is an unidentified weapon that is very rarely used by criminals. Which comes to a conclusion of that this villain is like no other.

The moment the male officer gets into the car there is a swift shot of the male that has been arrested. The males face has been darkened/ silhouetted out, however when the officer finally gets into the car his face is in full light. This shot symbolises good and evil. The shadows inside indicate that he is something to hide, and this criminal is behind bars when inside the car which could symbolise a dangerous animal in captivity.

When the dialogue has ended there is a wide angles shot of the landscape. This is showing that there is nothing for miles, and if in trouble there would be no one there to help. This is giving an indication of that the theme of the movie is isolation and solitude. Also, because the narrator has stopped speaking it makes it seem like that there is nobody around for miles.

Within the movie there are many close up shots  This shows very little background, and concentrates on either a face, or a specific detail of mise en scène. Everything else is just a blur in the background. This shot magnifies the object (think of how big it looks on a cinema screen) and shows the importance of things, be it words written on paper, or the expression on someone's face. The close-up takes us into the mind of a character. A good example of this is when the male police officer is being brutally murdered by the villain. As the camera has been placed on the floor it emphasizes the struggle of the victim and would give a larger effect for the viewers.

One of the final shots within the opening scene is a high birds eye view shot of the villain washing his hands. This shows a scene from directly overhead, a very unnatural and strange angle. Familiar objects viewed from this angle might seem totally unrecognisable at first. This shot does, however, put the audience in a godlike position, looking down on the action. People can be made to look insignificant, ant-like, part of a wider scheme of things. Within this shot the villain’s handcuffs are in the sink, which is symbolising freedom and independence. However within this show we cannot see the villain’s facial expression which can indicate that he is emotionless and unaffected by the recent events.

 

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