the dream

Analysis of The Silence of the Lambs opening.

The opening shot in ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ is a long shot, which takes us from an area high up, through the fog to a cluster of tree’s, which have been the main focus of the shot so far. The fog creates a feeling of eeriness and it also makes the viewer feel like something is about to jump out in front of the camera, because the fog has made it difficult to see. The mise-en-scene suggests that this is set in late autumn or winter because there are grey clouds, the fog shows us that it is cold and the tree’s are bare. By setting the film in this season, the weather echoes the depressing feeling that the opening scene sets. The music adds to a the disturbing atmosphere in this opening scene because the orchestral instruments give the music a sinister edge, which already suggests that this film is going to be a very dark, distressing film. The dietetic sounds also add to the tone that this opening sequence creates, because the sound of the insects, which live in the forest, play an interesting part later on in the film, when a cocoon is discovered in the back of one of Buffalo Bills victims neck. The makers of the film are already depicting nature in a negative light and a source of making the viewer scared of animals. As the camera pans slowly down and shows the female character, Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster). She is running through this forest and appears to be completing an assault course. This suggests to the viewer the nature of her work because, we would associate people in the army or in the police to be completing assault courses. We soon learn that Starling is training to be a police officer however what she is and why she is in the forest is still an enigma at this point we have an idea. As the character comes closer to the camera, a mid shot is shown of Starling and it is revealed that she is wearing sports clothes, which suggests to the viewer that she is purely exercising and is not running away from anyone. The character is running through the fog and as it becomes to unclear for us to see what she is doing the camera cuts to a close up of the woman so we can see her face clearly. The camera then follows Calrice’s feet as she runs and then to a close up of her face. These shots are all about establishing the character and trying to deduce as much about her as we can from the little information we have been given. The camera cuts to a mid shot of her running towards a rope wall. As she climbs over the wall the camera pans around her at a low angle. After climbing the wall we hear a mans voice calling Starling over. Starling does not hear him at first because she is so engrossed by what she is doing, suggesting to the viewer that she is a determined character who will not stop until she reaches her goal. The man runs over the Starling (the camera follows him doing so) and he tells Starling that Crawford, an F.B.I official, wants to see her in his office. The next shot is of a tree. The camera tilts up and down this tree so we get a full view of it and it shows the signs that are nailed to the tree which says ‘pain’, ‘hurt’, ‘agony’ and ‘love-it’. This creates an enigma code as we do not know who put these signs there and who they are meant for. The titles are played over the top of the action that is going on in the film and the films title is first shown in block, capital letters, followed by the actors names.

A long shot is shown of the building at the training base, to establish where our character is. The camera then zooms then cuts to where Clarice is inside the building. The camera follows Jodie Foster’s character as she looks for Crawford’s office. Once finding Crawford’s office Caprice looks around his office as she waits for him to return back to his office. Something catches her eye and the camera zooms in to show a close up of her reaction to what ever it is she has seen. This creates an enigma code as we want to know what she is looking at. A point of view shot allows the audience to see what it is she has seen. We can see a notice board with photographs and newspaper cuttings pinned to it. The camera then cuts back to a close up of her face and we can see her eyes scanning the board. What she sees is shown to the viewer as a point of view shot and finally stops on a newspaper cutting which says ‘BILL SKINS FIFTH’, with a picture of the victim below. This article is about the serial killer Buffalo Bill, who is a key character throughout the film. The camera cuts to a close up of Starling with a man, who we presume to be Crawford, in the background standing in the doorway. At first it is Crawford that is blurred but then as he says her name it is Sterling who is blurred, forcing the character to focus on Crawford.

Analysis of The Bourne Supremacy opening

The film, The Bourne Supremacy, starts with a series of flashbacks. During these flashbacks the camera is very shaky, which is down to the use of hand held cameras in the opening to The Bourne Supremacy. The flashbacks involve the character travelling in a moving car and the other flashbacks focus on particular objects, words, people, number and places. At first the transition is fairly slow but gradually the transition between the flashbacks get faster and faster. As the rate of the transition increases, the images become hazy and the voices, which run alongside the memories begin to echo. By doing this the director makes the audience unsure of weather or not the person, who is having the flashback is conscious or not. As the flashback ends, we hear a woman’s voice. She is begging, in a foreign language, somebody not to shot her, however we assume that she does get shot because we hear a gun shot.
We first meet our main character, Jason Bourne, as he wakes up from the flashbacks. The camera is still hand held and at this point we have a close up aerial shot of Bourne’s face. This shot shows the audience the characters anguish from what he has seen in his flashback. We know that its night time from the mise-en-scene as we can see the moonlight shining in from the window, lighting up the small dark room that the character is in. This lighting lights up Jason Bourne’s face and reveals that he is sweating, furthering the audiences belief that the character is distressed by what he has seen in his flashbacks. At the bottom of the screen we are told that we this film is set in ‘Goa, India‘, which creates an enigma code as we wonder why a man who is clearly not from Goa is in the city. As the Camera pans round to the right, we see Jason getting up to go to the bathroom. When Bourne is in the bathroom, he switches the light on and the camera cuts to a mid-shot of Jason inside the bathroom. Whilst in the bathroom Jason is searching for something in the medicine cabinet and the noise he makes wakes up a woman, who we presume to be his girlfriend. This is confirmed later on in this scene when after she has tried to comfort him she strokes her face. The camera cuts back to Jason in the bathroom and we can see the woman entering the bathroom. The camera switches to a point of view shot of the woman, who’s face seems to be confused as to why Bourne is awake. The camera cuts to a mid shot of Jason assuring the woman that he is ok and that he is only awake because he has a headache. He does not tell the woman about what he has seen in his flashback. As they leave the bathroom, the camera follows Jason to the balcony and we see a busy highway. We then cut to an over-the-shoulder shot, which shows Bourne leaning on the balcony and then to a two shot which sees the female asking Jason a question. We can see the characters relationship and body language with each other in this shot. As the camera cuts to a close up of Jason, he confides in the woman about his flashbacks and then the camera cuts to an over-the-shoulder shot of the woman, so we can see her reaction. During the conversation between the couple there are various close up and over-the-shoulder shots of the characters to show how they respond to what is being said. As the characters finish talking, we can hear music, which is very soft and calming yet also has an air of mystery. An extreme long shot is shown of the bungalow, establishing where the whole scene that has just been seen was set.
The camera switches to a mid shot of Jason sitting down at his desk, and the camera moves in closer to show his face. As he begins to write about what his flashback showed, as the woman in the previous scene told him to do, the camera cuts to a mid shot which shows Bourne writing, but it also includes a shot of the patio outside, showing that it is lighter and that some time has passed since he woke up from his flashback. The camera cuts back to a mid shot as he turns off his desk light, where we can only see he’s silhouette.

A record of Thriller Screenings

North by Northwest
The Silence of the Lambs
Kill Bill- Volume 1
Kill Bill- Volume 2
The Usual Suspects
Fargo
The Shining
28 Days Later

Martin Scorsese

• Has directed some of the most iconic thriller movies of all time, including Goodfellas and Taxi Driver, therefore I decided to look at his work in preperation for making the film, because he is a well established director of thriller movies.
• He often uses Robert Di Niro in his films.
• Scorsese often uses a clip from the middle or end of his film right at the start of the movie. We are using this idea technique in our film as we keep constantly coming back to the shot of the antagonists eyes.
• Often uses strong, white lighting.
• He often has main charcters who are sociopathic or want to be excepted into society. This is the case with our main charcter as he has a psychotic obsession with the protagonist.
• Martin Scorsese often uses long tracking shots. He most famously does this in Goodfellas, where he follows Henry Hill and Karen through the basement of a nightclub to a table. He has been dubbed the 'King of the Tracking Shot'.
• Often uses freeze frames (Raging Bull, Goodfellas and The Departed).
• His movies often start with by telling the audience about the charcters childhood.
• Like Alfred Hitchock, Scorsese is often a cameo in his films. He also gives family memebers cameo's and in Goodfella's his Mum plays Joe Pesci's mother.
• The violence in his films is realistic. We feel that the violence in our film is realisitc as we think that the violence is driven by passion and therefore more realistic because there is a motive behind what our charcter os doing.
• Often zooms into a charcters face. We have used this technique in our opening, as we have used a close up shot of the antagonists eyes.
• His main charcter often does a voiceover in the film. Scorsese believes that this gives the audeience an insight into the charcters life.
• The protagonists in his films see women as either a saint or a whore, calling it a 'madonna-whore' complex. The charcters do not understand why it when women do not fit either one of the sterotypes. To highlight this the women in his films often wear white and are captured in slow motion to show they are angelic, however as the movie progresses the women turn out to be anything like an angel. This is something that we have chosen not to adopt in our film and instead we have decided that our female charcter will be the innocent one in our film.

DVD cover analysis.

Rendition is a film starring Reese Witherspoon, Meryl Streep and Jake Gyllenhaal. The three main characters in the film are the three dominant faces on the front of the DVD cover, because by using three major Hollywood a-Lister's in your film and on your cover, people are more likely too buy the film, because the actors already have a reputation. The worried look on the faces of the actors also tells us that the film is going to be fall of The DVD cover, shows various images, faintly in the background, which gives us a indication as to what happens in the film. In the background you can see a shot of the Whitehouse, showing that this film is a political thriller. The cover is almost divided into three sections and these section are representative of which character is located where in the movie, for example Meryl Steep is in Washington, because she is a senator and handles the situation from back home and Jake Gyllenhaal face is set against a background of him in a run down area of the middle east. You can also see the slogan on the front cover of the DVD. The question, 'What if someone you loved just disappeared?' This is a direct address to the viewer and it shows that this film may also be about morale confrontation as the viewer is being asked what they would do if they were in the position of the characters.



The main image on the front of the DVD cover to The Bourne Identity shows the main actor, Matt Dillan. By putting the main character on the front cover of the DVD it can help sell a film because people may want to watch the film just because of who is in it. Like on the cover of Rendition there are stills in the background of the cover, which shows the audience the different themes of the movie e.g. we can see two characters kissing, showing that there is going to be love and romance in the film and there is also another still of two people fighting. By including these two stills on the front cover of the DVD you are appealing to two different audiences . The fighting will appeal to men whilst the kissing still will appeal to women. This cover therefore helps broaden the appeal of the film. On the cover there is a target, which suggests violence and death in the film. The two different colours on the cover show the two different elements of the film. The blue side represents the cold, calculated side of the films whilst the orange side shows the passion in the film.





The front cover of Shallow Grave makes it extremely clear to the reader that this film is a thriller movie. There is a man on the cover that appears to be dead, already showing the viewer that this film is going to be very open about death. The body, which is lying on the bed is covered in a red sheet, and red is a colour that is very prominent on the cover of this film because the word 'grave' is also in red. The red represents the blood from the murder in the film and because red is the most prominent colour on the cover of the movie it shows that death will be a major theme in the film. Th films tag line, 'Whats a little murder between friends?' is shown below the title and the picture of the three actors, instantly creates an enigma code as the audience is left wondering if these three friends are involved in the murder of the man on the bed? and if so how they have come to be involved.





The front cover of The Silence of the Lambs is chilling. The woman's face, Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster), is very ghost-like, which has been achieved by using colours that are very cold, such as white and blue. By making this character look like a ghost, the DVD is hinting towards death and murder in this film. Covering Clarice mouth is a butterfly, which links with the title of the film 'silence', as it suggests that this character is going to have control taken away from her and she is not going to be able to talk. We also wonder what relevance a butterfly has to the story. The colours of the butterfly also matches the colour of her eyes, which is the only prominent colour on the front cover of this DVD. By doing this to the eye's, it makes them stand out and it makes it feel as though she is watching us. This DVD cover is powereful because it is simple and lets the images do the talking and although it has a-list hollywood actors in it, it chooses not to display their faces (except for Jodie Foster and this picture of her is not obviously her at first glance) and the names are only very small at the bottom of the cover, just above the title.



The front cover to The Talented Mr Ripley, clearly displays the three main charcters faces, perticualr Matt Dillan, who is the main lead in the film and probably the most famous of the three actors on the front cover of the film, this is again an example of how the makers of the film is trying to sell the film to the audience. By including the three charcters on the front cover of the DVD it creates an enigma code as it leaves the audience to question how these three charcters and link and how their lives are all involved in the story? The colours on the front cover of the DVD are fairly dark, with browns, oranges and yellows. These colours create a sense of darkness and terror to the film, but its is contrast to the still of Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law in the background, which shows them in love. By including this still they are also including broden the target audience of this film because it means that women are more likely to come and see the film.

Genre and Sub-types

Definition of Thriller: a novel, play, or film with an exciting plot, typically involving crime or espionage. (Oxford Dictionary)

Charles Derry believed that there are six major subtypes in Thrillers:

The Thriller of Murderous Passions: One person is killed by either one or two of the people centred on criminal protagonist or revenge. It normally involves a Husband, a wife and a lover.
The Political Thriller: This is organised around a plot to linked with a political thriller or a revelation about a political figure/organisation.
Thriller of acquired identity: One key character acquires another person's identity and the consequences of this, normally murder.
Psychosomatic Thriller: Organised around psychotic effects of trauma on a protagonist's current involvement in the love affair and a crime or intrigue. Protagonist is always a victim- generally of some past trauma and often the real villains who take advantage of his or her masochistic guilt.
Morale confrontation: Good vs. Evil and the clash between them. The film shows the differences between them and will emphasise the parallels between them.
Innocent on the run: Organised around an innocent victim coincidental entry into the midst of global intrigue. The victim often finds himself running from the villains as well as the police.

We have used these sub-types to help us develop the plot for our own film opening. There is an element of innocent on the run, as the protagonist is being followed home. There is also morale confrontation in our opening as the protagonist and antagonists represent the battle between good vs. evil. The sub genre that we are focusing on is the psychosomatic thriller as our opening will be organised around the psychotic thoughts that our antagonist has for the protagonist.

Analysis of short thriller film clip

Seven- Seven was made in 1995 and was directed by David Fincher. It stars Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman and in my opinion is one of the most effective openings to a thriller that I have watched. The music which opens this film is very much jumpy and jerky, creating a very sinister feel to the opening of this film. The music accompanied with a series of images showing the murderer gathering together what he needs for his killings. These images help build up a bigger picture of what is going to happen in the story. These shots are all in black, white and occasionally red, representing blood and therefore showing the menacing nature of the film. We never see the murders face, which i think adds suspense to the film. The titles are all over the screen and have no consistently as to where they appear, showing the uncertainty the murderer is trying to create.

Psycho- This film was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and is possibly one of the most famous thriller films of all time. The music is possibly the most effective part of the opening, which starts in an everyday setting. The score, which was produced by Bernard Herrmann who produced much of the music for Hitchcock’s films, is very frantic and high pitched, almost as though some one if screeching. It gives the audience the feeling that someone is being chased. In the opening titles of Psycho Hitchcock’s name appears twice, showing that films are often sold on who either stars in them or directs them.

North by Northwest- North by Northwest is another Hitchcock film, which opening titles were very reminiscent of Psycho. Hitchcock’s name again appears twice, showing that films were often sold on who either stars in them or directs them. The music in the opening of North by Northwest, also produced by Bernard Herrmann, is also very similar to the score in Psycho, as it is frantic and jumpy. The jumpiness of the score is representative of the ups and downs of the films story. The music is also slightly frantic, echoing the fact that our main character, Roger Thornhill, spends most of the film on the run from both the police and Phillip Vandamm’s gang.

The Usual Suspects- This film was directed by Bryan Singer. The colours in this opening are all very dark, as you would expect in a thriller movie, The camera is panning over the water at night and we see a man starting a fire. This instantly grabs the audience's attention from the very start of the film. The music, like all the other films i have looked at in this blog, is orchasteral and menacing.

Moodboard

Analysis of Practical task.

I think that one of the main thriller conventions that our piece highlights is the idea of dramatic irony because although the viewer knows that there is someone waiting to attack the school the people in the school are completely oblivious to this fact and we see them carrying on with their everyday life e.g. washing the dishes and typing at a computer. I think that we have done this successfully to a degree; however I think that if we were to improve the film then we would have to find someway of making it clearer to the audience that the people who are doing the everyday things are. I think one way we could have done this would have been showing a shot of the front of the school to establish where we are.

One of the most successful factors of this piece is the fact that we have already established antagonists, with the terrorists attacking the school. I think we have done this well because we have used two clips of them showing them attacking the school, already portraying them as villains. We have not really found our protagonist in the piece yet, however you could suggest that the newsreader is a hero in his way as he is trying to warn the school about the danger they face. It is typical of a horror film to have an antagonist and protagonist.

The main social group that is represented in our short film is terrorists, as they are the people shown to be breaking into the school using threatening behaviour. Another social group that we have represented in this piece is college students, which we have done by showing them working. I think that we have presented these social groups well however I think that the representation of the teenagers could have been stronger if we would have shown them in larger crowds and would have shown them being completely oblivious to the fact that they are being attacked. I think that this would have improved the film as it would have helped increase the dramatic irony.

The media institutions that would distribute our media product would probably be Constantin Studios or Universal studios as these are the two studios most well know for realising horror films.

I think that the audience that are most likely to go and watch our film would be teenagers and young adults as they are the age group which is represented in our film and this is also the age group that are most likely to go and watch a horror film. I think that we have attracted our audience by using characters that are there same age, showing that they are the same age as the audience, meaning the audience can relate to these characters.

The technologies that I have learnt through making this film is how to layer sound over the top of different clips (as we have done with the newsreaders voiceover) and I have learnt how important it is to get the right lighting in a scene. I think that from this task I have found out the importance of the right lighting in a scene. For example the lighting needs to be improved in the newsreaders clip and also I would like it to be darker when the protagonists are running into the school. I think that if the lighting had been darker then the weather would have matched the mood of the film and would have made the piece fell more sinister.

Overall I think that in this film I have learnt about the importance of lighting. One of the other benefits of doing this task was that I learnt how to use the software better, meaning that when it comes to creating my main film I will be fully equipped with the skills I need to make my film as successful as it can be.

Narrative Theories

• Sergei Eisenstein theory that the narrative of story is told through a series of shots that are all related through their differences. He also believed that when simple images are put next to each other it could convey complex ideas. An example of this is Battleship Potemkin.
• Laura Mulvey believes that Hollywood films often portray men as strong characters and women as quite, passive characters. A film that would fit this theory would be A Damsel in Distress
• Lev Kuleshov believe in the 'Kuleshov effect', which means the minioulation of meaning through editing. An example of this is One flew over the Cuckoo's nest, because this film demonstrates how the viewer can be moved subtly into the scene.
• David Bordwell divides the narrative of a film into sections, the Syuzhet (the order of events) and Fabula (The chronological order that the events took place). Bordwell believes that when viewers are watching the Syuzhet they reconstruct the Fabula in their minds. He believes that meaning is created in a film through the thought process rather then an emotional process.
• Mary Ann Doane, believes that in films women can only take on two roles: they can either be strong women who identify with men, such as Lois Lane in Superman or women can be viewed as the damsel in distress who needs to constantly be saved by men.
• Charles Derry, believed that there are six major subtypes in Thrillers.
  The Thriller of Murderous Passions, The Political Thriller, Thriller of acquired identity,
  Psychosomatic Thriller, Morale confrontation and Innocent on the run.
• Todorov believes in the theory of equilbrium, where a film starts with a state of equilibrium and then the trouble unfolds from there.

We will try to use and develop these narrative theories in our work. In the planning stage we have played perticular attention to Charles Derry's subtypes to help us develop a plot. We have used the idea of creating a hybrid thriller about Murderous passion and innocent on the run.