Tuesday, 14 December 2010
Thursday, 9 December 2010
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
Tuesday, 7 September 2010
eng
Describe the ways in which Heaney and Swift explore the theme of The Role of Women
The significant theme of female roles is portrayed through Heaney’s work, specifically focusing on poems such as ‘Undine’ and ‘Bog Queen’. This is also an evident theme in Graham Swifts ‘Waterland’. Swifts approach to the role of women portrays them to be the underclass of society and puts them in a particularly nuclear role, whereas Heaney voices the women in his poems, giving them a sense of power.
Each of the texts propose the idea of empowerment through the sexuality of women, which is seen in Heaney’s ‘Undine’. Undine refers to the idea of water nymphs, which in Greek mythology is used to describe Goddess’ of nature. Mythological nymphs are commonly seen to be outside of male control due to their sexual nature. This power through sexuality is portrayed in Undine as Heaney uses a semantic field referring to sexuality in the water, which is seen through the lexis “I swallowed his trench”. This innuendo associates itself with the sexuality of women, giving them a powerful voice and control over men. Personification is used whilst Heaney is letting the water explain the narrative, which is seen as “he explored me so completely”. Use of the word “explore” personifies the water spirit, giving it a sense of something to discover. This reinforces the idea of female empowerment as the water spirit holds a mystery over the male character which he has to find. However, Undine could be interpreted differently as Heaney describes the nymph as losing “its cold freedom”. The use of the lexis “freedom” suggests something that has been trapped previously. Additionally, binary opposites are used as she describes her freedom as “cold”, suggesting that it may be an unwanted or negative freedom from something she did not want to be released from. Therefore, this subverts the idea of female authority. Furthermore, the use of personal pronouns in the text suggest an obsession with the male character, giving him power. Commands such as “he dug a spade deep in my flank” suggest that the water spirit is being used or taken control over by the man. This is also an issue in Swifts “Holes and Things”, where Mary is described by male view point, giving him full control over how she is portrayed.
The significant theme of female roles is portrayed through Heaney’s work, specifically focusing on poems such as ‘Undine’ and ‘Bog Queen’. This is also an evident theme in Graham Swifts ‘Waterland’. Swifts approach to the role of women portrays them to be the underclass of society and puts them in a particularly nuclear role, whereas Heaney voices the women in his poems, giving them a sense of power.
Each of the texts propose the idea of empowerment through the sexuality of women, which is seen in Heaney’s ‘Undine’. Undine refers to the idea of water nymphs, which in Greek mythology is used to describe Goddess’ of nature. Mythological nymphs are commonly seen to be outside of male control due to their sexual nature. This power through sexuality is portrayed in Undine as Heaney uses a semantic field referring to sexuality in the water, which is seen through the lexis “I swallowed his trench”. This innuendo associates itself with the sexuality of women, giving them a powerful voice and control over men. Personification is used whilst Heaney is letting the water explain the narrative, which is seen as “he explored me so completely”. Use of the word “explore” personifies the water spirit, giving it a sense of something to discover. This reinforces the idea of female empowerment as the water spirit holds a mystery over the male character which he has to find. However, Undine could be interpreted differently as Heaney describes the nymph as losing “its cold freedom”. The use of the lexis “freedom” suggests something that has been trapped previously. Additionally, binary opposites are used as she describes her freedom as “cold”, suggesting that it may be an unwanted or negative freedom from something she did not want to be released from. Therefore, this subverts the idea of female authority. Furthermore, the use of personal pronouns in the text suggest an obsession with the male character, giving him power. Commands such as “he dug a spade deep in my flank” suggest that the water spirit is being used or taken control over by the man. This is also an issue in Swifts “Holes and Things”, where Mary is described by male view point, giving him full control over how she is portrayed.
Monday, 5 April 2010
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The product that we have created follows the life of a seventeen year old boy, who has recently taken place in the killing of a young woman. Although we have used a typical thriller narrative for this piece, starting on disequilibrium, it goes against many of the codes and conventions of typical mainstream thriller films. The theme of justice surrounds the concept of the thriller, which is evident in the voice-over as the character talks about previous murders that have happened in history. Whilst describing these murders, the voice-over lists the names of the killers/victims, the date, the location and finally a reason for their murder. However, surrounding this is the question of ‘do these murders justify these actions?’ The idea of justification is a conventional theme surrounding thriller films, such as in ‘The Third Man’. Therefore, this is going against the typical codes and conventions of a thriller.
The most profound influence of our thriller is Gus Van Sant’s ‘Paranoid Park’, which follows the life of a teenage boy who takes part in the accidental death of a security guard. This narrative is based around the theme of the anxiety and closure as the young male tries to hide his secret, in attempt to come to terms with it himself. This independent piece of film shows similarities to our thriller through its use of characters. Characters in both of these narratives use the role of an antagonistic male teenager, who has proceeded in ruthless murder. Although the audience is aware of the fact that murder is extremely unethical, there is a slight attraction for the character, which is elicited by his young age. Furthermore, the dress codes in each of the films represent certain teenage social groups. Paranoid Park uses the influence of the ‘skater’ culture to present their characters in a youthful way. We have taken influence from this idea and created an alternative ‘indie’ look for our character. This represents the idea of youth as these fashions are based around this age group. However, our characters costume has an edgy, conventional thriller sense as his long suede coat attempts to hide his identity. This creates a sense of ambiguity in the character, leaving the audience on edge throughout the opening sequence, which is a convention of typical thrillers as the idea of ambiguity and mystery is important in the characters roles.
The lighting, on the other hand, has been influenced by conventional thrillers such as ‘Identity’, which is on the mainstream brand of thrillers. The lighting chosen in our thriller uses contrasts of dark light with orange, suggesting the idea of heat and anxiety surrounding the character. This use of ambient light, such as a street light, is extremely conventional of a thriller as it creates ambiguity to the setting, which reflects on the audience’s insecurities and fears. In addition, dark light emphasises the idea of the isolation and the unknown. Additionally, the location used (Chapelfield gardens) is shown to be on the outskirts of a suburban area, which could have reference to films such as ‘American Psycho’. This park based area is very isolated from the rest of the city, which suggests that there are many people in the city, yet this area is extremely inaccessible so it is free for a killer to roam in. The use of the underpass in our thriller also suggests isolation as it is clear rebellion has taken place in this area due to the mass amounts of graffiti on the walls. This may lead the audience to feel uneasy about the location as during the night time this area is very lonely and there is no access to help. This is a typical convention of thriller as the idea of isolation creates a more exciting plot in the film because it creates fear and involves the audience.
The use of cinematography in our piece has been hugely influenced by films such as ‘Elephant’. The many tracking and dolly shots that are used in this piece of film have imitated in our product. These dolly and tracking shots suggest that we are following the villain and observing his behaviour. Furthermore, high angle shots are used in the second shot of our thriller, where a girl’s corpse is laying in a bath. The motivation for this concept and shot was originally from Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’ (to the left), a mainstream thriller with independent aspects, with a famous shower murder scene. This has influenced the bath scene in our thriller as it shows a shock as the audience are suddenly cut to a body in the bath.
The editing techniques we have used throughout the production of our thriller have included many cut and cross fade transactions. The opening sequence quickly cuts from the tap to a girl in the bath to create a shocking atmosphere from the audience due to the fast transactions. Moreover, when there is a change in locations many cross fades are used so that there is a good sense of continuity. We have used the idea of slowing down and speeding up scenes also, which is evident in our tap shot where the water is in slow motion. Also, fast motion is seen in a long shot of the villain sitting on the bench with many people passing by. Slow and fast motion create a sense of disorientation to the audience, making them feel uneasy and insecure as to what is about to happen. Quick transactions are very popular in the genre of thriller as they suggest action and shock. Cross fades, however, are mainly shown in trailers and towards the end/start of films. Therefore, the use of cross fades challenges the idea of conventional thriller editing. On the other hand, slow motion is a distinctive characteristic of thrillers as they show the action in a slow format, as to disorientate the audience. This slow motion technique is evident in films such as ‘Elephant’, where slow motion takes place in order to show the audience the cliques in high school and the latter effect it can have. This concept may suggest that if we slowed down reality, and were able to see these things, we may be able to stop tragic events like this from happening.
The sound is a key factor to the production of our film. For the means of the soundtrack, we decided on an alternative acoustic artist called Sam Rodwell (www.myspace.com/samrodwell). This acoustic music challenged the stereotype of thriller soundtracks, as it used a dark, yet beauty filled energy to the scene. This is in relation to Van Sant films such as ‘Paranoid Park’ and ‘Good Will Hunting’, which use a vast amount of Elliott Smith tracks to project emotion through the film. Therefore, our film underlies the independent side of thriller genre. Moreover, we have used a voice over to explain the linear narrative of the film. The voice begins by whispering different murders and motivations and goes on to say about his experience and motivation for what he has done. The voice-over in our piece is typical of thriller and is evident in Tarantino’s ‘True Romance’. The sound of the male’s voice is extremely husky and dark, which fits in to the setting and lighting of the piece.
In conclusion, our thriller fits many codes and conventions of typical thriller through its concept and use of location/lighting. However, the use of acoustic music and the villain himself do not fit the codes and conventions of typical thriller. The amount of conventional thriller aspects over ride the independent challenges of conventional thriller film. Although our film shows many aspects of independent film, it does not fit the criteria as much as it does mainstream. Overall, our film meets the mainstream criteria of thriller.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
For the victim, we used a female character in order to represent women to be extremely vulnerable. This is shown as the corpse of a woman is seen in the bath, which suggests that she had been dominated by the male character in the sequence. However, the naked aspect of the woman in the bath suggests that she may be the typical femme fatale of the thriller genre. The bright use of lighting in this scene, reflecting on the whites and silvers of the bathroom suggests that the woman is extremely vulnerable and too pure to deserve the consequence of murder. This is evident in other films such as Psycho and Insomnia with the use of whites and silvers. Also, the location of a bathroom and the use of clean water suggest that the act against this woman was not overly sadistic and gory. It does, however, suggest the weakness and virtue of the female victim lying in the pure water and may connote that she is a part of this purity. The water also suggests the idea of claustrophobia as it is trapping the woman from air to breathe. This connotes that the woman is trapped in the circle of a serial killers activity.
The short use of camera shots surrounding the woman includes high angled shots/birds eye shots, suggesting that she is inferior as the camera is dominating her. This suggests that the social representation of women is very weak and fragile. Furthermore, the quick transactions in the editing of the film brings shock to the audience that there has been discrimination against the female gender in terms of her murder.
Thirdly, the use of sound in the product suggests purity of the female victim as we hear the sound of water dripping in to the bath. The concept of water is typically seen to be pure, which is shown in baptisms and reflects on the woman as the sound is existent whilst the camera focuses on her. Additionally, the voice-over that is evident in the film refers to the woman as “her”, which suggests that she is of no importance to the man. This creates connotations of irrelevance to women.
On the other hand, the male villain in the thriller is shown to be ambiguous and a mystery to the audience. This is evident in his costume as he is seen wearing a long brown coat, which hides his identity from the audience. This is a typical convention of thrillers as ambiguity creates fear for the audience, keeping them on edge throughout the film due to the popular fear of the unknown. Furthermore, the brown coat blends in with the dark lighting in the outside location, which also hides his identity and creates mystery. However, this dark blend of costume and lighting suggests that the character is dark within himself, which is a very fearful characteristic. However, the lighting which is seen in the underpass scene is brighter than the latter lighting. This lighting highlights the man as he is walking from the light and in to the darkness as leaves the underpass. This connotes that the man is going from normality in to darkness after he has performed a murder. This is a metaphor for the man’s life journey of how this event has changed him forever, which is a contrast to the phrase ’light at the end of the tunnel’ and suggests that this is a ’darkness at the end of the tunnel’. This creates a sinister atmosphere surrounding the male gender as it shows superiority and threat over the audience through the use of darkness. Additionally, the location of the opening sequence creates the idea of loneliness and isolation within the male character. This is shown as he is seen sitting alone on a bench in a park, surrounded by trees. The trees in the scene suggest that he is being trapped as they tower over him and may suggest that he is as trapped as the victim. This suggests that he is an inferior character, trapped by his hunger to kill - the trees may be a metaphor for the actions he has previously taken place in.
The camera shots used based around the male antagonist of the piece includes many dolly and tracking shots, inspired from Van Sant film ‘Elephant’. These shots create the idea of the audience following the villain, suggesting that he is the centre of attention in the film and may be being stalked. Furthermore, there is use of low angled shots as the villain is walking through the underpass, which connotes superiority in his character over the audience. This intimidation towards the audience creates tension and makes the film have more of a thriller essence. Whereas, the shots of the bath are high angle/birds eye shots, which connote inferiority and suggest the character is a victim. The use of long shots in the bench scene connotes isolation within his character, which is a threat as his loneliness may be a possible motivation for his murders. This isolation is also evident in the editing of fast motion techniques, which emphasises that he is careless of the people walking by and they do not mean anything to him. Furthermore, the fast motion creates more focus on the villain, which also suggests that he is the centre of attention in the sequence. Additionally, the quick transactions suggest the idea of quick action and decisions, backing the idea of lack of motivation for the killer.
The voice-over that is used throughout the film is an aspect which emphasises the carelessness of the male villain. This is shown in the monotone, average sound of the villain’s voice as he is explaining motives for his murder. This is shown further as the villain claims that he is a “natural born killer”, suggesting that his dominant and threatening motives are in his nature so he is a threat to society. The music, however, suggests that the character is very emotional through its use of minor acoustic sounds. This creates a negative, emotional atmosphere surrounding the male antagonist. Furthermore, the fact that the voice-over is narrated by the male villain suggests that he is the main character and of more importance than anyone else, which connotes dominance.
The representation of youth in our product emerged from ‘Paranoid Park’, which suggests the innocence of youth in contrast with tragedy such as murder. This suggests that youths are vulnerable and innocent, which leads to horrific events such as murders and suicides. Both our film and Paranoid Park show the audience a realistic representation of the consequence of teenager’s insecurities and problems. Youthful, but dark personality is portrayed through an indie fashion inspired costume, which is aimed at a teenage age group, which suggests that he is of this target audience. However, the dark colours and long aspect of his coat suggest that he insecure and troublesome so he will not reveal his identity to the audience. The lighting in the sequence also connotes the insecurities of youth through its dim, dark projection. Furthermore, the isolation of the location used suggests that the youth filled character is lonely and isolated like the location, which may be a motive for his actions of murder.
The use of dolly and tracking shots used is used as a metaphor for the journey that this
Teen is taking and the life changing process he is going through. This is due to the camera following the character everywhere and following his journey. This journey could be the journey of going from teenager to man, or the life changing process that occurs after he has taken place in a murder. The editing also conveys confusion in the teenager as slow motion and fast motion techniques are used to create disorientation in the character, which emphasises his confusing age. Additionally, the dolly shot that uses the moon as a point of focus, which is metaphorical for how far away from reality the boy is due to the distance the moon is at and could be similar to movies such as ‘Donnie Darko’, where the moon is referenced in many of the shots to connote the boy’s detachment from reality.
The soundtrack that we have used generally applies to a younger audience, which reflects on the character and emphasises the fact that there is a younger person in our product.
In conclusion, the representation of women in the product shows a vulnerable victim who is inferior to men. Whereas, the man in the film is shown to be extremely dominant and threatening, this is particularly over women as seen in the beginning sequence. However, the youthful aspect in this male brings out the insecurities and confusion in his personality despite his threatening attitude, which may create sympathy from the audience for the character.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Our film would be promoted through the use of internet advertising on social networking sites such as MySpace and Lastfm. This is due to the fact that our thriller targets the audience of 15-20 year olds and social networking sites are popular within this age group. Furthermore, Lastfm would be used for advertising because our film bases itself widely on music and this music website would allow the artist to gain popularity, as well as the film.
Our product would be funded by companies such as Warp due to their gritty representation of England. Our film may be able to relate to this aspect of Warp films as this product shows a realistic representation of youth. To add on that, our film shows a gritty representation of murder and Warp would base their investment on thrillers rather than companies such as Working Title. Therefore, this would be the most appropriate investor for our thriller. Furthermore, we would be able to create an independent product with a mainstream edge and this company would be available to do this.
Our thriller would be shown in art house cinemas and cinemas such as ‘Cinema City’. This is due to the fact that Cinema City distributes mainstream based films along with independent, but very few. Our film could be distributed as one of the few mainstream films they show due to the fact that it has innovative aspects. Additionally, television channels such as Film4 would show our thriller around the time of 11:00pm. This is due to the fact that the age certification (15) would only allow the film to be shown at this time. Furthermore, Film4 distributes underground films such as this which would help us gain audiences. To add on this, we would put our film in cinema to begin with and later put it on DVD. This is due to the fact that it will create a better promotion for our film being in the cinema first and let people see it before buying it, which is a huge advantage for the audience.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
As I began the planning of my product, I wanted to target the audience of 15-19 year olds due to the fact that, being this age, I know the most about this specific age group. In addition, we chose a specific clique in this age group, which were alternative teenagers. This was due to the fact that we aimed to create an independent product that would appeal to an artier group of people. However, this independent structure became a problem as many mainstream characteristics were gained in the process of making the film, but it does have a more alternative view of mainstream. Therefore, it still applies to this audience.
The characters attitudes and values may appeal to this audience through their carelessness and hatred for society. This is shown whilst the narrative is being explained by a voice-over. Teenagers are typically seen to dislike society due to their adolescence changing their attitudes. Additionally, the costume that has been chosen for the characters connotes a youthful attitude. This is due to the dark colour pallet including greys and browns, which suggest darkness in the characters attitudes – the audience may be able to relate to this. We decided against a colourful costume because it would create a positive atmosphere surrounding the character, which would not appeal to the audience, despite the fact that it may suggest insanity.
The location used creates the idea of isolation and loneliness, which the audience is able to relate to because typically this age is found to feel the most isolated. The lighting reflects on this as well because it is very dim and dark, which may reflect on the audience and characters feelings. Therefore, the audience is able to relate to the character, which would attract them because this may be very therapeutic.
The soundtrack that is used is an alternative acoustic track by a local artist. This would appeal to my audience because this genre is more popular within this age group due to the raw emotion that is projected from it. Therefore, the soundtrack would attract a younger audience and this way the film would appeal to them also.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
At the beginning of this project, the knowledge I had on camera shots and angles was fairly clear. However, the knowledge available with editing was extremely limited as the only experience of editing I had was music editing software. On the other hand, I was aware of the different camera shots, movements and angles and what connotations this would create within our thriller, which is shown in our shot list and storyboard.
Secondly, the opening of our thriller uses our knowledge of camera shots and movement through the constant use of tracking and dolly shots following the villain, which fit’s the codes and conventions of the thriller genre. Furthermore, the use of low angled shots through the underpass were essential to our thriller to connote dominance in the villain. On the other hand, we were not aware of the effect point of focus has on the audience. We became aware of this camera technique and used it in the bench scene, where the moon is used as a point of focus to draw the audience in to the scene. The moon has associations with witch craft and supernatural events, therefore it connotes danger in this point of focus - when a full moon is used it generally suggests that something bad is forthcoming. However, this is not to be mistaken for the horror genre and our use of the moon does not suggest supernatural events are going to occur, but it connotes danger. Additionally, the use of panning in the end scene creates a more effective ending than we had planned for. This creates the idea of the unknown as the villain goes out of sight whilst the camera is panning upwards.
In addition, the use of cuts we used in our editing created a shocking narrative as they were quick transitions from the start, which I was aware would be effective. However, the use of cross fades eased the transition due to the change of location from the beginning to the underpass scene. This also created a great sense of continuity, whereas a cut would be too quick and would confuse the audience as to why the location had changed. I was unaware of this technique and its effect on continuity before I began editing and it has been a good asset to the production of our film. In addition, the use of distorting time to speed up/slow down creates a disorientation of the situation for the audience - I was unaware of the huge effect that this would have to our thriller and how it fit’s the codes and conventions of a thriller. Furthermore, the input of the voice-over enabled us to create a more interesting narrative and helped us gain more of a structured narrative to the opening.
In conclusion, the knowledge gained on editing was extremely helpful in the process of making our film. Likewise, the knowledge that we already had on camera shots, movement and angles helped us create a thriller based film that was able to engage the audience. However, if I were to change any aspect of our film it would be the use of title for the ending to make this more relevant to the storyline and to create the font to be more thriller esc.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
We set out to create an evil twin in our preliminary task video, which helped us to learnt about the rule of thirds and editing techniques to create a double. We planned to learn more about editing techniques we might be able to use in our thriller and the use of camera shots and angles we were able to use with the availability of equipment.
Firstly, we set up a camera map where we would have the characters and cameras so we were able to use this map whilst filming so it would be quicker and more organised. Also, we created a storyboard so that we were able to explain to each other what each shot meant and why we were using it, as well as it giving us an outline of continuity in the film. Thus, with this we later began to film.
With the absence of one of our group members, Will and I decided to plan out shooting schedules and shot lists to help us as we began to film. This enabled us to work together so that we both agreed on the concept that we had thought up and the shots we were going to use to suggest this. Furthermore, the shooting schedule was merely so we were able to both attend the shooting, which worked according to our plan. I began to research in to different sub genres of thriller in order to gain a concept for our product. Finally, I found influence from director Gus Van Sant as I watched several of his films. However, ‘Paranoid Park’ stood out to me the most and I gained a concept based around the idea of youth and cleared this with Will after lending him the DVD. Whilst I was in charge of the general planning of the production, Will took the responsibility of camera work and techniques. However, I attended all shootings so that I was able to have an input on this also. Will also took charge of the storyboard planning which evolved from the shot list which we both constructed. This aided us in the shooting of our film as we were able to refer back to the storyboard to see which shots to use. Furthermore, I created the costume, character descriptions, script, treatment, influences, found the music etc. However, I still attended all shootings and contributed to editing also. Overall, Will and I worked well together because we combined our ideas and were open to each other about what we did or did not want from the production. The end product is evidence of our team work and what it has helped us gain.
The strengths to our film include the broad use of shots and reference to other thrillers, which helped us apply the codes and conventions of a thriller. However, it has been said that our thriller gives too much away in the first glance. To argue against this, our thriller is based around the idea of conscience and the fact that the villain is still roaming the streets. This may cause the audience to ask ‘is he going to get caught?’ or ‘what is he going to do next?’. However, taking this critique in to consideration, we have decided to change the ending in order to create a more thrilling opening and leave the audience in shock, which fit’s the thriller genre more adequately.
The most important thing I have learnt from the production of our thriller is how to satisfy an audience. To satisfy an audience you need to create an excellent storyline which leaves them on edge all throughout the film. This is evident in the opening of our thriller, which is a very thrilling sequence which keeps the audience on edge. Furthermore, the satisfaction of the audience also relies on characters attitudes, which is why we spent a long time discussing the representation of our character, his persona, his look and the script. We did this by choosing the character to be the same age as our target audience and created an appealing ’indie’ look for him.
In conclusion, the production of our preliminary task aided us in the production of our thriller. This was due to the fact that we were then able to recognise the weaknesses of our preliminary task so we did not make these mistakes in our thriller. Furthermore, it gave us an idea of how our thriller would be produced and pan out, along with giving us an imagination so we could develop our thriller in to something original.
The product that we have created follows the life of a seventeen year old boy, who has recently taken place in the killing of a young woman. Although we have used a typical thriller narrative for this piece, starting on disequilibrium, it goes against many of the codes and conventions of typical mainstream thriller films. The theme of justice surrounds the concept of the thriller, which is evident in the voice-over as the character talks about previous murders that have happened in history. Whilst describing these murders, the voice-over lists the names of the killers/victims, the date, the location and finally a reason for their murder. However, surrounding this is the question of ‘do these murders justify these actions?’ The idea of justification is a conventional theme surrounding thriller films, such as in ‘The Third Man’. Therefore, this is going against the typical codes and conventions of a thriller.
The most profound influence of our thriller is Gus Van Sant’s ‘Paranoid Park’, which follows the life of a teenage boy who takes part in the accidental death of a security guard. This narrative is based around the theme of the anxiety and closure as the young male tries to hide his secret, in attempt to come to terms with it himself. This independent piece of film shows similarities to our thriller through its use of characters. Characters in both of these narratives use the role of an antagonistic male teenager, who has proceeded in ruthless murder. Although the audience is aware of the fact that murder is extremely unethical, there is a slight attraction for the character, which is elicited by his young age. Furthermore, the dress codes in each of the films represent certain teenage social groups. Paranoid Park uses the influence of the ‘skater’ culture to present their characters in a youthful way. We have taken influence from this idea and created an alternative ‘indie’ look for our character. This represents the idea of youth as these fashions are based around this age group. However, our characters costume has an edgy, conventional thriller sense as his long suede coat attempts to hide his identity. This creates a sense of ambiguity in the character, leaving the audience on edge throughout the opening sequence, which is a convention of typical thrillers as the idea of ambiguity and mystery is important in the characters roles.
The lighting, on the other hand, has been influenced by conventional thrillers such as ‘Identity’, which is on the mainstream brand of thrillers. The lighting chosen in our thriller uses contrasts of dark light with orange, suggesting the idea of heat and anxiety surrounding the character. This use of ambient light, such as a street light, is extremely conventional of a thriller as it creates ambiguity to the setting, which reflects on the audience’s insecurities and fears. In addition, dark light emphasises the idea of the isolation and the unknown. Additionally, the location used (Chapelfield gardens) is shown to be on the outskirts of a suburban area, which could have reference to films such as ‘American Psycho’. This park based area is very isolated from the rest of the city, which suggests that there are many people in the city, yet this area is extremely inaccessible so it is free for a killer to roam in. The use of the underpass in our thriller also suggests isolation as it is clear rebellion has taken place in this area due to the mass amounts of graffiti on the walls. This may lead the audience to feel uneasy about the location as during the night time this area is very lonely and there is no access to help. This is a typical convention of thriller as the idea of isolation creates a more exciting plot in the film because it creates fear and involves the audience.
The use of cinematography in our piece has been hugely influenced by films such as ‘Elephant’. The many tracking and dolly shots that are used in this piece of film have imitated in our product. These dolly and tracking shots suggest that we are following the villain and observing his behaviour. Furthermore, high angle shots are used in the second shot of our thriller, where a girl’s corpse is laying in a bath. The motivation for this concept and shot was originally from Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’ (to the left), a mainstream thriller with independent aspects, with a famous shower murder scene. This has influenced the bath scene in our thriller as it shows a shock as the audience are suddenly cut to a body in the bath.
The editing techniques we have used throughout the production of our thriller have included many cut and cross fade transactions. The opening sequence quickly cuts from the tap to a girl in the bath to create a shocking atmosphere from the audience due to the fast transactions. Moreover, when there is a change in locations many cross fades are used so that there is a good sense of continuity. We have used the idea of slowing down and speeding up scenes also, which is evident in our tap shot where the water is in slow motion. Also, fast motion is seen in a long shot of the villain sitting on the bench with many people passing by. Slow and fast motion create a sense of disorientation to the audience, making them feel uneasy and insecure as to what is about to happen. Quick transactions are very popular in the genre of thriller as they suggest action and shock. Cross fades, however, are mainly shown in trailers and towards the end/start of films. Therefore, the use of cross fades challenges the idea of conventional thriller editing. On the other hand, slow motion is a distinctive characteristic of thrillers as they show the action in a slow format, as to disorientate the audience. This slow motion technique is evident in films such as ‘Elephant’, where slow motion takes place in order to show the audience the cliques in high school and the latter effect it can have. This concept may suggest that if we slowed down reality, and were able to see these things, we may be able to stop tragic events like this from happening.
The sound is a key factor to the production of our film. For the means of the soundtrack, we decided on an alternative acoustic artist called Sam Rodwell (www.myspace.com/samrodwell). This acoustic music challenged the stereotype of thriller soundtracks, as it used a dark, yet beauty filled energy to the scene. This is in relation to Van Sant films such as ‘Paranoid Park’ and ‘Good Will Hunting’, which use a vast amount of Elliott Smith tracks to project emotion through the film. Therefore, our film underlies the independent side of thriller genre. Moreover, we have used a voice over to explain the linear narrative of the film. The voice begins by whispering different murders and motivations and goes on to say about his experience and motivation for what he has done. The voice-over in our piece is typical of thriller and is evident in Tarantino’s ‘True Romance’. The sound of the male’s voice is extremely husky and dark, which fits in to the setting and lighting of the piece.
In conclusion, our thriller fits many codes and conventions of typical thriller through its concept and use of location/lighting. However, the use of acoustic music and the villain himself do not fit the codes and conventions of typical thriller. The amount of conventional thriller aspects over ride the independent challenges of conventional thriller film. Although our film shows many aspects of independent film, it does not fit the criteria as much as it does mainstream. Overall, our film meets the mainstream criteria of thriller.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
For the victim, we used a female character in order to represent women to be extremely vulnerable. This is shown as the corpse of a woman is seen in the bath, which suggests that she had been dominated by the male character in the sequence. However, the naked aspect of the woman in the bath suggests that she may be the typical femme fatale of the thriller genre. The bright use of lighting in this scene, reflecting on the whites and silvers of the bathroom suggests that the woman is extremely vulnerable and too pure to deserve the consequence of murder. This is evident in other films such as Psycho and Insomnia with the use of whites and silvers. Also, the location of a bathroom and the use of clean water suggest that the act against this woman was not overly sadistic and gory. It does, however, suggest the weakness and virtue of the female victim lying in the pure water and may connote that she is a part of this purity. The water also suggests the idea of claustrophobia as it is trapping the woman from air to breathe. This connotes that the woman is trapped in the circle of a serial killers activity.
The short use of camera shots surrounding the woman includes high angled shots/birds eye shots, suggesting that she is inferior as the camera is dominating her. This suggests that the social representation of women is very weak and fragile. Furthermore, the quick transactions in the editing of the film brings shock to the audience that there has been discrimination against the female gender in terms of her murder.
Thirdly, the use of sound in the product suggests purity of the female victim as we hear the sound of water dripping in to the bath. The concept of water is typically seen to be pure, which is shown in baptisms and reflects on the woman as the sound is existent whilst the camera focuses on her. Additionally, the voice-over that is evident in the film refers to the woman as “her”, which suggests that she is of no importance to the man. This creates connotations of irrelevance to women.
On the other hand, the male villain in the thriller is shown to be ambiguous and a mystery to the audience. This is evident in his costume as he is seen wearing a long brown coat, which hides his identity from the audience. This is a typical convention of thrillers as ambiguity creates fear for the audience, keeping them on edge throughout the film due to the popular fear of the unknown. Furthermore, the brown coat blends in with the dark lighting in the outside location, which also hides his identity and creates mystery. However, this dark blend of costume and lighting suggests that the character is dark within himself, which is a very fearful characteristic. However, the lighting which is seen in the underpass scene is brighter than the latter lighting. This lighting highlights the man as he is walking from the light and in to the darkness as leaves the underpass. This connotes that the man is going from normality in to darkness after he has performed a murder. This is a metaphor for the man’s life journey of how this event has changed him forever, which is a contrast to the phrase ’light at the end of the tunnel’ and suggests that this is a ’darkness at the end of the tunnel’. This creates a sinister atmosphere surrounding the male gender as it shows superiority and threat over the audience through the use of darkness. Additionally, the location of the opening sequence creates the idea of loneliness and isolation within the male character. This is shown as he is seen sitting alone on a bench in a park, surrounded by trees. The trees in the scene suggest that he is being trapped as they tower over him and may suggest that he is as trapped as the victim. This suggests that he is an inferior character, trapped by his hunger to kill - the trees may be a metaphor for the actions he has previously taken place in.
The camera shots used based around the male antagonist of the piece includes many dolly and tracking shots, inspired from Van Sant film ‘Elephant’. These shots create the idea of the audience following the villain, suggesting that he is the centre of attention in the film and may be being stalked. Furthermore, there is use of low angled shots as the villain is walking through the underpass, which connotes superiority in his character over the audience. This intimidation towards the audience creates tension and makes the film have more of a thriller essence. Whereas, the shots of the bath are high angle/birds eye shots, which connote inferiority and suggest the character is a victim. The use of long shots in the bench scene connotes isolation within his character, which is a threat as his loneliness may be a possible motivation for his murders. This isolation is also evident in the editing of fast motion techniques, which emphasises that he is careless of the people walking by and they do not mean anything to him. Furthermore, the fast motion creates more focus on the villain, which also suggests that he is the centre of attention in the sequence. Additionally, the quick transactions suggest the idea of quick action and decisions, backing the idea of lack of motivation for the killer.
The voice-over that is used throughout the film is an aspect which emphasises the carelessness of the male villain. This is shown in the monotone, average sound of the villain’s voice as he is explaining motives for his murder. This is shown further as the villain claims that he is a “natural born killer”, suggesting that his dominant and threatening motives are in his nature so he is a threat to society. The music, however, suggests that the character is very emotional through its use of minor acoustic sounds. This creates a negative, emotional atmosphere surrounding the male antagonist. Furthermore, the fact that the voice-over is narrated by the male villain suggests that he is the main character and of more importance than anyone else, which connotes dominance.
The representation of youth in our product emerged from ‘Paranoid Park’, which suggests the innocence of youth in contrast with tragedy such as murder. This suggests that youths are vulnerable and innocent, which leads to horrific events such as murders and suicides. Both our film and Paranoid Park show the audience a realistic representation of the consequence of teenager’s insecurities and problems. Youthful, but dark personality is portrayed through an indie fashion inspired costume, which is aimed at a teenage age group, which suggests that he is of this target audience. However, the dark colours and long aspect of his coat suggest that he insecure and troublesome so he will not reveal his identity to the audience. The lighting in the sequence also connotes the insecurities of youth through its dim, dark projection. Furthermore, the isolation of the location used suggests that the youth filled character is lonely and isolated like the location, which may be a motive for his actions of murder.
The use of dolly and tracking shots used is used as a metaphor for the journey that this
Teen is taking and the life changing process he is going through. This is due to the camera following the character everywhere and following his journey. This journey could be the journey of going from teenager to man, or the life changing process that occurs after he has taken place in a murder. The editing also conveys confusion in the teenager as slow motion and fast motion techniques are used to create disorientation in the character, which emphasises his confusing age. Additionally, the dolly shot that uses the moon as a point of focus, which is metaphorical for how far away from reality the boy is due to the distance the moon is at and could be similar to movies such as ‘Donnie Darko’, where the moon is referenced in many of the shots to connote the boy’s detachment from reality.
The soundtrack that we have used generally applies to a younger audience, which reflects on the character and emphasises the fact that there is a younger person in our product.
In conclusion, the representation of women in the product shows a vulnerable victim who is inferior to men. Whereas, the man in the film is shown to be extremely dominant and threatening, this is particularly over women as seen in the beginning sequence. However, the youthful aspect in this male brings out the insecurities and confusion in his personality despite his threatening attitude, which may create sympathy from the audience for the character.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Our film would be promoted through the use of internet advertising on social networking sites such as MySpace and Lastfm. This is due to the fact that our thriller targets the audience of 15-20 year olds and social networking sites are popular within this age group. Furthermore, Lastfm would be used for advertising because our film bases itself widely on music and this music website would allow the artist to gain popularity, as well as the film.
Our product would be funded by companies such as Warp due to their gritty representation of England. Our film may be able to relate to this aspect of Warp films as this product shows a realistic representation of youth. To add on that, our film shows a gritty representation of murder and Warp would base their investment on thrillers rather than companies such as Working Title. Therefore, this would be the most appropriate investor for our thriller. Furthermore, we would be able to create an independent product with a mainstream edge and this company would be available to do this.
Our thriller would be shown in art house cinemas and cinemas such as ‘Cinema City’. This is due to the fact that Cinema City distributes mainstream based films along with independent, but very few. Our film could be distributed as one of the few mainstream films they show due to the fact that it has innovative aspects. Additionally, television channels such as Film4 would show our thriller around the time of 11:00pm. This is due to the fact that the age certification (15) would only allow the film to be shown at this time. Furthermore, Film4 distributes underground films such as this which would help us gain audiences. To add on this, we would put our film in cinema to begin with and later put it on DVD. This is due to the fact that it will create a better promotion for our film being in the cinema first and let people see it before buying it, which is a huge advantage for the audience.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
As I began the planning of my product, I wanted to target the audience of 15-19 year olds due to the fact that, being this age, I know the most about this specific age group. In addition, we chose a specific clique in this age group, which were alternative teenagers. This was due to the fact that we aimed to create an independent product that would appeal to an artier group of people. However, this independent structure became a problem as many mainstream characteristics were gained in the process of making the film, but it does have a more alternative view of mainstream. Therefore, it still applies to this audience.
The characters attitudes and values may appeal to this audience through their carelessness and hatred for society. This is shown whilst the narrative is being explained by a voice-over. Teenagers are typically seen to dislike society due to their adolescence changing their attitudes. Additionally, the costume that has been chosen for the characters connotes a youthful attitude. This is due to the dark colour pallet including greys and browns, which suggest darkness in the characters attitudes – the audience may be able to relate to this. We decided against a colourful costume because it would create a positive atmosphere surrounding the character, which would not appeal to the audience, despite the fact that it may suggest insanity.
The location used creates the idea of isolation and loneliness, which the audience is able to relate to because typically this age is found to feel the most isolated. The lighting reflects on this as well because it is very dim and dark, which may reflect on the audience and characters feelings. Therefore, the audience is able to relate to the character, which would attract them because this may be very therapeutic.
The soundtrack that is used is an alternative acoustic track by a local artist. This would appeal to my audience because this genre is more popular within this age group due to the raw emotion that is projected from it. Therefore, the soundtrack would attract a younger audience and this way the film would appeal to them also.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
At the beginning of this project, the knowledge I had on camera shots and angles was fairly clear. However, the knowledge available with editing was extremely limited as the only experience of editing I had was music editing software. On the other hand, I was aware of the different camera shots, movements and angles and what connotations this would create within our thriller, which is shown in our shot list and storyboard.
Secondly, the opening of our thriller uses our knowledge of camera shots and movement through the constant use of tracking and dolly shots following the villain, which fit’s the codes and conventions of the thriller genre. Furthermore, the use of low angled shots through the underpass were essential to our thriller to connote dominance in the villain. On the other hand, we were not aware of the effect point of focus has on the audience. We became aware of this camera technique and used it in the bench scene, where the moon is used as a point of focus to draw the audience in to the scene. The moon has associations with witch craft and supernatural events, therefore it connotes danger in this point of focus - when a full moon is used it generally suggests that something bad is forthcoming. However, this is not to be mistaken for the horror genre and our use of the moon does not suggest supernatural events are going to occur, but it connotes danger. Additionally, the use of panning in the end scene creates a more effective ending than we had planned for. This creates the idea of the unknown as the villain goes out of sight whilst the camera is panning upwards.
In addition, the use of cuts we used in our editing created a shocking narrative as they were quick transitions from the start, which I was aware would be effective. However, the use of cross fades eased the transition due to the change of location from the beginning to the underpass scene. This also created a great sense of continuity, whereas a cut would be too quick and would confuse the audience as to why the location had changed. I was unaware of this technique and its effect on continuity before I began editing and it has been a good asset to the production of our film. In addition, the use of distorting time to speed up/slow down creates a disorientation of the situation for the audience - I was unaware of the huge effect that this would have to our thriller and how it fit’s the codes and conventions of a thriller. Furthermore, the input of the voice-over enabled us to create a more interesting narrative and helped us gain more of a structured narrative to the opening.
In conclusion, the knowledge gained on editing was extremely helpful in the process of making our film. Likewise, the knowledge that we already had on camera shots, movement and angles helped us create a thriller based film that was able to engage the audience. However, if I were to change any aspect of our film it would be the use of title for the ending to make this more relevant to the storyline and to create the font to be more thriller esc.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
We set out to create an evil twin in our preliminary task video, which helped us to learnt about the rule of thirds and editing techniques to create a double. We planned to learn more about editing techniques we might be able to use in our thriller and the use of camera shots and angles we were able to use with the availability of equipment.
Firstly, we set up a camera map where we would have the characters and cameras so we were able to use this map whilst filming so it would be quicker and more organised. Also, we created a storyboard so that we were able to explain to each other what each shot meant and why we were using it, as well as it giving us an outline of continuity in the film. Thus, with this we later began to film.
With the absence of one of our group members, Will and I decided to plan out shooting schedules and shot lists to help us as we began to film. This enabled us to work together so that we both agreed on the concept that we had thought up and the shots we were going to use to suggest this. Furthermore, the shooting schedule was merely so we were able to both attend the shooting, which worked according to our plan. I began to research in to different sub genres of thriller in order to gain a concept for our product. Finally, I found influence from director Gus Van Sant as I watched several of his films. However, ‘Paranoid Park’ stood out to me the most and I gained a concept based around the idea of youth and cleared this with Will after lending him the DVD. Whilst I was in charge of the general planning of the production, Will took the responsibility of camera work and techniques. However, I attended all shootings so that I was able to have an input on this also. Will also took charge of the storyboard planning which evolved from the shot list which we both constructed. This aided us in the shooting of our film as we were able to refer back to the storyboard to see which shots to use. Furthermore, I created the costume, character descriptions, script, treatment, influences, found the music etc. However, I still attended all shootings and contributed to editing also. Overall, Will and I worked well together because we combined our ideas and were open to each other about what we did or did not want from the production. The end product is evidence of our team work and what it has helped us gain.
The strengths to our film include the broad use of shots and reference to other thrillers, which helped us apply the codes and conventions of a thriller. However, it has been said that our thriller gives too much away in the first glance. To argue against this, our thriller is based around the idea of conscience and the fact that the villain is still roaming the streets. This may cause the audience to ask ‘is he going to get caught?’ or ‘what is he going to do next?’. However, taking this critique in to consideration, we have decided to change the ending in order to create a more thrilling opening and leave the audience in shock, which fit’s the thriller genre more adequately.
The most important thing I have learnt from the production of our thriller is how to satisfy an audience. To satisfy an audience you need to create an excellent storyline which leaves them on edge all throughout the film. This is evident in the opening of our thriller, which is a very thrilling sequence which keeps the audience on edge. Furthermore, the satisfaction of the audience also relies on characters attitudes, which is why we spent a long time discussing the representation of our character, his persona, his look and the script. We did this by choosing the character to be the same age as our target audience and created an appealing ’indie’ look for him.
In conclusion, the production of our preliminary task aided us in the production of our thriller. This was due to the fact that we were then able to recognise the weaknesses of our preliminary task so we did not make these mistakes in our thriller. Furthermore, it gave us an idea of how our thriller would be produced and pan out, along with giving us an imagination so we could develop our thriller in to something original.
Wednesday, 24 March 2010
Shameless
Representation of Gender in Shameless
Shameless, a series set in the heart of Manchester, follows the lives of the Gallagher family. The series shows many aspects of a brit-pop inspired show through its use of location, costume, props and characters. Being set in Manchester, Shameless emerges from the heart of brit-pop music where bands such as Oasis were formed and the English rock ’n’ roll scene configured. This rock ‘n’ roll attitude is evident in the characters of Shameless as they are purely rebellious. The fact that the series is set in the North of England connotes a typical social-realist drama feature as this is the poorest area of the UK, which means it will gather more rebellion and trouble.
Firstly, the representation of women in the series shows a semi-positive side of the female gender. Lynn, the sister of the family, is shown to fit the typical ‘housewife’ role in the beginning of the extract as she is seen cleaning. However, her blonde hair suggests connotations of femininity. Furthermore, her hoop earrings and blue eye shadow suggest that she is a part of the ‘chav’ culture in the North. Hoop earrings are a typical feature of chav culture, along with brightly coloured eye shadow to suggest cheapness. However, the connotations of blue eye shadow include purity in Lynn’s personality and that she has a ‘good heart’. Also, the use of blonde hair and blue eyes may suggest that she is the ‘perfect woman’ to the audience as this is typically seen as two perfect features. Additionally, Debbie, the young girl of the family, is shown to be innocent as she is seen smiling with a blue shirt on. The colour blue connotes purity in this character, which is also evident in her young age. Brown, being the colour of her hair, connotes that she is very intelligent and has educational superiority over the boys in the family.
The camera shots surrounding women in Shameless represent their gender to be much dominated. This is shown as Debbie is introduced to the audience, which shows a high angle shot of the camera zooming in on her face as she looks up at it innocently. This connotes that Debbie is extremely vulnerable as the camera is overpowering her whilst it sits above her.
The use of sound surrounding the series is a very important factor of the show. The non-diagetic voice-over that is evident in the clip I have chosen describes each of the characters individually. This reveals the personalities of the characters to the audience. Whilst Frank is describing Debbie, he mentions that she was “sent by God” and an “angel”. This suggests that she is extremely innocent and fits the intelligent, youthful role in the series. However, there is a contrast to this statement as the camera cuts to Debbie holding a knife, which suggests that she might be an ‘angel in devils shoes’. Furthermore, the description of Lynn says that she
The representation of men in the clip is shown to be extremely dominant and ‘jack the lad’ like. This is seen in Charl’s description as he has a skinhead and is wearing a red jacket and chequered clothes. This suggests that Charl’s image was inspired by the British punk/skinhead culture, which was a very violent cult who wore cheques and shaved their heads. This suggests that Charl is extremely violent and dominant. Additionally, Charl’s red jacket suggests anger as red is typically the colour of rage. Liam, on the other hand, is shown to be very innocent as he is seen smiling in the introduction of his character. Liam’s brown hair and blue eyes connote vulnerability and innocence, which is also shown through his young age. The dog toy that is seen in the background whilst Liam is on the screen suggests youth in his character, which connotes virtue. However, Liam is seen having a tantrum which suggests that he may be developing a ‘jack the lad’ attitude like his brothers. Lip, another brother of the family, is shown in a dark tracksuit as he is introduced. This suggests that he is also part of the ‘chav’ culture, which may suggest violence in his character as this cult is typically violent. His body language suggests ‘jack the lad’ features also as he slumps whilst he walks, suggesting he is of a careless nature. Lastly, and most importantly, Frank (the narrator) is shown to be a careless alcoholic. This is seen as the audience is brought to his long, brown, greasy hair with a pale face drinking alcohol. This suggests that Frank is careless of the upbringing of his family and leaves it to the oldest woman in the family. The nurture of his children is not as important as his family, which is a negative aspect of men in this extract. Frank’s long greasy hair shows that he is too lazy to wash/cut it and may not even be capable of this due to his excessive drinking/drug taking. His green ‘Happy Mondays’ inspired jacket suggests that he is a drug user as this look suggests that brit-pop scene that evolved in Manchester surrounding bands such as Happy Mondays, who were heavily in to drugs. Overall, the men of this extract are suggested to be rebellious and dominant as towards the end they are seen throwing beer cans in to a fire with the arrival of the police. This suggests that the male characters in this community are careless of authority and see themselves as the authority of the place. The lighting surrounding male representation is very dark, suggesting that the place is run down and not very nice possibly due to the characters that live there taking place in rebellion and anarchic activities.
The representation of Charl through camera angles and movement is shown to be very superior. Charl is shown in a shot as the camera moves backwards and he moves towards it, without any fear. This shows that Charl is dominant over the camera and the audience, which is a fearful feature of men in this extract. Furthermore, there is a birds eye view shot of Frank Gallagher laying on the floor drunk, which suggests that he is lower than the audience in terms of class etc. Additionally, a low angle/point of view shot is shown from Frank’s point of view where his children are standing over him. This suggests that Frank is lower than them and they have to look after him – he is seen to be the child of the family.
The voice-over done by Frank suggests that he is the main character of the series, which means that he is the most dominant character as he controls what the audience believes about the other characters. His rough Manchester accent connotes that he is from a bad area of the UK, which brings fear to the audience. This is evident as he says that “Manchester isn’t the Garden of Eden”, emphasising the rough aspect of the area. In addition, as Frank is describing each of the characters it is clear that his male children are extremely rebellious, like himself. This is shown as he decides that Phillip is not called Phillip, but Lip due to his ‘gobby mouth’. This suggests that he is easily getting in trouble and does not know when to stop.
The fast transactions that are used in the editing of this piece suggest that there is chaos in the area and the characters are creating this chaos. This suggests that the male gender is extremely rebellious and careless of authority. Furthermore, the cuts between each explanation of each character show that despite their gender, the family is a whole and are very close with one another.
Shameless, a series set in the heart of Manchester, follows the lives of the Gallagher family. The series shows many aspects of a brit-pop inspired show through its use of location, costume, props and characters. Being set in Manchester, Shameless emerges from the heart of brit-pop music where bands such as Oasis were formed and the English rock ’n’ roll scene configured. This rock ‘n’ roll attitude is evident in the characters of Shameless as they are purely rebellious. The fact that the series is set in the North of England connotes a typical social-realist drama feature as this is the poorest area of the UK, which means it will gather more rebellion and trouble.
Firstly, the representation of women in the series shows a semi-positive side of the female gender. Lynn, the sister of the family, is shown to fit the typical ‘housewife’ role in the beginning of the extract as she is seen cleaning. However, her blonde hair suggests connotations of femininity. Furthermore, her hoop earrings and blue eye shadow suggest that she is a part of the ‘chav’ culture in the North. Hoop earrings are a typical feature of chav culture, along with brightly coloured eye shadow to suggest cheapness. However, the connotations of blue eye shadow include purity in Lynn’s personality and that she has a ‘good heart’. Also, the use of blonde hair and blue eyes may suggest that she is the ‘perfect woman’ to the audience as this is typically seen as two perfect features. Additionally, Debbie, the young girl of the family, is shown to be innocent as she is seen smiling with a blue shirt on. The colour blue connotes purity in this character, which is also evident in her young age. Brown, being the colour of her hair, connotes that she is very intelligent and has educational superiority over the boys in the family.
The camera shots surrounding women in Shameless represent their gender to be much dominated. This is shown as Debbie is introduced to the audience, which shows a high angle shot of the camera zooming in on her face as she looks up at it innocently. This connotes that Debbie is extremely vulnerable as the camera is overpowering her whilst it sits above her.
The use of sound surrounding the series is a very important factor of the show. The non-diagetic voice-over that is evident in the clip I have chosen describes each of the characters individually. This reveals the personalities of the characters to the audience. Whilst Frank is describing Debbie, he mentions that she was “sent by God” and an “angel”. This suggests that she is extremely innocent and fits the intelligent, youthful role in the series. However, there is a contrast to this statement as the camera cuts to Debbie holding a knife, which suggests that she might be an ‘angel in devils shoes’. Furthermore, the description of Lynn says that she
The representation of men in the clip is shown to be extremely dominant and ‘jack the lad’ like. This is seen in Charl’s description as he has a skinhead and is wearing a red jacket and chequered clothes. This suggests that Charl’s image was inspired by the British punk/skinhead culture, which was a very violent cult who wore cheques and shaved their heads. This suggests that Charl is extremely violent and dominant. Additionally, Charl’s red jacket suggests anger as red is typically the colour of rage. Liam, on the other hand, is shown to be very innocent as he is seen smiling in the introduction of his character. Liam’s brown hair and blue eyes connote vulnerability and innocence, which is also shown through his young age. The dog toy that is seen in the background whilst Liam is on the screen suggests youth in his character, which connotes virtue. However, Liam is seen having a tantrum which suggests that he may be developing a ‘jack the lad’ attitude like his brothers. Lip, another brother of the family, is shown in a dark tracksuit as he is introduced. This suggests that he is also part of the ‘chav’ culture, which may suggest violence in his character as this cult is typically violent. His body language suggests ‘jack the lad’ features also as he slumps whilst he walks, suggesting he is of a careless nature. Lastly, and most importantly, Frank (the narrator) is shown to be a careless alcoholic. This is seen as the audience is brought to his long, brown, greasy hair with a pale face drinking alcohol. This suggests that Frank is careless of the upbringing of his family and leaves it to the oldest woman in the family. The nurture of his children is not as important as his family, which is a negative aspect of men in this extract. Frank’s long greasy hair shows that he is too lazy to wash/cut it and may not even be capable of this due to his excessive drinking/drug taking. His green ‘Happy Mondays’ inspired jacket suggests that he is a drug user as this look suggests that brit-pop scene that evolved in Manchester surrounding bands such as Happy Mondays, who were heavily in to drugs. Overall, the men of this extract are suggested to be rebellious and dominant as towards the end they are seen throwing beer cans in to a fire with the arrival of the police. This suggests that the male characters in this community are careless of authority and see themselves as the authority of the place. The lighting surrounding male representation is very dark, suggesting that the place is run down and not very nice possibly due to the characters that live there taking place in rebellion and anarchic activities.
The representation of Charl through camera angles and movement is shown to be very superior. Charl is shown in a shot as the camera moves backwards and he moves towards it, without any fear. This shows that Charl is dominant over the camera and the audience, which is a fearful feature of men in this extract. Furthermore, there is a birds eye view shot of Frank Gallagher laying on the floor drunk, which suggests that he is lower than the audience in terms of class etc. Additionally, a low angle/point of view shot is shown from Frank’s point of view where his children are standing over him. This suggests that Frank is lower than them and they have to look after him – he is seen to be the child of the family.
The voice-over done by Frank suggests that he is the main character of the series, which means that he is the most dominant character as he controls what the audience believes about the other characters. His rough Manchester accent connotes that he is from a bad area of the UK, which brings fear to the audience. This is evident as he says that “Manchester isn’t the Garden of Eden”, emphasising the rough aspect of the area. In addition, as Frank is describing each of the characters it is clear that his male children are extremely rebellious, like himself. This is shown as he decides that Phillip is not called Phillip, but Lip due to his ‘gobby mouth’. This suggests that he is easily getting in trouble and does not know when to stop.
The fast transactions that are used in the editing of this piece suggest that there is chaos in the area and the characters are creating this chaos. This suggests that the male gender is extremely rebellious and careless of authority. Furthermore, the cuts between each explanation of each character show that despite their gender, the family is a whole and are very close with one another.
Thursday, 18 March 2010
How does ownership impact upon a film companies working practices?
How does ownership impact upon a film companies working practices?
Warp films, along with working title, do extremely well in the USA due to their individual outlooks on England. Working Title, a company owned by universal, have a more positive outlook on England, romanticising the city of London to be traditionally English, which may be described as ‘Curtis land’. Actors such as Hugh Grant are in many Working Title films, attracting many women due to the charming vibe that is given off through his acting. Furthermore, the plots in Working Title films are all very similar. Films including ‘Love Actually’ and ‘Notting Hill’, not only have the same actors, but similar plots in the rom-com genre. This suggests that the same audiences are drawn in to each of their films, due to the familiar atmosphere in their actors and plots. This is the case for many Working Title films due to their ownership by Universal. This causes Working Title to make many similar films, with little risks involved in them due to them being a mainstream company and they would not be prepared to lose out on money. Working Titles financial stability is very steady due to Universals investment with them causing them to have a 25 million dollar budget for each film with permission. This means that Working Title is unable to go over this budget so they are unable to take risks with their films. Warp films, on the other hand, take many risks involving films such as ‘This Is England’, which shows a realistic representation of the country and the company is based around film itself over profit. Working Title, however, always make their money back through UK box office takings.
Working Title films are aimed more towards a foreign audience, as well as English. This is due to the popularity of their films abroad being larger than in England. Their films are designed to be strong exports so they do not lose out on money due to their investment from Universal and their budget. Working Titles comedies and romantic comedies are their most expensive output, which shows that they are unable to take risks with other genres of film as this is also their most successful output. Warp Films, however, aim towards the English audience as their films show a realistic representation of the country, which a UK audience would be able to relate to. Warp films have a narrow distribution, rather than a mass distribution like Working Title. Nevertheless, Working Title does take two risks on films and two films that will definitely succeed every few years. This shows that ownership may not totally impact the risk taking of a company’s working practice.
Universals access to easy music shows that it benefits Working Title as they are able to use this music in their films. Warp, however, have many other media outputs in their company, such as a record label. This means that Warp are also able to access music easily, which is a huge benefit to both of these company’s work as it shows that it will cost less for their soundtrack and the audience will be familiar with the kind of soundtrack that they will use. For example, Warp Record Label may use Arctic Monkey’s as a soundtrack because they have directed videos like ‘When the Sun goes down’ for them. Working Title, however, have a larger range of music to choose from due to Universal being a large company and having more access to different genres of music. However, Warp show that you do not have to be owned by company’s such as Universal to have access to music because Warp have formed their own independent record label, which has been of great success without any ownership upon them.
Warp films, along with working title, do extremely well in the USA due to their individual outlooks on England. Working Title, a company owned by universal, have a more positive outlook on England, romanticising the city of London to be traditionally English, which may be described as ‘Curtis land’. Actors such as Hugh Grant are in many Working Title films, attracting many women due to the charming vibe that is given off through his acting. Furthermore, the plots in Working Title films are all very similar. Films including ‘Love Actually’ and ‘Notting Hill’, not only have the same actors, but similar plots in the rom-com genre. This suggests that the same audiences are drawn in to each of their films, due to the familiar atmosphere in their actors and plots. This is the case for many Working Title films due to their ownership by Universal. This causes Working Title to make many similar films, with little risks involved in them due to them being a mainstream company and they would not be prepared to lose out on money. Working Titles financial stability is very steady due to Universals investment with them causing them to have a 25 million dollar budget for each film with permission. This means that Working Title is unable to go over this budget so they are unable to take risks with their films. Warp films, on the other hand, take many risks involving films such as ‘This Is England’, which shows a realistic representation of the country and the company is based around film itself over profit. Working Title, however, always make their money back through UK box office takings.
Working Title films are aimed more towards a foreign audience, as well as English. This is due to the popularity of their films abroad being larger than in England. Their films are designed to be strong exports so they do not lose out on money due to their investment from Universal and their budget. Working Titles comedies and romantic comedies are their most expensive output, which shows that they are unable to take risks with other genres of film as this is also their most successful output. Warp Films, however, aim towards the English audience as their films show a realistic representation of the country, which a UK audience would be able to relate to. Warp films have a narrow distribution, rather than a mass distribution like Working Title. Nevertheless, Working Title does take two risks on films and two films that will definitely succeed every few years. This shows that ownership may not totally impact the risk taking of a company’s working practice.
Universals access to easy music shows that it benefits Working Title as they are able to use this music in their films. Warp, however, have many other media outputs in their company, such as a record label. This means that Warp are also able to access music easily, which is a huge benefit to both of these company’s work as it shows that it will cost less for their soundtrack and the audience will be familiar with the kind of soundtrack that they will use. For example, Warp Record Label may use Arctic Monkey’s as a soundtrack because they have directed videos like ‘When the Sun goes down’ for them. Working Title, however, have a larger range of music to choose from due to Universal being a large company and having more access to different genres of music. However, Warp show that you do not have to be owned by company’s such as Universal to have access to music because Warp have formed their own independent record label, which has been of great success without any ownership upon them.
Monday, 15 March 2010
Film Distribution in Norwich
Film distribution in Norwich
Vue in Norwich, over the course of one weekend, have eight different films showing with many different showings. For example, Alice in Wonderland has eleven different showings from 2D to 3D. Overall, there are forty different showings on a Thursday. Cinema City, on the other hand, has four different film showings on a Thursday with a total of eleven showings a day.
Shutter Island, in Cinema City, is shown four times on a Thursday. Additionally, it is being shown four times on a Thursday at Vue similarly. This means that each of the films is equally popular in the independent and mainstream industries. This also suggests that the film is popular within the public and the audience are able to have a choice on the timing of film they go to see. Furthermore, it is clear that customers are mainly available after work/school. The Crazies, on the other hand, is shown five times at Vue and not shown at all in Cinema City. This shows that the film is a mainstream/Hollywood based film that is only shown in mainstream cinemas. Crazy Heart is shown twice at Cinema City and not shown at Vue, which shows that it is a piece of independent film that is only shown in independent cinemas. Furthermore, the film timings are shown mainly at the time of three, which suggests that they are less interested in the money base of the film industry but the film in itself being a work of art.
The amount of mainstream Hollywood films in Vue outnumbers the amount of independent films. However, in Cinema City there are a huge number of independent films, with only one or two mainstream films showing. This shows that Cinema City is not money based and is based around the art of film. The fact that there are mainstream and independent cinema’s in Norwich shows that there are different audience that the Norwich film industry caters for.
Vue in Norwich, over the course of one weekend, have eight different films showing with many different showings. For example, Alice in Wonderland has eleven different showings from 2D to 3D. Overall, there are forty different showings on a Thursday. Cinema City, on the other hand, has four different film showings on a Thursday with a total of eleven showings a day.
Shutter Island, in Cinema City, is shown four times on a Thursday. Additionally, it is being shown four times on a Thursday at Vue similarly. This means that each of the films is equally popular in the independent and mainstream industries. This also suggests that the film is popular within the public and the audience are able to have a choice on the timing of film they go to see. Furthermore, it is clear that customers are mainly available after work/school. The Crazies, on the other hand, is shown five times at Vue and not shown at all in Cinema City. This shows that the film is a mainstream/Hollywood based film that is only shown in mainstream cinemas. Crazy Heart is shown twice at Cinema City and not shown at Vue, which shows that it is a piece of independent film that is only shown in independent cinemas. Furthermore, the film timings are shown mainly at the time of three, which suggests that they are less interested in the money base of the film industry but the film in itself being a work of art.
The amount of mainstream Hollywood films in Vue outnumbers the amount of independent films. However, in Cinema City there are a huge number of independent films, with only one or two mainstream films showing. This shows that Cinema City is not money based and is based around the art of film. The fact that there are mainstream and independent cinema’s in Norwich shows that there are different audience that the Norwich film industry caters for.
Friday, 12 March 2010
Film Noir
How do ‘The Third Man’ and ‘Insomnia’ use conventions of film noir?
Film noir, which is based mainly around the crime drama genre, was a term used by French critics for dark film. A popular period for film noir was 1946, when this term was first used. This period was discovered to be a time of dark, bleak insecurity amongst society, possibly due to the recent end of the war. Therefore, film noir was a representation of this insecurity, which society was then able to relate or escape to - this was an explanation for the popularity of this genre. The main themes based around film noir are the idea of despair, paranoia and injustice, which is evident in both of these films.
The use of media language both Insomnia and The Third Man suggest the genre of film noir. However, this is seen more in ‘The Third Man’ through the typical codes and conventions of film noir. This is seen in the constant contrasts and extremes of light creating shadows, which is a typical feature of film noir as it connotes mystery and insecurity/paranoia in society of the time. This is comparable to the mist effect and extreme bright light in ‘Insomnia’, where everything seems somewhat disorientating to the audience. This creates a sense of mystery and paranoia also, as seen in ‘The Third Man’. Furthermore, the characters in each of these films are faced with a moral dilemma and are slightly displaced in society, which is a typical convention of film noir. The idea of insecurity is brought out in this idea which may affect the attitudes of the audience and the social dilemmas used are a reflection of the audience, as it makes the reader think about what they would do in this dilemma and if they are really perfect. Therefore, judgment can not be passed on the characters in each of these films. Furthermore, the sewer scene in The Third Man has many contrasts of light, creating a light coming from the end of the shot. This may be seen as “the light at the end of the tunnel”. The idea of the sewer also represents Harry Lime to be ’the rat in the sewer’, meaning he is at his lowest point. Furthermore, the contrast of light and dark is seen to be a metaphor for good and evil in the characters. It also creates the idea of some things being hidden but others are seen.
The City of Vienna and town of Troms are both represented as insular and are controlled by local laws, creating a hostile environment for strangers. This is seen in ’Insomnia’ as Swedish Jonas finds himself in Norway, an alien place to him. It is also seen in the shots in The Third Man and Insomnia of the train station and the plane. This is a typical convention of film noir and thriller as it creates the sense of the characters being outside their comfort zone, connoting disorientation and insecurity towards the audience.
The representation of women in film noir is seen to be ruthless and disloyal. The ‘femme fatale’ aspect of noir represents women to be feeling trapped by marriage, going against all the roles that society has given them. A sexual yearning within women is shown through film noir. This is shown in character Anna in The Third Man, who is very ambiguous to the audience. This is seen through her costume as she is seen in a long coat and a hat, which hides her identity from the audience. The typical sexual needs of a woman in film noir are also seen through Anna as she yearns to be with Harry Lime. This is also seen through Tanya in ’Insomnia’ as she is seen wearing a low cut blouse and has a modern brown hair cut. However, Froya is seen to be the more intelligent female character in the movie as she is seen very covered up in dim clothing, with a heart necklace around her neck. This heart necklace suggests she has a love interest and not a lust interest.
In addition, the male protagonist is represented as a flawed character in ’The Third Man’ as Holly Martins is in fact not an innocent man. However, Jonas’ representation of a protagonist is ambiguous, but is finally seen to be immoral by the audience - going against the idea of a protagonist. The costume of the characters in The Third Man creates a romanticized 40’s criminal look for Holly Martins with his hat and suit, which creates ambiguity in his character as a hat is generally covering his identity. Also, the use of a suit connotes supremacy and dominance, which is a typical convention of film noir as the male roles are generally seen to be higher in dominance.
Additionally, the music in The Third Man was cutting edge for the time it was made. This genre of music was typically seen in the thriller genre to keep the audience on edge. Therefore, it was a conventional thriller aspect for its time. Insomnia, similarly, uses cutting edge music to keep the audience on edge.
The use of camera shots in ‘The Third Man’ include many extreme long shots which capture the use of shadows and lighting in the shots. Additionally, there is a vast use of extreme close ups in both the Third Man and Insomnia, which is a typical convention of film noir as it creates ambiguity in the characters. Furthermore, high and low angled shots are used to illustrate the dominance, which is mainly seen in the male characters, or inferiority, which is usually seen in the female gender, of the characters. The Third Man also uses tilted camera angles, which creates disorientation to the audience and is a typical convention of film noir and is also seen in Insomnia. Additionally, the fast transactions in each of the films creates the idea of chaos, which is typical of the film noir genre.
In conclusion, The Third Man and Insomnia meet the codes and conventions of film noir through many things including lighting, camera shots, costume, characters and music. The lighting of the films creates ambiguity through the use of high contrasts of light, creating shadows. In addition, the use of suits creates supremacy which is a typical convention of film noir. The idea of threats and supremacy is a large convention of film noir.
Film noir, which is based mainly around the crime drama genre, was a term used by French critics for dark film. A popular period for film noir was 1946, when this term was first used. This period was discovered to be a time of dark, bleak insecurity amongst society, possibly due to the recent end of the war. Therefore, film noir was a representation of this insecurity, which society was then able to relate or escape to - this was an explanation for the popularity of this genre. The main themes based around film noir are the idea of despair, paranoia and injustice, which is evident in both of these films.
The use of media language both Insomnia and The Third Man suggest the genre of film noir. However, this is seen more in ‘The Third Man’ through the typical codes and conventions of film noir. This is seen in the constant contrasts and extremes of light creating shadows, which is a typical feature of film noir as it connotes mystery and insecurity/paranoia in society of the time. This is comparable to the mist effect and extreme bright light in ‘Insomnia’, where everything seems somewhat disorientating to the audience. This creates a sense of mystery and paranoia also, as seen in ‘The Third Man’. Furthermore, the characters in each of these films are faced with a moral dilemma and are slightly displaced in society, which is a typical convention of film noir. The idea of insecurity is brought out in this idea which may affect the attitudes of the audience and the social dilemmas used are a reflection of the audience, as it makes the reader think about what they would do in this dilemma and if they are really perfect. Therefore, judgment can not be passed on the characters in each of these films. Furthermore, the sewer scene in The Third Man has many contrasts of light, creating a light coming from the end of the shot. This may be seen as “the light at the end of the tunnel”. The idea of the sewer also represents Harry Lime to be ’the rat in the sewer’, meaning he is at his lowest point. Furthermore, the contrast of light and dark is seen to be a metaphor for good and evil in the characters. It also creates the idea of some things being hidden but others are seen.
The City of Vienna and town of Troms are both represented as insular and are controlled by local laws, creating a hostile environment for strangers. This is seen in ’Insomnia’ as Swedish Jonas finds himself in Norway, an alien place to him. It is also seen in the shots in The Third Man and Insomnia of the train station and the plane. This is a typical convention of film noir and thriller as it creates the sense of the characters being outside their comfort zone, connoting disorientation and insecurity towards the audience.
The representation of women in film noir is seen to be ruthless and disloyal. The ‘femme fatale’ aspect of noir represents women to be feeling trapped by marriage, going against all the roles that society has given them. A sexual yearning within women is shown through film noir. This is shown in character Anna in The Third Man, who is very ambiguous to the audience. This is seen through her costume as she is seen in a long coat and a hat, which hides her identity from the audience. The typical sexual needs of a woman in film noir are also seen through Anna as she yearns to be with Harry Lime. This is also seen through Tanya in ’Insomnia’ as she is seen wearing a low cut blouse and has a modern brown hair cut. However, Froya is seen to be the more intelligent female character in the movie as she is seen very covered up in dim clothing, with a heart necklace around her neck. This heart necklace suggests she has a love interest and not a lust interest.
In addition, the male protagonist is represented as a flawed character in ’The Third Man’ as Holly Martins is in fact not an innocent man. However, Jonas’ representation of a protagonist is ambiguous, but is finally seen to be immoral by the audience - going against the idea of a protagonist. The costume of the characters in The Third Man creates a romanticized 40’s criminal look for Holly Martins with his hat and suit, which creates ambiguity in his character as a hat is generally covering his identity. Also, the use of a suit connotes supremacy and dominance, which is a typical convention of film noir as the male roles are generally seen to be higher in dominance.
Additionally, the music in The Third Man was cutting edge for the time it was made. This genre of music was typically seen in the thriller genre to keep the audience on edge. Therefore, it was a conventional thriller aspect for its time. Insomnia, similarly, uses cutting edge music to keep the audience on edge.
The use of camera shots in ‘The Third Man’ include many extreme long shots which capture the use of shadows and lighting in the shots. Additionally, there is a vast use of extreme close ups in both the Third Man and Insomnia, which is a typical convention of film noir as it creates ambiguity in the characters. Furthermore, high and low angled shots are used to illustrate the dominance, which is mainly seen in the male characters, or inferiority, which is usually seen in the female gender, of the characters. The Third Man also uses tilted camera angles, which creates disorientation to the audience and is a typical convention of film noir and is also seen in Insomnia. Additionally, the fast transactions in each of the films creates the idea of chaos, which is typical of the film noir genre.
In conclusion, The Third Man and Insomnia meet the codes and conventions of film noir through many things including lighting, camera shots, costume, characters and music. The lighting of the films creates ambiguity through the use of high contrasts of light, creating shadows. In addition, the use of suits creates supremacy which is a typical convention of film noir. The idea of threats and supremacy is a large convention of film noir.
Thursday, 4 March 2010
Conventional Thriller Character
Patrick Bateman’s character in ‘American Psycho’ shows a conventional thriller villain. Although he is the main character, he is the main villain in the movie. This is shown through Bateman’s mental instability as he is narrating the film with careless ideas and motives. This is evident through Bateman’s attitude towards women in the film as he describes to friends “what their heads would look like on sticks”. This is a typical convention of thriller villains as mental instability is generally shown to be a fear of many peoples as it is ruthless and dangerous in some cases. Furthermore, the killing of a homeless man in the street with no motive shows Bateman’s lack of planning and carelessness to be caught. This may suggest that killing is merely in his nature and it is his instinct to kill. This shows how dangerous his character is and that he is the villain.
Bateman’s threat to society is also seen through his lack of personal relationships with other characters in the film. This suggests that he is socially incapable, which may be a reason for his insanity. His personal relationships consist of company of prostitutes and his business. The sex involvement with his prostitutes happens in a very unusual manner, which creates a bizarre atmosphere for the audience and makes him seem like a villain. Prostitution is a typically wrong thing to take part in as it is now socially accepted. Therefore, this emphasises his villainous behaviour. In addition, Bateman’s consistent killing of friends makes him untrustworthy to the audience, which makes him a definite villain in the audience’s eyes.
The lighting surrounding Bateman is mainly dim, but non-ambient, lighting. This creates a dark atmosphere around the character, emphasising his villainous behaviour as dark lighting is a fear of many peoples. His costume is also very smart as to gather no suspicion for his hobby. This also connotes power and superiority in his character, which may suggest that he is able and wants to control things – this creates another motive for his killings. This is also shown through his profession as a business man, as that industry is very power driven. Bateman’s cleanliness could suggest obsessive compulsive disorder in his character, which is another mental disability that could affect his motive for killing. The classical music in the scenes creates a calming atmosphere mixed with the brutal image of murder, which creates the impression of insanity due to the massive contrast. The idea of insanity is a huge convention of thriller villains.
The use of close ups to the villains face creates a threat to the audience. This is a typical thriller convention as it creates a sense of ambiguity to the audience about the villain. This lets this audience know that Bateman is the villain in the film, along with the dark, husky dialogue that is voiced over the filming.
By Harriet Bliss
Bateman’s threat to society is also seen through his lack of personal relationships with other characters in the film. This suggests that he is socially incapable, which may be a reason for his insanity. His personal relationships consist of company of prostitutes and his business. The sex involvement with his prostitutes happens in a very unusual manner, which creates a bizarre atmosphere for the audience and makes him seem like a villain. Prostitution is a typically wrong thing to take part in as it is now socially accepted. Therefore, this emphasises his villainous behaviour. In addition, Bateman’s consistent killing of friends makes him untrustworthy to the audience, which makes him a definite villain in the audience’s eyes.
The lighting surrounding Bateman is mainly dim, but non-ambient, lighting. This creates a dark atmosphere around the character, emphasising his villainous behaviour as dark lighting is a fear of many peoples. His costume is also very smart as to gather no suspicion for his hobby. This also connotes power and superiority in his character, which may suggest that he is able and wants to control things – this creates another motive for his killings. This is also shown through his profession as a business man, as that industry is very power driven. Bateman’s cleanliness could suggest obsessive compulsive disorder in his character, which is another mental disability that could affect his motive for killing. The classical music in the scenes creates a calming atmosphere mixed with the brutal image of murder, which creates the impression of insanity due to the massive contrast. The idea of insanity is a huge convention of thriller villains.
The use of close ups to the villains face creates a threat to the audience. This is a typical thriller convention as it creates a sense of ambiguity to the audience about the villain. This lets this audience know that Bateman is the villain in the film, along with the dark, husky dialogue that is voiced over the filming.
By Harriet Bliss
Wednesday, 3 March 2010
Notes for Eastenders
Mise-en-scene
Lighting – Dim, looks as though it is ambient lighting in opening scene.
Costume – Bradley and his pink tie: symbolism for love. Everyone wearing black and white apart from Bradley – stands out, possibly for latter events. Black and white suggests death.
Stacey – fashionable, glamorous girl. Innocence, only brunette – intelligent. White to symbolise wedding.
Ronnie and Roxy both in dark colours – dismal environment, casting a dark shadow over lives. Roxy has a pink hat above her head, symbolises goodness and could be related to a halo – the good daughter, loyal to her dad.
Lucy could be seen as a sex symbol, young (15) suggests reaching maturity and indecency. Attitudes towards women are very sexual, despite the young age. Drinking suggests carelessness and willingness. She is blonde – stereotype of ‘bimbo’, as well as Ronnie. But not Stacey – this could suggest
Stacey is the dominant female of the three.
Phil shows a dominant character through his body language, bald head, through intertexual references.
Bianca in white dress, low cut, cheap chav culture. Loud mouthed, angry, drunk – this could suggest a negative view point of women.
“Plain Jane” – Janine. Normal costume – stands out, women that don’t wear fashionable clothing don’t fit in to society.
Peggy – elegant but old, shows that age doesn’t restrict confidence and dominance, queen of the pub – reference to Archie.
Jack – dominant body language.
Max, loyal; standing by his son. Head to head with jack and max shows violence, authority.
Diagetic sound – makes it more realistic, all throughout no music.
Props – Red paint over Ronnie’s father’s face – suggestion of blood, death, suspicion as to who is the killer. Below picture reads “the king’s head” – this could relate to Archie controlling them still even when dead – king of eastenders. Committing treason – who ever did this will have a large price to pay. View point – looking up at him, suggests authority.
Objects –
Editing – quick transactions between shots due to the footage being live, mainly cuts.
Camera shots/angles
Mid shots, over the shoulder as max and jack head to head; loads of OTS shots to engage the audience and make them feel a part of the action. Tracking shot of Janine walking out of the pub, shows her being thrown out, makes her seem hated as it is panning to people in the pub slating her. Close ups of Stacey’s face shows worry and innocence, caring.
Sound
“It was you, wasn’t it?” – Roxy: this suggests that the fathers tearing them apart even when dead, authority etc.
Introduction – in the opening sequence of Eastenders there is many different representations of women depending on the characters. Go on to say about mise-en-scene of characters, mainly costume and props, possibly body language.
Representation of men through costume, body language and props.
Short paragraph of lighting, then go on to say about the props of Ronnie throwing paint over dad’s face, include sounds and intertextual evidence.
Camera shots to do with women.
Camera shots to do with men.
Quick paragraph of editing.
Lighting – Dim, looks as though it is ambient lighting in opening scene.
Costume – Bradley and his pink tie: symbolism for love. Everyone wearing black and white apart from Bradley – stands out, possibly for latter events. Black and white suggests death.
Stacey – fashionable, glamorous girl. Innocence, only brunette – intelligent. White to symbolise wedding.
Ronnie and Roxy both in dark colours – dismal environment, casting a dark shadow over lives. Roxy has a pink hat above her head, symbolises goodness and could be related to a halo – the good daughter, loyal to her dad.
Lucy could be seen as a sex symbol, young (15) suggests reaching maturity and indecency. Attitudes towards women are very sexual, despite the young age. Drinking suggests carelessness and willingness. She is blonde – stereotype of ‘bimbo’, as well as Ronnie. But not Stacey – this could suggest
Stacey is the dominant female of the three.
Phil shows a dominant character through his body language, bald head, through intertexual references.
Bianca in white dress, low cut, cheap chav culture. Loud mouthed, angry, drunk – this could suggest a negative view point of women.
“Plain Jane” – Janine. Normal costume – stands out, women that don’t wear fashionable clothing don’t fit in to society.
Peggy – elegant but old, shows that age doesn’t restrict confidence and dominance, queen of the pub – reference to Archie.
Jack – dominant body language.
Max, loyal; standing by his son. Head to head with jack and max shows violence, authority.
Diagetic sound – makes it more realistic, all throughout no music.
Props – Red paint over Ronnie’s father’s face – suggestion of blood, death, suspicion as to who is the killer. Below picture reads “the king’s head” – this could relate to Archie controlling them still even when dead – king of eastenders. Committing treason – who ever did this will have a large price to pay. View point – looking up at him, suggests authority.
Objects –
Editing – quick transactions between shots due to the footage being live, mainly cuts.
Camera shots/angles
Mid shots, over the shoulder as max and jack head to head; loads of OTS shots to engage the audience and make them feel a part of the action. Tracking shot of Janine walking out of the pub, shows her being thrown out, makes her seem hated as it is panning to people in the pub slating her. Close ups of Stacey’s face shows worry and innocence, caring.
Sound
“It was you, wasn’t it?” – Roxy: this suggests that the fathers tearing them apart even when dead, authority etc.
Introduction – in the opening sequence of Eastenders there is many different representations of women depending on the characters. Go on to say about mise-en-scene of characters, mainly costume and props, possibly body language.
Representation of men through costume, body language and props.
Short paragraph of lighting, then go on to say about the props of Ronnie throwing paint over dad’s face, include sounds and intertextual evidence.
Camera shots to do with women.
Camera shots to do with men.
Quick paragraph of editing.
Monday, 1 March 2010
Treatment
Our thriller storyline shows a teenage boy aged 18/19 who has turned to the warped world of murder. After murdering a young girl brought home from a night out, you are brought to the scene of the killer coming to terms with what he has done. Many flashbacks occur in the scene due to the killers guilty conscience as he explains in a voice over what has happened to him. The film bases its story around the villain’s mistake and him coming to terms with what he has done whilst his guilty conscience drives him insane.
We have decided on a modern colour film fitting the genre of psychological thriller. However, we have used certain shots in black and white to highlight specific features, E.G. During flashbacks. Furthermore, we have used the influence of Gus Van Sant’s ‘Paranoid Park’, which is an independent alternative thriller basing the storyline around a teenage boy who takes part in the accidental death of a security guard and watches how he deals with this. Our thriller is going to represent young people in the same way as they are represented in ‘Paranoid Park’ as it shows the innocence of a young killer, which is a very alternative view for a thriller film. Typically, younger people are portrayed as either rebels with a limit or innocent, naïve characters as this is how society sees them. Therefore, this is brought across in the media. However, our killer is going to fit both of these conventions as he is innocent, yet has gone to the extreme level of rebellion by taking part in a murder.
The alternative narrative will continue throughout our thriller film – it will be portrayed through costume, character and concept. Our characters show this alternative narrative through their young age of 17-19 and through their costume design/general look. The villain in our thriller has a Lennon inspired style through his alternative hair and clothes. His costume includes slim jeans, braces with a plain top and smart point shoes – this may connote that the character is an outcast and refers back to the alternative ‘indie’ scene.
The mise-en-scene is constructed through a huge base of unconventional camera work. This is seen through many tilt shots, creating ambiguity to the scene. Furthermore, there are many tracking shots included in the mise-en-scene, which creates a sense of movement to the audience making the scene seem more realistic. In addition, there are shots which include low angles so the characters seem superior, but are walking in a nervous manner. This creates a contrast to the shot and makes it seem more mysterious. Furthermore, the mise-en-scene is constructed through the ambient lighting used. This creates a more natural feel to the film and creates a sense of realism for the audience. The setting of the thriller is an essential to the mise-en-scene. Our setting includes an underground which our character is to walk through in the dark. The dark features of lighting will create mysteriousness and will seem thrilling. Furthermore, the graffiti on the walls of this location give
The target audience chosen for our thriller film is young adults from ages 15-24. This is due to the characters used being young and impressionable, which this audience may be able to relate to. Furthermore, the costume of our characters may appeal to this audience through their alternative independent look being in fashion and up to date. Moreover, the soundtrack may also appeal to this group of people as it is a popular genre for troubled teenagers because they are able to relate to the music. The audience may also enjoy this film due to the thrilling aspect of it exciting and entertaining them.
By Harriet Bliss
We have decided on a modern colour film fitting the genre of psychological thriller. However, we have used certain shots in black and white to highlight specific features, E.G. During flashbacks. Furthermore, we have used the influence of Gus Van Sant’s ‘Paranoid Park’, which is an independent alternative thriller basing the storyline around a teenage boy who takes part in the accidental death of a security guard and watches how he deals with this. Our thriller is going to represent young people in the same way as they are represented in ‘Paranoid Park’ as it shows the innocence of a young killer, which is a very alternative view for a thriller film. Typically, younger people are portrayed as either rebels with a limit or innocent, naïve characters as this is how society sees them. Therefore, this is brought across in the media. However, our killer is going to fit both of these conventions as he is innocent, yet has gone to the extreme level of rebellion by taking part in a murder.
The alternative narrative will continue throughout our thriller film – it will be portrayed through costume, character and concept. Our characters show this alternative narrative through their young age of 17-19 and through their costume design/general look. The villain in our thriller has a Lennon inspired style through his alternative hair and clothes. His costume includes slim jeans, braces with a plain top and smart point shoes – this may connote that the character is an outcast and refers back to the alternative ‘indie’ scene.
The mise-en-scene is constructed through a huge base of unconventional camera work. This is seen through many tilt shots, creating ambiguity to the scene. Furthermore, there are many tracking shots included in the mise-en-scene, which creates a sense of movement to the audience making the scene seem more realistic. In addition, there are shots which include low angles so the characters seem superior, but are walking in a nervous manner. This creates a contrast to the shot and makes it seem more mysterious. Furthermore, the mise-en-scene is constructed through the ambient lighting used. This creates a more natural feel to the film and creates a sense of realism for the audience. The setting of the thriller is an essential to the mise-en-scene. Our setting includes an underground which our character is to walk through in the dark. The dark features of lighting will create mysteriousness and will seem thrilling. Furthermore, the graffiti on the walls of this location give
The target audience chosen for our thriller film is young adults from ages 15-24. This is due to the characters used being young and impressionable, which this audience may be able to relate to. Furthermore, the costume of our characters may appeal to this audience through their alternative independent look being in fashion and up to date. Moreover, the soundtrack may also appeal to this group of people as it is a popular genre for troubled teenagers because they are able to relate to the music. The audience may also enjoy this film due to the thrilling aspect of it exciting and entertaining them.
By Harriet Bliss
Wednesday, 24 February 2010
Influences
Influences to our thriller
Elephant, a thriller describing the events of the Columbine High School shootings, was a title Gus Van Sant borrowed from a film by Alan Clarke. The term ‘elephant’ was suggested for the title due to the phrase “there’s an elephant in the room”, which means that there is an obvious truth that no one talks about and ignores. The idea of this film is thought to be the “elephant in the room”; as such a tragedy is rarely talked about. Furthermore, the social cliques in the film may be the “elephant in the room”, as it shows the tension between different social groups and the film shows the consequence of what happens if it is brought up.
The portrayal of young society in this film suggests the tragedy in youth which is un-noticed. Teenagers are seen to be vulnerable and innocent, yet capable of a horrific event because of this vulnerability. Many would argue that the social cliques in high schools can cause long term psychological damage to the youth of our society – a scary thought for many as youth is seen to be the future, which is the thrill factor of the film. A disturbing, yet sad piece contributes a dark outlook on teenagers and tells the public the truth about teen tragedies.
Paranoid Park, another movie by Gus Van Sant, shows the life of a teenage boy as he takes place in the accidental death of a security guard after going to the locally famous skate park Paranoid Park. The movie shows the growth of anxiety in the young boy as he tries to act casual about the situation to investigators. The title of the film expresses the paranoia that can grow within a killer, no matter what the situation.
Young society is portrayed to, as in Elephant, be a new born innocence, but takes part in many tragic events. However, unlike in Elephant, guilt is brought in to the character to justify his actions to the audience. Whereas, Elephant shows the pure wrath in teen society with no form of remorse. Furthermore, the soundtrack of Elliott Smith shows the misery a teen is capable of as these slow acoustic sounds fulfil the film. This film shows the remorse of a teenager, but his capabilities at the same time. This creates the audience to feel empathy for the character. Whereas, Elephant brings out an atmosphere of sadness for the tragic event, but not for the characters.
These Van Sant films have influenced our choice of thriller through the works of teenage portrayal. Our film, like Van Sants, shows a teenage killer dealing with the aftermath of the incident. We aim to create sympathy for the character from the audience, as well as shock at the incident that has taken place. Our thriller is more similar to Paranoid Park. However, shows differences through the characters reaction to the murder.
By Harriet Bliss
Elephant, a thriller describing the events of the Columbine High School shootings, was a title Gus Van Sant borrowed from a film by Alan Clarke. The term ‘elephant’ was suggested for the title due to the phrase “there’s an elephant in the room”, which means that there is an obvious truth that no one talks about and ignores. The idea of this film is thought to be the “elephant in the room”; as such a tragedy is rarely talked about. Furthermore, the social cliques in the film may be the “elephant in the room”, as it shows the tension between different social groups and the film shows the consequence of what happens if it is brought up.
The portrayal of young society in this film suggests the tragedy in youth which is un-noticed. Teenagers are seen to be vulnerable and innocent, yet capable of a horrific event because of this vulnerability. Many would argue that the social cliques in high schools can cause long term psychological damage to the youth of our society – a scary thought for many as youth is seen to be the future, which is the thrill factor of the film. A disturbing, yet sad piece contributes a dark outlook on teenagers and tells the public the truth about teen tragedies.
Paranoid Park, another movie by Gus Van Sant, shows the life of a teenage boy as he takes place in the accidental death of a security guard after going to the locally famous skate park Paranoid Park. The movie shows the growth of anxiety in the young boy as he tries to act casual about the situation to investigators. The title of the film expresses the paranoia that can grow within a killer, no matter what the situation.
Young society is portrayed to, as in Elephant, be a new born innocence, but takes part in many tragic events. However, unlike in Elephant, guilt is brought in to the character to justify his actions to the audience. Whereas, Elephant shows the pure wrath in teen society with no form of remorse. Furthermore, the soundtrack of Elliott Smith shows the misery a teen is capable of as these slow acoustic sounds fulfil the film. This film shows the remorse of a teenager, but his capabilities at the same time. This creates the audience to feel empathy for the character. Whereas, Elephant brings out an atmosphere of sadness for the tragic event, but not for the characters.
These Van Sant films have influenced our choice of thriller through the works of teenage portrayal. Our film, like Van Sants, shows a teenage killer dealing with the aftermath of the incident. We aim to create sympathy for the character from the audience, as well as shock at the incident that has taken place. Our thriller is more similar to Paranoid Park. However, shows differences through the characters reaction to the murder.
By Harriet Bliss
Friday, 5 February 2010
Findings/Results
Findings/Results
The method used for our thriller research was a questionnaire, which we handed to a group of alternative 15-19 year olds. We chose a young alternative label of people because this is our specified audience for our thriller. Therefore, it will benefit us to use the group of people so that we can find their values and aspirations of a thriller.
Firstly, our questionnaire started off by asking a question about specified genres with the options of psychological thriller, action thriller, gangster thriller and other. Our estimations of psychological thriller being the most popular were extremely accurate, as 75% found it to be the better genre of thriller. However, the option of ‘other’ was also a very popular answer, where people specified their favourite genres to be films such as film noir thrillers EG. Psycho. Furthermore, action thriller proved to be the less popular with a mere 5% of population. In addition, gangster thriller proved to be the middle way of these results. Therefore, our estimations were accurate and our thriller will appeal to our target audience greatly, which is proven in our research.
Secondly, we asked whether this audience preferred independent or mainstream thrillers, in reference to films such as Pulp Fiction (mainstream) or Elephant (independent). We found that the results were very close in finding. Many were not aware of the independent industry of thriller, but those who were chose this type of thriller. Mainstream over rode the idea of independent thriller. However, our film will still remain independent because we do not want to aim to a mainstream audience.
In addition, we found that special effects were not a favourite in thriller film. It is said to be unrealistic and somewhat cheap. Therefore, our film will not consist of special effects and will mainly consist of natural effects/lighting etc. This is due to the fact that ambient lighting was also seen to be a favourite in thriller films. This creates a more realistic view to the audience.
The characters in a thriller were seen to be the most important through our findings. However, camera work is also important to convey how the character is, along with the concept of the thriller creating the base of it. However, in our questionnaire our results showed that the characters were the most important aspect. Furthermore, both diagetic and non diagetic sound was popular within the audience. A mixture of both proved to be a good result for a thriller.
In addition, the location has a huge impact on the audience’s interest to a thriller. Many preferred a suburban city theme of location, whereas others were fond of the idea of a forest area. However, the other options proved to be less popular. A suburban city location proved that people prefer a busy unknown location to create a hectic atmosphere.
Overall, the audience’s expectation of a thriller is a bizarre and original concept, surrounding the idea of the unknown. This keeps the audience of edge whilst in company of the thriller and makes the thriller more realistic. Furthermore, this audience have a more open view of thrillers and prefer an independent based film.
The method used for our thriller research was a questionnaire, which we handed to a group of alternative 15-19 year olds. We chose a young alternative label of people because this is our specified audience for our thriller. Therefore, it will benefit us to use the group of people so that we can find their values and aspirations of a thriller.
Firstly, our questionnaire started off by asking a question about specified genres with the options of psychological thriller, action thriller, gangster thriller and other. Our estimations of psychological thriller being the most popular were extremely accurate, as 75% found it to be the better genre of thriller. However, the option of ‘other’ was also a very popular answer, where people specified their favourite genres to be films such as film noir thrillers EG. Psycho. Furthermore, action thriller proved to be the less popular with a mere 5% of population. In addition, gangster thriller proved to be the middle way of these results. Therefore, our estimations were accurate and our thriller will appeal to our target audience greatly, which is proven in our research.
Secondly, we asked whether this audience preferred independent or mainstream thrillers, in reference to films such as Pulp Fiction (mainstream) or Elephant (independent). We found that the results were very close in finding. Many were not aware of the independent industry of thriller, but those who were chose this type of thriller. Mainstream over rode the idea of independent thriller. However, our film will still remain independent because we do not want to aim to a mainstream audience.
In addition, we found that special effects were not a favourite in thriller film. It is said to be unrealistic and somewhat cheap. Therefore, our film will not consist of special effects and will mainly consist of natural effects/lighting etc. This is due to the fact that ambient lighting was also seen to be a favourite in thriller films. This creates a more realistic view to the audience.
The characters in a thriller were seen to be the most important through our findings. However, camera work is also important to convey how the character is, along with the concept of the thriller creating the base of it. However, in our questionnaire our results showed that the characters were the most important aspect. Furthermore, both diagetic and non diagetic sound was popular within the audience. A mixture of both proved to be a good result for a thriller.
In addition, the location has a huge impact on the audience’s interest to a thriller. Many preferred a suburban city theme of location, whereas others were fond of the idea of a forest area. However, the other options proved to be less popular. A suburban city location proved that people prefer a busy unknown location to create a hectic atmosphere.
Overall, the audience’s expectation of a thriller is a bizarre and original concept, surrounding the idea of the unknown. This keeps the audience of edge whilst in company of the thriller and makes the thriller more realistic. Furthermore, this audience have a more open view of thrillers and prefer an independent based film.
Audience Proposal
To begin with, I decided on a target audience for which I was to find my expectations of thrillers from. Ranging from ages 15-19, I based my research around young alternative teenagers. This is due to the fact that this is the target audience for our thriller in the making. I set out to find the expectations of costume, location, sound/music, genre and lighting. Through this I wish to create these expectations in our thriller film.
Costume
For the likes of costume, I wished to find out the colour pallet of costume design EG. Grey and dim or bright and colourful. Each of these costumes connotes something different. The grey and dim costume would connote a sense of ambiguity and darkness so the audience is kept firmly on edge. A dark costume will fit the theme of a thriller perfectly as it is a mysterious and dark genre. On the other hand, a bright colourful costume would create a contrast to the genre, connoting a sense of insanity in the character, which would keep the audience intrigued and give the thriller an interesting twist.
Location
Locations are an essential figure to our research. The findings of this will determine if the location chosen for our thriller fits our target audience. The options for our research are a suburban city, countryside, a forest or abroad. Our thriller, being set in a city area, hopes to find this is the most popular location. A suburban city, for the audience, would create a more dangerous atmosphere to the area because of the population and business of the place – this means it is harder to pinpoint a criminal. Therefore, this would create edginess to the thriller. However, a countryside location creates isolation, which the audience may feel empathy for and it would be more realistic to them. In addition, the research is based around people in Norfolk. Therefore, it may not be a popular finding because of people’s fondness for change. Furthermore, a forest is a very typical location for a thriller and our target audience, being alternative, aren’t likely to pick a typical location, which is seen in the word ‘alternative’. However, this location is very isolated which is why it is popular. This is due to the fact that there is no outside help around isolation, creating a more dangerous atmosphere than in a city. Additionally, an abroad location is also down to isolation because abroad language is different, therefore it is harder to find help.
Sound/music
The music in a thriller has a huge impact on how the character and concept are perceived. We gave the choice of an upbeat classical theme of music or a slow acoustic sound. An upbeat classical theme of music connotes a hectic atmosphere – this is used in thrillers such as ‘Psycho’. This genre of music connotes a classical stereotypical theme to a thriller and keeps the audience well aware of what is going on. Although, the acoustic sound is a contrast to the concept of the film, which creates ambiguity to the situation. This is evident in films such as ‘Elephant’.
Genre
The genre of film will affect the making of our film hugely. We had a decision between psychological thrillers, gangster thrillers and action thriller. From estimation we thought that psychological thrillers would have a larger audience. This genre is a mysterious and makes you think about the concept and realism of it, creating edginess for the audience. Furthermore, gangster thrillers are the next most realistic of these genres. However, only in certain areas is this concept realistic. The concept of gangster thriller has action elements but is mainly consistent of violence, sex, drugs etc. On the other hand, action thriller mainly focuses on violence and is very unrealistic and attracts a younger, less mature audience. Hence, our predictions were that this would not be popular amongst our research.
Lighting
Lighting creates the atmosphere in a thriller, whether it is light or dark. Therefore, we asked which would be preferred – ambient or non ambient lighting. Ambient lighting would create a more natural feel to the scene, creating a more realistic view for the audience. However, non ambient would create a Hollywood feel, which would make the thriller seem super natural and unrealistic.
To begin with, I decided on a target audience for which I was to find my expectations of thrillers from. Ranging from ages 15-19, I based my research around young alternative teenagers. This is due to the fact that this is the target audience for our thriller in the making. I set out to find the expectations of costume, location, sound/music, genre and lighting. Through this I wish to create these expectations in our thriller film.
Costume
For the likes of costume, I wished to find out the colour pallet of costume design EG. Grey and dim or bright and colourful. Each of these costumes connotes something different. The grey and dim costume would connote a sense of ambiguity and darkness so the audience is kept firmly on edge. A dark costume will fit the theme of a thriller perfectly as it is a mysterious and dark genre. On the other hand, a bright colourful costume would create a contrast to the genre, connoting a sense of insanity in the character, which would keep the audience intrigued and give the thriller an interesting twist.
Location
Locations are an essential figure to our research. The findings of this will determine if the location chosen for our thriller fits our target audience. The options for our research are a suburban city, countryside, a forest or abroad. Our thriller, being set in a city area, hopes to find this is the most popular location. A suburban city, for the audience, would create a more dangerous atmosphere to the area because of the population and business of the place – this means it is harder to pinpoint a criminal. Therefore, this would create edginess to the thriller. However, a countryside location creates isolation, which the audience may feel empathy for and it would be more realistic to them. In addition, the research is based around people in Norfolk. Therefore, it may not be a popular finding because of people’s fondness for change. Furthermore, a forest is a very typical location for a thriller and our target audience, being alternative, aren’t likely to pick a typical location, which is seen in the word ‘alternative’. However, this location is very isolated which is why it is popular. This is due to the fact that there is no outside help around isolation, creating a more dangerous atmosphere than in a city. Additionally, an abroad location is also down to isolation because abroad language is different, therefore it is harder to find help.
Sound/music
The music in a thriller has a huge impact on how the character and concept are perceived. We gave the choice of an upbeat classical theme of music or a slow acoustic sound. An upbeat classical theme of music connotes a hectic atmosphere – this is used in thrillers such as ‘Psycho’. This genre of music connotes a classical stereotypical theme to a thriller and keeps the audience well aware of what is going on. Although, the acoustic sound is a contrast to the concept of the film, which creates ambiguity to the situation. This is evident in films such as ‘Elephant’.
Genre
The genre of film will affect the making of our film hugely. We had a decision between psychological thrillers, gangster thrillers and action thriller. From estimation we thought that psychological thrillers would have a larger audience. This genre is a mysterious and makes you think about the concept and realism of it, creating edginess for the audience. Furthermore, gangster thrillers are the next most realistic of these genres. However, only in certain areas is this concept realistic. The concept of gangster thriller has action elements but is mainly consistent of violence, sex, drugs etc. On the other hand, action thriller mainly focuses on violence and is very unrealistic and attracts a younger, less mature audience. Hence, our predictions were that this would not be popular amongst our research.
Lighting
Lighting creates the atmosphere in a thriller, whether it is light or dark. Therefore, we asked which would be preferred – ambient or non ambient lighting. Ambient lighting would create a more natural feel to the scene, creating a more realistic view for the audience. However, non ambient would create a Hollywood feel, which would make the thriller seem super natural and unrealistic.
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
Questionairre
Thriller Questionnaire
1. What is your favourite sub genre of thriller?
a) Psychological Thriller
b) Action Thriller
c) Gangster Thriller
d) Other
2. Do you prefer mainstream or independent film?
3. Do you like to see special effects in thriller films?
4. Which do you find the most interesting in thriller film?
a) Camera shots
b) The characters
c) The concept
5. Do you prefer diagetic or non diagetic sound in a film?
6. Out of the following directors, who do you prefer?
a) Tarantino
b) Hitchcock
c) Gus Van Sant
7. Do you prefer:
a) an upbeat classical soundtrack
b) a slow acoustic soundtrack
8. What would you prefer the time of day to be in a thriller?
a) During daylight
b) At Night
c) As it is getting dark
d) As it is getting light
9. Do you prefer:
a) ambient lighting
b) non ambient lighting
10. What kinds of location do you find interesting in a thriller?
a) Dark, forest type location
b) Suburban city
c) Country side house
d) Abroad
11. What kinds of costume do you prefer in a thriller?
a) A dark, dim costume
b) A bright, colourful costume
1. What is your favourite sub genre of thriller?
a) Psychological Thriller
b) Action Thriller
c) Gangster Thriller
d) Other
2. Do you prefer mainstream or independent film?
3. Do you like to see special effects in thriller films?
4. Which do you find the most interesting in thriller film?
a) Camera shots
b) The characters
c) The concept
5. Do you prefer diagetic or non diagetic sound in a film?
6. Out of the following directors, who do you prefer?
a) Tarantino
b) Hitchcock
c) Gus Van Sant
7. Do you prefer:
a) an upbeat classical soundtrack
b) a slow acoustic soundtrack
8. What would you prefer the time of day to be in a thriller?
a) During daylight
b) At Night
c) As it is getting dark
d) As it is getting light
9. Do you prefer:
a) ambient lighting
b) non ambient lighting
10. What kinds of location do you find interesting in a thriller?
a) Dark, forest type location
b) Suburban city
c) Country side house
d) Abroad
11. What kinds of costume do you prefer in a thriller?
a) A dark, dim costume
b) A bright, colourful costume
Thursday, 28 January 2010
Audience Profile
Audience Profile
The target audience decided for our thriller is young adults from ages 17-28 of any gender. This is due to the relation the audience will be able to have with the characters in the film, as the characters are young adults also - this is seen through costume and personality of characters. For example, our main character has an up to date sense of style through his costume which consists of slimmed jeans, hooded tops and brogue shoes. Furthermore, the characters confident but eerie personality may attract this audience and gain a liking for the character due to their confident and ‘cool’ personality.
Our film, being an independent piece, aims to attract a small specialty audience such as people that enjoy certain genres of music may enjoy this film more due to soundtrack, concept and costume. However, mainstream targets the audience of a large majority, such as young women. Our independent audience consists of alternative young adults aged 17-28 due to the soundtrack, concept and character. We will use alternative camera work to emphasise the independence of this film, along with the overall look and personality of the character and the alternative soundtrack - this will all appeal to this alternative young audience.
Research shows that in thriller films audiences prefer the sub-genre of psychological thriller. This works to our advantage as this is the sub genre we are basing our thriller film on. Furthermore, the preferred setting for thriller is in present time in an urban environment. This is due to present time enhancing the feeling of it being reality and audiences find this more exciting. In addition, the urban setting is due to the non stop life in cities creating a thrilling environment. Moreover, it has been proven that many prefer a slower storyline building up to a climax rather than action packed the entire way through. This is due to the fact that it lets the audience think for themselves and draw their own conclusions as to what is going on before anything is yet to happen. Many preferred motion based cinematography with the use of tracking and dolly shots because it gives the audience a sense of movement and feels as though you are in the scene, creating realism. However, still camera movement worked well with the audience also as it gives a clear view of the shot. When asked, many were not in favour of special effects in thriller films – this is said to make the film unrealistic and somewhat cheap. A simple editing base was favoured among the public overall. In addition, murder is a huge favourite amongst themes of thriller. Many preferred the psychological aspect of murder and found this to be more thrilling in a film as it is based on real life situations. Furthermore, mise-en-scene is an important factor in film because many things in the shot may symbolise something important towards the literature of the film.
Our thriller is able to target these audiences as many prefer psychological thrillers with a slow uptake – our thriller fits both of these aims. In addition our target audience, being young adults from 17-28, will be attracted to the character through look and personality. This is because of the up to date look our villain will hold over the audience, along with a confident personality which shows the audience he may be above them, creating intimidation towards the audience. Furthermore, they may take a liking to this character because of his alternative costume connoting a sense of ‘coolness’ to his personality and having this sense is an aspiration of many young people today. Likewise, the audience may be attracted by the alternative soundtrack due to it being a popular genre amongst this age group.
The target audience decided for our thriller is young adults from ages 17-28 of any gender. This is due to the relation the audience will be able to have with the characters in the film, as the characters are young adults also - this is seen through costume and personality of characters. For example, our main character has an up to date sense of style through his costume which consists of slimmed jeans, hooded tops and brogue shoes. Furthermore, the characters confident but eerie personality may attract this audience and gain a liking for the character due to their confident and ‘cool’ personality.
Our film, being an independent piece, aims to attract a small specialty audience such as people that enjoy certain genres of music may enjoy this film more due to soundtrack, concept and costume. However, mainstream targets the audience of a large majority, such as young women. Our independent audience consists of alternative young adults aged 17-28 due to the soundtrack, concept and character. We will use alternative camera work to emphasise the independence of this film, along with the overall look and personality of the character and the alternative soundtrack - this will all appeal to this alternative young audience.
Research shows that in thriller films audiences prefer the sub-genre of psychological thriller. This works to our advantage as this is the sub genre we are basing our thriller film on. Furthermore, the preferred setting for thriller is in present time in an urban environment. This is due to present time enhancing the feeling of it being reality and audiences find this more exciting. In addition, the urban setting is due to the non stop life in cities creating a thrilling environment. Moreover, it has been proven that many prefer a slower storyline building up to a climax rather than action packed the entire way through. This is due to the fact that it lets the audience think for themselves and draw their own conclusions as to what is going on before anything is yet to happen. Many preferred motion based cinematography with the use of tracking and dolly shots because it gives the audience a sense of movement and feels as though you are in the scene, creating realism. However, still camera movement worked well with the audience also as it gives a clear view of the shot. When asked, many were not in favour of special effects in thriller films – this is said to make the film unrealistic and somewhat cheap. A simple editing base was favoured among the public overall. In addition, murder is a huge favourite amongst themes of thriller. Many preferred the psychological aspect of murder and found this to be more thrilling in a film as it is based on real life situations. Furthermore, mise-en-scene is an important factor in film because many things in the shot may symbolise something important towards the literature of the film.
Our thriller is able to target these audiences as many prefer psychological thrillers with a slow uptake – our thriller fits both of these aims. In addition our target audience, being young adults from 17-28, will be attracted to the character through look and personality. This is because of the up to date look our villain will hold over the audience, along with a confident personality which shows the audience he may be above them, creating intimidation towards the audience. Furthermore, they may take a liking to this character because of his alternative costume connoting a sense of ‘coolness’ to his personality and having this sense is an aspiration of many young people today. Likewise, the audience may be attracted by the alternative soundtrack due to it being a popular genre amongst this age group.
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Chosen soundtrack for thriller
Another chosen artist for our thriller soundtrack is a local alternative acoustic artist called ‘Elliott Islington’ – his music shows a broad sense of emotion through his powerful, but original voice. Influences from ‘Elliott Smith’, ‘Death Cab for Cutie’ and ‘Gregory and the Hawk’ show that this artist specialises in the alternative emotional genre, fitting the theme of our thriller. Elliott Islington’s raw moving sound will bring out the emotion of our villain in the thriller as we play this with a voice over of the villains narrative.
We have chosen the track ‘Hospitals’ because it brings across a dark sound to fit the mood of our thriller. This is shown through the lyrics describing a building on fire with people trapped inside – our character may be able to relate to this as mentally he may feel trapped.
The idea of calm acoustic music over a thrilling situation was inspired from ‘Good Will Hunting’, whereby many Elliott Smith tracks are used over aggressive or hectic situations as a contrasting idea to create disorientation.
www.myspace.com/elliottislington
However, I have recently discovered a well produced artist with a less raw sound but an effective emotional feel. Sam Rodwell, an artist from Norfolk, specialises in many different genres, mainly fitting the alternative scene. You are able to find his music on http://www.myspace.com/samrodwell. Lost Sea is our first choice of song by him.
by Harriet Bliss
We have chosen the track ‘Hospitals’ because it brings across a dark sound to fit the mood of our thriller. This is shown through the lyrics describing a building on fire with people trapped inside – our character may be able to relate to this as mentally he may feel trapped.
The idea of calm acoustic music over a thrilling situation was inspired from ‘Good Will Hunting’, whereby many Elliott Smith tracks are used over aggressive or hectic situations as a contrasting idea to create disorientation.
www.myspace.com/elliottislington
However, I have recently discovered a well produced artist with a less raw sound but an effective emotional feel. Sam Rodwell, an artist from Norfolk, specialises in many different genres, mainly fitting the alternative scene. You are able to find his music on http://www.myspace.com/samrodwell. Lost Sea is our first choice of song by him.
by Harriet Bliss
Tuesday, 19 January 2010
Monday, 18 January 2010
Thursday, 14 January 2010
Costume Design
Costume design
Villain:
We have chosen a more vintage approach to the costume for our villain. However, it is a very basic costume that does not give too much away about the character. This will create a mysterious vibe for the villain, causing tension for the audience as they are not given any clues as to what he is like. To do this, we have chosen the colour pallet of dull whites/greys/blacks/browns etc. to create a dark and negative atmosphere about the character. Our villain will be dressed in a simple white t-shirt and a long 70's brown coat(the collar will often be up to hide him and create a dangerous connotation). Furthermore, he will wear plain slim jeans – this will create the illusion of a trouble teenager which is exactly what we hope to create.
Victim:
We decided on a racy, promiscuous outfit for the female victim of our thriller. However, the victim is only in the thriller for a matter of seconds, we decided not to go very in depth for her costume. We have decided on simply putting her in the villains bath with a shot of her shoulders upwards. This will connote that sexual acts have previously taken place between the victim and villain. Furthermore, the bath will connote that this has escalated in to violence and that something dark has happened between the two. This will create tension for the audience as they are shown the scene after the event, but do not know what happened. The mystery of the costume will make the shot and scene to explain to the audience what is going on and that something bad has previously happened.
By Harriet Bliss
Villain:
We have chosen a more vintage approach to the costume for our villain. However, it is a very basic costume that does not give too much away about the character. This will create a mysterious vibe for the villain, causing tension for the audience as they are not given any clues as to what he is like. To do this, we have chosen the colour pallet of dull whites/greys/blacks/browns etc. to create a dark and negative atmosphere about the character. Our villain will be dressed in a simple white t-shirt and a long 70's brown coat(the collar will often be up to hide him and create a dangerous connotation). Furthermore, he will wear plain slim jeans – this will create the illusion of a trouble teenager which is exactly what we hope to create.
Victim:
We decided on a racy, promiscuous outfit for the female victim of our thriller. However, the victim is only in the thriller for a matter of seconds, we decided not to go very in depth for her costume. We have decided on simply putting her in the villains bath with a shot of her shoulders upwards. This will connote that sexual acts have previously taken place between the victim and villain. Furthermore, the bath will connote that this has escalated in to violence and that something dark has happened between the two. This will create tension for the audience as they are shown the scene after the event, but do not know what happened. The mystery of the costume will make the shot and scene to explain to the audience what is going on and that something bad has previously happened.
By Harriet Bliss
Shot list
Shot list
Brief:
Opening Shot – Shot 1: A tracking shot entering the apartment room to establish the setting. The camera then transforms into a single shot with a capacity of 15 seconds which pans around the setting of a dirty apartment. Each mise-en-scene after each pan shows the image of something which represents murder, but subtly. For example, the image of cold feet on the floor, the image of a weapon etc. By the end of the shot you are brought to the villain but are not shown his face as he is wearing his hood up.
Shot 2: Low Angle/Mid-shot/Tilt shot tracking villains feet as he walks down the apartment block stairs swiftly. Shot continues for 2-3 seconds focusing entirely on feet.
Shot 3: Cuts to a mid-shot of man walking out of the apartment and down the street and pace begins to get faster.
Shot 4: Mid Tracking Shot of villain swiftly walking from behind evolving into a run. Length of time is roughly 3-4 seconds.
Shot 5: Extreme close up of cigarette being rolled by pair of hands. All you can see is hands with tobacco inside rolling paper. Length of shot is two seconds.
Shot 6: Cuts to extreme close up of villain licking papers.
Shot 7: Cuts to extreme close up of villain tapping rolled cigarette of bench arm rest. Length of time is 2 seconds.
Shot 8: Cuts to extreme close up of lighter lighting cigarette. Length of shot is 1 second.
Shot 9: Cuts to extreme close up of villain inhaling.
Shot 10: Cuts to long shot with smoke invading it.
Shot 11: Cuts to long shot of villain on bench smoking from front on. Fast forward motion takes place for 5 seconds.
Shot 12: Cuts to flashback of villain washing blood off hands – close up with over-voiced dialogue. Black and white effect to determine that it is a flashback.
Shot 13: Cuts to flashback of villain taking swig of Vodka/Jack Daniels using a close up shot – black and white effect still.
Shot 14: Cuts to flashback of villain digging using a mid shot/tilt – black and white effect.
Shot 15: Cuts back to the bench using a long shot transferring back to colour. Dolly in to face as the villain looks up.
By Harriet Bliss and William Fielding
Brief:
Opening Shot – Shot 1: A tracking shot entering the apartment room to establish the setting. The camera then transforms into a single shot with a capacity of 15 seconds which pans around the setting of a dirty apartment. Each mise-en-scene after each pan shows the image of something which represents murder, but subtly. For example, the image of cold feet on the floor, the image of a weapon etc. By the end of the shot you are brought to the villain but are not shown his face as he is wearing his hood up.
Shot 2: Low Angle/Mid-shot/Tilt shot tracking villains feet as he walks down the apartment block stairs swiftly. Shot continues for 2-3 seconds focusing entirely on feet.
Shot 3: Cuts to a mid-shot of man walking out of the apartment and down the street and pace begins to get faster.
Shot 4: Mid Tracking Shot of villain swiftly walking from behind evolving into a run. Length of time is roughly 3-4 seconds.
Shot 5: Extreme close up of cigarette being rolled by pair of hands. All you can see is hands with tobacco inside rolling paper. Length of shot is two seconds.
Shot 6: Cuts to extreme close up of villain licking papers.
Shot 7: Cuts to extreme close up of villain tapping rolled cigarette of bench arm rest. Length of time is 2 seconds.
Shot 8: Cuts to extreme close up of lighter lighting cigarette. Length of shot is 1 second.
Shot 9: Cuts to extreme close up of villain inhaling.
Shot 10: Cuts to long shot with smoke invading it.
Shot 11: Cuts to long shot of villain on bench smoking from front on. Fast forward motion takes place for 5 seconds.
Shot 12: Cuts to flashback of villain washing blood off hands – close up with over-voiced dialogue. Black and white effect to determine that it is a flashback.
Shot 13: Cuts to flashback of villain taking swig of Vodka/Jack Daniels using a close up shot – black and white effect still.
Shot 14: Cuts to flashback of villain digging using a mid shot/tilt – black and white effect.
Shot 15: Cuts back to the bench using a long shot transferring back to colour. Dolly in to face as the villain looks up.
By Harriet Bliss and William Fielding
Planner
Planner
Saturday 16th January: Shooting/ filming agenda
Friday 22nd January: Shooting
Locations: Riverside Apartment, Chapelfield Gardens
Cast: Ben Redgrove as Josh (Killer), Caitlin Gook as Victim
Crew: William Fielding (Director/ camera man), David Evans (Director/ lighting), Harriet Bliss (Director/ Visual Choreographer)
Equipment Required: Camera Dolly, Camera (Canon HG10), Tripod, Lamps.
Costume: Ben Redgrove- Grey Hoodie, Jeans, Black shoes, Braces.
Caitlin Gook- sheet
Props: Fake Blood, shovel, vodka bottle, cigarette components, knife.
By William Fielding and Harriet Bliss
Saturday 16th January: Shooting/ filming agenda
Friday 22nd January: Shooting
Locations: Riverside Apartment, Chapelfield Gardens
Cast: Ben Redgrove as Josh (Killer), Caitlin Gook as Victim
Crew: William Fielding (Director/ camera man), David Evans (Director/ lighting), Harriet Bliss (Director/ Visual Choreographer)
Equipment Required: Camera Dolly, Camera (Canon HG10), Tripod, Lamps.
Costume: Ben Redgrove- Grey Hoodie, Jeans, Black shoes, Braces.
Caitlin Gook- sheet
Props: Fake Blood, shovel, vodka bottle, cigarette components, knife.
By William Fielding and Harriet Bliss
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