Conclusion to Misery clip

This clip has helped me understand what type of editing is generally used in thrillers. By using eye line angles makes the audience connect with the actor. This is done by the way that it involves the viewers making them feel like they're in the film. Moreover, the fast cutting makes the film a mystery as nothing exciting has happened yet. This could be a good idea when our group films our opening. Through the use of cutting we could establish something dark and scary waiting to happen in our film. 

Thriller 3: Analysis of Misery (Thriller)

Director: Rob Reiner (1990)

Camera- distance, angle, movement and editing- speed style

The film starts when a close up shows a cigarette and a match with a man in the background on a typewriter. This denotes him to be busy but makes him come across as a writer. The camera then cuts to a champagne class which makes the audience think that he is celebrating- only he has one glass which may convey loneliness. This then cuts to a close up of a champagne bottle in ice which portrays this character to be wealthy. After this the camera shows a man finishing typing something which then cuts to his face which is done to reveal his emotions. He then writes ‘the end’ on the paper which is a symbolic meaning for it not being the end as this is a thriller. An eye line angle has been used throughout the clip when the camera was focusing on the character to connect with the audience as it feels the viewer is in the shot. Moreover the fasts cuts have been made by the director to involve the audience to make them see everything in the shot.

Sound- effects, music

The film opens to the sound of a typewriter which denotes that the character is writing something important. Additionally as soon as he stops writing a piano starts playing. The music from this denotes a sense of unknown and melancholy as it’s played in a minor key very softly to produce a scary atmosphere. As soon as he starts to pack away his things violins are backed up to add to the tense mood. These are typical instruments used for thriller films. This symbolic meaning signifies that if he stops writing, bad things will happen.

Mise-en-scene

The setting reinforces the personas social status as the use of the office desk makes him seem important and at work. This denotes his character to be intelligent. Moreover the use of clothing establishes the genre as a thriller through the red shirt to signify blood and the black t-shirt to denote danger and evil. The lighting in the room is very dim which is only supported by a lamp and the window. The fact he’s shut some of the other blinds may convey him to have a lonely personality. The facial expressions also reinforce this loneliness as he comes across as disappointed through the blankness on his face.

Titles- font, colour, position

The title sequence in this clip contrasts with every other thriller opening I’ve watched as it’s the only one to make the font red against a black background. This has been done because this denotes blood and danger. Moreover the typography has been made in a tall serif font in capital letters. This denotes that someone is shouting which is a symbolic meaning for what’s to come in the rest of the film. Furthermore, the positioning of the text makes it easy to read as it’s centred in the middle of the screen.

Conclusion to 4321 clip

Throughout the opening of the clip to camera had fast movements to show that the film has pace. Moreover the zooming effects added emphasis as it included sound too. Even though there wasn't much sound throughout the opening, it was involved in important parts such as her jumping off the bridge. Furthermore the use of clothing and mise-en-scene is also important as it portrayed each character differently and this helped made the camera techniques give off symbolic meanings. Additionally, the titles were also important as they denoted many meanings that help shape the film. The way the text was positioned showed this as it conveyed a person standing against a wall. This makes the film come across as gangster crime. Henceforward, these aspects have made me understand crime thrillers and what conventions need to be address to. Things like fast camera techniques and close ups help create an effect that a thriller opening needs to have.

Thriller 2: Analysis of 4321 (Crime thriller)

Director: Noel Clarke, Mark Davisb (2010)
Camera- distance, angle, movement and editing- speed, style

The film opens with an establishing close up of a girl half crying standing on a bridge. At this point in time we assume she is going to commit suicide as a bridge may connote this. The camera then zooms fast out to show an extreme long of the bridge in the location- London.  This makes the girl seem small and insignificant to the rest of the city. A car then comes into view shown by the low camera angle which denotes the people in the car seem more powerful.  The camera then cuts back to the girls face in a mid-close up showing her crying. Her depressed situation is then reinforced through the long shot showing her standing on the bridge. The camera then tracks the people getting out of the car and the fast camera movements and cuts shows them to be demanding characters whereas the girl standing on the bridge is seen to be weak. The contrast between these two characters is then show by the close up of the girls face on the bridge showing her sad emotion by crying. Additionally she is also shaking reinforcing her feeble persona. The camera then cuts to her hand which is her holding a handful of diamonds. This contradicts her frail character as diamonds denote wealth. Nevertheless, after this she is shown shaking as she looks down at the water. Moreover, the fact she hasn’t made any sound at this point connotes her to by shy. After this she then jumps which is shown by a long shot which then cuts to a black screen.

Sound- effects, music

Throughout the beginning of the film hardly any sound has been used expect for when the camera zoomed out of the girl standing on the bridge, and when she was getting ready to jump. This is significant as the director is making her seem more important to the rest of the characters. The sound used at these moments

Mise-en-scene- props, costume, setting, lighting, colour

The girl standing on the bridge comes across as quite a weak persona due to her clothes and make up. Her shabby coat and torn t-shirt denote her to be poor and insignificant. Compared to the other girls however, they wore dresses and work clothes which make them come across as more important and powerful. Furthermore, the setting also establishes a crime thriller- at night in London. Night time denotes danger and this makes the film gripping.

Titles- font, colour, placement

The titles are shown in a white font against a black background. The typography is formatted in a bold sans serif font which denotes masculinity. Furthermore, the way the text is positioned makes it look like someone is standing up against a wall which connotes this film to be about gangster crime.

Conclusion to Black Swan clip

My analysis of Black Swan has made me understand the codes and conventions when it comes to making a psychological thriller. To begin with, the titles are mainly shown in a white font against a black background. This has been done to make effect as it shows contrast. To back up this, I also looked at The Talented Mr. Ripley and it too also had white font against a black background. However, even though I have only studied two doesn't necessarily mean titles should have white font. 

After this I looked at the camera techniques. I found out that the camera is always follows the main character as this makes them seem more important. Furthermore, because its a psychological thriller it has to be from the characters perspective. For example in Black Swan Nina experiences looses her mind and this is reinforced through the cameras always showing her side of the story. Secondly, there is mainly mid-shots and close ups as this reveals more emotion on the characters face. In Black Swan it always cuts to show her face which reveals to the audience what she is feeling etc.

What's more, the editing techniques also showed typical conventions of a psychological thriller as the camera panned to follow Nina when she was dancing. This shows that the camera is trying to follow the characters movements. Cutting was also used to show different shots of the scene. For example the camera went from a long shot to a mid shot then to a close up of Nina's face. This exposed her frighten facial expressions which shows that in physiological thrillers you have to include the characters emotions.

The mise-en-scene was also interesting as it showed contrast in lighting and symbolic meanings in the clothes they were wearing. Firstly, the lighting showed that thrillers should include dark backgrounds to establish a tense atomsphere and the clothing should represent symbolic meanings for the characters. This means that I should be thinking about what my actors should be wearing and the lighting when it comes to filming.

In my opinion, sound is the most important aspect of thriller conventions as when I watching Black Swan the music from the violins added fast pace to the film thus making the whole movie more exciting. The music also indicated when there was danger (eg- black swan comes to dance with Nina) and this could be very important when it comes to filming my thriller film.

Thriller 1: Analysis of Black Swan (Psychological Thriller)

Director: Darren Aronofsky (2010)
To begin my research into the conventions of thriller films I am going to look at openings of some films and analyse the titles, camera angles, editing, mise-en-scene and music.

Camera- distance, angle, movement and editing- speed, style

The film opens with an establishing long shot of Nina who is revealed when the lights slowly show her on the centre of a stage. This then cuts to a mid-close up her feet which show her dancing to the music. The fact it cut to her feet may suggest that this film is about choices and paths to take in life. Furthermore, throughout her dancing a spotlight is following her at all times. At this part in the film we assume she is on a stage which makes her seem like an important character. After this she then sits down with a happy expression on her face which the cuts to a long shot of her. This then shows someone walking up to her; however the uneven mood of the film suggests that this could be something potentially scary. Soon after a male figure is shown which makes Nina stand up and this may be because she is trying to defend herself. He follows her around which pans to a close up of her face which highlights her scared facial expressions. After this the camera follows them around, always showing the male character looking at her back. Mid-close ups are then used throughout the rest of the dance until Nina walks off which is shown by a mid shot then a long shot. The spotlight then fades which signifies it’s the end of the dance.

The next scene cuts to a close up of Nina in her bed which highlights her happy expression. The camera then moves to follow her from getting out of bed which makes her seem like an important role. After this a long shot has been used to show her stretching, which changes to a mid shot when she sits down and then a close up to show her talking. After this it cuts to her and her mother having breakfast which then cuts to a mid shot of her showing how thin she is. After this, it shows close ups of their faces

Sound- effects, music

The music throughout the clip is clearly a classical piece of music that shows fast and slow paces. At the beginning, it begins calmly and peacefully as Nina dances, however it soon begins to change when she sits down as it becomes more tense. When they dance the music makes the atmosphere more rushed as its get faster and louder which is built up from when the male character (black swan) walks over to Nina. The climax of the music indicates that something is over which could be a symbolic meaning for Nina.

Mise-en-scene- props, costume, setting, lighting, colour

• Setting

The spotlight slowly reveals the Nina wearing a white dress in a black stage. The contrast between these two suggests that Nina is pure and elegant as she stands out to be white. The next scene is in her home in a flat which shows Nina’s bedroom and kitchen.

• Lighting

The lighting starts off slowly and shows there is more darkness as there is only one spotlight showing the main character. The lighting in the flat is produced by the sun which enters through the windows.

•  Characters

Nina began by wearing a pretty ballet dress that was very long which covered most of her legs. The white material contrasts to the back background making her seem more pure. Her facial expressions changed-at one point as she seemed happy then scared. When she woke up she was wearing a pink top and jewellery which makes her come across as feminine. Her mum however wears black which makes her come across as evil as she could be interpreted as the black swan and that Nina is innocent.

Titles- font, colour, placement

The film starts with subtitles which are shown in white to contrast with the black backdrop. The typography is formatted in a serif font which makes the titles come across as feminine. The slim and tall quality also adds to this. Furthermore, the formal tone makes this film to come across as serious which is reinforced as ‘Black Swan’ is written in capital letters, highlighting what the film is about. This is also spread out in the screen which is done to grab attention.

Evaluating research

After this process I feel we could have gone into dept more with the research as this would have given us a wider understanding of our task. We also could have asked more specific questions in are survey, asking our target audience what they like when it comes to the conventions of a movie. This would be things like: characters, setting, visual imagery and lighting. Even though we did ask a question about the plot, it could have focused more on our genre as it was a closed question. Overall I feel our research was spread evenly during this process as we had equal tasks to do when it came to researching our new genre. If I were to do this process again I would look more into the conventions of the genre I would be studying and ask more interesting questions to have wider feedback.

I have learnt that genre is never static and can always be re-packaged and changed. I know this now when we received an announcement about the box-office not wanting physiological horrors. At the time we were doing a Science-fiction, comedy horror, however we overcame this by re-branding our movie to a 'thriller'. This is called regenrification.

The concept of genre

What have I learn about genre?

Throughout my learning I have found out that genre is never static and is always evolving. This is because genre is constantly regenerated all the time to ensure the audience can identify film through repetition, familiarity and variation. This offers the audience a comforting reassurance when they watch a film. This creative strategy includes a set of conventions which are: visual iconography, familiar narrative, mise-en-scene and a style of representation. However if film producers constantly repeated movie styles, audiences would grow old of the cinema so they would have to reclassify a film. This is also known as regenrification. Films can be put into ‘sub-genres’ which is when films are branded within a genre itself. One example of this is ‘Science-fiction’ genre as it could have many sub-genres like ‘Monster invasion’. Hybridisation is when a film has two genres such as ‘Science-fiction horror’. This process doesn’t limit film industries as the list could be endless. In my opinion, I think the most limiting way of understanding genre is through hybridization, due to the fact that some people may argue genre is dead. This is because genre has developed so many times over the years that classic genre can't be classified anymore. One example of this is horror. There are now science fiction horrors, crime horrors, romantic horrors etc.

Regenrification is majorly important for institutions as it’s a way of keeping genre alive. Their aims would be reassuring an audience through familiarity. This process is very important as it offers comfort for the viewers.  However at the same time they might have to create new ideas and not repeat old genres. This is called variation which is key for film producers. Furthermore, these concepts are significant for the audience too as they have to be entertained. Some may want familiarity however some may want variation. Categorizing plays a big role in genre as film producers can easily reclassify films. For example they could call their film a physiological thriller and a physiological crime. Some may argue that this idea of rebranding films is the reason for why genre is dead. Audience’s years ago would go and see a film for the genre as they knew what they were going to get, nowadays genre can be called anything.

Film making process- what do I need to think about?

When starting my coursework I need to consider many aspects that involve genre. These would be things like: camera angles, positioning, mise-en-scene and what affects these give off. I think this is going to be a hard task as I have to include many ideas in order to make my film successful. Before this however, I would need to research my information on thriller films. This could be things like looking up what sub-genre’s thrillers have and base my ideas on one which I like. Watching thriller films will also help me understand the conventions of thrillers but also give me inspiration.

Additionally, I would need to think about the set of rules genre has which would be thinking about repetition, variation and familiarity. The main aspect I would like to work in would be variation. This is because I aiming to make my film as original as possible. I want to create new ideas into thrillers which will shock but also entertain my audience. Nevertheless, familiarity and repetition must come into my work too through the conventions such as mise-en-scene and representation.