Research and Planning

This is a brainstorm of our chosen sub genre and our film open ideas. We have drawn a picture at the top to show a rough idea of what our opening shot will be, on the left we have listed different sub genres and different fimls that represent that particular genre.

Our plot summary:

• There is a phycho main character of whom we have roughly drawn in the picture above.
• He is lonely, and has a fetish for hair and is a serial killer
• He has commited several murders, and is wanted by the police.

The main convention of a phychological thriller:

•  Danger on a mental level, rather than physical

• One solitary character in mental conflict with their own mind

These two conventions are i have picked present elements which are within our film opening. The phycho character is in fact danger on a mental level and is in fact in conflict with his own mind.

 These are the two themes of this particular genre which i think illustrate our fiml opening:

Perception – A person's own interpretation of the world around him through his senses. Often characters misperceive the world around them, or their perceptions are altered by outside factors within the narrative 

Mind – The human consciousness; the location for personality, thought, reason, memory, intelligence and emotion. The mind is often used as a location for narrative conflict, where characters battle their own minds to reach a new level of understanding or perception.

This screenshot from the film se7en is really inspirational to our group because of the setting. Firstly, it is set in a dark eerie room that looks really old. Secondly, there is very little light entering the room apart from the one lamp. Lastly, when an audience see this shot, they instantly think of a horror/thriller genre and are at the edge of thier seats becuase of the elements i mentioned previously. This is exactly how we want the audience to feel when they see our film opening.

Thriller Sub Genre Research

The thriller genre can include the following sub-genres, which may include elements from other genres:

Action thriller -  This sub genre can have certain features such as a race against time, violence, fighting and an antagonist. The film would most probably have things such as guns, explosions and car races etc. One example of a movie based on this particular sub genre is, The Bourne Identity/Supremacy/Ultimatum.



 In the movie, the antagonist is simon ross, and as explained above the movie contains fighting, guns and explosions. 

                                 

 These two shots are from the movie depicting the aspects found within this sub  genre, the fighting and the guns

Crime thriller - Is a fusion of both crime films and thriller films, and it offers a mysterious view of a crime - successful or failed. This type of thriller usually focus on the criminal-characters. Central topics of these films include serial killers/murders, robberies, chases, shootouts, heists and double-crosses.  E.g: A crime thriller that includes murder is the silence of the lambs.

In this movie, foster is in the pursuit of a serial killer nicknamed "Buffalo Bill", who skins his female victims' corpses.

This shot above is from the movie silence of the lambs. This shot shows a murder by the serial killer, " Buffalo Bill."

Political Thriller -  This is where the hero/heroine must ensure the stability of the government that employs him/her.They usually involve various extra-legal plots, designed to give political power to someone, while his opponents try to stop him. They can involve national or international political scenarios. Political corruption, terrorism, and warfare are common. A movie which fits in with this type of sub genre is the Interpreter.

In this movie, U.N. interpreter Silvia Broome has overheard a death threat against an African head of state, spoken in a rare dialect few people other than Silvia can understand.

This shot above from the movie, The Interpreter. The man in the centre of the shot is the african head of state, Zuanie. This is the man to whom which the death threat is directed to.

Analysis of Momento

In the first shot we see a hand holding a square shaped photo. When examining the photo further we see that that it seems to be a blood splatter.This immediately has an effect on me becuase it instantly gives us an indication that this movie could be based on a horror/thirller genre. Also in unison with the shot we can hear non diegetic sound in the background. The sound is slow and mellow, this gives an eerie and gloomy feeling towards the movie. This also enhances the idea of a horror/thriller genre. When observing the credits, we see that the movie title momento is written like this, M O M E N T O. The spacing between each letter spaces the word out and make it bold and broad to stand out. I think this is made like this because its in the centre and wants to grab everyones attension and moreover show its importance.


The shot then comes into a medium shot of a male actor. By observing his face we see that it is slightly bruised, he has two distinct cuts on his cheek. He's holding a camera and wearing a baige colour suit. Yhis shows the audience that this particular chatacter has been through alot recently probably a fight hence the cuts. His facial expression looks quiet serious,this puts the point across that he might be a bad character who drives the story forward.

After this we start to hear digetic sounds as he flashes the camera and hear hin put it away.The camera then focuses on an extreme close up of a part of a wall drenched in blood. An effect has been used here as we see that the blood is not dripping downwards as we expect but it is flowing upwards, its like the tape is being rewinded. Additionally the camera then goes to a cloe up of a bullet, this shows that the bullet has been fired and we can now tell what the movie might to be about. Secondly, the camera gives a close up of some old fashioned glasses next to a wall with blood drip stains on it. This to me is looking like a crimescene were someone was supposedly hurt/murdered.

The shot then turns into a high angled shot of a blonde haired man from the shoulders up lying down still on the floor. We see blood around his head and hes dead. Then suddenly we see a high angled shot of the male actor with the camera standing over the body sticking his arm over the body. From thi high angled shot we see the power this man has and the audicence is aware of this now. As he sticks his hand over the body a gun flies into his hand from the floor, the bullet returns to the gun, he crouches doen next to the body and the dead manis alive and screams. This is complex editing technique is very effective as it shows us what has happened and also makes the audience appreciate the editing. This highly complicated editing technique makes this unique and draws the attension of the audience.

In conclusion, the opening sequence is very interesting with its uses of diegetic/non diegetic sounds, camera angles, shots and editing. All these factors contribute towards creating tension and suspense within the audience.I think the producers/directors have successfully achieved there main aim of this movie to create a tense atmosphere and get the audience hooked to the film.

Genre

Genre can be important e.g. when telling the difference between a horror movie and a thriller. Most films have certain elements which portray its genre. For example, westerns always have cowboys, whether they are set in the present day or the 1840s. Audiences have a set of expectations as to what a genre text will contain in terms of transportation, what actors wear, character, setting, mise en scene and soundtrack etc.

The main question is, why is genre important?

Gives a pattern for construction, a template

Genre pieces have an audience which like this genre so therefor can make money out of it

Actors can associate themselves with a particular genre e.g. Adam Sandler usually acts in rom-coms such as just go with it. For poeple who like adam sandlar, they might wanmt to see movies in which he is apart of, so again recieving money becuase of the genre and actor(s)

An important part of Genre theory is knowing at which period a film was made. This is particularly important when considering what technology was being used. With today's high speed films (shorter exposure times) films may be shot with very different lighting from those of twenty years ago. Secondly, genre theory is a very good way of marketing a film both for the producers, secondly for the audience. It has become a logo of sorts marking which films certain people may want to see. In particular we may notice this with the teen movie genre. It is a genre which is divided into many sub genres such as spoof etc.

Film genres are similar to musical genres or literary genres in many ways. A filmmaker understands what elements are expected in a specific film genre. Certain actors are generally associated with a specific type of film genre, as well as scriptwriters and directors. The director John Ford, for e.g , worked almost in the Western film genre. The actor Hugh Grant is best known for his work in the romantic comedy genre. Lastly, producer Jerry Bruckheimer specializes in the action film genre.

Genre Film Conventions - NICCS

Bourne Identity

Narrative: It Is a typical chase narrative, where somebody is being chased or trying to be captured because of what he’s done or what he has. The storyline definitely depicts action as seen by the violence portrayed within the trailer. The structure is typically planning to find to track him down, then actually people go out to search for him.

Iconography: Things within the trailer that depicts action are fighting scenes, hit and run violent driving, glass shattereing. The presence and use of guns, the sound of cars skidding on the road are things we also expect in this type of genre.

Characters: Matt Damon (Victim, highly trained detective)

Camerawork: lots of close ups of matt, sweeping paoramic shots of setting. Also some extreme close ups of important physical actions.

Settings: City, snowy forest, hotels, offices

Just go with it

Narrative: This film is a comedy - romance genre. They storyline is tpical of a rom-com as it has love and romance between characters, aditionally the trailer contains funny scenes which enhance the comedy side of this genre.

Iconography: Two characters who have fallen for eachother but something is resgtricting thier relationship from going further. Romantic scenes, comedy scenes. Also what we expect to see is that the relationship works out in the end.


Characters: Adam Sandler and Jeniffer Aniston, these are the characters that were together and now has found somebody else.


Camerawork Medium and close ups of the characters in romance. Over the shoulder, low angle and long shots are used repeatedly.


Settings: Beach, classroom, restaurant

Silence of the lambs Analysis

Firstly, the music is mainyly played by an orchestra. This has an immediate effect as it is slow, dramatic and has an almost paranormal sound to it. The first shot a medium shot of leafless tree with broad branches, in the background we see clearly more dense forest and trees. Just by the first shot we see that the weather is dull and gloomy, additionally there is a slight mist in the background. The soundtrack really complements this shot well as they both convey the idea of suspense and get the audience engaged.

As the credits rise and camera pans slowly to the left again showing the dense misty forest. The eagle call we hear two times in this opening suqueence indicates that the setting is in a rural place, and also the sound seems to have an echo effect, this gived the impression of a wide open space. After this the camera moves slightly downwars to a long shot of a women surrounded by trees. The first instinct you get is that this girl is alone and something terrible might happen to her. The camera focuses on the women as she pulls herself towards the camera by a rope, she is panting heavily suggesting that she has been involved in some physical activity.

The camera then switches positions onto a medium shot from behhind the women as she joggs through the forest. The camera follows behind her. The soundtrack at this point has increased in texture showing development of the track and also the scene.

Later on in the scene the women comes a climbing frame, this shows us that she was in fact engaged in fitness hence the heavy panting. Just after she finisheds climbing the camera shows amedium shot of the women talkin to someone man perhaps from the FBI and she is told that somebody would like to see someplace else. So she deroutes and joggs away. The soundtrack is now calm slightly calmer and consistent. The camera then does a a ful panoramic shot of her jogging into a police/fbi base where there are other people present.

Moments later, the women comes out of the elavator in a medium shot. The women then walks out of the shot and the camera turns and focuses on the plaque saying behavioral science services and an arrow pointing in the direction of where the women just walked. This shot shows us where she is going or what she may be in terms of profession. The women now snakes through various corridors and the camera follows behind her at the same pace. By this time, the music has stopped and now what we hear is what the woem is hearing: people talking, papers shuffling etc. The camera then depicts match on match action and over the shoulder with the women talking to mr crawford. Within that very scene the women looks at pictures on the wall, they seem to be of some dead people and picture of one house and some leaves. At this moment a slow sad soundtrack starts to play and then stops when she starts to talk with mr crawford. The soundtrack illustrates that those pictures have a deeper meaning to them, perhaps that they have something to do with the women? Or it is something that the movie revolves around?

Overall, in the begging the slow movement of the camera, the soundtrack and the setting give an idea of drama and has a scary feel to it especial with the fog and mist in the forest. The opening sequence builds up tension as we see the scene where she focuses on those pictures which by now, the audience should have realised