Match On Action

For this task, we had to work in groups in three different sections where we each had our own role. I worked in a group with Georgina Ladley and Sophie Daniels. My task was research thee match on action shot, Sophie's was the 180 degree rule and Georgina's was Shot Reverse Shot, see their blogs for their research.
Match on action shot basically means  shooting one movement from 2 camera shots, the same shot but from different angles. This helps to establish strong continuity.  In other words it's where a shot can be taken and then stopped without the viewer being aware. However the movement and action has to be the same.

Continuity means filming/editing smoothly so it flows.

Episode 50

Episode 50.
You may think that episode 50 looks like a horror, but it is also classed as a thriller. 
The opening sequence to episode 50, is very basic. The background holds no image, just black with white type writer font. This gives an eery and mysterious effect, also the music used is quite dull and low creating suspense and making me wonder what will happen next.
The titles shake in and out, like they are being recorded and the camera has just cut them off. There are no camera shots used in the title sequence, it is a similar beginning to shutter island, quite basic but making the viewer curious as to what 
the film will be about. 

Usual Suspects commentary

One of the first tasks we had to complete was a commentary on usual suspects. 
As we had trouble uploading it to our blogs, we decided to write it onto our blogs instead. My group involved me, Georgina Ladley and Alexandra Ryder.


We had to look at: 

- What creates suspense?

- How the camera (shot types) tell the story to create mystery? 

- Genre conventions of mise-an-scene

My involvement in the group was answering the question:

What creates suspense?

In the film Usual Suspects it creates suspense by the use of slow strong beat of organs and the sound effects, such as  when the match is lit and dropped + also the gun shots created curiosity. The line of fire on the floor also created suspense as you didnt know when it was going to stop. The sound effects help to set the mood throughout the scene. 

How the camera tells the story to create mystery.

The tracking shots show the scene from a low point of view, and then there is a long shot from the floor showing a tall dark man on the balcony this is dark and mysterious. Using the over the shoulder shots of the other man creates mystery because you wonder who the other guy is, as you don't see his face. 

Genre conventions of mise-an-scene:

Dark lighting is used though out the scene. The men in the clip are wearing dark, dull clothes nothing that stands out, also they speak with monotone voice to make them sound more scary and mysterious.  

There are some good close ups of the props like the gun and the matches. 

Rear Window

When watching the opening sequence of rear window, it gave the impression that it would be a cheerful yet intense thriller. There were quite a few elements which made the opening sequence interesting.

The Sound: jazz/classical music that was quite high pitched and up beat was used throughout to create suspicion.

The Editing: the titles faded in and out to create mystery within the background, Hitchcock purposely had titles by the window of the house to also create suspense. Important information is revealed, for example; the characters, setting, plot and location. 

The camera: When using the camera, there was a variety of shots used like close-ups, extreme long shot and still shots.  Props were also used to make it more interesting. 

Miso-en-scene:  during the title sequence, it showed us where abouts the film would be set - an apartment block. Very stereo typical. There could have been a photographer from the use of props. e.g. photos+ camera. 

The Departed

In today's media lesson i was discussing the design aspects of Departed.  The background image included a city, it could of been any city. Cities are usually used in thrillers to create mystery and suspense. The colours used on it were black+white+red, monochrome colours. There were also visual elements, blood and bullet holes; this is mostly used in thrillers to show what will happen later on in the film. The font and animation of the title was big, bold and linked with the words below it. Also the editing of each shot was falling and in a kind of grainy aspect to show if the film was old or again to get a reaction from the audience.

Memento Analysis

Memento.
Discussing different films in groups,
The opening title sequence for memento seemed to be quite dramatic. The opening title's seemed to fade in and out creating a mysterious affect, making us want to know what will happen next. There is also a use of camera shots which show us the emotion in both characters, there is the extreme close up which shows me what the character might be feeling or their eyes could show some sort of story. However during the beginning of the title sequence everything gets rewound backwards, this can be confusing but could show a brief glimpse of what might happen at the end of the film. There were also a few other elements used such as gunshots, photographs + bullets.
When viewing the title sequence, there are two main parts of feedback, being shocked and being curious, the viewers would be shocked/confused as to why the film would be going backwards and curious as to why the victim was shot. Overall the beginning creates confusion.

Taxi Driver

Title Still

Extreme Close up

In a class discussion we watched the opening sequence to Taxi driver, there was a use of loud but quite slow classical music to bring tension. I could recognise the use genre of a jazz instrument, e.g. the saxophone. There were a few camera shots used to show emotion, the extreme close up showed the brewing emotion in the actors eyes. A view shot from the taxi was used to show the setting area he was in.  Visual elements were also used, shown when the taxi drove past the fog, this could have been used to show the idea of mystery.The titles at the beginning were trying to get the audience hooked and also explains the actors/characters that were in it. - Taxi Driver

Long Shot

Own Research - Shutter Island

Shutter island title sequence still.

 Shutter Island...

I thought of carrying out my own research on a well know thriller film, Shutter Island. While watching the opening title sequence, I noticed that the fonts used were quite basic and bold, but still managed to make me want to watch on. The words fade out like they have just disappeared and you want to know where to. The genre of the film, which included the music used in the beginning sequence had an almost eery feel to it that linked in quite well with the music which was quite low and classical. It could also be described as sad but calming music. I could just make out what sounded to be a violin. Those seem to be used in quite spooky, mysterious films. No camera shots were used just words.  I think that even though it was quite basic, the music helped it to be more dramatic.

Mind Map

On one of our first media lessons, we had to create a brainstorm based on thrillers and what they involve.  I wrote some examples of thrillers and what aspects are most important, for example story and characters, visual elements and mood/atmosphere.
We had to discuss what elements make us want to watch the film again and what gets us intrigued.
I also had to discuss what makes a thriller a thriller. What keeps me on edge and wanting to know more.  How the music can affect the title sequence of the film and how the atmosphere of the film can make the audience want to get involved.
One example of a thriller, is Shutter Island which i will take into further research.