Friday 31 March 2017
Monday 27 March 2017
Sunday 26 March 2017
Tuesday 21 March 2017
Monday 20 March 2017
Monday 13 March 2017
Friday 10 March 2017
Friday 3 March 2017
Wednesday 22 February 2017
Saturday 18 February 2017
Essex Boys and Metaphorical spaces
How does the director of Essex Boys use metaphorical spaces?
(Photo of guy
driving car in tunnel with lights on windscreen)
This photo is a
great example of metaphorical spaces, because it foreshadows that maybe this
character is trapped within the car by bars, similar to a prison. This is meant
to tell the audience that this character could potentially end up in jail if he
continues to do what he carries on with his life in the same way. Furthermore,
the fact that half of his face is blocked out behind these ‘bars’ helps reflect
his emotions that he might be feeling to the audience. In addition to this, the
fact that there is another person in the shot but is completely blurred out
suggests they have a strained relationship and the guy in the front doesn’t
care about him. All of this adds to the tension of the scene.
(Tunnel with
emptiness and lights)
The use of vanishing
points in this shot help reflect the chaos that is going on in film and how it
is a world of crime. This is seen through the fact that it is a very dark shot
and everything seems to heading towards the centre but is broken up by the
different lights perhaps representing that things in the film are always going
wrong and being delayed. Furthermore, that fact that non of the light is
natural helps add to the feeling of things going wrong because it is sating
that there is no hope for these people heading down the tunnel into the
darkness. In addition to this, the fact that there is only the one car going in
could symbolise that once you are in there is no coming back which reflects the
severity of the potential consequences they could face for their crimes.
(Guy stumbling on
the empty shot)
However, in this shot
we see a man stumbling over into the wide-open abyss, which can be seen as a
metaphor for him being all on his own and not knowing where or what he is going
to do. In addition to this, the use of vanishing points in this shot reinforces
that idea because everything is leading to once place, normally the centre, but
in this case it is off to left showing everything is disoriented for the
character also. The use of a quite grimy and murky grey colour palette also
helps connote the emotions of the scene across to the audience, we are meant to
be thinking about what a dull boring place this is.
Friday 17 February 2017
Sounds for thriller
Sounds for thriller
(Website links temporary as pictures aren’t
working)
One of the main goals that I set out to achieve with
my thriller was to create an atmosphere of tension. One of the best ways of
doing this was through the use of sound effects and music.
I looked into other TV and Film thriller to see how
they used different sound effects to create an atmosphere, I found that in
programs such as ‘Peaky Blinders’ they seemed to use high tempo music with a
louder beat to it, they also synchronise cuts and character movements to fit
the beat of the music to help engage the audience and let them know that
something is about to happen. Because of this we thought it would be good to
use this within ours.
Choice1:
Choice 2:
Furthermore, just before this music in the opening
we would have some calmer music because it represents the tranquillity of the
scene and how there is no danger at that point in time.
However, it would be odd to just change completely
so we were going to add in a load bang of a car door slamming because that
creates a nice cut point for us to work with.
(car door slam) https://freesound.org/people/baujahr66/sounds/157257/
In our thriller we have two scenes where we have a
black screen and it was important that while this is up we still give the
audience and idea of what is going on, it will also engage them more because
they use their own imagination to interpret what could be going on. We would
use the sound of heavy breathing because they character would’ve been kidnapped
and therefore won’t be able to see, so we wanted to let the audience experience
the same thing. This sound also helps add to the feelings of chaos and paranoia
and that is what we were hoping to achieve.
Friday 3 February 2017
Thursday 2 February 2017
Tuesday 3 January 2017
What do directors seek to establish in the openings of thrillers?
(photos added later as cannot access from home)
In the opening of thriller films it is important that they set the scene by establishing key elements such as the character and location.
Character
In the opening scenes of Se7en by David Fincher, we see him using a variety of different shot types in order to establish the character to the audience. For example in the shot of Detective Somerset looking at the fridge, they have used a close up on the face with shallow focus so you cant see the character in the background. This connotes feelings of isolation for the character because it is like he is alone. Furthermore, the only light source in the image is the one faded behind him which causes his face to become a silhouette, this causes the audience to think about how Detective Somerset has a dark side to him that nobody knows. In addition to this, they way in which David Fincher shows the organisation of the the main character helps the audience learn more about the character because it shows us the he is clearly experienced in his job and has a set routine for it. (Image of dressing table with items on it). As you can see in this image he has a clear order of things played out that he needs and nothing else. At the end we can see he has a piece of flower painted wallpaper which we can infer holds some sentimental value to him. Alternatively, in the film Layer Cake which is directed by Matthew Vaughn, we see him establish the character through the smoothness in the movement of the camera work. The camera follows his every move in one smooth motion which conveys his power and authority to the audience because it is like we are all following him. Furthermore, that fact the camera movement is slightly behind him helps add the the sense of authority, when he turns we turn after to show that he is more important than us. This also can be seen as glorification of the drug industry because of the way that the camera is so smooth and clam whereas what he is doing and talking about is a very dangerous and illegal business.
Location
Another thing that directors like to establish in the opening of thrillers is the location. Essex Boys by Terry Windsor does this very well, one of the best ways he does this is through the use of metaphorical spaces. (shot of guy in car with lights looking like bars). As we can see from this image, they have used the lights in the tunnel to create the idea that the character is trapped within the space like he is in a prison with bars stopping him from getting out, foreshadowing a potential future behind bars if he continues with what he is doing.
(image of man stumbling on road with grey sky). Furthermore, in this image we can see how the use of vanishing points can affect the mood of a scene. The image seems to all come together just off centre creating the feelings of immorality and disorientation for this character and the time because he's not sure where he is or what is going to happen to him.
Another film that establishes the location well is The Third Man which is directed by Carol Reed. The location for the film is in the city of Vienna which is the capital of Austria, and specifically in the large sewers. Like in Essex Boys there is use of vanishing points to help show emotions and feelings but in The Third Man they often have vanishing points the don't all merge together to connote how society is feeling after the war and how nothing seems to be going together, it could further create feeling of paranoia and confusion which would also link back to society. (image of entrances to sewers in big open area)
Tone / Mood
Tone and Mood is a key feature that directors like to try and establish in the opening of thrillers because it helps the audience understand the film better of they know the mood of the situation the character is in. An example of this is in the film The Disappearance of Alice Creed by J Blakeson. The film uses a wide range of shots in order to try build up the tension within the audience and keep them on edge with what could happen. One of the ways in which they do this is through synchronisity of the two main characters. (image of characters by the curtains drawing them open). As we can see from this image the two characters are standing in the exact same position to the same thing to show that they know what to do and clearly are organised people. Joint with the slightly harsh music helps create a slightly tense atmosphere amongst the viewers because we don't know exactly what they are doing but we know that it is not going to be good. Furthermore, another way in which the establish the tone and mood of the film is through the use of shallow focus in a similar way to seven. They will use an extreme close up with shallow focus on only the important detail to almost create the idea that they are perfectionist because they are taking each individual aspect of what they are doing with extreme care and precision. (photo of ECU of drilling in door.) This image is a example of the way in which shallow focus is used within the film. All these features help build up the intensity within the opening scenes because the whole time we are not entirely sure what the two characters are going to be doing but with the use of ECU's and shallow focus it allows the audience to be more engrossed and find out.
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