The thriller genre uses suspense, tension and cliff hangers to create an excitment within the film. Thriller subgenres are crime thriller, mystery thriller, psychological thriller and paranoid thriller. Thrillers must contain a villian like character which creates obstacles for the 'hero'.
Thriller films consist of, as the name suggests, thrills and 'edge of your seat' feel to the plot. Most common characteristics for a thriller hero is that of an ordinary citizen put into a dangerous/life-threatening situation in which they have to make a seemingly impossible escape. For the villian his/her identity is often know from the beginning of the film although in many cases now, the 'thrill' is finding out the villians identity amd his/her motives. Another way of looking at thrillers is that they create a 'fearful' excitment.
Taking into consideration of what our thriller will be, i looked at cerain subgenres that our film would fit, crime thriller and psychological thriller. Crime thrillers consist of ransoms, captivities, heists, revenge and kidnapping where as psychological thrillers consist of mind games,psychological themes, stalking, confinement/deathtraps, horror of personality and obsession. Our film/opening sequence has some of these elements such as kidnapping, revenge, stalking and obsession.
Barthes Code: Roland Barthes realised that these 5 codes (hermeneutic code, proairetic code, semic code, symbolic code and referential code) defines how a thriller is estaballished and how these codes coe together to make a thriller.
Hemeneutic code is the solving of the enigmas. it is a question and answer process in which it reveals the 'mystery', this process seen as irreversible. Solving the enigmas/mystery is answering a series of certain statements such as thermatisation. what is in the narrative is an enigma?, promise of an answer of the enigma and suspended answer stopping the answering after having begun.
Proairetic code looks at the actions or small sectionsof the narative. It is known to watch the actions and content of the narrative to create meaning. This code pictates the script/text within the reader as they read a part and create an action for it.
Semic code is when the connotations on certain things within the text (a place, a person and an object). This could create suggestions within the reader to link a certain thing to a certain meaning.
Symbolic code reveals certain meanings within the text even if they were not mean't to be of relevancy. Certain transgressions reveal the meaning, these trangressions are rhetorical, sexual and economic.
Refrential code is simple when the text refers to general knowledge or fact.
Thriller conventions consist of crime within the narrative/storyline, a storyline that involves false paths, clues and resolution, expectant resolution for the enigma, the antagonist and protagonist fighting with each other (physical and mental) where the antagonist is disadvantaged but succeeds in the end, events happening that the audience can relate too, the audience being able to identify the characters and the protagonist having a flaw that the antagonist takes advantage of.
Friday, 18 February 2011
Preliminary evaluation (Patsy Jones and Catherine Seiersen)
Preliminary Task evaluation
Our Preliminary task involved us filming a character walking through a hallway and sitting down opposite another character. The characters exchange three lines of dialogue each and then the character gets up and walks away into another corridor. We mainly used over the shoulder shots, long shots and medium shots to record the action but we did involve other shots like close up and shot reverse shot to add a better effect to the task. All shots were planned beforehand as well as the dialogue spoken.
We decided to film at Havering college in the B block as it's layout connected well for our shots, making it easier to keep to the 180 degree rule and keep a continuity to the shots. The only problems we came across was getting the right height of the camera so it lined up with the characters height but we soon got used to how to change the height on the tripod.
Doing this task taught us how to use the camera and the tripod correctly as well as loading the tape into the camera. We learnt how to film and edit a short sequence which gave us better knowledge for our opening sequence task. This gave us a good introduction and practise on being a director, camera person and editor. Having this knowledge has given us the knowledge and confidence to film action for our opening sequence well.
Our Preliminary task involved us filming a character walking through a hallway and sitting down opposite another character. The characters exchange three lines of dialogue each and then the character gets up and walks away into another corridor. We mainly used over the shoulder shots, long shots and medium shots to record the action but we did involve other shots like close up and shot reverse shot to add a better effect to the task. All shots were planned beforehand as well as the dialogue spoken.
We decided to film at Havering college in the B block as it's layout connected well for our shots, making it easier to keep to the 180 degree rule and keep a continuity to the shots. The only problems we came across was getting the right height of the camera so it lined up with the characters height but we soon got used to how to change the height on the tripod.
Doing this task taught us how to use the camera and the tripod correctly as well as loading the tape into the camera. We learnt how to film and edit a short sequence which gave us better knowledge for our opening sequence task. This gave us a good introduction and practise on being a director, camera person and editor. Having this knowledge has given us the knowledge and confidence to film action for our opening sequence well.
Opening sequences analysis (kill bill vol 1)
I will be analysing the opening sequence for kill bill vol 1 using the four main technical aspects, mise-en-scene, editing, cinematography and sound. I will see how the four technical aspects create enigma, and how it contrasts genre, setting, characters, mood and storyline.
Mise-en-scene: The mise-en-scene within this opening sequence creates enigma as the wedding veil symbolises that it is a happy day, a day when everyone gets together but the action within this scene conflicts with the idea of the wedding veil this lures the audience to watch more. The genre is shown through mise-en-scene because a gun is implied making it action but the killers identy is hidden with only the clue of his handkercheif embroided with the name bill. With the wedding veil being shown this would suggest that the characters are in a church or place of marriage e.g. a registary office. The characters are apparent in the nature of who they are as in the woman is the protagonist and the person who's identy is hidden, is the antagonist the implied gun that he supposed to have. With the conflicting props of the veil and the gun it creates a sinister mood around the action taken place. The storyline is not revealed or given much away, all the audience can understand from the mise-en-scene that these two people have an issue with one another.
Cinematography: The camera is set as a close up/point of view shot and at a high angle as if the character is looking over her within the first shot. This shot sets a fearful mood as it shows the pain and fear within the character which then makes the audience feel as if something bad is going to happen. The worms eye view of the shoes walking shows that the setting is within a building. The original shot is then replayed but more to a point of view which shows the storyline and the characters by showing that the protagonist is inferior or weaker to the antagonist as the antagonist is at a very close distance to the protagonist and her facial expressions show disgust and reluctance with the antagonist's touch through the use of close-up. The genre is not clearly shown through the use of the camera but the intimacy within the close-up can be directed towards an action thriller as the fear is shown and the blood is shown closely but the person doing the violence is never revealed within the shots. This then connects to the enigma being created cause no matter what shot there is never a clue to what the antagonist looks like and what is intentions are until the very end.
Sound: The setting is not revealed through the sound. Enigma is created through the dialogue of the protagonist having paniced breathing as it puts the audience on edge and encourages them to watch more as they want to find out why she is in fear. The genre is revealed through the use of the gunshot and the dialogue being cut off at the end which seemed vital towards the plot, this creates a mystery with violence so it would best suit action thriller genre. The dialogue tellls the characters names so the audience has a faint idea of who these characters are. The dialogue suggets that the mood is very tense as the heavy breathing mixed with the very calm attitude to the antagonists dialogue shows that this is not a comfortable situation for the characters. The sound shows conflict between the characters as it shows they know each other and from the apparent panic in the protagonists voice, not on good terms. This reveals the plot by showing that they are connected and the story is going to be based around them two.
Editing: The editing does not show the setting. The action match between the protagonist looking at his feet and his feet walking creates a mood of foreboading as the audience is expecting something bad to happen. The cut to the title sequence creates an enigma as the audience never see what happens next or hear the protagonist finish her sentence properly so it creates a curiousity within the audience. The action match edit shows the connection between the characters but the editing does not reveal the characters relation and it even stops the scene from revealing to much about them. The black and white colour scheme creates a ominous feeling towards the film which suggests that the genre is of a dark charachter i.e. thriller. The editing does not show the story plot but does hender the audience from knowing it as it cuts into the end of the event which seems to be key to the film plot and cuts out before it is resolved.
Opening sequences analysis (seven)
In this analysis i will be looking at the four main aspects (mise-en-scene,cinematography,editing and sound) of the opening sequence of the featured film Seven. Seven is a thriller film that creates an atmosphere within the opening sequence which gives the sense of mystery as it doesn't give the audience much clue to what the story is about.
Editing: The editing does not show the setting nor the character within the opening sequence. Enigma is created by the non-continuity within the opening sequence as the actions are similiar but do not match and the intent of these actions is not revealed as each shot is cut very frequently making them random once put together keeping the audience guessing on what this film is about. No clues are given in this sense as the audience can not make a connection between the intents of the shots. The genre is highlighted by the use of superimposition as it creates mystery and disorder within the shot giving a feel of a thriller genre/film. The mood is eerie within this opening sequence by the use of the frequent cuts to title clips and superimposition as it gives the film a sense that it is hiding actions as though the audience shouldn't see what is happening within the scene itself. The storyline is given away only slightly by the editing as it cuts to the character cutting out sins to cutting out pictures of people with the use of jump cut.
Sound: The sound does not reveal the setting of the film but it does hint to the mental state of the character as the music is haunting which suggests that what the character is doing or intending to do is wrong. With the score music being haunting it creates a mood of unease within the audience. The score music is instrumental until the very end this creates an enigma as it keeps the audience guessing and waiting until something happens, as if waiting for the music to surprise them. With the ending words giving the intent of the character in a very subtle way this can be considered a clue towards the storyline/plot of the film. As the score music is haunting but does not lead the audience a conclusion, it could suggest the genre horror-thriller.
Cinematography: The most frequent shot used within this opening sequence is extreme close-up which creates an intimate feel between the audience and the character as it shows them the intent of the character in a in-passing way. This shows the character to be obsessive due to the constant reference to pages and crossing things out. The intimacy of the shots makes the audience feel uncomfortable as they feel as though they are allowing the character to do what he is doing. The extreme close-ups create an enigma as the audience feels they are on the verge of knowing what the film is about but the extreme close-ups only allow them to see snippets of what the character is planning, never revealing what he is really doing and why. The setting is not shown through the cinematography. The close-ups give a better view on the characters intent which shows some of the storyline as it is implied that the character is planning to eliminate those that they have felt has done wrong this also relates to the genre as it implies a murderous intent which could conclude it to be a thriller or horror.
Mise-en-scene: The mise-en-scene works mainly with props as no costume is shown and the location is not revealed. The amount of notebooks placed together shows the characters obsession with something and the use of razorblades show that the character is deranged/mentally unstable. The props create an enigma as none of the props match together leaving the audience curious as to why they are together and how do they connect. The use of the razorblades show the genre by impling unstable mentality which could be a psychological thriller. Sharp objects are placed towards the audience such as the razorblade and needle which create a mood of discomfort. The way the 'god' is cut out of a dollar bill shows a hint towards the storyline as it is uninterupted making it significant to the story.
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