Evaluation: Powerpoint Presentation

Evaluation: Fraction With Annotations

Above is the annotated version of Fraction. The reason I have annotated this is so that I can justify why we have done certain things at certain points, and so that I could talk about the institutional logo in terms of who could distribute it.

Lord Of War Opening Sequence Analysis

I really enjoyed watching the opening sequence for this film. I like the idea of watching the bullet being manufactured in the beginning and then being fired at someone towards the end. We are put in the bullets 'shoes' and get the see the bullets point of view. Its quite unusual to be shown an objects point of view. However, in my opinion, I thought the idea was creative and entertaining, and helped to engage the audiences interest.

Preliminary Task

Here is our preliminary task which we filmed to demonstrate that we had the ability to show match on action, shot reverse shot, eyeline match and the 180 degree rule when filming. Together as a group we have successfully managed to show all of these techniques. The preliminary task allowed us to practice our cinematography and editing skills for when we shot our final thriller coursework. I realize that the soundtrack used isn't really conventional for a thriller, and that the narrative and performance was very weak. However, one of the reasons why we didn't go to town with our preliminary task is because we only needed to show that we were capable of several different techniques. Doing the preliminary task helped me realize how much actually needs to be done to produce an A grade for our coursework.

'Premonition' - AS Thriller Opening' Analysis

In my opinion, the narrative was commendable. Apart from not knowing why the male was so aggressive towards the female i.e. grabbing her arm, the narrative was fairly easy to follow and I didnt feel that the flash fowards created any confusion what so ever. However, this can be seen as a good thing, in the sense that the opening sequence of most thrillers deliver an fairly ambiguous narrative to draw the audiences interest and to make them wonder what is going to happen next. 

I feel that the soundtrack used in this piece of coursework was effective because at the beginning of the soundtrack, limited samples are used. As we progress through the opening sequence, more and more samples are added in, gradually making the soundtrack louder, thus creating a tense atmosphere which helps to engage the audience. I like the way the soundtrack fades in and out, and I feel that this is a really effective way to evoke the audiences emotions. Diegetic sound is also used on top of the soundtrack to help create that sense of realism. This is evident when we hear the females footsteps as she walks down the corridor in the flash foward.  

In my opinion, I do not think that the group challenged themselves and used as many different shots as they could have. I counted four different types of shots, which included high angles shots, low angle shots, an over the shoulder shot and mid shots. If they had used a wider variety of more complex shots, I feel that the opening sequence would have been a little more entertaining for the audience, and more of a challenge for the group. I feel that if they had used a POV shot for when the female looks at the blood on her hands, it would have been more effective as it allows the audience to see the situation from her perspective.

The Number 23 Opening Sequence Analysis

The first thing that i am going to be talking about is the typography in the opening sequence of The Number 23. I really like how they have incorporated the titles onto what seems to be paper from a type writer. What they want us to see really stands out because the names of the people involved in the production of the film are amongst a sequence on numbers. Its easy for the audience to differentiate between numbers and letters quickly, and this is useful because it means that the titles can move reasonably fast and can still be read, without losing the audiences interest too quickly. Enigma codes are created in the title sequence because as the audience are watching it, the number '23' appears a number of times. The audience then begin to ask questions and wonder why the number '23' is so significant. Smears of blood have also been included in the title sequence which also raises enigma codes and questions from the audience.

The soundtrack used in the opening sequence of The Number 23 definitely takes the thriller genre in account without a doubt. At the beginning, the soundtrack starts off really slowly and a limited number of sounds are used. We hear the sound of what seems to be violins being played at a very low pitch. As we progress through the title sequence, the tempo of the soundtrack gradually increases and more and more sounds are incorporated into the soundtrack to build up a tense and mysterious atmosphere. The soundtrack helps to keep the audience engaged with the title sequence and makes the audience want to watch the entire film. In my opinion, the soundtrack for The Number 23 contains elements from the thriller, crime and action genres, which when cleverly are combined into one soundtrack, sounds very powerful and dominant, and elicits a tense and epic atmosphere.

Not much can be said about the cinematography, narrative or mise en scene in The Number 23 at this point because there are no scenes being shown. Instead, the titles appear on a piece of paper which doesnt really help to engage the audience and the audience may eventually lose interest. The only things being used to hold the audiences interest is the typography and the non diegetic soundtrack. Overall, I feel that the opening sequence is commendable, however I feel that if scenes were incorporated into the background instead of making the titles appear on a piece of paper, the opening sequence may have been more exciting and alot of effective.

AS Media - Thriller Opening - 'Taken' Analysis

In my opinion, I think that the general idea and the story of the opening sequence was well thought out, but what brought it down a bit was how the titles were displayed. The titles didn't look very professional, the font used didn't fit in with the whole thriller theme and they were just generally a bit too simple for me. They were a bit weak and they didn't really grasp my attention or interest me. However, what was lacked in presentation and display was made up for in narrative.

I like how they kept the narrative restricted, but at the same time, gave the audience an insight into what kind of thing would happen later on in the film. For example, when the boy comes downstairs for a glass of water, the man sitting at the table who he thinks is his dad is spinning a knife on the table. It is clear that the man with the knife has bad intentions, as we see in the beginning that he is a threat because the boy jumps when he see's him by his bedroom door. We don't know what exactly is going to happen, or how it will happen, and this leaves the audience feeling tense, anxious and on the edge of their seats anticipating what is yet to come. We know as much as the boy in the opening sequence does, although the audience do get slight clues that something bad is going to take place. 

One thing I didn't really like was the absence of non diegetic music. A soundtrack should have been added into the background of the opening sequence to create some sort of atmosphere for the audience. Although I was watching it and did feel a little anxious at times, I feel that the use of a soundtrack would have made the opening sequence a lot more effective. It would have created a tense and chilling atmosphere for the audience. The absence of a soundtrack made the opening sequence a little bit weak, and it didn't really make me want to watch it even though the performance was good.

Another thing that I liked was the use of cinematography. He has successfully used a variety of different camera shots and angles to effectively piece togther this opening sequence. I like the use of tracking when he goes downstairs to get a glass of water, its helps to audience to feel engaged with the protagonist. However, depending on the audience, some may interpret this as someone behind him following him, which creates a tense atmosphere. I also like the many different shots used when the boy is putting on his clothes. A variety of different shots are used here such as close ups, mid shots and low angles.

If I were to give this piece of work a grade, I would probably give it a B purely based on the fact that overall it is a good piece of work. The reason i wouldnt give an A is because of the absence of a soundtrack in the background. It really let the whole thing down in the sense that it didnt really create much atmosphere.

Editing Research (Overlapping)

In this music video titled 'Cant Be Friends', a specific editing technique called overlapping has been used throughout the music video to show that the artist; Trey Songz is not in the right frame of mind. I find the use of overlapping in this music video very inspirational and if our group could grasp the idea of overlapping and include it in our opening sequence for our thriller 'Fraction', then we could end up with a really admirable finished opening sequence.

I think that if we incorporate overlapping into the scene where the crazy man is sitting down in the room, that would really emphasize the idea that he is not right in the head. We want the audience to know that the crazy man in the room has a broken mind frame without the use of dialogue, and by using overlapping, we can successfully do so. We hope to do this by collecting different shots of the crazy mans face and overlapping them to show the opaque original face and a number of slightly transparent other faces in the background.

Treatment

In the opening sequence of our thriller titled 'Fraction', a forensic team and detectives are at a murder scene investigating the dead body of a middle aged woman found in a park. Initially, this will be a shot to show the production design, and we will use an establishing shot to do so. This creates a disequilibrium at the beginning of the film because we jump straight into a murder scene without any explanation or build up. The forensic team will be wearing white overalls which will cover the whole of their bodies, and the murder scene is surrounded by police tape or tape reading 'Do not cross'. There will also be a white outline of the victims body painted on the floor to help the forensic team piece together the investigation, which we will create by using white spray paint, duck tape or chalk. One of the detectives, who will be the main character of the story will then exit a car, which we will show by using a low angle shot to connote his superiority. We will then tilt the camera up slowly to reveal the detective identity. The detective will then walk towards the crime scene which we will shoot using an over the shoulder shot. High key natural lighting will be used to create a false sense of security for the audience.

The scene will then change to show a man who appears to be crazy sitting down in a room. Little does the audience know, the crazy man in the room is actually the detective. The detective is unaware of his alter self due to his split personality and memory impairment, making him both the protagonist and the antagonist. This makes the narration of the story restricted, as the audience have limited access to the storyline and know as much as the characters in the film do. However, his whole face will not been shown at this point, reason being because we don't want the audience to grasp the idea that the detective is the killer so early on in the opening sequence of the film. The production design will need to be as simple as possible. It will be a dirty, bleak, confined space to represent the alter ego of the detective who is sitting inside the room. The dangerous half of the detective will have blood around his mouth and hi hands, and will be wearing a white t shirt covered in blood, to add to his sinister appearance, which we will make ourselves. Artificial low key lighting will be used in this room to connote his dark personality.

The scene will then cut back to the crime scene showing a colleague lifting up the police tape for the detective. In this shot, we will use a point of view shot to make the audience feel involved in the story. Another detective who is standing inside of the restricted area surrounded by police tape will then hand the detective a case file, containing photos of the dead woman. At this point, we will use a eye line match to show the audience what the detective is looking at. The scene will then change again to show the crazy man in the confined room, hitting his head against the wall. However, this time we will see a photo on the floor of the dead girl found at the crime scene beside him. The photo will be slightly ripped and will be covered in blood. We will  use a close up to ensure that the audience can see that the photo is of the dead girl. Again, low key artificial lighting will be used.

The scene will then cut back to the detective back at the crime scene. The detective will be kneeling down over the dead body, which we will shoot using a low angle shot. This connotes he superiority over whoever is in the body bag. The detective will then begin to slowly unzip the body bag, which we will show by using a close up of the detectives hand on the zip. The top of the victims head will be revealed to show the hairline, and then the scene will cut back to the crazy man in the room again. We will use a mid shot to show the crazy man sitting in the room, but this time, we will use an editing technique called overlapping to amplify his distorted mind frame. We hope to do this by collecting many shots of the crazy mans face and overlapping them to make it look like there is more than one face in the single shot. We have decided to use a mid shot rather than a close up so that we are able to see the overlapping faces in the background. Using a close up would mean that the background would be restricted and there would be no space for the extra faces in the background.

The scene will then cut back to the detective at the crime scene. At this point, the detective will carry on unzipping the body bag. When the body bag is completely unzipped, the detective see's his alter self (the crazy man) inside of the body bag. The crazy half of the detective will have his eyes wide open looking straight up into the sky. His head will then tilt so that he is making eye contact with the detective. He will still have the blood on his t shirt and around his mouth at this point. This shot will be filmed with a point of view (POV) shot, to put the audience in the detectives shoes. The detective will then step back with a confused and frightened look on his face, which we will film using a close up. The detective doesn't know who this person inside the body bag is as he is unaware of his alter self, however, he can see that he looks virtually identical to him.

The detective will then look around to see if any of his colleagues saw the crazy man inside of the body bag. We will use an over the shoulder shot to show the detective looking around. However, no one was watching and when the detective looks back at the body bag, the body of the dead woman is inside it, which we will show yet again with a POV shot. We will then have a low angle shot of the detective standing above the body bag, which will then switch to a high angle of the dead woman in the body bag. The opening sequence will finish off with another low angle of the detective looking down at the body bag, however, we will be using overlapping again the combine the image of the detective and the image of the crazy man together in one shot.

Psycho 1998 Opening Sequence

In my opinion, the opening credits for Psycho (1998) are not very appealing. Not much is shown in the opening sequence to draw the audiences interest, therefore, it is not engaging. It is literally just the cast and crew's names appearing in white lettering against a black background, with green stripes travelling vertically and horizontally across the screen. The animations are dull. This type of opening sequence could quickly lose the audiences interest because there is nothing to keep them engaged. However, the non diegetic music added into the background of the opening sequence does work quite well. The sharp, high pitched violin sounds create a chilling and tense atmosphere for the audience. However, the sound and the visuals don't really fit together. If the opening credits were accompanied by scenes where by we are introduced to a character or something, if would have made the opening sequence much more effective.

Opening Credits Pros And Cons.

Discuss your opinion of opening credits.
In my opinion, there are both strengths and limitations of having opening credits in the opening sequence of a thriller. The good thing about having opening credits in a thriller is that they tend to show the location of the film quite often, as well as showing the name of the cast, director, cinematographer etc. By showing the production design of the film, the audience then have the chance to immediately identify with the characters in the film, even if we haven't been introduced to them already. For example, the film 'Panic Room' starts of with varied establishing shots showing the production design of the film. The film is set in a huge city, probably New York. If people who live in a city are watching the film, they may then begin to relate to the film and may have an immediate interest and would want to continue watching the film. The bad thing about having opening credits in a thriller is that the audience may have a build up of excitement or adrenaline, in preparation for a fright before they go in to watch the film. Opening credits can go on for quite a long time, sometimes 5 minutes, and could end up boring the audience. The audience may see this as a waste of time, and would lose their excitement and would not feel as though they would want to continue watching the film. They would no longer be interested in it.

Hurtwood House Media Analysis

I think that this particular opening sequence of a thriller was shot extremely well. Due to advanced technologies e.g. high quality cameras, better editing packages etc, the opening sequence actually looks like the opening of a mainstream thriller. They have used a number of techniques to elicit the thriller genre through both micro and macro elements.

Through the use of a restricted narrative, I being a member of the audience, felt anxious and quite tense while watching the opening sequence of 'Presence'. Because I had limited access to the storyline, I began to ask myself questions, hoping that they would be answered later on in the film. I was so drawn in by what was going on, I forgot that the film was only an opening sequence and was left on the edge when it was finished.

Also, the limited use of sound in the opening sequence extensively created a eerie and oppressive atmosphere. It allows the audience to clearly hear what was going on in the background while the girl was washing her hands. I also like the use of foley in the opening scene at 1:49 when the doors are being shut. The recreated sound amplifies the original sound helping to create a sense of reality in the scene, making the audience feel uneasy about their surrounding.

Another thing I liked about the opening sequence of 'Presence' is how the titles were displayed. They appeared in front of different establishing shots so that the audience could get an idea of the production design and see who was involved in the production of the opening sequence at the same time. We denote this through the white writing used, which contrasts with the dark establishing shots. The titles have that professional look to them.

Overall, this opening sequence for a thriller has been executed brilliantly and if I was asked to grade this piece of work, I would give it an A.

Macro Analysis Of 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo'.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

I am going to be writing a brief macro analysis of the film 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo'. The macro elements that I am going to be focusing on are Institution, Genre, Narrative, Audience and Representation.


Institution - 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' is an independent film produced by Yellow Bird Films which is a Swedish film production company. A UK film company called Momentum Pictures distributed the Swedish film across the whole of the UK on 12/03/10, in various formats including DVD, blue-ray, etc. The distribution from one country to another country eventually got the film the recognition is deserved, and £378,434 was made in the opening weekend on 14/03/10.


Genre - 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' is both a crime and a mystery thriller. The reason I say that the film is a crime thriller is because it emphasizes action through a psychological aspect. Crime thrillers mainly focus on the topics of serial killers and murders, disappearances, chases, etc. 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' contains elements from all of these topics. For example, The chase scene when Lisbeth Salander is chasing a member of the Vanger family on her motorbike; and the disappearance of Harriet Vanger. The reason I say that the film is a mystery thriller is because it includes themes of investigation and enigma. Mikael Blomkvist, our protagonist is assigned a task by a man called Henrik Vanger just after he had been sentenced to three months in jail after losing his case in court. Mikael Blomkvist attempts unravel the truth behind Harriets dissapearance.

Narrative - The narrative of the film 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' is linear, because it runs in chronological order. However, some people may argue that the film has a non linear narrative because there are certain scenes where Mikael Blomkvist's flashbacks interrupt the continuous flow of the film. This is denoted when Mikael Blomkvist has a flashback of himself as a child. The film also has a restricted narration, which means that we have limited access to the narrative and know as much as the characters in the film do. This leaves the audience constantly on the edge of their seats and creates a tense atmosphere as the audience anticipate what happens next.


Audience - 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' caters for a niche audience who like to watch thrillers, in particularly crime thrillers. The people the film may appeal to are  people between the ages of 18 - 40. The reason why I say this is because the British Board of Film Classification gave the film an age rating of 18 due to disturbing scenes, nudity and bad language, and so the minimum age of a person watching this film should be 18. Also, because the main character, Mikael Blomkvist, who happens to be our protagonist looks roughly around 40 years old. Our other protagonist, Lisbeth Salander looks roughly around 20 (although she announces she is 24 in the film). People within the protagonists age range may feel that they can identify with these characters, and may find the film interesting to watch. The characters gender may also have an effect on what kind of people watch the film. However, I believe the target audience to be predominantly females within Libeth Salanders age range.


Representation - The two protagonists in the film 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' are similar in the sense that they are both investigators, but personality wise, they are very different. Lisbeth Salander, one the the protagonists in the film is represented in a variety of ways. At times she is represented as weak. For example, when she is being sexually abused by her mentor. We denote her being hit in the face and raped, which connotes her vulnerability. However, she is also represented as quite aggressive and comes across as an anti social and hostile person. Lisbeth Salander is an expert hacker which shows us that she is also very intelligent when it comes to technology.

Se7en Essay

What makes a thriller and how is this evident in 'Se7en'? A macro/micro analysis of 'Se7en' (David Fincher, 1995).


In this essay, I am going to be writing about how the macro and micro elements in the film 'Se7en' help to convey the fact that it is a thriller. A thriller is a genre of film, book or television that uses suspense and tension to make the audience feel anxious, insecure, terrified and sometimes even excited. The thriller genre is broken down in to a variety of different sub genres such as crime thrillers, psychological thrillers, action thrillers, erotic thrillers, political thrillers etc. The film 'Se7en' falls under both crime thriller and psychological thriller.


The target audience for this film may vary. However, the British Board of Film Classification have given 'Se7en' an age rating of 18 due to the bad language and disturbing scenes in the film. To be specific, I would say the audiences ages range from about 20 to about 55. The reason I say this is because detective Mills looks roughly about 25 or 30 and detective Somerset looks roughly about 50. The age and the gender of the protagonist in the film could affect the audience. People within the protagonist's age range may feel that they can identify with them and would therefore find the movie interesting to watch.


The narrative of any film is a systematic framework of series or events, real of invented, which tell a story. The film 'Se7en' has a linear narrative which runs in a chronological order throughout the film. The end of the film has a closed narration, which means all the narrative events have been explained and a resolution has been achieved. This is evident towards the end of scene 36 where detective Mills shoots and kills the antagonist. This creates a sense of relief for the audience as they no longer feel under threat. A closed narration also tells us that it is very unlikely that a sequel to the film will be made. In the film, there are a series of murders that are linked together by the seven deadly sins. The narrative of the film allows the audience to follow detective Mills and detective Somerset, giving the audience some responsibility and making them feel more involved in the sense that they need to think like a detective to work out what is happening in the film. The narrative in the majority of the film is restricted. This means that we, as the audience, have limited access to the narrative and know as much as the characters in the film do. This creates enigma and tension for the audience as they wonder what will happen next and it holds their interest. When clues and mysteries are eventually revealed, we feel tense and restless as do the characters. For example, in the sloth scene, a police man leans over the body of the victim. Little do the audience and the characters know, the victim is still alive, which is then shown when the body begins to move. This is an example of a red herring. A red herring is a device used to mislead the audience. However, the film also has an omniscient narration. This is evident in scene 36 where detective Somerset receives the box sent for detective Mills. We, as the audience immediately know that something unpleasant is going to be inside the box, as the antagonist was eager for the delivery, but detective Mills has no idea of what is in the box. This builds up suspense for the audience because we see detective Somerset's reaction when he opens the box, but we do not get to see what is inside of the box. The audience only directly find out what is inside the box when the antagonist tell detective Mills, which is another example of restricted narration. This then triggers the action code because when detective Mills finds out what was inside of the box, he shoots the antagonist in the head. This makes the antagonist a psychological manipulator, as he uses detective Mills to benefit his needs.


Although the two protagonists, detective Mills and detective Somerset work together, they are presented quite differently. Detective Somerset's attire is more formal. He wears a long, light coloured coat which is a sense connotes he tranquil persona. Detective Somerset comes across as more relaxed and calm, and it seems like he takes more pride in his work. Somerset's mind is set on investigating and gathering clues. However, detective Mills mind is set more on actually capturing the antagonist. Mill's attire is more casual. He wears a long dark coat and has untidy hair and a rugged beard. This reflects his agitated persona. Detective Mills is almost constantly swearing and is mostly frustrated. This isn't necessarily a negative representation of Mills, it just shows that he is ardent of his job.


One way in which David Fincher presents 'Se7en' as a thriller is through the production design of the film. The film is located in an eerie, bleak, unidentified city of urban decay. This creates a threatening and dangerous atmosphere for the audience as we get the impression that the city is an unwelcoming, corrupt place. The city is plagued with constant rain which again reflects the idea of the city being an unfriendly and miserable area. The rain also represents the troubles that detective Mills and detective Somerset are having with finding out who the serial killer is. But the film isn't always filmed outside in the city.


The film is also set in peoples homes. In the short scene just before the introductory credits, a man has been murdered in his own home by his wife. This raises a number of questions from the audience and creates enigma codes, as the murder appears to be irrelevant to the other murders in the film. This also makes the audience feel insecure because the fact that someone you have committed your life to, could then turn around and murder you in the safety of your own home, is quite a horrifying thought for anybody. A house is meant to be a safe place for the people living in it. This scene clearly contradicts that idea.


Fincher also presents his film 'Se7en' as a thriller through the use of sound. Diegetic sounds are consistently used to provoke a reaction from the character. Diegetic sounds have evidently been used in scene 22 where detective Mills and detective Somerset are chasing the antagonist. Many different diegetic sounds have been used here such as gun shots, smashing windows, dialogue, footsteps, the rain outside, traffic and heavy breathing. These diegetic sounds help to create a tense atmosphere for the audience. The reason we, as the audience feel tense is because we are eagerly anticipating what will happen next. The sound of the gunshots makes the audience wonder if someone is going to get hurt or killed. However, non diegetic music is also used in scene 22 to create tension and suspense. Non diegetic music usually implies that something exciting or dangerous in the film is about to take place, As soon as the antagonist shoots at detective Mills and detective Somerset, the non diegetic music starts playing. As the chase progresses, the music gradually builds up and gets louder. This creates a tense and dramatic atmosphere for the audience as we anticipate the outcome of the chase.


Cinematography is also an important concept, which helps the present 'Se7en' as a thriller. Cinematography is the choice of lighting, camera angles and camera shots. The majority of the film is recorded using low key lighting to show the audience that the city if a filthy, dark place. This creates a sense of mystery, threat and tension for the audience as the city itself, connotes which kind of people live in it. Hoever, in contrast to the low key lighting, high key lighting is used in a lot of scenes as well. This helps to bring the audience back to reality, but gives them a false sense of security. For example, in scene 12 where detective Mills and his wife are having detective Somerset over for dinner, the house is bright and everything can be seen clearly. The audience then begin to feel safe and let their guards down. The whole room suddenly then begins to shake and detective Somerset looks all around the room. We can tell that detective Somerset feels insecure thought his facial expressions and this feeling is mutual with the audience.


Close ups are used to show the audience the characters emotional state at that moment of time. Close ups are also very useful especially in thrillers because they restrict the broader scene. This helps to create tension and suspense as the audience wonder what is going on in the background behind the character. Also, point of view shots are used quite a lot in thrillers, especially in the dramatic scenes. They are used to amplify the intensity of the scene. For example, in scene 22, the chase scene, we are able to see the chase through detective Mills eyes. This boosts the excitement of the chase as the audience feel more involved in the film. Low angle shots are shots that are taken below the subject and are normally used to show the audience that the character is superior. This is shown towards the end of scene 22 where the antagonist is pointing a gun at detective Mills head. Here, the cinematographer has combined a point of view shot, a close up and a low angle shot to amplify the fact that the antagonist is dominant in this scene. The cinematographer has cleverly managed to use a close up shot of the antagonist without revealing their identity. This makes the audience feel uneasy and tense because even at a very close distance, we are still unable to identify the antagonist.


In conclusion, due to the micro and macro elements that we see in the film 'Se7en', it is most definitely a typical thriller. These conventions and elements evidently help to build up suspense and create tension for the audience.