Manchurian Candidate is a political thriller novel about a son of a prominent US political family who is brainwashed into being an unwitting assassin for the Communist Party. However there's two version of this film,the first one was written in 1962, it was filmed in black and white and there was less scene with blood in it, most of the violence was suffocating people possibly because they hadn't discovered ways of making scene of false blood. The characters all fairly looked the same the men all have dark hair fairly tall.The background music is very predictable, there's less diegetic sound in the older version than the newest one made in 2004
The new version was released in 2004, it's significant because it shows how time has changed, first of all a black man is the front cover of this film which wouldn't of been acceptable in 1962, the actor Denzel Washington is one of the main character and he's black not only is he the only black person in the film but also a police officer in the film. In the original, there was a lot of background on Shaw's relationship with Jocelyn, and you actually developed sympathy for him; but mainly, Laurence Harvey was an outstanding actor. The heartfelt love between Raymond and Jocelyn was expanded upon much more, in addition to the warmth Raymond shared with her father, Senator Jordan. As a result, the girl's and her father's murders in the 1962 version was much more horrifying. In the remake, there's no underlying emotion when he kills them. As a result, we, as the audience, really don't care. As you can see, the films have changed in different areas. The most recent one is more fast paced and current. It is more aggressive and gritty. Another change is that the most recent film is in colour. This is very helpful as the original film's black and white feature is not as appealing. more colour means more clarity.
Overall, I believe the remake is much better than the original because there is more action, red herrings and cliffhangers.
Good things about this film was that it was all that a thriller should contain, it had fast paced shots and scenes. It almost resembled an Alfred Hitchcock type of film. In the film they including a red herring when the man pulled out his phone, but we all thought dramatically and thought that it would be a gun because of the way he was clothed, this added more tense to the film because we question why he pulled out his phone and also who he called and why he called that person. The was a good chase scene which made me think about North by Northwest when Roger Thornhill was being pursued by the police. However as well as positives in a film, there are some negatives, the camera was rather unsteady at times and the title sequence could have been edited a lot better, but overall a very good Thriller indeed.
The Night Walker
Good things about this film was that it was a good thriller and included great use of diegetic and non diegetic sounds. This is effective as it can make the Thriller seem more realistic to you. There are also a variety of shots such as a Point of View shot which is seen when she is in the car and she looks in the car mirror to see the face of her killer. Overall, in my opinion it was a very basic and predictable thriller and could be argued that the plot is difficult to understand.
Hide & Seek
The film also had some positive such as the background music matches the film which makes it more scary. Opens really normal but we know something's threatening in the background. Good camera angle when the door shuts the door slams which makes the audience jumper. Its also super nature. However the negatives were the acting wasn't really good and the lightings were a bit poor at the beginning. Overall I think Finders Keeper was the best thriller because it was unexpected,different & had more action. It was exciting to watch and the sounds added great effects to the film. Having elements from Hitchcock's film really did make a big difference we could tell they had done their research and it made the film stand out from the rest.
In my media class we watched 4 thrillers as you can see below. We watched these thrillers so that it will help us obtain ideas when we go and make our thrillers. Here is my analysis of the Student Thrillers that I watched:
Brick:
The opening scene to this film was very exciting. It was very tense and it's use of non diegetic music was deliberate and it helped the film to be very realistic. There are three key shots in the opening are; Where there is a full shot of the man staring at the dead woman, the shot of the woman's blonde hair lying in the sewage water, and the shot of the woman's hand also lying in the sewage water.
No Country For Old Men:
The opening for No Country for Old Men was another great opening, I think it was my favourite opening to a Thriller out of all the ones watched. It was very mysterious and caught my attention. It had no non diegetic music at all. The tone of the Narrator's voice is low and calm. It starts with a man being arrested handcuffed and taken to a police station. Good use of positioning is used as we see the Police officer on the phone and the handcuffed man behind him. The film begins to get even more surprising when the arrested man slowly and calmly walks towards the officer that arrested him and strangles him the handcuffs around his wrists.
Zodiac:
The opening scene for was very modern, it starts off with a teenage boy and girl driving to a quite area. Initially I assumed this to be the basic romance scene that teenagers often indulge in however I was quite wrong. The boy seems very calm but the girl seems very nervous and unsettled. Something was wrong, it was evident in the girls face expressions. Then a mysterious car arrives and suddenly the girl's mood changes, she is alert and worried and it makes us, the viewers wonder why. It then leads to death for the teenage boy and girl from the car that was anxiously parked behind them. This was a great start to a thriller and I would definetly continue watching as I would want to know the reason behind the dramatic killing.
A History of Violence:
The opening scene to this is very still and surreal.It seems so casual, two ordinary men exit and enter a car. There voices are low and husky which adds to the stillness of the opening scene. They then engage in a dramatic shootout.
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was a famous and possibly argued greatest English film director. He was born on the 13th August 1899 and died on the 29th April 1980. He worked for a short time in engineering before entering the film industry in 1920. He went to Hollywood in 1939 where his first American film, Rebecca won an award. Alfred Hitchcock is the master of suspense. Hitchcock built some of his most suspenseful films around what he called "˜The McGuffin' which was, in effect, nothing. It made you believe thee was a side story and it takes you away from what the real story. Over the years, the McGuffin has come to have a description formalized as: "A device or plot element that catches the viewer's attention or drives the plot. It is generally something that every character is concerned with.' The McGuffin is essentially something that the entire story is built around and yet has no real relevance."
A MacGuffin or McGuffin is a plot device that catches the viewers attention and drives it away from what the actual plot is. They are irrelevant pieces of information offered to the viewers that actually do not have any real meaning and consequences at the end of the film. The MacGuffin technique is common in films, especially Thrillers, usually the MacGuffin is the central focus of the film in the first act, and then becomes less important as the struggles and motivations of characters play out. Alfred Hitchcock is incredibly famous for his great use of the 'MacGuffin'.
Melanie Daniels is a beautiful young blonde woman who seeks out a man she met at a pet store that played a joke on her. Melanie is determined to get him back but when she arrives at Bodega Bay in search of Mitch Brenner (the man from the pet store) an unexpected war begins: a war between humanity and birds. As ridiculous as the plot sounds, Hitchcock manages to keep it interesting with side stories; A family torn apart, a town curious and scared and a teacher who struggles to let go of the man she once loved. These are red herring's: irrelevant side stories that keep the plot going. The film is filled with suspense and terrifying scenes that make this a fantastic thriller, or possibly a Horror Thriller. The vicious attacks from the birds keep you on the edge of your seats and covering your eyes. Like most Hitchcock films, there are scenes that keep you on the edge of your seat. This particular film is known for its suspense through an unusual ending. It has been criticised as an 'incomplete' ending but really this is purposely done by Hitchcock. He wants the suspense to be ever lasting.
In our film, we tried as hard as possible to make sure it was better than the previous one. I think we succeeded in doing so, we included various shots and I believe the short film was actually very good. In the film we see Adeseye looking at his watch as he is waiting for the arrival of me. I unfortunately had been delayed and explained to him when he asked. When Adeseye looked at his watch, it is then zoomed into his watch, that sot is called an eye-line match and it is very effective as it shows the viewers what the person is looking at. Although it is obvious that Adeseye is looking at his watch, in some films we actually do not know what the person is looking at. We then see myself walking towards the room where Adeseye is, I am extremely late because of the delay. The first shot of me approaching the door is from behind me, hen the shot is then switched to Adeseye watch, emphasising how late I was. The next shot is then me still walking towards the room, but this shot is in front of me offering the viewers a bit of variety. We then have me telling Adeseye why I was late and we then leave to our destination.
Directors: Dapo & Sarah Starring: Nicholas & Adeseye For this task, we were asked to make a scene displaying the following factors of Continuity Editing:
Eye -Line match
Match-On-Action
Graphic Match
The 180 Degree Rule
The scene we created was of Seye waiting for me to arrive as we were supposed to go somewhere. However, I was late and when I arrived I explained why I was late. Initially Seye was frustrated with the lateness but we still went where we had to go. When looking back at our previous camera activities although this one happens to be the shortest, it is arguably the best by it's variety of shots. The eye-line match was a shot that I had not used before and I was incredibly eager to use it having seen it in many films that I have watched. The eye-line match is when Seye looks at his watch then the next shot is the actual watch itself. Overall I believe that this task is where we displayed many techniques and skills that really helped us on then path to making our finished media thriller.
Continuity Editing is very important. It is vital to have things kept in the right place. We must always remember certain rules. We must retain a sense of realistic chronology and generates the feeling that time is moving forward. You can use flashbacks or flash forwards but the narrative will still be seen to be progressing forward in an expected or realistic way,
Eye-Line match
We see a character looking at something offscreen and then we cut to a shot of what they are looking at.
Match-on action
We see a character start an action in one shot and then see them continue it in the next.
Graphic Match
The filmmaker can choose to place shots in a certain order so as to create a smooth visual transfer from one frame to the next. When two consecutive shots are matched in terms of the way they look this is called a Graphic Match.
Probably the best thriller I've ever watched in my life.
Director: Olivier Megaton
Stars: Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen and Maggie Grace
As I have not seen the first of the Taken series, I was again rather reluctant to watch it but as soon as I had seen the trailer, it was a MUST WATCH for me. Fast-pace action and an amazing fued between the star Liam Nesson and his enemy. The film starts off very confusingly for me, the first scene is at a funeral in Istanbul, Turkey. We see a man who is extremely hurt, burying his son as he confirms he will not rest until he avenges the people or person that killed his son.
We then are introduced to Bryan Mills (Neeson) He appears at the house of his estranged wife, having reconciled with her Lenore (Famke Janssen) and bonded afresh with their daughter.
Mills realises that Lenore is having a rough time and is eager to relieve her stress by inviting her and his daughter Kim on holiday to spend quality time together in Istanbul Now quite obvious from the title, Mills's is captured by the father of the son that he killed gang. Now this is strange because we know that Mills is a handyman with all types of equipment from guns to little mobile devices so we wonder what on earth is going on. Mills then uses his small mobile device to alert his daughter that the gang have captured him and they are now after her, she hides in the Istanbul hotel and is given orders by her dad how to locate him. As he escapes we now see his ambition and drive to save his wife as they also captured her. "When a dog has a bone, the last thing you want to do is take it from him" Wise words of comfort that Mills gives to his daughter Kim in regards of him going to save his wife.
But when it comes to the action genre, where we love to suspend our disbelief, Taken 2 stretches it way too far.
A scene where Mills is asking his daughter casually to toss grenades from a hotel window so he can listen for the boom in order to guess her proximity to him may prove too much for even the most ardent of fans. The trailer:
Director: Tony Gilroy Stars: Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz and Edward Norton
On the weekend I decided to go to the cinema and watch 'Bourne Legacy'. Having not watched the previous 3 Bourne movies, I was rather apprehensive about watching this one. I had seen the poster which is displayed on the right and I wasn't too motivated to watch it. I can now tell you, after watching it how wrong I was.
As for this modern day thriller, it is a bit scrappy and all over the place to begin with but as it went on it became more and more clearer what was going on. It has plenty of energy and drive. It is entertaining when Cross, surrounded by wolves in the Alaskan wilderness, finds an elegant way of repositioning the tracking device that is allowing government assassins to find him. It is not simply that the US government wants to kill him; he needs to keep taking the mysterious pills to continue at the Nietzschean level of super-fitness to which he has grown accustomed to. It was an incredible film for me to watch and by doing Media Studies, I looked at the film in a way I haven't looked at films before. I was able to appreciate the variety of shots and continuity editing. I really did enjoy this film and would highly recommend it.
Editing is the process of looking at all the footage shot during the making of a film/TV programme and placing it in the desired order and joining it together.
1) Speed of Editing - How long does each shot last 2) Style of Editing - How is each shot joined to the next In a film each scene may last a matter of seconds or it could continue for minutes but the length. Scenes at beginning of a film as it begins to tell it's story - must be long enough for us to be able to understand where we are and what is going on. It is also slow to introduce the main characters. Style of Editing
How shots are linked together
The movement from one shot to the next is called a transition
Straight Cut
Most common and invisible form of transition
One shot moves instantaneously to the next without attracting the audiences attention.
Dissolves
Fading one shot off the screen while another shot is fading in.
The audience will be able to see both shots on the screen at the mid-point of the dissolve.
Fades
A gradual darkening or lightening of an image until it becomes black or white.
One shot will fade until only a black or white screen can be seen.
Used to indicate the end of a particular section of time within the narrative.
"Marion Crane is fed up with the way life has treated her. She has to meet her lover Sam in lunch breaks and they cannot get married because Sam has to give most of his money away in alimony. One Friday Marion is trusted to bank $40,000 by her employer. Seeing the opportunity to take the money and start a new life, Marion leaves town and heads towards Sam's California store. Tired after the long drive and caught in a storm, she gets off the main highway and pulls into The Bates Motel. The motel is managed by a quiet young man called Norman who seems to be dominated by his mother."
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring : Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Markin Balsam, John McIntire, Janet Leigh
Overview:
Psycho is a 1960 American suspense and Thriller genre directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh. The film depicts the encounter between a secretary, Janet Leigh is who is called Marion Crane in the film, who goes to a secluded motel called the Bates Motel after stealing money from her employer, and the motel's disturbed owner and manager, Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), and the aftermath of their encounter. Psycho is a classic, and for good reason, everything about this film is perfection, from the gorgeous black and white cinematography to every single performance, to the famous Bernard Herrmann soundtrack, to some of the most suspenseful and frightening scenes ever filmed. Psycho is undoubtedly most famous for it's death scene of Marion Crane.
Here it is, I'll let you decide why this scene is so famous!
"An innocent New York advertising executive is mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and is pursued across the country while he looks for a way to survive."
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Stars: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason
Overview
Roger Thornhill finds himself in trouble with some spies when he is mistaken for a man called George Kaplan. In the film he is framed for murder and on the run from the police, he manages to board the train in disguise to Chicago where he meets this beautiful blond woman called Eve Kendall. They seem to instantly like each other and she helps him evade the policemen in search for him. His world is turned upside down yet again when he learns that Eve isn't as innocent as first thought. North by Northwest is very suspenseful film directed by Alfred Hitchcock released in 1959. Hitchcock captures the suspense perfectly, using continuity editing techniques including reverse shots, and match editing, as well as discontinuity techniques. Alfred Hitchcock includes many continuity editing techniques in North by Northwest to create both cohesion and suspense. The first occurs is the establishing shot, whenever a new scene happens, Hitchcock uses an establishing shot to provide overview to a scene. After Mr. Vandamm’s associates kidnap Roger Thornhill, there are numerous establishing shots providing an overview of the location Roger is being taken to, Townsend Mansion. When the movie progresses and locations change, Hitchcock uses more establishing shots at the Chicago bus stop and Mount Rushmore. These establishing shots allow audience members to understand what is going on and where the succeeding scene is occurring. In a film where the location of key characters change frequently, it is important to use establishing shots effectively to ensure audience members know what is going on. The second continuity editing technique used in North by Northwest is the reverse shot pattern. When Roger Thornhill first encounters Phillip Vandamm, Alfred Hitchcock uses the reverse shot pattern throughout the conversation. The reverse shot pattern allows the viewer to see the reaction of the character’s faces more closely, which adds suspense to the film. Lastly, the use of match editing creates a smoothness effect and can frequently be seen in North by Northwest. This smoothness effect lets the scene cuts seem more natural which keeps the viewer engaged to the story. Although numerous examples of continuity editing techniques are in North by Northwest, there are also a variety of discontinuity techniques. Using discontinuity techniques can help depict a character. When Roger Thornhill first meets Eve Kendall, she is wearing a white dress with plenty of skin showing, depicting her as a “good” person who is helping Roger Thornhill escape from police. While Eve Kendall is off-screen, the viewer learns that she is an agent for the evil Mr. Vandamm. The next scene, we find Ms. Kendall wearing a thick, black coat, depicting her as a “bad” person. Using this discontinuity technique emphasizes Eve’s transition from a helpful person to a secret agent, which helps the viewer follow the story and adds suspense.
Director: Dapo Starring: Nicholas, Sarah, Seye and Michael This was the second time where we where put into groups to go out and film. We had very little time and no storyboard, a lot if improvisation skills where used. In the film we where struggling to come up with a suitable plot. We had all kinds of ideas but none of them really worked. We then as a group, came up with the idea of a quick video of a girl (Sarah) cheating on her boyfriend (Nick) with another boy (Seye) as Nick was coming back from a football game with his close friend (Michael) and then a fight breaks about between the two boys over the girl. In this practical we used many different shots such as an eye line match shot which was very effective. In comparison to the first practical I did with Adeseye and Dylan, I can see a lot of improvements in camera work and skills. Even though I was not behind the camera filming, I contributed to the variety of shots that I thought I should use. Check out the video:
Diegetic Sound - 'sounds from within the world of the film, so the characters can hear them' this includes sounds such as footsteps or even things dropping in the film.
Non Diegetic Sound - 'sounds from outside the world of the film, so the characters can't hear them' this includes music that creates tension.
This was the first ever chance we had to experiment with working with the camera. I worked in a group of three alongside Dylan and Seye. The video shows basic understanding of camera angles such as mid shot, close shot and a pan shot. For a first attempt, it is an alright attempt however it shows limited understanding as we really did not know how to include a variety of shots. The practical includes 3 scenes. The first is an interview which is me interviewing Adeseye about a party he recently attended where there was a bit of trouble. This scene uses P.O.V with me talking behind the camera and Adeseye answering the questions. It was supposed to resemble a police like interview. The second scene is Adeseye and Dylan with me recording them in a mid shot angle. Adeseye and Dylan are brothers in this scene and Adeseye tells Dylan heartbreaking news that a member in their family has died. I then used a zoom shot to emphasise Dylan's emotions and feelings. The final scene is Adeseye walking in towards the camera, we did not really think this scene through and it looks rather unnecessary.
I really enjoyed making these shots and scenes because it was my first experience of being the camera man which I highly enjoyed. On reflection, it is not as good as I thought but this will ensure that the next practical I do is better than this one. Here is the video:
Thriller is broad genre of literature, film and television that numerous and often overlapping sub genres.
Horror Thriller
Action Thriller
Sci-fi Thriller
Thrillers are characterized by fast pacing, frequent action, and resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more powerful and better equipped villains.
Bourne Lecacy
Spiderman 3
Batman
James Bond
The Expendables
Devices such as suspense, red herrings and cliffhangers are used extensively. A thriller is a villain driven plot, whereby he presents obstacles the hero must overcome.
A red herring is where we are deliberately led to think someone is the villain but he really isn't.
The genres flexible and can engage the audience through a dramatic rendering of psychological, social and political tensions. Hitchcock said thrillers allow the audience "to put their toe in the cold water of fear to see what it's like.
Mise-en-scene has many aspects to it such as: Costume, Props, Location, Lighting, Performance.
I will now talk about Mise-en-Sance in the film Brighton Rock. Brighton Rock makes very good use of Costumes. In the film colours are highly significant. Rose is seen as the sweet, young and innocent girl and is often seen wearing light colours such as pink, rose or white. This clearly shows the audience that she is good hearted. On the contrary, Pinkie is seen as a 'bad guy'. He takes part in gang affairs and bad business. In the film, Pinkie is seen wearing usually navy blue or black. This shows us that he is the typical villain. Also another character Ida, she consistently wears red. This can give out many mixed messages such as love, anger or danger.
In addition, in the film Brighton Rock location was highly symbolic. The pier was one of many settings that had a particular meaning. Above the pier, it was bright and families and children where laughing and talking, however in complete contrast, underneath the pier it was dark and gloomy. This told the audience that it is inevitable that something bad will happen. The film then progresses and a death scene occurs under the pier. As the top of the pier is always happy and calm we acknowledge this to be symbolic and say it is heaven and as the bottom of the pier is horrible and dark we acknowledge this to be hell.
There are many different types of Genre. For example there is Comedy, Romance, Horror, Thriller, Fantasy, Drama, Sci-fi, Adventure & Action. I have learned A narrative is some kind of retelling, often in words, but can also be showed well in films. It usually tells the audience of the story, the narrative is not the story itself but rather it is the telling of the story. A story is just a sequence of events however a narrative retells those events, often in a peculiar way, sometimes they retell the story in a fragmented narrative, meaning the story doesn't really go according to how you would expect, sometimes leaving some parts out because they are from some perspective insignificant, and perhaps emphasizing others. In a series of events, a car crash takes a split second. A narrative account, however, might be almost entirely about the crash itself and the few seconds leading up to it.
Horror involves things such as weapons, violence and the general uncomfortable feel. It often leads to anticipation in cliffhangers. My favourite kinds of films are Sci-fi and Thrillers. I like Sci-fi films incredibly, a good example of a Sci-fi film I like is Avatar. I also like Thrillers as the give films a tense feel.
I believe that my own will be successful because I have adopted great ideas from recent lessons and I will study hard, follow good advice and will sacrifice most of my time to it. I will put in a great work ethic also.
