Another Thriller I Watched - Taken 2

Taken 2
2012

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:

My Favourite Thriller - The Bourne Legacy

The Bourne Legacy

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

Editing

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.
• Can show the passing of time.

Psycho

Psycho

1960

"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!

North by Northwest

North by Northwest

1959

"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.

Here is the Trailer for North By Northwest:

Romance Goes Wrong

Romance Goes Wrong

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:

Sound

Sound

There are 3 key elements of sound in a film:

- Dialogue

- Music

- Sound Effects (footsteps/door slamming)

There are two key terms to divide sounds in film:

• 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.

First Practical

First Media Project

Starring: Nicholas, Dylan and Seye

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:

Cinematography

Cinematography

Camera Angles                                                                                                        

• P.O.V - Point of view
• Birds eye view
• Close up - detail / intensity
• Low angle shot
• Over the shoulder
• Long shot, mid shot, close shot

Heres a video from YouTube that will show you the basics about Cinematography:

Recipe for a Thriller

Recipe for a Thriller

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

Mise-en-scene

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.