'SE7EN' is a drama film/thriller about two detectives, a rookie and a veteran, who hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his modus operandi. The whole opening sequence uses a variety of abstract images to convey the genre of a dramatic/thriller. At 0:08 seconds, the birds eye view of the elders hand in black and white portrays an abstract making the viewer comprehend the narrative. Through out the whole sequence, the transitions of the titles appear in a fade. The fade affect creates a ghostly feeling, which adds to the narrative and genre of 'SE7EN'. Also the quick cutting of each of the footage adds to the frightening semantic feel of the narrative. At 0:15 seconds, the graphic and gory images begin to show, of an extreme close up of a blade removing skin off their fingers. This conveys the fifteen certificate, as the narrative shown may be disturbing to them. At 0:27 seconds, the title of the film 'SE7EN' appears in the transition of flashes and flickers, to re-flash in the large font style and into the centre of the frame. The title follows the theme of the other text. The non-diabetic sounds of a high pitch tap and dark mood music adds to the genre of the film, as the tension has already been built throughout the additional mood of the abstract images. At 0:33 seconds, the editing technique of fading with the image between 2 images, adds to the jagged feeling of the narrative. For example, the extreme close up of the pen writing to the pen moving again. This double vision also confuses the viewer as they are unaware of where to look. The opening sequence of the film features no colour until 0:35 seconds, red being the first colour the viewers see. the connotations of this colour would suggest to the viewers blood, anger and possible death. This scene suggests to the viewer that something else is about to happen and adds to the mystery of the previous shots. At 0:36, the non-diegetic sound of the muffle screams in the background could suggest a possible character, not being able to see the person adds to the mystery. Through each of the shots, the following shot would flicker to create the rustic and frightening feel of what is to come later in the film. The shot and editing is reflective of the genre. The titles that appear within the frame do not follow a structure and are positioned randomly over the frame, which adds to the uncomfort of the audience. At 0:50, slow motion is used on the close up of the notebook page turning. As the page falls the movement is decreased. This emphases the detail of what is written by the mystery man. At 1:16, the split shot gives the interpretation that there is a distinguished difference between fantasy and reality. At 1:34, the non-diegetic sound of the music has increased the pace to add to the tension building of the narrative showing it is closely going to be revealed to the audience. At 2:06, the scribbling of the sharp writing portrays the sharpness of the character and his aggressive attitude to life. The writing is edited over the shots through a fade which conveys his psychotic mind.
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LionsGate Entertainment: LionsGate Entertainment is an institution found by Frank Guistra which have produced various thriller films, these include:
When it was first founded, it was called Cinepix Film Properties (CFP) but was changed to Lionsgate entertainment on June 1998. It is the largest and most successful mini-major film studio in North America. Their first major film was called American Psycho where they spent a huge budget of around 7 million dollars. In 2000, they started to expand their business by buying smaller firms that controlled big libraries. The two most notable acquisitions were Artisan Entertainment and Trimark Holdings. When taking over Trimark, this also meant they were purchasing CinemaNow, a broadband streaming website where Lions Gate could feature it's own movies. These two firms alone gave LionsGate the second largest DVD library. LionsGate has expanded and made more independent films in many different markets- films, videos, TV shows, music publishing and record labels. It has grown to becomethe most successful independent film distribution company in North America; which is now worth $2 billion. Universal Pictures: Universal Pictures also called Universal Studios is a subsidary of NBC Universal, one of the six major movie studios. It was founded in 1912 by Carl Laemmle, it is one of the oldest American movie studios; which is still producing films. Universal Pictures creates and distributes theatrical and non-theatrical filmed entertainment. Universal has achieved popular success with many movies such as: Jaws Jurassic Park Psycho To Kill a Mocking Bird From the very beginning, Laemmle invited the public on to the property to watch silent films being made. In 1964 the Universal Studio Tour formally opened, allowing visitors from around the world the rare opportunity to experience movie-making magic first hand. In the decades since the Studio Tour tram first drove visitors through the back lot, Universal Studios Hollywood has grown to become a world class destination, and in 1990 also even opened a theme park. Performers and behind the scenes personnel at Universal Studios Hollywood play a major role in bringing that magic to life; whether it’s doing a 50’ high fall on fire in Waterworld, teaching audiences the behind the scenes secrets of movie-making at Special Effects Stage or making a child’s dream of meeting their favorite animated character come true. This sequence opens with the production logos, and then begins at 0:09 with short cuts of a girl running through the woods. The quick/very short running sequence ends at 0:32 with a close up shot of the girl dragging her nails across the ground, as if someone is pulling her backwards. During this sequence, there is a lot of parallel sound. The music is very dramatic and brings in a lot of feeling from the characters into the sequence. A key thing we can hear in the music, is that it seems to replicate the sound of a heart beat, and as this heart beat builds, we can also hear the girl breathing quite heavily. The scene ends as the music reaches its peak and the last black screen fades into the next scene. From 0:34 onwards, the video then moves onto a medium shot of a girl sitting on a sofa with the text "two years later" on the far left bottom hand of the screen. There are shots which show the girl preparing herself to go out. The following shots are synced together with no cuts, which makes it seem as though it was all filmed in one shot. At 1;24, we can distinctly hear tense music being played as the girl slows down while walking her dog to stop and check her phone. The music builds, and the volume grows louder gradually. At 1:58, the first few bits of dialogue come into play, and through these lines we can sense the characters emotions. After this, the girl bumps into another character, and they begin to shout at each other and get rather physical. The sequence ends with the girl screaming, a black screen and then the film title coming across the screen.Again, this sequence opens with the production logos, and slow music, which however seems to follow up into the opening sequence itself. The first few shots begin at 0:14 and contain a variety of close up and medium shots. They show snippets of cars, news reports, someone typing and a baby crying on the baby monitor. Up until to 1:21, the shots are all in black and white. During these first few moments, there is a slight over lapping of the sounds. For example, while you can hear the typing, you can also hear the baby crying. Then begins the ringing of an alarm clock, and text saying 'Group 4 presents', which indicates that the opening scene is about to begin. The music in this next scene is very faint, it seems that the editors did this so that the viewers could hear the diegetic alarm clock, and gather that the character is about to wake up, but at the same time they also let the non diegetic music fade in to create an intense atmosphere around the clips. As the scene develops we can see mostly close up shots of different parts of a mans body, who seems to being going through his daily routine. Throughout the entire opening scene, there is a lot of cross cutting and the music is almost consistent throughout the whole opening. The second half of the opening (which begins at around 1:21) is in full colour. It almost contains a lot of clear shots of the man/main character. One of the shots that seems to stand out is the one at 2:21, which is a close up shot of hia mid riff, but then the camera pans upwards, so we can see his face. The camera then pans out a medium shot of the man, and the audience is introduced to the main character. During the second half of this sequence, the location changes - to london. It also contains a variety of different shots, such as landscape and overhead - but they are in colour.The opening sequence begins with a tilt camera shot which shows the grey sky. It seems as though the editors have used a distinct blue filter on the shots which are outside, probably to create there required atmosphere. Someone pulls up into a car park, in the disabled bay. This suggests that the personal has some sort of mental and/or psychical disability. There is then a long shot which shows the villains lower body. He is dressed in all black, which suggests that he looks quite mysterious. Next, we can hear the diegetic sound of the characters footsteps and a car door slam, which accentuates the characters action, while this scene is progresses, the tilt is very simple so its easy to keep focus on what is happening. At 0:31, there is a law angle shot which lets you look up at the antagonist - this successfully demonstrates the power and dominance the main character has. Then we see a close up shot from the mouth to torso of the character smirking which suggests that he is amused about the situation. In this opening sequence shot angles are used very carefully to create a dark ambience. For example, at 0:33 there is a high angle shot looking down on the protagonist, which shows her as weak, during this shot, the music slowly builds to create suspense. To hide the girls identity, and cause some suspense/mysteriousness around the scene, there have been quick shots used of the girl and then they fade into a black screen. As the next half of the opening sequence begins, we see a girl tied to a chair and her mouth duct taped. There are also lots of close ups of her expression. She is surrounded by cut off arms, and mannequins. The scene then cuts to a shot of the man looking at some weapons - we see this via a tracking shot which makes the viewer feel as though they are following the character, so they are more understanding of the emotions and atmosphere through out the scene. There are a series of shots of the girl, where she looks distressed. At the end she is approached by the man and he holds a weapon to her neck, and then applies lipstick to her messily. Before this happens, there is an over the shoulder shot of the man about to approach her and we hear the non diegetic sound of her heart beat thumping, so we can sense that she is afraid. Overall it is very obvious to the audience that the opening sequence is for a Thriller movie.Black Swan Opening Sequence Analysis: In the first 2 seconds the title fades in with slow tempo music in the centre of the screen. The titles are in time with the music and then at 0.05 seconds dissolve letter by letter randomly. Between 0.07 and 0.13 seconds The title fades as the charcoal moves across the page. The charcoal is moving at a slow steady pace, and the title fading in follows the movement of the charcoal. The slow moving of the charcoal also relates to the slow tempo of the music. After the clips have changed the title is already on the screen. Also the charcoal moves towards the right of the screen as the clip changes. The charcoal continues to move across the page/canvas then another title appears in the screen and 0.23 seconds. As the charcoal moves across the screen, at 0.36 seconds the title disappears letter by letter like before in the previous title. The title always seems to be placed underneath the line of charcoal, this makes the viewer more focused on the line rather than the title. At 0.45 the screen fades and blacks out as the opening sequence ends. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Opening Sequence Analysis:
From the start, the music used which is called "immigrant song" is very fast paced which implies that the film will move at a fast pace; which is a convention of the thriller genre. There are a lot of different objects and people encorporated in the title, which could symbolise all the different events that will take place in the film. The colours encorporated are mainly dark blacks and browns with sudden splashes of red at 1:04 mins. This could be foreshadowing that there will be sudden outbursts of danger. At 1:25 mins, a sudden image appears that could be lighting the fact that there will be a lot of elements of shock throughout the film. U Universal - Suitable for all:
12 - May upset under 12 year olds or parents might find unsuitable. 12A - Only for cinemas must be accompanied by an adult
18 – Suitable only for adultS R18 - To be shown only in specially licensed cinemas, or supplied only in licensed sex shops, and to adults only
This is the opening sequence of the thriller movie 'Silence of the Lambs'. The sequence starts with a non-digetic sound, which is a classical song called 'Main Title'. The musical score is the main focus for this entire sequence; there is no diegetic sound. The music starts at 0:13 seconds, it is quiet smooth with elements of mystery, which continues until 1:36 of the clip. At 1:36, the pace and volume of the music increases as the character increases in speed. This is an example of 'parallel sounds'. At 1:57, 'parallel sounds' are being shown again as the volume increases with her speed and breathing. At 2:30, as the character is climbing up the equipment, the music tempo gets faster to reflect her panic. Throughout the whole opening sequence, the music gradually gets more intense. At 2:38, as she suddenly tumbles down the equipment she was climbing, the music dramatically drops. Again, this is an example of parallel music as it is reflecting her struggle. Psychological Thriller: Sound and Music (Psycho)The opening scene of 'Psycho' has a fast tempo, high pitch and creates tension, this could suggest violence will happen in the movie. In the music, the volume increases and decreases rapidly, which could show bipolar emotions from being on a high to dramatically being on a low. At 0:13 seconds, the music suddenly calms down as the opening picture appears. It then has a soft tempo as the camera pans around the city. In the sequence there is a non-digetic sound up to 0:32. After this we hear some cars beeping which are digetic sounds. At 0:34, the pitch starts to rise again, as it zooms in at a specific window on a building. This creates mystery as to why it has zoomed in on this window. At 1:10, the music fades as we can hear dialogue, which is another digetic sound. At 1:17, the music completely stops. This has been done to draw the viewers in on the characters conversation. Crime Thriller: Sound and Music (Now you see me)Up to 0:20 we can hear the production music which is a classical soundtrack.
At 0:20, you start to hear clicking sounds from a type writer. At 0:24, mysterious music starts to play which blends in with the type writer. At 0:33, we hear the thoughts of the character shows on screen, which is a type of non- digetic sound. At 0:36, we hear cards being shuffled, which is a type of digetic sound. At 1:02, the music gets louder, which shows parallel sounds and creates tension. Towards the end of the opening sequence the character is still shuffling cards indicating to the viewers this film could be related to magic tricks. The Talented Mr. Ripley is a Psychological Thriller. Psychological Thrillers portray conflict between the main characters to be mental and emotional rather than physical. The story revolves around a man, (Mr. Ripley) who is posing as another man. Many common Psychological Thriller themes are obvious through out the movie. For example, Mr Ripley, who becomes so engrossed in his fake identity, ends up killing a man who confronts him. We can see in this film that Ripley develops mental issues throughout the movie which cause conflict amongst him and other characters. The movie itself contains many different locations; boats, beaches, large houses, etc. One of the murder scenes is even done on a boat. Although the location at this point itself is a boat, and the lighting is very bright, the scene that is playing totally opposes this setting. In this scene, Ripley, beats a man to death after they have an argument. The scene itself is very sinister as there is a long shot or Ripley beating the man, and you can only hear Mr. Ripley beating him, but the man makes no noise. However this is one of the very few violent scenes. The sound in The Talented Mr. Ripley is also very key. Although there aren't massive drops or a hug distinction between volume/pitch, there is still many strong pieces of music that bring the scenes together and make them seem more intense. For example, in a scene where one of the characters called Marge has found Dickie's (the man who Ripley is impersonating) rings in the possession of Tom Ripley, the music that begins to play in the background stays at a simple pace, but as the scene develops, the music changes and grows louder. The instruments being played are also different, and as the scene ends up with another friend coming through the door, the music reaches its loudest point. This makes it seem as though that certain point is the scenes climax. In the same scene as the one mentioned earlier, the characters body language and facial expressions, put together with the large variety of different camera angles used also give the desired effect needed in a Psychological Thriller. For example, the clip begins with a series of medium shots of each character while they are speaking, then the shot switches to a close up of Marge, who is looks afraid and nervous. The use of the close up makes this easier for the viewer to see. The Day After Tomorrow is a Disaster Thriller. Disaster Thrillers are known to have a natural disaster taking place, and the antagonist is either trying to stop the disaster, the extent of the disaster or just save themselves before time runs out and disaster has run its course. The Day After Tomorrow is known as a Disaster Thriller, because we can see that the story line centres a climate disaster, and the antagonist(s) are Sam, his friends, and his father Jack. Although they do not have the power to stop the disaster in the film, they do try to save themselves (Jack tries to find his son to evacuate him.) In one of the first scenes where we see a tsunami, the scene opens with an establishing shot of a city in America, with water flooding over the buildings. The shot then cuts to a close up shot of a bus driver trying to listen to his radio, which is giving news about the floods taking place, the shot cuts again to a close up of people scrambling over cars to get away, and then again back to the driver as he looks worried and scared. A lot of the shots in this scene are either establishing shots or close ups of the damage taking place in town. This shows the viewer exactly what is happening, and what the location is. In this same shot, although it is day time, the lighting is quite dark, and has grey/blueish under tones, which gives the essence that something dangerous about to take place. As the scene progresses, the protagonist goes inside and the lighting is more dark there, and then the water bursts through the windows. This gives the viewers an airy feel and effect. In another scene, the atmosphere changes and begins to freeze over the city. To make the scene more realistic, we can hear the wind blowing over as the ice begins to develop onto the buildings and we can also hear faint cracks which come from the sound of the ice growing over the town. The music is very tense in this scene at the beginning, and as the scene goes on the pitch and volume of the ice sound gets higher/louder. At the same time, the pace of the music also very subtly picks up, as though the scene is about to peak somewhere. 'Taken' is an Action Thriller movie about a retired CIA agent who travels across Europe and relies on his old skills to save his estranged daughter, who has been kidnapped while on a trip to Paris. This film is a race against the clock as the father has to save the daughter who was involved in the human traffic before she gets sold. The hero in the film Is the father and the motive is to save the daughter. Roughly about 5 minutes into the movie we can see scenes of violence, also not just one, but multiple obvious antagonists, which creates tension and interests the viewers. Moreover, there is a lot of guns and fighting which makes it even more obvious that it is an action thriller. The movie contains many 'close up shots' which shows the audience the character's emotions. This creates tension as it reveals important detail and makes the viewers feel like its more real. This film also contains many 'establishing shots' which establishes a scene, giving viewers information about where the scene is set. This is very useful as in the movie the location is changed a lot so it mates it very clear to the viewer where the characters are located at all time. This action thriller contains many different camera angles, such as a 'high angle' where the camera looks down upon a subject or object, which was used to make the subject or object appear small and vulnerable - this camera angle was used on the daughter to show the viewers how frightened she was. One of the scenes also had a 'low angle' where the camera looks up at the subject or object, which is used to make the subject/ object appear powerful/ dominant - this camera angle was used on the father and the kidnappers to show their bravery and strength. This film contains many sounds such as 'dialogue' which are words spoken by the characters. It also contains 'diegetic sounds' which are sounds that can be heard by the characters within a scene. Moreover, it contains 'non-diegetic sounds', which are sounds that the characters cannot hear and in not part o the imaginary world of the story. This includes different types of musical soundtracks which usually contains a loud volume and fast pace. These soundtracks are mainly played to build up suspense or when there is a fight between the characters. 'Casino Royale' is an Crime Thriller where Secret Agent James Bond sets out on his first mission as 007 and must defeat a weapons dealer in a high stakes game of poker at Casino Royale, but things are not what they seem. A generic convention of a crime thriller is fast pace, lots of suspense and violence which is shown multiple time throughout the whole movie and even within the first 2 minutes there is a fighting scene. James bond is the protagonist; he is a mi6 agent. the antagonist is 'le chiffre' who is a financier of international terrorism. there is also a few less important smaller roles who play other antagonists. The film is based on the investigation of the deaths and disappearances of secret agents which is also following the generic convention of there being and investigation in a crime thriller. The film doesn't have an enigma which means it doesn't completely follow the codes and conventions of a crime thriller. Throughout the whole movie there is a selection of car chases and on foot chases where the protagonist (James Bond) is chasing the antagonist. Micro Elements: Location - One of the fighting scenes in the movie is located in a building site, which is very busy and contains a lot of obstructions. This makes the scene of interesting as it looks like an obstacle course which the characters could easily fall or injure themselves, creating tension. Props - The characters used guns which is one of the most common generic conventions in a crime thriller. Sound - The crime scene contained both diegetic and non-digetic sounds. The diegetic sound was a theme tune from the movie, which was very tense and parallel to the character's movements. The non-diegetic sounds were gun shots, explosions, and grunting. Camerawork - The scene contained most of the camera shots, but mostly 'long shots'. It also included a lot of camera movement, especially 'zoom'; this let the viewers focus on the fight between the characters, which created a dramatic effect. The Silence of the Lambs is a psychological thriller filmed directed by Jonathan Demme in 1991. Like any other common Thriller, this movie has some re occurring themes and ideologies that link it to the generic Thriller conventions. Sound/Music: Sound and music is one of the micro elements that builds up the suspense and creates a certain intensity during a scene which is key in a Thriller movie. In Silence of the Lambs, the opening scene begins on some very intense music. The notes are quite low, and as the scene develops, the music begins to speed up and become louder, or the number of different instruments increases. Camera work: Another micro element is the Camera work used in a Thriller movie. Within the first 6-ish minutes of the opening scene, there is a series separate shots of the main protagonist. These shots show her running, and doing some sort of exercise course. The shots are around 10 seconds each, which gives the over all opening sequence an edgy feel. Although a few minutes into the opening sequence we learn that she is in fact doing exercise, the first few shots make her look like she is running from something. This seems to show foreshadowing of the plot, and discreetly shows the viewer that this protagonist character will need to run from something threatening at some point in the movie. A lot of the cameras focus is also in the girl, which points out that she is an important character. Lighting: An additional required micro element in Thriller movies is lighting. The lighting can very easily change the mood from something happy and light hearted, to something scary and dangerous. In this movie, the lighting is used strongly to create suspense. For example, at the beginning of the movie when the protagonist is running, the lighting seems to be quite dark, but as the movie goes on and we see her progressing and going into the University, the lighting goes brighter. Another lighting change is when the main character visits the Asylum. The lighting on her walk there is very dark, but before she enters the Asylum to the antagonists' cell, the lighting is a lot lighter. This almost suggests that the character is in danger when alone/in the Asylum, and safer around the University. Narrative: Almost every conventional Thriller movie contains a story line that focuses on a crime, theft or murder and revolves around the story of an antagonist and a protagonist. In this circumstance, the story line is based on a crime, the antagonist is Buffalo Bill and the protagonist is Clarice Starling. Often, the protagonist has a weakness or fear that becomes known to the antagonist. During (roughly) the first 20 minutes of the film, Buffalo Bill finds out that Clarice Starling's weakness is her bad childhood. This then gives the antagonist a upper hand on the protagonist, and therefor it becomes easier for him to bring her down. The narrative is centred around a deadly game of would you rather, in which players are forced to choose between two options; which ever option they choose they must complete. For example, electrocuting themselves or another player. If they refused to the complete the task they would get shot.
'Iris' is the protagonist in the story, her weakness is her sick younger brother, as she has to compete to win the money to be able to afford his treatment costs. The title is related to the theme of the movie. However, it is not related to the weakness of the character. Therefore this is a convention but not a generic convention. Iris is seen in peril in multiple scenes, as every time its her time to play, she is in risk of danger which could even result in death. Micro elements: The lighting through out the majority of the film is usually quite dark which creates a very negative atmosphere. It is also low key lighting as there is a strong contrast between light and dark areas in the shot, with deep shadows and very little fill light. The music almost constantly in the background is a slow classical song which created a very high Tension making the audience constantly on the edge of their seat. The camera work was mostly a selection of close up shots and medium shots with some long shots. In the opening sequence does not show any enigmas which is not a generic convention of thriller movies. the narrative presents an ordinary situation where a group of people are attending a dinner party however it turns into an extraordinary situation where the guests are forced to play a deadly game of would you rather. |
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