scene 1- Main character going on a run
1.1 P.O.V of main character looking into the distance of the forest and the pond. Also diegetic sound of the character's heavy breathing. 1.2 Main character starts running on her own through the woods. Scene 2- Strange couple spotted in the park 2.1 P.O.V of main character running past the pond and sees couple sitting on the bench. 2.2 Main character runs past an ordinary couple and everything is fine. 2.3 Main character looks back and sees couple acting strange and suspicious on bench. 2.4 Main character turns to look forward and then back again at the couple who are acting normal again- main character is left confused and frustrated. Scene 3- Another strange incident with an owner and his dog 3.1 P.O.V of main character running away from the couple and sees a man with a dog. 3.2 Main character is weary of the man. She trips and falls over, the man notices but just ignores and walks away. 3.3 When main character looks up, the man and dog are aggressively shouting in her face. 3.4 Main character shakes her head from frustration. She looks up and sees man being normal and walking away from her. Scene 4- Main character blanks out feeling confused 4.1 P.O.V of main character's vision going blank. 4.2 Main character's friend appears and the setting is back at the start where the scene began. 4.3 Main character and friend run past the couple, with the main character trying to stay calm. 4.4 As they run past the couple, the main character runs around and sees couple acting normal. 4.5 Main character and friend run past the man with dog and everything is normal- the main character's face is looking confused. 4.6 Long-shot of main character and friend running away into the distance. Most Psychological Thrillers use normal locations to provide realism. This is so there can be contrast between the main characters psychological world, and the real world. Certain locations are often not used. For example, the country side is not often used, because it could then be confused with horror. One of the main sets in "Would You Rather" is the villains dinner room. Here, he hosts a dinner and invites people who are told that the person who stays the longest will win money. The entire movie mostly revolves on this set. A normal, every day setting like this is common in Psychological Thrillers. It seems that if a movie is set in a very average setting, the the aspect of Psychological Thriller is a lot more effective. Another Psychological Thriller with a normal location as its main set is "The Boy". "The Boy" is about an American nanny who goes to England to look after what she thinks is a child, but when she gets there, she realises the parents are two elderly people who are in fact looking after a doll. In the end of the movie, we find out that the boy is in fact the elderly couples son, who now is a grown man and lives in the walls of the house, after he started a fire and killed a neighbourhood girl when he was young. This makes the house a very key part of the movie. Again, a large family house - in this case a mansion, is very common in Psychological Thrillers as they are not seen in everyday life. The third Psychological Thriller which contains a very day-to-day location is Orphan. This is about a couple who suffer a miscarriage and then decide to adopt a child, but after living with the girl, they realise there is something mentally wrong with her. Although there are many different locations in this movie, the main one is the home of the family - different rooms in the house/the garden to be more accurate. By using a family home as the main location in a movie focused on a mentally challenge child, there is a much bigger shocked out come, as a family home is suppose to be a place of warmth and love. The Black Swan: Mise-en-scene - When the scene opens, there is an obvious distinct character which the lighting glows over. The rest of the set (which seems to be a stage) is dark, and the light seems to be glowing off the character (white swan) as the scene progresses. The characters facial expression and body language seems to be very elegant, but as the scene progresses and she is approached by a man in black, her facial expression becomes more serious and concerned, as though she can sense danger. She wears a white dress, which implies that she is pure, and almost angelic, to juxtapose this the men wear black, in a way to foreshadow that they are dangerous. While she is dancing with the man we can see an obvious distressing in her face, and when she begins to dance with the larger man in all black, who seems to represent some kind of danger to her, her facial expression becomes frightened. Towards the end of the scene, her body language and facial expression are saddened, and the light which was earlier emitting from her dims. The set is very simplistic (just a stage) and there are any significant props. This is to accentuate the characters emotions and body language. Sound - The sound seems to be diegetic, as the characters are dancing to it. There is no dialogue in this opening scene either. However, the main use of sound is through music. The music almost follows the dancer. For example, when the man in black approaches her, the pitch becomes lower, foreshadowing in the music that he is not safe for her. When the dancer picks up speed, so does the music, but when she slows down, it does the same. This score works very well in this scene as it makes the audience feel as though they are there, listening to the music with the characters. Editing/ Camerawork - There is a slight fade in as the light shines onto the main character, and then at the end there is this same fade out (both done with in a long shot). The shots in between are quite quick (each being approximately 20-30 seconds long), but they do not have harsh cuts in between, therefor the separate cuts can just sync together. This opening sequence contains a lot of close up and medium shots to create a connection between the audience and the characters world. The first close up shot we see is a tracking shot in which the camera follows the feet of the dancer. This is about 20 seconds long, then the camera stops moving and zooms out from the girls feet, so we can see her sitting down in a medium shot. The next few shots are mostly medium shots/close ups in which we can see the characters from their torso up, or from there shoulders up. Both shots are used to show the characters facial expression and emotions, but also to show their body language which is key as they are dancing. The Machinist:
Mise-en-scene - There are two main locations in this opening sequence. The beach/near the sea, and the characters apartment. Although, the majority of the scenes are shot nearby the river as it must be key to the plot. The scene opens with the main character looking quite anxious. He is looking out of his apartment window - as though he is trapped, and he is smoking. It seems as though he is about to begin to cry, this is when the scene cuts to the next shot of him parking his car onto a beach next to the pier. The location at this point is very gloomy, and the sky is cloudy. He begins to take out what seems to be a body wrapped in carpet out the boot of his car and throws it into the sea. During this the characters body language is very shaken up, and his facial expressions make it seem as though he has some sort of remorse for what he has done. At the end of the opening sequence, the man is approached by someone, and as he turns to look at the unknown character, he looks shocked, and then the scene cuts here. Sound - The first sound we hear is the diegetic sound of the lighter clicking, but the main type of sound is non-diegetic music which begins straight after the sound effect of the lighter. The music is quite eerie and hints to the audience that something strange is about to happen. The next diegetic sound we hear is of the car parking, and the waves of the sea, also the wind blowing - these last two sounds are constant through out the opening sequence as they make it seem more real. We can also hear the man struggling to carry the body. The pitch and volume is pretty consistent, and it does not cover up the diegetic sound often, but when the main character pushes the body into the water, the non- diegetic music increases in pitch, and is a very little bit louder than the diegetic sound. This happens just as the camera moves onto the characters facial expression, making it seem more intense. Editing/Camerawork - The first shot is a close up shot, used to introduce the main character to the audience and also so the audience can see the emotion the character is feeling, then there is a cut into the next shot. The next shot is a long shot of a rough looking beach with a pier, where the man parks his car. This shot is used to establish the location and surroundings of the character. The camera then pans in closer, to the man, but is still rather far so you can see the location, car and also the man, then there is another cut into a close up shot of the man carrying the body. From here on, most of the shots used are either close ups of medium long shots, so they can capture the mans facial expression, but also his body language. The editing has been done so there are no long or harsh cuts in between which have a massive jump between shots, this means it easily syncs in together, and flows really well as the start of a film. |
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