Pheebs Media AS Blog

Evaluation

2010-04-24T09:40:00.000-07:00

EVALUATION

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

We looked at particular films, such as ‘Psycho’ and analysed them, delving meticulously into exact mise-en –scene, lighting techniques and camera angles. We were soon informed of the generic conventions of the thriller genre, broadening our knowledge with both main-stream, independent and older films, such as ‘The Third Man’. I noticed, and took particular attention to the lighting of each film and the use of shadow:

We looked at other films, such as ‘Psycho’ and analysed them, delving meticulously into exact mise-en –scene, lighting techniques and camera angles. When constructing our plot line we took into account films such as ‘Psycho’ where the femme fatale is stabbed in the shower. The film is famous for this scene and has been copied and altered in other productions. Using this idea we constructed each shot, and were very keen on using the dramatic murder in our piece.

We particularly wanted to do a close up of Abigail cutting the meat towards the beginning of the product. Be

low is an example of what we actually did:

The close up of the knife is violent, dramatic and adds pace to the product. It gives the audience a hint if what is in-store.

We also wanted to do a close up of her eyes in chiascuro lighting:



	This is a shot from Kill Bill, which was on e of the man y that inspired us to use this shot. It adds the characters very personal emotion to the film and connects the audience to her. The surrounding shadow adds mystery and uneasiness.

We also wanted to use elements of the femme-fatale in “Psycho”. She is devious yet innocent and pretty. We wanted to emulate this within our piece- although our thriller is more modern we felt that Laura’s character would be incredibly neat and with a lot of make-up. She wears a sophisticated business outfit- I believe that this shows a strong and devious side to her, as she has a job and is control; however her young pretty face would counter-balance this point and create a character with depth however with obvious conventions of a thriller “femme fatale”.

This is an example of a similar outfit the victim, Abigail, wore.

Although our product would only be the beginning of a thriller, we were aware of the importance of keeping the audience hooked to the film, and wanting to see more, also leaving a sense of mystery and uneasiness- all necessary conventions of the genre.

When planning individual shots we took close attention to the different camera angles, using low-angle shots for dominating and intimidating characters, like the killer who wears a long black coat and heavy boots, with hair styled down over the eyes. The costume leaves a sense of mystery and leaves the killer anonymous. The eyes are covered- this shuts of a connection with the character (as the eyes are known as the window to the soul). He is named ‘Scott’ which is a normal and not a suspicious name at all, thi

s is more mysterious as it is such an ordinary name. The audience would not expect him to be a murderer, which makes it ironic.

The location is Libby’s house, the decor is mainly antique and rustic, this could have been quite confusing for the audience as to what time period this was meant to be set in, especially if we had changed the film to black and white. This is one of the main reasons we decided not to use black and white as we wanted it to be clearly modern, detracting it from ‘Psycho’ slightly so that ‘The Lodger’ has its own identity.

We named it ‘The Lodger’ firstly because the killer lives in a house at the end of the garden of the house. The name is chilling because it shows a

familiarity between the killer and victim, this can be petrifying for the audience, feeling empathy for the victim because he knows her and she trusted him.

Another way we showed that he knew her was an over-shoulder shot of the murderer, Scott, cutting up pictures of the victim, Abigail. This adds a more psychotic feel to our thriller, showing his obsession with her, yet leading to brutally killing her.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Laura plays the victim. We chose a female victim as this is conventionally used, and suggests that the victim is inferior. This is a representation currently and widely utilized, as women have always been seen as a weaker sex, both physically and mentally. Her costume is immaculate, with heavily applied, yet flawless, and some shots you see her looking almost mischievous- This creates the femme fatale character with the generic conventions of the character and facial expression- also leaving a mystery and uneasiness. Her character has strong similarities with ‘Lila’ from ‘Psycho’, sweet and innocent look but there is deviousness behind her eyes. This leaves the audience wandering- did she get what she deserved?

Lila from ‘Psycho’

On the other hand our representation of evil is somewhat stereotypical of a murderer- dressed fully in black with his hair covering his eyes so no emotional connection can be made. Heavy boots are worn and he carries her own knife to kill her with. This shows a twisted bitterness in the murderer, adding to the shocking scenes.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

I think we would begin by uploading the finished product onto websites such as ‘You-tube’ as this would make it available to the public straight away, without the need for funding. ‘You-tube’ has become incredibly popular- in January 2008 alone, nearly 79 million users had made over 3 billion video views. This statistic proves it is very worth-while uploading videos, as word of mouth spreads a video can become famous over-night. Also, I would argue that our thriller opening is also, in some respects, innovative. It has elements of the film ‘Psycho’ but the twist of the friend arriving whilst she is being killed adds far more mystery- leaving the audience wandering if she has any involvement in the killing. For this reason, funding could therefore be possible from Warp films for instance. On the other hand, our product could also be considered to have the conventions of a main-stream film, drawing complete contrast to most independent films, such as ‘London to Brighton’ where it is gritty and v

iolent, with unknown actresses and actors. I can see our product as the opposite to that.

4.Who would be the audience for your media product?

I think this would appeal to an older audience, and not particularly to teenagers. As the production draws elements of ‘Psycho’ (1960) then it would appeal to those who watched the film longer ago. However, because of the current and modern and setting, it may appeal to a wider audience, particularly to females because of the femme fatale, whom they may find aspiring (until they discover she is killed) and the friend who arrives on the scene. After doing thriller research it seemed that the most popular female character was out of ‘The Third Man’ with our character has definite elements of, with a classic and timeless costume and make-up. The friend, Lisa, later reveals a ‘Jackie Brown’ personality, feisty, strong and certainly devious. These characters would not only appeal to females but also liked by males because she has such a strong personality.

How did you attract/address your audience?

As earlier mentioned, we used interesting, appealing and also conventional characters. I don’t think we have made any risks within our characters, using generic conventions for both the killer and the femme-fatale. This gives the audience what they would expect from a thriller, which can be considered a bad thing and a good thing. The characters have been proven to succeed in thrilling and creating uneasiness in thriller films time and time again, so there is no reason why our characters cannot succeed also. On the other hand, because they are not different and pushing the rules it may not have the audience as hooked as a more challenging thriller film.

The costume, especially of the female actresses would be popular with the audience. The victim and friend wear popular high street fashion, appealing to the female audience especially, from shops such as ‘Topshop’. This also absorbs the audience into the film as they can relate to the characters more than if the film was set in the past.

We found the sound track on an unsigned band website- it boasts a chilling and eerie atmosphere, perfect for the feel of our film. The screeching sounds builds tension to the situation and panic, especially when the friend panics and tries to ring the door bell over and over.

Because the film has support from films such as ‘Psycho’, where have we have utilized similar aspects into our product, it means that those who enjoyed ‘Psycho’ would feel more inclined to watch our product. On the other hand, as ‘Psycho’ is such a classic thriller, other members of the public may feel that it is another re-make of the film and stand by the original, feeling it should not be re-made again.

Our product brings up many issues in today’s world; knife crime for instance is a rising statistic and highlights how easy it would be to get hold of one. It of course also highlights how obsession can lead to stalking and then to a lot of danger, making (mainly females) aware they should not trust people so easily. This can be a sinister thought of course, and could be very unnerving for some audience members, but this in-turn is a benefit for marketing of our product as the audience would feel they are really in-touch with what they are watching.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Firstly, putting our work onto a blog has been useful for me. As there is only one teacher to a class it means that we can get direct feed-back from teachers straight onto our blog, and can get opinions from other class members on ideas within the planning period.

Whilst filming I have learnt a lot about how a digital camera works. We spent a lot of time concentrating on the camera angles and lighting. We wanted to create the effects we had planned which meant a lot of our time was spent on creating shadows and chiascuro lighting. We all learnt to experiment with different shot types, trying scenes from lots of different angles so we had a lot to choose from when it came to editing. We also felt far more confident with filming as we progressed through the shots; we had to re-shoot some scenes due to the lighting being too dark, this was in a sense a blessing as we then made better, more articulate angles and shots.

Editing became very hard as there was a problem with our tape, and took a long time to capture all of the footage onto the computer. After we completed this however it was reasonably simple to edit the footage and we worked through it quickly, making up time for the tediousness of capturing it originally.

Looking back at the preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

In the preliminary task, although I contributed to what I thought would be good camera angles etc, I was more involved in acting within the task so had a feel for that more than the construction of the product. However, when it came to editing I was the first to try this, and got to grips with the programme and technique very quickly. This helped me a lot when it came to editing our thriller film, but I found it more of a struggle to use the digital camera and experiment with shot types and camera angles.

Laura, Libby and I worked together in the preliminary task with 2 others. The group worked well together, and we were the first to finish filming. Sam and Sabrina did most of the filming and had worked with cameras before so found it simple to construct. We also learned about the 180 degree rule, and how important this is- we were sure to remember this for when we started planning out shots.

Editing proved a lot simpler than I originally thought. Our group split into 2, and therefore made 2 products. Looking back on ours it is not at all immaculate, and has proved just how much we have learned through this process as I know we could do so much better now.

The one thing the preliminary task didn’t do was inform us of the importance of soundtrack as we didn’t have to hunt for one ourselves- therefore ignoring the importance of it until the last minute.

Planning our thriller opening was a lengthily process. We began by making story boards of our original plot-line. We were going to have a completely different plot before, using a shed, where a ‘Jackie Brown’ style femme-fatale enters and searches for money. However we soon realised many flaws in this, such as the lack of drama. The reason we thought of this, I think, is because at the beginning we felt that it was only the opening two minutes- forgetting that we need to keep the audience hooked for if we ever made a feature length version. We then re-designed the plot, and it has only slightly been altered since (alterations continue further on).

For the killer we wanted an older man, not a teenager our age, to make it look far more believable and justified. Libby’s Dad was keen on getting involved. This also meant we were able to film in his house, and use the large summer-house at the end of the garden, acting as the killer’s home. We never had any problems with the location; however we did for casting actors. Much later into filming we desperately needed to shoot scenes where the victim’s boyfriend arrives, however we couldn’t get anyone available. We tried using Libby’s uncle, however he is actually younger than us, therefore he did not look mature enough for the role. We also tried to dress me believably enough to play a man, but making sure my face was never in the shot, but this proved very unbelievable. We then made a last minute change to the plot-line and cast me as a friend, instead of the boyfriend.

We also had another problem. We were originally going to smash red wine, instead of the flowers. We loved this idea of the red wine pouring out in slow motion, connoting the idea of blood and violence, however due to health and safety this was not feasible. We then decided on red roses, breaking away some of the petals so that they fall more dramatically.

Although we spent a lot of time on lighting effects we never experienced problems particularly, other than re-shooting some scenes earlier in the day, not to do with torches etc. We did however experience problems on and off with the digital cameras, where they would not accept the tape, or wouldn’t charge etc, which meant a lot of wasted time was spent. This meant we were often rushed to meet deadlines, and delayed editing time.

As mentioned earlier, we were not prepared for the timeless attempts of getting a sound-track for our product. We originally decided on “Rite of Spring” by Stravansky however after searching constantly to find s copy out of copy-write seemed very much impossible. We were then suddenly met with other editing problems, such as our tape would not let us capture footage easily etc, which meant the soundtrack was forgotten about. The week leading to the dead-line was intense and in the literal last 10 minutes found the perfect sound-track for our piece on an un-signed band website.

We did feel constant pressure in the last month before the deadline. We had first started filming in the Christmas holidays, earlier than many people had, but seemed to be far more behind than anyone else towards the end. We did struggle and technology let us down in some cases but, in the end, managed to successfully create “The Lodger”.

Audience research

2010-03-09T08:53:00.000-08:00

Who, out of the following do you think best suits a femme fatale?

2. Which location do you think is the most sinister/effective in a thriller? Order them, 1 being the best and 5 being least.

3. Out of the following, which film did you enjoy the most? Tick 3 of your favorite:

Essex Boys

Psycho

Kill Bill

Phone Booth

Clockwork Orange

Third man

The Godfather

Pulp Fiction

Reservoir dogs

Se7en

4. Who, out of the following is the most effective for a villain/murderer?

Would you prefer to see Hollywood actors and actresses in a thriller, or actors and actresses you have never seen before?

Yes?

No?

Why?

the people we asked feel under the age gap of 16 to 19 as we asked fellow students at the school to fill out the answers. This was purely because of convenience but there is a danger that this may make our results bias to the younger audience.

Question 1.

Out of 12 people, 5 of the participants chose Uma Thurman from Kill Bill as the best character, this may be because of the popularity of the film and the fact that it is so recent, so therefore has influenced our age, but also because of the particular character in the film- she shows confidence and control, outsmarting every man she meets. Another 4 out of the 12 chose Scarlett Johansson as the character most suiting to the role of femme fatale. After asking a couple of people why, they said it was because she was attractive, and devious- key generic conventions of a femme fatale so it is not surprising. she is now also a very famous actress and has been widely acclaimed for her talent. 2 people chose the female character from "The Third Man". This is a much older film so it would usually have been surprising that anyone would have seen her before, and therefore chosen her. However, as a majority of the participants were media students it was not so surprising as we have studied the film within class, so this helped give a wider selection of data as media students are more aware of the thriller conventions than other people.

Question 2

Most people selected the first 2 images as the most sinister. The first is a generic convention of a thriller, showing a dark empty and ominous street (especially in the rain) in popular within thriller films. The 2nd image is a conventional setting, however also popular within horror films- the dark shadowy forest is notorious for the perfect place to commit a murder and bury the body with a far less chance of anyone uncovering it. Therefore these are certainly not surprising to be named as the most sinister. The 3rd image was also commented on, some compared it to the setting of the first 'SAW' movie, which does not apply to our research as that is a horror, but interesting how the same idea of a claustrophobic space could be used. Another said they would expect to see this setting in a grimy thriller such as 'Green Street' which is useful to know if we are to change our plot line into a more gangster feel of sub-genre.

Question 3

this question did not show a far more popular film than other, and what was surprising to see was that the older films such as 'The Third Man' is equally as popular to, for example 'Kill Bill'. The older films are however, classics, and many we have studied within class time so therefore broadened our knowledge of many different films. 'The Godfather' and 'Pulp Fiction' were the most popular, by a very little score- both classics and both brilliant films, but this question has not influenced us particulary, we would have to have done this on a much larger scale to see if there was any solid evidence that one was more popular than another.

Question 4

Outstandingly 7 of the 12 volunteers chose the final image. This may be because of the particular shot, and the other 2 images did not capture the villain at his most evil, but after asking some of the particepants a common theme was that "Those are murderers eyes!" after seeing the last image- the connoctions of this white-eyed devil look is certainly the most sinister, ominous and terrifying. The other 2 images show much older men, showing superiority because of there age, size, and this also suggests a wise "all-knowing" feel to them so they would be difficult to outsmart- showing all characters are effective in there own way.

question 5

Most people said they prefer to see well-known actresses and actors in the films they watch because they are familar with them, and like to see them playing different characters. One said "the reason they are famous is because, usually, they are really good at acting so it's bound to be good film if it has them in"- which i think is true to some extent.

On the other hand, others said that they dont mind either way, its the special effects and setting and all the other aspects that are far more important- "if they can act then who cares?"

On a whole the research has been successful and will certainly inform a lot of the decisions we ill make when it comes to filming and editing.

characters- background information

2010-01-28T04:01:00.000-08:00

Laura- playing the female victim.
In some way she could be seen as a femme fatale
"A femme fatale is an alluring and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations."
She has lead her boyfriend into a deadly situation, when the killer (played by Libby's dad) enters her house and stabs her in the bathroom.
She is a business woman, in her mid twenties. Within the film she is preparing a meal for her boyfriend.

The killer. Libby's dad, dressed in a long black coat and black boots, is the lodger. He lives in a small house, which he rents from the girl, at the end of the garden. He is mid forties and obsessed with Laura's character, hence the killing.

filming- so far

2010-01-25T02:29:00.001-08:00

So far the filming has gone well. I think we are roughly two thirds of the way through, and with one more session i think we can complete it.
We have got a fantastic range of shots- tilt shots, extreme close-ups, close ups, over shoulder, low angle etc, and we have learnt a lot, from being very inexperienced, to properly experimenting with the filming.

I mainly film and we all direct the shots all together. I also take responsibilty for the filming equiptment. We all work well together and have really good ideas on how to improve the filming and particular shots. At first we started using a stills camera on the video mode, which we achieved really effective shots, however we didn't think it would be in a high enough quality so decided to start again on a camcorder. Because we knew what we were doing as we had already practised with the stills camera it made filming more efficient and we could then experiment more with the shots as we felt comfortable with them.

Libby has provided the location, directed, contolled lighting and has done some filming.
Laura is the actress playing the character of the victim, and has also done some filming and directing.

Location Images

2010-01-20T03:25:00.000-08:00

images of the summerhouse where the killer resides. This image will be shot with the killer exiting the summer house and moving towards the house of the victim. We chose this at it is in a perfect position from the house to shoot through glass doors, which will be a very menacing and uneasy shot. It is taken, in a sense, from the perspective of the victim, and the shot will be taken at about 4pm, in dusky lighting, with lights from the garden creating an intimidating shadow.

shot of the kitchen in the victims house. The counter in the foreground is where the meat will be cut and where the killer picks up the knife with the intention to murder Laura, the femme fatale. The kitchen leads to a utility room, which has an external door to the garden, where the killer will then enter from.

This image shows the table set up, where it is clear the femme fatale is cooking a meal for her boyfriend. We used red napkins, connoting blood, along with red wine, also connoting the same thing. The image also shows how the shot will be taken watching the killer approach the house.

The image of the stairs is anothe shot we will take. Using a lamp to create a shadow behind the characters, creating an ominous intimidating image. We will use a close up of the hand on the banister for the killer and a tracking shot of the femme fatale's high heels as she walks up. This will be recogniseable as the bathroom scene as the femme fatale starts with a close up of her taking of her shoes. (image of bathroom will be added in near future.

SHOOTING MAPS

2010-01-20T03:19:00.001-08:00

Shooting map 1 shows the shot of the killer moving from his lodging at the summer house (see location photographs) into the house. The shot it taken through glass doors and he moves towards the camera and see him disappear to the left of the shot. The camera is then moved into position directed to the entrance of the kitchen, with the choppinh board and knife within the mis-en-scene. The killer then enters the kitchen through the utility room (out of sight) and walks through the kitchen, picking up the knife and walks past the camera out of the kitchen.

Shooting map 1 is the previous scene- a close up of Laura, playing the femme fatale chopping meat on a board on the counter.

audience research

2010-01-18T02:18:00.000-08:00

What is your age?
Under 10:
11-15:
16-19:
20-30:
31-40:
41-50:
50+

What is your gender?
Male:
Female:

Marital Status:
Single
Have a girlfriend or boyfriend
Long term partner
Married
Divorced

How do you usually consume the films you watch?
Television
Cinema
Computer
DVD

Which 2 cinemas do you prefer from the following?
Odeon
Vue
Hollywood cinema
Cinema City

Please rate each genre, with your favourite as 1 and least favourite being 8.
Thriller
Comedy
Romantic comedy
Romance
Horror
Action
Action adventure
Science fiction

How do you usually hear about the films you watch?
TV (trailers or reviews)
Magazines (reviews or advertisements)
Cinema (trailers)
Internet (reviews, trailers)

Do you find what your friends enjoy or reviews useful for when choosing what film to watch?
Yes
No
Why?

RESULTS
Question 1:
Under 10: 0
11-15: 2
16-19: 7
20-30: 2
31-40: 0
41-50: 1
50+ 0

Question 2:
Male: 5
Female: 7

Question 3:
Single 5
Have a girlfriend or boyfriend 4
Long term partner 1
Married 1
Divorced 1

Question 4:
Television 2
Cinema 3
Computer 3
DVD 4

Question 5:
Odeon 4
Vue 5
Hollywood cinema 0
Cinema City 3

Question 6:
Thriller 2
Comedy 2
Romantic comedy 4
Romance 0
Horror 1
Action 1
Action adventure 2
Science fiction 0

Question 7
TV (trailers or reviews) 5
Magazines (reviews or advertisements) 2
Cinema (trailers) 3
Internet (reviews, trailers) 2

ANALYSIS
Question 1 shows that a majority of the people i asked are teenagers, which could make the results bias as it doesnt particularly take into account other age groups. However, the information captured by the questionnaire would show relevent information to use in later work as I fall under this age group and can therefore understand the information more effectively and can take into account my own oponion if necessary.

Question 2 proves fairly balanced results in terms of gender, with only 2 more females than males, and the results can be compared from one gender to the other fairly because of this. I wanted to make sure that it was evenly split between males and females so that the results were as relevent as possible.

Question 3 shows that most people who filled in the questions are either in a relationship or single, whereas there are only a few others who have been married of divorced- which doesnt make a fair assumption on any ground that those who are divorced for instance watch a certain kind of film for instance. However, there can be comparison between single people and those who have a boyfriend or girlfriend- these people are also more likely to be wityhin my age group as well, so this can be taken into account and the findings are still relevant to my own personal knowledge.

Question 4 suggests that the ways in which films are consumed are also evenly spread. Most of the people older than 19 were those who often go to the cinema, which surprised me as i often go to the cinema, with my friends of this age group. The reason for this may be because a lot of stuydents are short of money, and therefore prefer to buy the DVD or illegally download. There was also a correlation between those who are in a relationship and those who consume films within the cinema, this is unsurprising as it is often an ideal 'date' to go to the cinema.

Question 5 implies that a majority of people go to Vue cinema in Norwich. This is the most central cinema to the city, so it is not surprising that this is the most popular. Those who attend Cinema City said that it is because it is usually less expensive and often have independent films that they enjoy more than mainstream. There was also a correlation between the older age groups and cinema city, perhaps because the films shown deal more with politics and important world issues that teenagers may be less concerned with.

In Question 6 the most popular genre of film was the romantic comedy, which most of the females stated as their preffered genre. Romantic comedy has a target audience of females so this is not surprising. The rest of the answers were widely spread across the genre's, which is generally expected.

Question 7 shows that most people hear about the films they intend to watch via television advertisement (trailers) and in the cinema. This may be because it is a moving trailer, giving people exciting clips of the film, whereas with a still image there is a limited amount of information given, such as the actors and actresses, and the genre of film is usually clear if the image is successful.

From the questionnaire the data i have collected has been relevent and interesting. It will support further research and into the construction of my thriller film, taking into account the different opionions etc.

analysis of Preliminary Task

2010-01-07T00:55:00.000-08:00

FILMING

Before filming we discussed a basic plot for the task. Laura and I volunteered to be the main actresses, and Libby acted as the "follower". Sabrina and Sam shot the piece.

We took each shot a couple of times, which we knew would help when it came to editing as there will be a range of shots to choose from. Shooting went smoothly, but i felt we could have built on communication and interaction between us so that it was filmed more efficiently. Regardless, we were the first group to finish filming showing that we had worked well.

EDITING

When it came to editing we had to split into two groups. Laura, Libby and I edited separately to Sam and Sabrina.

Our group also had help from Beth, who was more educated in the software as she had used it in GCSE media studies.We uploaded the footage onto the software and firstly watched it all the way through to see what needed to be done in the edit. We found the programme difficult to start with, trying to cut out big chunks of footage etc, and panicked when we thought we had lost half the film! after a while we got the hang of it and we all had a go at tweeking our piece.

After about an hour we had cut out everything we need to, however from clip to clip it was very sudden and not smooth, making the video look very unprofessional. We added transitions, such as fades, inbetween shots to make

the video run smoothly. We also added slow motion to the close up and when i turn to look behind me. This, i thought gave us the much needed practice on the software for when we edit our thrillers, and it works very effectively.

We then added a sound track. We had to lower the sound of the video to cut out the background noise. We stopped the music at the conversation so that it was clear what was going on within the video.

Overall i think the task went well considering our inexperience. We successfully learnt about the 180 degree rule, and know to apply this into our thriller, as it is very important to remember. Our video didn't work out as well edited as i was expecting but we put a lot of hard work into achieving what we did, and in the future, with a bit more practice, we will be able to edit very smoothly.

Preliminary Task

2010-01-07T00:31:00.001-08:00

Jackie Brown DRAFT 1

2009-11-17T10:52:00.001-08:00

JACKIE BROWN

Quentin Tarintino. 1997.

"This Christmas, Santa's Got A Brand New Bag"

COMPANY CREDITS

Production Companies:

Miramax Films
A Band Apart
Lawrence Bender Productions

Distributors:

Miramax Films
Bac Films
Columbia TriStar Egmont Film Distributors
Miramax Home Entertainment

USER COMMENT

"Contrary to Pulp Fiction which had a very unusual editing and flashy situations, Jackie Brown focuses more on characters that are basically humans with very focused problems, for instance getting older which is an eminent theme tackled in the film. No one's evil in all this. They all have interestingly real personalities and I felt strangely comfortable watching them talk, eat, kill and argue with each other. Tarantino is an excellent storyteller and I wish I could write dialogues as interesting as his. The film flows with a slower pace than Pulp, with all it's many streched takes and lenghty scenes, but by doing so leaves us more time to grasp the characters with all their differences. A more mature Tarantino. Still loving what he does. And he said it himself before the film came out: "This one is at a lower volume then 'Pulp.' It's not an epic, it's not an opera. It's a character study."

NOTES AND ANALYSIS

Jackie Brown, most say roots from the Blaxploitation genre, which emerged in the 1970s. These were films that featured mainly black actors and actresses. The genre began some argue with the film "Shaft". Tarantino has indeed featured a mainly black cast and would have shocked the audience even from the posters, before the film was released.

The film is centered around Jackie Brown herself, a black, 44 year old female air hostess. Already this is unusual, especially in the thriller genre, challenging the stereotypes of today.

As the film begins, the credits run through. However, throughout this Tarantino has used a tracking shot of Brown for the whole time. This allows the audience to familiarize with the character, and make perceptions and first impressions of her. It also shows her in a day to day routine, so possibly Tarantino does not want us to judge brown as yet, as she is simply doing what any normal person does. With awareness of the plot however, we are aware she is a drugs mule. This suggests the tracking shot is a chance for Brown to show her side- she is completely contented, and does not look at all anxious, does this suggest no regret, or that she conceals it beautifully? Until this question is answered it is impossible to make an honest perception of her.

(skip further into the film)

We are now introduced to two more characters. The costume reveals a lot about these characters. Ordell is dressed in simple, yet a strong black, whereas Beaumont is in a loose, exposing basket ball vest. The all black immediately connotes crime, and a shadowed character. In contrast, Beaumont is vulnerable in his attire and far younger than Ordell.

Ordell shows him the car boot and it explains they are doing and he is part of the plan but must be stowed in the boot until they reach the destination. The car boot is of course an obvious generic convention; It lacks basic human needs- light, sound and air. The space is claustrophobic and is connected with murder. From this the audience wills Beaumont to not agree, however we are also put under a false sense of security, as Ordell sounds so believable and calm, explaining how he had bailed him out of jail... so he must be good? All we do know is that Beaumont has no choice in this, and if he is lucky, he will survive. The whole time Beaumont is chattering hysterically to Ordell, saying there is no way he is going to do it, but is soon convinced. The shot is seen from the boot, a low angle shot looking up to the two characters. As the audience we do not have a full screen, as it is cropped by parts of the boot, therefore the audience have a rough feeling of how it would feel to be in there. It almost puts the audience in an awkward position, as if we are the car boot, and they are referring, looking and talking about us, immediately making it personal to us, thus drawing us into the scene between them.

When Beaumont is in the boot (still talking madly) Ordell gets into the drivers seat. He is seen putting black gloves on. This not only adds to his solid attire, but is also another generic convention for crime and murder, preparing us for a murder. On the other hand we are still lulled into disbelief, as Ordell then puts on chilled almost 'happy' music as he flips the key into the engine, so this still makes us unsure. I think that Tarantino has definitely done this to confuse and enhance the character of Ordell.

He begins to drive along dark deserted streets, and drives into an area of wasteland. The area is chilling, with a lack of humanity and optimism. It then cuts to a long-shot of the car, looking down on it. We see Ordell get out of the car, with the music still playing, opens the boot and we hear a snippet of Beautmont's complaining and then 3 gun shots. Ordell closes the boot and returns to the drivers seat. Many aspects of this scene are interesting here. I think that having the same song playing highlights how cold-blooded he is, as so many people associate the songs they listen to to an emotion, whereas Ordell simply sings along and does not seem phased by what he has done. The long shot also means there is a detachment to the murder, mirroring hoe Ordell feels about what he has done; he does not staple emotion and remorse to his actions.

He then drives straight out if the waste land.

Thelma and Louise DRAFT 1

2009-11-17T09:41:00.000-08:00

THELMA AND LOUISE

Directed by Ridley Scott and released in 1996.

"Somebody said get a life... so they did."

COMPANY CREDITS

Production Companies:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Pathe Entertainment
Percy Main
Star Partners III Ltd.

Distributors:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
National Broadcasting company (NBC)
Alamode Film
Chapel Distribution
2oth Century Fox Entertainment

USER COMMENT

"For many years now, women have taken power into their own hands. So I am sure the women that campaigned for freedom and liberty, would have loved the movie, 'Thelma and Louise'. The tradition of the American road trip is shown in such a refreshing way in this movie, with its two lead characters people who are fed up with life, and no longer take any crap from the men that they live with or that they meet. Thelma and Louise is a film that will make you feel warm, but also leave a some what 'bitter-sweet' taste in your mouth."

NOTES AND ANALYSIS

Even before the film has started the DVD selection list has already given us a cultural signifier of the landscape, showing a dry desert- country and western style.

The film begins and we first meet Louise. She is a smart waitress, with immaculate hair and the fashionable garish make-up. It is not until we see Thelma we can make a judgement however. Thelma seems very different. She is in a dressing gown, on the phone with Louise showing she may have just got up whilst Louise is already at work. Thelma rushes around the kitchen, showing a lack of disorganisation and chaos, as her boyfriend/husband walks in. At this point the audience can guess that Thelma is a 'house-wife' whom relies on her husband, whereas Louise is more independent and feminist, making money for herself. Not only this but it is clear that her husband does not treat her well. He shows a dominance and control which is both unfair and frustrating for the woman involved. The man wears many, (we presume fake) gold bracelets chains and rings. This certainly suggests that he only cares about the image people perceive him as, he wants to appear wealthy, and whether he is or not does not matter- from the state of the home we can tell that he most probably isn't. Because he is so demanding, aggressive and with signs of cheating the audience may assume that he uses Thelma as another piece of jewelry, to have something pretty on his arm, whereas Thelma tries desperately to please him, thus showing he naivety and how easily led she is.

(We skip forward further into the film.)

We are introduced to a dark, shadowy car park. This is certainly a generic location for a thriller, and this could possibly be one of the most prominent moments in the film that has a large sum of aspects of the genre. Thelma finds herself up against a car, alongside a slimy man. He becomes indecently forceful with the extremely intoxicated Thelma. We soon realise what is about to happen as he rips up her skirt and is about to rape her. Louise is then on the scene, with gun in hand. She stands, fuming yet completely still. Here, Scott has represented the mid-western male as misogynists, especially in this scene, using rape as an example. It enhances the ideology that women's rule is to serve and gratify men. The man has not yet clicked that Louise is a dangerous woman, and begins to swear and become angry- this is generally how he would treat women, and shows an ignorance, and arrogance. As he becomes more violent Louise shoots him down against the car. The chiaroscuro lighting highlights the sudden and shocking death, and of course Louise's emotions. The audience see she is stunned by her actions, and can see some remorse in her eyes, however the audience can understand why she has done it. In Thelma's drunken state she begins to scream and panic, representing the stereotype of how women are depicted in most films. Here we see the another strong comparison between the two women, especially with the use of costume; Thelma is dressed in revealing and feminine clothing, whereas Louise is in a tightly buttoned shirt and is almost masculine. This suggests that to have power you must be masculine, so it has not particularly challenged the stereotype of women at all.

(skip further into the film)

As they make a swift getaway there car finds themselves coming out of a junction. They are caught between two massive industrial trucks, and their car looks inferior and vulnerable compared to these. The audience can see that this is a representation the police, and that there mistakes will close in on them, but more generally the effect of males in the situation. The massive trucks show a dominance, and as they squeeze the car in they would feel claustrophobic- a generic convention of the thriller genre. To add to the thriller aspects the road is damp, dark and foggy. The headlights pixelate and break at certain points, mirroring their new broken lives.

"We don't live in that kind of world Thelma!"

This quotation from Louise shows another contrast between the two friends. It is obvious that Louise knows the world that they live in, where men have the power, whereas Thelma lives in a dreamier world, where she is not yet aware of the real world, perhaps caused by her lack of profession and independence.

Once Upon A Time In America Draft 1

2009-11-16T08:03:00.000-08:00

Once Upon A Time In America

Director- Sergio Leone

1984

Gangster Thriller

"Crime, passion and lust for power - Sergio Leone's explosive saga of gangland America."

Company Credits:

Production companies-

Embassy International Pictures

PSO International

Rafran Cinematografica

Regency Enterprises

Warner Bros. Pictures

Wishbone

Distributors-

Warner Home Video (various countries)

Societe Nouvelle de Cinematographie (France)

The Ladd Company

National Broadcasting Company

User Comment:

"It's been said that when one watches a "spaghetti" western (one of the "Man with no name" films with Clint Eastwood) filmmaker Sergio Leone's trademark cinema style and flair for clear storytelling is instantly recognizable. This is no truer than in his most ambitious effort, Once Upon a Time in America, in which his usage of close-ups, concise camera movement, sound transitions and syncs, and the sudden change in some scenes from tenderness to violence..."

Sergio Leone has achieved and utilized generic conventions, particularly of the gangster style thriller. The film starts with an uneasy irony, playing "God bless America", we shortly discover why this is ironic...

There is an eerie shadow, or silhouette visible in the door way. It is clearly the shadow of a woman, but we see from her body language she is not a strong female character. She steps cautiously, in the dark room, aware of being quiet as she walks around. This shows she is vulnerable in this place, first and foremost immediately drawing the audience into the scene, intensifying the suspense as she reaches for a lamp. When she turns the lamp on it creates an, again ironic, warm light within the room, highlighting her made up, and seemingly perfect make-up and hair. This use of light also highlights her emotions and in her eyes we see tension and nervousness, making the audience experience the same feeling.

Her eyes move, before the camera does to the bed on her right. This is a very intelligent shot, as if we are chasing what she sees, following her move, almost like a documentary of her life. She peels back the duvet, slowly at first, but then furiously, as if she cannot believe her eyes. The shot then takes us to a high angle, looking down at the mattress, again, as if we were next to her, also looking at the bed. Not only this, but it connotes the idea that whoever died in this place was vulnerable, and inferior to the murderer, mirroring our first impression of the femme fatale- could this be a clue of her fate? or where the body shaped bullet holes made for her in the first place? The bullet holed body shape is a common devise used in many crime series such as CSI and other films as well- it has made it instantly recogniseable as a sign for danger. The femme fatale stands to the high right hand side of the scene, in shadow as she stares almost blankly, or in disbelief, with the mattress in clean white, almost illuminated, showing a binary opposition between her and the bed. It could also connote the idea the flashing/illuminated signs, used in clubs etc, usually to advertise of warn people. I can see that the bright white mattress could have been used as an obvious warning to get out of the room.

Suddenly she turns, after a sudden noise and is greeted, unfortunately 3, classic, American gangsters. The American gangster is signified with their crooked body language- tilted heads and backs, connoting crookedness in their behaviour as well. The simple fact that there is 3 large men against 1 girl (who cannot move away because the bed has created an obstacle, making it claustrophobic and unsteady) provokes the vulnerability she must be feeling. The characters infuse this idea by standing completely still, putting the girl, thus the audience in the edge, as we don't know if or when they will make a move. The trilby's create shadows over their eyes, which immediately creates a detachment from the people they meet, suggesting they would feel no remorse for the people they have killed. It also means no one else can look into them, as the "windows of their soul" are covered, no one can make a connection or interpret them, heightening the spontaneity thus heightening their menace.

Within the group of gangsters there is nearly always a leader, and Once Upon A Time In America is no exception. He stands just slightly to the right, however central to the 3 men. He holds a gun in his right hand, and speaks to the girl, questioning her. The other men are turning away, leaving themselves anonymous and completely detached from the girl, they are purely there to add to a physical intimidation, almost creating an armed force, and she the girl knows there is no escape.

The shot takes us behind the girl. she stands under an arch, incredibly enclosed, as they appear to corner her. The use of shots almost look as if they are getting subtly closer, but almost inhuman, as the audience never see them move. It suggests they are more than dangerous- they are clever and dangerous; the most lethal combination.

She is then shot, suddenly and unemotionally. She falls, directly onto the figure on the bed, connoting her grave had already been done for her. Her shirt matches the colour of the sheets, implying she fits there, and the whole scenario was made for her.

She is shot again shortly after, in the same place. The camera is situated again where her back was to the camera. Instead, after the brutal vibrations of the bullets she us thrown, out of focus into the foreground of the screen. The gangsters are stood in the exact same position as they always have, and is a still shot as it begins to fade to black.

The next scene jumps straight to a man, harnessed by the neck with a bloody and destroyed face. The man is full of desperation and bitterness. The camera turns to the abusers and it happens to be the same gangsters. In the space of 4 minutes Leone has highlighted the dangerous and venomous characters, through murder and physical abuse. There is an extreme close up of the victims face, going into excruciating detail of the damage. The audience almost want to tear there eyes away from the screen, but cant because of the instinctive need to to analyse the abnormal. The shot cuts back to the 3 gangsters, we notice here that one cannot stand alone. This does show cowardice, but that they still should not be messed with. They also have picked on easy targets- a young weak girl, and a large man... Are they really as intimidating as they seem?

The scene then cuts to an opium den. This adds to the negative representation of America- Drugs. It however is far more relaxed than before, it also suggests a lack of control, and sense, perhaps making another easy victim.

The non-diagetic sound of a phone rings as we close in on the main character, Noodles. It then goes to a flashback, of a dark wet scene, of 3 body bags, with only street lamps creating the chiaroscuro lighting. In this flash-back it has utilized a list of elements of the thriller genre, including murder (death of the innocence) darkness, and wet roads, all connoting despair.

In the first 5 minutes of One Upon A Time In America there has been gangsters, murder, brutal physical abuse, drugs and 3 dead bodies... God bless America?

Thriller film audience research

2009-11-16T01:15:00.000-08:00

Audience research:

In my research I plan to find out about the audiences expectations of both a mainstream and independent film, including its marketing and genre. Also how the use of all-star casts and well-known directors increase the popularity of the film. I will look at these points in comparison from a Hollywood blockbuster to a low budget films.
I will use a format of questionnaires and in depth research and analysis of films to achieve this, and i expect to find a pattern of results to make a conclusion from. Such as a reason for why the American film industry is more successful that British, and what they have done to achieve this.

1. How many seperate screenings are there in cinemas?
I counted 89 screenings over one particular weekend.

2. How many films in total are being exhibited?
12 films are shown on the website to be exhibited this week.

3. How many films are being screened several times at the same cinema?
Every film is being screened more than once at Vue cinemas, however the films most recently released have far more than those who have been released for more than 2 weeks or so.

4. Of these, how many are being screened at different cinemas at the same time?
9 of these films are being screened at the same time, for instance at Odeon, 'Up' is no longer being screened whereas at Vue there is still 1 screening a day for the next few days. In smaller cinemas such as Cinema City they tend not to show many of the blockbuster films, and show more independent films.

5. What conclusions can you draw about film distribution in the UK?
This shows that Large budget films are screened for longer and many more times that smaller low budget films. The low budget films are not screened particularly in large multiplex cinemas as they could not afford to do this, and instead go to smaller cinemas like Cinema City. I have also found that new releases are screened many times a day for the first few days to a week, but as the film gets older the screening times decrease.

Perfume advert

2009-11-10T13:02:00.000-08:00

These are the original images i have used to create my perfume advert. I browsed through google images and on specialist photographic websites and came across the first image. The composition is simple, with the girl relaxed, and almost dreaming into the sky on the far right 3rd of the image (rule of 3). However she also has attitude, which is very important, as this then supports the aim for the target audience- young women who are cool and collected, breathing confidence. I also immediately saw a lot of scope to work with in terms of lighting and colour palette. From this image i envisaged a warm fragrance, with browns and tan colour, creating a "casual" perfume (from her outfit) yet rustic and still aspiring, due to the effortless confidence the girl has in her expression and relaxed body language. Therefore i wanted a simple bottle. I thought immediately of "Davidoff Adventure for men" as it has the perfect colour palette for this image- a rustic brown. However, after deliberation i felt that the bottle shape was far to square and sturdy. I then searched for "Davidoff for women" and saw this simple, curvaceous bottle.

This is the finalised perfume advert. Firstly i used the magic wand tall to delete the white background around the bottle, and then simply dragged the bottle onto the background image, creating the next layer (in photoshop). I played with flipping the image so that the girl sat on the left hand side and the bottle situated on the right. However after researching perfume adverts, most bottle sit on the left hand side, i believe this is to draw the eye around the image, capturing the meaning and feeling you get from the image, and then reverting back to the bottle at the end, so that the two images are now associated together in the mind (rule of 3). I then changed the colour of the bottle by adjusting the hue/saturation and colour variations, increasing magenta etc. Throughout my time creating the image i varied the colour of the bottle to suit the image behind as i altered the elements of the image. I wanted to make the image more striking and intense than the original, bringing in more oranges and browns, as comparing the two you notice aspects of greys and beige in the original. when i 'warmed' the picture i then increased the exposure slightly, and the levels to make the contrast of colour more obvious, thus highlighting her features and the very interesting texture of the weave behind her. To draw focus onto the face and bottle i 'smudged' the edge of the weave (closest to the sky) so that it is not so crisp and there is more focus on the girl. I then used a very low opacity paint tool in a light gold to gently make a light frame around the advert so that it looks finalised and polished, as i find some advert look like they have been cropped, sending out the message that they do not believe in what they say. Of course most adverts don't need any kind of frame, this is particularly why mine is so subtle. I then added the text to the bottle, choosing a simple font. I chose august as i think the colours reflect the late summer look. I didn't want to use a font that would be to frivolous as i know this would contradict the message i am trying to portray. I also made sure i used lower case, as i think this works better in appearance, to make it more symmetrical to mirror the bottle, but also to support the "casual confidence" look i am going for. Finally i added the tag-line "infused with summer". I wanted something that portrayed the whole image, capturing the colour palette and the attire and body language of the girl. I chose the colour of the font by clicking on her t-shirt so that it was the same colour as that- as i feel it is important to use colours already in the image to bring it together, rather than introducing more and more different colours and confusing the eye. I then thought a lot about where to put it, to make sure it is visible and so that it looks attractive to the eye. I tried it at the base of the bottle to the right but decided the image was unbalanced, so moved it up, alongside the bottle to then balance it, and placed it in the darkest part of the area i could find, thus finalising my perfume advert.

independent film research- Kill Bill Vol.2 DRAFT 1

2009-11-02T07:02:00.000-08:00

KILL BILL VOL.2

Directed by Quentin Tarintino, starring Uma Therman, Kill Bill Vol.2 is the next episode of murderous revenge to hit the big screen on the 23rd of April 2004, winning 2 golden globes, 9 other wins and 38 nominations.

"Revenge is a dish best served cold"

"Containing less action than 'Kill Bill', volume 2 is intelligent, bizarre and extremely engrossing. It absorbs all of its elements equally and David Carradine's performance as Bill is the best thing to happen in movie villain history since, well, I'll leave that up to individual interpretation."

The credits begin. A solid, sturdy black covers the background, with a large white font, creating a binary opposition. It creates an eye-gripping start to the film, and to enhance the engrossment, a gruff, husky and menacing voice is heard, almost murmuring, unclear to the audience who or what he is talking to or about. Alongside this, panicked heavy breathing is on the receiving end of this voice, creating a struggle, and panic, also showing where the control lies, in the calm menacing voice. making this all a struggle to hear, heavy, yet eerie backing music is apparent, conjuring an uneasiness, making the audience think if they want to hear what he is saying, but instinctively they must listen and find out. This adds an indisputable sense that your eyes must not leave the screen for a second; gripping and engaging.

The screen is black, then cuts to an extreme close up of Uma Therman. The palette is black and white, and the voice and panting continue and now fits with the scene. Her face is battered and bloody, particularly unglamorous, with a massive look of fear in her eyes, messy hair and no make up. In the back ground you then hear a trigger or reloading of a gun, and the panic and suspense increase. The audience can see in her eyes this terror, and suddenly she makes a last attempt to fight for her life, and begins to speak, shortly interrupted with a gun firing, and blood splattering out the back of her head. This increasingly augments the idea of the male being in control, and the woman ending in death or emotional destruction. She was even stopped speaking- what we think is her last words- the man has interrupted her, and doesn't care about what she has to say thus depicting women as the inferior sex.

As the gun shoots and screen goes black, and then cuts to a mid-shot of the same girl, played by Uma Therman, driving an open top car, the shot is still in black and white. She holds eye contact with the camera, therefore with the audience. She speaks to the camera in a similar tone to the previous voice of the man- collected/menacing, and from this we also learn that she is out for revenge, and also that the previous scene is a flash back, also because of clues such as the whites of her eyes almost glowing, showing health, and also anger.

"I've killed a hell of a lot of people to get to this point..."

This proves she is a dangerous woman. The camera subtly zooms in to her face as she gets progessively intimidating thus making it more factual, and personal, like she is only telling YOU her story. The audience almost back away from the screen, however, feeling like they don't want to get involved with this woman or get on the wrong side of her, as she is out to kill. Therman then explains that there is one person left to kill- Bill, and that he is where she is driving to. This gives the audience important information, revealing not the plot but the motivation for this film, and the audience feel like they want to jump into the car, and take this journey with her, through excitement and danger. Therman is an oxymoron of a character, we cant not like her, and we hate to be scared of her.

"Chapter 6..." then scrolls up onto the screen. This gives a personal, biographical feel to the film, she is taking the audience through her life, part by part.

the black screen then fades into a desolate bare and dry scene, a cultural signifier of somewhere like Texas, America. In the line of the 1st 3rd of the mise-en-scene a small and unglamorous building is situated. The audience then begin to wonder why this building located in the middle of a desert, connoting the idea that this is the perfect place for a murder and no one would find out, at least long enough for them to escape. The voice over introduces the situation, the audience feel close yet intimidated by it, with the bitterness and venom in her voice. In a way the audience feel appreciative for her telling us her story. She explains there was a massacre in the chapel, although this gives away what will happen she does not say when, therefore keeping the audience on the edge, as they wait for it to happen.

The scene then cuts to inside the chapel where the audience see that she is the bride. This gives confirmation that it is a true story and that it is her story, word for word. Eerie and chiaroscuro lighting is used as it is filtered only through the windows of the chapel. The atmosphere appears happy on the surface, but of course there is an ominous sense between the lines, as we know the massacre is coming, but when? This builds an enormity of tension. we learnt from the voice over that this the wedding rehearsal. Therman wears a white dress however, and this has always been considered bad luck to see the bride in her dress before the day. This also adds to this tension, the audience getting a sense that this will defiantly end badly, they are almost doomed with bad luck.

Cuts to an over shoulder shot of a man, dressed in black, smoke rises from the cigarette in his hand. The shot allows us to see the expression of the bride, groom and guests. Also of the vicar, who also seems confused and intimidated by this figure. This allows the the audience to leap to the assumption that this man will be the killer, conventionally by his black attire and husky voice.

We then begin to learn about the bride. The vicar's wife questions her about why she has no guests (other than the few friends behind them) coming to wedding. This leaves the audience in a state of confusion, adding more of an ominous feeling to the film. Could this be because she has separated her life from her family? Or that they have disowned her? or possibly they could even have all died. Nevertheless, the bride soon gets irritated by the interrogation by the vicar's wife and tells her friends she is going outside. This implies she is very defensive about the issue, suggesting perhaps that she is guilty for the little or no contact/existence of her family. She stands to exit and she is noticeably pregnant. This could give away many things about the bride's situation. Is she simply getting married because she found herself pregnant? is she trying to runaway from her previous life and falsely settle down?

As she slowly walks away from the rehearsal the sound of pipes are heard, and she looks up. It is unclear as to whether she has actually heard them or if she can hear them in her mind, suggesting she misses something in her past, suddenly feeling emotional about her wedding day possibly, and thinking that someone is particular should be there on the day.

The shot changes to a bright white door way, connoting she is trapped in the chapel, and therefore trapped if she gets married to this man, and she urges for more in her life. However, the shot is slightly tilted, possibly implying that whatever is outside may bring her trouble and uncertainty. She looks behind her quickly, to see if anyone else has noticed the pipes, or maybe to see if anyone has seen her walk out of the door. Her expression suggests nervousness and apprehension as she approaches the door. At this point the the audience is urging her to walk away, i believe now knowing that by walking through this "tempting" door it will lead to the massacre. The pipes also have a connotion that she is being lead out of the door, and almost hypnotized, like a snake rising out of the pot with the sound of a flute. As she stands in the door way, her body is half in shadow, connoting the idea that she is half good and half evil. Perhaps a woman of good intentions but revenge or anger overpower her. it is also a sign that as she gets closer to the door the blacker she becomes, as if whatever is through the door is infecting her and manipulating her.

The next shot is craftily used, creating a 2 person shot, closing in on an old man on a bench playing pipes, with Therman in the background, looking out onto the waste-land. Neither have made eye contact at this point, and it is unclear as to whether either know that the other is there. It then cuts to an extreme close up of Therman's expression. She is still looking out, but then suddenly turns to face the man. A smile coyly appears on her face, strongly suggesting she recognises him, yet we are not sure whether she is genuinely pleased to see him. Because of this, the audience then begin to think that this man will be the cause of the horror that follows. The shots then flash back and fourth between close ups of their faces, increasingly fast, and in unison the music increases in tempo, creating a surge of suspense for the audience, simply waiting for the man to look up. Finally he does, and they make eye contact for the first time.

"Hello Kiddo" Immediately the audience can recognise the voice from the very first scene, making it clear (when you realise this) what will happen. The phrase itself is casual, however they way he says this alerts our attention; said coldly and with menace, but it is clear they are more than acquaintances, we wonder if it could possibly be her father? With there expression it is still unclear if they ant to see each other. As they begin to talk the camera cuts to their feet slowly stepping forward to each other. Each step is apprehensive, proving that something is out of place, and dangerous. The image could also connote the idea of a duelling match, with the theme of death and murder running strikingly through the film.

Therman introduces the man has her father, much to his aggravation. He tells her husband to be, to call him Bill. This immediately induces fear, as it directly links to her in the car at the beginning, explaining there is one person left to kill- Bill. This is interesting narrative structure, that this early in the film things are beginning to click together, but of course still so much unanswered. This may be another reason for chapter number, to help with the complex narrative structure.

30 minutes in...

The scene sets with a fall moon in the 1st 3rd if the rule of 3, on a midnight blue sky. It is cold, dark and misty, a shivery atmosphere.

It cuts suddenly to Therman in chiaroscuro and noir lighting. She doesn't wear make up, as the little light highlights her features. She looks tired and beaten, and is asleep. After 5 seconds of this almost still image it cuts again to a shot of her ankles tightly bound. The screen is almost cropped with black shadow, enhancing how claustrophobic the space is. It is not until later that we see how this mirrors her unfortunate circumstances.

Quickly it cuts again to a shot of her wrists, again bound with leather straps. After 2 seconds her finger twitches, and we now know she is not dead. It then cuts back o the same shot of the face, and her eyelids flicker. In the background the audience can hear heavy foot-steps, which sounds almost like they are circling her, again promoting the extreme claustrophobia. Therman struggles slightly as she begins to awaken, forgetting (as one would) that she has been captured and roped up. She coughs violently, suggesting the struggle before hand to get her into this situation, and also implying she is a dusty, dirty environment, and is a shock to her system.

Very suddenly it cuts to violent rattling of a heavy chain, with a close up of chapped hands trying to release the chain. It cuts quickly to a close up of her face, on the tilt, again showing that this is an uneasy and aggravated situation.

It then cuts again to a low angle, point of view shot of a menacing man leering into her confined situation. The shot initiates power to the man, giving himself satisfaction that he is control of the situation. "Wakey wakey" he says this patronisingly, infuriating Therman and ironically, because this seems to be the last time she will ever wake up again. It also adds to Therman being inferior and this naive image that the men of the film see her as, which is not a surprise for the thriller genre, as the femme fatale is usually the weak link and is killed off quickly. The man is also Bill's "dopey" brother, this suggests he is trying to copy him ("kiddo"), and likes to have power, possibly because his older brother always had power over him.

The man violently grips her ankles and hauls her out of the truck and straight onto the ground. At this point she does not struggle, she knows there is no chance for escape at this point, so stays calm. This suggests that she may have been in similar, life threatening situations like this because she is so collected at this point.

The camera films a close up of her body from the side, mirroring how a corpse would look in a coffin possibly? There is a sound of shovelling dirt. She sighs, almost suggesting she has given up, she doesn't seem as phased as any other person would; is she in shock? has she been in this situation before? does she know how to get out of it?

The camera then pans to the scene she sighs at. It is a low angle shot, and certainly a point of view shot. This puts the audience exactly in her position- seeing a man dig further and further down, a coffin to the side and even a grave stone. One can then only imagine how she must feel, and sadness penetrates us for fear of our heroine who has taken us through her story so far.

The first man then approaches her, still from a low angle perspective, again showing dominance of the men. The unattractive man who has dug her grave then approaches, and they laugh and mock, saying he has seen better. This belittles Therman more so, being put down and mocked by a short ugly man. This of course would be incredibly frustrating for her, knowing that if she wasn't tied up he would be dead within a second if he said that to her. It also aggravates the audience- the pair of them replicate a 'Dum and Dummer' persona, and we know that they should not have power over her because they are not clever, and act very badly with the power that they have.

They then grip her, to move her closer to the grave. At this point she struggles, kicking and squirming out of their hands. Bill's brother then gives her a cruel choice- if she struggles she will be sprayed in the eyes, and go into an excruciating state of blindness or she if she accepts her fate she is given a flash light. Furious, she decides, and nods at the torch. The tortuous choice is often used in the thriller genre, and in horror. It gives the unfortunate victim simply a way to die, and in desperation, of course they pick the easiest way, but of course neither will be pleasant. I find it interesting how a torch is used as the choice, obviously Tarantino has used this as a mechanism so as the audience we can see her inside the coffin, however light is seen as a comfort when one is scared, but would you want to see how confined you are?

"This is for breaking my brothers heart" Each nail is separately, and loudly hammered into the coffin, slowly getting darker, as she sobs in her bed. Mumbling is heard, as we simply see blackness. This is completely from her perspective, cleverly so, allowing us to live what she is living and only empathize with the panic and sadness she must be feeling. We also hear what she hears, muffled sounds, and we only see blackness. This is as close as we could get to her true feelings. The soil is then heavily shoveled on top of the coffin, the last thing she will possibly hear. It is silent for a few seconds, and she turns on the light. Noir lighting highlight her face, and more importantly her panicked and hopeless expression, as she sobs and pants. She shine the light about the box, showing how claustrophobic the space is, which is one of the strongest conventional signifiers of the thriller genre. It also shows the lack of her basic needs- light, oxygen, food water and so on... her body and her torch is the only things she has left.

she turns of the torch, creating a black screen and it then cuts to the next chapter.

2009-10-19T07:21:00.000-07:00

This Is England

Written and directed by Shane Meadows, This Is England released onto our screens on the 27th of April 2006.

“Run with the crowd, stand alone. You decide.”

In 2008 Shane Meadows won a BAFTA for best
British film, and nominated for best screenplay thus
Winning British Independent Film Awards for best film
And most promising new-comer: Thomas Turgoose.

Company Credits

Production Companies:
Big Arty Productions
EM Media
Film4
Optimum Releasing
Screen Yorkshire
UK Film Council
Warp Films

Distributors:
Arthaus (2007) (Norway) (theatrical)
IFC Films (2007) (USA) (theatrical)
IFC First Take (2007) (USA) (theatrical)
King Record Co. (2009) (Japan) (theatrical)
Nippon Shuppan Hanbai (Nippan) K.K. (2009) (Japan) (theatrical)
NonStop Entertainment (2007) (Sweden) (theatrical)
Optimum Releasing (2006) (UK) (theatrical)
A-Film Home Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)
Ascot Elite Home Entertainment (2008) (Germany) (DVD)
Canal Film (2008-2009) (Norway) (TV)
Madman Entertainment (2007) (Australia) (all media)
NetFlix (2007) (USA) (DVD)
Red Envelope Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2008) (Finland) (DVD)

Plot
Summer of 1983: Mods, New Romantics, and Skinheads are the major youth sub-cultures lining the country and 12-year-old Shaun is left alone and lost during the start of his school holidays, until he meets Woody and his followers. Finding a new lease of life; girls, parties, Ben Sherman shirts, Doc Martin boots and shaven hairstyles Shaun is welcomed, happy to be experiencing new aspects of his home. However, when Shaun has settled, Combo arrives on the scene: A bitter, dangerous, racist, militant and psychotic life for young Shaun is in store. This is England is a look back at the early eighties of British working-class life through the eyes of Shaun and his new gang, and dealing with the bitterness of outside influences such as racism and xenophobia.

Ratings
Votes
Average
Males
20,042
7.9
Females
2,512
8.0
Aged under 18
551
8.6
Males under 18
440
8.5
Females under 18
111
8.8
Aged 18-29
15,781
8.0
Males Aged 18-29
14,008
8.0
Females Aged 18-29
1,740
8.2
Aged 30-44
5,228
7.6
Males Aged 30-44
4,689
7.6
Females Aged 30-44
502
7.8
Aged 45+
957
7.6
Males Aged 45+
812
7.6
Females Aged 45+
140
7.5
IMDb staff
5
7.3
Top 1000 voters
226
7.3
US users
3,042
7.9
Non-US users
19,520
7.9

Above shows the user rating for This Is England. Surprisingly, men and women are very equal in who has watched it, and mostly women slightly more. When watching the film I thought that it would the audience aim was for men, as there are mostly male characters, and the women are not depicted in the best way, also fueled with violence. A higher percentage fall under the 18-29 age range which is not as surprising, showing that the characteristics of This Is England is more appealing to a younger audience.

Essex Boys DRAFT 1

2009-10-08T04:51:00.000-07:00

Essex Boys, released on 14th of July 2000, directed and written by Terry Winsor alongside Jeff Pope:
"Some lines should never be crossed."

Crashed into the industry with a grittiness, darkness and a sense of uneasiness. Sean Bean, Christopher Creed-Miles and Alex Kingston star alongside many others to create the film, based on the true events of 3 killings in Essex, December 1995.

"For those who remember the actual triple murder in Essex which inspired the film, this carries an added edge of realism. The setting - the mock-tudor nouveau riche houses of the gangsters, the Southend seafront, the freezing marshes where Billy runs for his life, are as evocative, as the true-to-life performances of Sean Bean, Alex Kingston and Tom Wilkinson. It is refreshing to see a film which portrays the underworld in all its vindictive pettiness - the little slights which turn into murderous feuds - dozens poisoned by a rogue batch of E, a young girl, dead from an overdose, casually dumped at sea..."

Terry Winsor utilizes a comprehensive list of aspects of the thriller genre in this film, noticeable from the first second.

The Credits begin, and from this moment, an overwhelming chill flashes across your mind. The background is a jet black, immediately dropping the audience into the realisation that this will be dark and a film full of suspense. Non-diagetic sound of nails scratching on a chalk board enters in unison with white slashes growing across the screen, which creates a binary opposition. The noise itself is well known for running shivers down the spine, and is not a pleasant feeling, auditorally, thus leaving the audience uncomfortable, yet gripped to the screen. The visual impact is hard-hitting. It connotes the idea of desperation, for example, holding on to something and being torn away, you try so hard that your nails dig in and as you are pulled, scratch the object you are gripping, this portrays that the film will be full of this theme of desperation, which is useful because the audience will feel empathy, which is a vital factor in keeping them transfixed to the screen. Not only this but some may argue that the image could also connote the idea of a knife slashing flesh, blood dripping or possibly even tears, which although usually is connected to the horror genre, it also is a strong feature of the thriller genre, and prepares the audience for what they may expect later in the film.

The first scene is illuminated with chiaroscuro lighting and noir lighting from a single bulb in the line of the 1st 3rd of the screen (rule of 3). Billy stands just to the right of the screen, behind a car partly in light from the bulb. The mis-en-scene suggests an extreme darkness, and ominous feeling, it is an icy scene, obvious from the visible breath from billy. The audience would interpret Billy's feelings from this scene, and is clear that it is unsafe (from the strong sense of uneasiness) and uncomfortable. The car itself is old, rusty and when Billy enters it, cobwebs mask the dash board and enclose the steering wheel. Although this is quite a Gothic feature, it also emotes a claustrophobia, from the generic convention of the car itself. A voice over is then the first lines heard. It is a cultural voice, clearly Billy's, this technique is incredibly effective in putting the audience entirely within the story. It is direct and personal, highlighting that it is his story, a true life account in some respects.

The scene leads to Billy looking through the windscreen, using the windscreen wipers to clear the dirt and grime away. This in itself connotes the dirtiness and grittiness of the setting, confirming that this is unglamourous (a distinct signifier of the thriller genre). When the wipers clear away the first layer a sturdy figure is then visible, the voice-over introduces him as Jason Lock. This is a point of view shot, ingeniously putting the audience in the front seat of the car. Jason's piercing and solemn expression feels like it hits the gut, his eyes are like bullets, showing a sense of corruption, and that Billy may lead on to having this unsettled and violent future (all essential traits of a thriller). Jason is stood in chiaroscuro and noir lighting, reflecting the danger and villainous nature of himself.

The next scene follows the car along a dim bleak and wet road (also shows reflection of the car suggesting a larger vehicle, showing more power and dominance), enclosed with urban and industrial buildings. The palette shows greys (bleakness and pessimism) blacks (implies darkness, shadow and danger) and bright whites (connotes the idea of a mental institution and violent spontaneity). The scene then leads to a tunnel, enhancing the idea of claustrophobia. The tunnel itself could hold the metaphor of a barrel of a gun, the car is lead down the barrel, as if billy is being lead into a future of violence. The shot the cuts to viewing from the outside and into the car. The tunnel lights reflect on the windscreen creating thick bars down the screen, possibly connoting the image of jail bars, again highlighting what his future will lead to. Not only this but some could say the reflection creates the image of piano keys, this enhances the idea that Billy is naive and being played by Jason, and the lights are literally blinding Billy, as if he is blind to what the future will bring.
The car then travels out of the tunnel, and is greeted with an ironic sign post "welcome to Essex". This sign is depicting that this is 'Jason's land' there is no return for Billy and this is his unwelcoming destiny. Also, conventionally when you travel out of a tunnel, the idea is that you 'enter the light' and that everything is optimistic and brighter, however for Billy and Jason, it is still the monotonous grey industrial buildings, and if anything, as they enter Essex it is even darker.
Billy and Jason arrive in an enclosed fish market or factory. As the scene tracks following Jason he walks past a generic convention of a white van, often used in the thriller genre. The connotation suggests the shipment of drugs, and abduction. Aside from this, in the background there are men in white over coats with blood streaked across them. This is preparing the audience for what is about to happen. The contrast in colours make it striking and dramatic, yet cleverly they have done this subtly by there expression, getting on with their everyday job to not make it so obvious and so adds more mystery. Jason walks through the factory with a solemn expression and intensity, enhancing his control, danger and dominance. another man walks towards him and as soon as he clocks Jason, fear, disbelief rip through him, his eyes cower and his fear intensifies. With no hesitation, Jason begins a violent series of punches and kicks, roaring through the market, alerting everyone of this. Jason pulls the man to the white van and continues the violence. A classic point of view shot from Billy looking into the wing mirror is utilized. It flashes back and forth through Billy's expression and the view in the mirror. Cleverly there is no commentary from billy at this point, proving he is speechless, he cannot believe his eyes, and not only this, but you can see it has dawned on him that the man may be him in time. Jason, in a sense, uses aggression like this, as a warning, especially to Billy to make sure he never crosses him. The use of the point of view shot also puts the audience into the perspective of how Billy must feel, again we feel such empathy for the danger surrounding the two of them, and from this we can predict some goings on for the rest of the film. the man is then dragged into the van and locked away.
The two of them then drive away, neither talk in the van, which allows the atmosphere and ominous tension to grow and grow. The man in the van is desperate and bashing the barrier between them, crying out. Billy finds this awkward, and is filled with tension, thinking if he says the wrong thing, he will end up this way. They arrive in a bleak desolate scene, symbolising the emptiness and lack of emotion with in Jason. Billy gets out of the van, and hesitantly opens the back. The man immediately jumps out of the van and runs with a limp, straight for the dirty water, rolling in it almost. This connotes the idea that this man is a creature, putting in bold Jason's dominance and adding the extreme idea he is not to be messed with. They leave him there are get back into the van. The last scene looked at was a long shot of the van in the dismal part of Essex. This is a cultural signifier ( a mise-en-scene which focuses on aspects of place and social class and gender) confirming this is the mirror of Jason's character, it is his land, and that no one should cross that line.

using photoshop, cropping and anchors. DRAFT 1

2009-10-08T04:44:00.000-07:00

This is the original image that i found after searching "Police Brutality" in google images. The aim was to find an image that can be manipulated with cropping, photoshop effects and anchors (heading, headlines).

I cropped the other figures out to put focus onto the main officer and the lady on the floor. The image shows aggression, and violence, i wanted to capture it for my first image. This has not been hugely manipulated with the anchor. I dimmed the pallette around the figures so that the woman, in the last 3rd of the rule of 3 of the image is highlighted, and the officer to the left is also illuminated slightly, drawing the eye to them. I made certain that the most violent part of the image is slightly to the right, as our eyes are not drawn to the exact centre of an image, where the officer is grasping the woman's hair. I then adjusted the colour contrast so that the image is more vivid and dramatic. Due to the caption i didnt feel it would be appropriate to have a lot of colour, keeping the pallette subdued and bleak but with definate strong lines and shadow. Finally, to appear that there is a lot of movement within the image i blurred the background, leaving the two people in focus, drawing the eye to this part and enhancing the struggle. I added the caption "To serve and Protect? Police Brutaility shoots to a new level." i wanted a strong font, this almost looks like a stamp, connoting the idea of police stamps and re-inforces the irony and legitimacy of the photo so the audience feel that this is a true image and trust it. The pun used makes people think, i put "shoots" on one line in a large font to highlight the lack of control in this era.

I noticed from the orginal image that the woman has her hand up like a fist, so i decided to crop only her, and root a back ground story from this. I made sure that the orginal officer pulling her hair was not visible, and due to the lack of focus and high exposure it is not obvious that she is collapsed on the ground. The use of high exposure suggests that this is a close up photograph, from somone else seeing the view, because the image is out of focus and that she has been caught in the act. The fact that her hair is being pulled up now doesn't look like she is being assaulted, but now about to assualt somebody else. The font again connotes strenght, urgency and seriousness of the situation, highlighting that this image is not to be ignored. i chose blue, as it is a contasting colour but also linked to "Police Blue" as this alerts one's attention anyway.

Finally, i noted this officer in the background. From his body language you may guess he is stunned and does not agree with what is going before him. I played on this completely and cropped him, cutting out the violence on the face of the image. Firstly i dulled the tones down, adding blues and greys to the black, enhancing the mournful body language of the head hung down. His shoulders low and he is clutching himself as if he feels at danger. i adjusted the exposure so that his helmet is bright white, connoting the idea that he is almost getting blinded by this, he is exposed and vulnerable. To complete the image i added the caption to provoke sympathy and manipulate the audience.

2009-09-24T02:47:00.000-07:00

2009-09-24T02:42:00.000-07:00

first post on blog

2009-09-24T02:33:00.000-07:00

Hello, I am Pheebs and this is my first post on my AS media blog :)