Research of Media Theorists

Propp

Propps character theory suggests the idea of certain character roles within film that are vital to the structure of the piece. Traditionally there is a male "hero" protagonist whose role is to restore the equilibrium. There is also typically an antagonist who causes the disequalibrium. The role of the dispatcher is the one who sends or prompts the protagonist to restore the equalibrium. There is also typically a sidekick role vital to the narrative. We of course tend to have the role of a heroine in need. We may sometimes see a false hero, who initially appears to be on the side of the protagonist but is actually part of the disequalibrium.

Todorov

Todorov's theory of narrative suggests that many films follow the same pattern and structure. He explains that typically films will start with a equalibrium, a state of peace and normality. A disequalibrium is then caused, disrupting this equalibrium. The narrative typically follows the protagonist in the attempt to restore the equalibrium, and sometimes the outcome is better than the original equalirbrium.


Strauss

Strauss's media theory suggests the idea of binary opposites, frequently used in the narrative plots of the action genre. The theory suggests the narrative of any given piece of film depending on binary opposites in characters and themes, such as: good vs evil, villain vs hero, dark vs light etc. They are used in film to reinforce the narrative and structure of the film.



Goodwin

Goodwin's media theory suggests that music videos are solely created to advertise products withing the industry, including location, artist and song. This can be explained through current electronics being shown continuously throughout the music video e.g Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" and Beats Pill. An artist who has also dipped into acting may create a song and music video to promote a film, commonly using excerpts from the film in the music video e.g Will Smith "Men In Black."

Analysis of The Secret Window

The film "The Secret Window" is a thriller directed by David Koepp. In the opening we see the protagonist, played by Johnny Depp, confronting his cheating wife and her lover, and we see that he is clearly distraught.

In the first shot we can see a close up shot of the protagonists face in a car. The colours are blue and grey, and these dark colours connote gloominess and winter. Koepp has used this shot to clearly portray the emotions of this charactcer. We also see the ring on his finger, suggesting he is married and planting narrative enigmas. The third shot is a long shot of the protagonist in the reception area of the motel. This shot shows the juxtaposition of cold and warm colours, adding texture to the film. The fourth shot of the car, showing the bright lights of the car's tail lights and the snow suggests it is night time and winter. The fifth shot is the establishing shot of the setting. The sixth camera shot is a two shot of two people in a bed, who we assume to be Depp's wife and her lover from his reaction to them. Throughout the sequence there is a monochromatic colour scheme of blue and grey's, connoting the depressed and distraught emotions of the protagonist being reflected in this way.



When the sequence opens with the production logo we hear the non-digetic sound of what initially sounds like heart beats but a sound bridge reveals it is in fact the wiper blades of the car. We hear the non-digetic voice over saying "Don't go back there." which we initially believe to be someone else in the back of the car, but as we see the car is empty we can safely assume it is the protagonist's inner thoughts.

The Mise-En-Scene of dark, gloomy weather and snow suggests it is winter and the dark colour connotes feelings of depression and sadness. We see in the establishing shot the "Motel" sign which explains the setting. The difference in colour and aesthetic from outside and in the reception area of the motel suggests the feelings of isolation and lonliness in Depp's character. We also see the ring on Depp's finger, suggesting a narrative enigma in that he is married. Depp's unstylish, dark clothing suggests that he is distraught and struggling to cope.


In the first shot we see a very long take and slow pace in the editing, giving the viewer time to analyse the setting and aesthetic of Depp's character. We see a continuity error when Depp enters his wife's motel room, as we can hear him close the car door, however when he returns outside the door is wide open. After his wife and her lover is revealed, a fade edit is used to switch to water, juxtaposed to the original setting. Simultaneous to this, the digetic sound becomes distorted.

In conclusion, the monochromatic colour scheme and wintery mise-en-scene, variety of close up shots suggest a sombre and disturbing narrative, typical of pyschological thrillers.

Continuity sequence

This is the continuity piece which our group created last week. We used apple macs and premiere to edit the sequence. It was our first time editing with premiere and we found it challenging initially but soon got to grips with it. Whilst filming we found it challenging to stick to our time limit of 30 seconds, because we had three minutes worth of shots. This is something we will focus and work on while filming our title sequence.

Continuity Exercise

In the past few lessons, my group and I have filmed our continuity exercise. I wanted to use a variety of shots so we used panning shots, point of view shots, tracking shots, and birds eye shots. We decided I would direct this as well as the thriller title sequence, and Aaron will be the producer.

Thriller Sub-Genres

When planning our thriller opening sequence, we need to take into account multiple things, including plot, camera angles, mise-en-scene and sub-genre. There are many sub-genres of thriller that i have came to find, including:

• Action Thriller
• Horror Thriller
• Psychological Thriller
• Drama Thriller
• Comedy Thriller
• Legal Thriller
• Supernatural Thriller
• Political Thriller
• Techno-thriller
• Conspiracy Thriller
• Crime Thriller
• Spy Thriller

Typical conventions of thriller include:

-Low Key Lighting
-Quick Cuts
-Shadows
-Tense Music
-Changes in the angles of shots
-Digetic breathing sounds
-Motage of shots
-Protagonist is usually male, trying to restore the equilibrium
-Antagonist's identity is usually revealed bit by bit throughout the thriller
-Antagonist usually wants revenge for a past event
-Close Ups and Extreme Close ups
-Shots of antagonist will cut quickly/will aim to hide their identity
-Jump Cuts

Camera Angles - Continuity Exercise Prep

In one of our recent lessons we revised over and learnt new camera angles, and were given a list of those we should consider using in our continuity exercise. These included:

• Extreme Close Up (ECU)
• Big Close Up (BCU)
• Close Up (CU)
• Medium Close Up (MCU)
• Medium Shot (MS)
• Medium Long Shot (MLS)
• Long Shot (LS)
• Very Long/Wide Shoe (VLS)
• 2 Shot
• Over the shoulder (OTS)
• High Angle
• Low Angle
• Tilted Frame

My group and I also spent time trying out these shots with our cameras, and we are aware thaat extreme close ups, close ups, high and low angles shots and over the shoulder shots are typically used frequently in thriller movies so focused mainly on these shots.

Thriller Directors

Alfred Hitchcock

Hitchcock was an english thriller director who lived from 1899-1980. Some of his most famous work is linked closely with Saul Bass, as they both were part of the making of movies like "Pyscho" and "Vertigo." Others of his work include:

-When Boys Leave Home
-The Ring
-Blackmail
-Murder!
-The Lady Vanishes

Quentin Tarantino

Alternatively to Hitchcock, Tarantino's work centers mainly around the action thriller genre. Some of his most famous works are:

-Pulp Fiction
-Kill Bill Vol.1
-Kill Bill Vol.2
-Django Unchained

Thriller Collage

Saul Bass - Graphic Designer/Film Director

Saul Bass-His work

Saul Bass is a graphic designer and film director, infamous for creating title sequences for films in the 1950's-1960's, and is a traditionalist within his work. He has worked for some of Hollywood's most prominent filmmakers including Alfred Hitchcock, Otto Preminger and Martin Scorsese. He became widely known in the film industry after creating the title sequence for Otto Preminger's "The Man with the Golden Arm", which targeted the topic of heroin addiction.  

Bass created title sequences for many world-renowned films including:

• Around the World in 80 days (1956)
• West Side Story (1961)
• Big (1988)
• The Age of Innocence (1993)

Bass also created logos for many companies as shown below:

              

Additional to that designed movie posters, some of which were for films he created the title sequence for, including "The Man with the Golden Arm."

I am personally very impressed with Bass's work and I like the fact that they all have the same aesthetic and style by being quite simple yet effective at planting narrative enigmas about the film. 



The opening title sequence for Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo" begins with a sound bridge that instantly creates an atmosphere and mood typical as a "thriller". Typically the heavy stringer orchestral music creates an atmosphere of mystery and suspense. The establishing shot is an extreme close up of an eye, typical of a thriller as this portrays emotion and the fear of the character.

The opening title sequence of "Psycho" features the titles being split into pieces, which could symbolise both the knife cutting the words in the same way the antagonist cuts the victim and also connotes the way the antagonists mind may be in pieces and not all together because he is a "psycho" which is a abbreviation of the mental disorder "psychopath." The music features high pitched violins, typical of fear, suspense and panic.

Brief

The Brief:

Preliminary exercise: Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match-on-action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.

Main task: The titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes. 

My blog will take into consideration all these key areas:

• Forms and conventions
• Production contexts
• Role of technologies
• Audience/users
• Representations

My First Post

My name is Jade and I am a sixth form student at Pen-Y-Bont sixth form college.



Today has been my first lesson in AS Level media, where we have set up a blogger account using google+, and we have customised our blogs. We have discussed the "thriller" short film openings we will be creating and different routes we could go down when creating these, we have also decided on our groups for filming.