Comparasion of the three thrillers

hello I am now back from my geography trip and I am now up to date with the latest ideas and plans the group have discussed while I was away.

The three thrillers differed tremendously. Se7en was more scary and the cuts were very short and quick while One hour photo and the Day of the Jackle had long cuts. But they all had one thing in comon, they all built tension suspense and mystery in there own way.

At the begging of the film we see one of the characters lying in bed with a metronome on the dresser we see an extreme close up on this focusing on the sound and the swing of the pendulum. This could represent the time ticking away while he is lying there thinking or his heartbeat. This can make the audience feel quite nervous as this is the only sound we can hear in this clip. The metronome could also be the audiences heartbeat as we stare at the character waiting for something to happen, this creates a lot of suspense and mystery.

Next is the credits and introduction. The first thing you notice is the credits are in an old style of writing and as they change, are stretched and blurred. There are lots of short cuts through the opening sequence. We also see an extreme close up of a razor blade which we, as the audience, are meant to focus on. This adds a lot mystery to film and as we see further into the clip there are extreme close ups on peoples faces-which have been crossed out, needles and thread. When seeing the extreme close ups of the crossed out people, it creates a lot of mystery as we are asking, who are they? why has this man got pictures of these people? and why are there faces crossed out? With the low key lighting and the close ups on the items such as razor blades, we assume that this man could have psychotic personality and the reason why there are pictures of peoples faces which have been crossed is because he has killed them. We see red lighting which represents a photographic room but could also represent blood and death.

The images we see create a lot of suspense as we want to know what is happening or is going to happen. From the begging of the opening sequence the cuts are quick, but as we get to the end they get even quicker as the music gets quicker which builds tension.

However, completely different from se7en, one hour photo had a very long shot on what looked to be a camera which we were very slowly zooming in onto This created suspense as this clip was so long we didn't know what was going to happen, this made us nervous. This silence of the clip built tension which also added to our nervouness. Another difference was the length of the opneing seqence, this was an incredibly short openeing sequence but still had the same effect.

Simlilar to One hour photo, The day of the Jackle had a lot longer cuts than Se7en. In this opening sequence we were focusing on the man on the motobike. There was a lot of tracking as we were following him wondering what he was doing. While we were tracking we also wanted to know who the man on the motobike was following building mystery. This didn't build as much tension as Se7en or One hour photo but it still had suspense and mystery.

Although these thrillers are completely different they all have things in common. One is that they build suspense, tension and create mystery which draws the auidence in and creates different feelings through different types of camerwork, lighting and sound, editing and mise en scene. These are key things as i found out in my questonaire.

My analysis of Se7en.

Throughout the opening sequence of Se7en, i noticed that the was a lot of low key lighting used to create an effect which make the sequence more mystical because you cannot see clearly what is happening in the shot. Another feature that i thought had mystery was the fact the the character, (played by Morgan Freeman), had a metronome beside his bed. This makes the audience think about why he has it and what he uses it for. I could represent time ticking away. or a heartbeat of some description.

Lots of quick cuts and extreme close ups were used in the sequence. This added suspense and mystery. This got the audience thinking about what he is doing and why is he doing it. i also notice the way that the picture was sometimes distorted with a few frames missing here and there. I believe the creators of 'Snatch' and 'Fight Club' did the same sort of thing.

The last thing i noticed was the use of focus pulls. these didtrot the image for the audience and create more suspense and more mystery because it is unclear what is happing during the sequence.

Feedback Wed 28 Jan

You are spending quite a lot of time looking at the computer without actually adding the detail Ms Mapp has asked for.  The background research was HW from previous lessons and should be either loaded at home or brought in on a memory stick to be uploaded during the lesson.  Make sure you get credit for the work you have done.  (If it isn't done yet, you know what to do!)

Plot and Character Motifs

The plot motif for our piece is something bad happening to what appears to be an ordinary person. In the whole film it might result in murder but the audience don't know this from just the opening. 

There is an Antagonist, he is in the first scene, although you can not see his facial features so can not recognise him, the audience know he is the antagonist because he is doing strange things. Such as sitting in a dark room surrounded by pictures that have been cut up and crossed out. There will also be many other strange things about them that make it more obvious to the audience that he is the antagonist from the beginning.

The Protagonist is the victim. They appear to be a normal person out for a run, but they then get hit on the head and a sack put over their head. is there more to them than meets the eye.

From the opening the audience don't know if there is going to be a perticular Hero or not. In the whole film there would be, someone who discovers what is happening and who the antagonist is.

Update More, Please

This blog needs to be updated more, you four. There's not enough evidence of preparatory work here - especially individual entries. We need some analyses from you and more evidence of individual research as well as questionnaire feedback.

27th Jan. 2nd group blog

Colin, unfortunately, is absent due to a Geography trip.

This is what we have come up with as our plot idea so far. 

Shot 1

Location: Dark, cold and erie room for example a garage or shed.

Characters: Man, although you can't see any of his facial features, so he is not recognised.

Lighting: Low key lighting, one single swinging light, no lamp shade to create shadows.

Sound: Diagetic sound from video tape or non diagetic erie music, depending on what turns out best.

Rough plot outline: Starts with panning of room showing darkness and pictures in the walls and tables and floor, dirt and blood smears. Crossing out of pictures, and scribbling, cutting and sticking paper. Video playing on repeat of victim. Credits appearing every now and then, intergrating with his actions.

Shot 2: 

Location: Road or track, very quiet, no houses and few cars.

Characters: The victim, the antagonist/mystery person from first shot. 

Lighting: To be decided.

Sound: Music from runners ipod, also general diagetic sounds e.g, birds, cars and wind and footsteps.

Rough plot outline: Victim is running down the road or path, some shots are point of view, and some other. car draws up behind we hear this, peer round, then a blackout.

Friday 23rd Lesson

What i noticed about the clip of the opening of se7en.

• Low lighting used.
• Use of diagetic ticking sound, sounds like a heartbeat-tension.
• Non diagetic starts with a quiet beats and ends up at a faster pase.
• The use of a red filter, shows the colour of blood and death.
• Hands of the character are cut, tension, why?
• Overlay of clips, shows time going past quickly.
• Fast editing between clips, faster action, more to take in and think about.

Mise En Scene
First clip (i cant remember the name)

• Old cars show the era it is from.
• Big overpowering buildings.
• Smart costumes show something important is happening.
• Mopeds stand out over other cars-must be important to story.
• Woman in cream coat also stands out, important character?

One hour photo

• Coloured, fading credits.
• Camera, new technology, feels as if you are being watched as is there for a long time.
• Man stands out in the white room, contrasts.
• Not that much happens, but there is still lots to think about, what will happen with the camera and the man?
  

Hello, 

This is our first blog regarding the first three lessons of our Media Studies coursework on a thrillers. We have thought about a few plot ideas, these include:

•  A Kidnapping
  
• A shooting 
• A bombing

After conducting our research on what people like and expect in thrillers, we decided the kidnapping was the best idea. We chose this because in our research we discovered that people like suspense, action and the thrill of the plot unfolding.

Our idea is to have a man alone in his room crossing out pictures of girls. There are many pictures of his victims, but they are all crossed out. There is soft light with the TV playing, of  what seems to be a future target. While this scene is in progress credits are displayed at various times. The next blog will be udated