Rule Of Thirds

We, as media professionals, will be using the rule of thirds alot. It's a method of positioning the shot so you catch all

Location Location Location!

For the main set of out thriller, the clincher, we've chosen an old abandoned air control tower. It is completely bare on the inside, there is nothing on the walls so it makes it perfect for the shoot! The Mise En Scene is awesome in there, it looks sinister, there is barbed wire around it and woods as far as the eye can see so our audience can get a real feel for how icolated it is.



BBFC

Brithish Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is a non profit, non government organisation. There mission statement is as follows;

'As a highly expert and experienced regulator, our mission is to:

• protect  the public, and especially children, from content which might raise harm risks

• empower the public, especially parents, to make informed viewing choices

• recognise and respect adult freedom of choice within the law

• respond to and reflect changing social attitudes towards media content through proactive public consultation and research

• provide a cost-effective, efficient classification service within our statutory remit

• work in partnership with the industry to develop innovative service models to provide content advice which support emerging media delivery systems

• provide an effective service to enforcement agencies '

They have a set of guidelines that a film must fit into in order to be of a certian catogory. These are broken down in to 'U', 'Uc', 'PG', '12', '12A', '15' and '18'. PG standing for Parental Guidence and U standing for Universal, or sutable for all ages effectively.

 Some of the main issues that the BBFC have in deciding the age restriction, or if the film should at all be released are;

Discrimination.

Potentially offensive content, relating to such matters as race, gender, religion, disability or sexuality, may arise in a wide range of works, and the classification decision will take account of the strength or impact of its inclusion.

Drugs.

No film is allowed to promote the taking of illegal drugs. If a film is promoting this then odds are that it will never reach your screen. However if it does show the serious impact or emphasise the danger then it is more likely to be allowed than if it showed no side effects. Any glamorisation of smoking or exsessive drinking will be taken into effect when the film is released.

Immatable Behaviour.

Any behaviour including smoking, drinking, bullying or carrying guns or knives that is deemed to be making it look glamorable will be restricted accordingly in order for kids not to copy or think it is a good idea. However anything that includes the glamorisation of things such as selfharming, hanging or anything putting ones self in immediate danger may be cut or not released at all.

A recent decision to ban a film would be the Human Centipede 2 directed by Tom Six. It was rejected on these grounds

'THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2 (FULL SEQUENCE) is a horror sequel in which a vulnerable and disturbed individual, sexually obsessed with the first film, attempts to create his own 'human centipede'. Unlike the first HUMAN CENTIPEDE, this work presents graphic images of sexual violence, forced defecation and mutilation and the viewer is invited to experience the event from the perspective of the central character. The central focus of THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2 (FULL SEQUENCE) is the sexual arousal of this character at the idea and later the spectacle of the total degradation, humiliation, mutilation, torture, rape and murder of his naked victims. There is little attempt to portray any of the victims in the film as anything other than objects to be brutalised and degraded for the amusement and sexual arousal of the main character and for the pleasure of the viewer. There is a strong and sustained focus throughout the work on the link between sexual arousal and sexual violence and a clear association between non-consensual pain and sexual pleasure.'

Momento Analysis.

The titles in Momento are unusual to one of a conventional thriller. The typical thriller thing to do it use a black background, with either red or white writing, this gives the audience a sence of fear, the red indicating blood, the white possibly showing death. However in Momento the titles are done on blue and black. This shows a possible theme of loneliness that could occure throughout the film, possible a form of foreshadowing by the director. The non-diagetic sounds used in the titles also show this idea of loneliness using a single instrument to begin with, and slowly adding more and more as the titles and opening scene progress. It conotes the feeling of loneliness by giving the audience a subtle and pensive sound, this again indicates how the main character goes about himself throughtout the film. As the titles finish, you get another non-diegetic sound, this being the sound of a ticking clock. This infers the idea that there is an oddity in time throughout the film. The film is done in a non-linear fashion meaning that it is backwards.

Casual Prelim task; bet you wish you chose editing over rugby now 'Paedo Payne'

'The Happening' opening review.

The Happening opening begins with the rolling skies. These skies at the start are of a reasonably normal colour, however as it progresses the clouds gradually turn to be a more gloomy daunting colour. This reflects the type of mood the director wants the audience to have. It gives a sense of mystery, and the fact it is the sky turning implies that it is something uncontrollable too. This makes the audience feel helpless. Also a lot of non diegetic sound is used in the opening sequence. It starts of with harmonious strings, and ends up being deep and chilling. This again tied in with the whether changing gives a sense of panic, or maybe the sense of, excuse the pun, something happening. 

(The Happening introduction {initial clouds})

After this there is a scene in times square, New York. The location suggests safety, there is nothing around that is a threat, no non diegetic sounds are added and the audience is left feeling safe at this time. However very quickly things change, camera shots become more rapid, leaving the audience confused again, non diegetic sounds kick in, tense sounds used by the director. This will leave the audience feeling helpless again. More so this time as they were in the comfort of an everyday surrounding, a place that safety would have been perceived, however this would have left them with the feeling of a lack of safety, like nowhere that they go will be safe. After that it goes to a close up of a woman killing herself. This is shocking for the audience to see, and the reaction of the lady killing herself is equally as shocking. The director uses a close up so that the audience are able to view all of the emotion, or in this case lack of emotion shown by the character. The audience will also experience all of the gore of the suicide, making them feel uncomfortable, and as if something out of there hands is going on. The diegetic sounds of the trees links in with the clouds shown in the previous sequence. These two things are key to how the audience understands the film later on. A bit of foreshadowing by the director perhaps. Also the fact that it is two women sat on the bench a the main characters is typical of the thriller genre, as it makes you think of a damsel in distress.

The next shot is at a building site. The audience by now is totally aware that not everything is okay, so they are not as naive as they were to begin with and suspect trouble. And true to form, trouble occurs. Again the scene is set to be reasonably safe, I mean as safe as a building site can be, there is some jovial banter flying round from members of the workforce however true to happening style, someone dies. And another, and another, and many, many more. The way they die though is the concerning part. The deaths are fantastically shot using the golden mean, as shown adjacently;

The happening contains many typicalities of a conventional thriller. It has the constant suspense involved, the overly dramatic non diegetic sounds to stress that it is tense, they damsel in distress in the opening scene and glaringly obvious foreshadowing (only when re watched). I wasn't 'The Happening''s biggest fan, however it does show very clearly some key themes in the thriller genre.

Psycho Analysis.

Psycho has all the conventions of a typical thriller. The mise-en-scene does most to portray this. It is set in unfamiliar surroundings for the victim, this being a hotel room in Psycho, and the victim is a helpless woman, however the killer seems to be female, breaking away from the typical stereotype of a male killer.

Initially the lighting in the hotel room is bleak. This leaves the audience with a sense of mystery as to the surroundings. The victim is underdressed, making her vulnerable too. As she enters the bathroom the lighting becomes much more vivid, however the shots become closer. Beforehand in the main room there were mid shots, showing background and surrounding, however now they are becoming close ups and extreme close-ups. This gives a good view of emotion on the faces of both the killer and victim so it allows the audience to connect with it. Also the lack of background leaves the audience wondering what’s there, keeping to the typicality’s of a thriller.

The speed of the editing increses too as the scene goes on. Each shot rarely last longer than a few seconds apart from the occasional pan shot. This builds tension, as it doesn’t give the audience time to react to the previous shot before they are rapidly switched to another one. Again though, all of these shots are close-ups, or extreme close ups. This could also leave the audience with a little bit of claustrophobia as they are confined to a small space throughout the scene.

All the sound up to a few seconds before the actual murder is diegetic sound. There is the sound of the water and the movement the victim makes and that is almost it. However a few seconds before the murder takes place non-diegetic sounds are introduced. The instruments add tension, making the audience more aware, and keep on the edge of their seat. When the murder is taking place the stabbing of the victim is also a non-diegetic sound. It’s not too realistic however it is better than no sound at all and allows the audience to be more aware of what is taking place.

The mise-en-scene is vital in this scene. As I mentioned the surroundings are not the normal to the victim, making her vulnerable, also the fact she is not wearing anything contributes to this sense of vulnerability. The most obviously important prop in the scene is the knife. In almost every shot involving the knife, using the rule of thirds, it is the most important object in the shot. This leaves the audience with a sense of what the victim went through. When in this vulnerable situation faced with a knife would not be the most pleasant thing, and I think the editing and the mise-en-scene work together fantastically to portray this in a realistic sense to the viewer. Also the weather shown half way through the actual murder scene reflects how the victim will be feeling.

Towards the end of the scene, there is the non-diegetic sound of the plughole echoing, this is to give the effect of the life draining away from the victim. Also there is a fade in where the plughole turns into the eye of the victim. I’m not the biggest fan of this shot as I find it makes me feel a bit queasy as it does drag on a but, but again, as the blood is going down the drain it reflects the blood escaping her and her life, effectively, going down the drain. It is showing the links between the two, a very clever shot, but I do find it quite prolonged.

This frame is taken from about halfway through the shower scene. It is an odd two shot, but a two shot never the less, consisting of the victim (right), and the murdered (background left). In part of this sequence there is a pan shot making the murderer the main focus of the shot before they reveal themselves. The use of the blurry shower curtain adds to the tension. The viewer is aware that someone has entered the room however the identity is not revealed at all, and this is common throughout the scene. The audiences also feels this sense of vulnerability and as the two shot is a close up of the victim in the foreground, are allowed to connect with the victim emotionally. The golden mean it draws attention to the face of both the killer and the victim.

This frame is as the killer pulls the shower curtain back and reveals herself to the victim. This is a close up however the shot is mainly used to show the knife. The running water conceals the face of the attacker and using the golden mean the knife is the focal point in the shot. This shot is important as you hear the initial screams from the victim and this, mixed with the introduction of the knife will leave the audience connecting with the victim and experiencing the same fear and panic that the victim is going through.

This shot is used to make the audience feel inferior and helpless. It is a high angled shot looking down at the victim receiving a blow. It is one of the few shots where you see the killer and the victim together, however the identities of both are concealed. You do get a hint towards the gender of the killer however, and, as mentioned earlier, this is not typical of the thriller genre.

In conclusion I believe that Psycho does fit in well with the conventional thriller genre as it contains all the typicality’s. It keeps the audience hooked but also with a feeling of mystery and suspense. The surroundings that the victim has to deal with are unknown to her, again making psycho a typical thriller movie.

Shutter Island!

I chose Shutter Island as my first film, mainly because I have already watched it and I was aware that it was a stunning thriller. However, because it is so good, I watched it again. It contained some aspects typical of a thriller, such as;
- the weather was horrendous, gloomy and mysterious, and this added to the set up.
- the island was remote, away from the mainland so it was solitary. Making it mysterious and almost sinister.Also the fact that it it a home for dangerous psychopaths, means you know something is up.
- there is very little background information on the characters. Every character seems sneaky and like they are trying to hide something. So this adds to the sence of mystery.
- The ending is brilliant, it unravels everything and leaves the viewer knowing everything, howevever there is still a bit of mystery so the viewer can make up there own mind.

Over all, a stunning film and a brilliant thriller. Definately recomend for a watch! :)