The Third Man

There is strong focus on lighting, sound and camera angles.
The opening scene starts with non-diagetic sound, a voiceover. There is a medium close-up, tilt shot of the open suitcase which shows that things aren't quite how they should be.
The next shot we saw was a close up of the black market which shows the viewers of the unglamorous location. This is all in noir lighting. The audience then see a body in the river and a sinking boat, which shows that the city is dangerous.
We are then introduced to the main character, Holly Martons, who is dressed in generic thriller costume - a trilby hat and suits.
Non-ambient lighting as he walks up the stairs to Harry Limes apartment. His shadow is on the wall. This adds a sense of mystery to the mise-en-scene.
There is juxtaposition in this scene as there is cheery music against the dull and dreary mise-en-scene.
There are no subtitles for what the German caretaker is saying. This helps us to feel like we are in the same position as Martons.
At the funeral, there is Harry Limes' mistress, a femme fatale, which is generic for a thriller.

The next scene shown to us in class included the iconic introduction of Harry Lime in the doorway. He is standing in shadow, but with a cat by his feet. This is ironic as a cat is generally friendly, contrasting with the suspicious Harry Lime. This is a tilt low angle shot of the empty Vienna streets which makes the city look small and vulnerable, as if the city in coming down on top of Martons. The noir lighting in this scene adds to the sense of nightmare which is also generic in a thriller. The tilt shot also emphasises Martons disorientation.

Kill Bill volume 2

Here are some notes I made when watching the opening of Kill Bill Volume 2.

How does Tarantino use thriller signifiers in this action adventure, martial arts film?
The Brides Burial
Tarantino uses two intertextual references to Hitchcock’s 'Psycho' (1960)
Reference 1 - The soundtrack
Reference 2 - Close up of the bride driving her car - refers to Marion Crane leaving town with the stolen money.
Why?
To intensify the suspense To indicate the bride's danger To flatter the audience - like a tribute to Hitchcock. The scene includes a lot of generic thriller conventions. The scene is set in an unglamorous, isolated location at night time - noir lighting. This makes the scene shadowy. The camera is at a low angle, meaning that the viewers are seeing things from the bride’s point of view. This also makes Bill's brother look more superior.



In the scene where she is trapped in a coffin, there is diagetic sound, of nails being hammered and of the bride's heavy breathing.
Non diagetic sound added in edit. Intertextually referancing Morriconi's music in Leoni's "the Good the Bad and the Ugly"
The coffin is a powerful utilisation of genre to heighten the sense of doom and claustrophobia.
Noir lighting with chiaroscuro lighting gives the impression of impending doom, nightmare and illusion.
camera is close up, at the same level as her. we feel like we are in the same situation as her.

Psycho

The basic plot for Psycho, or as much of it as I've seen, is that Marion Crane has stolen money from her boss, is running away, and stays at a motel. In this motel she meets Norman Bates, the motel owner, who lives with his mother and loves taxidermy. When showering, Marion is repeatedly stabbed and dies.

There are some amazing generic thriller aspects in this film.
Bates love taxidermy -stuffing animals - but especially birds. He thinks they look the most beautiful out of all animals. His name is Bates, and he is almost like bait, to draw people in. Crane is known as a beautiful bird, and so it is like she is the bird, taking the bait, which is soon to be stuffed. It connotes that Marion is going to have the same fate as the birds, which adds to the constant tension.
Bates even says, "You eat like a bird." Birds, like her, are passive.

At the start of the film, when Marion is still innocent, and hasn't done anything wrong, she wears white underwear. After commiting the crime, she wears black underwear. This shows how she has changed as a person, and her moral code has plunged. Shes been tempted by the money which she thinks can buy her love.

There are frequently low angle, tilt shots of Bates, his hotel and its déco. This makes everything seem more threatening, and more surreal. They also have lit from a low angle, making the shadows bigger, more surreal and threatening.

It has a suspensive soundtrack.
Its shot in black and white, film noir, making it darker and more nightmarish
Cinema is voyeuristic - the zoom into the hotel, makes us feel as though we are watching and imposing. Bedroom window shot connotes this.
It has the deviant femme fatale.
The cheap motel is an unglamerous location - where many people cheat secretly from their wives etc.
The music mirrors a heartbeat.
Regular use of close ups - mainly of the money, Marions face and hands and car mirrors.
Almost silent, use of diagetic sound.


In our thriller, we used Psycho's idea of wrapping the money in newspaper. Also we have tried to use low lighting, to get similar distorted shadows.

Whitechapel

These are some brief notes I wrote down whilst watching the start of crime/ drama/ thriller Whitechapel on BBC1.
Camera angles: Lots of tilt shots, making everything seem more surreal.
Close Ups, show you detail of the action/ emphasising areas
Shots from low on the street. - These shots make the action look more threatening, and could be from the point of view of someone whos just been attacked.

Lighting: Chiarascura - emphasises areas and makes threatening/ distorted shadows.
Set at night - street lamps give more authentic lighting. Strong light reflected from puddles and wet street pavements. Making everything more menacing or unglamourous.
This lighting and the colours are significant to the thriller genre as they are unglamerous, unnatural and dark. This makes everything more distoreted, tense and scary.

Music - non diagetic tense.
Sound - other than music - lots of shouting/ talking/ sounds of people in pain.

Costumes: hints of Victorian style clothing contrasting against police uniform and hoodies.
Setting/background - East end of London. Shows street name. Tower of London, Tower Bridge, dark narrow alleys (not well lit residential areas) Steps, cobbles, old buildings.
Titles- typography - jerky, flickering. Old typewriter font, but not neat, makes it more authentic to the period set, but also makes it more menacing.

How is it significant to to drama/ thriller?: The first written word scene, and opening shot, is an old newspaper clip (Murder) so immediately sets the mood. Links historical flashbacks with modern day life. They make everything more tense and dramatic.

Realistic: flashes of modern day realism (police versus youths) along with Victorian newspaper clippings and photos.
Shots of newpaper clips and photos - distorted + flickering type, similar to old fashioned typewriter typing. Covered in blood and roughly torn out.
Shadows/ chiaroscura lighting/ silhouettes are prominant.
Distorted, jumpy, silhouette shots
shot of street name / london/ landmarks (Towerbridge) easily lets you identify where its set.
First word - "Murder" - shocking.
Blood and knife keep repeating - emphasising danger
Man stepping in puddle with reflections of old fashioned lamps - tilted camera angles from high and low. Contrast of low life and high life - along with upper and lower classes.
Dogs barking in background makes a shot more menacing.
Tilt shot - shoes behind a doorway - manacing, secretive.

Thriller Final idea

This is our final idea for the thriller film.
It shows Robert lying on the ground covered in blood. Then Faye comes along, our femme fatale, and steals his wallet with credit card and money in. She then takes it to Rose, another femme fatale, who takes the money from her and walks off. Finally, we see Robert sneaking up behind Faye and suffocating her with a plastic bag.
There are a variety of effective close ups and worm angle shots.

2nd Thriller idea

These are the storyboards for our 2nd idea.
they show the femme fatale (Adalia) seeing her boyfriend cheeting on her, in a flashback, while shes sorting out her make up. Then another flashback of maybe some knife stabbings and her boyfriend dead in her bed. She leaves the house, starts driving away in her car and sees her boyfriend alive in the back of the car.
We had started to film this, but had to reshoot after Ms Barton told us most of the shots were too dark. Though we were able to keep and use a variety of shots from it in our final idea.

Thriller story boards

I FINALLY have had access to a scanner, this is the storyboard for our first thriller idea.
I dont seem to be able to rotate this one. This shows a man getting off at a train station walking towards a public toilet and being followed, by a femme fatale. He is stabbed in the toilet.
We didnt think this was a very good idea, it was too simple and not interesting enough.

quick summary of the match on action technique

The match on action technique shows you a variety of different angles and views of the same piece of action. This can show things that are hidden in one shot, make something look more threatening, from a lower angle, and a variety of different effects.

I will try and take some pictures showing how these work, and what the effect is/ what they mean.

Preliminary task analysis

All in all, our preliminary task went pretty well. We took a variety of shots and considered rules such as the 180 degree rule. There are a few parts where we've cut it slightly too early and it sounds like;
Jack, "Do it"
Nicole, "When"
Jack, "Tomorrow"
Nicole, "'Morrows not good enough!"

when it should say;
Jack, "I'll do it."
Nicole, "When?"
Jack, "Tomorrow"
Nicole, "Tomorrows not good enough!"

I also think we could have probably found a better location than Bryony's back garden where there are lots of toys, washing lines etc. which don't really suit the task.

In our task the technologies we used were:
Video camera - to film it. We didn't need the microphone as the sound seemed ok.
Adobe Premier - to edit it. In our editing, we took out a lot of the outtakes and errors, and put in the title.
Lighting - the natural sunlight was all we needed for outdoor takes - and a normal house light fitting for indoor shots.

We used the 180 degree rule in the conversation between me and Nicole. Along with the shot / reverse shot.
I don't think we used the match on action technique; we had a lot of shots coming from different angles as the film went on, but not showing the same action from different angles.

The preliminary task was a success overall. It matched the brief, and looks vaguely professional.

some info on working title.

Working Title was founded in 1985 by Tim Bevan and Sarah Radcliffe. When they first started out their films didn't make much profit with more going out than coming in. They found a corporate backer to fund their films which was Polygram.
The first film they made was My Beautiful Laundrette which tackled many contreversial issues such as homosexuality and racism.
Their films would often try to push the boundaries on regular films.
It was after this that Sarah Radcliffe left and Eric Fellner joined.
Their first success was Four Weddings and a Funeral which was released in 1994. Their other successes have been Attonnement, Bridget Jones, Elizabeth and Bean. Universal in America have given a lot of money to Working Title, in 1999 Working Title signed a deal with Universal at $600m giving Tim Bevan and Eric Felner the power to commision films with a budget up to $35m. This has allowed them to make more mainstream films such as Nanny McPhee this has caused their audience to also become more diversed.
What has made Working Title so successful is there ability to take risks for example the film they put most of their money in was Captain Corellis mandeolin and which was predicted so successful managed to flop.
Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner where listed the most powerful figures in British History in 2002.
This is due to their success and broad spectrum of Working Title.
Due to their success they have managed to go back to their roots and appeal to their original audience which was more 'art house' by creating Working Title 2. This deals with the lower budget films of Working Title and is run by Natascha Warton since 1999. It has produced successes such as Billy Elliot and Calcium Kid.
It is now thought that Working Title have grossed more than £1.12 billion in the last 12 years and Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner are worth £20m each.

Films coming up in 2009 to watch out for by working title:
Green Zone
A Serious Man
The Soloist
State of Play
The Boat That Rocked
Birdsong (2009)
The Dangerous Husband
Hippie Hippie Shake
Lost for Words
The Troubleshooter

Characters

Nicole played Faye. She was available, had the right sort of hair and clothing for the femme fatale look that we were going for, and did really well acting in our preliminary task. This is her in costume.











This is me (playing Robert) with the blood used in the thriller. Its a little more messy than in the film, as id been trying to get it off...
I played the character of Robert, who is wearing completely black clothing. This makes him seem like a darker character, and is harder to see when its so dark. I chose to play Robert as i was one of the only boys who was available on the nights we could make, and i do drama as an A level, so i (should) be pretty good.



The last character in our film is Rose who is played by Jennie Stone. She also does Drama as an A level, and we trusted she'd do a good job. She is also a femme fatale, wearing similar clothes to Nicole.

Shooting Schedule

Due to various complications, our filming group has been limited to specific filming dates. However we are two thirds of the way through completion of the shoot.

Monday 1st December
Shoot went well, more complicated than we'd originally hoped it would be, most of the shoot tackled yet re-runs needed.

Monday 8th December
Shoot went extremely well. Majority of storyboards shot.

Monday 15th December
Unfortunately due to illness, this shoot had to be cancelled. We are hoping to book out the cameras again this week, yet if they are fully booked we will have to negotiate an extension.

Costumes For Our Thriller

Pencil Skirt
We decided that a black pencil skirt would give a classic feel to the femme fatale image we were trying to create for the character Adalia. And being high waisted would recreate the image of the femme fatale you would originally associate with the 50's and 60's film noir thrillers.





White Shirt
We though that by teaming the black pencil skirt with a white shirt this would add to the classic femme fatale image we were trying to achieve, the white gives the illusion of innocence but with the black suggests hidden depths and a possible devious side.








High Heeled Shoes
High heeled shoes represent a confident woman and this was an image we were trying to create for Adalia.








Red Beret
The splash of red (the beret) is a reference to blood, which is why we decided to include it in the costume for our thriller film.

this is another idea for my perfume advert. Ive put in some flowers to give it a more luxurious and attractive look.

Perfume Advert

This is my perfume advert, English Rose.

Camera Angles

Working Title Productions: Basic Information

Working Title is a British Film Company. It has produced many popular films, including 'Atonement', 'Pride & Prejudice' and, a personal favourite, 'Love Actually'. Working Title is successful internationally, helped along by alteration to marketing, including deals with American and European companies and worldwide distribution.
Working Title's chairpersons are Tim Bevon and Eric Fellmer, who are listed as the most powerful figures in British Industry, and also ranked 41st in the world-wide-movie power list. Bevan had founded Working Title in 1984 with Sarah Radcliffe. However in 1992 Radcliffe left whilst Bevan was looking for a corporate backer, and Fellmer soon joined him. It has been said that, 'The films were suffering because there was no real structure, and, speaking for myself, my company was always virtually bankrupt.' This is true, as film-making as a high risk business, and is very expensive.
The 1st film that Working Title produced was My Beautiful Launderette in 1985. Working Title liked to tackle controversial topics for specific audiences, however nowadays targets a wider audience. It creates British Ideology (Four Weddings and a Funeral), and now produces bigger budget films (Briget Jone's Diary). Their films have gone from 'niche' appeal, to mainstream.
Working Title are committed to 'high quality' films, yet are also committed to low-budget films with new writers.

This is an image of our actress Nicole. This is the costume she is going to be wearing in our thriller. I think the image of the femme fatale we have created is very effective. She is wearing generic femme fatale clothes; short skirt, tights etc and has heavy make-up.

Thriller codes and conventions

Crime at the core of the narrative.
- False paths, false clues, red herrings, enigmas (Anna in "The Third Man" is enigmatic/unreadable. Questions asked why she is still in love with Harry Lime who committed henious crimes against children by watering down penicillin.)
- Resolutions to the crime often ambiguous. (For example "Se7en" - the villain/psychopath has been hunted down but the detective's wife is murdered/beheaded, thus a dark ending.)
- Protagonist/main character is disempowered and drawn into a web of intrigue by antagonist (the person or persons opposing him or her. Holly Martens in "The Third Man" is drawn into a web of intrigue in post war Vienna and is mostly out of his depth.)
- Protagonist is often flawed (For example Holly Martens crashes into Vienna like an innocent and refuses to accept his limitations.)
- Extraordinary events occur in ordinary situations (In "Heavenly Creatures" two girls murder their mother on a walk in park land. Also, In "The Godfather part 1" where a mafia rival wakes up in bed with the bloodied head of his horse on the pillow beside him. In "Psycho" Marion Crane is knifed to death whilst taking a shower in an isolated motel.)
- Themes of voyeurism, (For example the point of view shot in the opening of "Psycho", the camera takes the audience through the window of a cheap hotel room where Marion Crane is having a rendezvous with a married man.)
- Elements of mise-en-scene frequently reflect the protagonist's emotional state. Shadows, lift shafts, alley ways, car parks, car bots, spiralling star cases all redlect the entrapment of the hero and the suggestion there is no way out. Wet streets and narrow roads indicate a fall into a world that is confusing. In "The Third Man" the tilt shots, noir lighting, spiralling stair cases, the sequence on the ferris wheel all connote the web of confusion Holly finds himself in. In Peter Weir's "Withness", after the child witnesses the mirder in the toilet John Book takes the child and his Amish mother, Rachel Lapp, into the unglamorous streets of New York, thus indicating her sense of horror and the murky unforgiving workd John Book exists in.
- The hero is often in peril towards the end of the film thus building up suspense.
- Deviant women/femme fatale is a convention of classic noir thrillers. This woman is usually unglamorous and seductive and draws the hero/protagonist into further peril.
- Themes of identity - who is the protagonist/antagonist.
- Line between good and evil often blurred. (For example "Blade Runner", a sci-fi film with thriller conventions. The replicant and Deckard, blade runner - roles are reversed at the end of the film.

Narrative Sequence

This is how our first idea for our thriller film would have been cut.

1: Pan of Adalia sitting on bed in front of mirror. Cut to
2: Extreme close up, stationary, Adalia applying lipstick
3: Fade to black and white flashback (medium shot & pan of Rob & Faye)
4: High angle shot, Adalia walking up stairs
5: Long shot, Adalia sees Rob & Faye through door. Cut to
6: Extreme close up, stationary, Adalia applying mascara
7: Fade to flasback, medium shot and pan of Rob & Faye, focus on blood
8: Cut to high angle shot, Adalia walking down stairs
9: Medium close up, Adalia walks through door and past camera
10: Cut to close up of wine glass as Adalia picks up
11: Close up of sink as wine spilt down drain whilst taps running
12: Fade to black and white flashback, close up of knife as blood is washed off it.
13: Cut to close up of wad of money
14: Camera pans as money is rolled up in newspaper & placed inside handbag.
15: Close up of handbag
16: High angle shot Adalia walking downstairs
17: Medium close -up Adalia walking down last few stairs
18: Cut to extreme close-up, Adalia opening front door handle
19: Cut to outside, Adalia opens and slams front door
20: Camera follows Adalia down front path
21: Tilt shot Adalia walking down street
22: Cut to high angle shot, Adalia walking down ouside stairs
23: Cut to close up, Adalia's anxious face as she walks past camera
24: Low angle shot, focus on high-heeled shoes as Adalia walks past
25: Point of view shot, Adalia walks to car
26: Pan of car as Adalia steps in and slams door
27: Camera inside car, pan from Adalia's head to her opening mirror
28: Focus and zoom into mirror as Rob seen in background.

We have now changed our idea.

Push & Pull Media

Push & Pull Media

There are a number of ways in which media can be advertised.
These include,
-Trailers in cinemas.
-Trailers on television.
-Billboards.
-Film Reviews.
-Websites.
-Newspaper Advertisements.
-Positive word of mouth.
-Interviews with actors.
-Personal appearances by actors.
-Press Junctions.
-Tekevision Programmes.
-Adverts on social networking sites.
-Merchandising (e.g Mcdonalds).

Some of these adverts can seem as though they have been 'pushed' onto an audience, so some audiences create a sort of 'pull' in the media.
This is done by audiences
- Visiting websites.
- Choosing to watch a certain televison programme.
- Buying film magazines/reading reviews.
- Browsing in a store.
- Browsing online.
- Browsing films on film subscription sites.

The Mass manipulation model

The Mass Manipulation Model

-The idea that the media might be a powerful social and political force momentum in the 1920's and 30's. (Shown in the political propaganda of Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany semed able to seduce and persude citizens in ways not possible prior to mass media.)
-Audiences seen as a mass of individuals that could be persuaded and influenced ("The Hidden Persuaders" book (1957) attempted to uncover some subliminal advertising techniques.)
-Media has been accused of corrupting young audiences. (1950's rock and roll, mysogynism, glorifying of guns and gangs through rap and hiphop.)
-Action from the BBFC. (This was particularly evident when the murder of James Bulger was linked to "Childs Play 3").
-Bendure and Walters. (The 'Bobo doll' experiments suggest children might imitate violent behaviour after being exposed to it. However this was criticised for not reflecting normal viewing conditions, also now children can distinguish between real and stimulated violence.)
-Drug Metaphors. (Marie Winn's book "The Plug In Drug" (1997), suggests that children watch television in a 'trance' having a 'glazed, vacous look'.

The relevance of the Mass Manipulation Model is limited in today's age of advanced media technology. Audiences are now more active rather than passive and more 'media savvy'. Audiences are aware of media manipulation and have more choice and control over how they consume media. However we should still not underestimate the power of media!

The 180 Degree Rule

A basic film editing guideline that states that two characters in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to eachother. If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two subject, it is called crossing the line. The new shot, from the opposite side, is known as a reverse angle.



This diagram shows the 180 degree rule.

Preliminary task

This is our preliminary task for media in G321.