Analysis

This is a short sequence from the film 'Shrooms' (2007 Paddy Breathnach). It shows a girl hiding behind a tree in the middle of some woods. This is relevant to our project as the protagonist in our sequence runs through the woods, hides behind a tree then breaks down crying. I find the media language in this short sequence very effective in creating a dark, scary atmosphere. The lighting creates a foggy, mysterious effect which therefore creates fear in the audience. We may be able to re-create this effect by filming early in the morning or late afternoon.

Vantage Point Chase Sequence Analysis

This is a scene taken from the film Vantage Point released in 2008 and for the purpose of this analysis will be viewed from 08:13 to 09:10.

The sequence opens with a close-up on the main character's face as he chases after the Police. This close-up shows the emotion of the character and his determination to catch up at all costs. Shots are jumpy and so lead us to believe that a handheld camera has been used. Shot lengths vary from between 1/2 a second to 2 seconds; all of which are cut together with straight cuts enhancing the speed of the sequence.

An up-beat non-diegetic score adds to the drama of the scene, along with diegetic screams and sirens; creating confusion and hysteria.

To add depth of field to the scene, zoom has been used, this helps to create disorientation. Point of view shots are all so used to help create verisimilitude.

From this clip we can take the use of fast paced editing, with straight cuts, along with close-ups and extreme close-ups to show emotion. Another feature we could incorporate is the use of zoom to disorientate the view.

One thing that lets the clip down is the fact that half way through, the chase sequence is interrupted to show a small girl running off to find her mother. This is reasonably unrelated to the chase and so brings the pace down a little. The chase also lacks in low and high camera angles; to show character vulnerability or superiority.

David

Opening Sequence Analysis

This is the opening sequence of train spotting and I have chosen to analyse it as, like our own opening sequence, it involves running. The scene begins with some quite upbeat non-diegetic music to create an exciting fast pace and makes you feel like the characters. There is also narration in the background to give the viewer more of an insight as to what the film is about. It begins with two men being chased and the camera is infront of them so you can see their emotions and what they are feeling as they are running. There are also a lot of close ups on the men's feet so the viewer can see how fast they are running and also to again create a fast paced feeling. The camera also cuts to a point of view shot from one of the men so the viewer is put into their shoes and can see what he can see. The man then looks though a car wind screen into the camera and smiles which takes him out of the scene and makes it more unrealistic as he is looking into the camera. His name also comes up which introduces the character and this happens in the rest of the scene for the rest of the characters. This is an easy way of introducing characters but in my opinion it takes the realism out of the scene. After Renton's name comes up a shot of him smoking is cut to and this establishes him as a drug user as he passes out from it. The mise-en-scene used is quite grubby as in the clothes and where they live so this gives quite a bleak feeling, as our opening sequence does. This contrasts to the music which makes everything seem very happy when underneath it probably isn't. The lighting is natural which is also what our own opening sequence will be. The editing used is very fast paced as lots of cut shots are used which creates excitement along with the sound and cinematography. This opening sequence is similar to our own as it begins with someone running and so raises the same enigma as ours, why are they running? This is useful as we can use some of the techniques that they have used to create a realistic feeling of running and involving the viewer. A different scene is also cut to after the running which gives a possible insight as to why he is running, which is what our opening sequence does. It also establishes the main character, as our opening sequence will.

Preliminary Task

This is our Preliminary Task!

For our preliminary task we filmed a conversation between two people. We started off with one of the actors already in the room and the other entering through the door. Throughout the short sequence we used over the shoulder shots and point of view shots.

In our preliminary task we saw that we made some mistakes. One of these mistakes is, that during one of the shots, the camera moved. To make sure this doesn't happen again we need to decide the angle before we press record, so that we don't have to alter it during the shot. Another mistake was that the actors conversation was really quiet. So to correct this next time we need to make sure the actors speak louder and more clearer so that the camera picks it clearly.

Are you making something new?

There are many films that are similar to what we are planning to make. these include 'Shrooms' and 'memento'. The location and dark, eerie atmosphere of 'Shrooms' makes it similar to our and the non-linear narrative structure of 'Memento' makes it very similar to ours. 

There are many ways in which we can make our project differ from other typical thriller films. One of the ways in which we can do this is to make the characters as non-stereotypical as possible. For example, in most typical thriller films there is a ditzy female protagonist, in our project the protagonist is going to be female however she is not going to be portrayed as ditzy or dumb. Another stereotype that our sequence will challenge is that males are stronger than females. This is because within our story there is an argument between a girl and a boy, the argument escalates and the girl ends up overpowering the boy, pushing him down and seriously injuring him. This shows the girl as stronger than the boy, challenging the typical stereotype.

Genre

The genre of our film is gritty thriller. This is because we have a chase seen which gets the hearts of the audience pumping faster as tension and mystery is built as we are only shown flashbacks of why she is running, creating enigmas. It is also gritty as it is set in a dark bleak woods, making it realistic and scarier for the viewer. Genres are vague categories with no fixed boundaries, they are formed by sets of conventions, and many works cross into multiple genres by way of borrowing and recombining these conventions. Similar distinctions separate the thriller from other overlapping genres: adventure, spy, legal, war, maritime fiction, and so on. Thrillers are defined not by their subject matter but by their approach to it. Thrillers are made to excite the audience and draw them into the film. 

Representations

The representations and stereotypes we are going to be using in our opening are the naive, vulnerable girl, the aggressive boy and the scary bleak woods with no escape. These are dominant representations and we are going to be using these so that people watching the film are able to relate to it more and so that the film seems more realistic. But also in our opening pushes her boyfriend down a hill which makes her more dominant and creates an alternative representation. This is because she isn't standing in the corner crying as women are usually presented in films. This keeps the viewer entertained as the film shows different representation to usual films. 

For example in this clip from King Kong the woman is represented as very helpless and all she does in this scene is scream and get thrown about which is the typical representation that women are weak and helpless. The woman in indiana jones and the temple of doom is also very helpless and screams a lot and is dominated by the man which is what happens in most films. 

 

This scene from Lara Croft Tomb Raider shows the woman as very dominating and this is a very extreme stereotype which is the complete opposite of how women are usually represented in films. Our woman isn't as dominating or extreme as this stereotype but in the end she does dominate the man as she ends up killing him so this is similar to our own girl.