EXPLORATION INTO TODOROV, PROPP AND LEVI STRAUSS.

TODOROV

Todorov has a theory of different levels of film, he believes strongly about the theory of equilibrium, he believes that a film should have a steady pattern of an equilibrium to a dis equilibrium back to a equilibrium, this means the film will start calmly and then a disaster or something bad will happen, after this towards the end the film will go back to a nice theme so it ends on a happy ending.

An example of Todorov’s theory would be the animation film Incredibles, the film starts off with the family being all happy just like a normal family, then the farther had to go away for work leaving his family worried about his safety, then towards the end of the movie they all come together to defeat the bad guy who has been traumatising them.

PROPP

Propp is another great theorist of media terminology as it was him who believed in having a main male protagonist as a hero figure who would come up against an antagonist who would try to knock him down, he liked the idea of this because it creates a rivalry which bases the film. Almost in every film with a villain and hero there is a final big battle which concludes the film.

An example of film which represents Propps theory well would be Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2, this film is the final one in the series of 8 films in saga, at the end we see a final battle between the protagonist harry potter and his arch enemy Lord Voldermort, this is perfect because their rivalry is built up through 8 films and finally after long awaited we see them fight it out. 

LEVI STRAUS

Straus was the man who believed in binary opposition where the two main protagonists are complete opposites, this would be like having man vs. women or having cat vs. a dog, this is an affective theory as it shows to people as important as each other but are completely different.

A great representation of this theory would be the family friendly film Cats vs Dogs where the 2 dominent species of household pets go head to head to see who are the best, they set against eachother to win number 1 slot.

MY CONTINUITY EDIT

In this post I will be showing you the short continuity movie edit we created using a variety of basic shots to get used to the techniques of the shot movement and the best angles to use, doing this exercise was good practice for learning how to use the cameras we were given, so we will know the perfect way to film in our actual movie opening.

We were split up into our groups that we would film our movie opening in so we could get to know each other’s best skills and attributes, Once we had finished filming our continuity shots over the 2 hours we were given, our media group went on a trip to local college where we were shown how to edit our films and put them together without using and special techniques or effects, we just used cut editing and basic skills on the editing software Premier Pro.

ESSAY ON THE OPENING SEQUENCE OF THE SECRET WINDOW

The film ‘secret window’ is directed by David Keopp and is in the genre of psychological thriller. In the opening of this film we see the protagonist Johnny Depp (mort rainy) finding his wife (Amy) cheating on him with another man at a quiet motel.

The sequence opens with a shot of the production company logo and in the background there is an audio which appears to be a high rated heartbeat, this is great because it creates suspense for the audience but this only happens until we see the opening shot where we realise that it is the wiper blades of Mort Rainy’s car, this has tricked the audience because it has got them on the edge of their seat but he got their hopes up at made them realise that it’s a chilled opening shot.

The mise-en-scene makes it clear the audience where the actor is and where the action is going to take place, the surroundings of the scene, the floor covered in white snow and wet and icy, because of the white and black colours of ice and snow it creates monochromaticity. From this I can infer that it is either set in winter or in a really cold country like Canada or Alaska. Also, the clothes that the actor Johnny Depp is wearing are warm and wintery clothes to keep him warm, when mort rainy gets out of his car we can denote that it is cold because there is a cloud of cold air coming out of his mouth when he breathed. In juxtaposition of the cold exterior of the building there are bright lights and warming colours inside the room keeper’s department of the motel to show it is welcoming and warm in here. Finally, when Mort Rainy is in his car we see a crucial indicator which shows that he is married because we can see a wedding ring on his hand, this is good because we see this ring before we know he is married so the ring denotes that something is going to happen between him and his wife and from power of deduction after the opening sequence we could infer that they have separated. 

The camera shots and movement sin this opening sequence are minimalistic with basic angles such as close-ups of the protagonist Mort Rainy to a low angle shot of the car reversing into the motel, this shot is used as the establishing shot to set the scene for where the action is going to set place, this establishing shot begins when the car pulls away from the camera for the first time in the film revealing the exterior of the motel. On one circumstance, there was a close-up shot of Mort Rainy in his car debating whether or not to go back to the motel, this shot is significant because the camera stays on his face for a lot longer than all the other shots, the director has done this to keep the audience looking at what frame of mind Mort Rainy is in. Next, when Mort leaves his car to go to the reception of the motel we see a crabbing shot following his walk from his to get the keys and during this it follows him through windows and the only time we see him in the reception is when the crabbing shot turns into a medium shot of Rainy. Finally, we see a POV (point of view) shot from Mort Rainys perspective entering the motel room where his wife Amy is in bed with another man, this is a significant shot as it puts the audience in Mort rainy’s position and makes them feel like he did seeing his wife cheating on him.

To conclude, in my opinion I think that the opening sequence of the film ‘Secret Window’ is a successful representative of a thriller movie as it matches most conventions of a thriller opening sequence and it gets the audience on the edge of their seats when watching this, this is the most effective opening sequence that David Keopp has created along with the help of the well renowned actor Johnny Depp. 

ANALYSIS ON SILENCE OF THE LAMBS OPENING SEQUENCE

In this post, I will be analysing the opening sequence of one of the most prolific thriller movies, silence of the lambs, this an extremely key opening sequence as it covers all the good codes and conventions of a thriller movie. (I analysed this opening sequence up to 3:45 minutes).

To start I will be talking about the editing as there isn't much complication in the editing, it is simple with a natural flow of film with easy cuts from shot to shot, there is a key point where this is featured when the protagonist is running we see numerous camera angles from crabbing to tracking which are all simply cut together. next, the sound in the clip is as important as it sets the tone of the atmosphere through the audio which shows it is effective, the fast-paced string music turns from soothing to eerie when a few notes clash to make almost a squeal and for the audience this is uncomfortable to listen to which foreshadows what could happen to cause discomfort.

ANALYSIS OF EXISTING A-LEVEL (AS) MEDIA THRILLER OPENING SEQUENCES

In this post, I will be comparing 2 current pieces of AS level media study thriller movie opening sequence, the 2 films are called CAPTIVE and EXCEMPTION.

Firstly, I will be talking about CAPTIVE.

The establishing shot of this film shows the man tied up to chair which immediately refers to the title 'CAPTIVE'. Also, we see numerous instances of diegetic sound from the CCTV cameras and to him spitting on the floor whilst breathing heavily, these are significant because it creates a sense of realism to make the audience feel what it would in his position and felling how he feels. Next, when talking about sound the non-diegetic music is key to this piece because of the high pitched orchestral sounds coming from strings, this creates an eerie atmosphere for the audience as it makes them feel uncomfortable to sit through and then when it comes to a halt we can infer that something bad is going to happen which puts the audience on edge. Then, we can see that money has been well invested into this project through the costumer and special effects make up of blood and cuts, these features are key to this film because it shows professionalism as if it is made from an executive producer, the make-up is so good that it is displeasing to look at and disturbs the audience into thinking what has this man gone through.

Secondly, I will be talking about the short film EXCEMPTION.

The first key thing we see is very good editing skills where the outline of the centre circle of the eye is a clock showing the time ticking bye this is very smart because it shows the audience how long they have been stuck in this building. the second good piece of editing we see if when the non-diegetic music starts and stops as the black title screens come on screen to bring the audio to a sudden stop. then, when talking about mise-en-scene we can see minor errors as the blood used in this piece looks extremely fake and not realistic, this is a key thing which need to be executed perfectly as it will affect the audience extremely. The camera work in this piece is executed very well containing numerous effective over the shoulder shots to show what is happening behind the boy being chased, also the extreme close ups of the boys eyes are key to make the scene tense as we can see their emotions through the boys eyes.

MEDIA STUDY LESSONS #5

Recently we went on a trip to Bridgend college to edit our continuity edit containing key shots and to learn the basic editing techniques that are used in the editing suite at Bridgend college on the software premiere pro. We were being showed around the suite and how to use the software by Andy the head of the media department at the college, we have arranged to go back to the college for more master classes.

THRILLER MOVIE QUESTIONAIRE

This is the results of the 7 questions that I asked 10 people on their likes about a thriller movie. All 7 of the questions had 10 responses, after looking at the results of the questions I have changed some of the decisions of the film I will be making, for example it helped me make a big decision of choosing the sub-genre psychological.

                              

In this question, I was looking into what age ranges I should be targeting for my film opening, from the answers of this question I have chosen to target mainly people from ages 16 to 18 year olds because they are the highest answer percentage but the second highest are aged 12-15 so I might widen the bracket to get more viewers.

   

From this question, I have decided to mostly target men because I asked about gender and the majority of people who answered were men so I will aim for the men but can’t cancel out the women as they might enjoy the type of film I am making.

In this question, I asked 10 people what their favourite genre of a thriller movie, from this I have decided on the sub-genre of my film so this makes it the most important question, there was a stand-out winner in this question of a psychological thriller, that’s why I made it my sub-genre of the film.

Next, I asked the people what they thought the most effective feature of a thriller movie is in their opinion, 5 out of the 10 people I asked said that they thought the actors and the acting in the film makes it how successful it is. So from this question i have decided to chose the best actor which is going to be most memorable for my audience.

This question is important when deciding which colours to use for title shots or typography, I asked the people which colours affect them the most in a thriller film and the majority said plain colours like white black and grey, I had 1 vote for red so I might influence the colour red in my typography to take a risk.

The next question I asked people what plot would they prefer to watch in a thriller movie and most people said psychological thriller matching their chose for the sub-genre. So, this question has solidified my choice of a psychological thriller film.

The final question that I asked my volunteers was what kind of opening sequence did they like, would they prefer an intense or not an intense opening, the majority said yes so I think I am going to go for the intense route of my film opening.