Film Reviews

Once again heyy guyss,

Today in media we were shown some opening scenes to some films in class. We were then told to write a review and to analyse what we had been shown in terms of what we had seen, what types of sounds we hear, what we associate what we have seen with (denotation and connotation  etc. So in this blog post this is what I am going to be doing.

The first film that I am going to talk about it Kill Bill vol.1.
In the film we are faced with a groovy kind of picture/setting in the beginning . This was part of the opening credits. When my class and I saw this we all came to the conclusion that it reminded us all of the James Bond opening as this is what we associated the swirly, groovy colours with as it was in a circular spiral shape. This is known as intertexuality because the director has borrowed bits from other films. We also concluded that the film was set in the olden days because of the kind of music that was being played in the background it was non diagetic sound as the music wasn't associated with anything on the screen. When that passes we also hear the sound of a woman panting but at this point it is still the opening credits so we are confused and unsure about what was going on. We then see why the woman is panting and it all becomes clear to us. The panting that was used in the opening credits was still being used as we were shown why she was panting. This is an example of a sound bridge because the sound from one scene is being continued in the next scene.
Also in the seen the director has used Low Key lighting. I know this because one side of her face is illuminated and the other side isn't. The side that we can see, we see that it is filled with blood this lets us the audience know that she can been beaten up or hurt.In the opening scene we also only hear the mans voice, we are unable to see his face so this leaves us in the dark about what he looks like and who he is to her. at the end when she says ' its your baby' before she gets shot this give us an idea that the man must be someone very close to her. In the scene we also see that he is wiping most of the blood on her face off. This gives us the impression that he must care about her a little bit because he is wiping the blood off her face for her, However this is contradicted by the fact that he shoots her in the head.

Here is the opening scene to Kill Bill Vol.1.











The second film that I will be reviewing is Drive
At the beginning of the scene all we hear is the radio and the match that is going on. When I was watching this I was uncertain as to why he had out the radio on, but while watching the film it became clear to me. The is also non diagetic sound on the background. This sound starts of quietly and works it way up getting louder at different stages. The Music starts off quietly, I associate this with the fact that the main character is aware that the real work is yet to come so he is keeping himself calm for the meantime. This is why I believe that the music starts off quietly. From 35 secs in the clips you hear the beat of the music coming in, I believe that the is used to symbolise the fact that he isn't feeling so calm any more. He is becoming more and more anticipated about what he is about to do.his face at that moment also shows that he is anticipating what is going to happen and also shows the nervousness that he is feeling. When the music is at its loudest that's when we know that ' it has all started' We also hear policemen talking over a walkie talkie, The main character has done this because he wants to be aware of the police's next actions and what they are currently doing so that he can avoid them. Through out this whole clip there is no dialogue between the people in the car. The only dialogue that we hear in the one between the police men through the walkie talkie and the radio commentating on the match. My class and I decided that this could be due to the fact that he was concentrating on what he was doing while trying to pay attention to what the police men on patrol were doing and also while he was trying to keep up with the match. So he didn't want any distractions.
At 2:17 mins in the film the music in the background starts to quieten down . This brings us back to what I said before about the main character feeling a sense of calm. Because at this point he is hiding away from the police and he knows that he cant be found by them. but afterwards, as he starts to drive away the music starts up again and gets louder. When watching this clip I associated the music in the background with his heart beat. When the music is at its loudest that shows that his heart is beating really fast and when its at its lowest or there's no sound at all that's what his heart is back to a normal speed and he is calm. In the background on the radio we hear the commentator say '10 seconds on the clock' this also related to the main character as he has 10 seconds to get where he has to be so that he is no longer wanted by the police.
However as he gets to where is needs to be in time, the music in the background is still playing. I decided that the music may have still been playing, as a way to show the audience that he has done it. It symbolises celebration. This is also reflected in the scene by the people that are around him. They are jubilating and celebrating because their team has won.
Here is the clip from Drive. This is a shortened clip from what I originally saw as I was unable to find the original one.

James Bond Thriller Analysis

James Bond

The character James Bond is based on a fictional hero in a series of short novels. The stories were created by Ian Flemming and is about James Bonds missions with the secret service.
All the books that he wrote were set between May 1951 and February 1964. All together he wrote 12 novels and 2 collections of short stories.

There are certain guidelines that were followed when making James Bond novels into films. In class we called these Recipes for James Bond Thrillers.
In all the James Bond films, he is depicted as a dashing, sexy, heroic young man (who is a secret agent) There is also always a villain who always has greater strength that James Bond (somehow he still manages to survive). As well as that, In the James Bond films there are a number of beautiful women that he will make love to in his films. There is always an exotic location that he goes to and several plot devices. Furthermore, there are always exciting stunt driven action in all the films.As well as that there is also always a famous pop sing that is used to promote the film; Like in Skyfall, the directors used the song Adele- Skyfall to promote the film. Moreover there is ALWAYS an opening action scene. When people see this they automatically associate it with James bond. Bond always gets trapped by his villains in his films and towards the end, he always overcomes the odd and triumphs - This usually happens on an island

We are now going to look at how some of these parts come into play in scenes from the James Bond film Quantum Of Solace

Through out this scene, James Bond comes across as less conventional and slick compared to the guy that he is chasing in the film. An example of this will be when James ran through the wall when, as compared to the other person who jumped through a gap in the wall. He also appears to have an excessive amount of energy. Whereas with the other guy we clearly see his tiring at certain point in the clip. There are several point of view shots that are used in the clip. One that stood out for me the most was when James had jumped over the gate and the other guy had run off. We see James look at a Bulldozer and us the audience are able to put together what his next move will be. One crucial scene which i think goes well with the recipe for a James Bond thriller is when he is cornered by his villains towards the end of the clip. He makes it look as though he has surrendered to them, but little do they know that he has another gun behind his back. He ends up shooting the one that he was chasing a shooting a gas cylinder with makes the place that he was in explode. When all the dust has settled and the villains come back to their senses, it is then that they realise that James Bond has escaped. I think that this is a perfect example of James Bond overcoming his villains and triumphing.

 Posters

In all the James Bond posters, he is depicted with women and a gun. This can be seen as quiet luring especially for someone who doesn't know what James Bond is all about. In a way this entices people to come and watch the film as they will be under the impression that it is all about woman and James Bond. However to people who already know what the film is about, they will already know that James bond films aren't all about the women and are in fact about James Bond, his missions and whether or not he will be able to overcome his villains( which he always does)

Here are a few examples of some James Bond posters.

Unknown Film Review

UNKNOWN

Heyy Guyss,

This week in media we finished off watching the film Unknown. When I first watched the film is left me quiet bewildered and confused as I wasn't completely sure about what was going on. I think that the director of the film done this very well as it keeps the audience and I captivated and intrigued to see what else the film had in store for us and also for us to be clear about what the film was about. The director done this very well by using a feature called the McGuffin. This is what the audience thinks the film is about when in actual fact the real plot of the film is about something completely different.

In the film there was one key element that I felt stood out and really pulled me into the film was the scene where 'Martin Davis' was supposed to be going for a scan, when in actual fact the person in charge of the scan had been killed; the person that had killed the woman in charge of the scan was after the main character 'Martin Harris' a really intense part of this scene is when 'Martin Davis' was reaching for the scissors in the woman's pocket. I was anxious to see if 'Martin Harris' would make it out alive. Something that I think really made the scene stand out was the deigetic sound that was used in the background it was a kind of confusing/ disorentated sound. This was used to show that 'Martin Davis' wasnt in the right frame of mind as he had been injected with something that made him weak so the diegetic sound that was used was a demonstration of this. Also the director used fast editing in this particular part which also emphasised the importance if him escaping and also emphasised the kind of anxiety that the character 'Martin Davis' would have been feeling. As well as that the fast pacing of that scene made us the audience aslso anxious and we wanted to see what would happen next.

McGuffin
In the film a McGuffin was used. The director used the idea of world food and a character called Prince Shalla which we thought is who people we after but in actual fact as the film went on we gathered that the film was in fact about the killing of Professor Bresller and the gathering of all his information. This feature was used really well as it is only when it gets to the end of the film that we are truly aware of what the film is really about. By the director keeping us distracted from the true motives of the film it also kept us hooked as we wanted to see what else would happen and more importantly, we wanted to see who 'Martin Davis' really was and if he would make it out alive.

Here is a trailer that shows some important scenes from the movie.



Camera Shots

Camera Shots

Last week in my media studies class we looked at the different camera shots that are used in films. These are what makes the films successful and also engage the audience with the film. 

In the lesson we were given a camera and tripod to film the different camera shots that are included in films.

Some of the camera shots that we included are:

Crane Shot

Pan

Zoom

Close Up 

Mid Shot

Wipe Pan 

At the end of the lesson we were also given the chance to edit what we had filmed on final cut express, it took some time getting used to but me and my partner both got the hang of it in the end.  Something that we used whilst editing what we had film on final cut express was the razor icon. It enabled us to cut out the unnecessary parts from the film and only include the necessary parts.

Here is what we came up with below..

North By North West - Alfred Hitchcock

North By North West Overview

A week ago in media we watch North By North West by Alfred Hitchcock. I found this film quiet interesting and intriguing because of the fact that there was a mix up of identities and the fact that no-one in the audience quiet knew what was going on in the film until a certain point in the film.

The storyline of this film that the main character Cary Grant is taken as a government assassin, the film is about mistaken identity. Cary Grant falls in love with a lady(Eva Marie Saint) who happens to be on his train who is in fact working for the government alongside the people that want to kill him because they believe that he is another person. The main climax of the film is when both Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint’s lives were both in danger. They end up triumphing over the villains in the film and also end up staying together as a couple.

Something that makes this film such a good thriller is the fast paced scene that all people who watch the film will remember. In this scene Cary Grant (the main character) is chased by a plane in a deserted location. This was done in an attempt to kill his because they believe that he is a government assassin when in fact he’s not.

In the film there is a resourceful hero, the hero comes in the form as Cary Grant. He is seen as the resourceful hero because he is able to overcome the plans of the villains. He is also able to save his life as well as the life of Eva Marie Saint.

In North By Northwest suspense is used. Evidence of suspense is the film is when we see Cary Grant being chased by the plane we are eager to see whether or not he survives. Another scene that contains suspense is when he was being chased by police around the train station. We are also eager to see whether or not he gets caught by the police. Which luckily in the film he doesn’t. Another suspense scene is when Cary Gant and Eva Marie Saint are hanging off the edge of a mountain this also makes us wonder if they will survive or if they will ever escape the situation that they are in. This is also known as the McGuffin because it is the major part of the story line; it is also the McGuffin because the main character is willing to sacrifice and do anything to obtain the main objective of the film.

    

The Birds - Alfred Hitchcock

The Birds

Today in Media we finished off watching the film the Birds, which i thought was quiet interesting and was good for soemthing of its time. I think that at the time this film was made it would have been quiet terrying for the people who went to watch it, but now as time has gone on the film doesn’t seem to be as scary as it was first made out to be. This could be because we are used to watching scary films/thillers so we have become more desensitised to it.

At the end of the film we wrote down  a few comments and notes about what make the film ‘The Birds’ an archetypal thiller.

·         One point is that in other thillers the threat is normally someone or something else, the threat isnt usually something natural because of this , this doesnt make it a very typical thriller.

·         Another point is that, Thillers are usually characterized by fast pacing frequent actions . An example that could be given is  when i Birds attacked Tippi, there were a lot of jump shots and close ups to emphasis what was happening and to also give more of an effect for the movie.  Another example of when this was done was when The Birds also attacked the school children when they were trying to escape, they used similar effects here to also emphasis what was happening.

·         In Thillers there is also always a resourceful hero who thrawts the plans of the more powerful and better equipped villans. This is true because Mitch is portaryed as a hero but however at the end  of the film it seems as if The Birds had gotten the better of Mitch and his loved ones because instead of fighting The Birds off he simply ran away from them.

·         Thrillers also use devices like Suspence, Red Herrings and Cliffhanger. This was used in The Birds. They used Suspence when Tippi was attacked by The Birds; we were uncertain as to whether Tippi would make it out alive or would die in the room. They didnt use any Red Herrings in the film because what was attcking was from nature (The Birds) and not something that was real e.g a human.

·         As well as that Thillers are also Thiller driven plots which presents obstacles that the hero must over come. The Birds are the driven plot because they are threatening the town. The film also uses a McGaffin. This is when there is a side plot. The side plot in ‘The Birds’ was Mitch and Tippi’s relationship, whether or not their relationship would survive through this unfortunate event.

Hitchcock commented about his own movie and said that ‘people go to the cinemas to get their toes dipped into the cold water of fear.’

Psycho - Alfred Hitchcock

Psycho

Heyy Guyssss,

Last week in lesson my class and I finished watching the 1960s film that was produced my Alfred Hitchcock which I found quiet interesting and also thought that it was something that was very good for its time. It was also written by Joseph Stefano and the main characters in the Thriller are Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh and Vera Miles.

The story line of the movie is ... That Janet Leigh steals money from a man who is going to buy a house, instead of taking the money to a bank she runs off with the money with the intention of running away to her boyfriend. Instead she decides to go back to where she came off but decides to stop off at a hotel while she’s on her way back.  The stops off at ‘The Bates Hotel’ but while there she ends up getting killed. Her sister (Vera Mills) goes out looking for her and gets in touch with her boyfriend in an attempt to try and find her. Janet Leigh and Janet Leigh boyfriend hire a detector to try and find her, the detector ends up getting killed as well. In the end they find out that the person who killed Janet Leigh and the detector was Normal Bates (the owner of the hotel) He had been impersonating his mother all this time and making it out that it was his mother that was killing all these people; they also later on found out that he was doing this because he had a mental issue.

What made this Movie such an Archetypal Thiller is that:
The external threat that was in this movie was from a man with a deranged mind

The thriller has quite a few face paced which is a theme that follows through in all thrillers.

The film demonstrates this by the shower scene, the staircase scene and the car scene.

However in all thrillers there is always a resourceful hero – but this isn’t the case in psycho as there isn’t a resourceful hero in the movie. Rather everything is revealed at the end of the movie Psycho wasn’t seen as any other ordinary thriller movie at its time. This is simply because Alfred Hitchcock goes beyond the expectations of an ordinary thriller movie that was released at this time. In the movie there are 2 major surprises. These are the shower murder scene and the revelation of everything at the end. What also makes it such an iconic movie is the early exit of Janet Leigh, this is very unexpected for the audience because the audience believed that Janet Leigh was the main character, this feature is a red herring because we thought that she was the main character and that the movie was mainly going to be centred around her. The screen play had tricked them. Because Janet Leigh has been taken out of the movie, the point of view turns to Norman Bates. In order for Alfred Hitchcock to keep the crucial aspect of the film a secret there were no advanced screenings and no one was admitted to the showing after the feature had started.

 

Welcome All!

Hello Everyone :D

This is my blog thriller. From now to May i am going to be posting blogs up to do with my AS media course.

Today in class we had to sign an agreement about the do's and dont's about doing AS Media and working along side with all the equipment that we will be given throughout the year.