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.