Friday 12 February 2010



Thriller analyses




This is a good thriller as there was alot of mystery as we didn't know who the killer was. This thriller consists of red herring as it made us think that one person his the killer which he isn't. There is alot of suspense building our tension. The film creates a sense of normality as it represents a typical representation of how teen behaves. There is also actions a convention of a good thriller and alot of cheap surprise. There is alot of enigma codes keeping the audience wanting more.

Thriller analyses



Transporter is a good thriller as it features the code and conventions of a good thriller movie. This is so as it features action which thrills and keeping the audience on the edge of their seats. There is a lot of tension and suspense. It is clear who is the antagonist and who the protagonist is. However I would say that it is more a action than a thriller.

Wednesday 10 February 2010

Spy Game Review



I would say that this is a good thriller however you could argue that it isn't a good thriller as there are characteristics of a thriller that are missing such as it didn't build alot of tension and it didn't keep us at the edge of our seat and there was no cheap surprises. there wasn't much enigma codes.However there is a aspect of mystery which creates supense thus building the tension and it did build questions in our minds as at the start we didn't know what was happening. There were alot of action and is alot of fast pace. There is a sense of red herring. We have our protaganist and antaganist. overall it is a good thriller as it had most of the characteristics of a thriller.

Friday 29 January 2010

Past student work 'Spirit Walker'



This isn't a good thriller opening as there isn't a good storyline. The location and shot at the start was appropriate for the genre they were trying to create but everything after falls apart as it didn't go with the genre and its just plain boring. There is no enigma codes, no mystery, no tension and no suspense. The sound didn't go with the images and editing. The editing didn't create any meaning for the audience as they didn't produce any codes and conventions of the thriller genre. The title and credits are boring and I would award this a level 1 as there is no audience engaging.

Past student work 'Above The Law'



This a clear thriller opening as it gives a sense of todoror. There selected mise en scene is selected appropriately as they have used appropriate costume and appropriate locations for the type of genre they were portraying however the location seems to be more of a horror location than a thriller especially when they showed a shot of a isolated house. There are some enigma codes as there is a sense of mystery as there is restricted shots of the victim but there much tension produced. The music didn't create any tension or suspense. There isn't a variety of shots. Also the driving scene went on too long and then I think it's a bit confusing as the antagonist left the victim in the car he got to the destination so the audience would be asking how he get out of the woods, although you could say that is an enigma code. I would award this a level 2 just scraping level 3 because of the mise en scene.

Thursday 28 January 2010

Past Student Work 'The Gardner'

This could be considered a good thriller because it is clear who the antagonist and protagonist are and the start had good opening shots. The titles and introduction of credits are boring and might put the audience off. The use restricted shots on the antagonist makes it a good thriller opening as we don't get to see who the antagonist is which builds questions building the tension and creating suspense. The music as it create a sense of normality, theatre of the mind. The music also creates a sense of unease which build tension as it makes the audience uncomfortable which creates suspense. The use of the graphic match of the red rose was use productively as it could foreshadows death building tension. The props and mise en scene was used productively as it matches with the story-line. However they should have used different music as it went on too long and when the protagonist was running a different music should have been used to build tension. I would award this thriller opening a level four.

Wednesday 27 January 2010

Production log

27/01/10 Production stage-pre production
Today in our groups we came together to develop a logo for our production company and designed our institutional logo for our production company. We also had to do a little portfolio and research on our the type of audience we are planning to target and on the type genre we are doing.

29/01/10 Pre-production
Today we discuss the what makes a good treatment and the conventions of a treatment for a thriller movie. we also analyse a treatment to see whether it was a good or bad treatment. After this we started to produced ideas for our own treatment for our thriller.

02/02/10 Pre-production
Today we finished our treatments and did any further adjustments needed before we pitch our treatment to the class.

03/02/10 Pre-production
Today we pitch our treatments but there was complications which our classmates helped us to point out so we discuss what we had to do to solve these complications or change the treatment. We also listened to other students treatments to see if there ideas were up to standard and any feedback needed.

05/02/10 Planning
Today we came up with a ideas as our first one wasn't working for us. After this we started to discuss our new treatment and shot types we plan on using. We also assigned different tasks to each group members. After this was sorted we started story boarding.

08/02/10 Planning
Today another member of the group and I went find locations for our film.
09/02/10 Planning
Today I finished writing the opening sequence and uploaded our recce locations and say why we chose these locations. I also finished and uploaded our audience profile.
10/02/10 Planning
Today we finished off any unfinished work such as images for recci for both individual and group blog.
12/02/10 Planning
Finished unfinished work and I upload images of props we are thinking of using when filming which i research on the internet and copy the images.
24/02/10 Production
Today we started filming our project where I was the camera person for filming some high angles of the girl walking in the car park unfortunately a group member forgot the tape so we i had to improvise and use a camera.
1/03/10 Production
We return to our first location as the first footage wasnt good enough so I had to re shoot the high angles for our CCTV footage however for some of the shots I switched role as some of the shots weren't high enough where the other group member was taller than me to reach the height that we wanted so I was also director.
2/03/10 Production
Today another group member and I let down our group member because we were absent.
4/03/10 Production
Today I was both director and camera person as I couldnt do all the shots. We shot our actor in the tube station walking up the stairs from high angles and another group member shot the low angles of her feet. We also went on the train to shoot establishing shots, the actor getting on the train and off the train and so on.
8/03/10
Other group members uploaded the footages that we had while I was taught how to use live type for our credits which we then experimented on.
9/03/10
Today we went Canery Wharf,London bridge and Waterloo to shoot as many shots as we could where I was the camera person.
10/03/10
Our role got switched today as I was the actor for the stalker role in our last scene.
12/03/10
Today I filmed the assassin changing.
15/03/10
we uploaded footages.
16/03/10
Did some more shoots of the last scene where i was both camera and actor.
17/03/10
Redo the changing scene for the assasin as the first ones weren't good enough where I was the camera person.
19/03/10
Uploaded footages today and editing.
21/03/10
Filmed close ups of screens in the security box where I was the camera person.
22/03/10
Redo the close ups and did some shots of my hands opersting an technology and redo the killing scene where I was some times the actor and some time the camera person.
23/03/10
We started editing and making editing decision together.

Tuesday 26 January 2010

Thriller opening



This is a good thriller opening because it gives a sense of equlibrium. However the tracking of the guy on the bike makes it abit boring because of the long pace this scene but it got more interested a it continued. The music that was playing when they were beating the guy creates tension. It is also good as it shocked the audience for we didn't expect a guy to suddenly fall off a bridge and hanging. I believe this is an unconventional thriller because it juxtaposition the villian as we had expect the villian to be in dark clothing whereas he was in white. the opening brings theatre of the mind because the audience is wondering what the guy face looks like after getting beaten and if he's dead and it is conventional that there is abit of violence(action). The use of the props-guns shows us that it is a action thriller. Inprovements that i would offer is with the titles and credits because they are boring.

Monday 25 January 2010

Thriller opening



This isn't a good thriller opening because it wasn't clear who our protagonist and antagonist were. The scene where they were jacking the track carried on too long and extended and there wasn't no tense music to go with the action that was taking place. The opening confused the audience as we didn't know what was going on which you can say that it creates a bit of mystery which is a convention of a good thriller.
The only think that makes this a good thriller opening is the type of fonts that were used to introduce titles and credit as they were used creatively and effectively as the reflected what the film is about.

Thriller opening



This is an example of a good thriller opening because of the tense music building tension and suspense for the audience as it got more and more dramatic. There were conventions of a thriller such as action codes keeping the audience on the edge of there seat and building our tension and there waas theathre of the mind. the editing also shows that it is a good thriller opening because of the fast pace I think it was creative how they gave the audience a taste of the action and then they introduce the credits and titles with a upbeat and mysterious soundtrack that goes with the action that they were showing. Another convention we are introduced to is the protagonist.

Se7en trailer

Kemisha Graham
Se7en Essay
In Se7en I will be attempting to look for the specific points that makes up a thriller. In my essay I will be outlining the different aspects of the film and why these aspects makes it a thriller. I will be analysing the macro elements of the film. I will be looking at how the characters are represented, the type of genre the film falls in, the target audience for the film and the narrative structure of which the film is told. After I have identify these macro elements I will be supporting them with the micro elements which are Mise en scene, Cinematography, editing and the sound techniques. I will be looking at the specific codes and conventions and the effect it as upon the text.
The film Se7en(1995) is directed by David Fincher. He has directed other films such as Alien 3(1992), The Game(1997), Fight Club (1999), Dangerous (1993) (Michael Jackson) the short films, Aerosmith: Big Ones You Can Look At (1994) and some of his most recent films are Panic Room (2002), Zodiac (2007) and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Several of his film falls in the thriller genre as Se7en which he works with similar actor such as Brad which connotes that he is a professional. The film Se7en features actors such as Brad Pitt who is detective Mills and Morgan Freeman who is detective Somersets the two main protagonist in the film, Kevin Spacey the antagonist these are the main characters in the film. It also features actress Gwyneth Paltrow who is Detective Mills wife(Tracy Mills). This as an effect upon the film because they are all great superstars that have been stared in other dominant movies. So these actors would have already have a large fan base which connotes that the film will attract a lot of audience. Also because they were in major movies the audience will say that the film will be good because they are good actors and that films they have watched with them were good so they would like to watch this film. The production of this film was done be New Line Cinema. This is one of one of Hollywood major film studio. It is a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment, marketing home video. New Line Cinema as produced film such as Lord of The Rings trilogy to commercial success. Other film it as produce are Rush Hour, Return of The King. The film Se7en was well received and the critics gave it 84%. The film was rated 8.6/10 and was given a MTV movie awards as best movie.
The target audience for this film are people who are interested in psychological problems. This is because of Jon Doe so they might be interested on the intellectual and complex way Jon looks at life. It is also targeted at young adults mainly male age 25-45 who is interested in thriller films. It will attract the young audience because of the physical action scenes in the film. It will attract a older audience for they may identify themselves with the young Brad Pitt, they might see a similarity between them and Morgan Freeman for he is old and retiring in his job which they will be doing soon or as already done so. The film also attracts females as well because of the young actor staring in it mainly because of Brad Pitt. It may also attracts people who are interested in the detective profession because of the investigations and because they are interested in Law.
The film Se7en is a told in todorov narrative/classic Hollywood structure. This is when a film starts off with a state of equilibrium. This is evident for at the start of the film there was a sense of normality. This is represented when we denote the actor (detective Somerset) in scene one getting ready this is where we meet one of our protagonist, we know he is our protagonist because he was putting on a white shirt and is house painted white which connotes purity and innocence. Then we found the first victim and then the investigation begins which is normal.
The Director uses restrictive narrative of both the protagonist and antagonist. Restrictive narrative when the audience knows what the characters know we see it through there eyes. This is shown in the final scene the director does this to build suspense and a lot of POV shots were used so we could see from both of them point of view so we could place our self in their shoes.
There was a lot of cross cutting and close up shots between Jon and Mills. We are mainly shown a specific part of the body in a close up mainly the face. The director does this to create tension and to show the emotion of their faces. For instance the part where Jon was telling Mills about what he did to his wife and baby and Mills running it in his mind.
In the second to finale scene where both the protagonists and the antagonist was driving to their destination here a lot of restrictive shots were used on the antagonist face and body. This was used to show the expression and emotion of his face and his body language where we denote the antagonist on the edge of his which kept us on the edge of our seat, it made us exciting asking our self why is he so excited, making us think what is going to happen.
The director uses a lot of enigma codes which puzzled us. These are techniques used to build suspense and questions in the audience mind. This is evident in the scene where the detectives got to search Jon's room which was a dark and mysterious room where there was red lights which connotes blood shed and the part where a detective told Mills that they couldn't find any finger prints. The fact that they could not find any fingerprints in the room shows that they were dealing with a professional.
The film was told in a linear structure. Linear is when the story goes in a chronological order. We are shown in scene 2 for the victims are shown in order of death and the killer gives clues of the next victim.
There is also a sense of omnicent narration. Omnicent is when the audience knows more than the characters in the film. This is evident in the scene where Somerset looks in the box and says that Jon as the upper hand and also when Jon was telling Mills that he admires him. Here we got a clue that he did something to an important thing in Mills life but we could say that it is restrictive as well for we don’t know what was that important thing.
The genre of this film is Crime thriller. This is a sub genre which are crime and Psychological thriller. Crime thriller are based on killing and psychology thriller are based on mental illness of the antagonist which is the reason they are killing.
The codes and convention of a thriller which are used are action codes this is shown in the scene when Detective Mills was chasing Jon Doe. For in this scene there was a lot of tension because of the music for it makes us say that something big is going to happen now which made us excited. Also in this scene it creates red herring. This is when the director makes us believe something is going to happen but it didn’t. For instance we thought that the detectives was going to catch the criminal but they didn't and also we think that Jon Doe was going to kill detective Mills when he placed the gun at his head after beating him up in the alley and he didn't. In this scene the shot was restrictive for we didn't see the face of Jon Doe and it was low angle to show that he is powerful which creates even more tension and suspense for the audience.
Also it creates a bit mystery in the mind because here we didn't know he was the killer so we ask ourself why his he running when he saw the detectives at the door.
The director also uses cheap surprise. These are techniques used to trick the audience. For instance the SLOTH scene we thought the guy was dead but he wasn't. This is evident where the body was on the bed and one of the police officer was looking at him close up telling him that he deserved what he got and then the victim coughed.
The Director uses the environment in which the movie is set to evoke the genre. Throughout the film scene 1-20 but mainly in scene 3 (Wednesday) where detective Mills was in his car it was always dark and gloomy and raining. This connotes the problem and troubles the detectives are going through. It connotes the deaths that are happening and the deaths that are waiting to happen. This evokes the genre because it creates mystery.
However in the finale scene the director uses establishment shot. A shot used to show the atmosphere of the environment in a film. The director does this to show the environment as changed as there is no rain and it was in the desert so it is outside the city, for it is spacious and deserted, it contrast with the other scene for all the other scene was done in the city. This connotes that the film was coming to a climax and that the problems will be solved for we denote that this scene was bright.
Visually detective Mills is presented as a firey, passionate and angry guy. Verbally he's always swearing. He is easily aggravated and agitated. This is shown in the scene where detectives Mills and Somerset was on the stairs after they found the SLOTH victim and the reporter came and he was getting angry at him and Somerset was telling him to calm his self down and that he shouldn't get emotionally attach to his work. We also learns that he's an impatient guy in the scene where he kicked down the door of Jon Doe after Mills told him that they have to get restraining order.
In contrast detective Somerset visually is presented as a calm and controlled guy. We mostly see that he is in control in the finale scene where he looked in the box and ran back to Detective Mills trying to calm him down after finding out that Jon Doe killed is wife. We see that Detective Somerset doesn't allow his emotions to get can't up in his work. He is the opposite of Detective Mills. We also visually saw his personality through the environment he lives in which his shown in scene 1and 3 where he is at home which shows he's a well organised guy. Also in the library scene here we learn that he's in his job along time which means he knows things. Also that he is older that Mills it show that he is more knowledgeable than Mills and will be more able to deal with difficult situation.
Jon Doe we verbally learned that he think he's a righteous man and also we learn that he is intelligent. Thinks that he is a messiah. The Director uses enigma codes to show the personality of Jon Doe. This is evident because in the scene where we find the finger prints that read HELP ME where we thought the Detectives are going to find the killer but instead we found another victim. This shows that he uses mind games which we also could say that from this we learn that he is mentally ill. Also that the Director uses religious tools such as preaching used as teaching to show his personality which also gives clues that he's not well in the mind. He chooses is words carefully which connotes that he is intellectual, this is shown in the scene where they were in the car talking. Visually we can see that he is a calm and confident man. Also in the finale scene we denote Jon Doe in a red prison suite where the red signifies danger and blood spilt which connotes that Jon is going to die. We also learn that he is patient and careful for the fact that he planned the killing and playing with the detectives mind. This is shown when he left fingerprints behind the painting which wasn't his.
The film Se7en is a complex thriller film because it provides the codes and conventions that makes a thriller. The aspects of a thriller are that a thriller is suppose to create theatre of the mind, and have a storyline. The type of sound, the setting which suppose to build tension, suspense and mystery. The audience are expecting action, and keeps us on the edge of our seats. This is clearly evident in Se7en for it creates a lot of tension and mystery and it intrigued me. This is different from other thriller film because in most thriller films there is a lot of actions which mostly excites the audience but in Se7en there isn’t much in this but it still excites us.

Thursday 21 January 2010

Thriller Fonts













I think these are good thriller fonts because they are creative and they scream excitment. I believe that they can be used in an artistic way to introduce the credits of the films if used productively.