Is key in portraying the theme of a thriller to the audience, music is mostly used in order to anchor an image on the screen.
For example much anchorage is used in ‘The Matrix’ to let the audience know that something is about to happen or be revealed.
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Genre:
war + action(hybrid)
- emphasised by the fact Cage is made of bullets, and he is also known for appearing in action type feature films
- Title ‘Lord of War’
- Strap line: Where there’s a will, there’s a weapon
Tone:
Sad, depressed, serious
- beads in eyes look like tears welling up
- frowning
- serious as the words ‘war’ and ‘lord’ are emphasised in a larger black font than the rest of the text
(to be continued…)
The title sequence fades in with the camera situated on the front of a car racing down a highway at night, with the titles flying in from the on coming darkness, as if they are signs on the road. The titles are also the same colour as the lines on the road which highlights this idea. The ‘car’ is also going extremely fast, driving in the middle of the road and at night, which presents an idea of danger and excitement, this is anchored by the fast paced music playing in the background. This sequence immediately links to the name of the feature film. The lack of vision created by the night suggest that the ‘car’ and driver may not know where they are going and this creates an enigma of where they are going to the audience, and also why are they driving so fast, maybe to get away from something.
The sequence then fades out and in fades a close up of a man who’s face is only dimly lit by the embers of a cigarette. Some electric blinds then turn on and let the sunlight into the room, revealing the man to be Bill Pullman playing the role of Fred Madison. He continues to sit, smoking in the silence until the buzzer for his flat goes off, breaking the silence abruptly. The audience then sees him slowly looking up at the buzzer with a confused expression on his face, as if he did not expect someone to be there. It then cuts to a point of view shot of the buzzer from Madison, and cuts back again to see him standing up and moving towards the buzzer, with a low chord being played in the background to prepare the audience for something, this is used a lot in thriller and horror genres, and therefore anchors the scene as that of a thriller. The camera cuts to a close up of Madison’s hands, whilst moving towards the buzzer, which makes it seem as if he is holding a gun, due to the positioning of his fingers holding the cigarette. He then presses the “listen” button to hear an unknown, deep man’s voice exclaiming that “Dick Marant is dead,” this creates several enigmas to the audience, of who is ‘Dick Marant’? Who is the man speaking? And why does it involve Madison? It then cuts to a medium close up silhouetted shape of Madison and due to his body language he seems to be taken aback by the information. There is then a pan and zoom shot of Madison walking, in the shadows, towards the window to see who buzzed him form the front door. A tracking shot, of Madison moving into a brightly lit room with a big window to see the door from, is used. Another close up of his face, and then a point of view shot of him looking up and down the road outside his flat is used. He starts to look confused and scared with the flitting of his eyes trying to look for answers. Whilst this is happening the low chord is still playing in the background to continually emphasise that something might be about to happen. The camera then cuts to a medium long shot of Madison from outside the window, and then cuts again to an extreme long shot showing Madison and the door where the unknown man spoke from. There is then a fade out, the scene ends.
The 30′ rule then comes in to play when the building fades back in at night. The camera then cuts inside the building to see Madison putting away a saxophone. Again a low chord is used in this scene and there is also some eerie piano music playing which creates a tense atmosphere, this identifies as anchorage. A women dressed in red with bright red lipstick, then comes into the room. This red connotes danger and blood but it also may portray the women to be the love interest of the film. Madison then walks up to her, and she asks if he does not mind her going to the club that night. It then cuts to a medium close up shot of Madison looking disappointed but and saying “what you gonna do?” Obviously wanting to know what else better she has to do. Madison then walks up to her and this shows her to be a lot smaller than him, towering over her, this suggests that she is weaker than him , and he has a lot of power over her. It cuts to a medium close up of the pair, he asks her what she is going to read, she laughs and he says he is glad that he can still make her laugh. He then says “that’s why I married you,” which shows that the two are married and the rest of the film maybe to do with them.
(concentrating on mise en scene, audience, constraints)
Constraints
- time, budget, technology, transport, location, cast
Mise on scene
- suits(power), guns(danger), trench coat(noir), drugs(illegal), poker(betting, living life on the line), darkness, stubble on 1 guy(different), setting, blinds, snooker table, expressions-calculating, 360 dolly shot,
Audience
- media studies group
- a mature teenage audience
- 20-30 year old men and or women(<-not sure yet)
Opening title scene from ‘District 13′, a French film directed by Luc Besson. going down small alleys and through corridors with titles fitting into the scenery.
Waking up scene from ‘The Matrix,’ directed by The Watchowski Brothers, after Neo is arrested and the virus is put in him, he wakes up as if it were a dream.
Tarantino films e.g Reservoir Dogs
Idea for thriller opening.
Camera leading down dark dingy corridor, credits going on wall NOT focusing on them but just passing by. Muffled voice of a man speaking get louder as going down the corridor, no people just the camera. Reaches a big door, camera fades through and comes into a dark lit room only with a snooker table light in the room, men standing or sitting round the table, camera focuses in on the man speaking. Camera starts moving anticlockwise as man is talking about robbery going to take place, as it passes the back of a person old style camera flashes and a slomo shot of the robbery in the future takes place. Goes back to table. This continues to happen as it passes around the table showing different stages of the robbery in chronological order, as it passes the last guy, shows a slomo shot of one of the men just shown, getting shot and falling to the floor. After or during man speaking says “and we’ll all be fine.” Man who gets shot then wakes up in the present and it is all a nightmare or dream, in sweat and then cuts out. End of…
Ideas from Alice, Gillian and Me.