Vertigo
1. Who is being represented in the opening scene? Are these representations positive or negative?
In 'Vertigo' a woman is being show and the camera is in a close up of her face, the camera only focuses on the woman's facial features so this is a negative representation because the camera isn't paying any attention to any other aspects of the woman.
2. What titles for each opening look like? Does this tell you that it is a thriller genre?
The typography in the opening is just the outline of the letters, the transitions vary from zoom out to zoom in and vice versa. The colour is white on black so the colour is very dark and minimal. The font type could make you tell you that it is a thriller because of the dark look that it has.
3. Analyse the camera, sound, editing and mise en scene. How do these technical areas make you aware that this is the thriller genre?
The camera was mainly a close up a woman that looks nervous, she is constantly looking around her environment because she could be paranoid, this could make the audience think that something is about to happen. The music is a mix of calm and panic, the simple high pitched beats remain throughout the whole opening and then, a sudden loud horn type instrument ruins the harmony which could be considered to be a type of warning noise. The editing is simple, after the close up of the lady we are then brought to a black screen where there are spirals spinning around they frequently change shape and colour, this could symbolise how there is no escape of what is coming up and we are being drawn in by the spirals, we are then brought back to the woman's eye and then the opening is completed. The mise en scene is simple because there are only two elements which is the woman and the spirals.
4. Does the narrative in the opening scene match the conventions of the thriller genre?
The opening sequence to Vertigo is a good example of an opening to a thriller film because the dark colours and ominous spirals and music helps to make the audience feel on edge and build the element of surprise because they think something is going to happen next. The close up to on the woman's scared face makes the audience confused because they don't know what is going to happen next.
5. Which production company made the film? How might this affect what appears in the film?
Paramount productions produced Vertigo.
6. What do you think might happen in the rest of the film? Give brief suggestions
I think that the woman could have a role in the film, judging by the name of the film in the spirals it could possibly have something to do with heights, the protagonist could have a phobia of heights and has to overcome it to do what he has been assigned.
Jaws
1. Who is being represented in the opening scene? Are these representations positive or negative?
In the beginning there was a first person camera shot of what we can only assume is the shark itself swimming through the water, whilst we are witnessing this the music we hear is dramatic and slow at the beginning which hints that something is going to happen soon. We are then brought to a bonfire with teenagers drinking alcohol, from this we can see that they are irresponsible. The two that ran off to go swimming in the sea would be considered more irresponsible because they ran off alone whilst drunk to swim in the sea at night,
2. What titles for each opening look like? Does this tell you that it is a thriller genre?
The typography of the opening scene in jaws was simple and faded in and out, there was no music when the text came in and it then the music slowly started to rise in volume and the rise of volume from the music usually signalled the next title to fade in and out.
3. Analyse the camera, sound, editing and mise en scene. How do these technical areas make you aware that this is the thriller genre?
The camera in the very beginning of the opening works well for the thriller genre because the first person wading through the water looks like it is stalking someone and the movements help to create the feel. The sound works well at the beginning because the music helps to create a sinister feel combined with the camera work. Then as we are brought to the teenagers the camera scans the bonfire party and focuses in on two characters, this makes it obvious that something vital is going to happen to these two characters, the diegetic sound is a loud harmonica with muffled laughter and voices, this is a great difference from the beginning because this now puts the audience at ease. We are then brought to a calm sunset scene where the woman is swimming in the sea and the man is asleep on the shore. The first person point of the shark watching the woman swimming is good because it builds up the tension because it gets closer and closer and the music that rises in tempo the closer you get. The sudden silence apart from the diegetic sea currents helps to create the oblivious state of the woman until suddenly she starts getting dunked and forcefully thrown around the water. the high pitched music is very faint but works because it is showing how quick and sudden it is as she is dragged under the final time the music stops and we are shown the man sleeping peacefully on the shore. This is clever because they let the audience figure out for themselves what has happened in the scene rather than actually showing them, this lets the audience use their imagination which is far more powerful because it can now effect different people in a different way.
4. Does the narrative in the opening scene match the conventions of the thriller genre?
The opening for Jaws matches the conventions of a thriller because of the surprise and shock that builds as the shark is approaching its victims. The music helps to increase the tension and builds up the tension until the initial attack which creates the terror.
5. Which production company made the film? How might this affect what appears in the film?
Universal Studios and Zanuck/Brown Productions produced Jaws.
6. What do you think might happen in the rest of the film? Give brief suggestions
I think the rest of the movie will have more deaths due to the shark and it will have a protagonist that will try and kill the shark but the protagonist will have many problems trying to kill the shark, the protagonists weakness will be exploited and will be one of the main reasons why they are trying to kill the shark and on of the main reasons they have difficulty killing the shark.
Children of Men
1. Who is being represented in the opening scene? Are these representations positive or negative?
There is a man who enters a coffee shop and he makes his way through a crowd of people that have gathered to watch the television, from this we might say that he isn't a very caring person because he doesn't pay to much attention to the television that is explaining about the death of the youngest person alive, he leaves the coffee shop and this idea of him continues throughout the opening of the film.
2. What titles for each opening look like? Does this tell you that it is a thriller genre?
The titles are in sans serif font and are bold, the black and white colour scheme shows the simplicity and doesn't distract to much from the narrative, it somewhat builds the tension because it doesn't give us an idea of what is coming next which puts us on edge.
3. Analyse the camera, sound, editing and mise en scene. How do these technical areas make you aware that this is the thriller genre?
The camera starts in the coffee shot in a high angle shot which can represent the medias authority and power over the general public, as our main character enters the shop and leaves the camera follows him out of the coffee shop and along a smoggy London street where an explosion leaves us confused, the smoke clears and as we begin to collect ourselves we see a disfigured figure emerge from the bombed building. The narrative could be heard by the characters because it was being played on the television, the loud explosion noise was sudden because the silent atmosphere that was created ended and then we heard screaming, this temporarily puts us on edge. The London streets look really familiar and this can benefit us because we would feel a familiarity because we would recognise the big red buses and the London architecture so we can relate to the characters. This was a long clip and it didn't cut once, instead it spun around the main character
and started to track him from the front.
4. Does the narrative in the opening scene match the conventions of the thriller genre?
The opening to Children of Men was used to set the scene and the date of the setting whilst giving us the first look at what we assume is our protagonist.. Unlike the other openings of the films there is no music, instead we can hear the reporter from the television and the protagonist gets tracked with one long clip instead of fast editing like the other films. The explosion was a good element because it made the audience jump because it was so sudden and the puts questions in our head as to why there was a bomb, who did it etc.
5. Which production company made the film? How might this affect what appears in the film?
Universal Pictures, Strike Entertainment and Hit & Run Productions produced Children of Men.
6. What do you think might happen in the rest of the film? Give brief suggestions
Judging from the narrator and all the people making such a big deal out of the youngest person on earth dying even though he was in his twenties shows that possibly humans are unable to reproduce. This could start a story of how people try to find a cure or find a way to help humans reproduce again, however, the explosion in the beginning still is a question that remains unanswered.
Se7en
1. Who is being represented in the opening scene? Are these representations positive or negative?
There are a pair of hands doing various tasks during the opening sequence, the hands are rough big and the nails were dirty and untrimmed, we can say that his is a man because of the size of the hands. The things that he was doing was unusual which could make us think that he isn't mentally able in some areas. We can say that he has murderous intent because of the dripping blood and pictures of dead bodies we can say that he has mental disorders because he finds no problem killing other people.
2. What titles for each opening look like? Does this tell you that it is a thriller genre?
The typography looked messy and they jolted back and forth, the types had little splatter coming out of them which could represent paint or ink which shows that it was scruffily made which ties in well to the action happening on screen. It could also represent blood which could give the audience a clue of what type of film it is and what is going to happen in it. Finally, it could represent barbed wire which is usually connected to prison and control.
3. Analyse the camera, sound, editing and mise en scene. How do these technical areas make you aware that this is the thriller genre?
His house looked untidy, cluttered and dirty, this shows that he doesn't care about himself because he is preoccupied doing something else, the editing shows faded writing in the background, this could show the mans dedication for what he is doing. The transition from each shot is quick and it jolts back and forth, this makes the audience feel like what he is doing is rushed and he is in a hurry to finish what he is doing because it is important to him, also it make you feel like something is is going to happen at any second and that it would be evil and twisted.
4. Does the narrative in the opening scene match the conventions of the thriller genre?
This films opening fits well into the thriller genre because of the low lighting and the music and fast editing. The close ups of the mans work shows that he is frantically working hard which could show obsession and other mental disorders. This provides a good basis for a thriller film because now the audience are already creating questions that need answering such as why and what he is working so hard on.
5. Which production company made the film? How might this affect what appears in the film?
Cecchi Gori Pictures and New Line Cinema produced Se7en.
6. What do you think might happen in the rest of the film? Give brief suggestions
The film opening shows a man working an dreading and highlighting certain words in a book. We can see that he has murdered people because of the pictures of the dead bodies, we know he isn't a police officer because the room he is in and that it is all
untidy.He might go on to kill other people in the film and then there will be a police officer or detective that tries to stop him and finds it difficult to find him, or the killer plans to kill that particular police officer.
Panic Room
1. Who is being represented in the opening scene? Are these representations positive or negative?
We are introduced to this film with an establishing shot of New York, after a set of establishing shots we hear a few lines from a woman who we can only assume is the main character, because of the establishing shots we can say that she is a business woman and is a serious character who is focused on her job.
2. What titles for each opening look like? Does this tell you that it is a thriller genre?
The opening of the film gave us a look at the typography, the typography was a Serif font which showed it was a serious film and fit in with New York and the business feel. The text looked as if it was actually influencing the environment because it was 3-D and there were reflections on the buildings windows and shadows.
3. Analyse the camera, sound, editing and mise en scene. How do these technical areas make you aware that this is the thriller genre?
All of the camera shots were done with an aerial establishing shot, from this we now know that it is set in New York, the slow moving camera combined with the orchestral music built a good feel for a thriller film. The editing was conventional and just changed between different establishing shots. The shots were of a traffic filled New York City on a particularly gloomy day which makes a good opening for a thriller.
4. Does the narrative in the opening scene match the conventions of the thriller genre?
The opening to this film is more to set the scene rather than to create tension, however, the low key lighting is effective because it creates a gloomy feel and makes the film seem darker and more serious already.
5. Which production company made the film? How might this affect what appears in the film?
Columbia Pictures Corporation, Hofflund/Polone and Indelible Pictures produced Panic Room
6. What do you think might happen in the rest of the film? Give brief suggestions
Judging from the Title and the setting I would say that a business woman of some kind that lives in New York City gets trapped in a room and could be trapped by certain people or tortured in that room.
