11. 9 Screen Shots From The Dead Zone

1. My first shot is of a large old fashioned American house. I think it is effective because of the use of colour. It is quite a dull looking image, as in it looks quite dark. The sky is an ominous shade of grey that promises rain and the silhouette of the trees and the black on the house are both quite an inky colour. This makes it seem deeper and gives the image more depth. The house also looks empty and isolated.

 

2. In this second shot, two shapes have appeared on screen. In the foreground, you can see wheat and in the background, there are trees and fog. The crops and the colour of the trees indicates that it is autumn. The fog in particular, makes the image look mysterious and creepy. I like this shot because it is a very well composed image and it is mysterious too.

3. In this shot, more of the black shapes have appeared and I really like the growing mystery with the shapes. It makes the watcher wonder why they are there and what their significance is. The colours in this shot are similar to the previous shot and this indicates that it is from the same place. The colours are all quite faded and they have an orange/red tinge to them. In these images, you either don't see any people or they are only in the distance and this gives the impression of isolation and abandonment.

4. Because of the grain in this shot, the watcher gets the impression that the image is old. The fencing and the trees make the place in the image look isolated and closed off, giving the impression of secrecy. All the colours in the image look like they could be bright and cheerful but they are dampened and this makes it darker and gloomier.

 

 

5. More of the black shapes have appeared and they are starting to form the outlines of something. In the image, there is the sweeping corner of a road that disappears behind a wall of trees. The watcher doesn't know where this road leads and they can't see what they are heading towards. The road is abandoned and the way it is surrounded by trees makes it look secluded and scary.

6. This is the first shot where you can really start to put together the shapes and see that they make letters and words. I like this because it is forming the title and it is also very mysterious. In the background, we see a small country road, trees and power-lines leading to a house. The scene is very gloomy and the place looks unwelcoming.

7. The title is becoming clearer and clearer as the shots progress. I like this shot because of the simplicity of the image in the background. Everything above the 'equator' of the image is just trees, but below the equator, we a road and two people on motorbikes/scooters. Their size in comparison to everything else makes then look vulnerable or unimportant.

 8. The title is finally complete and this is when it has started to shrink toward the centre, giving the impression that it is moving away from us. The background image is more trees, fog and houses in the dull and gloomy colours that are featured through-out the opening sequence of this film.

9. The title has continued to shrink and it is fading out and we see an old fashioned school. I like this shot because it is clear that the movie is about to begin because the image is quite different to the others. The colours are clearer and the image looks sharper. I also like the way that the tree frames the image and I think that this also create a connection between all the previous images and this one because they all have trees in them.

10. Textual Analysis of 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' Title Sequence

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Title Sequence

The title sequence for the 2011 film adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo directed by David Fincher uses CGI to create a nightmarish sequence of images. The majority of the title sequence is in various shades of inky black and grey but the colour is made to look slick and shiny by having light coming from different places. Apart from the black/blue colour of the oil, the only colour is the bright orange of fire. This helps to make the fire stand out and gives it a more of an effect on the watcher because it is what you immediately notice as it is a stark contrast to the dark colours you are used to seeing. Not only are the objects in the pictures various shades of black but the background is also black and the models are coated in a black, oily liquid which is a computer generated image (CGI). Light shines from different angles and gives the oil a slick look which helps with the liquid effect. The oil effect is described by the creators as ‘that viscid, black ooze that seeps into everything, penetrating crevices, dribbling into lips and eyes, suffocating and sensual and silent. Each ebony form is made osmotic — surging and melding, torn apart and punctured, ensnared, set ablaze — thrashing in the deep. Through flashes of embers and murk, sticky vines creep, hands grapple, foul petals unfurl, and sable fists inflict their fury.’

The movement of the camera follows the direction of the oil and creates a flowing, oozing effect that looks like it consumes everything in its path. Close-ups of objects shows great detail and the textures of the scales in particular make the image interesting, dynamic and dangerous. To make certain images look more intimate, the camera angle is up high and when they are trying to make something look more ominous or dangerous; the camera angle is low and looking up at the subject.

Sound is important in this title sequence because of the tie between it and the editing. The music is ‘Immigrant Song’, originally by Led Zeppelin but in this case it was the cover by Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Karen O. The fast pace of the music was thrilling and the vocals is mostly just desperate howling and wailing. This gives the music a nightmarish quality that darkens the title sequence even more than the colours and images. There is a very strong drum beat which paces the sequence well.

The editing is very well synchronized with the beat of the music and therefore the editing is quite fast, especially at first. At the start of the title sequence, the images fade in and out really quickly with the beat, producing only flashes. After these first few clips of film, the majority of the rest of the editing is cut straight. There is also some cross-cutting for example, where is goes from the start of a clips of the fire spreading to a clip of people moving in the oil and then back to the fire spreading etc. To carry on with the oozing and liquid style of the opening sequence, they have used a dynamic, flowing font that moves too.

 

 

9. Graphic Breakdown of 'Panic Room' Title Sequence

8. Identifying Traits Of Thriller Movies

Thrillers movies tend to be adrenaline-rushing, gritty, rousing and fast-paced. They aim to heavily stimulate the viewer's moods, causing them to feel uncertainty, anticipation and a heightened expectation for fear and terror as well as excitement, suspense and tension. There are ten main subgenres for thrillers;  comedy thrillers (e.g. Mr and Mrs Smith), conspiracy thrillers (e.g. The Da Vinci Code), crime thrillers (e.g. No Country For Old Men), erotic thrillers (e.g. Chloe), legal thrillers (e.g. The Jury), political thrillers (e.g. Notorious), psychological thrillers (e.g. Panic Room), spy/espionage thrillers (e.g. Hanna), supernatural thrillers (e.g. Chronicle) and techno thrillers (e.g. I, Robot).

"The primary elements of the thriller genre:

• The protagonist(s) faces death, either his and/or her or somebody else's.
• The force(s) of the antagonist's must initially be cleverer and/or stronger than the protagonist's.
• The main storyline for the protagonist is either a quest or a character that cannot be put down.
• The main plotline focuses on a mystery that must be solved.
• The film's narrative construction is dominated by the protagonist's point of view.
• All action and characters must be credibly realistic or natural in their representation on screen.
• The two major themes that underpin the thriller genre are the desire for justice and the morality of individuals.
• One small, but significant, aspect of a thriller is the presence of innocence in what is seen as an essentially corrupt world.
• The protagonist(s) and antagonist(s) may battle, themselves and each other, not just on a physical level, but on a mental one as well.
• Either by accident or their own curiousness, each character is dragged into a dangerous conflict or situation that they are not prepared to resolve. "

(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_(genre)#Suspense)

From this research, I can see that we will need to choose a subgenre that will help us to determine the way we make our opening sequence. It is clear that building tension is very important but it is also important to have a sense of mystery that keeps the watcher hooked and interested.

8. Research For Film Brief

I have done some research on movies that are similar to our idea and I found three in particular that I thought were good examples. I think these will be useful to show the different possible ways we could start our film and the arrangement/order of the production info etc.

Gone (2012)
Gone follows the story of Jill and her sister Molly. Jill was kidnapped and thrown in a hole in the woods, filled with other bodies. She was the only one to escape and he comes after her again. However, when he finds that she isn't home, he takes Jill's sister, Molly. No-one else believes Jill so she tries to find her sister herself and ends up being chased by the police because they think that she is just a crazy woman with a gun.

Gone Trailer

 



Prisoners (2013)



This movie is the story of two families who come together on Thanksgiving. Their youngest daughters are allowed to go back to the visiting family's house but they never make it. They are both kidnapped and this movie follows one of the fathers as he takes drastic measures to find the two little girls with the help of a detective.

Prisoners Trailer

 

Taken (2008)

Bryan Mills is a former CIA operative who sets about tracking down his daughter after she and her friend are kidnapped by human traffickers while traveling in France.

 

Taken Trailer

 



6. Our Film Brief

We have decided to do an indie thriller about someone who is different from everyone else. We thought that this film brief was open to a wide range of ideas and angles that we could pursue. We chose this film brief because it was an area that we all found interesting and had many ideas for. Our idea is similar to the story told in 'The Jelly Baby Task' that we made. The idea is that we have two girls, best friends or sisters playing together (eg. in a park or house). We would establish the relationship between the girls and put the watchers at ease however the story quickly changes. One girl is taken or goes missing and the rest of the film would be about finding her and getting her home.

We would use fast editing and shots from a hand held camera to build tension and even point of view shots from the perspective of the kidnapper, looking out at the girls. By never showing the face of the kidnapper, we would be building tension and fear levels because you don't know who they are but you know that they are the bad guy. High angle shots of the girls will make them look vulnerable also. Lighting and colour will help us to establish who is good and who is bad. The girls will be in bright clothing and out in the sunlight, whereas the kidnapper will be wearing dark clothes and he will stick to the shadows (eg. under trees, behind corners etc).

Our idea has been accepted by Mrs Black :)

5. The Jelly Baby Task

We had to create a set and story for our jelly babies. We decided to make our story a thriller. Our first two shots had a blue sky, in the other three the sky is black. We thought this would reflect on Yellow's mood and the intentions of the two other jelly babies. Also, places are much scarier in the dark and shadows make people paranoid. The final three shots were building up tension as well as solidifying Red and Black's bad guy persona and the impression that Yellow is innocent and vulnerable. This makes you feel fear when you see the final shot where Red and Black confront Yellow. We used music and speech to help create a tense atmosphere and to help the story flow better.

"This video follows the story of Yellow and Orange, two little jelly girls who are playing at the park when they notice a man hiding behind a tree. The man jumps out with a knife and kills Orange. Yellow is sad and scared and she keeps noticing two men following her. But what will they do to her?"



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4yZVCTkBzo&feature=youtu.be