Wednesday 22 February 2012

Thriller title sequence analysis

Jaws

1. Who was represented in the opening scene? Are these representations positive or negative?
In the opening of the famous movie Jaws, directed by Steven Spielberg, the audience see a group of young teenagers. However they are shown in a rather negative and stereotypical way such as smoking and under aged drinking. They are also shown as immature kids who visit parties and become drunk. This is a rather negative and stereotypical view on teenagers as many older people believe that teenagers act like this.

2. What titles for each opening look like? Does this tell you that it is thriller genre?
In the opening of Jaws the colour of the font is white. This could be to represent innocence as the victims who are devoured and eaten alive where naive and innocent as they never knew of the monster that lived below them in the water. Furthermore the font used was quite sharp meaning that I had sharp and pointed edges, this could be to represent the monsters teeth as sharks are know to have very sharp, white teeth. Also the font tells you that it is a thriller genre as the main context of the film is about a monstrous shark that eats many innocent people, so it could be used to tell the audience the dangers of Jaws.  

3. Analyse the camera, sound, editing and mise en scene. How do these technical areas make you aware that this is the thriller genre?
A film is mainly recognised for the famous actors that star in it or the soundtrack. Obviously the main theme tune of Jaws is a highly popular tune composed by a very well known composer John Williams, creator of the Star Wars and Jurassic Park theme tune. This tune makes the opening scene very dramatic and creates a lot of suspense for the audience. The very famous and low pitched "DA DUM" makes the film seem dark and mysterious and indicates that the genre is indeed a thriller. Then this tune starts to speed up creating a lot of suspense for the audience and also conveying the idea of danger.

The point of view shot from the camera that is used makes the audience feel like they are swimming through the ocean. This helps to set the scene and makes the opening seem realistic. Furthermore in the mise en scene the audience can notice sea anemone's and rocks. These are items that you could only find at the bottom of a river or ocean thus setting the scene and indicating to the audience that they are in some kind of water.

4. Does the narrative for the opening scene match the conventions of the thriller genre? How?
The narrative of the scene does in fact match the conventions of a thriller. firstly the audience are led to think that there is no danger, however the audience can then hear the sound of screaming from a young girl, this alerts the audience and makes the opening seem dark and sinister, thus matching the conventions of a thriller genre.furthermore when the young girl is suddenly dragged around in the ocean it is so sudden that it makes the audience feel scared and slightly uncomfortable. finally the music used in this scene matches the conventions of a thriller as it is fast paced thus creating tension and suspense. 

5. Which production company made the film? How might this influence what appears in the film?
The movie Jaws was made by Universal, a highly popular film company who also produced films such as Jurassic Park and Back to the future. because this film company is fully developed and highly popular they will have a much bigger budget than films who are with smaller companies, this means that the special effects and costume designs will be much more professional and realistic than in other movies.

6. What do you think might happen in the rest of the film? Give brief suggestions.
from this scene it is quite easy to decipher what will happen in the rest of the film as the audience have already witnessed the first victim to get torn apart by the great white shark. furthermore the title also helps the audience to understand the context of the film as it is called 'Jaws' which is usually related to a large predator. so simply, in the rest of the film more people get eaten. By a big shark.


Children of Men

1. Who is being represented in the opening scene? Are these representations positive or negative?
In the opening of the film Children of Men the audience first see the general public. Here the general public are represented in a positive way, they are conveyed by showing them all grouped together in a small local cafe looking up unto the tragedy that they see before them, in sorrow and despair thus telling the audience that the general public care of others around them and are not self centred or emotionless. Furthermore this group of general public has a very wide variety of different people. Some are from diverse backgrounds and races and they are all from different age groups, thus portraying that the city of London, the location of which the film is placed in, has a very diverse range of people.

2. What titles for each opening look like? Does this tell you that it is a thriller?
The titles in this opening sequence are quite simple. The typography is very clear and easy to read and it is coloured white. This could be to represent innocence as in the opening sequence a cafe is bombed containing many innocent victims inside. Furthermore this colour could also be used to hide the genre of the film, meaning that it could be used to make the audience think about what type of genre this film could be and what will happen next.  This is a good technique as it keeps the audience guessing and held in suspense.

3. Analyse the camera, sound, editing and mise en scene. How do these technical areas make you aware that this is the thriller genre?
At the very beginning of the film there is silence as the film distributors and their logos are revealed. This silence creates suspense and makes it more dramatic for the audience as it makes them wonder what will happen next? The narrative we hear makes the audience listen rather than watch. It makes the audience think what the context of the film is, for example what is it about and what will happen next?

4. Does the Narrative in the opening scene match the conventions of thriller genre?
In this particular film the narrative does match the conventions of a thriller film as  much as the other film openings.  From the narrative the audience can understand that the context of the film as that of death and tragic murders, just two out of the long list of thriller conventions. furthermore it has the element of surprise as the sudden explosion in the cafe shocks the audience. lastly the opening is misleading as it makes the audience believe that it is safe and nothing out of the ordinary will happen and so the scene takes the audience down a wrong path.

5. Which production company made the film? How might this influence what appears in the film?
The company of which made the film Children of Men is Universal. as I said before because Universal is such as a massive film production company they have produced many famous films such as Jurassic Park and Back to The Future giving them a good reputation, this will affect the production as it will also give it  good reputation as it is produced from such a popular film company.

6. What do you think might happen in the rest of the film?
From the opening you cannot really tell what will happen next. However you can decipher the obvious things such as ambulances and police arriving at the bombed cafe. Yet apart from the obvious you don’t really know what will happen next, leaving the audience on a cliff hanger and in suspense.

Se7en

1. Who was represented in the opening scene? Are these representations positive or negative?
In the opening scene of the film Se7en the audience doesn’t see a character but only there hands. Even though we cannot see the face of the character we can find a lot about the character. For instance we can tell the character is a male as he has largely sized rough hands whereas a woman would have small dainty, clean hands. Furthermore the audience get a rather negative feel of the character as they see him doing strange and abnormal things. From this opening scene we can tell that the character portrayed to us could possibly be a doctor or some kind of inventor of some sort who is clearly slightly deranged.

2.  What titles for each opening look like? Does this tell you that it is a thriller?
In this opening the titles are messy and look like scribbling, almost as though they are hand drawn. The font of the titles seems to be scratched in making the opening rather unpleasant and creepy. This font does indeed tell you that this production is a thriller as it is designed to look unfriendly and dangerous.

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 non-digetic music used makes the opening dramatic and builds tension. the unusual and strange music makes the opening seem strange and uninviting. also the use of low key lighting creates a dark and mysterious effect and also makes the opening seem scary and sinister. lastly there is not much dialogue in this opening, this could be to get the audience to focus on just the main character and to take in the surroundings around them.

4. . Does the Narrative in the opening scene match the conventions of thriller genre?
in this opening the narrative does match the conventions of thriller. this is because it includes rather disturbing images and soundtrack which makes the opening seem rather erie and uncomfortable. furthermore it creates an enigma in the audiences mind as it makes them think about what is going in, what can they see and what is the main plot behind this scene. 

5. Which production company made the film? How might this influence what appears in the film?
the production company which made this film is New Line Cinema. this film company is not as popular as Universal or Paramount, however it is still quite a well known company. They may still effect the production by changing the plot of the story or the characters. This could be because they want the film to be a success so, with their smaller budget; they will try to do anything they can to improve it so they can overtake other film companies.

6. What do you think might happen in the rest of the film?
From what I and the audience have seen it is quite difficult to think of what happens next as you don't get much to think about. this leaves the audience in suspense as they will be wondering "what’s happening?" "What will happen next?". This will then draw audiences in as they will want to find out more.

 
Panic Room

1. Who was represented in the opening scene? Are these representations positive or negative?
The typography used in Panic Room is tall and elegant, portraying possibly a character with high authority and a high status. the font is also a metallic silver with pointed edges which gives a cold and hard feel to it and makes it seem dangerous. The titles however do not tell the audience that it is of a thriller genre. that is because the font used is sophisticated and does not show any signs of thriller. The titles do however tell the audience that the film is set in New York as the titles are placed at the sides of high sky scrapers and buildings in the city of New York.

2. What titles for each opening look like? Does this tell you that it is a thriller?
The typography used in this opening scene is rather tall and sophisticated. This could suggest that the main characters are of high authority. Furthermore the typography has hard edges and metallic giving the opening a cold feel to it.  This tells you it is a thriller as  it is cold and harsh and creates a sense of danger.                                

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 non-digetic music played makes the film seem dangerous. This is because of the fast paced violin and the low pitched instruments used. the fast violin creates suspense while the low pitched instruments give a feeling of danger thus portraying to the audience that the production is a thriller genre. furthermore at the end of the opening scene the directors name is revealed along with a very long and low pitched sound, this shows the audience that there is a sense of vulnerability.
the low angle shot used makes the audience look up to the titles, this then makes them feel vulnerable and powerless. then the high angle shot used gives shows lower authority making the audience look down upon the titles giving them a higher status and making the characters seem vulnerable and of low authority.  

4.  Does the Narrative in the opening scene match the conventions of thriller genre?
the narrative does match the conventions in this opening as it includes a fast paced soundtrack which creates a lot of tension in the scene. also the different camera angles and shots of the various buildings doesn't give the audience  much information to decipher what will happen next and so plans an enigma in their minds and have to guess what is going to happen and to who, thus matching the conventions of a thriller. 

5. Which production company made the film? How might this influence what appears in the film?
The production company that makes this film is Columbia. This will effect toe film as, since Columbia is a popular film company they have enough funding to put into the film and even to withdraw. If they decide to withdraw there funding, which could be because they believe that the film will not do well and so will not gain them any profit, then the film will suffer greatly as they need a budget to create the film for the special effects and costume designs. Furthermore if a production company withdraws findings from a film because they do not think the film will be a huge success then it will give the film a bad reputation as so other production companies will not want to invest in it and audience wil not want to view it.

6. What do you think might happen in the rest of the film?
it is unclear of what may happen ;after on in the film as the audience are given very little. However, since the opening scene is based in New York City the thick of the plot may take place in perhaps an apartment in the city itself.

 

Vertigo

1. Who was represented in the opening scene? Are these representations positive or negative?
in this opening scene the audience see a young woman's face, the camera then zooms onto her eyes. The young woman is wearing clear make up. This shows the audience that she is simply a normal young woman and is very feminine thus showing her innocence. Furthermore the audience are left wondering who this character is and whether she is an protagonist in the plot of the film.

2. What titles for each opening look like? Does this tell you that it is a thriller?
The typography used in this sequence is white; this could be to show the characters innocence. It could also represent the victims of the film, showing that they are pure and innocent. The typography used is rather large and is harsh and square. this could portray the dangers in the film. Furthermore at the end of the opening the audience see 'ALFRED HITCHCOCK' in block capitals. this could be so it can stand out, also it is placed right at the very end of the opening so that it can stay in the audiences minds throughout the film. Furthermore all names in the opening sequence are in block capitals, this is so it sticks out amongst the spirals. however the titles do not tell the audience that this film is  thriller, however when the audience sees Alfred Hitchcock's name appear they will soon realise that it is as Alfred Hitchcock is most popular for his thriller films such as Physco.

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 soundtrack, composed by Bernard Herrmann, used in this opening scene definitely makes the audience aware that is of a thriller genre. This is because the low pitched horns makes the sound tack seem dark and eerie and gives the audience a sense of danger. Furthermore the soft and fast paced sounds of a harp is heard, this is used to create suspense and builds tension. the use of the woman is very iconic as she represents innocence and possibly the victims. it also conveys to the audience that there is a sense of danger  and suspense is created. furthermore the spirographic imagery used is one of hitchcoks famous works. 

4.  Does the Narrative in the opening scene match the conventions of thriller genre?
the narrative does match the conventions of thriller as it makes the audience think about what is going on in the scene. furthermore it makes the audience think about who this character is and how she is connected to the plot of the film. 

5. Which production company made the film? How might this influence what appears in the film?
the production company who made this film are paramount pictures and universal pictures. this influences the film as they are both very popular distributors. so many people will want to view the production as they know that the distributor has a very successful line of films that they produce. 


6. What do you think might happen in the rest of the film?
it is very difficult to say what might happen in the rest of the film. this is because not much information is given to interpret what is happening. however from the character we can see that, in the film there will be target or victim that will possibly be in danger.