one story that really captured my attention this week was the story of the man who was jailed after he beat an intruder who tied up and threatened his family at knife point.
munir Hussein was jailed and later released along side his brother, the reasong i thought that this would make a great thriller was that there was later many twists to the story added and covered the front pages of all the major newspapers.
if i was to make this story into a thriller i would start of my opining sequence with flashes of tabloid headlines, photographs and even shrot video clips of mr munir being put in jail and being found guilty, however to make it more interesting i would make all the headlines and vidoes be for mr hussain and not against him, with people pressing the courts to let this "inocent" man free.
After this title sequence witch gives the audiance the wrong impression of mr hussain the story will begin.
in the newspapers after mr hussain was released the tabloids stated that the reason for the intruson was that mr husain was alegidly having an affair with the intruders wife, although the papers state that this isnt the case i thought it would be an interesting twist in the story, with the operning sequence making him out to be this heroic brave man the narritive thn changes and through out the film mr hussain will be revealed as an adultring dark buissness man court up in a world of voilence and drugs.
There are many current events that are happening in the UK as well as the rest of the world which could be taken as inspiration for the group coursework. This post will hold many stories that are in the news which could act as my inspiration.
One example of this is the recent story of the mother who has been held in custody after the police found the bodies of her two children Harry and Elise Donnison in the family car in Sussex. On wednesday, the mother was taken to hospital after self harming herself, possibly wanting to commit suicide and she was arrested after going to the police station to report 'an incident' which lead to the discovery of the bodies.
Another story that is the well known, is the on going disaster of the Haiti earthquakes which
has left chaos all over the country. It has led to mass deaths (well over 200,000) and about 1.5 million are homeless, famine and total poverty over the whole area. Looting and crime had risen dramatically and officials said that thousands of prisoners were unaccounted for as the main prison was destroyed. The first main earthquake which was 7.0 on the scale has caused nothing but devastation for Port-au-Prince and the rest of Haiti.
There are many other crimes that have happened recently which could inspire the path in which our group may take when creating the sequence. In Scotland, A man was jailed for life (28th January) after stabbing a woman 22 year old Lithuanian called Victorja Surgontaite because she had criticised him in front of his friends.
Also the most brutal and disturbing case of recent times is the case of the Edlington brothers who brutally tortured two boys, none of them had even reached their teens yet. It involved cigarette burns, the boys being taken to a isolated wood ravine where they were strangled, stripped and sexually assaulted. Also the elder boy sustained head injuries when he was hit on the head with a ceramic sink.
These current events that are happening an all contribute to the idea stage of what we are going to do for our own sequence in terms of what type of scene we should do and how we should portray it.
In the BAIT tutorial lesson, we were taught how to use the Final Cut Pro editing software to edit different clips together. One tool was the 'Razor Blade' tool, this is used to put a clip in between another clip. We also learnt how to drag clips with double headed arrows to change length. Some of the other skills we learnt include: layering clips, dragging clips onto the time line, inserting clips into a sequence and marking in & out points in the viewer window. We also learnt how to use Screen Grab. Screen grab is achieved by pressing Shift then Command (cmd) and 4. The lesson was very fun and not only did i learn great skills to use in Final Cut Pro, i also learnt how to use Final Cut Pro for the first time. I also enjoyed making a little scene out of the clips we used to learn the Skills.
today in class we learnt how to use final cut pro through a tutorial and developed my skills by hands on practice with using the program.
some of the skills that i learnt to use include:
Using the razor tool: the razor tool allows the user to cut into existing cuts and place different shots within the sequence without missing any of the existing clips and can make a sharper more desirable cut.
using the arrow tool : by using the arrow tool and depending in witch direction it is facing you can change where the actual cut and the existing edits are placed, if the arrow is pointing toward the right all the existing clips in the time line will move towards the right and if the arrow is facing downwards the clip will not move and of the existing clips and it will just place next to the others on the timeline.
marking in and out : using the I and O keys you can mark in and out of any original clip , this cuts sections of the clip that you wish to be in your sequence and when dragged from the box using the arrow tool it can be added to your sequence in any place of the timeline.
the double arrowed tool: the double arrowed tool can be used when you want to lengthen or shorten a clip that is already on your timeline dragging it to the left or to the right to change the length of the clip.
layering clips: when dragging clips onto the timeline they can be added to any of the top layers above your sequence , in final cut pro the top layer of the sequence will always be played over the original sequence on the bottom layers.
Match cuts : i learnt how to used various different camera angles and clips to match the motion of the actors and make the cuts look "invisible" and flow throughout the final cut.
In class we were taught how to do the basic's on Final Cut Pro. I learned many things such as how to use the razor blade tool to cut scenes, mark in and out points in the video viewer and drag clips with double headed arrow to change length. Also I learned how to drag clips on to the timeline, insert clips into a sequence and layer clips.
The razor tool allowed me to cut existing clips that was already on the timeline and when marking in and out points I used the 'I' and 'O' keys to mark each points.
Using the skills I had learned, I managed to create a scene where a drunk man came into a cafe and ended up taking a little boy's lunchbox. Using match cuts and various other things that I have learned in this tutorial I managed to create a free flowing scene. Screen one is the viewing of the raw clip and the second one shows the clip that you have created and edited. This was my introduction to Final Cut Pro and I enjoyed doing this.
This is meant to convey the word disorder. This photo was designed to show Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is an anxiety disorder which is a person's intrusive thoughts that produce anxiety for the person involved. This relates to why they tend to repeat their previous actions in order to reduce their anxiety. They range from hand washing to extensive hoarding. This photo shows OCD through the objects such as the highlighters and pens being put in colour order and aligned straightly by Yasmin (shown here).
The mid shot of the citylife on the borderline of Islington and City reflects the urban lifestyle around this area, as the skyline of tall buildings and even in the sky line the 'Gherkin' is visible. As you can see the main road, showing the accessiblity of this area for workers to get to work.
As you can see more vehicles than pedestrains on the road, highlights the fast pace of life in the city and how time is an important aspect in the city, as speed is everything to workers.
For example, the post delivery needs to deliver parcles on time to sustain, its trade with Businesses.
This image is a picture representing Paranoia. Paranoia is highly influnced by fear or anxiety of something or someone. It often leads to delusions and irrationality caused by the persons fears and persecutory thoughts of perceived threats towards them. This image shows a hand with long nails that could show the persons fear of being alone and percieveing that there is a threat towards them. The fact that the hands are coming round the door, adds to the fear as this would make the paranoid person more delusioned.
to make this picture euphoric we made a main focus of the eyes, we used wide eyes to make the person look very spaced out to give the impression of bliss, if we had used slightly closed eyes it would of given of a more sleepy feel.
the other main focus in the picture that we used to create a euphoric atmosphere is the lighting, we increased the lighting and made it very bright so that the picture has a euphoric feel because bright lights are always considered as heavenly.
Action Thriller - the main feature which is frequently shown within this sub-genre is a "race against time". Amongst this, other features include lots of violence and a villain/bad guy. They also contain huge amounts of guns, weapons, explosives as well as elements of mystery. An example is the series of James Bond films.
Conspiracy Thriller - this is normally when a "hero" confronts a large and powerful person or group of enemies. Examples of this may be the film The Bourne Identity.
Crime Thriller - this type of thriller is combined with the crime genre and it usually goes over the psychological aspects of criminals etc. The main topics for these films include murders, terrorist acts and robberies. An example of this is the film Seven.
Disaster Thriller - the main cause to the thriller is some sort of natural or artificial disaster such as floods, earthquakes or nuclear disasters. An example of this the 1974 film called Earthquake.
Drama Thriller - these films are usually slower paced than other types of thrillers and it has many twists within the plot. An example of this is the film The Interpreter.
At this moment in time, I am most inspired by the action and conspiracy sub-genre films. This is because the types of camera shots and editing features together creates fast paced, action filled film. These types of films create continuous suspense for the audience and keep them at the edge of their seats. I watch many films of these two sub-genres and I think that these are the best types of films all in all.
Die Hard 4.0 is an action thriller film directed by Len Wiseman and distributed by 20th century fox in 2007, is another film in the Die Hard franchise. Detective John McClaine (Bruce Willis) brings justice to a new breed of terrorists which are world class computer geniuses when a massive computer attack on the U.S infrastructure threatens to shut down the whole country over Independence Day weekend and attempt to get away with millions of dollars. With the help of Matthew Farrell (Justin Long) who is a computer 'wizard' himself, they join forces to take down the bad guys. This action thriller which is mainly from McClaine's perspective features many scenes where suspense is created and here I will just explain one if those.
The clip towards the end of the film where McClaine, Lucy and Matthew are held captive by the two villains created a lot of suspense for the audience as there are many questions and doubts can come from it. For example, the main question could be will they survive? or will the FBI save them in time? The camera, editing and sound techniques along with mise en scene create this suspense.
The wide shot that shows McClaine attempting to get up after he is shot shows that the main man who the audience thinks can save the day is hurt. Also the low angle that the wide shot is filmed at creates the sense that McClaine is now the vulnerable one in the situation along with Lucy and Matthew. This is further shown when the high angled shot of Gabriel gives the audience the feel that he now has the upper hand and authority over the situation. The tracking backwards on what seems a handheld camera when Gabriel is pulling McClaine up from the floor portrays that the situation is now uncertain. the mid shots of McClaine being held at gunpoint by Gabriel and the mid shot of Lucy at gunpoint creates suspense for the viewer because the situation makes them doubtful about what will happen next. As the clip that builds up suspense comes to an end, the close up of Gabriel when he is pointing the gun at McClaine's shoulder shows his emotion of hatred and total control as he is set on killing him. Following this, comes another key camera shot as it creates a peak of suspense for the audience. The extreme close up of the gun being fired where McClaine's shoulder makes the audience wonder if McClaine is dead or alive, leaving the kind of cliffhanger of that scene.
Editing also plays a big part in the build up of suspense.
This can act as a false plateau for some viewers as they may think that he is going to die but in reality, they will find out later that he doesn't. The short cuts created to show everyone in the scene quickens the pace of the scene and makes it more 'in your face' and real for the audience. Also the match cuts within the clip such as when McClaine is pulled up by Gabriel and when the gun is focused on McCaine's shoulder puts emphasis on the situation and how McClaine is so close to being killed. This then creates more suspense and the 'heart stopping moment' because they wonder how the outcome will be and they don't trust their judgement of what will happen. Following this, the continuous cross cutting between McClaine and Gabriel and lucy with the other villain at gunpoint quickens the pace and creates the 'thriller' moment. The dramatic non-digetic music that is played throughout the scene and the worried voice dialogue and sobs from Lucy show that she is scared which is empathised with, would affect the audience and therefore make them uncertain of what may happen. This is also supported by the shaky and fearful dialogue of Matthew when he replies to Gabriel in the clip. Also at the end the 'heart stopping moment' is further induced by the stop of the non-digetic music and the sound effect of a gun firing. This leaves the audience wanting to know id McClaine has been killed or not.
The setting of the scene is a deserted, naturally lighted warehouse, allowing the the audience to assume that the location is secluded and hard to find which adds to the uncertainty of the turns of events. Also the appearance of the car makes it seem that the location is even more isolated. Authority is shown by the appearance of the characters. For example, the 'villains' are all smartly dressed in black shirts, trousers and shoes which shows that they don't do much dirty work and have some kind of authority whereas the 'good guys' are shown to be all sweaty and in dirty clothes. Especially McClaine as he has blood all over him and his ripped, dirty clothes. This shows that he is worn and tired, therefore following the assumption to the audience that he may be too tired for fighting and is therefore vulnerable. With this in mind, it could yet bring more uncertainty for the audience as they continue to wonder about the outcome of this scene.
All of this, (camera, editing, sound and mise en scene) all contributes to the explanation of why this film is a thriller and creates a lot of suspense for the audience throughout the film, this clip being just one example.
In Die Hard 4.0, suspense is created in many scenes throughout the whole action thriller. Just one example of this is were a video package is shown to the whole of America and it shows the White House being blown up. The camera work within the clip is essential for the creation of suspense for the audience. For example, when the video is being shown on the television screens, it shows many medium close up's of the man in charge of the investigation and John Mclain so the audience can see their main emotion of pure confusion when the video is first shown. This shows that the FBI doesn't know what is going to happen next and therefore the feeling of suspense for the viewer increases. This is because there is no indication as to what will happen next. This is then widened out as a wide shot of the cafe shows that they are not the only one's who are confused about the sudden change of program on all channels. The digetic sound/music that is in the background of the clip is first ordinary instrumental music which resembles the American anthem but as it goes on, the music starts to get deeper and more quick which fastens the pace of the clip, leaving the audience in doubt of what is going to happen next. On the video clip of the white house, there is typed messages that ask rhetorical questions aimed at the public. This further creates suspense because their doubts of what is going to happen next would increase. Also the sound bridge of the music links all the different locations together which creates tension and further brings doubt to the viewers mind. When the White house is shown to have exploded, the explosion sound becomes the action part of this action thriller. The zoom in on Mclain and Matthew shows their absolute fear that the one things they want to protect is being destroyed live on air and the handheld camera shots showing the senior FBI agent run out of the cabin quickens the pace of the clip as well as the short cuts in editing. The handheld tracking of Mclain running also creates suspense because the audience doesn't know what he will find. Also the dramatic music is still rising the suspense and curiosity of the viewer. Then at the end of the clip when the panning to the left shows the White House is still intact, the suspense of the clip finally comes to a close. All of this part of the clip creates a false plateau because the viewer thinks that the FBI including Mclain will find the White House blown up in pieces but really they don't.
In summary, the meaning of suspense revolves around the apprehension of an audience which is driven by them feeling uncertain about what may or may not happen in a scene. Suspense is frequently used in thriller movies such as "The Shining" (1980), "Psycho" (1960) and "Silence of the Lambs" (1991) and they have proven to fill audiences with doubt and uncertainty about what will happen next. The "bomb theory" by the director Hitchcock gives the audience a lot of information that the characters do not no to make the scene more tense.
'What Lies Beneath', 2000 is an American Supernatural Thriller film directed by Robert Zemeckis, is about a couple played by Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer, who realise that past secrets caught up with their present future.
The shots are mostly from Claire’s point of view, as they are shot from her perspective as the plot is surrounding the demonic spirit of Norman’s former lover, as she is living through Claire. The scene shows Claire tries to call 911 but then Norman appears behind her, as she realises that the emergency number was not called. The shot of Claire holding the phone is a close up, signifying the importance of this call she was going to make. The aerial shot of Claire crawl on the floor, as Norman watches from a very high camera angle on the stairs, which highlights the vulnerability of Claire under Norman control. The cutaway of Claire’s face in the bath, then the camera went onto the shot of her toes, which takes the audience’s attention away from the main plot this when the camera goes onto another subject. The two shot of Norman looking at Claire, then Norman lifts her neck up and sees the supernatural flashes of the ‘corpse’ in the bath, which creates tension as Norman gets a freight and bashes his head on the basin.
The panning of Claire walking up the stairs into the landing and then her bedroom allows the audience to think something is going to happen (false plateau). The ellipsis of Norman appearing behind was shocking as the audience did not see he coming from as far and it seem very supernatural to Claire and the audience, which increased the pace of tension and made the audience want to know what will happen next. The shot reverse shot of Claire in the bath looking at her toes as the water is rising, rapidly. This shows her fear, as he thinks she is going to drown. As Claire is being drowned in the bath, the low angle shows the power that Norman has over Claire, who is shot from a high angle, as she is vulnerable to the dominance that Norman has power to the fate of whether she lives or drowns to death. What Lies Beneath uses the style of director Alfred Hitchcock with demonstration of establishing the 'Hitchcockian' motifs, where the blonde woman in peril, the deceptive leading man and the misleading MacGuffin . For example, 'Psycho'(1960) this illustrates the bathroom as a significant location where the climactic scene that sees Claire drugged and left paralysed in a running bath by Norman. The scenes of her fingers reaching out, her eyes frantically staring and her breath gasping are reminiscent of the iconic scene featuring Janet Leigh murdered in the shower in Psycho. However, Marion Crane died in the film but Claire does not die.
The mise en scene of the couple living in a detached house, as this shows they are a stereotypical affluent middle class couple, who live in the suburbs. This illustrates that that not every wealthy couple has a happy home life, which contradicts the stereotype of rich people having all the happiness in the world. Claire is in a white nightgown, which her character as she is vulnerable to Norman‘s dominance over her as she drugs her. This displays her weaken against his control and makes her character powerless to evil mind of Norman. The character of Claire is a contradiction as she is blonde and is not naive like a blonde bimbo. Also, she is being manipulated by Norman’s behaviour but she is quietly smarter than him as the ‘corpse’ flashes in Norman’s face that frightened him. In the bedroom, as she tries to dial emergency number 911, however the tension is created by the realisation of 911 not being dailed.
The sinister non- diegetic music when Norman appears behind Claire, creates a sense of fear for the audience, which is a scene of false plateau. In the bathroom, the diegetic sound of Norman’s voice on the phone as he explains to the doctor that Claire is not feeling well. This uses the ‘Bomb Theory’ as it gives the information to the audience about what is going to happen next but Claire does not know.
The film I watched in class, 'What lies Beneath', was what the task was based on to list examples of how suspense was created.
The first example was Norman appearing at the back of the car, this was scene was an example of the false plateau. False plateau is when you think something is going to happen but it does not happen.
As an example, the lady sees another woman crying then walks up to the hole and sees the garden moving.
Also, when she jumps into the lake and finds the box at the bed of the lake.
the film created suspense in various different ways, for example in on of the scenes the camera used a medium close up of the bath, by having the camera so close to the water the audience is forced to draw its attention to the water and because it is water covered with fog there is a distorted vision of what is in the water and leaves it up to the audiences imagination, this scene also creates suspense because it lingers on the bath and doesn't cut away to any different objects or images.
