Enigmas

This refers to a puzzle, something mysterious or inexplicable, or a riddle or difficult problem.
In thrillers this is commonly something which the protagonist has to try to find out or solve before the narrative is resolved and the films finishes.

Narrative- Structure, formulas and devices

For example:
Automatic use of 'continuity editing'.
The clear establishment of 'cause and effect' plotting which establishes character motivations and helps tell and interesting story which proceeds logically and steadily.

The 'Pychological' Thriller

The suspense created by pychological thriller often comes from two or more characters preying upon one anothers minds, either by playing deceptive games with the other or by merely trying to demolish the others mental state.
Sometimes the suspense comes from within one solitary character where characters must resolve conflicts with their own minds. Usually, this conflict is an effort to understand something that has happened to them.

Hitchcock 'Maguffin'

A Macguffin (sometimes McGuffin or Maguffin) is ba plot device that motivates the characters and advances the story, but has little other relevance to the story.
'We have a name in the studio, and we call it the 'MacGuffin'. It is the mechanical element that usually crops up in any story. In crook stories it is always the neck and in spy stories it is always the papers.'

Rope (1948)

One of the clips we watched in class was from Alfred Hitchcocks film Rope. It tells the story of two young, wealthy man, Brandon and Philip. The 2 men murder their best friend just to see if they are able to get away with it. They then invite other close friends ( incuding the murdered man's parents) to their appartment for a dinner party, whilst hiding the body in a chest box in their sitting room, just to see if they can get away with it.
The suspense is created through the body in the chest box.

Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock was a well known film maker from 1925-1976. He was born in Leytonstone, England on the 13th of August 1899. In 1956 he became and American citizen, whilst remaining a British subject. Over a career spanning more than half a century, Hitchcock fashioned for himself a distinctive and recognisable directorial style. Alfred Hitchcock was the master of suspense whose films came to be the benchmark for psychological thrillers. 
"The only way to get rid of my fears is to make films about them"
"There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it"
"If its a good movie, the sound could go off and the audience would still have a perfectly clear idea of what was going on"
"Always make the audience suffer as much as possible"
"I am a typed director. If I made Cinderella, the audience would immediately be looking for a body in the coach"

Prelimanary task final film

Preliminary Task Filming

For our preliminary task we are expected to show that we can successfully show that we are able to use a match on action shot, keep within the 180 degree rule and show a shot reverse shot. we have chosea storyline that can be short and sweet.

editing:psycho

The editing in Psycho when Marian is killed is different to that of Source Code. It is alot more efficient than Source Code.
This clip shows this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VP5jEAP3K4

editing:source code

In lesson we watched the trailer for Source Code. We watched it to analyze the editing that was involved in the trailer. There are 2 aspects of editing the speed of editing and the style of editing.In the 2 and a half minute trailer, there were over 150 edits. After watching the trailer we then analyzed the first five minutes of the film. We then discovered that there were less edits in the first five minutes than the trailer as it is a longer sequence of film. There is more edits in the first 5 minutes than in the trailer as the film the filming can take a lot longer with the speed of their editing. The style of editing used in both the trailer and the first five minutes is rapid/fast pace editing.

Mise-En-Scene: Source Code

Recently in our media lesson we watched the Film "source code". Source code is and Action Thriller. we watched it to help us establish what sort of criteria is expected when we make the opening sequence of our Triller. we had to analyse the first 5 minutes of the film, concentrating on the Mise-En Scene and Camerawork throughout it. At the start of the film it shows the train that is going to feature throughout the rest of the film. Constantly changes from the train to the skyscrapers of Chicago, USA. The shot then goes to Jake Gilyanhall daydreaming on the train. There is very vibrant colours inside the train. All the extras on the train are positioned where people on a train would be. The costume of the the passengers is modern. Many of the passengers are dressed in office clothes, which is relevant as they may be the train to work. The body language of Jake Gilyanhall is almost like he is an agitated and confused person, he is constantly fidgeting showing this.

sound

There are two types of sounds used in films and tv shows.
There is contrapuntal sound which is sound where the picture doent

Casino Royale the opening sequence analysis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epxYm3OouQA

Mise En Scene is the aspects that is visual to the audience in the frame. In the opening sequence of Casino Royale the director sets it in two different scenes. The first in an office block and the second in a public toilet. This shows two sides to bond. the sequence starts in an office block in Prague, the colors of the scene are very dark and dull to be viewed by the audience. On the other hand the second scene is in a public toilet, the only color used is white this makes the dirt in the toilet stand out really noticeably. The office block is made of glass this gives the impression of openness and no escape. The public toilet is inclosed to show almost no escape for bond, he has to kill the guy because he's half way there now. Bonds body language in the office is very calm and collected, he gives off the impression of being secure and always in control. In the public toilet bonds seems to not be in control as he is struggling to connect the blows to his opponent.

storyboard for our prelimary exercise

I done this preliminary task to help understand how to create a storyboard

use of camera

we learnt many different forms of cinematography. framing(shot type). also many different camera shots:
close up
extreme close up
medium or mid shot
long shot
extreme long shot
point of view shot
high angle shot
low angle shot
over the shoulder shot.
all of these are ways in which i can shot my film project with.
there are many different camera movements e.g.
pan- the camera rotates right to left
tilt- the camera "tilts" up and down
dutch tilt- tilts off angle to give a disorientating affect.
zoom- the camera remains still but the focus is changed
reverse zoom/contra zoom- when the focus zooms in whilst the camera moves out
track- the camera moves fluidly on a set of tracks
dolly- the camera is on wheels so can be moved in any direction
crane- the camera is placed on a large crane arm that enable it to move around the set with ease.
rolling- the camera moves diagonally, making the image a skew
handheld- the camera is held in a hand and can therefore move in any direction. it is usually a shaky picture
steadi-cam- the camera is worn on a weighted harness to keep it still and balanced, whilst allowing the freedom of handheld filming.

film lighting language

this lesson we learned about lighting and film language.

welcome to my blog

welcome to my AS Media Studies blog, this blog will chart the progress of my foundation portfolio, on it I will include details of my progress through the course and detail things I have done to do my Media Coursework.