VERTIGO
1) Who is being represented in the opening scene? How are they represented? Is this positive or negative?
In the opening scene of vertigo, it shows a woman’s face. This automatically shows that women are being represented because throughout the opening sequence all we see is a close up on a woman’s face. This could be done for many reasons. The first reason being it could have been to show the woman’s facial expressions throughout the sequence opining. The other reason could be to represent the fact of how fragile and innocent women tend to be. With the facial expression that is shown through the camera, it shows off more of a negative representation to women. The reason for this is because it shows the woman’s venerable side, showing how emotional that female can be. Also in the opening scene, we see images of a spiral in the woman’s eyes; this could be a negative representation showing that women can get hitmatized over things easily. Below is an image of what the main focus of the camera was.
As you can see from the image also, we can see that it is faded in red. This can show many things. For example, it could mean that she is in danger, or she is worried. However, it can also mean that she is hitmatised by love. Overall, its very difficult to be able to show whether it is a positive representation or a negative one until you have seen the full film. I personally believe its negative because of the facial expressions that she gives.
2) What titles for each opening look like? Do they symbolise the thriller genre?The title looks bold and clear and i personally think that it looks alot like a thriller genre by the way its laid out. For example, with this particular title, its written in bold white buble writing with a black background this could show that there is a mistery in the darkness that waiting to be found and waiting to be solved. Therefore i feel that it does sympolise the thriller genre. Below is an image of how the opening title looks like.
3) Analyse the camera, sound, editing and mise-en-scene. How do these technical areas make you aware that this is the thriller genre?
Firstly the master camera shot that was taken was a close up in the woman's face. This was done to show the personal emotion of the character and empthasize on her emotions and her facial expression. The camera also done an extreme close up on the eyeballs of the character to try and show the emotions that the character is going through; through her eyes. The sound in this opening plays a massive role to a thriller convention. The reason for this is because it seemed to have a catchy sound to it. It made it sound like there is going to be a build up to something big, like something unlikely is going to happen. It will create an enigma for the audience and make them wonder and ask questions. The mise-en-scene plays a huge role within the opening sequence of the youtube clips as well. The reason for this is it talks about everything within the frame. Everything within this frame always had a dark or black background. This has a meaning, and it could mean that something is evil or something is powerful. Finally, the editing of this opening sequence shows that the film is most likely to be a thriller film because it starts of with an automatic enigma. It usually starts off automatically making the audience wonder why things are happening the way they are. I personally believe that Vertigo fufills this purpose very well.
4) Does the narrative in the opening correspond to the conventions of a thriller film? How?
There are many ways in which the narrative corresponds to the opening of a thriller film. For example, at the beggining it sets of a cliff hanger. The cliff hanger it sets off, is "why is the female doing this" it also provides an enigma for the audience. It's like the opening of this particular thriller film is asking its audience what they think will happen next. Another reason as to why it correspoonds to a thriller a film is because it states the basics. The basics is that there is always a protagonist that is in danger. This is one of the main conventions of thriller.
5) Which production company was the film made by? How might this affect the film content?
The production companies that made this film were; Paramount Pictures and Vista Vision. The way that this will affect the film is that they have alot of influence on the film. The reason they have alot of influence on the film is because they have alot of money to be able to change things around. Another reason as to why they can affect the film is because they are one of the big media conglomorates therefore they have every right to change some of the film content.
6) What do you think will happen next?
To be honest, i do not know what will happen next. However i think that they throughout the film, they will slowly explain what was happening at the beggining and what was causing the character to do what she was doing at the beginning.
7) Timeline of opening sequence:
0:00 - VistaVision moton picture high-fidelity
0:09 - James Stewart
0:21 - Kim Novak
0:29 - In Alfred Hitchcock's
0:41 - VERTIGO
0:54 - Co-Starring: Barbara Bel Geddes with Tom Helmore, Henry Jones, Raymond Bailey, Ellen Corby, Konstantin Shaynes, Lee Partick.
1:07 - Screenpiay by Alex Coppel & Samuel Taylor
1:17 - Director of Photography Roberty Burks A.S.C
1:26 - Art direction Hal Pereira & Henry Bumsteam. Special photographic effects John P.Fulton. A.S.C. Progress Photography Farciot Edouart, A.S.C & Wallace Kelley A.S.C. Set decoration Saem Comer & Frank Kelvy, Title designed by Saul Bass
1:42 - Edited by George Tomasini, A.C.E. Assitant director Daniel McCauley. Make Supervision Walley Westmore, S.M.A. Hairstyle supervision Nellie Manley, C.H.S Sound Recording by Harold Lewis & Winston Leverett.
1:59 - Costumes Edith Head special sequence by John Ferren
2:06 - Music by Bernard Herman
2:12 - Conducted by Muir Mattileson
2:17 - Associate producer Herbert Coleman
2:32 - Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qtDCZP4WrQ << VERTIGO
JAWS
1) Who is being represented in the opening scene? How are they represented? Is this positive or negative?
In this opening scene, the people that arebeing represented are teenagers; both male and female. Jaws also give off a negative representation of teenagers. The reason for this is because they are representing things that bad teenagers may do on the weekend. It shows the negatives of teenagers by representing them as smokers and drinkers. This is a negative representation of teenagers because it isn't all teenagers that do these types of things. However it is steryotypical of teenagers to be doing these types of things which is why they may have represented teenagers as doing this. Another reason as to why it reperesents teenagers is because it shows them near a fire place, this could also be something that teenagers may do over their holiday, some teenagers may go camping with a few friends.
2) What titles for each opening look like? Do they symbolise the thriller genre?
The titles in this opening sequence is bold and white with a dark background. This again could show the contrast between good and bad. The reason for this is because white could possibly represent that something good will happen and the dark colour can represent that there is a whole load of bad waiting to happen. When they show the title in this title sequence (Jaws) they show it in a different type of background. They show it like its in water. This could automatically symoblise a thriller film because it builds suspencion as to which sea animals will be involved. The title alone says Jaws, this could cannote that it may have something to do with a shark because sharks bite. Below is an image of exactly how the titles for the opening looks like.
3) Analyse the camera, sound, editing and mise-en-scene. How do these technical areas make you aware that this is the thriller genre?
Firstly the mise-en-scene of this particular opening to the film is set out in the coast by the sea. In the background you can clearly see that its located next to the sea. Loooking at the sand is a good way of proving that its near to the sea. This in my opinion automatically shows that this film is a thriller film The reason for this is because the title of the film is Jaws, and the film is set next to the sea. This could show its a thriller film because it already matches one convention which is suspicion. In the opening scene there are both diegetic and non-diegetic sounds used. The diegetic sounds which were used was the music. The music had fast pace in order to build intensity. This again is another convention of a thriller genre. There was also non-diegetic sounds and these were the dialouge of the characters speaking and also natural sounds such as sea water. This is something you would expect at the sea-side. There is alot of editing used at the beggining of this film. The main one used are the words being edited on the screen. Another form of editing that was used is the camera fade when it changes from one part into the next. In terms of camera, there are alot of close up shots on the characters. This could empthasize that something is going to happen due to the fact that the camera keeps showing close up on the characters face and looking at facial expression. Overall, the way these technical areas make you aware that this is a thriller genre is because they all link up together and meet a few aspects of conventional thriller films.
4) Does the narrative in the opening correspond to the conventions of a thriller film? How?
4) Does the narrative in the opening correspond to the conventions of a thriller film? How?
At the beggining of this film, it already matches the coventions of a thriller film. The reason for this is because the antagonist is already identifies within the opening five minutes. In this film, the antagonist was the shark, and in the beggining of the film, we already see the shark attack a human (protagonist). This already has conventions of a thriller genre because there is already death, drama and its very likely that there will be investigation as to how the protagonist died.
5) Which production company was the film made by? How might this affect the film content? The production companies of this film is >Universal and MCA company< They are part of the big six media conglomorates and they are known for their quality of advertising and their quality of producing films. The way this may affect the content is that it may these production companies have alot of power therefore if they don't like the way something is within a film, then they will definately change it.
6) What do you think will happen next?
I personally think that the next thing that will happen in this film, is that they will all blame the guy who was chasing the girl for the cause of her death. This will then turn into alot of investigation and maybe even some revenge action and then it may cause alot more deaths to take place.
7) Timeline Of Opening Sequence
0:10 - Universal an MCA Company
0:39 - Robert, Roy Shaw Richard Schider Drefuss
0:50 - JAWS
0:56 - Co-Starring Lorraine Gary
1:00 - Murray Hamilton Carl Gottlieb Jeffery C.Kramer Susan Backline
1:07 - Music by John Williams
1:11 - Film Editor Verna Fields
1:25 - Director of Photography Bill Butter
1:32 - Screenplay by Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb Based upon the novel by Peter Benchley
1:39 - Produced by Richard D.Zanuk and David Brown
1:46 - Directed by Steven Spielberg
1) Who is being represented in the opening scene? How are they represented? Is this positive or negative?
In the opening of this scene there is a representation of age. The way we know this is because of the voice over. We can see that its a represnetation of age right from the beggining because it shows there are no children there and that it was all middle aged citizens. This is a negative representation of age because it shows that there are basically no more children left in the world.
2) What titles for each opening look like? Do they symbolise the thriller genre?
The opening to this particular film is similar to many of the other thriller genres. The reason for this is because it has white bold writing in a black backgrund. In my opinion this type of title demonstrates suspence and something going to happen. Below is an image of what most of the opening titles looked like within the opening sequence of the thriller film.
3) Analyse the camera, sound, editing and mise-en-scene. How do these technical areas make you aware that this is the thriller genre?
Within this film opening, there are alot of diegetic sounds. There are barely any non-diegetic sounds. This could have purposely been done so that the audience would be able to hear and understnad what the film will be about. The diegetic sounds that were used were the characters dialouges and also the voiceover of the narrator. This technical area shows that it may be a thriller genre because there isnt any non-diegetic sounds meaning that anything could happen at an unexpected moment. In terms of editing, there arent much things that show off the editing in the opening scene, however i predict that throughout the film, there may be alot of fast pace action and suspence from the antagonist and protagonist. The other form of editing that was used is the voice over narrative. In terms of camera, there are alot of high angles used looking down on the characers. This could have been done to show the status of the characters and how powerful they may be. In this case with the camera looking down on them, it shows they have very little power within this thriller film and its likely that things will happen which may be very hard for them. Below is a screen print of the master shot within this film's title opening.
In terms of the mis-en-scene of this thriller film, it shows that its set in future tense and it makes it look like the future. The location that the opening was set was in london. The props used were cars, bicyles and many other things. There are alot of middle aged people walking along the street. Below is another image of what the mis-en-scene looked like in this particular film opening.
In the opening stage of this particular film, the narrative does correspond and it matches the conventions of a thriller genre. The reason for this, is because at the beginning, there is a voice over talking about how someone has died. Death is a convention of a thriller genre therefore this film has conventions of a thriller genre. Another thing that shows the conventoins of a thriller drama is because its set in the future tense. As stated on the image above, it was set on 16th Novemver 2027. Another reason as to how this matches the conventions of a thriller genre is the fact that the death of someone shows that there has been killing going on. Murder is another convention of a thriller genre. The opening sequence show the protagonist (police officers). Automatically it shows that there will be an antagonist and a protagonist. The protagonist within this film is Klive Owen.
5) Which production company was the film made by? How might this affect the film content?
The production company that made this film was Universal. This production company have the potential to make a huge impact on the content of the film because they have the money to be able to change things that they dont like around. They are also part of the big six and they help distrubute the film out there so things that they dont like in the film they will change.
6) What do you think will happen next?
I personally think that the next thing that will happen is that they will search for the youngest soul alive and try and protect them. The reason for this is because it seems like there is an antagonist that is killing all young ages therefore by protecting the youngest soul, there will be a better chance of a future generation.
7) Timeline Of Opening Sequence
0:15 - Universal
0:30 - Strike
0:40 - Universal Pictures Presents
0:43 - A Strike Entertainment Production
0:46 - In Association With Hit & Run Productions
2:25 - Children Of Men
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCTgUq6hzUk << CHILDREN OF MEN
PANIC ROOM
1) Who is being represented in the opening scene? How are they represented? Is this positive or negative?
Panic room basically does what it says in the title. The opening scene is a representation of both men and women in a city rushing. Almost as if they were panicing that something was going to happen. Both men and women are represented as working/middle class because they are walking through the city and the clothes that the majority of them were wearing looks like they had a good job. However the fact that they are all rushing around the city is a negative representation, the reason for this is because it builds intensity that something bad is likely to happen.
2) What titles for each opening look like? Do they symbolise the thriller genre?
The titles symoblise a thriller genre again because of the bold white writing. The background is a picture of the city as well therefore its likely to be thriller within the city. Bold white writing symoblises alot because it could show that something good is always likely to happen.
3) Analyse the camera, sound, editing and mise-en-scene. How do these technical areas make you aware that this is the thriller genre?
There are alot of camera shots used within this particular opening. They are all shots on the city and the buildings within it. There are alot of arial shots and panning movements. The editing is very slowly done and the carmera cutting is slow as well giving the audience enough time to read all the titles that are included on the page. As for the sound, there are only non-diegetic sounds used. The non-diegetic sounds that were used were fast temp and jumpy meaning that anything is likely to happen. The mis-en-scene is basically the city and the city buildings. This shows that the film is likely to be set within the city.
4) Does the narrative in the opening correspond to the conventions of a thriller film? How?
With this opening, the only thing that would give away the fact that the film might be a thriller film, is the music. The reason for this is because in the opening, there isn't a scene showing the characters. Its just the opening showing the peoplle who are in the film and the producers, directors etc. The music gives away that the film has thriller conventions because the music has a fast tempo and its quite jumpy. This is a thriller convention because thriller films generally have fast pace and investigations.
5) Which production company was the film made by? How might this affect the film content?
The production company of this film is columbia. The way this may affect the content of this film is the fact that they are part of the big six and they have the money and power to be able to change things that they don't like.
6) What do you think will happen next?
The opening of this film only shows the titles of the film. However i predict that throughout the film, there will be alot of drama, fast pace and suspence until the plot is revealed.
7) Timeline Of Opening Sequence
0:14 - Columbia
0:24 - Columbia Picutres Presents
0:31 - An Indeelible Pictures
0:35 - Jodie Foster
0:40 - Forest Whiitaker
0:42 - Dwilight Yoakham
0:48 - Jared Leto
0:50 - PANIC ROOM
0:57 - Kristian Stewart
1:01 - Ann Magnum Ian Buchauni
1:05 - Patrick Bauchav, Paul Schuze
1:10 - Casting Laray Mayfield
1:14 - Costume Designer Michael Kaplan
1:18 - Music by Howard Shore
1:21 - Film Editor James Haygood, A.C.E Angus Wall
1:26 - Production Designer Authur Max
1:30 - Director of Photography Conrad W.Hall, Jarius Khondji A.S.C A.F.C
Produced by Gavin Polone, Judy Hofflund, David Koepp, Gean Chaffin, Written By David Koepp Directed By David Fincher
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqIclb4qsJI << PANIC ROOM
