Opening Sequence Timeline Analysis For "S7EVEN"

Sub Genre Analysis of Mystery and Psychological Thriller Conventions

Under the sub genre of psychological thriller, we are analysing the film Shutter Island. Whilst analysing this sequence, we can recognise the psychological thriller conventions are conveyed in many ways. For example, the mental and emotional states of the characters which convey their identity as people who stay in a mental institution. This again emphasises to the audience that this is a psychological thriller and leaves them confused and questioned as to why they might be in this mental state.

We are influenced throughout the film that Teddy Daniels (Leonardo Dicaprio) is on the island looking for a patient who is mentally ill, he believes that all the guards around the area are against him, however, towards the end of the film, we begin to recognise that he is there for his own mental disorder and the ''guards'' are there to help him. Teddy would be classified as the protagonist of the film as he is the lead character. The antagonist is in fact the whole ''team'' who he thinks he is working with, including the doctor, chief warden and his partner detective.

As the majority of the film is set in a mental institute, this reflects the genre of the film as the connotations of a mental institution includes the mental and emotional actions of the characters. When discussing the costume and props it is evident that there are also psychological thriller conventions. For example, the hats and long coats which Teddy and his detective partner are wearing are the usual costumes for detectives and in many psychological thrillers, detectives are involved with the situation at hand. The make up they use on the mentally ill characters can be established to emphasise an effective method for the audience to be able to recognise such characters. 

Another film we are analysing is Creep which is under the sub genre mystery thriller. This particular thriller relates a lot to crime thrillers. It focuses mostly on the efforts of the detective or private investigator in order to solve the mystery. This sub-genre looks at the circumstances of the mystery or crime itself in order to try figure out what the clues are, audiences usually take part in trying to uncover the crime. This genre thinks into the psyche of the audiences as audiences have a prime offence that they also follow as the protagonist is finding out information as well. This brings more dramatic effect to the films during the investigation in order to know what the crime is.

The storyline of Creep is about a woman called Kate who has been drinking alcoholic beverages while waiting for her last train home. However, she falls asleep and wakes up to find herself locked in the underground. She finds two homeless people and they try and help her escape. Little did they know that a mentally ill man who lives by himself in the sewers underground is out to get them. He is a murderer and that night ends up murdering the two homeless people, the man who was in charge in the office and a co-worker who followed Kate. Kate travels through the underground to get away from him   and eventually ends up killing him. She was trapped in there all night and the next thing she knows, the trains are running again and she's free.

As for the mise en scene in this film, the costumes, props and sound emphasises the fact that it is a mystery thriller. The fast music when Kate is running shows the urgency of the situation and shows us that she is in trouble. The mysterious music that begins to get louder as Kate gets closer too turning her head round the corner makes us think what is going to be there. The costumes which the homeless characters were wearing clearly showed the audience their status in the film, we could see that they were wearing untidy and unpresentable clothes.

Sub Genre Analysis of Crime and Psychological Thrillers

The first film we are analysing under the sub genre crime thriller is Memento. The usual conventions that we would expect to see in crime thrillers would include the following aspects. Crime thrillers often focus more on the criminals and their activities in leading back to how it all started. Central topics of these thrillers include serial killers, murderers, robberies, chasers, shootouts, heists and double-crosses.

You can see some of these conventions within the film Memento. For example, the narrative of Memento is about a man who goes out looking for the man who murdered his wife, while having a lost memory.  The film goes back in time to reveal each little bit of the puzzle as he tries to find out the person who killed his wife which leaves the audience just as confused as he is. The notes and memories which are most important are tattooed on his body so they become permanent. One of the tattoo's read "John G raped and murdered my wife". He meets two people who are helping him find the man whose names are Teddy and Natalie. However, every time he meets them he has no idea who they are or why they are helping him.

Memento is set in both exterior and interior locations expressing the journey that the protagonist takes in order to find the murderer of his wife. Also looking into mise en scene it is established that props such as a gun helps to emphasise the sub genre of a crime thriller.

 

The second film we are going to be analysing under the sub genre psychological thriller is Black Swan. The usual conventions in a psychological thriller include the following. Conflict between the main characters is mental and emotional rather than physical. The suspense created by psychological thrillers often comes from two or more characters preying upon one another's minds. This could be done either by playing deceptive games with the other or by merely trying to demolish the other's mental state.

These conventions are conveyed within the Black Swan as the main character gets the lead role in a ballet performance to play a role of 'Swan Lake'. The main character Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) who is the protagonist of the film plays the 'white swan' which she performs well, however, a new dancer joins the show and Nina feels she is taking over her role. Nina's dance teacher Thomas Leroy pressures her throughout the film to be the best dancer. This makes Thomas the antagonist although he does not harm her or put her in danger, he limits her freedom and has control over her. Later on, she begins to believe that she is a "Black Swan" and starts to portray the same characteristics as the character that she is supposed to be playing.

The Black Swan is set mainly in a studio but there are also scenes in a house and external locations such as a club. During the scenes where extraordinary things happen the music is fast and mysterious, whereas the music during the scenes of Nina dancing is slow and elegant. Both types of music are parallel to the present scene. The director used a close up of her face to exaggerate her facial expression of confusion and horror as she pulls her feather out of her back, which is a typical trait of a psychological thriller.

Generic Conventions of a Thriller - Insidious

Generic Conventions of a Thriller – Insidious

Insidious is a thriller where a little boy and his father both get possessed by the devil, as the audience we question who has possessed these characters and whether they will get out of it. The Genre is made clear by the music and slow edits in the film opening, the setting also helps us to establish the genre as it is located in an empty house being a convention of the horror game. The protagonist of this clip is the little boy as he is the one who is possessed and eventually rescued.

 The title ‘Insidious’ relates to the boys weakness as there are harmful effects before we see the situation he is in, low angles are used to show his weakness in many scenes. The title also appears in red letters which reflects the demon/devil like behaviour.

The antagonist is the devil which possesses the little boy, the antagonist (the devil) ensures that the protagonist (the boy) is weak, isolated and unable to communicate, the boys family start to feel helpless as they have tried everything to discover what is going on, and try to help.

 Insidious starts off as a usual happy family, until there is a switch where extraordinary things happen, the young  boy begins to act strange, by doing things such as drawing devils on the walls and the mother begins to hear strange noises coming from the boys bedroom, we then start to notice continuous extraordinary situations occurring. 

In scenes where suspense is built, more than one micro area is used, the sound becomes more intense and the close ups are used to show the fear that the family are feeling; the lighting becomes more dull, as this reflects the mood of the scene. The prop of the grandfather clock was featured a lot in the opening, showing its importance, it also fits the conventions of a thriller movie.

Throughout Insidious there is no mistaken identity, but we see signs of insomnia as strange things seem to occur during the night.

The enigma of the scenes makes the audience think about questions such as why is the house empty, why is the grandfather clock important and what is going to happen to the family. This keeps the audience engaged throughout, until these questions are revealed at different points within the film.

Generic Conventions of a Thriller Panic Room

The thriller Panic Room’s narrative centres around a robbery, although from the opening sequence the shots of high buildings around the city leaves us wondering what it is leading up to.

The two main characters are Meg and her daughter Sarah, they are the weak victims as they are they ones who have the crime based around them. The films protagonist would be classed as the mother Meg as she is protecting her daughter through out the film and in the end contacts the police who also come to the rescue. The title ‘Panic Room’ relates to their weakness as when the girls get burgled Meg makes a move to the panic room which they had previously found is the most secure room in the whole mansion they had recently moved into.

 In many of the scenes Meg and Sarah were in danger firstly from the robbery taking place and the robbers were also armed with guns, when they thought they were finally safe in the panic room, little did they know, what the robbers wanted most what was inside the panic room so were no longer safe. Throughout most of the movie they were helpless and robbers done everything they could to make them feel like this.

The narrative presented the ordinary situation of moving into their new mansion with the extraordinary situation of being burgled only on their first night of being there. Also of the setting being in a mansion is extraordinary for having the privilege of having a panic room in their own house which is very unordinary for most people.

The use of the micro elements helped with the atmosphere of the scenes. Mainly the light was dull and dark to give more suspense, the camera work used appropriate techniques for example looking down on the little girl Sarah to make her look weak and vulnerable. The main setting was in the panic room which the whole movie revolved around and the soundtracks of tension building scenes makes the audience feel how scared the characters must have been feeling and gives it more of a realistic vibe.

In this thriller there were no optical illusions, doppelgangers or manipulations. Although at the beginning Meg did have insomnia as she couldn’t sleep which led her to hear the robbers. From one of the robbers we see a change in representation as in the end he helps the family; this is uncommon for the ‘bad guy’ to change which makes the concept of the film much more unique.

The film begins with three-dimensional, granite architectural titles suspended before New York City buildings, this creates the enigma at the beginning, setting the scene and creating the establishing shot of where the whole film is set. But the whole story is based around the panic room which does get resolved at the very end and the mother and daughter end up safe.

Preliminary Evaluation

Preliminary Evaluation.

I think we met the criteria of the preliminary task, but found it challenging when filming at first as we were trying to use as many camera techniques as possible, whilst giving the right effect. However after practising and working out how to use the cameras we then managed to film successfully. We followed our storyboard to a certain extent, as this meant we was cutting out unnecessary movements to create a better clip and give it more meaning. Overall i think our sequence was a success as this was our first time filming and editing.

Our preliminary video lasted approximately 40 seconds which met the brief criteria. During filming we stuck to the brief to the best of our ability by using all the elements asked, such as the 180 degree rule, a match on action, a establishing shot and a few others we added of our own choice to improve the flow of the sequence.
We soon got used to the technology, we used a Cannon camera to film, and Final Cut Express to edit our sequence, Final Cut Express enabled us to change speed, cut what we didn't want out, add transitions etc.. After a short brief it still took us a while to get used to Final Cut Express and it's tools, but eventually we got used to it and created a successful clip.

From this task we have learnt that we need to match out actions to the voice/sounds more accurately, for example when we slowed down the speed of the action, However we have learnt from these mistakes and have come more familiar with the different technology, we can take these into consideration when creating our thriller sequences.

Preliminary Video

Preliminary Storyboard