Another film I had watched the opening of was No Country For Old Men. This film is a 2007, American neo-Western thriller written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, based on the Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name. The beginning of this film starts of with murder, therefore the audience would know it is a thriller movie. The weapon used for the murder is shown by the camera as it focuses on it before the audience know what it is. The first voice the audience hear is spoken in 1st person, and is a monotone voice. We are introduced to the villain of this film. The appearance and clothing the villain wears is a black jacket, handcuffs, pale skin, deep eyes, psychotic eyes, long hair and very smart shoes. This appearance is a usual type of appearance for a villain.
There is a vast number of Camera Angles & Transitions used in the opening of the film, such as: Close Ups, Medium Close Ups, Extreme Close Ups, Over The Shoulder and many others. There is a unusual camera shot used when the villain washes the blood of his hands. When the scene changes, there is very little diegetic sound, this adds seriousness to the atmosphere, and creates suspense and tension in the audience too.
No Country For Old Men is set in a western, abandoned area, it is a very deserted and dangerous area as no one is around. Also there are no eye witnesses whom could identify the killer. Juxtaposition is shown. The colours used are of a golden brown contrast. There is also a sense of a ruthless atmosphere, the weather is shown to be hot, and there is an unforgiving sunrise.
Deliverance was one the films I had watched, the opening scene consists of plain white bold font. it contains foul language which instantly sets a mood identical to the language. There is an explosion in the first few minutes of the film. This explosion foreshadows that something bad is going to happen or has happened. There is a lot of non diegetic sound which includes laughing and talking, which gives a sense of evil. There is a number of different camera angles and transitions used such as: Close Ups, Medium Close Ups, Point of View, and 180 Degree Rule. The main characters are males connotes violence and gives the film a masculine theme. The main storyline of the movie is identified in the opening scene as a group of men are on holiday, somewhere where the audience to not know. This automatically lets the viewer's mind loose and they start to think that as they are in a unknown place, it is not a known location and there is no escape. Therefore, they could easily get lost and something mysterious could happen. Lastly, there is a scene which consists of a petrol station and a mysterious old man at the petrol station which is a typical convention of a thriller movie; leading to automatic identification.
Insomnia was one the first films I had watched. This is a thriller film, and contains a number of different camera angles and transitions such as: Close Ups, Medium Close Ups, 180 Degree Angle, Point of View, Over the Shoulder, and many more. In the opening scene, the characters are in a plane flying to Alaska, the setting is cold and boring. The letters shown in the opening create a feeling of discomfort as they are black, white and red. Also, the opening shows a red liquid typed substance which looks like blood, but the audience do not know what it is, however they get a sense that something is wrong.
Vladimir Propp Theory He concluded that all characters could be resolved into 8 broad character types in the 100 tales he analysed.
The Villain Struggles against the hero.
The Dispatcher Character who makes the lack known and send the hero off
The (Magical) Helper Helps the hero in the quest
The Princess or Prize The hero deserves her throughout the story but is unable to marry her because of an unfair evil , usually because of the villain, the hero's journey is often ended with the princess , thereby defeating the villain
Her Father Gives the task of the hero, identifies the false hero, married the hero , often sought for during the narrative. Propp noted that functionally , the princess and father can not be distinguished. The Donor Prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object.
The Hero or Victim/Seeker Hero Reacts to the donor marries the princess.
False Hero Takes credit for the hero's actions or tries to marry the princess.
I watched the opening scene of A Lot Like Love, and this is a film about both Comedy and Romance. A film with 2 different types of genre is known as a Hybrid Genre. A the beginning of the film, there is diegetic sound when the pop song is being played. Also there is non diegetic sound when you can hear the surrounding noise of the plane and when the drink is dropped on Ashton Kutcher by the air hostess. Pathetic Fallacy is also used as when Ashton Kutcher is dropped to the airport by his sister, the weather looks nice and hot, this shows that everyone is happy.
The opening scene is set in the airport, so this tells the audience that this film is not a Science Fiction. There is a vast number of Camera Angles and Transitions used. some of these are: Close Ups, Medium Close Ups, Extreme Close Ups, Long Shots and many other camera angles. These different camera angles show surroundings, engage the audience and emphasise facial expressions and creates focus in the audience.
At the beginning of the film we are told that the film is shown 7 years before, so that shows how the couple change in the 7 years. The pairing of the couple is an unlikely pairing as the girl is good looking, whereas the boy isn't shown to be so good looking. Also, when the couple meet on the plane and start kissing, the audience get to know whom the main characters are in the film.
180 Degree Rule: In film making, the 180-degree rule is a basic guideline regarding the on-screen spatial relationship between a character and another character or object within a scene. An imaginary line called the axis connects the characters and by keeping the camera on one side of this axis for every shot in the scene, the first character will always be frame right of the second character, who is then always frame left of the first. If the camera passes over the axis, it is called jumping the line or crossing the line. Cutting the line can result to confusion in the audience, and they may lose concentration. so therefore the rules of the 180 degree rule should be followed!
This picture shows the axis between two characters and the 180° arc on which cameras may be positioned. When cutting from the arc, the characters switch places on the screen.
The aim of a thriller movie is to create suspense and excitement for the audience. Thriller movies usually use busy streets and environments is usually of a urban or surburban area. The narrative revolves around the investigation of an enigma or the hero is the only person able to solve the enigma and reveal the truth. Violence is also central to most thriller movies as well as it often reveals the working particular institutions such as the police, the army or the government. The hero & villain although opposing sides, may share some characteristics. The hero is often an outsider, idolated secretive but moral.
