Directors and Definitions

Alfred Hithcock is and English director, who began making films in the 1940s, right through to the 1970s. He made his first film in 1925, and continued to make films in Britain, up until 1939, when he went to America, and became a hugely successful and influential director in Hollywood. Overall, his career spanned over 50 years. He popularized a number of thriller techniques, such as macguffins, and creating suspense and tension. He is known as an auteur, and employed such techniques as creative use of dietetic sound, precise editing, and misleading relationships. Furthermore, he used characters which we put in positions such as being trapped or imprisoned.

Alfred Hitchcock

Another auteur in the thriller industry is Steven Spielburg, who directed such films as Jaws, Schindlers List, ET and Saving Private Ryan. He, along with Hitchcock employed the idea of voyeuristic viewing.

Steven Spielburg

Auteur- A director with a clear style, often using specific techniques and similar themes throughout their films.

Voyeuristic Viewing- The audience is watching something that they feel they should not be watching something they should not, or would not usually watch.

Graphic Matches

Graphic matches refer to joining two shots by making some form of connection between them. This means the focus of attention remains in the same place, and a smooth transaction between two shots is carried out. The example bellow is from the famous shower scene is Psycho.

Film Language

There are a number of  aspects that need to be taken into consideration when making an effective thriller,as i intend to do. Below are the aspects i need to look at, and how i can use them appropriately in my film, as well as examples of how they have been used in thrillers previously.

- Lighting (in terms of a thriller) 

 There are a number of different ways that lighting is used, in all genres of films, to create different effects, whether it is a glamorous look, or a distorting one. Under lighting is what is used to create a distoring effect, as shown in image 1. Also, in thriller movies, back lighting is used, which creates silhouettes, meaning that the viewer cannot see the characters face, creating an ominous and mysterious effect, building suspense. This can be seen in image 2. A further type of lighting format used to create an atmosphere most suiting to a thriller is low key lighting (images 3 and 4). This is when key lights and back lights are used, but no filler lights, meaning there is a sharp contrast between light and dark areas, and deep distinctive shadows are created, known as chiaroscuro. This type of lighting were primarily used in film noirs.

- Colour

In any instance, colours used can be percieved in two ways; through its denotation, or its connotation. A denotation is a literal description of a colour, and a connotation is the assosiations and the ideas that it carries with it. For example the denotation of the colour red is that it is the first colour in the colour spectrum. It's connotation is such things as danger, love, and anger. In thrillers in particular, dark colours are used, as well as red, to suggest or foreshadow certain things, or to create a particular mood.

- Sound
Sound in films is used to create a certain mood, build tension and express feelings of characters. There are two types of sound; diegetic and nondiegetic. Diegetic sound is sound which is part of the film world for example, radio, dialogue or music, from a duke box or CD player etc. This may be on screen or off screen. Nondiegetic sound is sound that is not in the film world, and only the viewer can here. This can be in the form of background music or narrative.
Sound can also be parrallel or contrapuntual. Parallel sound is when the images on screen match the music or sound being played with it, building suspence and tension. In contrast, contrpunctual sound is when the images and sound do not match, creating a sense of false pretence.

- Camera framing
This is what can be seen within the frame of the screen, concerntrating on how far the camera is from the subject, and from what angle the shot is taken. The closer the camera is to the subject, the more emphasis there is on detail. An example of an ECU (extreme close up) is shown in image 5, and a mid shot is shown in image 6. When looking at angles, a  low angle shot is when a camera is placed below eye level (image 7) making the subject look powerful, whereas in contrast a high angle shot is when the camera is placed above eye level (image 8) making the subject look weak and vunerable. Another type of shot is a point of view shot, where the camera shows whats going on, through the eyes of a character.


- Camera movement

The movement of the camera can be used to enhance our involvement in the film action, by directing our attention or emphisising a particular viewpoint. Camera movement can include:
A PANNING SHOT- where the camera moves from side to side on a fixed axis.
A TILT SHOT - where the camera moves up and down on a fixed axis.
A CRANE SHOT- where filming is done, mounted on a crane, or from a helicopter.
A TRAKING SHOT- where the camera follows the action on tracks laid out.
A ROLLING SHOT- where the camera moves diagonally , creating an askew image, often suggesting a character is ill or drugged

- Speed of editing
The speed of editing helps determine the mood of what is taking place. If the audience is to feel anxiety and suspence, the editing will be quick, as it would also be in an action sequence. If the a relaxed mood is desired the speed of editing will be slower.


- Style of editing
To make a continous piece of film which is fluent, the style of editing must create smooth transitions between scenes and shots. There are various methods used to do this. Amongst the several ways, those that myself, Tom and Dan will use in our thriller are a straight cut, a fade-out (where the screen fades to black- usually showing time passing) and a dissolve (where one imageis slowly brought in beneath another one).

Media presentation

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No Country For Old Men - A Thriller Opening

No Country for Old Men is a 2007 American Western Thriller, starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Berdem and Josh Brolim. It is about an ordinary man who, by chance, comes across a fortune which is not his. It is a cat and mouse chase between himself, and those who are after the money, including Anton Chigurh, a crazy killer, who is introduced in the opening of the film.

Tension is built in the opening of the film, through two deaths, both muders carried out by the ominous Chigurh.

The opening of the film, can be broken down in the form of CLAMPS;

Costume-The villain is wearing all black, suggesting darkness and evil and giving nothing away.

Light-Throughout the opening, the audience does not see the villains face, as it is hidden by shadow. This means we are unable to see his expression and nothing about him is given away.

Actors-The film has reconisable actors in it, however we do not learn of who is in the film at this point, other than the villain.

Make up-Make up is used on Anton Chigurh to emphasis the dark features that the villain possesses.

Props-The murderer uses an oxygen tank for the second murder. This is significant to the forming of Chigurhs character.

Settings-The opening is set in an isolated desert in western land. The audience can realise that whatever was to happen in such a setting, no one would be around to help the victim.

Character Analysis of Anton Chigurh    

Costume;

- Black

- Dark

- Suggestive that he is the villain

- Plain: there are no patterns or writing on his clothing, which gives nothing away about his character, personality or identity

Speech, Language and Tone;

- Minimal amount of speech

- Simplistic language

- Calm

- Monotone


Mannerisms, Actions and Responses;

- Unexpressive

- Calm

- Sationary, doesn't move much

- Little physical contact with people, even during killings

- No emotion

- Manipulating

- Controlling

- Intimidating

- Argumentative

Representation in film;

- Outcast of society

- Unrealistic responses to other people and situations

- Bad, darkness, evil - Freud's ID ?

- Troubled