The art of the title

The Art Of The Title

Studio Idents

Studio indents are basically a studio's identification; what the studio is identified by; the studio's trademark. As technology has improved and graphics developed these simple still and basic images have transformed into very effective short and complicated mini films with real meaning and emphasis behind them.

 Studios and directors have realised how important identity is in the world in film and how a below standard ident can have an bad affect on reputation so they have developed their idents to become more competitive in the market.

here are a few examples:

Warner bros.
20th Century Fox.
Universal.
Paramount.

 

Titles

1) The Purge




1) Universal pictures
2) Production company
3) Main Characters
4) Producers
5) Directors


History of ' Universal '.

Universal Studio's, is an american film studio, and is one of hollywood's six big studios. as founded by Carl Laemmle, Mark Dintenfass, Charles O. Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers, William Swanson,David Horsley, and Jules Brulatour. The Universal Film Manufacturing Company was founded on April 30, 1912, in New York. Laemmle, who emerged as president in July 1912, was the primary figure in the partnership with Dintenfass, Baumann, Kessel, Powers, Swanson, Horsley, and Brulatour. Eventually all would be bought out by Laemmle. The new Universal studio was a vertically integrated company, with movie production, distribution and exhibition venues all linked in the same corporate entity, the central element of the Studio system era.

 

Past student thrillers

To assist me with the production of my thriller I have viewed the thriller trailers of former media students.

Firstly I watched and analysed "Hunter"





 Personally I gave this a 4 because I noticed  there was a good use of camera (angle & movement), sound and props. I would like to believe they done the same scenes with several different camera angle and they used the camera effectively having lots of different camera shots made it interesting to watch and when the PE teacher hits the detective with a baseball bat the way the camera was angled it was believable that the detective was actually hit. The use of sound also had a significant part in me giving this piece full marks, it was used quite effectively for certain actions such as when the detective is entering the school the sound suggests tension and something is about to happen. Also overall performance for me was clear and an understandable story line.

Next up was "Power Cut"

This example on the other hand i think deserved a 1/4. It is almost the exact opposite of "Hunter" in terms of camera use and effects, and sound. The camera use, was actually very impressive but there was a lack of variety in angles, shot types and movement. The use and experiment of sound in this example was very unsatisfactory it seems as though there was only one track used through-out the whole thriller with differentiating volume. The plot and storyline was very unclear and settings was not very good; what was supposed to be an office, was very obviously a history classroom.

North by Northwest by Alfred Hitchcock

Name; North by Northwest
Director; Alfred Hitchcock
Published; 1959
Running time: 136 minutes



North by Northwest is an exciting and typical example of a classic thriller. It is set in America and it was directed by English director and producer Alfred Hitchcock who is often nicknamed as the 'Master of suspense'. The screen play was crafted by Ernest Lehman who was an american screen writer.

An advertising man named Roger Thornhill, finds himself unexpectedly and suddenly grasped into the world of spies, after being mistaken for a man going by the name 'George Kaplan'. Foreign spy Philip Vandamm and his ruthless henchman Leonard tried to execute Thornhill but through a strike of luck and natural instincts he managed to survive the events. Unfortunately as he tried clearing his name the police took him to court for drink driving and if that is not enough, he is framed and convicted of murder. While he's on the run, he bumps into a cute blonde by the name of Eve Kendall, who helps him escape the law. But sadly nothing seems as what he thought and he finds out Eve isn't all she appears to be. All of this leads to an adventurous and thrilling ending on Mount Rushmore.

What makes 'North By Northhwest' a thriller?
 Resourceful hero / powerful villain
Fast paced scenes
Lots of action
Suspense



1)  Resourceful hero and powerful villain

In North by northwest Roger Thornhill is the resourceful hero, his resourcefulness is tested during several trials; for example when he had to leave the train station without getting noticed and also when he had to escape the crop duster. Also we have a powerful villain: Vandaam. Whom him and his henchmen seem to have a plan to escape all the polices investigations. This will always make the audience interested because they will be wondering what the villains next devious plan is and how the hero will escape it.

 VANDAAM THORNHILL

2) Fast Pace Scenes

There are several fast pace scenes in North By Northwest. Fast pace scenes are effective for a thriller because the audience are 'at the edge of their seats' wondering what will happen, an example of this is when Thornhill is being pursued by the crop duster.




This scene is very fast pace and makes the audience think and ask questions such as, how will he escape? will he ever escape? what will he do next? etc. it causes the audience to be engaged.



3) Suspense

To classify something as a thriller there needs to be suspense. Suspense makes the audience anxious and excited about what will happen next, it is usually at a point in the film where the hero is a serious dilemma and the villain seems to have won the war, in North By Northwest, there are several scenes which contain suspense.





One scene which probably stood out the most for suspense was at the end at Mount Rushmore, and Thornhill as about to fall off the edge but is hanging on for dear life.

4) Red Herrings

A ' red herring is an effective device, which is used to mislead or fool the audience into thinking something happened which didn't.

In this scene it is used very effectively to fool the audience into thinking that Eve Kendall had shot Roger Thornhill and that he died but little does the audience know that it was a goof.

Mise en scene

Mise en scene

Mise en scene is a french term meaning " In the scene or frame".

The elements of miss en scene are:
Settings and props; costume, hair & make-up; facial expressions and body language; lighting and colour; positioning of characters and objects.


Settings and props
- The setting is where the text of the media takes place i.e. classroom, field of crop & train station.
- Props are the object we see in the settings.
Costume, Hair & Make-Up
- The use of costume, hair and make-up in a certain way can have strong effect on how the audience views i.e. someone who is looking dirty and has ragged clothes suggests they are poor.

Facial expressions and body language
- We all communicate through facial expressions and body language
- This is particularly important in media texts with  close up and extreme close up because we can tell a lot about what is going on or what is going to happen through a characters facial expressions and body language. i.e. a characters who is smiling and laughing infers thats there is happiness in the scene.

Positioning of characters and objects within a frame 
- Where objects and characters are positioned, is very important.
- Objects and characters can be in the foreground, middle ground or background, this can emphasise the relative importance of the object or character.

Deep focus
- This where both foreground and background are in focus, which enables the audience to choose where to look.

Media Theories

Media Theories
Classic Hollywood Narratives
(Three act structure)
1) Routine life (Introduction of the problem)
2) Problem solving (The character logically works through creating a story)
3) Problem resolved (End of the problem where the life returns back to normal)

The classic Hollywood comes in between realism and formalism.

Strauss Binary Opposites

Claude Levi Straussa french man who was alive around the 1900's. His theory was that we understand a word more according to how strongly we understand its opposite meanings and things related to it, more than how much we undestand the direct meaning of the word itself, known as 'binary opposites'. e.g. how well we understand the meaning of bad, depends on  how well you understand the word good and things related to it. Many films/plots especially thrillers, use several binary opposites within the storyline.

 

Barthes 5 Narrative Codes

1) Hermenuetic
This code refers to a text that has mystery or uncertainty, clues or hints or given but still there is no obvious or clear answer.

2) Proairetic
This code is adds suspense and tension to the text, which keeps the audience interested and guessing

3) Semantic
This code refers to part of a text, through connotation of which the story suggests.

Connotation - "an idea or feeling which a word invokes for a person in addition to its literal or primary meaning"

4) Symbolic
Similar to the semantic code but at a broader level. "This is typically done through the use of antithesis, where new ideas arise out of opposing and conflicting ideas.

5) Cultural
This code focuses on the audience's ideology, cultural knowledge and morality.

Todorov's Theory

Todorov came up with a theory in 1969 which he believe that should and could be applied to any film text.

1) A state of equilibrium ( everything is happening as it should be)
2) A disruption in the order of events
3) Recognition that there has been a change in events
4) A plan to stop the disturbance and repair the damage
5) A return to a state of equilibrium can be applied to the thriller: Rush Hour



1) The president of China is giving a speech to other world leaders.

2) Suddenly there is an attempted assassination dead by an unknown man.

3) Inspector Lee and Detective carter are put on the case to find the hit man. They have to travel to Paris to protect a woman who has knowledge of secrets of triad leader.

4) The Chinese criminal master mind ( the assassin) turns out to be Lee's long lost brother, during a sword fight between the two, Kenji falls from the Eiffel Tower but Reynard is still alive ... luckily carter manages to shoot him.

5) Lee and Carter walk off dancing to 'War'.

 

conventions of a thriller film

Conventions of a thriller film

The objective of a thriller is to obtain the audience/crowds attention and create excitement and suspense for them.

Thrillers are all to do with good against evil with a hero and a villain who are known and defined from the start. They usually begin in the normal life of the hero/es and the villain plotting something, then there is a disturbance in the of an order of event and somehow the hero has to save the day.


Thrillers tend to occur on a much bigger scale than mystery films, and can be defined by the mood that they create. Thrillers have, fast pacing, frequent action & resourceful heroes/villains.

They use simple yet effective devices such as:

Suspense -  When someone is in a state of uncertainty or excited about what is going to happen.

Red Herrings - This something that causes distraction or causes someone to be mislead or misinformed.

Cliff Hangers - This is a technique used by a director which persuades the audience to come back and see what happens because the character has been left in a awkward dilemma.


Good examples of thriller are 'North By Northwest' by Alfred Hitchcock and 'Avengers' by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

 

Sub Genre's 

Action Thriller
  This is more common in movies than novels because of the visual appeal of explosions and violence.

Conspiracy Thriller
In this subgenre the hero must confront a larger, powerful organisation who usually has more resources and money, whose threat only he sees. Usually he must do so alone.

Crime Thriller
This is based more on crime, and most of the time from the criminal’s point of view. Physical action and eluding the police take the place of gathering evidence and trying to discover the criminal.




Disaster Thriller
 (usually) natural disaster is taking place, and the antagonist is either trying to stop the disaster, the extent of the disaster, or just save themselves before time runs out and the disaster has run its course. 

Eco-Thriller
In this sub genre the protagonist must prevent a threat to the environment that will have consequences for society if left unchecked. The damage could range from local level, to national level to the whole world.

Romantic Thriller
This is a sub-genre fits into both thrillers and romantic novels. The plot line follows a typical thriller’s tension, suspense, and excitement, but a main element is the growing love relationship between two characters, who sometimes start off as two complete strangers.

Legal Thriller
This sub genre takes place in and around the courtroom. Usually the protagonist is a lawyer who has found their case threatening death for either them or their client 



Examples of Thrillers    

Cinematography Exercise - Evauation

In our first trial film we managed to include most of the shots that we needed; the two shots we did not do were the tracking and rolling shots because we found it difficult to do them correctly the filming took place on school grounds outside. In our group we rotated the jobs so that everyone had a go at different jobs.

In all our shots we tried using each one effectively by acting drama which would suit the type of shot and relate it to a similar way it would be used in a real film.

For our first shot we done a 'long shot', we just done a simple dance involving myself and Leon, which was successful and didn't need any significant adjustments, the only thing i noticed was that our camera was tilted.

Secondly we done a pan shot, in this shot we filmed three of us doing different ninja moves at a time as the camera panned around, to improve this example of a pan shot i think it would have been better if we had someone running or walking as we panned.

Next we done an extreme close up of Gottfried face, where we started from his eyes and went down to his mouth.

For our fourth shot we done a close up of Gottfried's face. We shot it like this to show the detail of his facial expression.

After that, we done a medium shot of a small group fight, 

Genres ( definition, types, and poularity)

A genre is a style or category of art, music, or literature.
In this case we will be looking at different types of film genres. The most common film genre in our modern day are:

Action - This type of genre is usually involves high energy, heart racing stunts & daring rescues.

Adventure - These types of films usually have exciting stories such as the main character has to go on an expidition or go in search of a lost continent.

Comedy - Comedies are usually light hearted story lines, designed to continuously cause the viewer to laugh or be amused.(slapstick, screwball, spoofs and parodies, romantic comedies, black comedy (dark satirical comedy)

Crime and gangster - these types of films usually include at least one big scene of violence and some are true life stories of how some people came from a struggling background and how they made it big. Includes - sinister actions of criminals or mobsters, particularly bankrobbers, underworld figures, or ruthless hoodlums who operate outside the law, stealing and murdering their way through life.

Drama - Dramas are serious, plot-driven presentations, portraying realistic characters, settings, life situations, and stories involving intense character development and interaction. Usually, they are not focused on special-effects, comedy, or action, Dramatic films are probably the largest film genre, with many subsets.

Horror - Horror films are designed to frighten and to invoke our hidden worst fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale, while captivating and entertaining us at the same time in a cathartic experience. Horror films feature a wide range of styles, from the earliest silent Nosferatu classic, to today's CGI monsters and deranged humans. They are often combined with sci-fi.


  Sci-Fi - These films are often quasi-scientific, visionary and imaginative - complete with heroes, aliens, distant planets, impossible quests, improbable settings, fantastic places, great dark and shadowy villains, futuristic technology, unknown and unknowable forces, and extraordinary monsters ('things or creatures from space'), either created by mad scientists or by nuclear havoc. 

Genres are popular to people beacuse people can choose which one they like and many genres now are infulenced by reality or on going cases and examples in the real world and with this it means everyday people can relate to certain films.

Film studios favour to do genres i think because this is what draws people attention and provokes them to go cinemas which then creates income and an easy way of gaining wealth for them.
              

Brief

AS Foundation Portfolio

The Brief 

 You have been asked to produce the titles and opening sequence of a new fiction film in the thriller genre

The sequence should last a maximum of two minutes.

You may work in a group of 2 - 4 students.

As acting is not assessed you are free to use actors that are not members of your group.

The film is worth 60% of your coursework grade.

The accompanying blog is worth 40% of your coursework grade

Together the Foundation Portfolio is worth 50% of the overall AS Level.