Sunday, 3 February 2013

Research Task- Charlotte Hudson

Taken: Starts with old camera footage of a child's birthday

  • The filming flickers, which suggests to the audience that what is being shown is a memory/flashback or a dream therefore making audience question who the small girl in the footage is.
1. Camera work:
                               
There are lots of CU shots of the child
                                ECU's and CU's of the birthday cake and the no 5 on the cake
                                2 shot of a woman and the child- this makes the audience ask whats their relationship? Who are they? Why is this relevant?
                                MCU of the male characters face as he wakes up- the audience can see his face after he's had the dream to see what the relationship is between the characters.


LS to see the room he is in- shows the MES (takeaway pots, frame in his hand) suggests he lives by himself and looks after himself. 
                                

ECU of a karaoke instruction guide & an MS of him reading the sheet- suggests a relevance between the sheet and the child(possibly)
                                CU of the picture that was in the frame in the man's hand, shows a girl on a horse this therefore links the girl in the footage as she was bought a toy horse- this therefore shows that it is the same girl. Audience ask what the man and her relationship is- father & daughter?

2.  Sound:
                   Non Diegetic sound of a piano, demonstrates this a distant memory but also suggests that there is unhappiness now when watching it. Suggests something could have happened to the girl who's being show in the footage.
                  Diegetic sound of the childs laughter to suggest happiness
                  You can also see that the two characters are speaking however you can't hear what is being said, just the piano and laughter.
                  Diegetic Sound of the man sighing when he leaves the sofa with the karaoke sheet.
There is also a moment of silence when the man looks at the picture in the frame, then the ND sound starts again. This suggests there is a relationship between him and the person in the picture- suggests it isnt the best relationship.

3. Mise En Scene: 
                                 Princess Tiara on the childs head, she's thought of as their princess? 
                                 The cake and candle number 5 shows the significance of that birthday, but makes the audience question why that number is a significant one.
                                 The horse toy- is this also relevant?
                                 Their body language and facial expressions are happy (smiling and laughing). His body language is slouched, suggests he is unhappy and alone.
 Lighting: the lighting in the old footage, is bright lighting to show happiness and a fond memory however when the shots change to the male character, its dark to suggest sadness and his life is different to what it was then.

4. Editing: 
There's a repetition of the child blowing out the birthday candle.
 MOA as the man picks up the karaoke instruction sheet.

These make you question: are the girls the same? how old is she now? What is the 3 characters shown so far relationships with each other? Are they all positive? Or is there a reason he is alone?

Why this works as an opening: the audience ask questions, the music highlights sadness, therefore the audience want to know what's happened. The audience want their questions answered. Shows there are going to be revelings about the characters and why they're significant.

Narrative Structure: Shows the protagonist(s) the male and the young girl. Demonstrates there is a change in time- the girl has grown up- what she used to be like and what she's like now. 
Shows the female character as a child then her at her age now? Highlights its nearly her birthday (therefore having a dream about a past birthday and also showing the karaoke sheet- is that her present?) 
Theme: growing up, love, family
Symbolic codes: the horse, the birthday cake, the candle

Cape Fear:

1. Sound: 
 Diegetic- panting as he's working out, shows he is fit and strong, can create danger as he will be hard to fit and get rid of. 
Non Diegetic sound: loud, powerful instrument (trombone) and high pitched violins etc all together suggest danger and to be fearful. Shows that the man is dangerous.
Dialogue(diegetic) as the cell door opens 'Okay Cady, the moment you've been waiting for' suggests to the audience that the man has been there a long time and that he is in prison. 

2. Mise en Scene: 
Tattoo's on the man's back 'truth' (with an image of a bible above) and 'justice' (with a knife/dagger above) suggests to the audience he is religious and believes the bible tells the truth but also that he is a killer as he believes killing someone is the only way of getting justice- this creates fear as the audience questions why he is in prison. 
The camera tilts down images of heroes and powerful people in history that perhaps kill people through justice?
Prison clothing

3. Camera work:
The camera pans out as we watch the man from behind, they start with a close up of his back then pan out to show that he is in a prison and we watch him through cell bar doors this signifies he has been trapped away and watch at through the bars as this is the safest possible way to speak to him.  Also you mainly see a side on view of him not a full face shot this makes the audience question who he is.
The camera continues to pan as the audience watches him leave his cell, we watch him from a MLS to keep distance and as if we are a fellow prisoner or an officer. 
ECU of the final gate opening to let him out into the real world, he is no longer trapped away
CU of his face just as he leaves, he shows no real emotion just content on leaving
ELS of him leaving this therefore shows where he was being held this creates fear as it looks highly secured and guarded suggesting he's done something terrible. The ELS also is used to show the weather (thunder and dark clouds behind him) this suggests that he is dangerous and him being let out of prison was a bad idea.

4. Editing:
shows him leaving his prison cell and then leaving the whole prison creates an atmosphere as it is highlighting the fact he is leaving suggesting this is not a good idea.

Why this works as an opening: creates fear, as he seems dangerous and nasty
the audience ask questions- whys he in prison? how long has he been there? why is he being let out? 
suggests he is going to do something again as the sound is not a happy tune, its loud, dangerous, repetitive sound.

Narrative Structure: shows the protagonist, demonstrates there has been a time change by the use of dialogue, highlights danger and there is going to be death (the justice tattoo).

Silence Of The Lambs: setting- woods/assault course


1. Camera Work: 
CU of a woman's face, side view, highlighting she is the protagonist, shows her facial expression (determination, anger)
MS/MLS of her running, the camera follows from behind, tracking
MLS/ELS as she carries on running, camera stays stood- man runs in from behind the camera calling her name (sense of urgency, fear, worry)
MCU of the males face as he watches the girl runs back- whats his relationship with her?
Pans down words on a tree 'hurt, agony, pain, love it' audience question where she is
P.O.V. shot as she runs towards the camera and out of the woods
runs towards a big building full of people training LS/ELS

2. Sound:
Non Diegetic sound- instrumental, doesn't suggest danger
Diegetic sound- dialogue, panting, running in the woods
The ND sound doesn't signal that there is an issue, just sometimes louder than others which may suggest something may happen

3. MES:
the climbing frame/nets shows she is on a course of some sort, shows she is trained at it too
her clothing is different to others (they are in full black) she is in grey and black, highlights she is the protagonist
the tree with the words 'hurt, pain, agony, love it' nailed into it, makes the audience question where she is


Lighting: all natural light, showing the time of the day, no instigation of fear, worry etc




4. Editing:
there aren't many cuts, it manipulates time by making it longer shots showing she is in one space for a long amount of time suggests she's been running for a while
it prolongs time by having longer shots rather than lots of quick, short ones

Why is it a good opening to a thriller:
keeps the audience asking lots of questions such as: where is she? who is the man that spoke to her? what's their relationship? has she done something wrong? is she at a training camp? why isn't the music really worrying like other thrillers?

Narrative Structure: shows you who the protagonist is, 
has led to a concern/disruption as she has been asked to speak to someone (they sound important) is she in trouble etc? doesn't demonstrate a time change.

The Disappearance Of Alice Creed:

1. Sound:
ND ticking clock throughout suggesting there is a time limit, they are run by time
there is no dialogue throughout, makes the audience think about what the characters are doing therefore keeping them hooked
ND instruments as well to create an atmosphere
the sound builds

2. Camera Work: 
range of camera shot sizes and different angles (ECU of the man drilling bolts into the door)- interesting as you want to know why he's putting so many bolts in the door and you can see the fine work put in
pan through the flat before they change it, board it up etc
parallel and tracking shots

3. MES:
the tools used, the things the males buy (sound proofer etc)
the flat used- where is it? how did they find it?
the door
stolen van
lighting: natural again, enhanced when showing ECU shots of specific actions (screwing the door, screwing the bed to the floor and when making the bed)

4. Editing:
many cuts to show time change, to show they are doing many different things to be ready for what they've planned

Why is this a good opening: 
the audience ask lots of questions, keep the audience interested as there is no dialogue they have no idea whats going on
the sound suggests that there is an issue and something is going to happen yet there is no evidence to that (dialogue etc) just the work they're doing

Narrative Structure: shows the two protagonists, suggests there is a big issue and something will happen, highlights danger














1 comment:

  1. Good effort Charlotte some rather descriptive elements, you could add some hyperlinks to re-enforce your notes. I assume you will go back to Alice Creed and improve it a little with some screengrabs.

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