Classifying our film

After discussion with my group I feel we felt that our thriller opening is going to be classified as a 15, reasons are as follows:

• We feel it can give us a wider range of audience for our thriller rather than doing the opening an 18
• Content matches a 15 more suitably than others.
• We could not make it any younger due to the psychological part of the thriller. A younger audience would be too ‘freaked out’

We felt our thriller didn’t need to be a higher than a 15 due to not much bad language, no violence and not to mentally scary

The BBFC

 

The BBFC stands for The British Board of Film Classification, they categorise films under certain regulations so the film is appropriate to a certain viewer.

Classifications

U (universal) - this means that the media product is suitable for all. U’s should be mainly a positive story line, countering violence or horror with a positive outcome or solution.

Guidelines for a U

• U’s should use no discrimination or racist language unless whilst in the film it is seen as negative behaviour.
• No miss use of drugs or illegal drugs should be shown within the motion picture, yet if it is shown as educational, it could be accepted.
• Thrilling scenes must be kept down low and should have a positive outcome.
• No violent behaviour should be used that children could copy or take into consideration of doing it themselves.
• If bad language is used, it must be mild and maybe seen as bad.
• No sexual nudity.
• No direct language about sexual behaviour.
• Only mild sexual behaviour should be seen.
• Theme must be appropriate for children.
• Only mild violence.

PG (parental guidance) - this classification is for average, general viewing but some

scenes could be inappropriate. Children may watch these motion pictures without there parents, but the content could not be as welcoming as a U would be for children.

Guidelines for a PG

• PG’s discrimination or racism is much disapproved of and should be shown an unaccepted part of life.
• Any reference to drugs should be shown as unaccepted behaviour or not accepted at all
• Thrilling scenes should not be too intense or scary.
• No violent behaviour to children is likely take inspiration off.
• Bad language should be shown as bad. Only slight bad language should be used.
• No sexual nudity.
• Discrete sexual activity can be shown but must be infrequent and subtle
• A more serious theme to the film can be applied.
• Slight violence may be used, but only with in context of the movie

12/12A (suitable for children over the age of 12) – these two fit the same guidelines, a 12A is only applied to movies that are shown in the cinema, this means it is up to the parents to say if they can watch  movie and it is there responsibility.

Guidelines for a 12/12A

·        Actions of discrimination and racism cannot be the main part of the motion picture, neither can been seen as good unless condemned.

·        Drug use should not be regular within the film neither instructions or shown as a really positive thing

·        Frightening scenes are allowed but cannot be constant and should be kept almost minimal.

·        Violent behaviour should not be shown in detail, no weapons and the easy accessibility of them should be shown as a good thing to have.

·        Strong language must be not used constantly.

·        Sexual nudity and activity can be used subtly, what is suitable for teenagers.

·        Theme must be suitable for young teenagers

·        Blood and injury cant be showed too much unless purely has to be the context of the movie but still not often. The outcome should try and be positive.

15 (suitable for 15 years and over) – no person younger than the age of 15 is permitted to see a film or buy a film with this age restriction on.

Guidelines for a 15

• Shouldn’t be racist or discriminating through out the movie.
• The video should not promote drugs as a positive thing, and shouldn’t be shown often especially the miss use of dangerous drugs; this may not even be shown.
• No sexualised horror scenes but most others are ok.
• Violent deaths should not be promoted, neither should the ease of owning a weapon,
• Bad language is allowed, some if only with the context..
• Nudity is allowed yet with no sexual content
• Sexual activity is allowed but without detail, detail can be justified if with in tone with the film
• A 15 can have any type of theme that is appropriate.
• Violence is allowed but should not focus on the pain of the violence, sexual violence is not allowed.

18 (suitable for adults only) – only adults may watch the cinematic viewing or buy the DVD of an 18 age restricted movie.

Guidelines for an 18

In line with the human rights act 1998 the BBFC feel that for ‘18’ movies are for adults only and that adults should be responsible for what they watch and enjoy and should not try and take that away from anyone. But there are some in the following areas:

• Where the law comes into place with a criminal.
• Where scenes such a sexual violence, drug abuse to the whole community or violent deaths may cause harm to certain individual viewers.
• Where there are very explicit sexual images that do not fit into the context of the movie.
• When sexual scenes are actually educational explicit images or files may be used.
• When sexual scenes are used for arousal and stimulation, if anything going a bit further into depth of this will result in being an R18.

R18 (To be shown and supplied specifically to licensed cinemas, licensed sex shops, and to adults of not less than 18 years only)- this category is a restricted classification mainly for explicit images evolving sex or strong fetish material involving adults. These films are only scene in licensed cinemas and store or only by mail orders. |The following is strictly disallowed in R18 movies:

• Any footage of anything close the edge of criminal law.
• Anything that encourages sexual abuse/rape.
• The infliction or pain that may cause long turm effects, especially during sexual activity.
• Penetration by anything associated with violence and that’s likely to cause harm.
• Any sexual threats and strong verbal abuse.
• Any form of sexual activity with involved no or lack of consent

Analytical suitcase (part two)

So it’s a few weeks on and we are starting to think about thriller films and the production of them, here is a few key words about this.

Institution- an organisation or business involved in a production or distribution of media/film.

Distribution- the way of getting a film or media product out from an institution to the audience for viewing and purchasing needs.

Exhibition- places where a media or film product is shown to the public e.g. internet, cinema

Regulation- making sure that the context of the film or media production are suitable for the allocated audience.

The Thriller Genre

Here is a post that discusses and explains the typical conventions of a thriller, what a thriller is and what makes a thriller. As I am making a thriller I need to know a lot about the genre.

Typical conventions - The thriller genre is commonly about the battle of justice and injustice where in the conclusion, a price has been paid. A thriller film is based on suspense. These elements are reinforced by minor elements e.g. chasing. Thrillers can be much subcategorised, creating hybrid sub-genres, each creating a main other element to the thriller genre giving it a different type of story. Some examples of the sub- genres:

·        Psychological thriller – where the conflict between main characters is emotional and mental, not physical.

·        Conspiracy thriller- a thriller based on a conspiracy

·        Crime thriller- a thriller revolving around a crime that has been committed

·        Disaster thriller – where a thriller involves a disaster such as a tsunami

·        Legal thriller-

·        Medical thriller – a thriller based on an illness that effects the whole world

·        Mystery thriller- a thriller based on the unknown

·        Political thriller- where politics is involved in the main story line

·        Religious thriller- a thriller that involves religion

·        Supernatural thriller- a thriller that involves the supernatural

Key elements/conventions that are taken into account for a thriller- Whilst shooting a thriller and watching a thriller, elements have to be taken into account to make it the genre it is;

• Setting/place and time
• Dark scenery
• Action
• Main theme
• Start of narrative
• Main event
• If it is chronological of non-chronological/ flashbacks
• Pace of shots/variety of shots/editing
• Idea of character(for introduction)

The key elements that are involved in a thriller can be;

• Chase
• Psychological dimension – the unconscious/unknown
• Close ups- human elements
• Normality vs. unexpected
• Darker side of life
• Injury, death
• Nightmare
• Disturbing
• Flashbacks- disjoint time
• Credibility/believability
• Distortion of reality

All these features I can use when shooting a thriller opening myself.

Improvements

After analysing the movie ‘The Happening’ and reading others analysis’s I have found some improvements I could make and things I could do extra before my next analysis to make it better.

• Whilst putting out my points and Ideas I must stick to analysing and not ‘waffle’. This is where you drag out one point for too long.
• Whilst watching the movie before analysing I should keep my analytical head on.
• Try to stay clear of the ‘shopping list’ technique and find certain points and analyse in detail.
• When getting into detail I should use my ‘analytical suitcase’ in more depth to emphasise the point I am trying to make.
• When making a point a must always link back the question and conventions of the movie.

these points i can use for the next time i am analysing.

The Happening Analysis

How does Shyamalin create a sense of tension in the mis-en-scene which could be linked to the physiological thriller genre?

I’ve now recently watched the thriller ‘The Happening’ by M.Night Shyamalin that has been around for about two years now. The film is good and some of the techniques Shyamalin uses create an awesome sense of mystery and convention of the thriller genre. The biggest effect is given off in about the first five minutes of the movie, setting the movie and gripping the viewer, yet when the movie progresses it seems to loose its effect, this is why I am going to pick apart and analyse the first opening scene.

  Shyamalin starts off, like every movie, the opening credits, but he has still paid attention to detail in them. He starts it off with very dark clouds moving across the whole screen, you can hear the wind in the background of the music; the music is in a minor key creating tension, this has been placed over the clip therefore being non diagetic. This music creates a field of mystery and sadness due to the violin playing the minor melody. You can also hear the wind in this motion, giving a feel of realism, almost like it’s your own point of view watching the clouds. Carrying on throughout the credits the sky and clouds seem to get darker and travel quicker across the screen. Whilst this is happening the music begins to build and get more aggressive giving a sense of dramatic build, a convention of the psychological thriller genre. This makes your grip the edge of your seat. The whole Mise en scene builds to a final burst and everything goes to a halt, the screen goes black and this leads us on to the actual opening scene of the movie.

     As music underlies this whole scene the scene opens with a generic establishing shot of central park, New York. This is emphasized to the viewer through text underneath the shot. As the camera pans on a certain dog walker walking through the mass amount of citizens in the park, what we view is an average morning scene, with stereotypical citizens, like business men and tourists, this creates a conventional feel to central park. This is also to show the venerability of the citizens around. A convention of the thriller genre. There is another establishing shot, this time from a low angle, of the New York skyscrapers and the tree’s of central park. The low angle enhances the size of the buildings. Your immediate attention is drawn towards the building yet the sight and sound of the trees is an early signifier of the danger throughout the whole movie, but to the view watching this for the first time, this only creates mysterious tension and mysterious thoughts, but this is the first motif of the deadly toxin the trees release. Motifs are in relation to the genre of physiological thrillers too, as it gives a chance for the viewer to create there own picture in the head of what might happen, thrillers to this to play on your mind.

   The frame of the city then cuts to two girls sat on a bench, even though this is such a busy park in the shots previously, they look alone. This gives a sense of venerability. This is a convention of a thriller; the venerability gives of a feel to the view of mystery keeping them on the edge of their seat. The main victims of this scene are the usual stereotype of a victim, blonde woman. This signifies weakness because of tradition, saying men are superior; women appear to be more emotional and weaker to an attack. Quite suspense music builds underneath sounds of the wind/trees and the dialog, which is at a minimum making the viewer create there, own cinematic experience more individual. The frame cuts to a mid shot of the women talking, in a two shot composure. The dialog refers to death therefore signifying and resembling the attack of the trees that will happen. Signifiers are conventions of thriller because they add a sense of mystery. A scream is let out by what sounds like a young girl close by, this is unconventional of what would usually be heard in a park. The scream adds tension to the mise en scene; this is a convention of the thriller genre, making the cinematic experience more gripping and heart racing. The scream also shows weakness because of how young the scream sounds, this adds to the conventional factors. Immediately after the scream a reaction shot one of our main victims is given off, showing the emotional feelings of which she is experiencing, this also shows a sense of venerability and scared feeling, a convention of a thriller. The victim then speaks under breath, showing confusion and how she is scared. A point of view shot is then shown showing her perspective of what is happening, in the mise en scene the ‘general civilians’ are walking backwards, the music is building and the tension rises, making the viewers cinema experience almost to a climax. Another reaction shot is given; you can see the tension on her face. The last shot is the victim trying to talk to her friend but she is a victim in the attack, she has stopped dead, repeating her speech, which is very unconventional. Given off a mysterious feel, making the viewer almost scared. The frame then cuts to the girl under attack from the ‘wind’, she looks almost surprised which confuses the viewer, she tries to pear around the back of her head making the main focal point the back of her hair as she reaches something, this finally cuts into the most brutal part of the scene, there is a big close up of the victim pulling the hair pin from her hair, this is an unconventional weapon and has a chance to have a close up on the hair, blonde, resembling weakness. The hand with the weapon then pans around to her neck of which you can also see the girls reaction as she forces the pin into her neck, to therefore kill herself, the shot is composed on a golden mean with the main focal points being the weapon and reaction, this is a conventional thriller shot as it emphases the tension between the two objects, but this shot is also unconventional as the weapon is held by the victim therefore making the victim the suspect. This is wear everything, including music, and feel of the brutal killing really gives a cinematic climax, adding the final blow of tension and releases it, the screen cuts to black.

Editing

Once filming has taken place, the next step is to edit them together. Editing is where we put together a sequence of shots we have already taken to flow and make sense, maybe a story. This decides how the video that your making will look. There are two main ways to analyse and look at editing.

• Speed
• Style

Speed

The speed is how quickly the video changes from one shot to another. This varies for certain types of scenes, for example; action shots will have loads of camera shots but every shot will be edited short and fast.

Style

The style is the way two shots are edited together, there are many effects and ways you can edit two together. Here are a few examples:

Straight cut- this is the most commonly used one, this is where one shot is cut and directly afterwards the other is placed, with no space in between.

Fade in/out – this usually fades to a black screen, this could be used at the end of a scene/movie, or a cut between shots that will fade to a black screen the n fade into the next cut.

Dissolve – this cut looks like a shot is dissolving into another shot.

Montage- a montage is when loads of shots are placed together, sometimes to show a timeline.

Wipe – this is where it cuts into another shot looking like someone has wiped the other shot off.

Camera Work

Analysing camera work

There is three ways of which to analyse camera work within a movie or programme.

Composition

This is how every shot is composed/ set out within the frame of the camera.

Framing

Framing is where the camera is in relation to the subject it is filming. Distance, angle and viewpoint all come under framing.

Movement

Movement is movement of the camera in relation to the subject.

Composition

There is two main composition styles.

Rule of thirds- this is where you divide up the frame into 9 segments – the points of interest should be in the middle four crosses as below

Golden mean- this is where the points of interested are located along a diagonal line, again, like below.

Framing

These are some of the key framing shots we use in movies and television today.

• Extreme / establishing long shot (ELS) - this can be used to set the scene, this makes you give a sense of location.
• Long shot (LS) – to show a whole subject or sometimes to set the scene.
• Medium long shot (MLS) – used to show you a whole character
• Mid Shot (MS) – this is used to show half a body, working well for action shots or conversation shots.
• Medium close up (MCU) – this is to show a person from shoulders up, can be used for reaction/ emotion shots.
• Close up (CU) – this is mostly used for reaction shots, you can just see the head of an actor in this shot.
• Big close up (BCU) – this shows from mouth to the eyes if emotion is wanting to be shown fully.
• Extreme close up ECU) – this is show things in real detail, only can see the eyes on a person, this is to show the focus on only one feature in the frame.

Angle of a shot

• High angle shot – taken from above looking down on the subject, sometimes used to show authority towards the camera and vunerability to the subject.
• Low angle shot – taken from below looking up at the subject. This is to show authority of the subject
• Wide angle shot – taken with a lens to show (width ways) more within a frame.
• Level shot – this is usual used for the news, to show equality, taken on eye level with the person/subject.

Movement

There is some main movement shots you can do with a camera as well.

• Pan (whip pan)- this is to emphasise movement of the subject
• Tilt – this can be used with a pan to ensure you et the whole subject when changing the height of which they are standing
• Dolly/tracking – this is used to follow a subject
• Zoom – this is to get closer to the subject with out moving or even get further away.
• Crane shot – this used to get high angle shots, very high angle shots.
• Hand held shot/ steadicam- this is to move around the scene.
• Ariel shot – provides an extreme high angle shot to show it from a birds eye view.

A few more shots

• Two shot – this is to show two people within a frame. This is used for conversations within a scene. This is usually a mid shot.
• Over-shoulder shot(OSS)- this is used in conversations as well, looking from behind a person to another subject.
• Point- of- view shot (POV)- this is to show a characters point of view within a scene

Analytical Suitcase (part 1)

I’ve been doing media studies for a few weeks now and I’ve learnt a lot of new terms and new language, so here is a post I am going to do every week or so when I learn new terms or language to do with mainly analylitical but also new shots ive found or editing skills.

Genre – this is what categorises films/books/music etc by what the content contains. E.g. comedy : funny jokes or actions done within a story line.

Linear- a story that has one fluent story line through out the whole film and runs very smoothly.

Non- Linear – a film that has several story lines going on at once, jumping from one and other, not running smoothly e.g. The Matrix.

Mise- en- scene – this is a word used about everything within the frame, what you are seeing as a viewer. E.g. The setting and location.

Convention – conventions are aspects that contribute towards a genre. E.g. rapid editing – action films.

Denotation – this is the primary meaning of something.

Connotation – this is a secondary meaning of something.

Representation – how something is presented within the content, how it is shown.

Stereotypes – prejudge and inferring something

To infer – reaching a conclusion by working things out; a logical guess

To deduce – reaching a conclusion by reasoning with something that is known; what we know

Juxtaposition – this is where all parts of the setting line up together

Ideology- belief/ system value practice throughout society.

Psycho shower scene

So I’ve recently watched the film called 'Psycho' which has very many good scenes and film elements. Psycho is a thriller movie and got me feeling part of the movie. This is what i think makes a really good movie. One scene that I thought that was probably the best scene, media wise and also as a general viewer, was 'the shower scene'. Here is the link; (psycho shower scene) .The scene as a whole is simply awesome, down to the last frame. In this short analysis I am going to only analyse three of the hundreds of frames there are to give you a feel of how good this scene is.

The first frame I have chosen is when the shower is turned on. This is one of the most significant parts of the scene. As there is no one in this shot, we can infer this is a point of view shot from the women underneath it, an effective shot pointing out the view of where the figure is looking. This signifies that the women is distracted by the shower, giving a sense of innocence and is oblivious to what is going on around her. This is a clear convention of a thriller, showing a character is unaware of what is about to happen, creating tension and suspense. We could even infer that the woman in the shower is kind of relaxed as she is confident to be naked. Her being naked also adds to the effect of when the attack happens as there is nothing between the blade and her skin, this gives an effect of venerability and weakness to the naked women. The low angle shot of the camera also represents this and adds to the effect of the weakness of her (another thriller convention, one person showing dominance of another). The only sound in this one part is the shower (this is a diagetic sound). This simple thin sound creates a suspense waiting for something to lift you off the seat, creating tension for the viewer.

The next frame is another significant part of the scene, when the murderer pulls the shower curtain and produces and knife held ready to attack. This is a close up of the murder and a level view to catch you off guard. As you can see even though this is a close up, the face has been blurred by the shower that is the women is innocently showering in, this blurred face gives you a sense off mystery (a convention of a thriller). As this figures face is hidden our attention as the viewer is directly going to the weapon, the knife. We infer this is the killer going to harm someone. The knife, in this frame, is pretty much the only focused point in this scene, giving it emphasis and it shows the knife to have a lot of power. Also the angle of the blade in relation to the camera shows dominance as nothing can help that the blade will harm the women, the lighting also draws your attention I with a reflection off the blade. This frame is also on a golden mean (points on one diagonal line). At this very point non-diagetic sounds come in/ music to emphasize the dramatic scene of the murder.

The last frame I’m going to analyse is when the women, after the stabbing, struggles to keep herself up so clutches on the shower curtain for the last struggle before she falls on the floor. We infer just before she is dead. The close up of the hand shows the red nail varnish, a motif of death blood etc. ironic. This colour and the sense of struggle and desperation are all conventions of a thriller therefore being a key part of the scene. The hand is the key part of this frame; the most focused emphasising the struggle of the grip of the shower curtain.

Watch it for yourself! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdAJrEgsU70

PSYCHO Movie Poster

Watching the thrilling movie 'Psycho', a must see scene is the shower scene, take a look! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdAJrEgsU70

This movie poster is a convention of a thriller, showing the suspense and horrific events of the movie. Your eyes are directly taken to the main focal point of the hand, showing the struggle of a person just trying to stay alive and standing. A sense of mystery is given because the shower curtain is blocking and blurring the view of the person, this makes you unknown to the state that they are in, but as you can see there are elements of blurred red, we can infer they are bleeding giving a definite sense of mystery again. The words 'Check In, Unpack, Relax, Take a Shower.' gives you an unsettled feeling. We can infer this movie could be placed in a hotel. Also the correlation between the picture and the word 'shower' is something that caught my eye, giving mystery back to the photo. The words down the side of this picture again confuse people by making the movie sound polite, this is called an oxymoron, pretending something is in fact the opposite of what it is. This draws you into the poster let alone the movie. The release date on this poster is at the bottom written in red. We could infer the colour red is used because of its representation, red is a connotation of blood, death, anger and lust etc. these is also conventions of a thriller (blood, anger etc). Last the word 'Sightmare' used gives a sense of shock and mystery, implying that it is real life drawing in more viewers to the poster. It leaves you with a question. This poster sums up most of the movie that I’ve encountered, analytical review of the shower scene up soon! Watch This Space!!

First Analysis

So i recently started off the Media Studies As level and i'm already into it, we got stuck straight in so I thought i would start off my blogging with an analysis:

     This is a still image from the first version of ‘the Texas chain saw massacre’. The camera shoots this shot from low down, looking up at the subject. This is called a low angle shot; this is used in this frame to show authority of the subject. This can demonstrate who is in power, in this case, ‘leather face’. Added power in this shot is shown by the raising of the hands with a chainsaw in it. Creating violent tension. This action of the hands could also suggest someone is about to be hurt, even killed.

           Even from it being taken from below head height, we could imply this is a point of view camera shot, showing it through the victims eyes, in that case the low angle shot could show the struggle of the person about to take the blow of the chainsaw. Even the way that only one person is in the frame in an open area can make you feel as if it’s from your point of view.

           The frame is composed on a golden mean; this means the main focal points are on a diagonal line, in this case a steep one. The main focal points are the chainsaw and the figure (leather face). As you can see this is a fairly old film and isn’t as defined as new movies but the main focal points are more focused than the background, emphasising them drawing your attention to the main part of each frame.

          The background in this image is a sun set which could symbolize the decent of the day, also the chainsaw and maybe the person that’s about to die, the sun is creating a red coloured sky, the colour red resembles anger and blood, which fits well in the story line of this movie.

          If you look closely to the figure ‘leather face’ you will see that they have created a mask to make him look more threatening and insane, this adds to the whole mis-en-sene of the frame making it look more brutal. Overall this image is only one piece of incredible footage of the first chainsaw massacre film.

Thanks for reading!