A few notes on the Camera work on the usual suspect.

Camera shots;

The first camera shot is an extreme close up of matches. This shot portrays the cause of the fire. This is important as it shows the audience the first sign of danger. 

The next shot of a close up panning shows the condition in which the main character is having to be around. It also shows dead bodies which presents to the audience the scenario in which the main character is stuck in. 

The most important shot at the end of the film is on the ropes. The close up on the ropes suggest that the scene is set on a boat. It also suggests being trapped which makes the audience feel frightened for the main character as the fire is surrounding him whilst he is trapped by these ropes. 

Timeline for Juno

00.00

T1 – Fox searchlight pictures present 

T2 – A Mandate Pictures

        Mr Mudd Productions

T3 – A Jason Reitman film

T4 – Ellen Page

T5 - Michael Cera

T6 – Jennifer Garner

T7 - Jason Batem

T8 – Allison Janney

T9 – J.K. Simmons

T10 – Olivia Thirlby

T11 – Casting by Mindy Marin

                      Kara Lipson

T12 – Costume design by Monique Prudhomme

T13 – Music by Mateo Messina

            Songs by Kimya Dawson

T14 – Music Supervisor

           Peter Afterman and Margret Yen

T15 – Co producers

            Jim Miller

            Kelli Konop

            Brad Van Arragon

T16 – Film Editor Danna E. Glauberman

T17 – Production Designer Steve Saklad

T18 – Director of Photography Eric Steelberg

T19 – Executive Producers

             Joe Drake

             Nathan Kahane

             Daniel Dubiecki

T20 – Produced by Lianne Halfon

             John Malkovich

            Mason Novick

            Russel Smith

T21 – Written by Diablo Cody

T22 – Directed by Jason Reitman

T1 – T2 = 00.11 – 00.15

T2 – T3 = 00.16 -  00.21

T3 – T4 = 00. 22 – 00.25 

The usual suspect.

What makes this a thriller?

Who are the characters?

What mood does the clip create? And how? 

This film is a thriller because of typical iconography such as the darkness surrounding the first character we see. This could suggest that he is the villain of the film or it could suggest that he is the person in danger. 

There is a lot of fire features in the film which also suggests danger and suspense in the audience as they want to know what or who has caused the fire. 

The character in the black long coat would be suggested to be the villain and dark represents something or someone bad or dangerous. 

There is also weapons in the sequence which is typical to a thriller. The sequence pans away from the guy as he shoots the gun which creates suspense as to who he was actually shot. 

The music was slow which created suspense whilst it also created a sad atmosphere which was backed by the guy smoking and his attitude. 

The guy smoking seems as if he is trying to calm himself down which suggests he is still alive for some reason. Maybe he possibly knows the villain. 

Second lesson - trailer analysis (notes)

Second lesson

Taxi driver

The loud music at the beginning and the smoke suggest there is something to be seen behind it, mystery. 

The flashing text could be headlights

The font is bold and yellow much like a New York taxi 

The music then becomes classy

It then gets louder again in bursts as it shows the city through the taxi drivers eyes. 

Perception

Suggest the character is calm as the jazz music is playing when showing him

The heavier music is seen through the characters eyes which could suggest that he doesn't trust the city or maybe he is angry at it. 

When the music gets a bit slower and fades into the heavy music, the vision get blurred and faded. 

Falling down

There is heavy breathing at the beginning of the film as the titles roll which could suggest that the main character is trying to calm down or catch his breath which could suggest running from something or stress and mystery. 

You can see the man as if you are the heavy breathe that has just come out of his mouth. 

The music is quiet as the sequences continue which creates suspense as it means you can hear the diegetic noise(children screaming and giggling) 

As the man turns the switches off the lighting goes out which could suggest his mentally shutting down. 

Although he is trying to calm down, everything around him is stressful and loud.

Everything is staring at him which makes it harder for him to become calm

Music is eerie 

The flag is in contrast as the American life is currently stressful as everyone is stuck in traffic. 

Shutter island

The music kicks in straight away, loud and deafening 

The stairs are spiralled which makes us focus on the stairs, which could represent illusion as we get almost in a trance

The visual image flickers and is distorted which therefore doesn't clarify the storyline obviously

The titles flicker in and out which suggests lack of clarity

The fire suggests anger whilst it may also suggest warmth. 

However the pension is bleak and small which suggests being trapped 

The weather is dull which suggests a cold person 

Vantage point (best line of sight) 

The laser sight on the text suggests guns, which suggests death or harm. All the pictures are shown through a small gap that moves continuously. This suggests a person sneaking around in different perspective. 

Anti USA which suggests a conflict being formed

Sharp which suggest weapons 

Fight club

The noise at the begging seems like water

It then turns into rather violent music which suggest that there is going to be violence which creates mystery as to what is going to happen. The music also has what sounds like sirens in the background which could suggest a criminal offence. Dangerous feel to the film as the music builds up which could suggest the build up to the ending 

The titles fade in and fade out very quickly. 

The images show what looks like the inside of the body and the flashing could be the damaging of the nervous system each time someone get hit or hurt in some way. Which therefore suggest that someone is being harmed in the film. 

It then shows sweat beads on the temple of the character which suggest that he is panicked and scared or warn out which could suggest that he is in fact the villain or criminal in the film. 

The end stops on the facial expression of another character which shows that he is anxious or scared of what may happen. 

It could be a metaphor of the character being hurt so many times it damages him and therefore he is mentally and physically damaged and turns into the criminal. 

'People are always asking me if I know Tyler Dureden' this name symbolises the plot could be based around this person.

Lessons one- trailer analysis (notes)

Seven trailer

The music is slow and the picked up pace which creates suspension

The length of the shots made the audience see different views very quickly which creates mystery as to what is happening as you can only see a few seconds of what's happening before it moves away, making the audience want to watch the film all the way through to discover what happens. 

The trailer shows different iconography of a thriller such as weapons and detectives which indicates that something has happened however it doesn't give anything away. 

Key words

Diegetic sound - we see the sound being produced. (See the source of the sound)

Non diegetic - when you can not see the source of the sound.

Se7en

Sound

Editing

Effects

Expectations

Titles

Concept/ideas

The sharp objects such as the blade and scissors suggest that it could be the serial killers that is shown in the opening titles

However, it could also be a surgeon as it shows the man sewing and cutting. Which could suggest it is more a profession than a sin. 

The titles are shown in white which could suggest purity however it is always shown on a black/dark represents the sin. It is contrasted as it shows that there could be a villain and hero/ police and detectives. 

The hands at the start of the trailer suggest  that the person in the trailer could be in depth studying the body relating back to a surgeon. 

The highlighted words read thing such as 'heterosexual' and some things about pregnant women. Which could represent the seven deadly sins. 

127 Hours Spoiler Review

I chose to do a spoiler review on 127 hour, a thriller based on a true life event. The film is based on real life canyoneer, Aron Ralston. Aron got trapped between by a bolder in an isolated slot canyon in the Blue John Canyon, in Utah, back in April 2003. The film is written by Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy and includes the actor James Franco, who was rated best actor. During this film, Aron Ralston visits the canyons in Utah, and meets two young, Kristi and Megan. He gives these two girls a tour through the Robbers Roost narrow canyons and takes a blind jump into an underground pool. After the two young girls have left, Ralston decides to cut down his tour book journey. By doing this, he continues into the Blue John Canyon which contains narrow canyons and boulders. As Aron decends into one of these narrow canyons, one of the boulders is jarred loose and traps one of his arms between the walls of the canyon and the boulder. Ralston spends the next 127 hours running low on water and lack of food. This makes Ralston go delirious and he decides to attempt to cut through his flesh, arteries and snap his arm in order to escape. Eventually, Aron Ralston managed to escape by cutting off his arm, and takes a picture of the boulder that trapped him in order for people to discover what had happened to him. As he stumbles and zig zags across the dessert he finds a family which ring for help, shortly returning Ralston to safety.

I find this film fits the iconography of a typical thriller film in a unique way as it is actually based on a true story. For example, the film includes the idea of inclosed spaces. During the whole film, the main character is trapped in a narrow canyon, this creates tension in the audience as the wish to know if he escapes or not, which makes them want to continue to watch the film. The weather in this film also creates suspense and mystery in this film. During the day, it is extremely hot. Whilst this kind of weather harbingers the feeling of hope that the main character may be came across by tourists passing, it also creates fear of the lack of hydration around the main character and a hell like feeling due to the extreme heat and small chance of survival. The weather in the evening also predicts lack of safety as the temperatures drop drastically. This creates more tension in the audience as the main character could possibly freeze to death. As well as the weather, the film use typical iconography of shadows. The shadow of the bird circling Ralston throughout the early mornings create tension between the audience and the character as the eagle could convey lack of freedom. Shadows also create a sense of mystery however, the shadow also suggest a presents which could also suggest presents of some help. The bird also makes sound which in one way could reassure the audience that the main character is not alone whilst it also creates the idea of danger as the creature present cant actually help at all. I rate this film 4.5/5.

Fast and Furious 6 Spoiler Review

I chose to do a spoiler review on Fast and Furious 6 as it is not a film in which would instantly come to mind as a thriller genre. The film is based on 5 other fast and furious films which are all based on 6 cereal criminals. However, in Fast and Furious 6, all five of these ex-criminals are living the high life and avoiding any involvement with the police or crimes. Despite this, cop Hobbs, played by Dwayn Johnson, requests for their help to capture a group of villain's led by Shaw, in order to save the country from being destroyed. Throughout all of this, leader of the ex criminals, Dominic Torreto, is trying to find his ex-girlfriend, who was thought to have been killed, Letty. It is discovered she is part of Shaw's team after coming out of a comer and not remembering who she was.

Although this film isn't seen as a typical thriller, I think it does fit the iconography of a thriller. For example, the film involves guns which is a stereotypical iconography to the genre as it suggests that there is some danger between both sides.This brings us to another typical iconography of the bad guys. They are used in thrillers as it creates tension in the audience as it makes the wonder whether or not the good guys will be able to stop any damage to the country/settings. The beginning of the film, when showing the whereabouts of Torreto, the lighting and scene suggests that there is no danger or tension around the area, which therefore creates a calming atmosphere for the audience whilst also creating suspension as to what will happen next. There is also calming sounds such as the ocean in the beginning of the film which therefore expands on the calming environment that the director and actors have created for the audience. However, as the film continues the scenery becomes closer to home which creates a realistic film to the danger of the scene. This is continued by the fast paced music added to the cop chase scenes as is suggests that something could go terribly wrong. There is also a change in the lighting during the fight scenes as the lighting is dimmer and light  which creates tension and fear within the audience which therefore makes the audience wish to continue watching the film in order to find out if the villain is captured. As well as these stereotypical genres, this film also includes the idea of in-closed spaces. This is shown in the fight scene between Hobbs' team and Shaw's team as they are running through an in-closed subway which suggests that there is no way out of the danger which therefore creates a fright and tension in the audience. I find that this film although not usual seen as a thriller film, fits the iconography very well and therefore I overall rate it 3/5.