Friday, 27 April 2012
Thursday, 26 April 2012
Case Study - David Fincher
David Fincher is an American filmmaker who
is best known is well known for his dark thriller movies such as Seven, The Game,
Zodiac, Panic Room and Fight Club. He received an academy award nomination for
best director for his film in 2008. The four films I have chosen to compare are
Seven, The game, Fight Club and Panic Room. After viewing the opening sequences of several separate films
I decided upon these four, as they were the most appealing to me as a viewer.
Seven
The opening of seven creates an automatic
sense of tension for the viewer and this is due to the use of very dark setting
with deep hollow, creepy music, which heightens the levels of tension. The
sub-genre of this film is horror-thriller, which can be easily seen, as it is
set in a dark environment and the events that occur in the opening are the type
of events that happen in a horror thriller. There is also a sense of mystery as
the only thing we see in the opening is the characters hand, and so the
audience becomes intrigued to find out whom they belong to.
The Game
The game is fairly different from ‘Seven’
as it is not set in a dark environment and the atmosphere isn’t as eerie and
there is no evident tension in the music to start with, however, as the opening
progresses the tension increases in the music and so it becomes quite
mysterious, as a thriller should.
It also seems as if the rest of the film would make the viewer jump and but
it doesn't look as scary and creepy as seven and this is because 'The Game' is more
of an action thriller as many of the scenes involve props such as guns and
cars.
Fight Club
Fight Club is another Action Thriller film
by David Fincher. This makes it completely different to the horror thrillers he
has directed especially one like ‘Seven’. We can tell it is an action thriller
from the opening as the tempo of the music is fairly upbeat which means that
the audience can denote that the film is going to be fast paced and full of
action.
Panic Room
Panic Room also fits into the action
thriller sub genre. The viewer can
see this from the opening as it is set in the city with many bright lights,
which suggest that it is an action movie as this tends to be the main setting
for most action films and horror thrillers would be set in a dark and tensed
environment. The music is a little tensed, it keeps on building up and the
sound of the music suggests that something bad will happen.
Comparison
After viewing each opening I have found
that they are all fairly similar in terms of sub-genre. Panic Room, Fight Club
and The Game are all action thrillers and this is evident through the music as
it creates the idea that something bad is going to happen as you watch the
film, whereas Seven is quite different to theses three as it is a horror
thriller and do the opening is more mysterious and the settings used are eerie
and dark.
The openings of Panic Room, Fight Club and
The Game come across as quite interesting and intriguing for the viewer, it
gives the audience an adrenalin rush as well as being quite nerve wracking. With
Seven the opening makes the tension of the audience rise as they start
expecting something gruesome to occur, and are brace themselves.
Opening sequence comparison
Horror Thrillers
For a film to
be classed as a horror thriller, there must be a lot of tension and suspense.
It must create a feel of uncertainty for the viewer as well as terror, there
may also be a small amount of blood and gore to satisfy the horror factor of
the film.
Psycho
In the 1960’s Alfred Hitchcock produced the
film ‘Psycho’, the opening is in black and white and so it doesn’t really
interest the viewer as it lacks a sense of excitement, however this may appeal
to the older generations, the opening doesn’t set a clear scene, and there is
no evident story line; the audience can tell that Psycho is a horror thriller
sub genre from the music of the opening. The music is eerie and so catches the
attention of the audience.
28 Weeks Later
28 weeks later is based on the outbreak of
an infection that becomes an epidemic. The population is soon moved out but
after 28 weeks they’re allowed to return but only to find that those who have
passed away have become zombies and are after every living human being. It’s a fairly intriguing thriller film
and it also has all the elements that a horror film would have. It keeps the
audience on their toes and makes them think, as a thriller should and it’s also
fairly scary in places. It’s far different from psycho but both are still
classed as
The Silence of the Lambs
This film is based around the escape of a
psycho killer who returns to kill again. This is a horror thriller sub genre.
It is a film that is has a lot of tension in it, making it a perfect for the
thriller genre; there is also a substantial amount of blood making it fit into
the horror sub-genre of the thriller category. There is also minimal music
however the music that is used helps create an eerie atmosphere.
Comparison
The Silence of
the Lambs and Psycho are quite similar. Both story lines are based on a serial
killer and both are also old films, which becomes obvious when compared to
newer thriller films such as 28 weeks later. 28 weeks later has a completely different take on thriller,
which may be because it is more modern and is also directed by a different director.
Treatment
The outline of our opening sequence is that a female lead role is being stalked by an unknown character. She receives a message from this unknown character stating clear instructions as to what she must do to ensure her safety. The opening sequence is basically a point of view shot
of the stalker following the girl. Our opening sequence shows the journey of the
vulnerable girl from South Norwood high street to Stanley Hall. The main concept
of our thriller film is a serial killer going around first stalking certain
people and then eventually killing them. The opening sequence shows an example
of this situation; the first two minutes or so shows an actual girl, which would
be me, being stalked by this ‘stranger’ and then eventually murdered at the end.
The opening sequence is going to entice the audience by showing ever move of the
stalker and keeping the atmosphere very tensed. It is almost like you will be
able to put yourself in the characters shoes and experience the situation. Most
of the camera work will basically be the cameraman following the girl from
behind which adds to the tension and we have thought of keeping no dialogues at
all because sometimes dialogue can ruin the feeling and interfere with the
suspense although we are thinking of keeping a scream towards the
ending.
The opening sequence will start
off at South Norwood High Street where the girl (actor) will receive a text from
the stalker asking her to come to Stanley Hall, this will be a mid-shot so that
we are able to see the character and establish the setting at the same time.
Then most of sequence will be a point of view shot of the stalker (camera man)
following the girl. There will occasionally be some mid-shots and close ups to
actually see the actor’s expression and to really get a sense of how she is
feeling. Firstly the girl will walk down the high street and then they will be a
fading out shot to a fading in shot of the actor walking towards Stanley hall,
which is practically around the corner. This will decrease the duration of the
shot and will also make it more effective. After that the POV shot will continue
into the building and up the stairs. There will be jump cuts in between the
shots to again reduce the duration it takes to get from one side to the other.
Towards the ending of the sequence the stalker will gradually walk little faster
and eventually hit the victim from the back with a pole. The scene then cuts to
the ceiling and then the camera will slowly pan down to a crime scene where the
body of the victim will be lying. The sequence will end with a zooming in
shot.
Both Kayleigh I came up with the
concept and storyline. We looked at previous years’ work, which influenced us.
We decided in using no dialogues because we have noticed that in many of
thriller films the title sequence usually consist of only tension music and
visuals. And also no dialogues will make the audience think more and be able to
find out the storyline rather than exposing the plot through dialogues. We chose
to have a simple storyline as we don’t have many people in our group, so the
victim will be me and the stalker will be Kayleigh who will also be holding the
camera itself. We thought that the POV shot really builds up tension and makes
the girl look vulnerable. At the end of the sequence we decided to us the
universal scream that is typically heard in thriller/horror genre. This will be
the only piece of dialogue used in the sequence. The concept of someone being
stalked is quite engaging as it is relatable and quite verisimilitude. The
questionnaires and other researches helped us come to a conclusion. For example
we are going to use white text in the title sequence and use no dialogue because
those were some of the conventions we have noticed whilst conducting our
research. We are also going to be using background score to compliment with the
imagery and add to the suspense.
We chose to shoot within South
Norwood, as it is convenient for us. The whole sequence is shot in South Norwood
high street and Stanley Hall, which are right next to each other and also next
door to our college. The location goes with our storyline and Stanley Hall has a
very spooky atmosphere as it was part of the old school; Stanley Tech. This is
perfect for a thriller atmosphere, and there will be less distraction as well
during shooting because the hall is not in use and will be open for us to do our
shooting. The locations are also quite realistic because murders and incidents
happen in sinister and quite places such as an old monument or building .The
contrast between the busy high street and Stanley is quite drastic and effective
as there is a clear comparison between the two environments. The locations are
suitable for the plot and will create a sense of realism.
My opening sequence conforms the
conventions of a thriller genre in various ways. For example we chose to use the
colour white for the text that will appear on the screen as we found out that
was a convention and we are also going to be using background music in order to
build tension and create a mood. We have decided not to use any dialogues as
this may ruin the tension and is also typically found in title sequences within
the thriller genre. We have also chosen to do the shooting in a normal
environment to make it more realistic and believable. Towards the ending of the
clip we are going to be using the iconic scream that is typically used in
thriller films especially during the older days. After seeing many examples of
previous year’s works as well as sequences from real films we thought of using
the POV shot for most of our sequence as it is commonly used to create more
empathy for the character that is being watched or followed.
Tuesday, 24 April 2012
Monday, 23 April 2012
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