The Da Vinci Code Analysis

Camera:
Near the begining of the clip there is a high angle which was taken from the roof to show the audience the setting of where the action is taking place. It shows the large, empty halls that are darkly lit. The camera then changes to a low angle with the man who is holding the gun. The choice for a low angle is to make the criminal appear more superior and gain power. The camera then tilts over the famour painting of 'Mona Lisa' - this is to show that the setting is based in a famous art gallery which is suposed to have high security, however there is a criminal with a gun in the building chasing an innocent looking man. The camera then zooms into a close up shot, to show the viewers the weapon that could potentially cause danger. Once the scene changes to the confrence, the camera is at a high angle which then tilts and zooms in on the main speaker (Tom Hanks). Again, like at the begining of the clip this is to show the viewer what the scene is set in.
What i can take from this clip is the different uses of the camera angles to create effect and suspence for the viewers.

Editing:

To add empathis on the film, there is a match cut from the inncent looking man laying on the floor to the man that is pale dressed in black, holding a gun. The shot with the man laying on the floor at a high angle, shows to the viwer that he is vulnerable. With the criminal standing tall with a gun in his hand, shows that he has power and is not scared to be holding such a powerful weapon. The cuts are also very fast with how they change from one character to the next, this implies to the viewer that there is a lot action and tension that is going on at this moment of time. I liked the way the fast editing built tension as it felt like there was a lot of action at that time.

Sound:
At the begining of the clip, there is non-digetic music with a slow and tense rhymn to build suspence. Before you even see any actors, you can hear a digetic sound of footsteps that is then followed by a shadow of the innocent man. Due to the fact that you can hear the footsteps of the man before you see him appear, creates tension as a viewer, you are not sure where the footsteps are coming from. The dialogue also creates supsence with what is said, mostly by the man that is holding the gun. 'Is is a secret you wish to die for' such a simple piece of dialogue that is said adds great effect to the viewers. What i got from the sound out of this clip is the choice of words that should be used to create an instant impact on the viewer.

Mese en scene:
The setting is darkly lit to create a fear of the unknown as you can't see what is about to happen or who is about to appear, creating more of a thriller theme. The characters and the costumes that they are wearing sets the scene well with what is about to happen. The old man is wearing a smart suit with smartly polished shoes, his hair colour also is very important to create more of a vulnerable appreance. What i got from this clip is the costumens and lighting are very importing when creating a thriller.

CEMS of One Hour Photo (2002)

Camera

A camera taking a photo is shown at the beginning of the film and before the photo is taken there is a close-up of it but after the photo is taken there is an extreme close-up. This may suggest that the camera plays a dominant role in the film.

Editing

When Robin Williams' character is talking about a (or his) family life, he says that "people looking at their photos would think they led a happy life" and that "people don't take pictures of the things they want to forget". The way that he says the word "think" depicts that they didn't have a happy life.

Sound

The sound builds up suspense as we see a camera and the music calms down when we see Robin Williams' character who is having his photograph taken. This suspense building, which is typical of thriller films, makes the viewer intrigued to what will happen next.

Mise en Scène

As we only watched the first 5 minutes of this film, it is not necessarily easy to tell what the main base for this film is, however I believe the most obvious one is their family house. The interior and exterior of the house is light and this optimistic style makes us ask "how will this be a thriller film?", and we know something bad will happen because of what Robin Williams' character said about the family not living a happy life. This, in my opinion, is a brilliant way of keeping the viewer watching.

CEMS of the Da Vinci Code (2006)

Camera

The cameras show a man running and we can tell by the close-up on his face that he is scared. When the camera cuts from his face to various pictures on the wall, it is like they are looking at him. This keeps the viewer excited and they unconciously realise that something bad will happen.

Editing

The action is slightly fast paced, but not very and it edits between the man and the pictures (as mentioned before, seemingly looking at the man). Also, we are aware of a person behind the man as we see a shadow. The effect of all this keeps the viewer watching and makes them feel excited.

Sound

The music to the opening is dramatic which helps to convey the mood shown in the opening scene.

Mise en Scène

The beginning setting is a museum of some sort and the lighting is dark - again, to contribute with the dark mood the film wishes to convey to the viewer and the dark atmosphere connects with suspense.

The Number 23 Analysis

I analysed the film The Number 23 (2007):

The opening credits were tense and the effects unveiled the main actors: Jim Carrey (the main actor) and Virginia Madsen (main actress) so people will recognise Jim Carrey from films like Ace Ventura and Bruce Almighty, so this will be a contributing factor to why people will watch this film. The production was New Line Cinema, which is a recognisable institution.

It was difficult to pick out lots of information for this film because we were only analysing a couple of minutes of it and I think I was writing information for the other thriller films at the time!

Opening analysis on the film 'North by Northwest'

North by Northwest:-

Sound- Starts off with fast paced music that builds up tension. After the credits, there is no music, just the sounds of people and cars. When the character walks into the bar, calming, diegetic music plays. This music contrasts greatly with the first music as it goes from fast paced, heart racing music to nothing but diegetic sound of people talking. This could be good for changing the mood of the scene.

Editing- Credits fly in and are angled to look like they are on the side of a building. There is a reflection of cars on this building while the credits fly in. The next part quickly cuts between scenes as credits come up in the background.

Opening analysis on the film 'The Birds'

The Birds:-

Sound- Starts off with the diegetic sound of many birds flying, tweeting and generally making a lot of noise - this suggests what the film is about from the start. There is no music either, just the sound of birds. Birds are a strong theme from the start, with birds in a pet shop making diegetic noise. There is no music at all in the first 5 minutes, just all diegetic noise from birds, cars and people.

Editing- Credits start with birds flying in the background, with the names of people involved with the film coming up as birds fly across the film.

Opening Analysis of the film 'Da Vinci Code'

In the opening two minutes of the film 'the Da Vinci Code', Camera, Editing, Sound and Mice en scene  techniques are used in a variety of ways.

An over-shoulder shot is used when an older man is being chased by a monk. This type of shot strengthens the fact that this character is being chased and therefore adds tension. Close-ups are used to show reactions between the characters in conversation, they let the viewer know exactly how the characters are feeling.

There are a variety of editing techniques used during the clip. For example, as the names of the companies involved in the film come up, they are edited to look dark and mysterious. This is good because it keeps in line with the genre of the film.

At the immediate start of the film, there is slow, tension building music which gets the viewer interested and wanting to know what is going on/will go on in the film. This should be kept in mind when we choose what music to use for our Thriller opening.

Costume is used greatly in the beginning of the clip. One character is dressed in monk robes. These have religious connotations and give the viewer an insight into what the film will be about. The monk robes contrast greatly with the prop the monk is holding, a gun.

Overall, this film opening of the Da Vinci Code is very effective at capturing the interest of the viewer and making them want to see more. It includes an unexplained murder that makes the viewer want to know why. This is very effective and my group should keep this in mind.

Timeline Task - Bullitt (1968)

I went onto YouTube to watch the first 2 minutes of Bullitt.

0:02 - Music starts, dramatic
0:03 - City is shown - Chicago, as it says on top on one of the building, so immediately we are given an establishing shot!
0:12 - Warner Brothers
0:19 - Suddenly the music becomes loud for a second, so it is now suspense music, which certainly had an effect on me and will make the viewer jump!! A room is shown as the music does this.
0:26 - Steve McQueen
0:35 - "in Bullitt, a Solar Production". "Bullitt" is in large, white writing
0:38 - The music becomes less suspense and nearly funky
0:45 - Robert Vaughn
0:53 - Jacqueline Bisset
1:01 - Don Gordon
1:01 - Robert Duvall
1:01 - Simon Oakland
1:01 - Norman Fell
1:07 - As the actors' names at 1:01 go off the screen, we see a brown panel reading the names Mr John Ross and Mr Peter Ross, indicating that these may be either the main characters, characters in the next scene or important characters in the film.
1:08 - Featuring
1:12 - Georg Stanford Brown
1:12 - Justin Tarr
1:13 - Carl Reindel
1:13 - Felice Orlandi
1:14 - Robert Lipton
1:14 - Victor Tayback
1:15 - Ed Peck
1:15 - John Aprea
1:15 - Pat Renella
1:16 - Paul Genge
1:17 - Al Checco
1:17 - Bill Hickman
1:30 - Director of Photography - William A. Fraker, A.S.C.
1:36 - An extreme close up on the names Mr John Ross and Mr Peter Ross, signifying an even more importance than before
1:43 - Art Director - Albert Brenner
1:43 - Film Editor - Frank P. Keller, A.C.E.
1:43 - Production Manager - Jack N. Reddish
1:52 - Titles by Pablo Ferro, Films

Silence of the Lambs Opening

The music is not particularly horror-themed at the beginning but develops as the scene goes on, notably when the cast names come up in a dramatic way. The main character is played by Jodie Foster, which is unusual as most thriller films have a main male character, so this immediately distinguishes itself from other thriller films, making it unique.
There is a contrast between the main character wearing casual clothes and others wearing uniform, as she enters a building.
As she goes into a man's office, we see the Mise en Scène of the room, and this may be an important setting for the film. The man gives the main character information about a murderer, so this keeps the viewer watching the film.

We also watched the opening to The Usual Suspects and the atmosphere and lighting was dark.

North by North West clip Editing

Again, there was little editing during the film clip, but the editing clips that stood out to me was the fake scenery that could be scene at the back window of the cab. The clip is old, making the resources very limited, so i thought that the scenery was very realistic for the equipment they had at the time. There was also a jump cut that was made from the man (main character) outside the taxi to inside the plaza. It shows the contrast of both surroundings, from an everyday cab to the luxury to the plaza.

North by North West clip Camera

As the credits are being shown on screen, the camera is at a high angle focusing on the skyscrapers, with the reflection of cars. Once the credits are shown, the camera then tilts downwards to road level, to show the busy rush hour of all the people walking through the office doors. This creates empathises on how busy the setting is. The camera then tilts upwards to a high angle, to show the office people walking down the busy staircase; this also is to show how busy the building is. The camera then tracks the two main characters, making it also a two-shot. As a viewer, we can see that this man and women are the main characters that are going to feature the film. There is also another two-shot in when they are sitting in the taxi, it shows their conversation that they are having, which clearly shows that the women is the mans secretary. Once the man is in the plaza, there are many over the shoulder shots as he is seated at the table with the other men. This is to show the conversation that is happening but also to show empathises on what is happing with the main character. There is another two shot with the men that are standing by the bar, when the camera then zooms into the men’s face, so that the viewer can see the facial expressions clearly. It also shows that there is going to be some drama with these men and the main character.
I like the way that the film director has used all the different ways of using the camera to cause tension and suspense to the viewer. The messages are portrayed very clearly with the way that the scenes are filmed, which I think would be very useful if I could do this in my opening to a thriller. Again, like the previous clip, I think that maybe the credits are a little long for what I would use, however, I liked the idea of camaflouging them with the surrounding settings.

Analysis of 'The Birds' Editing

Editing:
In the clip, ‘The Birds’ there was not much editing. At the beginning of the clip, there is a jump cut from the lady (the main character) to the flock of birds that are in the sky, this adds empathises on the huge gathering of birds in the sky. As a viewer, this shows that they are going to be key in the film, creating suspense. Another jump cut that was featured in the clip, was when the women were talking about the birds in the shop, there were shots from other the shoulder, to show who was speaking at the time. This gave the viewer a clearer idea who was talking and about what.
I thought that there wasn’t many editing in the clip which I would do more when filming the opening to a thriller, however, I liked the variety of ways to add tension and to keep the viewer’s attention when watching the clip.

Analysis of 'The Birds'

Camera:
As the credits were shown, there was a constant flock of birds which flew across the screen which was filmed by a stedi-cam. This created tension due to the continous amount of birds and the music that helped build the supsense. Also there was a huge amount of empathsis on the birds, which as a viewer, it was clear that the plot was going to feature a great number of birds. On the other hand, the amount of time that was givien for the features was too long and could of potentially lost the viewers intrest. The camera then tracks the lady as she walks down the busy road, immediatly we see that she is going to the main character. While the camera tracks the main character, the camers focuses on the sign of 'San Fransico' that is stuck on the side of a telephone box, this shows clearly to the viewer that the film is set in the busy city of San Fransico. The camera is still tracking the lady, but at a high angle as she walks into the pet shop and walks up the stairs and to the desk where another older lady is standing, this is to show the viewer the surroundings of the shop that the lady is now in. The camera then changes to over the sholder shots, to show the converstation that is happening between the two ladies about the birds. During their converstation, the camera again tracks a man that is walking up the stairs, the excat same way the main character lady did. This shows that maybe this man is also going to be a huge signifgance to the film. Like before when the two wemon were involved in their conversation, the camera kept changing from over the sholder shots, this again happens but to show the man and main  characters converastion that is taking place. At the end of the clip, there is a close up on the wemons face, this is to show how she is feeling.
Overall, i like the way that most of the methods of the camera has been repeated to show a repetitive pattern, which is clear to the views who is the main characters or who is featured heavily to those who have no signifgance. There was good uses of high angles and over the shoulder shots, which i would use in my filming of a thriller, as it shows coversations well. However, i didn't like the steady-cam at the beginning of the clip showing the credits, this loses interest to the viewers as it is the same snapshot repeated, I would mix my credits with my clip as the viewer is more likely not to get bored and digest what is going on.

Opening analysis on the film 'Phonebooth'

Phonebooth:-

Sound- Starts off with slow, calming, non-diegetic music that is generally happy and light-hearted. It then fades into moody, dark music that starts to build up tension. There is non-diegetic narrating with music in the background giving the viewer information on phone booths which is a reference to the name of the film and what the film is about. This is good because it captures the audience and lets them know a little bit about what the upcoming film is about

Editing- At the point when the character is on the phone, the viewer sees him walking along, then the view sees the people he talks to in small boxes on the screen. This lets the viewer see their reaction to what the main character says. This is very helpful as it shows the viewer every perspective of what is going on in the clip.  Near the start of the clip there are slow motion parts where the viewer sees people dancing and calling people on the phone.

Mise en Scène and Editing for 4 thriller films, in yesterday's media lesson on 25th November

We looked at four films in total:

The first two films were Alfred Hitchcock films "The Birds" and "North by Northwest".

The Birds (1963)

Mise en Scène

In the first scene, we see a city. On the top of a building is big words with lights in them in the daytime. The words say: "Air France", and underneath it; "Paris" This suggests that this is set in the French capital. We also are introduced to a pet shop, and the Mise en Scène of that room, with bird cages may be an important setting for the film.

Editing

Continuing from the theme of the words on the top of the building reading, "Paris", the camera moves about 180 degrees to the left, following a woman crossing a road and walking. However, we then see a poster saying "San Francisco" is shown, so this may make the viewer confused about the location. In the pet shop, however, the characters have American accents, so this confirms that it is set in San Francisco.

North by Northwest (1959)

Mise en Scène

The office building in a city, as well as the city itself, which is New York.

Editing

In the scenes with the taxi, it edits from the man and woman getting into a taxi from a street to the interior of the taxi. As this film was made in 1959, the taxi scene is clearly used with a green screen and watching it over 50 years after it was made may make a viewer not appreciate the technologies of the day and think of it as nothing compared to today's methods of filming. You can see the main characters on the back seats of the taxi and the city streets and parks of New York behind them through the window at the back of the taxi. When they leave the taxi, they are back on the city streets.
Although strictly speaking, this next point should come under the camerawork category, it still deserves to be mentioned in the editing section; there are establishing shots for the city. A good example of what an establishing shot is is depicted in television shows like Friends; at the beginning of a scene, the viewer will see the exterior of Central Perk, so we know that this is where that particular scene will be set, so this is an excellent method of cancelling out any probability of the viewer being confused of the location of the scene.
Back to "North by Northwest", the beginning of the film is fast paced, this will be to keep the viewer engaged with the film and to not change channel/leave the cinema. The fast paced action of the beginning is depicted in the camerawork, editing and acting.



Halfway through this media lesson, we then looked at two other films from the 21st century, but these ones were not directed by Hitchcock as he died in 1980.

Phonebooth (2002)

Mise en Scène

New York. The viewer is aware that it is set there as it shows the Earth and zooms in and the beginning location in Times Square. The effect this has is larger than just having an establishing shot, as the viewer may either recognise the shape of New York city from a satellite view or they may be aware of the eventful, "crossroads of the world", Times Square. Before you see Earth, you see a space station or satellite, which is likely to be connected to the mobile phone network.

Editing

The zooming in on New York, when we see New York on a satellite view and it zooms in, we see some mechanical works and not the city yet but it zooms out from the mechanical works and, as it zooms out, the camera appears to be zooming out from a man's mobile phone at Times Square.

Death Note (2006)

Mise en Scène

The establishing shot is at night of an Oriental city so we are given the impression that the themes of the film may be dark, the language spoken is Oriental, however in the media lesson there were subtitles.

Editing

The editing is quick and edits from one person dying to another; however the people who die are random and the cause of death is unknown. Immediately this grabs the attention of the viewer and makes them keep watching, so this is a good introduction.

Camera, Editing, Mise en Scène and Sound (CEMS)

I focused on the Mise en Scène and Sound side of CEMS for three horror films; the films are called "Se7en", "The Panic Room" and "One Hour Photo".

Se7en

Mise en Scène

The main locations were Morgan Freeman's character's house and there was also a base for his detective work. His house is the first location we see, which is not like a house on MTV Cribs but more like an ordinary house. In his house we saw his kitchen where there were recognisable items like a fridge and a window, and shortly afterwards, the film shows his bathroom, where he looks into a mirror as he puts on his tie, presumably in the morning. We then see his bedroom as he goes to bed in the evening. He has lamps on both sides of his bed and the lamps are supported by tables. On one side of his bed there is a metronome which he turns on and it clicks every second. This depicts that either the character he plays has trouble getting to sleep or he is a bit mad. It tells us that there may be a dark side to the character and, as it is at the beginning of the film, it will draw us in to watching the film so we find out WHY he has a strange way of going to sleep.
On the next day (in the film), we see Morgan Freeman's character going to work. He is a detective and the base is dark and gloomy, to help depict the mood of the film.

Sound

The music for the title sequence is very tense and creepy with some weird sound effects, including a thunder sound at the end of the scene with the metronome beside Morgan Freeman's character and just before the start of the title sequence. In the scene with the metronome, the music sounds like a mini version of the infamous music used on the film "Psycho". Also, on the first scene, traffic can be heard outside his house.

The Panic Room

At the beginning of the film, the film shows a city, probably New York, and the names of the cast in the film are at the top of the buildings. The music is tense, but not completely horror-filled, it is more laid backed than the themes of the other two films and the music sounds like something from James Bond. Also, when the director's name is shown, there is a view of what must be Central Park.

One Hour Photo

One of the main companies that with with "One Hour Photo" was Fox Searchlight, who also played an important role in the making of the Film4 film "Slumdog Millionaire". The music is tense and more horrifying than "The Panic Room" but not as tense as the music in "Se7en".
A camera is shown at the beginning and there is a build up of tense music and the audience immediately expects something dramatic or exciting or bad to happen, but it is only Robin Williams' character getting his photo taken! On the screen his information is shown on the screen in the cameraman's point of view showing things like Robin Williams' characters date of birth and gender.

Camera and Sound of an opening of a thriller '1 Hour Photo'

Camera:

At the beginning of the film, the camera focuses on the mise en scene of the camera in the middle of the screen, until this camera flashes. As the photos of the main character are being taken and processed onto the computer, the camera then focuses on the computer screen which then tilts downwards and zooms in to the key board. The camera then tilts upwards and becomes an over the sholder shot to show, in which it focuses on the window of the interviewing room. The camera then zooms in through the window and into the interviewing room, in which the camera then becomes a two-shot, showing the conversation between both actors. Again, the camera then fouces on the mans face from an over the sholder shot.

Sound:

There is a slow, tense music that is played to build up tension, mimicing a heart beat. The dialogue that is said, is slow and calmly spoken. As it shows all the memories, while Robin Williams over speaks the music is light and happy, with the noises of little children and their families.

Credit analysis on Panic Room

 As the credits are shown on screen, a slow and tense music is being played in the background as well as the filming of New York city. The titles almost become camoflauged as they are shown, with the mise en scene on screen, e.g the sky scrapers or the sky. The music quickens, creating more of a tense atmosphere for the veiwers.

Opening analysis on the film 'One hour photo'

Editing:- Credits fly into the middle of the screen then change colour then fade out into the black background. Starts with fox clip and music from that clip. Quick, abrupt transition to the flashback but the music in the background gives a smooth transition.

Sound:- Ambient noises. Light hearted music starts playing when the main character flashes back and narrates. This is good because it lets the viewer know what the film is about and helps them get a bit of background information on the story. In introduction music, the is an underlying subsonic bass line. It gives a feeling of tension and suspense.

Opening analysis on the film 'Seven'

Editing:- Starts up with the 'New line Cinema', it fades slowly to the first scene however, it quickly transitions between scenes very abruptly with no fading or anything like that. Opening credits:- Rough, messy font, looks handwritten. Relevant pictures to the film inbetween the credits.

Sound:- No music playing, lots of background noise from in the scene (rain). Opening credits:- With slow but intimidating, tense music. Random sound effects. Ambient noises (police siren in background) - contributes to the mood of the film. Names of the main characters are stated. Main character says to the other character 'next 7 says'. This is a link to the film title and link to possible later events.