Posible director: Uwe Boll

How far do the American films you have studied establish Narrative or Genre Conventions

How far do the American films you have studied establish Narrative or Genre Conventions

In Badlands, the genre covnevtions are true to the "Lovers On The Lam" genre, this is show mostly through the Mise En Scene of the film.
An example of this is the recurring bird cage that appears several times throughout the film, this relates to themes of being trapped and this is a convention present in most films of this genre.
This theme is also present in Natural Born Killers (NBKs).

Another theme present in both of the films is the theme of Fame and the American Dream. Throughout both of the films, both of the male characters are refered to as celebrities, this is through the media but also the likeness that the male characters have to real celebrities.
In badlands, the character kit tries to leave marks and almost clues as to where he has been, in the end sequence he collects rocks up and states that this is where the police caught him, like he is leaving a landmark.
A police officer in the car also states that kit looks like James dean ( a popular start and role model for teenagers at his time.
This is extremely similar to NBKs as the male character leaves his landmarks in the form of bodies, as it is more of a violent film. Also he is interview in prison and he asks if his ratings were good.
 Both characters only care about being famous, the difference is kit wants his name to be known where as Micky want to be better than any celerity, he want to be known by every person in the world.

Case Study: American Independent Film

Memento is a 2000 American neo-noir psychological thriller film written and directed by Christopher Nolan

Case Study: British Film.

  Trance is a British psychological thriller film directed by Danny Boyle and written by Joe Ahearne and John Hodge. released at the world premiere in london on the 19th of march in 2013, the film stars James McAvoy, Rosario Dawson, and Vincent Cassel. About the theft of a painting, Simon (James McAvoy) receives amnesia after trying to steal the work of art, and has no memory where he has hidden it. 

Gaining a world wide total of $24,252,013 after its $20,000,000 budget, the film didn't really see much recognition, after only winning two awards (Best Thriller & thriller poster at the

Golden Trailer Awards) it is considered a minor flop. It did have competition however, the film was released the same week as Oblivion, the Evil Dead remake and Scary Movie 5.

Film Practical Task: Aims and Context

The aim of my storyboard that i am going to, is to create a storyboard that will successfully translate to film and that will abide to the genre that i will use. The genre i am going to use is a combination of Noir and thriller, as i will use conventions of both Noir and Horror/thriller.
The storyboard will be a short film, but and opening of a short film. the target audience will be about 15+ as i am thinking about using violence in the storyboard.

"The Shining" Essay: Scene 2

2: In this clip we see Danny driving round the hotel on his trike. This clip starts with a tracking show of Danny riding his trike, with only the sound of his wheels, this makes the audience relax and feel as though everything is normal. It slows down to a long shot that seems to be still slowly tracking Danny from a distance, making the viewer feel as though they themselves are distant, or maybe suggesting the distance between the family and civilization. 

 

As Danny reaches the end of the hall, there is the famous high pitch scratching, this slowly gets louder until just before Danny turns the corner, this is when the sound gets lower and stops, and then sounds again maybe making some viewers jump. The high pitch sound is non diegetic and is used to create tension which slowly rises, along with the volume. 

 

It then cuts to the hallway Danny turned into and a lower screeching sound is heard, as though something is about to happen. The camera tracks Danny around the corner to reveal the two twins, seen several times before in the film. As the twins are revealed there is a low pitched, non diegetic gong sound, followed by another low pitched thud when it cuts to a close up of Danny, showing his shock and horror at these mysterious twins.

It then cuts again back to the initial shot of the twins in front of Danny. This shot showcases a regularly used show by the director (Stanley Kubrick) named the one point perspective shot. This show is almost perfectly symmetrical, emphasising the twins and maybe suggesting that they are one as there is a use of mirrors and symmetry throughout the film. 

 

This twins then begin to talk, followed by a low pitch drone. As the twins talk, there are constant cuts from Danny, to the twins, and to Danny again. It then cuts one last time to the twins, but this time they have been murdered with an axe and there is blood everywhere. When this shot is revealed, there is a high pitched piano noise, as though someone has just hit some keys randomly.

The shot of the two dead girls is interesting, at a first glance it looks like they have just been killed and have fell randomly, but at closer inspection the twins again are symmetrical but not down the centre of the shot. The girl in front is laying face up with her head on the far right, where as girl 2 is face down, head to the left, but both of them are in the same body positions. This again may suggest that they are one person as it almost again, looks as though they have been mirrored.

When the twins are initially shown, it is a long shot, but after the shot of their corpses is show, the shot of the twins goes from a long shot, to a closer shot, and then to a mid shot. This may make the viewer feel as though they are getting closer to the danger. As this is happening though, you see Danny’s growing horror in the for of a close up, until he eventually covers his face. This is when the low pitched noise goes from low to high until Danny moves his hands to see again then the sound stop and it cuts to an empty hall, showing that the twins are no longer there.

This scene for me is one of the best in the film, it is unexpected at that point and then even more unexpected when it shows the two twins deaths, the sound matches the clip very well as it really builds the tension, and retains this throughout the scene. The first time I watched it it was a little scary and a shock to me and most other viewers.

 

“The Shining” Essay: Scene 1

1: This scene is the climax of Jacks insanity. At the start of the clip Jack is talking about what Wendy wants to do with Danny. There is a lot of red present through out the scene, at the start of the clip you can see a red door behind jack, who is wearing a red jacket, this is shown through out the film as most of the doors and other props are red. A connotation of red is normally danger and this defiantly applies to this film. This contrast with Wendy as she is predominantly wearing green, a connotation of green is sometimes safety, this could apply as Wendy is holding a baseball bat to protect herself. 

 

As jack walks toward Wendy and Wendy walks away there is a constant high pitch crawling non diegetic sound in the background, this is a typical convention that is feature in other horror films as it successfully proves to make the viewer tense. However when Wendy is asked for her input the sound stops, this could mean that her answer is important and key to the plot, which it proves to be as what she says sparks the rage fuelled response she receives from Jack. There is then a similar low pitched drone noise after Wendy finished and jack starts talking again, maybe to show Jacks growing anger and insanity towards Wendy. This noise proceeds to get louder and quieter when jack speaks making the viewer tense again as though something significant is about to happen.

As jack continues to follow Wendy, he walks round the table and some windows come into show, because of the sun coming through the curtains, it make it look like there are crosses in the windows. The film does this several times throughout relating to religious themes and other themes such as sacrifice and betrayal. 

 

Between the windows there are again some red books. It then cuts back to Wendy who has a different colour scheme behind her, the colours shown are warm calm colours like brown and orange, maybe suggesting that she is the only same one left in the hotel. Or even foreshadowing later evens when Jack freezes to death. It then cuts back to Jack still talking but when it cuts back to Wendy, for a split second you can see a red door in the background to the far left and Wendy looks at the bat, suggesting that she is having thoughts about using the back, or even killing Jack.

Wendy the proceeds to walk up the stairs and starts swinging the bat at Jack and the crosses in the window come into shot again but this time with a light shining through and on Wendy's side, as she is higher up than jack on the stairs as well, this may imply that god is on Wendy's side.

The Scratching high pitch noise then comes back as jack walks up the stairs and starts threatening Wendy and when jack talk about “bashing your brains in”, the drone also stops, only leaving the high pitch noise. When jack stops smiling, Both noises come back but far more intense this time, as though this is the climax, it then lets out a loud shriek when when jack is hit and one more when he starts rolling, then one more low pitch thud when he his the bottom and stops rolling.

For me, this scene is a good piece of cinematography, but not entirely scary due to its age, I'm sure 20 years ago it was terrifying, but in today’s day and age with the advances in technology, the whole film is pretty out of date, but a great film none the less.