Directed by Bryan Singer Written by Chris Mc Quarrie and Nathen Alexander
When i researched thriller into IMDB the name that came up was Valkyrie. It is a very popular film and although perhaps not immediatly thought of as a thriller it certainly holds the conventions: trying to destroy the plans of a villain, torture or violence, hero, heroine, this film 'thrills' its audience and includes questions such as 'what did the colonel do wrong?' 'where are they?' etc.
2 mins into opening: we see German writing that is then translated into english this happens twice one saying 'this is based on a true story' the other 'Valkyrie' but in different fonts. We then hear men shouting promises in German but we don't see them we see only the words they speak translated onto a red faded and moving background which turns into a corner of the swastika.
next we have a pan moving from right to left from the weeks of an army truck and subtitles inclosing the devision and where they are based. the pan continues onto army tents, and we hear German voice over. English subtites appear below. Fade out and into the inside of the tent where we see actor Tom Cruise dimly lit by a gas lamp writing at a desk in full army gear.This shot is side on half shaded by the tent curtain. Close up of gas lamp, the voice over and subtitles continue. Close up of fountain pen writing onto what we assume to be a diary...or perhaps letter? the light flickers on it. Mid shot left side filled with subject and right with desk. over his shoulder we see the night and some men unloading things from the truck we previously saw. Extreme close up of hand paning onto his face. The voice over language is now fading from German into English and the subtites have stopped. His monologue was about his and others defiance towards Hitler.
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
From first cut to final.
As you can hopefully see, there are many differences between our first cut and our final. Most noticably the music. (check out Ren's blog for more details) We also added little inserts of clicking noises that contrast with the silence, exaggerating the false pretense of being home alone. One other music addition was adding an undertone to the villain's appearence to make it clear who he is. The editing has had nips and tucks to make continuity as good as possible.Sorry its taken so long to upload this, we've had a few problems with internet steaming, and navigating round youtube. thankyou for your patience. you can also find the first cut version on youtube.
Monday, 22 March 2010
Textual Analysis: The Secret Window:
The Secret Window:
The film begins with a close up on the character's face as he sits in his car. We then hear his thoughts as his conscious argues with himself. The camera then pulls out and we can see that he is it a motel and goes into a room with a couple sleeping together. Some music then rises in volume as their voices fade out as they scream at each other. The camera then pulls out to give us an establishing shot of the motel rooms. This scene builds tension very well as the audience are full of questions: Why did he go back? Was the woman his wife? The scene then fades into the next one of a camera flying over the ocean as the title's roll up. This opening is very effective as it does not give away too much of the story before the film really starts to begin and this is a theme that we, Hannah and I, have tried to do with our Thriller opening.
The film begins with a close up on the character's face as he sits in his car. We then hear his thoughts as his conscious argues with himself. The camera then pulls out and we can see that he is it a motel and goes into a room with a couple sleeping together. Some music then rises in volume as their voices fade out as they scream at each other. The camera then pulls out to give us an establishing shot of the motel rooms. This scene builds tension very well as the audience are full of questions: Why did he go back? Was the woman his wife? The scene then fades into the next one of a camera flying over the ocean as the title's roll up. This opening is very effective as it does not give away too much of the story before the film really starts to begin and this is a theme that we, Hannah and I, have tried to do with our Thriller opening.
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
Our Soundtrack: Explained
Hannah and I had a lot of trouble making the music to accompany our film and spent a lot of time on it. Around halfway through editing our film, we decided it was time to compose a soundtrack to our film on the "Garageband" software on the Mac's at school. After around a week of experimenting and testing, Hannah and I were still not completely satisfied with the results and decided to start over again. Hannah then suggested that we use the new "Garageband 10" software on her friends laptop so we could choose from a different and greater variety of music for our film. So over the weekend she composed and recorded the music and downloaded it onto her USB and brought it into school. On first hearing, I will admit that I was sceptical that it would successfully fit our opening properly yet after careful editing, I soon discovered that Hannah had put a great lot of effort into the music and it suited the film perfectly. The soft choral music is very haunting and reflects the "quiet before the storm" to quote a fellow classmate's opinion. The music lulls the audience into a false sense of calm before the thriller/horror element of the film takes over and this exaggerates it and helps to build tension. Overall, I am very happy with the soundtrack to our film and believe though it may appear unorthodox at first, it is very effective and suits our film perfectly.
Sunday, 14 March 2010
Thursday, 4 March 2010
Director study.
Quentin Tarantino.
Quentin Tarantino became a famous American director through his hit film Resevoir Dogs, though he also works alot as an actor, writer, cinematographer and producer. Born in Tenessee he and his mother moved to Los Angeles where he spent his time making cheap films with his close friends and working at a video shop (his first noted film was called Captin peachfuzz and the anchovy bandit !). In 1992 he created Resevoir Dogs with the help of well funded friend Monte Hellman. The film was shown at the sundance film festival and immediately became a hit. After this he wrote several scrips (true romance and natural born killers) and was offered several jobs by various directors; declining these offers he instead worked on the script for pulp fiction.
His most recent film is Inglourious Basterds a film on how WW2 could have turned out...
He Directs thrillers and Horrors and has many trademarks including shooting from the inside of car boots, using Cadelacs and Chevrolets in his films, making references to cult movies, frequently working with Uma Therman Tim Wroth Harvey Keitel and many others...
Quentin Tarantino became a famous American director through his hit film Resevoir Dogs, though he also works alot as an actor, writer, cinematographer and producer. Born in Tenessee he and his mother moved to Los Angeles where he spent his time making cheap films with his close friends and working at a video shop (his first noted film was called Captin peachfuzz and the anchovy bandit !). In 1992 he created Resevoir Dogs with the help of well funded friend Monte Hellman. The film was shown at the sundance film festival and immediately became a hit. After this he wrote several scrips (true romance and natural born killers) and was offered several jobs by various directors; declining these offers he instead worked on the script for pulp fiction.
His most recent film is Inglourious Basterds a film on how WW2 could have turned out...
He Directs thrillers and Horrors and has many trademarks including shooting from the inside of car boots, using Cadelacs and Chevrolets in his films, making references to cult movies, frequently working with Uma Therman Tim Wroth Harvey Keitel and many others...
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
A Much Needed Updating Of Our Blog!!
Analysis of last year's Thriller's:
Reminscence:
I found this thriller opening very well executed and I found the storyline very easy to follow. it used a variety of shots and I especially like the long shot at the end which was sped up, it gave the film a professional feel. it managed to show flashbacks and make the audience understand it too which was done very well. The music they used at the start was also done very well, considering it wasn't from any professional artist and again made the film seem very real. Yet the best thing about this Thriller opening was that it made me want to know more about what happens later which is the main aim of any Thriller film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGiEBB3ZCDM
Regret?
I also found this thriller opening very intriguing. It took a while to get into the story line and i believe the shot's in the car did take a little too long. However the variety of camera shots used during this time is also very good, using various angles, movement and framing. The opening also had some very interesting shots like when we see the man through the wing mirror of the car. I also like the shot when we see the main character start to remember; the blurry effects and the tense music makes the audience relate to the character.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z3ac0g5yac
Game Over
I found that this Thriller was not really an opening, but was more like a short film. the opening shot is very effective as the camera turns 360 degrees around the character and we can clearly See the "change in circumstances" of Todorov's theory when we see the girl seeing somebody inside the house. The music throughout is also very good as it is slightly haunting which very much matches the mood of the film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myM5kyURQe4
Reminscence:
I found this thriller opening very well executed and I found the storyline very easy to follow. it used a variety of shots and I especially like the long shot at the end which was sped up, it gave the film a professional feel. it managed to show flashbacks and make the audience understand it too which was done very well. The music they used at the start was also done very well, considering it wasn't from any professional artist and again made the film seem very real. Yet the best thing about this Thriller opening was that it made me want to know more about what happens later which is the main aim of any Thriller film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGiEBB3ZCDM
Regret?
I also found this thriller opening very intriguing. It took a while to get into the story line and i believe the shot's in the car did take a little too long. However the variety of camera shots used during this time is also very good, using various angles, movement and framing. The opening also had some very interesting shots like when we see the man through the wing mirror of the car. I also like the shot when we see the main character start to remember; the blurry effects and the tense music makes the audience relate to the character.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z3ac0g5yac
Game Over
I found that this Thriller was not really an opening, but was more like a short film. the opening shot is very effective as the camera turns 360 degrees around the character and we can clearly See the "change in circumstances" of Todorov's theory when we see the girl seeing somebody inside the house. The music throughout is also very good as it is slightly haunting which very much matches the mood of the film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myM5kyURQe4
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