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Past Student Work Analysis - Inner Evil (Grade A)

Slideshare and Keynote were used to make this Past Student Work Analysis.

Past Student Work Analysis - Inner Evil from Sam McNamara

Inception - Opening Sequence

In the first few seconds of Inception, three high-contrast producer logos are presented with a tense non-diegetic music score which immediately unsettles the audience. Dark tones have been used to give the introduction an eerie atmosphere.

The music cuts out entirely in this establishing shot; sound effects of crashing waves replace the score. This is effective because, in contrast with the opening score, it becomes a normality scene which will juxtapose with upcoming scenes of high tension and drama. The establishing shot gives the audience an understanding of the location in which the first scene takes place. While this is not essential, it can be useful for slowly revealing narrative events to the audience.

In this shot, the protagonist is introduced through an extreme-close-up. We are unaware at this moment whether he is conscious. A dappled effect on the lens - caused by water droplets - and chiaroscuro have been used effectively in this shot to enhance the shadowing on the face of the character which keeps the audience questioning his significance and identity. A fast editing pace with jump cuts throws us around the scene which will put the audience on edge.

In the shot above, a young boy is seen playing in the sand. The shot has been blurred which implies that it is a POV shot from the protagonist's eyes. A fast editing pace builds up tension alongside jump cuts from his face to this shot of the children playing. Sound effects have been used to introduce the children playing in the sand. The camera is handheld which adds movement to the shot which connotes the unsteady psychology of the protagonist.

The audience are lead to question whether or not the children are actually there or just figments of his imagination, because of the rapid cutting between the close-ups of his facial expression and the scene with the children making sand castles. Close-ups are important for revealing a character's reactions to the audience. The fast-paced cutting and repetition also suggest that the children have some kind of sentimentality to the protagonist - perhaps they are his own children. This makes the audience become engaged with the narrative as they try to understand the relationship between the character and the children.

In the shot below, a gun is used by a character, who at this moment we do not know, to see if the protagonist is conscious. Using a gun as a prop is likely to alarm the audience and give a sense of authority and power to its owner. Low-key lighting is also used in this shot to convey an eerie, dark atmosphere. The shot remains on screen for no more than two seconds before cutting to a low angle shot of the man holding the gun.

This low angle shot gives a greater sense power to the holder of the gun. This is because low angle shots convey power, importance and strength by making things appear greater in size. A cinematic filter has been applied to the shot which adds contrast while toning down the blue in the sky. Removing any vivid blue will ensure the shots convey a sense of hostility rather than a light-hearted series of beach shots. A sense of danger and hostility is typical among thrillers and helps to engage and audience by putting them on-edge.

In the POV shot above, the audience get the impression that they are seeing things through the new character's eyes. We can now see that the beach is in fact empty and the children playing must have been part of the protagonist's imagination. This makes the audience question what has happened to the children and why they are on his mind. The beach and temple are the brightest points in the shot which draws the audience's attention to them individually.

The shot above is another establishing shot used to introduce the next scene. Low-key lighting is used heavily in these shots with a chiaroscuro effect which conveys a sense of danger and sinisterness to the audience.

The two shots above and below are close-ups of the spinning top which makes the audience question its significance and importance to the narrative. Darkened shadows and the exaggerated orange/yellow colour manipulation give the scene its sinister feel.

Preliminary Exercise - Big-T

Past Student Work - Secret Intelligence Service

This A grade opening sequence fits into the action-thriller genre. Using a character in a black suit and linking him to the MI6 building we can identify a spy theme which allows us to identify the sub-genre.

High-tech graphics are common among this sub-genre in particular. They allow an audience to understand what type of film they are about to watch. In this case, we can understand that this movie will have a theme of technology.

Nearly every shot features low-key lighting and no colour. Low-key lighting connotes a sense of mystery and makes ordinary shots appear sinister which is important because it put the audience on edge. The shot above is an example of a close up shot which draws focus to the keyboard and makes the audience question what is happening and if it has significance to the plot.

A combination of steady and handheld shots makes it seem as though we the audience are experiencing the narrative through another character's eyes which give an sense of importance to shots and elements within the shots.

Low-key lighting is used in this opening sequence heavily to create a sense of mystery and keep the audience on edge. This close up shot makes us question the baby monitor's significance to the narrative. We question why it is there and what it is monitoring. This will keep an audience engaged.

Special effects, such as the explosion above, are useful for exciting the audience - which is important for audience pleasure - and making them question why it happened. Sonically exaggerated Sound Effects also emphasise the extent of the explosion's damage to the bus.

Using news articles and features emphasises the severity and extent of the exploded bus to the audience. The ambulance, shown in the shot below, has the same effect. The audience will be more engaged with a dramatically emphasised plot.

The block-typed font looks modern and adds to the high-tech theme explored in the opening sequence. This helps the audience understand the type of thriller movie they are watching. Revealing shots through the title sequence can be useful for drawing attention to particular characters or objects and their significance to the narrative.

The shot above is called a normality scene which is important as it juxtapose with other scenes of high action or suspense. In effect, it heightens the impact of intense, dramatic scenes which is important for creating audience pleasure by getting them on edge. Sonically exaggerated sound is normally used in these scenes being the only sounds to break the silence. This connotes a sinister perspective on everyday objects. This could impact the audience's opinions of a particular character or object.

The shots above and below show the transition type used for the title to appear. The style resembles computer graphics which suggest the film has a theme of technology which enforces the idea of a secret agent protagonist as they are likely to rely on high-tech equipment.

Using the famous MI6 building in the shot allows an audience to understand the location and what normally happens there. This will lead them to expect certain character conventions to become part of the narrative - for example, secret agents.

Shot List

This is our shot list which is still to be completed and used in our visual run through accompanied with a voice over to explain each shot.

Casino Royale - Opening Sequence

Casino Royale is the first 007 - James Bond film to feature Daniel Craig. Casino Royale fits into the action-thriller genre.

Editing...

The screenshot above shows colour manipulation - which has been used to remove all colour from the shot for a dramatic, artistic effect; and low-key lighting being used to create a tense atmosphere in the scene. These are typical editing conventions among many thriller films as getting an audience on edge is important for all thrillers as audiences of this genre expect tension. The low-key lighting conceals the majority of the scene from the audience creating a sense of mystery. A sense of mystery is important as it engages the audience with the narrative.

Mise-En-Scene...

The use of weaponry as props creates a sense of danger - particularly a gun, which is typical among thriller films as guns represent murder, death and crime.
The high contrast (chiaroscuro) effect places a stronger focus on the action within the scene, effectively drawing the audience's attention to it. It gives the action a sense of importance and dominance to the narrative.

The opening sequence to Casino Royale is absent of any colour, and a chiaroscuro effect puts emphasis heavy black tones. The colour black appears on the antagonist's t-shirt and on many other elements within the scene. Black represents mystery and concealment which engages the audience and creates an eerie, tense atmosphere which engages the audience.

Camera-Work...

Low angles are featured heavily in this opening sequence which gives characters dominance and a sense of narrative importance. This is particularly useful for the audience as it helps them to distinguish between characters and understand their importance. Tracking shots are used in the opening sequence to follow the action and help make the audience feel more involved with the plot.

Audience Research - Results

These screenshots are of our audience feedback survey which has been online for a week and has been shared around various social media sites, such as Facebook and Twiter, in order to broaden our reached audience.

We decided to find out which weapon was most preferred in thriller films by our target audience in order to feature it in our film opening. The results showed us that 49% of people thought that everyday objects used as weapons make a thriller film more interesting and exciting so we will try to incorporate something like this into our opening as a weapon.

We decided to find out what sub-genre of thriller were people's favourite as this will help us to make our opening more appealing by bringing elements of that sub genre into it. 

The results showed us that psychological thrillers are most popular as 39% of our audience chose it over the other sub-genres. As a result, we are going to focus on making sure our film has conventions of psychological thriller films, in order to appeal to our target audience.

We asked our audience what location they most preferred to see in thrillers and woodlands turned out to be the most popular with 27% of people choosing it. Our current idea is set in a house which makes it difficult to respond to the popular opinion of a woodland setting. However, we could incorporate woodland scenes into some of our shots.

We wanted to find out what editing techniques our audience find most effective. From our results we learnt that jump cuts and colour manipulation are two favourites of our audience. Jump cuts received 19 votes and colour manipulation received 15 votes.  We are therefore going to try and include as many as possible.

Our audience results showed that low-key lighting is the most popular thriller convention in the Mise-En-Scene category with 46% of the vote. They also liked younger characters over older characters. Our film will feature low-key lighting and will therefore appeal to out audience and it will feature old and young characters.

We wanted to find out which sound techniques our target audience would find most effective. Our audience preferred silence (50% of the vote) and tense music above other sound techniques which means that our film, which will feature both of these conventions, will apply to out target audience.

The results to question 8 show that a greater percentage of people prefer a resolved thriller ending. When it comes to thriller openings, this is not to say that they need every detail explained as this question mainly focuses on ending rather than openings. However, we can use this result to adjust our opening to ensure it makes sense to an audience.

For our final question, we asked what time of day our audience most preferred. 65% chose night-time which is a convention we can incorporate into our opening in order to make it more appealing.

Past Student Work Analysis

Past Student Work Analysis - Behind the Net Curtain from Sam McNamara

The Call - Opening Sequence

The first scenes of the film occupy the first 30 seconds of the trailer.

The Call is a crime-thriller about the abduction of a young girl, with a focus on the intensity of the work behind '911' calls. The most successful element surrounding the opening scenes, in my opinion, is its ability to make you feel tense and on edge, which is important for all film genres, as from that moment we are automatically fully engaged with the narrative. A second important convention of thriller films is character identification - when you can relate to, or empathise with a character. It is particularly important in order to get the audience involved in the movie's narrative.

In the shot above, the scene appears well-exposed which conveys low drama and normality. This effect is important as it juxtaposes with future scenes where the intensity and drama is illustrated with low-key lighting and chiaroscuro such as that in the shot below. Colour manipulation is another editing technique which can add to the element of drama in a shot, an example of this is the shot below where the colour blue dominates. The colour blue symbolises cold and is complementary to the colour orange which has been used on the phone in order to draw the audience's attention towards it - via the expression on the victim's face.

Low-Key lighting and colour manipulation add to the drama in this shot.

Typical character conventions are present in the opening sequence for The Call, such as: innocent victims - who are important for engaging for the more empathetic audience members; criminals - who are important for advancing the narrative; and the police - who are essential, in this movie particularly, for a narrative resolution. Dark themes are a common narrative convention among thriller films which are important for making the audience think and engage with the plot - in The Call, crime and kidnapping are two explored themes.

An example of two character conventions: police officer and innocent victim.

In the screenshot above, a relationship is introduced between the protagonist and on of the other officers. The introduction of relationships is important in thriller films, where characters endure a lot psychologically, in order to allow audience members to identify with characters and to develop the protagonist's  personality on screen to emphasise their current mental state, perhaps. When an audience can relate to a character, they receive audience when they succeed and loose ends are tied.

The screen-grab above is an example of a close-up shot of the protagonist's face which effectively conveys her fearful, panicked emotion allowing the audience to empathise, become tense and on-edge. Low-key lighting and chiaroscuro are two technical conventions which have also added to the tense mood and atmosphere of this shot.

Donnie Darko - Opening Sequence

Donnie Darko is a drama-thriller film about a boy with 'doomsday-related visions'. The opening scenes differ from many other thriller films, but still share the idea of making the audience question their relevance to the narrative. In the opening scene, Darko wakes up in the location pictured below and then cycles home.

The image above is an example of an establishing shot in which shadows are made predominant using low-key lighting to create a chiaroscuro effect which contrasts with the mountainous backdrop. Low key lighting is effective for creating an eerie atmosphere as it conceals the majority of the scene from the audience. This sense of mystery is important as it leaves the audience questioning the narrative and as a result they are likely to remain engaged with the plot.

The audience will question how Darko got to be at that road in the morning because of his outfit. It is clear that he has not gone out for a drink and fallen off his bike, for example, because of his clothing - the audience will assume that the pyjamas suggest he was originally in bed. This leads the audience to feel confused and want to understand how he woke up where he did. The confusion surrounding the first scenes is deliberate and is an example of how directors can play mind games with an audience. Mind games are typical narrative conventions of thriller movies and help to engage the audience and make them question every scene and its relevance to the narrative.

At first, the character appears to look confused which allows for the audience to identify with his thoughts. The close up shot above allows us to see Darko's facial expressions a little clearer and we can see that he is laughing which implies that waking up in bizarre locations is something that occurs regularly perhaps. Low key lighting is still being used and it presents a dark theme to the audience.

The location is introduces alongside exaggerated sound effects, such as thunder, and the sounds of birds. The birds help us to understand the time of day - the morning. The thunder represents fear and danger and suggests to the audience that there is something unsettling about either the location, or how Donnie got there. Eerie, tense music also creates a dark, mysterious atmosphere which puts the audience on edge.