The Word Times (iii)

Also learned another new word recently that could come in handy at a later date...

Ideology - ''a system of values or beliefs indoctrinated throughout society''.

Question - How does Nolen convey Memento as a psychological thriller?

Response to ‘Memento’ - Opening scene

Nolen starts the opening to Memento with a blank screen (opening titles follow), followed by the development of a Polaroid in reverse. This instantly creates the most important element to a thriller – mystery. In fact, almost everything in the opening scene is played in reverse, and only later does the viewer come to terms with the fact that this is actually representing the main character’s mind or memories. Confusion – a form of mystery, further re-enforcing the theme of the thriller genre.

The music is haunting, and every important sound is enhanced. The firing of a shot. A scream. A bullet casing hitting the floor. These things add to the intensity, making the atmosphere far darker and more dramatic.

The camera shots are also important. Teddy, the main antagonist, is pictured on the floor, with the camera high above him – a ‘high angle shot’. This gives him a sense of vulnerability. Leonard, on the other hand, is pictured with a gun in his hand, standing over Teddy. This is a ‘low angle shot’, and gives him an aura of power, control. And the gun itself – a much-used weapon in the thriller genre; a connotation, if you like. Small, compact, discrete. At this point in the film, it could be the new James Bond.

Lastly, I find the director’s use of lighting clever. There always seems to be light shining on the main character – Leonard, however, there is hardly ever light shining on teddy in this scene, making him appear more dark and sinister, further adding to the mystery of the thriller piece.

Response to 'The Happening' - Opening Scene

With the school internet now fully up and running, here's some more work...

Response to ‘The Happening’ – Opening Scene

High Park, Manhattan. A normal moning, potrayed with 'nomal day conotations'. We start the scene with some establishing and mid-shots. We see close-ups of men with briefcases, couples walking dogs and people jogging. this, coupled with a relatively placid soundtrack, gives the overall impression that nothing is wrong.

We then cut to two people on a bench. Two women (steriotypical of a thriller as it is usually the woman that 'gets it'). And, as they are both women, the viewer may automatically see them as vulerable. One is reading, the other just sitting. Close-ups on their faces as they exchange in dialogue, talking about the plot of the womans book; a muder/mystery novel. Creepy connatations, or simply a woman reading her book? A sceam, with the audio singled out to make the viewer more aware of it. The music becomes more intense, signifying that something is afoot. We still don't know what it is, and there it is - the key to a good thriller; mystery.
In this part of the scene, certain elements of the audio are enhanced to the viewer, making them more promintent, adding emphasis. An example of this is the sceam eirlier mentioned, or the rustling of the leaves on the trees, suggesting that they have something to do with it. But how could they? After all, they are only trees.

The woman with the book's speach becomes confused and she repeats herself. Some reaction shots are 'thrown in there' to re-enforce her friend's expressions. She is clearly worried. The creepy music continues to rise in intensity, thickening the atmosphere. A close up on a hand, rising slowly, with purpose. This hand grabs a hair pin, and the camera follows it. The fact that the hand moves slowly is useful as it gives the viewer some time (if not enough) to figure out what will happen next. Another reaction shot; horrified. She should be. Excellent effects shows us 'book woman' stab heself in the neck, with no regard for her safety.
And then it gets worse.

Psyco - shower scene analysis (at last!)

I've finally find a way to get things onto blogger via. school, so here's some long-awaited work.

Psyco - Shower Scene Analysis

Starting with a docile scene of the victim undressing for the shower, the viewer has no idea of what is to come. This is good, as it will heighten the feeling of shock that the viewer feels is the following scene. The actress keeps a straight face (lacking in emotion) to re-enforce the safe, calm mood. Throughout this opening, the camera keeps level with the victim’s head and follows her. You could consider to be a point of view shot. The lighting remains dim to hint at a negative action to come.

Once in the shower, the camera cuts from one angle to another multiple times. There is a lot of circular imagery in the following scenes, starting with a shot of the showerhead, with the object in question in the very centre of the shot. When looking at the showerhead, we look at it through a low-angle shot, and it is also a close-up, making it appear ominous; powerful in some way, but not a way that we understand. You also have more shots at head-level, but they are not centring on her face, rather what is behind it finally, with rising tension, the camera pans slowly to a moving figure behind the shower curtain…

The camera snaps to a close-up of the curtain, or rather what is behind it – the villain, holding a kitchen knife. This is followed by another close-up of the knife itself. This racy use of straight cuts creates confusion, a confusion shared by the victim as the shower scene unfolds onto her vulnerable form. The ‘screeching strings’ music adds to the terror as she is repeatedly stabbed by the perpetrator. In one shot, she is seen cowering in the bath tub. This is seen from a high-angle shot, giving the victim an inferior appearance. The main colours in this scene are black, white and red. One could interpret these colours as anger, cruelty or cold, single-minded cruelty (not necessarily in that order).

In the final scene, the music has died down and is all but non-existent. This links to the now dead victim and her distinct ‘lack of life’. The powerful circular imagery continues to make itself apparent. The question is weather one should take it at the face-value of ‘that woman’s eye is the same shape as a plug-hole’, or weather it should be taken deeper – it could, for example,   have some relevance or meaning tied down to a sense of perpetuallity – for example, could this have happened before and this is just be another victim? The theme of black, white and red continues in this part of said scene. We then leave the victim in the bathroom and follow the murderer out of the bathroom (possibly via hand-held camera to create the feeling of walking) to look at an otherwise unimportant newspaper. However, the viewer does not have time to read the entire front cover before it cuts to a low angle shot of the house (most likely the house in which the murder took place). The low-angle shot appears to be from the bottom of the front garden, as if we are looking at the house from the killer’s eyes and the killer is escaping. This is a very dark shot and appears to b at night. The architecture of the house itself seems old, almost gothic, and is the last thing you see before the end of the scene.

   

The Word Times (ii)

Ok, more word now, this time they're all about...
EDITING !

• the Wipe - a screen moves across the screen, replacing the first shot with a second, different shot. A good example of this is Baz Luhrman's 'Romeo + Juliet'.
• the Montage - a set of fast-paced clips created to show the passing of time. It is normally the same set of clips so that the viewer recognises what is going on in the film. A good example of the montage is Darren Aranofsky's 'Requiem for a Dream'.
• Jump Cuts - used frequently in films, the shot cuts from one scene to a completely different one with no intermission and can look rather silly if done poorly !