5) How did you attract/address your particular audience?
I attracted the target audience by the use of a normal Muslim female who turns psycho. By showing a normal female, this brings the audience to reality, that even a normal successful female can experience a number of phenomena’s. The audience begin to side with the female character who is seen as the protagonist and are expected to sympathise with them and make the audience put themselves in the position of the character and also witness what the characters going through, however there is a sense of enigma because the audience isn’t shown why she is receiving mysterious phone calls and messages such as ‘I know what you did’. This leaves the audience wondering whether the character is really a protagonist or an antagonist.
I used particular editing styles to make the audience feel part of the character. I wanted them to feel as if they are part of the dream, and also a part of the reality. In addition, I made sure that as part of my production, I used one essential ingredient of the creation of the thriller genre which is suspense. Suspense in our thriller is used throughout. The audience are expected to be at the edge of their seats waiting for what will happen next and trying to put together why this is all happening in their heads. As they are waiting to see what happens next, they are left with the title of the film ‘Deranged’ and then a loud scream which brings them back to reality and they begin to realise that it was all a dream.
When the production was completed, I introduced a group of 15+ to the sequence and asked each of them 5 specific questions. These questions were:
- Does the sequence fit into the psychological thriller sub-genre? - Would you go to the cinemas to watch the movie? - What did you like/did not like? - How did it make you feel? - Rate the sequence out of 10
Overall, the feedback was positive and everyone said they would definitely watch the movie in cinemas. The highest result was 10/10 and the lowest was 8/10 which shows it was a success. The majority of people said they liked the idea that it was a dream and reality put together.
4) Who would be the audience for your media product?
As a group, we decided the target audience would be ‘15’ and over since most psychological thrillers are rated a 15. For all social groups and ethnicities. Those who are part of the Islamic religion and wear the hijab may feel they need to watch the thriller to see if they are represented positively or negatively.
The representation of the Muslim Women social group was positively represented; this was because it challenged the stereotype of women staying at home and being a ‘house-wife’ whilst the man earns the money. It also represents gender and woman in general by showing that women can also be successful and independent.
During our initial research, we found that most people liked the idea of the character being in a dream state and are brought between the two; a dream and reality. However, there was an issue as some felt there needed to be more scenes of the character being in a hospital to emphasise the idea that the character is in a mental hospital dreaming and caught up between what lives was before she went in there and how it’s affecting her now.
I think our thriller would appeal to people who like Shutter Island and Final Destination 2. Final Destination 2 has a scene of a female character that is in a mental hospital because she has experienced a weird phenomenon, because some of our ideas came from this scene such as the mise-en-scene and lighting.
3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product, and why? I think our thriller could be a successful Hollywood movie as many of our ideas have been inspired by popular Hollywood movies which have been released in cinemas such as ‘Se7en’ and ‘Final Destination’.
2) How does your media product represent particular social groups?
In our thriller we have different representations of different social groups. One social group are Muslim women. As part of our mise-en-scene, the main character wore a headscarf also known by the term ‘hijab’ to represent Muslim woman covering their hair as part of their religion.
Also, another social group represented is the social class and status; this was by creating a character that is high in status and known as middle/upper class. This character was a female entrepreneur, again as part of the mise-en-scene; the character was dressed in a formal outfit. This was a smart shirt and skirt with heels and a small briefcase. In addition, even if the audience are not aware of the character’s occupation, they still have an idea she has an occupation and is seen high in status.
However, gender is not represented stereotypically because the opening shows the main character having a conversation with another character who is also associated as being a business woman by the way she is dressed. Therefore, this shows the main character being dominant and not a stereotypical ‘passive woman’. The main representation is mental patients; our thriller is mainly about an ordinary successful female who progresses into a mental patient.
1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge the forms and conventions of real media products?
Our sequence is a psychological thriller. Usually, thrillers focus on plot over character, and emphasize the intense, physical action over the character's psyche. Psychological thrillers tend to reverse this formula to a certain degree, emphasizing the characters just as much, if not more so, than the plot.
The suspense created by psychological thrillers often comes from one or more characters playing with one another's minds, either by playing illusionary games with the other or by slowly trying to destroy the other's mental state. This was effective in our thriller because the main character had been experiencing weird things such as the phone ringing at a specific time every day, letters saying ‘I know what you did’, writings on the mirror saying ‘you’re next’ and loud noises such as a glass breaking.
Sometimes the suspense comes from within one isolated character where characters must resolve conflicts with their own minds. Usually, this conflict is a struggle to understand something that has happened to them. These struggles are made more dramatic with physical expressions of the conflict in the means of physical appearance or events that occur during the thriller.
'' • Psychological – Elements that are related to the mind or processes of the mind; they are mental rather than physical in nature. • Thriller – A genre of fiction that attempts to "thrill" its audience by placing characters at great risk. This constant unease throughout the story makes the narrative suspenseful to the reader by creating a tense atmosphere. • Psychological + Thriller – By combining these two terms, the definition changes to a narrative that makes the characters exposed to danger on a mental level rather than a physical one. Characters are no longer reliant on physical strength to overcome their brutish enemies (which is often the case in typical action-thrillers), but rather are reliant on their mental resources, whether it be by battling wits with a formidable opponent or by battling for equilibrium in the character's own mind. ''
There are specific uses of sound and editing which follows the code and conventions of a psychological thriller. The sound we used was a mysterious noise which was continuous and had an almost creepy feel to it.
Also, the editing followed the codes and conventions of a psychological thriller. The titles were created in a way to emphasize the creepiness and give the audience a feeling they want to know what the film is about.
Steven Spielberg is a 63 year old American director of the film making world. His career has been goin for over four decades and is still goin to this day! He has directed and produces over 100 films which I think is rather amazing, with many films still in the making. He has 43 major awards and over 50 nominations to date.
Steven Spielberg has directed many films that I have watched such as:
Jaws E.T Indiana Jones Jurassic Park Schindler's List Minority Report Saving Private Ryan Artificial Intelligence Catch Me If You Can
Of these films my favourite would probably be Minority Report. This is because I watched this film when I was quite young and the storyline was very complicated so I had to watch it a few times in order to understand. It is a thriller about the future where the police will be able to see crime before it happens using precog beings.
I liked this film because it was extremely futuristic, using cars that could drive by themselves, extensive technology and machinery and even machines that can find your whereabouts by examining eyes.
This is a scene in the movie where Tom Cruise's character has a confrontation with police officers. As you can see Steven Spielberg used a blue tint to the shot to imitate futuristic features. Also the policemen are flying in on jet packs, an idea of what the future will be like.
This is Tom Cruise in the car thayt is used in the film. It shows a car that you can walk to straight from your home which I think is cool.
This is an image of Tom Cruise using a computer in Minority Report but he controls the computer with his hands, he can scroll push things off the screen and enlarge jus with these gloves.
After filming all of our shots for our thriller movie we then started our editing part of the project. We started by log and capturing our footage onto the programme Final Cut Pro, whilst noting down the tape log on a piece of paper. This doesn't take long to do so we thought that the rest of the project will not take very long. we were soon proven wrong.
Once we had our list of shots in Final Cut Pro, we started to piece together the footage into the order we wanted it to be in. We placed every shot we needed in the correct position. Then we started to test out effects that we could add to our film. The main feature of our opening was that the main character was shown in a dream and also in reality. We wanted an effect that could connote this to the audience so that the could easily differentiate between the dream and reality.
We began searching through the effects that we could use and we wasn't impressed. Half of the effects were rubbish and some made no difference to the footage. But then we struck gold. We found an effect called extract. We thought this was great because it is a black and white effect but also it made the picture seem also surreal. We applied this effect to many shots and was very pleased with what we had done. That's when all the problems arose...
The footage that was all put together was about 3 and a half minutes long! We had been told the limit was 2 minutes and a 30 second leeway. We had to set about cutting down the sequence. As we watched it back more and more we realised we didn't need as much walking as we had and cut that down, but the sequence was too long. We then resulted to cutting out some shots that we thought we could actually do without.
Then more problems arose. Whilst editing, we decided to invite some friends to watch the footage so far. After watching, they told us that they did not understand the idea of our opening, which was extremely frustrating. We could not even pass the opening for enigma, the audience were completely clueless as to what was going on. This is when we changed the order of our opening about 3 times, until the audience finally understood what was happening.
When we had the newly shotened 2:20 opening, yes 2 minutes and 20 seconds. We added more effects and transitions between shots. We also added some sound effects such as a phone ringing and glass breaking. We thought that we needed some music to add to it so we looked on the computer database and found some music called 'Ghost Train' which we thought suited our thriller and also built up suspense.
The last thing to do was to add the title and credits and to do this we used a prgramme called After Effects. We had fun using this because the effects were easier to use and were the type of effects we really wanted to be added to our opening. We added a few morw tweaks to our opening and finally the project was finished! :)
The filming world has a rating systems that tell the audiences the age group that can watch each film. There are classifications for each age rating.
Suitable for all, but especially suitable for young children to watch on their own (video only)
All ages admitted, there is nothing unsuitable for children.
General viewing, but certain scenes may be unsuitable for children under 8.
May be unsuitable for under 12s. Those aged under 12 are only admitted if accompanied by an adult at all times during the performance (cinema only).
Suitable only for those aged 12 and over. No-one younger than 12 can rent or buy a 12 rated VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, UMD or game.
Suitable only for those aged 15 and over. Nobody younger than 15 can see a 15 film in a cinema. No-one younger than 15 can rent or buy a 15 rated VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, UMD
Suitable only for adults. Nobody younger than 18 may see an 18 film in a cinema. No-one younger than 18 can rent or buy an 18 rated VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, UMD or game
For adults only. May only be shown at licensed cinemas or sold at sex shops, and only to people aged 18 or over
Our thriller film deranged is aimed at 15 year olds and above as it is a psychological thriller and will not be understood by little kids. Also it will be scary for minors.
In our opening sequence 'Deranged' we will be representing a young female Muslim women and also mental patients. These two issues are very sensitive and have to be represented correctly. In order to do this we have decided on what we will be showing in the film.
To show a young working business woman we will have a character that appears to be wearing a hijab and respectable clothing as a sign of her religion. But she will also be wearing smart business attire to show that she is in fact a serious business woman as well as having strong faith.
To represent a mental patient we have decided not to do too much drastic things. Our main character will be dressed in white, traditional institute clothes. We plan to also have doctors that will be looking after her to show that she is not very stable and needs support. Also we plan to make her do specific gestures such as rocking in her bed, staring into space or twitching in her sleep to assume that she is troubled in the mind.
Distribution is like the marketing of a film. It is the final stage a film goes through. The distributor puts the film in cinemas convincing them that they wiull recieve profit from it.
There are many film distributors, but some are more famous than others such as The 20th Century Fox. This distributor was founded on May 31, 1935, when it was merged together from Fox Films (founded in 1915) and 20th Century Pictures, Inc. (founded in 1933). This distributor is among one of the most famous and deals with television as well as the filming industry.
Filming got off to a slow start. We had planned to film in the half term break, but in that time members of the group had difficulties getting to the set and also we had some equiptment difficulties. So the first stages of filming wasn't very succesful.
Our first shots we got for the film deranged we got was good but when we took it to the editing suite we felt could be improved. The mise en scene costumes we thought could be improved and we needed high quality longer shots. There was also problems with the location we wanted to film at. We wanted to use a building in Harrow that looked very corporate for our character Onika to walk out of. When we asked for permission from the security guards in the building they refused, as did the security guards in the Harrow Shopping Centre.
Then we had to rethink our strategy. We planned more accurately our schedules for filming and we changed our film locations. We decided that we would film our opening in Edgware in Starbucks and towards the bus station. This was a more practical and in the end more helpful choice. Edgware was close by the location we were going to shoot the interior shots.
We fisrst wanted to shoot inside Starbuck's to imitate a lunch date that would be discussing business, but the manager of Starbuck's would not allow that either so we shot outside the shop on benches. We thought that this idea still worked with the rest of the filming idea.
We filmed inside the drama studio at college for the interior shots of the pshychiatric ward. This bit was really fun because of all the hospital props we used for the doctors and nurses. We also loved the spotlight we used on the hospital bed. It created a great atmosphere because the focused light on the bed kept the rest of the drama studio in the dark which was good. We made lots of shots in the drama studio of Lulu twitching and of the doctors restraining her. Some were usable, but some were bloopers.
We filmed at Lulu's house for the interior snapshots. We chose her house because it was more suitable because it was more spacious and had great lighting. We finished the shots at her house in 2 separate days and it didn't take too long because we knew what we were doing. Making the stalker letter and the note on the mirror in the bathroom was the best bit of filming. The hardest part was carrying the tripod all the time.
Whilst making films there are many job roles that need to be filled. This is a list of the job roles I have found.
Filmmakers
Executive Producer Producer Associate Producer Line Producer Director Director of Photography Unit Production Manager Screenwriter Art Director Editor
Production Personnel
1st Assistant Director 2nd Assistant Director 3rd Assistant Director Script Supervisor Production Manager Production Secretary Location Manager Location Scout Storyboard Artist/Production Illustrator Set Director Set Dresser Property/Prop Master Property Assistant Production Assistants Costume Designer Costume Supervisor/Director
Promotions Department
Publicity Director Publicity Assistant Still Photographer
Camera Crew
Camera Operator Assistant Camera Operator Focus Puller Clapper/Loader/Grip Dolly Grip Key Grip Grip
Sound Crew
Sound Designer Sound Editor Sound Mixer Sound Recordist Boom Operator Re-Recording Mixer Music Supervisor Foley Artist
Lighting
DP Gaffer Lighting Technicians
I am going to be looking at the jobs that I think are important to my film making process.
Director The director is very important in the film making process. The director is the person with the vision and turns the storyboard into motion pictures. The director instructs the crew of what needs to be brought and added or taken away from the film set to make it the best it can be. They also instrusct the actors of what they want to see and help make the process easier for them. Doirectors are sometimes involvved with editing too.
Producer The producer is considered to be the boss of the movie production, next to the director. The Producer is responsible for the finances, hiring the crew members and organising the release and distribution of the film.
Screenwriter The screenwriter is the person that creates the entire script. There wouldn't be a film without a script.
Editor The Editor cuts the movie together in post production. They will make the final product.
Location Manager The location manager is important because they are in charge of finding and asking for permission to use locations that will fit the film.
Storyboard Artist/Production Illustrator This person is hired to make a drawing of a storyboard for the production members to use whilst creatng the film.
Costume Designer A costume designer is somebody that designs clothes for the characters to wear and makes them.
Our opening sequence consists of a young business woman on her journey home from her workplace. A classic business woman look is very elegant, samrt and also slightly sexy. Our character will be wearing classical attire such as:
This is the type of smart clothes you would expect to see a business woman in. The black suit makes the character seem to be very serious about their work. Also the heels will make her look sophisticated and feminine.
This is the type of hairstyle we want our character to have. It is a neat and practical by stylish hairstyle which we like, because although she is a business woman she cares about looking presentable.
The trench coat connotes that the character is sophisticated. Aloso this part of the costume is essential because we will be filming in cold weather.
The character will be holding a briefcase because this prop will help the audience to identify the character is in fact a business woman.
This prop will also be useful to help the audience establish the character. Blackberry phones are manufactured to be used for business use. Also our character through the scenes will be making lots off calls, to connote to the audience her work is an important factor to the character and she carries on her work past working hours.
Another prop that will be used is a business diary. Whilst our character is making her way home and also making phone calls she will also be jotting down appointments within the book.
Our story is that the woman will go through some traumatic experiences and we want in the first sequence to show a contrast of her appearance being smart, clean and pristine, and the little snapshots will see her looking dishivelled.
In the psychiatric ward we plan to make the characters wear wite, to show connote to the audience that it is a institute of some sort without being too obvious. This is the type of look we want to go for, where the character wears all white and looks distressed and manic. The messy hair also adds to the mise en scene and is what our group will do with our character.
In our sequence we are going to show doctors in the pshychiatrist ward. We will dress them in white coats like above to establish that they are doctors. we plan to give them props that a doctor would carry such as a clipboard, pen and will be dressed smart.
Location: The opening sequence of our thriller is going to be filmed in several places. The scène of the character of being a psycho will be filmed in a drama studio seeing the person lying on a bed. The filming of the business woman will take place outside a Cafe ahop where she meets up with her collegue; other scenes will take place on a bus and in a flat.
Settings and Light: The opening sequence was filmed in a day light time where everything looks ordinary whereas the scene of the psycho has been located in a dark room. It creates the feeling of loneliness
Costume and Hair and Make up: The costume and the hair of the business woman will represents a normal social class worker.
Body language and Facial expression: The facial expression of the disturbed character is full of fear. It shows she is scared of something that happened in her past
In our opening sequence, there will be a short scene of the character in a psychiatric ward. We researched different thrillers to get ideas of the mise-en-scene, setting and the camera shots.
This is a clip from Final Destination 2. We have chosen to put this up because in this particular sequence, there is an encounter in a psychiatric ward. In our opening sequence, there will be a scene in a psychiatric ward. Therefore, we researched different thrillers where they have used a psychiatric ward and we focused mainly on the mise-en-scene and different camera shots.
This is a crabshot from the sequence, the mise-en-scene is really effective because of the lighting and it has a unique setting as it shows a lot of trees, fog and is almost is an unknown place. This creates a miserable sense of feeling because the lighting is quite dark and gloomy. You can tell that it is a psychiatric ward or hospital as the people who are doctors are wearing only white.
Make sure that you meet as a group – come and find me if you need to discuss anything, or need a room/computers to work on before Fridays lesson. You must be prepared to film by the end of the week, this will mean having a script & storyboard – if you want to film before, or need to use the drama studio, make sure you come and talk to me! You are now being marked on your organisational skills and planning
Before we came up with a title, we looked up different words which would fit perfectly with the storyline.
Firstly, we wanted to name the film 'Mental', we then decided to go on to www.thesaurus.com and see different words which were similar.
We then had a choice of four different titles. These were: - Disturbed - Deranged - Out of Line - Frenzied
We couldn't decide which one we wanted to use, so we looked at each of the definitions and decided that 'Frenzied' was the best.
Its definition was: 1. extreme mental agitation; wild excitement or derangement. 2. a fit or spell of violent mental excitement; a paroxysm characteristic of or resulting from a mania: He is subject to these frenzies several times a year. –verb (used with object) 3. to drive to frenzy; make frantic: She was frenzied by fear when she smelled the smoke.
Our group came up with many different plot ideas. We then decided to combine different elements together to create one.
Firstly we gave out questionnaires and found out that the most enjoyable and watched thrillers are psychological thrillers. This is why we decided our thriller would be psychological.
The first plot idea we came up with was that the opening would show a character who is experiencing weird things and briefly hint to the audience what the rest of the thriller is about.
As we researched psychological thrillers, we came up with another idea of adding a psychiatric ward and create a character who has gone 'mental' and ends up in a psychiatric ward.
As we done further research, we noticed that most thrillers included little girls. This added more suspense and drama to the whole psychological thriller.
We then decided to combine these ideas together and create an opening sequence where there would be a character who finishes work and leaves her workplace at about 7:00pm. She waits for the bus and there is a little girl constantly watching her. However, the character doesn't see the little girl watching her but the audience do.
During her journey home, there are short snaps of weird things that she has previously experienced. These things include writings on the wall/mirror, a shadow, someone at the window, burnt pictures, letters and continuous phone calls at a certain time. The character has nearly reached home and there is another quick snap of her in the psychiatric ward twitching. She reaches her home, slams the door shut and it cuts to her in the psychiatric ward screaming, and all the doctors rush in to calm her down.
We continued our research to see if there were any improvements or any other ideas we could add or change. We came up with another plot which involved a diary. We were going to use this diary as an object that would have a big influence in the storyline and would also be used for the credits. This opening sequence would be a girl at the psychiatric ward talking to a doctor, this girl would be rocking back and forth. This would indicate to the audience that the girl is a bit 'crazy'. The doctor would ask the girl 'When did it all start?' and then the girl would point to a page in the diary and it would show the girl coming out of work.. etc. This is similar to the first plot, whereas in this storyline, as the girl comes out of work, she drops a diary. This automatically indicates to the audience that the diary has some sort of importance to the film.
Both plots were very similar. However, the first plot started with the psychiatric ward being shown later on and the second plot began with the character being in the psychiatric ward and explains how she got there.
After a long time discussing various plots, we came to a conclusion that we would use the first plot. This is because as it is only a 2 minute opening sequence, the diary credits would take too much time there would not be enough time for everything to go on at once.
After our group had read the rules of the preliminary task, the next step was to think of a storyline to show in the sequence. We had many ideas such as one tof the characters dying in the room or a fight being shown. We decided against these because it was not going to fit in the allotted time. In the end we decided on a plot and decided that Lulu And Talha would be the actors and the classroom is the locain to shoot the footage.
We wanted to show through the film that a woman is in a rush to the classroom and stumbles in. On entering the classroom she is going to look for an unknown item. Whislt she is looking for the item a mysterious person who saw her rush into the room reveals that he has what she is looking for and orders her to sit down. They then exchange a few words that explains to us the woman did something to the man and he threatens her with a gun.
We also made a storyboard to show how we envisioned the scene to be and also to help us with filming, as you can see here.
The preliminary excercise was a task that our teacher gave to us to get to grips with using the camera and learn to shoot footage with it. This is to prepare us for the main project that will be started at a later date.
The preliminary task was to complete a 30-60 second sequence. The rules were that within this sequence we had to show:
Continuous character movement an understanding of the 180 degree rule A match on action shot within the sequence Characters exchanging at least for lines of speech
Although they are split up in to sub-sections there are a few things that they still include that can identify them as a thriller film. The storyline in thriller films usually have a mystery, crime or murder that have been committed that the antagonist (the 'baddy') and protagonist (the 'goody') are somehow entwined into.
In the film the protagonist's weak points will be exploited by the antagonist showing them have an experience of near death, usually near the end of the film. There will also be scenes of the protagonist in turmoil where he or she will be degraded to feelin helpless and isolated. They will be seen to overcome it by a miracle or self-strength, which will then lead to them finding the antagonist and defeating him.
The narrative is sometimes used to create false paths and clues, or enigmas that the audience will expect to see resolved at the end of the film. Usually within the narrative little clues are revealed to the viewers that build up to a climax. In the opening sequence, one or maye a series of enigmas are unleashed, showing the audience what the film is about, but also to show what will in fact be resolved at the end of the film.
Mise en scene is used in the thriller films to enhane the persona of good and bad. The mise en scene around the protagonist will usually be bright colours. Conventionally the colour white signifies good and black is bad, but in thriller films today this is mixed up.
This image shows batman, a faous character who is in fact a protagonist, but his face is covered and he is suited in black.
These two images are from G.I Joe. These two characters are also unconventionally suited as the character wearing white is the antagonist n the character suited in black is actually the protgonist.
Props and costumes also help to show good and bad, eg the attire of the character, the objects in the roiomn with the charaters and also the weapons they may or may not carry. Antagonists are usually seen to carry harmful weapons whereas protagonists are not seen with weapons unless defending themselves.
The title of a thriller film will connote to us an aspect of the antagonist or protagonists psychological state. Films like 'Disturbia', or 'Insomnia' demonstrates this.
There are also themes present in thriller films such as identity, voyeurism and revenge.
The first sound heard in the film is the low rumbles and a siren of traffic outside. This is used to give the audience an idea of where the film is located. Also, the siren of a police car represents the nature of the film and how it is about Crime. The opening credits is loud, low pitched music, giving a threatening sense to it.
The music of the title allows the audience to know that the film is dark in nature. Properties such as blade has been used to show that it could be also a violent movie. This is mostly important to represent in the opening of the film due to the audience understanding that the rest of the film will be as dark as this. A big reason of representing this message is the mise-en-scene because in the first scene with detective Summerset preparing for work allows the audience to understand Summerset. This is shown through Summersets well-groomed clothes already laid out on his bed neatly similar to his pen, his badge and his penknife. The mise-en-scene used in the opening of the film is mainly to illustrate how Summerset is more intelligent, experienced, and organised than Mills although Mills is more relaxed and believes he can do well which is shown through his cocky attitude. Summerset's apartment is clean and tidy as we see when he is preparing for work and in the scene where he rests in bed unlike Mills' untidy apartment, which is seen later.
A long shot of Summerset’ room as been used to show what his room looks like. Looking at the opening sequence, lot of low angle shots are used on the main characters. Another shot that is used quite regularly is a long shot, this is so that the audience get to see the surroundings of the characters and so they know the setting of the scene. It also allows the audience to understand about where the characters are and helps them get an idea of the period of time it is set in. There are lots of jumpy shots being used at the end of the opening sequence, this gives effect because it makes the audience a little confused about the situation but it also gives a slight insight into what will happen at the end of the movie.
The film Se7en is a crime thriller film made in 1995 starring Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt. Their characters are police detectives who are set on many cases around an unknown city. The case highlighted in the film is focused on the seven deadly sins and is interesting and mysterious. The opening sequence demonstrates a lot the audience about the film.
Mise-En-Scene
The first clips of the film show an establishing shot of Morgan Freemans character in his kitchen. These first clips help us establish what type of person the main character is. His home has been set up to be cold and dull. The wallpaper and furniture are dull greys and whites, and the furniture is minimal. Around in the kitchen and bedroom, there are not many objects of homeliness and there are no signs of companionship, but we are frequently shown how tidy and in order his possessions are. From this the producers want to show us that he is a lonely man, but also very tidy and pays attention to detail.
The next location is of Morgan Freeman at work, on a crime scene. The producers again have made the set dark and dull, and there are props of bodies and blood on the walls. This is a contrast to his neat and pristine home.
He is dressed in smart attire and a peak hat, almost playing into the part of detective in the film. When Brad Pitt enters onto the location he is dressed in a leather jacket, shirt and tie, almost scruffy compared to the other character. The film creators wanted to show that these two characters are very different and that their relationship will be vital through the film.
Outside of the crime scene into the streets of the town, the location looks very run down with graffiti on the walls and bars over windows. Also there is a dark, gloomy feel to it because this is establishing the location is a rundown, decrepit town which the audience will expect horrible crimes to happen.
For the title sequence there are many props being used such as razor blades, pictures that have been anonymously shot of random people’s faces, pages of writing and clippings from books. These all look eerie and old, faded and the film makers want you to recognise that these are clues to the film, thus creating an interest for the audience.
Use of Soundtrack
The use of soundtrack is most evident in the opening credits. An eerie, mysterious sounding soundtrack is played whilst the credits and title are played, alongside the images of an anonymous hand cutting and sticking from pages and sticking pictures. This was intentionally added to show the audience something strange and also important is going on, but they do not know exactly what. The soundtrack also is there to establish that the genre of the film is a thriller.
Diegetic Sound
The diegetic sounds are very useful to help the audience understand the characters and their values. Morgan Freeman’s character is seen to be very articulate and pays attention to detail. He also seems very detached from everybody he communicates with and lacks emotions. We find out that Brad Pitt’s character is slightly hot headed.
We are shown that he thinks about the unobvious through him asking “did the kid see it” whilst at the crime scene. His colleague responds that his question is irrelevant, they don’t care and all that matters is the man is dead. Also the colleague mentions that “we are all going to be real glad when we get rid of you”. This demonstrates to the audience that this character thinks the unthinkable and considering he is a police detective, this is foreshadowing the fact that he will use these skills that others find so annoying, to unveil a mystery.
The non-diegetic sounds that were on the opening titles were put there to add suspense to the film. The slow tempo drum beat imitates a plot being unfolded slowly which is what will happen in the film. The sounds like thunder add a scary factor to the music.
Editing
The editing is very important for the opening titles because the shots used in a random order add to the enigma of the film, the audience want to know what is going on.
Camera Shot, Movement & Composition
Camera shots are important within thus film. The most important are to establish the main character Morgan Freeman. One shot that particularly stands out is the shot of him with a neatly made bed and a blazer perfectly lay out upon it. The jacket looks perfect but he picks at little bits of unseen fluff on it. This shows that the little things are noticed by him.
An eye line match shot of his dressing table top shows his carefully lined up objects that he carries around from day to day. He puts them into his jacket one by one suggesting that this is a daily routine for him.
When this character is going to bed at the end of this sequence, a close up shot of a metronome is shown to the audience. It is to imply that he has to use a repetitive noise to fall asleep which is not normal. This gives the audience suspense about the character making them want to continue to find out about him.
The opening title shots are very shocking, such as the close up of a person scratching the tips of their fingers off with a razor blade. This is an audience grabbing shot because it is not a normal everyday occurrence.
Special Effects
There were mainly special effects used in the opening titles, such as shots being merged into one another, taken from different angles. Also special effects were used for the title fonts and the way in which they were shown on the screen.
Our group is going to be producing a opening sequence to a thriller. To help the making of this run smoothly, we decided to assign ourselves a role to be in charge of.
Tash - Camerawoman
Natasha - Director
Lulu - Editing
Although we are in charge of these roles, we will be contributing ideas to each other when needed and will decide on decisions as a group. Every now and again we plan to have a group discussion about improvements that might need to be made and to ensure that we are progressing well.
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