Simon (main character)
Age: 16/17 years old
Hair colour: Light brown
Skin colour: White
Height: 5ft 9/10
Attitudes: Naive, clever, witty, quick- thinking.Background: Simon started off from a young age attending a boarding school, but never really fitted in. He was often getting into trouble and eventually convinced his parents to let him move school. At the start of his new school life, he was quiet and was slow to make friends, and didn't really settle in. Some boys in his year to decide to pick on him, and an older crew of boys notice and stand up for him. That is when he got involved in the wrong crowd and his life went on a down hill.Jitmal (Follower of the gang)Age: 17Hair colour: BrownSkin Colour: TannedHeight: 5ft 8/9Attitudes: Under the gang leader
Gang leader
Age: 19
Hair colour: No hair
Skin colour: Black
Height: 6ft
Attitudes: Has respect from the gang although he is not particularly nice to them. Left school early because he thought it was a waste of time, but has been at college for a while instead.Background: Distant with his family as they are often working throughout the day and late night. He has had to look after himself so he has become very uptight and self-centred as he is not usually around people. He often hangs around friends as they are more like his family.
Middle-aged guy
We have made no information as we want to make the older guy very mysterious that we do not wish to give anything away. The idea of him being mysterious is based on making the film intro have a mysterious atmosphere, as this is a classic thriller signifier. He will be kept mysterious as the camera will never show his face, only his silhouette.
Jitmal (Follower of the gang)
Age: 17
Hair colour: Brown
Skin Colour: Tanned
Height: 5ft 6
Attitudes: His status is under the gang leader and like his crew doesn't have an interest in school. He felt safer and fitted in with them because they didn't have many cares. He often has arguments with his family, purely because they are worried and think the gang is a bad influence.Background: Jitmal was brought up well but similarly to Simon, he fell into the wrong crowd, therefore he can relate to Simon more. He is not the main member of the gang, so he does not receive much respect from the gang leader or his fellow followers. He is more sensitive than the gang leader so he lets them push him into doing things he doesn't want to do. He is trusted by the gang.
Tuesday 16 December 2008
Initial Ideas for what makes a thriller opening SUCCESSFUL:
- Originality/Individuality
- Mystery and intrigue
- "Hook" the audience - engage them
- Readable narrative - possible cliffhanger??
- Establish characters/settings/themes/styles
- Effective and clever editing
- Clear direction
- Steady camera work/shots
- Effective framing, compostion (rule of thirds)
- Effective mise-en-scene
- Lighting.
Thriller Script
Shot 1:Dim light, small lamp on in the room. Streetlight from outside through the window. Simon rummaging through a chest of draws, fast and hurried. Finds a gold watch that looks expensive.Simon: (whistles) S*** man! Simon stuffs the watch in his pocket.
Shot 2:Crew standing on corner outside, glancing at their watches. Street lamps light the street dimly in some places.Crew member 1: (moaning) Pfft, takes his time don't he.Crew leader: (Impatiently and slightly worried tone)I know man, what's the kid doing in there?Crew member 2: (Impatiently)I'm not waitin for this s*** much longer, that geezer will be home soon. I told you we should have gone in with him.Crew leader: (Quickly cuts into last comment, quite loud)And risk us getting caught? Nah you idiot!
Shot 3:Simon in the room, rummaging now in the wardrobe, he drops a load of boxes on the floor. Dim lamp still lighting the room.Simon: (Cautiously, worried, uneasily)F***! He searches through the boxes, looking for more valubles. His phone rings.
Shot 4:Close up of the phone, which shows "Mum" on the screen.Simon: (Talking across mobile phone, anxious, trying to finish conversation quickly)Hi mum...yeah...i'll be home soon...ok...love you, bye.
Shot 5:He hangs up and sighs with his head in his hands. He starts putting the boxes back.
Shot 6:Mans legs on the pavement, shoes clicking and cane on the floor. Streetlamps light the feet faintly.
Shot 7:Simon rummaging in more draws, slower, picking up small things and putting them in his pocket - mainly jewellery, dim lamp still lighting the room. He see's an expensive ring that looks special but puts it back into the back of the drawer.
Shot 8:Shot of the crew hanging out, with the old man walking up in the distance. The crew notice the man and watch him wearily.Crew member 3: (Worried)Is that the old geezer? The old man turns into a driveway.Crew member 2: (Shouting, worried)F***! thats him.Crew leader: (Realising it is the man's house)I'm outta here, f*** the kid!
Shot 9: The crew starts running away from the street, in and out of streetlamp shadows, they run to the end of the road, and split up, footsteps and yelling "bye" and swearing.
Shot 10: Close up of the old mans feet walking up to the door, and stepping infront of the door. Keys jingling and being put into the door.
Shot 11: Mid shot of the old man's body, footsteps and keys unlocking the door, walking into the house, streelamp light washes into the hallway.
Shot 12: Bottom midshot of the old man walking in from outside, door nearly shut, turning on a dim light.
Shot 13: Simon hears a bang from downstairs and looks around and freezes with a scared look on his face. The lamp is still on.Simon: (whispers, anxious, frightened) S***!
Shot 14: Old man hanging his coat and hat, still no veiw of his face, this is from behind, weak light of the hallway prevents any main features being shown.Old man:(Annoyed tone)B***** kids.
Shot 2:Crew standing on corner outside, glancing at their watches. Street lamps light the street dimly in some places.Crew member 1: (moaning) Pfft, takes his time don't he.Crew leader: (Impatiently and slightly worried tone)I know man, what's the kid doing in there?Crew member 2: (Impatiently)I'm not waitin for this s*** much longer, that geezer will be home soon. I told you we should have gone in with him.Crew leader: (Quickly cuts into last comment, quite loud)And risk us getting caught? Nah you idiot!
Shot 3:Simon in the room, rummaging now in the wardrobe, he drops a load of boxes on the floor. Dim lamp still lighting the room.Simon: (Cautiously, worried, uneasily)F***! He searches through the boxes, looking for more valubles. His phone rings.
Shot 4:Close up of the phone, which shows "Mum" on the screen.Simon: (Talking across mobile phone, anxious, trying to finish conversation quickly)Hi mum...yeah...i'll be home soon...ok...love you, bye.
Shot 5:He hangs up and sighs with his head in his hands. He starts putting the boxes back.
Shot 6:Mans legs on the pavement, shoes clicking and cane on the floor. Streetlamps light the feet faintly.
Shot 7:Simon rummaging in more draws, slower, picking up small things and putting them in his pocket - mainly jewellery, dim lamp still lighting the room. He see's an expensive ring that looks special but puts it back into the back of the drawer.
Shot 8:Shot of the crew hanging out, with the old man walking up in the distance. The crew notice the man and watch him wearily.Crew member 3: (Worried)Is that the old geezer? The old man turns into a driveway.Crew member 2: (Shouting, worried)F***! thats him.Crew leader: (Realising it is the man's house)I'm outta here, f*** the kid!
Shot 9: The crew starts running away from the street, in and out of streetlamp shadows, they run to the end of the road, and split up, footsteps and yelling "bye" and swearing.
Shot 10: Close up of the old mans feet walking up to the door, and stepping infront of the door. Keys jingling and being put into the door.
Shot 11: Mid shot of the old man's body, footsteps and keys unlocking the door, walking into the house, streelamp light washes into the hallway.
Shot 12: Bottom midshot of the old man walking in from outside, door nearly shut, turning on a dim light.
Shot 13: Simon hears a bang from downstairs and looks around and freezes with a scared look on his face. The lamp is still on.Simon: (whispers, anxious, frightened) S***!
Shot 14: Old man hanging his coat and hat, still no veiw of his face, this is from behind, weak light of the hallway prevents any main features being shown.Old man:(Annoyed tone)B***** kids.
Influences for our Thriller
Last lesson with one of my teachers, we looked more closely at our own thriller introductions- or the plans and ideas we had. One of the these certain things was: the themes of our thriller. The themes that are going to be obvious in our thriller is:
- Betrayal: as the young boy, Simon will be left on his own as the gang/crew run away after realizing that the mystery man is going into the house Simon is in.
- Corruption: stealing
- Mystery: as the mystery man is mysterious... the audience is not let in to who the man is, all possible questions arise once he enters the room. For instance, the audience will wonder what he'll do if he finds Simon, and IF he actually does, how he will react.
- Moral Ambiguity: Who is right and who is wrong... Simon will obviously be in the wrong but then it is not entirely his fault seeing as it was the gang leader who told him to do it.
Next, we looked at the styles of our thrillers, as a group mine decided that the style was gangsta and modern. It will appear modern as the style of clothing, speech/dialogue, possibly setting will be more up-to-date, rather than old-fashioned. The possibility of having the film in black and white is yet to be decided, but if it was, I think it would be a good contrast showing how there are different time periods combined.
The sub genre is gangsta as the gang are gangstas and are dressed in that particular style of wear and speak in that certain way.
The influences for our thriller intro is:
*Kidulthood and Adulthood are a great influence as the main characters are young teenagers going into their adult years. The characters are acting as though they live in gangster lifestyle but the truth behind them is that not all gangstas live in the same environment, some will have different life's' at home due to the fact that their families are different. This therefore makes it relevant to Simon's side of the story as he was at a private boarding school before wanting a different type of lifestyle.
*Football Factory is another influence because one of the characters is in someones' house and he is about to get caught without knowing.
*Layer Cake is another influence as the shots used are quite similar to the ones' we are planning to use. The locations we are planning to use will be relatively urban seeing as a common and easy thriller signifier is urban settings.
*Miller's Crossing, because the themes of deceit and loyalty.
*Sin City is our final influence seeing as the sounds in the background are very urban, and we may use similar sound effects. Another thing is the number of phone calls occuring and how you can hear the person on the receiver on the other end.
Thriller Meeting schedule
Meeting Schedule is:
Week 1 – Wednesday, Period 2.Thursday, Period 3.
Week 2 – Wednesday, Period 3.Thursday, Period 3.
Weekends – Saturday mornings, Café Nero’s.
In these first couple of weeks we focused mainly on planning, using mind maps to collect ideas regarding plot, narrative and themes. We discussed films which had influenced our ideas and in turn specific scenes, signifiers or conventions to help mould together a basic understanding of how our thriller would be. The next stage was to go through individual sections of creating our thriller in detail.
A list of what we were asked to cover:
IDEA STAGE- Initial ideas - Films that have influenced our ideas- Genres and styles - What we are trying to achieve ~ themes and ideas.
PRE-PRODUCTION which included:-Meeting schedule -Synopsis of film -Detailed storyboards -Character profiles-Location scouting/decisions on locations -Cast auditions/choices-Shooting schedule -Deciding on props.
The pre-prodcution stage enabled us to get a detailed understanding of how our thriller was to develop and gave us the ideas to start the penultamate stage of our thriller which was shooting. Many from the list above were decided before the start of shooting although some subtle changes were made during the shooting stage an example: there was a change in the cast, the actor of Simon was changed and i believe the thriller as we didn't have one actor playing two of the main roles. The cast auditions were easily completed as most of the actors were selected from our friendship groups and i decided as i knew the roles the best as i created them i would also act in the thriller. Also with a limited cast needed selection was never a problem as there are only 4 characters in the opeining of out thriller.
The shooting schedule is:
6th December, 4pm - 6pm;
16th December, 4pm - 5pm;
17th December, 4pm - 6pm;
12th January, 5pm - 6pm;
21st January, 4pm - 7pm;
our final filming session: 23rd January, 4/5pm
As you can see the shoting took place during the winter period wihch mean't we could start filming relatively early around 4pm and still get the atmosphere we needed. The main reason for the choice of time for our filming was to have it done in darkness this helped add the effect of mystery in the location and the characters are less easily recognisable. We had to do more filming than expected and many of the dates in January were extension dates due to some technical errors we came across in the editing the first time round of our thriller. Although this put us a little behind on our deadlines it was not a massive problem as it allowed us to recalate on the first piece of filming and improve and develop our skills and ideas resulting in a better thriller second time around.
Week 1 – Wednesday, Period 2.Thursday, Period 3.
Week 2 – Wednesday, Period 3.Thursday, Period 3.
Weekends – Saturday mornings, Café Nero’s.
In these first couple of weeks we focused mainly on planning, using mind maps to collect ideas regarding plot, narrative and themes. We discussed films which had influenced our ideas and in turn specific scenes, signifiers or conventions to help mould together a basic understanding of how our thriller would be. The next stage was to go through individual sections of creating our thriller in detail.
A list of what we were asked to cover:
IDEA STAGE- Initial ideas - Films that have influenced our ideas- Genres and styles - What we are trying to achieve ~ themes and ideas.
PRE-PRODUCTION which included:-Meeting schedule -Synopsis of film -Detailed storyboards -Character profiles-Location scouting/decisions on locations -Cast auditions/choices-Shooting schedule -Deciding on props.
The pre-prodcution stage enabled us to get a detailed understanding of how our thriller was to develop and gave us the ideas to start the penultamate stage of our thriller which was shooting. Many from the list above were decided before the start of shooting although some subtle changes were made during the shooting stage an example: there was a change in the cast, the actor of Simon was changed and i believe the thriller as we didn't have one actor playing two of the main roles. The cast auditions were easily completed as most of the actors were selected from our friendship groups and i decided as i knew the roles the best as i created them i would also act in the thriller. Also with a limited cast needed selection was never a problem as there are only 4 characters in the opeining of out thriller.
The shooting schedule is:
6th December, 4pm - 6pm;
16th December, 4pm - 5pm;
17th December, 4pm - 6pm;
12th January, 5pm - 6pm;
21st January, 4pm - 7pm;
our final filming session: 23rd January, 4/5pm
As you can see the shoting took place during the winter period wihch mean't we could start filming relatively early around 4pm and still get the atmosphere we needed. The main reason for the choice of time for our filming was to have it done in darkness this helped add the effect of mystery in the location and the characters are less easily recognisable. We had to do more filming than expected and many of the dates in January were extension dates due to some technical errors we came across in the editing the first time round of our thriller. Although this put us a little behind on our deadlines it was not a massive problem as it allowed us to recalate on the first piece of filming and improve and develop our skills and ideas resulting in a better thriller second time around.
Wednesday 22 October 2008
Exploring Narrative in Chinatown
The narrative also known as a story is the word used to describe a series of events, usually in a film or a book. These events can be fictional or non-fictional. The narrative of a film is extremely important; this makes up the main plot or storyline in a film. The narrative structure is the content of the story and the form used to tell the story, there are two main parts of this structure, the plot and story. The story refers to the raw materials of dramatic action whereas the plot is more a focus on how the story is told or unfolds. A simple narrative structure could be a character’s life is disrupted by an event, from this a series of conflicts take place, with one major conflict that is eventually resolved towards the end of the film. I will be concentrating on investigating the narrative structure of the thriller genre of films, mainly looking at the film Chinatown.
Film makers can use the narrative in a wide variety of ways to change and shape a film, with the key objective to engage the audience. There are many ways to engage the audience by using the narrative to create cliff hangers and to create twists to fool and keep the audience glued to the edge of their seats. A common and proven successful method of using narrative is to present in from the point of view of a character. A classic example of this is the Godfather Trilogy, which follows the life of Michael Corleone, who is part of the Corleone mafia family, we watch him as he changes and ages eventually rising to power at head of his family, not without going through a number of conflicts and a few major conflicts. This example is typical of the thriller genre, the story of a character that has to overcome a number of obstacles, with a number of twists and cliff-hangers along the way. Some other typical thriller narratives are death, whether is being murder, accidental or suicide, red herring, being watched or followed and deception, these examples often come up in thriller films.
I have recently watched the famous thriller film Chinatown by Roman Polanski; I would describe the narrative in this film as following from the point of view of one main character Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson). Many aspects of the films narrative make it such a successful thriller: Mystery, intrigue and a few twists and turns.One of the main effects the narrative of the point of view of Gittes is that the audience are part of his journey, when he finds out something so do the audience, it leaves he audience in suspense relying on gittes to solve these sequence of events.We follow him on a thick twisted plot; I found it was very interesting how his personality changed from what we see at the start of the film to what he is like towards the end. At the start he is very loud and rude in his manner but there is a sense he is hiding something, we also learn that he is an ex-cop detective which is very common thriller signifier and a common character. In the film we only see events through the perspective of J.J Gittes as he tries to solve a number of conflicts and mysteries throughout the film. Throughout the film a number of events take place which help signify that the film is a thriller: Mr Mulwray dies which is the man Gittes was hired to investigate, he is then hired to investigate his murder by Mrs Mulwray. Also with Gittes being a detective he follows a lot of people, for example when he is investigating Mr. Malwray to see if he is having an affair. It also has a perfect example of deception when Mrs. Malwray lies to Gittes about her daughter telling him it was her sister. Some other common characters we embark throughout the film are Police, a flawed Heroe(Gittes), Femme fatales and Villains. The Mise en Scene of the film also helps create the thriller atmosphere, the film has a few different urban locations there is also a few scenes in the dark which helps to create a sense of mystery.
The narrative in this film and many other thriller films is absolutely critical as thrillers are known to have very specific structures that are proven to be very effective and it is what audience are use to and enjoy watching. The narrative in thrillers sets the whole film and all the big successful thrillers have very similar structures with a few unexpected twists to keep the audience guessing and on the edge of their seat. I think that the narrative in Chinatown is a perfect example of a thriller and I personally found the journey the audience go on with gittes is full of mystery and suspense, leaving you always second guessing what’s going to happen next. The film also has some interesting conflicts along the way which unexpectedly all entwine together towards the end of the film. This creates a superb dramatic ending, which leaves the film on a cliff-hanger with Cross taking away Catherine from the car she just watched her Mother (Mrs. Mulwray) die in, whilst trying to protect her from her evil Father and Grandfather Mr. Cross. The final line in the film is also very effective and leaves the audience in suspense over its meaning “Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown”; leaving them with many unanswered questions, for example, what had happened before in Chinatown?
Film makers can use the narrative in a wide variety of ways to change and shape a film, with the key objective to engage the audience. There are many ways to engage the audience by using the narrative to create cliff hangers and to create twists to fool and keep the audience glued to the edge of their seats. A common and proven successful method of using narrative is to present in from the point of view of a character. A classic example of this is the Godfather Trilogy, which follows the life of Michael Corleone, who is part of the Corleone mafia family, we watch him as he changes and ages eventually rising to power at head of his family, not without going through a number of conflicts and a few major conflicts. This example is typical of the thriller genre, the story of a character that has to overcome a number of obstacles, with a number of twists and cliff-hangers along the way. Some other typical thriller narratives are death, whether is being murder, accidental or suicide, red herring, being watched or followed and deception, these examples often come up in thriller films.
I have recently watched the famous thriller film Chinatown by Roman Polanski; I would describe the narrative in this film as following from the point of view of one main character Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson). Many aspects of the films narrative make it such a successful thriller: Mystery, intrigue and a few twists and turns.One of the main effects the narrative of the point of view of Gittes is that the audience are part of his journey, when he finds out something so do the audience, it leaves he audience in suspense relying on gittes to solve these sequence of events.We follow him on a thick twisted plot; I found it was very interesting how his personality changed from what we see at the start of the film to what he is like towards the end. At the start he is very loud and rude in his manner but there is a sense he is hiding something, we also learn that he is an ex-cop detective which is very common thriller signifier and a common character. In the film we only see events through the perspective of J.J Gittes as he tries to solve a number of conflicts and mysteries throughout the film. Throughout the film a number of events take place which help signify that the film is a thriller: Mr Mulwray dies which is the man Gittes was hired to investigate, he is then hired to investigate his murder by Mrs Mulwray. Also with Gittes being a detective he follows a lot of people, for example when he is investigating Mr. Malwray to see if he is having an affair. It also has a perfect example of deception when Mrs. Malwray lies to Gittes about her daughter telling him it was her sister. Some other common characters we embark throughout the film are Police, a flawed Heroe(Gittes), Femme fatales and Villains. The Mise en Scene of the film also helps create the thriller atmosphere, the film has a few different urban locations there is also a few scenes in the dark which helps to create a sense of mystery.
The narrative in this film and many other thriller films is absolutely critical as thrillers are known to have very specific structures that are proven to be very effective and it is what audience are use to and enjoy watching. The narrative in thrillers sets the whole film and all the big successful thrillers have very similar structures with a few unexpected twists to keep the audience guessing and on the edge of their seat. I think that the narrative in Chinatown is a perfect example of a thriller and I personally found the journey the audience go on with gittes is full of mystery and suspense, leaving you always second guessing what’s going to happen next. The film also has some interesting conflicts along the way which unexpectedly all entwine together towards the end of the film. This creates a superb dramatic ending, which leaves the film on a cliff-hanger with Cross taking away Catherine from the car she just watched her Mother (Mrs. Mulwray) die in, whilst trying to protect her from her evil Father and Grandfather Mr. Cross. The final line in the film is also very effective and leaves the audience in suspense over its meaning “Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown”; leaving them with many unanswered questions, for example, what had happened before in Chinatown?
Monday 13 October 2008
Demographic classification of audience
Royalty and Aristocracy
A- 4% Top Managers and MP's
B- 21.9% Middle Managers and Lawyers
C1- 29% Teachers, Supervisors and office workers
C2- 20.7% Skilled manual labourers and plumbers
D- 16.2% Semi and unskilled manual workers and working class
E- 8.1% Lowest living Standard
*These Results are from http://www.businessballs.com/demographicsclassifications.htm and are take from all UK adults over the age of 15.
A- 4% Top Managers and MP's
B- 21.9% Middle Managers and Lawyers
C1- 29% Teachers, Supervisors and office workers
C2- 20.7% Skilled manual labourers and plumbers
D- 16.2% Semi and unskilled manual workers and working class
E- 8.1% Lowest living Standard
*These Results are from http://www.businessballs.com/demographicsclassifications.htm and are take from all UK adults over the age of 15.
Friday 26 September 2008
Camera shots and angles
Extreme Close Up (ECU)
High Angle Shot
Worms Eye View Shot
Over the shoulder view
Long Shot (LS)
Birds Eye View
Low Angle (LA)
Close Up (CU)
Extreme Long Shot (ELS)
Mid Shot (MS)Thursday 25 September 2008
Analysis of Hugo Boss advert
Analysis of Hugo Boss Advert
I will be analysing the Hugo Boss advert for Hugo XX and Hugo XY. It is an advert which aims at both the genders with XY being for males and XX being for females. Usually perfume adverts only aim at one sex so this advert has a much harder to task to appeal to both sexes. With the man and women in the advert being quite close there is a sense of a sexual atmosphere and a combining harmony between the two fragrances.
The way they are looking into each other eyes shows a sense of sexual tension about the piece and the way her hair is windswept back also helps to give this atmosphere. The Mise en scene in the piece is clever and relates to general theme in the piece of a harmony between the two fragrances. The crossover of light between the two fragrances also adds to this feeling of harmony, with the lights also leading to the colour of the respective perfume bottles. The Mise en scene also adds to tension between the two in the piece, with the setting being a boxing ring, shows a battle between the two fragrances. The colour scheme in the piece is very simple with only three colours really being used and the colour of clothing the models are wearing is black which merges them in with the black background.
I believe the audience this advert is trying to target is C1 of the demographic classification which includes: supervisory or clerical and junior managerial, administrative or professional lower middle class; in this group are 20.7% of UK adults over the age of 15.This model of audience segmentation classifies the population not by class but by their personal aspirations. The group I feel this advert will appeal to is mainstreamers, which includes 40% of the market which is the largest consumer group. This group seek security in well established brands such as Hugo Boss, Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein.
I will be analysing the Hugo Boss advert for Hugo XX and Hugo XY. It is an advert which aims at both the genders with XY being for males and XX being for females. Usually perfume adverts only aim at one sex so this advert has a much harder to task to appeal to both sexes. With the man and women in the advert being quite close there is a sense of a sexual atmosphere and a combining harmony between the two fragrances.
The way they are looking into each other eyes shows a sense of sexual tension about the piece and the way her hair is windswept back also helps to give this atmosphere. The Mise en scene in the piece is clever and relates to general theme in the piece of a harmony between the two fragrances. The crossover of light between the two fragrances also adds to this feeling of harmony, with the lights also leading to the colour of the respective perfume bottles. The Mise en scene also adds to tension between the two in the piece, with the setting being a boxing ring, shows a battle between the two fragrances. The colour scheme in the piece is very simple with only three colours really being used and the colour of clothing the models are wearing is black which merges them in with the black background.
I believe the audience this advert is trying to target is C1 of the demographic classification which includes: supervisory or clerical and junior managerial, administrative or professional lower middle class; in this group are 20.7% of UK adults over the age of 15.This model of audience segmentation classifies the population not by class but by their personal aspirations. The group I feel this advert will appeal to is mainstreamers, which includes 40% of the market which is the largest consumer group. This group seek security in well established brands such as Hugo Boss, Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein.
My first impression of the thriller genre and the film i will be creating!
My first impressions of media studies are good and so far what we have done i have enjoyed greatly and felt i have learn't quite alot, especially about the thriller genre. When i found out we were going to have to use the thriller genre for our films, i was feeling pretty good as before i started media i felt i had reasonably good knowledge of films including thrillers. Over the last fortnight i have watched a variety of thrillers some of which were: Godfather, Smokin' Aces, Face Off, City of God and Sin City. Also in class we have started watching a few thriller: vertigo and Chinatown, Layer Cake and Sin city. From watching a range of thrillers i have recognised that they all have thriller signifiers. Some typical thriller signifiers come from many different aspects which are: Plot and narrative, Tone and atmosphere, Mise en scene, Characters, Themes and finally cinematography.
About Me and Media!
My name is Jakob Montagu-Shaw I am studying A levels at CNS, I am currently taking Media Studies, Psychology, History and Chemistry. I have recently completed my GCSE’s, my results included: Maths B, Science B,A, English B, English Literature C, French D, ICT B, Graphics D, PE B, CBV, History A.
I have many media interests from all different types of media. I enjoy the print media and enjoy reading the sports section of the guardian or the observer because playing sports is my main hobby and I’m interested in many types of sport. I also occasionally read magazines. I prefer to read to lad mags like Nuts and Rugby world as they are about my interests. I rarely listen to the radio but when I do it is usually digital radio where I flick through the stations till I find a good song. Also I will sometimes listen to five live to hear the commentary of a football or tennis match. I don’t really have one genre of music I listen too. I enjoy a variety of music genres ranging from metal to Bassline, a few of my favourite artists at the moment are: Rusko & Caspa, TC and Jakes, The Last Shadow Puppets, Strokes and The Cribs. I think that the music industry influences the way I dress, for example at the moment I like the way bands like The Cribs dress and The Last Shadow Puppets. I don’t think that the music industry influences my attitudes and aspirations as much, although when I hear a good band playing it makes me wish I could play as well as them.
I play quite a lot of video games on a variety of consoles including: Xbox 360, Computer, PSP and Wii. I enjoy a range of video game genres, but my favourites are: Shooting, Sports, Action and Adventure and Racing. My favourite game at the moment is probably: Call of Duty 4(modern warfare game) or Football manager 2008. I think the majority of video game uses are male rather than female, I think this is because the genre of games are more intended to be for male audiences for example: Sports and Shooting. In most video games the characters are usually male although games like Tomb Raider series go against this trend, but Lara Croft (Tomb Raider) has become more viewed as an iconic sex symbol to males. Some war games and violent mindless killing games could have a negative effect on people using them because people may think it is acceptable to replicate actions they see in games. It also has a negative effect that people are playing war games were there enjoying killing people, where across the world there are hundreds of people dying everyday from wars including innocent people.
There has been lots of development and inventions in new technology over the last decade. The internet has been a big invention and is used by a huge amount of people; I use the internet a lot of time for a variety of things including: speaking to my friends on mediums such as MSN, Facebook and Myspace, I also use it to play video games online and to occasionally view the news using BBC website. I think the internet has helped increase my knowledge especially encouraging me to find out what’s going on in world news, it has also allowed me to communicate with my friends better and on a more regular basis.
I enjoy watching television and watch quite a lot. There are many channels I choose to watch, for me though it more depends what program is on. My favourite channels are E4, MTV, BBC Three and Channel U; these channels show a variety of different genres ranging from Music, comedy, drama to films. The genres I stated interest me the most this is why I watch those channels. My favourite genre out of the lot would have to be comedy, with my favourite comedy series “How not to live your life” being shown on BBC Three at the moment. To be honest I am not a big fan of TV adverts especially when you’re trying to watch a film, but there is one advert or two adverts I think are entertaining and they are both Car adverts. One is the “Vauxhall Corsa” advert with the little puppet people that shout “C’MON” and the other is another car advert where the car turns into a robot and starts skating, I think this is clever and has good special effects. My Favourite programs of all time would be: “Live and Kicking”, “Mock of the Week”, “The Mighty Boosh”, “Heroes” and “Footballers Wives”.
I watch a lot of films of a wide variety of genres but there are a few genres that appeal to me more and they are: Action/Adventure or Comedy. I am usually drawn to watching a film by whether I know the director or actor and I have enjoyed other films they have featured in also if I read a good review of a film or if it is recommended by someone. Some of my favourite directors and Actors are Johnny Depp, Danny Dyer, Quentin Taratino, John Simms, Guillermo del Toro and Liv Tyler. I usually tend to watch most films on DVD or Video because the cinema is really expensive, but on the whole if I really wanted to see a film I would go see it at the cinema. I find watching a film at the cinema is a whole different experience that I can sum up in a few words bigger, louder and altogether more atmospheric. I also think the cinema allows you to watch a film with your friends and gives you something you can do in large groups; it feels good sharing the experience.
I haven’t really ever been offended by a media text, I have read and watched something’s that have shocked and surprised me. An example of that is the film hostel, some its scenes are incredibly violent to an extreme it was quite unpleasant to watch. In contrast to that one of the most interesting media texts I have seen was the film Pan’s Labyrinth; it explored some mysterious and serious concepts. I would say that I have taken on board a lot of different visions about myself and others from media texts. For example, I have watched a variety of programs and films which show the concept of bullying and from seeing this I have seen the damage it can cause and I would not wish it upon anyone. I have chose media studies for the main reason of being interested in a vast majority of media mediums and would like to improve my knowledge more. If I was to construct a media text, I would probably choose to create a film. The genre of the film would be a Action/Adventure with lots of breathtaking SGI, with a few surprising twists in the plot of which as usually found in Thrillers.
I have many media interests from all different types of media. I enjoy the print media and enjoy reading the sports section of the guardian or the observer because playing sports is my main hobby and I’m interested in many types of sport. I also occasionally read magazines. I prefer to read to lad mags like Nuts and Rugby world as they are about my interests. I rarely listen to the radio but when I do it is usually digital radio where I flick through the stations till I find a good song. Also I will sometimes listen to five live to hear the commentary of a football or tennis match. I don’t really have one genre of music I listen too. I enjoy a variety of music genres ranging from metal to Bassline, a few of my favourite artists at the moment are: Rusko & Caspa, TC and Jakes, The Last Shadow Puppets, Strokes and The Cribs. I think that the music industry influences the way I dress, for example at the moment I like the way bands like The Cribs dress and The Last Shadow Puppets. I don’t think that the music industry influences my attitudes and aspirations as much, although when I hear a good band playing it makes me wish I could play as well as them.
I play quite a lot of video games on a variety of consoles including: Xbox 360, Computer, PSP and Wii. I enjoy a range of video game genres, but my favourites are: Shooting, Sports, Action and Adventure and Racing. My favourite game at the moment is probably: Call of Duty 4(modern warfare game) or Football manager 2008. I think the majority of video game uses are male rather than female, I think this is because the genre of games are more intended to be for male audiences for example: Sports and Shooting. In most video games the characters are usually male although games like Tomb Raider series go against this trend, but Lara Croft (Tomb Raider) has become more viewed as an iconic sex symbol to males. Some war games and violent mindless killing games could have a negative effect on people using them because people may think it is acceptable to replicate actions they see in games. It also has a negative effect that people are playing war games were there enjoying killing people, where across the world there are hundreds of people dying everyday from wars including innocent people.
There has been lots of development and inventions in new technology over the last decade. The internet has been a big invention and is used by a huge amount of people; I use the internet a lot of time for a variety of things including: speaking to my friends on mediums such as MSN, Facebook and Myspace, I also use it to play video games online and to occasionally view the news using BBC website. I think the internet has helped increase my knowledge especially encouraging me to find out what’s going on in world news, it has also allowed me to communicate with my friends better and on a more regular basis.
I enjoy watching television and watch quite a lot. There are many channels I choose to watch, for me though it more depends what program is on. My favourite channels are E4, MTV, BBC Three and Channel U; these channels show a variety of different genres ranging from Music, comedy, drama to films. The genres I stated interest me the most this is why I watch those channels. My favourite genre out of the lot would have to be comedy, with my favourite comedy series “How not to live your life” being shown on BBC Three at the moment. To be honest I am not a big fan of TV adverts especially when you’re trying to watch a film, but there is one advert or two adverts I think are entertaining and they are both Car adverts. One is the “Vauxhall Corsa” advert with the little puppet people that shout “C’MON” and the other is another car advert where the car turns into a robot and starts skating, I think this is clever and has good special effects. My Favourite programs of all time would be: “Live and Kicking”, “Mock of the Week”, “The Mighty Boosh”, “Heroes” and “Footballers Wives”.
I watch a lot of films of a wide variety of genres but there are a few genres that appeal to me more and they are: Action/Adventure or Comedy. I am usually drawn to watching a film by whether I know the director or actor and I have enjoyed other films they have featured in also if I read a good review of a film or if it is recommended by someone. Some of my favourite directors and Actors are Johnny Depp, Danny Dyer, Quentin Taratino, John Simms, Guillermo del Toro and Liv Tyler. I usually tend to watch most films on DVD or Video because the cinema is really expensive, but on the whole if I really wanted to see a film I would go see it at the cinema. I find watching a film at the cinema is a whole different experience that I can sum up in a few words bigger, louder and altogether more atmospheric. I also think the cinema allows you to watch a film with your friends and gives you something you can do in large groups; it feels good sharing the experience.
I haven’t really ever been offended by a media text, I have read and watched something’s that have shocked and surprised me. An example of that is the film hostel, some its scenes are incredibly violent to an extreme it was quite unpleasant to watch. In contrast to that one of the most interesting media texts I have seen was the film Pan’s Labyrinth; it explored some mysterious and serious concepts. I would say that I have taken on board a lot of different visions about myself and others from media texts. For example, I have watched a variety of programs and films which show the concept of bullying and from seeing this I have seen the damage it can cause and I would not wish it upon anyone. I have chose media studies for the main reason of being interested in a vast majority of media mediums and would like to improve my knowledge more. If I was to construct a media text, I would probably choose to create a film. The genre of the film would be a Action/Adventure with lots of breathtaking SGI, with a few surprising twists in the plot of which as usually found in Thrillers.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
