I have obtained a few useful points to take into consideration with regards to the technical aspects of a Psychological film. Firstly, I now know that camera shots and angles play a large part in creating the "re-watch" conventions of a Psychological film. Moreover, I must pay attention to detail when constructing my shots to include subtle hints or points of interest, which will be overlooked when my piece is watched for the first time.
Secondly, I have gained a greater understanding of just how important the protagonist(s) is within my chosen genre. My knowledge stretched as far as to know that they were the foundation of the film, but i have learnt that they often convey a certain message or feeling to the audience via either a journey or action. This means that when scripting my piece, I will have to take into consideration the characters I cast, and what they will mean to the production itself and how they convey messages to my audience.
From this point, I will begin to write my basic questionnaire which I aim to hand to 20-30 people in order to establish a focus group who enjoy my chosen genre. This will then allow me to question this chosen group deeper, and begin to construct useful documents which will help me at the planning stage of my production such as Audience Profiles.
Wednesday, 30 January 2013
Monday, 28 January 2013
Film Analysis: Shutter Island
Shutter Island
Shutter Island is a Psychological Thriller film. As the film opens, we are met with mid-to-long shots of our protagonist on a boat in what appears to be the middle of the ocean. This decodes the protagonist as a lone wolf figure, and who is on his way to somewhere in the middle of nowhere, this in itself connotes danger. He is then joined by an accomplice, who we are introduced to shortly after he joins the lone wolf. At this point we see two-shots still at mid-long range, maintaining the backdrop of open ocean. This alters our point of view, and now regard the protagonist as someone who doesn't work alone. This is then reaffirmed when we are enlightened to the fact that our protagonist is a detective. They share a conversation, in which the protagonist appears the more eloquent and mentally strong as opposed to his co-worker who conforms to the stereotype of a typical New-Yorker, accent and all. As the opening scene comes to a close, we see the same two-shot, mid-to-long range shot but from behind the duo. This shot is of a high angle, and depicts Shutter Island before them. This shot conveys the effect the island has. It belittles the characters and blows away any shred of power they have, and makes it seem as though their skills are irrelevant. The inclusion of open ocean in the shot is also interesting, as it adds to the theme of isolation which is apparent throughout the film.
Extra Notes
The way in which the director adds the Psychological "re-watch" convention is quite interesting. He makes the audience believe that the protagonist is the hero of the film, who's only motive is to find a murderer in a prison full off them. He is built up to be pure, aside from a few foul techniques. However at the very end of the film, we are told he was in fact a murderer who was set for lobotomy, as he kept regressing the memory of his crimes. This calls the audience to watch the film a second time - upon doing so they notice little hints throughout the film which when watching for the first time, seem like simple conversation, but the second time appear very obvious and clever. This gives the audience pleasure, as they feel they gain a better understanding of the film itself
An example of this future referencing:
Leonardo is trapped in a tomb as a storm rages outside. The security then appear outside to help him back to the prison. The guard on the megaphone can be heard to say-
"Come out detective . . . we know you're in there"
Shutter Island is a Psychological Thriller film. As the film opens, we are met with mid-to-long shots of our protagonist on a boat in what appears to be the middle of the ocean. This decodes the protagonist as a lone wolf figure, and who is on his way to somewhere in the middle of nowhere, this in itself connotes danger. He is then joined by an accomplice, who we are introduced to shortly after he joins the lone wolf. At this point we see two-shots still at mid-long range, maintaining the backdrop of open ocean. This alters our point of view, and now regard the protagonist as someone who doesn't work alone. This is then reaffirmed when we are enlightened to the fact that our protagonist is a detective. They share a conversation, in which the protagonist appears the more eloquent and mentally strong as opposed to his co-worker who conforms to the stereotype of a typical New-Yorker, accent and all. As the opening scene comes to a close, we see the same two-shot, mid-to-long range shot but from behind the duo. This shot is of a high angle, and depicts Shutter Island before them. This shot conveys the effect the island has. It belittles the characters and blows away any shred of power they have, and makes it seem as though their skills are irrelevant. The inclusion of open ocean in the shot is also interesting, as it adds to the theme of isolation which is apparent throughout the film.
Extra Notes
The way in which the director adds the Psychological "re-watch" convention is quite interesting. He makes the audience believe that the protagonist is the hero of the film, who's only motive is to find a murderer in a prison full off them. He is built up to be pure, aside from a few foul techniques. However at the very end of the film, we are told he was in fact a murderer who was set for lobotomy, as he kept regressing the memory of his crimes. This calls the audience to watch the film a second time - upon doing so they notice little hints throughout the film which when watching for the first time, seem like simple conversation, but the second time appear very obvious and clever. This gives the audience pleasure, as they feel they gain a better understanding of the film itselfAn example of this future referencing:
Leonardo is trapped in a tomb as a storm rages outside. The security then appear outside to help him back to the prison. The guard on the megaphone can be heard to say-
"Come out detective . . . we know you're in there"
Film Analysis: V for Vendetta
Taking into consideration the amount of time which my production shall be (3-5 minutes) I have decided it would be better to "properly" analyse the opening to both of my selected films, and make points and notes referring to conventional information I feel I should include in my research.
V for Vendetta
The film begins with a dramatic speech being given from a television, the man appears passionate and gives key points which the films characters both oppose and defend. We are given two different settings - One is an apartment room with an attractive woman getting dressed. Because she puts on a black dress and looks as though she is going to somewhere fancy, we assume that (aided by the harsh tone of the speech on the television) she is going to come to harm. The camera then switches to an extravagant, almost theatrical setting in which we see a man put on the iconic mask. We never see his face due to the camera's angle. This is encoded to make the audience feel as though they shouldn't know who he is, and that he should be feared as he does not have a true identity, and that he wishes to remain anonymous. This man is listening to the same speech as the woman in the apartment which implies a relationship right from the start, even though they are unaware of each others existence.
As the speech is about to end, the speaker becomes more and more enraged until finally the woman switches off the television and vocally expresses her defiance to what the man says. We are then shown shots of the streets of London at night, with close-ups on what appear to be speaker systems on lamp posts. This implies control of the populace, and the fact that she is the only one in the street only amplifies the desired effect. We are then made aware of the silhouette of a man walking down the street towards her, this long shot implies distance between the two, but the close-up of her face shortly after displays fear. She the ducks into an alleyway and is met by two untoward looking men. The use of high angle shots in this seen makes her look small and helpless and sets her up perfectly to be the damsel of the text. She then tries to mace one of the men, showing that she has fight in her, she is then disarmed. The man in the mask then steps into frame and gives us a quote from the bible - connoting purity despite our immediate impressions of him being someone to be feared. He proceeds to show heroic qualities as he beats up the rapists and helps the woman to her feet. The two shots used then make the couple seem close although they have only just met, and also connote that this is the first time that the two main characters have met.
Extra information
The protagonists mask and costume implies both nobility and mystery. Although he is dressed as Guys Fawkes - he had a decorum about him that gives little away to the audience of his past. The mask implies that he is something to be weary of, and that he wishes to remain anonymous to everyone, even to his counter-part whom he falls in love with throughout the course of the film.
V for Vendetta
As the speech is about to end, the speaker becomes more and more enraged until finally the woman switches off the television and vocally expresses her defiance to what the man says. We are then shown shots of the streets of London at night, with close-ups on what appear to be speaker systems on lamp posts. This implies control of the populace, and the fact that she is the only one in the street only amplifies the desired effect. We are then made aware of the silhouette of a man walking down the street towards her, this long shot implies distance between the two, but the close-up of her face shortly after displays fear. She the ducks into an alleyway and is met by two untoward looking men. The use of high angle shots in this seen makes her look small and helpless and sets her up perfectly to be the damsel of the text. She then tries to mace one of the men, showing that she has fight in her, she is then disarmed. The man in the mask then steps into frame and gives us a quote from the bible - connoting purity despite our immediate impressions of him being someone to be feared. He proceeds to show heroic qualities as he beats up the rapists and helps the woman to her feet. The two shots used then make the couple seem close although they have only just met, and also connote that this is the first time that the two main characters have met.
Extra information
The protagonists mask and costume implies both nobility and mystery. Although he is dressed as Guys Fawkes - he had a decorum about him that gives little away to the audience of his past. The mask implies that he is something to be weary of, and that he wishes to remain anonymous to everyone, even to his counter-part whom he falls in love with throughout the course of the film.
Genre Research
Most Psychological films are coupled with another genre and very few films focus souly on the Psychological aspect of a media text. i.e Psychological Horror and Thrillers are becoming very popular in recent times and I must therefore take into account sub-genre when planning my piece.
Films such as "V for Vendetta" or "Shutter Island" both have strong Psychological conventions, whilst maintaining an aura of both separate genres listed above, so I will analyse those two films further into my research stage.
Psychological films are encoded by directors to make you as an audience, want to view it more than once, as when you do, you find yourself noticing things which previously you have missed. This demands a lot of attention to detail of the producer's part, and a strong and well written script.
Another trait of Psychological films is a protagonist who is often shrouded in mystery or who has quite a high status role such as a detective or a doctor. Conforming to the conventions of Psychological Horror means that the protagonist should survive despite the situation being extremely dire. Whereas the Thriller sub-genre usually depicts the protagonists journey towards a goal or improvement for the greater good; this does occasionally result in the death of the protagonist, although he/she does (most of the time) survive the ordeal.
Psychological films use camera trickery and special effects to achieve their preferred readings, such as using two shots occasionally to identify a pair midst the plot, which will later come to fruition. This is used to also ensure the multiple watch convention - as by using clever camera shots, prop placements and so on, a director can achieve huge messages being carried by a single item.
This is my basic knowledge and research into the genre thus far, this will no doubt be changed as I learn more about the genre and it's conventions.
To-do List
This is just a list to remind me of which tasks i have completed and which still need to be finished - i.e I'm unorganised.
- Technical Research - Genre specific
- Film Analysis - Genre specific (Complete)
- Initial Questionnaire - Gain understanding of peoples views and specify Focus Group
- Focus Group - 1. Questionnaire - for specific and fine detail 2. Discussion - Explore deeper feelings towards the genre
Details Of My Production
I have decided to create a film opening of 3-5 minutes. This opening will conform to the conventions of the Psychological film genre, and will include all the elements of the genre which come to light in my research stage.
Introduction
Over the course of the next few months, I intend to create a Media production piece based on research I conduct into the industry. To create my piece to a high standard, I will need to research all aspects which are relevant to my chosen genre "Psychological"; This includes criteria such as Audience, Conventions and Technical aspects such as Camera Work and Mise-en-scene.
I will use tools such as focus-grouping to identify the main audience for my selected genre, but also to gain insight into what they as an audience believe the conventions of the genre are. After my research I will begin to plan my piece, taking into consideration risk assessment and location scouting and other technicalities in order for the making of my piece to go as smoothly as possible.
I must also complete a pre-production piece, which in my case will be a storyboard, in order to gain higher grades and results when filming my piece.
I will use tools such as focus-grouping to identify the main audience for my selected genre, but also to gain insight into what they as an audience believe the conventions of the genre are. After my research I will begin to plan my piece, taking into consideration risk assessment and location scouting and other technicalities in order for the making of my piece to go as smoothly as possible.
I must also complete a pre-production piece, which in my case will be a storyboard, in order to gain higher grades and results when filming my piece.
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