Collateral Film Analysis.

Collateral is a crime thriller film released in 2004 directed by Michael Mann. The film stars Tom Cruise as Vincent, a killer assassin and also stars Jamie Foxx as Max, a L.A taxi driver who picks up Vincent in his cab who offers him £600 to wait for him outside. As Max is waiting in the cab outside, a body that falls out the window lands on the cab, Vincent has to reveal that he killed him and is a assassin and forces Max to hide the body in the boot of the car. Vincent threatens Max to not run away and forces him to drive the cab. He becomes the hostage of Vincent.

Collateral was the first film ever to be film in Digital and shown is cinemas in Digital. By making films digital it means it is easier to distribute to other countries because the film can be sent by email. When films were shot in analog, the reel of film would have to be delivered to other countries by shipping it. This cuts distribution cost for the distribution companies. There is one scene in the film that is shot in standard definition. This is the club scene, although it is shot in standard definition you cannot tell the difference between the high definition and the standard definition.

This film is a high action film, in the action scenes they are editing together quickly to make the film faced paced. This makes the film very thrilling to the audience. There is also a lot of tension and suspense in the film. This is used to thriller films to put the viewer on the edge of their seat and feel thrilled. 

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Enigmas, Red Herrings and Cliffhangers.

Enigmas are used mostly in thriller films as problems that are needed to be resolved throughout the movie. They are meant to be puzzling, ambiguous or inexplicable. It can also be a riddle that needs to be solved. Most films will use enigmas to create problems that

The Maguffin.

The MaGuffin has been described as a plot device, or a gimmick. It is a technique used in a film to create the story of the film. The MaGuffin of a film does not really matter and the viewer does not really care about the MaGuffin in a film, but this is used as something that gets the film started. The MaGuffin was made popular by the great Alfred Hitchcock, who used a MaGuffins in many of his thriller films.

A Macguffin can play as a wild card in a film that is unexpected to the viewer as it progresses over the film. It is something that can also be irrelevant to the viewer but is used in the film to carry along and aid the reason for decisions made in the film.  The MaGuffin has been used in some of Hitchcock's most successful films e.g. North by NorthWest and Psycho. 

The Great Alfred Hitchcock.

Alfred Hitchcock was a British film director and producer. He has often been named 'The Master of Suspense', because of his amazing techniques using suspense to thrill the audience in his thriller films. Alfred Hitchcock also had a few principles that he would normally follow in his thriller films. One of these principles is that there would be a attractive, blonde female in his films. This principle was followed in; North By Northwest (1959), Psycho (1960), The Birds (1963) and more. Another principle that Hitchcock would regularly follow is that he would appear in his own film, even if it was for a second or so. This was an iconic feature that made Alfred Hitchcock's films so recognizable.

Alfred Hitchcock died at the age of 80, at this point he had already began writing a script for a new thriller film, which was published after his death. His death was a result of a renal failure, a medical condition where the kidneys fail due to waste products in the blood.

Some of Alfred Hitchcock's famous films.

• The Birds is a suspense thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock which entails of Melanie Daniels, travelling to Bodgea Bay to deliver birds to a little girl, but really just travelled there to see her other brother Mitch Brenner. For some strange reason while she is there a series of violent bird attack happen causing widespread scare over the town.

• Psycho is a suspense/horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The film features Marion Crane running away from her work with $40,000 after a dispute with her boss. She fleas to a out of town hotel where she tries to stay. Here she meets Norman Bates the hotel manager. A weird character that has a obsession with Marion Crane. 

Chuck Jones & The Rules.

Chuck Jones is a animator, director and producer. He is most greatly known for animating and directing some of Warner Bros Looney Tunes animated films including characters 'Road Runner', 'Bugs Bunny' and 'Sylvester'. After working for Warner Bros, chuck then began producing more famous animated shows for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, like 'Tom and Jerry.'  Chuck Jones is one of the most famous animators in the world.

Chuck Jones created and directed the animation shorts 'Road Runner'. Chuck Jones planned this show very carefully and had a set of rules that every episode of 'Road Runner' would follow.

The Rules for Road Runner

1.The Road Runner cannot hurt the coyote except by going 'MEEP MEEP'.
2. No outside force can hurt of injure the coyote. Only by its own failure of by the failure of Acme Products.
3. The coyote would never stop or give up trying to kill the road runner.
4. There is never any dialogue is episodes of Road Runner except the 'MEEP MEEP' made by the road runner.
5. The road runner can only ever stay on the road, hence the name.
6.The episodes will only contain the Road Runner and the Coyote, set in the South American desert.
7. Any product in the episodes must be made by Acme Corporation.
8. Gravity is the coyotes greatest enemy.
9. The coyote is humiliated more than harmed from his failures.
10. The audience sympathy will always remain with the Coyote.

Rules and Conventions of Thrillers.

Thrillers are include action and fast paced shots to 'thrill' the audience by using techniques such as a suspense and shock. But thriller films also include other techniques that are used to create a good film. As with Chuck Jones Roadrunner rules, directors of thriller films may also follow certain rules to create a thriller film. These are the rules of thriller films.

• The use of suspense.
• Tension.
• In action scenes use fast paced editing.
• The build up of music to add tension and suspense to a scene.
• The MaGuffin can be used to start the story of the thriller film.
• A red-herring can be used to shock the audience. This will be unexpected to the viewer.
• A dilemma where normally the main character will have to make a life or death choice.
• By set in big cities.
• Have an antagonist and a protagonist that try to kill or capture.

Openings to Thriller Film

Thriller films will normally start with a fast paced action scene that will straight away grab the interest of the viewer. This is done is most thriller films. These scenes will create tension, excitement and/or suspense.

This is a shot from the opening scene of the thriller film 'Drive'. This film has a action packed opening scene

Types of Thriller Films.

There are many different types of thrillers that thriller films are based on. This are sub genres of the genre. These sub genres are the bases for what many thriller film are set. One type of thriller film that is popular are 'Spy Thrillers'. Spy Films is a genre that is a sub genre of the broad genre of Thriller films. Spy films are made to be realistic even though many parts or the film seem unrealistic to the viewer. An example of a popular successful thriller series is James Bond. These are spy thriller films that normally feature a villain or evil organisation, that Bond then has to try and stop by killing important members or that organisation. In Spy Thriller films as well as many thriller films the main character will not die. This is done in every thriller film but because the film is 'thrilling' people will still go to see the film.

Another genre of thriller films are political thrillers. Political thrillers are sometimes based on true events or history which make the thriller interesting. These films normally are based around conspiracies of assassination, terrorism or mass destruction. This genre of thriller overlaps closely with crime thrillers and conspiracy thrillers.

Psychological thrillers are also a type of thriller movie. Psychological thrillers are very suspenseful that emphasises the character and the characters mind more than the main plot of the film. These can normally entail a protagonist  and antagonist battling psychologically and physically.

The last type of thriller is a supernatural thriller. These normally feature people normally teenagers with magic powers that encounter and have to battle a villain of some sort.

Preliminary task Analysis

For our preliminary task we had a set short story board that were giving to us. We had to use this short story board to create a short scene that had all the objectives that were set. When we got gave the story board we then wet straight out to start filming. We found a empty room with a door and began to think of ideas. Once we thought of ideas we then started to film. Firstly I made sure that I never crossed the 180 Degree rule while filming. The 180 degree rule applies when filming a conversation piece.

This is a picture of the 180 degree rule that shows that the camera show only stay on one side of the people talking in a conversation. By crossing the 180 degrees the characters would have appeared to have switched places. I was the cameraman and made sure that the 180 degree rule was not crossed.
Our first shot was done to look like a steadi cam had been used, but it had not. In this shot Tom (The Main Character) walked through the door which was followed by a shot of his coming through the door on the inside of the room. This is continuity editing. This is then followed by the conversation between Tom and Sarah,which leads to Tom running out of out of the room.
In the editing stage there was not much editing to do. We had to make the clips shorter to make it look like a real time conversation. We also needed to overlap the sound of Tom laughing over the shot of Sarah looking angry. This was done but cutting a sound piece from a sound of Tom laughing then placing it over the shot of Sarah.

Due to the time difficulty that we had the task was only short, if we had more time we could have made the scene longer and more advanced. I think that the 180 degree rule was used properly and effectively to keep the continuity in the scene. 

This is the video for our preliminary task. 

Recipe For A Thriller

A thriller film is a genre that includes many sub genres such as action thrillers and horror thrillers. Thriller films will normally have a protagonist that faces danger and has to escape from that danger or has a mission to carry out. An example of a thriller film series is the James Bond films. They are action thrillers that has a main character that has to escape or kill a villain or organisation.  Thriller films will always use certain features that make a thriller 'thrilling' to the audience. One of these feature is suspense. Suspense is used many times in a thriller film to build tension and put the viewer on the edge of their seat. 

Sound

The sound in a film is a very important factor that is thought about and planned very thoroughly. The sound in a film is categorized into different types of sound;

Diegetic Sound - Sound that is visible on the screen that takes place inside the film that the characters can hear. For Example;

• Sounds made by objects in the film E.g. Sound of a car crashing.
• Voices of characters

Non Diegetic Sound - Sound that is not visible on screen and cannot be heard by the characters. For Example;

• Music added to the film E.g. Soundtracks
• Narrators Commentary.

Sound can also be categorized into Parallel and Contrapuntal sound.

• Parallel Sound - Where the sounds compliments the visuals to create a mood that matches the visuals with the audio. For Example in a Romantic film, light soft romantic music will compliment the visuals. 

An example of parallel sound is the very well known Rocky Montage scene.

A example of contrapuntal sound is a scene from Reservoir Dogs.

Sound can also be categorized into On and Off Screen sound.

On Screen Sound - Sound that the viewer can see it being made in the shot E.g. if the tires were making smoke while driving off the audience will hear the screeching tires.

Off Screen Sound - Sound that is not being made in the shot and is being made out of shot. E.g. Neighbours screaming in the next room.

'Unknown' Film Analysis

'Unknown' is a psychological thriller film starring Liam Neeson who plays Dr Martin Harris, a scientist who travels to Berlin with his wife Liz for a conference involving biotechnology. While travelling to the Hotel by taxi from the airport in Berlin, Harris is in a car accident that results in the car plunging into the water. Harris is trapped in the car but it saved by the taxi driver. This results in Harris being in a coma for four days. Once woken up Harris is forgetful and has trouble remembering what happened. Harris losses all means of identity. When Harris locates his Wife he finds her with a different man who is called Dr Martin Harris. Harris believes he is an imposter and his wife Liz claims so does not know Harris. Harris continues to search for his identity but starts to question of he is Martin Harris or not.


Unknown is a film of suspense and action. This is portrayed throughout the film with different camera shots. A camera shot especially used to show confusion amongst Harris is the tilt shot. This is a shot used in the scene where Harris's wife claims she doesn't know him, her own Husband. This shot was used many times in the scene as well as closes ups to show confusion in Harris's mind. By using this shot type it exaggerates to the audience how confused Harris is. A feature also used in this scene is the focus depth of the camera. The camera is focused on Harris making the background completely blurry to show that Harris is confused at that time his mind is separated from the rest of the room. The direction and cinematographer have planned this scene carefully to ensure that the scene looks distorted to show the emotions of the characters.

A way the director creates suspense is using crescendos in the music the intensify the music to fit the scene to add suspense to the scene. In the scene where Harris is being followed in the subway, the music builds up or crescendos the music which intensifies the scene. In the subway scene the fastest Harris begins to run, the more the music crescendos which adds more suspense to the scene. This is done many times throughout the film to add the thriller feel to the film.

Overall 'Unknown' is a very good psychological thriller that incorporates many different well know and some not well known features to make a successful thriller film. By using different camera angles, lighting methods, music and face paced scene the director has created a successful thriller film that has the viewer on the edge of their seat.

Different Shot Types.

The director and director of cinematography have to plan carefully what type of shot types that they will use in a scene and in the whole scene. By using only a few shot types a film can seem boring and unprofessional. So a skilful cinematographer will try to use many different shot types in a film to make the film more pleasant to the viewer. There are many different shot types that can be used;

Extreme Long Shot (XLS)

                 Long Shot (LS)

      Mid Long Shot(MLS)

                Mid Shot (MS)

Medium Close Up (MCU)

                  Close up (CU)

         Big Close Up (BCU)

 Extreme Close Up (XCU)

                                   

WatchYoBak film analysis.

WatchYoBack is a very short thriller type film that was made by me and Tom Mccloud. This short film is very short because of the very limited time we had to film and edit the film.

We started by creating a short storyboard just so we have a rough idea on what we wanted to go out and film. We started by finding a location where we wanted to film our first shot and then we decided what sort of shot type we would want to do. We decided that we would do a low tracking shot. For this we used the tripod for a tracking shot, but we did this because we didn't have a steadi-cam to make the shot steady. So we had to use the tripod in the most effective way to ensure that the shot was as steady as possible. For this shot I had to turn the tripod to the side and carry it like that. This was probably the most difficult shot that we filmed in that film because it was very hard to keep the camera as stable as possible while progressing up the stairs. For that shot we shot that one long duration shot and then filmed separate shots that we would edit into them. We used a upwards panning shot that focuses on Tom's hand going up the banister. We also filmed a close up shot of Tom's hand opening the door then him going through it. We filmed these shots with a tripod so that they were stable. The final shot was also shot with a tripod and  is a shot of Tom walking and then I come behind him and knock him out and dragged him away.

In the editing stage we only really had to cut and put clips together. We enhanced the sound of the weapon hitting Tom's head by making it much louder in Final Cut. Our film was planned to be longer but because of the time limit we had we could not complete all of the filming that we wanted to. For the future we will try to work more efficiently if we have a very limited time schedule to try and full complete and be satisfied on the film that we had produced.

'North By Northwest' Film Analysis.

North by Northwest is an American thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. This film was to be the 'Hitchcock picture to end all Hitchcock pictures and was released in 1959.Once again Alfred Hitchcock created another thriller film that became very successful and one of is most recognizable films. This is a film about Roger Thornhill played by Cary Grant, mistaken as being a international spy named 'George Kaplan', that becomes wanted by the police after mistakenly assassinating a man. Roger then runs from the police and FBI to uncover the true about his identity. North by Northwest is a very suspenseful film that offers thrills and suspense in many scenes. Hitchcock uses many different techniques in this film to add this feeling of suspense. He uses intense music to intensify the scenes and make them more thrilling to the audience.

Hitchcock uses many different shot types in the film North by Northwest, and shot that Hitchcock utilizes many times is an establishing shot. Establishing shots can be used to show new locations between scenes but can also be used to show all the people in the conversation. Hitchcock uses establishing shots a lot in this film as he does in many of his films. An example of this is where Roger and Eve Kendall are at the top of Mt. Rushmore, Hitchcock uses a big establishing shot to show the audience the new location of the action. Establishing shots are important in thrillers because in action scenes the location can change quickly with the face paced scenes. By using an establishing shot it reveals to the audience the new location so they are aware of where the scene is taking place. This is used to keep the viewer of the film in time with the story.

Another feature Hitchcock uses the add suspense to scenes is by using close up or extreme close up shots. This is used to show the facial expressions of a person in a scene. An example of when this is used is when the plane is trying to kill George and he is running from it. This is one of the most thrilling and suspenseful parts of the film. Hitchcock utilizes the close up shots to show the reaction of George as the planes flying towards him. This shows the audience George's reactions and emotions.

Although Hitchcock uses many camera and filming techniques when filming, there are also many effects that are added after the filming process. One of these is the fade effect. This effect is where the picture will fade to black then back into the next scene. This effect is used to create a smooth transition between different scenes without  cut between them. Hitchcock used this effect a lot in his films between scenes which made the film flow from scene to scene. This stops interruption between different scenes.

In conclusion Hitchcock created a film that is most scenes there is a suspenseful scene that thrills the audience. This is why this film became very successful and became one of the most prestigious thrillers by Alfred Hitchcock. I personally found this film very thrilling, with face pace action scenes and pursuits. I many different scenes over the film the viewer finds out different pieces of information that progresses the film. This is what makes the film suspenseful and thrilling to the viewer, this is why the film became so successful.

'The Birds' Film Review

'The Bird's is a thriller/horror film that is directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The main part of the film is based in Bodega Bay, California which for an unknown reason is suddenly under attack from birds which become very violent and cause terror in the village.

The main role of the film is played by Tippi Hedren, who plays Melanie Daniels. Who plays a young wealthy woman who meets a man called Mitch Brenner played by Rod Taylor. Mitch explains to Melanie how his little sister wants some Lovebirds. Melanie becomes attracted to Mitch in a strange way, and drives to Bodega Bay where Mitch lives to give the lovebirds to his sister. After driving to Bodega Boy, she travelled across the bay in a boat to sneak into Mitch's house to place the lovebirds there. While Melanie is travelling back across the bay Mitch spots her and travels round the bay to meet her on the other side. While he is waiting for her she gets attacked and injured by a seagull. Mitch helps her and invites her to stay for dinner, Melanie agreed. 

Melanie then meets Mitch's mother who is not fond of Melanie. While Melanie is staying at hr friends house that night, a seagull dies when it dives into the front door. This was a start of strange events. The next day Mitch's younger sister Cathy has a birthday party, and while that children are playing outside a swarm birds begin to attack the children and the adults have to save the children form them. On the same day a swarm of birds invade the house through he chimney and begin attacking the house. While Lydia is at a farmers house to ask him about the recent bird attacks, she discovers a dead body in the farmers house where the birds had invaded and attacked the old man. She fled the house in terror and drives home to Mitch and Melanie. Because of this Lydia becomes worried about the safety of Cathy at school. Melanie offers to go to the school and check up on the children. She discovers the playground outside the school full of birds and tries to evacuate the children but the birds attack and injured some of the children. 

While Melanie and Mitch are at a local restaurant, a drunken man explains that he see's the birds attacking as the sign that the world is ending. While outside the restaurant a man is filling his car at petrol station while the birds are collecting in the air. The man is spilling petrol on the floor and drooped a lighten match on the floor which ignites the petrol which kills him. The birds begin to attack and cause havoc in the town. Melanie takes cover in a phone box and wait for the birds to leave. When Melanie and Mitch return homes they find the Annie who Melanie is staying with has been killed by the birds while saving Cathy and pushing her into the house.

Because of the continuing bird attacks Mitch builds barricades to cover the doors and windows of is house. Later that evening the birds began to attack the house and start braking trough the barricades. Meanwhile in the house Melanie can hear a sound coming from upstairs so she proceeds up the stairs. She enters to lot and starts to be attacked by the birds. Melanie is hurt so badly she passes out and Mitch saves her from the room. Mitch then tries to take Melanie to the hospital, but has the get out the house through the gathering birds sitting outside the house. Mitch gets all of the family members out of the house and the films ends with them driving away while the birds are sitting outside the house.

Overall I would say that this is a good film that uses nature to show danger in the town. The film started very slowly and it took a while for the film to get into the main plot, but the film is good and is different to many thriller films of that time or even thriller films of the modern day.

Hello.

I am David. This is my school thriller blog where I will be mainly reviewing and analysing different thriller films. I will also be posting features for thriller films such as camera angles and camera work, cinematography, editing and sound.