-Seven-
Narrative Structure: The opening sequence of the film is in a linear narrative structure, it shows somebody making a book and researching something in a clear systematic way, we don’t know who the person is, what they are researching or why they are doing so.
Thriller Codes and Conventions: Partial vision, concealment and protraction are used throughout the opening scene, this hides key things from the audience such as the characters identity and a clear location, and this frustrates the audience and makes them keep on watching as they have many questions they want answers to.
Camerawork: Lots of close-up shots and point of view shots are used to show what the characters doing with the book, close-up shot on the character cutting their fingers, the close ups are used to signify the importance of something.
Mise-en-scene: The scene is quite dark, it has a real cold and dirty feel to it, not everything in the shots used is visible, concealment and protraction is being used to hide things from the audience but we do know he is in some sort of personal office space, the movement in the scene contrasts the typical fast paced editing of thrillers.
Sound: The song used throughout the scene is an adaptation of a song called “Closer to God” by “Nine Inch Nails” it features the sound of a mechanical sounding heartbeat and scratching noises all of which are used to make the audience generally disturbed and uncomfortable, the character cuts out the word “God” simultaneously to the song title being sung giving the audience a glimpse of the characters motive.
Editing: Lots of jump cuts have been used, this gives the appearance of speed and instability and aid the really sharp feel the scene has, a split screen effect is used to show multiple actions of the character.
Graphics: Sketchy white text is used in the credits, although the audience can’t see very well it may be the characters hand writing, giving the audience another glimpse of them, the credits flash from point to point around the screen unpredictably building suspense.
-Jaws-
Narrative Structure: The film starts with balanced equilibrium and narrative structure, a group of teenagers are having fun drinking on the beach, neither concealment or protraction is used so straight away we know that the film is linear, the audience at this point does not feel threatened by any existing danger but when the girl goes in to the water disequilibrium is created as it becomes apparent that she is in danger.
Thriller Codes and Conventions: Partial vision, concealment, protraction and question and answer modules are all used in the scene, the audience does not know what is under the water, when it’s going to strike, what it looks like, why is no one saving her? All this together creates a great sense of panic amongst the audience.
Camera Work: The scene opens with a point of view shot which immediately is making the audience ask questions as they are wondering from who’s point of view are they in, there is a tracking shot that establishes that the point of view is from the sea this cuts to a shot of the teenagers on the beach, this lets the audience know that the previous point of view shot has its eyes set on the teenagers, there is an over shoulder shot showing what the teenagers are doing, this makes the audience feel like part of the group and like there spying and shouldn’t be there, this suggests that the teenagers shouldn’t be there. There is a close up on a man in the group this suggests that he has some kind of superiority over the rest, the close up on the girl that follows suggests that she is connected with him in some sort of way, high angle shots of the group make them venerable. The extreme long shot of the girl in the water with the buoy shows how far out she is, it shows that’s she is so far out that she is out of touch of the group and can not be helped.
Mise-en-scene: The location of the beach is typically a happy fun place, the teenagers are intoxicated and relaxed creating a false sense of safety, the sequence is dark throughout so the audience is not to sure what is going on.
Sound: The film theme builds tension to the audience, it is non-diegeticm, it builds tension as we are expecting change, diegetic sound of actors such as laughing and general background noise helps make the audience feel calm.
Editing: The shots are quite long with no obvious break in them this helps build tension, quick shot reverse shots are used to build tension yet again, editing cuts from creature in water to teenagers on the beach to link them together.
Graphics: The credits are big, bold and in your face, they are the first thing you see on the screen.
-American Psycho-
Narrative Structure: The opening sequence of the film starts from what appears to be the night before then follows to the next morning, it has a linear narrative structure, it shows him preparing for his day, the audience are taken through his roles and routine, the opening sequence is very clear, the audience is introduced to the killer and his life immediately which is unusual this breaks the common conventions of thrillers, the characters life is in a state of equilibrium.
Thriller Codes and Conventions: Transformed City, Question and answer module leaves the audience with no answers such as who is he? Everything seems to be overly obvious to the audience, leads them to think that the character must be hiding something.
Camera Work: The film opens with an overhead shot introducing us to the nightclub, it shows the audience the atmosphere of the club, there is an over shoulder shot on a man whiles a women serves him at the bar, show the audience what’s going on, make them feel involved in the situation. In the next scene tracking shots take us through the characters apartment, camera work is slow and steady. There are close ups on the products the character uses in the shower, may be used to emphasize a trait of the character.
Mise-en-scene: The night club scene and apartment scene contrast each other greatly, binary oppositions such as light and dark are used, this is used to portray two different personalities of the character, reflections of the character are used, this also suggests multiple personalities, in particular his reflection in a painting on his wall. Everything seems to be in order and in place this shows the character is precise, the characters movement is precise and purposeful, this shows the audience that the character see’s himself as a figure of importance, there is no suggestion that the character being a killer at this point, this makes the audience confused and ask more questions.
Sound: Diegetic 80’s music is playing in the night club sets a time period or that the character likes 80’s style nightclubs, in the characters apartment there is classical music playing, it is unclear whether it is diegetic or non-diegetic but either way gives us an in-site in to the characters taste and class. Non-diegetic narration dialog at the begging, it says “I’m not really here” this could be suggesting that the character is the exotic element in the film.
Editing: Shot reverse shot lets the audience see the conversation at the bar and helps the audience feel involved, editing also matches the aesthetics of the piano in the apartment, aids fluid movement.
Graphics: Bold white capital letters for the credits at the start, typical of thrillers.
-The Transporter-
Narrative Structure: The opening scene of the film has a linear narrative structure, it shows the character waiting for his watch alarm to go off at a specific time, he drives to a destination where he arrives at what appears to be a specific time, the equilibrium of the character is disturbed momentarily but shortly resolved. The audience are taken through his role as a driver and his rules that he wont break.
Thriller Codes and Conventions: Transformed City, the character is the most powerful person there along as he’s in his car, the audience has a brief idea that he may be some kind of get away driver but don’t know who he is, or if he will get away also they are left asking questions like is he hero, villain or Samaritan, The city may also be the exotic element.
Camera Work: The film opens with slow moving shots panning around to the car at a low angle, this gives the car a powerful image, it continues panning round to the passenger window where a man can be seen sat inside, the credits over lap this shot reading “The Transporter” so the audience knows that this man will be the main protagonist. The are close ups of his watch, radio, gloves and key pad whilst he interacts with them, this emphasizes there importance to him and the mechanical routine he seems to be enrolling suggests he has done this many times before and dose so very professionally, there is a frontal shot of the car as he turns on his head lamps. The audience is almost tricked in to thinking it is an eye line match and feel involved as its as if the car is looking at them followed by a shot of him gripping the wheel of car yet again in a precise manor, from here there are tracking shots of the car as it leaves the multi-storey car park and to the roads, this is followed by an establishing shot of the city he is in.
Mise-en-scene: The character is in a sharp suit and flashy car which shows that he is wealthy. Good and professional at what he dose, puts on a pair of driving gloves after his watch goes off, this aids the theme of professionalism yet again and shows the audience at this point there is a divide between between him on and off the clock, the key code ignition on his car suggests his job has a high element of security and that his car is valuable to him , he drives out of the car park slowly showing that he is calm and in no rush, the next shot of him driving out doors contrasts the last greatly in lighting and colour, it suggests that he lives his live hiding ‘underground’ and only reveals him self for his profession, as he drives round the city you can see yachts showing he is in a wealthy place.
Sound: At the start of the film there is non-diegetic music, it sounds cool and tense setting a mood and giving an added value and richness of the scene to the audience, the character plays what appears to be diegetic classical music in his car, the audience thinks this because of the synchronisation of the character pushing a button on his stereo and the start of the music, the source of sound is implied through the present action, but the aesthetics of the music do not change between inner and outer shots of the car, this is gives the audience an insight in to the characters personality, the sound is used to render his feelings and emotions of the current situation, and the fact that the aesthetics of the music do not change when they theoretically should makes the audience feel more involved with the character as they are experiencing things how the character would, classical music also has relaxing concentration aiding properties suggesting that he is preparing him self mentally for what’s about to come, it could also be said that the music is used in this way to portray the character as anempathetic to the tense mood previously created. The footage of the character staring his engine, plugging in his seat belt and tyre squeal are accompanied by their characteristic sounds they are also synchronous to current actions in narrative, as the car begins to leave the car park the music changed back to non-diegetic sound, it is cool and tense yet again restoring empathetic sound, sounds of the characters environment accompany many of the shots of the city to create and ambience that establishes the scene and location.
Editing: The opening scene starts with a shot which has been edited to look as if it was a security camera, electrical sounds can be heard in sync with the flickering of the screen, this suggests that technology is going to involved or that the audience are watching something they shouldn’t. Match on action is created with jump cuts when the character checks his watch and plugs in his seatbelt etc. There are more cuts from in to outside of the vehicle so the audience can see what’s going on. Multiple shot reverse shots during the conversation between the main character and the bank robbers.
Graphics: In the opening sequence the film title appears in aluminous green letters with a sharp glowing effect, the type face is clean cut and modern, and yet again has technological and futuristic effect. The credits continue to role in a similar style in white.
-Man on Fire -
Narrative Structure: The opening scene has a linear narrative structure, the audience are introduced to the villains and the nature of their actions in the first scene, it shows someone being kidnapped, the kidnappers contact the family to arrange a ransom for the family’s son and the audience see the man being tortured what appears to be the father of the son drops off the ransom and his son is released on a motorway, the opening scene starts from a happy couple walking through the city, the equilibrium changes to disequilibrium very quickly.
Thriller Codes and Conventions: Transformed city, question and answer module, who’s being kidnapped? Who’s kidnapping them, why? Etc.
Camera Work: The opening sequence begins with an establishing arial shot of the city, it rotates round as if it where on an axis keeping two towers centred symmetrically in the shot, there is a medium shot tracking a couple in a busy crowd, the camera also pans round the crowd, it passes people both closely and at a distance creating a busy and hectic atmosphere, there is long shot tracking a white car, followed by a medium shot of a girl and her partner, there is a yet again a shot of the two towers, the shot is now cantered suggesting a sense of corruption to the audience, this is followed by another tracking shot of the white car, two men get out of the car and force the woman’s partner in to it, the camera work is uneven and shaky communicating a sense of panic, there is an over shoulder shot from the crowd making the audience feel involved in the situation, there is a shot of the white car from the rear view mirror of the car ahead and from the side-walks involving the audience from more than just one obvious point of view. The next part of the opening sequence features a close up of a women crying followed by a close up of what appears to be a family picture, the camera zooms in closer yet again focusing on the boy in the image, this shows the audience that the man kidnapped has family involving the audience again in the emotional response of the family
Mise-en-scene: Editing is heavily used through the opening sequence, it consists of quick jump cuts and overlapping shots, the surroundings in which it is filmed are crowded and busy, there is also a wide array of sound that can be heard, all this together projects a strong element of disruption and confusion, the lighting is dark and the shots are slightly over exposed, the colours which the consist of are mostly dark urban colours, giving the film a dirty rustic look, the majority of the buildings and cars in the shot look run down showing that the place there are in is under developed aiding the probability of kidnappings and “Underground Activities” (moral and probability factor)
Sound: There is non-diegetic music at the start of the opening sequence, it features angel like voices, church bells can be heard, it is unclear wether these are diegetic or non-diegtetic, these to sounds suggest the element of religion in the film, child’s laughter can also be heard it’s unclear yet again whether this is diegetic or non-diegtetic but suggests that it is a child will be kidnapped later in the film, the sound of thunder can be heard on a shot of the two towers giving them more presence, non-diegetic music kicks in, it consists of an up-beat Latino style rhythm, this helps set the atmosphere of the location to the audience the music could also be considered anempathetic as it does not match the current actions of the film (kidnapping) after the actual event of the kidnapping is over the music changes, it sound sad and sorrow, it is empathetic to the current situation, anempathetic and empathetic music used together in a single narrative situation creates a greater contrast between the beginning and “after effect” of a situation in the narrative, diegetic sounds such as the car doors closing and tyres on the road can be heard as expected.
Editing: In the opening sequence of the film there is heavy use of editing, cut shots are used to jump from view point to view point, shots are overlapped making the frames overcrowded and difficult to see, this confuses the audience, shots are slowed down and speeded up in what appears to be an irrational manor, the frame rate of the shots have also been edited giving a sense of corruption and suggesting the equilibrium is going to be disturbed, the lighting of the shots differentiates from light to dark quickly to create a strobe effect startling the audience.
Graphics: Fairly small clean and clear white text is used to display the director etc. Larger and bolder text is used to state the facts about kidnapping on the screen, the fact that it is bigger and bolder emphasizes its importance to the audience, it signifies that the film has a message.
-Comparable Media Products Concluded-
After analysing Comparable Media Products I isolated the codes and conventions that all or the majority of the products contained.
Equilibrium is always fully or partly restored.
Facts, objects and other information are always hidden from the audience.
The audience are always asking questions.
Suspense is held throughout the opening sequence.
Panning shots are vigorously used.
Long shots were used.
The editing always matches the pace of action on screen.
There is usually none or very little dialog, with the exception of non-diegetic narration.
The location in which set is always made very clear.
Camera angles and movement were often used to make the audience feel as if they were seeing something they shouldn’t.
Eye-line match was often used to show the audience something from the characters point of view, involving them in the narrative.
The product title usually stood out to the audience.
Non-diegetic sound is used to influence the audiences mood, thoughts and emotion.
The credits are always in rhythm/sync with the music or sounds.
Unusual and uncomfortable settings are often used.
Enigma was often used to baffle the audience and make them ask questions in effect making them wanting to watch more.
Diegetic sound was often complex and crowded overwhelming the audience.
The audiences questions are rarely given an answer.
The opening sequence always starts with disequilibrium or moves to disequilibrium shortly.
Characters power/status is always presented clearly to the audience.
The main protagonist/character we are presented with at the start of the opening sequence always has unusual/unique personality.
Reflections were used to show something or represent a characters alter-ego.
Scenes often contrasted each other in light and sound, for example, The Transporter starts in a quite underground car park, the lighting is dull and the colours in the shot are reserved and bland, the next scene enters the city, it is bright and vivid in colour, diegetic sound is very busy.
Binary oppositions are often used
Events take place which the audience did not expect (red herring/moral/probability factor)
The equilibrium is often disturbed or threatened.
Elements of danger are always present.
All contain some element of partial vision, concealment and protraction.
All are set in a transformed city.
There is always a villain although the villain is not always human.
The credits always start more or less at the beginning of the opening sequence.
The majority of the opening sequences have a linear narrative.
The majority of the credits are in black or white, although there are some exceptions, for example, In The Transporter the credits are luminous green, but this is done to emphasise a technological element in the scene.
Music is always in sync/rhythm with the motion of action or mood on screen; it is also used to hold suspense/tension.
Tracking shots are always used to build tension.
Characters emotions are emphasised by using close up shots.
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