Stella's thriller opening research: Silence of the lambs

Certificate: 15
Opening duration: 4:25

Lighting:

• outside lighting is lit with medium level lighting to give the effect of a dark, cloudy morning- creates eeirieness
• when Clarice is first shot in a close up only the key light is used, giving shadow
• when Clarice exits the woods higher level lighting is used, including backlighting to create effect of the day getting lighter- suggests early morning
• inside building Clarice is lit using all lights when facing the camera
• when walking with back towards camera she is just lit from above

Camerawork:

• Opens with an extreme long shot that statically shows Clarice's progress uphill- establishes protagonist
• Uses variety of shot sizes from extreme long shots to big close ups- the most commonly used are medium close ups and close ups- draws attention to protagonist
• panning is used throughout to follow Candice's movement
• tracking is used to follow Clarice when she runs through forest, speed varies which varies the size at which Clarice appears in the shot
• Dollying is used to move through the 180 degrees when Clarice scales the climbing wall
• Steady cam is used to track Clarice's movement through the corridoor on the way to the office- small corridoor, tracking empthasizes sense of crampness
• 180 degree rule is broken several times when Clarice is running- we are shown shots of Clarice's back and then the camera cuts to a shot of her face
• camera quickly tracks into Clarice's face when looking at board at office- empthasizes her reaction and suggests something is wrong
• use of eyeline match from Clarice to board- associates protagonist with film's disruption
• diagonal pan of evidence board- close up- allows audience to see disruption in detail

Mise-En-Scene:

• Setting of woods at winter in the morning-typical thriller setting, creates a sense of foreboding
• Use of fog in woods that Clarice runs through- adds to eeirie atmosphere, slightly gothic
• Costume of Clarice- grey tracksuit, shows she's an active woman, suggests strength
• Make up of sweat on sweatshirt - suggests hard physical exercise- has been training vigorously
• Hair of clarice-scraped back and tied in a ponytail-shows she's a tomboy, practical for workout
• costume of extras- polo shirts and slacks- work uniform- casual, suggests they are in education/ completing training- fits with setting of FBI training centre
• prop- FBI hat - establishes setting, context and explains why Clarice is training
• shot compositon- Clarice is normally positioned in the centre of shots- states her importance to story
• composition of lift shot- Clarice is only woman in lift, surrounded by tall men all in same outfit that is different to hers- suggests her inferiority and hints her lack of experience- lower rank to them
• Facial expression- Clarice looks focused and serious in the majority of shots
• Body language- Clarice walks upright with arms by sides and a slightly confident walk
• Prop- the blackboard in the side office has a mind map on it- suggests a case is trying to be cracked. In top left-hand corner the word "skins" is written in large writing- forshadows what the character will find out about the killer
• Prop of evidence board- sets up disruption
• Setting of training building, clean modern, serious, bulletins boards on walls- suggests lots of activity takes place, well organised

Editing:

• all transitions are cuts
• first shot is 27 seconds long- establishes character in surroundings
• the majority of shots are over 5 seconds, including several that are over 20 seconds- pace is slow and controlled
• the only time shorter shot durations are used is at the end when Clarice is looking at the evidence board- empathasizes the boards importance and creates atmosphere

Sound:

• Use of non-diegetic soundtrack- slow tempo and use of string intruments-parallel to on-screen action, as the wood setting is eeirie and this is re-inforced by music
• diegetic sound of running on leaves in wood
• music fades out when Clarice enters building, but starts up again when entering office- reinforces tense atmosphere

Stella's thriller opening research: Goodfellas

Certificate: 18
I have analysed from 0:00- 1:35 in this video clip, as this is where a natural break occurs.


Lighting:

• low key lighting- most shots are lit with just the key light, however  the in car shot uses low light front lighting
•  brighter front lighting  is flashed on and off in car shot to give effect of other car's lights and so the audience sees the characters only briefly.
• use of red filter to give effect of character's standing in light of the cars tailights, but also reflects genre of film- its a gangsta.
• slight red filter on shot of dead body in boot
• key light only used on final shot ( close up of Henry) leaving shadow on his face.

Sound:

• Only diegetic sound is used, until the end of the scene when a soundtrack suddenly starts and we hear Henry's narration.
• Diegetic sound of car's engine- sounds powerful, hints at expensiveness of car.
• Background diegetic sound of motorway-creates context
• Diegetic sound of body in boot- sudden and repetitive, louder than outside noise-creates intrique
• Dialogue is calm and vague- contrasts with the situation, which suggests they are used to doing similar jobs, shows them to be dangerous.
• Dialogue- use of swear words e.g. "what the fuck was that?" connotes surprise- introduces problem/disruption.
• Use of non-diagetic narrative at end of scene "ever since I was little I always wanted to be a gangster." bold statement- shocks the audience and sets tone of piece.
• Introduction of song on the screen shot of Henry- sudden beat- brass sounds, grabs attention

Camerawork:

• Majority of shots are medium shots and medium close ups
• Only exception the Track-in on Henry at the end- tracks in from Medium close up to close up
• Composition of shots leaves a lots of space around the shot subject- this space is black- creates mysetery and suspense
• Use of  tracking past car in the first shot- creates effect of another car driving past, creates context of car driving on motorway and empathasizes importance of car
• Composition of in-car shot- Henry is in the foreground in the righthand corner- infers he is the protagonist
• Low angles used on all shots depicting gangstas-shows authority
• high angle used on the shot of dead body in boot
• use of panning when characters are crowded around car- slow, gradual- creates suspense
• track-in of boot from medium shot to medium close up- empthasizes importance
• followed by a track in of characters from medium shot to medium close up- shows contexts and suggests they are responsible for boot context
• fast track in from medium close up to close up of Henry- empthasizes character's importance

Mise-En-Scene

• costume- all three characters are in sharp suits- suggests they are gangstas
• Hair- all hair is sleek, gelled back and neat- fits with typical appearance of a gangsta
• props- weapons of a large kitchen knife, crowbar and gun - all cause huge amount of harm- characterizes them as ruthless and dangerous
• prop- car, expensive, flash and black-sleek, elegant- suggests wealth and luxury
• prop- Henry's rolex- typical item that a gangsta wears- suggests affluence
• setting- motorway at nightime and later on a roadside clearing- dark, deserted,quite-creates suspense
• colour- mainly black and red

Low key lighting

High key lighting

Ending shot of sequence- emphasises Henry's importance
to the story.

 Editing

• Initial pace of scene is very slow- the inside shot of the car is 26 seconds long- which establishes the situation, but also builds a growing sense of suspense
• when the boot is opened the pace of shots quickens with most lasting 2-3 seconds
• when the body is being shot an image of Henry's face is flashed in and out to show reaction
• screenshot close up of Henry lasts six seconds- slow pace - establishes that he is the protagonist and that this is his story

Lighting Task Final

Silhouette effect - we actually only used natural light to create this effect.

Recreating 'Still A'

Recreating 'Still D'

 Key light and fill light

Frontal Light 

 Bottom up lighting only

Side lighting only

Top lighting only 

Backlight only

We had to practise with the lighting to achieve the desired effect - here are some of our shots that went wrong.

In these 4 photo's we were trying to achieve 'Still D' on the handout. However, the natural light coming through the door gave us too much light. We corrected this by holding our artificial light closer to the actors face's so their shadow created a darker background.

In this shot the natural light from the door was giving the background too much light - we corrected this by shooting in a darker location.

Garage Band Sound Exercise

Screen Shots

 

 

Match on Action

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shot/Reverse Shot

 

 

 

 

180 degree rule

 

 

 

Preliminary Task Final