Sam and Jordan Fast & Furious.

Tom and Frazers sound project

Research and Planning

Setting:

- Part of it is set in Jordan's room where he is sleeping until there in a knock on the door.
- The next part is him walking round the street visiting shops and getting a cup of coffee and doing the usual everyday things.
- The next part is him walking up to the abandoned house and is lured into capture.
- The final location is set back in Jordan's room and the first scene is repeated.

Props:

- Parcel - Used by Jordan to lure toms character to the abandoned house and also wakes tom up.
- Car - Tom uses a car to imply that he is going out and doing his chores.
- Coffee cup - Used by tom to show everyday activity.
- Newspaper - Just your average prop.
- Rope/ Cable ties - When Jordan and Frazer tie up Tom.

Costume:

Tom- Jeans and a shirt to signify that he is an under cover policeman, Black jeans, white shirt, black tie and black and white shoes. Hair flat, Blood and cuts on the face and maybe the rest of his body, Calm and composed body language, and an expressionless face.


Jordan- Delivery man sort of outfit, All black clothing. Hair in a hat for delivery man, flat hair for the rest of the film, no make up, bulky, brute force kind of body language, and a angry facial expression.


Frazer- All black clothing for entire feature. Puffy hair, no make up,  brute force kind of body language, and a angry facial expression.

Lighting and Colour:

- Start of with a bright light as it is the morning.
- When outside the lighting is all going depend how the weather is, if it is a nice day then it will be  bright lighting or if its rainy and cold it will be gloomy lighting.
- When filming in the abandoned house we will use dark lighting to signify the situation.

Composition: 

- Jordan standing in the background of shot and then we change the focus point from Tom to Jordan.
- When Tom is tied up and captured use of the correct lighting in order to create a good composition in the darkness.

Risks:

- Make sure Tom keeps to the speed limits when driving his car.
- Assess the abandoned house for any broken or sharp objects/ glass.
- When filming assess the area in which you are doing it to check for laws and or people who may disapprove.

Roles:

-Sam is videographer, and director
-Jordan is an actor, and he is playing the part of Hugh
-Tom is an actor, and is playing the part of Carl
-Frazer is an actor, and is playing the part of Vin, he is also 2nd videographer

Tom - Kill list

KILL LIST

Mise en scene

The Mise en scene throughout kill list builds up to tension and suspense. the opening of the scene leaves the audience wondering what has happened and why it has happened. The lighting is bright but not to colourfull as it symbolizes that they are a poor family in need of money. The characters seem worried about something we know this becasue of their facial expressions at the very beginning of the scene we also know that some money has been stolen from them. They are dressed causal like you would in a house. 

Editing  

The editing throughout the opening is consistent it doesn't really change unless there is tension between the two protagonists, for example when they stared arguing at the very beginning of the opening the pace was fast and when it settled down it got slow again. Also sometimes when they were arguing there was no cuts at all there was sometime pans. There was also a good use of background music. 

 

The camera following the male protagonist

Sound

The sound in the opening was very consistent. There is a part in the opening where after the argument there is some background music which makes the opening more tense as they have just had an argument that made is tense and the music build up more tension. Apart from a bit of non-dietetic sound there isn't much more as the scene works really well without music becasue from the very beginning the audience knows what is going on and can build on that. 

Camerawork 

The camerawork throughout the opening again is very consistent as the camera is mainly the same shot the whole way through. At the beginning there is a medium shot of the male protagonist through the door, it then follows him as if you were in the room with him. There is then a shot of the woman protagonist looking at her self in the window this gives the effect of her maybe trying to work out what she needs to do to sort things out. After the scene with the background music the camerawork is pretty much the same. There is a scene where they have another argument the camera then closes up on the protagonist face. By doing this you can see clearly what their facial expressions are and see how they are felling.           

The male protagonist behind the door.

Tom - Face Off

Face Off

Mise en scene

The Mise en scene throughout the opening builds suspense and tension. The lighting/colour again is black and white for a short time which by itself builds suspense. there two protagonists that we see one with a child on a fairground ride and one which has a sniper pointed at the other protagonist this alone builds suspense. The opening scene is set at a fair ground which makes the audience fell as if nothing would happen at place like that. The man with the snipers facial expression looks like he doesn't want to do what ever he is going to do. Their costumes are smart casual top and shirt with jeans. There is a point after he gets shot where you see the balloons that the chiol;d was holding fload away this could symbolize  that the child has been shot to.

Editing  

The editing is slow paced slow cuts which builds suspense for the audience as they can take in what happening. There are some cuts where the sniper is focused on the man on the fairground ride this foreshadows something later on to happen to them. The editing after that first focus the cut start to get even slower as it builds up to the moment where he shots the man on the ride. while the opening scene is going on some titles of actors are coming on the screen. When the man on the ride gets shot the pace turn into slow motion giving the effect that something really bad has happened. it then cuts to him lying in the floor in pain. 

Sound

The sound throughout the opening is the same. The background music is really happy and cheerful and makes the audience fell as tho nothing bad is going to happen. There is also sounds of children in the background this could mean that it is a good environment for children that again nothing bad would happen. you then hear the sound of the sniper and the bullet interact with the man on the ride. 

Camerawork   

The camerawork throughout the scene is mainly the same it starts with medium shots of the characters and a o. After the title screen it has a close up of the sniper sipping on a drink maybe to show that he might need to calm him self down before he does what he is going to do. There is then a close up of the sniper. After this there is a close up of the snipers facial expression after he has looked through the sniper, he has a surprised look on his face. After the man gets shot there is a zoom of blood on the horse this suggest to the audience that the bullet went straight through the man and killed his child who he was hugging at the time. After that it zoomed in on loads of different horses on the ride. 

Tom - Kill Bill

Kill Bill

Mise en scene 

Mise en scene throughout the opening scene Kill Bill builds suspense, mystery and tension which is key within thrillers. The lighitng/colour in this scene is key because of the type of thriller that it is. in this particular scene it is in black and white and this gives a certain affect for the audience who are watching it for example because its in black and white is builds so much tension. The protagonist who in this certain scene is covered in blood and seems to be in a wedding dress, because it is in black and white makes us wonder if it is a flashback or it happens later on in the future. Not only can we tell that she is frightened from the blood but her body language and facial expressions tells us that she is frigtened. She appears to be lying on a wooden floor which suggest that maybe she was beaten to the edge of death.

Start of the sequence.

Editing 

The editing throughout the whole opening is slow paced, this is probably because they want the audience to see everything that is happening. Also becasue there is no chase and the protagonist is lying on the floor unable to do anything the slow paced editing adds the the effect. There is a point in the opening where it doesn't cut for a while this is becasue they want the audience to capture everything that is happening on the screen at that very moment. The editing doesn't change from that moment for a while until Bill shots her then it goes to the title screen. After the title screen we have a fade in we see a figure lying down on what seems to be a bed, we then have a fade out to black.

The woman Gets shot

 Sound
The sound in the opening scene is very restricted. At the beginning you hear someone breathing really heavily then we find out that it is a woman who is breathing heavily. We then hear some footsteps. Apart from the title sequence there is no background music at all, this is becasue they didn't need background music for this scene as it is already built tension and suspense with the heavy breathing and footsteps. Before the opening titles we have some dialogue form both characters.

Camerawork       

The camerawork is very important in this opening scene becasue there are very few camera shots/movements that happen. The opening starts with a close up of the woman's face covered in blood with some of the background and costume in the same frame. We also see her facial expressions before we get to the shot of Bill we see the woman looking at something before we find out what it is.  The next shot we find out what the woman was looking at because it is the shot of Bills feet walking across the floor. The camera never goes above Bills feet, this is probably because they don't want you to know who Bill is. After the title sequence we have a medium shot of a body lying on a bed we assume that this is Bill.  

 

Shot of Bills feet

A figure lying down

 

 

 

 

 

      

Tom Verco - Bourne Ultimatum

Mise en scene.

Mise en scene is used in this opening to create tension as the protagonist is seen running away from something that we later find out that it is the police that he is running from. The protagonist is clearly hurt this is shown through the use of him body language, he is seen limping as he is trying to escape this builds up tension for the audience as he is obviously injured, he also looks over his shoulder a number of times. His facial expression suggests to us that he is afraid of something that he has done in that past that we don't find out until later on in the opening. He is wearing a long black coat black jeans and shoes. This shows us that he is trying to stay hidden and doesn't want to be seen. 

Editing    

The Editing in the opening scene is used in loads of different ways this helps to create suspense and tension. one of the ways it does this is with fast paced cuts it doesn't leave the audience looking at one part to long. the use of fast paced cuts shows the audience that the protagonist is in a rush to get somewhere. The protagonist has a number of flash backs the editing is this is used really as they are really slow paced so the audience can see whats going on. As the scene gets to the end the editing becomes really slow paced to show the protagonist frame of mind.


 

Sound

The sound also helps to build tension is the scene, at the very beginning of the scene the sound kicks in straight away with fast paced music this builds tension and suspense for the audience. The background music goes on all the way through the scene. As the protagonist is outside at the start you can hear all different types of sounds. 7 seconds into the clip you hear sirens this tells us that he is running away from the police. when the protagonist gets into the pharmacy the music changes it gets even more fast paced but quieter this is because he is rushing to try and gets something done, when this is happening it is putting the audience on the edge of their seats as the police is after him and he is trying to heel him self. 

Camerawork

The camerawork is also used to create tension and suspension. The scene starts with a close up of the protagonists feet as he is clearly running from something. Throughout the scene there are a lot of close ups on the protagonist. When the protagonist is running the camera shakes with him to get the audience to fell as if they are there with him. There are close ups of the protagonists facial expressions to show his worry. every time he looks over his shoulder there is always a close up of his facial expression and body language.     

Jordan's Zodiac Textual Analysis

Mise en Scene
The Mise en Scene in the Zodiac opening shows us that it is a thriller by having a character wear dark clothing with an all black leather jacket and trousers, this creates the idea of enigma espessially as we don't hear him talk it creates a mystery of who this man is. Also we can tell when this is set because of the old car and style of clothing they are wearing. 

Editing
The editing used in the opening for Zodiac makes us believe that something bad is going to happen toward the end of it as it starts of very slow paced editing, and when the car pulls up behind them it slows right down which drags it on, and with the lack of straight cuts it makes us feel like were seeing it from our own unique perspective dragging us into it, however when the gun is pulled up and the boy is shot the whole scene goes to slow motion and we see fast cuts of the two kids being shot in the car and we get a long look at it to due to the slow motion. This gives us a chance to see all the blood and gore spilling making it harder to look at it sinks in to the audience. 

Sound
Sound is used in the opening for Zodiac to create the feeling of a thriller by having the diegetic sound of the radio constantly playing in the background throughout the whole scene, this makes the audience feel subconsciously uncomfortable as it may only be subtle but it gives us the feeling of realism and that we are there, which makes the radio seem quite eerie. Also when the kids are shot we hear this rock music as the camera pans up from the murder which is very intense and forces the audience to fear the man that just killed them. 

Camera
The camera is used to portray a thriller by using the characters point of view, for example the boy looks in the behind mirror when he looks at the car and then it cuts to us seeing that too, and this puts the audience in the film as well because you are seeing what the others are seeing too. When the gun is first shot all we see is the barrel of the gun so we as an audience automatically know that a gun has been shot in the direction of our characters but we are unsure of whether they have been killed leaving the enigma with us and on our minds.  

The American 

Mise-en-scene  

Mise-en-scene is used in 'The American' to build up tension slowly and to create many mystery's. It creates mystery because it never tells the audience where the two characters are, this then leaves the audience guessing because all they know is that it is in the wilderness, and is extremely cold/snowy conditions. Another way the mise-en-scene creates mystery is when the characters are getting shot at, the main characters facial expressions and body language

tell the audience that he is fine and calm, this suggests that he has been in a life or death situation before, which creates yet another mystery as we do not know about his past, this then leaves the viewer clueless as to whether or not he is the good guy because his origins are unknown and he is living in the wilderness almost as if he was hiding from his past. Mise-en-scene is also used to create tension as the audience are never told why the two characters are being shot at, and or why the main male character is so calm about it, this unknown builds up lots of tension, as well as it building tension it builds up on an enigma as to who he really is. 

Camera

The American starts off with an establishing shot of the place the two main characters are staying it, this shows the audience that they are staying in a cabin in what appears to be the middle of nowhere. as well as this there is an extreme close up on the characters faces as they cuddle the male protagonist keeps a straight face giving off connotations of him not caring about the woman hugging him, this is

emphasized by the juxtaposition of the woman smiling and looking as though she was in love, this juxtaposition contrasts so much to his facial expression that the audience is left thinking that she loves him but he doesn't have any feeling for her. Also the there is a medium shot of the two as they are pressed against a rock and he appears to walk away and leave her without giving her any guidance or reasurment suggesting that he truly doesn't care about her very much. As well as that the camera always seems to be looking down on or on the same level to the male protagonist as if to give off connotations of him being vulnerable. This all helps to maintain the tension, suspense, and mystery throughout the opening. 

Editing 

The editing helps to build tension throughout the opening, it does this by changing the pace of cuts, for example at the beginning of the opening it didn't cut very frequently, but as the tension in the scene grew it began to cut faster this

faster paced cutting builds tension and makes the the climax of the scene more dramatic and powerful, this helps to maintain the tension as well as build it up higher which is a necessary convention for a thriller film. 

Sound 

Sound is used throughout the opening to maintain and build tension. The sound at the beginning of the opening is very calm however it then begins to crescendo as the drama within the scene unfolds this crescendo builds up with the drama so that when it climaxes the scene is more powerful

as it has been built up by the editing, sound, and camerawork, this in turn makes for a more powerful climax as the viewer is left waiting in suspense. As well as this Foley sounds are used to make things like the gun shots sound more prominent this in turn helps to create more tension as the viewer is more fearful of the bullets as they sound much more powerful and therefore more deadly.

 

Jordan's Drive Textual Analysis

Mise en Scene
Mise en Scene creates a theme of enigma and discomfort to help portray a Thriller, for example Ryan Gosling's character is wearing a black leather jacket and all black pants and suit tie as well which gives us the idea of darkness and discomfort because he's quite a showed, hidden character who we don't know a lot about. The whole scene is also very dark and low key with a lot of shadows and blackened out corners that we cant see into which creates enigma. 

Sound
The sound in this scene helps create the feel of a thriller because we actually don't here Goslings character talk once after the first few seconds which makes us believe that he is someone we don't know and someone we may not want to know, because of this mystery and strange behaviour we feel that he is someone we shouldn't like and should actually be weary of in the film, leaving us on the edge of our seats. In the background we can hear a clock ticking when he starts to time how long the men take to rob the place and this builds suspense as it approaches a minute.

Editing 
The editing throughout the scene is actually quite slow paced but it gradually builds as Goslings character starts to get slightly panicked because he thinks he may get caught during a robbery but this is all show through cuts because they are slow paced and change when he does so its almost like its following his point of view, and as he doesn't talk this is a clear way to see hows he's feeling, through the tempo of the cuts, that get more intense. 

Camera 
The camera in this scene helps to create the feeling of a thriller by having us follow his perspective as such, so for example wherever Ryan would look the camera would follow, making us watch something we may not want to watch. Also when he starts to drive off the camera pans up to an establishing shot as we see where he is and he's in the night time of California, which makes us realise how big it is compared to him.

The Phone Booth

Mise-En-Scene

The mise-en-scene of the 'Phone Booth' helps to create a lot of mystery and some tension throughout the opening. It does this by not giving too much away about the plot and by only giving you information about the location and about phones, and one phone booth in particular, because it specifically mentions one phone booth this makes the audience question why it is talking about this one phone booth and what is so special about it, this then creates an enigma around the phone booth, this enigma in turn creates a little bit of tension as it makes the viewer feel unsure about how they

feel about the phone booth. As well as this the opening shows us that the film is set in New york and shows the constant flow of different people, it then shows us the protagonist of the plot and he is dressed very well and on his phone, this tells the viewer that he is most likely a businessman with a lot of money as a phone in that time period was a luxury. as well as all this both his facial and body expressions were that of someone very confident showing us that he is most likely very successful,  because confidence typically comes from success. In summary the mise-en-scene leaves the viewers with a lot of un answered questions which in turn creates a slight bit of tension. 
Camera

The camera work throughout the 'Phone Booth' plays a key part in revealing who and what the plots protagonist looks like as well as giving us information as to where the story is set and as to what its about. There are a lot of medium long shots and long shots  throughout the opening to show the audience all the people walking on there phones  and not paying attention to the world around them, this is portrayed by the many shots of street performers doing amazing things followed by people walking past them on there phones showing that the mobile phone is consuming the people of

New York, this is really emphasized when the collages of close ups of people on there phones covers the screen, reinforcing the idea of mobile phones consuming the people of New York. As well as this the audience are shown the story's protagonist from a medium long shot so that they can see his clothes and expressions, this allows them to see his social class and a little bit of his mood/personality based off of his expressions. 
Editing


The editing throughout the phone booth is very slow and this allows the viewer to spend time understanding the message that the opening is trying to get across of people spending too much time on there mobile phones and not enough in the real world. As well as it allowing the audience to understand this it gives them enough time think about the things they dont know like why it focuses so much

on one phone booth, enigma then causes tension for the viewer as they feel like they should be able to understand it like they understood the message of mobile phones and this lack of understanding creates tension as they really aren't sure what to expect.
Sound

The Phone Booth starts out with diegetic sound of some street performers signing about telephones, this sets the tone for the story being about phones and encourages the viewer to pay attention to the phones in the scene. As well as this after the singing stops a non-diegetic voice over comes in and talks about phone statistics and how many phone users there are in the world this again reinforces the idea of the film being about the over use of mobile phones, as well as this the voice over talks about the phone booth directly and this again creates an enigma as to what importance the phone booth has on the story. 

Jordan's Mad Max: Fury Road Textual Analysis

Mise en Scene 
In the opening scene for Mad Max we see nearer to the end of it that Mise en Scene is used when we are shown his dead family and the make up here shows a that the film is a thriller because the make up makes his family look like that have been slaughtered andthey are clearly not in a good place leaving the audience to feel discomfort. In the first minute of the opening we are shown a single character, Max, alone in a vast space of nothing but desert and sand, this really makes us as an audience feel empty too and as if we are alone with Max. Also the desert has a warm bright reflection coming off of it from the sun which could show that it is a very harsh environment to live in and gives off a sense off danger.

Edititng 
The editing throughout the whole of this opening is all very fast paced and leaves you on the edge of your seat a lot, especially  when Max is shown to be running through a corridor at a high speed when after every door he runs through it does a quick cut to an image of one of his family members, and is all very high paced with only straight cuts to keep building intensity. When Max is talking at the beginning we are shown why the world has collapsed like it has and why the world has turned into a savage one with no rules, the audience are shown flashes of horrible clips of slaughter, lack of fuel and wars all at a high paced blur.

 Sound
The non- diegetic sound of the drums in the background give the scene a constant building intensity and leaves us expecting something to happen with the crescendo of drums we can hear. Also to show that Max's daughter is dead when we hear her, her voice echoes in Max's head as if he is being haunted by the thought of the loss he faced years ago, making us feel sorry for Max

Camera 
The camera techniques used give off the feeling of a Thriller by having a lot of zooms into Max's face so you get given whos perspective it is, and you get to see that Max is in a lower place then everyone and that he is in a place of danger when his daughter is looking down at him and we get a birds eye view of Max in a hole which could show he's in danger.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
   
Mise-En-Scene

The mise-en-scene throughout the opening of the 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' is key in building and maintain tension. One of the best examples of  mise-en-scene helping to build and or maintain the tension in the opening is when the protagonist goes to meet a Hungarian informant regarding a mole. The two characters sit across from each other in a little back alley café, This setting helps to add to the tension In the scene as the location they are in does not seem safe and the viewer is unsure about the intentions of the other characters, as well as this the Tension is built by the facial expressions of the two main characters as well as by the facial expressions and bodily expressions of the people surrounding/and inside of the café, an example of one of the café characters being on edge is the waiter who gives the two main characters there drinks, he is sweating a lot and has shaky hands when placing the coffee down showing the viewer that he is nervous and is on edge, as well as this there is a close up of a puddle of sweat on the table this little puddle of sweat has connotations of a puddle of blood foreshadowing to the viewer the potential violence to come. this then in turn puts the audience on edge as they don't know what to expect. This level of suspense, tension, and mystery is maintained throughout the opening by using mise-en-scene to portray a dangerous locational situation that is surrounded with uncertain characters with unknown intentions, this vast level of uncertainty leaves the viewer feeling uneasy and tense, which is exactly what a thriller is supposed to do.

Camera  
The camerawork is very important in helping to create tension and helping to build lots of mystery's for the viewer. It does this by mostly using medium to long shots this means that the viewer always has a lot of  locational/contextual visual information being given to them, this in turn confuses the viewer and leaves them with too much information to process and not enough time this builds up the tension the opening sequence. As well as this the camera does a lot of close ups on facial expressions to give the viewer an idea of certain characters physical and mental states, in the café scene there is a close up on the both the waiters face revealing to the audience how much he is sweating and there is a close up of a bead of sweat that has hit the table, this shows the viewer that he is nervous and creates an enigma around as to why he is nervous. The camera work cleverly mixes between close ups to show character expressions and long shots to show dangerous setting this mixture of camera angles builds lot of tension and helps to reinforce mystery. 

Editing  

The editing also helps to build and or create tension throughout the opening as it starts out slow and not cutting very often and as the scene builds up towards its climax the editing pace gets considerably faster, this faster cutting then creates tension amongst the viewers and leaves them awaiting the climax of the scene, at this point the editing slows down considerably and then the climax of the scene is reached making the scene much more dramatic and powerful. The scene that uses this technique most

promomantly is the one were the main character gets shot when leaving the café, the cuts building up to the shot are very fast and then abruptly stop when he shots, this creates the effect of the gun shot stopping not just the character, but stopping the scene entirely, which is much more powerful and helps to maintain the tension and suspense within the scene. As well as this fast cuts are used to create a mystery/enigma as they cut so fast the viewer doesn't have enough time to get used to one scene, and so is left not just "on the edge of their seat" but are left guessing and unsure as to what to expect next this mystery also adds to the tension. Fast and slow cuts are used throughout the opening and are used to different extents depending on what part of the scene you are watching.

Sound
The sound throughout the opening is used to build tension. One example of this is when the main character is walking to the café, there is a constant but slight crescedoing  non- Diegetic background which builds with the drama/tension in the scene this helps to build the tension within the scene and helps to build up the suspense. Another way in which the sound builds up the tension in a scene is when the two characters are staring at each other in silence the

non-diegetic music stops and everything goes quite except the diegtic sounds of a rattling coffee mug, this near silence is then abruptly interrupted by the sound of a pigeon landing, this sound is very fast and loud and so it essentially cuts through the silence of the scene abruptly and makes the viewer jump as they were left in suspense waiting for something big to happen but it was just the sound of the pigeon, This I very clever as it builds the tension extremely high right before the climax of the scene making it again more powerful and dramatic. 

Jordan's Silence of the Lambs Textual Analysis

Silence of the lambs has a lot of Thriller film convection that are shown in many ways, for example, Editing in the film, Sound, Mise en Scene and Camera.

Mise en Scene
 Mise en Scene is used to portray the feel of a thriller film, because we can see in the background of the whole beginning scene where she is running through the woods there is a thick fog in the forest which gives off an enigma of the unknown because we cant see whats in the fog leaving us uncomfortable. Also in the scene where she is outside running, she is running in a dark forest with low key lighting which could portray danger to the audience. Finally the protagonist's outfit is FBI workout gear*, and i see this as there being the powerful character with high status and a good job so this is almost showing that she has a good job and is powerful, almost setting up for things to go wrong for her later on, this makes the audience feel tense because they're almost expecting something to go wrong. 
 

Costume*

Editing
The editing in the opening for Silence of The Lambs, is slow paced and a lot of the shots last long and aren't fast paced cuts, however they do slightly build up as it comes to the end of the scene. The slow paced cuts do create a long dragging effect and we could be waiting for something to happen, and it lets us relate to the protagonist because she is exercising and worn out so the long cuts could help us understand how hard it is for her. Throughout the opening the names of cast and crew appear on screen*, and the use of credits while she is running could show that what she is doing is a montage and that she has been running for a lot longer then it actually shows. 
 

Credits over protagonists*

Sound 
The sound in the opening portrays convection's of a thriller film because in the background you can hear the non diegetic sound of a violin playing which slowly builds up toward the end of the scene and creating crescendo suspense as the violin gets louder and faster, leading us to think something bad is about to happen. then there is the diegetic sound of crows and other wildlife in the forest that the opening is in, the use of the sound of crows could portray feelings of solitude or even death, as audiences would think of. Also we can hear the woman in this opening breathing heavily as she is out of breath from exercising, this is probably used to show vulnerability and weakness. 

Camera  
The Camera techniques used within the opening are used well to show that this film is a thriller and to create suspense. For example there is a shot of her feet while shes running and it is shot in a way as if she is running away from something as we can only see her feet moving at a fast pace, also the close up of her feet limits our view of whats around her and that she is the focus of that shot, creating the feel of solitude. There is a shot at the end of the opening where we see an establishing shot* of where she has just gone and this shot could show that shes safe now because it slowly pans down as apposed to the faster camera pans earlier on to show that every things calmed down now. 

Establishing shot of Bureau*

Preliminary Film

Samuel
Inception

The mise-en-scene in the 'Inception' opening helps to build lots of tension and helps to create many enigmas. One way in which it builds tension is when the protagonist is shown washed washed up on a beach having a mirage about what appears to be his kids. This along with both his body and facial expressions shows the viewer that he is not very well and must have been through as awful lot to get to were he is now, the condition he is shown in tells the viewer that he is very weak and frail, as well as this building tension it also builds up and enigma as the audience doesn't know how he ended up there? Why he ended up there? And the audience doesn't know where he is? all of this mystery helps to add to the tension, as the viewer doesn't know what to expect. As well as this once the protagonist gets brought into the large house we see next to the beach, he is greeted with an elderly Asian man who seems to have a lot of interest in a small spinning top, this is normally something someone wouldn't pay a second thought too, this suggests that it is important to the plot and therefore intrigues the viewers, however it doesn't tell them why it is significant once again creating both an enigma and tension.

The camerawork helps to both build tension and an enigma. It does this by having lots of extreme close ups and close up shots throughout the opening sequence. These close ups create a lot of mystery as the viewer doesn't get given a lot of locational context as well as this the close ups force the viewers to pay close attention to the facial expressions of the characters and all of the expressions given were very serious and tense this leaves the viewer questioning why? They are so tense and therefore creates a mystery and the unknown creates even more tension, leaving the viewer once again on "the edge of their seats". As well as all of this the opening shots of waves crashing on a beach front, create tension and suspense, it then cuts to a close up of the protagonists face, showing the viewer both the physical condition he is in based off of the cuts and bruises on him and his mental condition based off of his facial expressions, as well as his facial expressions being a sing of his mental condition the cut to his mirage of his presumed two kids running on the beach front shows the viewer that he is not in a normal state of mind. Also there is a close up of the spinning top after it has been spun reinforcing the idea of the spinning top being important and create suspense and tension as the viewer is expecting something to happen, as they have been lead to believe that it is important. All of this helps to create tension suspense and mystery, which are all key conventions to a thriller. 

The editing helps to keep the scenes tense and helps to not give too much away. It builds this tension by fast cuts all the time, you're never left watching one scene for too long, it is always cutting and this creates tension as the viewer is being shown lots of information very quickly, but isn't given enough time to properly process or understand it all, leaving them on the edge of their seat and not knowing what to expect next. This lack of expectation then creates mystery as the viewer doesn't fully understand whats happening and is left wanting the answers to a lot of questions building up both the tension and the number of questions that the audiences has.

 The sound helps to maintain the tension in each scene and to also build up tension. The first few shots of waves crashing on the beach front are accompanied by very loud and dramatic sounds of crashing waves this sets a dramatic and tense atmosphere for the rest of the opening to follow. The very next scene juxtaposes this dramatic crashing sound, as the sound of the waves are very delicate and you can hear the sound of kids laughing and playing faintly in the background this then lowers the tension and calms the viewer down until the kids disappear, the diegetic sound of the waves then gets slightly louder and faster and a slight bit of dramatic music begins to quietly and slowly crescendo this juxtaposes with the previous calm atmosphere and the contrast between these two emphasizes the tension in the scene and puts the viewer "on the edge of their seat again". The use of two juxtaposing sounds is very clever and is this technique is used throughout the opening in order to emphasize the tension within certain scenes. 

Samuel

The Usual Suspects

The: mise en scene, camerawork, editing, and sound all help ensure that the ‘Usual Suspects’ opening is filled with thriller conventions.The mise en scene helps to create a typical thriller feel, the antagonist is wearing a long black coat and his body expressions are that of someone very calm, despite him being in a very tense situation, this is shown when the injured character attempts to blow the boat up he calmly stands above the trail of fire and urinates on it showing the audience how calm he is in a life or death situation proving to them that he is very calm and powerful. The character in the opening of the film that we see sitting down is portrayed to be very weak, vulnerable, and desperate as his facial and body expressions are that of a very weak and injured man, he is shown to be desperate because in the first few seconds that we see him, he attempts to set a trail of petrol a light to blow himself, the antagonist, and the boat up showing the audience that he is not strong enough to fight the antagonist, and so his last line of defence is to blow himself and the boat up. As well as this he is sitting down and doesn’t appear to be attempting to try to move from the danger coming towards him showing the viewer that he is not strong enough to resist/ fight the danger coming his way. All of this builds up lots of tension and this tension really keeps the viewers on the edge of their seats, which is a typical convention of a thriller film.

As well as this the Camerawork never reveals the face of the antagonist, it only shows the bottom half of him, this helps to create an enigma around who the antagonist is? And what he looks like? This enigma is a typical convention of a thriller film and as well as creating mystery it builds tension as the viewer is left questioning and tense because of what they do not know. The camerawork also builds tensions as it tracks the flames as they move towards the leaking barrels, the viewer is expecting a huge explosion until the flames are abruptly stopped by the films antagonist. Once again leaving the viewer questioning who the antagonist? Is and what he looks like? But the camera still never pans high enough to see his face continuing the enigma.

The editing helps to create a lot of tension which again is trademark of a thriller film, it does this by having lots of fast cuts and by cutting away at key points leaving the rest to the viewer’s imagination. One example of this cutting during a tense scene is when the antagonist is just about to pull the trigger to kill the injured man, the editing cuts away to a shot of the boat and all the viewer is left with is the sound of two gun shots, the rest they have to fill in with their imaginations which tend to always be worse than the real thing, this once again helps to create both tension and mystery which are both key conventions of a thriller.

The sound throughout the opening helps to build tension as the whole way through it there is slow but tense sounding music that crescendo’s when the boat blows up which helps to reinforce tension throughout the opening. As well as this the sounds of things like the petrol coming out of the barrel are emphasised to build tension, also the gun shots are made louder so that they cut through the momentary silence and have more impact upon the viewer once again building  up huge amounts of tension.