Storyboards

Costumes, Location, Props. Initial Planning

Charlotte from Dasha Zhukova

The Taking Of Pelham 123: Opening Sequence Analysis

How does the sequence establish the tone of the film (generate suspense)?

The sequence's use of sound throughout gives the audience the first clues about the tone of the movie. It starts off very low, chordal and intense, then breaks into a heavy rock rendition of a rap song, with heavy chords and an urban feel. By listening to the soundtrack, I can tell the movie is going to be intense and modern, the opening chord creates the most suspense as it is mysterious and chilling.
 

How does the film introduce where and when the film is set?

In the first establishing shot, it shows a busy city skyline full of skyscrapers and buildings, which we know from various landmarks such as the Empire State Building and the Rockefeller Centre. The shots of yellow cabs, which New York is famous for, anchors this, as well as the shots of busy streets full of people.
 

How does the sequence introduce characters?

The sequence introduces characters by focusing in on the character and following their movements for a few seconds. Most of the sequence is slightly unfocused, especially on the shots of people walking through the city, until a man in a black beanie hat and sunglasses is shown in slow motion walking into a subway station with a focused lens, which connotes his involvement in the film's main plot. We are then introduced to a man and shown a brown duffel bag and a badge saying 'MTA' with a broken nose, glasses and a hat standing on a subway platform. These shots are all juxtaposed, suggesting that these are important features that are useful clues to the audience.

How does the film use text titles to tell you about the themes of the film? (how do they move, what colour and font has been chosen?)

One Hour photo. Opening sequence analysis.

Here is the analysis of an opening sequence of a thriller 'One hour photo'. Next three blogs includes bullet points and my answers on questions for an accurate analysis.

How does the sequence establish the tone of the film (generate suspense)?

The title sequence opening creates suspense from the musical score. Tense, suspenseful, orchestral music plays in the background, with a drum beat and deep bass creating a tense tone to the film, steadily building up suspense. The music steadily increases pitch to a climax, which coincides with a camera flash going off, possibly showing that a this film revolves around danger, specifically involving cameras. The scene of the mans photo developing into the police shows that there is an element of danger in this movie.

 

 How does the film introduce where and when the film is set?

The use of old technology, for example a large bulky computer introduce the time period; possibly between the mid 80's and the early 90's due to the large equipment that is uncommon today. The fact that the main character has his photo developed into the Evans County Police Department records gives the audience the area that it is set in, Evans County in Georgia.



 

 

How does the sequence introduce characters?

The sequence introduces the protagonist by revealing him using a computer screen, loading an image of his face. This shows he is in legal trouble for some reason. We learn that he has a connection to photography from his knowledge of the subject, for example asking the detective "do you guys have your own lab or do you have to send them out?" referring to the roll of film found in his bag. The detective is introduced as being professional but kind; firstly from the dialogue ("You do not have to talk to me if you don't want to") and also from the composition of the shots. He sits down, allowing a 2 person over the shoulder shot to reveal that they are at the same level, possibly suggesting their equality. The over the shoulder shot also presents the fact that the protagonist is being watched through the mirror screen.

 

 How does the film use text titles to tell you about the themes of the film? (how do they move, what colour and font has been chosen?)

The titles of the film immediately tell us that this film has a big theme of photography; each title is presented as a "slide"and disappears after it has exposed. The fact that the text turns red and then fades could represent danger or violence in the movie, creating tension for the audience, the audience pays more attention to the movie.

Genres

 

Genre (from French "kind" or "sort", from Latin: genus; Greek: genos) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or entertainment, e.g. movie, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time as new genres are invented and the use of old ones are discontinued.

Usually films within a particular genre share things like dark humor or sarcasm, which makes the audience to pay attention more to what goes on. Also, each movie has a negative and positive character, so the audience can decide who is more valuable for it. The third thing which usually appears at any movie is an unexpected occasion which changes a whole point, so this makes the movie interesting to the audience because they want to find out the truth finally.

The thriller genre is different from most other genres because on the surface many of them look entirely different from each other. Let's look at two of them "Shutter Island" and "Deep Impact" in details.

First of all "Shutter Island" is a psychological thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese and "Deep Impact" is a 1998 American science fiction disaster film. So, the main idea of these two films is different to each other. The characters are different in age, so they act differently, as teenagers can't act as a middle-age person. Also, the setting of these movies are different, the action in "Shutter island" takes place in the hospital for criminally insane and " Deep impact" is filmed in normal school, where main characters are children and teachers.

 

But what makes these movies thrillers?

In the first one the audience with time realizes that something goes on in this hospital and till the end of the movie it can't understand the plot till the end, however in the second movie the audience has all information about the disaster which will happen soon and the way people deal with problem, which barriers they meet and how they avoid it.

 

Thrillers also have a lots in common because their main purpose is to make the audience to pay attention and concentrate on the plot and finally the plot has to challenge the audience with hidden meanings and terrifying predictions.

One of these things can be the impossible subjects ( can be aliens, huge sharks or even a meteorite), the main purpose is to frightened the audience, to shot it something outstanding, unpredictable and terrifying.

Due to the thriller genre being so diverse, there are a number of subgenres to categorise different types of thriller in, based on their traits. Below is a list of 5 of some of the most popular thriller subgenres and what the basic elements of them are, as well as examples of some well known films from each.

 

Crime Thrillers

Crime thrillers focus on failed or successful crimes on screen. More often or not, the film focuses on criminals rather than the hero and often has a psychological element to this genre as well. Films in this category include Reservoir Dogs and Inside Men. 

 

Disaster Thriller

This particular subgenre usually follows a select group of people or a person that has survived either a natural disaster (hurricanes, earthquakes or volcano's for example) or a human made disaster (e.g nuclear warfare) in which most of humanity has been wiped to the brink of extinction. Movies in this genre include 2012 and The Day After Tomorrow.

 

 

Psychological Thriller

A psychological thriller plays with the audiences minds as it reflects the main characters unstable emotional states. It creates suspense through showing the mentality of the character. Some popular films in this sub genre are: The Shining, Black Swan and One Hour Photo.

 

Religious Thriller

The plot of this type of thriller connects religious institutions, holy objects, questions and mysteries. These film usually unravel the good and bad points about religion, particularly Catholicism.  Religious Thrillers include: The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons.

 

 

Supernatural Thriller

Supernatural thrillers usually involve an out-of-this-world elements, to which burdens or has a relation to the protagonist in some way, in which they must overcome. This genre is closely connected to religious thrillers, in the way demons or sprits can posses antagonists. Other common plots involve aliens. Films in this genre: The Others, Paranormal Activity, The Sixth Sense.

 

Who is the target audience for our thriller

A target audience is a consumer or fan that would watch the movie. These audiences are categorized by the industry as a potential market.

The profile of our target audience for Charlotte.

•   16 - 19 male and female
•   21 -25 young adults
•   youth culture storyline
•   coming from an urban background
•   middle Class  
•   enjoy mystery and spiritual stuff
•   enjoy movies such as Salt, Paranormal Activity, Man on Fire, Final Destination. 

Who would be a typical Teenage VALS?

• Innovators
• Rebels
• Cynics
• Trendies

I choose these kind of VALS because in our thriller there is intrigue, mystery, a twist of plot and mainly rebellion.