alfred hitchhock research

Alfred Hitchcock is widely recognised as one of the most significant figures in cinema. With his unique take on human psychology, thrillers and suspense; he clearly redefined the horror/thriller genre. There isn’t anyone around who hasn’t heard of Psycho or Vertigo or any other of his works.

His visual style focused on the terror felt before an impending attack. He engaged the viewers with a type of voyeurism that made you come back for more, and a different kind of film editing that allowed you to get a raw look into the characters. His movies, primarily thrillers, focused on a typical atmosphere of anxiety and fear, with twist endings and/or red herrings, with his main characters generally of the fugitive or icy blond personality.

What sets him apart from others during his half-a-century career is that he often sacrifices done up sets and high profile locations to focus on the brilliantly constructed plot and the development of the characters. Hitchcock has often been regarded as the greatest film maker of all time and his films most notably Vertigo, have topped many best of lists.

Hitchcock topped a 2007 list of the Greatest British Film Makers of all time, a list complied by The Daily Telegraph which said: “Unquestionably the greatest filmmaker to emerge from these islands, Hitchcock did more than any director to shape modern cinema, which would be utterly different without him. His flair was for narrative, cruelly withholding crucial information (from his characters and from us) and engaging the emotions of the audience like no one else.”

S0me of the films that he has directed are:

  • Psyco
  • The Birds
  • Vertigo
  • Rear Window

All of these films are quite well known in the thriller genre, two of these i have done textual analysis’ of on my blog (Psyco, Vertigo). This man seems to be a very good and well known director concidering he directed some of the most well known thrillers of all time.

From director Alfred Hitchcock, the “Master of Suspense,” this psychological thriller is the tale of a woman on the lam (Janet Leigh) who checks into the mysterious Bates Motel. The property appears to be deserted, except for the proprietors Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) and his mother. Psycho gave audiences a whole new perspective on taking showers and became Hitchcock’s biggest hit. “A boy’s best friend is his mother.”

Psyco was rated 8.5/10 by IMDb and 96% by rotton tomatos. This film has obviously been a huge hit over the years among the people who have watched it

Taken film review

PLOT

Former CIA agent Bryan Mills reluctantly agrees to let his 17 year old daughter Kim go to Paris on a trip. His ex-wife Lenore and her new husband Stuart are all for it and Kim sets off with a friend. On arrival in Paris however, Kim and her friend are kidnapped by mobsters running a slavery-prostitution ring. Bryan’s only lead is a short snippet of a conversation from when Kim phoned him in a panic. With that, he’s able to identify the origin of the speaker and which criminal gang he’s with. Once in Paris, he quickly shows everyone connected with the case that he will stop at nothing to get his daughter back.

If you wish to look further into the plot the will be a link just below this sentence:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taken_(film)#Plot

NARRATIVE

Todorovs theory applied to “Taken”:

Taken is a contemporary action/thriller film which stars Liam Neeson

In the beginning of the trailer the equilibrium is set, the main protaonist had gone to his daughters birthday party.

The disruption happens when the daughter tells her father she is going to Paris with her friend

The recognition of the disruption is when on the arrival in paris and on the phone on to her father the daughter is sees her friend being kidnapped and then is kidnapped herself, the recognition of the disruption is real well done as the daughter is on the phone to her father (the main protagonist), he then realises the disruption and utters

Taken is funnily known by many as a meme because of this phrase said by the father “I don’t know who you are, i don’t know what you want, if you are looking for a ransom i can tell you i have no money, but what i do have is a particular set of skills. If you let my daughter got that will be the end of it, but if you don’t I will look for you, i will find you, and i will kill you”, the meme is mostly known for the phrase “I will find you and i will kill you. I have put an example below

i-will-find-you

MY OPINION 

In my honest opinion this film wasn’t a favourite of mine, i only watched it recently as a result of doing these film reviews and textual analysis’, also i disliked it because I’m not a fan of thrillers in general. But i can understand where people come from when they say that they like it. Although it is not my cup of tea, i do recommend you watching it if you haven’t already.

OTHER REVIEWS

This film was rated a 2.5/4 by Roger Ebert

50% by Metacritic

56% by Rotten Tomatoes

DIRECTOR

The director of the film is Pierre Morel

Pierre Morel was sucsessful director who directed films such as

  • From Paris With Love
  • The Gunman
  • Taken
  • District 13

Pierre Morel was also a well know cinematographer, he was the cinematographer of films such as

  • The Transporter
  • Something’s Gotta Give
  • Love And Other Disasters
  • War

ACTORS

The main actor in this film is Liam Neeson

Liam John Neeson, OBE, is an actor from Northern Ireland. In 1976, he joined the Lyric Players’ Theatre in Belfast for two years. He then acted in the Arthurian film, Excalibur.

Below are some films he has taken part in:

  • Taken 2008
  • Non‑Stop 2014
  • Star Wars: Episode I 1999
  • Taken 2 2012
  • The Grey 2011

time management

From this year so far i can tell that my biggest flaw is my time management. Time management is something that i have never been able to get a grip on, whether that is from my GCSE years to now. Although i feel like i am completing the work given to me to a good standard I am not getting all the work done on time. For example; before we broke up for christmas holidays i was set the task of completing 10 textual analysis’ and also to complete  10 film reviews. At first i though i could complete them all in the time span of 2-3 weeks but it turns out that doing one to a good standard takes around 1 hours and 30 minutes. So if I was to try and do this over the christmas holidays i would have to spend 30 hours on it. Obviously this is madness and not doable in the christmas holidays. Originally us as a class was meant to do 10 before the holidays but i thought i could cram them all in. So what i learned from this experience was that i need to manage my time more efficiently.

Continuity Task review

For me, i did not really like the continuity task. The plot was a girl going through a forest (black park) and hearing a voice coming from the distance and then the girl finds where the voice was. The place where she found her was in a den in which was made out of wood from the forest. The girl that was in the den spoke of a secret mission.

I did not really like this idea because it wasn’t very interesting and it wasn’t a joy to edit. When i wanted the job as an editor i was not expecting the type of film i would be editing. In my opinion us as a group could have made this continuity task much more interesting.

If i am honest, i did not play a big part in helping with the documents at the start (shot list ect.) So i was pretty much blind editing. By this i mean that i was given the footage and i tried to make it look good as possible. In my opinion this is why the task did not come out as planned or as i wanted. I edited all of the footage and Josie did the music. This was because Josie does music at A-level so she has far more experience than me at making music

In the main task i have been assigned the role of producer and Josie has been assigned the role of editor. Although i am not the editor in this task i will still be making my own version because this style of editing is more of what i am used to. I was a montage maker for call of duty and other games. I specialise in transitioning and motion tracking text. I have been working on a film trailer for the last few weeks which i will upload to that channel soon. The clips that are on there were made two years ago but i uploaded them at the beginning of this year for the reason of showing you. For an example of what kind of editing i have done in the past i will leave a link to my youtube channel below

https://www.youtube.com/user/xShelton11

Enable sound before you watch the clip below

 

 

 

Textual Analysis of the opening title sequence of Zodiac

In the title sequence of Zodiac the sequence maps a journey across a newspaper which is portrayed that a recent crime has occured. The camera pans over the newspaper quickly giving clues along the way. This pan of the newspaper gives us a brief idea but doesnt put a full story together. It intrigues the audience and the suspence builds throughout. From the start of the sequence to the end, the sequence takes place on a newspaper. It highlightes different titles, crossing and circling different ones with a thick red pen. This red pen could suggest danger or it may be relevant to the police. In addition to this we also see some 3D and moving images which creates a mysterious atmosphere, this gives the audience very slight clues as to what is to come. From the first impression this sequence gives there is no clear idea as to what is going to happen.

The soundtrack that is used in the opening title sequence is Hurdy Gurdy Man by Donovan. The entire song is 3 minuites and 18 seconds long but the opening sequence is only 1 minuite 15 seconds. The effect that is used for the vocal is high reverb which loses some of the clarity in the pronunciation of the lyrics. This keeps the audience in the mind set of trying to guess and leaving them with a sence of unease. The tone of the song is also dark and somber which is rather disconcerning for the viewer.

The visual theme is black and white  with the use of a thick red pen to highlight the text and moving images.  In the opening credits certain words are made to stand out with the use of blur. Often these words are the ones highlighted in red. Blackwriting on the white background is used to create the theme of a traditional news paper and the red pen’s inc is used to represent maybe blood or danger or even both. This also gives the audience the expectation that the words that are highlighted in red and circled are key words and are important to the film. Bluring in certain areas and the choice in highlighting certain words is a continuous theme which is ahain in keeping with the style previously mentioned, directing the audience to distinct and certain areas of infomation and only giving away so much. This is done to intrigue the audience to watch the whole film.

At the begining of the sequence the location is shown as the camera pans over the words “San Francisco Chronicle”. This shows the audience that the film is set in San Francisco. The only thing that gives away that the film is set in San Francisco

In the sequence of the film the directors, producers ect are shown in the newspaper. Personally i find this pretty cool.

Overall i think this title sequence is really good, i like how the whole opening sequence is based in a newspaper. I like this because it doesnt reveal anything that is about to happen in the film aside from certain little hints that are revealed throughout.

 

 

 

Textual analysis of the opening title sequence of Gone Girl

Gone girl is a movie about the disappearance of a mans wife. When this happens the world sees him as the killer, no matter what he does or how strongly he denies it. The director “David Fincher” captures this in the opening title sequence of the film. He does this with different techniques. The effective uses of shot type, sound, setting and dialogue all contribute to a good start of the film “Gone Girl”

When the movie begins there is a eerie, disturbing music playing over the titles and throughout the opening title sequence. The use of non-diagetic sound captivates the movies suspicious atmosphere, this causes the audience to go into a state of suspense. The opening shot is a close up. This fades in from a black screen. The scene is of the protagonists hair being stroked. Using a close up is an effective decision of this scene because it causes the audience to focus on every slight detail that is happening in the scene such as the hand stroking the females hair. This action’s tone is manipulated to seem somewhat sinister because the shot is from the perspective of the person stroking the hair, as if they are watching the woman and stroking her without her knowing. This follows the typical thriller narrative of being watched which makes the audience uncomfortable with the situation. The non-diagetic voice that is used over the scene informs the audience that this is most likely the husband. This makes the scene seem more comforting than creepy. Although, during the voice over the husband says how he thinks about “cracking her skull and spooling her brains on the floor”. This makes the audiences perception of the husband change. Firstly the audience was made to believe that this was a simple loving relationship, but now they are made to feel like the husband is psychopathic because of the way he describes his desires for his wife’s death as if it does not phase him and as if it was a normal occurrence. This belief of the husband being a psychopath is good because it fits the genres description as the main characters in thrillers are often psychopaths. This is effective to the audience because it adds an element of danger and excitement. When the husband says  “cracking her skull and spooling her brains on the floor” conforms to the thriller genre as it is a psychopathic line. However because the husband describes it with such excruciating detail it could be perceived as borderline horror. For this reason it develops the typical narrative of death, but does not challenge it because the overall effect is not conforming to the horror genre. During the shot the wife turns round in shock, as if she is unaware of who is stroking her. Although we’ve already established it is her husband stroking her hair, so she must be turning around because she is scared of her husband. This suggests there is a reason for her fear, which could be her husband’s unpredictability, and so this idea of him being psychotic is brought up again. The tension rises because something could happen any moment.

The editing in the opening title sequence of Gone Girl is good. It includes many fades. The fades that are used in this imply what is to come in the film. The constant disappearing of the wife in the opening during the fades foreshadow her disappearance in the film. when the scene fades, it goes on a black background. This darkness suggests that when she disappears  no one knows anything and that there is an emptiness.

textual analysis of the opening title sequence of Vertigo

In the opening title sequence of the movie “Vertigo” the audience is made to feel tense, this is done through 4 key stages:

  • Camera
  • Editing
  • Sound
  • Mise en scene

In the first section of the opening title sequence the the audience sees that there is an ECU (extreme close up) of a woman’s face. Using an extreme close up in this opening sequence is effective because we get to see the emotion that the girl is showing which is good for us as analysers as we get to interpret what the movie has in store for us. Although i feel like this shot was originally a CUS (close up shot) not a ECU. I think this is the case because the shot moves closer into certain area of the face without shakiness. This suggests that either the camera was moved by the cameraman / camerawoman or it may have been edited to zoom in to a certain area of the face. Personally i think a close up was a good shot to use for a opening sequence because it emphasises emotion which is good because thrillers are all about emotion (stereotypical fear).

The editing in this opening title sequence is effective because it creates a tense scene. There appears to be a dark shaded colour correction in the section of the ECU of the woman’s face. This dark colour correction is effective to the audience because the darkness represents fear. Also, when the first text starts to show the editor pauses the film going on in the  background. This is done so the audience is able to focus on the text that is being displayed “James Stewart”. This is done because he is an iconic actor and he is also the main one in the movie. Towards the end of the video clip there is a red tint added to the clip. Red is a colour that could be interpreted in different ways; Red is the colour, the colour of blood and fire, is associated with meanings of love, passion, desire, heat, longing, lust, sexuality, sensitivity, romance, joy, strength, leadership, courage, vigour, willpower, rage, anger, danger, malice, wrath, stress, action, vibrancy, radiance, and determination. So either one of these could be found in the movie. After this there appears to be a moving graphical geometric shapes coming out of the woman’s eye. The editor uses this to transition into the credits. These graphical geometric shapes are mysterious which suggests that the film may entice mystery and crime. Also when the shapes come out, they come out one after another. This suggests that there are multiple complex layers to the persons personality. These shapes at times also appear to be falling; this is another theme of the narrative.

The sound in the opening title sequence is suspenseful. This is effective to the audience because it creates an overall vibe to the title sequence. The music used in the opening sequence is looped to mirror the theme of repetition used with the shapes that appear after the clip of the woman. The opening of vertigo is a classic example of a thriller, I like the simplicity of the opening title sequence

 

 

textual analysis for the opening title sequence and opening scene of Psycho

In the opening title sequence of the movie “Psycho” there is  no camera action because the opening is all text.

For text part of the opening string music is used to make the opening seem fast paced and jerky. This helps create the feeling of unease within the audience. The music played in the beginning is dramatic. The string instrument is being played at a very fast pace. It is dark, discordant and full of suspense, giving the feeling that time is running out and you are being chased. This could foreshadow parts of the film. Even the music seems to have no idea where it is going, there a sharply plucked high pitch strings one moment and then very low pitched the next, this style of music is wild and creates the idea of unpredictability.

The use of titles is used effectively in the opening title sequence. The first thing the editor did was establish the setting. (It was set in “Phoenix, Arizona). Then there is the date which has no year shown. This effect is meant to resemble that the film is relevant to the time of release. This makes the audience feel as id the events that are about to take place could have happened at any point between today, and last year. The way that the text is written is effective because it is styled like a police report. This is because the date is written as words rather than numbers. This represents that the films is based on crime and the police will play a part in it. When the opening credits role on the screen and text are at random being split into bars, into two then are moving around constantly. Even the bars are unstable sometimes splitting sideways and other times splitting vertically, theses too are changing all the time. Everything about this opening title sequence is unstable. This reflects the nature of the films and more in particular “Norman Bates”. This splitting of the text could also represent the split in Norman (the psychos) personality.

When the film is first presented (after the text credits) we see multiple camera techniques used. The beginning is the one panning of the establishing shots with no cuts then a very sudden cut jerking. It leads the reader into a false sense of security expecting further panning then ripping away to a new sight, interrupting the fluidity and reflecting the state of the psychopath “Norman Bates” mind. Also the is a close up high angle shot of the open window, zooming in  – we are not going in through the door but unseen through the window, for a look into someones personal life. it gives a voyeuristic (following) vibe to the view. The camera feels as if it is looking across the entire city and the window chooses at random who the victim is, watching the way they act through the window. This shot makes the audience feel uncomfortable as it is feels like the audience is being placed in Bates’ mind. As the camera zooms in on the window we can see a slight shake. This unstable camera may suggest that Bates’ is unstable in the head. There is a mid opening shot of the characters. The blonde woman is called “Marion Crane”. From her shot domination the audience can tell that she is the main character. Also the audience can see her lover “Sam” in his torso

At first in the mise en scene we see Marion dressed in white which is a colour which represents innocence. In a later scene this changes and we see her wearing black underwear when she leaves with the money that they stole. This instantly counteracts the idea of the white showing her innocence as we now have a different perception of the character. In addition to this, Norman watching Marion get changed through a peephole resembles the beginning of the movie where the audience watched Marion secretly through a window in her underwear, this hints that Norman Bates is the killer.

 

 

 

ghost rider

PLOT

Ghost Rider’s genre is a mix of fantasy and thriller. The movie is based on a super natural entity that has been placed on the earth by the devil himself. This entity is in the form of a curse. When Johnny Blaze finds out his dad is in the crucial stage of cancer he discovers that there is a way to save his father; to sign a deal with the devil. In this deal the the Father would live if Johnny Blaze embraced the Ghost Riders soul into his body. Johnny agreed to this so now he must live the rest of his days possessed with the spirit of the Ghost Rider.

For a more detailed plot refer to the link below

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Rider_(film)#Plot

NARRATIVE

If i was to apply “Ghost Rider” to Todorov’s theory it wouldn’t really work because most of the steps happen within the first third of the movie, for example:

Equilibrium: Johnny Blaze and his father are living happily riding together and joking around with one another

The Disruption: Johnny Blaze discovers that his father has cancer

The Realisation: Johnny acknowledges that he must do something to save his father

Restored Order: Johnny accepts the curse from the devil and therefore gives his dad relief from the cancer he possessed

But here’s where it gets interesting, because the day after his Father is cured of his cancer he then dies the next day in a bike crash. So the movie returns to the disruption .

MY OPINION

This movie has been one of my favourites since i was young. This film was released in 2007 so this film obviously had an impact on me as i still remember it 10 years later in 2017. I think i like this film because of the hybridisation. My favourite genre is fantasy and super hero fiction. I like series such as “Arrow” and “The Flash”. Also movies like “The Dark Knight” and “The Avengers”. So this is not to different from them. If i was to rate this film on a scale of one to 10. I would rate it a solid 8.5. Back in 2007 there wasn’t very good effect technology i can tell this from the character of “Ghost Rider” as the animation of the skull on the Rider was not up to scratch in terms of the technology today.

DIRECTOR 

The director of the film goes by the name of Mark Steven Johnson.

Mark Steven Johnson (born October 30, 1964) is an American screenwriter, film director, and producer.

Johnson was born in Hastings, Minnesota and graduated from California State University, Long Beach. He has written and directed the two comic book based films Daredevil and Ghost Rider as well as the film Simon Birch. His early writing credits are for the film Grumpy Old Men and its sequel Grumpier Old Men. Most recently he produced the critically panned Grudge Match for Warner Bros. which was released on Christmas 2013.

ACTORS

The main actor in the film “Ghost Rider” is Nicolas Cage. Nicolas is a very well known and iconic actor. Nicolas Kim Coppola, known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and producer. He has performed in leading roles in a variety of films, ranging from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action films. Some the films he has featured in are:

  • Leaving Las Vegas
  • Face/Off
  • Gone in 60 Seconds
  • Kick Ass
  • Left Behind