I learnt many things in Scott’s thriller reviews and below is what I have learnt, while interpreting my own opinion into it:
Se7en
There are a large amount of extreme close-ups of camera angles, in the beginning of the film Se7en to convey detail of the twisted clips. The shot also shows viewer a hidden mysterious character that remains unidentified, but body parts of this figure are seen captivating the audience. The extreme close up of the word ‘God’ is shown to the viewer being cut out of a dollar bill connotes that the character is religious because god is indexical to the Christian faith. This is then reinforced throughout the film the use of the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ as punishment and in the antagonist’s judgement of his victims.
The editing at the beginning of the film has a very rapid pace, because it has several dissolve transitions to connote an atmosphere of confusion. The director uses a special texture effect which gives the entire sequence a washed-out sepia-like tone. The general colour used connotes lack of emotions and feelings giving the connotations of a feel of apprehension, for the narratives dark subject matter. The credits flicked in and out unsettling the audience.
The non-diegetic background music used is a remix of Nine Inch Nails ‘Closer’. Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project which is associated with dark and gruesome imagery, because it reinforces the fast pace and, The music used is gritty and reflects the overall disturbing tone of the film. The non diegetic sound is very scratchy almost as the sound of a pen scratching against paper. This adds to the effect of unsettling feel.Mise-en-scene- Also flashes of red appear which connotes danger as it is indexical to blood reinforcing the connotations in the opening sequence of se7en, lots of quick paced unsettling images are shown as each shot reveals dark icons and movements. This reinforces the unnerving emotions Props - The amount of pages of notes and a scruffy hand writing in ink connotes the male protagonist is a hard worker and his obsession in research. Film roll and scissors connotes the setting -man is in laboratory or basement which has connotations of a thriller doing work, this could give the impression that the character is dodgy and mysterious. Thread and needle- This emphasizes the precision and commitment this character has also the needle is shown in an extreme close up to emphasis pain and torture so the audience cannot see anything else. Notebooks and newspapers- This connotes that the character could be investigating crime scenes or is just fascinated by them, either way he is presented to be sinister.
The non-diegetic background music used is a remix of Nine Inch Nails ‘Closer’. Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project which is associated with dark and gruesome imagery, because it reinforces the fast pace and, The music used is gritty and reflects the overall disturbing tone of the film. The non diegetic sound is very scratchy almost as the sound of a pen scratching against paper. This adds to the effect of unsettling feel.
Mise-en-scene- Also flashes of red appear which connotes danger as it is indexical to blood reinforcing the connotations in the opening sequence of se7en, lots of quick paced unsettling images are shown as each shot reveals dark icons and movements. This reinforces the unnerving emotions Props - The amount of pages of notes and a scruffy hand writing in ink connotes the male protagonist is a hard worker and his obsession in research. Film roll and scissors connotes the setting -man is in laboratory or basement which has connotations of a thriller doing work, this could give the impression that the character is dodgy and mysterious. Thread and needle- This emphasizes the precision and commitment this character has also the needle is shown in an extreme close up to emphasis pain and torture so the audience cannot see anything else. Notebooks and newspapers- This connotes that the character could be investigating crime scenes or is just fascinated by them, either way he is presented to be sinister.
Mise-en-scene- Also flashes of red appear which connotes danger as it is indexical to blood reinforcing the connotations in the opening sequence of se7en, lots of quick paced unsettling images are shown as each shot reveals dark icons and movements. This reinforces the unnerving emotions Props - The amount of pages of notes and a scruffy hand writing in ink connotes the male protagonist is a hard worker and his obsession in research. Film roll and scissors connotes the setting -man is in laboratory or basement which has connotations of a thriller doing work, this could give the impression that the character is dodgy and mysterious. Thread and needle- This emphasizes the precision and commitment this character has also the needle is shown in an extreme close up to emphasis pain and torture so the audience cannot see anything else. Notebooks and newspapers- This connotes that the character could be investigating crime scenes or is just fascinated by them, either way he is presented to be sinister.
Memento
Mise-en-scene
Editing
The really distinguishing section of editing used in the beginning of the movie is that the structure is reversed as the director tells the viewers what happens at the end. Even though the beginning is rather short, the opening scene gives imperative information for the people watching. The beginning shows that Polaroid pictures are really significant to the rest of the film. It also makes the spectators pay attention when they next see another Polaroid further on in the movie. In addition, each cut is fast to give off a tense atmosphere; this could connote importance on the violence of the beginning with short, sharp and quick cuts.
Camera
Most of the beginning of Memento the camera angle is at extreme close up of a hand with a Polaroid picture of a man lying on the ground dead which is quite gruesome because of the blood covering the walls, the bullet, the glasses and the dead man’s head. This forms an intense closeness with the picture and the viewers as it controls the outlook of anything else making the audience’s attention completely on the photograph and the image in it. The reason the director used this shot was to show the stillness as it is extremely unsettling because of the detail of blood and a dead man. Therefore the audience can truly understand the murder because of the clarity and detail as extreme close up shots is used.
One of the main props throughout the beginning is the Polaroid photo because by concentrating on the image for that amount of time it denotes that the picture and its contents of the dead man is very significant to the rest of the film. The image relates to the title of 'Memento' as photos are normally mementos of things that have happened to remember. The dead man is obviously one of the main characters in the film which is narrated, as well as the holder of the picture. The glasses (another key prop) are owned by the man who is dead, stands-out against the blood splattered tiles, in the setting of the photo, as this connotes intelligence and a naive innocence as well because it appears that the man was an innocent victim because he couldn't see without his glasses, when he was killed. This is juxtaposed with the young looking murderer, Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce) who looks exceptionally sad, suggesting that looks can be misleading.
EditingThe really distinguishing section of editing used in the beginning of the movie is that the structure is reversed as the director tells the viewers what happens at the end. Even though the beginning is rather short, the opening scene gives imperative information for the people watching. The beginning shows that Polaroid pictures are really significant to the rest of the film. It also makes the spectators pay attention when they next see another Polaroid further on in the movie. In addition, each cut is fast to give off a tense atmosphere; this could connote importance on the violence of the beginning with short, sharp and quick cuts.
Camera
Most of the beginning of Memento the camera angle is at extreme close up of a hand with a Polaroid picture of a man lying on the ground dead which is quite gruesome because of the blood covering the walls, the bullet, the glasses and the dead man’s head. This forms an intense closeness with the picture and the viewers as it controls the outlook of anything else making the audience’s attention completely on the photograph and the image in it. The reason the director used this shot was to show the stillness as it is extremely unsettling because of the detail of blood and a dead man. Therefore the audience can truly understand the murder because of the clarity and detail as extreme close up shots is used.
Sound
Twelve Monkeys
Mise-en-scene:
The structure of the film is that it starts at the end. Setting in an airport which could connote panic and urgency rushing to travel. the gun in man’s hand connote danger fear and power because it is indexical to war because it’s a weapon and war is to do with politics. The costume could connote that the couple were going on a exotic warm holiday as were wearing Hawaiian themed clothing. The shot has a bright lighting which could connotes that the scene is a dream or diegesis. The mise-en-scene increases the sympathy and emotion as the man dying man puts his bloody hand on the woman’s face as she holds onto it. The boy had a different facial expression, as on one hand, before the boy seemed shocked and scared whereas in the final shot of the opening scene his face connoted he felt the same pain the woman did and looked at them with a slight give the impression of being confusion.
Camera- The director uses an extreme close up of a little boy’s face which only shows his eyes. Nolan does this to confirm the detail of the boy’s emotion in the eyes of fear and shock to the observers as if he has seen something dreadful. The boy’s eyes move around the location trying to understand the situation for a bit. This then fades white then into a slow motion clip of a man being shot in an air port trying to run away, this is a Point of View shot from the little boy’s perspective. Still in slow motion, the man falls to his knees dramatically this is in medium camera angle. The female protagonist emerges on screen which is also in slow motion running up to the man who is dying and sobs in grief the audience sympathies with her as it connotes that the female protagonist is the man’s partner. The slow motion is edited on afterwards and conveys the melancholy and emotion in the atmosphere. The camera then continues to shows the man fall to his knees slowly, making the audience empathizes with the character. This also makes the audience pay attention straight away because there is so much action at the very beginning. After that the angle of the camera moves back to a close up of the boy being held back gently with a hand on his shoulder, this signifies the innocence of the little boy. Next the camera returns to the point of view shot of the boy watching the woman grieve over the shot man. The camera slowly zooms into a close up shot of the woman’s face seeming distraught. Finally, the camera switches back to the boy with a close up of his face so the audience can see his reaction of sadness in detail.
Sound:
Opens with the diegetic sounds of a gun being fired shock to the viewer a woman screaming “No” dramatically. Most sounds fade out until the viewer can clearly hear the non-diegetic sound of a plane boarding time being called out on speakers re-enforcing that they are in an airport. here is also a non-diagetic sound of slow violin music playing over the top with no diegetic sounds despite the constant airport announcement playing in the background. This reinforces the level of emotion the director is trying to communicate in this opening shot.
Conclusion
I think that Scott's analysis is great because of the in depth detail!Also, there are no spelling mistakes as it was all correct. However it could be more to the point in some aspects e.g camera angles, and for the sound he needed to use more technical language e.g. Diegetic/nondiegetic, but great work and this will most definitely help our group create a thriller opening.
In the first scene the spectators are intrigued with a non-diegetic high pitched string tone that stops after the camera flashes. This tone builds up as more instruments join in, which produces a sense of anticipation throughout the beginning, this is an iconic sign of a thriller. The strings form an extreme melancholy atmosphere to the movie, which produces an unnerving comparison to the intense imagery seen in the scene. This could connote that the killer feels remorseful and guilty because of what he has done. The strings also get progressively high pitched increasing the feel of expectancy and accelerate the emotion as well. Diegetic sounds include the Polaroid being shaken, the camera noises, the bullet rattling across the floor, the grabbing of the gun and the man shouting “What?!”. These sounds are used collectively to generate a disturbing feel because of the growing climax during the opening. All of these diegetic sound stands-outs as the background music are contrasting. This makes the sounds clearer to the audience building tension. The constant sound of the Polaroid being moved is very frightening because it is so continuous. The scratching of the bullet is intimidating because of the high pitched screech produced as it goes across the floor. Lastly, the unexpected loud gun shot is shocking, because of the quiet background music at that time, it makes the audience jump, which is expected in thrillers.
Mise-en-scene:
The structure of the film is that it starts at the end. Setting in an airport which could connote panic and urgency rushing to travel. the gun in man’s hand connote danger fear and power because it is indexical to war because it’s a weapon and war is to do with politics. The costume could connote that the couple were going on a exotic warm holiday as were wearing Hawaiian themed clothing. The shot has a bright lighting which could connotes that the scene is a dream or diegesis. The mise-en-scene increases the sympathy and emotion as the man dying man puts his bloody hand on the woman’s face as she holds onto it. The boy had a different facial expression, as on one hand, before the boy seemed shocked and scared whereas in the final shot of the opening scene his face connoted he felt the same pain the woman did and looked at them with a slight give the impression of being confusion.
Camera- The director uses an extreme close up of a little boy’s face which only shows his eyes. Nolan does this to confirm the detail of the boy’s emotion in the eyes of fear and shock to the observers as if he has seen something dreadful. The boy’s eyes move around the location trying to understand the situation for a bit. This then fades white then into a slow motion clip of a man being shot in an air port trying to run away, this is a Point of View shot from the little boy’s perspective. Still in slow motion, the man falls to his knees dramatically this is in medium camera angle. The female protagonist emerges on screen which is also in slow motion running up to the man who is dying and sobs in grief the audience sympathies with her as it connotes that the female protagonist is the man’s partner. The slow motion is edited on afterwards and conveys the melancholy and emotion in the atmosphere. The camera then continues to shows the man fall to his knees slowly, making the audience empathizes with the character. This also makes the audience pay attention straight away because there is so much action at the very beginning. After that the angle of the camera moves back to a close up of the boy being held back gently with a hand on his shoulder, this signifies the innocence of the little boy. Next the camera returns to the point of view shot of the boy watching the woman grieve over the shot man. The camera slowly zooms into a close up shot of the woman’s face seeming distraught. Finally, the camera switches back to the boy with a close up of his face so the audience can see his reaction of sadness in detail.
Sound:
Opens with the diegetic sounds of a gun being fired shock to the viewer a woman screaming “No” dramatically. Most sounds fade out until the viewer can clearly hear the non-diegetic sound of a plane boarding time being called out on speakers re-enforcing that they are in an airport. here is also a non-diagetic sound of slow violin music playing over the top with no diegetic sounds despite the constant airport announcement playing in the background. This reinforces the level of emotion the director is trying to communicate in this opening shot.
Conclusion
I think that Scott's analysis is great because of the in depth detail!Also, there are no spelling mistakes as it was all correct. However it could be more to the point in some aspects e.g camera angles, and for the sound he needed to use more technical language e.g. Diegetic/nondiegetic, but great work and this will most definitely help our group create a thriller opening.
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