no country for old men opening analysis

The opening to "no country for old men" starts with sceneic shots of the location this tell the audience were the events will take place. The location its self is a very barren and empty place. the voice over is brilliantly written and performed. He tells us about his life, past and what it means to be a cop in that area and how he was facinated by the men who came before him and lern from them. then he tells us how he had to sent someone to the eltric chair and how the media trys to make the criminal sound diffrent to how it is and the crimnal actuly told him how it was and that he do it agene if given the chance and he would go to hell for it. he also says how you have to be willing to die to do the job and put your soul in hazard and just say okay ill be apart of it. this tells us that the charcter has seen and exprienced things that could break people down and that he is strong willed and has a good moral code he lives by. We also see an arrest happening were it sets up the film, who is the man beaing arrested? why is he beaing arested?

This is the first draft of the script i have written for our thriller.


Death. What is death?
Is it that moment where everything becomes over-exposed. Your vision blurs and your mind flashes to memories that you once felt were beautiful. What is beauty?
The comfortable village of Orwell, surrounded by vast, green fields. This obscure village, was the place I called home.
The gentle brushing of leaves in the summer… the sky so vivid it felt like it was falling, the whole village teeming with life and energy. The houses pretty, the neighbours friendly. This village was the perfect place to live.
The night, however, is a frightening place to be. Not because of increased risk of stumbling on unseen ground, Or even the shadows cast by ordinary objects that scare young children. No, the dark is frightening, The darkness of night is madness, for what once was safe, Has reflected your insanity.

Idents

We created a number of idents using photoshop and this will feature at the beginning of our thriller opening. We decided to use the black and white shaked effect for our final ident.

Writing the script

today in our lesson we are writing the script for our opening. Our idea for the piece is to have a monologue over the top of the action. We want this monologue to be emotive, as to link with the filming behind it. We looked at poetry to try and get some inspiration for the monologue, we decided to use a couple of verses from this poem called "Don't go out when its dark" written by one of the members in our group.

The night is a frightening place to be.
Not because of increased risk of stumbling on unseen ground,
Or even the shadows cast by ordinary objects that scare young children.

No, the dark is frightening,
For creatures lurk around every corner;
And the monsters of one's mind run rampant.

The tick of a clock becomes growling,
And candle flames the sharp teeth of vampires.
Light pixels morph from murderers to mummies.

The darkness of night is madness,
For what once was safe,
Has reflected your insanity

We thought a couple of the stanzas from this relate to our ending to our opening. We also looked at the opening monologue to American Beauty as it is in the same style.

Film Classification

Rated 18

Suitable only for adults
No-one younger than 18 may
see an ‘18’ film in a cinema.
No-one youngerthan 18 may
rent or buy an ‘18’ rated video.

15 Certificate

This is the classification for a fifteen film from the British board of film classification (bbfc).

Suitable only for 15 years and over. No one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema. No one younger than 15 may rent or buy a ‘15’ rated video work.

Discrimination

The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory

language or behaviour.

Drugs

Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not

promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily

accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example,

aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.

Horror

Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic

or sexualised.

Imitable behaviour

Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and

self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be

copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.

Language

There may be frequent use of strong language (for example,

‘fuck’). The strongest terms (for example, ‘cunt’) may be

acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated

use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.

Nudity

Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without

strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a

non-sexual or educational context.

Sex

Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail.

There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour,

but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable

unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is

sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.

Theme

No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is

appropriate for 15 year olds.

Violence

Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction

of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to

be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also

unlikely to be acceptable.

There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence

but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and

have a strong contextual justification.

Ideas

Today we brainstormed ideas in class, we came up with four basic ideas and then expanded on them.

First Idea - In the style of No Country for Old Men, We decided the idea of doing landscape shots of picturesque scenes, with dialogue over the top to create an eery scene. The dialogue could be describing an event that has happened, (this could be the plot of the film), or looking back at memories, or how life used to be. This will create questions. It could end up being something along the lines oif rape/assault/addiction.

Second Idea - The film could start with a conversation, or something similar, such as a fight or argument, either between friends or love interests, or something different. This could relate to Resevoir Dogs. The credits are then shown when there is a tracking shot of the cast walking, or something similar.


Third Idea - A fast paced, confusing, pyschological thriller. This will be in the style of Memento, as the idea is to do with tattooing of the body.
There will be a hand opening and closing for the credits, as well as images of the body covered in messages showing.

Fourth Idea - The film starts at the end, and works backwards through memories
- must be some sort of tragedy or exciting scene to make the viewer want to watch more.

12 certifiacte

The 12 certificate means that only 12 year old and above are aloud to buy and view the product it is on.This was introduced in 1989 when the BBFC decided that there was a need for a certificate between pg and 15. There was a big increase in the amount of films being made that where to graphic verbally and visibly that would not suit yonger children but might be suitable for young teenagers and above.
















The BBFC permits the following within the bounds of the 12 certificate:

Theme: Mature themes are acceptable, but their treatment must be suitable for young teenagers.
Language: The use of strong language should be rare and must be justified by context.
Nudity: Nudity is allowed, but in a sexual context will be brief and discreet.
Sex: Sexual activity may be implied. Sexual references may reflect the familiarity of most adolescents today with sex education through school.
Violence: Violence must not dwell on detail. There should be no emphasis on injuries or blood. Sexual violence may only be implied or briefly indicated and without physical detail.
Imitable techniques: Dangerous techniques (examples include: combat, hanging, suicides) should contain no imitable detail. Realistic and contemporary weapons should not be glamorised.
Horror: Sustained threat and menace is permitted. Occasional gory moments only.
Drugs: Brief and occasional references to, and sight of, 'soft' drug-taking (eg cannabis) are allowed, but must be justified by context and should indicate the dangers. No instructional elements are permitted.

Political Thriller Genre Analysis

A political thriller is a thriller that is set with a plot that usually has a center based on a political power struggle. They usually involve various plots, rarely legal, designed to give political power to someone, whilst opponents try to stop he or she from getting it. They can involve national or international political scenarios, and movies of this sort are often shot in America.
A great example of this genre is 'All the President's Men'.

Pyschological Thriller Analysis

This genre often incorporates elements from the mystery and Drama genre in addition to the typical traits of the thriller genre. Also, occasionally this genre will border into the also wide-ranging Horror genre.

Generally, thrillers focus on plot over character and thus emphasize intense, physical action over the character. Psychological thrillers tend to reverse this to a certain degree, emphasizing the characters just as much, if not more than the plot.

The suspense in a Psychological thriller is often created by characters playing with the main character's emotions and mind, or it could just as easily be the main character's mental health deteriorating.

A great example of a Psychological Thriller is 'The Butterfly Effect'

Ident

This lesson we have been making an ident to go at the beginning of our film using the program photo shop.

Previous Thriller Openings Analysis

We looked at previous students work to get more of an idea what we could do for are thriller and what works well and what does not.

This opening called captured uses a good variety of shots which start with long duration then as they build the tension for the viewer they use lots of short duration shot which can be disorientating for the viewer as they can not tell what is going on completely. They have used appropriate mise-en-scene to make it a thriller for example the shot of the full moon at the beginning and using red lighting in some of there clips which can seem more scary. They have edited lots of short shots of printing photos which explains the name of the film 'captured'. The titles were on a black screen and written in white which looked professional and the black screen can relate to the thriller genre. They used a slightly spooky sounding music that is upbeat with strange sounds on top which from looking at other music is similar to that of most thriller films. They mostly used cuts between the shots and didn't really show a variety of shot transitions.
From looking at the marking criteria i think this would be a level three.

Thriller Music Practice

This lesson we have been using garage band to make a piece of music to go with the credits of a film called taking lives. From doing this it will help us with making our own opening by seeing what instruments and beats work well to build suspense for a thriller, as well as giving us practice at using the program garage band. We also looked at the music used in other thriller films to give us an idea of what music helps to build suspense and what works well.

Analysing a Thriller Opening

Se7en:

This opening sequence uses lots of close up shots which are disorientating as the viewer can not see all of what is going on they are just given pictures to piece together. For example the close up shots of the razor and a book. The shots have a short duration then they flick to a black screen with the credits on which look like they have been carved into something which relates to the thriller genre of the film. Using short duration clips makes the opening more like a montage and by keeping the shot duration short they have made it a fast paced clip which will keep the audience on the edge of there seats as well as building tension and confusion when they can not tell exactly what is happening.

Although it is not in black and white most of the clip uses quite dull colours that do not stand out apart from flashes of red in some of the clips which is used as it can represent danger and it is the colour of blood.

The credits look like they have been carved into something and are not in a conventional font which relates to the thriller genre of the film and they also go fuzzy and shake around the screen which can confuse the viewer.

The music used in this sequence is fast paced which goes with the speed of the shots it is also up beat with strange sounds other the top such as beeping and creaking as well as other strange sounds which can help to make the viewer feel uneasy and build tension in the film.

From analysing this thriller film opening it will help with ideas for our own opening as well as what works well to build tension and what things are used in a thriller film.

Types of Thrillers

A thriller is a very broad genre that covers a range of different films. There are different types of thrillers for example psychological, action thrillers, conspiracy thriller and political thrillers as well as a lot of other different sub genres. For example a psychological thriller normally has the main character being mentally disturbed and confused by things happening around her and to her or it confusing the audience watching the film. These films normally involve a lot of questions or mystery which unwraps towards the end of the film , the mystery creates a lot of suspense of not knowing what will happen next. An example of a psychological thriller is Donnie Darko.



A political thriller normally involves conspiracy theory's of people high up in government wearing suits, these characters normally have power and are high up in society. The basic plot of these films consists of someone finding out about the people going against the government and try to stop it whilst putting them selves in danger. For example all the presidents men.

What is a Thriller

We have been looking at genre of films and what type of films are classified as thrillers to give us an idea of what sort of opening we need to create to make it a thriller. Here are some examples that we came up with:

Jaws:


Sin City:


Bourne Identity:

Thriller Coventions

A crime at the core of the narrative (often murder, but not necessarily).
A complex narrative structure, with false paths, clues and resolutions.
A narrative pattern of establishing enigmas which the viewer expects to be resolved.
A protagonist who is systematically dis-empowered and drawn into a complex web of intrigue by the antagonist.
Extraordinary events happening in ordinary situations.
Themes of identity.
Themes of mirroring.
Themes of voyeurism.
Protagonist with a ‘flaw’ which is exploited by the antagonist.
Titles often reflect an aspect of the pro/antagonist’s psychological state.
There is often a scene near the end of the film in which the protagonist is in peril.
Mise en scene which echoes/ mirrors the protagonist’s plight.

These are typical conventions of thriller films that we will keep in mind while making our thriller and try to include in order to class our film as a thriller film.

Thriller Definition

Here is a definition from wikipedia:

Thriller is a broad genre of literature, film and television that includes numerous and often overlapping sub-genres. Thrillers are characterized by fast pacing, frequent action, and resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more powerful and better equipped villains. Writer Vladimir Nabokov, in his lectures at Cornell University, said that "In an Anglo-Saxon thriller, the villain is generally punished, and the strong silent man generally wins the weak babbling girl, but there is no governmental law in Western countries to ban a story that does not comply with a fond tradition, so that we always hope that the wicked but romantic fellow will escape scot-free and the good but dull chap will be finally snubbed by the moody heroine."

Literary devices such as suspense, red herrings and cliffhangers are used extensively. "Homer's Odyssey is one of the oldest stories in the Western world and is regarded as an early prototype of the thriller." A thriller is villain driven plot, whereby he presents obstacles the hero must overcome. The genre is a fascinatingly flexible form that can undermine audience complacency through a dramatic rendering of psychological, social, familial and political tensions and encourages sheltered but sensation-hungry audiences, in Hitchcock's phrase, "to put their toe in the cold water of fear to see what it's like."

Preliminary Task Evaluation

We have now finished our preliminary task and i am happy with our groups finished piece of film.
I think that we have done it a lot more efficiently than the first time we did a preliminary task as we have managed to do it quite quickly and we kept it simple and included all of the shots needed. We also improved this time by including a long shot which we didn't manage to have in our first preliminary task, mostly because we didn't have much room in the location we filmed it in.
We have made it run smoothly by editing the film using final cut express to cut the shots and trim them so the film has good continuity. The main shots which we had to include in our preliminary task was; match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180 degree rule. We did match on action in the clip were Julia opens the door and walks through it which meant trying to keep the shot running smoothly when using two different camera angles to show the same thing. the shot/ reverse shot was used during the conversation where the camera goes back and forth between the two characters having a conversation. the conversation scene also included the 180 degree rule which is used to stop the audience from getting disorientated or confused while watching a clip by making sure you keep to the same side of the characters in each shot.
From doing this task i think i have become better at using the camera again and also improved on using final cut express, doing this has made me more prepared for doing our thriller film opening.

Preliminary Task evaluation

For our video we used the 180 degree rule during the conversation between the two characters, this meant keeping on one side of the two characters so the audience would not become disorientated and confused. We used match on match action shot as Julia opens the door, it starts on a close up on the handle as she pushing it open then it cuts to the other side of the door as its being opened. The continuity is ok but could of been better, such as the tripod appearing in places at the wrong time, but movement of characters and the drink bottle remain as they were in the previous shot so it all makes seance. The filming on the conversation is also a shot-counter-shot from over the shoulder, this is when the shot is on one charcter or object and then it is cut so the next shot is now faceing the other way on the other charcter or object.

Preliminary Task video

Filming Preliminary Task

We have just finished filming our preliminary task and it was quite easy to do as we kept the filming basic and just made sure we used all the camera shots needed, especially as last time we missed out the long shot. Our film included all the shots and a short conversation between Martin and Julia using the 180 degree rule so the audience don't feel disorientated when the camera changes from one character to the other during a conversation.
We filmed in one of the corridors of the college as this was a good place with a door that we could use for match on action shot and we had quite a lot of space for filming, the only problem with this place was that there was quite a few people walking past. We also made sure we kept the camera rolling for longer so we had more film to edit and so it can run more smoothly after it has been cut together.
We now need to edit our film which, we have a whole lesson to do, using final cut express and then we will post our film onto the blog.

Prelimary Excercise Planning

For our preliminary task we are going to a full sequence to practice all the types of shots with the camera. we will try to keep this sequence simple and easy to do just to cover the basics.

The shots we will be using are close up, establishing shot, match on action shot, reaction shot, long shot and using the 180 degree rule film a conversation.
We are going to film a short conversation between two characters and we plan to film it in a suitable corridor.
We will use people in the group to act in the film, and also shoot it. The characters will be basic everyday characters.

Storyboard:

Script:

Julia: hey

Martin: hi

Julia: you okay?

Martin: yeah thanks you?

Julia: yeah

Martin: can I ask you something?

Julia: yeah sure what?

Martin: why is there someone filming us?

Julia: i'm not sure she has been following me all day

Ceri: sorry im just doing my preliminary task

Martin: well can you leave.

Brief

We have to create the credits and opening sequence to a Thriller. it should be two minutes in length and the film should be an orginal idea so no sequels, prequels, spin offs or adaptions.

Group Members!