Olivia's media blog

Introduction Alfred Hitchcock was a film maker, most well known for his Thriller films and his effective methods in building tension. He is known as one of the most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Hitchcock often used the phrase 'pure cinema', which can be interpreted in different ways, but his successful film techniques won him many awards. I looked at Hitchcock's style and the many definitions of pure cinema, so that I could identify techniques that are still being used to this day. Pure Cinema PURE CINEMA: Through the Eyes of Hitchcock (25 min) Directed by Gary Leva from Gary Leva on Vimeo .   Hitchcock The Shallows - Analysis Many movies use Hitchcock's techniques, and 'The Shallows' is just one example. You can see from the clip that the movie makes use of shared suspense, anticipatory space, temporal deadlines and vicarious suspense. This all helps to build tension, just as Hitchcock used in his films, and the disorientating sh...

Introduction During production day we were given the task to recreate some of Hitchcock's most famous techniques. This included lighting, montage (inspired by the famous montage shower scene in Psycho (1960), and using the camera to "show, don't tell". We also attempted to recreate the unsettling character reveal in Hitchcock's film Frenzy (1972).  Examples We were given examples from Hitchcock's films, so we could attempt to recreate the techniques and add them to our skillset, as many modern day films use similar methods.   Final results Our group presented our final footage in the form of videos, explaining our techniques and how we were able to recreate similar sequences to Hitchcock. We also made a montage of all outtakes from the day, showing unused footage and behind the scenes.   My class...

  Introduction We analysed the opening to the show 'True Blood', to look further into tv shows opening sequences and to explore montage techniques. We also looked at the imagery and what the shots represented, while looking out for theory tools such as binary opposites. Tasks 1. Think about the format of the images     - How are they constricted     - What shot types are used     - What filters, effects are used     - Any adjectives you would use to describe the quality of the images     - Are there any key colours used? The images are formatted in the form of a montage - short clips edited together. The edits are quite fast, almost overlapping. There a lot of mid-shots and close ups, to keep the audience guessing (introducing enigma codes). A flickering/glitchy effect has been added to the images, as well as retro filters. There are vivid colours contrasting black and white images. Adjectives you could...

  Introduction   Scary movies are a popular form of entertainment, and can appear in the structure of Horror or Thriller films. There are many differences between the two genres, which I highlighted in my ' Conventions of Thrillers ' blog post. Whatever form they appear, the two Genres are still very popular, so our class decided to analyse how fear is created through films, and why people continue to watch scary movies. Fears One method used to create discomfort in the audience, is by incorporating common fears in the movie, so the audience are automatically uneasy from seeing their own fears on screen. This helps them connect with the characters, and start feeling fear on behalf of them. Scary movies often contain themes of death, darkness and being hunted. Below are some common fears that effect society, which are often included in films: ...

Introduction Today I watched the movie 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991), directed by Jonathan Demme. This is a classic example of a Psychological Thriller, as it changed the Thriller genre forever by introducing the idea of highly intelligence serial killers. It stars Jodie Foster as Clarice Sterling, a young trainee with ambitions to become a FBI agent. Anthony Hopkins plays the role of Hannibal Lecter, an educated doctor-turned serial killer who seems to provide help for Clarice, but continues to live his horrible lifestyle. 'Buffalo Bill', is the main serial killer in question, played by Ted Lavine. I looked at representation throughout the movie, along with looking out for conventions of the Thriller genre, and common Narrative structures. Genre and Narrative Clarisse - Representation Deconstruction Conversation Analysis

Introduction Our task was to watch the opening credits of a film and note down which times each credit appeared. We then had to create a list of the credits that are essential to have in an opening sequence, before categorising the structure of the credits.

Task 1 Google 'top thrillers of 2021' select 4 and watch the trailers. Then embed the trailers into your blog and slides and answer the following: - What do these films have in common? - What are the differences?   This trailer for the movie "Rushed" contains many typical Thriller conventions. A lot of these can be identified in the plot, such as an investigation and a murder plot. There are also other recognizable features of thrillers, such as low key and coloured lighting, and dramatic camera angles. This Thriller is also very effective, as it incorporates common fears that people have into the film, such as heights and being trapped in a fire. This makes the overall effect of the movie successful, and this technique is often used in Thrillers. At first the trailer doesn't seem to reveal the genre of "House of Gucci", howev...

  Introduction As an introduction to film openings, we were instructed to analyse the first two minutes of the film "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood". First, we identified the key features of a film opening and what we thought were the most important factors. We then watched the clip three times, and noted down our observations, making sure to look our for narrative details. Film Openings Narrative Films include narrative details such as binary opposites, to make a film more interesting and engaging. These narrative features can also be found in film openings, so they are something to look out for. - Binary opposites - Narrative range (eg. restricted/unrestrictive narrative) - Codes (eg. enigma codes) ...

  Introduction We were tasked with analyzing the classic horror film "Scream" (1996). We were looking for symbolic codes within the opening scene, and typical conventions within Horror films. Our main observation was how the character was portrayed as innocent with connotations of purity, through her clothing and actions. We also picked up on the popcorn reflecting the rising tensions in the scene, as her fear levels rise so does the packet of popcorn. The scene ends with the girl dead, and the popcorn in flames. My annotations for the scene is below. This task familiarised us with some more film terminology, and was one of the first instances we were able to practise analysising a film opening.

  Introduction We were instructed to analyse a scene from Breaking Bad. I focused on deconstructing the shots and finding meaning encoded within. I then wrote about the meaning created by camera, mise-en-scene, editing and sound. Progressing emotions Analysis Practise essay How does the Breaking Bad clip create meaning through the use of camera, mise-en-scene, editing and sound? Throughout the clip the director uses camera, mise-en-scene, editing and sound to show how the teacher is undermined by Chad, the student. Towards the beginning of the clip, the power is held by Walter, the teacher. This is shown predominantly through camera angles. The teacher is mainly the focus of all the shots, or it shows him standing in front of a classroom of students. He is displayed with a slight low angle, which indicates he is more powerful. When the class is displayed there is a slight high angle which exaggerates his height over the sitting students and further indicates he holds th...

  Introduction We were given the task of creating a scene depicting a conversation, where the power dynamic is clear before a power shift occurs. With the help of my team, we decided to film an interrogation between a police officer and a delinquent. We tried to use a variety of techniques to show the power dynamic within the scene, including camera angles, lighting and negative space.  Pre-production Shot analysis Final product

Introduction We were given the task of recreating a scene from Jurassic park (1993), when two children are eating dinner before being interrupted by a dinosaur. This scene had multiple challenges to overcome, as we didn't have CGI, the right props or the right setting. This meant that in order to get our recreation as accurate as possible, we had to focus on camera movements and experimenting with what was around us, to try capture the same effect that the movie had. Pre-production Props  Setting   Post-production     Editing       Final product