RESEARCH - Intertextuality

 

INTERTEXTUALITY

Intertextuality is the term to describe the visual referencing between films. Films tend to 'borrow' from each other, so the audience may recognise certain aspects of mise en scene, camera angles, sounds ad editing from other films.

In some thriller films, aspects of Psycho have been 'borrowed' to add more attention and effect as the shower scene from Psycho is very famous for the shots used.

The striking shots used in Psycho are the following:

• hand towards the camera
• dead still eye zoom out
• shadow on shower curtain
• close up of scream
• shower head
• cant see the killer
• blood going down the plughole 
• big knife
• shower curtain being pulled down

Also the sound has a big influence, for example the sucking sounds of the knife, the sound of running water and the use of non diegetic music.

Here are a few examples of intertextuality from Fatal Attraction:

 

 





RESEARCH: Intertextuality

Intertextuality is a term to describe the visual referencing between films. Meaning films 'borrow' certain scenes and the audience may recognise the scene. 

For example, many ideas are borrowed from Psycho.

There are many striking shots in Psycho such as:

1. Hand going towards the camera

2. Dead still eye --> zoomed out

3. Shadow shower scene

4. Close up of the scream

5. The killer is not shown--> shadow hides his identity

6. Blood going down the drain

7. Big knife 

8. Sound of water, tension-building music

All these key scenes are used in other films to create more tension and drama.

What Lies Beneath:

In this clip, the director shows Harrison Ford  putting the lady in the bath tub to kill her. The director uses elements from the Psycho such as the sound of water running, a bird's eye view of the shower head. The shower curtain is also used. 

Other films who used the concept of the shower scene from 'Psycho' are 'Fatal Attraction' and 'The room mate' 

RESEARCH - Shot by Shot Remake Storyboard

STORYBOARD

RESEARCH: Behind the scenes videos

RESEARCH: Behind the scenes videos

RESEARCH: Change in location

Part 1

Part 2

We had to change our location because the first location was not as busy as we expected. Our second location was much busier and brighter.

RESEARCH: The end of shoot

RESEARCH: Behind the scene shots

RESEARCH: Editing shot by shot video

RESEARCH: Collateral Shot by Shot Remake Final Product

After reviewing the shots we took and edited the film, this is our final shot of the scene from Collateral. From this experience we learnt that location is the key focus of the clip. We first chose to use the outside of Angel station as our location as we expected it to be very busy.

However, since there were no crowds, we moved to our second location which was at the heart of Angel, in front of the N1 centre. Since there were bright lights from the shops we did not have any lighting problems nor did we need extra lighting.

One problem that we faced were that the public often did cause obstructions while we were shooting our scenes as they would unintentionally walk by or block someone else from the view of the camera. We managed to overcome this by continually repeating the same shot until we got what we wanted.

overall, we think this was a good remake of the chosen scene as it contained all the key elements of it.

RESEARCH: Health and safety

Taking care with the tripod. Flip it over when the u can u extend the legs.

This can give you a clear view about the height of the tripod. Making the tripod more even.

We also learnt that the camera has to be locked on the tripod by locking it with a red button system. This makes it more secure and safer to use.

RESEARCH - What are the conventions of film openings?

The main conventions in a thriller film opening are music, titles and genre.

Music is very important in an opening of a film because it sets the mood of the film and in order to create atmosphere. In the opening of the movie called 'Seven' the music is creepy and tenses this shows the audience that its going to be a horror film.

The titles of the movie thats shown at the opening of a film are;
-Production company ident
-Director
-Star
-Name of the film

Its usually in that order however in some films they change the order for example if a big hollywood star such as will smith is in the movie they would more likely to put his name first.


Opening of a film needs to establish the genre in order to set up the rest of the film and to create a certain mood. The opening also needs to hook the audience and make them want to watch the rest of the film

RESEARCH - Shot by Shot Remake of Collateral

Props needed for the scene:

• Two bags
• sunglasses/glasses
• dark coloured trousers (fit in with smart wear theme)
• long jacket/coat/blazer
• leaflet

Cast:

• Tahmina - Tom Cruise
• Amal - Jason Statham

Camera person: Korima

Possible locations:

• Outside Angel Station (main location)
• Near the college
• Opposite Sainsburys

RESEARCH - Practising different shots

Extreme Close up

This shot gives the audience an idea of the character's features. It also lets us know what the character may be feeling.

Interesting feet shot

We chose this angle to show someones feet because it looks good against the background and you can see the environment it was taken in.

Over the shoulder shot

The over the shoulder shot shows that two people are conversing and also gives the viewer a point of view to see the scene in.

Rule of thirds shot 1

The rule of thirds shot helps to focus on an object as well as its surrounding area. For example, the object that is in focus is the road sign. Using this shot makes it more interesting than a shot of just the road sign straight on.

Rule of thirds shot 2

Here is another example of the rule of thirds shot. The object in focus would be the silver statue thing. Putting the object to one side lets the viewers see where it is.

Wide shot

Using a wide shot establishes the environment in which the scene is taken. It lets viewers see whats happening.

Window shot

Taking a shot in front of the window causes lighting problems. for example, a shadow is cast over the character which then appears to make them look darker. This could give a negative connotation even if it wasn't intended.

RESEARCH - Conventions of film openings in 'The Sixth Sense'

Conventions used in 'The Sixth Sense'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eb5bmX9P1zs

Music: The music in the opening of 'The Sixth Sense' begins during the showing of the second production company ident. The music used is very slow and quiet and starts to slowly get louder as the opening progresses on. Once the writing starts on the screen, the rest of the instruments start to come in. This creates tension and the idea of suspense. The violins(or other string instrument) is the main sound that can be heard. The slow violins connote a creepy, eerie theme. Also over the violins, you can hear a low piano chord played over it every now and then. By doing this, it hints out at the story line and gives the viewers an element of horror and that something bad may happen in the film. The music is also very simple so it engages the viewer and gets them interested as to what may happen in the film. The music is in sync with the titles to give it a sort of structure.

Titles: At first, the idents of the production companies were shown, followed by a written visual of the production companies. 

After this the name of the producers of the film are shown:

After this the star of the film's (Bruce Willis) name appears on the screen. Up until this point the music has become louder and once the writing disappeared stayed at that same pace:

Next to be shown was the name of the film itself. Once the name appeared on to the black screen, the music changed to a screechy high pitched noise compared to the rest of the music:

After this a few of the additional cast were shown. Here are some examples:

Surprisingly, the director of the film was shown right at the end of the title as opposed to near the beginning:

Establishing the genre: The genre was established through the mood they set for this film. The background was just plain black. This connotes, evil, bad, creepy, scary, sinister etc. this automatically tells us that this is not going to be a comedy or a romantic film, that its going to be a thriller. The simplicity of the background gives the viewers a sense of mystery and creates suspense. This also hooks the audience in as they would think about why it is just plain. Compared to other film openings, this film doesn't give a lot away through the visuals. Instead they focus on sound, so this tells us that sound could be important throughout this film. Also, the writing is sort of faint and fades in and out which again tells us that within the film there could be stuff that come and go which aren't supposed to be normal (in the case of the film, the ghosts).

The cuts are quite slow and soft which creates tension. This is because its makes us think that they're building up to something important. Doing this also creates suspense as it makes the viewers curious as to what may happen.

RESEARCH - Conventions of film openings

Research - The conventions of film openings

There are different conventions associated with film openings:

• Music: This is used to create atmosphere and also build up tension. It also helps the audience understand the mood behind the story line. For example if the film used mysterious or creepy music it would create suspense. The music is often the first thing you hear before anything visual is seen. Therefore, for a thriller movie it is important to choose the right eerie sort of music to set the mood. This would differ from a another genre, for example, romance. Romantic movies would have soft, light and gentle music for the opening to show that it is going to have a relaxed and loving feel to the film. 

• Titles: Showing this is very essential as it is shown to let us know who is involved with the film. For example, the production company ident (the icon shown at the beginning), director, stars and the movie name it self will be shown. Here are a few examples of production companies and their idents.

        

• Establishing the genre: This sets up a theme for the rest of the film. The common way to set the theme  is by establishing the character or location. this can give you a hint to the plot without giving it all away.

• Opening should hook the audience in and make them watch the rest of the film

• Using slow or rapid cuts is also another good way of showing the mood as well as the pace of the editing