Essex''s Boys Case Study

In Essex's boys the director terry Windsor used quite a lot of generic concepts to the thriller genre such as generic locations and generic lighting, in this post i am going to take screenshots out of the film and analyse and explain the generic concepts that Terry Windsor has used to improve the overall quality of the film and the Thriller genre.

The generic concept i would like to analyse is the locations and how they effect the genre and improve thriller films, some locations seem pretty basic and don't seem like they would add much affect but when you begin to look closer at them they give you a lot more detail in the story line and help develop the film. for example at the beginning of Essex's boys where Billy is walking into the garage with all the cob webs and the old car, this is a classic example of a generic location in a thriller film because it is a small confined space which gives a claustrophobic feeling and makes the character (in this example Billy) feel really frightened and feel the sense of danger around them. Here is a screenshot to emphasis my point.

Another example of this feeling of claustrophobia and the feeling of being trapped is used in several other places through out the film in such places like where they are going through the tunnel because it is really long and there is no escape so Billy feels trapped because hes stuck in this care with Jason which makes him frightened because as the viewer you get the sense that Jason is a bit shady and has the look of a murder or someone who is involved in some really shady business.

the third example of this is when Billy and Jason pick up the business man from the fish factory and then they chuck him in the back of the white van, this is even better as a thriller generic concept because it mixes multiple generic concepts together in one short section, it mixes together the confined space of the back of the van which has had the door pad locked so he has no escape, it also has the generic vehicle of the white van which is an easily recognizable vehicle and is a classic and also adds a bit of mystery to the characters because the vehicle is plain white so you are given no clues on who the people are who are driving.

Another part of this scene that added mystery is the location to where Billy and Jason are heading to with the business man because you do not know where they are going until after you see the man jump out of the back of the van so the characters know before the viewer where they are so this adds suspense to the scene because normally when the characters know before the viewer then it is normally a really horrible location where hardly anyone wants to go and in this case that is true because they are at a really muddy beach in the middle of no where because no one will find them there, to the viewer this could be quite spooky because you don't know what Jason and Billy are going to do next.

Another generic concept which is in this screenshot is the use of costume, the business man is wearing a really typical thriller costume with the black suit and black trousers and smart black shoes because it makes the character look really important for example in once upon a time in america all the really important hit men are dressed up in suits to show their power and significance where as in Essex's Boys its like the roles have been reversed where the guys wearing the casual clothing are the strong important characters with all the power over the business man who in this example is really weak and powerless and there is nothing he can do about it so he has the traditional position of someone who would normally be wearing a casual outfit.

    

  

Three thrillers I have seen

Three thrillers I have Seen

1) In La Noire they have used a lot of bright colors to make everything look very eye catching, it also represents the time in which the game is set, in 1947 they would of used bright colors to symbolism winning the war and to show that they are no longer in a dark time, they also would have used bright colors to celebrate.

In La Noire the costumes used are for formal occasions such as a press conference they are wearing shirts and ties and smart trousers to appear that they are smart and there for business. Also the characters are wearing casual clothing for an event such as a trip to the theater movies because they are there to have fun, not to do business or be serious.

In La Noire they have gradually tried to involve the viewer into the plot so they only learn a little bit of the story at a time instead of unloading a massive amount of story on the viewer at one time.

I personally think that the way the plot is built up has been done very well in La Noire because I believe that it makes the viewer’s feel more attached to the characters and makes it easier for people to like the charters and learn the story line for them really easy.   

In a Review done by Game stop the reviewer said that " the period fashions, actual automobiles, and music of the era--along with a score that evokes the style of some of the great composers of film noir--weave an intoxicating spell that's sure to stir the heart of anyone with a fondness for 1940's style" so in L.A Noire they used the time period inwhich the game was set to there advantage and researched the type of music,fashion and cars people were into a put them into the game to increase the feeling of being in the 1940s and make it more realistic because thats how it would have been if you were in LA in the 1940's
2) The second thriller i have seen is James Bond Skyfall. Skyfall is the 23rd film in the series and was released in October 2012, I personally enjoined Skyfall because i felt like it had good use of features you would expect in a thriller but also some bad points.
Some of the good points i found with Skyfall was the lighting for example in this picture

The way they used the light and shadows at this point int he movie adds massive effects because it makes the viewer focus on James Bonds face so you can tell his emotions and you can see that this particular moment in the film is quite tense, also you can see that James is having to really focus on the the task at hand so it does not go wrong and he manages to complete it.

Another part of skyfall that i liked was the use of camera angles, they had a good mixture and variety of camera angles from shot reverse shot to close up shots for example the one used in the picture, useing a variety of camera angles gives the viewer a variety of angles to see the action from, also each camera angle gives a diffrent perspective for example a close up shot gives the viewer a high level of detail on the subjuect and allowes them to easily see and understand the emotions of the subject the close up is on.
A thing i disliked about Skyfall was the effects because they dont really fit into a thriller film for example in the title screen there is quite alot of affects to make the entire scene look like a massive illusion and i think it doesnt really fit in with the film and just makes it look silly, they use explosions a couple of times during the film and these also do not really fit into the film either because tey are really big and in my opionon over done and just does not fit in because the story is really serious and then they have these massive explosions and it makes it less seriousand a bit jokey.
This trailer shows some of the good and bad ponts that i listed ealier in this post such as camera angles, lighting and shadowing and effects

3) Heavy rain

Heavy rain is a psychological crime thriller that has so many good features such as the way they tell a really emotional story about a family which is destroyed by a disaster of losing one of their sons that get run over. The way they tell you this story through cut scenes and game play gets you sitting on the edge of your seat wanting to play more. Another way the story is enhanced is by the use of camera angles, as in Sky fall they really capture the emotion of the characters and make the viewer/gamer really immersed. Also in heavy rain they use the weather to tell the emotions of the character and change the mood of the game, for example when all the characters are happy and doing really well the weather is really sunny, but when the main characters son died it’s raining and really dark and horrible. The sound is also used to express feelings and the atmosphere because at the scene when the boy dies they use really sad and depressing piano music so the player knows that this is a really sad and dark moment.

G321 Preliminary Task Evaluation Planning

                                                               A Picture of my Shot list

                                                A picture of my first part of my story board

A picture of my second part of my story board

After creating my preliminary task i decided to add particular effects to enhance my film and improve the quality of the clip. One of the effects i added was black and white, i did this to make the clips have more mystery to them and make them more suspicious and make the viewer wonder what is going to happen next, also adding black and white builds tension and improves the overall quality of the film.
The second effect i added to my preliminary task was fade to black, i used this in a couple of places because it makes the clips fade into each other a lot more smoothly than if they was just a cut and it was switching from one clip too another, i also used this effect at the end of my film so it  did not just go straight into a black screen, instead it slowly transitions into a black screen where for example the title of the film could fade in making it look more professional and give it a better overall appearance and quality.
The third effect i used was cross dissolve, I used this particular effect because it gives a better transition of clips than just leaving a plain cut, this makes a smooth transition between two clips and improves the look of the film because it looks like one long transition of clips rather than multiple clips stuck together, this makes it look better for the viewer and makes it easier to follow and understand.

Camera training stills

                                                                      High angle shot
                                           This makes the main focus look more vunerable

                                                                      Low angle shot
                                  This shot makes the main focus look bigger and more important

                                                                Over the shoulder shot                                                         This shot shows the veiwer what the charater is looking at so the veiwers can connect better with the charater

                                                                            Tilt shot

This shot causes confusion and disorientation

                                                                        Wormhole Shot
                  This makes the charater tower over the shot and makes them look scary or frightening

                                                                       Close up shot

             Makes it easier to connect to the charater and identify their emotions           

   Birds eye Shot

Gives a diffrent veiw on the charater

                                                                                 

Media Questionnaire link

Summer task

Media Studies summer task

What are the similarities/differences between two of the clips?

By Connor Pink

The two clips I have chosen to compare are the Casino Royale opening scenes and the LA Noire title sequence. I picked these two clips because they have a good mixture of similarities and difference’s  to analyse.

            The genre for both Casino Royale and La Noire is in some ways the same but the way the genre has been used has made them very different. The genre for both Casino Royale and La Noire is action adventure and both are in 3^rd person. The way they seem different is Casino Royale seems to be a lot more action adventure than La Noire. This is because the main character of Casino Royale, James Bond an English international spy seems to always be traveling the world and getting into a lot of fights to track down and stop his enemy, whereas in La Noire the main character, Officer Cole Phelps,  a fairly new member of the los Angeles police department only stays where the game is set in La and doesn’t seem to get into many action fights because the game is mainly trying to solve crimes by finding clues and interrogating suspects.

 

The colours they have used on the Casino Royal opening scenes is black and white, the way they have used the colour and the lighting makes certain parts of the scene stand out, for example this screenshot shows how the lighting is making James bonds face stand out from the black of the background to draw the viewers’ attention to his face. 

Whereas in La Noire they have used a lot of bright colours to make everything look very eye catching, it also represents the time in which the game is set, in 1947 they would of used bright colours to symbolise winning the war and to show that they are no longer in a dark time, they also would have used bright colours to celebrate.

In the Casino Royale opening scenes there are two main costumes used, a suit and tie and a very typical cricket game audience costume of a shirt/t-shirt with jeans and some people wearing hats. The use of this clothing suggests that these 2 scenes are very different. The scene involving the suit and tie suggests that it is a very formal scene where the characters are going to be discussing business, where in the other scene the costume suggests that it is a un-formal scene where the audience  is just there to have fun and it is going to be a less serious scene.

In La Noire the costumes used are similar to Casino Royal for formal occasions such as a press conference they are wearing shirts and ties and smart trousers to appear that they are smart and there for business. Also the characters are wearing casual clothing for an event such as a trip to the theatre/movies because they are there to have fun, not to do business or be serious.

 

The narrative of Casino Royale is very different to how the story is told in La Noire. The opening scenes of Casino Royale tells the viewers the plot by using brief scenes of dialog and action, which alternate between each other to work together to tell a big amount of the plot in a small period of time. Whereas in La Noire they have gradually tried to involve the viewer into the plot so they only learn a little bit of the story at a time instead of unloading a massive amount of story on the viewer at one time.

            I personally think that the way the plot is built up has been done better in La Noire because I believe that it makes the viewer’s feel more attached to the characters, whereas in Casino Royale it may take longer to feel an emotional connection with the characters,  it helps improve the level of action which I believe most James Bond fans would rather have because they watch it more for the action than the story.    

 

 

 

 

Introduction

Hi I'm Connor Pink and this is my Media blog.