Representation

Representations 

How To Get Away with Murder

In this scene from How To Get Away With Murder we see the main woman, Annalise, a lawyer I the court room. She is defending a client whose crate was checked illegally. She has an agent in the witness stand and whilst asking him questions reveals she has found the employee who had first decided to way the container and then quit his job and ran away. She then questions him in the witness stand. He testifies that he was asked by a man to specifically weigh that container. Through numerous errors question she soon works out that the man was the prosecutor. She then defends her client and saves him.

Some of the groups that are represented in this scene are gender (male dominance vs female dominance), class and status (judge vs court room), and ethnicity (American, African American, and Hispanic).

Gender

Male                                              female

Class and Status

Judge                                        Court room

Ethnicity

African American 

White American                                         Hispanic 

The representation of gender is stereotypically male dominance, but in this's end there is a female dominance, from the main lady, not just over the main male character but over the whole court room. This film therefore challenges the usual representations of gender.The representation of class/status,

however, conforms to its stereotypical representation, the judge has control over the court room. In the end of the scene,nevertheless, the ladies begins to shout over the power of the judge. The representation of ethnicity is challenged and conformed to in this scene. Usually African Americans are shown stereotypically as thieves but I this scene one of the lawyers is African American and she also seems to have power over the White American lawyer. The Hispanic, in a way is shown stereotypically correct, he is on trial for an illegal doing. It also mentions that he was offered a green card, this shows that he was not yet an American citizen, this is also common with Hispanic migrants in America.

The representation of female dominance is shown through a few of the technical elements. For instance women are usually shown as being quieter than men, but in this scene the woman is shown yelling over the men. Throughout most of the scene the lady has a higher and closer facing camera angle than the other men (except for the judge), this shows that she is of more importance in this scene. She is also wearing a nice formal dress that gives her a business look and also a more sophisticated feel.

The representation of the judge having authority over the court room is also shown by the camera angle. Whenever we see the court room the camera looks down on the people in a wide shot, but when it shows the judge the camera faces up at him with a closer mid shot. This shows that the judge is of somewhat more importance. His outfit also shows he is a judge so we know he has authority over the court room.

Ethnicity is represented most noticeably by there accents, the Hispanic has a stereotypical spanish accent whilst the African American and the White American have stereotypical and recognisable American accents, and also their skin colour. The African American also has an upward camera angle giving her more power over the White American and the Hispanic.  

Opening sequences

Opening Sequences Part2

The Dark Knight

In the opening sequence of  The Dark Knight the logos for Warner Bros, DC Comics, and Legendary Pictures are shown in a kind of dark, hazy blue when they are usually red, blue, gold, and silver. This dark blue represents a dark life, evil, and also sorrow. 

There is also tense music playing in the background that creates a suspense filled atmosphere. this brings people to the edge of their seat and makes them curious.
You get a quick glimps of the bat symbol when the the misty cloud appears in the darkness. This represents how Batman likes to stat hidden and move around stealthily.

Edge Of Tomorrow 

In the opening of Edge Of Tomorrow it shows quick cuts of tv news reports of the invasion. This disorientated the audience. The crackling and the sharp sounds also intensifies it.
The bright red colours also strike fear and show that death has happened and will happen.

Taken

In this opening sequence there is Abigail contrast between the laughter and sad music. This confuses the audience.

Prelim 2 CCR

CCR

QUESTION 1

QUESTION 2


QUESTION 3


QUESTION 4

Prelim 2 planning

Prelim 2 Planning 

Concept

Why?

The target audience for this film is a mature audience of around 15+

The thriller genre conventions that I will include in my film are:

• Darkness/Shadows: In one shot Dylan is standing in a dark room. The darkness conveys a very secretive feel, as no one knows that he is alive so he his hiding away in the shadows. He also wares a hood when he walks past Olivia this also casts a shadow over his face, adding to his new secretive nature.
• Gun: In this film Olivia murders Dylan with a gun. The gun is used to create fear. It also makes the audience pay more attention as they want to find out what will happen. 
• Blood: Blood is a sign/symbol of death. When Olivia finds the note written in blood it creates confusion as we question if Dylan is dead and what will happen to her.

PLOT

Olivia has killed her husband Dylan. She goes to sleep. When she wakes up a picture of her and Dylan is missing, but she doesn't notice. As she is leaving she notices that the corner of a rug has been folded over but she ignores it and leaves the house.

When she gets home there is a note written in blood that says "WHY LIV". She runs inside sees the rug goes into her room and notices the picture missing. She freaks out. She calls an unknown man. She asks to meet him they agree to meet at the usual. It is secretly Dylan who she is talking to.

Olivia is waiting at the spot when a man walks past. They exchange eye contact and she realises that is Dylan. She chases Dylan. He runs down an ally but when she gets there he is gone. There is an envelope with the picture (Olivia is crossed out), Dylan's wedding ring, and the gun that Olivia used to kill him.

CHARACTERS

• Dylan (Jackson):He has been supposedly murdered by his wife. He definitely has a dark side to him. But the reasons for him coming to Olivia is unclear.
• Olivia (Isabelle):She has murdered her husband but the reason is unclear. this is her darkest moment in the film. When she finds the note she freaks out.

PRACTICALITIES OF CONTENT

-This film is quite realistic. We use real people in a scenario that could happen. We also use realistic looking fake blood.

-The only health and safety issues is that someone could trip over in the chase scene.

-We will be filming at my house and areas around my house. We have asked for permission from my parents to use the house.

-We are filming after school as the actors will be in class.

A Treatment For WHY? 

Prepared by Max Crawford 

10 April 2018 

It is proposed that the film will be 1 to 2 minutes long and will be filmed at my house, on my road and the park near my house. We chose these locations because they are convenient as we will have full and easy access to my house, and the other locations are close by.

This film will include thriller conventions such as darkness/shadows, a gun, close ups, tense music, and blood.

The only safety hazard would be someone tripping over in the chase scene

Characters and Actors

For our characters we have Olivia and her husband Dylan. At first we asked our friends Christina and Tristan but they didn't really want to do it. So then we asked our friends Isabelle and Theo, Isabelle said that she could definitely do but Theo had to cancel a few days before. So we asked our friend Joshua but he couldn't. We then asked Jackson if he could do it he said possibly, so we kept him as backup. The day before we filmed we asked Addison but he cancelled the morning before our  filming. We managed to get a hold of Jackson again and he said that he was now definitely able to act for us. So Isabelle acted as Olivia, and Jackson acted as Dylan.

Location

For our location we had first planned to use our friend Mary-ann's house and also the park and bus stop just outside her house. But we decided that it was a little bit of an inconvenience as she wasn't going to be in it and neither was any of her family members. So we decided to use my house and the places near by as it was less intruding and more accessible for us to use.

Shot List

We had an original shot list to account for the actors we thought we were going to have. But when we had to change our actors we also had to change the shot list to times that suited our new actors. This is our final shot list.

Story Board

For our story board we did have a scene where Olivia was going to be sitting on her bed pretending to mourn with her friends. But we decided that this wouldn't fit as we had to account for the time that it would realistically take for Dylan to heal and recover. It would also take to much time in this short film so we just cut it out. This is our final story board.

Script

For our script we also included the mourning scene for the same reasons we did in the story board. This is our final copy of the script.

 

Prelim 1 CCR

Question 1

Question 2

Question 3

Question 4

Representations

Representations

Physical Ability/Disability

This clip from Johnny English Reborn subverts this representation. Despite Johnny's disability he is still able to outrun and escape the people chasing him. A wheel chair is usually shown as slow and hard to use but in this clip the wheel chair is fast and very mobile. The speed is also shown with the fast passed music which is often used with ability rather than disability.

Age

Camera angle can show age by looking down on younger people and up on older people, giving the older people more authority. for younger people the music and editing is more likely to be fast. But for older people sound and editing is more likely to be slow.

In this clip from RED  the older people are fighting the younger people. They can obviously fight and the only one that is scared and helpless is the younger girl. This clip subverts this representation.

Ethnicity

Stereotypical music may be playing in the background to represent that ethnicity. Stereotypical clothing may also be worn.

In this clip from Cool Runnings they play music that represents Jamaica. They are also wearing clothing that shows that they are Jamaican. Their speech also shows their ethnicity, for example the repetition of "Man", and there accent.

Love and Romance

To represent love and romance they use the colour red. There is also quite slow music and editing with a lovey feel to be it.

In this scene from Heartland there is slow music that sets up a romantic atmosphere. There is also a little bit of red/pink that represents love. There is also double of everything which gives a cute couple feel.

Regional Identity

Sounds can create different atmospheres and tones for different groups of people. Different clothing and building types can show what region some people come from. Slow cuts show slower ways of living, whereas fast cuts can show business and fast paced living.

In this scene from The Blind Side the old beaten up area represents the downtown where the poor African Americans come from. They also wear clothes that show they come from a poor place. Whereas the lady is wearing more posh and expensive clothing and driving a nice car showing that she is richer and comes from a nice place.

Class and Status

Higher class people listen to more posh music, whereas more working class people listen to more hip music. Higher class people will wear posher clothes whereas people from a lower class may where ripped clothing. Frequent cut away shots show a more dangerous where more working class would live. A tight frame is used to show poor living conditions, whereas a Widder and more spacious frame is used to show better living.

In this scene from The Fresh Prince of Bel Air we see the characters dressed in nice clothes and living in a nice house showing that they are of a higher class. Except for Will who is dressed in more of a lower class outfit so this shows us that he hasn't always lived the high life like the others.

Gender

Camera angles can give males more dominance over females. Boys rooms are also more messy compared to girls rooms stereotypically. Quick cuts between male and female can show their stereotypes. Boys are usually louder than girls.

In this scene from High School Musical 2 we see the boys joking around and the girls are looking at magazines and just chatting. The boys are also obviously louder.

Thriller Sub-Genres

 Thriller Sub-Genres 

A thriller film is a broad genre that involves excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element is particularly exploited in this genre. Thrillers also have many subgenres that are created by bringing aspects of other genres into the film, here are some examples:

Action Thrillers

Give a thrillers defining elements a back seat and focus on the action and you get an action thriller.

Low Key Lighting- makes the audience feel more on the edge in the way that it sets the scene.

Fast Paced Editing- it can make the audience become more wary of some of the characters.

Enigma- this intrigues the audience and makes them want to watch on. 

Close Up On Characters Facial Expressions- gives the audience a better perspective on the characters and how the feel about there situation this helps them to emphasise towards that character.

Fast Paced Music- this exaggerates and dramatizes the scene and can establish that a big scene is about to happen.

Examples

The Dark Knight

In this movie the lighting is quite dark creating a good sense of evil and also can draw us in as it creates a secretive effect as well. There are quite allot of explosions and fight scenes which also add to the action. Some of the main themes are duty, justice and judgement, and defeat which all show that is an action thriller. 


Robo Cop

In this movie there are a lot of fight scenes which is one of the main indicators that it is an action thriller. The theme song also gives a clear lead to it being a action thriller as it has a heroic feel to it and it also builds which adds tension.



Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol 

This movie has quite a few good scenes that help to build tension. It also has good fight scenes and chase scenes, both cars/motorbikes and on foot which add to the action. The theme

song in this movie is in the opening title sequence where it follows a fuse to a bomb which explodes it slowly builds as it gets closer. The fuse go through small scenes that give us sneak peaks of what's to come and ultimately it draws us in as we want to see what they lead to.

Psychological Thrillers 

In a psychological thriller a mental conflict usually threatens the sanity of the protagonist. They must use mental prowess to overcome there opponent.

Themes:

Mind-revealing of inner conflict and the characters emotional state.

Identity-characters often doubt who they are so set out to discover themselves.

Perception-a characters perspective of the world is often different to others.

Death-characters often have a fear or fascination with death.

Techniques and Conventions:

-mirrors are used to show a characters reflection of there inner self.

-antagonist is usually in black to represent evil, protagonist is usually in white to represent good.

-dark lighting is used to create suspicion and tension.

-high tension music, silence or eerie sounds are used to 

make the audience tense.

-mid shots and close ups are used to emphasise a characters emotions.

-flashbacks are used to show a characters past so we can understand what led them to become who they are.

Examples

Shutter island

In this movie the main character is trying to solve a mystery about a mental lady that has escaped her room in a mental hospital whilst confronting his own mental fears. There are a lot of shadows for creating tension and also music that is used to scare the audience.

Eco-thriller

The protagonist must stop a threat to the environment that could have consequences for society.

Themes:

Man vs Nature

Disaster-destruction of something e.g. city

Techniques and Conventions

-Quick shots can show represent some ones quick thoughts in a dangerous situation.

Examples

San Andreas

                                         

In this movie a massive earthquake threatens the society in and around California. It is up to the main character to help to save and protect the people as well as himself from its effects. It has quite a fast pace and fast shot to emphasis how fast everything is happening. There is destruction to many buildings and structures.

Religious Thrillers

Use they use history and myths of religion. Usually an artefact is wanted.

Themes:

-Supernatural forces

-Exorcisms

-Nuns/Priests

-Religious props/buildings

Techniques and Conventions

Jump scares-used to thrill and entertain the audience by frightening them in a way that also intrigues them.

Examples

The DaVinci Code