The Sixth Sense

The Sixth Sense

- written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan

- starring Bruce Willis and Haley Joel Osment

- released August 1999

- supernatural thriller

The film has many thriller conventions, for example it begins with someone getting revenge. An old patient comes and shoots the Dr. Malcolm. It also definitely has psychological themes throughout. The principle of concealment is also used to hide the fact that Malcolm died.

I SEE DEAD PEOPLE SCENE

The big plot twist is that the main character is actually a ghost. When he got shot at the start of the film, he actually died. However, there were clues for the audience. For example, after the audience finds out about Cole being able to see dead people, the shot of Malcolm lasts quite a considerably long time. Some people have interpreted this as a way of making the audience work to notice that Malcolm is actually dead. Another thing that is used in the film is eerie music. It really helps to add to the tenseness of the situation and puts the audience on edge.

Grand Piano

Grand Piano Trailer Analysis

Grand Piano is a good example of a thriller. The trailer has many of the conventions a thriller generically has.

1. The above screenshot is paired with the dialogue "Tom. You're alive!" This is shown very early in the trailer and makes the audience question why Tom (the main character) would not be alive. It also links to the rest of the film where we as an audience will be shocked that Tom is still living. 

2. This screenshot shows Tom's sheet music which he is reading whilst on stage performing. The red writing is obviously out of place and visibly shocks Tom. We can tell from this and other clues he is quite a world weary character as he hasn't performed in years. The red has connotations of blood and grabs the audience's attention. This also uses the 'whodunit technique' as we don't know who wrote this.

3. There is classical music playing throughout the majority of the trailer. This really sets the scene for the rest of the film as it is based around a concert. Also, the music has a bit of a creepy tone to it which makes the audience wonder if there is something sinister happening.

4. Here we find out whoever is after Tom is a psychotic individual, some sort of an assassin. We also find out this person is in the audience by seeing things from his POV.

5. ECUs are used to show how incredibly uncomfortable Tom is. Dramatic angles are also used to show different things or to make things more interesting

6. This two screenshots are used one after another as a clever way of showing this woman has had her throat slit. This use of parallel editing is really clever and interesting and really gets the audience thinking,

Shutter Island Class Analysis

Shutter Island Class Analysis

During class we looked at the opening of the film Shutter Island.

We focused on four main areas: Camera work, editing, mise en scene and sound.

A few things we noticed for camera work were:

1. The ECU on Teddy's police badge. Is he really a policeman? Should we question him?

2. Whilst the truck is driving up to the gates, we see from Teddy's POV. Even though we are unsure whether or not to trust Teddy, seeing from his point of view makes the audience sympathise with him as we are in the same position as him - seeing the strange hospital for the first time.

3. One last thing that was noticed is the long shot of Teddy and his new partner. It means we can get a good look at both of them and leads us on to the question; "Who can we trust?"

A few things we noticed for editing were:

1. There was a lot of slow motion. One example of this was when the creepy woman looked at Teddy in the garden. This makes the audience focus on her more and really try to figure her out.

2. The flashback was extremely fast paced. It cut from shot to shot very quickly. This is possibly to confuse the audience or perhaps a form of narrative retardation. The quickness is so the audience doesn't have time to see everything that is going on. They can't understand the whole flashback.

3. There is a montage during the flashback. It includes a tie, a record player, Teddy's wife and random water. What is the relevance of all these things? The audience has to work to figure it out.

A few things we noticed for mise en scene were:

1. There is obviously set and costume styling relating to the 1950s. You can tell from all the costumes and set roughly when the film is set in. It really makes you believe the film as it feels accurate and as it is set in the past you question; could this have happened?

2. Ward C was very dark and colourless compared to the other wards. This links to the fact that it is off limits. It also foreshadows the dark horrors held inside Ward C and makes the audience wonder if (and when) Teddy will pay Ward C a visit.

A few things we noticed for sound were:

1. Teddy says "Can't stomach the water." This foreshadows the drowning of his water later on in the film and makes the audience wonder why he doesn't like the water. This links to the random appearance of water during his flashback.

2.There is eerie music at the beginning which really makes the audience uncomfortable. There is also loud music when Teddy is going to the hospital which builds and gets louder. This makes the audience think something bad is going to happen to Teddy despite nothing bad actually happening then.

3. When Teddy looks at a creepy woman in the garden, there is silence. The creepy music stops as he stares at her. This is to make the audience focus on her more rather than on anything else (e.g. the music). This links to the slow motion when he looks at her. It makes the audience focus on her so much that they miss other details. She turns out, however, to be a red herring.

Lucky Number Slevin

What is a thriller?

A thriller is... (link to bubbl)

Beginning of thriller work

All the work dated before the 6th September is the work I did for summer homework. After this date is my thriller work.

The Hobbit

The Hobbit

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hobbit_(film_series)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hobbit:_An_Unexpected_Journey

Institutions

Peter Jackson - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hobbit_(film_series)
King Kong, The Lovely Bones - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Jackson
Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Zane Weiner, Carolynne Cunningham - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hobbit_(film_series)
The Frighteners, Heavenly Creatures - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Jackson#Filmography
Inception, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warner_Bros.
$303,003,568 - http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=hobbit.htm

Audience

http://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/77486/should-i-watch-the-hobbit-trilogy-before-the-lotr-trilogy
PG-13 for extended sequences of intense fantasy action violence, and frightening images. - http://parentpreviews.com/movie-reviews/film-info/hobbit-an-unexpected-journey12, moderate violence - http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/hobbit-unexpected-journey-2012-2 
8.0 - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903624/
Charming, spectacular, technically audacious… in short, everything you expect from a Peter Jackson movie. A feeling of familiarity does take hold in places, but this is an epically entertaining first course - http://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-hobbit-an-unexpected-journey
Genre and Conventions

12A, 169 min, Adventure, Fantasy - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903624/

Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary plot element, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic and magical creatures are common. Fantasy is generally distinguished from the genres of science fiction and horror by the expectation that it steers clear of scientific and macabre themes, respectively, though there is a great deal of overlap between the three, all of which are subgenres of speculative fiction. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FantasyTime Bandits, In a Better World - http://filmschoolrejects.com/features/13-movies-to-watch-after-youve-seen-the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug.php

Representation

In The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit in comfortable middle age at 50 years old, was hired in spite of himself as a "burglar" by the wizard Gandalf and 13 Dwarves led by their king Thorin Oakenshield on a quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain and its treasure from the dragon Smaug. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilbo_Baggins
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle-earth

"Even the smallest person can change the course of the future."  - https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100828012853AAfs83I

12 Years a Slave

12 Years a Slave

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12_Years_a_Slave_(film)

Institutions

Steve Mcqueen - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12_Years_a_Slave_(film)

Hunger, Shame - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_McQueen_(director)

Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Bill Pohlad, Steve McQueen, Arnon Milchan, Anthony Katagas - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12_Years_a_Slave_(film)

The Departed - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brad_Pitt

Black Swan, 127 Hours - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_Searchlight_Pictures

Divergent, That Awkward Moment - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entertainment_One

American Pie, Twilight - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summit_Entertainment

$56,671,993 - http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=twelveyearsaslave.htm

Audience

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/01/31/_12_years_a_slave_ad_declares_that_it_s_time_to_see_the_movie_why.html

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jan/14/12-years-a-slave-box-office-performance

15, strong violence, injury detail, sex, nudity and racist terms - http://bbfc.co.uk/releases/12-years-slave-2013

R for violence/cruelty, some nudity and brief sexuality - http://parentpreviews.com/movie-reviews/film-info/12-years-a-slave

And the film captures this. And it is very moving, and is very uncomfortable to the point where it is almost unbearable. But you and I just have to sit and watch it. As far as history is concerned, many had to live it. As far as the present is concerned, many still do. And yet despite this evil tale that the film tells, one cannot leave without realizing that in the midst of it, dare I say, the point of it, is that there is a relentless and unfailing beauty in the story being told; in the history being shown. And one that no amount of evil can take away - http://thoughtcatalog.com/kovie-biakolo/2014/03/why-everyone-should-see-12-years-a-slave/

Intense, unflinching, bold in its simplicity and radical in its use of image, sound and staging, 12 Years a Slave in many ways is the defining epic so many have longed for to examine — if not cauterize — America’s primal wound. - http://www.metacritic.com/movie/12-years-a-slave

Genre and Conventions

15  |  134 min  |  Biography, Drama, History - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2024544/

An essential element of historical fiction is a setting located in a temporal past. In this setting, historical fiction frequently portrays the manners and social conditions of the persons or times presented in the story and pays attention to other period details. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_fiction

Solomon Northup's Odyssey, Hunger - http://filmschoolrejects.com/features/12-movies-to-watch-after-youve-seen-12-years-a-slave.php

Representation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon_Northup

Based on an incredible true story of one man's fight for survival and freedom. In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2024544/plotsummary

The film tells the horrific true story of free black man Solomon Northup, who was drugged, kidnapped and sold into slavery in 1850s America to suffer years of abuse. - http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/12-years-slave-true-story-2989533

Shutter Island

Shutter Island

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shutter_Island_(film)

Institutions

The Departed, Hugo - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Scorsese

Alison Scott, Bradley J. Fischer, Mike Medavoy, Arnold W. Messer - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shutter_Island_(film)

Holes, Black Swan - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Medavoy

Jack Ryan, Indiana Jones - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paramount_Pictures

$128,012,934 - http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=shutterisland.htm

Audience

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/shutter-island

15, strong language, bloody injury, disturbing images - http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/shutter-island-film

R for disturbing violent content, language and some nudity - http://parentpreviews.com/movie-reviews/film-info/shutter-island

8.1 - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1130884/

DiCaprio, in his most haunting and emotionally complex performance yet, is the vessel Scorsese uses to lead us through the film’s laby­rinth. - http://www.metacritic.com/movie/shutter-island

Genre and Conventions

15, 138 min, Mystery, Thriller - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1130884/

A thriller provides the sudden rush of excitement, and exhilaration that drive the narrative, sometimes subtly with peaks and lulls, sometimes at a constant, breakneck pace. It keeps the audience on the "edge of their seats", akin to the sensation of hanging from a cliff, as the plot builds towards a climax. Literary devices such as red herrings, plot twists, and cliffhangers are used extensively. A thriller is usually a villain-driven plot, whereby he or she presents obstacles that the protagonist must overcome. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_(genre)

Secret Window, Memento - http://itcher.com/mag/good-movies-like-shutter-island/

Representation

https://stefansmovies.wordpress.com/2013/04/10/the-truth-about-shutter-island/

hutter Island is set in the 1950s. During that era, severe mental disturbances were often dealt with physically. In America, more than 40,000 patients were lobotomised over a 30-year period. - http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2010/jul/29/shutter-island-ending

http://screenrant.com/shutter-island-spoilers-discussion-vic-46052/

Taken

Taken

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taken_(film)

Institutions

Pierre Morel - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taken_(film)

District 13, From Paris with Love - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Morel
Lucy, 22 Bullets - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luc_Besson
EuropaCorp, M6 Films, Grive Productions, Canal+, TPS Star, M6, All Pictures Media, Wintergreen Productions, Dune Entertainment - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taken_(film)
Home Alone, Planet of the Apes - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20th_Century_Fox
$145,000,989 - http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=taken.htm

Audience

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/taken#
18, strong violence, torture - http://www.bbfc.co.uk/search/releases/taken
PG-13 for intense sequences of violence, disturbing thematic material, sexual content, some drug references and language - http://parentpreviews.com/movie-reviews/film-info/taken

- I will find you and I will kill you
7.9 - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0936501/
Taken is one of the best pure action movies of the last ten years. watching Liam Neeson rip Paris apart as he frantically searches for his daughter is both intense and great fun. Taken is an excellent movie from start to finish - http://www.metacritic.com/movie/taken

Genre and Conventions

18, 93 min, Action, Thriller - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0936501/
A thriller provides the sudden rush of excitement, and exhilaration that drive the narrative, sometimes subtly with peaks and lulls, sometimes at a constant, breakneck pace. It keeps the audience on the "edge of their seats", akin to the sensation of hanging from a cliff, as the plot builds towards a climax. Literary devices such as red herrings, plot twists, and cliffhangers are used extensively. A thriller is usually a villain-driven plot, whereby he or she presents obstacles that the protagonist must overcome. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_(genre)
Unknown, Olympus Has Fallen - http://itcher.com/mag/movies-like-taken/

Representation

Bryan "Bry" Mills is a retired CIA operative. After becoming divorced due to the strain his career put on his marriage, he decided that family was more important to him than his job. - http://takenfilm.wikia.com/wiki/Bryan_Mills
Paris - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0936501/locations
The film with its unique action and fast-paced style may be put together for audience consternation and entertainment, but the information behind it is the news of the sex trade that hurts victims and their families that is real. - http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/267290

Gone Girl

Gone Girl

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gone_Girl_(film)

http://www.newyorker.com/books/joshua-rothman/gone-girl-really

Institutions

David Fincher - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gone_Girl_(film)
Seven, Fight Club - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Fincher
Arnon Milchan, Reese Witherspoon, Ceán Chaffin, Joshua Donen - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gone_Girl_(film)
Pretty Woman, 12 Years a Slave - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regency_Enterprises
The Maze Runner, Devil's Due - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TSG_Entertainment
Home Alone, Planet of the Apes - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20th_Century_Fox
$167,767,189 - http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=gonegirl.htm

Audience

You just have to read this book - http://www.destroythebrain.com/movies/movie-news/book-review-gone-girl-by-gillian-flynn
18, strong bloody violence, very strong language - http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/gone-girl-film
R Rated - http://www.finalreel.co.uk/gone-girl-18-rating-uk-bbfc-guidelines-c-t/

- Gone Girl's Amy Dunne is the Most Disturbing Female Villain of All Time
8.2 - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2267998/
Surgically precise, grimly funny and entirely mesmerizing over the course of its swift 149-minute running time, this taut yet expansive psychological thriller represents an exceptional pairing of filmmaker and material - http://www.metacritic.com/movie/gone-girl

Genre and Conventions


18, 149 min, Drama, Mystery, Thriller - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2267998/
A thriller provides the sudden rush of excitement, and exhilaration that drive the narrative, sometimes subtly with peaks and lulls, sometimes at a constant, breakneck pace. It keeps the audience on the "edge of their seats", akin to the sensation of hanging from a cliff, as the plot builds towards a climax. Literary devices such as red herrings, plot twists, and cliffhangers are used extensively. A thriller is usually a villain-driven plot, whereby he or she presents obstacles that the protagonist must overcome. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_(genre)
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - http://hclpd.hubpages.com/hub/Movies-Like-Gone-Girl
 It was fast-paced and between the two characters' point of view I started asking myself who was telling the truth? - http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2051002-is-gone-girl-a-mystery-or-a-thriller

Representation

The most dangerous thing about Amy is that she will do absolutely anything, including lying, blackmailing, and even committing murder, to get people to submit to her. She wants to see Nick on death row for cheating on her, tries to control her neighbors at the cabin complex when she runs away, and kills Desi so she can pin her disappearance on him. - http://www.shmoop.com/gone-girl/amy-elliott-dunne.html Nick's relationship with Amy is the most critical factor in his journey as a character. Nick tells us that he initially fell in love with Amy because she was fun. She was funny. She made me laugh. Somewhere along the line, though, things changed. The laughter stopped. She got distant and moody, became a pile of skin and soul on the floor - http://www.shmoop.com/gone-girl/nick-dunne.html
http://www.shmoop.com/gone-girl/nick-dunne-timeline.html
http://www.shmoop.com/gone-girl/amy-elliott-dunne-timeline.html
http://blog.booma.us/north-carthage-missouri-gillian-flynns-gone-girl/
https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-message-of-Gone-Girl
http://whatculture.com/film/ending-gone-girl-really-mean.php