The Red Snow

QUESTION 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Since I first edited and filmed the preliminary task I feel that I have gained a vast amount of new knowledge and experience. One feature I believe that I have improved upon is filming. In comparison to my Preliminary task, I feel that my Thriller shows more sophisticated shots and not only better camera angles but also cleaner shots. This has had a large effect on how our thriller will be reviewed and criticised and in luckily, this key problem in the preliminary task was not carried over into the thriller.
The main skill which I have learnt is editing, since the beginning of the course I had some editing knowledge but the majority of the software was new to me and I had little understanding of how to stitch my project together. After the preliminary task I had learnt a lot of the basics for editing, and since then I have refined the skills by repeating the edit and fine tuning every ounce of error that I could see. In my thriller the amount of cross dissolves, dip to blacks and addictive dissolves that I used contrasts well with the lack of dissolves used in my preliminary task. This shows that over the course, I learnt that in order to build suspense I need to make the scenes move faster. In fact, my thriller is half the time of my preliminary task purely because I learnt that my thriller needed to be fast paced.
Another issue was not technical based but instead it was an issue with the group. At many times the clashing opinions would push some people out of the group whilst others would argue the disagreed with the thriller. It seemed impossible to agree. This changed however after we made our first thriller and it was so far from a good grade that we decided to start again. This original failed thriller was in many ways was the the tipping point between not understanding and understanding what is required from my media product. The original thriller lacked a variety of camera angles and this taught us to open our minds to intertextual references and generic conventions that we would need to add into our thriller.
We utilised the snow in early january as a way to start over, we quickly created a story which could create suspense and appeal to our audience. We then filmed every single shot and angle which we knew of. This was key to our thriller because when the snow melted we would need to already have enough shots to complete the thriller. We decided to drag the character of Tiffany through the snow in order to create the suspense we needed for a successful thriller. We learnt a lot from the original thriller, for example costumes became a lot more important in our final thriller because we needed to contrast the dead body with the snow and we could not achieve this effect without including vibrant costumes. We decided to put Tiffany in a red coat so that we could link her to the little girl in "Schindlers list". This intertextual reference was created due to the lack of intertextuality in our first thriller. It seemed that our motives for the second thriller were to do everything that we didn't do in our original thriller. This is what caused us to learn the needed skills in progression from our preliminary product to our final product.

I found out that the use of sound bridges add a lot of effect to the scene and after analysing a few Thrillers I found out that "Once Upon A Time In America" used a phone ringing to create a sound bridge during a murder investigation. We realised that using the sound bridge of Tiffany's phone ringing would add to the importance of the phone call and make the ringing become more and more distressing. I also found my titles with a similar system, I decided that if I was going to use any title at all it would have to already have the font of a successful thriller. I finally decided that the font from the Third Man would be most successful. In comparison to our first thriller or preliminary task which didn't even have titles the Final Thriller Product shows that journey of understanding that we took as a group though out the course.

QUESTION 6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

At the beginning of the course I had little knowledge on how to edit and construct a film and the most I'd ever used to edit before was iMovie on my mac when I was very young. Therefore throughout the course of the year I have learnt a lot about the technologies that are vital for the construction of media products. Very quickly I started to pick up on different camera angles and their uses, which led us to create a thriller where suspense and tension played a key part. I learnt that low angle tilts showed the characters as dominant and unpredictable, whereas a birds eye shot would show the characters as being vulnerable or insignificant. This knowledge came in useful when constructing the thriller because it allowed us to add intertextual references and confirm generic stereotypes.

I firstly had to learn how to use a camera, with the assistance of a tripod I gained the knowledge needed to start filming my thriller. Overall the camera work was not the issue due to the information already obtained in class. Instead, the editing software was the hardest obstacle. At first the my lack of understanding limited me to only working on the simple side of things, but after learning more about how to edit I branched out further to all aspects of the edit. I learnt how important titles were and when to place them within the thriller. I also learnt the importance of cross dissolves and creating non-linear narratives in an understandable way. Editing the sound was a key feature to the edit because I had to remove all the sound and then replace each scene with a looped dragging sound in a way for the dragging to fit with each scene but also work well when creating a sound bridge. We captured and edited our film on Premier Elements, this was a new experience for me and I found it at first quite hard to navigate the software. After a while I realised the perks of using premier elements and began to understand the complex system of stitching two shots together, how to cut the shot at the exact millisecond for the maximum suspense to be created.

The blogs, were at first irritating, due to the images being unwilling to move without deleting work I found that the blogs were highly inefficient and stopped me from progressing with my ideas and understanding. After some time however I got my blog up to scratch and found that organising and presenting my ideas on the internet made the work much more enjoyable and efficient.

Youtube, which had never really played a part in my life thus far, suddenly offered a new opportunity for annotating and analysing work, This became useful across the entire board, not just with constructing my thriller but also with researching Tv Drama. I analysed specific scenes and learnt more about the camera angles and intertextual references through this process. For example, we linked the characters of Peter, Blake and Tiffany to The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. This was effective because we created a modern day version of 3 iconic characters after analysing specific thrillers and genres.

The Internet Movie Data Base became very useful throughout the course because it allowed us to research thrillers and thriller genres at the click of a button. We could find out about the director and link two of his films together to create intertextual references. I also found that the Internet Movie Data Base was very useful for screenshots and plot summaries of films that were unobtainable. For example, from the Internet Movie Data Base I found the thriller "Fargo" and managed to make key intertextual links between the two.

Overall each piece of media technology has had its own effect on my understanding throughout the course, but the most interesting of all has been Premier Elements, which taught me how to use all aspects of my knowledge at once in order to create a final product I could be proud of.

QUESTION 5: How did you attract/address your audience?

We attracted our audience through the characters and plot, we used both female and male characters in order to attract both genders and used the conflict between the Middle class and the Working class. After handing out questionnaires to our target audience it became clear what was most appealing about our thriller. 4 people handed us feedback two girls and two boys. A key feature was that they enjoyed the soundtrack, which is the sound of dragging running through the background of the shots. They explained that this created suspense and made the characters feel not just isolated but also created the idea that they can't escape their crimes. We used two sound bridges in our thriller and both got very positive responses. This showed us that our soundtrack was very attractive to our target audience and made the thriller enjoyable to watch.

We addressed our audience directly by aiming the soundtrack at the target audience, we also based the characters around the audience so that they will find it easier to relate to the characters problems. When handing out questionnaires we realised that the one problem with our thriller was that the non-linear narrative was hard to explain. This showed us that mainstream audiences would not understand or enjoy our thriller because it does not appeal to them. However, in order to reach a larger audience we could alter this aspect of the thriller and make the narrative simpler so that out thriller would appeal to both the target audience and the mainstream audience.
A very strong aspect of our thriller was the use of sound in the background of the opening scenes. We built suspense throughout with the use of sound bridges and this is suspense is a key feature for influencing the target audience. In the shower scene in 'Psycho', the use of diegetic and non-diegetic sound creates suspense and tension which grips the audience as they watch Marion Crane fall at the hands of the shower enigma. The violin screeching which is heard throughout makes the scene fast paced and even more violent. This is a key example of how we used sound to grip our audience throughout our thriller.
The final comments gained showed that our target audience would very much enjoy to watch more of our thriller. This showed us that it had successfully addressed the audience and would become successful within that group.

QUESTION 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?

Our audience would be between the ages of 16 and 20 and would enjoy independent films, this is because of our young cast who the audience would relate to and our low budget. Because our thriller 'The Red Snow' is not a mainstream film the target audience will be smaller and harder to advertise for. Our audience will be film lovers and this would allow us to reach them from social networking sites as they try to research new films. Our audience would be mainly middle class due to the main character coming from a very middle class background and because the plot tackles the conflict between the working class and the middle class.

The audience is mainly aimed at 16 to 20 year olds but this does not rule out the older generations who also love independent films. The Australian thriller 'Animal Kingdom' is targeted at young audiences in the same way that our thriller is, but it also reached out to the older audiences through its use of older characters and plot. Due to the lack of older characters it is the plot which interests this older audience.
Because our plot follows three different topics, youth, mental problems and social classes in conflict. This links to the wide audience for "This is England" which has covered some of the same problems. "This is England" is also shown on WARP-FILMS to the same audience which we are appealing to, and the links between both films could influence our target audience to watch our thriller.
Our Thriller is mainly based around the issues of youth. The characters are shown as isolated, irrational and violent. This could link to the current generation who lash out at society as it becomes more desperate. Overall our audience will be young and enjoy independent films, we will reach this audience through the links that our Thriller has with many other popular independent teen films.

Question 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Our Thriller 'The Red Snow' was intended to work along the same lines as Animal Kingdom, in the sense that it would be targeted at specific audiences and specialist cinemas like Cinema City. Because our thriller is an Independent Film it will be distributed through social networking sites like Facebook, this will allow our media product to spread quickly and cheaply to our target audience which is middle class teens between 16 and 20. YouTube would also work in this way because it would allow the trailers to be easily accessible and would link to online sites where the Thriller is available. Much like YouTube IMDB (internet movie data base) would also show trailers, photos and small story summaries in order to reach our audience. The most important online distributer overall would have to be WARPFILMS, which is specialises in distributing independent films and helping new successful directors. From the WARPFILMS website we notice that the layout is very basic with films listed down the page which may interest the our target audience. Another reason we would distribute through WARPFILMS is their current attention to Snowtown, which is an independent thriller following young teenagers through their deviant actions. This is useful because it links to the plot of our own thriller and 'The Red Snow' could become publicised in the same way.

 Apart from an online based system our thriller would also be distributed to cinemas. As previously stated we would use Cinema City as our main distributer because it rarely distributes mainstream films, but instead advertises to the audience of young middle class teens who enjoy independent films. As mentioned above we intended to distribute our thriller in the same way that Animal Kingdom was distributed. This means that our Thriller would be shown at very few cinemas and would gain its publicity through social networking sites in order to make sure that only the target audience sees the film and that the advertising does not cost much money at all.

Question 2: How does your media represent particular social groups?

Our thriller instantly shows the stereotypical roles within each gender, with the male characters being in control and dominant, whilst the female character Tiffany is the victim of the crimes. This confirms the conventions of gender within thrillers. The majority of all crimes are committed by working class males, so we utilised these groups in order to show a truly represent the crimes currently within the UK. We also used two male characters in order to portray how vulnerable Tiffany is and the danger she put herself into.

We utilised two different social classes when representing crime, we show Blake as being a member of the working class through his costume and actions within the opening. The manual labour Blake is seen doing in the opening links to the idea that he is used to getting his hands dirty and therefore more likely to carry out a murder. This shows the working class from a negative viewpoint and represents them as being deviant criminals.
The other social class we used was the middle class, we did this in order to show the divide between social classes. The reaction to the murder differs between both characters showing the different norms and values of each social group. Blake is seen to be dragging the body of the girl through the snow, which links to the idea that he has no remorse, this is key to his character because it shows that he either had strong motives behind committing the murder or is unfazed by deviant actions. Peter is shown throughout the scene to be sitting in a bathroom distraught. This links to the middle class having the correct values because he feels guilt where Blake does not. We did not add the upper class into this because we were trying to show a true representation of crime currently within the UK. To add to this link to crime we cast the characters as both being Teenagers. This was especially effective because it represents youth crime within the UK and also strongly links to the riots, which caused many social classes to fight back against society. This links well to Peters motives within the thriller because he is a member of the middle class who's actions caused him to sink down to the stereotypical level of the working class.

The stereotypical views of women were the social group we aimed to represent within our thriller. We decided not to challenge the thriller conventions of women but instead to confirm them... This was in order to give the true representation of women within crimes. Our thriller 'The Red Snow' works well due to the devices between social classes and genders. The 3 characters link well to the 'Good The Bad and The Ugly' due to their roles within the thriller. Blake being The Bad due to his lack of remorse, Peter being The Good, because he represent the feelings of the audience and the guilt shown in the bathroom scene shows that he has the same norms and values as the target audience. Tiffany is The Ugly due to her timid nature and the fact that both The Good and The Bad hold all of the power, leaving The Ugly in the shadows.

The costume of each character represents their status within the society... Blake's hoody and track suit links him to being poor and therefore we link his lack of money to his motives and reasons for becoming involved with the crimes. Peter's large coat links him to the fashion of middle class teenagers, this shows us that his connection to Blake is uncommon and that Blake may have been an unwelcome influence within Peters life. We see Peters vulnerability when the camera cuts to a birds eye view of him holding his head in his hands. Tiffany's costume is of a similar style to Peters which could link to the idea that they are connected through a friendship group. Tiffany's costume also links to the fact that she stands out as a victim. Her large red coat links directly to the small girl in "Schindlers list" who is caught and killed by the Nazi's.

QUESTION 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Our thriller "Red Snow" has been influenced by many media products, it has linked from the camera angles, locations, generic costumes and character types to the soundtrack, plot and Titles. The main links between our thriller and other media products is through the plot, The first of these links is animal Kingdom. In animal Kingdom we see Joshua, sitting in a bathroom trying to isolate himself from the murder which he thinks has just taken place, whilst in the bathroom the camera cuts to extreme close ups of items which belongs to the victim, this shows the audience that he cannot hide from the situation. We utilised this idea of escaping to a confined space in our thriller, only to find something worse in the room, in our thriller. This location was also utilised in order to create tension because the room feels claustrophobic and the shower curtains are creating an enigma within the room. This is very effective because it links to the murder of Marion Crane in Psycho, where a man brutally stabs a woman to death whilst she is in the shower, during the scene the killers face is always in the shadows creating the perfect enigma. This is an effective link because the character of Peter in our thriller is on the other side of the shower curtain, showing that he is the killer and he can't remember who he killed.

Another plot link is with Fargo, a thriller based around a man hiring to men to kidnap his wife only to find the situation turning gruesome and falling out of his control. This links well because the character of Blake links very well to the henchmen because he is shown getting his hands dirty dragging a body, whilst Peter is sitting in a bathroom far from the crime. This is foreshadowing that Peter let the situation get out of control and that he didn't mean for anything to happen to the girl that Blake is dragging along. Another interesting link is with the locations of both of these Thrillers, Fargo and our thriller "Red Snow" are both set in the snow, the snow links to the title because red snow connotes blood being splattered across the usually white snow and the idea that the blood leaves a stain upon the landscape and also across Peters life.

The costumes for our thrillers were based more around social classes than thrillers. We went for fashions which exist in sub cultures which have been stereotyped as being either good or bad natured. For example we gave Blake a black hoody to show that he is trying to be hidden but instead he is clashing with the snow to show his lack of purity. This hoody also gives Blake a rough, poor feel, which could link to the idea that he would do anything to get his hands on money, this links to the character of Jason from essex boys, who's fashion gives the distinct impression that he is poor but trying to conceal the fact. This link could also foreshadow Blake's actions later on within the murder. Tiffany, the murder Victim is wearing a bright orange, which once again clashes with the snow creating the idea that her body will be hard to hide. The orange coat also links to the idea that she is quite happy and was caught off guard. Peter wears a Large black coat and looks middle class, this could link to the idea that he has never had any link to murders before and had to bring Blake into the situation so as to successfully hide the body, the coat also links to Harry Lime from 'The Third Man', who wears a large black coat which does not conceal his appearance at all, this could link to not being prepared to hide from his actions. Another Interesting link is between Blake and Peters lower body, they both wear very similar trousers and shoes and this could show the audience that they are both similar characters and that they are both equally guilty for this crime.

Another intertextual reference with 'The Third Man' and our thriller is the Titles. The same font was utilised from 'The Third Man' in order  to strengthen the idea that the death at the centre of both films may not be all that it seems. This will be an effective link because it will make the audience think twice about Tiffany's death. Another link between the two is the large black coat worn by Harry Lime and Peter from our thriller. This was in order to strengthen the enigma around our character and could link to the idea that Peter may go into hiding.


In our thriller product "The Red Snow" we cut between the exterior and interior shots in order to create an illusion and that reality is being slightly twisted. This could link to the thriller "Fight Club" where the main character is fighting personal demons and consequently is not aware of his secondary persona. This cutting also helps to create suspense throughout the opening. we also used the worms eye shot from 'Once upon a time in America' to put the audience in the position of the character, this is effective because it brings the audience into the film and also helps link to the idea that the character above is in total control of the character we are seeing through. 


Another link between our thriller and "Once Upon a Time in America" is with the sound bridge used other both murder scenes. In "Once Upon a Time in America" a phone is heard ringing throughout a scene, whilst the camera cuts from victim to victim, this links the phone call to the deaths and shows the audience that it must be important. We used the same technique in out thriller to show the desperation of finding Tiffany. This is effective because the sound bridge carries on until he know longer needs to find her. 


Within the titles I used a cross dissolve in order to make certain parts of the white Title turn black, this is in order for the audience to see that throughout the thriller the bloody murder follows the characters. This is also effective because it shows that everything becomes corrupted by the characters. The white titles are almost foreshadowing the idea that the Red Snow is stained with corruption. 

Another link within the titles is the production company name, Torn Curtain was the name of Alfred Hitchcock's 1966 thriller. I used this name because it not only links to the curtains in Psycho which create the enigma but also because The character of Peter nearly tears the curtains down when finding Tiffany's body in his bath. This is a very effective because it foreshadows the events in the bathroom and also links to Alfred Hitchcock's famous thriller Psycho.

Intertextuality within my thriller

The first intertextual reference is to 'Fargo', due to the snow shown throughout, this could link to the plot of 'Fargo' where a man hires somebody to kidnap his wife, only to have the situation spiral out of control. This links well with our thriller because the main character of Peter captures Tiffany for unknown reasons only to start regretting his actions. Another link between these two films is the hired men that kidnap the wife in Fargo, and the Man in our thriller who is scene later to be dragging Tiffany's body through the snow.


Another intertextual reference is between 'The Third Man' and our own thriller 'The Red Snow'. I utilised the same font in both to strengthen the idea that the death at the centre of both films may not be all that it seems. This will be an effective link because it will make the audience think twice about Tiffany's death. Another link between the two is the large black coat worn by Harry Lime and Peter from our thriller. This was in order to strengthen the enigma around our character because we rarely see Harry Lime's face or Peter's.

Another film that we can link our Thriller to is 'Animal Kingdom' this is because both main male characters sit in a bathroom thinking about a close female friend they have lost. This link could show that it is not directly Peter's fault that Tiffany is 'dead' but the death could still be linked back to him and that Tiffany's murderer could also be after Peter. Another intertextual reference is to 'Fight Club', this is because our character could be fighting personal demons which cause him to create a second persona. This is intertextually linked through the flashing between two characters, one pulling a body through the snow and the other trying to remember what happened to Tiffany. This could link in a way back to Fargo because the main character is not in control of the two men he hired but it was his own greed that caused them to become part of his life.

Intertextuality

Intertextuality is when something alludes to or references something else of the similar ilk, this is in order for the thriller genre to be developed. Quentin Tarantino uses intertextuality in many of his films in order to strengthen the genre and in order to create and build suspense much more effectively. 3 films which all link together quite well are 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly', 'Kill Bill vol. 2' and 'Buried'. Each of these films use the scene of being buried alive in a coffin as a way of creating suspense and vulnerability. In 'Kill Bill' we have several intertextual references that link it with 'The Good the Bad and the Ugly', whereas in 'Buried' there are very few intertextual references apart from the idea that somebody is trapped underground in a coffin with nothing but a torch and a few other handy items.

The first intertextual reference is the soundtrack. When the bride in 'Kill Bill' is shot in the chest, the soundtrack from 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' plays, this gives the audience the idea that Budd (the character that shot the bride) is about to do something that will link to the graveyard scene in 'The good the Bad and the Ugly.' The next scene shows Budd burying the bride alive in a coffin, this links to the graveyard scene in 'The good, the Bad and the Ugly' again because the locations have been linked. The charters in both these films are also have intertextual links towards each other. Blondie (the Good) Sentenza (the Bad) and Tuco (the Ugly) all link to the characters in 'Kill Bill' this is because the Bride, who is called blondie by Bill is the good character.  Bill is the bad because he causes other peoples misfortunes and Budd is the Ugly because he is doing the manual labour and work for the more dominant characters. This links well with the Bride's intensions, in 'The Good the Bad and the Ugly' the Good kills the Bad, which could link to the end of the film where the Bride kills Bill.

The Buried alive scene in Kill Bill links to the buried scene in the film Buried because they both start off in complete darkness but then manage to use a torch to start to find their way out. This is an effective intertextual reference because it makes you believe that the character in 'Buried' is going to escape in the same way that the Bride manages to escape. The claustrophobic space utilised in both films creates the idea that there is no hope for escape, but with the Bride we know that she needs to get out in order to 'have her stand off with the bad'. Their is no real reference to whether the character Paul Conroy in 'Buried' will escape or not apart from the fact that the Bride escaped the same situation.

Once Upon a Time in America

Whilst researching for our thriller we were shown shots from once upon a time in america, these shots have become very useful because they show the characters brute like exterior and create links behind the characters true personality and there intentions. One shot that we decided to use in our own thriller was the amazing worm's eye view shot. A worm's eye view allows the audience to see from a characters vulnerable perception and allows the audience to become placed within the situation. Within this shot we notice a lot about the character standing above. He is obviously very dominant due to his large influence among the shot and the fixed look of anger upon his face. We do however see that he is helping the character that we are seeing the shot from the point of, we know this because the character has extended his arm across the shot, almost creating a shield across the worm eyes body. We also know this because the characters trilby hat, (which is a generic convention to most thrillers because it shows social status whilst creating danger and reassuring the idea of power and potential enigmas) is tilted away from the character showing his face plainly, in many ways this is his non verbal way of telling the man on the floor that he has arrived and that he will be okay.
The final reason that this worms eye view is such an effective shot is because the shot is reversed, this could create the idea that the man is feeling faint and is not truly with the scene, or the alternative view that this character is on the opposite side to the other men and therefore he is a stronger character.

Throughout the film close ups and tilts are used in order to reinforce enigmas and to add mystery into the scene. In this shot a close up is used in order for the horrible situation to feel realistic and for the violence to become truly represented. This style of close up would be efficient in our own thriller opening because it would allow the audience to truly understand the murder. For example, when our character is lying dead in the snow, a close up shot of her blood covered face would allow the audience to pity her at the same time as understanding how she died. This could allow her death to be linked to an item later on in the thriller, for example, if she had bullet wounds then a close up of a gun or an empty box of ammunition would link the item with the murder to show the audience who committed the crime.

Jackie Brown Analysis

Jackie Brown is the first thriller to be directed by Quentin Tarantino after his first independent Thriller 'Reservoir Dogs' gained large publicity. The film centres around a middle aged black air hostess, who helps the police to take down an arms dealer, Tarantino does this in order to develop the thriller genre. Throughout the film racial and sexist stereotypes are portrayed in several different lights depending on the character. In many ways the character of Jackie Brown confirms racial stereotypes whilst contradicting typical thriller conventions. Race and Gender are linked throughout 'Jackie Brown' because the main character is a female african american therefore is an easily discriminated character. 

The opening shot is a tracking shot which shows Jackie Brown from waste up as she walks through an airport, this is longest tracking shot in film history and it lasts a full 3 minutes. We instantly notice that she is agitated, this shows us that she is worried about being late somewhere, this tense body language shows instantly that she is used to being a victim of discrimination. The soundtrack is called "Across 110th Street" and the lyrics reference to life on the streets in america, it mentions pimps and drug dealers which links back to the fact that Jackie Brown gets herself into trouble with an Arms Dealer. She gets caught smuggling drugs through the airport which confirms the deviant stereotypes already held against african american women. When watching the character of Jackie Brown we notice that she is walking much faster than everybody else, this links to the idea that she has to follow different rules than everybody else due to her ethnicity and gender. The shot then changes to a low angle tracking shot, this makes her seem more dominant within the shot, which could be because she has been toughened by a harsh life or because she is more visible to the public as a threat. In the shot above we also see that she is the only character within the shot to be in focus, this could link to her significants or the earlier idea that she is being watched because the public believe her to be a threat.

the above clip shows the shooting of 'Beaumont Livingston', within Jackie Brown. It begins with an establishing shot in which both the characters are having a conversation they then enter Ordell's car. Ordell is the lethal arms dealer that Jackie Brown later gets involved with. We see instantly that Ordell is used to being in control of situations and getting his own way, we see from the body language of both men that Ordell is very demanding whereas Beaumont is very limp like a puppet, this links to his willingness to do what Ordell tells him. During their conversation the two charters use very racist language, this is done so that they both fit into their racial stereotype that people would put them into.

The next important shot we see is Tarantino's classic boot shot. This shot is used in all of Tarantino's films and creates vulnerability of the character whilst also confirming the dominance of the person standing above the camera. Within this scene Ordell Trick's Beaumont into climbing inside the boot of his car. He then slowly walks back to his car and starts to put his gloves on. This is very sadistic behaviour and links Ordell to Bill in Tarantino's later film Kill Bill, this is because both characters put a lot of detail into their actions in order to perfect the deviant actions that they commit. Another Link between the two characters is the flashy jewellery that they both wear, this is too symbolise the characters arrogance and create the idea that they come from working backgrounds and are badly attempting to look rich. The close up shots of the gloves being put on connotes crime and automatically makes the audience think that Ordell is about to do something where he doesn't want his hands to get dirty, for example, the murder of Beaumont.

The next scene shows Ordell taking Beaumont out into a large desolate field.  Tarantino uses a long shot in order for the audience to see the whole location and to understand how alone Beaumont is in his situation. The shot is extremely dark creating an enigma of not truly knowing what is happening, this helps to create suspense within the scene. This scene introduces us to Ordell's sadistic personality, his actions show that he is quite psychopathic, this once again links too the character of Bill. This is because both characters have very long calm conversations with their victims before suddenly shooting them without any real signs of remorse. 

The final clip takes place in a mall car park and contrasts completely with the murder of Beaumont. Louis, who is Ordell's long time friend, takes Melanie, a female character who lives with Ordell, to a mall in order to collect a lot of money from Jackie Brown, Louis is very agitated and has obviously taken some form of drug before the trade off. Melanie is very careless about being desecrate with the trade, which leads louis to become extremely angry and shoot her in the middle of a car park. These actions contrast well with the Ordell's discrete murder because where Ordell murders at night in an empty location, Louis just shoots without preparation and in the open with witnesses much more likely. The tension however was build more with louis' murder than Ordell's because there was much less warning before the murder, the actions are so erratic that louis seems to be the single most dangerous character in the film, that is until Ordell shoots him in a later scene.

FONTS AND TITLES FOR THRILLER

TITLES:
After much consideration I decided that my title would need to involve the word snow, for example DEEP SNOW, THE SNOW. I finally decided that RED SNOW not only sounded the best but linked the must to the deviant actions which take place in the snow. The word red symbolising the blood, and contrasting with the white snow to create the imagery of blood splattered across the snow. This is effective because it links to the idea that the murder of Tiffany Wise was hard to cover up, much like trying to remove blood from the pure white snow. The Titles [directed by, starring and produced by] then needed too be placed throughout the Thriller opening. I decided in the end too place all of the titles on top of the snow shots. This is in order for the detailed shots in the bathroom to be uninterrupted and also so that the black writing can contrast with the snow, making the titles easier to see.
FONTS:
The font was surprisingly the most time consuming part of my entire edit, this mainly down to the limited selection of fonts. At first I decided that I would utilise the Quentin Tarantino style for titles, where a large font covers the majority of the screen in his classic yellow.
after getting as close to this font as possible I decided to make the font Red to link back to the title and the idea that somebody has been murdered. When I had finished I was left with a Title which looked like this:

This title sadly
did not work for me because it seemed too flashy, it lacked subtlety and even when shrunk the font would still make the title curt across the shot in a way which just seemed too tacky. I would have too rethink my font if I wanted an effective title sequence. For inspiration I decided to research even more thriller titles.
After looking into Animal Kingdom, once upon a Time in america and Memento I finally realised that the best titles are the originals. The Third Man stood out instantly as a strong yet discrete title, the title was stacked word by word on top of each other creating a compact and effective image. It was almost as if the title was dependant on each layer to hold it up, this gave the idea that everything was in the balance and about too collapse. I then decided that my title needed to have a reasonable order too it, as well as my font needing to be more precise. I added the following font to all of my titles.

This new font was simple but not too formal like times new roman, it worked due to its simplicity, I needed the title too be spread out in one line because I would place it along the bottom of a shot where preserving detail is important. I kept the size small and made sure that the black would always contrast with the whitest parts of snow. Now that I had my font prepared I wanted to create the ordered tower effect shown in the third man. In the end I managed to fit the following title in effectively, the resized titles did not take as much space as the previous clumsy red titles, so I managed to fit them into places which previously a title would not have worked. I stuck this final layered title in a shot where a hand is scene to be picking up a bracelet. This shot later links to the idea of perfecting a crime, which is why the many layers help to show the preparation that goes into carrying out a murder.

How are stereotypes represented in shameless?

Shameless presents a range of working class stereotypes, it portrays them as being morally corrupt and deviant, whilst also contrasting this image with middle class values such as caring for children. Frank is the character who creates the most stereotypes, in one shot we see him drinking and smoking in a pub whilst looking after his two babies, This scene adds levels of comedy to the scene because, whilst talking about his views on parenting there is the diegetic sound of his babies crying in the background. This shows that Frank is an awful parent and that he lacks the skills needed to look after children, it also confirms the stereotype that the people of the working class are bad parents.

The clip shows sequences, which are unrelated, this portrays the characters lives as being very problematic, for example it cuts from crime to parenting to crime, almost as if stating that there is no real difference. This also enables the audience to witness all the different characters storylines and see how their lives link whilst at the same time showing the classic stereotypes of working class behavior. The first shot in this clip is of a couple sitting down on their sofa, they are both lying very far down on the sofa and you instantly think that they are worn out from working. This is a mid shot which slightly zooms as the scene goes on enabling the audience to get to know the characters, this zoom takes so long that it is almost like we are slowly focusing on the characters true problems.

There is then a point of view shot, this shot comes straight out of the television and shows once again the lower pleasures, which are enjoyed by the working class. It also give the impression that the working class have big families, the family is spread out over the floor and the edges of sofas etc. This shows that the people in the working class don’t have enough money to tend to the needs of all. There is then an over shoulder shot of two women having a conversation if a different room, the shot is mainly focusing on their expressions throughout as they talking about the difficulty of parenting, there is then a close up shot of vodka, this continues to show the stereotype that the working class need alcohol in their lives, and the idea that they are all alcoholics.

The final scene within the clip shows a police man who is on speaking terms with one of the families asking whether or not the husband/father has stolen a car. This shows us instantly that this character is a thief because the policeman has obviously caught him committing a crime or knows that he has been deviant in the past. The idea that the policeman is helping the man out gives us the idea that he was once working class and that he is still a member of their community in many ways. When the man is asked whether or not he did steal the car, all he does is shrug and drink a beer, this instantly shows us that he did commit the crime but knows that he should not say anything which may effect him in court. The next shot is a close up shot of the man and his wife standing in a dark garage looking in towards the camera, the characters look worried and after the husband/father swears the camera then shows a large empty warehouse, this tells the audience that the characters have lost the car which they had previously stolen.

Several types of lighting are used in this clip, for example chiascuro lighting is shown to connote mystery, as there is a character on the wrong side of the law. There is not much true representation in Shameless because it zooms in on the small amount of people within society who actually fit the majority of stereotypes for the working class.

The Third Man

The Third Man is by far the most influential thriller of all time. The entire film has influenced generations of directors, the conventions used throughout really set 'The Third Man' out from the crowd. Within the opening credits of the third man the title sequence is played over "The Harry Lime Theme, the music is tune is very jumpy and played on a string instrument, this instantly links to the idea that the character is pulling strings in order to get what he wants and also the idea that he strings people along so that they believe what he wants them to believe. The shot never moves from the strings of the instrument, this instantly creates the enigma of who is playing the instrument, presumably, Harry Lime is pulling the strings.
The film is set in post war Vienna, this is an interesting aspect to the thriller because it links the deviance of the war with the people who now lived in a ruined world. In the photo on the right you can see that the ice has cracked, showing the splintered society that remained. Another signifier to the war is the boat and corpse that float in the water. The idea that they are both left floating among the metaphorical broken city is very effective on the audience because it shows that the director was trying to show that society had been hardened by the war and consequently the city had lost some of its humanity.
The final generic convention used is the smoke and fog covering the background. The idea that the city is becoming more industrialised links to the idea that Vienna was a place where the war could be put in the past and people could easily slip through the radar due to everybody escaping their pasts.

The iconic costumes do not change with "The Third Man", we see generic conventions such as trilby hats and overcoats. The trilby hat is also utilised in 'Once upon a time in America' as well as many other thrillers, this is due to the fact that it effectively shadows the face and gives off the impression of power and wealth. In 'Essex Boys' we see the deviant character dressed in flashy clothes which clearly state his arrogance. But in 'The Third Man' we see the characters as being sly and sophisticated whilst still upholding the deviant atmosphere they deserve.
Harry Lime, who is the enigma for the majority of the film is seen donned in a trilby hat at his first appearance. we instantly link this to his deviant intensions. In this shot we see that harry is hiding in shadows, this gives the idea that Harry either doesn't want to be seen or that he shouldn't be seen. He also casts a heavy shadow up against the wall, this hints at the possibility of him having a second personality.
The shot shows Harry looking up slightly and from his wrinkled forehead we see that he is very cautious about being seen in public, it also has a hint of sorrow as if his appearance from the shadows was merely a cry for help aimed at an old friend. The Tilted Trilby hat adds effect to this shot because it creates the idea that Harry is different from most criminals within the city. The shot is also on a slight tilt, this makes the audience feel uneasy about Harrys appearance because until that moment he was supposedly dead.
The tilt could also represent the idea that he is on the edge and that his actions have caused him to become a social outcast. We see later that Harry has been using the sewers in order to travel across the city.

This shot is particularly effective because it shows Holly Martins first visit to Harry's apartment, as he walks down the street he walks under a lander, which is commonly known to be an omen of bad luck. This could mean that Holly is going to have some bad luck with what the man he is pursuing. The shot is low angle and it shows Holly to be looking up at the building beside him, this shows that he is taken in by the large city and that it has an over powering effect on him. This also shows that he is to preoccupied with the city to notice any danger, for instance the ladder, this links to later on in the film where his actions have led him to situations beyond his control.