Stuart Hall – Encoding and decoding model

The intended meaning of the producer may not be the same as the audiences.

Dominant code – Read as intended.

Negotiated code – Partly accepted.

Oppositional code – External influences means they reject the intended meaning.

Hypodermic needle

Ideologies are passed on or injected into the audience, shaping their thoughts and influencing them. The intended message is accepted and not challenged. Audiences are passive.

Cultivation – Long them effect on TV. In many households the TV is the main focal point. Similar to the hypodermic needle theory, it purposes that long term, gradual processes of TV consumption leads to the cultivation of beliefs.

Moral panics – This theory again assumes that the audience are passive. The majority of the audience believe that once viewing offensive material the audience will then act a certain way. This then leads to moral panic, often started by newspapers and social media.

Examples:

Music (e.g. rap/pop)

Violent video games  (e.g. GTA)

YouTube (trends etc)

Celebrity lifestyles

Uses and gratifications – This theory does not treat the audience as a whole group but as individuals stating that each person has their own different motives from consuming media.

Bulmer and Katz identified the following gratifications:

Diversion – Escape from life.

Personal relationships – Emotionally engaged with the characters.

Personal identity – Relating to issues.

Surveillance – Gathering information.

Reception – Regards the audience as individuals. This theory considers the characteristics such as age, ethnicity and gender. Each factor affects the way a person reads, engages and consumes the media.

Two step flow – This theory proposes that ideologies that a text communicates to an audience may not reach them directly as they are mediated along the way. Reading a film review will influence the audiences viewing of the film in some way.

The audience theory that will affect our main task the most is “moral panics”. During our main task, a psycho is on the loose and chasing his next victim. The moral panics theory states that the majority of the audience believe that once viewing offensive material the audience will then act a certain way. Once the audience see a kidnapping psycho, they may want to copy his actions and behaviour resulting in a moral panic.

Our animatic features each shot of our storyboard accompanied with annotations and music that is a similar style to the music we are featuring in our final edit of our Main Task.

The storyboard in the animatic features a man being chased through the forest by a mentally unstable character. The character is a masked criminal keen to kidnap the man he is chasing. The storyboard features a variety of shot types of the helpless character being chased. Towards the end of the animatic, the audience are shown what appears to be the criminal planning something at his desk. The animatic finishes on the criminal leaving his room to the slamming of his door.

Throughout the animatic, the shots cut from shot to shot at a quick pace in order to add tension and a fast pace to the title sequence. The non diegetic music featured throughout the animatic is similar to the music we will be using in the final edit of our main task. The music we are using in our main task has been composed for us and is completely original. This will set our main task apart from other thriller title sequences. Our title sequence also features many close up shots to show emotion in the characters face to add fear and suspense to the title sequence. Mid and long shots have also been used to show the audience the characters surroundings in order to add an erie and tense feel to the title sequence.

 

 

After our continuity task, our group decided to change roles as we all wanted the opportunity to try something new. During our continuity task, Josh was director, Erin was producer, I was editor and Jeeven was DOP. For the main task, Jeeven is director, Josh is producer, Erin is editor and I am DOP. After taking test shots for our main task, I discovered that I am quite good at photography and I was able to capture exactly what we needed in the test shots and edit them to fit the mood of the thriller genre. Whilst filming and creating our continuity task, Jeeven was very keen to be director and would often complete tasks with Josh and help in with the role of director. As DOP of the group, it is my job to take test shots with the camera so we can get a rough idea of what are finished piece will look like and what certain shots within the title sequence will look like. In addition to this, it is my job to hold/position the camera in the correct place in order to get the best shot possible.

After our continuity task not going as well as it could have, we are really keen to do well in this task. We are up to date with our planning documentation and this will come in handy when it comes to filming this weekend.

 

When taking test shots, I took a normal shot and then an edited shot with a filter to give the shots an eerie feel. The eerie feel is often linked with the thriller genre so we will be using these shots for our teaser video and a similar if not the same effect on our filmed main task shots. The test shots were taken at Black Park as this is where we plan to film our Main Task.

The genre we have chosen for our main task is thriller. Thriller interests us as it is a genre full of action and suspense and we feel we can create a title sequence that reflects this.

Our main idea is about a murderer who has multiple people captured in a room, but the victims captured aren’t specified. Furthermore, the identity and character of the murderer is hidden, this is to maintain the suspense. The title sequence is inspired by a selection of thrillers, such as “Se7en” and “American psycho”. This is because they both have an intriguing plot which has influenced our idea a lot. We are aiming for a type of psychotic thriller.

The typography in thrillers is typically bold and sharp letters. Colours used often connote themes within the film e.g. red for danger. The words are often large and centre of the frame which attract the audience attention.

Thriller is a genre that revolves around anticipation and suspense. The aim for Thrillers is to keep the audience alert and on the edge of their seats. The themes of thrillers frequently include terrorism, political conspiracy, pursuit, crime or romantic triangles leading to murder. So our idea of a criminal holding hostages fits into the genre of thriller.

We will be filming the majority of the task at Black Park as a forest area fulfils the mood we want to achieve; dark, mysterious and sinister.

In thriller films, the sound and audio used is very important as it creates the feel and adds to the atmosphere of the film. Typically in thriller films, the tracks used create and eerie feel. This is created through the use of creepy noises and tense sounding music. When planning for our main task, we looked at the title sequences of thriller films such as Se7en, The Usual Suspects and Shutter Island. All three of these title sequences feature fast paced, tense and eerie music in order to add to the atmosphere and give the audience a scenes of what is to come. After looking at these three title sequences, we were then able to ask a music producer to produce an original track for our main task inspired by the tracks used in other title sequences of thriller films. As well as these three title sequences, we also analysed other thriller title sequences and this added to our knowledge and understanding of audio used in thriller title sequences.

Se7en – Distorted noises add an eerie feel, faced pace, makes audience feel uncomfortable/disturbed, creepy, fits sound codes and conventions of thrillers.

The Usual Suspects – Use of violins to add pace, eerie feel created through the use of a harp and violins, high pitch.

Shutter Island – Use of horns to create an eerie feel, loud brass scares audience and adds to tension, volume gradually increases repeatedly.

All three films use sound in their title sequences in a similar way. The sounds in the soundtracks of the title sequences are all used to add to the eerie feel of the film and give the audience a sense of what the film is going to be like.

Over the space of a few weeks, I have had to analyse the title sequences of thriller films. Title sequences I have analysed include: The Purge, Skyfall, Shutter Island, Gone Girl, The Usual Suspects, Fight Club, Mission Impossible Rogue Nation and Reservoir Dogs. Through the analysis of these title sequences I have discovered a few common conventions of thriller films such as: anticipation, suspense, fast pace and tension. These conventions are typically achieved through the four technical areas: sound, editing, camera angles and mise en scene.

My favourite title sequence that I analysed was Skyfall. Skyfall was full of things that could be analysed from start to finish. Furthermore, all four technical areas could be talked about within the analysis. In addition to this, the title sequence featured many common conventions that feature in thriller films.

What common conventions did you find?

After analysing 10 title sequences, I discovered that many of the title sequences featured many of the same conventions. For example, Fight Club, Mission Impossible featured fast pace music to pick up the speed of the title sequence and give the audience an insight to the film. On the other hand, The Purge and Mission Impossible feature violent scenes, conveying to the audience the genre of the film and themes presented.

What was a shock?

The majority of the title sequences were easy to analysis but there was one that I found quite difficult and that was Skyfall. Skyfall was over four minutes long and featured so many things to be analysed so it was hard to keep up. In order to analyse the title sequence effectively and comment on the majority of the content, I had to watch it a few times. In addition to this, because the title sequences featured so much content, they were quite challenging to analyse. This has taught me that it is important to feature enough detailed content on the film so the audience know what the film is going to be about.

How have these title sequences inspired you?

Many of the title sequences inspired me and have given me ideas for my main task title sequence. The title sequences taught me about the four technical areas used in thriller title sequences to help present the common codes and conventions found in thrillers. For example:

Camera angles used to show emotion (Fight Club)

Sound used to set the pace (Mission impossible)

Violent scenes used to give the audience an insight to the film (The Purge)

Sounds and pictures edited in to reflect the genre and mood of the film (Skyfall)

Watching the 10 title sequences also taught me about the typography used in thriller films. The typography used is typically bold lettering. The colours used often convey to the mood of the film and give the audience an insight into the film they are watching. When our group edits our title sequence we will look back at the title sequences for inspiration.

The title sequence begins with a non diegetic playing of the song “Little Green Bag” by George Baker Selection. The song features a strong bass guitar riff that compliments the establishing shot and title sequence well. The establishing shot is a mid shot of a group of men in black suits walking together in a group. The scene is slowed down which emphasises the confidence they show. Their confidence is also reinforced through the bold suits and cigarettes that they are smoking as they walk. The group of black suited men also features men in scruffy clothes. The audience are made to assume that these two men are friends of  the Reservoir Dogs.

The camera cuts to a close up shot of one of the characters faces. He is seen wearing sunglasses and chewing on a toothpick. The men already appear to be very cool and people that you wouldn’t want to mess with. The fact that they are all wearing sharp black suits and black sunglasses suggests that they are a gang or group and the audience can infer that they are the Reservoir Dogs.

The camera cuts to close up shots of all of the men and the names of them appear beneath their heads so the audience can see what actors are in the film and the characters they each play. The typography used to display the names of the actors is sharp, orange lettering connoting the class and style of the Reservoir Dogs. The camera then cuts to a long shot from behind the men as they appear to walk toward the road where two cars are parked. The title of the film then appears on the screen as it slides up from the bottom of the screen to the top, attracting the attention of the audience to the title of the film.

The camera then cuts to a black screen and the names of the people involved with the making of the film are displayed. The names roll up the screen from bottom to top. This is a typical feature of older films, as this film was made in 1992.

The title sequence is very short but tells the audience all the information they need to know. The audience are introduced to all of the characters and through the use of the four technical areas, are given an impression as to what the Reservoir Dogs are like.

The title sequence begins with a non diegetic playing of the famous and well known theme song of Mission Impossible. The title sequence features a variety of very quick cutting close up shots. The first being of a small explosion to get the audience attention for the first name to appear on the screen. In between each close up shot is a name of a person involved with the making of the film. The typography used is bold, white lettering that gets the audience attention. Following this, is a close up shot of a gun connoting action and danger giving the audience an insight to the film. Furthermore, a close up shot of a stick of dynamite can be seen further connoting action and danger.

Following this, an extreme close up shot of a drill drilling through metal can be seen. This suggests to the audience that the film may feature someone breaking into to something like a bank or important building. This is reinforced by the close up shot that follows featuring a pin being entered into an electric pin protected lock. Similarly a close up shot of someone hacking a safe lock code is seeing suggesting that the film may feature a bank heist. This is further suggested as a close up shot of a bank transfer of $50,000,000 displays as complete.

An extreme close up shot of a character will a gadget on his eyeball is shown conveying that the film is an action packed. Gadgets like this are often associated with under cover agent/spy films. This again gives the audience an insight to the film. The title sequence cleverly shows close up shots of the actors in the film and follows the shots with the names of the actors. This allows the audience to see what actors are in the film and at the same time find out what character they play in the film.

Coming towards the end of the title sequence, a close up shot of small pictures of people faces are shown on a desk. This leads the audience to believe that they may be suspects in a crime investigation, further suggesting that the film is going to be an action packed thriller.

The shots in the title sequence cut from shot to shot very quickly, suggesting that the film is going to be full of action and fast paced, the speed of the title sequence excites the audience and leaves them wanting more.

The title sequence ends on the camera tracking back from the shots to reveal the title of the film, “Mission Impossible Rogue Nation”. The typography used is bold, red and orange letters attracting the audiences attention. The main title “Mission Impossible” is presented to look like the timer on a bomb as the two words are separated by a colon. This signifies that the film will be fast paced, intense and exciting.