Rope

Rope is a thriller film made in 1948.

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Written by Hume Cronyn from Patrick Hamilton Play.
Dialogue by Arthur Laurents.

Stars:
James Stewart as Rupet Cadell
John Dall as Brandon
Farley Granger as Phillip


Rope is a film adapted from Patrick Hamiltons 1929 Play which itself was said to be based on grisly Leopard and Loeb case of 1924.
Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb were upper-class Chicago law students who murdered of a 14 year old Robert 'Bobby' Franks. The duo was motivated to murder Franks by their desire to commit a prefect crime.

For a film to be a thriller you need to know who the antagonist and the protagonist is and from the beginning of Rope we know who the antagonists are. Later on during their dinner we find out who the protagonist is too.
Brandon and Phillip are the antagonist that have all the equipment needed to make a crime and Rupet is the resourceful hero that has no equipment but yet find out what has been happening in the house during that dinner.

Rope falls into the thriller genre as they use suspense almost throughout the film. For example when they want to look at the books in the trunk but the dead body is in there so the audience has been put on suspense because they don't know what they going to do, if they will open the trunk and find the dead body or not. This scene only put the audience on the edge as they are the only people who know what exactly is in there, the characters have no idea so its not really as frightening as it is for the audience watching.

Hitchcock has used invisible cut perfectly fine as they have ended at the same person or item and began exactly where it left off. Hitchcocks claustrophobic strength technique suits the film as the characters are trapped in the room where the coffin is and of course they don't know but for the audience that do know it makes them feel thrilled to be in the same place as where they have witnessed a murder.

How to Film a Thriller.

This long shot is used to shot the way he is going and show how the place looks like.

High angle of the man going into the cave. This shows his location but it makes him look weak too as you don't know what is about to happen to him.

Shooting through a opened place suggest that someone is watching him.

Wormsey shot/ Editing on action (during the movement) this makes him look powerful and seem like he is going to make it out of there.

Extreme close up of the eye shows mystery. This shows how something has been happening but that we have no idea what it is.

Editing Our Film

This was us editing some parts of the film sequence. We  had to put the clips together and cut of unnecessary parts of them. Then we will add on the rest of the shots and music and add any effect if needed.

First Day Filming

We went out to London one day to film some shots for the second scene of our film. We planned film at Liverpool Street Station, however because of legal circumstances we were unable to film under law. Thus, we went to a nearby spot London Bridge to shoot.  Because of the inconvenience of the train station we had to cut half of our scene out, that was compulsory for the station. 

Location

Location Visit Sheet Film Title: Hitlist Writer: Naomi,Courtney, Arsena and Diana Director: Naomi Nuamah and Courtney Coote Date: Friday 16th January - Saturday 17th January

Access to location via:  Train, bus and walking Name and number of location contact: Liverpool Street

Health and Safety Issues to note: Be careful around the trains   Don't run on the escalators

Potential Filming Problems : We may not have permission to film at the station.  We could, by mistake delete some of our footage A member of our team could not show up Our camera could stop working/lose battery A piece of equipment could break There could be too many interruptions during filming

Additional Notes:  (map of area/weather forecast etc) The weather on Friday:

Modern Thriller Openings

A history of violence

The opening of A history of violence starts of with a slow pace and silent background. From the opening scene we know who the killer is which fits this film in the thriller genre. There is a bit of suspense because once the man walks in the shop you do not know what is going to happen or what he will see, which leaves the audience wondering. After he has shot the little girl i would say there is a cliffhanger because it ends there and you do not know what happens next.

No country for old men

The mise-en-scene is shown to be in a desert. The fact that it's set in the desert contributes the stranded feel the opening has, barely anyone is around creating an creepy atmosphere. The pace picks up with quick editing of an action sequence. Moreover, there is a gradual build up of sinister music being played in the background. Suggesting suspense is increasing and the main character becomes more and more suspicious to the audience. During this scene there's various camera shots, to give the viewer an idea of the setting. Additionally, the use of camera shots is used to the advantage of the killing scene as it makes the scene more fast paced, increasing the adrenaline of the audience.

Zodiac

The opening of this film fits into the criteria of a thriller because it starts off normally, where the characters don't seem to be in any danger. The music is lighthearted and does not signify a crisis, which leaves the audience wondering what could go wrong - this can also gain suspense. The pace is prolonged as we are waiting for something bad to happen. As the killer shows up the editing pace slows down as there are quick shots from one person getting shot to the next. The music in the background progressively increasing and becomes louder, as the killer shots the young people. heightening the pace.                                   

Brick 

Brick starts in a culvert with a close up of a girl's arm lying presumably dead, with a teenage boy hovering around her. The atmosphere created makes the audience unclear of what is going on - generating suspense, this is shown in the beginning. When showing a series of close ups we are uncertain about what is taking place. Furthermore, the music of this opening is creepy and unsettling for viewers suggesting that the movie will create this tone throughout, or often. The blue tint of the scene shows a melancholy environment and a cold one too. 

Third Production Meeting

In our third meeting we finished drawing the storyboards and started on planning the film using the documents.
We set a location and set who is going to do what and when. We settled on what jobs we are all going to during filming.

Shot list

Shot List
Scene	Shot Number	Description
Scene 1 Scene 2	Close up Mid shot Eye-line match Wide shot Close up Close up Match on action Long shot High angle Wide shot Pan  Tilt Mid shot Close up Mid shot Long shot  Shot-revers-shot (close up) Mid shot Point of view Close up and point of view Tilt and POV	Of the Spy typing on the keyboard. Of her face looking at the computer. Her looking at the screen and then her point of view of whats in the screen. The girl approaching the Printer Of the pages coming out of the printer Of the girls heels while she's walking away Of her coming out of the door Of her walking down the street Over the crowed The station Of the crowded train station Of the crowded the station Girl amongst the crowd Of the time table Of train going by Girl running for the train The girl running for the train and the train moving Girl bumping into the man The sheets on the floor The wanted sheet The man

Storyboard

This is our storyboard for the film Hitlist.

Hitlist Animatic

Unknown

Unknown is Thriller film made in 2011.
Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra
Written by Oliver Butcher, Stephen Cornwell and Didier Van Cauwelaert
Stars: Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger and January Jones

On this blog I will be explaining how Unknown falls in the Thriller genre and what are the things that Unknown has that a thriller film might include.

Unknown is a Thriller about a man that awakens from a coma and discovers that someone has taken his identity and that no one believes him, not even his wife. With the help of a young lady he tries to make it right a prove who he is to everyone.

The elements of typical Thriller are the Hero and the Villain that are known from the beginning.

Dr. Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) is a resourceful hero and it it shown by the way he is unarmed but yet he finds something around him that would help him fight or something to protect himself.

On the other side the villains have all the equipment needed but yet they lose the fight against Dr. Martin Harris.

Other things what make Unknown a Thriller film is fast pacing which make the actions happening more interesting and put the audience wondering what's going to happen. This is shown in many scenes but one of them is when Dr. Martin Harris and Gina (Diane Kruger) have just had a fight at Ginas apartment and they have left the house but they now are being chased by the villains.

Suspense normally happens when the audience are put on the edge of their seat and then they are given a clue which makes them suspicious about something or someone. This is used when Dr. Martin Harris has finally got his passport with his picture and his name and now all he need to do is prove to the rest of the people.

Thrillers fall into sub-genres and this one is an action thriller because he has a mission to prove who he is and he has to face so many villains who he must fight and cause all the action scenes.

Unknown start with the couple (Dr. Martin Harris and his wife) travelling to Berlin. The opening scene shows how everything is normal and their travelling is going but then there comes the point where he forgets his suitcase which distracts the scene. Later on he has an accident which makes him lose his identity and that's what makes the movie more interesting and builds up suspension for the audience. Throughout the rest of the movie Dr. Martin Harris tries to get get back his identity and prove to the rest who he actually is.
This appeals to the audience as it has loads of action and suspects. This leave the audience wanting to know more and trying to find out what happened to his identity.