Thursday 29 November 2012

Analysis of 3 Scenes from Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" -Case Study

Shower Scene

The shower scene is by far one of the most famous and iconic scenes in all of cinema. We begin this scene by seeing Marion Crane close the shower curtain and then we view a close-up of her face as she turns the shower on. As it’s a close-up, it’s easy to see the facial expressions of Marion. We quickly see a change in her emotion as it goes from plain and bland to (as she sees the water emerge) hopeful. Then a look of satisfaction is portrayed as she cleanses herself. It’s like baptism. In the prior scene Marion is talking to Norman Bates and has a sudden epiphany when she realises that what she had done was wrong and so decided to go back and apologize for her mistakes. So this shower is like a baptism as she washes away her sins and looks for redemption. In this shot, we could also say that she is exposed, in that she’s naked but also because she’s vulnerable.
As she showers, there are frequent cuts to the showerhead, both head on and side-on. The showerhead, in a way, is watching her. It resembles an eye that is overlooking the situation. There’s even a shot which is almost a point of view from the showerhead. This appears peculiar and ominous, giving the sensation that something is not right. And so, the feeling that something is going to happen becomes potent as we await for that moment where we see the motherly figure behind the transparent but blurring shower curtain.
The second we see the shot change to the shot in which the figure enters through the door, we expect someone to walk in before anyone does. This is because Hitchcock takes advantage of the rule of thirds. The reason we are prone to the idea of another body entering is because the rule of thirds takes advantage of the spacing within the shot and if one character is in one third, there are still two thirds that need filling, thus implying that the space will be filled. When the shot progresses into a zoom, our assumptions are confirmed as the camera zooms on an opening door as a silhouette of the mother enters and the previous bliss of the once joyous scene escalates towards terror. Marion’s space is invaded by this demon figure that then tears the shower curtain open. There’s scream of terror and an extreme close-up of Marion’s mouth as she screams, capturing the shock and distress she feels at that moment.
From now on the shot speed escalates into a stabbing montage, giving us as much chaos and confusion that Marion surely feels. This is likely to be the desired effect that Hitchcock wanted to give viewers. This high speed action combined with multi-angled shots inspires shock due to the sudden increase in pace. The multi-angled shots create the feeling of disorientation. The way the montage was cut (No pun intended) really helps us believe that the actress is being stabbed, when in fact there’s only one shot where the knife pierces the skin. Therefore, the majority of violence we believe is there is actually not, yet our imagination leads us to believe there is. Hitchcock’s skillful cuts, combined with the shots of fake blood (which was actually chocolate sauce!), are taking advantage of what we expect to see.
The screeching music also adds to the terror. It’s piercing, like the knife used to kill poor Marion. This inflicts shock upon hearing it as it comes out of nowhere. Then when the “Mother” leaves and we see a close-up of Marions hand sliding down the wall, the pace changes to match the music (or vice versa) as a much lower pitch with a slightly slower tempo is heard. The lower pitch indicates that something very dark has occurred and the slower tempo, combined with slower cuts gives us time to reflect and see the consequences of what has just happened.
As we see a now dead Marion laying across the floor, the shot then pans to and zooms into a shot of the plug hole, a metaphor perhaps saying that everything has just gone into a downward spiral like the water that flows into it. A bridging shot then happen, fading from the plughole to Marion’s eyeball as the camera pulls back, revealing her face flat on the ground while we hear nothing but the sound of the still running shower.



“She Wouldn’t Even Harm a Fly”

This scene comes right at the end of the movie.It begins as we follow a police officer on his way to deliver a blanket to Norman (Who’s currently the “Mother”). We follow the officer down a hallway to a door, where the camera stops to the side of the door, before we see what’s in the room. As we assume the blanket is given, a “Thank you” in the mother’s voice is heard and see another officer making an angry or unimpressed facial expression and sighs as it happens. The impression is given that what is happening in the room is either bizarre or agitating.
Upon entering the room, a number of things can be taken as denotation. If we think of the room being like his head, to the edge of the shot there is a barred window that represents Norman being trapped in his own mind while the mother is in control. Everything in the room is empty and the focus is on Norman as the mother, indicating that the primary focus of Norman’s mind is the mother. There is also a mug on the floor that. Mugs are a typically an object associated with the home, so in this case it shows the association that Norman has with the mother and his feeling of being “at home” with her, in his safe-zone. A blanket is covering Norman. Building on the idea of a safe-zone, the blanket is like protection which is similar to the way that the “Mother-state” takes over to protect him when feeling threatened, as mentioned by the detective at the end of the film.
The camera zooms from a wide-shot to a medium-close-up of Norman while non-diegetic narration of the mother’s thoughts play. The narration is perfectly timed with the facial expressions of Norman, making the audience totally forget that these spoken thoughts are added in post-production as they fit so perfectly to the scene that’s playing. Even the cut to a point of view shot from Norman, looking at his hand with a fly crawling on it, slips in smoothly.
We then cut back to Norman’s face when he menacingly stares directly into the camera. This alienates the audience from the film and feels like Norman is talking and delivering a messages directly to them, the individual.
Finally, right as there’s a crossfade from Norman’s face to the car being pulled out of the swamp, there’s a discrete image of the mother’s skull-like face that is perfectly laid over Norman’s face, like a mask. Confirming that they’re the same person in one body, also hinting that Norman is just a face that the mother wears now as she has completely taken over. During the crossfade (If paused at the right moment), the chain that’s pulling the car out of the swamp looks to be going through Norman’s heart, as if his heart is now tethered by guilt to the people he’s killed.



“We All Go a Little Mad Sometimes”

This scene is a brilliant example of crosscutting and the 180 degree rule, during the conversation between Marion and Norman. When Norman speaks of his mother saying “I hate what she’s become”, the camera is at a lower angle which is looking up at him. This give him the appearance of dominance because he appears very big and threatening. This feeling of threat is also implemented by the stuffed owl on the left side of the shot. The owl is in a pose that portrays it swooping down on its unsuspecting prey. This is similar to the way that Norman is luring Marion in before he decides to swoop. Seen in the shot also are 2 pictures of exposed women, one trying to cover-up, the other appears being attacked by men. This is very discrete foreshadowing, showing how Marion is going to be exposed and attacked.
Another brilliant shot of Norman is when he challenges the idea of putting his mother in an institution. He leans forward, closer to the camera, like he’s entering our space, making us (and Marion) uncomfortable. We can clearly view the discomfort of Marion from her reaction shot and her surprised look. The feeling of menace arises again as more high pitched and sharp music plays, yet it’s slow which fills us with suspense, waiting for the climax. Norman finally leans back when saying he had a similar idea, which puts us at ease for a second. That ease is short lived when he leans forward and proclaims “We all go a little mad sometimes”. This is another big hint in what is to come.
The lighting and colour of clothing helps us to understand the character’s intentions and frame of mind in the scene. Marion is wearing lighter clothing and her face is reasonably well lit up. This depicts innocence and light heartedness. It’s especially shown when she politely suggests putting Norman’s mother into care to try and make his life easier. Norman appears a binary opposite. He is wearing dark clothing and half of his face is covered with shadow. The shadow shows two different sides to him, or infact revealing the other side of him which we hadn't previously seen and is coming out now. With his dark clothes come the darker side of his personality as he talks of his mother in an unstable and distressing way, at some points also seeming to be speaking from a first-person perspective, like when he talks of a “Mad House”, it’s as though he know how it feels to be in one.

Tuesday 27 November 2012

Production Company Ident

The name of my production company is Nova Flicks. I chose this name because "nova" it means a star showing a sudden large increase in brightness. It's like a growing idea in the mind that is built up and eventually see by all when it becomes a movie.  Flicks is slang for a film, so "Nova Flicks" is like growing film.
Because Nova is a star, I thought it'd be good to have a reverse zoom through a space-like area. As it zooms out you can then see the bigger picture, the company behind the film. The metaphor in this ident is similar to something big coming from something small, or something grows from nothing, like an idea.
The reason I chose for the zoom out to become a ball is not only because it fits as the "O" in "Nova" but also because the ball is like my own world that I create, like a film is something that the director creates and within that film is his world, almost like auteur theory states, it's the director's vision.

Please note: This may not be my final ident, though it may be similar.

Monday 26 November 2012

The Man with the Golden Arm- Intro Re-imagined


This into is a very short video as the basis of the exercise was to animate a shape-layer changing shape, hence the arm turning from crooked to straight. Also, I experimented using the blur and make the text look like it was being covered in blood.

Anatomy of a Murder- Intro Re-Imagined



This is my remake of Saul Bass' Intro for Anatomy of a Murder, though it is not a completely finished remake as this was just a practise to get used to working with shape layers and animating. To make this I've used shaped layers in after effects to create the body parts shown. The reason I've chosen to have spinning limbs and various other entrances of the body parts that are not like the original is because I wanted to make it in a similar style to Saul Bass but not a direct copy.

Re-creation of the Teletubbies Intro

 
My Intro
 
The Original
This is my remake of the Teletubbies intro. To make this I use Adobe After Effects. In After Effects I used shape layers and yellow solids with 50% opacity to create the sun beams. The Baby's face was cropped using the pen tool and then feathered to make it fade into the sun beams. Using key framing I'm able to animate the every thing to re-imagine this intro. The red eyes & spinning head are only there because I had the ability to put them there.

The images are taken form Zazoom.wordpress.com

Friday 23 November 2012

Production Company Idents Research

Toonami

Toonami is a part of Cartoon Network and primarily produces cartoons who's target demographic is male teenagers and young adults.
 
They have multiple idents that frequently change but are all similar. This is likely to be because as a television channel, their idents are shown frequently at regular intervals and so to keep the viewer amused, they change the idents on a regular basis.
 
The style of the idents fits with the science fiction genre, which is the genre of cartoons they show. The neon-like text used would often be described as "cool" and fits the style of most of the cartoons they screen. Even the font used is sleek and futuristic.
There seems to be a hidden story behind it too, especially with the reflection of the logo in the space helmet. This develops in to a mystery and raises question like "what?" and "why?" and gives the impression that perhaps in future idents, Toonami will reveal what is happening.
 
 

Lionsgate

 
 
The ident of Lionsgate is like a metaphor for the people in the lower parts of the company, as the cogs and mechanisms, helping to make part of the gate that reveals (and makes) the bigger picture.
 
We see a bright light as the gates open and a religious view of bringing us to a cloudy, peaceful place that resembles Heaven. The text itself is very bold and proud, like God, showing off its power. The bright light is like telling the audience that they've died and gone to heaven every time that view a production from this company.
The colours on the gate are silver and gold that depicts wealth, good fortune and power. Everything that a major production company should have.
 

Universal Pictures

 
Universal Pictures are a behemoth in the world of film, which can be seen in their ident. It's like they're taking over the world and we're all helpless.
From this, we can take that they're very powerful, very bold and very well known. The reason this is know this is due to the scale of their name against the world and the colour of the text. The scale is gigantic, showing power. The glory comes from the colour scheme (gold & silver) but also from the shininess, indicating it's well cared for. The fact that they also communicate it's the 100th anniversary demonstrates further power through that accomplishment.
 
 

Sunday 18 November 2012

A Case Study on David Fincher

1. Outline how Fincher approaches the creation of an opening title sequence for a film.

"Titles should be engaging in a character way, it has to help set the scene, and you can do that elaborately or minimally"
-David Fincher



Finches often looks to the opening as a prologue to the film. An example of one of his minimalistic title sequences would be Fight Club (1999) in which we start at the fear centre of the brain and see lots of electrical synapse activity, indicating we're viewing something which will be both thrilling and psychological. Due to the sequence being very graphically based with no characters, this leaves the rest of the film open to interpretation and raises many questions of what's later to come.
A fitting example of his elaborate title sequences is SE7EN (1995) where we see glimpses of the antagonist, though we're unaware at the time, who is preparing himself for the torturous murders he commits. Because we see lots of shots of bizarre activity and mildly disturbing images we pick up a sense of what this film is leading us into.
 


Fight Club (1999) - Title Sequence

Fincher does not always use a title sequence if he cannot find a good idea for one or it doesn't seem fitting. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) is an example of this.


2. Deconstruct the opening of Fincher's film SE7EN.



-Connotation

The needle sewing two pages together symbolizes the plan coming together.

The two images of hands side-by-side resembles the idea of good and bad, as one is dark and the other is light. The hand may mean control. This could show the conflict of the antagonist and protagonist.
Alternatively, the two main character are Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman and appear from the same body, each hand could mean they're part of the same bigger body, helping one another as there's something wrong with both of them, hence the hands seeming disjointed and broken.

The removal of the word "GOD" from the bill at the end could signify unholiness or satanism.


-Denotation
We see a razor blade that's being used to cut off skin from the tips of fingers, then later plasters on the finger tips of hands and can assume that there is one person behind this scheming.

As the hands and finger nails appear particularly dirty, the person involved seems unhygienic. This could also mean they're hard working as they obviously don't use it as an excuse to stop working.

The book and writing are representative an elaborate plan that has taken years to put together. Just as the way a book is carefully planned. If there is a plan, there must be people involved and as there are frequent images of people, some unpleasant, it's safe to assume that this plan isn't nice and is likely to involve police or another authority.


3. What kind of story world is signposted in the opening of the film SE7EN?

It carries traits of a dark psychological thriller because the images are gruesome and raise many questions. Also because the non-diagetic audio is twisted, distorted and crackly. This provides an uneasy atmosphere, giving the anticipation that something dark will happen/is happening/ has happened.
Because this dark plan seems very heavily documented, I assume the person is either mentally ill or is under pressure from a higher power (or believe they are), likely God, as the theme of religion is implemented at the end of the opening. Perhaps the theme of identity if brought in also, as the eyes of the people in the images are crossed out, though this may alternately depict guild or even that the murdered doesn't think of the victims as people.
The colours used are all dark and grainy, again setting the mood. The exception to this is the occasional cut to red, undoubtably signifying death or something satanic at least.

The opening to this movie looks like it could be a number of things, though it will indisputably be dark.