Title analysis: Memento

"A man, suffering from short-term memory loss, uses notes and tattoos to hunt for the man he thinks killed his wife." - IMDB

This is the first shot seen by the audience. The initial impression made is of a gory storyline with the blood scattered around tiles. With this shot, the person holding the picture is not made clear. The soundtrack used in this is made up of violins and flutes. The notes used together create the essence of a creepy and eerie atmosphere. The music combined with the visual aid show the tension behind the scene and the storyline. For the audience, the question arises of how this picture has come in the possession of this person but also how they are connected to victim. The main bulk of the questions arise from wondering what has happened prior to this scene.

Throughout this part, the visual aid stays the same, so does the music. The only change seen is the titles. As time is almost stood still with the same visual aid and music, it suggests the person is still holding on to a memory or in a confused state about what is going on. Due to this the audience would question why there has not been a change in movement. The visual stays the same the same for all of the credited actors.

The visual changes when the credits change to the costume director. This is so the change in roles can be seen clearly. The colours go from red on the blood to a more auburn colour  with the crisp details of the blood outline being blurred to a more rounder edge with less distinction of blood. For the audience this raises the question of whether the the person is just loosing focus of what is in their hands or if they are forgetting and becoming confused with the changes in colour.

As the name of the Executive Director appears the image becomes even more blurred with the colour becoming more of a lighter shade of auburn, the thumb in the corner has also faded away more and is barely visible. This creates enigma for the audience as we start to wonder why the image is becoming blurred and why it is losing colour and vibrancy.

As the titles change to the producers, the image becomes  more blurred with the blood barely recognisable from what it was before. The colour has faded and spread more alike paint or ink spreading across water becoming thinner and dispersing. This could be to represent the persons thought track due to their memories fading like they're mixing with water. The impact on the audience is the same it has as the character - confusion.

As the final credit is shown for the director the image has almost faded to white with not much to see at all. This could represent the memory of this event being completely washed away with no recollection of what the character was just observing.

The next visual to appear is a close up of the person who was looking at the picture which was fading away. This person appears to confused and worried about what they are looking at, there are also scars his face with what seems to be fresh blood and fresh scabs. This raised the question of what has happened to this character to cause him to be injured in such a way.

This is what is seen next, this shot shows blood around an area, the blood seems to be free flowing and   moving without any clear direction. This further raises the question of what has happened but also of where the character is and why they are there.

Title Analysis of The Usual Suspects

"A boat has been destroyed, criminals are dead, and the key to this mystery lies with the only survivor and his twisted, convoluted story beginning with five career crooks in a seemingly random police lineup." - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114814/

This is what is first seen by the audience. We first see is a bunch of match sticks - this in it self would make the audience question the need for more than one matchstick when a single matchstick usually does the trick of setting something a light. Another question that arises is the background of this narrative as to where the person is for this scene which requires more than one match stick. The sound used for this action diegetic sound to further increase the reality of this scene so the audience can imagine or see the action taking place. However, the sound has been clearly edited with an increase of volume to show the match sticks being lit. The shot used here is a close up to focus attention on the match sticks. If this had been a mid shot or establishing shot, the focus of the audience would be split with other imagery in the background or foreground.

The question of who is lighting the match sticks is answered with the revelation of this man as he is seen lighting a cigarette but the question of why many matchsticks were seen alight still remains unanswered. One judgement which can be assumed is the male character is in a dark place, possibly an abandoned area due to the darkness of the background and also what seems to be a fire place with iron grill bars in front of the fire. Accompanying this action is the sound of water or some sort of liquid running down from somewhere, mimicking the sound a leaking roof or over flowing water/liquid barrel. This creates the suspense of where the character currently is and why they are there. The background fire along side the character wearing a coat suggests the person in a cold area - these elements combined suggest the person is not at the best moment of their life. The person also comes across at tired/weak or lazy because of their lower arm resting on what seems to be a wooden box. However, not much can be assumed as the surroundings to the left of the person can not be seen due to the angle of the mid shot, this makes the audience further question the characters' objectives and surroundings. This frame with a mid shot comes in straight after with a jump cut to the close up of the previous frame with the matchsticks. This tells the audience it was in fact this person who lit the several matchsticks in the previous frame.

The thought raised with the previous frame are proved to be true in this frame due to the surroundings being made clear - the belief of the person being in an abandoned, cold and wet area is evidently true thanks to the use of a wide shot. The wide shot helps to establish the surroundings, allowing the audience to further immerse themselves in the action that is taking place before them. From 0:08 seconds to 0:18 seconds water can once again be heard to be dripping down. A barrel is seen with a form of liquid over flowing, to show this a tilt is used. This creates tension as to where the water/liquid is leading to and why it is important, or if it is simply to further show the surroundings of this person in this scene. The barrel where the liquid is escaping from looks fairly old and worn down. This further creates the impression of the area being abandoned and not in its best possible state. Another reason to show the run down look, the character does not seem worried about ruining the area or about setting fire to his own surroundings, which put him himself in a position of danger. This act suggests he is not happy with his surroundings and with what has lead him find himself in this situation.

The fire that has started here explains the many matchsticks being lit within the first 2 seconds. Due to the speed and direction of the fire travelling, it suggests the liquid seen before has made its way onto the ground and is moving along in a line. From this, one can assume the ground is on a slope with the liquid travelling down the slope. It also becomes apparent the liquid seen was not water but some sort of fuel which can spark a fire such as petrol. For the audience this creates further questions as why the character himself is not worried about his own safety with the fuel and fire, it also creates the question of what else or who else is in the room as to where the fire or line of fuel is leading to. Along with this visual aid there is also the diegetic sound of the fire spreading with a slight sound of crackling added in to exaggerate the spreading of this fire.

The question of where the fire is going and who else is in the room is answered with this shot of someone lying (presumably no longer alive) with the fire spreading across the ground. This also creates imagery of criminal or devilish activity due to the fire surrounding the dead/injured man in a curve, presumably heading from a semi circle. This suggests this man was involved with the activities of the first man as he is surrounded by fire ignited by the first man. However this thought is contradicted by the idea of this man being a crew member on this boat who has been targeted, hence the reason he is in an area where not many people would think of going. The idea of him being a crew member derives from the khaki uniform and ladder in the background with the ropes which were seen along the way. At first glance of the man and from what he is wearing, the audience would assume him to be a crew member, the thought of this man being a victim could also be interpreted from the injuries to his face with blood and a fresh bruise on his cheek going up to his ear. This suggests he was hit around the head with something to then have an instant death or become unconscious.

The fire is extinguished by someone urinating, stopping the fire from spreading further. Generally this person would be portrayed as a hero but their face cannot be seen and the surroundings are still fairly dark suggesting the person may not be a hero after all. In terms of representation this act shows the person urinating and stopping the fire may be the one to stop the first man who initiated the fire with the matchsticks. The question and effect on audience would be to wonder who this new character is and how he is involved in this story. The positioning of the fire in this shot shows the fire being extinguished before it has reached the end of the screen - this may suggest the person who has extinguished the fire, will also stop the first man in his tracks before he can do anything else.

A silhouette is seen of the person coming down the stairs after extinguished. The person is walking down the stairs suggesting they are on the hull of the boat where the storage and engine rooms are. This area of a boat is generally for staff only and guests are not permitted. This explains the crew member and suggests the other two have forcefully entered. Due to the person seen as a silhouette, it raises the question of who the person is and how they came to know of the situation on the hull. The silhouette indicates the person is wearing a trench coat and a hat - these two combined demonstrate the person is on official business or trying to conceal something. All in all, this person knows the situation well and knows what they are doing. They may have possibly experienced this before. 

The mysteries figure then walks towards the first man we see. He asks him he is ready, the first man responds with asking the time. The mysterious figure then answers and then pulls out a gun. The camera then focuses on the gun and the mystery mans hand can be shaking as if he is trying really hard and putting his strength into firing the gun. The gun cannot be seen being fired but the gunshot can be heard. At the point of hearing the gunshot the camera is showing the exterior of the boat. This leaves the audience wondering who or what has been shot and what the after marth of this will be. What has been shot is most likely destructive or old containing another sort of liquid considering the wide shot from the third screen grab When the gun is seen, it seen coming out of the pocket on the trench coat proving the thought of the man concealing something in his coat.

The fire that was once lit by the first man, then extinguished by the mysterious figure is once again started off by the mysterious figure as he drops his cigarette on the flow on fuel across the ground. This suggests the first man and the mysterious figure are on the same team with the same objectives towards what they want to achieve. This raises the question of what their motive is and why they have partnered up.

The mysterious figure is seen once again climbing down the edge of the boat. Once again the mysterious figure is seen as a silhouette with no real clues as to who this person is or what they want. Although, it is clear this person is trying to escape from the boat hinting at the idea of a possible explosion seeing the fire before with the fuel and cigarette. This still does not answer the question of who this person is. The shot is the person in body length suggesting there will be high rates of action coming up with the mysterious figure ready to run.

The question of the explosion is answered with the next scene showing presumably the boat blowing up after seeing the fuel and fire being spread. It also raises another question of how the first person escaped and what was shot by the mysterious figure.

Bourne Identity and Blade Runner NICCS table

This breakdown of analysis was for the film Blade Runner. I found the genre of this film through IMDB.com - however I was informed the genre for this film is generally listed as "man on the run". There was a lot of clear iconography throughout, setting the scene and atmosphere for the outlook of the film.

This is the analysis for the film Bourne Identity. Compared to Blade Runner - this does not have as much iconography however, there are more settings or typical locations used. The settings used helped to clear the narrative.

The Silence Of The Lambs opening 6 minutes.

This is the opening scene that is seen. The very first setting sets the atmosphere or a dark place due to the misty sky and the bare trees. It almost looks like it was filmed in black and white or edited to look black and white. This sort of effect and use of colour will captivate the audience as to what may happen next or where this location is and what relevance it has the rest of the narrative. 

The change seen next is the character. This character is female with her hair tied back suggesting she is undertaking some sort of activity which requires a lot of concentration. She is also wearing a jumper with sweat stains suggesting the activity is something physical. This idea of strenuous physical activity is further shown with the diegetic sound of the characters' heavy breathing whilst she is trying to catch her breath. At first glance it seems she is running from something, but taking in account of the stains it seems as if she is training for something.

The next change in scene seen is the names of the actors. These are rolling whilst the first female character is running with a back tracking shot. The shot from behind shows audience where she is going and makes them familiar with her surroundings. During this, the sound heard is of her footsteps as she runs through the forest.

The thought of the character part taking in some sort of strenuous activity is shown here as she is seen climbing wall of rope to reach the other side. It seems as if she is training for something which requires a fit and healthy physique. The need for exercise explains the characters clothing of comfy clothing in which one can move about with ease. The viewers would see this scene as a major change from the eeriness of the previous scene as it seemed to be black and white and not much was revealed - whereas in this scene the imagery is in colour and the audience know more about what is happening and who is involved.

The next sound heard after the characters' grunt's as she climbs the rope is a male voice calling out to the female. This is heard before the male character is in sight and it filmed through a hand held camera making the effect of someone being followed apparent. The camera angle then changes to a behind shot of the two characters in the shot. The use of different angles gives the audience more perspective as they see the action from different angles and a point of view at one point with the hand held camera. The male character has to call out to the female character 5 times before she turns around and acknowledges he is there. She then follows his instruction of someone wanting to see the character in an office. This suggest he is in a slightly higher position than her. This is also evident from this choice of clothing.

This establishing shot shows the viewers where the female character has been asked to go. We know this because this is the very next location and scene after a meeting is mentioned. There is one similarity from the previous scene - this is the bare tree behind the building. Other than the trees this location looks completely different to the previous scenes. This suggests to the audience that there is a big change in people as well as their activities.

Once inside, it is clear it holds a different environment. This is because of the people seen in black t-shirts - they seem to be conversing and based in different groups of employees. Throughout this footsteps can be heard of people going up and down the stairs.

The next screengrab shows the female once again in a male dominated environment. She steps right in between them and does not seem to worry or feel like she is out of place in the lift. She is also wearing clothing to them and they are also much taller than her. This links back to when she was training outdoors on a course that viewers would usually associate with tall, strong males. This tall, strong person was seen as the FBI officer. The female character is also placed in close proximity with the other taller members. When she is seen coming out of the lift, she is seen leaving alone - suggesting the other people left the life before she did on a lower ground. This shows she is going to the top floor possibly to meet with someone in a higher position.

This shot of a sign sets the scene and atmosphere of building. Although the scene was set before with the other people, the sign further set the location in stone to where she is. Throughout this, again the main diegetic sound comes from the footsteps of the female character and also footsteps from others surrounding her. There is also a murmur heard of voices from a discussion, the two people having this discussion are soon revealed. This further creates question for the viewer as to why she has been called in while she was training and also why she is in that specific area of the building in which she has been called into.

A 3 shot is seen next, two males and the female character. The mise en scen of this shot reveals more information. The two characters seen are the two which were heard conversing in the previous scene grab. Their suits suggest they are of quite a high position. This is confirmed with their set of an office and formal looking background with one of the men perched on a desk with some papers in his hand. Most likely of some evidence they have gathered on a case they are working on. To further increase the essence of an office, markings can be seen on the board behind them. The markings either look like a map or a brainstorm regarding the case they may be talking about. Behind the man in the dark grey suit there seems to be a framed white paper - this could possibly suggest it is a certificate to show his qualifications. With the conversion between the two males and the female, it seems as if they know of her and and they respect her. They tell her to wait in the bosses office with a nice and calm tone. This sort of conversation in other films may come across as patronising from the two males to the female.

Once in the boss' office she begins to look around. This is one of the walls she sees. The wall contains cuttings from newspapers about a recent discovery of a serial killer. There is also a picture of a possible location for where one of the bodies was found. The camera then cuts back to close up of the female character where she seen as absorbing the information. In a generic scene this female character would be portrayed as taken back by the horrific headlines. However this still shows the female character showing stereotypical traits that would be taken on by the male character.

This mid shot shows the boss who had called the female character in the opening scene. His suit further shows his presence as the boss. Another cliche seen here is the boss watches her as she reads the articles and then starts to converse with them. Before he is revealed, he is blurred - this links back to the opening scene where the atmosphere consisted of the female character looking like she was running away from something or someone.

The Machinist, title analysis

This first credit shows the the producer, which is usually the first credit to appear. The black background suggests something of an eerie atmosphere.

 The light reflected on the window suggest the idea of the character not being able to differentiate from what is real and in real life to what is in his own mind. The position of him crouching over a carpet role shows further narrative into the storyline of this film. It seems as he is trying to role up a body .

 This screen garb finally shows the face of the person in question. From this, we can see he a fairly thin with a few cuts and bruises to his face. This would then take the audience back to what they previously saw with the character rolling the body in the carpet. The cuts and bruises may have come from an attack in the situation which lead to the dead body, or from before that situation.

This screen grab finally reveals the title of the film. The positioning of Trevor suggests he is the main character and ultimately The Machinist. The outline of his cheekbones is more apparent in this shot further showing his fragile exterior along with the bruises. There are also bags visible under his eyes suggesting he has not slept much and it could have something to do with the body he was rolling up and/or the scars on his face. The impact of this on the viewer is to question what they have just seen.

This low angle shot shows the struggle that Trevor is facing when trying to dispose of the body. There is also focus on his face, he is holding the body over his shoulder despite his evident tiredness. The background is also quite misty which sets the atmosphere as someone trying to hide something or someone. The dark skies give it an eerie look as well.

This next shot is also a low angle shot. This portrays the character of Trevor getting ready to throw the body. From the foreground it is apparent the carpet with the body will be rolled/pushed down a slope or hill. The iron railing on the side suggests it is quite a dangerous area to be around especially late at night where there is not much visibility.

This is another low angle shot. This reflects Trevor looking down at what he has accomplished, although the carpet is starting to lift up and away from the body leading the carpet to unravel and the person left uncovered at the bottom of the slope before rolling into the water.

This next mid shot shows Trevor mid action just after before the body down the slope. This shows Trevor noticing someone else is approaching so he knows he needs to act fast to complete what he has started.

Here Trevor is seen giving the body a final push as the carpet became stuck on a possible rock or hook as seen in a previous screen grab. From the positioning, it is clear that Trevor is putting himself in further danger as he nearly loses his balance but stops himself in time from going down the slop with the body wrapped in carpet.

This mid shot shows a shocked face on Trevor - this is because someone has just seen him and is shinning a torch on his face. However through the script it is clear the person with the torch knows Trevor and possibly knows what Trevor has done and why he has killed the person. Although the person holding the torch does not seen very surprised with finding Trevor in this place and it this position.

Bleach is seen in this scene, this is because Trevor is vigorously cleaning his hands with bleach, possibly to rid his skin of any evidence regarding the body in the two previous scenes. The bathroom tiles used in this scene suggest Trevor is a very clean person as they are clean and seem to have been wiped down every few days. This need to be clean and be surrounded by cleanliness suggests Trevor may have OCD to do with cleanliness.

The torch in the first and second frame highlight the importance of the torch. It also links back to the torch in the previous scene outside where Trevor was disposing of the body. The torch in Trevors suggests the person who was holding the torch outside was the person to assist Trevor home.

10th Jan Preliminary Task

For this task we were given a number of situations. The first two scenarios were filmed with a single camcorders, the third scenario was filmed with two cameras. I found there was more to explore with editing when there was footage available from two different camcorders.

pre Hand Research, looking through other blogs and titles.

This is an example of an opening created by some previous students. I really liked the soundtrack to this opening because it suited the series of events well. The series of events follow a female around the London Underground featuring a handful of stations. Looking through this opening for the first time, I can not see any errors or weaknesses.


This opening seems to follow a school girl walking home and being targeted by some fellow students. I think there could have been a better choice of music used for the soundtrack, possibly Birdys' version of Skinny Love or How to save a life by The Fray. However I liked where the song being played on the ipod was shown to emphasise the meaning behind the song and how it would relate to the sequences unfolding. There is also use of continuity editing at 1:54 - this could have been more crisp and on point. The same for the shot at 1:22. At this point the 3 friends are continuing to walk down the street however you can see where the cut has been made and that they have stopped and started from the point of which the walked down the street. To improve this is think the clip could have started a second later or have the actors walk in and out of the shot, not just to start walking from a standstill. There is also the start 1:18 where there is a fade to white which would usually be used to show time passing or a flashback.

This screen grab is from another previous example of work. This close up of the back of his head was supported by a crescendo in the music which gave the essence of a climax in the narrative or just the idea of something that is crucial to the plot being revealed.

This next screen grab is what happens next as the shot zooms in. I like the effect this has for the sequence. This scene then shows the person again and shows a doll being taken apart. I think this picture builds up the scene well for what is about to occur. At the end there is sound coming from speech. The first voice is muffled to show someone talking who is far from the person in the shot.

Sweeney Todd opening tittles. 

For the opening tittle of Sweeney Todd, the actors playing the two main characters can be seen. Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter's names appear, both surrounding by a what seems  to be an old wall with wallpaper pealing at the sides. This gives the effect of an eerie atmosphere. Both of these actors are represented by an outline silhouette of their faces in character. Both backgrounds have blood smeared down the sides, for Jonny Depp the blood is dried and is running down his outline. For Helena Bonham Carter the blood is more animated and more of a drip running down an object. 

For the next two credits, the actors names are again surrounded by blood by not their facial outline. For Alan Rickman, the blood seems to be a continuation from the previous sequence showing Helena Bonham Carter. The title is for Sacha Baron Cohen. This title shows the actors name in swirling pool of blood. By this fourth tittle, the essence of blood and eeriness is made very clear. The reason for the two sets of actors could be due to the role of the character they are portraying but it also shows the story unfolding and moving on through the names and characters. 


As the credits change from the actors to the crew, the essence of eeriness and blood is lost. This is to show the change in job role and the change from within the eeriness to creating it. 





The blood and eeriness comes back into play to show the essence of the film. The blood is running towards a drain suggesting the camera will follow the blood down into the depths. 

The blood is followed down and is then let lose into the stream of sewers. Showing the large gush of blood shows someone with quite a large role in the making of the film such as an Executive Producer.

 

This final screegrab shows the director with a misty background. This shows the final credit. The misty effect also prepares the audience for the opening scene of the film.

This is the timeline for the opening titles of "Russell Howard's Good News"