Case Study 2 - Kill Bill Vol. 1

Case Study 2 - Kill Bill Vol.1

Case Study 1 - Once Upon a Time in America

Once Upon a Time in America - Thriller Case Study

Application of Thriller Case Study

In my previous post , I explored the conventions of three genres; Horror, Action and Thriller. Later in the year we are being tasked with producing an opening to a Thriller film so this will be my main focus in the following weeks.

What i can learn about Thrillers from this scene/ film?

The film I researched last time was "Jackie Brown". It is one of the most iconic and successful Thriller films from the highly decorated director Quentin Tarantino. Tarantino has won 2 Oscars and has another 108 award wins plus 130 award nominations. As a very successful Thriller director, I plan to use many of Tarantino's signature shots. From my external research I have found a website called:
 "Quentin Tarantino's Trademarks" 

http://wiki.tarantino.info/index.php/Quentin_Tarantino's_Trademarks 

This website details all his stereotypical shots/ scenes and examples of where he has used them in his films. Examples from this website that interest me include: The Gods eye PoV shot, the use of black and white, television shot and possibly the "violent awakening". 

Gods eye PoV shot

This shot for me puts the audience almost in an eavesdropping position, like we  are watching the character from a far or almost spying on them. I'd like to somehow incorporate this shot into my Thriller as i think audiences can get a broad sense of the action on the screen. In addition it conveys, to an extent, the innocence of a character as they don't know they are being watched. Moreover, I think it would be an interesting shot to use and a reward technique if it I implemented it correctly.

The Use of Black and White

Black and White can be very useful in showing danger and mystery. Its commonly used in scenes to intensify them. From my preliminary task I am confident enough to successfully put a sequence into black and white. Something else to consider is using black and white whenever a certain character is on screen or using it fully up to a certain event/ conversation and the introducing colour onto the screen. The use of black and white in these examples could show feelings/ emotions/ personality.

Television Shot

This shot involves a character watching TV. Its normally a Close up shot of the television set. Close ups here suggest the character is completely focused on the TV and oblivious to the action around them. I could use this to connote innocence  and  suggest vulnerability in my Thriller. On top of that, the TV shot implies normality with the character and situation. 

The violent awakening

The violent awakening is a Thrilling scene and one that makes the audience question whats happened to the character. Its an immediate sense of panic and concern and can be used to grip the audience. If this shot was used right at the start I believe the result could confuse the audience and make them intrigued to understand more about the character and investigate the cause of the concerning awakening. 

Preliminary Task Evaluation.

Preliminary Evaluation

Preliminary Task Final.

The Start Of Thriller Research

In our first lesson after half-term, we began Thriller research. In this lesson we began to look into what the difference was between a Horror film, an action film and a Thriller film. This will be useful to us as when it comes to filming/ planning our Thriller we will know what to include/ avoid to ensure we are sticking to the genre as close as possible. 

Action

Nearly all action films will feature a main character who is a hero/ heroine. This is the character that is most important to the plot. For example, in the Bourne Identity, the hero is Jason Bourne. These characters are often credited with being able to "defy gravity". What we mean here is that the are an incredibly strong and tough character. For example, in the movie "Die Hard" John McClane (Bruce Willis) survives a lot of painful experiences e.g fight scenes and explosions. Explosions are a common "ingredient" in action films.

Example Clip: Casino Royal Parkour Chase/ Fight Scene

This is a clip from the very famous Casino Royale. During this extract we can observe many aspects of a typical action film sequence.

• The clear hero/ heroine in this sequence is James Bond (Daniel Craig). This clip is towards the start of the film and we can already see who the main action star is for this movie. 
• There are many examples during this scene where Bond is seen to be "defying gravity" which are all used to assert Bonds power and/or his hero like properties.

•  In addition to this, another feature of the action genre we can see in this clip are explosions. Explosions and other collisions  are used to grip the viewer and keep them engaged with the sequence. 

The combination of the heroic, death defying acts and the explosions during this clip are used to keep the audience on edge. It is a very fast yet tense scene that keeps the viewer fixed to the screen. These features are defining factors of a great action film and are typical to the action genre and the James Bond franchise.

Horror

Horror films are defined by having a supernatural feature. This could be in the form of the villain e.g a Zombie or a Ghost. Other characteristic features of the Horror genre include graveyards, coffins, blood, dark places (where people are most vulnerable) and good vs evil. However, these feature arent restricted to Horror and many of them can be seen in other genres. The deciding factor for what becomes a Horror film is the use of Supernatural beings.The Horror genre is credited to have first been seen between the 1910's and the  1920's. Since then the amount of Horror films produced per year has dramatically increased from around 10 a year  to over 6,300. (2015) Figures: http://www.imdb.com/search/title?genres=horror&explore=year


One of the most iconic Horror films was Dracula (1957) staring Christopher Lee. During the final scene of this film, as Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) is killing Dracula we can see many aspects of the Horror genre. For example, in the start of the extract, we can see Dracula place a women's body into a grave. This gives the audience a "chill" and retains the horror feel of the film. This scene is set at a rather dark time of day. This creates a tense atmosphere as the audience has a fear of the unknown.Darkness or dim light is an extremely common feature of a Horror film.
Thriller

Thrillers can be very similar to a Horror film. They often contain very similar features including dark lighting and violence. Thrillers however are more realistic and resemble real life which gives them their "Thrilling" nature. Iconic Thrillers include: Inception, Casino Royale, Jackie Brown and the Bourne franchise. One of the most highly decorated directors within the Thriller Genre is Quentin Tarantino. Famous for his Thrillers: Jackie Brown, Kill Bill Vol.2 and his work on Sin City. The extract i have chosen is from Jackie Brown. This scene features many stereotypical Thriller features. For example, a common feature of a Thriller, or at least Tarantino films, is a low angle, car boot shot. This puts the audience in a position of vulnerability. What's more, Thrillers also feature a lot of Guns as even if they aren't fired the viewer is reminded of the killing potential o
f these characters. This gives the film an edge to it as violence could break out at any moment. In this extract, Tarantino uses few cuts and shots. During the 7 minute scene there are 8 different shots. T hat's just under a minute per shot. This reinstates the realist aspect of a Thriller and give the characters and action a more believable feel. All of these are great features of a Thriller but arguably the most iconic is the use of Noir lighting, noir obviously being French for Black. This kind of lighting is extremely common in Thriller films and can be seen during this extract.

Camera Angles and Shots

Camera Shots - By Self

Skills-O-Rama.

Skills-o-Rama

1) Embed A video From YouTube

This is a clip from the very successful Breaking Bad. This is by far my favourite Television program. I've chosen this clip as it is a great example of how the creator Vince Gilligan uses unique and creative camera shots to build suspense and entertain the audience. The camera is stationary for the first few minutes of this scene which builds suspense and then the slow movement reveals a very dramatic moment that thrills the audience. I would recommend watching this TV show to understand the significance of this moment and also to enjoy the unique way its shot.

2) Embed A Slideshow


3)  Add Images from other websites.

This is a poster from one of my favourite films, Die Hard. The website I got it from was a film review website that featured this film: http://andygeddon.com/2011/12/01/blogvent-day-1-die-hard-1988usa/

4) Upload and Add Images

These are the first rough storyboards for our preliminary task. Our idea is to have a character (me) be late for an exam, only to realise they have left their pen in a classroom they were previously in. The dramatic moment is when the audience find out the pens been stolen and the thief (Harry) won't give it back.

In these storyboards we have planned out the rough shots and logistics of the video. I doubt the final product will resemble these storyboards closely, however i believe many aspects of this plan will be seen in the final outcome.







5) Customise the Background or Layout

6) Add A Slideshow/ PowerPoint via slideshare.com/ Scribd.com/issu.com.

7) Create and Embed a Prezi



8) Use a different website such as PhotoPeach

Famous Film Posters on PhotoPeach

Preliminary Task Storyboard.

These are the first rough storyboards for our preliminary task. Our idea is to have a character (me) be late for an exam, only to realise they have left their pen in a classroom they were previously in. The dramatic moment is when the audience find out the pens been stolen and the thief (Harry) won't give it back.

In these storyboards we have planned out the rough shots and logistics of the video. I doubt the final product will resemble these storyboards closely, however i believe many aspects of this plan will be seen in the final outcome.

Media Sudies Summer Task

Media Studies Summer Task

Prezi - Different Camera shots

Introduction

Hi! I'm Isaac Winterburn and welcome to my AS media blog :)