Thursday 14 February 2008

Final Thoughts

Overall i have really enjoyed this project, and i have developed a keen interest in Thriller films, and i have become a lot more analytical of films. I feel like i have learned a lot from this project and i also feel i have helped my group with my skills at all stages of the project. i think the one of the best parts of this project is that we worked well as a group. This meant that our sessions went well and things done as a group could be done at a high standard and at ease.

i am very pleased with our finished sequence, and i am proud to say that i was part of the project.

Action/Enigma Codes in Relapse

Applying Barthes theory of Action & Enigma Codes to Relapse:

Action Codes:

  • Dropping the cigarette
  • The Party scenes, him doing drugs
  • He follows girl
  • He sees himself committing the murder
Enigma Codes:
  • Why is he alone in a park at night?
  • Why is he doing the drugs?
  • In what state of mind is he?
  • Where is he walking?
  • Why does he kill the girl?
  • What will happen when he wakes up?
  • What are the consequences?

Binary Opposites in Relapse

Applying Claude Levi-Strauss theory of Binary Opposites to Relapse:

  • Solitude vs. Company
  • Male vs. Female
  • Sobriety vs. Intoxication
  • Consciousness vs. Unconsciousness
  • Villain vs. Victim
  • In control vs. Out of control

Narrative Structure - Relapse

Todorov's Narrative Structure applied to Relapse:

Equilibrium - The sequence begins at a slow pace, where the protagonist is just sitting on a bench, and even though the actor does not look very calm, the overall scene is quite calm.


Disruption - The pace of the sequence strongly speeds up and the main character sees himself commit a murder and passes out.


New Equilibrium - The pace of the sequence slows down again, and even though the girl has been killed, we can see that the new equilibrium will be achieved through the rest of the film.

Final Opening Sequence - Relapse

Final DVD Cover - Relapse

This is our final DVD cover:
I am very pleased with our DVD cover. I believe it conveys the Thriller genre very well, through the dark colours, creepy settings, and the faded images. We strongly changed the contrast on the background of our back cover, which makes it really standout, and makes it look more eerie. i like the faded picture on top of this image on the back cover, because it is also gives an eerie feel. Overall i feel our cover gives a very good impression of what our film is about.

Secret Window DVD Cover

I found this DVD cover very inspirational when researching ideas for our own DVD cover, as did the rest of the group.
We liked the way there is two separate pictures as one, and it does not look strange they are merged together. We tried to use a similar technique when creating our own DVD cover, where the main focus is a close-up of our main actor, and there is also another picture of possibly our murder, faded in the corner. However a close-up of my face did not bring about the same results as the same shot of Johhny Depp's face. My boyish good looks just drew too much attention away from what was meant to be a shot conveying thriller. Also Johnny Depp's lawyers were worried that our DVD cover with my face as the main shot, could make Johnny look rather inferior, and they didnt want his image being damaged.

Wednesday 13 February 2008

IMDB.com

Throughout this project i dont think a day has passed that i have not used IMDB.com (Internet Movie Database)
It is a very useful site that has information about every film, actor, video game, production crew or television programme you can think of.
It has been of great use to me in this project, and now i use it day to day, to see reviews of films i plan on seeing or to check information about films i have already seen.

Here is a link of the website:
http://www.imdb.com

Monday 4 February 2008

A Scanner Darkly-opening sequence



I found this opening sequence very weird, and because of that it really stood out to me. It immediately shows the film makers intentions for the whole film, and indicates to the audience what to expect from the rest of the film. This is such an important factor in an opening sequence. They use close-ups a lot to show the main detail of the clip, the bugs, which break up the clip to make it more interesting. It also draws detail to important aspects that will crop up in the rest of the film. This was another reason i thought this was a successful opening sequence. It is very important for the rest of the film aswell as being an introduction.

I love the animation in this film. It is a process called rotoscoping, where in post production animators trace over live-action film movement, frame by frame. It is also used in the film Sin City.