Modern Adaptation of a Silent Movie in the Thriller Genre

Possible Idea:

Modern Adaptation of a Silent Movie in the Thriller Genre

Basics:

My idea is to try and create a classic silent movie but with a few modern tweaks that change the way in which it is received by the audience. A silent movie consists of many things which makes it so unique. The most obvious feature of a silent movie is the silence, no talking and only the use of non-digetic sound and music allows the audience to use their own imagination and perceptive to understand the movie the way that they want to see it.

Very dramatic and inspired acting also plays a significant role in the making of a silent movie.

The actors tend to use very noticeable and exaggerated dramatic movements, gestures and emotions to almost tell the story without the need for any sound. These movements show the audience what is going on and make it more interesting as the plot of a movie is hard to discover without the use of people speaking.

Music:

Silent movies usually have very good, dramatic music that runs all the way through from the offset. This music is used to make the audience feel a certain way and sudden drumbeats or noises within the music shows that something key has happened. The pace of the music is also used to dictate the way in which the movie is presented. The use of fast music is stereotypically viewed as music that is possibly used within a chase or an action-packed scene whereas slow music is used in dramatic areas in the case of some sort of tragic occurence or a less important scene.

Music like this is used in silent films as it it quite catchy so it holds the interest of the audience and it also has different paces and noticeable moments where different instruments are used to fit what is happening in the movie. The music is instrumental on the making of a successful silent movie as if the music does not fit in with the setting or the plot then everything could go horribly wrong and the movie will not enthuse the audience as well, therefore making the movie a possible bore.








Obviously we are trying to fit the genre of a thriller film into a silent movie so music like this is very suitable due to the way in which it builds  tension and creates suspense therefore building up to a climax and making the audience wait in anticipation for an important scene or a sudden occurence that has the ability to make them jump.

Props:

Props have to be used in an effective way in a silent movie so as to show the audience clearly who is the villain and who is the hero. In traditional silent movies, the villain generally had a cane but nowadays the modern perception of a villain usually involves something like a gun, a knife or some sort of weapon or even a bodyguard that shows he is a person of importance and is not to be messed with. This means that a modern silent movie would have to involve new ways in which the villain and the hero can be identified as the villain and the hero as there is no speech which could tell you otherwise, only actions, props and costume.

Costume:

Costume is a very good way of helping the audience to determine what character they like and what characters they do not. Traditional silent movies had the villain dressed up in fairly posh clothing like a black cape and a top hat whereas the hero was usually dressed in fairly normal (upper class) clothing.

Plot:

The plot of a silent movie nearly always involves the idea of a villain capturing a victim and the hero saving this victim. A 'Damsel in Distress' is almost always used as the victim due to the fact that it was sterotypically viewed as the woman showing vulnerability and the power of the man over the woman made the audience uncomfortable. Also it made the audience hate the villain even more due to  the fact that it didn't make him a very likeable person when they are attacking an innocent woman because they have 'authority' over her.

My Idea:

Basically, my idea involves the use of 'makeshift' railway tracks. I know the owner of branch brothers and he has offered to lend me anything that we need in creation of this movie. So it may be possible that we could use some long pieces of wood to create railway tracks and go along with the idea of a villain capturing their victim and the hero coming to save them. Obviously the idea of someone being tied to a railway track while a train is coming has been used before but with the addition of the silence and the music that we use, it could make this unique and special to anyone watching it. We could go out and film some trains going past and stuff and incorporate the titles into a fast-moving train window perhaps? Or say we could start the film with someone being captured and taken through some trees and we could carve the woods 'Starring etc..' into the wood? We could use cross-cutting to switch between scenes of a moving train, the woman being tied to the tracks and the hero. I will leave it up to the rest of my group to decide what they think of this idea but I think it is a big risk.If though, we can get it right, it will be spectacular and nothing like the school media teachers will have seen before from their students.





























Leon Mise En Scene

 

Mise en scene	How are each of these elements presented in Leon? Are they conventional?
Costume	70’s type costumes, bright colours, leather jackets and beige suits as if part of a gang. Hard to tell whether this is conventional or not although it is quite unusual for most thrillers to have these sort of costumes apart from the gang thrillers where this sort of costume is usually worn.   Dresses quite casually, the mother looks slightly like a tart as if she could potentially a prostitute. Shameful way of dressing from the child’s point of view.   Matilda is also dressed quite tarty but this is probably due to the way her mother dresses so she wouldn’t know any better.   See what the suit means to the man as he keeps shooting the guy that was already dead because he ruined his suit.
Lighting	The lighting from the windows highlight Leon as this is the first time we have seen the whole of him. The lighting highlights him and the plant as he is caring for it whereas it darkens everything else so that he stands out.   Natural lighting shows normality and realism. Big contrast between Leon and Matilda’s house.   Natural lighting highlights the plant as central thing in his life and shows how much he cares for it.   The darkness of the hallway portrays evil and shows that something bad is about to happen.   The lighting shining on her through the door shows her relief.
Props	Young girl smoking cigarettes, shows that she is treated quite badly and she has to hide it from her dad showing fear.   The plant shows that Leon has an innocent side as well as his killer side, meaning that he can care for things and he isn’t all bad.   A lot of weapons and holsters on Leon’s belt, which is quite conventional of a thriller as it means people have and will die during the film which makes the audience feel uncomfortable and it builds tension as the audience have to wait in anticipation to see who will be killed.   Has a lot of care for the plant as he is carefully cleaning and spraying some sort of insect killer on it to protect  it.   The glasses he is usually wearing show how he tries to hide his identity. Religious picture with a gun in front which is quite ironic as there is a large contrast between gun crime and religion.   The clock shows time ticking away as if something potentially critical to the film is about to happen.   Emergence through the curtain of beads show that this man is full of his own self-importance and that he is clearly not a good character.
Setting	Fairly normal flat block.   Kitchen fairly messy where Leon looks sad and lonely, the non-digetic depressing music shows the audience he doesn’t live a very social life too.   The cinema scene is very different from what has happened so far in the film, it is very unconventional of a thriller after all the killing that he was doing earlier on in the film.

 

Leon Essay

Leon

Leon shows many reasons why it could be a conventional thriller but there are also scenes that don’t generally fit in with the normality. For example, the way the film starts seems to be trying to mess with the audience as it works to keep the identity of Leon a secret by only showing his eyes as he hides behind his glasses. Main conventions of a thriller include things like death and that is referred to a lot in the first few scenes of this film as Leon kills a lot of men to get what he needs.

Tension is built very well by the film in this scene and although we cannot relate to Leon due to his hidden identity and the reference to him being a killer with no conscience, we do feel straight away that he is a good guy against these other men due to the fact that they work for a drug dealer and they seem to know about the risks of the job that they have.  The drug dealing fat man is obviously very scared of Leon, as shown by the number of men he needs to protect him. Leon kills all the bodyguards in ingenious ways and seems to be very good at what he does. The whole scene seems to show him teasing the men by killing them off a few at a time and not being where he is expected to be. This scene has a very witty, almost comical view to killing people. The non-digetic tense music throughout is very jumpy and slows down at points of interest until eventually the fat man is all that is left and as soon as the knife touches his throat all sound comes to a sudden end.  At this point we would say that although the symbolism of death is very conventional of a thriller, the movie is unconventional due to the audience having no way of relating to Leon who is a main character and the way in which the first scene throws the audience straight into the action even though they know that Leon is clearly going to succeed in his mission as the film would be very short if the main character died in the first scene.

Most thrillers usually include some sort of quest or mission which has to be completed and shows their journey in reaching that conclusion. Leon does seem to start out with a quest to send a message to a potentially dangerous drug dealer. That quest comes to an end quite quickly though as the film seems to be trying to show the audience that Leon doesn’t mess around and that he is capable of taking down an army of men alone.  The film moves on to showing the other main protagonist of the film, Mathilda. She is portrayed as a very innocent young girl who clearly suffers from abuse and a poor family structure as she smokes behind her parents back and the way she is dressed shows that her role models are clearly not very good ones. This showing of innocence shows a huge contrast between the behaviours of the two main characters. Leon, an assassin who kills people for work, compared to Mathilda, a young girl who ran away from school and gets treated poorly in her household.

The way in which Leon goes out to buy milk and speaks to this young girl with care shows that although his job is a very bad one, he does try to function in society and does have a very caring side.

A significant aspect in many great thrillers is the reference to the innocence in what is an essentially corrupt world. This is shown very well through the way Leon cares for the young girl after just being out killing people as a form of work. The plant in his flat is a huge symbol of innocence that is essential in showing it due to the way in which Leon treats it with such care as if it is the only thing he actually does care about apart from the little girl that he doesn’t really seem to know too well.

When the men come round and slaughter Mathilda’s family, there are some very disturbing shots and clips in this scene which fits the conventions of a thriller perfectly by making the audience uncomfortable at seeing so much death for an essentially innocent family. When Mathilda returns, she goes straight to Leon’s door in hope that he’ll open it for her. The stakes of the scene are very apparent as Leon has a very particular personality, one that he knows he would be going against if he lets Mathilda in. He also knows that to not let her in would mean she would die. His humanity eventually prevails, and from then on gradually the humanization of the Leon starts. This image is very powerful and struck me as a very good part of the film as it shows the way in which personalities change within an instance and different sides of both characters are made apparent to the audience. Although he continues to watch what is going on outside to make sure he and the girl are not in danger.

Leon fits the general conventions of a thriller as shown by the death and the way in which the film makes the audience feel uncomfortable. There seems to be a quest that needs to be completed within the film which also fits in with the general conventions and innocence is shown brilliantly throughout the film by both characters although they both start out with different personalities in the opinion of the audience.

 

 

Seven Analysis Notes

· Formal Clothing



· Very organised professional person, everything is in order.



· Methodical thinker



· Stubborn, likes to do things his own way



· Cuts straight to a dead body



· Lighting highlights the dead body



· Blood behind the man to show clearly that someone had been killer.



· Different personalities. Brad Pitt has a lot more casual approach to everything showing a clear contrast between the two main characters.



· The rain represents dreariness and the flushing away off life.



· The low camera shot shows the dominance of the characters.



· Brad Pitt has less respect and a cheekiness.



· Morgan Freedman says about the next 7 days, referring to the title of the film.



· Brad Pitt’s body language and actions show annoyance and anger.



· Mise on Scene props like the lamp fallen over, the tin cans, the table and the plates which add effect and realism to the plot.



· Clock represents the ticking away, very realistic and conventions of a thriller.



· Very interesting title sequence, cutting between different background shots, the titles are in a thriller type font and stands out against the background. Starts immediately with a man playing with razor blades and he seems to be keeping a journal of the things that he has done. Very creepy and a psychological thriller, getting rid of the skin of his fingers to change his fingerprints. Red light flashes symbolising blood and danger.



· After the title sequence there is then a title that comes up showing us that it is Monday and referencing the start of the seven days that were mentioned before the titles and in the name of the film.



· All shots are quite close-up in the title sequence, hiding everything else that is going on and making you uncomfortable due to an invasion on space possibly.



· Changes to quite creepy high pitched music as the pace begins to quicken and build tension.



· The words ‘you bring me close to God’ symbolises the reference of someone dying and getting closer to God.


· Suddenly more of a reference towards Brad Pitt having a wife due to him laying with a woman in a bed and clearly they are in love.



· Miss what’s going on outside due to the scene cutting straight from him looking out the window to him sitting on the bed.



· Morgan Freedman is so stubborn and less humane so he rejects Brad Pitt’s offer of a cup of tea. About to enter a crime scene and the area looks very rough with burnt cars and graffiti. Very dreary colours make it look as if they are intruding on a completely different world to what they are used to.



· Already know that this scene is not going to be nice.



· Following in single file to show dominance and knowledge.



· Non-digetic, uncomfortable sound to build tension as soon as they enter the house to make the audience feel like something bad is going to happen.



· Indications that this is not going to be a nice scene judging by the insects crawling around.



· Shocking realisation as the size of the dead man and how much spaghetti the man eats.



· We know this film is about the seven deadly sins and the first sin is clearly gluttony by the size of the man and the spaghetti could possibly be put there by the killer to symbolise that specific deadly sin.



· Holding a shot to build tension as the audience wants to find out what he is looking at.



· The man’s hands and feet are tied together, clearly showing that the man was forced to eat.

Sixth Sense Essay

Media Analysis

Sixth Sense:

The first shot that we see of the mother and her child is looking in through the window at an angle so you can see the boy and his mother. The focus of the shot is the boy’s face, he looks scared and really traumatised whereas the mother looks serious and like she is concentrating on what is going on. The first words of the boy are ‘I’m ready to communicate with you now’. These words are very strange words for a young child. He then goes on to say about how he knows that a woman has died in this car accident. The mother shows a lot of shock at this and the camera angle shows quite clearly her emotions towards the words of this child. The boy looks very vulnerable as he is slightly lower than the eye-level camera shot and the scene creates suspense very well as the boy builds up very gradually into letting his mum know that he can see this dead woman. The typical conventions of a thriller would show that when the boy says ‘She’s standing outside my window’, there would be some sort of sudden sound but in this film it is very blunt and very strange as no new sound is played. The camera shot then changes to look at her to allow the audience to see the emotion register on her face. The woman’s face allows the audience to see that she is starting to believe in him as she takes a glance out the window when she turns to look at him. The camera shot then changes again to show a shot from her perspective looking at the child. Behind the child is a woman with blood running down her face, the woman clearly cannot see the dead lady as it doesn’t register on her face. The camera zooms in on the boy as he talks about ghosts talking to him. The scene begins to make you feel uncomfortable as the boy starts going into detail about a traumatic event but the conversation is very normal and there’s change in tone in either person’s voice. The very quiet atmosphere within the car adds to the tension and the woman seems very scared by what the boy is talking about. The mother looks very shocked when the boy says about his grandmother coming to visit him as she then realises that he may be telling the truth and it makes the audience want the woman to understand and believe her son. The boy then gives evidence about him seeing dead people as he starts to recall events that he shouldn’t know about like the grandmother seeing her dance which makes her react in a very scared and shocked way like she knows that he must be telling the truth even though she is trying to convince herself that it isn’t possible. The editing of this scene is just complete straight-cuts throughout the conversation. He wants his mother to understand as seen by his concentration and work rate to justify what he is saying. The mother starts to cry because she knows for definite by this point that he isn’t lying about what he is saying and it scares her and makes her feel sorry for him.

Analysing Title Sequences

Goldfinger:

The title sequence for this film is very interesting. It has very dramatic music fronted by singing from a woman with a very strong voice. She sings about the actual theme of this film and the lyrics she uses portray the way in which the man with the gold finger is like in the film. The images shown are all projected inside a gold statue of a woman to refer to the film and also it is possibly used to allow a bit of distortion on the images appearing so as not to show the best parts of the film. The guns and fire that is shown also foreshadows the action-packed scenes that are to come throughout the film. It also starts the same way in which it ends and the whole gold theme during the title sequence gives a definite insight into what the film is about and the way in which the statue in the titles is a woman shows portrays the idea of a beautiful woman in the film that could possibly meet a dramatic fate due to the actions of the man with the gold finger.

The Avengers:

The start of the title sequence has a very sudden dramatic and deep piano key and that is used to start off the music of the sequence. The background of the sequence is a tracking camera shot that moves between different props within the film, giving an insight to what is involved in the film. Also, the people’s names fade in and out as the shot moves gradually. The music gradually begins to quicken throughout the sequence as if it is building up to a dramatic climax, foreshadowing the events and the way in which the film is made and based. All of the background images that the camera is tracking between are battle equipment like armour and weapons like the bow and arrow. These definitely portrays that this film is a fantasy action film involving lots of battles and action-packed scenes. Also, when the actors names start to come up on the screen, the background images change to things that are related to that actor. For example, the iron man suit is shown when Robert Downey JR’s name appears. The title sequence also eventually fades into the movie as a large blue window appears and the camera travels into the light and, as if appearing out of the other side, the camera shot is of the mood and space.

Ocean’s 11:

This title sequence begins with very jumpy and catchy music, not dramatic music like the previous two films I have analysed. It begins to count up from 1 to 11 as well in bright lights and different colours with names of the people involved in the film appearing in bold white writing overlapping the numbers. Also the music gets quicker and more dramatic as it builds up to the number 11 where `Ocean’s` appears next to it to give the title of the film. The music then completely changes and becomes really old fashioned classic music from the 70’s. When the name of the director of photography comes up, the background images show the king and queen of spades, giving possible reference to the theme of the film. After the playing cards have disappeared, a bandit machine appears and begins to role, symbolising gambling and a casino atmosphere. Having seen the film, the title sequence has a lot of relevance to the film due to the constant reference to a casino through the bandit machines, playing cards and rolling dice. The classic music is used to let the audience know that the film is not set in the modern day which is helpful as you know that it is a realistic film before it even starts.

 

The Pacific:

The opening to this title sequence starts really slowly to symbolise that this is going to be quite a dramatic film. The chalk writing on the parchment paper shows that it is set in olden day times and a drawing starts to be done that is very distorted at first and not clear on what it is but then it starts to become a proper image and it shows a soldier with a helmet on from the war.