Primeval - Textual Analysis of Gender.

The overall portrayal of gender and the adherence to gender stereotypes and archetypes is rather balanced between subversion of normalcy and conformity to it.

The scene opens by presenting a red-haired woman talking to a man, getting upset, and then storming off after he male placates her. This could be seen to be presenting women as overly-emotional and less stable than men, the fact that the other male in the scene tells him to "just let her go" could be seen to emphasise this.

This stereotype implicating women as 'weak' was subverted in the next scene, as we see the white-haired woman driving a typically-masculine looking piece of machinery, going on to be put in the place of having the sole ability to save the light-haired male in this scene from the very dangerous Sabre-Tooth Tiger with nothing but the machine as she batters the carnivorous pre-historic animal around as he is stuck in a hole in the ground, and would have probably been killed without her help. This subverts the 'damsel in distress' archetype, the idea that women always need to be saved by the man, never the other way around. The light haired male and the white-haired female are very much at equals during this scene, as they both save each other several times, and the female is never made to look weak, as misogynistic hegemony suggests that they are.

The next scene shows a typically macho-looking farmer type male wielding a gun at a helpless, albeit classy female, this conforms to male and female stereotypes. The female proceeds to be splayed out on the ground, breathing heavily as the farmer guy points a gun at her. This could be seen as over-sexualising the female, which is a very serious issue, as men do not suffer this problem in the media.

And obviously, the light haired male leader comes to her rescue, followed by a dark haired male and the white-haired female. Even though the white-haired female is admittedly presented as strong, she also displays typically masculine characteristics such as short hair, and a leather jacket. This may suggest to the audience that women can only be strong if they adhere to masculine stereotypes, that a woman can not be both feminine and strong at the same time.

Art Of The Title.

The website 'Art of the Title' contains many examples of openings of various movies, mostly exhibiting the opening credits and how they are presented, such as that of Silent Hill: Revelation (a movie which I thoroughly enjoyed):

And even TV Series openings such as Game of Thrones (again, which I thoroughly enjoy)

And classic openings, like that of Panic Room:

-Which has been duplicated in many media forms since, for example, the titles used in the TV Series 'Fringe' and also in the titles of the game 'Heavy Rain':

  

                                   

This website will be useful when adding titles to my Thriller Opening.

Title Sequences

A title sequence involves the introductory portion of the film, often giving credit to the production company (Pathe, 20th Century Fox, MGM etc), the cast, producers, directors and just any of the main people involved in the film.
Title sequences usually include:

• Production Company
• (Name of production company) presents
• A film by (producer) and (director)
• Main Cast
• Casting by
• Music by
• Costumes by
• Edited by
• Written by
• Director of photography
• Produced by 
• Directed by
• FILM TITLE.

Not all films follow this specific order, but most Hollywood productions adhear to them to some degree.

Structures, Formulas and Devices.

Continuity Editing:

This is a style of editing that requres the director to try to make the film reality as much like the audience's reality as possible, trying to make it easier on the audience to comprehend and understand the action happening on screen. With an clear establishment of Cause & Effect, it produces logically and steadily.

Within this style of editing there are many terms or ways of implementing the style. These affects can be used independetly of each other to create desired affects:

Establishing Shot:

This is a basic shot that is used a lot. This shot is usually wide angled showing the setting in which a scene is taking place. It helps the audience maintain a sense of where the action of the film is taking place and places a smaller part of the film as a whole inside of a specific place.

Eyeline Match:

This employs the audience’s ability to assume things. This series of shots usually shows someone looking at something and then what exactly they are looking at. In this way the auience can see exactly what the character is seeing and what the director wants them to see.

Match on Action:

In order for a series of shots to make sense, the director must manipulate the camera as if the film reality he/she is creating exists when not in view of the camera.

180 Degree Rule:

The rule of line-crossing is sometimes called the 180° rule. This refers to keeping the camera position within a field of 180°.

Enigmas:

An enigma refers to something inexplicable or initially incomprehensible that leaves the audience asking questions, it is often a riddle or a difficult problem that the protagonist has to figure out.

Red Herrings:

A Red Herring is often used to misguide the audience from the truth, it works to create suspense later on. An example of a red herring is the 'dead' body in the centre of the bathroom in Saw.

Thriller Sub-Genres.

Different types of Thriller include:

Spy Thrillers - e.g. James Bond
Political Thrillers - e.g. Manchurian Candidate
Conspiracy Thriller - e.g. Taken
Legal Thriller - e.g. Jagged Edge
Psychological Thriller - e.g. Psycho
Crime Thriller - e.g. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Maguffin

Maguffin or McGuffin is a term for a motivating element in a story that is used to drive the plot. It actually serves no further purpose. It won't pop up again later, it won't explain the ending, it won't actually do anything except possibly distract you while you try to figure out its significance. In some cases, it won't even be shown. It is usually a mysterious package/artifact/superweapon that everyone in the story is chasing.

I'd first like to say that The One Ring in the Lord of the Rings trilogy is NOT A MAGUFFIN. Because we care about what happens to the ring, the WHOLE premises of the film is Frodo and Sam embarking on their quest to destroy it and EVERYTHING that happens to The One Ring and because of The One Ring is consequential and it all matters. If anything, The One Ring is more of a deus ex machina, used to get Frodo out of otherwise imminent death. Whereas, something like the $2,000,000 in No Country For Old Men is a Maguffin.

The term was popularized by Alfred Hitchcock, who actually credited one of his screenwriters, Angus McPhail, with the creation of this concept and the name for it, citing a particular school-boy joke:

A man is riding on a train when a second gentleman gets on and sits down across from him. The first man notices the second is holding an oddly shaped package.
"What is that?" the first man asks.
"A MacGuffin, a tool used to hunt lions in the Scottish highlands."
"But there are no lions in the Scottish highlands," says the first man.
"Well then," says the other, "That's no MacGuffin".

Suspense/Shock.

Alfred Hitchcock famously draws a sharp distinction between shock and suspense. Shock occurs when a film confronts spectators with the unexpected rather suddenly, and thereby creates a momentary shock. 

Whereas suspense involves confronting them with what they know is coming in a prolonged way.

He also once famously explained the feeling by describing a bomb underneath a table. If the bomb explodes, the audience is given a shock. In a suspense film, however, the audience knows there’s a bomb underneath the table. It’s rigged to explode at noon and the clock is ticking. ‘In these conditions, the same innocuous conversation becomes fascinating because the public is participating in the scene,’ Hitchcock explained. ‘In the first case we have given the public fifteen seconds of surprise (shock) at the moment of the explosion. In the second, we have provided them with fifteen minutes of suspense.’

The suspenseful bomb analogy was depicted astutely in 'Sabotage'. In the film, Hitchcock has the saboteur's young brother-in-law unknowingly couriering a bomb. The boy is assigned to deliver a reel of film from one location to another, and he doesn’t know—while the audience does know—that a bomb exists in the film can. So we watch him go through his lengthy, banal commute while we are being totally suspended waiting for the bomb to go off. It ends tragically for the poor lad, but the lead-up to the inevitable explosion is increasingly harrowing because of these elements.

'Rope' (1948) is probably the best example of Hitchcockian suspense. In this explicit melodrama, Hitchcock has tried the trick of shooting full-length picture in one set and in one continuous scene. That is to say, he has made his camera a random observer in a suite of rooms in which a murder is being committed by two young men just as the picture begins. And he has kept his camera steadily turning upon the subsequent drama which occurs as guests arrive for a cocktail party and the murdered body lies concealed in a conspicuous chest. The suspense of the picture is not in the film itself, but merely in the method which Hitchcock has used to stretch the tension out for the length of the (perhaps slightly tedious) stunt, which ends up only ending in a fizzle. It's almost obvious from the beginning that they are going to be found out, however, because what would be a point in a film where no-one except the two men ever know and everything goes on as usual?

Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock. As well as his notable obsession with blonde females being in distress...

 ...was indeed the 'Master of Suspense' of his time. He deftly blended sex, suspense and humour. An early example of Hitchcock's technical virtuosity was his creation of "subjective sound" for 'Blackmail' (1929), his first sound film. In this story of a woman who stabs an artist to death when he tries to seduce her, Hitchcock emphasized the young woman's anxiety by gradually distorting all but one word "knife" of a neighbor's dialogue the morning after the killing. Here and in 'Murder!' (1930), Hitchcock first made explicit the link between sex and violence.

My favourite Hitchcock film is undoubtably 'Vertigo' (1958) starring James Stewart and Kim Novak.

Camera Techniques.

Camera Techniques

Extreme long shot: contains a large amount of landscape. It is often used at the beginning of a scene or a film to establish general location. This is also known as an establishing shot.

Long Shot: contains landscape but gives the viewer a more specific idea of setting. A long shot may show the viewers the building where the action will take place.

Mid-Shot: contains the characters or a character from the waist up. From this shot, viewers can see the characters' faces more clearly as well as their interaction with other characters. This is also known as a social shot

Close-up: contains just one character's face. This enables viewers to understand the actor's emotions and also allows them to feel empathy for the character. This is also known as a personal shot.

Extreme close-up: contains one part of a character's face or other object. This technique is quite common in horror films, particularly the example above. This type of shot creates an intense mood and provides interaction between the audience and the viewer.

Birds-Eye Angle: is an angle that looks directly down upon a scene. This angle is often used as an establishing angle, along with an extreme long shot, to establish setting.

High Angle: a camera angle that looks down upon a subject. A character shot with a high angle will look vulnerable or small. These angles are often used to demonstrate to the audience a perspective of a particular character. The example above demonstrates to us the perspective or point of view of a vampire. As a viewer we can understand that the vampire feels powerful.

POV Shot: puts the audience on an equal footing with the character/s. This is the most commonly used angle in most films as it allows the viewers to feel comfortable with the characters.

Low Angle: is a camera angle that looks up at a character. This is the opposite of a high angle and makes a character look more powerful. This can make the audience feel vulnerable and small by looking up at the character. This can help the responder feel empathy if they are viewing the frame from another character's point of view.

Tilt: Moving the cameras lens up or down while keeping its horizontal axis constant. Nod your head up and down - this is tilting.

Pan: Moving the camera lens to one side or another. Look to your left, then look to your right - that's panning.

'Zodiac' Opening Scene

(aka: let’s get Jake Gyllenhaall, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, and half a dozen B-list actors AND GIVE THEM ALL BAD HAIRCUTS)

Conventions:

Mysterious black car alongside violent shooting and killing action.

Camera:

Pans across the entire setting. Shoots so that you cannot see the man inside the car.

Editing:

Slow motion increases drama of the scene. It fades to black afterwords, creating tension.

Sound:

As the scene progresses, the music gets louder and increases tension, as well as the fireworks.

Mise-en-scene:

The entire scene is dark and just waiting for something to go wrong, the darkness of the car and the setting make the fireworks a bit of a juxtapose.

'Brick' Opening Scene

Conventions:

Immediately, a dead body is shown, along with a possible suspect, indicating murder and immediately introducing an enigma.

Camera:

Extreme close ups of different parts of the body, also a close up of the girls hand when she is alive int he flashback, slowly revealing it to create tension. Shot-reverse-shot and eyeline match between the male character and the dead girl.

Editing:

Dissolves into a flashback, this creates more mystery and makes it interesting.

Sound:

The diagetic sound is mysterious and unsettling.

Mise-en-scene:

The tone of the scene is damp and melancholy with muted colours and dark clothing worn.