Taxi Driver was directed by Martin Scorsese in 1976.
We watched the first two minutes of Taxi Driver and we are first introduced to the character by the use of an extreme close up of the man,a shot reverse shot is used to show the man then the city then it cuts back to an extreme close up of the man which focuses on his eyes. A low angle shot is used to show the taxi, this shows the audience the importance of the taxi in the film. A diagetic sound is not heard until almost the end of the two minutes; when we hear the ringing of a phone, before this we hear a non-diagetic instrumental soundtrack. Editing would have been used to show the red and oragne lights of the city.
In Taxi driver, it takes 10 seconds for the diagetic sound to appear after the non-diagetic sound disappears.
Identity
Identity was directed by James Mangold in 2003.
In the two minute opening of Identity, that i watched the director; James Mangold uses a vast amount of extreme close up and close up shots. He uses these close up shots to show us various tapes with a the same mans name written on all of the tapes. The use of the close up shots make it very clear to the audience who the film will focus on. Mangold uses the rule of thirds on the title, which holds for 5 seconds, the use of the rule of thirds in the title creates an instant point at which are attention is drawn to. In the title shot, the word `Identity` slowing dissapears, one letter at a time, this technique is used with all of the words that appear on the screen, this technique would have been added in the editing process of making the film. At the beginning of the opening we hear a diagetic sound of thunder, this sets the scene for a thriller film, as it creates a dark feel and creates a sense of the unknown. The use of the tapes which show just one mans name, and the very dark lighting creates a question to the audience of weather this man is mentally unstable.
Heat
Heat was directed by Michael Mann in 1995.
The the first shot of the opening of Heat, Micheal Mann uses a long shot of a train and the diagetic sound of the train is introduced and becomes louder as the train draws closer. The shot then cuts to an over the shoulder shot from behind of someone travelling down the escalator, the use of this shot creates a sense of mystery. In the beginning of the opening Heat is set in a trin station, however towards the end of the two minutes the setting changes and we enter a hospital.
The title shot, is held for 3 seconds and each credit is held for 4 seconds until it cuts to the next.
London to Brighton
London to Brighton was directed by Paul Andrew Williams in 2006.
The two minute opening i watched of London to Brighton, did not give me a great insight into what was going happen or what the film would be like, however the first shot when we are first introduced to the characters, Paul Andrew Williams uses a close up shot of the women and the girl. The setting where the two characters which we are introduced too are; a toliet cubicle in London, gives us an idea of what the characters backgrounds and lives may be like, Williams focus`s on the grime of this setting. The use of the mirror in the toliet creates an illusion that it is bigger than it appears to be. The opening of London to Birghton, although it does not give us a great idea of what will happen, we can start to understand the basic storyline, the language and settings help us to understand this. We can start to understand that the film is about the women and the girl who are the first characters we are introduced and towards the end of the two minutes we start to understand that they need to get away from someone and are going to get the trin to Brighton, however they need the money to pay for the train tickets and this is when the topic of prostitution is introduced.
Red Road
Red road was directed by Andrea Arnold in 2006.
Red road opens with a black screen, where the word `Glasgow` appears in white, this instanstly tells us where we are. The shot then cuts to a blur of colours which then pans out to reveal CCTV screens. Arnold uses a medium close up of the CCTV operators face, by using this shot we can see the emotion that she feels from the CCTV cameras. In this two minute opening it does not tell us as an audience much about what is going to happen during the film.
Identity was directed by James Mangold in 2003.
In the two minute opening of Identity, that i watched the director; James Mangold uses a vast amount of extreme close up and close up shots. He uses these close up shots to show us various tapes with a the same mans name written on all of the tapes. The use of the close up shots make it very clear to the audience who the film will focus on. Mangold uses the rule of thirds on the title, which holds for 5 seconds, the use of the rule of thirds in the title creates an instant point at which are attention is drawn to. In the title shot, the word `Identity` slowing dissapears, one letter at a time, this technique is used with all of the words that appear on the screen, this technique would have been added in the editing process of making the film. At the beginning of the opening we hear a diagetic sound of thunder, this sets the scene for a thriller film, as it creates a dark feel and creates a sense of the unknown. The use of the tapes which show just one mans name, and the very dark lighting creates a question to the audience of weather this man is mentally unstable.
Heat
Heat was directed by Michael Mann in 1995.
The the first shot of the opening of Heat, Micheal Mann uses a long shot of a train and the diagetic sound of the train is introduced and becomes louder as the train draws closer. The shot then cuts to an over the shoulder shot from behind of someone travelling down the escalator, the use of this shot creates a sense of mystery. In the beginning of the opening Heat is set in a trin station, however towards the end of the two minutes the setting changes and we enter a hospital.
The title shot, is held for 3 seconds and each credit is held for 4 seconds until it cuts to the next.
London to BrightonLondon to Brighton was directed by Paul Andrew Williams in 2006.
The two minute opening i watched of London to Brighton, did not give me a great insight into what was going happen or what the film would be like, however the first shot when we are first introduced to the characters, Paul Andrew Williams uses a close up shot of the women and the girl. The setting where the two characters which we are introduced too are; a toliet cubicle in London, gives us an idea of what the characters backgrounds and lives may be like, Williams focus`s on the grime of this setting. The use of the mirror in the toliet creates an illusion that it is bigger than it appears to be. The opening of London to Birghton, although it does not give us a great idea of what will happen, we can start to understand the basic storyline, the language and settings help us to understand this. We can start to understand that the film is about the women and the girl who are the first characters we are introduced and towards the end of the two minutes we start to understand that they need to get away from someone and are going to get the trin to Brighton, however they need the money to pay for the train tickets and this is when the topic of prostitution is introduced.
Red Road
Red road was directed by Andrea Arnold in 2006.
Red road opens with a black screen, where the word `Glasgow` appears in white, this instanstly tells us where we are. The shot then cuts to a blur of colours which then pans out to reveal CCTV screens. Arnold uses a medium close up of the CCTV operators face, by using this shot we can see the emotion that she feels from the CCTV cameras. In this two minute opening it does not tell us as an audience much about what is going to happen during the film.
There is some really good work here. You are using media terminology well especially in your analysis of language - description of shots/sounds and edits. Not spelling of 'diegetic'. Also introduce films 'Identityi (single quotes round title) dir. James Mangold 2003. From then on just refer to the direcotr as Mangold or not at all. eg: A wide shot is used to ...
ReplyDeleteIt would have been useful to note the number of shots in first two minutes, average lenght of shot (especially title shots) for each film.