No country for old men

No country for old men is a western thriller. The main characters are Llewelyn Moss and Anton Chigurh. Anton is a hired hitman that seems to have no emotion, hunting Llewelyn who happened to stumble upon $2 Million after finding a drug trade gone wrong.

The film starts by showing Anton escaping arrest by murdering the police officer who is watching him. From there we learn his favored weapon is simply an oxygen tank. As Llewelyn fights to survive from cartel members, savage hounds, and rushing rivers, Anton is fast on his heels, using a hidden tracking device within the briefcase of money to find Llewelyn.

The film uses a wide array of techniques to display the main aim of the characters. The main one being the Macguffin of the money, as we do not actually care about the money but it is the main aim of what is happening for the characters, however it can be Argued that Anton actually enjoys hunting and killing people (psychopathic killer)

Anton seems to have a 'God' complex as he uses a coin to determine whether someone is going to die twice throughout the film. By doing this the directors give Anton the image of someone who simply cannot be beaten. More examples of this is when he gets shot in the leg, cleans it and simply moves on, towards the end of the film Chigurh is involved in a car accident which snaps his harm and leaves the bone out of the actual skin, which he wraps a shirt around and walks away.

Llewelyn is the opposite, following a idea of someone who is constantly on the losing side and in danger, especially as he is shown in a hospital bed accompanied by Carson, Carson mentions how it only took him three hours to find him which really adds a sense of desperation.

Mise-en-scene

Mise-en-scene

Mise-en-scene includes everything in a scene.

This includes-

Settings and props-

Costume, hair and makeup. This is things like what a superhero wears and does.

Facial expressions and body language- this is because we generally always communicate through body language and facial expressions.

Lighting and colour.

positioning of characters and positions in the frame- where props and characters are positioned is extremely important as it emphasises how important a character or object actually is.

Micro Features

Cinematography is a micro feature, it combines two greek words. One is kinema and the other is graphien.

From these two words we can understand that cinematography is the study of recording.

Cinematography comes in the form of different shot types.
these are;

Long shot:
A long shot is used to show the entirety of the person, usually involving more than one in a way that usually displays an emotion.

medium shot:
A medium shot is used when focusing in on one person usually in a specific act or while they're moving around.

close up:
A close up is used when specifically focusing on a person, this usually only shows half of their body as an emphasis, or a certain action.

extreme close up:
An extreme close up is used when a dramatic moment has to be shot onto one person, usually an eye or a wound to show the full extent of it.
crane shot
A crane shot is usually a very long shot from above, making a person look small from a birds eyed view.
low angle
A low angle is a shot from below a person, this makes them look much bigger and threatening than they actually are.
high angle
high angles are used in contrast to low angles, these make people look smaller and weaker than they actually are.
pan shot
A pan shot follows a person, or vehicle, as it moves. keeping a steady pace that keeps the object of interest as the centre of view.

The Machurian Candidate

Psycho analysis

Psycho Analysis

Psycho finds a young woman known as Melanie Daniels in a very dangerous situation, after running from her job with a stolen $40K to try and live with her would be lover, Melanie stops in a motel she finds known as the 'Bates Motel' run by Norman Bates. After a short discussion Melanie and Norman agree to have dinner together as there isn't anyone else staying at the motel and Melanie doesn't have any food.

Shortly after the police are sent to look for Melanie after the disappearance of the $40 grand is noted. however no one actually knows where she is.

While Melanie goes to get ready we discover that Norman has a small hole in the wall which he uses to spy on Melanie (Creepy right?). Melanie overhears shouting coming from the Bates home atop the hill behind the motel, which quickly turns into Norman delivering sandwiches to her hotel room, but pressuring her into his office as he thinks it will be nicer for them to eat. This is where the Director Alfred Hitchcock really shows Normans personality, hinting at the name of the film, Psycho. As we learn that Norman enjoys stuffing animals for a hobby the sense of oddity builds up. Melanie returns back to the motel room to shower, however her life is quickly ended by what we assume to be Normans mother (SPOILERS).

Once Norman dumps the body our attention is turned to Melanies lover and sister as they desperately try to find Melanie.

Hitcock uses a wide array of techniques throughout the film to really emphasise the tension, especially the Macguffin of the money. As we do not really care about it the thought of it is always on our mind as to when will someone find it.

The film uses a wide array of camera shots, a notable one being the finale few scenes as we discover Normans mothers true hiding place, showing a rather rotten corpse in a very close shot, leading into a pan that becomes a closeup of Norman dressed as his mother as the film nears its climax.

The different types of thrillers

There is a wide range of different thrillers in the genre, some of these include:

Disaster Thriller- These are thrillers based on a natural occurrence such as a hurricane, tornado, flood, or earthquake, Some examples of films such as these are 2012, the day after tomorrow and Twister.

Erotic Thriller- An erotic thriller is a thriller that basically contains a lot of erotic content, these have been widely available since the start of home cinema. Examples of these would be Play Misty for Me and Basic Instinct.

Legal Thriller- A legal thriller is a thriller based around a courtroom where a characters actions outside of the court room could seriously affect what happens inside the court room. Some examples of these would be The Client and A time to kill

Supernatural Thriller- A supernatural thriller is a thriller that brings supernatural elements into it, such as  the hero or heroine having some form of psychic ability An example would be Lady in the water and Fallen.

Action Thriller- An action thriller is the most common, involving high adrenaline scenes and blood pumping action, the James bond series is an excellent example of an action thriller

Summary of North By Northwest.

North By Northwest

North by Northwest is a thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock, the film that follows the life of a unsuspecting hero called Roger Thornhill.

Thornhill is a advertisement agent who gets mistaken to be a Agent by the name of George Caplain. As the story progresses through a number of action and high adrenaline scenes. The earliest of these being the car chase scene after Mr Thornhill escapes the foreign spies house after being made drunk and had an attempt on his life made. As the film progresses our hero meets a lady which he at first believes to be a good soul trying to help him, although knowing she knows who he is as he quickly becomes famous for the deeds that people believe he has done due to the foreign spies.

Around mid way through the film we discover that the lady he has met is actually working for the foreign spies and has betrayed him, although he does not learn of this until much later on, by using the techniques of a red herring we are constantly confused about where her loyalty lies, this is not only because we learn that she is working with the foreign spies, but because we learn that she is actually a spy herself infiltrating the foreign spies. As Mr Thornhill develops feelings for her he puts her life in much danger as some of the spies start to suspect that she is actually working against them.

Another key scene in the film is the 'Crop Duster Scene' which involves Mr Thornhill desperately running and diving from an aeroplane as he attempts to save his own life, after a gasoline filled truck pulls up and causes the aeroplane to crash into it the scene is finished with an almighty explosion, giving Thornhill time to steal an unsuspecting witnesses car.

The film comes to a dramatic end as Mr Thornhill escapes with the heroine saving her life as well as his own.

The Rules and conventions of a Thriller

There are a number of different rules and conventions of a thriller. These consist of:

• close up/ long shot framing
• low/high angle shots
• jump cuts
• digetic sound
• red herrings 
• Camera movement

Close up/long shot framing

Close up framing is in the main types of framing for a thriller, it is used quite frequently to create suspense and cause a scene to look more dramatic. Along with this, there are other types of framing used, such as long shot. This is used to establish a scene.

Low/high angle shots

High and low angle shots are extremely common, a low angle shot is used to make a person seem weak, small and generally 'lesser' than the other person, a high angle does the complete opposite, making them simple and easy to understand, these are usually used to show the power an antagonist has over a person within the thriller, usually the 'hero'

Jumpcuts

A jump cut is simply a transition between one scene and another that is done very abruptly, this is because they go very well with the thrillers as they link smoothly.

Digetic Sound

Digetic sound is used in thrillers as it is an extremely effective way to create suspense. Sound tracks that are digetic lets an audience know what is going to happen, without the characters knowing anything.

Red Herrings

A red herring is a thing that keeps the audience in suspense, this is by tricking them into thinking what is actually happening, isn't true, and constantly changing the characters allegiance so that they never quite know who they're working for.

Sound Test Exercise.

In our sound test exercise we decided to enact a "russian drug trade gone wrong" this shows a number of different techniques, including non diegetic and diegetic sound, being in the form of the classical music and the person talking.

I believe our choices in how we performed our sounds was successful as the non diegetic sound have a sense that something bad was going to happen, however it being happy music, the speech was very fluid and I think by placing the microphone where we did, it allowed for the most effective and clear capture of the scene.

The camera angles that I chose was to keep a sense of mystery onto the Russian, until we finally see him looking very powerful and menacing, this causes a build up effect on the viewer, making them want to see the "mystery man" as fast as they can.