Liam's Five Thrillers

FILM 1 - I AM LEGEND

The first shot is a tracking, establishing shot, this gives us a sense of a deserted and lack of positive feeling when there is nobody around but him. It then moves into another tracking shot but this time from the front of the characters and backing away from them, we see Will Smith with a gun and his dog by his side moving slowly through a patch of long grass, he seems intimidated by the big city ahead of him and this creates danger. Next a close up of him and the dog to show both of there emotions, which is pretty bland but still gives us a nervy feeling. After this a tracking shot from the side, behind parked cars, it makes it feel like its from a perspective and somebody is watching the two characters, this lures us into a false sense of security, it suddenly changes to behind them again making us think there are more things following them. Then what looks like a point of view shot from the dog is used to capture an intense brawl between a lion and a deer. Finally a close up of Will Smiths face and his watch imitate the shear importance of what is about to happen.

The sound during the whole opening has no dialogue throughout apart from near the end where he talks to his dog, this echoes what I have already said of luring us into a feeling of something about to happen and dangerous context. As it moves on into the opening further and further more sound is produced each time, for example when they go from walking into a swift jog, there are heavier footsteps. Then how the lions attack the deer, there is a ferocious. As soon as he speaks to his dog, ‘lets go Sam’, and the end shot of the opening comes in, faint, dark music begins to play.

It is based in Manhattan, New York, however the city is deserted and some what blown up into devastation, the lighting is as it would be at dawn or dusk. This compliments how evil and dark the city looks and gives a feeling of danger and curiosity. His costuming and equipment has a real meaning to it, a sense of protection and very prepared. The gun shows how dangerous the environment that he trespasses in is. The acting itself is very well done, however alarmed the audience is, he is calm and very confident, obviously showing he knows exactly what he’s doing and that he’s a brave character.


FILM 2 - INCEPTION

The first shot in inception is a establishing shot of the beach where the action first takes place. Throughout this opening many different shots are used, there are two main close ups, one of the items the stranded man possesses and secondly of the man himself. These both have strong meanings towards the whole film and contribute to the resulting ending. There is shallow depth of field at a scene on the beach which gives a good effect on the child playing in the sand. There are also various angles of shot for example, the low angle at the start where the soldier pokes the gun into Decaprio’s back.

The first sounds in the opening is waves crashing into the shore as the character lays there motionless, this creates a great effect of uncertainness, this evolves into footsteps and joyful shouts and talking from what sounds like small children. You then here a sound bridge from the scene on the beach to the dialogue taken place in the office like room, after this scene all is quiet till a ‘chinking’ sound as the actor if eating from a china bowl.

It is first set on a beach, which looks to be a small military watch out that has guards all around. This gives us a feeling of insecurity and that something bad or dangerous could happen at any moment, this is also due to the man washed up on the beach. The costuming is very classic yet original, it makes the film feel less modern then maybe it should, for one the old style of rifles gives the impression it is set some time ago.


FILM 3 - INSIDE MAN

The first shot is an ongoing shot over a very long period, it is a close up of the character, as this shot of his face in mid screen continues, the background made up of different bricks changes to similar backgrounds of bricks. This shows that he may well be in prison or just in a confined space. As it moves on, a dissolve takes place into what looks like a deserted fair ground, giving a feeling of uncertainty and an abandoned place. Finally a number of tracking shots following a particular van take place. This gives an idea of how the van may later become important towards the whole film itself. The final shot of the opening is a close up of a woman in the van, she is half masked and has a pair of sunglasses on,

At the very start of the opening all we hear is the actor begin to speak, he speaks with a very serious tone of voice indicating there is no humour involved. The man that speaks, speaks also very slowly, this defines how he is read, he makes himself feared in a mischievous but cunning way. Just before he stops talking a soundtrack starts to play, this acts as a sound bridge to the next set of shots which are at a fairground then the tracking shots also get linked in. The music is of an Asian theme, giving a fast paced tempo to what is happening prior to following the van.

The first setting is set in what looks like a small room such as a prison cell. As the first shot goes on, the background behind him changes, this changes with different tones and colours of bricks dissolving into each other. As the opening progresses, the scene of an empty theme park is used to link the man in the room to the scene with a van driving through a state in the United States. This is identified due to the view of colossal bridges and buildings, then near the end a flag representing the USA. As the van the camera follows, people are picked up along the way. They are all wearing white overall, hinting crime maybe about to take place.


FILM 4 - TERMINATOR 2

The first shot is a pan crossed with a crane shot where the camera is rises upwards, after a short fade, the next shot is another pan but this time a sort of panning track shot. A tilt is then you, this also evolves into a low angle used to establish the figure of a robotic creature. After this a number of various different speeds and angles of tracking and pan shots are taken to capture all the action possible. This gives us a full look of what’s going on and makes it easier to find out what is going on at that exact moment. Close ups are taken of soldiers faces to catch expression and emotion, close ups are also used on robots, such as there guns and body parts to realise the significance of them.

To start off with all we hear is the sound of a light brush of wind, then to create an effect of shock, a crushing sound is used when a robot stamps on a skull, this is done without people knowing its going to happen, this is also known as restrictive narrative where the audience doesn’t know what exactly is going to happen. There is then a huge number of, explosions, gun shots and screams in very quick succession, this builds up the tempo and excited of the at such an early point. This all works well because it tell you, all about the film as soon as it begins, yet there is still a lot of explanation due to how everything has occurred. There is a voice over of a woman speaking and telling the story throughout, her tone of voice also makes it sound more frightening.

It is set in a very futuristic time, and it seems to be a land of the dead by all the skeletons and skulls everywhere, this creates a sense of fear and high potential danger in this setting itself. Apart from the computer animated robots and machines, the dress and costume of the other characters is full army clothing. The colours throughout are very dark as it appears to be at early hours in the morning or night, the sci-fi gun bullets are then bright luminous colours with stand out very well on such dark background.