Jordan Radfords Five Thrillers

No Country For Old Men

Evaluation

The opening of No Country For Old Men is extremely eery due to the initial slow establishing shots of the desert with the sun rising just above the horizon. These are incredible shots as a intense mood is created from the orange glow of the sun and lighting is used in such a way that it seems to the audience that all the light there is, is coming from the suns deep glow. This also creates a mysterious mood as the audience cannot see much of their surrounding. However, as the shots progress, more of area is visible to the audience. The mood that is created, some may say, is that it sets it for the rest of the film as the movie gets extremely eery and tense due to the lighting and slow, quiet shots. Also, while, these shots are being shown the non-digetic sound of the radio is being played over the top which helps contribute to the eerie mood that is created. To the audience, it is obvious to where this man speaking comes from due to his accent and vocabularly which sets up the whole film as it becomes clear to the audience, from this and the establishing shots, where the film will take place.

After the first stunning shots, the camera pans from one of them to show a sheriff walking with the antagonist of the film. It is obvious to the audience that this is the antagonist from various shots, such as, when the sherrif is getting into the car, you can see a dark silhouette of the man in the background. Already this conveys enigma to the audience as they have not yet seen the mans face and dont know anything about him - this sort of shot emphasises the enigma of this character hugely. Also, as this is happening, it becomes more and more clear that the man talking is in fact the sherrif in the scene which tells the audience that something going to happen between the antagonist and the victim. Then there is another long shot of the car driving away which closes the voice over. This makes the audience omniscient as the voice over tells them that there will be involvement between the two characters, however, they are still unaware of what, exactly, will happen.

The camera then cuts to a medium close up of the sherrif witht the antagonist in view, to the audience, but not to the victim. This gives the audience even more omniscient as the sherrif is unaware of what the man is doing when all the audience can do is watch. A series of close ups is then used to show the victims claustraphobic feel as he gets strangled by the antagonist. The shot of the two characters feet is extremely good and shows how much pain the victim is going through. After this, the first proper shot of the antagonist is shown with a birds eye view of the event taking place. This shot allows the audience to see the mans facial expression as he is strangling the sherrif and shows the audience what sort of man this is and it makes them feel weary about the rest of the film if they already have figured out that this is the antagonist for the entire film.

Luther

Evaluation

At the very opening of the scene, which isnt shown in this particular video, there is a tracking shot as the police officer goes through a door in the house. However, as he enters the door another man comes through another one, in a different location. Parellel editing is used in this particular shot extremely effectively as it shows a connection between the two characters, however, the audience is unaware of the connection until later on in the opening seqeunce. The camerawork in the chase scene is used differently when shooting each, individual, character to convey how each of them is feeling and reacting to the situation that their in. For example, when filming the man running away the camera movement is quiet shaky and there are many close ups to suggest claustraphobia. On the other hand, when filming Luther, the camera is steady which shows that the character is in a calm and collected state of mind.

The non-digetic soundtrack is very fast paced which tells the audience, almost immediatley, that one character is chansing the other. This use of sound grabs the audiences attention almost straight away as they are already in engaged in the chase, asking the question - will he get away or not? The sound continues in this pacey manner even when the two characters confront one another but then, finally, slows down when one of the characters falls and the characters start talking.

The lighting in the seqeunce is quiet dark in the chase with a few glipses of sunshine bursting through the windows of the building that they are in. This makes a tense atmosphere for the audience due to the location that they are in. This is because the audience has a restricted view as they dont know what the building is and cant see inside it fully due to the slightly dark lighting. When the characters are talking however, sunlight streams onto the side of Luthers face which could imply to the audience that he is in fact the protagonist and not the antagonist which could have been percieved due to the chase scene.

Pulp Fiction

 

Evaluation

Pulp Fiction opens the film with a rather slow opening and not something that puts the audience on the edge of their seat as soon as they start watching. This method allows the audience to get to know the two characters better as they are talking for a long time before the action then starts to kick in. Also, the audience is unawarre of who these characters are but get given more and more clues as the scene progresses until it finally ends with the robbery of the diner. This creates a mysterious mood and enigma is immediatley created around the two characters. Mise en Scene is used to make the couple look ordinary and not, in anyway, look like the antagonists that they are. For example, there are lots of dirty plates etc on the table which suggests that the two characters ate there, spending money. This creates an oposite view of what they actually are, to the audience.

The camerwork in this seqeunce is mainly simple conversational shots and techniques. The initial shot of the scene is a medium shot of both the characters and lasts for a whole 30 seconds. This is an extremely lengthy shot and works quite well as it allows the audience to step back and watch the characters from a non bias point of view. The shot only changes when the waitress comes to pour them coffee. The camera then shoots the womans reaction using the shot/reverse shot technique and the camera returns to its original position. This creates a tedious atmosphere so, therefore, almost forces the audience to listen to what the characters are saying which may be important later on in the film. There is only one close up in the opening seqeunce and that is of the gun to tell the audience that something is going to kick in and grab their attention.

There is no non digetic sound throughout the scene until the very end when the extremely fast paced soundtrack comes in. This grabs the audiences attention even more as they dont expect it when it happens as there was no previous sound, apart from that inside the resturant. The use of sound is so effective because of this contrast that is created. Furthermore, the same sort of effect is used with the editing as it is just staright cut transitions until the pint when the woman starts pointing the gun and the shot becomes a still while the music starts up with a credit on the screen.

Reservoir Dogs

 

Evaluation

At the very begining of the opening scene to Reservoir Dogs, there is a voice over to a couple of credits. This shows that the audience ought to concentrate on the conversation as it is the most important part of the scene. Furthermore, the camera moves around alot during the conversation which obscures a couple of the characters faces emphasising the conversation even more. This slow panning movement is very effective at keeping the conversation interesting for the audience as the camera is constantly focusing on different people (usually using close up shots) so that the audience arent just watching the same shot for a long period of time. Also, there are alot of depth of field shots when focusing on a character behind another ones shoulder or back, for example. The camera work emphasises the casual atmosphere with a casual conversation.

The Mise en Scene in the opening scene tells the audience alot about the characters. This is due to all of them wearing suits and smoking cigars ehich tells the audience that these men look proffessional and that they could be involved in crime in some way or the other. In the group of people, there are men all ages which may imply to the audience that some of them have been involved in this assosciation for a long time and have gone through some things. This leaves room for there to be enigma later on in the film, when more is revealed about the characters. Also, many of the men are wearing jewellery which implys that they are wealthy and then the question is asked - what are their jobs/way of earning a living?

There is not much 'fancy' editing in the seqeunce as it is mainly straight cuts to emphasise the use of shot/reverse shot in the mens conversation. However, at the end of the scene there is a fade out along with a voice over to show the opening has come to an end and the film is about to start for real. Also, music begins to kick in after the men have left the cafe which speeds up the pace of the film due to there being only digetic sound until that point of the film. The music then continues as the characters are walking along next to each other which then confirms the idea of them all being in some kind of mob or gang as the audience can see that they are all, pretty much, wearing the same things

 The Departed

 

Evaluation

The voice over at the beggining of the film is very effective at getting the audience to listen to whats being said and watch the footage being shown. The showing of old footage from 'some years ago' grabs the audiences attention as they become awarre of a connection between old and new which will take place in the film, at some point. The camera work at the beggining of the clip shows an extreme long shot of Boston city from the past but it is clear that this will be the location where the film will be set in present day aswell. The camera then cuts to a slow pan of a man (with the voice over still going) and lighting has been used so that the character is not very visible but is instead a silhouette. This then creates an enigma for the character as the audience is not clear on how he looks due to his face being hidden. After, the shot of the silhouette the camera then moves from outside the shop to inside of it in one sweeping motion, this then tells the audience where the next scene is taking place. Also, it is used to match the mans action as he walks in also at a similar time and pace.

The Mise en Scene in the scene shows the character has some sort of power over the workers in the cafe/diner. This is due to sim just walking into the cafe without saying anything and the worker automatically gets money out of the till for the man. Throughout this shot the mans face still remains covered by the dark use of lighting. Positioning is a factor when talking about power here as it is the opposite of what you may expect. This is due to the man behind the counter having less power than the man on the other side. This implys many things to the audience and starts getting them asking questions about the man. Editing is used in the seqeunce to portray the connection between the past and present day but mainly, apart from that, it is standard editing used for conversational purposes.

The sound in the clip is extremely effective as, pretty much, throughout the whole scene there is non digetic soundtrack being played with its volume increasing and decreasing throughout. Also, the voice over is very good as it creates a narrative early for the audience.