Homeland Analysis

In the title sequence for Homeland overlapping images of the main character as a child and now and with new reports create confusion for the audience almost putting us into the mind of this women. If you know the show then you know she suffers from a mental illness these overlapping images already give an insight to what the audience will be witnessing in the TV programme. The opening is showing and talking about different terrorist attacks on the United States and this is showing her what her job is, to keep people safe from these attacks and to stop them before they happen, there is a line in the opening where she say "I'm the only one who got it right" this shows her dedication to her job and the lengths she will go through to keep her country safe. The sound create by the overlapping of different news reports and as well as jazz music playing in the background suggest that jazz music is her safety blanket as she hears it as a child. The audience know that this show is based around terrorist attacks and that she must be the main protagonist as she is always shown and its relating to her mental welfare. The image of her and the other character who's name is Brody suggest that they have a relationship with one another and it very difficult for them to be together as they are pictured in a maze suggesting that its a relationship that is full of obstacles.

Sound Analysis of Face Off

In "Face Off" contrapuntal sound has been used to show the vulnerability of the child in the scene by playing the song "somewhere over the rainbow" this song is generally associated with children. This song is leading the audience to a false sense of security. However the gunshots being fired in the background and the visual images of dead bodies on the floor show that this isn't what it sounds like. The diegetic sounds used are the gunshots because this is being heard in the film world, the non diegetic sounds used is the clip is the soundtrack although this could be classified as a sound bridge because we know that the little girl is listen to it, its then projected into the other scene. "Face Off" has been successful in using contrapuntal sound as we start to feel sympathy for the girl and what is happening to someone she knows. It has also show the contrast between diegetic and non-diegetic sounds and have used it to their advantage to show the emotion in the scene.

The Missing Title Analysis

Music Analysis: Black Swan, Gladiator and Inception

When I was looking for inspiration for the music to use in our Thriller opening I looked at a variety of film music that I could possibly blend together to create one soundtrack. I used 'Inception' as the first one I could use as it is fast paced (as it is an action film) and it builds to a climax, we want our thriller music to build to a climax as it will show the tension in the film. There is a slower paced part where the music slows down and this creates mystery and tension this is important for thrillers to have because the audience want to be kept in suspense throughout the film and building it through the music will do so. The other was ‘Gladiator’ and it is very slow paced which is mesmerising for the audience and is highlighting the sadness in the music. The full piece is 8 minutes long and it is constantly changing tempo because there are fast paced action sequences and melancholy slow paced sections there are parts which are also quite eerie, 4 minutes into the piece a voice is singing and this is creating an eerie noise that is quite captivating and indicates the genre of the film because it sounds mysterious which is immediately associated with thrillers and the sound of the voice is quite high pitched which almost sounds like eerie, scratching sound related to thrillers.

The last thriller music I looked at was ‘The Black Swan’- trailer as the violins create an eerie atmosphere( the high pitched violin) the low pitched violin which is quite shuddery creates the sense that something bad will happen and is it leaving you in suspense. The use a sound collage of people’s voices which is playing whilst an image on the main character is up and this makes the viewer’s feel as if they are paranoid because of the amount of noise surrounding them. Towards the end of the music, the violin fades out and this suggests that the bad things are over, but leaves the viewers in suspense as they want to know what is over.

I had inspiration from these pieces of music because these have individual qualities that could really help me create my piece of music as I need music which is really mysterious and it won't give away too much of the storyline Therefore I am thinking of using instruments such as pianos and drums and my pace will be quite slow but will build to this fast pace, due to a running scene in our thriller, however we are still undecided whether will we keep that.

Teacher Tutorial on Garage Band

Before we start making our music for our thriller, we were taught how to use garage band. We were taught how to make new tracks and to change the instruments. This really helped because I have never used Garage Band and I knew how to do the basics on it now, thanks to the teacher that helped us and we are lucky as someone in our group has a really good understanding of Garage Band, so we are now making our music completely without any help or without any other music that has already been used. This helped us know what instruments we want to use as well because we now know how they will sound.

Storyboard for our old thriller

This is a quick summary of the thriller storyboard, the ideas will be adapted according to the day of filming. For example the kiwi cutting will be edited to fit with other examples. 

Difference between a horror and Thriller

There are many differences between a horror and a thriller and most people get them confused as some films are very hard to distinguish between. The main difference is that a thriller is a psychological film and doesn't really involve many deaths/killings, whereas a horror is mostly based upon gore, blood and guts!

Four things that make a good horror are:

• It needs good music- with out with sounding like a thriller film
• A remorseless killer- someone who doesn't feel bad for what they have done and constantly goes around killing people
• Blood- it is vital for making a horror that blood is used as this is the element to make a key horror film
• a fear- there needs to be a fear that is relatable to the audience and must be fearful for what is happening

Four things that make a good Thriller film are:

• a good storyline- the storyline needs to be gripping otherwise it will not be able to grip the audience into watching the film
• multiple points of view- don't have it based on one person throughout the entire film make sure it is for a variety of people views
• Don't give it all away- do not reveal the entire storyline straight away, make sure things are hidden through the film
• it needs to be fast past- if you drag the film out it starts to become boring and not interesting but if it is fast pace you will be able to make it more thriller like.

An example of a horror film

An example of a thriller film

Preliminary task

Analysis of thrillers

Analysis of thrillers 2 from shannonnash3009

Conventions of a Thriller

Conventions of a thriller from shannonnash3009

The Barthes Code

The Hermeneutic Code:
This is the part(s) of the story that are often unanswered(like enigmas) they don't necessary have to be at the beginning of the story and thriller tend to uses them at the end of the story, so they are revealed straight away.

Examples:

The Proairetic Code:

Actions suggesting further actions/reactions, also known a the actions code e.g. an argument and waiting for the answer/resolution.

Examples:

The  Connotative code:

The accumulation of connotations. Sequential thoughts, traits and actions constitute character. its the voice of the person.
The Cultural code:

  Though all codes are cultural we reserve this designation for the storehouse of knowledge we use in interpreting everyday experience. it is the voice of science usually.

The Symbolic code:
Binary oppositions or themes. This leads to the cultural code and highlights their importance.

The codes are complicated by partial delays and interruptions.

1.  Thematisation: emphasis on object which will be subject of the enigma.
2. Proposal of enigma: questions in the text.
3. Formulation of enigma: frequent supplementation of the enigma as the text progresses.
4. Request for an answer: facilitates narrative movement.
5. Snare: types of deception

• deception of one character by another.
• deception of the reader by the discourse. 
•  character deceived by self.

6. Snare and truth: A statement which might be taken two different ways.
7. Suspended answers.
8. Partial answers.
9. Disclosure: a discussion or uttering of the irreversible word, closure, the end of signification.