The opening scene of 'A History Of Violence'

A History Of Violence is a thriller of a mild-mannered man who becomes a local hero through an act of violence which sets off repercussions that will shake his family to its very core. It was directed by David Cronenberg and written by John Wagner and Vince Locke. It was staring Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello and Ed Harris.



http://zumvo.com/watch-a-history-of-violence-2005-4396 This is the full movie of A history of Violence however i am only going to be analyzing until 6:03.

Miss En Scene

The opening scene starts off as a long build up, there are no cuts in the first scene so we can get an idea of who the characters are. The surroundings are quiet and deserted which shows the isolation, this also creates mystery and suspense. As we get a look at the characters we see two ordinary men come out of a house one dressed smart/casual and one casual. The man in the white top then smokes his cigarette and puts the chair outside straight, this could suggest that their may have been some altercation which caused the chair to be out of position. It is set near a motel which causes suspicion  as to what they are doing there. In addition the feature of motels in a film create suspense as they are usually the site to danger. As we get into the house we see it is run down and suggests that they may not have a lot of money, the slow movements on the man also suggests suspicion as looks uncomfortable to be there.

Camera Work

The scene starts with a medium shot and then a tracking shot on the man with the white top which indicates his importance as a character. One the two men get to the blue car the camera does not change its angle and is positioned directly at them. This suggests that the director wants us to pay attention to the characters and their body language and study their characters. As the man in the white top gets out of the car we get a close up of him, this is to get to know him and see what he looks like, which also shows his importance. As we go inside of the house we see blood which leaves the audience wondering who's blood it is and then we see a dead body. This then cuts and we get a shot of the man which suggests his involvement. We then get a mediums shot of a girl holding her doll crying which makes us feel sorry for the girl as she is alone and looks vulnerable and we know that something terrible has happened to someone close to her. The camera angle then changes and we get a low angle shot of the man which makes him look powerful and dominate. As he gets down to her level the viewers are wondering if he is going to be kind to her but as we get a shot of the gun we know all hope is lost and he is going to murder her. Lastly, the extreme close up of the gun shows mass control and power the gun has over everything in the room.



Sound

At the start of the scene we hear diegetic sound of nature and then we hear dialogue from the characters which makes us get to know the characters and their personalities. As the man in the white top is left in the car alone he places diegetic happy country music which calms the audience down from the quiet tense atmosphere but however also may convey that the character is calming himself down from whatever he has on his mind as he also looks distressed.  The director uses a sound bridge as the nature sound carries on into the next scene and becomes louder which shows tension. As we enter the house we hear creepy music and the see the blood and the dead body, which creates enigma as it leaves us wondering who's body it is and if the characters have committed murder. As the creepy music continues as we leave the dead body it conveys that something bad is going to happen next. The soundtrack is non-diegetic. As we continue this scene we see a little girl come out of the room crying holding a doll, this is diegetic sound as the character can see the source of the sound. The character then acts on this and we as we hear the gun shot.


Editing

The opening scene is 2-4 minutes long so we can really get to know the characters which portrays the slow build up of editing. The first cut was in the house and the cuts gradually become faster and faster as we got deeper into the house. There was a total of 12 cuts which all took place in the house,  demonstrating the house's creepy atmosphere and tension and build up of suspense.

Unknown

  Director : Jaume Collet-Serra
Written by: Oliver Butcher and Stephan Cornwell

The budget of the film was estimated around $30,000,000 and they made a gross profit of $130,786,397

The poster shows us a modern thriller poster, with Liam Neeson on the front- This will attract people to watch it as they now know he will be starring in it as he is a big actor. The poster is plan with a few words saying "TAKE BACK YOUR LIFE", however as Liam Neeson is on the front this will attract people to watch it and find out what it is about. Additionally, because it is plan it will attract people to watch the trailer.

Unknown is a film about a man who awakens from a coma, only to discover that someone has taken on his identity and that no one believes him. However, with the help of a young woman he sets out to prove who he is, in the end we find out that the man he believed to be doesn't exist and he had remembered the wrong life. We discover that he is an assassin but had remembered the wrong identity, as the car crash caused it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-lDfKb2SBA - trailer

The trailer starts with showing us Liam Neeson on an aeroplane on his way to Berlin. It then jumps straight into showing us him in hospital telling us he has been in a coma for 4 days. This grabs the audience attention because the audience want to know how he got himself into the coma and what will happen next. It contains typical elements of a thriller such as, suspense which we see Liam Neeson going towards his wife and then she claims she doesn't know who he is. Followed by another man appearing and claiming to be Dr Martin Harris. It also contains tension and excitement as we see the car crash into the water. It is constructed in a way that makes the audience on edge and want to go and watch the film, as it shows us some of the key scenes, which build tension and suspense.


Key Tension Scenes

In Unknown there are essential characteristics of a good thriller, these include moments of high tension. An example of this is the hospital scene, where Liam goes to reach for the scissors leading to murder.          http://www.putlocker.tw/watch-unknown-online-free-putlocker-2011.html  - from 20 minutes.  

This scene builds tension in a numerous amount of ways. One of these ways are the use of close ups on the scissors and the murder. It gets the audience wondering whether he is going to reach for the scissors in time before the other man comes back into the room. Another way this scene builds tension is through the soundtrack. As Dr Martin Harris is escaping the sound track becomes louder and faster with the use of disorientating sounds to convey the adrenaline going through us and the characters, as does the editing become faster to show how intense the scene is. Our hearts beat faster because we want Dr Harris to escape quickly as possible, however the other man has noticed he has escaped and is after him.


The Club Scene 
http://www.putlocker.tw/watch-unknown-online-free-putlocker-2011.html - From 63 minutes

The club scene is effective with tension because it uses a loud booming soundtrack which is disorientating and threatening to the audience as we do not know what anyone else is saying and anything could happen at any time. The use of a dark screen which only shows shadows is indistinct and allows the audience to share the same confusion as the main character, as like them we also do not know who will appear at any moment or if they are still being chased or if they have lost them, as they could be lurking in the darkness.


The McGuffin 

In Unknown the mcguffin is Prince Shalla and the world food, which provides the basis of the story, however the audience are drawn away from this and they are only interested in Liam Neeson's character and finding out if he is truly Dr Martin Harris and what exactly is going on.


The Car Chase 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1401152/ - The first clip below

   This scene is effective because it starts of with fast editing speed, this gets the audience at edge as they try to keep up with what is happening in the chase The speed of the editing is also effective because it makes the audience aware that anything can happen next. As we see them heading towards the train the sound becomes more fast pacing which suites the actions in the screen, this tells the audience that they could crash into the train or something disastrous is about to happen. The lightening in this scene reminds dark throughout to portray the danger and high risk that the characters are in. This also creates a doomy mood and scary atmosphere as we cannot see too clearly. The camera angle in the scene remains at a close up in the car to show the fear in the characters and desperate they are to escape.

Thriller Conventions - Vladimir Propp

In Unknown The helper and princess is Gina who is side by side with Dr Martin Harris and helps him rediscover his identity again.


It is also a polysemic text as he discovers that he was never truly Dr. Martin Harris and is actually Henry Taylor, who is an ordinary man. However we do not know what he goes off to do with his life in the end. It can have many different meanings as he could live his life with Gina or he can go back to being ordinary and doing his own thing.

The Birds By Alfred Hitchcock

 "The Birds" by Alfred Hitchcock

"The Birds" by Alfred Hitchcock was made in 1963. The story of the film was written by Evan Hunter. Htchcock told him to develop new characters and a more elaborate plot keeping du Maurier's title. It stared Rob Taylor, Tippi Hendren and Suzanne Pleshette. It was made in the United States of America and sold $11,403,529 at Box office.

It depicts Bodega Bay, California, which is, suddenly and for unexplained reasons, the subject of a series of widespread and violent bird attacks over the course of a few days.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPC_Mp0Y9WM- " The Birds" Trailer

The trailer is effective because is shows a few interesting parts of the movie without giving away the whole story plot. It also grabs the viewers attention which makes people want to go and watch the film. It contacts the typical aspects of a thriller such as a talk over,and a few clips from the movie. It appeals to its audience by staying within the limits of the rules and working around them where possible. The audience's imagination was a great help to Hitchcock ad he triggered it in the end scene when Mitch goes outside to the garage.

"The Birds"

- The external threat if from nature. Often in Hitchcock there is nowhere to hide e.g. Bodega Bay, the birds attack from everywhere and anywhere. Whether being inside or outside. Hitchcock wanted to express how terrifying it was, to build tension and suspense. 
 Thrillers are characterized by fast pacing, frequent action and a resourceful hero who must thwart the plans of a villain or threat.

An example of fast pacing in "The Birds" is when the crows one by one start to come on the playground. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydLJtKlVVZw&list=PL46FB178E8BEABAB8&index=5

This scene creates fast pacing as the audience first start off in a calm mood watching Miss Daniels smoking and listening to the children singing. However the fast pacing starts as we get a medium shot of Melanie and then a Master shot of point of view shot of Melanie looking at the birds. The birds start off at 4 and gradually become a greater number one by one. The audience are now in suspense at what is going to happen next, which is where we get a tracking shot of a bird flying in the air by its self, we assume it may be flying over to attack Melanie. However the bird comes to the rest of the birds where we see there are now hundreds and hundreds. The audience are now in awe and are scared at what may happen next. It shows how each round of song that the children are singing, adds another measure symbolizing the multiplying birds.

The Gas Scene- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-HYj5cLfEI 

In this scene the fast pacing starts to build as we witness a man being attacked by a bird,from there the fast pacing starts to build as we are left to wonder if this will start off an attack of hundreds of more birds. The characters start to brace themselves for what will happen next, while some go outside to help. We then get a shot of the gas leaking onto the road and then back at the characters. We then a shot of Melanie and then a POV shot of her watching the gas flow until it reaches a car. We are left in suspense for a few seconds, however the worrying look on Melanie's face and the camera angles suggest the worst to come. A man steps outside of the car and goes to light a cigar, which enlightens e Melanie, she then warns everyone to look at his as he lights his cigar so close to the gas which startles everyone and makes them yell at him to be careful. However the man is unaware of what is going on and drops his cigar which causes a massive explosion. Towards the end of the scene we see the birds fly to the scene one by one. The audience know that they are going to become frantic and result in another attack.


Thriller Conventions

In the Birds the highly powerful villains are The Birds which is unusual as they normally seem to be human. Additionally their are no heroes as the birds are more powerful than the humans and there are hundreds more of them than there is of the humans.


Suspense is used extensively throughout 'The Birds' an example of this is the eyes pecked out scene where Mrs.Brenner goes inside to visit Danny and finds his whole house in a state and him also dead in his own bedroom floor.


Eyes pecked out scene - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0HjlCowwuM&feature=bf_prev&list=PL46FB178E8BEABAB8

This scene creates fast pacing because we see Mrs.Brenner walk into the house and we get a close up of the cups which are all broken, this creates confusion and the audience become more suspicious and creates fast pacing at what Mrs.Brenner may find. The lack of sound/sound over also creates fast pacing. As Mrs.Brenner walks into the bedroom and finds the windows smashed and in wretch. The audience are now a bit more settled as they think this is all that has happened and that they are going to find.

Another example of suspense in the birds is the ending scene.
The ending scene - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMwvHLe5m3g&index=11&list=PL46FB178E8BEABAB8

In the starting of this scene Mitch tries to get Melanie to the car to get her to the nearest hospital. As they open the door we see hundreds of birds outside everywhere. The fast tension then beginnings as we scared that the birds might attack again. Cathy then calls for Mitch to ask if she can bring the love birds with her, the audience are then scared and worried that this may startle the birds which can result in another attack.


Hitchcock technique

In the schoolyard scene the underlying score of the innocent child's song is in contrast to the evil in nature. Tippi Hendren's character is only guilty of taking nature for granted.In "TheBirds" scene outside the café- the high camera angle is like the gaze of pitiless God who cannot be bothered to intervene.  


"A thriller is a villain driven plot, whereby he presents obstacles the hero must overcome." 

In "The Birds" the MacGuffin is the sexual tension between Mitch and Melanie at the start and where Melanie pretends to be a shop assistant to get his attention. However in the end no one cares about the starting plot and are focused on why the birds are attacking, when will their next attack be and when they will stop.



Interesting Fact

"

- The scene where Tippi Hendren is ravaged by the birds near the end of the movie took a week to film.

- The birds were attached to her clothes by long nylon threads so they could not get away. 

- The film features 370 effect shots. The final shot is a composite of 32 separately filmed elements. 

- Tippi Hendren was actually cut in the face by a bird in one of the shots

- There is no musical score for the film expect for a shot electronic music sequence and the children singing in the school.

In my opinion the lack of non-diegetic sound helps the audience suspend disbelief and become more scared which creates tension and fast pacing.