graphic match

A graphic match, also known as a match cut is a cut between two either two objects, spaces or compositions in which two objects are graphically matched. This often helps establish a powerful continuity of action by linking the two shots metaphorically.

below are some examples of graphic matches;

A Space Odyssey

This shows a bone being thrown up into the air and then gradually fades into a space craft object. This graphic match shows the change of evolution from the  prehistoric age through to modern days. The graphic match is used to emphasise the change in time. 

PSYCHO 1960

Right after the murder of Marion, the camera shows blood pouring down the drain which then gradually fades into showing Marions eye. This gives the message that there is no life left in her and by showing a black hole, it represents emptiness and a passage to nowhere. 

analysis of thriller openings

In our lesson we looked at the opening of 4 thriller films. out of the 4 we picked three to analyse, the films I chose were;

• History of violence
• No country for old Men
• Brick

History of violence; When two men attempt to rob a small town diner. 

communication towards audience: During the opening scene, there is blood on the counter of the motel reception area. as this blood is shown, music begins to play which then creates an intense and suspicious atmosphere for the audience. The blood indicates to the audience that something dangerous has happened and with the music playing, this adds a lot more intensity to the scene and will make the audience wonder what had happened and what is going to happen next.

 Whilst the two men are outside, there is an empty chair on the porch of the hotel. Because the chair is empty, this will be able to indicate to the audience that someone is meant to be present at the Motel but because they aren't there to be seen, it will create suspicion and curiosity as the viewers want to know what has happened to this particular person. 

In my opinion, the opening scene communicates well with the audience, it gives off a number of clues for them to be able to work out what is going to happen and what has already happened in the film.

Mise-en-scene: 

For the Mise-en-scene, the main thing that stood out to me was how the characters were dressed. One man is dressed very casual in a white shirt and blue jeans which will indicate he is a regular man and doesn't mean any harm. On the other hand, the other man is dressed in black from head to toe which implies he is a criminal and is up to no good. 

From looking at this image, it implies that the man in the white shirt is the good guy and the man dressed in black is the criminal. The body language of the two men also allows us to tell who is the more confident man and who is the ashamed and distressed man. the Man dressed in black looks laid back and confident as he seems to know what he is doing and the fact he has his hands in his pockets makes him look in control of the situation. On the other hand, the man in the white shirt looks distressed the way he is leaning onto the car, this implies he is worried about what has just happened and is trying to keep calm. 

Sound:

In the background of the opening scene, there is the sound of crickets. This will indicate to the audience that the men are somewhere down South in the country side. It also tells us that if they're in the countryside, they are quiet isolated which will allow them to get away with their crime as there isn't going to be many people around to witness what they are doing. Another sound that we can hear is the radio playing from the car, which is country music. Country music is usually associated with depressing thoughts which indicates to the audience that the two men have done something irreversible and has now put them in a bad position that is going to be tricky to get out of. 

Overall, I think the opening scene was filled with clues as to what has gone on in order for the men to end up where they were and also gives us an idea of what is to come in the film. It is a very silent opening which creates suspicion

No country for old Men: While out hunting, Llewelyn Moss, finds the grisly aftermath of a drug deal. The hunter becomes the hunted when a merciless killer named Chigurh picks up his trail.

Sound: In the opening of this film, it includes a voice-over of a man talking who has a deep southern accent. Because the voice is so deep, it creates suspicion and fear from the audience. The use of the deep voice implies that he has been through a lot and he is worn out from all that he has been through and the audience will want to know why he is in this position. Another sound used in the opening is a diagetic sound when the the cop is being strangled, whilst he is being strangled there is pure silence in the background so all that we can hear is the suffering of the cop. This creates a sympathetic atmosphere as the audience are going to feel upset for the cop as he is helpless and has no way of getting out of the dangerous situation he is in. 

Mise-en-scene: During the start of the opening scene, it shows shots of the countryside and desert where native Americans used to live before the big massacre and the fact this is shot in the middle of nowhere suggests to us that nobody is around to help if there is some kind of danger that goes on. The desert shots also imply that there is isolation and loneliness. 

From this shot we can tell it is very lonely and deserted. there is no sign of life and is very peaceful. Because it is so peaceful, this could imply to the audience that the peace will soon be ruined by an upcoming dangerous event.

camera shots: One camera shot that stood out to me was the tracking shot, the use of the tracking shot manages to build up a tension in the opening and make the audience feel as if they are in the story following the footsteps of the character which means that they are unaware of what is going to happen to them which creates tension and suspicion. 

Overall, the opening to this film contains instant action which in my opinion is not as interesting, I would prefer the opening to be a bit more hidden and contain clues as this would then match the landscape shots as they suggest isolation and loneliness but because the action comes quickly, it doesn't go well with the calm scene that the film begins with.

Brick: After receiving a frantic phone call from his ex-girlfriend, loner Brendan Frye learns that her dead body has been found. To solve her murder himself, he must infiltrate high-school cliques that he previously avoided.

Camera shots: The camera shot used in the opening of this film really created a psychotic effect. The camera zooms in onto the face which shows every detail of him and we are able to see his emotions and his facial expressions which in a way look uncomfortable, upset and confused. 

From this image, we are able to see that he is upset and ashamed. The way he has his hands implies that he is thinking about something which may have been his actions. Also, the close up also suggests some kind of psychotic personality in the man which creates a suspicious and worried atmosphere as the audience don't know what he is capable of doing. Another close up that showed up a lot was the hand close ups; 

The close up of the hands could imply that it was a part of their body that was tied up as hands are the most used body part that helps people get out of that kind of situation. Because the person is now dead, the hand close up emphasizes how worthless her hands are as she couldn't save herself. This creates sympathy from the audience. The hand shot also indicates that all murderers use their hands to kill victims.

Sound; There is use of non diagetic sound in the background which sounds like a cowbell, this gives the opening a western vibe and creates an intense atmosphere for the audience. The sound is very calm and simple but in a way that indicates something bad has just happened. 

Overall, the opening of this film was good. the use of camera shots created suspicion and intensity from the audience. The sound was also able to create an uncomfortable feel as it was very strange and didn't suit the setting of the film. 

Editing; style of editing, speed of editing

Editing; is the process of looking at all the footage shot during the making of a film/T.V show and placing it in the desired order and then joining it together. 

There are two parts when it comes to editing;

• the speed of editing
• the style of editing

The speed of editing is how long the shot in a scene will last. Style of editing is how each shot is joined into the next one. In some films, each scene could last a few seconds or in other film cases, a matter of seconds. The length of each sequence will then establish the pace (speed) of the entire film moving the action along. 

If the editors want the audience to feel anxiety or suspense, they will aim to edit the film so it has quick scenes, this type of editing is found in action films such as 'The Bourne Ultimatum'. 

If the film requires a relaxed mood, the scenes will last longer and change to a different one less frequently so the audience can see the connection between two characters for example. This type of editing is used for romance films such as 'sleepless in Seattle'. 

A film we looked at was called 'The Russian Ark' which was filmed in one take using just a steadicam and a digital camera which required organisation and split-second timing. 

Scenes at the beginning of a film-  As it starts to tell the story, must be long enough for the audience to understand where we are in the film and what is meant to be happening. 

As the film processes-  Scenes tend to become a lot more shorter as the editing will cut between telling two or more story lines at the same time (E.g. Spider man) . 

Style of editing

How the shots are linked together. The movement of one shot to the other is known as a transition. 

straight cut-  Most common used transition and is an invisible form of transition. One shot moves instantaneously to the next without attracting the audiences attention.  help to retain the reality of the film and don't break the viewers suspension of disbelief.

• Dissolves-  Fading one shot off the other screen whilst another shot is fading in. Mostly used when the filmmaker wants to show the connection between two characters, places or objects.

wipes-  When one image is pushed of the screen by another. 

Mostly common for the image to be pushed off by the left hand 

side as it is more consistent with sense

 of time moving forward (E.g. Starwars) 

Jump cut-  Audiences attention is brought into 

focus on something suddenly, 

this occurs by breaking the continuity editing. 

The Montage theory;

Lev Kuleshov was one of the first to theorize about the relatively young medium of cinemas in the 1920s. He believed that editing films was just like constructing a business. Around 19818 Kuleshov performed an experiment to prove his point. He to an old film clip of a Russian actor and inter-cut the shot with numerous images. 

sound

There are two types of sound used in film;

• Diegetic- This is sound that refers to the text for example; dialogue, sound effects and music within the source of the text.
• Non-diegetic - This is sound that refers to everything that is outside the world of the text for example; voiceover, soundtrack, captions, titles and subtitles. 

• On-screen sound is sound the audience is able to see the source of the sound.
• Off-screen sound- This is when the audience is not able to see the source of sound, it enables the extension of the diegetic world. 

Parallel and contrapuntal sound

• Parallel sound is sound that matches the action that is taking place in the film, for example in Jaws they use thriller type, intense music to match the shark attack. 
• Contrapuntal sound is the opposite to parallel sound, this is sound that doesn't match the action that is taking place. 

Sound bridges; This helps to create a smooth transition between from one scene to another, the sound bridges two scenes together.

How to edit a conversation; A conversation should be edited like a game of tennis, by this I mean it should switch back and forth between shots of each character, occasionally using a shot of both characters at the same time known as the 'master shot'.

Cliffhangers and red herrings in 'Psycho' 1960

  Film Background; A young Lady named Marion Crane stole £40,000 from the bank that she works at for her boyfriend and herself. She planned to head off to California where her boyfriend works but realises she has made the wrong decision and decides to return back to phoenix. Whilst returning home she gets caught in a rainstorm which leads to her staying in an old motel at the side of the old highway, the hotel is rough looking which indicates to the audience that there is something that will happen in the hotel. this later leads to Crane getting murdered in the shower. Its up to Cranes sister and Cranes boyfriend to find out what had happened to her. The film ends with an unexpected twist. 

Miss-en-scene red herrings; In Psycho, Hitchcock makes use of red herrings in order to purposely distract the audience from the actual psycho of the film. One of the main red herrings in the film was the use of the violins, there were a number of occasions in the film when violins would begin to play. By doing this it would build suspense and imply to the audience that something was going to happen but in most cases nothing ever did. An example of this would be when Norman had just murdered Marion and whilst he is cleaning the evidence, violins would begin to play making the audience believe he was going to get caught or something along those lines. Hitchcock purposely this music to distract the audience so he could add suspense to the movie. The red herrings would make the audience question what is going to happen next. Another obvious red herring is Normans mother, the audience are most likely going to believe that the psycho is Normans mother as she is always sitting at the window never to move a muscle and shouting at him and treating him like a little kid. Norman says "we all go a little mad sometimes" which indicates that his personality disorder can get the best of him sometimes and cause him to do crazy things. Due to Hitchcock using red herrings, the ending of the film was completely unexpected which therefore made it exciting. Psycho can be classed as a scary film because of the red herrings, this is accomplished because the audience did not know a lot about the film. As there was a lot of confusion about the plot, suspense and not actually knowing who the psycho was, this left the audience asking a number of questions and left them feeling unsafe as they did not know what was going to happen in the film. 

cliffhangers; The main cliffhanger in Psycho is at the end when Norman bates has just been arrested and he is sitting in the room talking to himself, the camera then slowly starts to close up on his face to really emphasise the evil expression on his face which implies he has something planned but we will never know. There is then a cross fade to the flooded car. This leaves the audience wondering what is going to happen next, will Norman get sentenced? Does he try and escape? will the family go after him? etc. This is a very simple yet effective cliffhanger, it creates a sympathetic atmosphere as we know that Marion is in the back of the car, this makes us feel bad for her family and how they are about to find out that she is dead. 

Types of lighting

In our lesson we learned about the standard lighting set up and what effect they have as well as other lighting techniques.

• Key light- The brightest light and most influential. It highlights the dimension and form of the subject.
• reflector/fill light- Helps to soften any harsh shadows that the use of key and backlights create. 

Back light- Helps counteract the effect

of the key light.

It forms an outline or silhouette. 

• under light effect- The main source will come from bellow the subject, this is often used in horrors and thrillers to create intimidation and a threatening type of atmosphere. 

• Top lighting effect- When the main source comes from above , it highlights the facial features and creates a glamorous look.   

• Low key lighting- This is created by using only the key and the backlight. this will produce a sharp contrast of light and dark areas on the screen  and also forms distinct shadows. 

(known as chiaroscuro which is italian for

contrast from light to dark)

• High key lighting- More filler lights are required to be used so the light appears more realistic. It reduces the lighting ratio that is present in the current scene. 

Mad Men S1EP1: gender representation

In Mad Men, we are looking at the subject of gender representation and how there is a difference in the way the Men live compared to the Woman. The lives of woman are majorly different as the have to live with the following things:

• sexism 
• objectification 
• lack of respect 
• double standard 
• being mistreated in the work place

Gender representation is how men and woman are typically portrayed in the media e.g films, t.v shows, music videos. Examples of Sexism and being mistreated in the workplace is when new secretary Peggy Olson is spoken down to by fellow colleague of Don Draper, Pete Campbell. Pete gives Peggy the idea that she needs to make a few changes regarding how she dresses when he says to her;

" it wouldn't be a sin for us to see your legs.

And if you pull down your belt a little,

you might look like a woman." 

By Pete saying this, it automatically shows how woman are expected to look a certain way and to fit in with one and other. But, if a Woman's skirt was to be too short, they would be classed as a tramp and if their skirt was to be too long, they would still get judged. Either way woman will always receive judgement if they are out of place.  This quote is able to prove that women have to live with the constant pressure to fit in and look good to avoid any harsh judgement from men. After Pete had made the comment on Peggy's skirt, he then went on to say;

"Hey i'm not done here, i'm working

my way up"

This shows us how woman are treated badly and objectified by the men of the company. It also shows weakness and lower status as Peggy was not able to defend herself and instead had to except the actions of Pete. This also implies to us that woman don't belong in the workplace but the ones who do work their will be mistreated badly by the men because it was allowed and also may have been a way to put woman off working and to instead stay in the kitchen and look after the children. 

further on towards the end of the episode, there was a scene in the strip club. In this scene we were able to see the lack of respect towards woman and also how the strippers were objectified and that their bodies were only for entertainment purposes only. whilst the men were in the strip club, a group of young ladies joined the men and one of the ladies named Wanda went and sat next to pete. Pete thought he could be controlling  and get Wanda to do as he says by grabbing her arm, which she wasn't comfortable with and replied with 

"you're hurting me." 

Petes actions show how most men were likely to treat a woman because they have more power and status over them. most woman would do as they are told, but there are a small number of woman who will try to defend themselves. because there is only a small amount of woman that will do this, it implies woman are afraid to stick up for themselves as they know there will be consequences.

Overall, Mad Men has shown that the lives of woman were dominated by the men and they had very little say in everything. The episode indicated lack of respect and objectification towards woman which tells us that they didn't enjoy their lives as they are constantly judged by men but on the other hand, men could get away with pretty much everything. 

Casino Royale; The contrast in Bonds body language and facial expressions

our main focus was on the phrase taken from the French, Miss-en-scene: The arrangement of scenery and stage properties in a play.

for our next task, we looked at how bond got his 00 kills and how his expressions and body language has changed after his first kill and how it reflects in his second one. 

In scene one of Casino Royale, we see a change of facial expression in Bonds face in the first scene compared to the second scene.

In the second scene, it is a lot more brighter to indicate that it's a flashback. Bonds facial expression in the flashback is a lot more intense and angry, This is because it was Bonds first kill and he hasn't killed a man before. As a result of this being Bonds first kill, his emotions will be a lot more angry and nervous as it is reflected in the bathroom scene. On the other hand, Bonds facial expression in the first scene become a lot more serious and relaxed. This implies that Bonds first kill has made an impact on his personality and changed him. Bond looks a lot more confident and we are able to tell he knows what he is doing.

Another thing that shows Bonds contrast in his professionalism and confidence is his body language. we are able to tell a persons mood and emotion just through t

heir body language. In Bonds first kill scene, he is a lot more hands on and physical when he is trying to kill the contact. This indicates to us that Bond is new to what he is doing and is inexperienced. We can tell this because he is breathing heavily which implies he is putting a high amount of effort into killing someone. This then leads to him getting frustrated as he doesn't know any other way to kill the man but to do it the long way. On the other hand, Bond in the first scene where his second killing took place, had a much more relaxed and calm type of body language showing his maturity and professional side. Bond wasn't moving around as much, this is because he is more confident and knows what he is doing this time. He kept still which indicates he has learnt from his first kill and is able to carry out kills quicker and easier.





A final technique that shows a change in Bond is the brightness of the scenes. In the scene of his first kill, it is a lot more brighter indicating the innocence of Bond as it is his first time at doing something like this. He is going into this task as a pure man who has never done harm. In his second kill scene, it is a lot more darker and colder which shows us the change in bonds personality after his first kill, which has changed him to a more serious and relaxed person.  

Camera angles in North by Northwest VS Goodfellas

In media we have been watching North by Northwest and our main focus was the camera shots and how they were used to create an effect on the audience. Our task was to find another thriller that we were able to compare to North by Northwest and see if they used camera angles to create the same effect as one and other. 

North by Northwest is an action thriller that was very popular in the late 1950s and 1960s. Goodfellas is an crime action thriller that was made in the 1990s. Both films make use of camera shots such as;

• Close ups
• Point of view
• High angle
• Low angle

In North by Northwest, they make use of close ups to show the emotions that the characters are feeling for example there was a scene in the film where Eve Kendall felt like she had betrayed Thornhill; 

From this image, we are able to see that the close up of Eves face shows that she is worried or ashamed at what shes done. This makes the audience have a mixed feeling of hated and sympathy towards her. By using close ups, it allows us to really be able to look into their eyes and see the detail of their eyes whether they are tearful to create an upsetting and emotional atmosphere or squinting to show confusion in the character. 

Another close up used in the film is when Eve is hanging on to the cliff during the Mt. Rushmore scene. The close up is able to show us the fear and desperation for help in her eyes. The close up makes the audience feel sad and sympathetic towards her as she is scared and wants immediate help but can't get it because they're in danger. From Eves facial expression we can see the desperation for help and how shes calling for it which makes the scene more intense as we don't know whether or not she can hold on. The camera is also focused on her and the background is blurred which implies that if she falls she is falling into the unknown. 

Similarly in Goodfellas, they use a close up shot to also show the emotion in Henrys face when his family found out he betrayed his wife. 

From the close up, we are able to see that Henry feels ashamed and embarrassed by what he has done, The close up allows us to see that from his eyes, he has been destroyed by the usage of drugs and the tears building up indicate to us he is trying to hold back his emotions but is slowly starting to give up and let them out. The use of the close up creates a sympathetic atmosphere towards him as he is stuck and doesn't know what to do with himself anymore. He has let down his loved ones and now he is feeling abandon and alone.


Both films have been able to make the audience feel the emotions of the characters by using the close up camera shot, the audience are able to almost engage with the emotions of the character which leads to them feeling sympathy for them. 

The next angle used in North by Northwest is the High angle shot. The high angle shot is used to make the character look smaller and indicate they have less power. In North by Northwest the high angle shot is used to make Thornhill smaller than he is;

From this high angle shot we are able to see that Thornhill is helpless and has no control over the situation as he is forced into being intoxicated by the two men. His face expressions show fear and curiosity as he doesn't know what he is going to do, the shot also shows how he is belittled which can create a sympathetic effect from the audience as they are worried of what might happen to him.




In Goodfellas, the high angle shot is used for the same reason, to show the reduction of power that the character has. In Goodfellas, the high angle shot shows the reduction of Henry's power when his wife holds a gun to his face whilst he is laying down. The camera is able to indicate to us the difficult situation he is in and how he is powerless to stop it. 

From the high angle shot, we are able to see the lack of power Henry has and how the control is completely out of his hands. His facial expressions indicate confusion as he doesn't know why his wife would put him in a life threatening situation like this. The angled shot also shows how belittled he has become as a result of the wife having the possession of a weapon in her hands. This makes the audience feel worried for him as they don't quite know how the situation will end.



Overall both films make use of the high angle shot to indicate the danger that both characters are in. The angle also creates similar effects for the audience in terms of them both feeling worried and also having some sort of sympathy towards them.


The third shot commonly used in the two thrillers is the low angle shot, this shot is used to indicate the power that one of the character has in the film. In North by Northwest this shot was used to show the power that Phillip Vandamm had.

From this shot we can see that Vandamm and his co-worker are higher in power comared to Thornhill in this situation. Vandamms facial expressions show cockiness as he knows he has all the power in the current situation which will lead to him feeling confident. This will create a spiteful and hatred kind of atmosphere from the audience as they aren't too keen on him and don't like his attitude. Vandamm looks comfortable and relaxed as he knows what he is doing.

Both films use the low angle to show that a certain character is of a higher authority and creates a hatred type of atmosphere towards the character as they're both putting the other characters in a dangerous position.


In Goodfellas the also use the camera angle to show that the character has higher status. The low angle in Goodfellas shows that Karren has the power as she is the one holding the gun. She also looks directly into the camer to make the audience feel as if they're in Henrys dangerous position.

From this angle, we can tell Karen is of a higher level of power mainly due to the fact she is armed with a dangerous weapon. Her face expressions are a mixture of fear as she doesn't look as if she is comfortable holding the gun but on the other hand shows seriousness. This creates an intense atmosphere as the audience don't know what to expect from her as she doesn't look sure herself. 

Overall both films use the low angle shot to indicate that the character holds more power which leads to the audience disliking them.


Finally, both films use point of view shots. In North by Northwest the point of view shot is used to make the audience feel as if they're involved in the dangerous situation that Thornhill is in when he is being chased;

The point of view shot shows what Thornhill can see infront of him when he is being chased, in this case it is the road. The point of view shot indicates the danger Thornhill is in as he is driving down a dark road whilst intoxicated. This makes the audience feel worried for him as they don't know what will happen to him

In Goodfelas the point of view shot is used in order to show what Henry sees and the danger he is in;

From this shot, the audience will feel as if they are in Henrys situation which makes the audience feel scared and worried. The shot shows the gun and how it is held close to him which indicates he may die very quickly.

Overall both films use the point of view angle to put the audience in the situation of the character which creates an intense and worried atmosphere. 

brief

This blog will contain film reviews, different types of techniques used in film to create effects and my planning towards my thriller opening. 

We have been asked to produce the titles and opening sequence of a new fiction film in the thriller genre.

The sequence should last a maximum of two minutes.

We may work in a group of 2 - 4 students.

As acting is not assessed you are free to use actors that are not members of your group.

The film is worth 60% of your coursework grade.

The accompanying blog is worth 40% of your coursework grade

Welcome to my blog

My name is Emily Whittaker, I am 16 years old and am doing my A levels at Robert Clack School. I chose to take media studies because I want to get to understand the world of media and how it has such a major influence on the public. I am also studying fashion, business and sport, I wanted to keep my options varied and creative so I new I would be able to go down a number of different career routes. Gaming is also a big part of me, my favourite games are GTA, Halo, Watchdogs, Fifa, Minecraft, outlast and a whole load of others. I like watching youtubers aswell, youtubers have really made their mark and will continue to expand. 

I love fashion and sports, I also do photography for a hobby and visit different spots in London to take in the different cultures. I want to study fashion at St Martins or the London college of fashion, I am a member of the school netball team and keep very active by going to the gym every night. I want to change how people see fashion, nowadays fashion is about being skinny so you look good in clothes, I believe fashion should be about confidence and through the help of media I want to be able to do this. 

My favourite film genres are action, comedy and horror, I love marvel films and my favourite film is Green Street. I like watching adventure time, Keeping up with the Kardashians and Total Divas. I like adventure time because of its weirdness and how it stands out from any other cartoon. Keeping up with the Kardashians and Total Divas are both reality shows which are my favourite type of TV category, I like to see how the other half live and how their lives are different from ours. 

My main passion is music, I see music as a way of expression. Music also influences fashion which is what I love about it. I use music as an escape, I would say I have the best type of music taste as I listen to anything and everything from House music and rap to Metal, indie and reggae. My favourite bands and artists are Catfish and the Bottlemen, Fall out Boy, Kendrick Lamar, the Skints, Whitechapel, Years & Years and a whole load of others!

I have been to festivals, concerts and travel to France every year, I want to be able to experience as much of the Parisian culture that I can as it is the fashion capital. I love going to concerts and festivals as I find its a great way to socialise and take in the different styles of the people.