Case Study Four

Case Study Four

1)Institution

Name of thriller: The Da Vinci Code

Director: Ron Howard

Production Company: Columbia Pictures

Release Date: May 19 2006

Country Made: United States

Box Office: The film opened with an estimated $29 million in box office sales which averaged $7764 per screen. The film earned/grossed $758 million worldwide in 2006 and it only became the 2nd movie of the year to pass the $200 million mark in the USA.

2)Audience

The film was aimed at adults and college type students as the film was quite challenging mentally to understand, especially with all the clues and quick paced puzzles etc. That said it is available for teenagers to watch although they may not understand the film very well due to the challenging scenes.

A user from IMBM said this about the film. "its presentation of the controversial dialogue moments coupled with special effects, that will make you go WOW. Truly, the technique is nothing original, and some of the visuals used looked like Return Of The King and Kingdom of Heaven rejects, but as a whole, combined with the narrative, it helps to present the controversies in a more palatable manner."

3)Technology

The technology used in this film is mostly the props that are used by the main characters as these are needed to look at certain clues, to do certain things or to create a certain atmosphere for the film and audience. These items include:

-UV light which is used to look at writing on the painting of the Mona Lisa, if this item hadn't of been created then they would never of found the text with was a clue.

-Flashlight to look around in the dark and highlight certain areas so that the audience can see what the characters are looking at

-Handgun which is used by the villain to kill and to scare anyone that oppose the character.

4)Codes/Forms and Conventions of the Thriller Genre

The camera actions and movements in the film are quite mixed as there are quick shots of the characters expressions to show their emotions yet there is also shots to show the location of where the characters are e.g. the chapel near the end of the film which catches the background and the actual building.

The sound in the film is mostly Non digetic as speech is used quite a lot as is the music for the chase scenes so there isn't a lot of need for Digetic sound to be in the film. That said there is some bangs and knocks in the film but they don't relate to the plot at all.

There is a few main characters in this film which include:

-Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon who is the main clue solver throughout the film.

-Audrey Tautou as Sophie Neveu who also helps solve clues.

-Sir Ian McKellen as Sir Leigh Teabing knows everything to know about the chalice.

-Paul Bettany as Silas who is the main villain and killer.

-Jean Reno as Bezu Fache etc.

The female on the left is known as Sophie Nevue and is played by Audrey Tautou who is the main female character of the film. She seems to be a nice/good character as she is wearing white (a colour of purity), is smiling towards the camera and the fact that white light is shining on her from the background which again hints that she is a good character. The swirls around her head from the background image could hint at her being quite clever or important as they seem to revolve around her. The cross that is aimed towards her could also hint that she is religious or that she has some religious ties.

The male on the left is a character known as Silas who is played by Paul Bettany and is the main villain of the movie. The dark colour of his clothes hint at him being evil or having a nasty personality. The fact that he also tries to hide his face is shown as the hood keeps part of the males face in shadow which could suggest or hint that he has something to hide. The character is looking at the audience yet he isn't smiling, this backs up the idea that he doesn't have a very nice personalty. The fact that the background is also dark could hint that he is isolated or alone, it could mean that people are scared of him. The cross in the sky than shines on the male could hint that he is religious or that he had religious ties however the cross is shining a red colour on Silas which could signify blood, showing that hes evil or it could hint that he is angry.

The male on the right is a character known as Professor Robert Langdon and is played by Tom Hanks, a well known actor and the main character throughout the whole film. He is encased in darkness which could show that he might have something to hide although the light on his face could suggest that the thing he is hiding is not sinister. The light is aimed directly at his eye and forehead which could suggest that he has an eye for clues or adventures and with his mind he can work them out which suggests that he is quite a clever character. He isn't smiling yet he doesn't look evil so the male is probably thinking about something again hinting that he is a clever character and likes to solve clues.

The genre for the film is puzzle solving/conspiracy/thriller film which most people who know about anyway seeing as the film was a book before being made. The genre fits the film well as the main plot has a lot of conspiracy to do with religion although the thriller side kicks in when they are being chased etc.

The narrative structure to the film is that it shows a scene of the past at the start which them flows into the present although there are a few parts of the film where the characters are talking about past events which is when flashbacks are shown. There are also parts when they talk about various events in history which are shown to the audience. This gives the audience/consumer a chance to get involved with what the characters have been through and lets you relate to them.

5)representation

The characters that are stereotyped are the professor who is always seen as smart and that he can figure out any clue that is given to him. That said he seems to enjoy solving clues which is what most professors do. The male however doesn't seem to be boring which is a break from the stereotype.

Case Study Three

Case Study Three

1)Institutions

Name of thriller film: The strangers

Director: Bryan Bertino

Production company: Rogue Pictures

Release Date: May 30 2008

Location Made: United States

Box Office Returns: After its release being postponed twice the film opened in the united states and Canada on May 30. On its opening weekend the film grossed $20,997,985 in 2467 theaters. Box office worldwide the film earned an outstanding $81.6 million making it one of the highest ranking films of all time.

2)Audience

The film is aimed at anyone over the sage of seventeen as the film was rated an R to due with the violence and language. The director wanted the film to be a scary horror/thriller and not just a common one so he added scenes such as a man getting shot through his chest which caused blood to splatter on the wall.

The film is directed to the male gender more than the female one as the film contains strong violence and graphic scenes which are more aimed at males as they are stereotyped to liking horror whereas females are generalised to run away from horror and thriller films. That said it was still aimed at a more male audience.

A user from IMBM said the following about the film "At first, i was enjoying the set, costumes, and i believe the acting was pretty well done. I believe the director achieved a very creepy feeling, but too many times did he use to obvious cop-out of making loud noises to startle the viewer instead of genuinely scaring them."

3)Technology

The film uses a various amount of technology in this film with most of it being dark vision cameras as the film is taken at night however you can see the characters and their surroundings quite easily and it almost looks like they are surrounded with light even though you know that they aren't. A old piece of technology however is used in this film to create a various effect and that technology is called a phonograph which plays records.

4)Codes/Forms and Conventions Of The Thriller Genre

Camera angels and effects in the film vary from a panning shot of the house to a point of view shot from the characters eyes. All of the different shots give the film completely different reactions which could be making someone jump or to making someone feel nervous. Some camera angels and their effects on the audience etc include the following:

-shot of the female character with a man in a mask hidden in the shadows in the background which makes the audience shout out and jump as they see the male. They also think that something bad is going to happen and you want the female to notice the evil character although at this point she doesn't see him at all.

-shot of a female in the background through a window which shows the location of the movie and hints that there is going to be a scene in the woods. It also creates some questions as you wonder what the female is doing outside in the dark and on her own.

-shot of the knife with blood on it makes the audience feel shocked as you wonder whats happened, who's blood it is and why the knife is just left in the middle of the floor.

Lighting is as i pointed out before is used a lot as the filming takes place at night yet the director wants the audience to see the action taking place otherwise their would be no chance for making the film. It creates a feel around the film as the lights go off at one point which makes you wonder what is in the darkness but the film uses this to an advantage because as soon as the lights come on she gets attacked instead of it happening in the dark which is when is usually happens, this makes you jump even more than normal.

There is a lot of sound in the film, Digetic and Non digetic which is mostly used to create an atmosphere in the film. The digetic sound includes:

-bangs

-music playing

-knocking

-footsteps

These all make consumers sit on the edge of their seats as you wonder whats going to happen and these make you jump when they happen unexpectedly. That said they give the film the atmosphere that makes the film a thriller/horror. The non digetic sound is again used mostly by music playing for a chase scene.

The location for most of the film is the couples house however there are also scenes in the woods near the house and a shed that rests is placed on the other side of the woods. These makes the film scarier as it makes it more real like as it happens in someones home, making them think that it could happen to them, giving the fright factor to the audience.

The male figure on the right is one of the man characters in the film, he is the boyfriend of the couple that get attacked by the two strangers. He seems to be quite an organised and well paid man which could suggest that he is quite smart as he is wearing a suit and is in a beautiful house that is rather large. He doesn't look tough to begin with but in the actual film he seems to be rather tough as he protects the female a lot and even goes out into the darkness after the figures that tried to attack him and his girlfriend. He seems to be well looked after as he is clean shaven and hasn't got a single dirt ,ark on his face so again this suggests that he is either well paid or well known, he could even be both.

The female character on the right is again one of the main characters and she is the males boyfriend who gets stalked and attacked by the figures. In the photo she seems to wearing average type clothes which could suggest that she is working class although this is not known. The house doesn't appear to be hers although she knows her way around it meaning that she must spend a lot of time around/in it. The female isn't very brave as you can see by her expression that she is scared and frightened which gives a big clue on what her character is like, as she is just an average women who is thrown into a nightmare.

The female character on the right is another main character although this one is one of the people that attack the couple. The fact that the background is black shows that she is an evil character as black is associated with darkness and bad events. She is also wearing a mask which hides her identity making the character that more mysterious as you are not sure what she she looks like and think that she could be just about anyone. The character is also holding a knife which reflects the fact that she is evil and could also mean that she has killed before as she is holding the knife by her face showing that she isn't scared as she has done it before, she is not afraid to kill.

The genre of the film is a cross between three different sub headings which are suspense/horror/thriller which is shown in different parts throughout the film. The strangers is a film that covers quite a loud of different genres yet they all tie together to create a superb film.

The film is compared to that of the film Saw as it is about being trapped which the couple are and the fact that the attackers are masked which is just like jigsaw as he uses a doll to speak through while the strangers use masks.

The narrative structure of the film is back to front as it starts with the end and shows a bloody knife on the floor, a house broken in to, shot gun on the table, blood splattered on the wall and two children making a call to the police saying that they have found dead bodies. This makes you wonder what happened to the people in the house at it switches to the past and shows you exactly how and why the items were where they were, this doesn't ruin the movie as you aren't sure who is dead until the very end of the film so it does keep the suspense throughout the whole film.

5)representation

There is social group representations or stereotyping apart from the male character acting tough and fearless while the female is scared and cries at various points which is stereotypical for both genders of characters. This effects the film because the audience can connect with the characters as most of them would react in the same way, the females being scared and turning away from the film while the males stand tough and watch the film.

Case Study 2

Case Study Two:

1)Institution

Name of thriller film: Terminator 2 Judgement day

Director: James Cameron

Production Company: Tristar pictures

Release Date: July 3 1991

Country Made: United States of America

Box Office Returns: The film grossed $204.8 million in America alone and was the highest grossing film for that time period, it also beat the ratings for its first film which only made $38 million for its US run. This gave the film a 434% increase which was a record for the sequel.

2)Audience

The intended target audience for the selected film was the consumers who watched the first film first so they wanted to keep some of the ideas the same thus keeping the ideas and some characters/actors the same. It was then aimed at people who hadn't watched the film so that anyone could watch it and understand it without having to have seen the first film produced. That said you would have a better understanding if you saw the first film before watching the second edition.

Age wise it was intended for teenagers and above due to the age limit and the fact that they wanted to include some horror type scenes and they wanted to show death a lot in order to prove how dangerous the machines are. This meant that they could increase the action dramatically without having to miss out any type of gore as the age was fairly high, although they didn't want it to become a horror so they kept too much gore at a minimum.

A user from IMDM said this about the film. "This story is a special one where humans are our own worst enemy. Arnold's line where he says its in your nature to destroy yourselves is something that sends chills down my spine because its true. I loved the relationship between Arnold and Eddie Furlong, interesting to see a terminator take the place perfectly of a father and you see the pain in Eddies eyes of never wanting to let go of the terminator. Like Sarah Connor said the terminator wouldn't stop, it would never leave him. It would never hurt him or shout at him or get drunk and hit him or say it was too busy to spend tine with him. And it would die to protect him meant a lot to me. It is an excellent film and one that will always stand out against cinematic history.

3)Technology

For this film technology was a great help, especially for the scenes that needed CGI such as showing the robot changing to a human and the big explosions. It wasn't used too much as it was still quite new however the film did need the computer sequences for some scenes in the film that couldn't be shoot through a camera straight away and those that couldn't be made from dolls or models etc. The biggest part of technology shown in the film would be the structure of the robots and the arm that it shown half way through the film, this had to be created but it looks real and thus could be classed as a piece of technology due to technology actually building it in the first place.

4)Codes/Forms and Conventions Of The Thriller Genre

The camera angles and movements for this film are quite complex as it is a blockbuster film which could on the millions to make so there aren't going to be too many simple shots. That said they do seem to use the dolly a lot especially for car chases and such, they also show the most well known shots which are a high and low shot. High shot which makes the person seem more powerful or strong and a low shot which makes the character seem timid or weak. This is probably to create tension and to give the film different aspects so that the audience don't get bored of watching it.

Lighting is changed throughout the film but in certain points it is quite dark to show that the character is trapped or confined whereas in others it is quite bright which shows that there is still hope or that the character will find a way out of the mess. These are just two examples and trust me there are many many more throughout the film. Most of them are used to show the change in time, location and characters. This is used in order to give the audience hints about what a character is like or what is happening to them.

Non digetic sound and Digetic sound are both widely used in this production from screaming and explosions to the soundtrack during a chase or fight. These both create tension and tries to give the right atmosphere to the scene so that the audience will hopefully react in a similar way to what the characters do.

The locations in the film are quite isolated which could show that the characters think that they are isolated or the fact that they are isolated, for example the terminator is the only good robot in the film so he is defiantly isolated from all of the other characters in that way. The locations vary from a desert to the city which gives off an opposite feel to the desert which gives off a feel and could mean that they are surrounded or blocked up/trapped. They are used to give the film a sense of location and familiarity to the film while setting the scene as well.

There are various character types in the film but the main ones that the film focuses on are the terminator played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sarah Connor played by Linda Hamilton, John Connor played by Edward Furlong and the evil terminator known as T-1000 who is played by Robert Patrick. There personality's are quite different due to their ages, past and their species. The good terminator is strong and blunt as he is a robot meaning he has no feelings to think of, not even pain whereas Sarah Connor is also a fighter yet is only one because she wants to protect her son from the machines showing that she expresses love. The characters are used to show the difference between the robots who have no feeling to humans and the film tries to make you connect to the humans in the film. This makes the idea of the film seem real as you don't judge it to being fake you just accept that the film is real. The most common prop in the whole film is the weapons which are usually guns, the good terminator and Sarah Connor use these quite a lot in order to kill the T-1000 or just to get away from it. They are used to show the strength of both characters and to show that they are in real dangerous situations.

The genre of the film is a mix between three which is thriller/action/science fiction, these all show exactly what the film is about as it covers all of the elements of the film. The action associates with the guns and explosions while the science fiction associates with the idea of robots and time travel, the thriller is the plot line of the film.

The narrative structure of the film is linear however there are dreams of the future and a lot of talk about the future as the robot comes from that time period and explains what could happen if evil wins or gets a certain amount of power. This makes the audience think about the characters and hope that they win because as i pointed out before they accept the idea of the film as real so if the machines win and take control over the world then they would associate their world with being destroyed. A lot of films do this and even soaps now include this to their story lines because these makes some consumers shout out at the screen showing that they are involved in the film and enjoy it.

5)representation

The female character Sarah Connor is represented at the start as being mentally ill because she keeps going on about the fact that machines will take over the world and only her son can stop them. This is a typical scene of a person who knows that the world is going to be destroyed yet no one believes them until something happens, in this case when the evil machine tries to find and kill Sarah.

The other character which is stereotyped is the young boy John Connor who is in the film a kind of criminal, he is living with step parents and is shown to break into a cash point to steal money by using a device that he built which gave him and a friend some money. Again this is a typical troubled youth type of character who then finds out that he is destined to save the world, he initially tries to fight this but later on accepts it when he sees how much his mother believes in it and how much she fights to save him so that he can save the human race.

The robot seems to be what most people would think of because its strong, doesn't think much and if it does speak that its just quick, short sentences. That said the audience does connect to the terminator which gives him a sense of character. However the audience also connects to the bad character who hardly ever speaks as he shows his words through his expressions. It is the typical bad character who is stronger than the original terminator yet it defeated by the forces of good.

The culture ideology however is the value of Sarah Connor at the start of the film as she is seen as being low down in the food chain and not as important as everyone else. This shows the discrimination towards women and towards mentally disabled people as she is seen as one and is ignored and treated how a human shouldn't be treated e.g. by being strapped down and injected.

Case Study 1

Case Study One:

1)Institutions

Name of film: Paranormal activity (Thriller/SuspenseHorror)

Director: Oren Peli

Production Company: Independent film produced by Steven Schneider and Jason Blum but distributed by Paramount pictures and Dreamworks pictures.

Release Date: October 14 2007 (Screamfest Film Festival) January 18 2008 (Slamdance Film Festival) September 25 2009 (limited) October 16 2009 (wide).

Country Made: United States

Box Office Returns: The film opened on September the 25 2009 to 12 theaters taking $36,146 on its opening day and $77,873 on its first weekend for an average of $6,489 per venue. When it expanded to 160 theaters on October 9 it grossed a total of $2,659,296. It then quickly went on to gain $19,617,650 as it was shown in 600 more theaters. On the weekend of October 23 the film rose to the number one spot for box office, beating the expected film Saw 6, in total Paranormal Activity has grossed over $141,423,097. It has become the most profitable film ever as it only cost $15,000 to produce/make.

2)Audience

The film was targeted originally for teenagers although the film became so popular that most adults are also watching it. That said the film was intended to be more horrific but people apparently left the cinema as it was too much for some to handle, too frightening, so the producers let the director have his original film back which was then shown around cinemas to get a unbelievable profit. Consumers have quoted the film as being scary but just enough to make you want to see more and not run away.

One user comment from IMBM shows their view on the character known as Katie who is played by Katie Featherston. "In the beginning we meet a young female who was concerned with what was happening to her, this could be a metaphor for the fears of the new house and her boyfriend Micah. As we get to the final scenes she has been reduced to a person on the verge of a breakdown, and we are deeply concerned for her well being. Each night that passes makes you experience a deeper and greater feeling that something bad was going to happen and most people wont like it. The actress creates a believable and sympathetic character which turns the film from an effective thriller into something quite extraordinary.

3)Technology

New technology has increased the way that films are now made and produced for cinema use. The way that this film is different to the rest is the way that the film has been filmed which is through a camera that the characters own, similar to the Blair witch project. That said the camera is also used at night when the couple is asleep by recording the room in night vision, again a great jump in technology. Films can now be produced in completely different ways and this film is just one of those ways. It is possibly made in this way because the film is based on a real life event which was shot with a camera thus its almost like reviewing the film that had originally been produced/made.

4)Codes/Forms and Conventions Of The Thriller Genre

There is a lot of digetic sound in the film which is usually shown out of screen e.g. a loud bang. These sounds are believed to be from the "demon" which has been following Katie since she was only little (8 years old) the sounds that are heard through out the film include:

-loud bangs

-whispers

-gasping

-footsteps

-shouting

-screaming

-knocks etc

This raises tension as you see how the characters react thus it makes you conform to the ways and react in the same way, which is to be scared or nervous which is what the film aims to do to the audience/consumer. That said there is also non-digetic sound which aims to make the consumers react in exactly the same way, they want the audience to be scared, that's what the film is there to do. The sound is usually music which is usually played at night when the couple is asleep.

The film has been filmed through a camera that the characters hold however there are different effects. There are high shots of the male acting tough to the loud noises and low shots of the female being scared which shows their personalities clearly. The camera is often shown as the two main characters point of view as they are the only ones who hold the camera during the full film.

Katie as shown on the left is wearing her clothes which she wears for bed, you can see this as she isn't wearing clothes that you would wear outside. The female is wearing a white vest which could be worn in order to keep her warm and the white colour of it suggests that she is a good or pure character. The checkerboard shorts that she is wearing gives a hint that they are for bed use and the typical underwear/bed clothes are checkerboard so this had been stereotyped. The character isn't wearing any make up, again showing us that the female isn't going to go out or leave the house as most women that age wouldn't leave the house without wearing makeup so this suggests the fact that she is going to or has been in bed. You can clearly see a railing of a banister that Katie is holding on to, possibly for support as she is scared, this hints at the location which is presumably at the top of a set of stairs. The lighting is from the night vision on the cameras thus showing us the characters.

The two characters are wearing clothes which are pretty normal clothes, nothing too smart or fancy which could suggest that they are middle class or maybe slightly higher as the background looks rather expensive. He is wearing a shirt and tie while the female is wearing a black top. They are both smiling at the camera and are sitting quite close to each other which could show that they are a good couple and have an sexual relationship. He is wearing white while the female is wearing black which could hint at their personality's as the female could be the villain character yet she is smiling with a typical good character thus she may not be aware of what she is or that she is evil/bad. The location looks like a living room as they are sitting on a couch near a window however they could be in a conservatory so by this still image the location is not yet known. The lighting is coming from the camera and the artificial light of the lamp which is in the room.

The genre is a cross between a thriller/suspense horror as the film intends to scare the audience as well as create a well produced film. This is shown by the poster which is at night and has the words "don't watch alone" which suggests that the film is scary or has some fright factor. The fact that there is screaming and an unusual injury which cant be explained also shows the genre of the film. The injury is a bite mark made by something unseen which shows that this film fits the genre of thriller and horror well.

The film has been compared to The Blair witch project, which is also filmed through a camera, for various reasons. These things include:

-never seeing the actual creature (witch in the other film and the demon in this one)
-loud sounds

-seeing just the characters that the film is about.

The Narrative Structure of the film is linear which means that it goes in a straight timeline with no going back in time. That said there are a few gaps in the timeline as nothing happened for a few nights so they took it out of the film, this meant that it went from night after night to missing a couple of night yet the film explained what night it was so the consumers wouldn't get confused. Most of the sequences are seen through the male character Micah which could be because the camera is his however Katie does hold the camera at various points. Although all the night scenes start with the camera filming the couple by its self. The producers probably used these methods so that the audience could experience the film through three different eyes so that they would experience three different things and emotions. Katie with being scared and frantic, Micah with being a joker, tough and investigative and the Camera which shows both emotions mixed together and films most of the action.

5)Representation

Three characters in the film, i believe, are stereotyped. These characters are Katie, Micah and the demon. I think that they are all used in different ways that is exactly how someone would view them as being. For Katie and Micah is is to due with their gender while the demon is stereotyped with how it acts.

First of all I'm going to start with Katie. She is always seen as being timid and scared at night which is a typical female character, the "female in distress" She never seems to want to connect with the demon but she is seen as wanting to leave the house apart from when she is possessed by the demon, which again makes her seem like a typical girl who is always scared. Katie wants to call the male who specialises in demons straight away yet her boyfriend stops her from doing so which makes her and Micah fight quite a lot.

Micah however is the complete opposite to Katie. He likes to joke around and doesn't believe in the ghost or demon which is a typical male character. He is also stereotyped as he goes to look for the demon in the house and tries to connect with it, he also swears at the demon when he gets annoyed with it. Katie at various points calls him immature as he is always with a camera thus bringing the well known quote "boys and their toys" to mind.

The demon is stereotyped by making it invisible, scary and angry which is what a typical demon is. The fact that it also possesses Katie makes it that more typical for a demon yet for awhile the consumers and the characters in the film think that the demon is actually a ghost until a physic tells them that its not a ghost/spirit. This makes the creature seem like it could be anything and that its scary to think that they thought it was a ghost for all of that time.