Sabotage By Alfred Hitchcock 1935

Hitchcock is known as the master of suspense, in this film he builds great suspense because he uses the technique of dramatic irony. Dramatic irony is is when the audience knows information about something but the characters are not aware of it. During this scene we as the audience knew that the young boy had a bomb in his hand but he had no idea. We also knew that something was going to happen but we didn't know how it was going to happen so therefore we had no idea where the bomb would go off either. Us as an audience were also aware of what time the bomb was set to go off which was 1:45. during this scene Hitchcock uses non diagetic music which is at the pace of how close it is getting until the bomb went off so as it was getting closer and closer the music and ticking got faster and faster.

Also during this scene as it was getting closer and closer to the time the bomb setting off Hitchcock showed many different images of clocks and he showed us the clock hands moving round and round as they were getting closer to 1:45, this was effective because it built suspense and made us wonder what was going to happen next and if the bomb was going to go off or not. Also the clock ticking getting faster and faster was very effective because it was getting quicker as time was going by and then carried on continuously then bang it went off.

Ideas for thriller

Idea 1 - a man walks in a bar
           - then slips
           - gets angry
           - don't know who it was

Idea 2 - drug deal in dark alley
           - no money
           - chase through dark alley
           - no escape

Idea 3 - accident
           - stabbing
           - under pressure

Idea 4 + final idea - Missing person
           - tied to a chair
           - someone running to save them
           -  missing person turns out to be fine
           - back-stabs protagonist

Alfred Hitchcock- Shadow Of a Doubt 1943

The opening of this film is concerned about the actor uncle charlie, the setting is in the city before we are introduced to the character charlie. At the start of this scene as we see the setting of the city it looks rough and untidy and the people don't look very friendly but as we get to see Charlie's character we see that he is a wealthy man by the way that he is dressed because he is smartly dressed.

Settings + Props- at the beginning of the scene it is set in the Central Ward of Newark, New Jersey, this area was very rough and untidy and portrayed as unpleasant, but the setting in Santa Rose was the complete opposite where little charlie was compare to uncle charlie because in Santa Rose everyone looked happy, so therefore it was portrayed as peaceful and a friendly place to be. There were many props in the opening scene these were: Uncle Charlie holding a cigar which portrayed as him being the antagonist because most guys with a cigar in movies are always the antagonist. uncle charlie presents himself as dressing to impress as he is dressed smartly.Also during this scene we see the number 13 on the door which also could show someone as being a antagonist because the number 13 is an unlucky number
NOT FINISHED!!

Preliminary Exercise - drug deal gone bad

During our lesson today we were editing our video what we made for our project. our video was about a drug deal going wrong. what happened during this scene was that as the drugs were getting sold i took a picture as they were doing it so i basically caught them. This was very interesting because it makes the audience want to know what's going to happen next for example they may wonder what i am going to do with the picture whether I'll show it to someone so they get in trouble right away or will i blackmail them.

During this clip i think we have our advantages and disadvantages.

The advantages are:

1. It is edited very well

2. Catches the audiences attention

3. Good use of dialogue

4. Unpredictable

The Disadvantages are:
1. Unintentional jump cut
2. the sound was okay but not the best quality because there was no mics.

During this video we made a huge mistake by using jump cuts which made our project look non realistic, this is a huge disadvantage because our film is meant to look realistic so that the audience would believe its true and they would be more interested. If there was no jump cut then this would look more realistic which will catch the audience's attention. Also during this video we located it in a classroom and we had many props, two of these props were the fake drugs and the camera catching them in the act.

me,zoe and naima'sfirst media project

Today in media we edited our video of interviewing people asking them about thrillers. This was very interesting because we had to ask many different people what their favourite thriller was, what they liked about thrillers and whats good about the thriller genre.


For this research we got many different answers, some people said that they liked the way the thrilller builds up suspense and tension so therefore it makes a thriller good. Other people said they liked the way thrillers always have a mystery that you have to find out.


During our editing we did many different transitions and these made our video interesting because there was many different transitions such a 3D dimensions which made this effective because there were many different shapes and we also dissolved the videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ6x3wY3h9Q

The Software and Equipment

During our lesson today in media we got taught how to set a camera up for our short thriller movie. First of all we learned how to set a tripod up and we learned how to be responsible with the camera and tripod. Also during our double lesson we done a short clip of asking people what thrillers they like. We asked five or more people what their favorite thriller was and what they liked about the thriller genre. Most people said they like the way it build up tension and suspense.

We also used a tape and made a 5 minute video to do with thrillers. This helped people use technical terms like the Red Herring,Macguffin and Enigma. We also learned how to record people answering questions and how to edit their answers to the questions. In this video we asked a variety of differnt people what they liked about thrillers and most people said the way it builds suspense and tension.

My Favorite Thriller Movie

                                                My Favorite Thriller

My favorite thriller movie is Somebody Help Me. Somebody help me is a horror/thriller about two friends that head of with their girlfriends and other friends for a weekends stay at a cabin in the woods. After the couples settle in the cabin, things take a eerie turn, one by one the the group ends up missing or dead. while there are 4 left they go down to 2 and are forced to stick together to figure out who or what is behind the killings.  The murderer kills his victims slicing off parts or their body.

He starts off with with Barbara by having a part of her head sliced and he rips off Andrea's entire scalp and the sheriff has his throat slit. Also Barbara's boyfriend has his eyes and fingernails ripped out and Andrea's boyfriend has his teeth ripped out and then is smothered to death. Nicole dies from an asthma attack when the man didn't give Nicole her pump.

The killer's daughter Daisy sings 'ring a ring a roses' throughout the whole movie which is diagetic so therefore we can hear the little girl but the other characters can't other than herself. The killer's daughter helps Brendan free the others so at the end 3 of the teenagers end up dead. In the last scene the murderer and Daisy have their car searched and the policeman lets them go as Daisy sings 'ring a ring a roses'.

This is my favorite thriller movie because when i watched it for the first time it was a mystery to me who killed Brendan's friends because there was three different suspects and i had no clue who it could be and during the film Brendan and the gang start to figure out things about the murderer and they find out what his done and they found out he was in the newspaper and all the way through they find out who his killed and what job he used to have etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOroFyXQjjM

Analysis of thriller opening sequences

In media today we watched the opening sequence of three different thrillers and these were, children of men, memento and the history of violence. they all had enigmas at the beginning of them so they all involved a mystery and make the audience want to know what's going to happen next. Children of Men and Memento were my favourite beginnings out of the clips we watched. 

Children of Men is about the future and what its going to be like, so heres a brief description, In 2021, in a chaotic world in which humans can no longer procreate, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant women to a sanctuary at sea, where her child's birth may help scientists save the future of humankind. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCTgUq6hzUk&feature=related

Who was Alfred Hitchcock and What did he do?

Alfred Hitchcock was a British filmmaker  and producer, he lead many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. he succeeded in silent movies and movies that used sound. Hitchcock then moved to Hollywood to carry on succeeding with his career. He made films for about 60 years. He made very successful films like 39 steps which was a silent movie that was also a comedy, this was made in 1935 and became very successful. He also made the movie psycho which was made in 1960.  

He creates suspense and shock very well by knowing something the audience don't know. one of his techniques he uses is called a MacGuffin.  A MacGuffin is a plot device that motivates the characters and advances the story, but has little other relevance to the story. Alfred Hitchcock used this technique in the 39 steps back in the 1930's as an early example of concept. and then explained it at Columbia University. 

He also uses enigma which is when something is mysterious or inexplicable or a  riddle or difficult problem. This creates suspense and shock because it gets the audience trying to figure out who done it or what's going to happen next which will make them want to watch the film more so they can find out. Also in thrillers this is commonly something which the protagonist has to find out or solve before the narrative is resolved and the film finishes. 

Hitchcock also uses the technique of the red herring in his thrillers. The red herring is the name given to a device which attends to divert the audience from the truth or an item of significance. This creates shock and suspense because it gets the audience wanting to know the truth and it makes them think they might know but then it could make them wrong so it will make them want to watch the rest of the film to find out the truth because it would be very unpredictable and there could be a twist at the end, it could be the unexpected. 

No Country For Old Men

This is the opening sequence to No Country For Old Men so you can see for yourself how effective it is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQNvn4eb8LQ

Hey welcome to my blog. This blog is about my media coursework, this will involve me and my group making a 2 minute long thriller. During this course we will have to include our own music, and we would have to do editing and research to make our short movie successful.