My Psycho-Thriller Short

Psycho-Thriller Planning

This is my storyboard; I wrote a script about two people in a relationship where one person suspects that the other is cheating on them. Moreover, the person with the suspicions is an alcoholic, which makes their whole perspective on things unreliable. Below is a frame-by-frame breakdown of the location I was scouting. Props to Enid for helping me out.




The main character is sitting themselves indoors. The shot is framed through a window, creating an interesting light effect. The reflection of the world outside also suggests the inner conflict and confusion that the character is experiencing. 

The birds eye shot, taken from quite high up, is meant to suggest how the character feels paranoid. Because they cannot trust their partner, they themselves feel under surveillance. 

This was taken from outside the filming area for us to determine how to correctly position the camera in order to effectively set the scene. This shot ended up not being used in the final product as we went for a more linear, symmetrical straight angle directly in from of the mirror to convey conformity and control.

A concept shot,taken to show what it would look like with the two characters sitting from this angle. This gave us perspective on making sure nothing vital gets cut off in the shot when we are trying to show the characters' seating position.

A full view of the filming area. It's a small spot under the stairs to our sixth form common room. What's special about this area and why we chose it was because it was truly a hidden gem at school. We would never see anyone spending recreational time here which was perfect for shooting in terms of convenience. But the main reason is that it is such a simple and sophisticated set carrying powerful meaning while looking beautiful.

Training Day: Diner Scene Analysis

In this extract from Antoine Fuqua's 2001 film Training Day, we are introduced to two cops: Alonzo and Jake. Both have very different personalities with Alonzo being the violent, manipulative one and Jake being the good, by-the-book cop. In the start of the scene we see a cook crack two eggs onto the frying pan. This symbolism is used to convey how Jake will literally get his “balls busted” by Alonzo, being humiliated by the more experienced veteran cop. This is further evident with the bacon being cooked as Jake will literally get “roasted’ as he is about to be met with someone completely out of his league, which is clear through dialogue but more on that later. This relates to the old saying, “Out of the frying pan, into the fire.”

When Jake arrives in the diner the camera pans over to the right revealing where Alonzo is seated. Alonzo is seated in one of the diner booths facing the door with no one else around with the camera filming the scene from an over the shoulder shot. The mise-en-scene here was done purposely to display Alonzo’s power, how he has control over his side of the diner. The fact that Alonzo is facing towards the door is almost like the diner is his office, his domain that Jake is entering. The diegetic police siren sounds can be hear in order to reinforce and remind us of Alonzo’s authoritative power despite his unprofessional behavior.

Going further into the scene when the two officers start conversing, we see how different the two men really are. Jake is dressed low key, very normal in order to blend in and not attract attention as a cop. He wears a t-shirt under a collared casual shirt with a hoodie and jacket , suitable to the weather outside. Jake’s choice of clothing tell us he is a humble person, with simple comfortable clothes, not showing off or trying to extend his ego, only following orders given by his superiors. Further evidence for this is when he enters the booth, Jake knocks/taps side of the booth to gain Alonzo’s attention (unfortunately he does not), making his presence aware as a show of respect.

Alonzo on the other hand, is dressed “formal” gangster-like dark clothing with jewelry. He wears black kufi (muslim hat), a pressed, long-sleeved banded-collar shirt buttoned all the way up with a silver chain and watch along with a pair of glasses. He also has a black leather jacket cut more like a suit coat than a motorcycle jacket hung to the side of the diner booth. Interestingly the micro element of Alonzo not wearing his jacket where Jake keeps his on for the entire duration of the clip displays power levels, relating back to how the booth is like Alonzo's office, therefore Jake is completely reserved, protected in this foreign domain, belong to Alonzo with his jacket off. Alonzo’s black on black clothing mentality is part of a mes-en-scene representing his inner dark personality and desire to control himself if not everything around him.

In terms of camerawork, there are multiple cuts, two shots and close-ups constantly reminding who controls the flow of the conversation such as when Alonzo makes fun of Jake’s DUI stop, he bashes his guns together, doing a little laugh while the camera cuts to a two shot, showing that Alonzo is hinting at Jake to tell the “exciting story” as he is seemingly interested due to the use of sarcasm. When Jake started talking, Alonzo immediately tells him to “Shut up”, showing how the corrupt cop is very brief and straightforward to the point.

There are other dialogue and diction choices that add to both men’s personalities. When Jake keeps on talking as a gesture of goodwill in an attempt to initiate small talk, Alonzo’s facial expressions immediately shift from being stoic to a sly grin. He tells Jake to “tell him a story” and instantly after that, he drops his friendly facade, revealing a serious, aggravated man. Alonzo’s strong control of facial expressions show his aptitude for emotional manipulation as he is able to keep up his two-faced act, resulting in Jake having to pay the bill. Alonzo's diction of vulgar words and loud volume of voice contrasts Jake’s formal and soft tone, despite encouragement indicated by Alonzo to “drop the good cop/boy scout act”, when perving about Debbie.

Alonzo then completely flips the conversation on Jake by pretending to give advice. Just as he is about to make a point Alonzo slams his fist to the table telling him to “pay the bill”. Alonzo has successfully displayed control over Jake by steering the flow of the conversation into his favor and immediately shutting Jake down by abusing his authoritative position. The audience is now familiar with Alonzo’s need to control and Jake’s seemingly casual style and are able to make plot inferences leading up to a conflict of morality between the duo based on evidence in this powerful scene alone, highlighting the truly distinct personalities of the two main protagonists. 

"Dexter" - Shape Theory

Shape Theory: 

The Underlying Thematic Significance of Shapes 

Dexter was a series on Showtime about the life of a forensic analyst who is also a prolific serial killer. Dexter is a anti-hero in a sense because although he murders some every episode, he only hurts people who deserve it, and is also a contributing member of his community, a supportive friend, and a loving brother to his sister Debra. The intro to the show highlights the contrast between Dexter's surface normalcy (though a stylized portrayal his morning routine) while also hinting at his inner darkness...

Circles

Circles are shapes with no edges or corners, features that connote a sense of repetition and inevitability. In the clip. circles are present throughout in various incarnations. The first circle seen is a drop of blood from Dexter who cuts himself during shaving. The blood drop represents the inevitability of death, more specifically Dexter's mortality as it is shows he is just an ordinary man like everyone else, creating a false notion of his innocence (as we later find out). The other circle seen are in the sinkhole cover. These round shapes within one another further support the idea of infinite suffering as there will always be pain in life, evident by its placement next to the blood drop, implying that pain and mortality are inescapable. As the clip progresses, Dexter cracks an egg into the frying pan, revealing the circular egg yoke. This imagery plays with the idea of birth, the birth and revealing of Dexter's true self as he is indeed a serial killer. Throughout the various seasons of the series, Dexter's personality changes as his relationship with killing evolves; at some times he is cynical and emotionless, at others he was full of righteous vengeance. Thus, the egg can also symbolize Dexter process of rediscovering himself.

Squares and Rectangles

These are shapes with clearly-defined edges that create a sense of separation between internal and external spaces. There are two clear example of rectangles in the introduction to Dexter. The first comes from when he cuts himself shaving and uses tissue to stop the bleeding. The camera zooms in and we see a rectangle half soaked in blood, with the line of red steadily moving to right, washing out the white part. Because they are so rigid, rectangles and squares often denote stability and honesty. Apart from having to murder people regularly, Dexter is an upstanding member of his community; a caring boyfriend, a conscientious worker, and considered to be an all-around 'good' guy. The rectangle might represent how Dexter blood lust must be contained within the rules he makes for himself. The second obvious rectangle is viewed when Dexter is cutting up strips of ham for frying. Dexter's killing style is extremely methodical and clean; he wraps his victims in cellophane, chops them into pieces which he disposes in the ocean. The neat rectangular slices of meat evoke the ultimate fate of Dexter's targets.

     

"Children of Men" - Opening Analysis

Children of Men:

Opening Analysis

Children of Men, a film by Alfonso Cuaron, depicts a world in the near future in which Humanity has gone sterile for unknown reasons. Since people can no longer have children, social order has collapsed and quality of life has deteriorated. Only England stands, although life there isn't so great either. The opening scene of this movie establishes the grim repressiveness of this dystopian world through an unrelenting realism.   

The clip opens with a quick cut with absolutely no exposition, unlike many conventions science fiction films such as Star Wars This storytelling method creates more of a natural integration into the film's lore/background, as we are able to piece together the story by what is evident in the mise-en-scene. Everyone in the coffee shop are gathered around at the TV watching a new report on the "death of the worlds youngest person". What is odd about this new report is the victim, a 23 year old, is referred to as a baby. The oddness of this situation not explained but ignored, treated as if it were a normality.

The audience is still thrown off as the context is not explained, however as the man  leaves the coffee shop, we are immediately brought to light as it is reveled the story takes place in a futuristic London, with diagetic street sounds, classic London double Decker buses, juxtaposed with tuk-tuks and hints of urban poverty such as piles of garbage on the street.

As we are still adjusting to the new London, Cuaron  successfully throws us off by incorporating an explosion scene. This worked so effectively as the entire intro has been shot in one continuous tracking shot. When the camera follows Clive Owen out on the streets, he heads to a booth where he prepares his coffee. This seamless effect created by the tracking shot and the normality of the situation with all diagetic street sounds and city environment, leaves us feeling comfortable, therefore when the explosion happen out of the blue, we are immediately stunned.

The impact of the false sense of security Cuaron established as the audience in disbelief as the explosion feel too real due to the accurate setting of a realistic scenario through environmental mise-en-scene. What makes this explosion more real and possibly the closest to real life is show when a woman walks out looking dazed and unharmed but as the camera pans towards her, it is revealed she is holding her left arm in shock. Ultimately, the entire opening sequence skillfully crafted by Cuaron puts us into suspense as we want to see what happens next after the title screen. We want to debunk the ambiguity,to what the story is really about and have answers for our many questions revealed, "Why is there a 23 year old baby?", "Why is London a third-world country?", "Is this the future? "What happened and how?"....

Dialogue in Thriller Films

Thriller Film Conventions

Thriller film conventions from Histmedia