Heavenly Creatures (1994) 'Clubbed to Death'

Director- Peter Jackson
Uk release-10 February 1995 (UK)
Certificate-18
Produced by Wingnut films in association with the New Zealand film commision.
Filmed In Canterbury, New Zealand.


Many generic thriller conventions are used in Heavenly Creatures such as the use of clocks, as time is important in thriller films, use of claustrophobic spaces and quick glances at weapons. Peter Jackson has however challenged the generic location of a thriller film and contrasted it to the norm, the mise-en-scene presents a very different image as it is sunny in open spacing and it has pretty features such as landscaping. 

Clocks play a very important role in this film as there are many events that take place in a short amount of time, such as the murder of the mother and the time of the boat back to England. In this particular scene the clock pops up in the frame at least 3 times, this makes the audience aware, adds suspense- could something happen at a certain time? It also makes the audience interact with the girls and it then becomes almost realistic. 

An over the shoulder shot/birds eye view shot is used to show the two girls and the mother walking down the steep, narrow confined path that her daughter has led her to, the use of this particular camera angle establishes to the audience that something may about to happen. 

During this part of the scene there is no dialogue, however the famous Intermezzo from Puccini's "Madam Butterfly" has been used by Peter Jackson. It is a tragic opera about a young Japanese woman who marries and has a child with an American Solider, he left for three years and came back with a new American wife and wants his old son to join the new family. The young Japanese girl is forced to give up her son, she does so, kisses him then commits suicide. This links in with the current situation in the film and it also adds to the hyper reality surrounding the film, in a sense that you cannot tell between dream and reality, a new imaginary world. It builds and creates an odd suspense which clearly notifies the audience that the girls are about carry out the grotesque event that has been foreshadowed. 

The camera angle then changes to a panning shot that fully establishes where the girls are taking the mother, to a desolate woodland area that is what seems to be an idealistic place to carry out a murder. The mother is entirely unaware of the event that is about to take place and Peter Jackson has done it to exaggerate the cruel and evilness of the two girls. However Peter Jackson has really challenged the conventions of a thriller here because the landscape seems to be nice and dreamy, almost something that you would see on a holiday perhaps. The lighting used throughout this scene is ambient, this contrasts the generic conventions again as most major events take place in a dark, bleak and gritty location. 

From this point on the feel of the situation seems to change, Peter Jackson has now focused the camera angles on the feet and head and shoulders of the girls to build a large suspense around the event, it also presents a weird sense of beauty.  This particular part of the scene is filmed in slow motion, this encapsulates and personifies the girls feelings and emotions, and again adds to the dreamy and unrealistic feel it creates.

This close up shot of the mother's daughter is all the audience really needs to see to confirm the event that is about to happen, the bag has been focused on frequently in the film as this is a generic convention, close ups of a weapon. Following this it cuts to close ups shots of the girls hands and feet, they seem to appear nervous and anxious which adds even more tension and suspense to the film. The three of them carry on walking and they come across a muddy section of path, during this the mother holds her hand out to her daughter for help, this subtly significant to me because it captures the harshness of the daughter, the mother has helped her all her life and when the mother needs help, it gets thrown back in her face, again it foreshadows the following murder. 

This low angle close up shot of the girls feet in the deep mud is a reflection of what the girls are about to get into, it could represent the consequences of the girls actions in a sense that they will ultimately end up in a deep situation, perhaps end up in prison or could they end up getting their own bodies massacred? They walk further along the path and the mother stops to look at the time, the clocks and time have played a significant role in this scene and it makes the audience feel connected and concentrated. This also foreshadows her own death, she hasn't got long left.

The daughter then reaches to her bag, this immediately alarms the audience and lets them know that the murder is about to happen, in a confined and dimmer location which is a convention of a thriller. The girl starts to beat her mother with the brick in the stocking, after one shot a close up of the mother is shown, she is a bloody and disorientated mess, this is a sickening image and helps to understand how twisted the two girls are. The use of flashback in sepia which is a convention has been added whilst the girls are continuing to stone the mother, underpinning the idea of a hyper-reality and fantasy. The colour of the images start to change colour to perhaps symbolize age, will the girls ever see each other again? 

The film is based on a true story of the Parker-Hulme Murder in Cristchurch, New Zealand in 1954. Two girls had created their own fantasy world and people often thought it to be lesbianism, which at the time was thought to be a thing of insanity, the murder was carried out in Victoria Park down a small narrow confined path, the girls then proceeded to beat her with a brick. The girls fled back to the tea shop and told the man that her mother had hit her head, the brick was later found nearby in the woods and the girls had lost their case, they were found guilty of murder and sentenced to five years in Prison and upon release were never able to see each other again. The girls would have been put through the death penalty, but as they were too young they were not able too. 

Screen Shot Analysis- Thelma and Louise (1991)

Location;    

The location of the shot is in a car park, this is a generic convention of a thriller. Cars are male orientated objects however in this shot the woman, Louise is dominating because she has a gun. The car park is also quite isolated which is another generic signifier that this is a thriller film.

Characters;

Thelma and Louise could both be considered as contemporary femme fatale/Archetypal characters as they both have that sort of appearance. Thelma is holding the gun to a man, this is a big juxtaposition from the norm as it is usually women who get treated badly.

Camera Angle;

For this particular shot the director uses a medium close up establishing shot to show the situation.

Lighting;  

This shot uses non-ambient saturated  lighting to create a dark and dingy feel which is another signifier that this is a thriller.  Also the light is focused onto and reflected back off the gun, which represents its importance to the scene.

 Props;

The lustrous gun is the only prop in this shot, it is almost in the centre of the shot which tells the audience abouts its importance to what is going to happen.

The representation of this shot is showing that America is corrupt with no feeling of safety or security. In the short clip we watched it showed Thelma getting raped and Louise shooting the man, called Harlem. Both Peter Wier's Witness and many of Quentin Tarantino's films such as Pulp Fiction also show the same,      corrupt image of America.



Essex Boys Opening Scene Analysis

                                                              

• Director-Terry Windsor
• Released 2000
• User rating (Imdb) 5.9/10

                                                                                          

                                                            


The credits are the first thing that the audience see's at the start of Essex Boys, plain black and white connotes that the film could potentially be quite gritty, it also sets the mood to the audience. The white lines could be scratches, the use of non diagetic sound creates a tension that makes the audience aware.

    The first shot is a medium establishing shot of the car in the confined garage which presents elements of claustrophobia and is also a generic signifier that it is a thriller. The use of non-ambient, noir, chiaroscuro lighting  creates a triangle shape, in the Third Man the light is used to do the same thing, it represents the thriller genre. The garage light is then turned on by the young man and as soon as the light switch flicks you can see the cobwebs and a lot of other

gritty things that again confirm that this film is a thriller.                 

This then cuts to a medium close up shot of the young man in the car, the inside is grimy again which represents that the film is gritty. It is also another confined space which reinforces the fact that this is a thriller film. There is then use of diagetic and non diagetic sounds when the young man does a voice over explaining his current situation. The man's accent   is significant as it backs up the fact that this film is called Essex Boys. The young man then proceeds to clean his window.

This then cuts to a point of view shot from the car of a tall male, wearing a very flamboyant and colourful shirt with a big black leather jacket, these factors connote that he is a gangster, the slight use of low angle also backs this up and also implies that he is an important character in the film. 

This then cuts to a sort of following shot as the car is driving down wet, bleak streets which yet again represents the thriller genre. This cuts to a point of view shot from the car as the men are entering the vanishing point, Dartford Tunnel. It is another confined space and from this shot you could also say that is was like looking down the barrel of a gun. In the first few minutes of the film it has been established that the film is very Essex and gritty, could this be the representation Terry Windsor wanted to create of Britain? 

                                                                                                                               

This then cuts to a close up of the gangster in the back of the car, you can tell he is confident and could lead to the thought that something was going to happen shortly. This then cuts to a close up of the young man, his facial expression says it all really, he looks confused and a little bit sad. The bars of light that were created in the foreground of the frame are a representation of a prison cell, this is showing that he could be heading somewhere potentially trouble or danger.

This then cuts to a low angle following shot of the car, the road is wet and the whole frame is dull and very bleak. The bridges and such sort of create a notion of confinement again, representing the thriller genre. The camera then pans to the right to show the Welcome to Essex sign, this is ironic as it backs up the audiences thoughts of what Essex is Like, the director uses this again to give a bad representation of Britain. 

This then cuts to an extreme close up of Jason the gangster. His facial expression is angry and menacing, the use of a voice over again from the young boy explains what the situation is, but doesn't know entirely what is going to happen. He then gets out and walks confidently  through the fishmongers holding something that looks like a bat. This cuts quickly to a close up of the young man still in the car, watching, again he looks puzzled and uncertain of what is about to happen. 
This then cuts to shot reverse shot of Jason and then his victim, this lets the audience know something is about to go down. Then Jason starts to beat up the guy, the camera angles in this part are varied but they all signify Jason's significance and confidence, he is a key character. The fight appears to seem natural to the people at the fishmongers and it suggests that it is just part of everyday life and reality for Jason. 

This then cuts quickly to a close up of the young man's face, he is clearly in fear of Jason and this is shown by his facial expression. The lighting is still bleak and dull which could imply what the characters life is like, gritty all the time? This then cuts to a point of view shot of the young man looking out of his left wing mirror to see Jason with his victim, Jason then proceeds to throw acid in the man's face, this is a pretty dark thing to do and it again signifies the harshness of Jason, or the harshness of Britain on the whole? The enigma of this particular scene is focused on the man in the suit getting beaten, it makes the audience think what did he do to deserve that etc..

This then cuts to a close up of Jason putting the man in the suit into the back of the white van, white vans are often a signifier that the film is a thriller, Jason is still acting menacing and this imprints the fear into the young man's mind. 

This cuts to a sort of low angle shot of the white van driving, the lighting has slightly changed, it is now brighter as you can see by the blue sky, this could represent Jason as he is in the process of revenge and he is happy with it? 

It then cuts to a close up of the two men in the cab of the van, the young man driving is still clearly in some sort of fear and Jason is looking confident as he checks his knuckles for wounds. Screams are then heard from the man in the back of the van, not phased by this Jason his looking at his shirt from marks, he then finds a mark and says "shit," this is important because it tells the audience that Jason is used to doing this sort of thing and that he is not scared. Shot reverse shot is then used to capture both of the characters expressions, it seems kind of awkward as you can see the fear the young man has. 

The young driver then gets out and a low angle shot of him opening the back is used, you can tell he is quite tense about opening it when he listens in, the back opens and out runs the man with acid all over his face. 

This then cuts to wide angle shot of the Essex Marshes, you can see another vanishing point at the end of the marsh, which could signify the end for the man in the suit. The marsh is completely isolated, it is a predatory hunting ground for Jason. The lighting has gone back to being bleak and harsh, representing Jason's character. The marsh appears to be a wild, primeval landscape that has no morals. The shot on the right captures the meaning very well, you can just see the victim isolated, with no where to go, Jason then gets out and a medium shot is used to show Jason kicking him once more to the ground.  

                                                                                                                         

A medium shot of Jason is then used, he is in the foreground but the slight focus of the frame is the background, the marsh. Jason is looking relieved that he has got his revenge, again his importance stands out here.













This shot suggests that Jason has no moral
 boundaries whatsoever, Terry Windsor portrays it to be a wasteland, one that Jason might know very well, it could also represent Jason's isolation from society. This setting is very much part of Essex as well as it being a no man's land. This long shot of the white van driving back along the dirt track captures the utter grittiness of the Marsh, however Jason is used to it. The non diagetic sounds used here amplifies the bleakness of reality, it also creates a slight suspense, what will Jason do next? 

                                                                                         

Witness, Peter Weir: The Murder Scene Analysis

• Director- Peter Wier
• Released on 24th May 1985
• Certificate 15
• IMDb rating- 7.5/10

The opening shot is a low angle shot of a statue which is something to do with Greek mythology, the low angle shot signifies the statue as being something of great importance and power. This then cuts to slightly low angle close up of a little Amish boy called Samuel Lap capturing the boy's reaction to seeing the statue, as he his Amish he has never stepped out of his close knitted community until now so seeing things like this are completely new to him.  The use of a low angle close up connotes that he could be an important character in the film. 

The following shot is a high angle shot over the shoulder of the statue which is in the middle of a train station, a large open public space. The over the shoulder shot of the statue is used to imply the insignificance and also vulnerability of the young boy, it could also represent that he is a minor, meaning that he is part of such a small, outdated Amish community which is a minor religion...This then cuts to a medium shot with a vanishing point (the door) of an area of the train station, which contains two people, the Amish boy and Mother in complete isolation in the empty room, which could again represent being part of a minority and to connote a sense of fear or threat. The mother speaks with a German accent which is very much part of identity as this identifies the two characters as outcasts in the American city, again signifying vulnerability. 

The boy then proceeds to wander off from his mother, which shows her nativity as they think they safe within their Amish community but they have ventured outside their community to a big city which is potentially very unsafe. The boy walks into the toilet, which is also a vanishing point in the shot. This cuts to a medium close up shot of a sort of 25 year old white male wearing a leather jacket looking into the mirror, he is the focus of the shot and it shows him for enough time to note that he is of some importance. Ambient lighting is used to create a subdued and murky tension.

This cuts to another close up of the leather jacket guy and you then hear the door close, 2 males walk in and the director uses diagetic sound to divert the audiences attention. Slightly low angle lose ups of the head and shoulders of the males are used but their faces are not shown as they are in shadow of the light, this creates an enigma around the characters, creating tension. All characters are in a slightly low wide angle shot, this then cuts to a close up of a knife being pulled out by one of the two men that walked in, this then suddenly cuts to an extreme close up of the boy through the slit of the toilet door the show his reaction, naturally he is scared.  This reverses again to a point of view shot of the little boy showing the murder, during this a mixture of dialogue and soundtrack are used, creating suspense. 

Then the dead man and one of the murders leave the shot and it cuts to a slightly low angle shot of the murderer cleaning the knife, shot reverse shot is then used between the boy and man to create tension. Then the murderer hears a noise from one of the cubicles, a simple medium shot is used to show the man pulling out a gun, the shot reverses again to show how scared the boy is. Following this the man then proceeds to open each one of the toilet doors, this the shot reverses again to show to boy trying to lock the lock, he is shaking which connotes his fear. The shot of the man getting closer is menacing and it adds to the tension of the action. The camera then focuses on the feet under the toilet cubicles which is threatening, there is still no change in the colour of the scene (colour saturation).

The Amish boy stands on the toilet as a last resort really, he stands in the form of a crucifix/ christ which represents his religion and also deliberately symbolizes the boy's innocence in the situation. This then cuts beautifully between the killer and the boy or potential victim, silence and footsteps are all you can hear which adds to the threat and fright of the situation. 

Throughout the scene the lightly is mainly ambient to give a sense of realism and authenticity. 

There are a few significant representations in the film and one is a representation of American Culture, within the first 20 minutes of the film there has been a relentless murder carried out,  giving a negative feel to modern America.

The next is the representation of race, in particular the classic stereotype that black is bad and white is good because the shot where they are carrying out the murder shows the black man being ruthless and cruel. 

There is also a representation of a mother as being virginal and good. 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/emisold-to-universal-for-12bn-6260816.html

Preliminary Task Evaluation

 What Planning did you do for your filming task, and how did this planning aid the filming?
For planning of our preliminary task we created a shot list, which told us all the different types of camera shots we would need to use and where to use them, such as low angle or a long shot.Our plot was about smoking and I played the smoker and will was the person who disagreed with it. I also created 2 different storyboards because we had two different ideas for the task at first, but the storyboard was used to map out the different scenes of our film and a brief description of what was going to happen and the type of shot that was going to be used.


 What is the 180 degree rule, and how is this rule important to the film task?
Whilst filming our preliminary task we encountered a problem with the 180 degree rule and broke it slightly, as a result we had to film again, but basically the 180 degree rule means that all the action, a tennis match or a conversation has to be filmed on the same side, so the action doesn't cross over and confuse the audience. However we managed to overcome this problem whilst filming the conversation. 

What shot types and camera angles did you use in filming your task and to what effect? 

The opening to our film was a low angle shot of feet and somebody stubbing out a cigarette, this was effective as it established the situation but it didn't give away any information about the characters. Over the shoulder shots were then used to follow the character into the building, which showed the journey from a certain point of view. Close ups were used to show people opening doors, this was good as they were often from a low angle which turned out to be a nice shot. We used a bird's eye shot to show the characters walking into the room where the conversation took place, then shot reverse shot was used a little but during the conversation which had great effect because you could hear the dialogue and see the peoples expressions.

What editing skills did you develop, and how confident are you with using the editing software?

During editing I learnt many skills such as how to cut parts of recorded film, which was fairly easy to do. I also learnt how to insert titles, merge videos together and also how to mute some of the film. Before using the editing software I had only used Windows Movie Maker so Adobe Premiere was a step up and it is more complex to use but it is quite easy to use. I do need to improve my use of editing software more so that the cuts are smoother and it all fits together perfectly. 

Potential Thriller Opening Scene Locations

Alleyways like this at night can be dark, often with little light which is ideal for a thriller film

Forests are dark places, especially in Autumn/ Winter as they are cold and baron places, which would be good for an opening to a thriller film.

This alleway in the city is a very good place to do an opening to a thriller as it has all the generic conventions such as dim lighting, a sense of fear and it adds a feeling of intimidation/tension.
















This alleway is quite a scary one, it is long and thin and some of it is in complete darkness, it is ideal as it creates a sense of fear.

This alleway is on Newmarket road and at night you can't see very far into it. 

This is near eagle park and the cobbles would fit well with our film and it would look better in the dark.

This is the underpass under the st stephens roundabout and it could be good for a thriller film because although it isn't dark, at night the light is dim which creates a sense of fright.