Sunday, 28 February 2010

Analysis of 28 days later poster



To add to the idea of a thriller based film, we have decided to look at the artwork and the other features that a movie uses to promote and establish what the movie is about before the audience has seen the actual movie itself. We have had the idea of doing a poster ourselves which will be used in the same way as all posters to create enigma's and mystery to what the movie is about and also to promote the movie itself. I thought a good example of this is to analysis the poster of 28 days later.

28 days later is a thriller that is based around the idea of being alone and having to survive by yourself.

The first obvious thing we notice about the poster is that it is coloured red which is used to resemble blood which gives the audience the idea that the thriller will revolve around death and gore. Also we can see that towards to left side of the poster the brightness is slightly lighter which shows that they are showing the main character (who is positioned in the middle of the poster) to be walking towards to light which gives us an idea that the movie is going to based around the man's attempt to escape london which is overrun by zombies to safety. Towards the top of the poster we see the words which say:



This add's mystery to what the movie is about because it uses large words such as 'devastation' and 'infection'. The words are also in capital letters which stands out the audience and shows that they are important to the movie. Towards the middle part of the poster we can see that the main title of the movie has a 'toxic' sign behind it which backs up the idea of 'infection'. We can also see that the words are thined out along the poster to show that they are induvidual and alone, which represents the character in the movie, below is the image of the main title of the movie:



The bottom part of the poster (which is shown below) is a drawing of london, which establishes the location of the movie. We can see that the character in the poster is a lot out of proportion with the background scene of big ben and the bridge. This is because the poster is trying to add the effect that he is the main thing in london, meaning he is alone and that he is the only thing alive.



In conclusion of the poster. We can see that it creates the sense of loneliness. The colours create the sense of death and anger which is what the movie itself is about. The writing suggests urgancy which establishes that the main character does not have alot of time to escape london.

Tom Winn

Saturday, 27 February 2010

The Crow enigma situation


When I purchased an iPod touch I downloaded the app ‘6001 crazy facts’. This app did keep me entertained for a long time but more importantly it provided me with the information that a group of crows is called a murder. I took note of this as I knew that I would have to film the first 2 minutes of a thriller movie for the AS media studies coursework. Depending on the sub genre of the thriller they will most likely involve a form of murder/death so this information about the crows would be very useful. I had in mind that if I was to have footage of a group of crows together it would create a whole load of enigmas for the audience. To start of with the majority of people are unfamiliar with the term murder for a group of crows and will be asking them self’s what do crows have to do with this film, but those who do will be assuming a murder or a guilty suspect depending on the positioning and involvement of the crows.

As a group we did not have any initial ideas to what our thriller will be like or about when I discovered this information so it will be hard to fit it into our thriller as I do not want to give away the twist of the movie before the audience have got into it. The crows could be either just a short cut to emphasising a murder of be a theme in general symbolising many different forms or people, killers or personalities

The effect of using crows could symbolise a certain character as they are not birds of prey but feed on freshly dead corpse. This could suggest that the killer is a coward, or the victim was a coward as they could not actually commit the murder, or it could portray a character in the complete opposite way and show that a certain character was innocent in a killing or the death was an accident. The crows do not need to be a major part of the movie but could even be used as subliminal messages in the movie. This could be used to complicate the audience or make them believe in a false story or situation to make the twist in the movie seem a lot better because thrillers are expected to have a big ‘twist’ in them to surprise the audience.

They could also be used as a polysemic sign because they are known to symbolise luck, but a group of them is called a murder (strangely controversial). In parts of East Asia they are very valuable. Again this is creating more enigmas for the audience.

-Brad Hart

Thursday, 25 February 2010

Completed Prelim Task



Our prelim was very simple and we only used basic props such as the tables and chairs in the class room and my ipod. We also wore our ordinary 6th form clothes because it is a basic task. this enabled us to shoot it all within a short period of time.

-Brad Hart

History of the Certificate Rating system

Rating an certificate for a film is very important for films. It establishes the target audience for the film and who might see it and when they might see the film.

In 1913, the first film certificates were given by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). For cinema releases, the BBFC has no legal power (technically, films do not even have to be submitted for classification), as it falls to councils to decide who should be admitted to a certain film, but they generally apply the BBFC's certificates, effectively making them legally-binding. In exceptional cases, councils may impose their own conditions, either raising or lowering the minimum entry age from the certificate, banning a certified film outright, or setting their own minimum entry age for films that have never been submitted for BBFC certification, or which have been refused a certificate by the Board. The following exhibit’s the history of the certificate rating system:


1913 - 1932

At the beginning there was only two advisable categories:

Universal - Suitable for children






Adult - Some councils ruled that you must be accompanied by an adult

1932 - 1951

A Horror certificate was introduced to indicate audiences of horror based material:

Horror - Some councils ruled that only people aged 16 or over would be allowed

1951 - 1970

For the first time, the X symbol was introduced for only 16’s or over to enter (this replaced the horror certificate)

X - Suitable for people aged 16 or over (enforced by all councils)

1970 - 1982

On 1 July 1970 the A certificate was split into two: the A certificate now allowed those aged five and older to be admitted, but warned parents that they may not wish children under 14 to watch the film, while the new AA allowed only those aged 14 or over to be admitted. As there was now a mandatory certificate at 14, the X certificate was modified to raise its age from 16 to 18. The classification symbols were given a more modern look, replacing the ageing logos that had served the BBFC for almost 60 years.

Universal - Suitable for children

A - Children aged 5 or over admitted, but parents are advised that they may not wish to let children under 14 view the contents

AA - Suitable for those aged 14 or over

X - Suitable for those age 18 or over


1982 - 1985

On 1 November 1982 the ratings system was completely overhauled with only the U certificate remaining unchanged (though its description was slightly modified). The A certificate was replaced by PG, which was now completely advisory. The age of AA was raised a year and the certificate was renamed 15. The X certificate was unchanged but renamed 18 due to the lewd reputation that the letter X had acquired. A new R18 certificate was introduced for sexually-explicit films. In order to show R18 films, cinemas must be licensed members-only clubs (previously, a loophole allowed these clubs to show such films unrated)

Universal - Suitable for all

Parental Guidance -General viewing, but certain parts may be unsuitable for young people

15 -Suitable for people aged 15 or over


18 -Suitable for people aged 18 or over


R18 -Restricted to those aged 18 or over and only available in certain cinemas.
1985 - 1989

The Video Recordings Act 1984 gave the BBFC the legal responsibility to rate all videos. The current certificates were all used, though a new Uc certificate was introduced for videos only to indicate a recording that is especially suitable for young children to watch on their own. Those under the age of a certificate could not buy or rent a video with that certificate. Shops wishing to sell or rent R18 videos had to apply for a licence. The certificate rating was now visible on the video cover.

Universal Children - Suitable for all, however more suitable for young people to watch on their
own (video only)

1989 - 1994

Due to the large gap between PG and 15 and industry pressure regarding Batman, a 12 certificate was introduced on 1 August 1989. However, it was for cinema use only and did not cover videos. 12 films released on video would typically be classified 15, though they were sometimes edited to fit the PG category. All of the symbols were also graphically edited slightly.

Universal children - Suitable for all, but especially suitable for young children to watch on their own (video only)

Universal - Suitable for all


Parental Guidance - All ages admitted, but parents are advised that certain scenes may be unsuitable for small children

12 - Suitable for people aged 12 or over (cinema only)


15 - Suitable for people aged 15 or over


18- Suitable for people aged 18 or over



R18 - Restricted for those aged 18 and older and only available at licensed cinemas and sex shops


1994 - 2002

The 12 certificate was also introduced for videos on 1 July 1994.

12 - Suitable for those aged 12 or over (now covers videos as well)

2002 - Present Day

The cinema 12 certificate was modified and renamed 12A. Those under 12 could now be admitted to 12A films, provided that they were accompanied by an adult, although the BBFC recommends that 12A films are generally unsuitable for children under 8 years old. Contrary to popular belief, the certificate was not introduced for the film Spider-Man, and the first film that got the certificate was actually The Bourne Identity. However, Spider-Man and other films still on general release at the time were reclassified as 12A. Introduction of the 12A followed two years of consultation and a trial period in Norwich, during which time the certificate was known as PG-12 (see below). The video 12 certificate remained unchanged. Shortly after the new certificate was introduced, all of the symbols were graphically modernised but retained all their main features (colour, shape, etc.).

Universal Children - Suitable for all, especially for young children to watch on their own (video only)

Universal - Suitable for all

Parental Guidance - General viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for children under 8

12A - Suitable for those aged 12 and older (cinema only); under 12s admitted, but only if accompanied by an adult. Children under 8 are not admitted accompanied or not.

12 - Suitable for people aged 12 or over (video only)

15 - Suitable for people aged 15 or over

18- Suitable for people aged 18 or over

R18- Restricted for those aged 18 and older and only available at licensed cinemas and sex shops

This is important for our thriller because the evolution of what a film used to be and what it has become influences many great film directors, and has also influenced us and our thriller. Also it gives us a rough idea of what age group our thriller is aimed at.
The way films used to be and what they are today made us think about how our film might have to be like if we had made it in 1913. An adult rated film in 1913 would be classified as a PG (or even a U) in todays rating system. This could influence target audience aswell because if an elderly person wishes to se our thriller, but he's used to the old rating system and the way older films used to be like, He may not like it. This inturn wouldn't increase word of mouth and thus losing us a profit if the film hit cinemas.
- David Huxford

Post-Production to the prelim/ what effects it will have on our main task

The first problem we encountered when we was editing the prelim task was that it would not upload to the editing software with sound. As dialog was a key aspect of our prelim we had to overcome this problem. As we tried various computers and the sound still did not work we learnt it was a fault in the software that would not upload the sound from our tape. We overcome this problem by using windows movie maker to edit our prelim. Because we used windows movie maker it made out prelim very ‘jumpy’. It was not as good as other movie editing software’s and had very basic methods of editing. It was also very hard to actually find the exact point of where we would need to cut, for example, when we had to edit eh match on action cut of Taylor opening the door and entering the room it was very hard to find the exact point that we needed to cut it.

Despite this major problem using the editing software we also had to include titles. As other editing software’s offer very high tech options of titles and fonts. Windows movie maker was very basic and made our prelim look un-professional.

We also had a lot of footage of Tom standing behind a door was included for humour but it had ratio be cut out because of the dialog not fitting in. it left to much of a gap between the dialog to be included.

We learned from the prelim task that pans were very hard to shoot. As the tripods were a little bit stiff it was hard to maintain a smooth transaction. We also learned that we should not include zooming in our main task as it is very hard to maintain a steady transaction. This will loose us marks and generally wouldn’t be appropriate in the opening two minutes of a thriller.

As a group we gained feedback from our media studies class and teacher. We wanted feedback from our media studies class and teacher because they will generally know what to expect from a prelim task and what qualities are needed to make it better, and more importantly how we can improve editing for a main task. A key point that was given was not to include a zoom because it is too difficult to get it perfect. We were also informed that dialog needed to very clear so the audience could be fully aware of occurring situations. We have decided as a group that dialog will be kept to a minimum in our main task because the camera does not pick up sound very well. This will give the viewer a sense of in-professionalism and will not meet the marking criteria.

The final prelim task did not match our original idea because we could not film in the rooms that we needed, like the music room and we could not use the props we intended to use which was a guitar and amp. We managed to overcome this problem by using an ipod for a prop which worked just as effective, if not better as it was easy to handle and didn’t make a lot of sound which would interfere with the dialog. Despite the fact we had to edit a lot of Tom out of the prelim because we did not film it correctly. It was not meant to match the dialog but because to much of a gap was left between cuts and dialog. The last fault with our prelim task was that in the very last second you can see a reflection of a kid walking past in the window opposite and eventually half of his body appears just as the prelim ends. It was not a major fault as it was just a prelim task but when we are filming our main task it will important to film more footage than what is needed because of those type of problems that go un noticed until editing.

-Brad Hart

Wednesday, 24 February 2010

Conventions of the Thriller Genre and Key Terms

A typical thriller film would aspire to make their target audience feel a huge variety of emotions. The ones usually associated with thrillers are suspense, mystery, fear. Since many films nowadays are either hybrid genres or sub-genres, the emotions associated with thrillers has risen, and now comedy, horror, dramatic and many more are now incorporated into many thriller films.

Another aspect predominantly found in thrillers is the use of double emotions. This technique is used to pull the viewer in opposite directions, and make them feel tense and wondering what will happen next. Feelings and sensations such as humour and suspense, fear and excitement, pleasure and pain, masochism and sadism, identification and detachment are used to make the viewer feel on edge and are a main reason why thrillers are a popular genre of film.


Key Terms
A sub genre is when a genre (for example thriller) is fused with another word to make it more specific. This other word cannot be a genre alone. For example, psychological thriller

A hybrid is the merging of two separate genres, used if a particular film crosses over two genres. For example, horror thriller.

Iconography is the use of sometimes stereotypical props, clothing etc, and conventions that relate to a specific genre. These conventions give the audience connotations of what to expect from a film. For example, if there was a room that was dark with broken windows, contained knives and the character was dressed in untidy clothes, the audience would immediately expect a thriller or horror film, because those specific things are found in typical thriller/horror films. The audience would not expect to see all of those props in a comedy film, for example. When creating our thriller, we will need to research and carefully plan exactly what iconography we will want to have in our shots. These will be very important, as it gives the audience a clear idea of what kinds of themes our film may involve.

- Taylor Gladwin

Influences For Our Film


One major influence for our thriller film is ‘Se7en’ (Dir, David Fincher, 1995). Throughout the film, and one of David Fincher’s trademarks are gloomy atmospheres, usually very dark, murky and raining. Seeing these kinds of settings give the audience watching connotations of what they expect the rest of the film to look like. It is also a conventional thriller technique, making the viewer feel on edge and wonder what may be lurking in the shadows. This is exactly the kind of atmosphere we want to create in our thriller. We want to create as many enigmas as possible in the opening two minutes, and one of the major questions that we want the audience to wonder about is why the room is so dark, grubby and run-down. This setting that we have chosen will also reflect the main characters state of mind, and how he is feeling. We want to make it give the feeling that he is trapped inside his own prison.

Another influence for our thriller was the bed/cold turkey scene in ‘Trainspotting’ (Dir. Danny Boyle, 1996). Though not a thriller film, it has many influences from that genre and many harrowing scenes that are typically seen in thriller films. It also has a very grimy atmosphere, and no one ever looks clean. The particular scene that influenced us was the scene where the main character Mark Renton is trying to get off heroin and is laying in bed, having vivid hallucinations and nightmares. This was a very important scene for us, as we would like to incorporate a bed into our thriller, and have similar visions/hallucinations. The room that Mark is in also influenced us. It is very untidy, and there is barely any colour in it. This is the kind of look we want for our room in our film, making the character seem closed in and trapped, almost ready to explode with agony.

A further influence we took for our film was from the psychological thriller ‘The Machinist’ (Dir. Brad Anderson, 2004). Throughout the whole film, the main character of Trevor Reznik is in a state of mental anguish, something that we want our main character to feel. The look of Trevor was also a huge influence on us. He has insomnia, is incredibly thin, barely more than a bag of bones, and his face looks tired and beaten down. This look is exactly how we wanted our main character to look. This immediately tells the audience that this character has something wrong with him and is not in a good place in his life. This will make the viewer pay close attention to him, and will create many enigmas, as they ask why he is this way and how he can start to improve. The film itself was also an influence on us, as it is a very dark film, that doesn’t give away answers until the very end. It keeps the audience guessing, which is exactly what we want our thriller to do, right from the first shot.

For our ideas for music that could be used in our thriller, we took influences from other films such as ‘Hard Candy’ (Dir. David Slade, 2006) and ‘Cape Fear’ (Dir. Martin Scorsese, 1991). Both of these films are vastly different from each other, but both gave us great ideas for the music for our thriller. ‘Cape Fear’ has a very distinctive soundtrack that many people will be able to recognise. We loved the sound of the music used in the opening prison scene, and though it set the mood perfectly. We thought that using a similar sound in our film would make the audience wonder about the main character, and it would create enigmas as to why he should be feared or worried about.

‘Hard Candy’ has a vastly different soundtrack. Though it runs for over 100 minutes, there is only 9 minutes of non-diegetic sound throughout the whole film. This use of soundtrack in the correct places makes the audience jump, and wonder if that scene is important. But, the main use of silence is a great idea from director David Slade, as it makes the film seem much more real and keeps the audience on edge throughout. The silence creates tension, and the viewer is wondering what will break it. We thought the idea of silence, or a slight non-diegetic sound or ambient sound in the background would make our thriller feel chilling and keep the audience wondering, whilst making them fear what happens next.

The idea of another character being in a suit, and a complete contrast to the world around him came from the film ‘Man On Fire’ (Dir. Tony Scott, 2004). The particular influence came from the bomb sequence, where the main character John Creasy is torturing a man. The antagonist is in just underwear, and the setting around him is unnerving and chilling, but Creasy is in a business suit, the complete opposite of what the audience is seeing around them. This makes Creasy seem in control of the situation. This was the feeling we wanted from our character who wears a suit. He will be a complete contrast to the room around him, and the other man in the room. We wanted to use this idea because we thought it would create many enigmas, and that the man in the suit would seem very out of place, and people will want to watch on to see why he is so out of place, and why he is there.

- Taylor Gladwin

Production

When filming our preliminary task, we ran in to a few problems. Firstly, before any shooting even began, we had to change the location of our task. This was because where we had started filming before, was then not available at the times we wanted. This meant that even though we had already filmed half the footage we needed, we had to start over again. This also meant creating a brand new storyboard, and having to find a completely new set to film in. This disrupted us at the start, but we were able to see it as a learning experience, and vowed to plan more precisely in the future.

When we had found another area to shoot in, we got into our stride and started filming some good shots. The walking shots in our preliminary task we filmed quickly, with barely any hassle at all. Each group member was able to operate the camera and film some very professional looking shots.

As we moved into the main classroom for the main part of the task, we encountered some other slight problems. Some of these problems were simple and easy to fix, for example making sure the camera was on the tripod correctly, or making sure the camera was straight.

One other problem was that our tripod was brand new at the time, and was still very stiff, and some of us found it hard to use. This made panning shots tougher to operate, and these shots usually needed several takes before we got them right.
Another slight problem we had was getting our over-the-shoulder shots and shot-reverse-shots correct. Though easy to film once in place, getting the camera in the right position so that everything we wanted was in the shot proved tougher than we thought. After a few takes, and much camera adjusting, we got them right and were very happy with them.

One shot we were very proud of was our famous ‘punch’ shot, where one character punches another. Expecting this to take a long time and require many takes, we were pleasantly surprised when we were able to film it in one take. The camera movement, the punch and the fall were all performed perfectly and we were ecstatic that the shot came off just as we had hoped.

After filming had finished, we were confident that we had the right footage and would be able to edit our task correctly.

We also learnt many things from our preliminary task, which we can now carry forward and use when filming our thriller. One very important thing we learnt was to plan every shot thoroughly. This saves a lot of time when actually filming and allows us to know exactly what we have to do before we get to location and set up. This also will help our thriller film flow more, as it will allow us to think hard about the meanings of each shot and exactly why we are using them.

We also learnt to make sure to film more than enough footage, so that when back in the editing suite, we would be able to pick and choose from certain shots, and decide which were the best to use. We had seen previous years preliminary tasks, and many of them had not filmed enough footage, meaning that their preliminary was very jumpy and did not look professional at all. We want to avoid that at all costs. We also found that filming more takes than we needed was helpful, as it allowed us to choose from more than one shot when editing.

Shooting took longer than expected during our preliminary task, but this only occurred because we were not able to use our original setting. Had we been able to use that, we would have finished filming very quickly. Luckily, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise as we were able to contemplate exactly how we wanted to shoot our task, and we think this showed once it was complete.

If we had to do the preliminary task again, we would do a few things slightly differently. First, we would plan more. We would make sure our location was available when we wanted, and we would plan each camera shot thoroughly and in detail. This proved to be a slight problem for us and we will make sure that when filming our thriller, we plan everything to pinpoint detail.

We would also make sure that the dialogue spoken was clearer, and made more sense. This again came down to planning, as we only thought up the dialogue once on the set, and it seemed slightly rushed, even though it was simple.

Something else we would do differently would be to try out the camera and the tripod before filming, especially if the tripod was as stiff as ours was. This delayed us slightly, and when filming our thriller we will make sure our camera skills are perfect.

- Taylor Gladwin

Thursday, 18 February 2010

'Cape Fear' Textual Analysis


At the start of the film ‘Cape Fear’, there is a shot of water. This immediately creates an enigma for the audience, as they are wondering what this water has to do with the film. As the title is anchored on screen, a musical sting appears. This tells the audience that this water is very important, and in some way relates to the title. After the sting, the credits begin to roll while a non-diegetic soundtrack builds up in the background. The soundtrack has a very creepy feel to it. It is slow, almost heartbeat like, telling the audience that important, life changing things may have happened at this lake. The music is also contrapuntal to how the water is flowing. The water is flowing at quite a fast pace, while the soundtrack is slow. This gives the audience a feeling that unusual things that are out of the ordinary may happen at this lake.

Under the water, there is a shot of a bird of prey, swooping towards the camera. This gives viewers the connotations of death, or being hunted by predators. This leads to them feeling on edge and wondering why the bird of prey is being shown and what meaning it has.

The next shot that the audience sees from under the water is a pair of eyes, moving quickly from side to side, showing a state of panic. This reminds the audience that water is the unknown, and gives them enigmas as to why the pair of eyes are there and why they are panicking. Because the eyes are under the water, it gives the viewer the connotation that this person may be being drowned in some way. There are then similar shots from under the water of various facial parts. This could mean that piece by piece, the person’s body and mind are getting shattered and they are heading for death.

After the shots of the facial parts, the flow of the water changes and the non-diegetic soundtrack builds up more and gets slightly louder. As the flow of the water changes, another face is seen, but this time in a different way. This face is in full view, and clearly a reflection, showing the audience that this person is above the water, and not below it. This gives them connotations that this person may have just killed the other who was seen under the water. The face then fades away and the new water flow is clearly seen, and looks very much like a life support machine that are seen in hospitals. This gives the audience more connotations, this time of death and disease. The water also turns green, which is usually known as the colour of envy, jealousy or revenge, meaning that the man seen above the water may be jealous of something or someone that the other person had.

As the credits begin to end, a drop of blood is shown, dripping agonisingly slowly down the screen. As it moves down, the water turns red with it, giving the audience the feel of blood in the water, and death.
After the sea view is covered in crimson, the shot dissolves into a shot of a girls eyes staring dead at the camera. This shot could show the audience who might be possible for the apparent murder in the montage of the title sequence. Also the credits from the titles ends here, which tell the audience that the official start of the film begins on the dissolve.

The colours of this opening piece of cape fear is symbolic of the events that take place and the time in which they take place. The change from red to negative is an example of this. The red symbolises murder, and the change of colours contrast this, as the eyes gives a sense of innocence making the audience believe she can’t be in on what happened during the credits. Also, the negative produces the main colours of black and white, which symbolises that this shot was taken in the past.

After this colour change, the screen colours return to normal bringing the audience back to reality. As well as this, the intense soundtrack stops as the girl is about to talk, making the audience believe that whatever this girl has to say must be important. Also her choice of dialogue is complex and interesting to listen to which could show that she seems to be some sort of expert on the subject of ‘Cape Fear’.
The Mise-en-Scene in this sequence influences audience reactions towards the girl and cape fear. Firstly, we see that it is raining outside of were the girl is talking. This already makes the scene gloomy and depressing for audiences. As well as this, the main colour theme in this sequence is white, and this is made obvious as she is wearing a white polo t-shirt in front of a white painted wall. Usually in films the colour white usually suggests insanity, which could prove relevant later in the film. Finally, upon closer inspection the audience sees that she wears her t-shirt with her top button done up. This suggests that she is from a higher class of society.

But as soon as she stops talking, the shot cuts to some pictures on the wall and the loud non-diegetic soundtrack begins again, bringing the audience back into the main thriller ideology of the film.

The next shot we see is an establishing shot of the main character Max Cady working out in a prison cell. The non diegetic sound of a soundtrack shows builds tension and a sense of mystery to who the new character is. The camera shot pans down from behind Max. As the camera tilts/pans down we can see that the pictures of dictators such as Stalin are hanged on Max’s prisons wall. This shows that he may believe in a sense of power and authority and also in history Staling is know for being a psychopath which could show a connection between the two. Towards the end of the shot, we can see that on he’s shelf we can see books, which contain law books and a bible. This also backs up the point that he believes in the law and justice. The next shot shows the viewing audience that he has a very well toned body which shows strength and also that he has a large tattoo on his back. The director uses the tattoo of a scale’s of peace and justice. This straight away tells the audience that Max has a sense of peace and justice which also might lead to why he was put in jail in the first place.

When the guard comes into release Max we can see that from his facial expressions he doesn’t seem to be in anyway excited that he is being let free from jail. This causes suspicion to the audience and also it shows that he has some sort of job to do because he doesn’t take any of his possessions with him. As the camera pans around the prison stairs we can see that all of the other prisoners are standing in there cells watching Max getting released. This shows that they are interested in the fact that he is leaving, this could be due to the fact that they are either scared of him or look up to him. Also when Max is walking, we see that the prison guard is walking behind him which shows that Max has the authority. Throughout the clip we see that there is only 3 cuts. This makes the scene seem slower which enables the audience to get a better idea of what is actually happening.

As Max leaves the prison the editor uses a jump cut to keep the viewer engaged in what is happening and it is obvious that he has served his sentence in prison. This shows that the suspect may have been rehabilitated from his wrong but also suggests that he has set him self a mission to accomplish.

Secondly we see the ex convict leaving the prison walking in front of the guards on his own. This emphasises the power that he still has and demolishes the idea of him being rehabilitated. Silence is also a big factor to take upon in this part of the scene as just after he walks out of the prison gate we can hear birds tweeting which shows that the prisoner will be committing a serious and harmful crime and his next victim was only safe when he was in prison. All faint noise is broken when he is asked if ‘any body is coming for him’ implying to pick him up from the prison. This could also mean that he might be under very close observation from a police officer or a gang which he has caused trouble to in his past. Despite the endless amount of enigmas created he does not answer and only slightly moves his head to show that even if he is under close supervision nothing will stop him from his target which is yet to be established.

In comparison to this just before he leaves the prison gate we see in the back ground a prison guard with a trailer carrying all of the ex convicts books. The fact that he is not pushing the trailer with his personal belongings shows that he will not fear being caught and being put in prison again and will not be stopped from completing his desired mission. The prison guard in the background is slightly blurred and the main focus is on the ex convicts face expressions which is very casual as if he knows what he is doing and has planned this before. It also shows emphasises his strong morality and control over society. When he is asked “what about your books?” he replies “already read them”. This explains to the audience that in his prison sentence he has educated himself into believing a certain aspect that is taught by the books has convinced him what his main purpose of life will now be. It also shows that he doesn’t want them because he has spent his prison sentence revising them, maybe planning an attack on a group or a certain individual based upon what the books preach, and as we could see when he was still in the prison he had pictures of dictators and he had the scales of justice tattooed on his back which may also suggest that he is going to gain revenge on some one, maybe to the person who made him go into prison in the first place?

During the dialogue between the prison guards and the ex convict there is no soundscape or incidental music but then from a match cut we see him walking away from the prison in a very casual style. A storm begins to build up in the back ground with overwhelming black clouds. The short moment of silence emphases the ‘calm before the storm’. It shows that his upcoming victim was able to live a peaceful calm lifestyle whilst he was in prison but now that he is out everything will changed to a hectic, horrific experience which may lead to death as some storms can be so bad they cause deaths.

The scene is ended with the ex convict walking towards the camera which then transforms into a close up on his face as he walks towards the camera. This shows that he has no fear and his decisions have been made, there will be no stopping the unleashed prisoner.




- Brad Hart, Tom Winn, David Huxford, Taylor Gladwin