North by northwest

 

 

 

 

Opening credits

 

 

We first see the company logo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer

 

 

 

 

The green background behind it is a recurring motif which is later joined by many lines coming appearing from the bottom and top. A perspective is happening changing into a grid. This can also be seen as chlostrophobic. Many names are introduced going up and a white line in the opposite direction like traffic.

  

 

 

The lines seem to imitate the outlines of windows like an office building in America which at first is an enigma for the audience.

 

The title of the film flies in with the copyrights being stated at the bottom of the screen. 

 

 

Then more names appear after the title flies away and it becomes clear that a building is being created by these lines where there is the reflection of the traffic in a busy city. We can guess that this is New York because of all the yellow cabs. 

 

 

The sound of this film is very fast paced, high pitched which is being played in the background by both strings; which are making the scurrying sort of sound and the overpowering brass instruments which makes it all jumpy. The brass and drums drive the rhythm around which the music director hopes to make the sound faster than the audience's heartbeat.



 

We then ge a high up shot just above the pedestrians heads to show they are just average people who are insignificant to the film. They are all constantly moving everywhere in and out of buildings up and down the streets.

  



 

 

We then see people endlessly go into the subway like a vortex is pulling them all in which suggests these people are going home from work as none of them are really in a hurry but they are never ending everywhere on every street.

 

 

 

 

We see the director being starred in his own film as we see him miss the bus. The music increases the effect of the swirling swarm of humanity.

 

 

 

 

 



Creating opening title

Created an opening title scene using Final Cut Pro with the use of downloaded text from Dafont.com, downloaded a background effect from the blog TASMedia and used a few effects such as crystalise in Final Cut Pro.

First step was to download the font that was wanted to be used.

Had to import downloaded text into Final Cut to be used

Used a variety of effects to make the text stand out more

The trombone shot is when you zoom out whilst you move the camera forward on the dolly track. It is mostly used for zooming in on peoples faces and stair cases (see last picture in this post). It sometimes can demonstrate power and height.

 

There were no big problems with our project apart from the changing of clothes some people which resulted in more scenes being added. This is the final video that our group filmed for our continuity exercise. I am happy with the shots we were able to get and the way that they all link together really well. There are some things I would do different if I were to make another opening to a thriller movie. one thing I would improve upon would be to get everyone to wear the same clothing throughout, we did have some problems with that but they were hardly noticeable. also I would increase the amount of dialogue used in the opening.

10 Successful thrillerrs from the last ten years

Shutter Island

It's 1954, and up-and-coming U.S. marshal Teddy Daniels is assigned to investigate the disappearance of a patient from Boston's Shutter Island Ashecliffe Hospital. A hurricane cuts off communication with the mainland, more dangerous criminals "escape" in the confusion, and the puzzling, improbable clues multiply, Teddy begins to doubt everything - his memory, his partner, even his own sanity. In the end of the movie it is revealed that "Teddy" is actually a delusional mental patient in the hospital. 

Box office figures

• Production Budget: $80 million

Worldwide:

$294,804,195

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

In the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet agent within MI6.

Box office figures

Worldwide Box Office - $79 492 783

Saw

With a dead body lying between them, two men wake up in the secure lair of a serial killer who's been nicknamed "Jigsaw". The men must follow various rules and objectives if they wish to survive and win the deadly game set for them.

Box office figures

-$103,096,345

Inception

'Dom Cobb is a skilled thief, the absolute best in the dangerous art of extraction, stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the dream state, when the mind is at its most vulnerable. Cobb's rare ability has made him a coveted player in this treacherous new world of corporate espionage, but it has also made him an international fugitive and cost him everything he has ever loved. Now Cobb is being offered a chance at redemption. One last job could give him his life back but only if he can accomplish the impossible-inception. Instead of the perfect heist, Cobb and his team of specialists have to pull off the reverse: their task is not to steal an idea but to plant one. If they succeed, it could be the perfect crime. But no amount of careful planning or expertise can prepare the team for the dangerous enemy that seems to predict their every move. An enemy that only Cobb could have seen coming.'

Box office figure

Worldwide:

$825,532,764

Unknown

A man awakens from a coma, only to discover that someone has taken on his identity and that no one, (not even his wife), believes him. With the help of a young woman, he sets out to prove who he is.

Box office figure

(Doesn't state)

Dark Knight Rises

Eight years on, a new evil rises from where the Batman and Commissioner Gordon tried to bury it, causing the Batman to resurface and fight to protect Gotham City... the very city which brands him an enemy.

Box office figure

Worldwide:

$1,084,439,099

Now You See Me

An FBI agent and an Interpol detective track a team of illusionists who pull off bank heists during their performances and reward their audiences with the money.

Phone Booth

Stuart Shepard finds himself trapped in a phone booth, pinned down by an extortionist's sniper rifle.

Insidious

A family looks to prevent evil spirits from trapping their comatose child in a realm called The Further.

The Purge

In the future, a wealthy family is held hostage for harboring the target of a murderous syndicate during the Purge, a 12-hour period in which any and all crime is legalized.

Using fonts from films 

Font 1 - Transformers

This is the font for the opening scene which is shown above. The text is called Robofan.

Font 2 - Star Wars

This is the font for the opening scene off Star Wars and it is called Star Jedi.

Font 3 - Tron

This is the Tron: Legacy text and it is called TR2N.

Font 3 - Harry Potter

This is the harry potter text which is called Harry P.

Analyzing 'Se7en'

Opening scene

Effect of the sound used

There is a montage of sound used in the opening of 'Se7en' however the sound is very mixed and gives off an eerie feeling and a creepy atmosphere. It starts off slow with a constant beat and quiet to set the mysterious scene however shortly afterwards the sound begins to grow and becomes loud which is comfortable as it fits with the actions shown. The music doesn't really fit well together but, because of the eeriness,  creates suspense and an uncomfortable feeling as it sort of pierces through you. At the end of the opening the sound all of a sudden stops suddenly like something has happened. We know this is the end of the opening because the silence signifies that it is the end of the opening scene when nothing happens.

The image above is the opening scene to the film 'Se7en'.

Effect of images used

The opening scene to 'Se7en' gives the audience a mysterious feel to the film as the shots shown go well with the eerie sound. It creates a scary atmosphere with the dark shots being constantly shown which sort of gives a subliminal message for the feeling of uncomfortableness. The scenes flash between each other a lot which gives a spooky atmosphere with the constant flicker of images however these images make the viewer unaware of what is exactly going on in the opening scene which creates an enigma. There are various amounts of shots in this opening scenes like various distances of close ups and overlays of shots which adds to the mysteriousness to the scene.

The shot here shows an overlay of the same shot but at different angles.

The shot here shows a close up which gives the viewer an enigma to what this might be about.