Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Opening Title Timeline

Opening title timeline

From creating this opening title timeline, I have learnt that different titles come in a certain order. 
The institution credits come first, followed by the title of the film and "followed by Roald Dahl". Next is the list of actors, followed by the production crew titles. Finally is the director. 

Conventions of a Thriller

Conventions of a Thriller

Narrative

The aim of the thriller is to create suspense and excite the audience. It usually uses themes and crimes that many people in the world fear so they can relate to the innocent victims in the thriller and fear the antagonists more. We usually see the film in the perspective of either the protagonist or the antagonist which helps to build suspense for the audience. 

Character

Typically in thrillers, the antagonist is very intelligent and one step ahead all of the time. They are usually very organised and are able to plot vicious crimes with ease and organisation so as not to be caught. This characteristic is significantly powerful in Thrillers because the audience sympathises with the protagonist and fears for them due to knowing how bad the antagonist is. 

There is usually an extreme difference between the protagonists and antagonists. The protagonists are often shown as normal and innocent people going about their life as ordinary whilst the antagonist is polar opposite to this and is seen as extreme and abnormal to the audience. Whilst the antagonist is presented to the audience as abnormal in their behaviour, this character is sometimes presented to the other characters in the film as ordinary and one of the crowd. This can build suspense in the audience because as viewers we can see that the antagonist is evil and yet the protagonists are unaware and unsuspecting of this. 

Characters are built up throughout the entire film, giving the audience a deeper and deeper perspective into the characters life and emotions, again helping to build suspense in the audience. 

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of the typical thriller also helps in building up suspense in the audience. The tempo increases with the speed of the action in the film, for example in a chase scene the tempo of the music will increase. The music pitch is also a key part in building suspense and excitement for the audience; usually there are either very high pitched instruments playing or very low pitched. This contrast adds to the atmosphere of the film by representing the emotions of the characters. There is always a mixture of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds in a thriller. The use of silence just before a climax in a thriller is powerful in engaging and exciting the audience.

Cinematography

Thrillers typically use lots of close ups and extreme close ups of antagonists to enforce fear into the audience. Sometimes they also use close ups of the protagonists to convey their emotions clearly and allow the audience to see the fear in the character's eyes.

The location of thrillers is extremely significant. Often they'll be based in a city, with lots going on normally around the subject of the film to represent the extremity of the situation for the antagonist and protagonist compared to the ordinary life surrounding it. 

Thrillers are often based in quiet areas too, in small towns or villages on the outskirts of big cities. The small areas are often most powerful for thrillers due to the fact that it can be so unsuspecting. They're also typically dark areas at night without street lighting which enforces the chilling atmosphere for the audience. 

Lighting is powerful in thrillers as it is normally fairly dark and shadowy. This means that the audience cannot see the whole image of what is going on so might not know what is about to happen. Shadows and darkness are effective in thrillers because as an audience you don't know what or who could be hiding in the darkness. 

Opening Sequence Analysis

Insidious opening credits analysis

The opening sequence for Insidious is very ominous. The music along with the mise-en-scene creates a terrifying atmosphere and insight into the contents of the film. 

The music itself is extremely powerful as it creates a hair-raising feel for the viewer. The background music in the opening credits for this film link in very well with the mise-en-scene due to the terrifyingly creepy use of high pitch violins that create an incredible sense of fear. Because the visual content of the opening credits are very minimalistic, there is a lot of focus on the soundtrack. 

At the very beginning of the opening credits, we see a light shade close-up which is then followed by the camera moving slowly down the room to a bed with a sleeping boy. This then progresses to the left focusing on a teddy bear. Although this is usually an object connected to a feeling of calmness and love, the music gives the viewer a contrasting sense of fear. The camera then pans to lava lamp and then a lit candle. This focus on light is significant due to the complete darkness around it which emphasises the idea of everyday objects seeming ominous. As the camera moves closer to the candle we see a monochrome female face which looks like it is screaming. At the same time, the violins in the music background increase in pitch and connotes the idea of people screaming - linking in with the image that we see at 1:17. This then fades and the title of the film flashes up in block capital letters in red - INSIDIOUS. The dictionary definition of Insidious is:

Adjective Proceeding in a gradual, subtle way, but with harmful effects: "the insidious effects of stress". Treacherous; crafty: "an insidious alliance".

so the emphasis and choice of this film title is very significant in providing the viewer with an insight to the content of the film. The next frame following the title screen is a house in black and white with very gloomy skies. The title here is in red. The contrast between the black, white and red is powerful as the situations associated with these colours are things such as death, murder, horror etc. This use of the red coloured text along with the black and white images is extremely powerful in embedding the sense of fear in the viewer immediately at the start of the film. 
This then progresses to a series of seemingly normal objects - curtains; sofas; lamps; stairs...yet the combination of the black, white and red theme along with the creepy music builds a sense within the viewer that something is hiding behind the shadows. At 2.04 we as viewers get the first hint that there's something or someone in the house other than what or whom should be, with the shadow of a man on the floor from a high angle camera. Later in the credits we see a picture frame moving slightly - very discretely hinting at the idea of somebody else being in the house and again embedding the sense of fear into the viewers mind. The next significant shot of the opening credits is at 2.37 where we can see a figure standing to the left of the screen, along with curtains blowing in the wind which once again create that ominous atmosphere. Continuing the embedding of fear, the next significant part of the clip is at 2.48 when we can see a chair moving backwards by itself; In the next shot we see a light shade swinging; At 3.16 we see a footprint appear on the wooden floor. The first image we see of characters is a family portrait showing a mother, father and two sons; this shows a normal-looking family and subtly embeds a sense of sympathy within the viewer, making us sympathise with this family who appear to have strange beings in their house. 

Figure of man on floor - 2.04

Figure and curtains blowing - 2.37

The chair moves - 2.48

Footprint appears on floor - 3.16

Family portrait

Insidious title

Woman screaming behind candle - 1.17

1st Blog

Media Studies

by Emily Almond

Wherever you go, media is always around you. 

Newspapers, blogs, films, television, the list could go on. 

Media is worldwide - if an article is published in America it's very easy for somebody in England, Spain or even as far as Australia to read it. 

Media Studies is an extremely important subject to study because almost everybody in the world comes into contact with media on a daily basis. When was the last time you went a day without seeing a headline, newspaper, television report or magazine?

The media is hugely influential over the opinions and thoughts of people all over the world - which is the reason that I feel it is so vital to learn how to understand that not everything you see is true. 

I have many favourite films and genres but I really love horror films. Although I enjoy watching comedy films and action, horror is my favourite genre. My favourite horror film at the moment is Insidious (the sequel is out on Friday 13th!) because it's very scary and you never know what will happen next. Despite reviews being bad, I also really liked the Paranormal Activity films and have watched all of them. The Final Destination Films are also very good - after watching the 3rd film I will never ever use a sunbed!
I also really enjoyed Skyfall and Olympus Has Fallen. They're both very fast pace action films which I enjoy.
My favourite comedy films are Shaun Of The Dead along with Hot Fuzz.
As you can tell from above I also love Forrest Gump - because it always makes me laugh, smile and then cry so I feel that it is a very powerful film. Another powerful film is Marley & Me which I adore.
I don't like cartoons or animated films much but I cried at Up and The Croods.
My favourite actor of all time is Johnny Depp because he has starred in some of my favourite films - Charlie & The Chocolate Factory and Pirtates Of The Caribbean.
As you can tell, I enjoy a variety of film genres.