Author: Shengqi-Wang

The Sixth Sense is a well-loved classic thriller movie from 1999.  It was directed by M. Night Shyamalan and had Bruce Willis and Haley Joel Os as the leading roles.  The story centers around an 8-year-old boy, Cole Searthat (Haley Joel Os) has a supernatural ability to see dead people wherever he goes.  A successful child psychologist (Bruce Willis) that gets a little too wrapped up in his work, finds Cole and makes it his sole mission to help him through his problems.  The reason behind The Sixth Sense’s immense success is mostly due to how well they pulled off the twist at the end. The movie started off with a graphic scene of an old patient breaking into the psychologist’s home and shooting him in the stomach.  Before finding out what happens to the psychologist the plotline introduces the boy and you kind of assume that he just healed from his injury.

In The Sixth Sense, the lighting and sound during the suspenseful parts are created to trigger a deeper reaction in the audience. From sound and music, in the opening of the film you can hear an eerie sounding violin playing and the theme of classical music carries on throughout the film.  The high pitched whining of the violins really seems to put people on edge and adds to the suspense of the situation. Another aspect that adds suspense is how light or dark a certain scene is. For example, whenever Cole runs into his ghosts the lighting gets really dark and the violins in the background get louder.  “The unusual lighting causes tension in the audience” (Fu). The director uses a various amount of sounds, especially in pop up scenes or scenes that at one point lead up to being a thriller or horror scene. Seeing from lighting,  in the film you see many different scenes where the director uses the style of low-key lighting in order to emphasize the dark or creepy moments that are either currently happening, or in the transition stage of close to happening. By the director doing this I feel like he does a great job in isolating the thrill in the movie and leaving his audience on the edge of their seat in desperation to know the upcoming events. Horror movies take a lot of time in working with the lighting in order to always give a darker/overcast type of look to give a night impression throughout the entire movie.

The biggest feature of this film also is the complexity of its narrative structure. The director divides into two storylines, one is the romantic story between Malcolm and his wife and another is Cole and his mother. The narration is developed between the two storylines. Early clues make the audience understanding of the film into confusion. Audiences will completely understand the whole story after the disclose at the end of this film. In this film, the director used temperature several times. There are times when the temperature drops and the characters breathe white. Among them, when Malcolm approaches his wife, she wraps her shawl tightly around her in her sleep, a clue that Malcolm is dead. But we won’t know the truth until we get to the end. Most viewers will be puzzled by this clue. On the whole, the film is chronological. With the experience of Cole and Malcolm and the passage of significant time, the narrative moves from being confined to omniscience.

While using shots, M. Night Shyamalan makes their shots to convey varied messages and emotions to the audience. For example, in the magic scene when Malcolm talks to Cole, there uses a tracking shot that moves the camera to Malcolm. While moving, the audience only see Malcolm on the middle of the screen talking to someone in the chair. When the shot shifts to Cole, Shyamalan makes the audience a little confused about this “magic” moment and therefore pave a deeper clue for the existence of Malcolm. Then, Shyamalan uses a lot of continuity editing in many scenes to create a sense of smooth and flow for the story. For instance, in the scene of Cole is trapped by the other two boys, the shots of Cole’s mother’s going upstairs create a high level of continuity that makes the body actions of the character natural.

The film is highly logical. There will not be too much contradiction between plot arrangement and plot composition and the end. While watching the movie, the audience will not question the logic of the plot. As the basic elements of suspense horror movies, the strong visual impact and the scary music effect are fully used.  this film is said to be one of the great 100 scenes and I can easily see why. The director does a very well job while making the movie when it comes to stay on track and is very persistent with the storyline. by the director doing this, I feel like he reduces the confusion that can be easily assumed in a movie that jumps around a whole lot. By analyzing films like these we gain a deeper understanding of what it takes to create a great film.  By using specific vocabulary it helps us understand what the words truly mean deeper than just a definition. We are also all on the same page when it comes to an understanding of terminology and gets to practice what we are taught in class.

Sources:

Sims, David. “How ‘The Sixth Sense’ Conquered Hollywood in 1999.”

https://oneroomwithaview.com/2017/01/17/a-love-letter-to-the-sixth-sense/

The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 6 Aug. 2019, www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/08/how-sixth-sense-conquered-hollywood-1999/595558/.

“Sixth Sense Movie Cole Important Effects.” – SameDayPapers.me, 6 Sept. 2017, samedaypapers.me/sixth-sense-movie-cole-important-effects/.

The Sixth Sense by M. Night Shyamalan is an American supernatural horror drama film in 1999. The story tells the story of a nine-year-old boy Cole Sear claims to see dead people. Malcolm Crowe is a psychiatrist who survives from a shot by his former patients failed treatment. With the help of the doctor, the little boy finally lost his fear of ghosts, know how to get along with those ghosts, went out of his world and tell his true feelings to his mother. However, when audiences think it is a happy ending, the director let the boy’s mouth tell audiences that the psychiatrist already dead in the shot a year ago.

The film is highly logical. There will not be too much contradiction between plot arrangement and plot composition and the end. While watching the movie, the audience will not question the logic of the plot. As the basic elements of suspense horror movies, the strong visual impact and the scary music effect are fully used.

The biggest feature of this film is the complexity of its narrative structure. The director divides into two storylines, one is the romantic story between Malcolm and his wife and another is Cole and his mother. The narration is developed between the two storylines. Early clues make audience understanding of the film into confusion. Audiences will completely understand the whole story after the disclose at the end of this film. In this film, the director used temperature several times. There are times when the temperature drops and the characters breathe white. Among them, when Malcolm approaches his wife, she wraps her shawl tightly around her in her sleep, a clue that Malcolm is dead. But we won’t know the truth until we get to the end. Most viewers will be puzzled by this clue. On the whole, the film is chronological. With the experience of Cole and Malcolm and the passage of significant time, the narrative moves from being confined to omniscience. The audience is getting more clues.

Sources

https://www.ukessays.com/essays/film-studies/narrative-in-the-sixth-sense-film-studies-essay.php

https://offscreen.com/view/sixth_sense (Links to an external site.)

https://oneroomwithaview.com/2017/01/17/a-love-letter-to-the-sixth-sense/ (Links to an external site.)

http://sarahthefilm.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-filmchosen-for-analysis-is-sixth.html

The Silence of the Lambs 1991

The Silence of the Lambs is a thriller film directed by Jonathan Demme in 1991. This film is starred by Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, and Scott Glenn. In the film, a young FBI trainee Clarice went to a prison to visit Dr. Hannibal, a psychiatrist, in order to find out the clue of a serial killer “Buffalo Bill” who cruelty skin female victims’ corpses. Hannibal gave Clarice some clues, and finally, Clarice found the bison Bill and killed him. In 1992, it won the 64th Academy Awards for best picture, best actor, best actress, best director, and best-adapted screenplay.

The first shot is the dense forest, fallen leaves, and thick fog. The lights of the film were dim. This is a daytime scene, but the natural light during the day is obscured by fog. Then the shot starts to roll down from high. The protagonist runs into the picture from the perspective and runs from the perspective to the close-range, a long shot. Such a slow-paced lens effectively sets off the atmosphere at this time and the basic tone of the whole film. The open and cold forests make people feel uneasy. The protagonist runs in such a forest to show her character or life: she works hard, at the same time she is lonely. Then the camera focuses on the protagonist and the rhythm is suddenly accelerated so that the audience feel the protagonist’s perseverance and competitiveness. Long shots and scenes here have successfully shaped the heroine’s character and laid the groundwork for the subsequent plot development. The protagonist sweats a lot, wearing the school uniform of FBI College and constantly brushing past the detective in suit and leather shoes. Visually, it is obvious that the difference in dress and state, highlighting the identity of the protagonist. In addition, the protagonist does not know why the chief officer wants to see her. this strong visual contrast also creates a sense of tension or depression (THR Staff).

In the scene from 48’ 47’’ to 49’45’’, the director uses a about one minute long full-length shot to show the killer’s home. Because the time shown by the long lens is the same as the time actually watched by the audience, the audience seems to be in the murderer’s house when the lens walks. This shot shows the murderer’s home while increasing the audience’s curiosity about him. This scene has been accompanied by music and a female voice tearing shouting. After a second or two, the camera moves slowly to the right, and the transformed butterfly enters the lens. Next, the lens pulls back. The lens is like a human eye looking around, knife, female model! Cold, gloomy, dark, crowded, chaotic is the summary of what we see. The use of this lens makes the audience feel more truly the atmosphere of terror and tension. When the lens reached the end again, the direction was forced to shift. The murderer ‘s back constituted the visual center of the picture. His snow-white body was very conspicuous in the cold tone. The camera kept pushing forward, trying to get close to the murderer, but as we were about to see what the murderer was doing, a dog diverted our eyes and followed him to a deep well, where we were gradually approaching the scream. But the director apparently didn’t want us to see the desperate figure of the girl in the well. The camera stayed at the edge of the dry well, because the right to solve the mystery was left to the next news. Viewers have a desire to see what’s happening, and if they don’t, they feel fear, tension or mystery. This setting arouses the curiosity of the audience and leaves room for further plot development. Besides, it allows the audiences to clearly know the surrounding environment and even things outside the scene in the shortest possible time by setting the design but also can show the reaction of the surrounding people and the subjective state of mind. Most importantly, the camera setting creates successfully an atmosphere of suspense and dread.

 

Sources

Wikipedia contributors. “The Silence of the Lambs (film).” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2 Jun. 2019. Web. 3 Jun. 2019.

THR Staff. “The Silence of the Lambs’: THR’s 1991 Review”. Hollywood Reporter. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/silence-lambs-review-1991-movie-1084731 February, 14, 2018. Web. June 2, 2019.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102926/

Citizen Kane 1941.

Citizen Kane is a documentary film made by Orson Welles in 1940. The film opens with a newspaper tycoon dying alone in his mansion and follows his extraordinary life through the words “rosebud”.

In the film “Citizen Kane”, the information flows through the reporter Thompson. As this reporter interviews Kane’s friends, cooperators, and ex-wife, the causality and relationships between characters are gradually unfolded. The narration in this film is unrestricted. we know more information than any character in the film. We know the causes and effects of the story. At the beginning part, our sight along with the camera over the words “No Trespassing” and iron fence goes into Kane’s castle. We watched Kane’s death, his last words “Rosebud”, and the scene crystal ball falling down from his hand. Characters in the film may only know one side of Kane’s life, but with unrestricted narration, we the audience know different versions of Kane’s life story.

The stories recounted by other characters about Mr. Kain are reflective of their own opinion and how they are. For example, Thompson visits Leland who used to be Kane’s good friend. Leland describes Kane as a person lived by his power and a poor newspaperman. From Leland’s narration, we know Kane’s unhappy marriages. It also reflects Leland’s disagreement with Kane’s operation principle in his career and disappointment towards Kane life attitude. Another example is Susan who used to be the wife and lover of Kane. When the reporter found Susan, he was rejected to have an interview. Along with her telling, we gradually know that she has suffered from marriage. In some sense, she hates Kane.

The narrations of those characters reveal who Mr’Kain is. Their understanding of what kind of person Kane is is just from their own perspective, not a comprehensive and overall version of Kane. Each character has different experiences and interactions with Kane. Their recounts of Kane are largely affected by personal emotions.

 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033467/

https://www.warnerbros.com/citizen-kane

https://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/a-viewers-companion-to-citizen-kane

REAR WINDOW (1954)

The rear window is a mystery thriller suspense film directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1954. Rear Window is one of the representative works of Hitchcock’s suspense films. He creates an atmosphere of terror and suspense and vividly explores everyone’s hidden peeping psychology. Photojournalist Jeffery broke his leg

in an accident, so he was confined to his wheelchair for some time. Be free and at leisure’s Jeffery always liked to watch his neighbors through his window. During this period, he observed various stories of his neighbors and witnessed a murder.

In terms of plot structure, the film consists of three stories. First, the love story between the photographer Jeffrey and her girlfriend, the beautiful, gentle and wealthy girlfriend wants to get married, while the poor, lazy and adventurous Jeffrey wants to keep the status quo. There is an irreconcilable contradiction between the two. Second, the neighbors of Jeffrey. All of them are good movies, disappointed but talented composers, beautiful but vain dancers, miss Lonely Fangxin who longs for love but can’t get it. Three: Family murder, the film simply explained the reasons, but the story has been passive, but even so it also contains all the elements of a good film. Almost all the scenes in the film are peeping lenses, which are contacted with the eyes of others.

In addition, the film also is characterized by long shot. The film begins with a long lens, showing audiences all kinds of information including the hero’s leg was in plaster and he had a telescopic camera. The function of the long lens is to give the audience a god’s perspective. When the audience sees the whole picture of the object, they get rid of the dual limitations of time and space. The director takes the actor’s eyes as the lens, prying into the lives of his neighbors. The audience gradually sees a murder surface with the hero’s eyes, but the murder is not the whole movie, it is just a movie in this movie. In this movie, every window is a screen, and every moment is a movie.

This movie doesn’t have any real bloody scenes, but it shows the audience a lot of interesting details, such as suitcases, flower beds, dogs, specific scenes and time, lighting contrast, including the life scenes of each neighbor, all of which make the audience feel real.

 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047396/

http://mentalfloss.com/article/84880/12-thrilling-facts-about-rear-window

https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2012/jul/25/my-favourite-hitchcock-rear-window

Handheld camerawork

Handheld camerawork or handheld shooting is a video production technique described as when the camera is held in the operators hand as compared to a tripod or any other base. Using this technique gives the producer more freedom and moving motion allowing for a more realistic shot, while also being conveniently small sized.  Hand-held camera shots often result in a shaky image, unlike the stable image from a tripod-mounted camera. This was a technique used when using handheld camerawork. Shaky cam is often employed to give a film sequence an ad hoc, electronic news-gathering, or documentary film feel.

An early pioneer of the hand held camera style was John Cassavetes. His films in the late 1950’s-60’s are excellent examples of this technique. The work of Cassavetes influenced  many directors, genres and essentially started a movement called Dogme 95. This style of filmmaking was labeled as a manifesto and was created by friends Lars Von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg. Written in 1995, the purpose was to contempt filmmakers to break free from the budget Hollywood films that were dominating cinema culture.

Some visual examples would be “28 Days Later”, The shots were so shaky that it made it difficult for some viewers to watch causing a gut deep visceral reaction. The shaky shots put put emphasis on the zombies, making them appear faster and more unpredictable. These shots made the zombies look truly terrifying. If Handheld camera work didn’t exist majority of known movies wouldn’t exist as well. This tactic was revolutionary for the filming industry , and since founded we’ve been building to improve this version creating better films. The destruction of this method would cripple the filming business and movies would never/ have been the same.

“In the 1960s, technology developed to the point at which the size and weight of a motion picture camera, which had formerly been large and cumbersome, was reduced so much that a camera operator could actually carry the camera while filming. These are called hand-held cameras, which create hand-held shots. In any number of ’60s (and later) films, directors used hand-held shots as a convention of realism – the jerkiness of hand-held shots seemed to suggest an unmediated reality, a lack of intervention between camera and subject” (26).

Sivok then provides an example – The Blair Witch Project(1999), in which the entire film depends on the shakiness of the camera work in order to convey that homemade quality, making it documentary-like.

“In fact, of course, a hand-held shot isn’t any more ‘realistic’ than any other kind of shot. It is a stylistic convention – a visual sign that people still read as expressing heightened realism” (27).

Source: Textbook Definition from Ed Sivok’s Film Studies: An Introduction (Film and Culture Series)

 

 

http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2014/the-15-best-movies-shot-with-a-hand-held-camera%E2%80%8F/ (Links to an external site.)

 

https://filmanalysis.coursepress.yale.edu/cinematography/ (Links to an external site.)

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand-held_camera

 

 

 

Matte Shots & Paintings

• A process shot in which two photographic images (usually background and foreground) are combined into a single image using an optical printer. Matte shots can be used to add elements to a realistic scene or to create fantasy spaces.
• Matte shooting is one of the most common techniques used in studio filmmaking, either for economical reasons (it’s cheaper to shoot a picture of the Eiffel tower than to travel to Paris) or because it would be impossible or too dangerous to try to shoot in the real space.
• A shot in which only a part of the shot, usually the area immediately surrounding any of the characters present on-screen, is a live action shot. The rest is a painting, most often used to portray a non-existent vista. Rather than build a vast set, they shoot the actors on a plain set with a few background elements, with parts of the camera frame matted off by opaque cards.
• -A matte painting is often a painted glass pane that is used to show a landscape or a larger artistic piece. Matte paintings are either filmed on set, where they are framed to look more physical, or they are merged with live Art in post-production.
• -This concepts matter because many films have used this technique. Using glass panes to create matte paintings became the standard for VFX Backgrounds, and used in almost every motion picture(s). VFX masters at ILM would use many matte paintings to bring motion films to life.  As advancements we made technologically, matte paintings became digital renderings.
• -If this form of painting and film making didn’t exist majority of paintings and scenes we know from past and present films would be the same or even exist. This invention has been pivotal for the art industry. It is the basis to studio filmmaking , and with the discontinuation of this method would cripple the art industry.

Sources

• https://filmanalysis.coursepress.yale.edu/mise-en-scene/(Links to an external site.)
• https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MatteShot(Links to an external site.)
• http://screenprism.com/insights/article/cinema-terms-how-are-matte-shots-created-in-cinema