Children of Men

CHILDREN OF MEN

In the intro you see a middle-aged man entering a small cafe located in what looks like a pretty busy city. As he enters he notices people gathering around the television focusing on a regular looking young man. The TV reveals that this isn't just any other teenager, but not only he one of the few teenagers left but in fact, he was the youngest living- until it was explained that earlier in the news that he was stabbed to death by a fan over a confrontation.

Dexter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej8-Rqo-VT4

Informations:

- The fly represents the people he murder.

- Touching his neck before he shaves is almost like examining the victim.

-He proceeds to shave, with trace of blood coming out.

- Slices steak, cutting up his victims.

Se7en Settings

Directed by	David Fincher
Produced by	Arnold Kopelson Phyllis Carlyle
Written by	Andrew Kevin Walker
Starring	Brad Pitt Morgan Freeman Kevin Spacey John C. McGinley Gwyneth Paltrow
Music by	Howard Shore
Cinematography	Darius Khondji
Edited by	Richard Francis-Bruce
Distributed by	New Line Cinema

RANDOM FACTS:

1. Brad Pitt broke his arm which led to the injury being written into the script.

2. In Fight Club, director David Fincher calls the three detectives Andrew, Kevin and Walker as a tribute to Se7en's screenwriter.

3.When the film was first shown on TV, the line where Brad Pitt refers to the killer as a "movie of the week" was changed to "book of the month".

4. The building that was used as a library where Morgan Freeman frequents has also been used in The Mask as the bank, while the cafe that he meets Gwyneth Paltrow in was also used in Gone In 60 Seconds.

5. Morgan Freeman's son has a small cameo as the fingerprint technician.

6. Christina Applegate turned down the lead female role while Robin Wright Penn auditioned but was rejected.

7. Michael Stipe was considered for the role of the killer.

In an unnamed American city, Detective William R. Somerset is partnered with short-tempered Detective David Mills, who recently transferred to the department. Their first case leads them to believe that they are chasing a serial killer whose killings each reflect one of the seven deadly sins. First, they discover an obese man who was tied to a chair and forced to eat food, and eventually, his own vomit, until his stomach exploded. In an American city, two detectives William R. Somerset and his partner David Mills (recently transferred)  

-Detective Mill's wife, Tracy , is unhappy with their recent move to the city from the countryside.

-Somerset advises her not to tell Mills if she does decide to terminate the pregnancy, and tell him only if she wants to keep the child.

Using library records, Somerset and Mills track down a man named John Doe.

- Doe offers himself for arrest.
- Tracy is found dead.

Thriller Conventions and Mind Map

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                                                       Thriller Conventions                                                    



-Diegetic sounds of breathing
-Montage of shots
-Protagonist is in the mercy of Antagonist
-Black and White shots
-Tension Sounds
-Quick cuts
-The film is dominated by the main character's point of view
- There is often innocence in a corrupted world
-Building  suspense
- The main plot line focuses on a mystery that must be solved
-Consist the conflict between protagonist character and the antagonist.
-The protagonists tend to restore justice, while the antagonist try to destroy it.
-Low key lighting
-Shadows

Horror:
-Black/dark costumes for antagonist characters
-Blood
-Visual effects

Rear Window

            First Scene:

-long shot
-pan and tilt

         

            Mise-En-Scene

- Apartments
- Urban 
- City
- Middle Class District
- Very Compact

The thermometer shows that it's set in the summer when the weather was really hot 
judging from the opened windows and how almost everyone was outside.

Scenes:

The opening shot of Rear Window (1954), directed by Alfred Hitchcock, which pans across a Greenwich Village courtyard and through L.B. Jeffries' apartment, establishes several facts about Jeffries (Jeff) without any dialogue. The audience learns that Jeff has a broken leg, is a photographer, and probably got his leg broken while photographing a car wreck. These facts suggest certain character traits. As a photographer, a professional observer, he looks at the world with a keen eye, recording events and actions, but he himself does not act. Even though he is willing to put himself in danger, as in standing in the middle of a racetrack, he does not so much participate in life as watch, experiencing life vicariously. The act of watching and vicarious action are important thematic concerns in the film.

In the opening sequence of Rear Window (1954), the camera pans across a Village courtyard and then through L.B. Jeffries’ bedroom. It shows a few facts about Jeffries and clearly his broken leg. 

-A man (presumably in his 40's) casually shaving with the window open, the objects around his house shows his class/status. You can see the bottles of alcohol around the room suggesting he might be alcoholic.

-A dancer with white pigeons above her room
-the camera is forced on her (panning up) This is called "The Male Gaze"

-During the dead dog scene you can see a women very upset, this is the only death scene you'll witness in the movie and it is of an animal. This particular scene shows the isolation between everyone which creates a slightly awkward feeling between the audience, as everyone was merely just staring at the dog, watching the women cry.

-You might notice one room with the light out so I assume that was the murderer.

-There seems to be no loyalty in the neighborhood.

Se7en Analysis

1) Set in the 90s
2) Highly Polluted 
3) Scenes show signs of aggression in general
4) Diegetic sounds - honking, siren (crime is the reason Mills sought to be assigned)
5) It shows the honest and darker side of the world
6)  isolation (Bars)
7)  Rainy - dirty,


Scene 2 - Somerset's Flat

1) Classy - antique furniture
2) Doesn't live with anyone
3) Neat
4) Diegetic sounds - voices, siren and traffic
5) Keeps weapon around (assuming for protection)

Car honking and sirens outside contradicts the stillness inside his apartment. Sounds are all diegetic to convey verisimilitude. Somerset lives alone, unmarried, with a place coldly lit and undecorated.

Se7en Character Analysis

 Mills:

- Believes he can make a difference in the society.

- Has an aggressive attitude.

- Vulnerable despite being shown as a tough character, he has remorse.

- Let's his emotional side take over

Somerset:

- Is able to control his emotions.

- Looks at things with a calm thought process.

- Tired/ He's been through a lot of things.

- Avoids any form of argument.













I think John Doe has all these qualities combined. Having Somerset's wisdom,  tactics and thinking, he also has Mills' determined, passionate actions.

Downton Abbey

By various evidences, It was almost obvious by many reasons that these were the first few scenes in the first episode.

They managed to give a clear introduction to all the characters and made it clear to who might be the protagonist.

In the first scene we they revealed a good 3 seconds of the “noddy shot” which showed the footmen reacting to his Mistress’s bell with his sarcastic-sounding response “And they’re off” which implied that this was their regular routine as servants for Lady Mary and her family.

Mrs. Patmore is shown to be in charge of the estate’s food and what confirmed the fact that this family was insanely wealthy is because in that time (1890-1910’s) even for a middle class family to have a maid I would assume the family to be quite privileged, so here we clearly have a very high profile and wealthy (upper class) family as they have a long line of servants, butlers and maids.

It’s proven itself to be interesting since there are so many things you might have not discovered prior to watching this episode, for instance when they were ironing the newspaper you wondered why they might have done that. The series had your question answered in the next 5 seconds and now it has your trust.

Their characters' portrayal here is quite clear, let’s start with Lady Mary.

Lady Mary sports a well groomed hair-style with light make-up almost at all times. The setting of her bedroom is shown to be well-organised and has a beautiful view and a lot of shots that featured her are mostly low-angle shots which in my opinion accompanied her smart and tall body-posture really well, clearly she is one the powerful/dominant character.

The servants are addressed by their nicknames instead of Lady or Sir which represented their status as a worker.

They also showed a reference to Titanic which happened to be in the newspaper and that’s how I knew the point in time they were in, a lot of the sounds that accompany the scenes are ambient sounds. The editing technique that was use very frequently was the basic “cut” where the shot just ends and starts at another scene, with “sound bridge” accompanying.

Here you see Lord Grantham and his three daughters with Lady Mary being the dominant one because she sits closest to the head of the table next to their fathers, the second daughter Lady Edith seemed like the most serious and dramatic so I’d imagine she’d have to be part of a huge plot at some point and our last one Lady Sybil (the youngest one) has shown the most curiosity about the news of the Titanic so I assumed she’d be the most adventurous one out of the three

Fear Mind Map

Good Links

http://www.mediacollege.com/video/shots/