Evaluation Question 3 (Part 2) Which institution would distribute your media product and why?

Which institution would make our film based on what we actually made?

After doing some research into the topic, I have found a distribution company which could realistically develop our idea from what we have. It is called CinemaNX and is relatively new in the industry, being created in the year 2007 and distributing their first film that same year. Its founder and producer is Steve Christian, who died suddenly this February 2017 at age 53. Over the last ten years, CinemaNX has distributed films which are similar to ours in terms of story line and, though they did not count with high budgets, managed to get a reasonable revenue. Most of them are action thrillers as well as drama, some examples being "The Disappearance of Alice Creed", "TT3D Closer to the Edge", "Waking Ned Devine" and "Orson Welles and I". Recently, they co-produced a film  which is currently in its stage of post-production about A.A. Milne, the British author of The Winnie The Pooh novels. Throughout their films, they have used a variety of well-known actors such as Zac Efron and Christian McKay. In the A.A. Milne's Project, the leading couple is formed by Domnhall Gleeson and Margot Robbie. 

I have chosen "The Disappearance of Alice Creed" as an example to illustrate the similarities between this media text and our thriller. The first one deals with the kidnapping of a girl who comes from a rich family in order to get a ransom. It is unconventionally directed, like our film, and it is full of plot twists that change the view that the spectators have of  the characters. The budget was only of $1,500,000, and the acting is in the hands of three actors: Gemma Arterton, Martin Compston and Eddie Marsan. The revenue ($1,605,139) did not mean much gross profit for the company, but the critics were generally outstanding (82% in Rotten Tomatoes and praised both by The Guardian and TIFF, Toronto International Film Festival).

CinemaNX is such a small company that it lacks a Wikipedia page and, according to the data found in Linkedin, its permanent employers merely range from 11 to 50 people. I believe that such a small company, though it would be careful not to risk it, would probably be willing to grasp our idea and distribute it as a whole film because we share the same passion and creativity that Christian always had, qualities that many co-workers highlighted about him and his way of leading the company. Our idea is quite avant-garde if we take a look at the technical aspect, but yet it holds the values of a true blockbuster.

The institution does not specialise in any genre in particular, but the majority of its films are either comedies or thrillers, with some dramas along the way. They also distributed one animation movie, "Chico & Rita", which actually became quite popular at the time. It was praised by the critics and constituted a novelty for the company and the worldwide audiences. This is among many other examples of when CinemaNX invested in completely new projects, being consciously reckless but making the right choices. They give lots of opportunities to new directors and actors, and they know how to captivate different sectors depending on the kind of film that they have planned. Their publicity campaigns range from creating Facebook pages to advertise the film in question to presenting it to festivals such as the London Film Festival or Tribeca. I believe that their ways of spreading word-to-mouth are effective and cost-efficient at the same time, so I would like my film to go through a similar marketing procedure. It would also be remarkable if the company organised a campaign to choose the Cinema that would host the premiere of the film, as they did in 2010 making a smart move.

I have created a Timeline which includes the main events since the origins of the distribution company.

Bibliography:

http://variety.com/2012/film/news/cinemanx-to-merge-with-pinewood-shepperton-1118055092/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/cinemanx

http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=59279647

http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9b74064a

http://deadline.com/2017/02/cinemanx-founder-producer-steve-christian-dies-aged-53-isle-of-man-pinewood-pictures-untitled-aa-milne-project-1201921174/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Disappearance_of_Alice_Creed
http://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Disappearance-of-Alice-Creed-The#tab=summary

Location and Set Design

After having considered boaring houses such as Ewhurst, which has convincing rooms, or Cornhill, which used to be a hotel, the preferred location for our sequence is the Studio, an option recommended by Matt. He said that it would be perfectly feasable to recreate a hostel room with some parquet flooring that is available and some wooden strips to assemble the bed. The cupboard and chair are easy to find around, and the rest is a matter of creativity. The walls and door could also be constructed on set as it has already been done for previous works. 

To have the room —our only setting— more clear in our minds and, most importantly, to make it evident also for the people who can actually turn it into reality in the school, I drew the space with all the pertinent details and included some descriptions.

Pitching to Matt. Feedback & changes

After having decided on most aspects of our opening sequence, we were recommended to talk to Matt, as he is the person who has the last word in the issue, at this stage of the process. As our idea had already been approved by Mike, it was easy to explain it with accuracy and efficiency after the slight improvements that we had implemented. We even put together a Power Point to point out more clearly the plot, the props and costumes that we require and the ideal cast, among other details. However, Matt wanted to hear the idea directly from us, so we constructed a quick synopsis making sure that we included everything. 

Initially, he thought it was a good idea but had some objections. He explained that it was not advisable to place our characters in a thriller involving a major crime like drugs, as we suggested as one of the reasons why they were being chased as a couple. He also clarified that it would be quite difficult to show a convincing hotel room to the audience because of our lack of resources and budget. Likewise, we were reminded that most twin beds in expensive hotels do not have a gap under them so the credibility would be doubtful. 

At that point, we were discouraged and thought that we would have to think of complicated alternatives. Nonetheless, Matt came up himself with a perfect variation of what we had been developing throughout the last weeks. He proposed that we could set the story in a location with extreme weather like Siberia, in a backpackers' sort of hostel with grungy facilities. The protagonists could conform to that stereotype as well and be young globe-trotters and film makers that had recorded something on tape that they shouldn't. This would be shown thanks to the dialogue; the enemies, presumably from the Russian government or a private organisation, consistently ask for the tape, and the girl hides it with her under the bed following her partner's order. 

If we used this alternative, the scene could perfectly be filmed in the Studio and the story would be more engaging. Moreover, we would not have to worry as much as before about the appearence of the backpackers as they would not have to look especially old for the roles. We have been thinking of casting Charlie Ridgeway and Louisa Binder as the definite couple, so we will be making them aware of this fact before the end of the week. Their assassins/kidnappers are going to be Russian actors, so we would have more plausibility and we would place the thriller in a more international context, probably involving a complex spy story in a worldwide scale later on.

What is a Thriller?

A thriller is a broad genre of literature, film and television. It is defined by the mood which it immerses the audience into, generally excitement, anticipation and even anxiety. The plot usually revolves around a climax, which is the most important element of this type of media text. Literary devices are utilised as resources to build up the feeling of suspense the film needs to be successful. Some examples are red herrings, cliffhangers and plot twists, to contribute to the unexpected nature of the genre. However, it is important not to get too carried away with the unpredictability of the storyline because, most of the tims, it is advisable to be accessible for the regular audience. One of the most attractive characteristics of a thriller is having the opportunity to try and guess what will happen in the end, so there needs to be a clear logic behind the actions that we see in the screen. 

The main axis of a film like this is mostly always determined by the relationship protagonist-antagonist. The danger that the main character faces is over exaggerated to add to the tension. For instance, an atmosphere of menace and sudden violence is prevailing. Hitchcock's films often include an innocent victim or even just an average person into an unusual situation, probably for us to get more involved in the story and sympathise with them. The element of time is also very handy, as well as the inclusion of personal problems or doubts along the way, sometimes clashing with the overall objective of the protagonist. It is another technique to give more truthfulness to the characters and to make us stressed by the perspective of not seeing the problem solved by the end of the movie. Though I haven't mentioned it yet, thrillers often have happy endings as a contrast with all the amount of tension we were exposed to during the rest of the thriller.

I found some advice I could probably apply to the future opening scene I am going to do. 

Any aspiring artist should make sure that they:

• feed in necessary information about the characters or their world by dribs and drabs well before a suspenseful moment arrives --  and when it does, keep information to a minimum. Suspense stumbles beneath the weight of exposition. 

• use foreshadowing to signal uneasy possibilities. Sometimes, you know that it’s dangerous to try, but you can’t help but do it anyway or I felt a chill, as if someone had walked over my grave.   In the classic courtroom thriller The Anatomy of a Murder, the writer Robert Traver several times describes features of the landscape with phrases like as treacherous as a spurned woman; this raises in readers’ minds the unsettling idea that the alleged victim whose rape was provocation for a murder could be lying. 

• introduce will he/ won’t he situations: will the boy from the Indian slums be able to answer the quizmaster’s question, or will he fail? The more impressive the obstacles ranged against success – the slumdog’s lack of education, the quizmaster’s hostility, the covert threats – the more thrilling is the suspense. 

• sprinkle a hint, for readers to pick up, of danger ahead (the shadow at the window, the unlocked door, the blinking answering machine) while your character, who is luxuriating in the bath, or playing video games,  remains oblivious. Alfred Hitchcock made expert use of this ‘Hitchcock effect’ in his films; equally in novels, scenes where readers are aware of an imminent threat that a character has overlooked are the ones that have us screaming: Stop, Stanley, stop!!!! Don’t drink from that open bottle! Don’t go into that dark alley! Don’t …!!!

• set up two courses of action, where the neglect of either could have dire consequences; then force your character to choose between them. Should she rush to collect her child from pre-school, or make a dash to intercept a killer? Should the detective save his partner from imminent death, even though the resulting exposure could land himself back in prison, or should he get the hell out of there? Lose-lose choices plunge readers into an agony of uncertainty. Result? Rocketing suspense. 

• at the same time, don’t overdo it. Recognize that suspense depends upon fluctuation in mood. It relies for its impact on contrast with more everyday moments that precede it. There’s nothing less exciting than non-stop excitement, says Guy Saville, author of The Africa Reich, and he’s right. 

For the whole article, go here.

After this introduction of the gender and its effectiveness, we should break it into sub-genres to explain it in more detail. The main ones are:

Action Thriller

Its means of creating suspense is through physical action and continuos motion, with lots of scenes which contribute to the sense of danger I previously talked about. 

Some examples are "Die Hard", "Kill Bill Vol. 1" and "The Bourne Identity".

Crime Thriller

It is full of suspenseful aspects and the plot usually focuses on a murder, robbery or manhunt. Both action and psychological aspects build the tension. 

Some examples are "The Usual Suspects", "The Fugitive" and "Jagged Edge".

Film Noir

Some would not consider this a sub-genre, but it is regarded as one in many sites. It is basically a stylistic type of crime mixed with drama that flourished throughout the 40s and 50s. It often relies on a narrative voice and the use of flashbacks to explain the plot, which tends to be intricate. 

Good examples would be "Sunset Boulevard", "The Maltese Falcon" and "Sweet Smell of Success".

Psychological Thriller

In this sub-genre, the suspense comes from the mind, rather than from a physical origin. The protagonists often have to rely on their mental resources to solve the complications they encounter. Some of them almost mix up with the horror genre.

"Memento", "Rear Window" and "Taxi Driver" are psychological thrillers.

Science Fiction Thriller

It incorporates hypothetical, science-based themes into the plot, placing the characters in a utopia or, most likely, ina dystopia. Advanced technology and unknown places are important here, an contribute to the effectiveness already caused by themes like alien invasions or contagious diseases.

Some examples are "Alien", "Inception" and "Distric 9".

After explaining all this information, I hope that everyone gets the idea as well as I have understood it. Now it's just a matter of creativity to come up with ideas for the actual sequence! Wish me luck.

Preliminary Task (Editing)

• What did we intend to represent?

Unfortunately, we did not have a clear idea regarding what story we were trying to tell through our sequence. This happened because we did not communicate enough in the beginning of the project. Nevertheless, we had clear in our minds that Celine, because of her overpowering personality, was going to be the lead, while Emma would be an intimidated, younger character who mumbled and did not say her words as convincingly as her counterpart. Other than that, we did not know much about what input was the best one nor we had enough time to give it deep thought. Moreover, we were told several times throughout the process that the Preliminary Task was not intended to stand out for its inventiveness. What they asked us to do was to apply the skills we had learned during the first Studio sessions to achieve an understandable media text with all the characteristics that makes it work to some extent.

• How did we do it?

When it was time to edit, Adri and I had to face the daunting task to put together coherently a bunch of images which did not bear much resemblance from one another. We tried to do this as well as we could, following the guidance that had been given to us previously. This means that we began with an establishing long shot to present the space. This was followed by a mid shot to draw importance to the person who is speaking. Next, we included an over-the-shoulder shot to give variety and help orientate the audience towards the other person, the one who talks now. And back to the other one. We wanted to keep a constant alternation but the camera remaining more time with the main character, Celine, to endear her with the audience. There is a strong, sharp cut in the middle of the dialogue, which is obviously a mistake due to the lack of time and also lack of effort and concentration from behalf of the actresses when shooting. They constantly moved and did not do the same scenes in the same spots, no matter how well organised and insistent we, as the camera crew, were. 

We eventually come back to the mid shot, as to re-establish the scene and clarify that everything looks the same way as it did in the beginning for the most anxious viewers. Many times we were following the storyboard, but we also tried to innovate. In the end we decided to give it a touch of comedy almost as an excuse for the non-professional result we had achieved. Viewing it lightheartedly as an audience would help to render a better overall impression. Comedy achieved by the prolongation of the close-up to Celine's shoes demonstrating her anger by stepping on top of the script, which portrays an almost caricaturist approach of the scene. 

We end up with a mid shot of her feet walking away, and then we draw everyone's attention to the closed door and to the torn papers in the floor, as a dramatic suspension which works as a contrast from the previous action. 

• Were we successful?

The mise en scene was nothing to boast about. Of course, the setting was perfect because it rendered the image of a normal living room where the sort of action we were asked to perform could perfectly happen. However, the costumes were not prepared beforehand and there was no clue of who were our characters and in what sense the dialogue was delivered. Furthermore, as I said in the previous post about the filming, Celine was holding her script all the way through so it destroyed whatever realism we had managed to implement in the scene so far thanks to the setting and our effort to perform a proficient job as camera women. I am glad we came up with the idea of stressing out that showing the script was something done on purpose and to make the audience laugh instead of just being there as a cheat sheet.

• What have I learned from the process?
  
  

The lesson I take from this experience is that with practice, willingness and time, everything can be achieved in Media. However, if one of those magical ingredients is absent, the project is bound to be a failure. At least, the technical side worked out really well and there was not any any single image out of focus. We represented a story which can be appreciated and interpreted in different ways but has a specific tone and dialogue which, from my perspective, are understood perfectly. I can't say much about the editing process; just that, if you don't have good material, the edition is not going to work wonders —at least not in the stage we are, maybe a very experienced professional can make a masterpiece out of a sequence like ours—. I am excited to keep working and improving, this can be taken for granted, but crossed fingers for a better group next time.

The result can be watched below:

Preliminary Task (Shooting)

This week, we have been given a scene with a simple storyboard which made it possible for us to be quite original due to the various options to shoot it. Nevertheless, it required at least five different shots to make it effective and realistic: 

• A wide short first. It is always safer to do this in the beginning because if an unexpected issue makes the rest of the filming difficult, at least we can tell the story. (1)
• An over-the-shoulder shot from one of the characters' back and vice versa. (2,3)
• A close-up of one of the characters' face and vice versa. (4,5)

I was in a group with Celine, Emma and Adri and we were assigned the studio as the venue where we would record the scene. We were extremely lucky because we already had a set prepared as a consequence! Adri and I soon got in charge of the technical aspects of the sequence, assembling the tripod and camera as we had been taught some days ago: meanwhile, Celine and Emma went on learning the script, though in the end they decided to be spontaneous and read the actual pages in front of the camera... Not that I didn't object, but one gets tired of fighting with a group of people who are not willing to work. So yes, the acting could have been taken much more seriously so it wouldn't involve as much work as it is going to require in the editing process. We are definitely going to see the storyboard through the screen, and the actresses laughing a couple of time though, no matter how much we crop the frames. 

On the other hand, I am very satisfied with the job that Adri and I did. We performed our task with the utmost efficiency, recalling all the pieces of advice that Matt and Paul had given us about the use of the cameras. We carefully planned the order in which we were going to get the different shots and, each time we changed position, we focused the camera as we had been taught previously. Moreover, we extended or lowered the tripod depending on which person or object we were going to film to make it look smoother, and we used the appropriate terminology to get everyone prepared for a new shot. 

We did all the shots that were compulsory for the actual completion of the task in 10-15 minutes, and then we decided to explore a bit further during the time we had left —half of it—. We did close shots of the door, a piece of furniture which appears both in the beginning and in the ending of the short sequence so it conveys a feeling of familiarity but also of the superficiality of the action that takes place inside the room. We also carried out the scene from the floor, recording the pieces of script being torn by Celine and stepped on as well —more drama—. 

At all times, we respected the 180 degree rule, which establishes an imaginary line between the characters in a dialogue that we shouln't cross, and we tried to encourage our actresses to match their actions each time we recorded the whole scene again from a different angle. Honestly, I don't know what we will encounter when we have to edit this, but I hope that we can achieve continuity throughout the whole video as well as getting a funny result, at least.

My biggest regret is not having played a bit with the lines and transformed the basic story into a gripping one with some effort and creativity. I heard that many other groups came up with brilliant ideas for their tasks even though we all have the same storyboard. Themes as varied as pregnancy came along the way, in fact, thanks to the versatile lines that we were given. I have learnt, anyway, that I need to be more firm next time we film and implement energy and work ethic among my peers. 

Another important lesson that I took out from this practice was that, in any media text, people in front and behind the camera have to work with coordination and cooperation in order to get a good result, while before shooting the Preliminary Task I thought that actors and the rest of the crew, other than the director and producer, would barely talk during the process of making a film. Communication is key!

Psycho's Poster Analysis

"Psycho"'s poster has, since I first saw it, caught my attention because of the sections used to fragment the main images and the striking colours, which truly represent the pop era while also bringing together the style of the film and its plot. Though most of Hitchcock's film posters were created from scratch —some are now regarded as pieces of art themselves, especially the ones designed by Saul Bass— this particular one is an exception, which does not make it worse necessarily. In fact, as I already said, I have always regarded it with admiration: that dominance of espace, the contrast between the lettres and the obscure background... Everything seems to portray the film without giving away too many aspects of the actual storyline. 

The decision of placing the title underneath the main visuals is rather unusual, which makes the poster more compelling. Anyway, some classic features can easily be found within the cardboard: the title is the biggest element, followed by director and main actors, given more emphasis as to appeal to a larger fan base. The title, in fact, was originally developed for the novel on which the film is based; Hitchcock was delighted with the typography and he just bought the rights. In the Italian designer Tony Palladino's own words, "the design —stark white letters torn and seemingly pasted together against a black background to resemble a ransom note—was intended to illustrate typographically the homicidal madness of the novel’s protagonist, Norman Bates.” 

Along with this main part, we can observe that the remaining sections where the creators of the poster want to draw the audience's attention are mainly the colour-tinted characters who seem to float in the reigning darkness of the canvas. There we have Janet Leigh, given the most importance due to her colour, yellow, which really stands out from the black surrounding, and also because of the size: she is the biggest item of the poster. Her tense facial expression implies that "Psycho" is a horror movie more than anything else. She is also identifiable as the victim within the first seconds: feminine, wearing nothing but her underwear, she seems attractive and helpless at the same time, adding to the fact that women who have sexual intercourse without being married, as she does in the film, tend to have an unfortunate ending. Her modern attitude towards marriage can be spotted by her lack of clothes, something, at least, surprising for a movie poster of its time. 

Next to Leigh, the designers have placed the lover and the assassin, both in red as two different pillars of the action, each one with a completely distinctive relationship with the female protagonist. These contrasting bonds are connoted by specific details: she is looking away from the man in the left, the assassin, establishing a strange atmosphere of distrust which makes him suspicious. Her lover is under her, in a more controlled spot that she seems to supervise from her privileged position. Our eyes drift from one image to the next one like flashes of a camera; as some of the key scenes were shot during the film, in fact. 

Exclamation marks are an element which comes in handy when trying to sell a product, in this case this film when it was first shown in theatres in 1960. Therefore, they are cleverly placed after the sentence "A new and altogether different screen excitement", which makes us aware of what to expect in general from "Psycho". These tricks always prove useful so we are able to rely on a specific group of people, in this case, viewers who appreciate unusual and exciting pieces of work, as potential clients of the entertainment we are producing. Moreover, psychological thriller and horror film lovers in general are probably going to feel curious about a movie after seeing the sinister lettres that compose the title in a poster like "Psycho"'s, together with the fearful face of the protagonist —who is, adding to the previous incentives, a seductive young woman showing part of her body features—. 

The layout of the film is clearly grid based, a practical approach chosen by many designers, and the colours play their part as well. Yellow represents anxiety or consternation and red constitutes a synonym of danger or even anticipates the appearance of blood throughout the movie. Blue is used as a support, to add variety of tone, while white is a simple outliner. Black adds an air of mystery bound to make the target audience shiver at the sole thought of what is hidden behind the shadows. Is it a monster? A weapon? Or is it just lunacy?

First Editing Lesson

On Friday, we were introduced to a programme used by all kinds of media artists, from amateur YouTubers to professional film makers: Adobe Premiere Pro. Personally, I had already worked with it a couple of times before, but this lesson helped me review the basic principles and I also took the opportunity to show friends in need how it worked. 

What we first did was learn the basic vocabulary essential for the utilisation of the programme. In the bottom left corner, we can find the folders, which are called "bins" in this case. The name is used since the birth of cinema, when the frames were so little that the crew had to hang them in the ceiling to be able to see them. They grouped each one of them according to the scenes they belonged to, placing a bin under each separate one. Moving on to the next word, "rushes" is used as a substitute of footage. The background story here is less original: the footage would be rushed off to be edited at night so next day the director could watch it. The equivalent in America is "dailies", if you are curious.

After getting to grips with these few terms, we started to figure out how Premiere worked by ourselves, carefully following Mark's instructions as to click twice in the squares which represented each short sequence. We were shown too the underlying controls to change from the regular clicking arrow (press B) to the razor blade to cut frames into segments (press C).

Having observed the mentioned details, we were ready to start editing our clips more or less properly —as effectively as we could do so—. Franek and I started dragging the frames to the grey espace where it is possible to set their In and Out (marking), cut them and mix them by moving their edges back and forth. We likewise changed the sound settings. The best time to jump from one frame to the next one is when the characters are in movement, as it makes the change less drastic. It is also relevant to know that the clip which is going to play once the editing is done is always the bit higher in the scale. 

I contemplated the entire lesson as extremely significant for the future tasks we will perform in order to carry out our thrillers. By all means, we will be able from now on, as a class, to work in the basics when we want to shoot our stories, with no technical restrictions and the opportunity to give free rain to our ambition —to a certain extent, of course—. In present day, we feel confident and able to make the most of the resources we have. And, more importantly, the issues we are learning about can prove useful beyond the classroom, when we are developing personal projects.

Letting my mind wonder about the Preliminary Task and the Thriller sequence that I start to foresee, I feel ready for both challenges after Matt's lessons' impact: he has made sure, within a few hours, that we can perfectly utilise a camera and a tripod, shoot a brief scene with creativity and dynamism and then edit it, three of the golden rules for a proficient media product. Undoubtedly, it is an impressive achievement what he has done during the last weeks, and I am glad that every student has collaborated sensibly throughout most of the process. I am really looking forward to getting started with the practical side of Media. I have started brainstorming already!

under these lines, the result of our edition can be viewed. Not very professional, but we did our best. I'm sure we will improve awfully through time.

Tipping Point (review)

During Friday's class, we have been working in groups to make comments on a thriller which is called Tipping Point. It takes place in a basement with low key lightning, which makes us feel that something suspicious is taking place there. Within the first seconds, we are shown a scene where a young man is leaning with blood on his face. The gesture he makes shows fear; he is terrified and this obviously makes us want to understand why he feels this way and what is going on. The scene is dark, which contributes to an uncomfortably morbid setting. We can see blood on the boy's face. It forshadows that the boy is hurting somone or is being hurt himself. Before the boy's face is shown, we have also seen a knife on the groud, which implies that violence will be involved.  

Afterwards, we are showed a man who seems quite relaxed; he is eating popcorn in a sofa. On the contrary, the boy who is facing the task of killing the girl looks devasted. The man in the sofa starts to force the boy to finish his job and, although at this point we are unsure about the plot yet, we can assume it is some sort of a sick game. 

Then, he crumbles and, with a fake paternal tone, the arrogant-looking man who is eating popcorn tries to cheer him up while he asks for a gun. Soon, the apprentice is dead and the camera lets us have a glimpse of the scientists writing things down in their notebooks. After that, it is the turn of a second boy. It is implied that the process is going to continue until all the young killers-to-be die or one of them actually murders the girl and there is a change. That is part of the tension the thriller builds: will the next boy manage to kill her?

 

As the scene evolves, we  start to perceive what the thriller is about: a Chinese experiment is being carried out. It consists of young men being casted to kill an actress who gets paid to pretend that she is a victim.

We know about the story thanks to the visual support and the clever angles through which we can see the characters: the actress, the prospective killer/s, the watcher who is checking the experiment while he ironically picks at some popcorn, and the Chinese scientists, viewing everything from a window fitted in one of the walls of the basement.

  

                            

Tension is all over the place since the first second, in fact. At first we feel pity for the girl thanks to her dramatic gestures of fear and desperation. Then we jump in our sits while the watcher kills the apprentice in cold blood. Finally, we wonder what will happen. The reigning obscurity and the close shots of the faces of the characters add up to the feeling of insecurity and strain that we are already experiencing. The sound effects (gun shots, steps) or even the lack of them (the initial roaring silence) enhance the scene. The lighting, as well as keeping the scene dark as we already mentioned, give a sence of industrialised space and some blue and red lights are intelligently used to make the actors glow and see their gestures with more precision.

The acting really stands out in this opening scene. It is what makes us feel sympathy or disgust towards the different characters, as well as the script, of course. It seems so easy to worry about the girl and then blame her for being just an actress and making suffer the apprentices who believe that the are being asked to kill a real victim. It is also effortless to be implicated with the young men and to detest utterly the watcher who assassinates without emotion.

In this thriller sequence, it could even be argued that the actors are the strongest part. However, we can still find all the elements of a sequence: it is clearly shown by a wide shot that the location is a basement. Moreover, the use of sound is effective: having a white noise at the start with no real sound makes the piece interesting as you wonder what is going to happen next and expect a climax. The scene, although it seems to present the stereotypical pretty damsel in distress,  is full of dark humour and fear, and nothing is what it looks like.

The idea of this deadly "X Factor" strikes me as a very original and effective one which keeps us on the edge of our seats. The thriller is left on a cliff hanger which can even manage to frustrate some of the most eager viewers. As the last character comes in, his aura of mystery certainly creates expectations. Will he be the protagonist? The tone and language suggest that the rest of the movie is going to involve a good amount of action, murders and betrayals. 

Having contemplated the aforementioned facts, we regard "Tipping Point" as a remarkable work which achieves what any opening sequence should do: engage the viewer and make them eager to continue watching.

                           

Vertigo, a mesmeric reverie

As this is a Media Blog, I am quite certain that you won't be surprised by the content of this post: I'm going to talk about my favourite film. And I will be listening to Bernard Hermann's music alongside; the choices are narrowed down. It sounds like Hitchcock, doesn't it? This afternoon, I have the pleasure to write about a piece of art: "Vertigo". It was released in the year 1958, distributed by Paramount Pictures and starred James Stewart and Kim Novak as the main characters. With a gross rental of 2.8 million dollars, some people would certainly label the film as a failure in Alfred Hitchcock's career. In fact, he himself seemed unsure about his vision of "Vertigo", and eventually blamed James Stewart's "old" appearance for its lack of success. However, others would stand up for it and even regard it as a classic. Personally, I do not share any of the two major viewpoints. 

From my perspective, "Vertigo" is pure poetry. It undoubtedly has those abstract elements which make a poem worth reading, as well as emotional depth and an outstanding aesthetic. Adding to this, we can find a great mastery of cinematography and an unusual script based on Boileau-Narcejac's novel "D'entre les morts". The main actors are very convincing and the choice of setting is regrettable —the original book designated Paris as the city where the action takes place, although Hitchcock decided to shoot the movie in San Francisco because, as mentioned by Aulier, "with its vertiginous streets and hilly landscape, the location perfectly matched the film’s themes. In a city where there were such extreme physical highs and lows, awful for anyone with acrophobia, the protagonist's vertigo became a character in and of itself"—. 

The storyline has an undeniable complexity: a retired detective, Scottie, is contacted by an old friend from college with the purpose of following his wife Madeleine, as he believes her to be under the influence of a spirit, Carlotta, an ancestor who committed suicide. Apparently, Madeleine wanders around town for the whole day with no other purpose than staring blankly at a portrait of Carlotta in an art museum or leaving some flowers in her grave, though it is known that she does not have any clue of the existence of her tragic relative. She falls into a state of trance on a regular basis and tries to commit suicide in various occasions. During the first attempt, Scottie is lucky enough to be around and saves her from drowning in the Fort Point bay. However, when Madeleine throws herself from a tower, by which time Scottie has fallen in love with her, he is unable to prevent her death due to his rooted fear of altitude —"Vertigo"—. She dies at the same age as Carlotta did, and everything seems to indicate that we are contemplating a ghost story with touches of romance and suspense. But this is just the first climax.

During the second half of the film, we find ourselves watching a devastated Scottie, living for the memory of his friend's dead wife. Each time that he sees a woman who resembles her, he runs into her in a desperate search for his lost lover. This happens until he finds Judy Barton, from Kansas. She reminds him of Madeleine with such intensity that he decides to drag her into an insane relationship in which he constantly asks her to change details in her behaviour and looks so that she becomes the perfect Madeleine. The second climax occurs soon. Scottie finds Carlotta's necklace, a recurring object which Madeleine used to possess and admire, among Judy's belongings. In an estate of manic rage, he urges her to return to the tower where Madeleine's death took place. The plot finally unfolds: Judy has collaborated with Scottie's friend in order to murder his unwanted wife by the means of a convincing story, some acting and a witness —Scottie—. In the middle of her confession, a nun appears in the top of the monastery's tower, and Judy, shocked and overwhelmed by her guilty conscience, falls into the void and dies, this time, for real. 

The ending is the only matter that puts me off when I want to re-watch the film. I much prefer the original idea, which Hitchcock altered in his adaptation of the novel: Judy dies chocked by Scottie, who acts in a state of blind outburst. I believe that this culmination is more logical and perfectly matches the characters and the general atmosphere of the film. 

Despite this elucidation, "Vertigo" is a masterpiece which would inspire any sensible viewer, containing strong images, unforgettable characters, clever plot twists and even psychological controversy. It is one of the few films I have watched which despises the dialogue for more than ten minutes and does not arouse in me any sense of boredom or impatience. I find the sentimental element unquestionably interesting: a man loves a woman who is an illusion, the real woman loves him, and he destroys both without being guilty of no crime. Furthermore, the technique is innovative and the famous "vertigo effect" was developed during the film —a zoom forward while tilting the camera backwards—, as well as the psychedelic approach which is chosen to depict Scottie's nightmares. 

Each shot is full of detail and each time you see the film you get to appreciate its nuances with more accuracy. The air of disorientation is successfully achieved by both of the main actors, who play characters that live in an uneasy discomfort, each one in different ways. It is a movie which requires your full attention but, once you commit to that, "Vertigo" will become an obsession almost as dangerous as Scottie's delusion.

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertigo_(film)#Reception
http://mentalfloss.com/article/69070/11-dizzying-facts-about-vertigo
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052357/reviews?ref_=tt_urv