Rough Cut Questionnaire

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Rough Cut

Rough Cut

Story Board

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Anamatic

Enjoy our anamatic!

Psycho - Alfred Hitchcock

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Writers: Joseph Stefano, and novelist Robert Bloch

Main Stars: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh and Vera Miles

Storyline: The muguffin!

Marion Crane is tired by the way life is not in her favour. She meets her lover, Sam in lunch, and can’t unfortunately get married because most of his money is given away in alimony. Marion is trusted to bank the massive amount of £40,000 by her employer, which is a major responsibility. However, she saw this as an opportunity to steal the money in order to enhance her life, starting new. As a result of that, she leaves town, heading towards Sam’s California store. The storm is heavy, causing her to become tired and she gets off the main highway, and parks at the isolated and eerie Bates Motel.

The hotel is managed by a quiet, and awkward young man named Norman, who appears strangely dominated by his mother.

Hitchcock Thoughts

He believed that the audience would initially think the film is based on the $40,000 and Marion starting a new life, thus the murder becoming an ultimate shock. This makes the audience apprehensive for what the rest of the film has to be over… Who will be killed next? Anything can happen in The Bates Motel. The audience is aware that there is a murderer present. However, they don’t know when and how the murderer will strike again, the suspence makes the audience prepared for possibly anything to happen. Hitchcock stressed that less violence on the screen, the more apprehension amongst the audience.

In what ways is this an archetypal thriller?

The external threat = A mad man with a deranged mind!

Frequent action & fast pace

Shower

Car

Suitcase

 Most thrillers have a hero, but is there a hero in psycho? The peculiar twist is what made Hitchcock’s movie so famous.

Norman Bates... the creepy guy

Hitchcock emphasised the importance of avoiding cliché and repetition, particularly in regards to the character, for instance the murders/villains may appear charming, and the hereoes may be flawed. Often, in his final films Hitchcock placed evil in the most banal of settings.

...

The story of Psycho is spectacular in its construction. Hitchcock developed cleverly by its consistency in apprehension and suspense. There are two major surprises which is the brutal murder scene, and the final frightening revelation about the mother. 

Psycho tricked us into thinking that the main character is Marion, but after her early exit, the audience becomes increasingly aware and full of anxiety.

The first time viewing the film will result in a unique experience. The movie interestingly generated a phobia of the shower, the people became afraid of the vulnerability that the shower imposes. Many started taking baths, such as Janet Leigh is an example of a victim. She claims that since she saw the film, she never took a shower again. 

When the film was shown, there was no advance screening. Nobody was allowed to a showing after the feature had already started. This was to keep the crucial parts of the film secret, and to emphasise that great suspense Hitchcock was famous for.

Remake?

None of Hitchcock’s previous films had the same profound impact on the American psyche as this particular film. Initially, when it was released in the year of 1960 the huge box office hit was humungous. The facination of the film continued to grow, its siginificance is shown through the 1998 remake. 

The remake doesn’t capture the true uniqueness that the orginal had. The idea of remaking such a successful classic is risky; the Hitchcock film is definitive. Depsite the music being reused, the characters are recycled. Without a doubt, the shower scene is inarguably one of the greatest execution and editing in cinema history. Surely, no one could  re-do such a brilliant scene?

More about the shower scene…

We see:

• Knife

• Blood (chocolate syrup)

• Water

• A woman’s partially shown naked body

One of the most interesting parts about the film, is that the stabbing is only hinted on screen, which enhances the viewer's imagination to fill in the gaps, instead of films like today.

The film has made such a significant impact on viewers, that in most cases the first images that come to mind when the name “Psycho,” comes up is the brilliant actress, Janet Leigh being attacked to death. The scene is famous for its creativity and careful though, even people who have not seen the film knows about it.

Bernand Herrmann’s discordant and forceful music has been continually used in various other movies, and YouTube videos to denote the appearance of the film.

The Source (2011)

The Source Code

The action thriller involves a soldier who happens to wake up in the body of a completely different man. He later on discovers after numerous attempts to find out what's going on, that he plays a vital part to a mission to find the bomber who pursuer his corrupt intention at a Chicago commuter train.

The director if this film is Duncan Jones, and the writer is Ben Ripley.

The Stars of the Film

 

 

Jake Gyllenhaal 

Michelle Monaghan 

Vera Farmiga


 

Company Logo (Happy Days) New & Improved idea!

This is our company logo. It is called "Happy Days." The logo appears effective as it has a Hollywood theme to it. "Happy Days," has it's own twist on "Hollywood," movies. The logo is an assumption to the audience that the film produced by us will be cliche, however that is not the case. At the same time, the title represents the birth of where the films were made and produced. The word "Happy," is an ironic word which suggests our films have a happy theme, but that again is may not neccessary be the case.

This was our previous idea, however we discovered that it the scale was too large to fit with or small production company. We decided that it was too glossy for a production company on a small scale. Instead, we thought of a new, and improved idea.

The name is still, "Happy Days," it still contains the same irony, of the suggested theme of happiness. The umbrella represents a shield of danger, that the person or character is trying to protect themselves from. Also, the red bench represents the theme of danger, which is apparent in our film. The gloomy background, represents the thriller theme... not to expect a happy theme, but to be prepared for the unknown danger of what a thriller has to offer. This is represented by the distance that cannot be seen.

Past Student Thrillers

Finder's Keepers

The opening of the Finder’s Keepers is faced past, which closely resembles to an actual action thriller. The thriller contains conventions of a thriller such as their red herring. The character reaches for his pocket and he reaches out a phone, but we would initially assume he would bring out a weapon.

Additionally, their mise-en scene is also good. It was not a typical schoolyard, which was interesting to see how well their characters adapted to the environment. Also, their costumes were very intriguing and matched well with the sort of theme they were portraying.

The sound was fast paced enough to match with the “chase.” However it could be better because the sound matched more of something you would hear at a party.

4/4 It was a very good opening

Hide & Seek

No Country For Old Men (2007)

No Country for Old Men

The trailer starts of with showing shots of deserted and isolated locations, then a dark voice is heard alongside a flip of a coin, coming from Anton Chigurh. The man he is speaking to seems intimidated and rather lost. The shots change and you see dead people which slowly increases more tension, especially after the sound of the click of the gun. The two dead bodies are seen again. The red car accompanying them suggests danger, as the colour red could signal blood. The music becomes more even paced and shows shots that involve money. As money is the root of all people, this could potentially mean that money is what causes the corruption and danger that happens in the film. The danger is re-emphasized as a young, innocent looking woman says "I got a bad feeling." Sheriffs appear in the next few shots, proposing that a crime is about to be investigated. Intensity increases as loud quick noises are heard, for example a "bang" and a "pop." Then, an explosion is seen; the audience are fully aware that there is increasing danger involved. Shots of weaponry, glass shattering, murder and car crashing are seen as the music picks up its pace then drops again. The music going up and down allows the film to play with the audience's emotions and anxiety. The trailer targets young adults and older who enjoy the adrenaline that thrillers offer.

This American crime thriller is adapted from the Cormac McCarthy's novel; No Country for Old Men. It is about a man who is particularly ordinary, but his life takes an unusual twist as chance provides him fortune that does not belong to him. The thriller could be described a a a cat and mouse thriller as the three men run over eachothers ways in the desert landscape of West Texas in 1980. The film looks at both fate and circumstance alongside adhering to the genres plot, which is villain driven.

Opening Scene

Deep drums, and rattle-like sounds are heard alongside the voice of a man. This creates a level of tension which seems constant as long shots of desolate locations are shown; the shots earlier were sunsets. The man is soft spoken and has an unalarming type of voice. He explains how he used to work with his father which causes the audience to feel some sort of compassion towards the soft spoken character. As you get further into the shots, the music gets deeper and slower. "He killled a 14 year old girl," those words pierce though the audience's ears because of the cruelty done to a young girl. It causes the audience begin to sympathies mixed with increased anxiety. He continues to tell the audience that the papers said it was a "crime of passion," but the speaker informs that the murder told him that "there weren't no passion to it." This suggests the murderer is cold hearted, and sinister. The murder tells the speaker he is willing to do it again because he was hungry to kill someone for a long time. The murder is finally shown being arrested with long dark hair, highlighting his dark, obscure character we are about to discover. The shots of the isolated areas could imply that the murder caused chaos and corruption in a quiet, more or less harmful area. What makes this film different from other thriller is that it is not fast paced and action packed in the beginning but the suspense is elongated.

"The Nature of You." 

Carson Wells is going up the stairs, following behind him is Chigurh. He pats his face to wipe away sweat; the anxiety of both him and the audience grows suspicious. They both enter a room, Wells unarmed and Chigurh, armed with a large weapon. The conversation remians calm and level with a everlasting smirk coming from Chigurh, but the tension continues to rise. Wells attempts to make a comprmoise with $14, 000 he can withdraw for him; instantly a smile grows on Chigurh's face; there is hope that he might accept and set Wells free. Also, says he knows what Chigurh's looking for and where it can be found. The compromise sounds rather promising, both the audience and himself hoping it all is enough to promise him his life. Wells informs him with a rhetorical question, "do you have any idea how crazy you are?" "you mean the nature of this conversation?" "I mean the nature of you." The information insults him and perhaps aggravates Chigurh but his facial expressions do not give away much, but certainly he is not amused. The phone rings loudly, starling the audience; then Chigurh smirk returns to his face shoots him abruptly and unexpectedly.

"Call it."

"What's the most you ever lost in a coin toss?" was the question which caught the shop keeper of guard. Chigurh emphasizes on the word "most." The innocent shop keeper is unaware of what is going on but the audience can definitely sense fear in both his face and body language. Chigurh keeps telling the shop keeper to "call it." The man informs him that he hasn't put anything up and Chigurh responds he's been putting it up his "whole life." The murder is referring whether he gets to play God and kill him, or let him live. He pursues his actions, emotionless and remorseless. He does not end up killing the elderly shop keeper, but the scene is most definately intense.

"Chigurh's Crash"

Chigurh gets crashed into by another car which immediately leaves the audience in shock The shots viewing the crash are long, allowing the audience to sink in what just happened. He limps out the car in pain. As the audience, it is difficult to sympathize with him because he is a heartless murder. However, two young boys on bikes approach him and decide to sympathize with him. The driver of the car that crashed into him does not come into the scene, making us unaware of who is responsible. The young boys see that his bone is sticking out his arm, and Chigurh tells one of the boys to give him his short, and he accepts. There is still no remorse, or kindness shown in Chigurh's face or action which makes the audience continue not to sympathize with him.

Anton Chigurh

Chigurh is a hitman who is hired. He wears dark and dull clothes to represent himself as a character with no sense of remorse or compassion for people around him. The murderer shows no emotions, and continues killing people without a care in the world. He is a cruel, and evil man who gains satisfaction from killing and creating great amongst other human being which contributes to the tension in the film. For example, an innocent shop owners life is put the edge as he asks the man to flip a coin to decide whether he gets to live it not. The captive bolt pistol is his main weapon of choice and used this to manipulate his power by killing people or shoot locked doors. Chigurh does not speak a lot, which increases the fear factor he has control of. His lack of speech makes the audience wonder what sick and twisted thoughts he might have planned. We don't know entirely what to expect as he is a dark and speech withdrawn character. He keeps the audience guessing and gripping to their seats.