We watched it simply without sound and we couldn't stop laughing at it, so we knew that we had to do it. We only had one actor as I (Mishaal) wanted to film it. We talked through the idea with James Phillips, who happened to be free at the time of shooting. We shot the exteriors and then went over the dialogue and figured out the timings. Then we shot Taran's side then proceeded to shoot James' side. Then after that, we hadn't come up with an exact ending, but just then, Jon and Elliot walked and we came up with the ending.
Then in Editing, we pieced together the clips, so make it super dramatic and somewhat cheesy. The edit was funny without any background music, but then Taran came up with adding the music from Pulp Fiction and it made it so much funnier. It was strange on how well it fit together. Then we quickly made the credits to mimic the titles of Pulp Fiction.
To start with, we had a huge number of still establishing shots to set the location of our plot, and provide exposition at some points. We had to carefully select the best clips to use in our opening montage, and Mishaal used After Effects to edit in a dead body and a blood stain in one shot, which created a sense of threat, and constructed meaning when the main protagonist was revealed with blood on his face, denoting that he had murdered someone.
Early on in the filming process I had come up with the idea of sudden blackout edits being used during the final scene in which the protagonist is shot, as they would add to the tension and visceral pleasure of the scene, and also be a stylistic feature. Although in practice this wasn't as effective as I'd have liked it to be, it still definitely had a positive effect on the scene and broke up the regularity of the edits.
The whole piece was edited in continuity, which meant we had to consider this even when shooting. Whilst the plot was basic, we attempted to present it in as much depth as we could, which meant shooting and editing to create meaning. An example of this is the gunshot sound effects we added in post production that denoted how the protagonist was being chased by a violent antagonist.
The idea of the protagonist having murdered someone also gave him the denotation of being an antihero, something conventional of thriller films.
From the start of our production process, one of our biggest inspirations was the Kill Bill series, an icon of violent revenge thrillers, and we wanted to pay homage to the opening of Volume 1 with the black and white vignette style and the high angle shot of the vulnerable, blood-stained character on the ground. (This also involved a lot of intense acting skill on my [Taran's] part.)
Mishaal took it upon himself to colour grade the footage, enhancing the colours of the woody area such as the greens and browns, but also emphasising the red of the blood to further highlight it to the audience, and connote its importance in constructing meaning.
The monochrome edit that falls over the footage after the protagonist's shooting scene was a stylistic decision on both our parts, which was intended both to be a part of our homage to Tarantino, but in the end turned out to be effective throughout that whole scene in terms of tension and giving the scene a gritty spectacle. We also discovered that the blood looked far more realistic and intense in the black and white filter.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a 2011 Swedish-American mysterythriller film based on the novel of the same name by Stieg Larsson. Order of Titles: - Columbia and MGM present - A Scott Rudin & Yellow Bird production - A David Fincher Film - Daniel Craig - Rooney Mara - THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO - Christopher Plummer - Stellan Skarsgard - Steven Berkoff - Robin Wright - Yorick Van Wageningen - Joely Richardson - Geraldine James - Goran Visnjic - Donald Sumpter - Ulf Friberg - Casting by Laray Mayfield - Costume Designer - Trish Summerville - Co-Producers - Berna Levin, Eli Bush - Sound Design by Ren Klyce - Music by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross - Editors - Kirk Baxter ACE & Angus Wall ACE - Production Designer - Donald Graham Burt - Director of Photography - Jeff Cronenweth ASC - Executive Producers - Steve Zaillian, Mikael Wallen, Anni Raurbye Fernandez - Produced by Scott Rudin, Ole Sondberg, Soren Staermose, Cean Chaffin - Based on the book by Stieg Larsson -- Originally published by Norstedts - Screenplay by Steve Zaillian - Directed by David Fincher The titles of the production and distribution studios, along with the name of the filmmaker appear first. Usually this is the director, but it has been a major producer's name before. Then there are the two main leads before the title appears. After that it is the rest of the cast, and then it works its way up from casting all the way to music, editing, DP and Director. The Director is always the last title in film opening credits. The duration of the titles are around 3 seconds each. They are all the same size and length. The only title which stays for a little longer is the name of the author of the books and the publisher, this could be to accommodate having two titles or just leaving it there to show the appreciation of the original content. The actual title of the film appears right near the beginning after the names of the two main leads. This is also when the vocals in the background song starts and so it makes it very energetic. Typography: All the titles are the same size and font, excluding the film title which is different for both. The titles are coloured white and are placed in one third of the frame, except for "A David Fincher Film" in which it is placed in the centre. Only the first two titles fade out, but all the others go off with the cut of the clip. One title may appear on more than one clip, but they never cut in the middle of a clip. This makes it very energetic and lively. You have to pay close attention as there's no indication of a title appearing. The titles are placed on the other side of the focus of the frame. This creates balance in the frame but also requires you to switch from the title to the other action in the frame. Animation wise, the titles move smoothly towards the corners of frame, connoting they are trying to escape. The serif font is animated so that they extend outwards. This connotes the feeling of something growing and developing. The font for the film title is much more blocky than the other font. The ends of the letters are pointed sharply, connoting a lethal nature. This is also more three dimensional as it is not just text placed over visuals, the text interacts with the action. This lasts for one second before it is swallowed up by the liquid. Relationship between visuals and titles: The only text that interacts with the visuals is the film title, the liquid splashes over the title and devourers it. I noticed in most films, that the most well composed and significant shot is left for last, the directors title. The other significant title relationship is the cinematographer who has usually the best composed shot in the sequence. The main leads in the film, the fewer the better, are shown in a different way near the beginning. The visuals do tell a story throughout the opening, especially with the dragon emerging from the tattoo, in parallel to the events of the film. Most of the titles don't have any relationship to the visuals. Own Production:
I liked this font as it looked very grungy and hand written. I put it in red as it contrasted well with the background. Also since the directors credit is used for a well composed shot, I decided to use my thriller still. It is placed in the centre, much like "A David Fincher Film" in TGWTDT (above).
Luther is a BBC produced psychological crime thriller drama, that began in 2010 and has been renewed for three seasons, with a fourth currently in production. It contains a lot of the conventions of crime and psychological thriller films, and relates to the iconography and visual style used in them with bleak settings and colour schemes, heavy themes and dark, morally ambiguous characters.
1 - Order of titles Idris Elba
Ruth Wilson Steven Mackintosh, Indira Varma Paul McGann, Saskia Reeves
Warren Brown Series created & written by Neil Cross Produced by Katie Swinden
Directed by Brian Kirk Luther
The titles begin with cast members, names appearing on their own denoting major actors (Elba, Wilson and Brown all play main characters in the series) whilst the names appearing in pairs denote minor roles. The three last titles are related to institutional context, denoting the creator/writer of the series, the producer and the director (in last position). The last thing to appear is the title 'Luther'. Each of the titles appear after intervals of approximately five seconds, and are on screen for around two seconds each.
2 - Typography
The typography appears in block capitals for every letter, except in some cases such as 'Paul McGann' in which the c is lower case. The font remains the same for both the titles and the series title at the end. Titles are placed in seemingly random places without any sort of sequence, but generally fit onto the rule of thirds, or directly centre frame such as with the 'Luther' title.
The typography itself is blocky, coloured flatly in white which stands out well against the dark and dimly lit backdrop images of the opening. The lettering is connotative of military or police forces, icons of the crime and psychological thriller genre.
3 - Visuals
Behind the text there is a complex and heavily layered montage of images and splash colours that shift and bleed over the screen, connoting ideas of blood splatters seeping or dropping onto a surface. The images are mainly focused on two things; The show's setting of London, and it's iconic landmarks (such as the Tube, the financial district, etc,) and iconography of crime thrillers, featuring dead bodies, fingerprints, forensic chemicals, barbed wire prison fences, lifeless eyes, motionless hands and bullet holes in windows. The images are very stylised, with a lot of contrast and dark shadows, which blend well with the silhouette of the show's titular character, which is prevalent in the opening, placed within the cityscape images.
4 - Own design
For this part of the task I was inspired by the True Detective Opening titles, in which the forms of the characters are blended transparently over images of the various locations in the show, and overall it is a very visual and artistic opening. I attempted to emulate this using photographs from my previous photography shoot. I also wanted to use a dark and saturated colour scheme that had forensic and scientific connotations.
The typography itself is sleek and slim, the title appearing in block capitals and the subtitle appearing regularly. The slim text has connotations of modern and contemporary design, reminiscent of modern urban based thriller films and settings.
The title 'Black Box' refers to the device in an aircraft that records all data and communications received by the plane, and is only retrieved in the event of the plane crashing. The idea of it containing dangerous and possibly scandalous information is thematically relevant of thriller plots, and the idea of a black box being a macguffin in the film is something interesting to me.
Opening sequence analysis: Zodiac (Fincher, 2007) Genre: The sub genre of this film is a mystery thriller. The conventions of this are that a criminal has committed multiple crimes, often murders, and they are difficult to identify and track down. Another film which starts with a crime and the mastermind behind it is not shown is The Usual Suspects (Singer, 1995). Most films of this genre often establish the main protagonist in the opening scene and the crime happens later on. The expectations of this being set in the 1960-70's is fulfilled by the title card reading the date and location. The time period can also be inferred by the houses, clothing and cars. Also since this is based on historical events, the exact date is given as well. If you just saw half of this opening scene, you couldn't tell that it was a mystery thriller, so it leads you into feeling secure, as the characters are in the scene. The mystery begins when the car pulls up and stops. The ending however clearly defines this as a mystery thriller as the shooter is not shown and the connection to the victims are only suggested. One victim survives and while this is shown, the killer calls a police station and reports the murder. So this confirms to the audience that it is a mystery of who this killer is. The expectations are challenged at the beginning and they are fulfilled in the end.
The text does conform to the characteristics of a mystery thriller as it features multiple red herrings and follows the detectives as they work on the case. But this film challenges it a little by also following a cartoonist from a newspaper who also follows the case and we are positioned with him for most of the film. The film has more stylized shots and sequences than most other films of the genre. For example, to indicate a passage of time, the screen goes black and a series of songs from the period play and transition into each other. The murder scenes are often without background music and so they create tension and suspense much better. Film language: Camera: Most of the shots are medium/long shots, and so they show a lot of the environment, I think this is so that it makes the audience feel comfortable and not claustrophobic. The focal length seems similar to the field of view of regular eyes, so it seems more natural. The camera moves very smoothly and slowly all throughout, a lot being locked off on a tripod. This puts the audience in an omniscient point of view but still centre around the main characters. The close-up is not used until near the end, where Darlene looks frightened at the sight of the car. I think this makes it more effective as all the other shots stay wide and then it intensifies the emotion of the scene by emphasizing the reaction. The camera is eye level for most of the scene, but only after the murders, is the camera positioned either at a low or a high angle. It's subtle but it helps convey the helplessness of the characters. When they are getting shot, the camera is at a low angle, which helps to denote who has the power in the scene. Then after the shooter has left, the angles are higher angles so give the point of view of the police officers arriving at the scene and looking over the bodies.
Editing: The editing is smooth and steady. The cutting rate is slower at the beginning, to convey the calmness of the situation, and then when they start getting shot, the rate increases, but not so fast that it is difficult to see what is going on. It cuts back and forth from the gun shooting to Darlene getting shot and screaming. Then right after this part, the shot lasts a little longer, when the shooter leaves the car and goes towards his car, but then realises that Michael is still alive, and then he returns. This is to create suspense for the audience as they just saw a fast paced sequence so the longer shot makes them feel safer but also get concerned as to why it hasn't cut yet when seemingly nothing is happening. It also allows the audience to take in the emotions of what just happened as it was an intense sequence.
Mis-en-scene: All the production design, costumes and props help to convey that this is the year of 1969. The cars would be the largest signifier as they are distinctly known for their shape and type for that time period. The lighting is low key and often side lit towards the end. The characters are evenly lit in the beginning, but are harshly side lit when they park. Since this is when the seemingly unknown shooter arrives and Darlene seems to know them, but is refusing to elaborate further, it helps to signify the mysterious nature of the situation. The face of the shooter is obscured only a little by the lighting, but mostly from editing, as it cuts right before they would appear. I think this was to show that the victims saw the murderer but the audience didn't.
Character: The dialogue is well written for this scene as it conveys the situation very efficiently, it describes the relationship between the two main characters and why they are doing what they are doing. We get some subtle character motivations, when Darlene mentions that she hasn't eaten in 24 hours, but then later when they can't find space, Michael says "I thought you were starving" and using body language and facial expressions, we can infer that this was a ploy in order to get him alone with her. She even gives a smile after she suggests going somewhere else.Also "starving" could also signify her desire to have intimate relations with someone. Later when Darlene, looks into the distance at the car, she appears to be very frightened but she tells Michael not to worry. This tells the audience that she wants to hide this from him and so it adds to the mystery.
Sound: The song that plays in the beginning, the first lyrics are "how can people be so heartless, how can people be so cruel". Seems very appropriate for the upcoming events in the scene. Setting the creepy and mysterious tone. It is non diegetic at first but when the car stops at the house, the sound converts from playing over top to being played on the radio at a reduced volume and so it has become diegetic. All the sounds are from the point of view of the characters, like the sounds of cars and people far away sound distant. The radio continues to play songs throughout the whole scene, but it intensifies at a few points. When they park, since they are alone, the only sounds are the ambiance, the radio and their voices. When the car arrives, and the shot lengths increase, creating tension, the radio plays as normal. The songs played are somewhat cheerful. This creates contrast to the events happening. Also it plays to make the audience feel like they should be comfortable, or it's trying to make the audience feel comfortable, it does the opposite as they can't help but feel scared by this mysterious car. When Michael gets shot, the music becomes louder and the ambience is gone. Only the bullets and screams are heard. The part in the song which plays during this time has a harsh electric guitar part which I think intensifies the moment. I'm not sure on how to describe how it makes you feel but it just makes it all the more horrifying.
Visual Techniques: When they are getting shot, the shots go into slow motion. This gives the audience a more intense experience as we see the terrified facial expressions for longer and so the effect lasts longer. The blood shown was not shot on location as the directer, David Fincher, likes to shoot many takes in order to get the best performance and the set up would be too long. So the blood was added in Post Production. This allowed him to get the look he wanted and be more precise. The final effect is truly terrifying.
Narrative:
Plot outline: Darlene and Michael are going out on the 4th of July in 1969 Vallejo, California. They originally decide to eat somewhere but then decide to drive to a roadside car park. Before anything begins, they see a car pull up behind them and stop. Then shortly after, it leaves. But only a few moments later, it returns and the driver leaves the vehicle and shines a flash light into the car and walks up to the window. He then proceeds to shoot both Michael and Darlene multiple times before getting in the car and leaving. A little while later, a bloody Michael is sitting outside the car and a voice-over plays revealing that the shooter called the police and reported the murder. Organisation: It is structured linearly in order, with only a small time skip after the shooting when the police arrive. The audience are positioned with the main two characters in the scene. Since Darlene would be killed later in the scene and play a vital part in the connection to the shooter later in the story, they had to make the audience connect to her. Michael also plays a huge part especially towards the end of the film, so we had to identify with him from the very start, feeling his pain that he survived the event. Theme: The main theme in the narrative is secrecy, as Darlene appears to look like she knows the shooter as she tells Michael to not leave the car and saying that "it's nothing" implying that she did know him and that it wasn't important. But her facial expression of fear shown when the car returns implies otherwise. Tension: is created very well towards the second half with the length of shots. It lingers on the car and the reactions of the two. The background ambience is quiet, so make the audience tense up waiting for something to happen. A common film technique that audiences are used to I think, is that whenever it goes suddenly silent, they expect a loud noise from seemingly now where. But since that doesn't happen, they wait for longer and so get more tense. The increase in intensity both sound wise and visually occurs, with the reverse shot of Michael getting shot and the blood splatters over Darlene. The sound isn't exactly so loud that the audience is scared out of their seats but rather it scares them internally with the brutality and horror of the shootings. The face of the shooter is also not shown, only as much as a silhouette is shown in the wide shot. This makes it all the more frightening and so later in the film, you suspect anyone as it could be anyone. This is a good example of the enigma code in use. We don't know who the killer is but a connection has been suggested to the victim.
Representation and Ideology: Young adults/late teens are the social group shown in this opening. They are not around 16 as one of them is married so they must be at least a little older. Darlene is the one driving, this is ideologically opposite to the men being dominant and not letting women drive. But not only does she drive, but she refuses to let Michael drive when he asks. This challenges the stereotype that women are less aggressive and can't drive. They are celebrating and possibly getting intimate relations with each other on the 4th of July, this is a common stereotype for young people in general when celebrating holidays. Media Audiences: The target audience for the film are mature teenagers and adults as it involves a crime mystery. Since there are some disturbing sequences in the film, it is not aimed for too young viewers. The audience readings of the text would be a serial killer murder mystery, following the detectives along the investigation. It's like a "whodunit" except based on real events. It might also appeal to people who read about the murders when they actually happened all those years ago. I think western audiences will enjoy the film the most as it features definitive icons of the time periods culture, such as restaurants, TV shows, newspapers and just the locations set in the USA. The image of two young adults parking alone in a car is familiar to most western audiences and so being a British Teenager doesn't change that. Although I was not born when the murders happened, the film made me want to read up on the story, similarly as if I had been there to hear about it on the news, I would have done the same (this is also the motivation of the cartoonist in the film played by Jake Gyllenhaal). Institutional context: The film was produced by Phoenix Pictures and Rebel Road and distributed by Warner Bros and Paramount.Phoenix Pictures produce mainly thrillers and comedies. Warner Bros and Paramount distribute A LOT. Although this is an industrial film as it was distributed by a big studio, the budget was low compared to other film, being onlu $65 million. The A listers featured in the film are Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey Jr. This was before Iron Man (Favreau, 2008) and The Avengers (Whedon, 2012) so Ruffalo and Downey Jr. were not as popular as they are now.
This is the mind map of our initial concepts. We mentioned our inspirations and certain details. But one thing that both of us decided was that it would avert convention, expectations and feature a twist.
Key Iconography of Spy Thrillers: This subgenre centers on the concept of spies, espionage and exotic and varied locales, that give this type of film potential for action, suspense, and spectacle all in one package.
The characters are often archetypal, E.G. the masculine male lead, the femme fatale female companion, the arch nemesis antagonist, and the gadgets guy.
The main protagonists are often a part of a larger organisation or group of spies, E.G. James Bond in MI6, or Harry Hart in the Kingsman organisation.
Some common plots might involve gunfights, martial arts combat, chases in vehicles or on foot, political or economic strife, and often 'fate of the world' situations.
Often in spy films, the colour schemes are quite muted and coldly tinted, greys, light blues and blacks often dominate.
Lighting is generally quite low key and subtle, often connoting themes of the night, and how the characters use the darkness to their advantage.
Settings are often very varied and interesting, ranging from hostile locations such as deserts, tundra and jungles, to more familiar settings like an urban environment. Often the main antagonist has a secret base that the protagonist infiltrates in the final act of the film.
Some props can range from guns of all sorts; pistols and rifles, to unique gadgets that the main characters utilise skilfully to overcome jeopardy. There are often vehicles such as sports cars, trucks and other modes of transport that are often involved in a chase scene.
The main protagonist and antagonist are often dressed smartly, in suits or other formal ware, a staple of the genre defined by the James Bond series. In other situations, they might wear tactical or combat gear to aid them in the field. The femme fatale character is often depicted in something that represented her primarily as attractive, but also dangerous.
Nightcrawler (Gilroy, 2014) is a crime psychological crime thriller and is about a former thief who starts shooting footage of accidents and crimes in Los Angeles, selling the content to local news channels. On a budget of $8.5 million, it grossed $38.7 million worldwide with $32.4 million in north america alone.
Production:
The film is Dan Gilroy's directional debut.
Principal photography began in October 2013 in Los Angeles and lasted 27 days.
It’s been allocated a $2.3 million production tax credit from the state of California.
Gyllenhaal lost 20 lb (9.1 kg) for the role.
Took inspiration from stories of 1930s Crime photographers, and their modern-day equivalents.
The full production process took approximately 27 weeks from first shot to picture lock.
Distribution:
The film was distributed by various companies such as, Open Road Films for the US, Sierra / Affinity, Entertainment One for the UK etc...
The film had its world premiere at the Special Presentations section of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.
Relativity low marketing campaign due to low budget and lack of larger studio distribution. In the trailers when Jake Gyllenhaal is repeating his monologue in different locations was suggested by Gyllenhaal as a marketing hook.
The film got some Oscar buzz with it's original screenplay nomination.
I took a variety of different shots and shot sizes in order to experiment with the photography task.
This first image features:
A medium close-up shot, framing the protagonist's emotional response and body language.
The rule of thirds draws the audience's gaze instantly to the protagonist's eyes and the intense expression. The way half the face is framed in shadow is conventional of thriller and film noire.
The protagonist is prominent in the shot which connotes him as an important character.
The body language of the shot is dynamic, and one hand is not visible - this is connotative of danger, as if the character may be holding a weapon that the audience can't see.
Location appears rustic and rural, which connotes themes of stereotypical horror locations.
The second image features:
A long shot, framing the character against a larger location and focusing onto the environment.
Here the protagonist is far less prominent in the shot, connoting ideas of the underdog/outsider. It is representative of ideologies of the lone man against an oppressive society.
The large structure contrasts the small character, looming over him and representing him as subordinate.
The dark costume contrasts the light white structure.
The firm stance and body language carries connotations of rebelliousness.
The third image features:
Medium/Medium long shot, capturing the protagonist and his surrounding environment.
The populated location connotes urban themes, conventional of the thriller genre.
Mise-en-scene, make-up is used for blood on the face and hand, and bruising on the fingers and knuckles. The blood is connotative of violence, as if the character has been involved in a fight, making him appear dangerous.
The protagonist's tousled, messy hair is connotative of roughness and conflict.
Expression is serious and gaze is intense.
Dark costume is connotative of villainous or morally ambiguous characters.
The protagonist is very prominent in the shot, and the dark of his figure instantly draws the eye to him.
The fourth image features:
Medium/Medium long shot.
The character is gazing away from the audience which creates a dramatic tension.
The body language used here is connotative of the protagonist's search or hunt, perhaps for the antagonist of the film.
The dark black of the figure contrasts against the grey sky.
This silhouette like figure is dramatic and iconic, and the eye is instantly drawn there.
Key Iconography of Psychological Thrillers: This sub-genre focuses more on the mental thoughts and processes of the characters as a way of creating suspense and tension rather than physical means. These are often aimed at more intellectual audiences.
Heavy use of shadows, obscuring parts of the frame for dramatic and mysterious effect. Many characters are side lit, and the other half is covered in shadow. Silhouettes against brighter backgrounds, creating interesting shapes and framing. All to control what the audience sees. Dramatic and exaggerated lighting is used to further exaggerate the character's state of mind.
Colour palette wise, the main colours seem to be dark yellow/green with some cool blues. While each character has different clothing, many of the backgrounds and environments have a muddy yellow/green tone, creating contrast between the subjects.
Dark roads and dark fields are common. Dark interiors with bright spots of light.
The environments are natural and familiar places. A house, a hotel, a park, an industrial building etc.. They take place in regular environments.
Common plots are detective cases, murders, kidnappings, home invasion.
Main characters are often psychologically disturbed from a previous event or experience. The antagonist uses their mental state to attack them and cause them harm. Often the protagonists that the audience follows are anti-heroes. Sometimes, the protagonist is more disturbed and menacing than the perceived antagonist.
Twists are common but few are really jarring and unexpected. Clues are scattered throughout the entire film and only at the end, do the audience and perhaps the characters realise what is going on.
Features: - Subliminal Triangle shape used to guide the viewer’s eye’s around the image. - Antagonist is above the protagonist. Connoting his power and dominance. - Both characters are on the opposite sides of the first & second lines in the rule of thirds so everything is balanced. - Practical Street lamp lights the cars to help define the scene. - Car light outlines the antagonist and lightly outlines the protagonist. To appear frightening almost. - Out of frame street lamp lights the antagonists face from one side. - Contrast between trees and the sky helps to distinguish the background. - Overall image has blue and orange contrast. - Slight low angle helps to show the power between the two characters, but is still able to see the surroundings.
Location: Dark street at night, common thriller location. Contrasted and low key lighting creates mysterious mood and tone.
Suggested plot: The one on the ground has betrayed or deceived the antagonist in some way and he is now trying to either scare him or kill him. This was probably a surprise encounter.
Characterisation: The antagonist is powerful and influential as they have the car lights blinding the person on the ground. That person is probably young and impressionable. He is scared easily as well. The face of the antagonist is obscured and in shadow.
The Imitation Game (Tyldum, 2014) is a historical biographical drama thriller film based on the life of Alan Turing. The film was bought by The Weinstein Company for a sum of $7 million in February 2014, and made a huge turnover of $227 million from its $14 million budget.
Production:
Originally, the script was bought out with the knowledge that Leonardo DiCaprio might play the lead role.
Black Bear funded the entire $14 million budget, making it a co production with The Weinstein Company.
Principal photography began on 15 September 2013 in England. Filming locations included many historically relevant places such as Turing's former school, and Bletchley park, where he worked during the war.
The principle photography started on 15th of September 2013, and ended just over a month later in November of the same year.
The Bombe seen in the film was constructed from a replica of the original device, however prop designers chose to make it larger, and expose more of the inner workings to create a more dramatic set piece.
The $7 million paid for the film was the highest amount ever paid for US distribution rights for a film aimed at a European market.
Distribution:
The film had a unique interactive marketing campaign that utilised Web 2.0. Users could complete a crossword puzzle created by Turing himself, and be in with a chance of winning a trip to Bletchley park in London.
A large number of high quality photographs of characters and props from the film were released near the start of the advertising campaign. These featured Cumberbatch in character as Turing along with the prop replica of the Bombe.
There was a year long exhibition held in Bletchley park, that featured the replica Bombe used in the film, and other props and costumes used in the film.
The Imitation Game's theatrical release was split over the UK and US, releasing primarily in Britain in October 2014, appearing in limited US release on November 28th, before debuting nationwide on Christmas day of that same year.
This features: - Medium shot. - Balanced image with the siren on the right and the panel on the left. - Camera tracks inwards at a slow rate. Impending doom. - Room has tones of blue and purple and green, contrasting the flashing red lights. - Red lights connoting danger. - Low key lighting. - The woman would be hitting the door. - The room is filling with gas and it's getting more cloudy through the small window. - Some gas is seeping out from under the door and the sides. - This would be a long continuous shot, starting from just after it closed, when she would be hitting the door hard and nearly cracking the window, to later when the window would be cloudy and it would be dead silent. Storyboard 2
This features: - Close up shot. - Similar to the close up of Janet Leigh after her death. - But she is still alive, only barely, heavily breathing. - A figure emerges from the corridor. - The broken door of the closet can be seen with smoke coming out of it. - Dutch angle at 90 degrees. - Slight handheld motion. - Shallow depth of field to isolate the character and to obscure the other. - The blood is dark. - She is mainly backlit by the sirens and shady corridor lighting. - Brightened and contrasted eyes to show the characters emotions. Storyboard 3
This features: - Medium Shot. - High angle, showing vulnerability and danger. - Shadow of man appears from top left. - The woman can be seen crawling upwards on frame through the window, out of sight. - The smoke moves smoothly across the floor from the door frame. - Shadow moves down the frame while the legs crawl up the frame. - The corridor has multiple lights so there are other lighter shadows beside the main shadow, making him seem more threatening. - The flashing indicates a constant sense of fear. TK:
This features: - A medium close up shot. - Slowly tracking towards the left and across the scene. - The shot is framed in darkness, with the only light source being a round neon wall lamp in the background. - This casts shadows upon the man held hostage and casts a silhouette of the detective when he opens the door. - This gives the shot an eeriness to it. - The hostage is stereotypically seen as subordinate to the detective, whose presence in the frame denotes his power. - The movement of the camera connotes how the audience are peeking into the detective's personal life as they see a glimpse of his home, before the door is slammed and darkness returns to the shot.
The Horror
genre frequently works in a cyclical manner, with new subgenres being created
and subsequently being followed by a boom in that particular subgenre, wherein
the films recycle and reuse older ideas to generate interest and revenue.
Early Horror Pieces:
·Horror as
we know it started with Gothic Horror, with castles, corridors and an emphasis
on the unknown, stemming often from classic works of horror literature such as
Edgar Allen Poe.
·The
Haunted Castle (Melies, 1896) is credited as being the first ever horror film,
that took the form of a brief pantomimed comedy piece.
World
War influences:
·A style
known as German Expressionism took over in Europe, affecting art, literature,
and most importantly, film. More towards expression than realism.
·This gave
birth to one of the forefathers of horror, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (Wiene,
1920) which was a silent film and considered one of the most quintessential
works of Expressionist cinema in Europe.
·With the release of The Golem (Wegener, 1915) the
German film industry boomed and was the most prospering industry in Germany and
out of this was created the UFA – Universum Film AG – a motion picture
production company that was eventually purchased by Paramount and MGM in 1925.
Hollywood’s
takeover 1930 - 40’s
·Universal
pictures began a new cycle of gothic horror in America, starting with the
classic; Dracula (Browning, Freund, 1931)
·The cycle began to lose
steam towards the 1940’s.
·1942 saw
the release of Cat People (Tourneur, 1942), a film considered to be the forerunner of
Psychological horror.
Cold
war influences: 1950’s
·In the
60s, nearing the end of the classic studio system, the era of pulp science
fiction horror came to be, and by this time horror as a genre was incredibly
varied for its time.
·The
cycle began,
with The Thing (Nyby, 1951) and The Day the Earth Stood Still (Wise, 1951)
·Featured
more alien creatures from outer space.
Explosion
after Psycho: 1960’s
·Psycho
(Hitchcock, 1960) was released, widely considered to be one of the greatest and
most famous horror films of all time, and helped cement horror and
psychological horror as a serious and impactful genre with a lot of potential.
·The British film industry created the
Hammer gothic cycle. Hammer
studios began a gothic horror cycle of their own, rebooting it with a
combination of gore and sex that previously hadn’t been permitted in feature
films. This made the new generation of horror films a new and appealing
experience for audiences.
The immersion of new styles of Horror: 1965-80’s
·Films about satin and
more religious based topics were made, the most famous being The Exorcist (Friedkin,
1973).
·Jaws (Spielberg,
1975) set a good example as what is known today as a summer blockbuster. Started
the shark horror cycle and more creature films in general.
·Carrie (de Palma,
1976) started the teen horror genre.
·Alien (Scott, 1979)
merged horror and science fiction genres together.
·The Shining (Kubrick,
1980) proved to stand the test of time, and although it was not as popular when
it released, today it is considered a horror masterpiece.
Rise of independent film genres: 1974-80’s
·This time also saw
the rise of the slasher genre, which started with Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Hooper,
1974) but Halloween (Carpenter, 1978) hugely popularised it.
·Icons like Friday The
13th (Cunningham, 1980), one of the first studio backed slasher films, and
Nightmare on Elm Street (Craven, 1984) were created, and terrified audiences
around the world.
·In the 80s and early 90s there was an influx into
the Indie film scene, and because horror was such an accessible genre, films
such as The Blair Witch Project (Myrick, Sanchez, 1999) were created and became
massive cult hits.
·Contemporary horror brought with it new and exciting subgenres such as
the found footage film and torture porn, both of which became hugely successful
in the 90s and 2000s as special effects became better and better.
