Domestic Danger Storyboard

Domestic Danger

Domestic Danger is a short film sequence that I have made. The plot is about a woman who has mental health issues which causes her to kill. I got the idea for my film sequence from the popular TV series Dexter, as in the opening titles there is also links to food and drink being referred to murder and blood. The different reference to blood and murder include the squashing of the strawberries, straining of the raspberry tea and the colour of the raspberry tea. I asked my sister to play the role of the murder victim in the shadow shot. I filmed from an iPhone so I had to find different methods of getting the camera straight. In order to make the film more interesting I used different camera angles and played with different lighting effects.

The Dark Knight Rises Title Sequence Analysis

The opening title sequences are very dark in order to conform to thriller conventions as it ties in with the enigma and voyeurism themes related to thrillers. There is lots of non-diegetic sound through the mood music. It is quite dramatic and eerie which, when combined with the close up shots throughout the titles, gives a sinister look to the film, developing thriller conventions as it develops the ideas of enigma to a new level. There is lots of close up shots and the only part of a human we see is hands. This is used to emphasise the control and manipulation from this character. This is also seen through the fact that the characters is moving and distorting the other characters pictures throughout the sequence highlights the manipulation he has. Most of the camera shots are canted to show how unorthodox the situation is. This develops thriller conventions as, although there is a lot of mystery, there is a physiological element to it through the canted angles disorientating the audience. The ‘Batman’ symbol is seen a lot throughout the title sequence as well as some newspaper cuttings to show the semiology. This could lead to the audience thinking that the hands in the title sequence are coming from ‘The Batman’ as he clearly has a lot of control over the city and over other characters. 

The final scene is very different to the rest of the title sequence. It shows a very white setting, with a lone, black Batman mask in the middle. This highlights how alone some characters feel in thrillers, both complying and developing conventions as it isn’t usually the hero who feels alone, but in this case it is. This shows how maybe everything isn’t as it seems, again complying with thriller conventions as it highlights the enigma. The director cleverly controls the mise-en-scene by including a lot of editing in this sequence. The high amount of editing shows that nothing will fit together and everything is as a blur. This is also seen through the camera shots as when they smash cut sometimes it is difficult to see what is in the shot. This develops thriller conventions as it both highlights enigma but also develops the voyeurism as nothing can be seen properly, even in the light. Towards the end also, the newspaper cuttings are torn up and linked together very quickly and match cut is used as a pose to smash cut. This shows how quickly time can move on and, due to the manipulation representation through hands, challenges conventions as characters aren’t supposed to be controlling, but deceitful.

Trance Spoiler

Trance, director Danny Boyle’s latest film, is a story about a young man, Simon, played by James McAvoy, who works in a high profile art auction house and who during a robbery heroically attempts to protect a Goya painting from the robbers.... Except that (previously) he has amassed some serious gambling debts and has let these debts be cleared by an accomplished criminal, Franck, (played by Vincent Cassel) for which in return he agrees to help Franck and his henchmen steal the Goya painting from the London auction house where he works. Except that he tricks Franck and steals the painting himself. The protagonist is also in on the robbery. 

Except that previous to the robbery Simon has gone to a hypnotherapist, Elizabeth Lamb, played by gorgeous Rosario Dawson, to help him overcome his gambling addiction. However she then breaks professional protocol and they begin a relationship which then devolves as Simon becomes obsessively and violently in love with her.  And so she, in order to get him out of her life and take revenge, has put him back into his gambling addiction and programmed him to steal the Goya painting so she would eventually get the painting herself, her “compensation” for the torment he has caused her. 

Except that Simon got hit on the head during the robbery and having stolen the painting can’t remember where he'd hidden it. Now he has Franck torturing him and Elizabeth lamb delving into his mind to dig out the truth.

Side Effects Spoiler

Side Effects is an unusual murder-mystery in that the main question isn't about who the killer is. Instead, we wonder whether the motive of the killer - Emily(Rooney Mara), a depressed woman dealing with her husband’s release from jail—might have been some unpleasant side effects from a new antidepressant she is taking. Those who have already seen the movie know that’s not exactly the full story: that the “sleepwalking” was premeditated—and all of the typical movie-mystery questions are unraveled by her doctor (Jude Law) at movie’s end.

But was Emily really faking illness all along, or is there something wrong in her head beyond mere greed and anger? And, if she was faking it, how should the audience feel about where she ends up—committed, in a Kafkaesque twist that dooms her by her own protestations of healthiness, to a mental institution. Emily winds up right where she belongs which becomes the ending for this film.

Thriller Sub-Genres

I made this Prezi slideshow to show the different Thriller Sub-Genres. Originally, I made this for my group production to show the research that we have done in order to have a feel for what we could do for our own Thriller Opening.

New TV Drama Blog

I have created a new blog for the TV Drama part of my AS Media Studies course. I share this blog with Liam who is my partner in our TV Drama lessons. So far I have added a post about Ethnic Identity and Regional Identity.