Film Genre - Thrillers

8/11/2019 Film Genre - Thrillers

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Film Genre - Thrillers

Stephen Hill 2010 1

Michael Caine in Get Carter and Cary Grant in North by Northwest: two classics of thethriller genre.

Genre and Film: Thillers

In this unit of work we focus on the generic conventions of thriller films, consideringwhat makes a thriller, why audiences like thrillers and their generic pleasures. Inaddition to this we focus on the technical construction of thrillers including aspects of

camerawork, editing and sound. Each section is accompanied by a variety of studenttasks, screen shots and suggestions for further investigation.

Thriller films are one of the most popular film genres. Unlike science fiction or action andadventure, thrillers tend to be taken more seriously by filmgoers and critics alike. In part thiscan be attributed to the powerful psychological experienceof watching an intense thriller.These are films designed to have the audience on the edge of the seat: the jeopardy of theprotagonist keeping the viewer in suspense. Alfred Hitchocks films are of coursesynonymous with the genre. In North by Northwest (1959), for example, the character ofRoger Thornhill (played by Cary Grant) is kidnapped when he is mistaken for a governmentagent George Kaplan. The ensuing action sees the tension buildas Thornhill tries to escapefrom his entrappers. And, indeed North by Northwest conform to one of the key conventionsof the genre in that not only is Thornhill involved in series of potentially deadly situations, butit is definitional of the genre that as the key character is very often unsuspecting of thedangerhe is in. Indeed, the notion that danger is abstract and unknown is a key motif of thegenre.

Dr Stephen Hill is Head of Media at The Burgate School and Sixth Form Centre in Fordingbridge,Hampshire; he also teaches Media Theory and Popular Music at Bournemouth Media School. HisPhD focused on the British music press in the 1980s and he is a regular contributor to Media Eduand Media Magazine. He is also the author of Media and Cultural Theoryand his latest academicpublication is a chapter on Smash Hits in British Culture and Society in the 1970s.

Student tasks

In pairs write down a list of as many films as you can think of in 60 seconds. Now gotthrough that list and highlight all the titles you think might be thrillers. Share you answerswith the group.

Watch a thriller from the BFI list of top ten thrillers. What makes it a thriller?

1. The Third Man (1949) 2. Brief Encounter (1945) 3. Lawrence of Arabia (1962) 4. The39 Steps (1935) 5. Great Expectations (1946) 6. Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) 7. Kes(1969)8. Don't Look Now (1973) 9. The Red Shoes (1948)10. Trainspotting (1996)

Extension task

Complete your own independent research into the thriller genre. What are the most

famous thrillers? What do critics regard as the best? What thriller made the most at thebox office? Record you answers in the form of a timeline.


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Stephen Hill 2010 2

Carol Reeds The Third Man and Alfred Hitchcocks The 39 Steps are both classicthrillers that utilise black and white cinematography to full effect.

Perhaps one of the reasons thrillers are so highly regarded by film buffs is that they givedirector the opportunity to show off their control of the production: all aspects of whichconspire to keep the audience on the edge of their seat. For example, in the openingsequence to Mike Hodges Get Carter (1971) the audience is beguiled by the soundtrack,

which mixes the diegetic noise of a train at speed with a staccato rhythm played on adouble bass. Likewise, the editing of the camerawork, which focuses on the detailed actionof Jack Carter (played by Michael Caine) as he moves about the train during the journey.Exemplary of this is the section in which he is seen taking an undisclosed prescription oftablets: the close-up on his hands holds the viewers gaze for just longer than iscomfortable, while simultaneously eliciting curiosity and fascination. It is this mastery of thecraft of filmmaking that good thrillers demand that so often places them ahead of other genresin the eyes aficionados. Carol Reeds The Third Man (1949), which often tops polls to findthe greatest British film of all time, was well-regarded by critics like Francois Truffaut, andother directors who wrote for the influential French periodical Cahiers du Cinema. Indeed, inmany ways Reeds film, which is set in seedy underworld of post-War Vienna, exemplified theCahier critics belief in the director as the author (or auteur as it became known) of the text.

Anglo-American directors we might consider to be auteurs and who have made aconsiderable numbers of thriller films include Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, AlfredHitchcock and Steven Spielberg.

Auteur Theory and Cahier du Cinema

First published in 1951, the French journal Cahier du Cinema (roughly translated asNotebooks on Cinema) was extremely influential on the development of film criticism inthe second half of the 20

thCentury. Cohered around the screening of two Parisian film

clubs, Objectif 49 and Cine-Club, the magazine was founded Andr Bazin, JacquesDoniol-Valcroze and Joseph-Marie Lo Duca. However, it was an article published in 1954by Francois Truffaut that attacked what he termed the French quality of certain films wasto be most influential. Emanating from this article, a manifesto was born for the lapolitique du Auters ( the politics of authors) the resulted in a re-evaluation of Hollywood

and European cinema alike. Auteur Theory, as it became known, was centred on thebelief that the director is the primary author/creator of the text. Though this personal visioncould be manifest in all aspects of the production, critics at Cahier du Cinema were wontto emphasise the importance of the mise-en-scene. Though Auteur Theory can be appliedto any film including mainstream Hollywood productions it is often associated with FrenchNew Wave cinema of the 1950s and 60s.

Student Activity

Choose a film from the French New Wave. Watch the film in its entirety and then choose afive-minute sequence. Perform a detailed textual analysis using the deconstructive tool kit

on the next page.


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Stephen Hill 2010 3

The films of Jean-Luc Goddard are synonymous with the French New Wave

Media Language the deconstructive toolkit

Camera Shots, Angle, Movement and Composition

Shots: establishing shot, master shot, close-up, mid-shot, long shot, wide shot, two-shot, aerial shot, point of view shot, over the shoulder shot, and variations of these.

Angle: high angle, low angle, canted angle. Movement: pan, tilt, track, dolly, crane,steadicam, hand-held, zoom, reverse zoom. Composition: framing, rule of thirds, depthof field deep and shallow focus, focus pulls.

Editing

Includes transition of image and sound continuity and non-continuity systems.Cutting: shot/reverse shot, eye line match, graphic match, action match, jump cut,crosscutting, parallel editing, cutaway; insert. Other transitions, dissolve, fade-in, fade-out, wipe, superimposition, long take, short take, slow motion, ellipsis and expansion oftime, post-production, visual effects.

SoundDiegetic and non-diegetic sound; synchronous/asynchronous sound; sound effects;sound motif, sound bridge, dialogue, voiceover, mode of address/direct address, soundmixing, sound perspective. Soundtrack: score, incidental music, themes and stings,ambient sound.

Mise-en-Scne

Production design: location, studio, set design, costume and make-up, properties.Li htin ; colour desi n.

Chronology of French New Wave Cinema

es Quatre Cents Coups(The 400 Blows, 1959) Francois Truffaut

Bout De Souffle (Breathless, 1960) Jean-Luc Godard

Tirez Sur Le Pianiste (Shoot the Pianist, 1960) Francois Truffaut

Les Bonnes Femmes (The Good Girls, 1960) Claude Chabrol

Jules et Jim (Jules and Jim, 1962) Francois Truffaut

Vivre Sa Vie (My Life to Live, 1962) Jean-Luc Godard

Le Mpris (Contempt, 1963) Jean-Luc Godard

Bande Part (Band of Outlaws, 1964) Jean-Luc Godard

Alphaville (1965) Jean-Luc Godard

Pierrot le Fou (The 400 Blows, 1965) Jean-Luc Godard

Week-End (1967) Jean-Luc Godard

Ma Nuit Chez Maud (My Night With Maud, 1969) Eric Rohmer

Le Boucher (The Butcher, 1970) Claude Chabrol

Celine & Julie Vont En Bateau (Celine & Julie Go Boating, 1974) Jacques Rivette


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Stephen Hill 2010 4

Though Steven Spielberg is synonymous with big-budget Hollywood epics likeSchindlers List and Saving Private Ryan, in heir own way both films are thrillers:

utilising techniques learnt making earlier films like Jaws and Duel.

Having said all of that many thrillers are hybrids and, indeed, one of the most popular cross-breads is that of thrillers and action and adventure. Steven Spielberg, for example, has madehis name with a series of high budget productions that include E.T (1982), Schindlers List(1993), Saving Private Ryan (1998). However, one of his earliest production, a made fortelevision movie called Duel (1971), utilised the conventions of thriller to over-come thelimitations of producing an action thriller on a more modest budget. The action follows theexperiences of David Mann who is pursued by Peterbilt tanker truck whilst driving his 1971Plymouth across the desert. The film takes the form of a series of cat and mouse like carchases as the tanker at first tail-gates Mann before trying to drive him off the road and into thepath of speeding train. The film features very little dialogueand most of the action is on thehighway: indeed, the identity of the truck diver is never revealed. However, Spielberg makesthe film memorable by deploying many of the conventions of a thriller: the menace isunknown, the use of diegetic sound emphasises jeopardy and the camerawork holds theshot for just longer than is comfortable. Though Jaws (1975) is much higher budget

production, indeed it broke new ground for the way in which films are marketed anddistributed, pioneering the concept of the summer blockbuster, it draws upon many of theskills Spielberg honed with Duel. In particular the film, which details a series of shark attacksat an American seaside resort, relies heavily upon soundtrack to create a sense offoreboding and menace. Ingenious use of props, in particular the trailing of a model sharksfin through the water, creates some extremely memorable scenes. Though this is augmentedby shots of mechanical shark filmed in a specially constructed tank in the film studio, overallthe films relies heavily upon the power of suggestion.

Student Task

Watch one of the Steven Spielberg films below. Consider the extent do these epic

blockbusters adhere to the recipe for thrillers?

Duel (1971)Jaws (1975)Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)Raiders of the Lost Arc (1981)E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (1982)The Color Purple (1985)Jurassic Park (1993)Schindlers List (1993)Saving Private Ryan (1998)Minority Report (2002)


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Stephen Hill 2010 5

The latter half of the 20th Century saw a profusion of thrillers like David Lynchs BlueVelvet and Quentin Tarantinos Pulp Fiction that explored the medium in more reflexive

and self-conscious way: borrowing and reworking elements of film history, particularly

the conventions of film noir.

There are also examples of sub-genreswithin the broader category of thriller films. Film noirfor example is perhaps the most well known. The sub-genre adheres to all the usualconventions of the thriller genre, however, is often draws upon dark crime-fiction stories. Itssinister subject matter is not, however, where the film noir genre gets its name from but ratherthe shadowy nature of the cinematography, which tends to emphasise black and whitecontrast. Though classic of the genre were mostly made in the 1940s and include BillyWilders Double Indemnity (1944) and Tay Garnetts The Postman Always Rings Twice(1946), contemporary audiences are perhaps more familiar the highly stylised and self-referential conventions of neo-Noirs like David Lynchs Blue Velvet (1986) and QuentinTarantinos Pulp Fiction (1994). Likewise horror films are closely linked to thrillers:Hitchcocks Psycho, for example, walks the line between the two genres. Though the horror

is implied, there is a genuine sense of menace. Likewise, William Friedkins The Exorcist(1973) utilises the special effects with which horror is synonymous while teasing the audiencewith camerawork that foregrounds a sense of mystery and foreboding. The proliferation ofvideotapes in the 1980s saw a rise in the popularity of horror genre with the market for 18certificate movies expanding considerable. However, as audience taste became more tolerantof explicit gore and violence the horror genre arguably moved away from the impliedbrutalitythat characterises thrillers. Indeed, recent years have seen a rise in the number of horrorparodies: films like Scary Movie (2000) and Shaun of the Dead (2004), which self-consciously spoof the generic conventions of horror.

Student tasks

StarterBrainstorm as many films that fit the conventions of more than one genre .

Discussion

What are hybrid films?Why are they popular?What genres go well together? What hybrids work?

Paired activityPick a thriller you know well that you think might be a hybrid. List ways in which it fit theconventions of thriller and then list the conventions that fit with the other genre.

Extension Task

Put together a treatment for a hybrid thriller. Storyboard eight shots from the film.


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Stephen Hill 2010 6

Kirk Douglas in Out of the Past (1947) is classic noir, while Marlene Dietrichs roles inJosef Von Sternbergs films of the 1930s set the template for the femme fatale.

Focus on Film Noir

Though film noir is a distinct sub-genre of thriller it is perhaps one of the most well known.In the popular imagination the conventions of film noir are often interchangeable withthose of thriller films in general. In particular the genre is synonymous with low-key, backand white cinematography and in this sense it has it origins in the visual style of earlyGerman Expressionist films. However, film noir is in fact a mainstream Hollywood formatthat was particularly popular during the 1940s and 50s. From a thematic perspective filmnoir tends to focus on the seedier side of like, which is part a reflection Depression era

America. Crime is central plot device and cynical attitudes towards sex and femalecharacters permeate the genre. A typical film noir is often centred on the investigations ofa private detective or and isolated everyman figure lured into extraordinary and dangerouscircumstances. In this respect the influence of noir can be felt on more mainstreamthrillers like Hitchcocks North by Northwest and even Spielbergs Duel. However, asmodern American cinema developed noir evolved into a more reflexive self-conscious

genre with films like David Lynchs Blue Velvet and Tarantinos Pulp Fiction playing withthe genre conventions in a more reflexive and thoroughly post-modern manner.

Focus on postmodernism

Postmodernism can be defined as the collapse of distinction between the real andsimulatedand the blurring of boundaries between the physical world and its significationin society and culture. In a simplistic sense we could argue that early mans use of smokesignals was a form of post-modernism. The relationship between what is being signifiedand what is actually meant is in this sense arbitrary i.e. only understood because of acommon consensus on what symbols means not because there is any connection theform or pattern and meaning. In a more contemporary context post-modernism can be

seen in the way in which media texts play with their own statusand conventions. In thissense, they acknowledge the arbitrary nature of the meaning that is being communicated.

Another key convention is that of intertextuality: the way in which post-modern textshave the tendency to borrow, re-work and parody the conventions of other texts.

Watch Pulp Fiction (1994) by Quentin Tarantino. Discuss the way in which the films playswith its own status and makes self conscious reference to film history.

In your discussion you might wish to use the following terms

Intertextuality Parody/Pastiche Homage Hybridity


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Stephen Hill 2010 7

Gloria Swanson plays Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, which tops the IMDB TopTen Film Noirs.

Student Tasks

As a class watch one of the film noirs from the IMDB top ten film noir list. Make notes onwhat makes film noir a dictinct sub genre of thriller.

Plan film and edit your own thirty second film noir. Someone enters a room andthree lines of dialogue are exchanged. Include match-on-match action and observe

the 180s degree rule.

IMDB Top Ten Film Noir

1. Sunset Boulevard directed by Billy Wilder (1950)

A hack screenwriter writes a screenplay for a former silent-film star who has faded intoHollywood obscurity.

2. Key Largo directed by John Huston (1948)A man visits his old friend's hotel and finds a gangster running things. As a hurricaneapproaches, the two end up confronting each other.3. The Third Man directed by Carol Reed (1949)

Arriving in Vienna, Holly Martins learns that his friend Harry Lime, who has invited him,recently died in a car accident.4. Double Indemnity directed by Billy Wilder (1944)

An insurance rep lets himself be talked into a murder/insurance fraud scheme thatarouses an insurance investigator's suspicions.5. Notorious directed by Alfred Hitchcock (1946)

A woman is asked to spy on a group of Nazi friends in South America. How far will shehave to go to ingratiate herself with them?6. The Maltese Falcon directed by John Huston (1941)

A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, agorgeous liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette.7. Touch of Evil directed by Orson Welles (1958)Stark, perverse story of murder, kidnapping, and police corruption in Mexican bordertown.8. Strangers on a Train directed by Alfred Hitchcock (1951)

A psychotic socialite confronts a pro tennis star with a theory on how two completestrangers can get away with murder...a theory that he plans to implement.9. The Night of the Hunter directed by Charles Laughton (1955)

A religious fanatic marries a gullible widow whose young children are reluctant to tell himwhere their real daddy hid $10,000 he'd stolen in a robbery.10. The Big Sleep directed by Howard Hawks (1946)Private detective Philip Marlowe is hired by a rich family. Before the complex case is over,

he's seen murder, blackmail, and what might be love.


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Stephen Hill 2010 8

Progressive, Regressive and Mavericks are the signs of life in any film genre:Spielbergs Duel, Lynchs Blue Velvet and Tarantinos Pulp Fiction arguable fit these

descriptions.

Progressives

Stephen Spielbergs first feature film Duel combines the generic conventions of thriller withaction and adventure to create a film that keeps the audience on the edge of their seat. Thebright mise-en-scene and the use of cameras mounted on vehicles are a far cry from the dark

and mysterious surroundings of 1940s Film Noir.

RegressiveThough produced in the 1980s David Lynchs Blue Velvet (1986) is set in the 1950s andreinvokes many of the visual codes of classic film noir. In particular, the film explores the role ofthe voyeur: a classic genre motif. Likewise, both mise en scene and soundtrack are meticulousin their attention to period detail.

Maverick

Perhaps one of the most popular examples of thrillers that have made an impression on themainstream is Quentin Tarantinos Pulp Fiction(1994). The film is, on the one hand, a homageto film noir and the trashy fiction novels of the 1950s. On the other hand, it also an incredibleself-reflexive film, which makes reference to its own constructed nature throughout.

Link to OCR AS G321: Foundation Portfolio in Media

Video

Preliminary exercise: Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door,crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/hethen exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action,shot/reverse shot, and the 180-degree rule.

Main task: the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes.

All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with theexception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source.

A promotion package for a new film, to include a teaser trailer, together with two of thefollowing three options: A website homepage for the film; A film magazine front cover,featuring the film; A poster for the film.

The presentation of the research, planning and evaluation may take the form of any one, orcombination of two or more, of the following: a presentation using slideshow software such asPowerpoint; a blog or website; a podcast; a DVD with extras.


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Stephen Hill 2010 9

Film Censorship and Classification

The censorship of film is about a complex network of social values that categorise onething as Art and another as obscenity. Consequently, the arguments for and againststricter censorship of film change over time and have to be considered within thecultural and social contexts specific to the film. For example, Ben Hur (1959) wasbanned in China for the "propaganda of superstitious beliefs namely Christianity.

Likewise, the Charlie Chaplin film The Great Dictator (1940), which satirised theleadership of Adolph Hitler was banned in Nazi Germany. Yet, neither of these filmswas considered controversial in either the UK or the US at the time their release.

From an institutional perspective it is important to note the difference betweencensorship and classification. While censorship implies state intervention to prevent thepublic exhibition of a cinematic work, classification is about empowering the audience tomake appropriate consumer choice. Consequently, while the British Board of FilmClassification has clear guidelines that denote the content of forthcoming releases thepower to ban the screening of a film in cinema rests with individual town councils. Theduality of this system has resulted in some notable inconsistencies. For example DavidCronenburgs Crash(1996) was banned in some metropolitan areas and not in others.However, the advantage of this system is that it distances central government from

issues of censorship. For example, when a minister from the home office wished toattend a screening of Clockwork Orangein 1971 the BBFC arranged for it to take placeoff the premises; the organisation wished to protect its integrity as an independentoperation whose guidelines have been developed in consultation with the public. Thepositive benefits of this dialogue were demonstrated in the appeal to lower theclassification of Platoon from an 18 to a 15 on the grounds that the film was ofeducational significance to audience members in that age bracket.

While film classification in the UK has a history of pragmatism, in the US there hasbeen a tendency towards ideological intervention. For example, from the early 1930sthe Hayes Code offered Hollywood studios advice on how to ensure their filmspromotes positive moral values. Influenced by the Catholic controlled Legion ofDecency in retrospect it is uncertain to what extent adherence to the code was a

product of ideological conviction or financial expedience; the Legion had the power tocall for nationwide boycotts if films threatened Christian values. Nearly eighty years on,the reasons for the controversy surrounding MGMs Freaks seem confusing. From acontemporary perspective the representation of physical disfigurement seems anobvious point of debate. However, as the revisions to the films ending demonstrate, itwas actually the audiences sympathy for the perpetrators of crime that is problematic.


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Stephen Hill 2010 10

BFIs Top Ten Best Thriller Films

1. The Third Man(1949)Directed by Carol ReedCast: Joseph Cotten, Trevor Howard, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, Bernard Lee, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Ernst Deutsch, Siegfried Breuer, ErichPonto, Paul Hoerbiger

After half a century, The Third Man remains a bona fideBritish classic: rich on atmosphere, strong on suspense and blessed with quitewonderful performances. A true collaboration between director Carol Reed and screenwriter Graham Greene, it is the story of a simple

American (Cotten) who arrives in post-war Vienna to meet his old friend Harry Lime (Welles, evil and extraordinary), only to learn that Lime

has been killed in an accident.

2. Brief Encounter (1945)Directed by David LeanCast: Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway, Joyce Carey, Cyril Raymond, Valentine Dyall

A rightly celebrated tear-jerker which movingly recreates a little England on a northern railway platform (location: Carnforth, Lancashire). Itshows that even the repressed British can display emotion (in a very understated manner, of course) when true love comes along. DavidLean directed this expansion of Noel Coward's one-act play Still Life.

3. Lawrence of Arabia(1962)Directed by David LeanCast: Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Arthur Kennedy, Jack Hawkins, Donald Wolfit, Claude Rains, Anthony Quayle, Alec Guinness, AnthonyQuinn, Jose Ferrer, Michel Ray, Zia Mohyeddin

A truly epic film which won the Best Picture Oscar and BAFTA awards. Staggering in its scope, execution and impact, it remains a movingand memorable film-going experience. Director David Lean and screenwriters Robert Bolt and (originally uncredited) Michael Wilsoncombined to craft a story that seems to have two central characters - Lawrence himself (played with charismatic brilliance by 30 year-old

Peter O'Toole) and the shifting desert so superbly photographed in glorious 70mm by Freddie Young.

4. The 39 Steps(1935)Directed by Alfred HitchcockCast: Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, Godfrey Tearle, Lucie Mannheim, Peggy Ashcroft, John Laurie, Wylie Watson, Helen Haye, FrankCellierOne of the greatest Hitchcock films and by far the best of the three big-screen versions of John Buchan's romping adventure novel, written in1915. The excellent Robert Donat is the innocent engineer caught up in a web of intrigue when a female spy is killed in his apartment.

5. Great Expectations(1946)Directed by David LeanCast: John Mills, Bernard Miles, Finlay Currie, Martita Hunt, Valerie Hobson, Jean Simmons, Alec Guinness, Francis L. Sullivan, AnthonyWager, Ivor Barnard, Freda Jackson, Hay Petrie, O.B. Clarence, George Hayes, Torin Thatcher, Eileen Erskine

A masterly adaptation of Dickens' much-loved story, which fluently blends excitement, suspense and emotion. The memorable openingsequence of young Pip meeting Magwitch in the graveyard brilliantly sets the film in motion, and director David Lean handles the transitionsfrom fear to drama and on to comedy with extraordinary ease.

6. Kind Hearts and Coronets(1949)Directed by Robert HamerCast: Dennis Price, Alec Guinness, Valerie Hobson, Joan Greenwood, Miles Malleson, Arthur Lowe

A deliciously dark Ealing comedy that elegantly allows the audience to side with the ki ller as he sets about his task. Dennis Price plays thepenniless young hero, ninth in line to inherit the D'Ascoyne dukedom, who systematically sets about murdering the eight in the way to histitle.

7. Kes(1969)Directed by Ken LoachCast: David Bradley, Lynne Perrie, Colin Welland, Freddie Fletcher, Brian GloverKen Loach's engagingly unsentimental story of a working-class boy who manages to find a rare release from his drab life training and caringfor a kestrel. Much-loved and well remembered, the film is regarded as a classic of its time, with Loach commenting poignantly on the lack ofopportunities for the working classes.

8. Don't Look Now(1973)Directed by Nic Roeg

Cast: Donald Sutherland, Julie Christie, Hilary Mason, Clelia Matania, Massimo SerratoStunningly assembled by Nic Roeg, this remains one of the most disturbing of films, with the hint of terror lurking in almost every scene. JulieChristie and Donald Sutherland are the parents whose drowned daughter may be sending them messages, leading them into the gothiclabyrinthine of a deserted Venice.

9. The Red Shoes(1948)Directed by Michael Powell, Emeric PressburgerCast: Anton Walbrook, Moira Shearer, Marius Goring, Robert Helpmann, Albert Basserman, Frederick Ashton, Leonide Massine, LudmillaTcherina, Esmond Knight

An extraordinarily imaginative fi lm which has quietly established itself as a classic and has the ability to affect some viewers deeply. At itsheart is a 14-minute ballet - also called The Red Shoes- based on a Hans Christian Andersen story of a wicked shoe-maker who makesslippers for a young woman who finds they won't let her stop dancing until she dies, exhausted.

10. Trainspotting(1996)Directed by Danny BoyleCast: Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle, Kelly Macdonald, Kevin McKidd, Peter Mullan, Irvine Welsh

Dark, ironic and made with such style and power, Trainspottingarrived in cinema's centenary year as a much-needed push for British film.Brilliantly marketed and with a pulsating soundtrack, it put Scottish and British talent in the spotlight, and showed that the awful truth of drug-taking could be handled in a clever, witty but still disturbing way


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Basic Media Studies Glossary

Aerial shot - a shot from a crane, plane, or helicopter.

Bias - a preference that interferes with objective judgements.

Camera angle - the position of the camera relative to the horizontal plane of the subject. In a high-angle shot, the camera is above the subject; in an eye-level or flat shot, the camera is on thesame plane as the subject; in a low-angle shot, the camera is below the subject. Camera anglesshould make sense within the context of the shot.

Camera distance - the apparent distance of the camera from the subject (extreme close (XCU),close-up (CU), medium shot (MS), long shot (LS)).

Code - a system of signs--verbal, aural or visual--used to convey meaning.

Composition (visual media) - the placement and use of all the various elements in the frame of amovie, television show, or photograph in order to achieve maximum impact.

Continuity - the scripted part of a documentary program that introduces the topic, connects thevarious components (usually recorded interviews), and concludes the program; providescoherence to the disparate components of these programs.

Convention - a generally accepted custom or an established rule.

Crosscutting - intermingling shots of different events, used to suggest parallels or to createsuspense.

Dissolve - the superimposition of one shot, which is fading out, on the next shot that is fading in.

Editing - a process of selecting, arranging, and combining shots.

Episode - one show of a television series.

Establishing shot (ES) - generally a long shot or extreme long shot used to show the setting.

Extreme close up (ECU) - a close up in which a small detail fills the entire screen.

Extreme long shot (ELS) - a very wide shot, often a panoramic view.

Fade-in - a shot that begins totally over or under exposed (white or black) and gradually becomesproperly exposed.

Fade-out - a shot that ends by changing from the proper exposure to an extreme under or overexposure.

Fast motion - the opposite of slow motion (i.e., filmed at fewer than 24 frames per second).

Frame - a single, still image from a film or video.

Freeze frame - an effect in which a single frame is held on screen for an indefinite time.

Genre - a way to classify prose, poetry, drama, and other media.

High angle shot - a shot in which the camera looks down upon the subject from a higher vantagepoint.


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Jump cut - an abrupt and jarring change from shot to shot or scene to scene.

Juxtaposition - the positioning of items side by side or close together.

Long shot (LS) - a wide shot or a scene, which relates the subject to the background or setting.

Low angle shot - a shot in which the camera looks up at the subject from a lower vantage point.

Media effects - a general term that refers to the consequences or impacts of media use onindividuals, society, and culture.

Medium shot (MS) - a medium close shot in which the head, shoulders, and chest are normallyincluded in the frame.

Montage - a sequence of shots cut together often in a stylized way, to suggest a theme or idearather than a continuous event.

Narration - a scripted voice-over commentary, read by a narrator or participant in a film.

Pan - short for "panoramic" shot; a horizontal movement in which the camera is turned from theleft to right or right to left to follow a moving subject or give a sweeping view across a scene.

Patch - the process of connecting audio devices so that the sound, in the form of electricalenergy, is transferred from one to the other.

Point of view (POV) - a subjective shot that shows the point of view of a particular character.

Scene - a clearly identifiable part of an event, usually in a single location and in a single timespan; it generally consists of several shots.

Sound editing - stage in which sound effects and music are added to program.

Sound effects (SFX, FX) - sound from any source other than voice-over narration, lip-sync, ormusic.

Stereotype - a highly opinionated, predictable, biased, and simplistic view.

Storyboard - a "short shot" script which includes drawings of each shot for a movie or for sometelevision shows.

Synchronized sound - the matching of sound to action on the screen.

Text - anything that is read, listened to, or viewed.

Tilt - the vertical equivalent of a pan, in which the camera is titled up or down.

Tracking shot (dolly shot) - a shot in which the camera is mounted on a wheeled platform ordolly to create smooth, steady movements.

Travelling shot - a shot taken from a moving vehicle.

Zoom shot - camera shot that creates the illusion of moving toward or away from a subjectsimply by changing the focal length of the lens. A Zoom In magnifies objects to make themappear close; a Zoom Out widens the angle view, making objects appear to move farther away.

Film Genre - Thrillers

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