Extreme Measures analysis (Scene 22), Independent Research. (REVISED)

Extreme Measures
Director: Michael Apted
1996
Company: Castle Rock Entertainment
User Comment:

“ ‘Extreme measures’ has a certain place in my top 10 of "the best suspense movies of the 90's". I think this movie has never received all the recognition it deserves. ‘Extreme measures’ delivers excellent acting, fascinating plot, cool action and lots of excitement and most important of all, it gives birth to a rather interesting ethical question.”

User Rating: 5.9/10

‘Extreme Measures’ is a film that many people would not immediately identify as a thriller movie. However, as the plot thickens the film shows an extraordinary amount of features usually related to a generic thriller. In the 22nd scene, we follow Guy (Hugh Grant) into a subway – which is a crucial convention of the thriller genre as it is a confined space – not only that, but it is isolated and dangerous. The lighting in this part of the film is noir, and matches the high emotion in the main characters and the plot.

There are places in the mise-en-scene that show smoke coming from somewhere in the railway, this suggests that it is broken – meaning it is abandoned. The smoke in itself creates tension as it is hard to see past or through the gas, and as it appears at random times throughout the scene, it has the ability to create a lot of suspense. The fact that the subway appears abandoned is a crucial detail, as it creates fear in the audience as they begin to wonder about the kind of people that live down there, and also that there would be nobody around to help if something went wrong.



Guy and the ‘mole’ he is following come to a crossroads in the underground. (pictured) This shot is important for many reasons. In the background, where the two tunnels disappear – one of the tunnels – the one that they have gone past – has a bright light which contrasts against the second which is completely dark. Similarly, the lights in the first tunnel are white, compared to the lights in the second tunnel that are red (the colour that connotates evil.) The two tunnels could represent the paths that Guy could take – the first one being if he turned back, and didn’t get involved with the mystery surrounding the plot, and the second being if he carried on in his path. It could represent ‘good’ and ‘evil.’ Also here we see the classic convention of the claustophobic space represented through the use of the underground. Similarly to how Essex Boys uses chairoscuro lighting in a similar style to that of The Third Man, the director here is paying tribute to Carol Reed (The Third Man) and similar directors by using similar ideas. The underground here also has a very confusing layout; a labyrinth - this is another representation of a convention to thriller films as they suggest both confusion and disorientation. T T Man also uses the idea of labyrinths in Vienna and add to the sense of a nightmare in the film.

The camera then pans down to a low mid-shot of Guy as he has to jump over a part of the track. (Pictured) This could represents the obstacles that stand in the way of the plot, or even things that are warning him (and the audience, alike) to turn back and follow the ‘good’ or ‘light’ route. The setting in the background of this photo is very plain, and as it goes further back it seems to become more and more blurred – which could represent the fact our main character could be losing his way or sense of direction. Thus, making this scene more tense as we are following them on the route to ‘the room’ and the audience can see how confusing it is, and how easily Guy could get lost or trapped within one of the various tunnels.



The audience follows Guy and ‘the mole’ down a set of stairs, leaving the light behind them and descending into more darkness. This could be another example of metaphor being used in this scene – saying that they are leaving the world of ‘good’ and descending into the dark and murky world that many people do not know about or mix with, or, on an even darker tone – it could be metaphorical for them descending into a hell. As the two characters go further down a set of stairs, the setting becomes darker, with wire fences and unappealing pipes (pictured.) In the photo, we see that ‘the mole’ has gone ahead to show Guy the way, and in doing so has walked behind the fence. This could be a method of showing the audience that ‘the mole’ is trapped in this lifestyle and has no choice, whereas our main character is free to do whatever he likes, however albeit having some hesitation, Guy follows him down representing the fact that he has gone too far now to turn back.



The roles within the two characters are then switched – the light now focusing on ‘the mole,’ and the darkness surrounding Guy. (pictured) This could signify the fact that ‘the mole’ knows where he is going and what the main character and the audience will find, and that Guy is completely ‘in the dark’ about the situation. The archway that ‘the mole’ has gone through in the picture could symbolise the change in lifestyles they are about to see – from Guy who is a wealthy doctor to people without a home that have been forced to live underground where they hope nobody will be able to hurt them.



The scene finishes with the two men standing together, both in light. This may suggest that Guy knows that they are near the end of their route, and is slightly more clear on what he has to do – however, ‘the mole’ is still the one holding the source of light, showing us that he is clearly in control.

The film is, overall, a lot better than I thought it would be and holds a lot of signifiers that make up the conventional thriller.

How Terry Winsor utlises the aspects of the Thriller genre in Essex Boys.(revised again)

Essex Boys
Director: Terry Winsor
2000
Company: Granada Film Productions
User Comment:

“Winsor's film, it seems to me, brilliantly evokes both the drabness and cruelty of the criminal mindset. It does this partly through the choice of dull, flat Essex landscapes with their coastal marshes, grey motorway links, flash nouveau riche mansions and the tawdry glamour of seafront locations. The characters are both repellent and yet curiously mesmerising. This is not a film in which it is easy to lose interest.”

User Rating: 5.9/10

As the film starts, the credits are shown through binary opposites of black and white with a chalk board effect. There are non diagetic sounds that accompany various lines that appear on the screen. This appears to the viewer to be either somebody scraping their nails down a chalkboard - a sound that many people hate - or somebody scratching at something in an attempt to escape. The sounds are that of a car alarm going off - something that connotes danger immedietly, or at the very least a sense of unease.

The dramatic music being played over the top (the soundtrack) begins to give the viewer a sense of unease or suspense, and the non-diagetic sounds mentioned earlier raise the tension before the audience can see a picture. The black screen is noir - a common feature of the Thriller, and it connotes gloom, danger and sorrow amongst many other emotions.




The establishing shot is of Billy in the garage (pictured), being lit by chairoscuro lighting which suggests not only the genre, but also communicates nightmare, suspense and the feeling that there is something to hide, this could be an intertextual nod to the extremely infamous thriller: "The Third Man" - which uses chairoscuro lighting effectively - in paticular during the sewer sequences. The fact that it is in a claustophobic space (a garage of which the audience is looking from one of the corners) is another generic feature of the Thriller, and the cobwebs crowding the garage making it hard to see clearly what is around. The mise-en-scene here is a brilliant example of a convention of a thriller film- noir lighting, creaks amongst the silence suggesting that anything could be about to happen.



The dark in the scene could represent the corruption of the characters or the darker side of the human soul. The colours and various features of the mise-en-scene make it seem slightly Gothic and our suspense is heightened as the dank chill of the garage is visualised in Billy's breath; this suggests that the garage is as cold as a tomb. It could be that the director here has used this method to suggest that Billy's character is cold-hearted - which could be here being represented through the weather. The sudden P.O.V shot of Billy's face against the darkness adds to the suspense and connotes his demonic nature. The fact that he is here after it has obviously been a long time and at night time make his character seem shady.

The unglamourous location (as seen in the above photo) and the low key dreary lighting are generic conventions whilst the voice over and the grey tint of the mise-en-scene are British cultural references.

The voice-over of Billy (a young man of around 18-20) - 'I'll try anything once' - breaks the silence of the scene, and we hear that the narrator has quite a soft voice and that he is from Essex - as the title of the film suggests. This technique is used to engage the audience, as it is as if the driver is speaking directly to him. His voice is informal, friendly and jokey - as if the audience is his friend. From this, it is clear that the film is going to be his story.

Billy sits in the car and continues his story, and as he mentions 'Jason Locke', he turns on the windscreen wipers and through a P.O.V shot (through Billy's perspective), the audience can see a man standing in the headlights of the car. (pictured) This is extremely clever, as the viewer only sees him once the mud on the windscreen has been wiped away, although the screen is still quite grimy. This connotes that Jason is dirty or has a dirty past, and that although his slate has been wiped clean (as the viewer learns he has just left prison), there is still something not quite right about him.

Many more generic features of the Thriller genre are used in the next scene: Billy is driving along an empty road, it is raining extremely hard, there are walls on either side of the road making it seem slightly claustrophobic, the skies are dark and the location is unglamorous and industrial. The empty road connates danger, as anything could happen and everybody would be oblivious - this along with the weather that is used in horror and thriller movies alike both increase the suspense.



The scene where they are driving through a deserted tunnel also created a lot of tension. The shape of the tunnel slightly resembles the barrel of a gun (pictured), which could foreshadow later events in the film. This is also an extremely big metaphor showing the audience signs of danger and violence.



In the same way, we later see a close up of Billy driving the car through the tunnel, however the lights are shining down in strips across the face of Billy in the foreground and Jason who is in the background. (Pictured) This could either represent the fact that Jason has just got out of prison, the fact that they're about to do something that is against the law, the fact that they will go to jail or the fact that they - or mainly, Jason - are criminals. Looking at it in a different way, it could also represent the fact that Billy is trapped with Jason as he is too naive to know any different, or too scared to disobey him. It may also show that Billy has been blinded by lights that may come with being asked by somebody so well known around his town (despite it being for the fact that he is so violent) to help him and was too starstuck (for lack of a better word) to turn him down.

Here, the voice-over begins again, with Billy informing the audience that they have 'picked up this truck.' - the truck in question being a white, unmarked truck. This in itself is another generic feature as anything could be happening within it - from kidnappings, smuggling of drugs, smuggling of illegal immigrants and much more. The rest of the mise-en-scene is in dark colours such as greys and blacks, with the atmosphere in the film still being quite sinister.

Presentation on the Film Industry.

This is the presentation I done that gives a little bit of information on the British films: London to Brighton, Red Road and This is England.




LONDON TO BRIGHTON

Production

The production for London to Brighton was done predominantly by Steel Mill Pictures. ‘London to Brighton’ was, in fact, the first ever film to be produced by Steel Mill Pictures and it was funded by ‘private equity’ and money from the UK Film Councils New Cinema Fund.

Producers: Alastair Clark, Rachel Robey and Ken Marshall.

Marketing

'London to Brighton’ was advertised using ‘below the line’ marketing – meaning that there had been no promotion or advertising planned (in this case, thanks to the lack of funding.) However, once released, the film was exhibited in many cinemas and screenings and ended up winning multiple awards – such as Best Achievement in Production (Raindance Awards), the Golden Hitchcock award, New Directors award, Most Promising Newcomer award, Festival Prize Best Feature Film and the July Prize UK Feature.

The film was also nominated for many more awards, including the Carl Foreman award for Most Promising Newcomer, British Actress of the Year, British Newcomer of the Year and British Producer of the Year amongst others.

Thanks to awards such as these, and positive reviews from many sources such as The Guardian (“a cracking debut feature with enough clout to kick the door in”) encouraged many to watch the film and played an enormous part in making the film a success.

Exhibition

On the official ‘London to Brighton’ website, they have listed the screenings of the movie. The film was shown in many parts of the country, being screened in Brixton, Brighton, Leeds, Southampton, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Manchester and Ipswich amongst many more.

There was an ‘Odeon Tour’ for the film in which the film was shown in various Odeon cinemas at varying times. Odeon showed the film in Norwich, Oxford, Port Solent, Preston, Rochdale and Salisbury on just the first leg of the ‘tour’ and ended up being exhibited in many other Odeon cinemas around the country. There were also many screenings that included Q&A sessions with the director to increase the interest in the movie.

RED ROAD

Production

The film was produced by Sigma Films in Glasgow and also by Zentropa in Denmark. Both the producers and directors had never filmed anything before. The casting process for this film was carried out whilst the script was still being written – this was to do with the fact that the producer wanted to ensure all of the directors were thinking along the same lines and wanted to head in the same direction so the film could be shot with little tension.

The directors then became deeply involved with the script writing, and changes such as the increase in number of characters were made.

Location was extremely important, and as none of the directors were familiar with the Glasgow area, they had no idea of any of the reputations. They ended up choosing the Red Road flats as a location as they believed the flats were visually striking and looked quite imposing – something that fit the theme of the film extremely well.

Executive Producers: Paul Trijbits, Claire Chapman, Lenny Crooks, David M. Thompson, Gillian Berrie and Sissie Graum Joergenson.

Producer: Carrie Comerford.

Marketing

In a similar way to 'London to Brighton,' 'Red Road' wasn't marketed much and were part of mostly below the line marketing. The film won 21 awards in total (including Most Promising Newcomer, Best Actor in a Scottish Film, Best Actress in a Scottish Film, Best Director, Best Film and Best Screenplay amonst many others.) On top of that, the film receieved anotehr seven nominations including the British Independent Film Award.

Reviews were another extremely important factor in the marketing of the film. The Guardian wrote that the film had " real and believable characters brought to life by very good actors: it's an undoubted success!"

Unfortunately, I couldn't find much on the exhibition of Red Road.

THIS IS ENGLAND

Production

During the casting of 'This Is England,' held auditions at special workshops designed to find the perfect actor for the lead role all over the country. The actor who plays the lead in This Is England was eventually found at The Space Project - in fact not one of the workshops set up for this purpose, but actually a scheme run for disadvantaged children with many of the members having been excluded from school.

To create the correct time period, those that worked on This Is England had to work within a very tight budget to create costume as well as decor and other props and parts of the set that would give away the time frame if not proeprly disguised. The actors for the film even had their hair cut and styled into Eighties styles (with one of the actresses having waist long hair shaved completely.)

Producer: Mark Herbert.

Marketing

This Is England is similar to the previous films studied - they had little above the line marketing (other than a trailer) and greatly depended on below the line advertising like the winning of awards and good reviews that would encourage people to watch the film.

In total, This Is England won eight awards including the BAFTA Film Award for Best British Film, British Independent Film Award and the Young Audiences award and were nominated for another 14 which included the BAFTA Film Award for Best Screenplay among many others.

Exhibition

This Is England has been exhibited throughout the country. The director of the film (Shane Meadows) has also attended many Question and Answer sessions in order to increase the popularity of the film.

The film has also been shown at many film festivals, including the British Independent Film Awards, and the Rome Film Festival (where it won awards in both.)

Panic Room Analysis - Scene Four (DRAFT)

The Thriller movie that I will be watching and analysing will be Panic Room - starring Jared Leto, Kristen Stewart and Jodie Foster.

Panic Room
Director: David Fincher
2002
Company: Columbia Pictures Corporation
User Comment:

"The movie is fantastic, full of twists, turns and jolts. The performance of Jared Leto was awesome. His character was funny and seemed to hold the action together. Jodie Foster is great, as usual, and Kristen Stewart was very good as the Sarah."

User Rating: 6.9/10

Panic Room tells the story of a woman and her daughter that have recently moved into a new house. On their first night, the house becomes victim of a burglary forcing the two new residents (played by Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart) to take cover in the house’s panic room.

At the beginning of the scene (14.50 into the movie), we see a close up shot of a window in the house. There are diagetic sounds of the rain hitting the windows, which is the first sign of a generic thriller in the scene. Through the glass, we can see that there is a mist or fog outside, which connotates confusion and mystery – foreshadowing what begins to happen a few minutes later in the film.

As the film cuts to a mid shot of Meg (Jodie Foster) in bed, we notice that there is a shadow cast over her and the bed. This could be a warning that something bad is about to happen to them, which will take the ‘light’ out of moving house. Another significant fact here is that the costume Meg is wearing is a grey that blends in with the bed sheets and pillow, this could tell us that she is overwhelmed by the life change and seems to want to merge into the background or just settle down without a hassle.



There is then an amazing low angle shot (pictured above) of Meg’s wine glass that we have previously seen her drinking from in the film. In the foreground, the glass immediately grabs the attention of the audience – it follows the rule of thirds which means that our eyes are automatically drawn to the image where we then notice that the colour of the wine left is red – a colour that connotates danger and blood. A warning. Then, the audience notices the background – in which we see Meg’s arm hanging from the bed – however; it almost looks corpselike, which not only goes with the theme of the shot (the blood-coloured wine etc.) but again gives us more clues as to what will come later in the film.

The camera pans away from Meg and the bed, and the audience can notice that nothing has been unpacked. There seems to be an isolation, where she is the only thing in this huge room with nowhere to hide, this is another feature of the generic thriller movie. The floor of the bedroom (as stated earlier in the film) is wooden, and this fact – along with the fact nothing has been unpacked – makes the room seem cold. There is then the fact that almost everything in the scene is a beige or grey colour with even the radiators and the curtains merging with the rest of the scene. It makes the room look emotionless and it shows that she is a stranger to the room as she has not had time to add her own touches. It can make the audience feel that she could be in a lot of danger as she obviously wouldn’t know the house well enough to escape if something happened.


The camera pans further until we are looking at the sleeping figure of Meg through the doorway. This gives the audience the feeling that we are intruding or watching when they shouldn’t be – and a feeling that somebody else as well as them could be watching. It then pans even further to beyond the banister of the stairs (pictured). This gives the feeling that Meg is trapped in her house, and the fact we can still slightly see her could signify that she is being watched, and that she has a lack of control – almost like an animal in a cage. Throughout all of this, the only thing the audience can hear is the sound of the rain against the windows.



We then follow the camera as it pans down two flights of stairs (which illustrates to us the difficulty of escaping if needs be, which increases the tension). Again, this shot notifies us of how empty the house seems thanks to the fact nothing has been unpacked. The camera focuses on the window and a car pulls up outside – the first sound in the scene different to that of the rain. Tense music begins to play, and the audience begin to feel more suspicious and on edge about the situation. A man steps out of the car, and walks towards the window – closer to both the house and the audience. As he walks along the window, the camera begins to track him and the audience knows for definite that something is not right.



The tense music begins to get louder as there is an extreme close up of the lock on the door, and as the camera pans back to the window, we can see one of the burglars clearly for the first time as he leans up against it to try and see in (pictured.) He is wearing gloves, which many people will find suspicious as it means he cannot leave fingerprints – a fact that lets us know he is doing something against the law. The bars across the window also separates us from Junior (the burglar), and gives the audience connotations of jail. The mise-en-scene of this shot is crucial, as it gives the audience many hints about the personality of this character.

Overall, I believe that this film is a brilliant example of a generic thriller film as it holds many characteristics – such as noir lighting (used at the greatest when we meet the burglars), rain and isolation amongst many other signifiers.