Media coursework: Psycho
Media coursework: Psycho How does Hitchcock create and maintain suspense in his 1960s film 'Psycho'? Focus on the build up to the shower scene. The 1960's movie 'Psycho', produced by Alfred Hitchcock, was undoubtedly a groundbreaking and revolutionary film. At the movies release, the aspect of the unbearable suspense had been emphasised from the advertising posters, requesting the public not to disclose the end of the movie and informing them that nobody would be able to enter the cinema after the film had begun. Today, 'Psycho' is often referred to as the 'mother of the modern horror movie' as it is the first horror movie that received so much success. This is most probably due to the variety of clever techniques used by Hitchcock to create and maintain suspense in this outstanding film. These devices include camera shots, music, graphics and dramatic irony. 'Psycho' dealt with issues on screen that had not been shown before and seemed totally unacceptable. Nobody had seen a toilet being flushed on TV before. This was because the toilet was considered a private place and for it to be shown on screen in front of an audience was thought to be rude and uncivilized. Furthermore, it was the first time ever that a woman wearing a bra on screen had been exposed. This seemed totally unthinkable at the time and offended many people. This is in view of the fact that the general
Micro essay
Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet is adapted from the play written by Shakespeare, it is about two rivaling families, the Capulet's and the Montague's, they have been feuding for generations, one day the daughter of Capulet and the son of Montague meet and fall in love at first sight. However forced to keep their love a secret many bad things happen to them eventually resorting in untimely death and despair for both families. Baz Luhrmann wanted his film to reflect the play almost exactly and used clever mise en scene to do so. The mise en scene at the beginning of the party sequence reveals Capulet mansion lit up then it cuts to Romeo his mask is being placed upon his face, his disguise, inside the mansion the music begins and lots of dancing starts to happen at which point it shows Romeo spinning. This is to let us know that Romeo is on drugs, in the previous scene he had taken a drug given to him by Mercutio, all around him things are moving in slow motion the scene then quickly turns manic this is evident by everyone moving faster than normal which is mirrored through camera movement and the type of music playing. The camera then focuses on Mercutio singing and having a good time being the center of attention. Mise en scene here is really playing with the viewer by showing Mercutio as the center of attention and getting the viewer to be inside the mind of Romeo and his
Pulp fiction review
Pulp fiction review PULP FICTION is a singular show. The best way to describe it is that it is as if you sit down in the movie theatre and are immediately transported to a roller coaster going full speed through a fun house of ghoulish images. If extreme violence (e.g., brains blown on car windows) is something you can not endure, if 700 uses of the F word is something you can not tolerate, if heavy drug use is something you care never to see (cocaine is passé we learn, all of the in-gangsters now do heroin), then do not pay your money to see PULP FICTION. On the other hand, all of the above really works in this show. This is a parody of criminal life and a really funny one. This is a show that takes one chance after another. John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson are nothing short of terrific in it. Oscars are possible here. They play the hit men for a major bad guy (Marcellus Wallace). The bad guy is also paying a boxer (Bruce Willis) to take a dive. Harvey Keitel plays a fixer of problems for the bad guy. Tim Roth and Amanda Plummer play a couple of two-bit crooks that like robbing restaurants because nobody else does that. Eric Stoltz plays a low class drug dealer and Rosanna Arquette plays his girlfriend who has rings in every part of her anatomy (yes, there too). Christopher Walken shows up in a single long important scene. Uma Thurman plays the major bad guy's wife. I
Shrek - Film Review
Shrek - Film Review Film Rating 4/5 Running Time: 99 mins Created by: DreamWorks Directed by: Andrew Adamson Starring: The Voices of:- Mike Myers as Shrek/3 Blind mice Eddie Murphy as Donkey Cameron Diaz as Princess Fiona John Lithgow as Lord Farquaad Cinema in: 29th June 2001 This film was based on William Steig's book about a giant green ogre. This cheeky computer animated fairy tale is aimed at children as much as their parents. From the start it shows that it is a sort of fairytale with a lot of twists and it is mocking the fairytale genre continuously. It starts with Shrek reading a fairytale "Once upon a time" and he reads on and then suddenly he tears the page out and says," like that's ever gonna happen". So from the start you can tell it won't be an ordinary traditional fairytale story. They have used many other fairytale characters like gingerbread man, 3 blind mice, the 3 bears and more. They also use famous elements of films eg. they used the "Bullet Time "Matrix effects while their fighting and also there is a song with Robin Hood. The film was the only animated cartoony type film that I have ever seen in many years and it has proved me wrong and that I was too critical about these animated films. Shrek is a movie that had me laughing quite a lot and there was always something entertaining happening. The thing that amazed me was it was not only
Analyse the ways in which Alfred Hitchcock builds tension and fear in the shower scene in the film 'Psycho'.
Analyse the ways in which Alfred Hitchcock builds tension and fear in the shower scene in the film 'Psycho'. Alfred Hitchcock is known as the 'Master of Suspense' as he directed movies based on murder and mystery. Hitchcock's films are still considered masterpieces fourty years later. This is because he mainly concentrated on the actor's performances, camera techniques, music and sound effects to build up tension, suspense and fear. He also, often left his audience in suspense till the very end, by which time the viewers were sitting at the edge of their seats. The film 'Psycho' is about the murder of a young women called Marion Crane who is running away to her boyfriend's house, because she had stolen $40 000 from her employer. Marion Crane stops at the Bates Motel, which is isolated and within hours she is murdered. It is then left to her sister to investigate the disappearance. The film was set in 1960 and was filmed in Phoenix, Arizona. The fact that it was made in the 1960's shows that Hitchcock was very successful as he used original craft and techniques to commence the audience, this is because at that time there was a lot of rules and regulations about what was shown on the screens, e.g. certain parts of the body can only be shown. Tension is initially built up is when Marion sees her employer from her car after she has stolen the $40 000. A medium camera shot is
english media
The media is a way to inform and entertain people. Media is very important it allows us to get information. There are many different types of media such as; * Film * Radio * Newspaper * Internet Films have always had a major impact on peoples lives and is also historically important. For example during the first world war films would allow people to get information about the war seen as many people couldn't read or write and didn't own a radio, so the cinema allowed them to find out more things. In the second world war it was used to escape from reality because many peoples lives were horrible because of bombs dropping, their families fighting and paranoia of someone you would talk to was a spy. It also showed propaganda adverts and Pathé news, seen as many people still couldn't read. There wasn't any television so people went to the cinema. When videos arrived there was a decline of the use of cinemas because cinemas were expensive and took a longer time that videos. Now the use of cinemas is rising because there is a wider range of films and people want to relax from the stresses of work. A good quote about the cinema is, "Cinema is the most beautiful fraud in the world." Jean-Lu Godard, this means that cinemas are fake and aren't real but represent things that are real. It also shows that films are meant to be enjoyed more that they are meant to be believed. Cinemas
What's Eating Gilbert Grape?
"What's Eating Gilbert Grape" shows that relationships are both stifling and essential to personal happiness. What's Eating Gilbert Grape portrays many different types of relationships. Gilbert's relationships with his family can at times be both stifling and essential. "Endora is where we are...it's like dancing to no music." With Arnie needing Gilberts care all of the time this relationship creates tension in his life. The new girl in town, Becky, creates a relationship quintessential for Gilberts' life. She helps to open Gilbert up to his life and that he can in fact go anywhere. The Grape family consists of Gilbert, Ellen, Amy, Mama, Larry, and of course, Arnie. The Grape family lives in an isolated town of Endora in a house that seems to be in a mess since their father, Albert Grape, died. Gilbert's difficulty seems to have started when his father commit suicide seventeen years ago in their basement, which drove his mother to obesity and a life confined to their home. Gilberts' mother accepts that she has become a "burden" on him and sees how he feels ashamed and humiliated by her. Gilbert even regards his mother as "a beached whale," and at one point lifts a young boy to the window to see her almost like she is an animal at the zoo. Gilbert's mother is not his only complication; his pointless affair with a frustrated housewife, Betty Carver, whose rash sexual demands
The Shawshank Redemption
The Shawshank Redemption The Shawshank Redemption is considered to be an extraordinary movie which has received many award nominations and positive reviews from critics. Released in 1994 this film, directed by Frank Darabot, follows the life of Andy Defresne as he is wrongly accused for the murder of his wife and sent to Shawshank Prison for two lifetimes. The film examines the themes of Redemption and Brutality. Through using characters and imagery, Frank Darabot effectively leads the audience into the confronting nature that the prison system’s brutal nature overpowers the prisoners deeming them powerless and that the human spirit can overcome anything even in Shawshank prison when on the road to redemption. Frank Darabot clearly uses the characters of Captain Hadley and the guards to demonstrate the horrific brutality of the prison system and the troubles faced by the prisoners. Frank Darabot portrays Captain Hadley as a ruthless, aggressive, ‘Alpha male’ type person. This is shown when the Fat Guy has a mental breakdown in his cell while being taunted at by the other inmates. Captain Hadley has no patience with his whining and drags him out of his cell to beat him without remorse or sorrow. This clear act of horrendous violence together with the powerlessness of the prisoner gives the audience a feeling of horror and disgust that the ones who are meant to be the
