Match cut

Match Cut:
Match cuts are any cuts that emphasises continuity and it is the basis for continuity editing. When we refer to continuity editing, we are referring to editing techniques that are used to help establish a linear flow between disparate shots so as to present a smoother narrative transition that does not end up jarring or confusing the viewer. A match cut is one method that directors use in editing to suggest a relationship between two different objects and to create a visual metaphor within a scene. It is a cut in a scene that makes sense spatially.  This can be between two different objects, two different spaces, or two different compositions in which an object in two shots graphically match.
An example of this is 2001, a space odyssey.

Class work

Vladimir Propp and Tvetzan Todorov

Vladimir Propp:
Propp was born on April 17, 1895 in St. Petersburg to a German family. He attended St. Petersburg University (1913–1918) majoring in Russian and German philology. Vladimir Propp believed in something called the 8 character archetypes of a film, this shows what each of the characters role within a film.

Propp's theory:
Propp suggested that every narrative has eight different character archetypes, these character archetypes are:
1.The villain — fights the hero in some way.
2.The dispatcher — character who makes the villain’s evil known and sends the hero off.
3.The helper — helps the hero in the quest.
4.The princess — the hero deserves her throughout the story but is unable to marry her because of an unfair evil, usually because of the villain. The hero's journey is often ended when he marries the princess, thereby beating the villain and resulting in a “happily ever after” moment.
5.Her father — gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero, and marries the hero, often sought for during the narrative. Propp noted that functionally, the princess and the father cannot be clearly distinguished.
6.The donor — prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object.
7.The hero or victim/seeker hero — reacts to the donor, weds the princess.
8.False hero — takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess.

These archetypes are seen in many films to-date for example; Star Wars, this is a great example of the 8 archetypes, these are;
1. Villain- The Emperor
2. Dispatcher- Obi Wan Kenobi
3. Helper- Han Solo
4. Princess- Princess Leia
5. Her father- Darth Vader (Anakin Skywalker)
6. Donor- Yoda
7. Hero- Luke Skywalker
8. False hero- Darth vader (Anakin Skywalker)



Tvetzan Todorov:
Todorov was born in March 1, 1939 in Sofia) he is a Franco-Bulgarian philosopher and has lived in France since 1963, he has written several books and essays about ‘literary theory’, ‘thought history’ and ‘culture theory’.Todorov has also published a total of 21 books, Todorov's historical interests have focused on issues such issues as the conquest of The Americas and the Nazi and Stalinist concentration camps. He was a visiting professor at numerous universities, including Harvard.

Todorov's theory:
Todorov suggested that conventional narratives are structured in five stages:
1. A state of equilibrium (stability) at the start.
2. A disruption of the equilibrium by some action.
3. A recognition that there has been a disruption.
4. An attempt to repair the disruption.
5. A reinstatement of the equilibrium.

This type of narrative structure is very familiar to us and can be applied to many ‘mainstream’ film narratives. This theory can be seen in most films to-date, also this is the basic plot to a film which allows the audience to get satisfaction knowing that equilibrium is restored at the end of the film.

An example of this theory in a film is Taken as Taken begins with a state of equilibrium but then when his daughter is kidnapped it sends the film into a state of disequilibrium which is then solved again as he saves his daughter from the antagonist.

Thriller genre film opening analysis #3

The third film opening of the Thriller genre i chose was Dirty Harry

Director: Don Siegel

Release date (UK): 7 April 1972

Dirty Harry opens with the Warner Bros. symbol, followed by a fade out to a fade in of a San Francisco police memorial with a drone playing with church bells, the camera zooms in to the badge at the top. The badge fades out slightly as the names upon the memorial rolls up the screen, the names then stop rolling up the screen and the camera then focuses upon the badge again which zooms in and fades out to reveal the barrel of a sniper rifle as this happens the music changes to a drum kit. There is a jump cut to a Point-of-View shot down the scope of the rifle which tracks the target it is aimed at, there is a transition to a extreme long shot of the target, that moves away to reveal the shooter on screen, the camera is placed above the shooter's right shoulder. This shot allows you to see the distance between the shooter and the target which adds tension and suspicion, this is followed by a rapid transition to a shot of the barrel of the rifle again, there is a cut to a POV tracking shot down the scope of the rifle. There is a rapid close up shot of the shooter pulling the trigger which then goes to a medium shot of the target in the pool as the target gets shot as this happens the soundtrack stops, which then cuts to a longer shot to reveal he body in the pool and the water turning red from the blood. This shot is then followed by a jump cut to advance time to a long shot of the door opening and Harry (Clint Eastwood) stepping through the door which is being guarded by a police officer, as this happens the titles begin. Harry comes up the steps towards the camera, the camera is locked down so that it seems as if Harry is walking towards the audience.

Synopsis:

In the year 1971, San Francisco faces the terror of a maniac known as Scorpio- who snipes at innocent victims and demands ransom through notes left at the scene of the crime. Inspector Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) is assigned to the case along with his newest partner Inspector Chico Gonzalez to track down Scorpio and stop him. Using humiliation and cat and mouse type of games against Callahan, Scorpio is put to the test with the cop with a dirty attitude.

Mise-En-Scene:
The lighting in this scene is natural and the setting is in Downtown San Francisco. the costumes are a bikini for the woman that got murdered, dark suspicious clothes for the shooter and a suit for Harry, this is typically what you would expect for each of the characters shown.

Target audience:
The target audience is 17+ as there are some adult elements contained in the film, the film is for anyone who is a fan of crime thrillers and police action films.

Institutional information:
Budget- $4,000,000 (estimated)
Sales- $28,153,434 (USA) ( 1972)

Genre Conventions:Genre conventions:

This film is typical of the thriller genre conventions as it follows the basic plot of a thriller and adds suspicion as the opening goes on, it is shot in a standard thriller way, this film I believe does not break any genre conventions and stays true to the thriller genre.

Reflection:

I chose this film as i am a fan of Clint Eastwood and police thrillers, i found the plot of this film grabbing and threatening which makes a good and attractive thriller to the audience.

Thriller genre film opening analysis #2

The second film opening of the Thriller genre I chose to analyse was S.W.A.T.

 

(00:00 - 02:00 of this clip)

Director: Clark Johnson

Release date (UK): 5 December 2003

S.W.A.T. opens with titles saying the title of the film, with diegetic police radio playing as well, this then fades in to an establishing helicopter shot of the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles which the helicopter moves towards. this then cuts to a documentary style shot of a news helicopter flying above the city, this is followed by many short length shots from what seems to be a handheld camera, shot in documentary style. There is then a close up shot of the criminals face wearing a balaclava brandishing an AK-47, there is continuous diegetic police radio, this adds to the tension within the scene and adds realism as well. The camera then transitions to a shot within the bank where the hostages are with a close up of the criminals face as he shouts commands to the hostages, this is followed by a jump cut to a long shot of a police truck coming round the corner of a street, as this is happening non-diegetic soundtrack starts, followed by a cut to the truck driving past which then cuts back to show a convoy of unmarked police vehicles following the truck, followed by an overhead shot to reveal SWAT on top of the truck. There is then a jump cut to a close up of Colin Farrell and Jeremy Renner inside a helicopter, this is followed by a few more shots of inside the helicopter before an overhead locked down shot of the top of the bank where the helicopter comes into shot, this is then followed by a slow motion, low angle shot as two SWAT officers rappel down. There is then a cut to an even lower angle shot where the two SWAT officers reach the top of the bank, followed by an overhead shot from the helicopter of them rappelling down, which then cuts to a shot looking up to the helicopter in slow motion to show the final two officers rappelling out of the helicopter, followed by an overhead shot, then by a medium shot of the front of the helicopter. As this happens the music becomes quieter, this implies that the characters within the scene need to be stealthy, this then cuts to an overhead shot of the helicopter flying away, followed by a POV shot of one of the SWAT team making a hand gesture to the rest of the team. this id then followed by an extreme overhead long shot, then by a close up tracking shot of Colin Farrell walking towards the entrance the camera then goes into an arc shot to show the rest of the SWAT team converging on his location, there is a transition to an overhead shot as the team shoot the lock on the roof entrance to gain entry. There is a quick transition to a close up of the lock and then by an overhead shot as they enter, this is then followed by a low angled shot of inside the dark room in which they enter, this adds effect as the room is dark adding tension to the scene.

Synopsis:

Hondo Harrelson (Samuel L. Jackson) recruits Jim Street (Colin Farrell) to join an elite unit of the Los Angeles Police Department. Together they seek out more members, including tough Deke Kay (LL Cool J) and single mom Chris Sanchez (Michelle Rodriguez). The team's first big assignment is to escort crime boss Alex Montel (Olivier Martinez) to prison. It seems routine, but when Montel offers a huge reward to anyone who can break him free, criminals of various stripes step up for the prize.

Mise-En-Scene:

The lighting in this scene seems to be natural, the setting is Los Angeles and the iconography in this scene is the SWAT uniforms and police vehicles as this instantly makes it clear that it is a police-based film, the main characters are Colin Farrell and the rest of his SWAT team. The costumes are the LAPD SWAT uniforms, the setting is in Los Angeles and the surrounding areas.

Target audience:

The target audience is 12+ people who are interested in police style film and good thrillers.

Institutional Information:

Budget- $80,000,000 (estimated)

Sales- $207,725,639 (worldwide)

Genre conventions:

This film is typical of the thriller genre conventions as it follows the basic plot of a thriller and is shot in a standard thriller way, this film I believe does not brake any genre conventions and stays true to the thriller genre.

Reflection:

I chose this film opening as this film is one of my favourites as i always enjoy watching it and the plot of the story is great, also there is a lot of action, as i am a fan of films with a lot of action in so this film appealed to me. 

Thriller genre film opening analysis #1

The first film opening of the Thriller genre that i chose to analyse was End of watch 

(00:00:00 - 00:02:10)

Director: David Ayer

Release date (UK): 23 November 2012

End of Watch opens with a voiceover from Officer Brian Taylor (Jake Gyllenhaal) with a non-diegetic soundtrack, the soundtrack adds effect as it runs alongside the action that is happening within the scene, which is a car chase that is shot from a dash-cam camera inside the patrol car, this adds a sense of realism to the film as if the film is based upon real events. There is a transition forward in time, further into the opening there s another jump cut in which the time has noticeably advanced, there is a series of jump cuts which show that the pursuit has lasted a long time. Jake Gyllenhaal starts to talk bout something that is quite sensitive, this is also noticeable by the change in the soundtrack which is that the tempo of it significantly slows down which draws the attention of the viewer towards what is being said by him. As he finishes what he is saying the tempo of the soundtrack speeds back up and the voiceover stops, there is then diegetic sounds that begin (Sirens, police radio and the two officers (Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña) talking. The Officers rear-end the criminals car which causes them to crash, when the car is rear-ended it seems to be in slow motion slightly adding to the effect of the action. There is a brief firefight in which the window in front of the camera is shot, this might make the audience realise how close to being shot the officers are, making the audience aware of the situation. the way this scene is shot is very effective as it is shot like a documentary adding to the realism of this scene making the audience feel as if it is almost real.

Synopsis:

Long-time LAPD partners and friends, Brian Taylor (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Mike Zavala (Michael Peña) patrol one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Though they may bend the rules, their honor and dedication to the job are unquestioned. Taylor and Zavala always have each other's back, even if Taylor's surreptitious filming of their daily activities for a college course is a bit ill-advised. All hell breaks loose for the officers when they run afoul of a vicious Mexican cartel.

Mise-En-Scene:

the lighting in this scene seems to be natural, the setting is Los Angeles and the iconography in this scene is the way it is shot as it is like the typical sort f shot we see in police documentary programmes. The main characters are LAPD Officers as this is a thriller which is based around two LAPD Officers and their jobs, the costumes are the typical LAPD uniform.

Target Audience:

The target audience are 15+ who like police thrillers, this particular thriller is shot like a documentary.

Institutional Information:

Budget- $7,000,000 (estimated)

Sales- $53,041,274 (Worldwide)

Genre Conventions:

This film follows the genre conventions however it is different in the way that it is shot as if it is a documentary, this is the only thing that does not really conform to the genre conventions

Reflection:

I chose this film as i am a fan of crime thrillers and also police-based films as they appeal to me. I think that the choice of actors and the plot work well as they created a unique film because of the plot and the way the film is shot (documentary-style).