Lighting

Lighting Practice

Recreating the scene from Drive

Experimenting with different filters, colours and equipment (like the reflector etc).

Tom Thriller Openings

The Usual Suspects

The opening of this sequence starts off with a match being lit. The light from the match then lights up some other matches in a pack. The colour correction in this film is very dark with high contrast (low light)which makes the overall look very dark and mysterious which is the text book characteristics of a thriller.

As this is a thriller the sequence starts off with a guy using the matches to light his cigarette, and then to light a line of petrol. Given the fact of the overall look of the time period and the setting this looks like a grungy type gangster/mafia setting.

The man that pisses on the fire to extinguish it has his face hidden by the camera, this creates more mystery and adds a bit of tension as a new character has been introduced and you can't tell what he is like because his face has been cut off. This is the same throughout the whole sequence actually with his head hidden.

Thrillers have a tendency for most of the characters, more so the bad characters to smoke, which this generic stereotype is also present in this sequence with both the guy on the ground and the guy with his face hidden. This makes them both look hard in the sense they are bad.

The next shot is of the character with his head cut off pulling out a gun. The camera pans up as the raises the gun and fires, as soon as you hear the shot the camera cuts away to show some of angles of the boat which you can hear the gun shot echo around.

At the end of the scene the character who's head was cut off drops his cigarette on a flammable liquid (most likely petrol) in slow motion which is emphasizing his gangster likeliness of being ruthless to leave no evidence. 

Inception 

The scene starts off with slow motion shots of the sea, with a sort of warm dream light colour correction overlaid on the video to give a dream like feel to it.

 This is backed up by the fact that it has a slight dream trance sound to make it seem distant. He looks up as soon as he hears his children playing on the beach, which emphasise the dream state/mirage of seeing random things occurring

 You know full well that it isn't real when a gun is pointing into the back of him and as the camera cuts away to the view of the beach his children aren't actually there.

 The colours and strangely bright sun also back up the dream like feel of the overall scene.

 As he is led into the room the camera is positioned in between the entrance of the doors, which gives a good perspective over the whole room and gives a sense of space and also connotes the importance of the main object in the room which is a man sitting of a big chair.

This particular shot of the spinning object is made to look important as it is clearly pointed out by the way in which the shot shows it being the main subject and being darker than the reflections of lights. The way in which Leonardo Dicaprio looks up as the man explains how he knows what they are also shows how important it is.

Girl with the dragon Tattoo

 The scene starts off with a fade to white which at first is very blurred, but as it pans up and focuses you can see that it is a parcel which someone is trying to open. There is a sound bridge as the man opening it you can hear a cutting noise, as it cuts back you can see he’s using a knife of some kind.

When he opens the package it reveals some sort of plant that seems important to him in the sense the camera spends a lot of screen time with a close up shot panning up it. It then cuts away to a panning out shot which shows him becoming emotional about it. The music here is quite sad and slow with a chorus of string instruments and other orchestral sounds. 

When the girl is introduced the music becomes slightly more fast paced to back up the feeling she could be running away from something as she is walking fast which her hood up which also gives a sense of mystery and make her look anonymous.

There are several jump cuts in this section which shows the time passing and the hurried effect it has to make her look vulnerable.

The camerawork here is handheld which makes it look as if someone is following her which adds to the tension. The cuts in this scene are quite fast compared to the man’s as it is trying to make it faster paced

Silence of the Lambs

The sequence starts off with a panning shot of a tree in a forest, the colours are very cold and dull, given the nature of the film it is suitable as it is a horror thriller. The camera pans down towards a hill which a woman is climbing up toward the camera using a rope. As she runs up the hill she runs at the camera and then looks around as if looking for someone. She then runs off screen, and the camera remains filming the background. It then cuts to a handheld scene where she is running in front of the camera, this makes it seem like she is being followed.

The next shot is focused on her face which you can see she is looking a bit uneasy looking to a fro. The music here is very mysterious and makes the viewer feel like something is about to happen. The next shot backs up this idea as it is a tracking shot of her running through the forest at a side on angle as she runs past trees and jumps over roots. The camera is shaky to make it look handheld and fast paced.

 The camera tracks around her as she climbs a net to then jump off at the other end. The next shot is a low angle shot looking up at a tree, and as it pans down it reveals motivational signs.

As she runs toward the building there is a non-diegetic sound which at first you’re not sure whether she can hear a chopper, but then it cuts to another area where she is running on a bridge, and it’s clear then that this is where the sound is coming from as it continues into it.

Bourne Ultimatum 

The sequence starts off with a high tracking shot looking at the ground following Bourne hurriedly walking. Straight away there is a hurried fast paced violin which makes it fast paced and exciting as it is tense. The next shot shows Bourne looking at a train station as soon as he hears the noise of a train, as he turns his head it cuts again to his point of view and then again to show a wide angled shot. This makes it even more tense as you are placed in his position and to make you feel like you are wanted. When he hears sirens he immediately looks around toward the camera which then cuts away to show from his point of view again a squad of police arriving in police cars in with he then hurries away from seeing them down into a subway.

 The pace of editing here is extremely quick, with shots never lasting more than a second or so, but just enough to give you an idea of what’s happening to keep the pace and the urgency going.

The next sequence is of Bourne looking for some medication, there is a hand held camera here following Bourne as he’s looking around frantically. The next shot shows an extreme close up of his face looking anxious and in pain as he opens a fridge to pick up some chilled medication. This sequence alone helps to put in perspective how eager Bourne is to hide from the Police. 

The colours in this film are really dark and there is a high contrast between lights and dark to give it more mystery as is commonplace in thrillers. The next shot underlines this decision with high contrast by showing a reflection of Bourne in a mirror with an extremely dark backdrop and Bourne the main subject with a bright light shining down on top of him to highlight the blood on his hand.

 When Bourne is recovering from the pain the camera is focused on the back of his head and then refocuses on the reflection of Bourne in the mirror, using this particular focus pull helps communicate the idea of the pain Bourne is in as you can see him sweating on his neck and then his facial expression.

Bourne then has a flashback which is triggered by a familiar sound of a tap dripping, the next shot is an extreme close up of Bourne’s eye which shows he is thinking about something.

 The flashback is shown using loads of jumped cuts and being over exposed as to make it look like it is a dream or not quite real.

When a Policeman approaches Bourne and touches his shoulder, Bourne is brought back to a flashback of when he had been bagged over the head. This is a graphic match. He is then brought back out of it and then punches him.

Pulp Fiction 

Pulp Fiction’s introduction starts off with a couple sitting in a restaurant eating. The waitress comes over to give them more coffee, which is an extreme close up of her face and then there’s a cut to the main female character which shows her smiling strangely. This lets you know that the main female character might be a bit strange.

There's a medium close up two shot which shows both the main male and female character in conversation. It then cuts to an over the shoulder shot which shows which character is talking. It then cuts away to show the female character talking which make the sequence easier to follow.

The shot after that shows the female character resting her head on her arm looking infatuated with his ideas and him, this lets the audience know their relationship.

While the main male character is talking the next shot shows the female characters reaction while he continues talking over which is a soundbridge.

When they decide to rob the restaurant the man lays a gun on the table which the camera makes the main subject by having it placed right in the middle to show the significance of it. There is then a extreme close up of them kissing which shows their passion for one another.

It then cuts to and extreme wide shot which shows them both in frame before the male jumps up and pulls out his gun, and then the woman. It pans up slightly to make sure their faces are both in frame.