Greyson has just come back from work to find the front of the house locked up and no one at home. (He's tired but appears to be quite energetic about something)As he enters he calls for his two sons, and as he makes the second call he notices a slip of paper on the side in the hall way. It reads;
"As you couldn't be bothered, I took your son into town for his school books for next term. Be back asap, Seb"
He crumples the paper in his hand and his mood quickly changes to being miserable, and starts moving around slowly about the kitchen. He starts making a cup black coffee and sits down to start making work schedules.
Greyson has appeared done something emotionality wrong so his mood switches very quickly from being upbeat to pretty damn miserable. We can work out that he has at least one son, and some kind of connection with the author of the note "Seb".
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Monday, 29 August 2011
Character creation comparrison
To start I needed to get familiar with three characters from different thriller films to compare my own with. The first I am going to compare with is Annie Wilkes the lead antagonist from the thriller "Misery". To start with she appears like quite a nice loving woman, much like Greyson. As she was originally a nurse you cant help but trust her and her actions, again like Greyson and his ability to talk instead of argue within his Job.
You do however find a second side to both characters, however Annie takes much more of a physical to punish and cause "misery" to other characters unlike Greyson who by accident, hurts his Son's by taking a more active role in his job than in the raising of his children. We don't however know if Greyson had anything to do with his wife's death so we can assume at this moment in time that he only damages people emotionally. Also the fact that they are both different genders is a big difference between their characters as their every day methods and personal out look on life are very different, however both of them now are single. Both charters are also very dedicated to their way of life, Annie with keeping her head low and keeping a tidy house. and Greyson with keeping job and rasing his children.
The second character I am going to compare Greyson with is Jason Bourne, The protagonist of the Bourne series. Jason from the off is far different from Greyson, however they do both have well sought over jobs, Jason being a CIA assassin, and Greyson being IT manager. Jason is very athletic compared to Greyson but this is down to their jobs. Jason is also Single alike Greyson however Jason does not have any family or children either, removing his emotion of love. Greyson is also not a born killer unlike Jason, partially to do with understand wrong from right.
Jason does have alot of emotional similarities with Jason, They both are very scared characters from the off but both with different reasons, Jason being caught and killed, and Greyson "failing" to raise his elder son correctly. Jason also finds it difficult to trust people, alike Greyson. Greyson is very wary about his image so uses his proffession as a way to build respect in his community for him, this however still doesn't allow him to trust people easily. The one big emotion Jason lacks however is love. This is the one emotion that separates the both the characters. Jason dosent have any "love" attachments with any friends, partners or family's, However Greyson has made very strong bonds with both sons, even though he does not get along with one of them, this is what makes him so upset.
The final character I will compare with Greyson is Dr Malcom Crowe, the doctor from the highly successful thriller the sixth sense. Malcom is a very loving character of his wife and his job is to help other, unlike Malcom though, Greyson at times buys the love of his children through gifts, however this only works with peter due to Sebastian being brought up with more discipline from his mother. Malcom has a loving wife he lives with who appears to have a stable and strong relationship with , Greyson on the other hand only has two children to his name.
Neither Malcom nore Gresyson would kill anyone as they both have high moral grounds. they both seek to help one another and are both unathletic. To conclude, Greyson out of the three characters appears to act, have the same emotional status and life style as Malcom Crowe, however they do have some background traites that are different making them both very unique.
You do however find a second side to both characters, however Annie takes much more of a physical to punish and cause "misery" to other characters unlike Greyson who by accident, hurts his Son's by taking a more active role in his job than in the raising of his children. We don't however know if Greyson had anything to do with his wife's death so we can assume at this moment in time that he only damages people emotionally. Also the fact that they are both different genders is a big difference between their characters as their every day methods and personal out look on life are very different, however both of them now are single. Both charters are also very dedicated to their way of life, Annie with keeping her head low and keeping a tidy house. and Greyson with keeping job and rasing his children.The second character I am going to compare Greyson with is Jason Bourne, The protagonist of the Bourne series. Jason from the off is far different from Greyson, however they do both have well sought over jobs, Jason being a CIA assassin, and Greyson being IT manager. Jason is very athletic compared to Greyson but this is down to their jobs. Jason is also Single alike Greyson however Jason does not have any family or children either, removing his emotion of love. Greyson is also not a born killer unlike Jason, partially to do with understand wrong from right.
Jason does have alot of emotional similarities with Jason, They both are very scared characters from the off but both with different reasons, Jason being caught and killed, and Greyson "failing" to raise his elder son correctly. Jason also finds it difficult to trust people, alike Greyson. Greyson is very wary about his image so uses his proffession as a way to build respect in his community for him, this however still doesn't allow him to trust people easily. The one big emotion Jason lacks however is love. This is the one emotion that separates the both the characters. Jason dosent have any "love" attachments with any friends, partners or family's, However Greyson has made very strong bonds with both sons, even though he does not get along with one of them, this is what makes him so upset.
The final character I will compare with Greyson is Dr Malcom Crowe, the doctor from the highly successful thriller the sixth sense. Malcom is a very loving character of his wife and his job is to help other, unlike Malcom though, Greyson at times buys the love of his children through gifts, however this only works with peter due to Sebastian being brought up with more discipline from his mother. Malcom has a loving wife he lives with who appears to have a stable and strong relationship with , Greyson on the other hand only has two children to his name.Neither Malcom nore Gresyson would kill anyone as they both have high moral grounds. they both seek to help one another and are both unathletic. To conclude, Greyson out of the three characters appears to act, have the same emotional status and life style as Malcom Crowe, however they do have some background traites that are different making them both very unique.
Wednesday, 24 August 2011
Character Creation
I stated to build a detailed character using familiar characters and emotions as a base. I began by looking at characters already incorporated in thriller films and found fundermental differences and similarities between the characters. The one key element of each one was that they were all VERY unique event though many had emotional similarities. I opted to create a rather boring computer manager of the name of "Greyson George". The profession in which takes skill, however can be viewed as being very dull and boring.
Following is my character Bio;
Name: Greyson George
Occupation: ICT computer manager for repairs.
He has two sons, one aged seven and the other 19. The elder son is seen by greyson to be rebellious due to the fact that he doesn't believe his fathers story of how his mother died. Their mother died a year after giving birth to peter.
Sons Names:
7 year old: Peter George.
19 year old: Sebastian George (Mother used to call him Seb)
His older son left after completing his first year of A levels and has got himself a mediocre job as a sales assistant in a clothing shop, his father however sees this achievement as being of little value creating little son/father connection with one another. The tension between them is built due to the "reason" Greyson gives Sebastian for his wifes death. Peter however gets along very well with his father due to not remembering his mother. This love hate relationship triangle put pressure on each of their relationships with one another.
Wife's Name:
Areana George
Areana was a Christian mother of two who died just after giving birth to peter. She was very trustworthy to Grey, however when she died he expressed little emotion to his children, hence Sebastians suspicions
When not in conflict with is children, George is seen as being a very charismatic but firm and stricked by his associates at work. However many respect him with his laid back way of gaining authority. He very rarely shouts and tends to deal with problems quietly by talking professionally.
He uses the same method with his children when they act up. Due to working long hours however, Sebastian tends to look after peter, hence why he still lives at home in their modern four bedroom house. They live on the outskirts of London (as Grey works in central London) and have done since Areana died.
Sebastian also feels as if he rejects his children for his profession, however Grey tries buying their love with gifts and money. This has made Peter quite selfish, however is put in his place by sebastain who was brought up with discipline from his mother.
Greyson is quite a largly built man. However he tries not to let this intimidate people by wearing a casual but smart dress code. He commonly wears black suite trousers and a shirt for work, and a shirt and smart jeans when on his days off.
Grey Does know right from wrong too, he doesn't smoke and has few friends, however he does drink ocationly, but has never been seen drunk by his children.
Following is my character Bio;
Name: Greyson George
Occupation: ICT computer manager for repairs.
He has two sons, one aged seven and the other 19. The elder son is seen by greyson to be rebellious due to the fact that he doesn't believe his fathers story of how his mother died. Their mother died a year after giving birth to peter.
Sons Names:
7 year old: Peter George.
19 year old: Sebastian George (Mother used to call him Seb)
His older son left after completing his first year of A levels and has got himself a mediocre job as a sales assistant in a clothing shop, his father however sees this achievement as being of little value creating little son/father connection with one another. The tension between them is built due to the "reason" Greyson gives Sebastian for his wifes death. Peter however gets along very well with his father due to not remembering his mother. This love hate relationship triangle put pressure on each of their relationships with one another.
Wife's Name:
Areana George
Areana was a Christian mother of two who died just after giving birth to peter. She was very trustworthy to Grey, however when she died he expressed little emotion to his children, hence Sebastians suspicions
When not in conflict with is children, George is seen as being a very charismatic but firm and stricked by his associates at work. However many respect him with his laid back way of gaining authority. He very rarely shouts and tends to deal with problems quietly by talking professionally.
He uses the same method with his children when they act up. Due to working long hours however, Sebastian tends to look after peter, hence why he still lives at home in their modern four bedroom house. They live on the outskirts of London (as Grey works in central London) and have done since Areana died.
Sebastian also feels as if he rejects his children for his profession, however Grey tries buying their love with gifts and money. This has made Peter quite selfish, however is put in his place by sebastain who was brought up with discipline from his mother.
Greyson is quite a largly built man. However he tries not to let this intimidate people by wearing a casual but smart dress code. He commonly wears black suite trousers and a shirt for work, and a shirt and smart jeans when on his days off.
Grey Does know right from wrong too, he doesn't smoke and has few friends, however he does drink ocationly, but has never been seen drunk by his children.
Misery
The film "misery" is a thriller film that was produced in 1990 about a famous novelist (Paul Sheldon) who is "rescued" and enslave by an obsessive fan (Annie Wilkes). The film revoveles around mainly only these two characters so their background and personalities are fully explored.
Paul Sheldon
The opening of the film shows Paul finishing the last instalment of his fictional book series in a snow covered log cabin, and celebrates by having a cigarette, even though he doesn't smoke, and a glass of champaign. This shows his character has a small "ritual" in which he performs as a celebration, at this point its quite evident he isn't married as he has no wedding ring, however seems to enjoy the fact he is alone in a quiet room. Paul puts the finished book pages in a tattered portfolio and gets in his iconic Ford Mustang, a car only driven in films by the protagonist, such as Steve mcqueen in "Bullet", Gone in 60 seconds and in the Bond film "Diamonds are Forever".
As Paul drives down the road he loses control during a freak blizzard. He however may have been able to prevent this by stopping his car. The character however seems to exited by the finish of his book and series that he ignores the danger. Paul is dragged to safety by a large women from his car. He then wakes up in a single bed in much pain greeted by a happy, smiley lady. They exchange introductions with Paul being very thankful, however he is slightly unease by her saying she "followed" him.
Throughout the film Paul gets more and more desperate to evade annie as she beings to show her real colours. However Paul's condition allows him to do little since both of his legs are broken. He does however start to manipulate Annie as he tries to drug her with powder from capsule tablets by putting them in a glass of wine at a dinner he asked her join him in. At this point we know that Paul is now capable of murder to allow himself to survive. You also find out he's very good at controlling Annie's temper, she's insanely in love with him so wouldn't want to hurt him, until the point she discovers he was able to escape the room in his wheel chair. After, his legs are re broken by Annie as a way of keeping him for her self, and forces him to re write his book due to not like the end of his first draft.
Paul eventually escapes Annie many months of torment and bone braking, however to do so had to kill her by using a heavy typewriter to the head whilst still recovering from his re broken legs which Annie once again crippled.
From this film we can work out many of Paul's ethics and morals, following is a list of attributes and morals Paul have.
Attributes
Annie at first appears to be a large happy woman with a desire to help people, this image is made stronger by her wear a cross around her neck and that she was also once a nurse. At first she enjoys taking care of her favourite writer however Paul gets very uneasy when she declares that she had been following him in the blizzard in which he crashed in. Throughout the film she gets more and more desperate to keep Paul as her own so goes to lengths such as tieing him down in bed and re breaking his legs.
Paul discovers after leaving his room that Annie killed many new born children and went to prison in her past and that she was also lonely as her husband died. This is a complete opposite of what we learn from the first half of the film.
Throughout the film Annie's desires spiral out of control. From helping Paul to recover to almost murdering him just so she could keep him for her self. This also brings out the bad in her, including lieing and the burning of Paul's Novel because she doesn't like the ending.
Annie also for most of the ending of the film is shown in many low angle shots expressing how much power she has compared to Paul's, especially when she is looking down at him in the stairwell of the basement.
Attributes
Paul Sheldon
The opening of the film shows Paul finishing the last instalment of his fictional book series in a snow covered log cabin, and celebrates by having a cigarette, even though he doesn't smoke, and a glass of champaign. This shows his character has a small "ritual" in which he performs as a celebration, at this point its quite evident he isn't married as he has no wedding ring, however seems to enjoy the fact he is alone in a quiet room. Paul puts the finished book pages in a tattered portfolio and gets in his iconic Ford Mustang, a car only driven in films by the protagonist, such as Steve mcqueen in "Bullet", Gone in 60 seconds and in the Bond film "Diamonds are Forever".As Paul drives down the road he loses control during a freak blizzard. He however may have been able to prevent this by stopping his car. The character however seems to exited by the finish of his book and series that he ignores the danger. Paul is dragged to safety by a large women from his car. He then wakes up in a single bed in much pain greeted by a happy, smiley lady. They exchange introductions with Paul being very thankful, however he is slightly unease by her saying she "followed" him.
Throughout the film Paul gets more and more desperate to evade annie as she beings to show her real colours. However Paul's condition allows him to do little since both of his legs are broken. He does however start to manipulate Annie as he tries to drug her with powder from capsule tablets by putting them in a glass of wine at a dinner he asked her join him in. At this point we know that Paul is now capable of murder to allow himself to survive. You also find out he's very good at controlling Annie's temper, she's insanely in love with him so wouldn't want to hurt him, until the point she discovers he was able to escape the room in his wheel chair. After, his legs are re broken by Annie as a way of keeping him for her self, and forces him to re write his book due to not like the end of his first draft.Paul eventually escapes Annie many months of torment and bone braking, however to do so had to kill her by using a heavy typewriter to the head whilst still recovering from his re broken legs which Annie once again crippled.
From this film we can work out many of Paul's ethics and morals, following is a list of attributes and morals Paul have.
Attributes
- Paul appears to be an fairly ordinary middle aged man.
- He is a well know writer of the "misery" novels.
- Wears smart clothing (before the crash)
- Types is work on a classic type writer
- Respects people who help him
- He is very smart, being able to make tools out of items around him.
- Patient
Morals and ethics
- Paul's wouldn't kill anyone unless his own life is at risk.
- Paul believes work should be rewarded (his personal celebration after writing his final book).
- He believes all good things should come to an end (the last misery book).
- He appears to respect help when given to him, however likes being alone.
- He can minipluate people (make Annie feel desired)
Overall we sympathise for Paul as he cannot appear to leave the situation he is in, even though he does kill Annie in the end we don't as an audience care as we believe it's his only way out. He has emotionally been scared by his traumatic experience as towards the end of the film he gets flash backs from his time in captivity.
Annie Wilkes
Annie Wilkes
Annie at first appears to be a large happy woman with a desire to help people, this image is made stronger by her wear a cross around her neck and that she was also once a nurse. At first she enjoys taking care of her favourite writer however Paul gets very uneasy when she declares that she had been following him in the blizzard in which he crashed in. Throughout the film she gets more and more desperate to keep Paul as her own so goes to lengths such as tieing him down in bed and re breaking his legs.Paul discovers after leaving his room that Annie killed many new born children and went to prison in her past and that she was also lonely as her husband died. This is a complete opposite of what we learn from the first half of the film.
Throughout the film Annie's desires spiral out of control. From helping Paul to recover to almost murdering him just so she could keep him for her self. This also brings out the bad in her, including lieing and the burning of Paul's Novel because she doesn't like the ending.
Annie also for most of the ending of the film is shown in many low angle shots expressing how much power she has compared to Paul's, especially when she is looking down at him in the stairwell of the basement.
Attributes
- Large woman in her late 30's
- Enjoys the thought of romance
- Wears a cross symbolising religious beliefs.
- Usually has a very large smile or frown
- Has a short temper
- Apologetic
- Will do anything to get her own way, including torture and murder.
- Loses her temper qucikly
Morals and Ethics
Annie doesn't appear to have many morals, however this is not true. At the start of the film she puts time and effort into bringing Paul around to good health with an obvious good intention. Her actions however then on result in no sympathy for her when she is killed. Ultimately however she is very alone, and this is the reason for the captivity, ultimately i don't think she wanted everything to become out of control however proceeded to try and get what she wanted, a new romance (she appears to want to be like the character in the book).
She also likes respect, she demands this from Paul almost straight away, and when given relishes in her accomplishment as it make her feel desired. Paul plays on this to prolong the time in which he may be murdered and to give himself longer to calculate his plans of escape.
Overall the Film plays with two very unique characters and switches the gender power roles in giving the seemingly innocent friendly women all the power and the clever and wealthy male character no power. We ultimately feel sorry for Paul in his circumstance but looking deeper into Annies past we can work out why and how she became so insane.
She also likes respect, she demands this from Paul almost straight away, and when given relishes in her accomplishment as it make her feel desired. Paul plays on this to prolong the time in which he may be murdered and to give himself longer to calculate his plans of escape.
Overall the Film plays with two very unique characters and switches the gender power roles in giving the seemingly innocent friendly women all the power and the clever and wealthy male character no power. We ultimately feel sorry for Paul in his circumstance but looking deeper into Annies past we can work out why and how she became so insane.
Thursday, 18 August 2011
Similar Products - Protagonist vs Antagonist
The Bourne Series
The Bourne Identy is a American Thriller/Action Film Directed by Paul Greengrass. The film was loosely based on the Novel (like many successful thriller films), "The Bourne Identity" written by Robert Ludlum. This film was also the First film of the "Bourne" trilogy, with the second being the "Bourne Supremacy" and the third being the "Bourne Ultimatum". There has however to break the trilogy by planning a release for a fourth film titled "The Bourne Legacy" estimated to be released in July 2012.
The film follows the endangered life of the protagonist Jason Bourne Played by Matt Damon, we learn from his past that he is a former CIA assassin and photogenic amnesiac. Borne at the start of "The Bourne Identity" finds himself floating unconsciously adrift in the Mediterranean sea with two gunshot wounds to the back. When he wakes up, he discovered he has amnesia as he cannot recall who he is and his past, he however soon realises that he is skilled in hand to hand combat and cant speak fluent German after instinctively defending himself against two policeman's questions about loitering in a closed car park. Jason discovers on his person that he has a passport with the name "Jason Bourne" so takes up the name thinking it's his own.
Due to this vulnerability so early on in this film we assume that he is the protagonist character, which we follow throughout the series. At this point of the film he is portrayed as being scared and confused so sympathise with him as he evades the zurich police. At this point within the film we also learn his previous job of being a assassin, however we also learn that he was part of a CIA team who failed to assassinate 'Alexander Conkilin', the head of a company. Coklilin then sends three trained assassins to eliminate Bourne, due to Bourne's vulnerability though, we still sympathise with him, just not as much as the viewer may see him as a different character of which he perhaps was.
Alexander, obviously the antagonist through his actions and appearance is apparent. He is a powerful rich man with the backing of police and the media. In all shots of him he is in smart dress and is addressing the nation and his people that they will catch Bourne for his assassination attempt, even though he cant recall doing it. He is also highlighted as being the antagonist by getting others to do he dirty work for him, by hiring the assassin and the help of the CIA.
Bourne to start with appears very scared and is wearing tattered fishing clothing after helping the Germans with their fishing. He also has an idea of where he should be and where he is from by finding a ticket to Switzerland and information to access his bank, in zurich. At this point he is still very confused. You can tell that the amnesia is genuine after a scene toward the start of the film of him asking himself within the mirror who he was. He also looks at the bullet wounds on his back to see if he can recognised and remember his assassin past. After getting access to his bank he reveals that within his account he has vast amounts of money in different currency, different passports and a gun. He decides to use the name of Jason Bourne form then on in the films. After leaving the bank he soon gets very agitated by the sound of sirens. Police also start appearing to noticing him, or appear to himself to be looking at him as there are many short track shots of police offices looking at him.
After going into visa application building he is held at gun point and is arrested, however his instincts kick in and defends himself disarming the man and try's to evade the police who are armed with rifles. He still however has no idea why he is running and what he has done wrong in the past making his actions and reactions very quick.
After evading the police he discovers the woman having difficulty with getting the visa. he offerers her £20,000 to drive him to the airport, the woman also drives a iconic British mini which could be argued as a car driven by innocence. After he evades Switzerland it is revealed that three assassin have been released to "take him out". As soon as he takes refuge with the woman in a building they are ambushed by a man with a powerful machine gun grappling through a glass window. The power difference between the men at the start of the fight shows who the protagonist and antagonist are. Jason is underequiped however manages to disarm the man and put him on the floor. However before he could answer any of Bourne's questions he jumps out of the window and commits suicide, another factor of portraying that Bourne is innocent as they wont answer his questions who, who was, why people are tracking him and who the assassin himself was.
After the death of the first assassin, Bourne discovers a phone he has which he never looked at due to evading quickly, he discovers a number of the CIA on it and calls one of the members. The man trys to wrongly mislead Bourne into a trap, however manages to get the man to meet on a bridge alone as an attempt to find out who and why he is in the position he in. To regain some control of his life Bourne begins to appear quite strong towards the CIA demanding answers, however he is given none, this only enrages Bourne more making him fight more for his survival and safety.
The Bourne Identy is a American Thriller/Action Film Directed by Paul Greengrass. The film was loosely based on the Novel (like many successful thriller films), "The Bourne Identity" written by Robert Ludlum. This film was also the First film of the "Bourne" trilogy, with the second being the "Bourne Supremacy" and the third being the "Bourne Ultimatum". There has however to break the trilogy by planning a release for a fourth film titled "The Bourne Legacy" estimated to be released in July 2012.
The film follows the endangered life of the protagonist Jason Bourne Played by Matt Damon, we learn from his past that he is a former CIA assassin and photogenic amnesiac. Borne at the start of "The Bourne Identity" finds himself floating unconsciously adrift in the Mediterranean sea with two gunshot wounds to the back. When he wakes up, he discovered he has amnesia as he cannot recall who he is and his past, he however soon realises that he is skilled in hand to hand combat and cant speak fluent German after instinctively defending himself against two policeman's questions about loitering in a closed car park. Jason discovers on his person that he has a passport with the name "Jason Bourne" so takes up the name thinking it's his own.
Due to this vulnerability so early on in this film we assume that he is the protagonist character, which we follow throughout the series. At this point of the film he is portrayed as being scared and confused so sympathise with him as he evades the zurich police. At this point within the film we also learn his previous job of being a assassin, however we also learn that he was part of a CIA team who failed to assassinate 'Alexander Conkilin', the head of a company. Coklilin then sends three trained assassins to eliminate Bourne, due to Bourne's vulnerability though, we still sympathise with him, just not as much as the viewer may see him as a different character of which he perhaps was.
Alexander, obviously the antagonist through his actions and appearance is apparent. He is a powerful rich man with the backing of police and the media. In all shots of him he is in smart dress and is addressing the nation and his people that they will catch Bourne for his assassination attempt, even though he cant recall doing it. He is also highlighted as being the antagonist by getting others to do he dirty work for him, by hiring the assassin and the help of the CIA.
Bourne to start with appears very scared and is wearing tattered fishing clothing after helping the Germans with their fishing. He also has an idea of where he should be and where he is from by finding a ticket to Switzerland and information to access his bank, in zurich. At this point he is still very confused. You can tell that the amnesia is genuine after a scene toward the start of the film of him asking himself within the mirror who he was. He also looks at the bullet wounds on his back to see if he can recognised and remember his assassin past. After getting access to his bank he reveals that within his account he has vast amounts of money in different currency, different passports and a gun. He decides to use the name of Jason Bourne form then on in the films. After leaving the bank he soon gets very agitated by the sound of sirens. Police also start appearing to noticing him, or appear to himself to be looking at him as there are many short track shots of police offices looking at him.
After going into visa application building he is held at gun point and is arrested, however his instincts kick in and defends himself disarming the man and try's to evade the police who are armed with rifles. He still however has no idea why he is running and what he has done wrong in the past making his actions and reactions very quick.
After evading the police he discovers the woman having difficulty with getting the visa. he offerers her £20,000 to drive him to the airport, the woman also drives a iconic British mini which could be argued as a car driven by innocence. After he evades Switzerland it is revealed that three assassin have been released to "take him out". As soon as he takes refuge with the woman in a building they are ambushed by a man with a powerful machine gun grappling through a glass window. The power difference between the men at the start of the fight shows who the protagonist and antagonist are. Jason is underequiped however manages to disarm the man and put him on the floor. However before he could answer any of Bourne's questions he jumps out of the window and commits suicide, another factor of portraying that Bourne is innocent as they wont answer his questions who, who was, why people are tracking him and who the assassin himself was.
After the death of the first assassin, Bourne discovers a phone he has which he never looked at due to evading quickly, he discovers a number of the CIA on it and calls one of the members. The man trys to wrongly mislead Bourne into a trap, however manages to get the man to meet on a bridge alone as an attempt to find out who and why he is in the position he in. To regain some control of his life Bourne begins to appear quite strong towards the CIA demanding answers, however he is given none, this only enrages Bourne more making him fight more for his survival and safety.
Tuesday, 28 June 2011
SIMILAR PRODUCTS - CHARACTER ANALYSIS 1
The Character i have chosen to analyse is Teddy Daniels (played by Leonardo Dicaprio) from the recent thriller film "Shutter Island". Ted is made out early on in the film to be a mainland officer who has been dispatched to shutter island to solve the mystery of an escaped "mental" patient. He and his accomplice Chuck (played by Mark Ruffalo) work together to find evidence about the missing woman by interrogating the staff and the head doctor of the fassility.
Ted suffers from a headache early on within the film which allows him to have dreams whilst sleeping of both shooting a group of captured surrendered Nazi's and of a women with young children who we soon discover to be his decised wife, he at this point however does not understand that they used to be both his wife, daughters and son. This is when the plot twist begins due to the head doctor starting to make him understand that his life ins't all that it seems.
The whole investigation was made as a test by the doctor to see if they could find a cure for his reccuring insanity due to every-time finding out the truth which he forgets again and goes on the same investigation. The character is interesting as he is portrayed as being both strong by being in the army, however mentally weak and desitefull by killing his wife. He both shows to have 3 separate sorts of life's, one being in the army, one being the family man and bread winner and the other being this mental patient.
To conclude he is a very intelegent character who was formally strong willed, however the reality of his insanity breaks him down. You feel sorry for him by the end, however feels quite threatening at the start due to holstering a pistol and being rather threatening in interrogation, this threat however reduces throughout the film as his insanity worsens.
At this point in the film Ted works very professional with his partner in a 1950's style. He also has a very typical in his dress sence for a 1950's detective, wearing; a suit, clean shoes, holstered gun and hat. Props used by himself also reflect the time, with him using a pencil and a note book for note taking.
Ted suffers from a headache early on within the film which allows him to have dreams whilst sleeping of both shooting a group of captured surrendered Nazi's and of a women with young children who we soon discover to be his decised wife, he at this point however does not understand that they used to be both his wife, daughters and son. This is when the plot twist begins due to the head doctor starting to make him understand that his life ins't all that it seems.After each vision he has he begins to change his attitude towards the staff and methods of interrogation, he gets obsessed with the idea implanted in his head by his partner that they wont get off of the island. From then on he ignores suggestions from his partner and desides to head for a light house which is said to be the place in which the mental patients are experimented on, this however is not the case and discovers the head doctor and his so called "partner"who convince him that he himself is actauly mental. He discovers that his "dreams" were actauly from his memory of him killing innocent men in WW1 and of his wife and children. He also discovers his source of insanity being that his wife drowned his 3 children through her own insanity of him not being there to support her. He however couldn't come to terms with their death so point a gone to her chest whilst embrassed and shoots her.
The whole investigation was made as a test by the doctor to see if they could find a cure for his reccuring insanity due to every-time finding out the truth which he forgets again and goes on the same investigation. The character is interesting as he is portrayed as being both strong by being in the army, however mentally weak and desitefull by killing his wife. He both shows to have 3 separate sorts of life's, one being in the army, one being the family man and bread winner and the other being this mental patient. To conclude he is a very intelegent character who was formally strong willed, however the reality of his insanity breaks him down. You feel sorry for him by the end, however feels quite threatening at the start due to holstering a pistol and being rather threatening in interrogation, this threat however reduces throughout the film as his insanity worsens.
Monday, 20 June 2011
SIMILAR PRODUCTS - INCEPTION ANALYSIS
Inception is an Scifi/action thriller co produced and directed by Christopher Nolan in 2010, including a high calibre cast including; Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page and Michael Caine. DiCaprio stars as Dom Cobb, a specialized spy and thief, specialised in extracting valuable information from corporations through dreams.
The Plot it's self is very typical of a "Thriller" film, by incorporating a very complex and deep plot centring around one key character being 'Le Caps' role. The plot is unrealistic, however in some scence is very believable, using clever dream state ideas many people believed to have experienced, such as the fear of falling and die in ones sleep. Typically of a thriller film, Inception shares the idea of the main character trying to survive or in this case clear his innocent name which is an idea shared with other thrillers such as the Bourne trilogy.
In Inception's case however it's centred around Le Caps trying to return home to his children after his wife set him up and committed suicide after believing to be in a dream state where in fact she is in reality. Due to alegidly murdering his wife, he flees from the country in search of a way to clear his name, he comes eventually accross an opportunity to work for a powerful Asian man who owns an electricity company who wants to get rid of his competition, completing the risky task of implanting an idea into someone's mind through a dream however would be the way back "home". (of making his rival's successor folding the business). Due to the deep plot created the film takes many twists allowing it's self to confuse the audience in a subtle way making it entertaining and not frustrating. It also takes simple mind tricks well known to many of the audience to enhance the mind bending experience, such as the use of the idea of paradoxes and an infinite state of limbo where someone is lost in their own subconsciousness. On trick used and rectified was the Penrose stairs, a set of never ending stairs if viewed from a certain angle.
Water also appears to be a very large part of the narrative. The water within the film which is almost in every dream state builds the sense that they aren't in reality. There is no "kick" used to come back to reality, however most of the kicks of the dreams within dreams are subdued by water. (apart from the first one in the Chinese building), most of the states which return to reality are influenced by death. Here are some examples of when water is used.
Water also appears to be a very large part of the narrative. The water within the film which is almost in every dream state builds the sense that they aren't in reality. There is no "kick" used to come back to reality, however most of the kicks of the dreams within dreams are subdued by water. (apart from the first one in the Chinese building), most of the states which return to reality are influenced by death. Here are some examples of when water is used.
- Used in the first scene where Cobb is woken in a cold bath (into the 1st dream state)
- To wake them all up within the van (the whole dream state is in a monsoon type weather)
- The "odd" rain Cobb pointed out to Robbert in the Hotel
- When at the climax of the film where Cobb lets his wife go is raining
- Cobb wakes up at the start and end in the sea
- Cobb and Ellen Pages character wake up in the sea before the final dream state.
Much of the Mise-en-scene within the film is also very typical of the genre incorporating many typical items such as;
- Guns
- Sharp suites and high end items
- Everyday cars and other transport (Taxis).
- Typical fitting mise en scene to keep the feel of the film realistic, for example the family home with toys on the floor expressing the place should be built around family or love. Which in essence it is.
Its quite interesting how each dream state used within inspetion originates from an upper-class origin. De caprio's character appears to be quite wealthy, being able to stay in high end hotels, own high end technology and sharp suites, however lacks the connection with his family. Like all Thriller films, his character is very complex. His pursuit all the way through the film is to gain entrance back into America and return how to his children as a free man, however this reason i feel gets slightly lost within the plot of him implanting a idea in someone's mind and in some cases find the processes a kind of "high". I think this is the case due to being able to dream a situation of what ever you want allows you to get away from reality which ultimately he wants to sort out, however also wants to get away from. His character is also very different from all his other accomploses, the others are in the job for wealth, apart from Ellen Page'c character who wants the ability the create worlds which are not possible in reality (being an architectural student).
The music though out Inception is built on long drones and suspense building. When in the dream states the music has a slightly different feel to those in reality, there is a slight low tonned drone and sense of nothingness within the dream states even though there are the "projections".
The suspense built by the music is very obvious in the seen where the van reverses into the river in the first dream state, as the van gets closer and closer the the water the suspense builds and builds until there a sudden digetic rush of water and the people wake up.
Following are some stills with explanations of why they show that inception is part of the "thriller" genre:
This picture is when Cobb is contemplating if he is in reality or a dream, just this scene makes you suspect its a thriller due to the suspense building music, the idea of killing ones self and the gun within his right hand. Ultimately he discovers he's in reality.
This scene is of Cobb telling Robert that he is actually in dream, the large amount of dialogue and building of the plot also makes it evident that its a thriller film. This dream state also has a sepia type hue to it creating its own unique image. (below are some other examples of the Sepia hue within the scene).
Over all i enjoyed the film, however watching it on a TV removes from the emmercive plot compared to watching it in a cinema, I found it was one of the films that wouldn't be understood if one scene is missed, however due to its immersion you would always be put off going to the loo.
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