Zodiac Essay Sam Lewsey
Zodiac follows conventions of the thriller genre in many ways, throughout this essay I’m going to outline all the ways in which Zodiac follows conventions.
Firstly we have the protagonist, this is conventional as most thrillers have a main protagonist who wants to fight the evil of the antagonist. On the other hand the protagonist is unconventional as he isn’t meant to be a protagonist, the police are investigating a case and he overhears whilst drawing a cartoon for the newspaper. He is also unconventional as protagonists are usually portrayed as being big, strong men that are cut out for taking on antagonists, whereas this protagonist is the complete opposite. The protagonist is represented as being a typical ‘nerd’, he draws cartoons, ‘like’s puzzles’ and is a ‘first class eagle scout’, these are verbal codes which indicate that he is a nerdy character.
Secondly we have the antagonist, Zodiac. Zodiac is a conventional thriller antagonist, he is a murderer and he keeps his identity hidden, this is the first enigma code. This forces the audience to ask questions, ‘who is zodiac?’ and ‘why is he killing people?’ creating intrigue. Whereas he could also be seen as unconventional, most killers don’t want to be caught, yet zodiac sends letters to the police, this may suggest he has quite an arrogant character type. These letters that Zodiac keeps sending are more enigma codes as the audience are intrigued and want to know what they mean. Zodiac is represented as a psychological manipulator, he doesn’t use strength to do what he does he uses knowledge, outwitting the investigators.
The setting is conventional for the thriller genre, the trailer starts of in darkness in the middle of no where, this creates an eerie atmosphere, gripping the audience. The sound in the background is a verbal code which aids this eerie atmosphere effect. The sound is also building suspense as it goes along, all the strange noises make the audience feel like they’re there in this dark, unknown area. Zodiac pulls out a gun and we have a close up of the gun in their hand, this is a visual code that is used to strike fear into the audience. The realism of the setting could also bring fear to the audience, as the trailer goes on we realise he’s killing people in San Francisco, this brings fear because we live in a busy city so its realistic.
Friday, 30 September 2011
Kill Bill Volume 1 Essay Sam Lewsey
Throughout this sequence in volume 1 of Kill Bill we are exposed to a wide variety of camera movements, ranging from forward, backwards and panoramic tracking to horizontal panning.
The sequence starts with panoramic tracking, which gives a sense of wideness to the clip. Instead of following one subject it tracks across the back of the stage where we as the audience can see the band and the crowd, this makes the audience feel included. It then tracks to the underneath of the stairs where we see the main character and the camera movement changes to horizontal tracking.
In the horizontal tracking clip it tightens and focuses only on the main character, this points the whole of the audience’s attention towards her. The use of horizontal travelling follows the character at an eye level from the side, almost as if we are there witnessing this with our own eyes, once again making the audience feel included. It then travels behind the screen so we can’t completely see her anymore, adding the enigma code of mystery where the audience are made to question where she’s gone.
We then see a crane camera movement from a bird’s eye view, from here the main character is made to look small and vulnerable as we follow her around, making the audience feel powerful and all seeing.
Later we see tracking backwards from a pair of people whilst we wonder what’s happening and why we’re following these two people, then audience is forced to focus on these two people. As they begin to argue and the man seems to become nervous, we are once again presented with enigma codes, why are they arguing and why does the man seem nervous? This means that the audience’s attention is momentarily taken away from the main character leaving the audience curious.
The camera movement turns into horizontal panning and tracking as we split of from the previous subjects and move onto a new one, the woman dressed in black. Her clothing is part of the mise en scene and may have been used to represent the darkness that is about to overcome this lively room of people enjoying themselves. She is the only person so far that is dressed in black, which contrasts with all the bright colours everybody else is wearing.
Tracking back the camera then turns into a panoramic follow up, following the woman in black past the front of the crowd, reminding us of all the crowd having fun. Revisiting the panoramic shot the audience feeling included is re-enforced.
Finally, forward tracking is used to follow the woman down a narrow hallway back to where we left the character. The camera movement and sound builds suspense and keeps the audience engrossed in the scene.
The entire clip consists of just camera movement and no cutting or fading etc, this includes the audience as if we have been following everyone in the scene ourselves. This makes the experience as a whole seem more real and brings it to life.
Throughout this sequence in volume 1 of Kill Bill we are exposed to a wide variety of camera movements, ranging from forward, backwards and panoramic tracking to horizontal panning.
The sequence starts with panoramic tracking, which gives a sense of wideness to the clip. Instead of following one subject it tracks across the back of the stage where we as the audience can see the band and the crowd, this makes the audience feel included. It then tracks to the underneath of the stairs where we see the main character and the camera movement changes to horizontal tracking.
In the horizontal tracking clip it tightens and focuses only on the main character, this points the whole of the audience’s attention towards her. The use of horizontal travelling follows the character at an eye level from the side, almost as if we are there witnessing this with our own eyes, once again making the audience feel included. It then travels behind the screen so we can’t completely see her anymore, adding the enigma code of mystery where the audience are made to question where she’s gone.
We then see a crane camera movement from a bird’s eye view, from here the main character is made to look small and vulnerable as we follow her around, making the audience feel powerful and all seeing.
Later we see tracking backwards from a pair of people whilst we wonder what’s happening and why we’re following these two people, then audience is forced to focus on these two people. As they begin to argue and the man seems to become nervous, we are once again presented with enigma codes, why are they arguing and why does the man seem nervous? This means that the audience’s attention is momentarily taken away from the main character leaving the audience curious.
The camera movement turns into horizontal panning and tracking as we split of from the previous subjects and move onto a new one, the woman dressed in black. Her clothing is part of the mise en scene and may have been used to represent the darkness that is about to overcome this lively room of people enjoying themselves. She is the only person so far that is dressed in black, which contrasts with all the bright colours everybody else is wearing.
Tracking back the camera then turns into a panoramic follow up, following the woman in black past the front of the crowd, reminding us of all the crowd having fun. Revisiting the panoramic shot the audience feeling included is re-enforced.
Finally, forward tracking is used to follow the woman down a narrow hallway back to where we left the character. The camera movement and sound builds suspense and keeps the audience engrossed in the scene.
The entire clip consists of just camera movement and no cutting or fading etc, this includes the audience as if we have been following everyone in the scene ourselves. This makes the experience as a whole seem more real and brings it to life.
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