Intertextuality is the visual referencing between films. in a way its like film films borrow from each other of which the audience will recognise through certain camera angles, aspects of mise en scene, snippets of sound or methods of editing in some films that you have seen in others.
The film 'Fatal Attraction' borrows some aspects of the film 'Psycho' such as:
As you can see, both film are film in the bathroom which 'Fatal attraction' has taken from 'Psycho'
'Fatal Attraction' also takes the idea of the shower curtain getting torn from 'Psycho' to make it more dramatic.
Intertextuality is the process of, essentially, movies 'borrowing' ideas from other movies. This happens more than you realise, as almost as modern films take inspiration from scenes in older movies, and it goes unnoticed as the younger generation of people are unlikely to have seen the older film.
Here are some examples of how a modern film has 'borrowed' aspects from the Hitchcock movie Psycho:
The Stepfather
An example of how this movie uses intertextuality is that when the man falls in to the bath, having been stabbed in the neck, he pulls the shower curtain down with him. There is a close-up of where the plastic breaks from the metal rings, which is also used in Psycho. The difference, however, is that in The Stepfather the character that falls in to the bath is a man, and the antagonist. This is a contrast of the female protagonist victim in Psycho.
In regards to our own film opening, we may decide to take types of shots or ideas from another movie, but show them in our own individual way, though it could still be easily linked back to the original.
Intertextuality
Intertextuality can be defined as the visual referencing between films . Films 'borrow' certain techniques from each other as you may notice ,such as certain camera angles, aspects of mise en scene, snippets of sound or methods of editing in some films that you have seen in others.
For example ; This is the famous 'shower scene' from a thriller 'Psycho'. Countless films have borrowed different elements from it.
In 'Psycho' shower scene - The character gets killed in the shower. There are many extreme close-ups, which shows us exactly what's happening as well as a medium shot directly before and after the murder. The soundtrack of screeching violins, violas and cellos were played in the background. This caused a lot of tension.
Here are some examples of how four different films have 'borrowed' aspects from Hitchcock movie 'Psycho'.
This is a shower scene from a thriller ' What Lies beneath'. A man carried a woman to the bath- setting. The elements that have been taken from 'Psycho' is both of the victims happened to be blonde females; vulnerable characters.
'Fatal Attraction', also has a bathroom scene . Intertextuality is used in this is when the woman and the man are fighting, the blonde woman is once again the predator. Similarly to 'Psycho' the shower curtain gets pulled , and there's a knife involved in this scene.
In the 'Stepfather' bathroom scene, a man gets killed by a woman. The techniques that have been taken from the famous 'Psycho' scene is the pulling down of the curtain and knife involvement.
In Succubus ( Student Thriller)we see a woman smelling the man's robe whilst he's in the shower, who then opens the shower door and kills the man. The aspects that seem 'borrowed' is the shower scene, and the actual psycho with a knife ; stabbing the man in the shower.
This is our shot-by-shot interpretation of the opening of the movie 'Collateral'. It was quite difficult trying to match cut shots during the editing process, but we are happy with our final result as we scrutinised each shot until it flowed smoothly. In each shot we had to ensure that they were moving in the same distance.
This is a storyboard we drew that has the shots that are used in the opening for Collateral. There is a midshot, wideshot, close-up shot, two-shot and an over the shoulder shot.
This is a big close up which can be used to show emotions on the character's face.
This is a wide shot which can be used to establish a new location, or show a character's whole body.
This is a mid shot of someone's feet.
This shot shows the rule of thirds. The person on the right takes up 2/3 of the shot, while the person on the left takes up only 1/3. This is a convention that is sometimes broken, however.
This shot is an over the shoulder shot, which can be used to show a conversation happening.
This is a shot of someone standing by a window. This is a bad shot, as the lighting behind means that the features of the character are darkened and cannot be scene. However, sometimes this is the desired effect when filming.
Tuesday, 4 December 2012
RESEARCH - Thriller Film Opening -how does this film meet the conventions?
Music- builds/creates tensions. gives an indication of the mood/tone of the film and builds anticipation and excitement.
introduces characters and helps audience get an idea of the film due to the teasers involved which teases the plot, locations. provides a 'hook' something to engage the audience and make them keep watching the film.
Establish genre and pace
titles order- producers i dent distributer, director, stars
Conventions of a film opening Music & Sound Effects - Builds and creates tension in the film .Gives an indication of the mood/tone which encourages the audience to keep watching .
Imagery- Imagery introduces characters and teasers from the plot (Look to get the audience engaged. Locations maybe made opponent .)It provides a hook which makes the audience watch the entire film.
Genre - Establishes Genre and face.
Titles - order: produces identity ( make up the name)
Conventions of a Film Opening
Music & Sound Effects - Builds and creates tension. it gives an indication of the mood and tone to the audience.
Imagery - this introduces various elements of the film such as characters, teasers from the plot, locations etc. which then provides a hook to engage the audience in order to encourage them to watch the entire film.
Genre - establishment of genre and pace is set through the means of the camera pace and enhanced through the use of music and imagery effects.
Titles - generally, the order goes as: producer's ident, distributer, directer, stars, other cast. However, this order can change; for example, if the film features a really sucsessfull star then they may be prioritised in order, or if the distributer has their own ident then that will be made apparent also.
