North by North West; The Perfect Thriller

                                              North by North West; The Perfect Thriller

Released; November 22 1959.

Director; Alfred Hitchcock.

Screenplay; Ernest Lehman.

Trailer; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk0GbTMMbP0

Summary; An innocent New York advertising executive is mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies and is pursued across the country finding a way to survive.

James Mason

                 

Cary Grant

Eva Marie Saint

*********************************************************************************
                                                Hitchcock's working methods;


In this movie, every scene was planned visually in order to help with the set out of the movie. Before shooting scenes in the movie, Hitchcock would have learned all the dialogue and rarely needed to look at the script just like a conductor conducting an orchestra without a score. When Hitchcock was directing, he never looked at the camera, he would always imagine as if he was looking at a screen in a cinema.

Thrillers are characterised by fast pacing and frequent action. an example of this in the movie id the drunk driving scene.

- Drunk Driving Scene " https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlY5kaZC2N0 "

Thrillers have resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more powerful and better equipped villains. I think this is true for this movie as James Mason acts as the bad guy/villain and Cary Grant had to thwart his plans and survive.

                                            Hitchcock's Two Clever Techniques

Setting was important for Hitchcock. Mount Rushmore is a symbol of order but Hitchcock sets a scene of disorder in that setting.
Hitchcock said that that the audiences need relief from suspense and a change of pace, so he would add a few scenes with humour to give the audience a laugh.

                                                                                                                                                                   

"A thriller is a villain driven plot whereby he presents obstacles the hero must overcome."

I think this is true in this film because the villain (James Mason) presents obstacle that the hero (Cary Grant) must overcome.

"THE MCGUFFIN"

The director said that the McGuffin is a plot device that causes the action to happen and this device usually comes at the beginning of the film and co=an sometimes return at the end of the film and in this film, the device is the Microfilm. In some cases the audience don't really care about this device that is used.

Use Of A Camera

                                          Use of the Camera in Filming

There are two types of shots using the camera
-Camera Shot
-Camera Movement

                                                          The Camera shots 

                                                               A long shot

                                                            A wide shot

                                                        A Medium shot

                                                       A close up

                                     
                                                An extreme close up

                                                        Point of view
                         

                                                         Low angle
          

                                              High angle

                                                The Camera Movement



                                                                            Pan

                                                                   Tilt

Crane Shot

Tracking shot

Rolling shot

Steadicam

Thriller Conventions (Prezi)

Genre and Narratives

                                                   GENRE AND NARRATIVES


What is a genre?

-The word "genre" comes from the French and it is a type or kind of theme. Some examples of genres are; Sci-fi, Mystery, Horror, Thriller, Romance etc.

Narrative(s);

- A Narrative Structure is the way the events are revealed to the audience. There are two types of structures;

-Linear; The sequence of events are shown in order that they took place.

-Non Linear; The sequence of events are revealed out of the expected order, for example; pulp fiction.

The Brief

                                The Coursework Brief


I have been asked to produce the titles and opening sequence of a new fiction film in the triller genre. The sequence should last for approximately 2 minutes. 

-I may work in a group consisting of 2 to 4 people.

-As acting is not assessed I am free to include actors that are not members of the group.

-The film is worth 60% of my coursework grade.

-The accompanying blog is worth 40% of my coursework

-Together the foundation portfolio is worth 50% of the overall AS level.

Welcome Post

                                                                      Welcome!



Hello and welcome to my new blog! My name is Diana and i'm a 16 year old studying Media Studies at Robert Clack School. I have taken an interest in media because I would like to learn different aspect of it. 

My favourite genres in Media are Thriller, Sci-fi and Drama.  I mostly have an interest in many different TV shows but my favourites are The Walking dead and The 100.




The genres of this TV show consists of Drama, Action Fiction, Utopian and Dystopian fiction and Sci-fi. I like this show as it includes cliff hangers and the end of the episode and at the end of each season which can leave the audience excited and anxious for whats to come. The show also has good atmosphere with a mixture of characters and different personalities which makes the show.

This show is also my favourite as it's a Zombie and Horror Fiction. This show has a non-linear plot which creates more suspense in the series also added with cliff hangers. The show also includes a red herring, which means where the villain/enemy tricks the audience into thinking they are good.