Audience

What is an audience?

An individual or collective group of people who read or consume any media text.

Examples include:

     · Literature (readers)

     · Music (listeners)

     · Video Games (players) 

Why are audiences important?

Without any audience, television shows, radio stations and video games will be scrapped, companies make these types of media to entertain their audience, if it cannot entertain them, then they will stop making it as it will become a waste of money and time.

Martin Scorsese

Born November 17, 1942

Is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian.

In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation.

Scorsese's body of work addresses such themes as Italian American identity, Roman Catholic concepts of guilt and redemption, machismo, modern crime, and violence.

Scorsese is hailed as one of the most significant and influential filmmakers of all time, directing landmark films such as Mean Streets (1973), Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), and Goodfellas (1990) – all of which he collaborated on with actor and close friend Robert De Niro.

He won the Academy Award for Best Director for The Departed (2006), having been nominated a previous five times.

Martin Scorsese grew up in New York City.

Thriller Screenshots and Analysis'

I have picked quantum of solace to take screenshots from as I feel it has the most thrilling start to a film I have ever seen, though unlike most films you never seem to take the eyes of James Bond, you always seem to have a back seat role which is different and effective as you still feel you can interact with the film, even though you are not seeing what the actors sees directly from his eyes, giving you more of a chance to assess the situation he is in.

I would say this is an 'extreme long shot', I think in this case it was used to show location, but as it is a very misty and surrounded by water, it opens up the idea that it is a very mysterious and unknown island. The island itself is clearly placed right in the centre of the shot to because it is the section you will instantly mostly focus on and I believe the shot is quite low down to make the area of land seem a lot bigger and therefore more fearful place to be. This is quite a dark scene, though shot in the daylight; it helps create an eerie environment for the viewer.

This is a close up shot, as I was talking about in the introduction, you are taking a back seat role on how you see certain aspects of this movie, such as here, you are in the back of a car that seems like it is about to clash with another vehicle, being that the shot is from behind James Bond, the audience are left feeling helpless as bond has the wheel in this shot. rule of thirds is played her I think, being that the steering wheel is in the bottom left hand side of the shot whilst the facial expression of bond through the mirror is on the top right hand side, however the main action is placed in the middle, this adds to the intensity of the shot, as you are looking at more than one thing at a time, this shot is also only played for a short time before changing, also adding to the drama and intensity of the shot.

This is also an extreme long shot, however unlike the opening shot, I don’t feel is it used to highlight location, I think it is used to show how close and direct the two cars behind are getting and what sort of landscape bond is having to fend these enemies off on. The location is perfect for this chase, the large slopes help add a very nail biting suspense to it, which keeps the audience on edge, which is one of the main keys of a thriller. All the cars are coming from centre screen down towards the bottom left, this helps instantly grab viewer’s attention.

Conventions Of A Thriller

• The aims of a thriller are to keep the viewers alert and as interested as possible, this can be done by giving the hero a problem they must overcome and sometimes obstacles such as criminals they much eliminate, some films use zombies, ghosts, skeletons, such enemies to keep the viewer scared and alert, however this can become easily unbelievable if done wrong, however these are usually used as it creates mystery and an unknowing element of what may come next.

• Music can create mood and atmosphere within a film, strong orchestral music is sometimes used, as it is practical because it will be an instrumental piece, also orchestra music has more of a deeper sound, helping the audience feel more drawn in to the movie.

• Editing is the most important aspect in creating an affective thriller, such as when a certain clip in the movie is tense, the editing will be choppy and quick, and this creates a faster, more energetic tempo to the section of the movie, which helps keep the audience on edge.

• Certain settings help give a mysterious and deadly environment, such as woods, they are usually used in thrillers; this is because it is a large area, usually away from civilization. Old houses or mansions are also used; this is because the house has history, giving the whole movie a deep feel and a creepier feel to it.

• Actors can be crucial in a thriller, the actor must fit the characters personality, or else it seems they are in the wrong position to the viewer, such as a character with a cutting edge, fighter personality will be played by an actor with a slick look and sharp features, this seems like a small aspect, but can affect the movie a lot.

Wordle - Thriller

This is the first time I have used 'Wordle' so I decided to use it as an effective way of showing the words you associate to a thriller genre. I used a black background with white text as I feel it helps get across a  scary feel, I have also done this by using a slightly creepy font.

 

Time Lapse

This is a time lapse I have found on vimeo, I chose this as i feel it links into my background and will help me get to grips with posting videos in my future blogging.