Taken: film analysis

Taken is a film that is about a retired government agent who has to save his daughter from kidnappers in France. He does this by using his detective skills and mastery of combat to find his daughter and her captors. The shots used in the film are usually close-up shots to give a reaction of the characters, a large amount of establishing shots are also used to show off the location which it is set such as Chicago at the start and Paris later on in the film. 

The film uses a dim lighting to portray a mood of depression and darkness which is why a the end the lighting is far brighter and much more happier mood.

Directed by	Pierre Morel

Produced by	Luc Besson

Written by	Luc Besson Robert Mark Kamen

Arrow: TV show analysis

Arrow is a TV series that features Stephen Amell, Katie Cassidy and Emily Bett-Rickards. It follows the life of a "superhero" that his decided to fight the injustice in his city and stop the corrupt rich folk that are causing the cities destruction.

The show uses action and violence to portray a dangerous city that is riddled with crime. The protagonist, Oliver Queen, has been on an island for 5 years away from society.

The TV program consists of Arrow, the protagonist, investigating crimes and solving them using vigilante justice which means that he can operate outside the law.

The lighting is relatively dark to show a unforgiving mood to the show. This is shown by the fact that they are not afraid to kill off characters and the themes of drugs and violence.

The episode usually includes a large amount of action scenes and in this has a wide variety of  stunts in the programme.

The show constantly uses flashbacks as a way to enrich the overall plot and explain some of the back story to the show. Stephen Amell(Arrow) uses monologue from time to time to give the audience a better idea of what is going through the characters head or it is used as a segway to a new scene.

Movie Opening Evaluation

As part of the post-production of Films & TV Shows, Titles & Openings are generally used to introduce it. Titles & Openings often communicate with the audience the type of genre the film/show belongs to along with the people associated with it like main actors/actresses, costume design, director, etc.

Game Of Thrones

 

Game of Thrones's Opening takes the audience on a fantasy-inspired journey throughout Westeros's current state during that season. Landmarks & locations known to the audience begin to form & take shape on the virtual map. The actor's & actress's names appear in the opening sequence next to a picture of their character's house sigil. For example, Maisie Williams's name is next to a picture of a Wolf because her character: "Arya Stark" is part of House Stark & their sigil is a Wolf. The colour pallet is quite natural with whites, greens, blue & browns as they are the colour of the landscape - The white is used for snow, green for grass, blue for the ocean & the brown for rock/desert. Subtle tones of gold are used to convey a sense of regal superiority to tie in with the story of "fighting for the crown to rule Westeros." The final scene where the title is shown on the crown along with four house sigils in each corner shows the main contenders (Stark, Targaryen, Lannister & Baratheon) all are in for a chance of winning "The Game of Thrones." The art style of the visuals paired with the epic, well received music hints to the reader that this show will indeed be a unique, fantasy, battle that the audience will encounter twists & turns with unexpected outcomes - hence the intro showing the building of the locations on the map - you have to guess the outcome of what the outcome is going to be of the construction when first watching (unless you know you already know the geographical aspects of Westeros).   

Thriller Tropes: Protagonist

James Bond was created in the 50's by ex-SIS agent, Ian Fleming. He has been the face of the action thriller genre for over fifty years with each actor to take on the role bringing the character to a then modern audience. The character is the most successful of his kind, spawning a uber-franchise that has arguable kept MGM afloat during financial crisis.  

Classically a sexist dinosaur, he has inspired the creation of similar characters throughout the thriller genre and sub-genres. The Bond-appeal even became a coined term for the thrill of being a spy which is often used to describe both the reality of  espionage and the fictional world of movies.

By all accounts, it is also arguable that James Bond has become an iconic institution of cinema which continues even now (which the latest instalment of the franchise being released later this year). 

Jack Ryan was created by Tom Clancy and spawned a sporadic array of films which included a variety of actors to play the character. Being based on a more modern look at espionage the analyst/operative/president never completely picked up in steam at the box office, however. 

For more information on the Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit film in particular, refer to the film study. 

Popular Thriller Trope: Location

First of the locations is probably the most famous of all crime ridden, thriller-esque locations is Gotham City from the Batman franchise which has been in existence since 1939. It is the set archetype for locations as such and has been shown to be the gritty place where no one wants to live. Such has been the stage for a number of film franchises each visibly taking aspects from the age old creation which itself, has appeared in a number of incarnations (from based on Chicago, New York to a fictional built and in Batman vs Superman, Detroit).

Basin City from Frank Miller's Sin City saga is a secluded city trapped in a basin/sink hole. It was nicknamed Sin City for its noire apparel and violent history. What also adds to the 'rough city' is the predominant red light district where a large portion of the stories to do with Sin City take place. 

The most used location for a thriller is undoubtedly New York. With Gotham being the archetype for a gritty city, it's no surprise that the eponymous TV show is filmed here. With boroughs ranging from the super funded to impoverished - it boasts a wide array of urban enviroments that have been adopted by a number of thriller TV shows such as Elementary, CSI, Blue Bloods etc.

Script changes

When filming, we came to the conclusion it was easier to use the script as guidelines than strict rules. 

We came up with all the dialogue when on set which made the filming much quicker as we weren't restricted by what we had to follow. The one fixed thing, however, was the monologue which is going to be played over the travelling scenes. We compromised the script so the filming could expand and evolve without being restricted. It cut time and also gave us more freedom for what we wanted to do.

As of now, the script is only exists due to the script and the rest is pretty much obsolete now. 

‘Untitled’

By CakeBox Productions

A bleak city landscape. The camera is following a man walking through the grey streets. He is wearing warm clothing indicating winter. Camera pulls focus in and out changing focus from him and the scenery around.

John(aside)-: I always wanted to be a police detective. I don’t know why.

Cut to next shot. Close-up match on action of Jon brushing past a building.

John(aside)-: Maybe it was the TV shows. The good cop always catching the bad guy and he somehow manages to rescue everyone at the end. Cool story.

                Cut to extreme close up of the Bomb Maker tinkering.

Cut back to John. Low angle shot like the camera is behind a car following the approach of John.

John(aside)-: No. It was a nice thought, though. Maybe one day I’ll get given a case where the killer is some idiot with a clear motive, prints at the scene, the works.

                Cut to extreme close up of the Bomb Maker’s mouth area. He slowly smiles.

                Cut to shot of traffic with muffled car noises allowing the monologue to be heard.

John(aside)-: That would be nice before I retire. That old cliché.

Shot of the back of John. He is looking down at traffic on an overpass. The sound of wind and traffic is muffled.

John(aside)-: Long time until that, unfortunately.

                Cut to two-shot. Another person approaches. It is John’s partner, Pedro La Guerta.

Pedro-: John?

John-: Pedro. What d’you need?

Pedro-: You at the station. Someone’s there claiming that they’ve set up a bomb in the city. They’re asking to speak to you personally.

                Close up of John as he replies.

John-: And here I thought that I could have the morning off.

Cut to main titles.

The red highlighted portions show the obsolete sections as the dialogue was revised.

The green highlighted portion shows the cut cues rather than strict instructions so these are open to change.