Certification of Films

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is the organisation responisble for film, DVD and some video game classification within the United Kingdom. The BBFC currently issues the following certificates:

Universal Children - suitable for all, but ecspecially made for children under 7 years of age.

Universal - All ages admitted, there is nothing unsuitable for children.

Parental Guidance - All ages admitted, but parents are advised that certain scenes may be unsuitable for children under 13.

Accompanied - Suitable for those aged 12 and over, children under 12 are admitted if they are accompanied by an adult at all times during the performance.

12 - Suitable for those aged 12 and over, no-one younger than 12 may rent or buy a 12 rated VHS, DVD or game.

15 - Suitable for those aged 15 and over, no-one younger than 15 may see a film rated 15 in cinema or rent or buy a 15 rated VHS, DVD or game.

18 - Suitable for those aged 18 and over, no-one younger than 18 may see a film rated 18 in cinema or buy or rent an 18 rated VHS, DVD or game.

Restricted 18 - suitable for those aged 18 and over, may only be shown at licensed cinemas and only to people aged 18 or over.

Preliminary Exercise

Story Board

Story Board 8

Story Board 7

Story Board 6

Story Board 5

Story Board 4

Story Board 3

Story Board 2

Story Board 1

Thriller

A Thriller is a film genre that is designed to create a tense atmosphere and build suspense to keep the audience engaged and trying to guess what will happen. They may be fast paced scenes, though this is more a convention on the action-thriller sub-genre. Many thrillers involve some form of criminal activity. Perhaps murder for personal gain, but it may also be to do with theft.

Key component of a Thriller:
Visual Style Makes Alot Of Use Of Low Key Lighting

Film Noir

The term Film Noir (french for black film) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize moral ambiguity and sexual motivation. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as stretching from the early 1940s to the late 1950s. Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography, while many of the prototypical stories and much of the attitude of classic noir derive from the hardboiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Depression. It was first applied to Hollywood movies by French critic Nino Frank in 1946.

Double Indemnity, I Walked With A Zombie & The Usual Suspects

Double Indemnity (1944) is an Academy Award nominated film noir starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson. The movie was directed by Billy Wilder. The story was based on a 1927 crime perpetrated by a married Queens woman and her lover. One of the all-time great American films, and one of the very first in the film noir genre, Double Indemnity has been intriguing audiences for more than sixty years. Ruth (Brown Snyder) persuaded her boyfriend, Judd Gray, to kill her husband Albert after having her spouse take out a big insurance policy—with a double-indemnity clause. The murderers were quickly identified and arrested.
Opening scene - Insurance salesman and ladies man Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) stumbles into his boss' office, bleeding and broken. He lights a cigarette, and begins to record a dying man's confession. From the very beginning, we know the film isn't going to end well.

I Walked with a Zombie is a 1943 horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur. It was the second horror film from producer Val Lewton for RKO Pictures. Betsy Connell (Frances Dee), a Canadian nurse, relates in a voiceover narration and tells the story of how she "walked with a zombie."
The premiere attraction of this film has to be the cinematography and direction. Having been shot in 1943, the vast and expansive shots of today are out of the question, but the film doesn’t suffer one bit from this. Jacques Tourneur doesn’t have a huge array of moving shots, but what he does do is have the camera in the perfect spot every single time, portraying amazing depth and haunting shadows.

The Usual Suspects is a 1995 American noir film written by Christopher McQuarrie and directed by Bryan Singer. The Film shot a $6million budget for the making of the film. The film tells the story of Roger "Verbal" Kint (Kevin Spacey), a small-time con man who is the subject of a police interrogation. He tells his interrogator, a convoluted story about events leading to a massacre and a massive fire that has just taken place on a ship docked at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro Bay. Using flashback and narration, Verbal's story becomes increasingly complex as he tries to explain why he and his partners-in-crime were on the boat.
Opening scene - its very effective with the use of low key lighting and the disguised figure's face not being shown creating many questiones to intrigue viewers and create suspense. The men are manipulated by forces unseen and best unspoken. Told in flashback, the movie zips back and forth through time and place, telling the story of these five men, a couple of cops, and one master criminal whose name is mentioned only in hushed tones: Keyser Soze

The Prestige

The prestige was directed by Christopher Nolan, it is a film about magicians whose constant attempts to better one another leads to tragic events. The opening scene of the film shows a magician on stage performing a trick that appears to be very advanced. The trick appears to have gone wrong as he ends up drowning in a tank of water whilst another man watches him with a comfortbale looking pose, but does nothing to help. During all of this, narrative is provided by Sir Michael Caine about how magic tricks operate and how they have three different parts, the final being the prestige. Also non-diegetic sound in the form of quiet violins and a drum create music for the actual magic trick and to the audience to build up tension to think whats going to happen next. This opening is very effective as it creates many questions that the auidence will want answering. Also Michael Caine's voice has an excellent sound for creating a mysterious atmosphere that keep the audience in a state of confusion and make them want to watch more of the film to see what happens next!

Comparison of Duel & Speed

Duel and Speed are both quite similar from the opening scenes, seen as they both dont give away very much detail except the credits, they also dont show any characters! The credits for both films are shown clearly as they are shown when nothing else is on the screen, for example in speed a few credits come up everytime the elavator crosses a big bar which covers the camera. On the other hand Duel credits are shown when the car goes through a dark tunnel, which shows compete darkness.
Duel's sound:
There is the radio of the car being played in the background which is diegetic.
The engine from the car is heard through out the the first scenes to show that the car is actually moving.
The engine from other cars is also heard from the flow of traffic along the road.
Speed's sound:
The Non-diegetic sound heard in this film is music and drums which builds its way up and then dies down and builds back up again. This happens as different dredits are shown.
The sound in Speed creates all the tension and excitement as there is nothing to watch except the top of the lift descending down a big building.
Both camera shots from both films are seen from the car or the lifts point of view, so basically the audience is following the scenes by something moving.
Overall the film that gets your attention most is 'Speed' as there is excitement and tension built up by the music and drums, for instance when the title comes on the screen, it speeds on and the lift stops and there is a big bang from a drum to emphasise the main credit.