Mr Ripley Film Techniques

The directors chosen camera technique, a simple two composition that progresses the scene a steady pace, forces the audience to feel a part of the awkward exchange; obviously, a quality of film that could not be as profoundly achieved through the narrative in the novel.

(106) insert shot: In Into the Wild(2007) an insert shot of the pages in the book about botany is used when Christopher McCandless is trying to see what plants are edible or not. The audience is able to see his anxiety trying to find

The 1940s film industry favored films that were based on reality, such as Citizen Kane. Orson Welles is the director of the 1941 film, Citizen Kane, which uses the cinematic techniques of long takes and deep focus shots. Long takes and deep focus shots are associated with space and time. I will be writing about scene D where Susan, the second Ms. Kane, is in the middle of a singing lesson. Scene D contains examples of long takes, deep focus takes, and camera movements.

Citizen Kane Citizen Kane is often called the greatest film ever made. Its use of film techniques often taken for granted nowadays were completely new and had not been done before. Simple things like ceilings on the sets and realistic scenes such as the newsreel, which would not stand out in a modern film, were combined to make a film full of innovative techniques. The director, Orson Welles, developed the use of deep focus to make the flat cinema screen almost become three dimensional, which added a realism that had not been explored before.

Alfred Hitchcock also used cinematography in a uniquely stylizing way. Hitchcock not only uses the camera to create dramatic irony, but he also uses the camera to lie to the audience and create anxious suspense. For example, in his film Psycho, when Marion is in the shower Hitchcock frames the scenes very tightly. Marion is in a confined and very personal space. This makes her incredibly vulnerable. Then Hitchcock heightens the suspense by creating dramatic irony with the reveal of a shadowy figure closing in on Marion, unbeknownst to her. This creates a lot of anxiety for the audience, knowing the protagonist is vulnerable and in danger with no way of altering the inevitable. Hitchcock then manipulates the audience by “revealing” a brief silhouette of an old lady as our shower killer. Hitchcock uses this “reveal” to lie to the audience, he makes the audience think they have more inside knowledge confirming their already growing suspicions, when in reality the audience is misled entirely and the murderer was Norman all along. The way Hitchcock uses the camera to reveal both inside information and misleading information truly keeps the viewer engaged and not knowing what to believe until the truth is finally revealed. By using this unique technique of controlling the audience by only showing what he wants you to see, Hitchcock masterfully defies expectations and creates suspense.

The Help is an inspiring movie, centralized on themes of showing courage in the midst of adversity and racial desegregation. The selection of actors with specific attributes, lighting/camera angles, and music, allows the movie to entertain in detail, and highlight the prime issues of the 1960s. With the movie being directed with these specifities in mind, the author, Kathryn Stockett, is able to successfully relay her message in the screenplay.

“St.Vincent” is a great film full of a bunch of mysteries involving mostly Bill Murray who plays Vincent in the movie. He is a very unusual character and you really have to get deep into the picture of it to really understand all his problems and why he acts certain ways. It is a great movie that keeps the audience at the edge of their seat waiting for what will be the next scene to come up in this thrilling comedy film.

Peter Benchley wrote "Jaws" the novel before it was made into a film directed by Steven Spielberg. "Jaws" is a thriller/horror with the main aim being to build up suspense and tension. When making the film Jaws Steven Spielberg had to face the challenging task of translating Benchley’s popular novel into a hit movie whilst still maintaining the suspense created through the many textual devices used by Benchley, such as language techniques and sentence structure. Spielberg managed use different camera angles and shots alongside lighting effects to create atmosphere and tension to pretty much the same effect. In the background he uses music and sound effects to add to the dramatic visual images he creates.

Hitchcock is known for the “meticulousness of his preproduction, shooting, and editing strategies” (Sterritt 9). An example of this is the filming technique Hitchcock used to illustrate Scottie’s Vertigo; to represent the sensation, the camera would physically move away from the subject while simultaneously zooming in on the subjects. Thus this specific shot was used whenever Scottie went through that experience, creating a specific motif for his reaction. Another strategy of Hitchcock is “his celebrated use of point-of-view shots”, which he employed to unite “physical and psychological identification between spectator and character” (Sterritt 11). This is exemplified in Rear Window, which is seen from almost entirely Jeff’s perspective, thus uniting audiences more with Jeff, and therefore the subjective narrative. This increases solidarity with Jeff, and makes it easier for the audience to adopt Jeff’s discoveries as the truth. Additionally point-of-view shots allow viewers to understand characters more, as seen through Judy’s point of view on her walk in the park with Scottie. Another camera angle favoured is the extreme high-angle shot, which in some cases marks a significant point in the plot; this shot is used to show Madeleine’s fall to her death in Vertigo, the point in the movie that serves as a climax that triggers the narrative

Tom escapes reality in many different ways. The first and most obvious is the fire escape that leads him away from his unhappy home. He also escapes into his world of poetry writing and movies. The more Amanda nags, the more Tom seems to need his movie escapes. They take him to

Tom Ripley is consistently represented by Highsmith and Minghella as someone who’s always lacked an identity. His overriding ambition to be someone else using the talents of impersonation, forgery and telling lies portrays him as a predator, hunting for congruence, cohesion and meaning in life. From this point onwards, Tom enters a cruel and unstable reality where his obsession with Dickie Greenleaf causes him to kill him and assume his

Lastly, Tim Burton, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, uses lighting to show that the people are somewhere. For example, in the first few seconds of the elevator, the scene is dark, low key lighting. This creates an ominous feeling in the characters and the audience. Although these are the present effects in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Tim Burton in Big Fish used lighting to give off effects that are conflicting of one another. For example, when young Edward is traveling through the forest on the dark and abandoned road, low key lighting is used. This gives off an ominous feeling.

First, Tom has changed throughout the book. At the beginning of the book Tom was always telling some sort of lie. He lied about whitewashing the fence, his toe hurting, memorizing bible verses, taking the pills and much more. Towards the end of the book Tom is starting to realize he needs to be truthful. On the day of the murder trial Tom is asked to take the stand. He was as scared as a mouse getting chased by a cat. After a few minutes of talking and thinking Tom confesses the truth about the murder. Injun Joe was the one who killed Dr. Robinson! Another example of how Tom changed in the book is his kindness. After Tom brought up his old crush Amy, Becky was as mad as your mom when you don't clean your room. Tom tried to get her back but she didn't care. After awhile he didn't really care what she did. When Tom and Becky were stuck in the cave he confronted her and told her they would get out. He also took the blame for the ripped

The Talented Mr Ripley, a film directed by Anthony Minghella, based off a book by Patricia Highsmith, delves into the world of a psychotic young man named Thomas Ripley. Through the film Tom murders three people and usurps the identity of Dickie Greenleaf, a wealthy socialite. Desire is a core theme in this film, causing this character to act irrationally and impulsively, obviously shown in this film through when Tom steals Dickie’s identity after murdering him and mooches off Dickie’s allowance his father pays out. This was caused by Tom’s huge desire to live in a social class way above his own, surrounded by wealth and popularity. This theft of identity caused by the character’s un-satisfaction with his own/real life, directly relates to another film ‘Catch me if you Can’, where the main protagonist Frank Abagnale poses as multiple identities such as a Pan Am Pilot, a paediatrician, and an attorney. We can see similarities with Tom and Frank’s decisions caused by their strong desire for a higher status and a wealthy

The film that made an impression on me because of its techniques was The Great Gatsby. The director, Baz Luhrmann presents certain themes and ideas for the viewers. To do this, Baz Luhrmann proficiently uses a range of techniques to demonstrate these ideas. The Great Gatsby is about a man who orders his life around one desire: to be reunited with Daisy, the love he lost five years earlier. Gatsby's quest leads him from poverty to wealth, into the arms of his beloved, and eventually to death. The techniques I write about that illustrate the themes of the film are; camera shots, setting, lighting and symbolism. The scenes I will be concentrating on are the final scenes which feature the Great Gatsby.