Research into Femme Fatale with reference to Femme Fatales from thriller film.

Femme fatale

  Dictionary definition     :
A femme fatale is an alluring and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations.

In the gangster thriller film 'Once Upon A Time in America' this is the first establishing shot on the femme Eve. Her face is illuminated by the glamorous and expensive Tiffney style lamp. Eve is a 'classic' femme fatale, dark eyes, red lips, and pale skin - 'classic' make up, tight skirt. Tightly curled perfectly presented curled hair and a glamorous hat. She is wearing pearls also a generic signifier of the femme fatale and thought to be unlucky, and could represent her unlucky fate. Her glamour, red lips, tight skirt and blonde hair are elements of objectification. She is also passive, a stereotyped dumb blonde who defines herself through men, she is marginal to the action and a victim. Her deviance is that she is a loose woman and thus pays for her sins.

Thelma and Louise and the main characters in the thriller 'Thelma and Louise'. They are an example of the 'modern' femme fatale, the strong women. Dressed in denim and wearing aviators they are almost the opposite of the classic femme fatale. They are dressed to look strong and confident, masculine andnot for the visual pleasure of men. Ridley Scott challenges the pre-conceptions and conventions of the thriller genre with Thelma and Louise, the main characters, two women in control, powerful and dangerous. This is taken from the scene where they look a policeman in the boot of his own car, Ridley Scott mocks the conception that men have power over women and noticably policeman. The girls take his gun and sun glasses and ride off, very much a 'girl power' moment. They are two women who took the law in there own hands and because of it are now on the run and proving to be clever strong and deviant.

Another modern femme fatale, Jackie Brown, from the film 'Jackie Brown' directed by Quentin Tarantino. As did Ridely Scott in 'Thelma and Louise' Tarantino challenges and smashes the conventions and pre-conceptions of the thriller genre can be seen in 'Jackie Brown' by having his main character as a middle aged, black female. Tarantino twists the audience pre-conceptions of the genre, he plays with stereotypes of gender, ethnicity, sex and age, and with this very controversial ( the thriller genre) leading character pushing the audiences out of their preconceptions and creates a strong, interesting, deviant lead and femme fatale. Jackie Brown is a flight attendant who gets caught smuggling her boss's gun money on the airline she works for. Tarantino turns the audiences preconceptions on there heads with the leads smuggling of her male boss's gun money. Jackie Brown is strong, deviant confident and powerful she knows how to get what she wants and it clever in how she does it, she is in control and makes fools of the male that try and stop her. This movie poster reflects Tarantino's want to challenge the thriller genre and its audiences. Jackie is holding a gun this shows that she is in power and control, she has a large bag filled with money this shows that she is deviant, her tight short skirt and alluring dress objectifies her but also makes her look confident.

Opening to Jackie Brown



The first 1.50
Jackie is on a convabelt and constantly in the right third of the screen, a use of the rule of thirds, a persons eye is said to be drawn to the right, so she is placed on the right to be in constant attention of the audience.
Low angle tracking shot
The use of a low angle shot makes Jackie look powerful and in control, she works confidently with her head held high. The use of tracking means the audiences attention is constantly on Jackie and places the audience in the mise-en-scene, as if they are right beside her.
2.15-2.23
Mid low angle tracking shot
Mid angle shot, she low angle, makes the audience fell as if they are underneath her.
2.23-2.33
Close up, tracking shot


The opening sequence of 'Jackie Brown' is the establishment of Jackie (as a main character), the purpose bring to show the audience what she is like. Without dialogue the audience establish from the clever and powerful use of camera angles, costume and soundtrack Jackie is; confident, strong, powerful, safisticated, dominating, sucessful. The soundtrack played for the durrarion of the opening is upbeat, safisticated and confident, and reflects Jackie.

Cosmetics advert analysis questions

'Freyja is 26. She works for a large branding company agency. She lives alone and has a cat. She works hard and enjoys her job. She likes to be independent and has a strong character. She socialises with friends at the weekend, going to cafes and bars. She is good at balancing her time well between her work and social life, she believes it is important for women to have a good career she enjoys and close friends. She is good with money; she likes high quality lasting products as she feels they are worth the extra cost.
The target audiences for my advert are social climbers and succeeders. They are most likely to be young professionals. I chose to advertise a red lipstick this was because it connotes strength, feminity, power, and naturally stands out- individuality I felt that this perfectly suited the target audience. The advert appeals to the audience by connoting strength, independence, wisdom, success and individuality. Having chosen to advertise a lipstick it was important that the face of the model, being the main focal point of the advert gave connotations of the audience’s ambitions and ideology, I had this in mind when constructing the advert.
The face of the model is highly illuminated making it look radiant; this draws the reader’s eye/attention to the face. A strong radiant face connotes wisdom, power, strength and beauty/purity. The use of simple strong 'classic' make up makes the model look sophisticated, fashionable, feminine and professional. This appeals to the readers ambitions to be individual, strong, and independent. The dark eye make up draws in the reader’s attention to the eyes, it frames them. I decided to have the model looking up in to the sky as this shows she has ambition and that she has hopes/goals, her eyes are locked into the dark and gripping excitement of her fate. This appeals to the audiences ambitions to be successful, to achieve and strive. There is a pleased expression on her face showing that she is confident and happy with who she is and what she stands for. This appeals to my audience because they are confident and stand for what they believe in.
The model is wearing a fur coat; this connotes luxury, strength, and individuality, all these of which can all be linked to success and are all appealing to the target audience. The reader can only see the arm of the coat, enough to be seen and appealing as part of the advert but not too much to distract the readers eye and divert the focal point of the advert. The advert has a strong colour scheme red, black and white, these colours all being strong on there own and also complimenting each together when together. Black is the colour of authority and power, white symbolises innocence and purity. The most emotionally intense colour, red stimulates a faster heartbeat and breathing. It is also the color of love, it draws attention. I chose these colours as they all have connotations of which the target audience aspired to be/where attract to. When designing the logo for the product I knew it had to have a name which could be related to the discussed ideals. When looking at my chosen picture Roxie came into my head, it seemed to fit perfectly and stand for everything I was trying to make my advert stand for. I used a 'hand written' style font to give the look of it having being written in lipstick. I put black and red roses (connoting passion, feminity), and lips (connoting passion feminity and relating to the advert matter) behind/around the font, complimenting my advert and enhancing the visual appeal to the target audience.
I used a digital camera to take the photos of my model. I took several and choose one, this was based on a criteria that it had to have: the right lighting, and most importantly the lips looked strong and highlighted. I found the digital camera easy to use, it made it easy for me to take good photos and upload them with ease onto my computer. I edited my advert in Photoshop. It was the first time I had used Photoshop but with some instruction found it easy to find my way around the programme and make use of the tool/effects. Photoshop allowed me to construct my advert to be as I wanted it and is where I really made the advert come alive.
My advert represents women as strong and independent; that they are passionate, individual and enjoy being so. They can be successful and social climbers in a patriarchal world.

Film industry research - British Film industry - London to Brighton

Powerpoint presentation researching production, exhibtion, distrubution and marketing of the British film, London to Brighton.

Essex Boys- Thriller film research

Essex Boys


Director
Terry Winsor
Release Date
14th July 2000 (UK)
Product Companies
Granada Film Productions
Filming Locations
Southend-on-sea, Essex, England, UK
Essex, England, UK
Gray Thurrock, Essex, England, UK


User comments/reviews and ratings


From looking at the user rating report on IMDB the information reflects that this film was most highly enjoyed by females aged 18-29 followed by 18-29 year olds.
IMDB user comment/review

"A good film on several levels. The unflattering comparisons that some critics have made between it and The Usual Suspects are completely misguided as directorial intent and effect in the two pictures are dissimilar. Winsor's film, it seems to me, brilliantly evokes both the drabness and cruelty of the criminal mindset."


External user review

"A gritty and atmospheric gangland drama, with some smart twists, "Essex Boys" purrs along nicely for the first 75 minutes and then suffers a dramatic loss of balance from which it only belatedly recovers."


How does Terry Winsor the generic conventions of the thriller genre in ' Essex boys'?

The setting is damp, gloomy, dark and full of cobwebs. Chiaroscuro lighting injects the mise-en-scene with a sense of illusion, mysterory and crime. Whilst the enclosed space of the garage suggests claustrophobia and vulnerability, intimidation. The cobwebs create a sense of fear, they add to the feeling of mysterory and the presentation of an uncomfortable space. This shot is an excellent example of the use of the rule of thirds; the car takes up roughly two thirds and the boy the remaining third. The car is dusty and filthy and audience assume that the fact it has been in storage for a long time and the fact that it is now only being used that it may be for some kind of criminal activity.

The setting is damp, gloomy, urban and unglamorous; this is heightened by the strong artificial lighting which could connote the characters exposure, vulnerability as they enter the criminal world. These are all generic settings for a thriller film. The shot of the tunnel is clever and powering, the tunnel is shot to look like as if it is a barrel; this references to crime, they are travelling down the barrel of a gun. They are in a white van (another thriller convention) and are trapped, in their fate, and their decision to cross into danger and the criminal world. The audience feels as if they are trapped also, in the tunnel, car with Jason. The tunnel is a claustrophobic space, yet another thriller convention. The vanishing point of the shot leads the audience’s eye, furthermore the point of view shot engages the audience, and the audience feels as if they are in tunnel and car.

The artifical light of the tunnel relects on the windscreen of the car, looking like bars, making Jason and Billy appear behind them, thus indicating there fate - they will end up in jail. The foreground is in focus and the background not, Billy being in the foreground the audiences attention is drawn to him. Jason can be seen with his hands behind his back, relaxed and cool. THe bars also suggest entrapment, Billy is now trapped in his dissision to get involved with Jason, crossing over to crime. The car is a clostrophobic space, Billy is trapped in the car with the powerful, crime guru that is Jason. Billy is in danger of becoming like Jason, and ending up behind bars.

The dull grey open empty Essex marshes, eerie and dangerous and the perfect place for crime. With nothing around for miles and the tide flooding in soon Jason leaves the double crosser for dead. The white van - a generic thriller convention can be seen small yet threatening against this solemn landscape, Jason is at home in the van and the marshes they are his world and reflect his life. The empty marshes suggest a lack of morality and remorse in Jason, like them he is too empty. The marshes featurelessness suggests the society Jason moves in, his world of crime, ruthless people and crime commited without due care or remorse.

Initial research into the habits of British film auidences - proposal

I am going to do one questionaire for my quantitative and qualitative research. For my research I will focus on two audience segmentations, gender and personality type - favourite colour. I will be asking open(qualitative)and closed (quantitative) questions on marketing; how the audience of Norwich find out about films. I will explore the effectiveness of above and below the line advertising and how gender and personality type influences responses. I will also look at exhibition, the venues in which audiences of Norwich consume film and how their gender and personality type influences their choice.

Rope- Thriller Film Reseach

                                                                                                         Rope

Director

Alfred Hitchcock

Date of Release
28th August 1948 (USA)
Production companies
Translantic Pictures
Warner Bros, Pictures
Filming Locations
Warner Brothers Burbank Studios
- 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA


User comments and ratings
From looking at the user rating report on IMDB the information reflects that this film was most highly enjoyed by females aged under 18 and aged under 18.  I found it is surprising that under 18's most highly enjoyed this film because of the early date it was released.


IMDB user comment/review
"Rope is one of the finer films that Hitchcock made. Philosophy, sociology and psychology are contained in equal parts. The plot is simple, the characters are complex and Hitchcock's treatment of the Leopold and Loeb parallel quite deft. The final soliloquy from Jimmy Stewart's character, Rupert, is not only one of the finest examples of Stewart's acting abilities but also of film-making."
Greg Strange, from Fort Worth, Texas


I agree with Greg's comments about Hitchcock's simple plot which completely compliments the complicity of the main characters. Hitchcock  addresses the Leopold and Loeb case though this good plot and superbly exihibited characters. The film is simple and clever, Hitchcock has made such exellent without complication. He addresses philosophyical, sociologyical and psychological strenghts and weaknesses of his characters very cleverly.


External comment/review
Hitchcock could have chosen a more entertaining subject with which to use the arresting camera and staging technique displayed in Rope. Theme is of a thrill murder, done for no reason but to satisfy a sadistical urge and intellectual vanity. Plot has its real-life counterpart in the infamous Loeb-Leopold case, and is based on the play by Patrick Hamilton
By Varity staff


I disagree with Patrick's comment that Hitchcock could have picked a more intresting subject. Hitchcock pressents a extremly intresting story though a simple plot with exceptional acted and intresting characters.





How does Alfred Hitchcock utilise the generic conventions of the thiller  in the film 'Rope'?

In the top of a New York apartment Brandon Shaw and Phillip Morgan, two well heeled college students have just strangled one of their college acquaintances, David Kentley with a rope. They dispose of the body in a large chest and plan to later get rid of the body that evening. The opening of the film shows images of a bustling street, this is shown using a high angle camera - a bird’s eye view. The camera then follows up through an apartment window; (panning from the high angle shit of the street below the camera is placed on the balcony window) this is a point of view shot and makes the audience feel as if they are coming into the scene. This then cuts straight  Brandon strangling David soon after some surface the pause before going though the window is almost used to steady/prepare the audience for the scene is to follow inside, this creates drama and tention the audience are left to ponder over what is comeing. The rope is a signifier of crime, murder and brutality. The gloves also signify crime, they hind the identity (finger prints) of the criminal, murderer. The close up shots shows the strength of the Brendon and his power over David with his hands taken up a large proportion of the mise-en-scene. The effect of the close up of David's facial expression makes the murder seem very real to audience putting it in right up in their face they are held up in witnessing this cold hearted murder. The curtains in the background connoting that what is happening inside does not need to be seen by anyone else. They are up to no good. The room is not shabby but comfortably arranged these boys come from a good background.

The body is put in a chest which is placed in the centre of the room. Brenden then later plans for his quest to dine on this later. The guests, unaware of what has happened, include the victim’s father Mr. Kentley and Aunt Mrs. Atwater (his mother is not able to attend). Also there is his fiancée, Janet Walker and her former lover Kenneth Lawrence, who was once David's close friend. "Now the fun begins", Brandon says when the first guests arrive. Brandon's and Phillip's idea for the murder was inspired years earlier by conversations with their erstwhile prep-school housemaster, publisher Rupert Cadell (Stewart). While at school, Rupert had discussed with them, in an apparently approving way, the intellectual concepts of Nietzsche's Übermensch and the art of murder, a means of showing one's superiority over others. He too is among the guests at the party, since Brandon in particular feels that he would very likely approve of their "work of art". This chest becomes a focus point throughout the whole film and is in a way a clostiphopic space, with David trapped dead inside and with him also Phillips worries and guilt, he is himself trapped emotional. With Brenden playing and toying with a nervous Phillip as he lays out the buffet upon the chest. The chest is almost constantly in the mise-en-scene. In this screen shot Phillip sits on the chest looking rather nervous. The windows are of the length of the room, the room is flooded with light. This connotes the exposure of Phillip and Brenden and that they are not as powerful as they think and will be found out.

The whole of the film is shot in the upper floor apartment the action is continuous without time lapses. The apartment is a claustrophobic space. The action in the film being shot continuously is a clever way in Hitchcock engages the audience the audience feels as if they are watching in real time. Brendan banters with his guests and acts as if everything is ordanary and not slighty at all like a man who has just commited murder, he believes that is part of the fun whereas Phillips mind cannnot ease as long as the chest is in view.









Rope opening


Opening with high angle shot over the city establishes the streets below and the area setting fairly calm and ordinary, the audience sit calmly as Hitchcock prepers us for the horror that follows. The camera pans round to a window and after a few seconds of suspense building then though the shut curtains, the curtains being shut conates. Then cutting straight to a close up shot (taken up the whole of the mise-en-scene) the strangerling of David inside, the constrast from the quiet streets before is intense and uncomfortable. The camera then pans out to a long shot revealing the chest. The chest becomes a focal point of the film, inside David and Phillips guilt and worry, both are trapped. The curtains are shut and the room is dark connating crime. Brenden is extremly calm compared to Phillip, and is suggested to be the stronger of the two, he is in control of himself and the situation whereas Phillip can hardly talk.

Roxie Red - cosmetics advert

Roxie Red
Originally uploaded by Lizzie!1

This is my cosmetics advert
=]