Final Task

KNGSFoundationPortfolio(TomWilletts): final task

Codes and Conventions of a psychological thriller

Story Board

Taken, crime thriller analysis

Taken Island analysis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeFnD2Vm-SY 

Taken is a crime thriller with a strong focus throughout the film on the concept the good vs evil. The clip above is the official trailer for Taken as the opening is not available on youtube. The trailer will allow you to see the concept of the film and allow you to gain a certain amount of understanding to follow my notes.

Mise en Scene:

The colors and light techniques used in the opening of Taken are significant in  order to hint to audiences what is coming in the film and the genre type. At the very start of the clip a shot was used showing a photo of his daughter dressed in bright clothing in a dark room. The bright clothing connotes the girls innocence an young age where as the dark room in which the photo stands could foreshadow the dark future awaiting the girl. This creates an enigma for audiences to follow keeping them engaged in the story-line. The next shot we are shown is the father sitting in total darkness in black clothing, this allows audiences to read into the fathers personality and develop a stereotype in the head of a devoted Dad with a dark side. The next scene we are shown is the daughters birthday party, the weather is blissful and sunny which acts as a prophetic fallacy hinting at the joy felt by all those in the clip this acts as the original equilibrium that Todorov talks about suggesting that something bad is coming.

Next I focussed on analyzing the stock characters in the films opening. They all seem to fall into Propp's character functions. The Dad appears to take the lead as the hero, this is suggested by the strong love we see he has for his daughter as well as the bad attitude or 'hard' edge in his character. The father is dressed in smart clothing however looks roughed up suggesting he is not afraid to get his hands dirty which is shown as the story progresses. The daughter takes the role of damsel or victim, this is suggested  by her fragile frame innocent clothing persuading audiences to automatically side with her and make the villains seem more cruel.  The mother seems to portray herself as though she may act as an aid in throughout the start of the film as she comes across as another character who cares deeply for the daughter but however doesn't appear to be a dominant character as she is dressed in fragile, expensive clothing connoting that she is not the type of women to get her hands dirty.