Thriller #5

Film Title: Hostage (2005)
Director: Florent Siri.

Title Designer:

Camera – distance, angle, movement…

LS of titles.
Establishing shot of a city. Still shots
Tilting down at an MS of buildings
BEV of city
LA of city- on the ground cam
Tilts downwards on various parts of city
Panning at HA
Zooming in + out of city

The LS’s of the beginning titles are done so that the audience can see the titles clearly. This then progresses on to an ES of a city. This is done to justify the location of which the movie will be set in. the camera pans and tilts at various angles of buildings and other city-like elements. Then as the main title appears the camera is at a Birds Eye View of the city. This then moves onto a low angle of the city- thus giving it a sense of dominance. The camera zooms in and out of the city guiding the audience around the city. The camera pans, tilts and zooms out of still frame shots- this could have been done to create a ken burns effect- this heightens the verisimilitude of the title sequence. Thus allowing the audience to engage with it.

Editing – speed, style…

Fades
Cuts.
Wipes
The fades represent differences, however, the fades are only used to open the sequence and introduce the audience to the atmosphere of the movie. The sequence predominantly uses cuts to help create continuity. Wipes are used in some cases, to juxtapose scenes.

Sound – effects, musical score…

Mainly musical score
Some ambient sounds.
Eerie
Becomes more dramatic and high pitched near the end.

The title sequence is heavily dependant on the music to help create the mood for the scene. The musical score is somewhat eerie; this creates a suspicious atmosphere and creates tension throughout the audience. There are some ambient sounds of guns cocking. As the title sequence progresses the musical score becomes higher pitched near the end. This makes the title sequence become more tense and dramatic.

Mise-en-scene – props, costume, setting, lighting, colour…

Similar to Sin City- red whites and black predominant.
Guns, police, people with guns

Similarly to Sin City- the predominant colours are red, black and white. The reds in this context signify danger and impulse. The white invokes innocence which is opposed by the reds. The black connotes mystery and fear. The main focus on the mise-en-scene is guns. This reinforces the danger theme. Also it could be said that the movie is a crime thriller- this can be justified through the title and the fact that there are police evident too. The black creates a low lighting for the title sequence, thus heightening the concept of danger and mystery.

Special Effects – CGI, animation…

CGI city scape

The cityscape has been created via CGI. This has been done to give the movie a graphical appearance. Also the montage appears to be of still images

Titles – font, colour, placement, over black / over clip…

Superimposed upon buildings and various objects

The super imposing has been done to possibly establish the characters’ professions. Also to show that they are all located in this town, connecting them.