Monday 4 January 2010

THRILLER ANALYSIS - A Clockwork Orange (1971) - Stanley Kubrick - Crime Thriller

1. What is revealed to the audience?
Barely anything is revealed in this opening - there is a mid shot of a strange and sinister looking male; staring at the camera menacingly. The camera then pans out slowly to reveal 3 more men beside him - all staring blankly, without purpose. The panning continues into a long shot, causing many more people to be revealed. A voiceover begins; the audience then becomes aware the sinister male is named Alex, Alex continues to tell the audience the name of the 3 men beside him (while the camera continues to slowly pan away from them) and describing how they are planning to do with the evening, whilst similtaneously drinking, what is hinted at, some kind of drug or hallucegenic.

2. What is conventional?
- The title sequence; a blank red screen, changing to blue and quickly back to red - the red connotes violence in this case.
- The editing is predominantly made up of straight cuts to begin with...
- Slow, rhythmic and a quite haunting harmonic playing throughout opening - creates tension
- Main character(s) introduced to audience - through voiceover - fairly conventional

3. What is unconventional?
- No diegetic sound
- The main character staring into the camera - not letting it leave his gaze
- The mise-en-scene raises a lot of questions, the setting is out of the ordinary, as well as the clothing and make-up.

4. How has it inspired me?
I really like the unconventional way Alex stares into the camera, and when the camera slowly pans out revealing more people surrounding him - which includes the way it is all one shot with no cuts between, creating a completely smooth yet, sinister shot.

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