Research on Martin Scorsese

Martin Scorsese

Martin Charles Scorsese is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and film historian, whose career spans more than 50 years. Scorsese was born on November 17, 1942 in Queens, New York City, to Catherine Scorsese (née Cappa) and Charles Scorsese, who both worked in Manhattan's garment district, and whose families both came from Palermo, Sicily. He was raised in the neighbourhood of Little Italy, which later provided the inspiration for several of his films.

Scorsese's Work

• The Departed
• The Wolf Of Wall Street
• The Departed
• Shutter Island
• Hugo

 ... And many more.
Scorsese predominantly focuses on Thriller films, and the majority of his recognisable works are Thriller productions. Within his work, Scorsese usually focuses on themes of Sicilian-American identity, Roman Catholic concepts of guild and redemption, faith, machismo, modern crime, and gang conflict. The majority of his films contain large amounts of violence and are recognised for this by his audiences.

Famous Scorsese Quotes

"Cinema is a matter of what's in the frame and what's out"

"It seems to me that any sensible person must see that violence does not change the world and if it does, then only temporarily"

"And as I've gotten older, I've had more of a tendency to look for people who live by kindness, tolerance, compassion, a gentler way of looking at things"

First cut of Final Film (Vanished)

Setting research

Opening title sequence film analyses

In order to create our own film opening, we researched and began to analyse the opening title sequences of 3 films which we believe to have iconic opening title sequences. We used the website https://prezi.com/ to present our ideas. Below are the links to our 3 film analyses:

Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World: https://prezi.com/zdlv6sjjvh_3/scott-pilgrim-vs-the-world-opening-title-sequence/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Napoleon Dynamite: https://prezi.com/r3epwhk3hw_x/napoleon-dynamite-opening-title-sequence/

Se7en: Opening title sequence analysis

David Fincher: Se7en





Se7en (1995) is a neo-noir crime thriller directed by David Fincher following the story of two detectives (Pitt & Freeman) hunting for a serial killer whose murders are based around the seven deadly sins.

Camera shots and angles

- High angle shot of old, veiny hands on a book. Conventionally, a high angle shot is used to emphasise the power of a subject. The only part of the subject that is revealed in this frame is his hands which depicts his anonymity. The camera angle is slanted which gives a disorientating feel to the image and forces the audience to reciprocate the feelings of the detectives in that they feel confused about who the subject is.

The opening title sequence features many close ups put together with fast pace editing. Due to the speed of editing and how zoomed in the shot is, it is sometimes difficult to make out what some of the images are showing. This links to the film's crime thriller genre as the audience doesn't know everything that's going on, similarly to how the detectives don't know everything that's going on. Just as the detectives have to undergo a process to unveil what is happening, the viewer has to watch the film to learn about these happenings - both parties are looking for answers. The fact that we cannot fully make out every item that is in each shot highlights the purpose of a title sequence: to reveal  enough information about the film to entice the audience to watch more, whilst not giving away too much of the film's plot. The use of low-key lighting adds to the difficulty of interpreting each item, especially the unconventional ones, and creates the chiaroscuro effect. This title sequence outlines the key themes explored within the film.

-Medium Shot of a young boy whose eyes have been crossed out
The crossing out of the boys eyes shows he must maintain a hidden identity. The assumption is, considering the film's plotline, that this boy has been murdered. The fact that this is clearly a young boy plays on the audience's emotional investment - tragedies tend to be even sadder when young children are involved due to their innocence. This also reveals that the killer must be especially heartless as to be able to take the life of an infant. The black fading surrounding the images creates a smooth background in which for the casting titles to be written across, and also leaves the image with dark undertones, the colour black insinuating that not all is well.

Titles

- Kyle Cooper: “Fincher and I decided to use hand-drawn [type] mixed with Helvetica, and he was very excited by it. He knew that he wanted it to be drawn by hand, because it was from the mind of the killer, and I was taking that further, wanting it to be like the killer did the film opticals himself.”
The fonts used in the titles are appropriate to the film genre. White titles on a black background are easier to read than black titles on a white background and the inversion of colours makes it stand out more. The black background also gives the feeling of not being able to see everything, which reflects both where the detectives stand at the beginning of the film and how the victims of the killer would feel - they do not foresee their upcoming murder.

The writing appears fuzzed-up with glitchy graphics, almost leaving the screen in total blackness, adding to the intensively suspenseful feeling of this title sequence and making the audience feel uncomfortable - a feeling desired by those who watch horror films.

Mise en Scène
The colour scheme for this title sequence is almost entirely black and white, giving the film a sinister feel, but also features hints of the colour red, connoting danger, violence and blood spill(which there is a lot of in this film).
The opening sequence is full of unsettling images such as blood dripping onto a piece of paper, victims faces crossed out by marker pen and various lethal weapons such as a gun and a razor blade.This immediately highlights the kind of film the viewer is about to watch, full of death and other dark motifs.
Many of the shots making up this title sequence consist of papers and writing on pages. This could be to show the amount of paperwork involved in the detectives findings through attempting to follow the killers complicated tracks and twisted mindset, or possibly could be to demonstrate the in-depth calculation that goes into each one of the killer's murders, adding to the viewers feelings of suspicion and making them ponder the killer's motives. The fact that many of the journals/books appear old and torn makes the sequence seem more distressing and perhaps figuratively present the killer's fragmented and disturbed mind.
The Mis-en-Scéne of the title sequence is used to portray the amount of precision that goes into the film's killings, represented through symbols such as sewing, multiple shots focused on hands and threading the eye of a needle - fiddly and precise tasks, as would be calculating murders without being found responsible.

Music/Sound

The mood is set through the use of an eerie remix of the instrumental to 'Closer' by Nine Inch Nails (1994) playing throughout the title sequence, with the only lyrics not removed being "you bring me closer to God" at the end. These lyrics link to the biblical theme that runs throughout the film with the killer seeming to act upon to 7 deadly sins.
As the title sequence goes on, the pace of the music quickens, creating a build up of tension. Harsh, ambient noises appear throughout as an attempt to unsettle the viewer, and the sounding of random screeches are used to shock, preparing the audience to be shocked later on in the film by its dark content.

Editing
This is an extremely action packed title sequence, as is demonstrated through fast-paced editing, with no shot lasting longer than 4 seconds. The editing is carefully timed, with the image changing to the beat of the music. Some transitions are straight cuts, and some fade to black or cross fade. Fading to black embodies the sinister and dark feel to the whole film, and cross-fading shows a relationship between the images, demonstrating that they are all the workings of one person.
Shot lengths vary in this sequence, with the more taboo/dangerous items staying on screen for a shorter amount of time. For example, 3 images flicker very quickly of somebody filling a gun. This makes the actions seen seem more suspenseful and secretive.
As the sequence plays out, the editing quickens, creating tension and putting the audience more and more on edge.This suggests the whole film will have this same tense feel.

Our Preliminary Task

Casting for 'Looking for Olivia'

Casting for 'Looking for Olivia'

 

Phoebe

Our aim when directing and producing the opening to our psychological thriller was to find a teenage girl who looked older, like a mother would. She is meant to appear as this perfect mother, paying close attention to her relationship with Olivia.

We had a decision between two girls to play the part of Phoebe, the unpredictable mother, with a sense of ambiguity about her:

Bella Thompson - our first auditionee was Bella, suggested due to her knowledge about acting and drama. Bella also offered confidence when it came to acting and was keen to be a part of the opening. The only problem was her appearance, being fair haired and owning a pale complexion displays youth and innocence. Also her physique doesn't match the one of a mothers, and so we decided not to give her the part.

Phoebe Symington - We liked Phoebe due to her past experience in both media and drama studies; this was an attractive quality because she had the confidence when acting, which was necessary in the major role of the opening. Phoebe also looked older than Bella, more mature and capable of damage. So we chose Phoebe as she fitted both the categories that Bella didn't.

Ben

For the male protagonist, the father of Olivia we were looking for a weaker character. They had to look old enough and manly enough to be married and to have children but ultimately the character of Ben had to be a weaker and less significant figure in comparison to the mother, so that there would be a sense of her holding the control.

Ben Gage - our first auditionee impressed us with his acting skills despite his lack of experience. It was an advantage, in act, that he was shy because his character was supposed to slightly shadow the relationship shared between Phoebe and Olivia. Ben also looked older than the other boys we auditioned, but although he had the physique of a man, there was something endearing and kind about his face so we decided he fit the cut perfectly in comparison to the others.

Luke Potts - Luke also had the physique we were looking for, but somewhat  lacked the acting skills we were looking for. His character seemed slightly too dominant over Phoebe's therefore we decided to go with Ben. Also look was at a lower availability then Ben for filming time.

Moodboard for the Final Film