The Third Man (1949)

Context of the film

The contextual study aims to place the film within a wider social context, examining how and why a film should be affected by the conditions of its production.

The Third Man (1949) is a visually-stylish thriller - a paranoid story of social, economic, and moral corruption in a depressed, rotting and crumbling, 20th century Vienna following World War II. The striking film-noirish, shadowy thriller was filmed expressionistically within the decadent, shattered and poisoned city that has been sector-divided along geo-political lines.

Genre

Genre:	Thriller
Sub Genre:	Suspense Adventure
Sub Genre:	Postwar life Adventure

Thriller and Suspense Films

These are types of films known to promote intense excitement, suspense, a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety, and nerve-wracking tension. Thriller and suspense films are virtually synonymous and interchangeable categorizations, with similar characteristics and features.

If the genre is to be defined strictly, a genuine thriller is a film that rentlessly pursues a single-minded goal - to provide thrills and keep the audience cliff-hanging at the 'edge of their seats' as the plot builds towards a climax. The tension usually arises when the main character(s) is placed in a menacing situation or mystery, or an escape or dangerous mission from which escape seems impossible. Life itself is threatened, usually because the principal character is unsuspecting or unknowingly involved in a dangerous or potentially deadly situation. Plots of thrillers involve characters which come into conflict with each other or with outside forces - the menace is sometimes abstract or shadowy.

  The Third Man (1949), one of the best suspense films of all time, told the story of a writer (Joseph Cotten) in post-WW II Vienna who found out that his old friend (Orson Welles), a black marketeer, was not dead after all.

Hitchcock: The Master of Suspense Thrillers

To what extent is Memento a Flippo (1998) film noir?

Memento (2000) Christopher Nolan

There are certain clear characteristics that define Memento as a Flippo (1998) film noir. Firstly, the black and white scenes, that in the movie interpose the color ones, are considered a typical film noir element. These scenes appear in the movie in the forms of flashbacks, it is part of the past of the character and it is inextricably linked with its present, that is represented in the movie with the colored scenes. These scenes divide the movie in two parts which at the end meet.  

The character played by Guy Pearce, Leonard Shelby, is a cynical, disillusioned character, that because of his condition has became an alienated character. Leonard Shelby is facing his wife's death and the last memory he has was her murderer, so he  decides to go after the killer and therefore becomes the detective of the crime. These two elements are typical of a Flippo film noir, that are often based on a crime or detective story. The male protagonist in the movie is facing therefore a moral dilemma and/or some kind of threat. 

Leonard Shelby has all of his body covered with different tattoos, that are actually his remember notes. Throughout the whole film, the spectator is covered with all kinds of notes and Polaroids pictures which make up the iconography, typical from a Film Noir.  
              

The Femme Fatale: a beautiful usually independent woman who typically leads the male protagonist astray, the antithesis of the loving, maternal, domestic female.

The character played by Carrie-Ann Moss, Natalie is Memento's Femme Fatale women. We discover this as the movie progresses, an we find out she's not a honest women. She actually confesses this to Leonard, who, because of his condition is not able to remember. 

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Her Morning Elegance- Oren Lavie

Waiting For Superman

PRE-PRODUCTION

- On the first place, we should make an appropiate research to know all the information related to the topic., as well as the most affected people, who are the ones that are going to be iterviewed.

- In order to make this documentary we should have a number of arragements regarding the interviews. Such as, who are we going to interview, why is he/she being interviewed, where would that interview take place, when and fianlly a list with all of the questions related with the documentary topic.

PRODUCTION

- Through the documentary there are different interviews made to children who are the main affected by the educational system,  we also see interviews made to politicians, councilors, eduactional reformers, who are trying very hard to make a difference and finally to teachers who fight against these eduactional system in order to achieve a fair education.

- There are a number of footages thorugh out the doucmentary. We can distinguish, different speeches from politicians and important buissness men who seem concerned about education, different scenes from TV shows or movies such us The Simpsons or old movies as the one Superman and appears. On the other hand, live footage we were able to identify were, all of the interviews made to teachers, students, parents, etc, and scenes such as the lottery taking place or kids at school. 

 POST- PRODUCTION

- graphs and cartoons

- non diagetic music added

- voice-over

Six Point Plan

1. We have chosen our topic to demonstrate the insecurity there is in the roads of Argentina within the driving methods people here have. The main message we want to convey is to warn people about this serious problem the Argentina has that puts in risk many people lives. 

2.  Our target audience are people within 17 to 25 years old, because these people are the most affected by this problems since they drive late in the night where they are tired and are not conscious of the risks driving has. Besides at these ages, these groups do not have that much experience in driving. 

3. We will use a Canon 7D to film and record. We will also need a computer with final cut pro to edit the film. 

4. Our primary sources will be the people we interview to gather information, they will talk about how they suffer this problem and their opinion about it. Our secondary source would be other extra information or materials that will be donated by Belen’s dad who works in these areas. 

5. Interviewer: Mercedes Bossi, Organizer and producer: Belen Lopez, Filming: Catalina Somoza. The editing will be done by the three of us. 

As a basis of our film we will use a pilot of a new TV show about traffic issues and insecurities. 

Documentary Analysis

Waiting For Superman

Trailer #1

1. Sound

We can hear nineteen different voices, from chancellors and educational reformers, teachers, students and kids willing to become students. In terms of dialogue we are able to hear an off-voice, who narrates and communicates the situation to audience. Furthermore, we can also hear a background music as a non-diagetic sound, which contributes to the impact of the message the trailer wants to state.

2. Video Footage

All the footage used in the documentary is based on different interviews of different people who have different ages and social classes but share the same interest and goal, give their children the best education possible. This footage is mainly used to show the different points of view of people who wish to fight against the poor education in the World. There are also interviews of the children who suffer the consequences of the lack of education and they tell their wishes to study. 

3. Sources

· Michelle Rhee, chancellor, D.C, Public School.

· Geoffrey Canada, Education Reformer.

· Bill Gates, Founder Microsoft 

· Teenage Girl who wants to be a teacher.

· Girl who dreams to be a nurse. 

· Boy who wants to go to school to make his grandmother proud. 

4. Text

There are two main text types in the documentary, one is the reference for the interviewed person, so that the audience knows who he is and why his opinion is important. On the other hand, there is the text between takes used to make emphasis on the point the documentary is making, creating a clear message to the audience.

5. Editing

The first scene is of two young girls who are interviewed and share their hopes and dreams for their future, one is being a nurse and the other one is being a teacher.

Then the next shot is an interview to a professional who communicates the problems the education has. Further on, there is an interview of an education reformer who shares his thoughts about education. Then there is a shot of kids in a school and an interview to another young boy who tells his story.
Next, education statistics are shown, with a close up on the USA.

Done by: Catalina Somoza, Belen Lopes & Mercedes Bossi

Textual Analysis: Caché

Best Paragraph

As they both finally leave the elevator, the first conversation they have, is before entering George’s Laurent office, they are alone and a glass door separates them from Georges office, which conveys the social barrier. This glass door is a division of George’s appearance and reality: the division of who he really is and who he pretends to be in his public life. Audience is not able to see Majid’s son gestures and expressions, as the shot is again an over the shoulder shot. The idea of relative size is clearly showed to the audience at this point, as George is represented in a weak position compared to Majid’s son. Georges is constantly trying to avoid the confrontation with Majid’s son, mainly because everybody knows him, and he don’t want them to discover who he was and who he really is.  

Close reading of The Birds (Hitchcock 1963)

1. Note the details of each attack: who is attacked, and why. When is the first attack? What happens? When do the audience first know an attack is coming? How is the moment foreshadowed? 

The first attack is when Melanie is in the boat, she was returning from Mitch's house, just about to arrive to the other side and a only one bird attacked her. The audience first knows an attack is coming in Cathy's birthdays as they can hear the constant bird´s sounds. The moment is foreshadowed, the night before the birthday, when a bird tries to attack Annie and Melanie but instead it hits with the front door. 

3. Write a one sentence description of the protagonists:

Mitch: A gentleman that lives both, in Bodega Bay with his family and in San Francisco. 

Melanie: An elegant woman that lives in San Francisco and has his first encounter with Mitch at a bird store.

Lydia: She over-protects Mitch and therefore dislikes all the girls that Mitch goes out with. His husband died and she is scared of being abandoned again.

Annie: A school teacher in The Bodega Bay School. She likes Mitch very much.

4. How does Hitchcock build tension through editing in the school yard scene? 

Hitchcock builds tension by changing the angle and perspective of the scene. Audience sees children feet, running desperately, their terrified faces and their backs running away from the birds.

7. Can you work out what triggers the attacks?

The presence of any human mainly Melanie, however Hitchcock doesn´t states a clear evidence of what acctually triggers the attacks. These fact is constanly creating tension on audience.

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