How I attracted my audience to my opening Firstly I addressed my audience with the chosen actor. as Lewis Hale looks between my target audiences age of 18-25 It should allow my audience to be able to sympathise with the character more, As the majority of my target audience is 18 and a little higher, they all have high expectations of their life's they therefore wish to see what they desire, Suits fast cars and big estates, I did this in my opening so the audience could feel envious of Xavier thus becoming fixated on him and on the opening.
To connote the power that the audience wants me and my group did a series of powerful shots for instance
We did a low angle on the house to make something the audience already wants appear even more powerful.
I think the audience is reasonably general as it would appeal to mainstream markets, however I think its primary target market would be males between 18-25.
Firstly I think it would appeal to males as males have stereotypically been viewed as the more violent of the genders and therefore would relate more to a violent film females are often stereotyped to be the more squeamish so they wouldn't like the gory scenes.
I think the audience will be between 18-25 as that is the youngest of the 18+ age certification and the younger the generation the more aggressive they are viewed, they would therefore wish to watch movies of aggressive natures as it would satisfy their needs as stated by the Gratifications theory.
another common theory that would attract the same target audience is the Hypodermic needle theory as the younger generations of 18+ would be absorbed into the piece.
Other movies of similar origin that appeal to the same target market of myself is movies such as Snatch, Pulp Fiction, Lock stock and two smoking Barrels and Wolf of Wallstreet, as they are all 18+ they are all reasonably around the same target audience of 18-30 max.
What kind of media institution would Distribute your Media product and why?
The kind of institution to Distribute our product would be mainstream and I believe it would be a TV movie. this is as Crime Dramas are one of the most general yet loved sub-genres in media this is shown through the success of colt classics such as Pulp Fiction and Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, This is as Crime is a very Taboo subject in this generation with it on the increase and thus people wish to be educated on it.
My movie would be a TV movie as it wouldn't be as expensive as Hollywood movies however would still be mainstream, it will most probably be watched mainly within England with its London based scenes and English characters accents. The film industry to distribute it would most probably be Film 4 As it is a very revered Distributer amongst the British BBFC.
It would be released firstly in Odeon's ranging across Brittan, as british audiences could relate and it has the potential to do well in the country. If the film then reaches Cult Classic statues their would be a release of merchandising goods such as clothing shirts etc. but only if it shows the ability to expand that far into the british media market,
How does your media product represent particular social groups? Our piece is shown in some stereotypical light and some non stereotypical light, firstly we portray gender in a stereotypical light as we felt that a man would suit our opening more then a women due to the greater size thus being more intimidating, this therefore is stereotypical as it shows men dominant over females.
As of Class, Class is shown in a non stereotypical light as stereotypically its the lower class that are participating in illegal activity and the higher class that our obeying to the laws, as it is the other way around as Xavier is a felon.
We portray Race as stereotypical as we show the only person in the opening to be white and of a high expenses, with disposable income to afford nice cars and such.
Sexuality And Disability aren't being shown in the opening however if their shown down the line of the movie I believe they would be represented in a stereotypical light as the piece is about crime and violence its clear that one would need to be physically strong in order to survive.
The film s based from Xavier the anti hero/protagonists point of view, I believe he addresses the target audience of those who watch as he is in his young/mid 20s a role model stage of those around 18 years old. He is swarv and rich which most people around 18 are all aspiring to be he therefore appears to be a powerful figure to the young audience, appealing to them.
We showed the conventions of crime in our film opening throughout the peice for instance I will firstly discuss The low key lighting, produced by us recording at dusk, we wanted the piece to be shrouded in a gritty tone to connote Xavier's gritty life.
To show the sub genre of drama we incorporated the realistic Side to the piece, as through the whole opening their isn't any action, its just following one man as goes about his corrupt lifestyle, apart from a lack of action me and my group showed this through the continuity and the slow pace, the shots are very simplistic and slow, to connote a greater feeling of naturalism, to keep the piece slow but still flowing interesting we used a series of tracking shots and panning shots, an example of this is at the start, the second shot is a panning shot that lasts for seven seconds.
Lastly some conventions in mis-en-scene props is the nice car which is expected in crime as it connotes wealth which is a commonly used theme in crime. And also in response to conventions as also connoted in wealth is the suited Villon.
The only un-stereotypical theme we had in crime which was portrayed is the lack of criminal activity being used, me and my group thought however that if we did jump strait into some intense law breaking scenes that it would ruin the realism that is a convention of the sub genre of a drama.
Some films that heavily inspired the creation of out piece in regards to storyline was "The Wolf of Wallstreet" the idea of a millionaire upper-class breaking the law is rarely scene and makes for some very stylish scenes. Also me and my group was inspired by the acting of Leonardo Decaprio. We was also inspired by the series breaking bad as we based our overall storyline on Walter White as our character was also clean cut but had to turn to crime when his business started breaking, allot like Walter White our character started off with good intentions but however ended up succumbing to the corrupt lifestyle.
Next on inspirational media our tracking scene was based off of Reservoir Dogs Tracking scene, we felt it had extremely cool connotations of crime within suited people walking in a big group, we however only had one.
Lastly Our title sequence being plane white on a black background was inspired by Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, as we liked the stylistic simplistic juxtaposition of colours.
This is the first Rough cut of the "Ugly Business" which is me and my groups movie opening crime movie opening, it features the character Xaiver on his way to work
-low key
-slow pace
-Smooth running transitions
-Realism
-Cars
-Suits
Defying -No crime
Influenced by breaking bad as the main characters portrayed to have broken bad.
influenced by Wolf Of Wall street in the aspect he is a successful man breaking the law.
Influenced by Reservoir Dogs on the tracking scene.
Question two
How
does your media product represent particular social groups?
•Discuss
representation of gender, sexuality, age, race, class etc in your film.
-Men are Portrayed stereotypically dominant as shown by the main character being macho as a man to look stronger. Un-Stereotypical age as the young man owns the buiseness.of age being nieve. Race stereotypical Cockasian male as shown to be more business related the other races. Class un stereptypical as its the upper class business owner being the criminal. this links to our target audience as the character profile of xaiver has been designed around them and which they desire to be.
I made my logo in an over the top graphically enhanced image of a Chameleon foot to portray that being a mainstream institution we can afford digital software and such to be able to produce such a unique looking logo.
I was going with the graphic's idea of the original Tron a retro look into modern technology as i think that style is very powerful and artistic.
The idea of the foot was to symbolise us of chameleon productions will be making our mark on the movie industry.
I made the logo using a software named "Google S ketchup 2014".
Institutional logos are important as it is what represents the institution, they therefore invest lots of money into the logos to improve the appearance of their institution.
As their is a difference between mainstream and independent films their is also obviously going to be a difference in their instatutional logos, this is mainly down to the heavy financing.
An example of a mainstream institutional logo is 20th century fox, it is elegantly designed artistic with a good use of animation, the logo even has moving animation on it.
An example of a independent institutional logo would be Fandango, as they don't have the money to spend on animation ect, it is usually more basic, relying more on being different then being extravagant.
A Featured film production company job is to assist fellow company's in the making of a film, whilst financing the company's job is to look for the financing themselves
I have chosen a "featured film production company" (mainstream) This is as in regards to my creation of an opening i would have focused purely on that single project, whilst being able to finance everything i need to make the shoot look to the best, eg the location and the car.
Research into films like my genre and how I will attract audiences
One thing i have noticed through my analyses of film opening in the crime genre is that the titles are very minimalistic as seen in Lock-stock (lock stock and two smoking barrels) and Snatch it is usually just white text on a black background, this may be as they was made by the same director "Guy Ritchie" but despite that i cant deny that the simplistic white on black really works, I will therefore consider doing this in my opening.
This will attract the crime genre audiences as it will be effectively using the same style of the two already colt classic Ritchie crime films, it will therefore attract his audience if stylised similar to watch my movie.
Usually favoured by lower class men of around 15-30 but can however be enjoyed be all audiences
Evidence backing this up...
"Physiography: is less about the fact such as your age and more about attitudes and values" (whilst regarding crime)
http://www.slideshare.net/latymermedia/3-who-watchescrimedramas
Crime can work in many different ways regarding entertainment from showing the benefits and fun of law breaking (Wolf of Wallstreet) or by showing the political in-correctness of crime (Harry Brown) thus attracting different audiences.
Evidence backing this up...
Genre, history of crime"The earliest crime film may be traced to the silent epoch of 1897-1927, during the Progressive era in the United States. Social conditions that existed during this time, such as immigration and urbanization led to a proliferation of organized crimes, social anarchy, and distrust of the government. The alarming rate of crime and social disorder created a leeway for the emergence of crime movies, such as the Great Train Robbery, which Rafter (2006) believed may have been the first crime film. The prohibition code that was expected to restrict alcohol and other illicit acts had the reverse effect on the public. It created further rebellion for the law and produced an increased fascination for gangster films, such as Scar Face and Little Caesar, which portrayed outlaws as heroic figures that sought to gain economic status through illegal means. The fact that gangster films portrayed urban neighborhoods and criminality in a realistic fashion allowed the audience to better identify with the motivation and criminal lifestyle of the gangster. This in itself contributed to the endurance of the gangster genre even into the 21st century". http://thesocietypages.org/sociologylens/2012/04/29/evolution-of-crime-films-2/
I am doing the titles timelines as it is similar from dissembling to making, by that i mean if i learn to dissemble the piece timeline of titles i can get a better understanding of how to then create it after.
Analyses of two films of my genreI will be analysing the film openings that i watched in class in: Genre, Narrative, Character, Atmosphere, Themes, Settings, Sound, and title.
Lock Stock And two smoking Barells
The genre as selected intentionally is that of crime, this is shown through signifier such as the Low key lighting which connotes dark intentions, it is shown in location as it is on the street down an ally-way which connotes unofficial business as its not being sold in a shop, and lastly the genre is connoted multiple times through dialogue example: "hand made in Italy, hand stolen in Stepney".
The Narrative in the piece is a illegal trading of stolen goods that leads to a cop chase and the losing of the characters stock.
The way characters are shown in the peace is in a fully developed light, we can make an understanding of the two protagonists being friends or at least work associates through how the two are working together as one is a watcher and the other a salesmen, we can tell they have history with each other through the way they look out for each other as connoted by the watcher saying "Bacon Cozzes" hence warning his friend of oncoming police.
The atmosphere to the piece despite it being crime is surprisingly not serious as its just two guys being petty criminals as they make some sales, we can tell theirs a atmosphere of humour in the piece due to the salesman protagonist telling jokes "take a bag... i took a bag home last night-cost me allot more then £10.00 I can tell ya" and when talking about a necklace saying "its as long as my arm, i wish it was as long as something else" this connotes that this scene isn't serious and the film has comedic value.
Themes within the piece are Law breaking as connoted by the whole selling of stolen items and running from the "bacon", Teamwork As connoted by the friend running from the cops together and lastly the lack of potential as connoted by the narrator as he said "its time to move on, and he knows it".
The setting of the piece appears to be modern day London as connoted by the cityscape and the iconic British police costume.
Sound in the piece is very significant as it helps the general understanding of the continuity for example the fact he said "handstolen" instantly connotes illegal activity and danger building up to when the other man said "cozzes" building the danger into a climax, the song then helps the pace of the piece as it is fast and intense, which makes the noise hit a crescendo when running which connotes the speed of the police that our after them. without noise the piece would therefore make no sense.
The titles are very minimalstic which i think suits the genre of crime perfectly as the wruth style of the writing connotes through its harsh exterior and jaggedness that something is wrong and also connotes its a tough place, hence it looks hand drawn to connote poverty and lack of wealth to incorporate the computers to do a neater job. The white text on a plane black background stands out, grabbing the audiences attention in order to make the audience more aware of those who have contributed to the film and also the white on black juxtaposition of colours/shades connotes clash and conflict that could be expected later on in the film.
Snatch
The genre could be established striate away in this piece through the use (or lack of use) of colour. The piece jumps strait into the viewing of a monitor that is in black and white, apart from being in black and white for effect of realism when viewing security cameras, the murky black and white gives connotes serious and almost dangerous vibe foreshadowing the robbery and representing a crime genre. Even past the monitor scene the picture still is very dull continuing this unsettling representation of crime. We also see some props with representation of crime such as guns which connote conflict and death and a diamond which connotes wealth.
The narrative to the clip is a robbery, as four Jewish men walk into a secured building with no suspicion they rob the place of the huge diamond, the clip then turns from chronological order and begins introducing all the characters.
Their are many characters introduced but few in depth. The main protagonist is a boxing promoter (violence side is representation of crime) that has no business being where he is, he has somehow gotten a role a part of an operation that is stealing diamonds or a diamond, despite the stereotypical "hard man" found within most crime genres protagonists he has a caring side as connoted by him referring to "Tomy" as his brother.
Tomy is disorganised as connoted when the main protagonist said "try to keep him out of as much trouble as he inflicts on me" and said he "keeps him in check". other characters are not so well analysed but what is noted is "Cousin Avi" is a stone inspector/valuer as connoted by the by the magnerfing glass he inspects the gem with, Sol is some kind of distributor, portrayed as a stereotypical black male he is reasonably well built and smoking a cigar (stereotypical black males being a signifier of crime), Mickey is a unstereotypical Gypsy being suited with a hat, he is connoted as dominant as shown by his threat to backhand slap his friend when they try to touch his money, Vinny is a black male with no notable features, Franky is holding cards with glasses connotations of gambling which is also another crime signifier, The main protagonist is then named as Turkish, Gorgeous George is a well build bold tall man a stereotypical character to find within crime genres the typical brute, he is seen punching a boxing bag, yet again connoting anger and violence, Tommy is seen falling over as pointing out he's clumsy.
The atmosphere seemed to differ until the robbery it went from very slow pace to an instant climax with quick cuts, this made the viewer feel unsettled as it shocks.
Themes within the peice are Robbery as connoted by the stand up in the building, Violence as connoted by Gorgeous George on the punching bag, Micky with the backhand slap, and the robbers pistol-whipping one of the workers in the secured building. And wealth as connoted by the diamond and the gold, stacks of money ect.
The setting is a range of locations across England, a gypsy camp a, warehouse, a secured building, a few offices and more, the diversity gives the clip a real feel as all characters have their own story's and life's going on, it is apparent that it is set in England however as the main protagonist has a British accent. It is possibly based in the 90s or late 2000s as the monitors are not as clear are smart as they are today having the thick small late 90s look.
The sound is vital in the performance as it changes drasticly, the music structures the pieces flow.
The titles began minimalstic appearing white, on a black and white moniter, they where very simple, this is as simpilistic features connote lack of wealth and the "uglyness" of the clip, this was to make the crime look harsher.
Research into GenreThe genre me and my group have chosen is a crime drama.
Signifiers Every Genre is made to portray different emotions and feeling to the desired audience, to portray said emotions theise genres use certain signifiers (significant cliché within the genre that blatantly give it away to the desired audience. I therefore researched the signifiers of my genre as I wish to create and perfect a media piece of my own. (opening).
-Realism
-Clear Dark filtering: as shown in the Crime Drama Trainspotting
-Capturing all emotions (eg use of comedy): as shown in the Crime Drama Wolf Of Wall Street
-Changes in dynamic to characters As shown in the Crime Drama series "breaking bad, as we see the main character Walter white drastically change in 5 series as he "brakes bad".
-Lack of action (usually) as shown in the series My Mad Fat Diary, as their is no real action throughout just realistic theme of life
-A dominant theme of Seriousness as shown in Sin City 2
The reason why me and my group have decided to recreate the Resevior Dogs opening is due to its simplistic styling and related genre to our film opening, as it is one of the films that greatly inspired our own movie opening we feel as if we would make it more patiently and take away from the signifier of crime used within.
What we hope to take away from the experience of re creating the Superbad opening is insight onto how to use the schools editing programs and more genarley how the step by step process of creating a peice, matching up the, casting the actors, we hope to get a better understanding of how to create a finished polished media product so we could then apply it to our movie opening.
The different s between mainstream and In dependant
film openings Mainstream and independent film's differ hugely in
style, therefore the film opening will also differ.
Mainstream: mainstream film openings will be more dramatic: closer to a film
trailer, this would be due to their being more money funded into it, this means
that mainstream film openings will often have use of CGI/animation to capture
the interest of the audience an example: Casino royal. Casino Royal is nearly
entirely made up of animation. This also allows for mainstream films to be more
bold in how they express themes, as they can fit all the themes of the film in
simply without giving to much away. Titles will be grandly edited bold and entertaining.
A independent film however will stereotypically have a tight budget, therefore wont
be able to produce animation to guide it. The lack of finance will also mean that
the independent film company wont be able to afford the technology of a
mainstream film, it may lack: High quality cameras, animation (as stated
previously) and equipotent such as cranes to get the camera shot, it may lack
Filming quality also.
This means in order to make an effective opening independent film company's
must rely more on intelligent s and sophistication, as they cant afford these
effects, they may do something such as a continues tracking shot (cheaper yet interesting).
As they cannot afford certain effects as stated previously in order of
promoting genre, themes ect. they may have to more practically include them in
the opening (hence being more subtle). Titles as cheaper and will therefore be
less interesting unless used intelligently: for example working it into the
movie (looking at a sign saying Pro Production).
I will be generalising into the types of audiences that watch the following films and looking into their profile such as age, characteristics and Gender. (their are countless category of movies but i believe to have captured the majority of them
Romance: usually preferred by females, due to the age certification generally being 12+ the age of females usually range from 12-25, they are usually in relationships or desire to be in relationships, I did a questionnaire that I aimed at one stereotypical target audience and one not so stereotypical .
Comedy: Comedy's are the most general of all genres as they are watched by nearly everybody despite age, gender and class, however this is only because their are so many category's within genre such as Alternative, Black, Blue, Character, Cringe, Deadpan, Improv, Insult, Mochumentary, Musical, Physical, Observational, Prop, Spoof, Sitcom, Satire, Surreal, Sketch and wit and wordplay; this therefore means that although the majority of people like comedy the love for types of comedy differ drasticly within age, gender, class ect.
An example of differing tastes would be upper class females watching wit comedy and lower class males watching blue comedy. Drama: Drama is usually aimed at female middle class but can with different plots appeal to other audiences, the age range differs from about 20-40 with some exceptions such as "my mad fat diary" based at 15-20 years of aged viewers. Drama is generally based on older audiences as they can be very profound and thought provoking as they battle realistic scenario's and problems.
Horror: Horror films are usually neutral in terms of gender, and range from lower to higher class although preferred in lower they do however appeal more to older generations as most intense horrors are 18+ as they are to traumatic to younger viewers as they are watched in order to provoke negative emotions and play on primal fears. It is appealing to those target market as they are intense and leave the viewer clinging to their seat thinking "what could happen next?".
Thriller: Usually watched by 18-30 male and females of any class depending on the type (eg Psychological would be watched by middle/upper, whilst a normal crime thriller would be watched by a lower) the reason for the age is due to the thought process needed to keep up with the complex plots.
Action: usually a classic protagonist VS antagonist physical struggled piece which involves endangered lives and gripping intense scenes, Action is usually preferred to middle aged males of a lower class
Western Due to Westerns being more popular in the 60s and 70s most Western lovers are elderly 50+ however their are still westerns being made today such as Cowboys Vs Aliens that appeal to much younger audiences, They are usually violence driven which attracts males in suppose to females and lower class compared to upper class.
Adventure Adventure would most possibly be preferred by younger children of 5-12, it is neutral though is more popular with males, and ranges through lower class to middle class it usually features a journey a character takes with twist and turns with exciting endings.
Crime usually favoured by lower class men of around 15-30 but can however be enjoyed be all audiences, crime can work in many different ways regarding entertainment from showing the benefits and fun of law breaking (Wolf of Wallstreet) or by showing the political in-correctness of crime (Harry Brown) thus attracting different audiences
Historical: Usually doesn't stand alone as it is usually mixed with another genre such as action (like 300) however usually historical films will be general in sex however will be watched more frequently in the educated and upper class, it is also usually watched by maturer age groups such as 35-50 years of age.
Film opening attract audiences to the desired film as it gives them a taste of what to expect from the movie later on, informing the audience on all key information such as Genre, Narrative, Character, Atmosphere, Themes, and setting. It grips the audience into wanting to watch the rest of the movie and question what position the characters are in at this time and why, it therefore in some scenarios apply's a energetic beginning to entertain the audience from he get-go as the gratifications theory states audience members watch desired films for the entertainment values and satisfaction found within. A film that is know for instantly having a very energetic begin is Reservior Dogs
me and my group decided to do the jelly baby exercise. the Jelly Baby exercise is where you direct the scenes and transitions that you want in the opening using a jelly baby to represent the protagonists position.
This helped my group considerably as we had not yet fully thought about the piece running as a whole, this exercise therefore made me and me group put everything together and think more in depth about how elements such as transitions sound and mis-en-scene can all work symbiotically, it has therefore changed the way we view an opening as a whole and also helped us progress are opening to the polished finished piece we will hope to achieve.
U: Universal: unrestricted public exhibition: suitable for any age, films under the category should be harmless entirely in children over 4 the films contain educational, social and comical themes, may however contain fantasy violence mild sex and heavily restricted language.
PG: Parental guidance anyone can watch PGs however if below
12 are supposed to be with an adult upon viewing as some scenes could be seen
as inappropriate for younger children, may contain Sexual references mild sex
scenes, some violence with gore, and infrequent use of profanity.
12A: 12 adult: these films are allowed to be
viewed by anyone above 12 or anyone below 12 so long as they are with someone
above 18, films under this category can contain mature themes discrimination
soft drugs infrequent strong language and moderate violence, sex refrences,
nudity, brief sexual activity and some sexual violence (only in cinemas) the BBFC
encourages younger children to not be taken to such films.
12: Identical to a 12A but featured in home media, it is illegal for anyone below 12 to watch at home.
15: illegal for anyone under this age to get hold or partake in any media classified with it, can contain adult themes, hard drugs Regular use of some profanity, strong violence, sex references, Nudity without graphic detail, sexual activity without to strong detail, and justified sexual violence.
18: suitable for only 18 and over and as of the other age limits it is illegal for a younger person to be involved with this media (non professionally) contains no limitation on profanity, hard drugs, explicit sexual references and activity, scenes of real sex may be permitted if justified, strong gore, sadistic violence and sexual violence is allowed unless eroticly portrade and excessively graphic.
The genre is made presumably a black comedy. The comedy becomes apparent throughout as the main characters first words are "shit" as she has woken up late this is funny as it is unexpected and is also scary as it is shocking. Later also through dialect we hear obvious connotations of the black comedy when poking fun at murderers "how do you know i'm not a serial killer" they then laugh to back this point up.
The narrative seems to be a Girl who's running late for school invites a serial killer to become her new flatmate, which presumably results in her death, this randomness added to a dark situation is representational of a black comedy.
The editing is simplistic and is therefore not that interesting, the titles are done wrong as put up like credits.
The song is a mainstream song that is illegal to use in such films without request first, however despite this the song suited the pieces silly, slapstick humour as it juxtaposed the fact their was a murderer about. Another effective use of sound was the lock, it was the most unsettling part of the clip connoting their was no escape really emphasising the BLACK comedy.
The camera angles where probably the best parts of the clip, i specificity liked the montage of close ups of normal day things like, the kettle heating up, or the toast popping as it connoted normality which would then be crushed by the killer being revealed. I also enjoyed the panning mid-shot to long-shot which helped set the movement to the piece connoting the rush.
Their isn't a intensively deep mis-en-scene consideration but their was some basic consideration such as props like the phone which was needed to check the time and the blooded towel which connoted death, the setting in a school or education centre was good as the set-up really did feel real and made sense to have the finding of her new flatmate their.
The titles where the worst part of the clip as they where only featured at the end like end movie credits, and also the plain white didn't really suit this piece, as it is to spontaneous it would had been more suited to have red coloured titles to connote the blood and show death, and to had the titles in a Victorian style just for the alienating look. The characters are shown reasonably well with a antagonist and protagonist, the protagonist is normal as connoted by her sequence of getting up, making mistakes of waking up late ect whilst the antagonist also as normal until her secret was revealed, we then see the scary side to this charactor as she locks the door.
Different titles are used within different genres and even story-lines to connote different emotions to make the audience viewer feel a certain way. for example In My Best Friend's Wedding the titles are bright yellow and extremely elegant with a story-tailed themed font, clashing on pink background as they fade in and out. The bright yellow connotes happiness and sunshine thus informing the audience of it being a happy film, the font being "fairy-tailed" connotes that their is love in the piece, whilst the fading in and out connotes a delicate nature. As the titles where used to connote love and happiness they would therefore differ to Snatches which is plain and white and bold to connote a hard cutting big powerful ugly theme.
This therefore proves that every aspect of titles helps portray the genre, i therefore will look into titles suitable for my piece.
Courier Font would be good for my peice as it is very simple, with a slight twist of scruffiness which could connote lack of informality and poverty as it denotes it was hand written.
I think I will have it simple, white on black background to stand out as bold, connoting power and uncertainty as connoted by the juxtaposition.
I would like to use the fading in slow pace, as it creates a uncomfortable tension which helps grip the audiences attention.
I will be analyzing the film openings that i watched in class in: Genre, Narrative, Character, Atmosphere, Themes, Settings, Sound, and titles
Django Unchained
The genre of Django (Django Unchained) is that of a "western", this is connoted through firstly the scenery of the desert / barren which is usually found in the western terrains of America hence "Western" also hence this location is a signifier to the genre. Another signifier of it being a western movie is the song featured in it. the song is "Country", a type of music heavily associated with western films.
The narrative to the piece is a slave march/exhibition, (as connoted by the black walking shirtless on foot whilst the white man is on a horse cloves with guns) this is the the taking of slaves from one location to another, not much is given away including the emotions of the slaves, which connotes that they are exhausted and have given up.
The Characters have not been established in the trailer, this is probably to connote the view of black people at this time period as just a number or item/possession. this is backed up by the only differed character is the slave master as he stands out on his horse. The main protagonist is hinted though as he is highlighted slightly more then the other slaves
The expressions of this character however is very limited as mentioned above, when highlighted his facial expressions remain the same emotionless stares, which is to connote how hopeless the character is and how dire his situation is at this period of time.
The atmosphere of this opening seems to be very low spirited and negative as connoted by the vacant stares of the slaves, and the multiple shots regarding similar circumstances, the atmosphere is also very intense as connoted by the magnitude of scaring on the slaves backs.
The themes of the opening are very potent and stand out obvious throughout:, firstly the theme of Slavery as connoted by the slaves and and slave-master and items associated with slavery such as chains. Secondly the theme of love or lost love as connoted only by the lyrics of the song "now you've lost her, whoa oh-oh-oh... But you've lost her for-ever, Django".
The setting apart from being a key signifier of genre is a very poetic connotation regarding the emotions of the slaves around them, empty and Barron. As slavery themed we can expect the movie to be taking place in the early 1900s.
The sound is vital as it introduces a whole new theme into the piece as stated previously it tells us a story of how Django lost someone he loves, as also stated previously it being country music was a signifier for it being a "western" genre.
The titles are important as they are bold and red, connoting the foreshadowing of future blood to be spilled within the later film, also highlighting the genre through signifier of death.
Pulp Fiction
Pulp Fiction's opening sequence dosent give away allot, but it is presumed from the peripheral of the opening to be a crime film with the representational gun's which are being manipulated by two aggressive antagonistic looking people at the start.
Their is no real give-away with location other then the first initial picture which denotes a building in the daylight, which allows us to predict its featured in a normal civilised location which juxtaposes their aggressive behaviour, as of time period due to the cloving and song's it is expected to be in the late 2000s. The fact they are holding guns in a building connotes that they may be taking part in a robbery.
As already said the only narrative that is visual is the hold up with guns, which connotes a story about crime and robbery.
As the film opening is so basic, in regards to character all us viewers can tell is that their are two predatory antagonists featured in the story, the fact that one is a male and one is a female perhaps connotes the two are in a relationship with each other, except from that no more is given away.
The atmosphere connoted by the upbeat tempo of the opening is energetic and fun juxtaposing the crime seen at the start, this perhaps connotes possibility of humour within the peace.
The only theme i can take from the opening of pulp fiction is crime, as connoted by the gun ect and a comical theme as shown by the bold a bright colours of the titles.
The only sound within the opening is music as shown through two different songs the music connotes the time period of around late 2000s perhaps 70s to 90s, they are upbeat and "funky" connoting a juxtaposition of light heartedness.
The titles are the most significant part to the opening. They come in all different font's colours and sizes however all stand out bold against the black background, they all seem to be coloured and styled in a "pop art" theme that is used by comic books and novel art this perhaps connotes the style of the piece will be in the style of a comic book.
Superbad
The genre of Superbad is that of a comedy. i have concluded this through the use of signifier's the piece includes, for instance the extremely vibrant colours that connote a lack of seriousness to the clip and also, the dancing being on purposeless awkward, a direct representation of "cringe comedy".
The Narrative to the Superbad opening seems to be a bunch of good friends or acquaintances dancing, it is connoted they are good friends by how close they dance together at times touching each other which connotes trust and comfort with each-other. The dancing part of the piece is self explanatory as their movements denotes a dance.
The characters developed are shown in a very general light as we don't have any dialogue or see any detail but which is gathered is as already said they are friend's as connoted by the closeness, and also they are awkward or nerdy as connoted by the odd way in which they are dancing.
The atmosphere seems to be light hearted and spontaneous as connoted by all friends dancing together.
Some themes to the piece are obvious and other subtle, their is a theme of friendship connoted by the dancing friends, their is a theme of partying as connoted to how they boogie to the music, and their is a theme of social awkwardness as connoted by the way in which the characters dance and interact with each other.
The location is presumed to be at a party as connoted by the dancing music and bright colours, the time period is presumed to be in the 21st century as their is a 70s-80s themed music playing in the background, however is used in a humorous light almost making fun of it, thus is presumed 21st century based.
The Music is the only noise in the intro that is significant the music almost sums up the characters portrayed as it is a "groovy", outdated song that they all seem to enjoy, this is part of the joke as it helps connote their "uncoolness" .
The titles to the piece are very basic but life-full and vibrant as of the 70s-80s feel music as it changes colour with the background, the colours are connotations of the characters quirkiness.
Analyses of film openings we did in class (Children of Men and Lord of War)
I will be analyzing the film openings that i watched in class in: Genre, Narrative, Character, Atmosphere, Themes, Settings, Sound, and titles Children of men
In order of Genre i believe this piece to by a hybrid genre (the mix of two genres) as i believe the fact its based on the future makes it a science fiction, whereas its stylistic jumpiness makes it very shocking, it could possibly be have a sub genre from thriller of psychological as I believe the whole plot of even the opening was very thought provoking with a drastic twist towards the end that makes the viewer think on their toes. The narrative of the piece is explained very effectively through the black screen as we hear the vocals of a news report, the narrative is that their hasn't been any children born in over years and the whole of Britain has been consumed in a war, we discover during this that the youngest man alive has died. As of Character the main protagonist is portrayed to be mysterious: however with the possibility of depression that's indicated through his reluctance to talk to anyone in the opening scene other then for his coffee and also the fact that he is seen poring alcohol into it, in broad daylight making him to be a vulnerable unsociable character. The atmosphere of the piece is thrown at the viewer from the start, with the first thing we hear being news reports of war and no fertilisation and related pessimistic troubles it connoted that the atmosphere is depressive. This is then reflected by when the main protagonist goes outside, we see dirty streets with bin bags left out, and unclean buses et, to connote that no one really cares about anything anymore in this new hopeless society. themes of the plat include Depression: as stated above this is connoted through the dirtiness of the city, and the reluctance of any conversation between characters. it also includes War: as said in the news report and presumably connoted by the explosion at the end. And lastly and most vitally the children-less society, as the news states representatively that the "youngest" man alive has died at 16, it is also connoted as the news refers to him as "baby Diego" (as he is 16). The setting is very effective in this opening as the grim city really assists the theme of depression With bins just left around and the whole city just swimming in a mist of fumes and dust Connoting the reluctance to clean as it shows that no one cares as theirs to big tramours in their life's. Their is police warding the street to connote a sense of fear and law braking, and the street is compact with people connoting that they are possibly trying to stay busy to avoid thinking about the tragedies of their time. The sounds is also very important as the first thing we hear is the voice of new reporters connoting that their is a tragedy instantly making the opening serious. Even the small dialect as the main protagonist is making his way through saying "excuse me" is extremely effective, no body replies however dose move connoting the real awkwardness between interaction at this point. The street however is vitally important as the honks, engines, squeaks of rusty cars and even the shuffle of passing podestrions connotes a very despite what's happening a working city, showing perhaps people are trying to work to forget about their problems. It also made for a huge build up in noise leading to the crescendoed climax of the explosion, which connotes fear, and war. The titles are very minimalistic just Bold and white on a black background. I believe the minimalistic titles apart from showing respect to those who contributed helped connote the theme of depression, just plain uncoloured words that reflects the scenery later to be found around the protagonist. Lord of War
In genre i would say this film is a war film, as the whole opening is based on the POV (point of view) of a bullet, as bullets connote war and weaponry. this is also connoted as their is an actual war at the end of the opening where the bullet is fired into someone head. the fact that this whole war process and ammunition stock looks very unprofessional and UN-organised with squabbling and such, it could be signifier of the representation of a "crime" sub genre. The narrative to the openings is showing the lifestyle of a bullet from being created to transported to loaded to shot out of a gun this is all perfect connotations for war. As the main protagonist isnt much seen all that can be gathered from his character is that he is professional as connoted by the suit, differing from every other person seen, and that his intents are good as he is not involved within the crime scene be-four. The atmosphere of the bullets life is a very slow paced one it connotes a disturbingly juxtaposing relaxing side of war for the bullet, just surviving and travelling, until in the very end where it gets fired into someone skull. Themes of the piece consist of War as connoted through the bullet and the fight scene. Crime as shown by solider supplying this ammunition to said mercenary's. And death as connoted by the man that was shot at the end. The setting changed through the life of the bullet as he was transported but the setting change showed the descent from regular war to the crime world, originally being shown in manufacture by professionals then used by the army to trade to the mercenary's then shot into someone head. this diversity connotes the complete process of war for the bullet. The fact that the bullet is one of many and is often just shuffled around or picked up and thrown is used to connote weakness juxtaposing the actual damage it could do until is is then shot to kill a man. This is an analogy on war and how it is brushed aside and disregarded and is used to connote the magnitude of the danger to the audience. Sound is important as it helps set pace to the peice, as the whole thing was edited around the song "Buffalo Springfield - For What It´s Worth", this song is very effective due to how anti-war it is. It represents the meaning of the film and connotes Nicholas Cages thoughts: "there's battle lines being drawn, Nobody right if everybody wrong". The Titles to the peice are very simplistic, just plain and white, however they flow within the peace very graciously fading in and out, assists the juxtaposing smooth pace of the bullets life.
I will be analyzing the film openings that i watched
in class in: Genre, Narrative,
Character, Atmosphere, Themes, Settings, Sound, and titlesMy best friends wedding
In order of genre i would say that "My best friends wedding" is a
hybrid of the two genres romance and comedy (rom-com). I figured this through
the signifers such as the pink background, the pink connotes warmth and love.
the main protagonist/ character was in a wedding dress which connotes a wedding
being present and their was use of flowers which connotes beauty and denotes a
gift, which her husband could have given her. However in turn of comedy, the
whole opening is very over the top and almost slapstick, which is playing and
perhaps poking fun at other over the top romantic films, example their is a
scene where she throws flowers back into the brides maids and then emerges from
them wielding the flowers herself (this very practical humor such as
slapstick).
The character is portrayed as a stereotypical feminine girl as whilst singing
she often turns to her friends and sings to them as if gossiping which is
classic representation of this kind of girl. scenes such as the throwing
flowers scene shows representation of a needy ecstatic bride.
In relation to narrative the film opening shows a very simplistic styled piece
showing no real anomalies or tragedy's, just a bride about to get married.
The atmosphere as of the film showed it to be extremely happy as the pitch was
slightly high (high pitch) which illuminated her dress with a very clear filter
connoting the pieces innocents, as it was performed like a group of girls
gosippings it showed a very feminine vibe. at one point however she puts her
hand to her head as if about to feign but then grasps consciousness again
shortly after being caught, this connotes that their will be stress later on in
the film.
The themes of the opening is fairly basic: a wedding theme as shown by the
dress and bridesmaid's and flowers, a love theme as connoted by the pink and
the dancing.
The setting of the peice is hard to gather as its so minimalistic. What is
shown is that despite the trailer being set in a pink room, the film could be
set in or around a wedding, it is set present day. The sound is one of the most
significant elements to this piece as the whole openings based around the theme
song, the lyrics say "If your looking for love all you can share: all
you've got to do is hold him, and kiss him", this instantly informed the
audience of the genre: romance (as its cringey its probebly a comedy also)and set the pace of the opening, in order to
entertain the audience. The titles are styled in an old englished style which
is representational of a fairy tale, conoting the play is very happy with not
much anomalies. The colour of the titles are Bold and yellow, yellow is used as
it conotes happyness and sunshine, bright an optimistic atitudes which is
representation of a rom con/ "chick flick". As titles are used to
give gratitude to those who helped produce the film yellow is also very
effective at grabbing attention.
Catch me if you can The genre of this movie seems to be a Drama, with a sub genre of Crime
(Crime Drama) this is as the film seems to highlight many drama signifier such
as a continues sense of seriousness (used to connote realism), and a constant
calm pace that disregards unrealistic action scenes that one may find in a
thriller or a action film (also to connote a realistic vibe to the peice,
another signifier is the in depth analysis of the characters: only through
watching the trailer the viewer can pick up the characters role within the film
and traits, for instance the two main characters are a policeman/detective and
a Criminal/mastermind evasive artist: we can tell the criminal is calm and
relaxed in the trailer to connote he is a good liar and incredibly smooth, and
the police/detective is inpatient and fast to connote he takes the
"catching" more seriously connoting he is more emotionally involved.
To expand on characters, the emotional involvement met by the police officer
defies stereotypes of a police or detective "just doing their job",
the criminal also defies stereotype of a dumb crook as he is portrayed very
calmly intellectual and swarve/sophisticated: these unsterotypical characters
where created to give the play a more realistic theme and to make the
charactors more unique and "3D" The narrative of the piece a chase between a
detective/cop and a criminal which highlights the strengths of both showing
almost a "Vs" feel to the film (Vs: a challenge between both the main
characters).
The atmosphere to the film shows it to be very realistic, calm- yet competitive
and almost slow paced: all to connote the realism within the film you can tell
this through the whole opening, the chase on-going chase with no climax. the
seriousness shown within the film canbe
seen as introducing tom hanks: signifiers such as suits and newspapers.
The themes consist of: the chase; will the criminal ever be caught connoted by
scenes such as the lift scene. Their is a Game theme: as connoted by the title
"catch me if you can" it's made to feel like hide and seek. Their is
a theme of identity theft as shown in the elevator scene and the airport scene.
The setting shows possibility's of many locations, however suggests that they
are all within new York, as shown by the representation of the yellow cab, it
has a retro feel to the time period as connoted by the recreationally worn suits
and styles such as the type writers and "pin up" girls at the pool
party. The sound plays an important role when describing the
time period to the audience as it is based on classical music and jazz: which
leads the audience to conclude its around 1950s-60s. The peices theme music is
also very effective when building suspence as its pitch keeps getting higher
and higher, enevidebly hitting a crushendo just to be juxtaposed by an anti
climax. this conotes the chase, and the evasiveness of the criminal.
The titles are very simplistic and basic as shown in two of the pictures above,
however have lines extending vertically to them, this is to add style to the
peice highlighting its very simplistic animation.
Differences between a trailer and film openingsFilm opening and trailers heavily differ through
intent: as they are both created to achieve different criteria's, and due the
intentions of the clips differing the styles in which they are created
therefore contrast to.
Film trailers
Trailers to films are created to "Hook" an audience's attention
trailers therefore can be distinguished by heavy editing to excite the
audience, the clip is usually edited to fit a sequence of music to aid a more
intense climax, the editing will usually conclude of the movies most
significant scenes in order to satisfy the viewer (Gratifications theory) this
is done through a montage . As the trailer is intending to represent the film
to the market it will show a basic outline of the plot, simply to allow the
viewer to conclude if the film will be their "taste" or not. The most
iconic give away of a trailer is the abundant use of "Fade to
black's".
Film openings
On the other hand and Film openings are created to: Give an induction of where
the film is set (location), show gratitude to those who contributed to the more
significant roles of the films through the use of titles, to introduce the main
character, give an indication of the historical period, to give information
regarding the films mood a tone , and usually to introduce a theme tune. In
doing this their is usually a great use of establishing shots. Due to the
opening only having to indicate these themes chronological order can be used
but is not necessary, the film opening doesn't even need to be part of the films
storyline so long as it achieves the themes listed above.
Are piece was standard however could had been better, I will bullet point good and bad points
Good points
-Continuity: the piece ran in logical order.
-Involved The criteria we was assigned to involve.
-Piece ran smoothly. no unneeded quick cuts
-Steady camera. camera was effective and professionally used.
Bad Points
-Bad story, made sense but was poorly thought through
-Underacting, lack of realistic nature within the actos.
-Was unprofessional, some actors nearly laughed at points which took away all effect
-Mis-en-scene wasn't considered no lighting, prop or costume consideration.
With this said I now know what to do better for my final piece as I have learned from my mistakes, I will organise my final opening better and consider the piece a professional clip of media.
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