Brief Analysis of Film Openings

Pulp Fiction:-

Genre: Pulp Fiction is an Action film, distinguished by the guns and robbery set up in the opening scene.

Conventions: The camera shots of a typical american diner sets the scene well and allows the viewer to become familiar with the surroundings. There is alot of swearing and bad language used, as well as loud, fast tempo music played as the opening few minutes of the scene end suddenly.

Information in Credits: The credits mention the staring actors/actresses, director, film makers and the title of the film.

Narrative/Storyline: The immediate sense of a storyline we as the audience get is of a typical normal couple planning to rob a bank. Althought we get an element of humour ( form the characters names, 'Pumpkin' and 'Honeybunny'), there is still an overall dark theme to the film.

The Dark knight:-

Genre: Action/Adventure film. This is suggested from the fast paced action and destruction from the very beginning of the opening.

Conventions: Part of the Batman series-Elaborate, costly opening, guns, masks (to hide identity of potential villians), explosions, murder, crime, fast paced music to build tension.

Information in Credits: Film makers/institutes - Warner Bro's and DC Comics ( shows logo's),

Narrative/Storyline: Main villian, 'The Joker' introduced. The audience get a vague idea of the Jokers evil plan in which he tricks men into robbing a bank, only to murder eachother for his entertainment and benefit.

Final Destination 3:-

Genre: Horror/Thriller film, suggested by the old fashioned circus like setting, with clowns, fortune telling and haunting fairground music. Use of turning something fun, childlike and innocent like a fun fairground into something dark and sinister is popular in the Horror/Thriller genre.

Conventions: Use of haunting music and screaming to suggest terror to come. The main group of characters are also intorduced. Them being teenagers helps create a sense of youth and vulnerability, suggesting to the viewer that these characters may be playing the part of helpless victims. The use of close up shots of the characters faces help to show their emotion and fear, again strengthening their sense of fear and helplessness.

Information in Credits: Film makers, Actors/Actresses, director, editor, Film Title, producer and co-producers.

Narrative/Storyline: There is a particular focus on the element of chance and fortune, maybe suggesting something dark and sinister like torture of death which may occur at the fairground

Pretty Women:-

Genre: RomCom/ Chick Flick

Conventions: Sophistication of a somewhat glamourous, fairytale like setting, stereotypical flash cars, posh surroundings, rich people and big houses. upbeat, happy go lucky 80's music soundtrack, Main character on the telephone highlighted talking to a women who may be conceived by the viewer as a possible love interest for the leading role.

Information in Credits: Touchstone pictures, film institutions, Producer, Director, Film makers, Main actors/actresses

Narrative/Storyline: Conflict between a main focussed couple. There is an obvious contrast between the rich, glamourous lifestyle of the leading man and the poorer, working class status of the woman.

I then analysed a film of my own choice, that being 'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleest street'.

Genre: Sweeney Todd is a Horror/Musical, suggested by the haunting music played on an organ, as well as the dark, stormy weather.

Conventions: Dark, desolate setting, thunder and lightening, rain and blood dripping from the sky- suggests gore and foreboading danger and tragedy which may occur. establishing shot, pans around an old london town, straight into a barbers shop window with blood splatted on the window. This gives the viewer an idea of the genre, as well as the setting and overall mood of the film. camera zooms all around London town. Haunting music builds tension and creates a quite scary and haunting atmosphere.

Information in Credits: warner bro's logo as well as important information such as actors/actresses names, director, producer, casting director, music producer etc shown in credits, with relevant images of the film behind, i.e. pies, oven, photographs and a barbers chair, blood flowing into the sewers etc. Low key lighting to set dark mood of the film

Narrative/Storyline: Strange man on a mysterious ship, sailing to London down. It is apparent by his reminiscing that he has been here before a long time ago, and has obviously come back, haunted by ghosts of his unknown past. The fact that not much of the story is given away in the film opening leaves the film open for any unexpected events to take place. It also creates a feeling of mystery and fear of the unknown, persuading the viewer to continue watching the film to find out what will happen next.

Mid Shot


Here is an example of a mid shot. Mid shots are taken from a camera at a medium distance. When depicting a character in mid shots, the subject is shot from the knee or waist upwards. This type of shot clearly shows a character and gives an overall context to the shot/scene.

Aerial Shot


Here is an example of an aerial shot of New York City. In films, Aerial shots are usually done with a crane or with a camera attached to a special helicopter to view large landscapes, and works best when a scene takes place ontop of a tall building for example. If the aerial shot is of a character it can make them seem insignificant.

Establishing Shot


Here is an example of an Establishing shot of a Haunted house. This particular shot gives the viewer a good understanding of the surrounding which again allows the viewer to understand the context of the scene.

Extreme Close Up

Here is an example of an extreme close up. This shot focuses close up on one particular thing of importance in a scene. It also allows the viewer to see emotion and reaction of a character close up in detail.

Long shot

Here is an example of a Long shot. This shot is used in films to establish the location/context of the scene. It often includes a human figure/ character and is usually intended to place them in some relation to their surroundings.

Low Angle shot


This is an example of a low-angle shot. This shot is commonly used in films and is shot from a camera positioned low on the vertical axis, anywhere below the eyeline, looking up.

Two shot

Here is an example of a Two shot. This is a type of shot used in film in which the frame captures a view of two characters(the subjects). There are many two-shots which have one subject in the foreground and the other subject in the background, as they do not necessarily have to be next to eachother. These shots are also effective when used to show the emotional reactions between the subjects.

Tilt Shot

Here is an example of a tilted/ high angled camera shot. This shot can be used to represent heroic behaviour of certain characters or show dominance. It has an off balance angle which may create a sense of disorientation for the viewer, maybe suggesting that the characters feelings are distorted and confused.

High Angle Shot

Here is an example of a High angle shot. It is used in film to show status and dominance over weaker characters. This camera shot is clever as it helps create a sense of vulnerability of the characters.

Point of View Shot

Here is an example of the Point of view camera shot. It allows the audience to connect with the scene and the character as it makes them feel involved (as if they are in the characters position), therefore holding their attention.

Shot types and Camera Angles


Close Up - This is an example of a close up shot that I took in our media lesson. This shot is mainly used to show emotion or a reaction from a certain character.

Shot Types: 180 Degree Rule

This is a shot in which two characters or objects are facing each other within one particular sceneand share the same right/left relationship to each other.

No matter what angle they are shot from, whether that be front or reverse view, they must both be visible in the frame.

If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line. The new shot, from the opposite side, is known as a reverse angle.

If one subject is on the left side of the shot they should face the right, and if the other subject is on the right side of the shot they should face the left.

This type of shot is clever as it helps give the viewers of the film a clearer view and perspective of everything in the whole shot/scene, aswell as its position.

The diagram above shows the 180 degree rule in more detail

Shot Types: Shot/ Reverse Shot

Shot/ Reverse Shot

A shot/reverse shot is when there is a camera shot of one character 1 facing another character 2, whose face is not visible in the shot. It then cuts to a shot of the other character 2 facing character 1. This allows the audience to assume the two characters are in contact with eachother, even thought they are not shown in the same shot together.

Above is an example from the film, "Sin City"

Shot Types: Match on Angle

Match On Action:

Match on action occurs when an action that begins in one shot is continued or completed in the next, for e.g. A camera shot of someone entering a door from the outside ,cutting straight to a camera shot of the person entering the door from the inside Here is an example of Match on Action-(The different camera shots of two characters deep in conversation)

Key Conventions of Film openings

In class we viewed various film openings from a variety of different genre's of film. Although the genre of films varied, the openings all shared in common some similar key conventions:-

Film openings give a brief idea of the Narrative/story in just the first few minutes of the film. They can do this in various ways, i.e through character introductions, dialogue and setting of the scene.

Cinematic films usually include title sequences/credits in the opening of a film. They include important names, i.e. main actors/actresses, producers, film institutions, director, film title etc. famous, well known names featured in the film will be included in the credits to entice potential viewers (fans of that particular actor/actress).

The genre of the film is introduced or given away, allowing the audience to decide whether this particular film falls under a category they would usually enjoy/dislike. An element such as the music played in the first few minutes of a film can help distinguish the genre of the film.

Film Genres

There are a variety of different genres of film.



Each genre consists of particular key codes and conventions. These conventions identify what genre a film is.



I have created a list of 5 different genres, giving examples of certain films from that particular genre aswell as the codes and conventions which make those genres what they are:

ROMANCE:
Conventions:

• Two young people usually fall in love.





• There is usually some kind of force that causes them to be apart, difficulties and maybe even a forbidden romance which works against all odds.





• Usually set in romantic settings such as glamourous cities such as NYC or Paris
  

Some examples of films that fall under this genre are:

• P.S I Love You



• The Notebook



• Dirty Dancing



• Pretty Woman

MUSICALS

Conventions:

• Elaborate locations, sets and costumes



• Cheerful, Funny story with an ultimately fairytale, happy ending



• Impulsive musical numbers



• Not too deep or serious, entertaining and easy to watch

some films in this genre include:

• Mamma Mia



• Hairspray



• Sister Act

ADVENTURE

Conventions:

• A hero/villian



• A mission/quest/ journey



• a battle between good and evil



• modes of transportation, i.e. speed boats, helicopters, motorbikes



• explosions, weapons, gadgets

some films in this genre include:

• Mission Impossible



• Knight and day



• Indiana Jones

SCI-FI

Conventions:

• foreign universe, planet, land



• futuristic technology



• aliens, mystical creatures



• space ships, rockets, UFO's

some films in this genre include:

• Star Wars



• Terminator



• The fifth Element



• The Matrix

COMEDY

Conventions:

• Ludacris situations



• Comical, likeable characters



• Layed back, funny atmosphere



• Silly circumstances



• Amusing Narrative

examples of films in this genre include:

• The Hangover



• Hall Pass



• Super Bad



• Role Models

What is Suspense?

Suspense is a state of uncertainty,anxiety and excitement awaiting the outcome of certain events. By using suspense, Horror/Thriller films keep their audience engaged, hold their full attention and keeps them on the edge of their seats, craving answers and tempting them to continue viewing the film, to find out what will happen.

Horror/Thriller movies use suspense in these common ways:

Background music gains volume and the tempo increases

High angle shots of the victim, creating a sense of vulnerability and helplessness

Camera may move about uncontrolably or erratically to create a feeling of disorientation and confusion in the viewer

Characters may be covered up by masks, filmed from an undefined angle or only their shadow is shown, which also creates an air of mystery and suggests an intrusion from an undesired guest.

Conventions of the Horror/Thriller Genre

The Horror film genre are unnerving movies that act to elicit fear and horror from viewers. They are generally fast paced, graphic films which strive to elicit terror and disgust. However, the Thriller genre is a more slow paced and pathological type of film, that builds suspension, tension and excitement and focuses more on affecting the viewer in a psychological way as opposed to the Horror genre, being a more physical depiction. The Thriller genre includes many sub genres, i.e romantic thriller, erotic thriller, pathelogical thriller, action thriller, crime thriller etc.

We can identify these key conventions when focusing on the Horror genre:

Include a victim and a villian/killer.

Some more psychological horror films may include ghosts, mysterious unknown creatures or a paranormal elemnt, which causes great fear and apprehension in the viewer of the unknown.

Blood and gore to shock and disturb the viewer, as well as giving a more realistic effect. Special effects and make-up are used in these films to emphasize frightening moments in the film.

Some type of haunting, mysterious and dark solitary locations, i.e haunted houses, forests, castles deserted buildings etc.

Horror films usually use a weaker subject to play the victim, i.e a young, naive women to create a greater sense of vulnerability. Horror films also use high angled shots on the victim, making them look more dependant and helpless.

Haunting, eerie music is played in the background to increase the suspense and tension. The musics tempo and volume may be increased suddenly as the killer or villian is lurking or about to make an appearance.

The victim is often trapped in a claustraphopic situation (solitary confinement) by the villian, causing high distress and discomfort.

Most horror films include a major twist in the story, nearer the end to shock the viewer, as well as creating suspense and tension.

Action scenes which depict a physical conflict between characters, i.e. when Casey Becker- the victim (Drew Barrymore) is attacked and murdered by Ghostface- the villian in the horror movie "Scream".

Preliminary Task Final Film

Here is our final edited version of our preliminary task .
The whole process of the preliminary exercise was very beneficial and worthwhile as it gave us a practise run when creating a film, which allowed us to experiment with the process of film making on a smaller scale. We were given the chance to practice different shot types and to perfect our editing techniques which will all go towards improving our main task.
We used iMovie to edit our prelim. It was a good programme for this type of editing, however, we feel that When we start the process of our main task, it may not be the right software to use as the features available are pretty limited.

Preliminary Task StoryBoard

Here is a copy of our storyboard for our preliminary exercise. We have given descriptive images of what will be present in each shot, aswell as accompanying the images with the camera shots that we plan to use:

1. Over the shoulder/Tracking shot of Mark walking up to front door.

2. Extreme close up shot of Mark ringing the doorbell.

3. Mid/Tracking shot of Doctor walking to front door. (match on action)

4. Over the shoulder shot of Doctor opening front door. (match on action)

5. Mid shot of Mark and Doctor walking to table and sitting down opposite each other.

6. Close up of Mark talking. (shot reverse shot)

7. Close up of Doctor talking. (shot reverse shot)

8. Close up of Mark talking. (shot reverse shot)

9. Over the shoulder shot of Doctor talking. (180 degree rule)

10. Over the shoulder shot of Mark talking. (180 degree rule)

Preliminary Exercise Script

Today we finalised the script for our prelim task. It was only necessary to include a couple of lines of dialogue so the script is short and doesnt dive too deep into the story. The main thing we wanted to include were the stage directions and actions.
(Mark walks up to door)

(Mark rings doorbell)

(Doctor opens door and Mark enters)

(Doctor and Mark sit down opposite each other at table)

Mark: What was so important?

Doctor: She's escaped.

Mark: What?! How did she escape?!

Doctor: All that was left was one red heel.

Mark: I have to get out of here!

(Mark gets up and exits room)

Preliminary Task Brainstorm
In todays lesson, we focused on our preliminary exercise, brainstorming four main ideas which could be developed and used in our final piece.
We considered all of these ideas for our preliminary exercise, but in the end, decided as a group that it would be more beneficial to develop and link our prelim to our main task. We had already worked out a rough concept for our main task and felt it would be fitting to try and link the two together. The theory for our preliminary task is set a couple of months after the narrative of our main task. We are introduced with the notion that the killer has escaped from the mental asylum in which she was a dangerous, high risk patient. To make sure we include all the necessary camera types - match on action, shot reverse shot, 180 degree rule etc. we have come up with a rough story of which we will create a storyboard.
The basic outline of the narrative is The main character, arriving at the mental asylum after receiving an urgent phone call from the doctor. He will be shown entering the door, sitting down with the doctor as she tells him of the recent escape, and rushing out of the asylum in a panic.
We all worked together with this narrative and the order of which the 3 main shot types will be used and feel this is a good idea for our first 'practise run' as it were.

Preliminary Exercise

For our preliminary task, we have been asked to film a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. The task involves filming, editing and has to demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.

I've started planning by looking at the three main shot types which i will include in my preliminary task:

• Match on Action- Match on action occurs when an action that begins in one shot is continued or completed in the next, for e.g. A camera shot of someone entering a door from the outside, cutting straight to a camera shot of the person entering the door from the inside. The door opening sequence must be included in our preliminary exercise.
  



• Shot/reverse shot- A shot/reverse shot is when there is a camera shot of one character 1 facing another character 2, whose face is not visible in the shot. It then cuts to a shot of the other character 2 facing character 1. This allows the audience to assume the two characters are in contact with eachother, even thought they are not shown in the same shot together.
  



• 180 degree rule-This is a shot in which two characters or objects are facing each other within one particular sceneand share the same right/left relationship to each other.
  No matter what angle they are shot from, whether that be front or reverse view, they must both be visible in the frame. If one subject is on the left side of the shot they should face the right, and if the other subject is on the right side of the shot they should face the left.
  This type of shot is clever as it helps give the viewers of the film a clearer view and perspective of everything in the whole shot/scene, aswell as its position.