Monday 15 December 2014

Research - Analysis of High School Micro Features (Blog Task 15)

Analysis of '10 Things I Hate About You' Camerawork, Sound, Editing and Mise-en-scene 

'10 Things I Hate About You' is a high school teen drama film. 

The title sequence of ’10 Things I hate about you’ starts of with an establishing shot. This shows that the film is quite high budget as it can afford the facilities and equipment to support shots like this. The establishing shot is an overview a city, which shows a bright day indicating the happy, uplifting atmosphere.
 
Overview of city  
A mid-shot is used to show a group of urban teenage girls in a car dancing along to the diegetic sound of music coming from their car. There is high lighting on them, which implies their happy mood. This a juxtaposed by a mid-shot of another girl in a different car where she is in low lighting due to her being in the shade which shows her very miserable mood. Also, the music played in the girl’s car is cut off by the diegetic sound, which is more rock music, which is being played in the car of the second girl.
group of girls in the car

There is a long shot to show the setting of a high school, which indicates that the film will be based around teenage situations.  There is a close up of the ‘Guidance Counsellor’ title placed on the desk that is complemented by Foley sound of typing, which indicated that this scene is based in an office.  Shot reverse shot is used to show the conversation between the guidance counsellor and the new student, this shot focuses on the dialogue shared between them both.
Long shot of high school

A pan is used to show one of the students showing all the high school social groups to the new student. This gives the audience an insight to what it’s like in the high school. There is non-diegetic sound of drums playing in the background steadily, which shows that this scene will lead to information that will interrupt the flow of the scene.
Student showing new student around

Throughout the scene continuity editing is used and ellipsis that condenses the time period of the scene. The new student seems to get most of the screen time which shows that he is potential a protagonist.

Sunday 14 December 2014

RESEARCH - Bring it on (High school drama) analysis of camera, editing, sound and mise en scene

RESEARCH - Who makes Title sequences?

 Who makes Title sequences?

Below is some of the questions and answers from an interview from the Creative Director of 'The Conjuring' title sequence.

 
 
 

 
 
 


RESEARCH - what is the purpose of a film opening?





1) This means that a film needs to catch an audience to draw them in to want to carry on watching.
 
2) The risks of 'instant arousal' is that if you start a film opening too strong, the audience may have questions which leads to the problem of all of those questions having to be answered in the film.

3) This is so that the audience can adjust to the nature of the movie, without knowing the whole story.

4) A classic film opening would always tell us the location of the film, the occupation of the main character, the nature of the film and it generally leads the audience into the story smoothly.

5) The title sequence of 'Seven' is so effective because straight away it gets you ready for the atmosphere of the film as it allows the audience to become almost part of the movie. It foreshadows the happenings of the film and introduces the audience to the main character.

6) Orson Welles wanted to have no credits in his opening sequence so he was able to plunge the audience straight into the film story line. However Universal studios changed his idea and added in the credits so that the film was not the way he intended.

7) The trick of 'Film Noir' is that the beginning of a film is more like the ending of the film.


















RESEARCH - What is genre and what is a teen film?


RESEARCH - Analyse your favourite films title sequence

My favourite film that I've chosen to analyse is...


The type of title sequence used in 'The Wizard of Oz' is Titles over moving images. This means it has incorporated the credits with moving images in the background. This helps to introduce the tone of the beginning of the story to the audience.
Throughout the title sequence there's a non-diagetic sound of an orchestra playing the Wizard of Oz theme tune.
The background picture behind the credits are moving clouds in a drained colour.

Order of credits:
  1.  Title 'Wizard of Oz'
  2. Copy right
  3. Distribution company
  4. Production company
  5. Producer
  6. Main actors
  7. Screen play by
  8. Adaptation's by
  9. From book by
  10. Musical programme
  11. Photographed in Technicolor by
  12. Technicolor director
  13. Directors
  14. Special effects
  15. Costumes by
  16. Character make up
  17. Film editor
  18. Producer
  19. Director




Analysis of High school and Youth drama camera, mise en scene, editing and sound

RESEARCH - 4 types of film opening




RESEARCH - Analysis of 2 title sequences

Thursday 11 December 2014

Research -Title Sequences: Research into Institution (Blog Task 8)

Title Sequences: Research into Institution


Film: Beautiful Thing

Credits in the order we see them:
  1.   Production company ‘channel four films’
  2.  Production company 2 ‘a world production’
  3. Cast
  4.  Title
  5. Cast members
  6. Written by
  7. Producers
  8. Director



Film: Mean Girls

Credits in the order we see them:
1.     Ident ‘Paramount’
2.     ‘Paramount’ Title
3.     Producer
4.     Main cast 
5.     Title
6.     Cast
7.     Casting by
8.     Based on book
9.     Music supervisor
10. Music composed and conducted by
11. Co-producer
12. Costume designer 
13. Editor
14. Production designer
15. Director of photography
16. Executive Producer
17. Producer
18. Screenplay by
19. Director



Film: My Brother The Devil

Credits in the order we see them:
  1. Ident
  2.  Film company
  3. Ident
  4. Title of film company
  5. In association with…
  6. Cast
  7. Executive producer
  8. Producers
  9. Written and Directed By
  10. Title




Budgets

Beautiful Thing  
Film Budget: ?
Box Office Figures: $33,931 (Opening weekend in USA)
Type of Release:

Mean Girls
Film Budget: $17 million
Box Office Figures: $129,042,871 worldwide
Type of Release: Wide

My Brother The Devil  
Film Budget: low budget
Box Office Figures: $10,305 (Opening weekend in USA)
Type of Release:

Mainstream or Independent

Beautiful Thing – Independent

Mean Girls  - Mainstream

My Brother The Devil – Independent


Comparison

The differences that we see between mainstream title sequences and independent title sequences, is that mainstream title sequences have longer title sequences as they have more credits. This is because mainstream films have a larger budget therefore they can hire a larger crew to producer a film leading to more credits.

Research - Target Audience Research Activity (Blog Task 10)


Target Audience

What is an audience?
An audience is a group of people who give their attention towards something

How do we define target audience?
A target audience is a classification of a group of people who you aim your product/service to.

Why is it useful for a film to have a target audience?
It is useful for a film to have a target audience, as it will help to choose a storyline or genre that is enjoyed by your audience. Also, by having a target audience you’ll know the types of marketing strategies needed in order to get your film out to the audience.

Which audiences do you think teen drama films appeal to?
Teen drama films are mainly aimed at teenagers and young adults who enjoy watching things that are related to social-realism. They are most likely to live in urban areas and possibly attend school. Teen dramas are more likely to appeal to females rather than males since many teen dramas have a romantic element shared by the female and male protagonists.

Research - Categorising Title Sequences (Blog Task 6)

Categorising Title Sequences

Titles on Blank Screens

Main convections and reason for use:
·      Titles with blank screens usually use a whit typeface on a black background to create a high contrast
·      They are used by studio as they are low budget
·      They offer simple, uncomplicated ways to include institutional information at the beginning of a film

Examples of Title Sequences:
·      Pycho
Ø Simple whit typeface is used
Ø Very straightforward
Ø Plain black background

·      Pulp Fiction
Ø Mainly white and yellow type face
Ø Black background
Ø Simple


Titles on Still Images


Main convections and reason for use:
·      There is a use of incorporated text with a visual image to hint at the tone or genre of the film
·      Longer credits to include more than studio name and film maker
·      It was developed to include hand drawn borders and other images
·      It combines different media to make the background more interesting
·      Studios supported more elaborate title sequences as they recognised its contribution to the film
·      Music and still images accompanied the credits to introduce the tone of the film and hint the genre and theme of the film

Examples of Title Sequences:
·      Wimbledon
Ø Regular change of the still images give the effect of a tennis match
Ø Sound of hitting tennis ball with the racket, emphasis the tennis match theme
Ø Text on alternative sides each time, like a tennis ball being hit from one side to another
Ø Pictures of people looking left the right, looks like they’re following the tennis ball


Titles Over Moving Images

Main convections and reason for use:
·      It incorporates the credits with moving images behind the title and sound but no dialogue
·      Moving images serves to offer either a metaphor or a narrative thread to help introduce the tone or storyline of the film to the audience

Examples of Title Sequences:
·      Rear Window
Ø Moving image of window in the background and blinds lifting
Ø There is a over view of a street
Ø More credits
Ø Zooms out of the window

·      Cidade De Deus
Ø  Flashing of knife slashing
Ø  Flashes of food and live chicken
Ø  Credits simple
Ø  Main focus mainly behind credits


Titles Using Animation or Motion

  Main convections and reason for use:
·      Requires a lot of digital technology and stylized editing
·      Real images incorporated with animation
·      Lots of use of visual effects

Examples of Title Sequences:
·      Casino Royale
·      Music is used
·      Real moving image of a man which incorporated with animation and motion
·      More elaborate
·      Longer credits (indicate high budget film)



Narrative Title Sequences
In narrative title sequences the titles are integrated into moving images in some way and begin as the film itself. This might be as a long or establishing shot or as a part of a series of establishing shots.

Discrete Title Sequences
In discrete title sequences the titles are integrated into the moving images but it isn’t entirely clear what the film’s plot or storyline is. It helps set the tone and gives clues to what could happen latter in the film where we have an ‘ahh’ moment when we realise the significance of the titles. It’s a stand-alone sequence and not an actual part of the narrative/ film.

Stylised Title Sequences

Stylised title sequences can be a mixture of narrative and discrete title sequences, edited to create a combined effect. It contains lots of effects/filters, motion and special effects.