The interview

Here is a shot of where we have one of our characters walking in to the building. In the editing process of this film I thought that it would be a good idea to start with a 1 second fade in. The reason for this transition is because I felt that it would be the best way to introduce the first character in to the film.







As the film carriers on through the sets of double doors there are a number of shots and angles used to make the audience feel that they are moving with the character as if they were actually there. One of the type’s shots taken was a mid shot with a low angle when the first character opens the first set of double doors. The reason for why we decided to use this shot is because we wanted our film to be kept as interesting as possible and we didn’t want our audience to film bored watching a clip where the camera is completely still filming one section for 10 seconds.









Another shot we used to keep the film as interesting as possible is having a close up on the handle of the second set of double doors where the first character then reaches for to open the doors. The reason for this also is to again make the audience feel like they are in film as well so we thought that we may have to film every action that happens as well as filming it in an interesting way.





As we move on to the scene where the first character is heading up the stairs, a still high angle was used to present this scene. We did this to show the amount of stairs the first character had to travel up to pre-hand.







I contradict myself by saying we didn’t want scenes where the camera is still for a matter of time, however through the editing process I had two different camera angles of this scene, unfortunately one had a continuity error where the double doors were both wide open where in the scene of the first character went through them they were closed.





In these two shots where both characters are walking in the hall way, the exact same shot was used to film their clip which was a high angle and long shot. The reason why we have used to same shot is to establish that they are both in the same places but just approaching from different locations.


In the editing process of this scene we I have used a cross-fade from one scene to another. I have done this because I felt like that it would be a good way to introduce the second character of the film and also to show what was going on while the first character was entering the building.








With the second character approaching the hall way, we have used several different shots and angles, this was to also keep the film as interesting as possible and it was also to show off what the characters costume looks like from many different shots and angles.












To introduce the characters meeting up in the hall way we have used a mid shot and mid angle to keep the audience levelled with the conversation and to make them feel like they are also a part of the conversation; we also did a close up on the characters hand shake to establish that they are friends.






During the conversation I have encoded a shot reverse shot throughout the conversation. The reason why I have done this with the clips that had an over shoulder shot was to show the reactions and emotions in the characters faces so the audience know how they are react to each other’s dialogue.








This shot contains a high angle of the conversation. The reason for why we chose to shoot the last few lines of the script at different locations is because we wanted to show off that this conversation was about to conclude, so we did that by moving further away from the characters.


We also had a scene where we had a low angle at the very end of the conversation where the two characters were leaving to show that the conversation has passed away; I have also used a fade to black transition because it was the most appropriate way to conclude the film.

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Media Conventions & Film Analysis

Media Conventions - Film analysis

In the films we have watched that are linked to the genre that we want to create, I have noticed that all have some sort of relation to urban crime, we discovered that the mood is usually very tense and unease due to the shots taken of the tower blocks and estates.

Shank

Atmosphere

We noticed two great examples of this used in 'Shank' and 'Attack of the Block'. In the opening sequence of 'Shank' we were shown very quickly various images of tower blocks, typical estate areas, barbed wire Etc. This however was also all shown in black and white with music that was accelerating in pace as every image passed by. This emphasises the mood of tension because of the very unease feel of the music and the black and white colour scheme giving the audience quiet a breath taking feeling and in a way it's like you're expecting a death. What I have learnt from this section of the opening and will use in my film is by using music that is slow and has quiet abit of suspense can give the audience the effect that “something is about to happen very soon” and by accelerating the music pace impacts the audience by making it feel like this “something” is getting closer.

The opening to the film also  brings out the stereotypical view from the setting of barbed wire that gives us the idea that people in this film have been in jail, most likely will go to jail or will do things inside the film that will get them in jail. Furthermore it also gives us the sense that the characters in this film have “no escape” because in a way it makes the characters seem isolated from the rest of the world and they cannot escape the life styles that they live if they were able to “hop the fence”.

Genre

The way we identify crime is in the title screen where we see a white silhouette holding what it appears to be a knife or "a Shank" as so called "hood rats" would say in the title itself. Just by this strongly suggests that this film will include knife crime therefore it being an urban crime film. What I have learnt by this is by giving a strong indication whether it’s a prop or in the title screen can establish the genre of a film.

Introduce Main Character /Genre

In the shot where we are shown the first character in colour (which will make us assume that he is the main character) we see him running through an alley which is full of rubbish and pollution. This also emphasises the uneasy atmosphere because we get the idea that this certain area is extremely rough because of the amount of rubbish that is dumped around every while we watch the film progress. From this setting we can also identify the genre of this being and urban film due to the roughness of the area and all the tower blocks.

We also notice that the main character is running away from a person on a motorcycle who we as the audience believe to be one of the foes of this film due to his identity not being revealed until the main character escapes by jumping off the bridge. This also has an uneasy atmosphere because the combination of costume and tracking. It also makes the atmosphere quite tense as the main character is running because we can decode that he is in a huge amount of fear by the way he is panting while running and also has a lot of adrenaline by the pace of his breathing and also by how the music is synchronised with all the actions this main character and the quick cut camera movements, it makes it seem like we are also running away from this situation that no one would want to be in.

Narrative

This whole situation is also gives us a slight idea of the narrative; what I can gather from this first scene is supposedly our main character either did something to provoke the person on the motorcycle or his "gang" if he has one, he went in to the person on the motorcycle's "territory" or the generally just don't like the main character therefore they gave chase. (We are shown later in the film what exactly happened when we are sent 3 hours back in to the past). We as the audience wouldn't normally see a person running away from a person on a motorcycle and it puts an effect on us because it makes us think what is going on in this unlikely circumstance where we have a guy on a motorcycle chasing a young teen; it makes us wonder what has the teen done to get himself into this. What I have learnt from this is that by having a scene where you someone has been provoked a certain way and gives chase because they want “their justice” can establish the narrative of a film quite well depending on the setting and costumes of the chase.

Attack of the Block

Atmosphere

In the opening sequence of ‘Attack of the Block’ the atmosphere is quite peculiar and confusing. The film starts off with a tilt shot from the sky to a busy road and a train station with fireworks going off in the background giving us the indication that its bonfire night or just" hooligans" are setting fire works of due to this being a urban sci-fi film. The music is quite slow paced and somewhat electronic from how the bass's pitch distorted and also how it gets louder and eerie. This emphasises the mood of the film for being somewhat uneasy and it also gives the film suspense from how slow pace the music is; it makes us think that something is about to happen.

Introduce Main Character

The way the main character is introduced to us is instantly (just like ‘Shank’ or ‘Bad boys 2’) as she is the first person we notice as she walks out of the train station. We can also tell that she is the main character because of how the focus on the camera is on her compared to everyone else, the chiaroscuro lighting used on her which makes her seem like a nice character and the dialogue used "Hi mum" makes the character seem very innocent and shows the audience that she is harmless and is most likely not going to go on a terror attack of mass destruction. What I have learnt by this is that the type of dialogue a character says in a film can determine what type of personality that character has so I think if I was going to create a film and I wanted to introduce the foes first, I would want them to say things that are quite shady and intimidating.

Genre

When the character is walking down what it seems to be a long alley way, the camera slowly turns where it shows off graffiti which instantly gives us the indication that gangs are hanging around this area. To further empathise that gangs are about the graffiti flashes and with each flash there is a gunshot sound and there are shadows that are also revealed to us which we can identify that the main gang members are about to do something to the main characters. From this section of the opening scene we are able to establish the genre of this film for being an urban crime due to the stereotypical factors of the graffiti, gunshot sounds and alley ways. What I have learnt from this is that the use of props or scenery in shot can establish a films genre and if I were to create a film related to urban crime, I would use props that have strong relations to drugs due to it being stereotypically obvious.

Narrative

We aren't exactly introduce to the main narrative till later on in the film where aliens invade the earth however from the opening scene we as the audience would think that the film would continue on as "hooligans" just cause havoc on a day to day bases then eventually would get caught due to them being the "main bad characters".

Bad Boys 2

Genre

In the opening scene of ‘Bad Boys 2’ we are startled by very fast electronic music and just by this reveals the genre of the film which is action because the pace is very “in your face” and electronic / metallic music is quite masculine, it gives us the image of heavy machinery which the majority of males are quite intrigued by. The shots taken are very fast which mysterious such as the shot of the coffins that looked like they were being shipped. This further suggest that this film is going to be quite fast paced and filled with a lot of “action packed” situations that will have some sort of relation to all the props shown.

Introduce Main Character

In the opening sequence of this film we aren’t introduce to the main characters that we would want to side with. Why I’ve said this is because the film is called “Bad Boys” suggesting that the main characters that we would often follow throughout most of the film are going to be the most heroic for others.

The first character we see in this film is not the main character; we are first shown a guy talking on a pay phone talking about something completely irrelevant to all the shots taken like the heavy machinery and drugs. We can also identify that he is not the one of the main characters because when he is being shown the camera tracks right passed him which suggest to the audience that he is just a random citizen.

The real main characters can be identified by the combination of costume and dialogue. In the shot where we have a guy who is leaning his head on an object, we can tell that he is a main character however not a character that we would see as on the likable side from his white suit and greasy hair and from the tone of his dialogue “15 million dollars and my dope (a drug) is gone”. He says this when a character who looks like he works for the guy in the white suit due to how costume being a lot less flashy. From the way he says this and also how he doesn’t give eye contact to the work suggests to the audience that this character is one of the main bosses of the film. What I have learnt from this is that the costume that a character is wearing can determine whether that they are a good or bad character, it can also show off what type of class this character may be in which would further establish the narrative of the film.

Narrative

The way the narrative of this film is shown is at the start of the opening sequence where there has been post production text telling us that they are in an “ecstasy lab”. It is also seen where we are shown the main boss character if the film where he quotes “15 million dollars and my dope (a drug) is gone”. From the combination of the post production and the main bosses character’s dialogue, it seems that the narrative of this film that this organisation sells ecstasy for their own benefits (e.g money) and because the title is named “Bad Boys” it gives us as the audience that two or more characters are going to get themselves in to a situation that involves this origination thus leading them to whole action filled scenario.

Atmosphere

The atmosphere of the opening sequence of this film is quite thrilling due to the fast pace music and it is very unease due to the shots that have been edited with an unnatural colour scheme. We are shown this when there are close up shots of heavy machinery and most importantly the drugs that are seen in the machines. This gives us indication that the rest of the film is going to have some sort of relation to drugs and the colour scheme puts an effect on the audience because it makes us feel like we have just consumed or ejected drugs in to our body thus making our vision disorientated and unnatural especially as well as the scene cutting really quickly which would make us almost feel dizzy in a way. What I have learned from this is by using colour can establish the feelings of something or be used to place a representation of something (E.G the colour red can be used to resemble blood, the colour green can be used to resemble good health or nature) and can place an effect on the audience.

Conclusion

To conclude this essay I have discovered that in urban crime or action crime the main characters are always instantly featured first (good or bad), the narrative and genre are also very straight to the point and they do this through mise en scene and the atmosphere of the film is almost always very tense and uneasy due to the music used and the pace of the film.

Modified Openings

Modified openings to fit genre

 

In an opening of a film, you are most likely going to see at least 2 or more company logos before or somewhere in the very first few minutes of the film. The companies shown are the ones that helped with the production of the film and also helped producing the film. It is also the way of branding the film and having ownership/copyright over the film.

These are the Warner Bros logo in 1978. It was one of the very first producing logos and it was used in films such as Superman Etc.

Over time companies do usually update their brand logo to keep up with the modern day society and technology. Here is another logo with the Warner Bros however this time with a short animation embedded.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT9HsNszYCI&safe=active

In rare cases, companies like the Warner Bros do synergy with the actual film that is about to be shown. This may include that their brands logo maybe some what edited to fit the format or identity of the film.

 

This is the Warner Bros logo seen in a whole new way. Instead of using the original opening animation for the film, it has been edited to fit the identity of the film which was Harry Potter and the deathly hollows. They also went on step further by also going through the brands logo and in to the “world of Hogwarts”.

The reason why these types’ of elements in openings are so rare is because the film company pays more money for it to happen as they would be manipulating the brands company logo. Also it looks nicer if the filming company had more than 2 films so that the audience can recognise what film is being displayed quicker so that is way most films refrain from using these types of openings.



Costumes

Costumes

How costumes can symbolise good and evil

Here are two images of Spiderman where he has two opposite personalities. As you can see the image with the original Spiderman suit the colours used are much lighter to emphasis if spider man was a "God" sent from heaven or as we all ready know a super hero A.K.A as people know as one of the “Good Guys”.

As you can see the black coloured Spiderman suit is to emphasise that there is a type of darkness inside the character therefore the audience would assume that this character is somewhat evil in a way. This image is actually a shot from the film Spiderman 3 and what the director has done here is also very clever. The director has colour matched the sky with the characters costume, this is very clever because it makes it seem that there is a “dark aura” surrounding him that seems very unlikely to be impenetrable which basically means that he is a lot more powerful than before.

Costumes can be used to pursue stereotypes  

Rules Of Opening

Rules of Opening

In films there aren’t any specific rules of what order the elements in film should be in bedsides two. These elements consist of a Title screen, a fade in sequence or instant cut in, introductory credits such as introducing people who are going to be featured in this film and a media branding company e.g. the Warner Bros (this can be used multiple types). In terms of having these factors in order, the branding company must always be before the title screen because if a film was to display the title of the film then show the branding company saying something like “Media Company presents”, it wouldn’t make much sentence because the title film would of already been presented

Here is a perfect example of an opening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjLJ6Cke6RM&safe=active (Spiderman 3 – Opening)

At the very start of this film it shows off the companies that were associated with this film such as Colombia Pictures and Marvel. As I have stated before this isn’t always the case. Some films sometimes start with a fade in to the movie then display the companies associated with film, followed up by the title screen. Here is an example of this happening:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue-yhbbU12o&safe=active

This is an example of the opening credits to this film. As you can see the companies introduce that were associated with the film where introduced before the title of the film was displayed.

After the companies and title screen where shown, the opening then started to display people who are going to be featured in the film such as Tobey Maguire, Kristen Dunst and James Franco.

Once all the credits are displayed the film then transitions into the first shot of the film where it continues to climax.