For our film it is an over 15. From BBFC it is recommended that a film with "strong material including strong swearing, strong horror and strong violence" should then be rated a 15. However we did not feel that it should be rated an 18. There is no unacceptable language or sexual scenes. The only thing that may cause for it to be a 15 is the blood and gore from the dead body, and upsetting scenes of a grieving family and friends. This is shown in the screenshot of the BBFC website.
We did some research of props we would need in a mystery murder film opening and there wasn't many. So we came up with our own props that we knew we were going to need. These were:
Blood
School uniform
Dog
The dog was the main prop because in the film opening the dog was the one that found the body, with the owner. We used the dog because in many real cases it is always the dog that finds the body.
We used blood as a main prop because it made the death look real, so that the audience can observe and see that she is injured and that this girl is dead. Without the blood the audience would not really be able to physically see that she is dead, because there is no sign of injury.
We used the school uniform as a prop because it gives the girl identity, and makes her look more vulnerable to the audience. If she wasn't wearing school uniform then the audience wouldn't know she is a school girl and it was a normal typical day forher.
This is the music ideas that we had for our film opening. We eventually choose this one because it created a huge suspense on the film opening. It is very creepy and fits the genre very well.
We did not like this one because we found it fitted more under the horror genre. Although it does sounds more creepy we didn't want to go to over the top, and wanted to keep it to a minimum.
Here are different fonts for the titles of our film opening. We chose 10 different fonts so we had a wide range of ideas to choose from for our final opening. They all give a creepy, mystery look which gives the audience some idea of what the film will be like. If we picked a nice fancy font it would make the audience confused as it wouldn't go along with the theme of the film opening. There is mystery and story behind the font of titles. It can give away a lot to the audience.
On this you can see everything that we have planned for our film opening, although a lot is repeated. It shows our main ideas and themes, these ideas were based around leahs film opening idea .It shows everything that we have arranged and planned for the story line.
This is a mood board of our film inspirations. Looking from the film posters you can see they all are mysterious and have the same genre of mystery/crime. These films all have murders or some type of criminal case, which links to our film idea, of a girl being murdered and then no one knowing who has done it.
This is our story board list for the film opening of Juno. Here we have included the timings of each shot and what is happening. Props: Our props that we need is a red jumper, a milk carton. Location: Our main location is outside the school near the bushes, outside the shops because of the fence and the shop corner. We are also going to places near trees so we can have a leafy pavement. Most of it will be shot on Duffield Road.
The clip:
The filming of my task was done quite well, it was hard to keep up with the certain timings,thats why our story boards helped us. The filming is very similar to this juno clip. The filming is shook sometimes that's why we should of used a tripod because just us holding the camera wasn't steady enough.
Our story board was accurate but it didn't include certain bits like camera slides and flips, that's why near the end of the clip I included it as an effect. In our story board it has basic drawings but gives a lot of detail and an idea. Also the timings were the main help here because we needed to know when to end the clip and when to do certain movements. Through out the whole thing we used the story board and watched the video frequently so we could match the scenes up.
In our group we had strengths in working as a team and coming up with ideas and planning things out. Although our weaknesses was not using the tripod, and getting the camera angles of some shots during this short clip.
I got all the footage that I needed to complete the film as good as possible ,but I had a few clips that could of been improved like the end part outside the building-there was a front and side view of the shop as juno in the film walks down the side, but we done it just as a front view. We also could of used a guitar and other good props but that's what I will improve on next time.
Being able to edit allows me to correct some mistakes, by making clips longer by slowing it down. On adobe I learnt how to slow and reverse clips and well as flip the camera shot. Like in one of the shots we had to flip the clip because we filmed it the wrong way, but it looks good still. Overall I have learnt how to do most things on adobe to help with further productions.
In the next production I will still use the story boards a lot and plan out the timings as well as a good use of available props. I learnt how to use adobe and edit clips very good and how to create certain effects like zoom and slide along etc. and these being used allows certain effect to be given to the watcher. I like how the timings of the clips are in sync like when the camera moves up, it moves at exactly the same time in most places.
Evaluation: In this presentation for our film, overall I found that the marketing ideas and the title of the film was found to be the highest. Mostly every possible method was mentioned for our marketing, and the title was said to be simple but intriguing because it doesn't infer a lot so makes the audience think what will happen. Also the enigma code was rated very highly because people want to know if Stacey can do her dreams in time and most of all they want to know what her top dream is. The target audience was said to have been aimed at very good, because it makes them start to think what they want on there bucket list. Most people said the characters in it were well known so it was good but Jim Carrey is known in funny comedy films so people thought he wouldn't be such a good actor in a serious but fun film. There is improvement's that can made ,like the age of Stacey becoming younger instead of around 18 years old, and adding a quote to the film poster. We overall got 60/70 and as a group we are happy with our score.
they do adverts at the start of the films and they get most of there profits from selling food like pop corn and drinks. Which they sell very expensively.
How do you get a film into the cinema?
If you want your film to be in the cinema ,you have to sell it to the distributor first, and then they decide whether or not to use it.
What does a distributor do?
A distributor is a person who is responsible for the marketing of a film.
Independent VS mainstream film:
An independent film makes you think and ask yourself questions, it is also associated with critical success. Whereas a mainstream makes you laugh/cry and is often associated with commercial success and is only made as an escapist entertainment.
My logo:
Here is my logo, I have made and from it you can see that I have done the scene of a watery sunset, giving a sense of calmness. Because when you watch a film you want to be calmed and relaxed. I have called it Faith productions because of my name, and the font is very big and outstanding for the audience. It also reflects off the sea like the sun does. I think to make this logo better I should of include movement, even if this was the words sliding in or the water moving with the text.
High budget VS low budget films:
Here I am picking a low budget film and an high budget film and analysing them both, to see the differences and similarities and seeing the production companies and what they normally produce in films. Here I have put together a PowerPoint which I have converted to a video.
In this lesson we had to speak about mise en scene,camera ,editing,and sound for the following opening scenes.we use anagrams to help.
In boyz in the hood you can see that this film is trying to say that the surrounding presence of white dominant culture, even in a black-majority neighborhood,You cannot escape it. Racial difference is a thing. Racial difference is constantly emphasized and re-emphasized.
In this film opening you can see that what these children have seen and experienced is not normal. Like when the boy was walking down the street and a fight was going on and it just seemed like normal life. The whole film is based around crime and you can tell this neighbourhood is a violent place to live, and that fighting and violence is part of the culture there.
In boyz in the hood in the first seconds you can see nothing but you can hear the noise of as gang and what sounds like bins being thrown and the sound of trash. sooner on, you can hear the noises of the shooting in the background even though it happened in the past and were now in the present. There is a lot of non diegetic sound in the opening of the group talking about what they are looking for. There is also sirens and the sound of people screaming, it really makes the audience fell for what's just happened and start making the audience put themselves into the peoples situation.This stuff that only the audience can hear ,has an impact as the characters in it cannot, so things can become clear to the audience but not the characters.
I think the screen is black when this happens because it allows the audience to think clearly about what is being said ,whereas if there was things happening on the screen, the words would not be emphasised. The shot in the street to the class room ,changes as the children begin learning about it in class, which links the whole thing, and it comes up with a drawing from a child about the shooting, as if its a story being told. The camera pans across the classroom later to the teacher. The amount of time on the screen shows the main character's and we can tell that this child is the main character and everything is revolved around him. However in this there is a lot of screen time on children. No other age really. This shows that this film is clearly about youth and the upbringing of these children and how this violence can affect them. Even showing the way the street is shows most things.
The setting is obviously in a rough street area and this being the area links to the whole film and its meaning The costumes used are normally nothing that is poor looking but nothing that makes you look rich. Being portrayed as normal people. Which links to the whole film that these ordinary children are normal but there street isn't. The lighting varies but stays quite bright and normal.
The matrix
All through out the opening it is very dark, to show a negative effect. That's why the police at using flashlights. In this the women is made out to be very strong and stronger than the men. But towards the end, she is then shown to be weak as she gets hit by a truck. The males in this are made out to be very brave and have a lot of courage and at first they think she is weak, and it is easy, in till she fights back. Normally women as portrayed to be weaker than the men. The binary opposites are used between the men and women.
up
In this the passage of time is showed to pass by them doing different things eg.them getting married. Also they cleverly show years passing on by the putting on Carls tie. The sound is generally up beat music, and the camera uses zoom ins and outs, including a glides across the screen. Overall the whole lighting of the clip is bright and colourful, showing a positive affect and that they both had/have a good life. The actors are very different as Ellie at first is the energetic one and Carl is the one that need sot catch up where as at the end its the other way round. There personalities seem quite different but they seem perfect together. Overall the screen time just focuses on these 2 characters just showing them and there life story.
Cape fear
This starts with a close up view of the books and then zooms out till we can see a man doing push ups in a prison cell. The overall colour and setting is dull and dark representing this man and his mood. It is clever when he is released form his actual cell and he is being escorted by police offers and you see the camera angle change and follow him out, as if you are there and your following him out. Right at the end of the release there is a long shot of the prison and it waits in till he walks towards the camera and doesn't use any zoom ins.
Here we had to edit film clips and add in our own audio and effects. To do this we used adobe premiere. This is the my finished clip. I used many special effects like fade, colour blend, black and white colour change, roughen edges, vertical flip and many more. I cut my clips very short and mixed them all together so they match the audio, like when the beat drops, the video changes into a different effect and so the dance moves match the tune and beat. eg. so when they stop dancing or dance slowly, I made sure there was not up beat music to a slow dance. I included loads of black outs as an effect because it creates effect to the watcher.
Both the media and the audience create what we watch, the media creates it but the audience also puts their views across, and what they want so that the media can create it, the media publishes it and the audience sees it and tells there views.
Can the media exist/ Function without the audience?
I think that the media cant exist without the audience, if there is no audience the media will have no point, there wouldn't be a use for the media.
Who is more powerful: the media or the audience why/how?
The audience is more powerful because they have a reactions and the media want to get a reaction. If they don't get reaction then there's no purpose for the film and less people would watch it.
Can the media control an audience?
Yes, I think the media can control an audience. I think they do this by influencing the audiences views and beliefs.
Uses and Gratifications
It is said in the gratification theory that each film has to have one of these 4 forms:
Identify- to see the product/person in the film form.
Educate- being bale to get information, and knowledge from the film
Entertain- something that should be enjoyable for you to watch
Social Interaction- is an exchange between two or more individuals and is a building block of society.so for a film to make people talk and interact with one and another.
my experience:
Most of the films I watch are mystery and horror. so especially with these mystery films you ask people a lot of questions, so you can make a judgement. Like when I watched the film Dark Places, you ask questions to one another consistently ,about who killed this women's family.so there is a lot of social interaction going on between people.
Also
What do we mean when we use the word 'film'?
A film is a story or event recorded by a camera as a set of moving images and shown in a cinema or on television.
Do you think it means the same as the word 'movie'?
A movie is a film generally or the film industry
what about the word 'cinema'? The word cinema is a theatre where films are shown for public entertainment.
My top 10 favourite films:
-The conjuring
-The hunger games
-Harry potter
-The other women
-Insidious
-The sorcerers apprentice
-the lovely bones
-dead silence
- 22 jump street
As you can see by my favourite films I like the genre of horror and action a lot, all these films are common to one and another because they are all something that wouldn't happen in your day to day life, and they all have an area of mystery.
stereotypes and countertypes
Here we had to look at a film opening or a poster and look at there
stereotypical representation of CLASS, AGE, GENDER, ETHNICITY or SEXUALITY.
legally blonde
In this film poster we can see that a girl is being presented as the typical dumb girl with only looks. The representation can be seen by the girl in the poster. She's blonde and this is to make a point that not all blonde people are dumb, that also why its in the title.
The audience can see that she is dressed very girly and what she is wearing looks a bit over the top. In this we can see men looking back at her looking quite disgusted and so do the girls. Their facial expressions show shock and kind of jealously. They all have simple and smart clothing but this girl has bright pink and likes to stand out from the crowd. The setting in the image is good because it shows that she doesn't fit in with these people and the setting. It doesn't suit her personality and the way she looks.
Dumb girls are normally represented as blonde, very pretty, and very over the top so people can see their personality thought there bright clothes.
I think she is being represented this way to prove that the way you look can not determine how smart you are.
We can tell the film is going to be very happy, but maybe that what others think might portray her as something else and she might not be able to get anywhere because she is being judged wrongly.
The blonde part in the title is not in capitals but the legally part is, which the blonde being in non capitals and the font makes you think of dumbness. Capital letters normally show an importance and this film is trying to get across that being blonde is not important and it doesn't define who you are, so putting 'blonde' in non capital letters it doesn't show an importance. Also the whole film poster is very bright which could infer to her brightness and whether she is dumb or not. It says 'boldly going where no blonde has gone' this sentence has referenced to her being different and that she is not the same as any blonde and shes doing things differently.
Here I am trying to apply 3 of Barthes' narrative codes to a film opening.
UP
In this you can see that the key characters are Carl and Ellie. I think that Ellie is represented as down to earth.A women who also wants to explore and have fun.where as Karl at the beginning is presented as hard working and wants to relax and not go out as much. In this, time is passed on, by showing ties being put on Carl, in different times and days meaning that when they show Carl and Ellie again when they are old. Some of the key themes are young and old, life and death, and opposites because when Carl and Ellie have opposite personality's and ideas.
Enigma code:
-what will Carl do know Ellie is gone?
-will he still be the same? personality wise?
-will he still carry on the dream?
action code:
-going on a picnic
-doing up there house
-working together? Is that how they met?
symbolic code:
-the hands on the letter box
-their home represents them
-cleaning either side of the same window
-having a dream
Aristotle
In the beginning you can see that they are a happy couple and that Ellie likes to go out and be adventurous but Carl seems like he cant keep up with her.
In the middle you can see that they get bad news because they lost there baby and Carl makes up another dream for them( to live on paradise falls) and they save up but they keep having to use the money.
In the end, you can see that Ellie is finding it hard to keep up with Carl, and that time is passing on to fast.
By this image we can tell the theme of the movie is definitely a horror/thriller. We can tell this by the dark setting. The image is set in the evening ,and it looks dull like the weather. It is cloudy with dark grey clouds which makes you think of a thunder storm, which enhances the photo to make it look more scary. Also it looks like the young boy in the centre of the image is staring right at you, and his eyes look demon like. His whole body is like a silhouette you can only see his face, which has no colour to it. He looks pale and cold ,to present him as evil. The house in the background doesn't look homely. There are no lights on and no apparent sign of anyone living there.it just gives you the feeling of an abandoned house, where things are bound go wrong. The text in the image, looks bold, and in capitals. The red colour of the letters S and I make you think of the devil and blood. The text is also side wards which makes me think that it is weird and not normal and maybe this could represent the film idea, and infer that you need to look at a different angle. Speaking metaphorically. Also in the film poster you can see that the boy looks like he is in his pyjamas or a dressing gown, which presents him also as a normal child, and shows that clearly he was fine beforehand now he is different. Why would a young boy be outside in evening with no one. Its to represent the house that is clearly haunted with something. Showing the house sets the scene so the audience knows that it is set in a home, where you are supposed to feel safe, but the house and the boy do not give out this vibe,and leave a sense of thriller and ,mystery.It being a small boy on the screen instead of a adult really makes a huge difference because children are very vunerable and a smaller child should sound innocent but can come across as sinister. Using a child can be the representation of our societal fear of failing the younger, emergent generations:
For this task we had the use to anagram distinct to analyse film openings and there genres: Describe In detail Setting(location, interior/exterior, time of day, weather.) Themes Icons Narrator (plot and characters) Characters (class,age,sexuality) Textual analysis ( mise en scene)
GHOST SHIP
This film has the genre of horror, you can infer this by just the word 'ghost' in the title. Most movies portray ghosts in horror films because they are unexplained and unknown to us, so are used. It is set in a huge ship, in the middle of an ocean with no land nearby to make you see there's no help and there alone. It was set in the evening to set the stage as a horror, it looks cloudy and mysterious in the sea. At the start of film everyone is dancing and having fun,laughing,which makes it look too perfect and like something is bound to go wrong. Everyone there is adults and have the same age range and class, apart from a young girl who is frequently shown in the opening. Her being the only young girl makes you see the difference quite easily. And it later becomes clear she is the only survivor on the boat, as everyone else gets chopped apart with a wire, the build up to it is clear as the serious sound affects happen as things take a turn.
HARRY BROWN
The film harry brown has a few genre types:action,crime drama, and thriller. You can tell at the begging there's bound to be a lot of crime going on as there's a gang down an alley in the dark acting mysteriously and speaking with slang and swearing. As soon as the prop of a gun comes out you can see there will be crime. You don't really know what is going on in it because of the dark scene. The characters seem very young and like they have no class or feelings. They are presented as if they are all that. As soon as these people start shooting at a young women in a park with her baby, in day light.It becomes clear that they have targeted a vulnerable person with no defence and after killing her it can only seem to progress worse. In till unexpectedly they get hit by a lorry trying to run away. And ends in a cliff hanger making you wonder what will happen next.
CLUELESS
In this film opening everything sounds happy, the music playing is happy and lifting and shows a party of young teenagers. It is hard to infer what the film is going to be like or what the genre is just by this, but typically it looks like a high school drama as in this the two girls are driving off to school. The weather looks good and the scene doesn't infer anything bad. The characters in this are all wealthy, rich, and very high class. They have big houses and what seems a very easy life, especially for the girl. This girl looks like she gets everything she wants like the jeep, and it is is significant because most people would not have a jeep because they cant afford it and its to over the top for someone so young. Her life just seems so perfect.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
In this film everything starts off so happy and upbeat with the man dancing around looking happy. This man does not fit the scene. The setting is dark and mysterious, which makes us feel uncomfortable and like things are about to go wrong, so when we see that he is listening to music and seems happy we can tell something is up. The scene doesn't match the characters feelings that that atmosphere would normally give to you. Especially when creatures start coming out from the darkness that look very harmful, but he kicks them away and doesn't seem bothered. This here is building his character as a strong man. The film genre seems to be sc-fi but also with some aspects of fantasy, as his man appears to be living on another planet apart from earth. There also seems to be a comedy side of it, at the beginning because its funny. This builds the character as strong and we can see that he is physically fit, and well looked after.
WHAT LIES BENEATH
In this movie you can tell straight away it is an horror. At first you can see that when steam seems to be coming out from her bathroom, that this lady is scared and worried what is happening. As a scene builds up you can begin to hear the scary sound affects as if something is about to pop up and scare you. This build up causes tension for the audience. The scene is set in this women's house, where she is supposed to feel comfortable and safe so when we see that she isn't it automatically shows this is bound to be a horror. As something gets written on the mirror, it seems so mysterious as we cant see what is doing this and what it wants. The message answers the women's question but not normally which makes it very mysterious.When she sees what was on the mirror she begins running for her life, panicking. You can feel the emotions felt by the women with her use of overeaggeration, automatically when someone starts running you know that it has to be something scary and that this character is threatened. The film is set typically at night, and the women seems in20-30's and a higher class, as she looks like a hard working, by the smart but causal clothing she is wearing. Like she has just come back from work.
