Our task was to use the Adobe Premiere Pro editing software to edit short video clips together with an audio background.
Overall, I found this task to be relatively difficult. I had never used Adobe Premiere Pro before and had only ever used Windows Movie Maker, and this was only for personal use.
I found it difficult to make the video flow well and I struggled to change the length and speed of the videos.
I think that something I did quite well was making the shots change in time with the music.
Thursday 29 September 2016
Wednesday 28 September 2016
Audience
Blumler and Katz's Uses and Gratifications Theory
This theory focuses, not on what the media does to people, but what the people do with the media.
Who creates the content the media or the audience?
I think that the media creates the content but they must create it in a way that will be well received by the audience. Therefore, the audience does have some control about what goes into the media as the media adapts to fit in with them. Also, due to social media, the audience has much more control about what goes into the media; anybody can start a blog, website or post a video on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube - this is then creating content in the media.
Can the media exist/function without an audience? Can an audience (public) exist/function without media?
The media needs an audience and the audience needs media. Media, by definition, means mass communication through the means of television, radio, newspapers etc. Therefore, if there is no audience there is nobody to communicate with and so the 'media' is not actually media.
The public can exist without the media, however it would be impossible to function in today's society without it. We have become too dependent on the internet for both information and entertainment as well as movies and television shows. They have become a large part of our lives and many social interactions involve media in some way - whether you are communicating via social media or talking about something that has been seen in the media. In 2015, 77% of females had a Facebook account and so did 66% of males and 171.9 million cinema tickets were sold. This emphasis the amount of media we consume in the UK alone and proves that removing it will make the live of the public much more difficult.
Who is more powerful: the media or the audience why/how?
Both the media and the audience have power over each other. The media is able to create things to brainwash their audience and make them think a certain way. For example, many people have stereotype of different kinds of people in their head and these stereotypes were mostly put here by the media. However, you could argue that the audience has power over the media because the media would not exist without its audience (for example a magazine would not be able to run if people were not buying copies) and so the media must adapt to the audience's wants. Some might argue that the media does not do this- on the front of women's magazines are edited photographs of women and article titles that are degrading and many women say they find infuriating- but they still buy the magazine don't they? Even if women say they dislike seeing covers of magazines covered in lines like 'How to lose weight' and 'how to look more desirable' because everyone should be happy with how they look, they still buy the magazine and read the article. But is this because the media has made them believe that they must always try to improve the way that they look because they are not already 'perfect'?
Why do people consume media (e.g. movies)?
1. For information
2. Education
3. For entertainment
4. For social interaction (discussions with friends)
5. Escapism
1. For information
2. Education
3. For entertainment
4. For social interaction (discussions with friends)
5. Escapism
Film and You
1. What do we mean when we use the word 'film'?
The word 'film' was originally used to refer to the tape inside a camera that photos and videos were printed onto. This film could then be put into a projector where it can be viewed.
Now, the word 'film' is commonly used as a synonym for 'movie' which is a recording of moving images which tells a story that people can watch on a television or in the cinema.
The word 'film' was originally used to refer to the tape inside a camera that photos and videos were printed onto. This film could then be put into a projector where it can be viewed.
Now, the word 'film' is commonly used as a synonym for 'movie' which is a recording of moving images which tells a story that people can watch on a television or in the cinema.
2. What is meant by the word cinema?
'Cinema' is the word used for a theatre where films are played to the public for their entertainment. It also could refer to the production of films in the film industry.
What are your ten favourite films?
1. Titanic
2. The Family
3. The Others
4. Grease
5. Quarantine
6. The Ugly Truth
7. Boyhood
8. Gone
9. At the Devil's Door
10. The Exorcism of Emily Rose
Why do I consume media?
I use social media to keep in contact with people that I would otherwise have difficulty keeping in contact with and also for keeping up to date with the latest news as I follow newspaper and magazines on social media.
I watch television shows and movies for escapism and also sometime to appreciate the art that goes into making a film. I like television shows especially because you get to really know the characters and get to follow them and watch them develop. I also watch some television shows for social interaction. For example, The X Factor is a show that I watch every weekend during the autumn/winter television season and usually discuss the show with friends at school the next day. This is the same for I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here and I am able to discuss this with many people as lots of people watch this show for social interaction, also.
Sometimes, I also watch Documentaries to gain information on a subject I am interested in or to gain more knowledge on something that I am studying at school.
Why do I consume media?
I use social media to keep in contact with people that I would otherwise have difficulty keeping in contact with and also for keeping up to date with the latest news as I follow newspaper and magazines on social media.
I watch television shows and movies for escapism and also sometime to appreciate the art that goes into making a film. I like television shows especially because you get to really know the characters and get to follow them and watch them develop. I also watch some television shows for social interaction. For example, The X Factor is a show that I watch every weekend during the autumn/winter television season and usually discuss the show with friends at school the next day. This is the same for I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here and I am able to discuss this with many people as lots of people watch this show for social interaction, also.
Sometimes, I also watch Documentaries to gain information on a subject I am interested in or to gain more knowledge on something that I am studying at school.
Tuesday 27 September 2016
Narrative
This task was to apply what narrative is and narrative theories to openings of movies.
Narrative is the retelling of something that has happened. The narrative is not the story itself, but how the story is told.
Barthes
1. Action Code
2. Enigma Code
3. Semiotics Code
Aristole
All stories have a beginning, middle and an end.
Todorov
Narrative has five stages -
1. Equilibrium stage (state of normality)
2. Disruption of equilibrium
3. The main protagonist recognises that the equilibrium has changed.
4. Reformation of equilibrium
5. New equilibrium
Propp
All narratives has certain types of characters -
1. Hero
2. Villain
3. Donor
4. Dispatcher
5. The False Hero
6. The Helper
7. The Princess
8. The Princess's Father
Levi-Strauss
All narratives use 'Binary Opposites'. E.g. -
1. Good and Evil
2. Old and Young
3. Black and White
4. Masculine and Feminine
5. Heterosexual and Homosexual
6. Poor and Wealthy
In the married life scene in 'Up' there many signs and symbols. For example, their handprints on the letterbox represent unity.
An example of how the narrative is moved along in the scene are when the couple are looking at the clouds. They see the clouds in the shape of babies and this makes the couple realise they want baby and this moves them on to the next stage.
A key theme in the scene is the obstacles that the couple faces. For example, the couple want to move but do not have enough money and they want a baby but are unable to get pregnant.
There are also binary opposites in the scene because the woman is outgoing and her husband is much calmer.
Bathes theory of semiotics can be applied here because of the hats first seen in the opening. The hats could be symbolism for magicians or could be hinting at the time period that the film is set in. Lightning is also used which could be used to hint at danger and the unpredictability of some of the magic tricks.
His theories of enigma can be applied to the opening because the audience is left asking many questions - Why are there hats on the floor? Who put them there? Does the man in the tank escape? How does he escape? Who is he? Was the man falling in the tank an accident or did someone put it there deliberately? Who is the little girl? Who is the man showing her the magic trick?
Examples of the action code are - the man squashing the birdcage, the man stepping into the electricity bolts and the man getting locked in the water tank.
In the opening the young girl is meant to represent the audience as she watches the older man perform a magic trick innocently. She is unaware of how the trick is performed and that the bird dies when the cage is destroyed. The bird therefore represents the victim in the man's magic trick and the man in the water tank represents the victim in the parallel one.
The two magic tricks being shown in parallel are binary opposites- the old mans trick seems calm, innocent and safe (despite the bird dying) but the other trick seems to be chaotic and tense. Another binary opposite seen in this opening is the ages of the two characters in the bird trick scene, there is a very young girl and an old man.
Narrative is the retelling of something that has happened. The narrative is not the story itself, but how the story is told.
Narrative Theories
Barthes
1. Action Code
2. Enigma Code
3. Semiotics Code
Aristole
All stories have a beginning, middle and an end.
Todorov
Narrative has five stages -
1. Equilibrium stage (state of normality)
2. Disruption of equilibrium
3. The main protagonist recognises that the equilibrium has changed.
4. Reformation of equilibrium
5. New equilibrium
Propp
All narratives has certain types of characters -
1. Hero
2. Villain
3. Donor
4. Dispatcher
5. The False Hero
6. The Helper
7. The Princess
8. The Princess's Father
Levi-Strauss
All narratives use 'Binary Opposites'. E.g. -
1. Good and Evil
2. Old and Young
3. Black and White
4. Masculine and Feminine
5. Heterosexual and Homosexual
6. Poor and Wealthy
In the married life scene in 'Up' there many signs and symbols. For example, their handprints on the letterbox represent unity.
An example of how the narrative is moved along in the scene are when the couple are looking at the clouds. They see the clouds in the shape of babies and this makes the couple realise they want baby and this moves them on to the next stage.
A key theme in the scene is the obstacles that the couple faces. For example, the couple want to move but do not have enough money and they want a baby but are unable to get pregnant.
There are also binary opposites in the scene because the woman is outgoing and her husband is much calmer.
Bathes theory of semiotics can be applied here because of the hats first seen in the opening. The hats could be symbolism for magicians or could be hinting at the time period that the film is set in. Lightning is also used which could be used to hint at danger and the unpredictability of some of the magic tricks.
His theories of enigma can be applied to the opening because the audience is left asking many questions - Why are there hats on the floor? Who put them there? Does the man in the tank escape? How does he escape? Who is he? Was the man falling in the tank an accident or did someone put it there deliberately? Who is the little girl? Who is the man showing her the magic trick?
Examples of the action code are - the man squashing the birdcage, the man stepping into the electricity bolts and the man getting locked in the water tank.
In the opening the young girl is meant to represent the audience as she watches the older man perform a magic trick innocently. She is unaware of how the trick is performed and that the bird dies when the cage is destroyed. The bird therefore represents the victim in the man's magic trick and the man in the water tank represents the victim in the parallel one.
The two magic tricks being shown in parallel are binary opposites- the old mans trick seems calm, innocent and safe (despite the bird dying) but the other trick seems to be chaotic and tense. Another binary opposite seen in this opening is the ages of the two characters in the bird trick scene, there is a very young girl and an old man.
Tuesday 20 September 2016
Representation - Stereotypes
This task was to learn about stereotypes and to find a film opening that shows a stereotype of a specific type of person.
Stereotype - A fixed but simple idea of a type of person or thing.
Archetype - The ultimate stereotype.
Countertype - A representation that challenges the stereotype.
Representation - The way in which people, events, and ideas are represented/shown to the audience.
The opening scene of the Romantic Comedy 'Life As We Know It' shows stereotypes of both males and females.
The woman in the opening is dressed up nicely for her date whereas the man has not made as much of an effort. Women are often represented as the sex that care more about how they look. The woman also puts more effort into other things. For example, she was ready promptly, however 'Messer' was an hour late. She also seemed more interested in having a conversation compared to him; she was asking lots of questions but he was only giving short answers and not participating as much.
They also talk in a stereotypical way. The man makes comments that can be seen as flirtatious, which is seen as common for males, and the woman makes sarcastic comments. She also says things that she does not really mean, for example she says that they '...don't have to do this [the date]' but seems shocked when he agrees with her. This is a trait that is very cliché for females as many people joke that women often say one thing when they mean something else, or say things to challenge the person they are having a conversation with.
'Messer' is also a stereotype for men as he makes plans over the phone to meet another girl later in the evening. This is stereotypical because men are often said to have commitment issues and are known to have polygamous relationships.
Stereotype - A fixed but simple idea of a type of person or thing.
Archetype - The ultimate stereotype.
Countertype - A representation that challenges the stereotype.
Representation - The way in which people, events, and ideas are represented/shown to the audience.
The opening scene of the Romantic Comedy 'Life As We Know It' shows stereotypes of both males and females.
The woman in the opening is dressed up nicely for her date whereas the man has not made as much of an effort. Women are often represented as the sex that care more about how they look. The woman also puts more effort into other things. For example, she was ready promptly, however 'Messer' was an hour late. She also seemed more interested in having a conversation compared to him; she was asking lots of questions but he was only giving short answers and not participating as much.
They also talk in a stereotypical way. The man makes comments that can be seen as flirtatious, which is seen as common for males, and the woman makes sarcastic comments. She also says things that she does not really mean, for example she says that they '...don't have to do this [the date]' but seems shocked when he agrees with her. This is a trait that is very cliché for females as many people joke that women often say one thing when they mean something else, or say things to challenge the person they are having a conversation with.
'Messer' is also a stereotype for men as he makes plans over the phone to meet another girl later in the evening. This is stereotypical because men are often said to have commitment issues and are known to have polygamous relationships.
Wednesday 14 September 2016
Semiotics
This task was to look at a film poster and talk about the denotations and connotations.
Denotation - What we see when we look at an image.
Connotation - What we understand from this image.
Denotation - What we see when we look at an image.
Connotation - What we understand from this image.
This is a film poster of a film called 'Perfume'. The black and white background and silhouette of a woman adds a sense of mystery to the poster because the girl's identity is unknown. This means that the girl could be anyone and it makes the audience want to find out more. The colour black usually symbolises death and evil and so hints that the narrative is not pleasant and can be dark at times.
There is one lock of hair that can be seen in colour and it is red/ginger. This could be hinting at who the woman is or the red hair could be significant to the narrative in some way. Stereotypically, redheads have a bad temper and according to legend - they have no soul. This could be hinting something about the character.
The girl's body appears to be turning into red petals which are floating away peacefully. These petals could be linking to perfume as petals make you think of flowers which smell and can sometimes be associated with the smell of perfume. This could be making a link to the woman- saying that she smells like these petals? The colour red has connotations of many things - passion, anger, danger, blood and love. In this case, because the colour red is coming out of a body, the preferred reading is that it is symbolising blood.
The white glow immediately behind and surrounding the woman could be seen as angelic. The colour white also suggests innocence and purity, suggesting that the girl should not have been murdered.
Film Opening Genre Analysis
This task was to analyse the movie openings and how they link with their genre.
In this movie opening is from the horror film 'Ghost Ship'. In the opening a woman is seen singing in Italian; there are people dancing to the music. There is a young girl sitting at the side looking bored and playing with a toy. A man wearing a uniform comes over and begins to dance with the girl and she starts to look happy. Someone pulls a lever which causes a wire to cut through the middle of everyone on the deck other than the girl (who was too short to be affected).
The setting is a boat deck in about the 1960s. I can see that it is the 1960s because of the people's choice of clothing and hairstyle. The time appears to be late evening because it is relatively dark but with still a little bit of light. The setting of a boat is effective because it means the characters are helpless as they cannot call emergency services for help and so are trapped and unable to get help or escape. This links with the horror genre because many people have a fear of being helpless and all of the characters in the opening are in a helpless situation.
There is a theme of violence in the opening as many people are brutally murdered within the first fie minutes if the film. It can be assumed that this is setting the tone for more violence to follow later on in the movie. There is also a slight theme of irony as the young girl emphasises that she is bored on the toy she is playing with and through her body language. However, within one minute of this, the narrative becomes much less 'boring' as many people are killed and this provides lots of drama and is not boring at all.
The narrative of this film opening is very intriguing and you are left with lots of unanswered questions about who else is alive and who was the person to cause the deaths to begin with. The narrative also begins as being normal an dull. There is not really anything interesting happening and everything is to be expected on a cruise ship - the adults are enjoying the music and dancing and the child is bored. This progresses to become a horrifying scene of mass murder and it is unclear what is going to happen next.
It seems like two of the main characters will be the young girl and the singer. The audience can assume this because, currently, the young girl is the only known survivor and the camera kept returning to the singer, emphasising her importance. The singer appears to be upper-class because she is wearing very expensive looking clothing and jewellery. She appears to be in her thirties and is white - possibly Italian because the she was singing a song in fluent Italian which suggests it is her first language however, she could just know it really well. Her body language suggests that she is confident and also a little bit flirtatious because of the way she is dancing as she sings.
It is not clear what class the young girl is from because she does not seem to be wearing particularly nice clothing, however the adults there seem to know her well and a man in a uniform dances with her. Her age seems to be somewhere between ten and thirteen and she is white. Her body language is the first thing that leads the audience to believe that she is bored because she is leaning back in her seat and scrunching up her mouth. However, her demeanour changes when she begins to dance and she appears to be much happier and seems to be having fun.
Camera angles are used instantly to suggest that the people on the ship are in danger as the camera is at a high view angle, looking down at the ship deck. This makes the people appear smaller and suggests that they are vulnerable. Throughout the scene the camera is at eye level and is following people's movements slowly. The camera also follows the movement of the wire as it quickly passes everyone. During this, nobody's faces are in focus and their identities are unknown - at this point who is dying is not important to the wire or the audience.
The whole opening has a very slow place and makes the audience feel bored, just like the young girl. This is until someone pulls the lever and the pace begins to pick up. It then returns back to being slow again after everyone is murdered, however it is not boring now as the audience is left in shock after what happened. Straight cutting transitions are used to piece the scenes together.
The costume used is very formal and the women are wearing expensive dresses and the men are wearing suits or navy uniform.
There seems to be very little natural light in the opening as it is set in the late evening and so it is artificially lit but not very brightly.
There is no dialogue that can be understood by the audience in the opening - only background talking. The music is diegetic and is provided by the band and the singer. The music is very calming and peaceful and fits in with the pace at the start and is in contrast with the later events that occur at the end of the scene. The sound of the squeaking wire is exaggerated after the murder and the volume is increased to add tension. The scream of the young girl echoes at the end of the scene which emphasises the fact that the people are far away from anybody that can help them as there is no response.
This film opening is from 'Harry Brown' - a film that belongs to the thriller genre. In the opening the audience can see a gang of teenage boys taking drugs. Some of these teenagers then get on a motor bike and begin to drive through he neighbourhood. A woman is seen pushing her baby in a pushchair and then we see one of the characters holding a gun, which is the main icon in this opening . He then begins to fire the gun in the woman's direction and after three shots, shoots her. They then hurry out of area and onto the main road where they get hit by an oncoming lorry.
The setting at the start of the opening seems to be either under a bridge, in an ally-way or in an underground. There is lots of graffiti on the wall and it is a stereotypical place for a gang of teenagers to 'hang-out'. In the next cut they are outside and the audience can see may terraced houses and parks. It is day-time and the weather is cloudy and probably cold as the people in the scene are wearing coats.
The main themes in this opening are peer pressure from the gang members to the person who is seen being almost forced to take the drugs by the others and violence - which can be seen when the gang member shoots the woman.
There are no clear characters in the opening, however the gang members appear to be approximately seventeen years of age. They are all male and their body language is intimidating and aggressive, with each other and the woman with the baby.
The camera is hand held which makes the scenes seem very realistic. The hand-held technique makes the audience feel like they are there with the characters because they can see what is happening from their perspective.
The pace of the scene is relatively slow at first but speeds up dramatically when the teenagers get onto the motorbike. The pace then comes to a halt when the gang members are thrown from the motor bike. The straight cutting technique has been used to edit the scenes together with credits in-between some.
The teenagers' costumes are very stereotypical for gangs. They are wearing dark coloured jackets with hoods or hats. The woman in the park is wearing casual clothes that are lightly coloured and white. This could have been done to show her innocence.
The lighting is dark at the start of the opening and it is difficult to see exactly who is who. However, once they are on the bike, it is very bright daylight. This makes the actions of the gang members even more shocking because the daylight in an open park seems safe and so the gun shots are even more unexpected.
There is lots of dialogue in the opening, though it cannot be easily understood. When the gun is fired there is silence - as if you are actually there and your hearing has been affected by the loudness of the gunshot.
This is the opening of Clueless, a teen romance movie. In the opening, snippets of a teenage girl's life is shown. You can then see the girl's morning (narrated) as she gets ready for school. She picks her outfit and then goes downstairs to have a conversation with her father before driving to her friend's house and going to school.
There are many different settings shown in the short clips at the start of the opening but once the film really starts the setting is the interior of a house, more specifically, a teenage girl's bedroom. This room is stereotypically correct with pink walls, 'pretty' furniture and lots of clothes and shoes in a spacious wardrobe. As the father of the girl steps downstairs the foyer is shown with a large crystal chandelier and many paintings. It is clear from the size of the house and décor that the family living there are wealthy. In the kitchen there are many appliances, several ovens and bouquets of flowers. When outside the setting is a suburban street and the sun is shining. It is set in modern day.
The main character, Cher Horowitz, is a middle-upper class American teenager. She is a white female and her body language shows that she is very confident and possible one of the 'popular' girls in her high school. Her body language is also very feminine as she has good posture and skips around her room.
There are various camera angle used in the opening - medium shots, over-the-shoulder shots, high-angles and close-ups. The main focus of the camera is the people and not so much their setting.
The opening is medium paced. There is not much action but there is enough going on to keep the audience's attention. Montage editing is used at the start of the opening when pieces of the girls life are being shown. Then, straight cutting is used between shots and scenes.
Cher's costume is formal and possible too mature for a girl of her age. It is bright yellow, which is a bold colour choice and shows the character's confidence. The colour yellow is also a 'happy colour'. Her father, however, is wearing a brownish-grey suit jacket with a beige shirt. This shows that her is a businessman and the colours are very boring which could be suggesting that his character can be too.
The pop song 'Kids in America' can be heard in the background at the start of the opening. There is also lots of casual dialogue between characters and a non-diegetic voiceover.
In this movie opening is from the horror film 'Ghost Ship'. In the opening a woman is seen singing in Italian; there are people dancing to the music. There is a young girl sitting at the side looking bored and playing with a toy. A man wearing a uniform comes over and begins to dance with the girl and she starts to look happy. Someone pulls a lever which causes a wire to cut through the middle of everyone on the deck other than the girl (who was too short to be affected).
The setting is a boat deck in about the 1960s. I can see that it is the 1960s because of the people's choice of clothing and hairstyle. The time appears to be late evening because it is relatively dark but with still a little bit of light. The setting of a boat is effective because it means the characters are helpless as they cannot call emergency services for help and so are trapped and unable to get help or escape. This links with the horror genre because many people have a fear of being helpless and all of the characters in the opening are in a helpless situation.
There is a theme of violence in the opening as many people are brutally murdered within the first fie minutes if the film. It can be assumed that this is setting the tone for more violence to follow later on in the movie. There is also a slight theme of irony as the young girl emphasises that she is bored on the toy she is playing with and through her body language. However, within one minute of this, the narrative becomes much less 'boring' as many people are killed and this provides lots of drama and is not boring at all.
The narrative of this film opening is very intriguing and you are left with lots of unanswered questions about who else is alive and who was the person to cause the deaths to begin with. The narrative also begins as being normal an dull. There is not really anything interesting happening and everything is to be expected on a cruise ship - the adults are enjoying the music and dancing and the child is bored. This progresses to become a horrifying scene of mass murder and it is unclear what is going to happen next.
It seems like two of the main characters will be the young girl and the singer. The audience can assume this because, currently, the young girl is the only known survivor and the camera kept returning to the singer, emphasising her importance. The singer appears to be upper-class because she is wearing very expensive looking clothing and jewellery. She appears to be in her thirties and is white - possibly Italian because the she was singing a song in fluent Italian which suggests it is her first language however, she could just know it really well. Her body language suggests that she is confident and also a little bit flirtatious because of the way she is dancing as she sings.
It is not clear what class the young girl is from because she does not seem to be wearing particularly nice clothing, however the adults there seem to know her well and a man in a uniform dances with her. Her age seems to be somewhere between ten and thirteen and she is white. Her body language is the first thing that leads the audience to believe that she is bored because she is leaning back in her seat and scrunching up her mouth. However, her demeanour changes when she begins to dance and she appears to be much happier and seems to be having fun.
Camera angles are used instantly to suggest that the people on the ship are in danger as the camera is at a high view angle, looking down at the ship deck. This makes the people appear smaller and suggests that they are vulnerable. Throughout the scene the camera is at eye level and is following people's movements slowly. The camera also follows the movement of the wire as it quickly passes everyone. During this, nobody's faces are in focus and their identities are unknown - at this point who is dying is not important to the wire or the audience.
The whole opening has a very slow place and makes the audience feel bored, just like the young girl. This is until someone pulls the lever and the pace begins to pick up. It then returns back to being slow again after everyone is murdered, however it is not boring now as the audience is left in shock after what happened. Straight cutting transitions are used to piece the scenes together.
The costume used is very formal and the women are wearing expensive dresses and the men are wearing suits or navy uniform.
There seems to be very little natural light in the opening as it is set in the late evening and so it is artificially lit but not very brightly.
There is no dialogue that can be understood by the audience in the opening - only background talking. The music is diegetic and is provided by the band and the singer. The music is very calming and peaceful and fits in with the pace at the start and is in contrast with the later events that occur at the end of the scene. The sound of the squeaking wire is exaggerated after the murder and the volume is increased to add tension. The scream of the young girl echoes at the end of the scene which emphasises the fact that the people are far away from anybody that can help them as there is no response.
This film opening is from 'Harry Brown' - a film that belongs to the thriller genre. In the opening the audience can see a gang of teenage boys taking drugs. Some of these teenagers then get on a motor bike and begin to drive through he neighbourhood. A woman is seen pushing her baby in a pushchair and then we see one of the characters holding a gun, which is the main icon in this opening . He then begins to fire the gun in the woman's direction and after three shots, shoots her. They then hurry out of area and onto the main road where they get hit by an oncoming lorry.
The setting at the start of the opening seems to be either under a bridge, in an ally-way or in an underground. There is lots of graffiti on the wall and it is a stereotypical place for a gang of teenagers to 'hang-out'. In the next cut they are outside and the audience can see may terraced houses and parks. It is day-time and the weather is cloudy and probably cold as the people in the scene are wearing coats.
The main themes in this opening are peer pressure from the gang members to the person who is seen being almost forced to take the drugs by the others and violence - which can be seen when the gang member shoots the woman.
There are no clear characters in the opening, however the gang members appear to be approximately seventeen years of age. They are all male and their body language is intimidating and aggressive, with each other and the woman with the baby.
The camera is hand held which makes the scenes seem very realistic. The hand-held technique makes the audience feel like they are there with the characters because they can see what is happening from their perspective.
The pace of the scene is relatively slow at first but speeds up dramatically when the teenagers get onto the motorbike. The pace then comes to a halt when the gang members are thrown from the motor bike. The straight cutting technique has been used to edit the scenes together with credits in-between some.
The teenagers' costumes are very stereotypical for gangs. They are wearing dark coloured jackets with hoods or hats. The woman in the park is wearing casual clothes that are lightly coloured and white. This could have been done to show her innocence.
The lighting is dark at the start of the opening and it is difficult to see exactly who is who. However, once they are on the bike, it is very bright daylight. This makes the actions of the gang members even more shocking because the daylight in an open park seems safe and so the gun shots are even more unexpected.
There is lots of dialogue in the opening, though it cannot be easily understood. When the gun is fired there is silence - as if you are actually there and your hearing has been affected by the loudness of the gunshot.
This is the opening of Clueless, a teen romance movie. In the opening, snippets of a teenage girl's life is shown. You can then see the girl's morning (narrated) as she gets ready for school. She picks her outfit and then goes downstairs to have a conversation with her father before driving to her friend's house and going to school.
There are many different settings shown in the short clips at the start of the opening but once the film really starts the setting is the interior of a house, more specifically, a teenage girl's bedroom. This room is stereotypically correct with pink walls, 'pretty' furniture and lots of clothes and shoes in a spacious wardrobe. As the father of the girl steps downstairs the foyer is shown with a large crystal chandelier and many paintings. It is clear from the size of the house and décor that the family living there are wealthy. In the kitchen there are many appliances, several ovens and bouquets of flowers. When outside the setting is a suburban street and the sun is shining. It is set in modern day.
The main character, Cher Horowitz, is a middle-upper class American teenager. She is a white female and her body language shows that she is very confident and possible one of the 'popular' girls in her high school. Her body language is also very feminine as she has good posture and skips around her room.
There are various camera angle used in the opening - medium shots, over-the-shoulder shots, high-angles and close-ups. The main focus of the camera is the people and not so much their setting.
The opening is medium paced. There is not much action but there is enough going on to keep the audience's attention. Montage editing is used at the start of the opening when pieces of the girls life are being shown. Then, straight cutting is used between shots and scenes.
Cher's costume is formal and possible too mature for a girl of her age. It is bright yellow, which is a bold colour choice and shows the character's confidence. The colour yellow is also a 'happy colour'. Her father, however, is wearing a brownish-grey suit jacket with a beige shirt. This shows that her is a businessman and the colours are very boring which could be suggesting that his character can be too.
The pop song 'Kids in America' can be heard in the background at the start of the opening. There is also lots of casual dialogue between characters and a non-diegetic voiceover.
Friday 9 September 2016
Genre Analysis
For this task we were given three genres and were told to take a picture to define each genre.
This photograph is a representation of the 'Sport' genre. We have chosen the setting of a high school gym and the character is wearing sports uniform to make the theme of sport obvious. The picture is also an action shot and you can see the character moving to catch the basketball (which is the icon in this photograph). We chose to do this because there is typically lots of action that is fast paced in sport themed films - choosing to take an action shot captures this aspect of 'sport' films.
This photograph represents the 'Children/Family' genre. It is symbolism for childhood as they are children's books; some of which have been turned into films. This photograph did not work as well because it does not capture many aspects of the 'Children/Family' genre. To improve the photograph We could have included a character doing something humorous and a clearer setting to set the tone of a 'Children/Family' movie.
This photograph symbolises the 'Seasonal' genre. We have chosen to take the photograph outside so that we can capture the season more effectively. The golden leaves are an icon in the picture and are specific to the stereotype of a certain time of year- autumn. We used a filter to make the colours in the picture softer and warmer and this made the photograph feel much more like an autumn setting.
Tuesday 6 September 2016
'The Purge' Opening
The opening of 'The Purge' shows that the movie is a horror because it features clips of people being murdered. This is something that many people would find frightening and the purpose of a horror is to make people feel afraid and uneasy. The opening also shows that the movie could be a thriller because, after seeing the many murders at the start, the audience will be left in suspense and wondering which of the characters will die and which will survive at the end of the film.
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