Analysis of the Film Opening Coraline

Coraline is a feature length, stop-animation film based on the children's book of the same name. Originally written by Neil Gaiman and adapted under director Henry Selick for the purpose of the movie, the story is about a young girl named Coraline who is ignored by her busy parents. After moving into a new house she discovers a small door containing a tunnel leading to a house that seems identical to her own. These assumptions are short lived after Coraline meets her 'Other Mother' and 'Other Father' along with the improved, fun and entertaining house. At first this new world seems perfect until she's asked to replace her eyes with buttons. After rejecting the offer the world around her starts to deteriorate and show it's true colours, once Coraline has left this world behind something terrible happens, her parents have disappeared. Following the sighting of her parents in a mirror Coraline knows exactly where they are. Now Coraline has to go back to her other mother and find a way to win them back.

In terms of Mise-en-scene, this is where the film really flourishes. In reality Coraline's house is very dim, it is portrayed with dull shades of white, grey and brown exacerbated by low-key lighting. The Kitchen seems barren of food and the bedroom features very few home comforts such as a photo of friends and a string of birds around Coraline's bed. Her fathers office is full of unpacked boxes and a dated computer on which her father is droning away with bags under his eyes to show how tired he is. All of these contribute to the very dim outlook on their life. As night time arrives the rooms become very dark using chiaroscuro lighting. To show the connection between the real house and the 'other house' Coraline goes through a tunnel consisting of entrancing purple and blue lighting, almost as if to show that something magic is happening.

 

In contrast to the real house, the 'other' house feels a lot more "homely", the kitchen is full of food and flowers while the other mother is cooking a roast "just in time" for Coraline's arrival. The use of colour shows warmth with orange and blue as apposed to the grey cracking walls of the real house. The study has crooked and disproportionate frames on he wall showing an element of German expressionism. Replacing the dated computer in the centre of the study is a piano with moving hands which plays itself by controlling the other fathers hands showing creativity through music rather than documentation. Coraline's bedroom features live toys giving the room the home comforts that it was lacking before along with that portrayal of fun and excitement.

Later in the other fathers study, while playing the piano to the music the camera spins around the scene as does the other father and piano, adding a sense of craziness to the other world. Then as Coraline goes to bed there is another graphic match between the bed in the other world and the bed in the real world to blend the two scenes almost making it seem like it was all a dream.

The sound in Coraline is heavily influential on the mood, while the scene is being set a calm and tranquil sound is playing, the track resembles a peaceful yet adventurous tone which matches Coraline's character. As the happenings in the night occur there is a much more fast paced track with wind and brass instruments building up to a crescendo, this creates tension before the opening of the door to the other world. The song played by Coraline's other father is centred around Coraline and the lyrics start with "making up a song about Coraline", it's an upbeat fast tempo song played on the piano which gives off a happy aura. Once Coraline enters her bedroom there are Diagetic sounds of the birds wings flapping along with the speech "hello Coraline, hello, hello, hello" this once again centres the focus of the other house around Coraline's happiness. At the dining table of the other house the merriment of dinner is short lived when the other mother mentions playing hide and seek in the rain, when Coraline asks "what rain" there is a sudden crash of thunder and a flash of lightning which silences any other sounds and draws the audience to the realisation that there's more to this other world than meets the eye.

Research into film audiences

The targeted audience for thriller films are ages between 16-25 years of age. It is proven that 75% of people who watch thrillers are students.
Every film targets a main audience but to attract other audiences, covers and trailers of the film will have added affects that link to those other audiences. For example an action film would have guns and cars in the trailer and front cover but to attract people who enjoy romance films a picture of a man and woman looking intimate will be added.

Targeted audience for n action film would be- mainly males 16 plus due to the stereotypical fact for men to be drawn to violent films.
Targeted audience for sci-fi films would be- Research shows that sci-fi films mostly target males from the age  of 17-29. But females with a real interest in science and technology are targeted too.

Analysis of the Film Opening Se7en

Throughout the film Se7en, I focused on the micro element of the Mise-en-scene.

At the beginning of the film it starts off with a shot off Morgan Freeman in his house. This opening clip is a clear view of his clean, tidy and decorated house, showing him dressing up. His clothing is off a stereotypical detective costume smartly dressed with a trench coat and hat; this is showing us his career immediately and that the film will be based around solving murder mysteries and other crimes.

We meet the other detective within the scene, Brad Pitt, who is a contrast to Morgan Freeman, as he is young, a lot more relaxed, and has a cheeky attitude, whilst Morgan is a lot more serious about the situation.

Brad Pitt has an individual detective costume this is a leather jacket and more casual clothes.

Seven uses Mise-en-scene to suggest different characteristics for the two different characters. Through the Mise-en-scene you can tell that the two policemen are binary opposites. As Brad Pitt is the trendy cop with the unique costume and attitude and chewing gum. Pairing these two characters together creates conflict between the two characters adding an element of drama to the film. One could be referred to a protagonist and the other as an antagonist. These contrasting characters at the beginning create an enigma, to interest the audiences to see the further complications.

The setting starts off with Morgan Freeman’s house, which comes across as a very neat tidy organised house; this is a complete contrast to the typical thriller which starts off with dark gloomy settings. Then we see a complete different setting of the house where the crime is located. The house the crime took place is in immediately all Smokey, undecorated and has a dull, gloomy aspect towards it. This suggests that something terrible happened there.

The detectives then leave the house and walk into the typical urban city. This gives the audience an idea of the location. That it is based around the poorer areas of a city in America, with heavy rain pouring down in a very low class, untidy city.

Film Audiences

Nowadays people are more likely to pop to their local cinema to watch a heartfelt documentary, an intriguing indie-film or even live opera as they are to see a big 3D family film or action flick.

All of this has resulted in an increasingly diverse range of audiences going to the cinema on a regular basis, all of them highly targetable by any number of criteria including film choice and location.

41% of Cinemagoers are 15-24 year olds therefore the films being produced are aimed more at that age than any other.

19% of Cinemagoers are 25-34 year olds.

40% of Cinemagoers are 35+.

As you can see the majority of Cinemagoers are 15-24 year olds therefore the Film Industry Favours and creates film mostly for that age group.

 

Audience Expectations; Genre is dependent on audiences for both their existence and meaning. Genre films work by engaging in a specific area. Audiences watch films in order to gain certain gratifications. For example the audience watch Horror films in order to be scared or watch comedies for amusement. While watching the text audiences bring their knowledge of previous films and expect to see certain conventions which help them to identify the genre of the film. This is a form of Intertextuality.

Stuart Hall's Reception Theory states that the audience will have one of three responses to text;

1. Preferred response

2. Negotiated response

3. Oppositional response

Analysis of The Stepfather Thriller Film

After Watching the Thriller Film, The Stepfather i was able to then go into close detail and analyse the opening of the film.
The ident uses special effects portraying blood, and then shows an American subsidiary company of Sony Pictures Entertainment's Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group ‘Screen Gems’ here the audience are informed, who helped distribute this movie and most importantly the genre of the film. Splattered blood connotes murder hence the audience are subtly informed of the expectations of this film (Murder, suspense and violence).

The establishing shot is a long shot of suburban houses are shown with a car in front. The camera is panning giving the effect that it’s moving along with the car, hinting a connection to the car. We do not see who is driving the car; this leaves the audience in anticipating. Next a shot from the cars point of view shows the throwing of the paper to a house, the camera pans to the next house, a close up of a house is shown, establishing the significance of that home. The car pauses, we see the man in the car, the audience are no longer in left anticipating suspense. 36 seconds in the man in the man in the car picks up a clip board, a close up of the clip board is shown, informing the audience of the destination ‘Salt Lake’, and that the man is just doing his job, also realise one address is highlighted, and cancelled separating it from the rest of the houses. This creates suspense as the audience want to know why this house has been cancelled from the man’s paper round. Throughout this scene we hear non-diegetic music which you can describe as eerie, this creates the suspicion that something isn’t right adding to the audience suspense.

43 seconds, a panning close up of shaving apparatus’s are shown, they’re clean and perfectly arranged, this connotes the owner of this is a man, possibly with OCD which is unusual, obsessive behavioural patterns or simply a man who was in the marines/army/military.

52 seconds, a shot of a man looking into the mirror is shown, he begins to groom himself starting with washing his hair, then showering, all what seems to be normal but can symbolise ‘washing the blood off his hands’. Close up focus on his face and his hands are shown, whilst he is shaving he uses different tools step by step, showing he is a guy who knows precision. Close up of him cutting himself shaving 1:27, indicates he is guilty and has blood on his hands. 1:37 he removes contact lenses changing his identity, leaving the audience suspicious of his character.

1:47 the eerie music remains, camera pans along family photos, Christmas decorations are seen. Audience are aware of the time of year due to decorations, the lighting has a bluish hint to it creating a cold ambiance, this isn’t the conventional association with Christmas and family, it should be hearty warm and cheery, suspense is caused as this doesn’t fit with the typical homely atmosphere, no children are around and the man doesn’t have a fatherly character, instead he has packed suitcases and is leaving the festive season, the audience question whether he is actually the father.

2:13 The man turns on the CD player, ‘Silent night’ is playing, we hear the diegetic noise of something beeping, its the phone off the hook, the man puts it back on. He makes a coffee and breakfast, which is seen a ‘normal behaviour’, his eyes focus on something we can’t see the, the camera rotates showing a dead child at the breakfast table, the man isn’t effected by the body, this confirms he is crazy and is the murderer. More dead bodies of the family members in the photos are shown. 4:07 a flash back is shown, sounds of the murders, cover the ‘Silent night’ song, giving the effect of the noises haunting him in his head, connecting the deaths with him.

4:30 he leaves the house, gets into the car looks into the car mirror almost visually showing he is looking back on what he has just done. He removes the tissue he used to cover the cut from shaving licks the blood off, then flicks the tissue out of the window and then drives away, without being caught; this gives us the sense he has done it before, and shows the lack of guilt he has. The fact he hasn’t been caught keeps us in suspense, questioning whether he’ll kill more? Or will he eventually get caught?

Features of The Stepfather based on Intertextuality

• The Killer falls against the White Bathroom Tiles in the shower.
• The camera is at a High Angle whilst the teenage boy is taking a shower which also portrays his innocence.
• The shape of the knife used in the killings.
• The Staircase which they run up is in the same style.
• A Cat jumps out quickly which scares the audience as its unexpected.
• The curtin on the shower pings off the rails and the audience see a close up of that.
• Drowing a characters head in water is used.
• The classic 'Haunted House' shot is used during the opening of the film to set the scene.
• The quick hand on shoulder action close up is used.
• The Killer Appears outside the bedroom as if he's watching the victims.
• A Umbrella is in the swimming pool.

These are all intertextual as they relate to what others have used of the same genre in films, such as in Physco the Knife that is used is in the same shape of the knife being used to kill people in The Stepfather.

The Mastered Suspense in The Stepfather

Hitchcock's Bomb Theory: When the audience is aware of a danger such as The Bomb under the table, but the characters are unaware of it. In the Stepfather the Killer is the bomb as the audience know about his previous history which is given in the opening scene, whereas the characters are unaware and think that he is an innocent man.

The False Plateau: Suspense is built up, but then the audience are made to feel carm/relaxed - Then the shock happens for example, The woman in the bath in Fatal Attraction coming back to life. This is also used in the Stepfather, when The woman stabs the Killer in the neck. We believe that he is now dead but then he reappears behind when the camera focuses on the victims.

Structures of Film Openings 

There are four main ways in which films introduce the openings.

The way that is used has an immense effect on the audiences initial thoughts and perception of the film itself. The four types of structured openings are- discrete title sequence, narrative , titles over a blank screen and stylized editing.

All these types of openings can be very well identifiable.

Discrete-  Discrete title sequences are separately edited sequences that stand apart from the film opening. They stylised and heavily edited and support the opening credits and film titles.

THE PANIC ROOM

Narrative- Narrative opening is when the narrator tells the story to the audience whilist showing imagery or pictures of the story.

THE SHINING 

Stylized Editing- A stylized editing tends to open with blank credits on the screen and the sound that is used in stylized editing tends to be quite therefore allowing tension to bulid and keep the suspense there.

TAKING OF PELHAM 123

 Titles over a blank screen, followed by the narrative opening- Titles over a blank screen, followed by the narrative opening is simply based arounfd texts and no imagery is used.

 DONNIE DARKO

Sub genre

Sub genre is when a film has two types of genres in it or even more. This action thriller, James bond Skyfall inspired me because I like films with quite a lot of action. I will be hoping me and my group can make a action type of film opening. If we can come to an agreement I hope we will be able to use shots like close ups and quick fast pace editing.

Comparing our remake of Resorvoir Dogs to the original

Firstly in our remake of Resorvoir Dogs we didn't add a short narrative at the beginning of opening because in the original one there was a small narrative. We then added a black out with a text of who the film was by comparing that to the original we didn't add the black out for long enough and the timing of the text coming onto the screen was different ours was to early. Then we filmed the part when the men walk past the car, a wide shot. Our wide shot wasn't wide enough compared to the original but we got the slow motion correct. We then filmed the close up on the characters, we got the text correct of the names of the characters and the closeness of the shot. However we didn't walk at the same time or put slow motion onto the movements. Finally we done a shot from behind, i thought that shot was pretty good and similar to the original.

Questions answered about the 'Watching' video

Question 1
I think that Thomas Sutclife means films need to be a good enough from the beginning to keep the audience interested so they don't leave. The opening of the film is what makes the audience decide whether to stay and see what is going to happen next. I think he is also saying that it is hard for the directors not to make the beginning of the films so good and the rest boring and that is where some directors fail.

Question 2
The risks of instant arousal are:
loosing the audience afterwards
Answering the questions on how to top the great opening

Question 3
A good beginning must make the audience feel that they don't know enough yet and not know to little because you want to keep the audience guessing on what is going to happen next and at the same time you want them to know the story line of the film.

Question 4
Stanley describes the classic opening as starting with an establishing show in New York city, then a close up on a building, then going up the building to a window, then the camera going in through the window, then past a receptionist desk to the private office where Kerry Grant sat. It worked because everything was in place, the progress was rational and expected.

Question 5
Kyle Coopers title sequence is effective in the film Seven because it tuned the viewers into the right pitch. Also it told the story and foreshadowed a lot of main things that were going to happen.

Question 6
Orson Welles wanted to achieve plunging the audience into the film without giving the time to get into it. Universal studios added a score and credit to his opening which made the film loose effect.

Question 7
'A favourite trick of film noir' is meant when the beginning of a film is like an ending and thats the trick. They look to what is coming and the audience may not recognise this trick until they watch the film a second time.

Question 8
The slow motion, the effects like the blood, the music, cross cut editing and the predator like camera shot created the suspense in 'the shining' film opening

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Extension Exercise

'Watching' Documentary on Film Openings

1. What does Thomas Sutcliffe mean when he says "Films need to seduce their audience into long term commitment. While there are many types of seduction, the temptation to go for instant arousal is almost irresistible"?.  He means that film openings have to rope the audience in from the very start and 'wow' the audience, they are intrigued in watching the rest of the opening.
2. According to the director Jean Jacques Beineix , what are the risks of 'instant arousal'?. When arousing the audience , it  to raises the question , 'what to do next?' therefore you have to answer the question , sometimes not being able to answer the question tends to be one of the risks of instant arousal.
3. Explain why "a good beginning must make the audience feel that it doesn't know nearly enough yet, and at the same time make sure that it doesn't know too little". If the relationship is to last , some kind of deal must be struck , the beginning of the film is the point which the film comes to terms with its viewers drawing up the rules of engagement.
4. What does critic Stanley Kauffmann describe as the classic opening? Why does this work? Classic opening starts of with an establishing shot e.g New York City and then a close up of a building , the camera went up the building to a window and through the window ,went past the reception to the private office and there sat Kerry Grant. You have been told about this simple classic opening so called "process". 
5. Why is Kyle Cooper's title sequence to the film Seven so effective?.The sequence tuned the viewers to the genre right from the beginning. It started off as a thriller , it waked everyone up and feels like the same movie. It is very frequent. It foreshadowed a lot of things that were going to happen and represented the obsessive nature of the main character.
6. What did Orson Welles want to achieve with his opening to the film A Touch of Evil?What did Universal Studios do to it? Why?. He confirmed it to be seen without the music title or any credits.He wanted to plunge his audience into his story without giving them time to prepare themselves but once Universal Studios edited it the effect was lost immediately.
7. What is meant by ' a favourite trick of Film Noir'? What is the trick?.The beginning of the film is a type of ending ,  not a beginning at all.That is the famous trick. They look ahead to what has to come and if the audience doesn't see it first time round , it will be clear when the watch the film again.
8. How does the opening to the film The Shining create suspense?. The lift of the overhead camera creates suspense as the camera pursues the car like a predator , high and from behind. Everything tells the audience that the people in the car are travelling in the wrong direction. This builds up suspense as not much is revealed.  

Research 

Skip To The End 

I began researching and happen to come across an opening film sequence called "Skip to the end".

I particularly liked this film opening as there is an immediate setting and location , this also helped create a fast pace and  hasty atmosphere therefore starts making the audience wonder 'what is happening?' and intrigues the audience in wanting to watch more , to see what will happen next?, this is all captured in the opening.

The title of the film was introduced towards the end which gave an element of suspense but during the beginning , the audience established the studio and/or the company in which this opening was produced by which happens to be one of the film conventions discussed in another blog.

There are key characters that are gradually introduced as the opening progresses.

In this film opening there is predominately two characters.

 During the first couple of minutes the audience gets minor hints in establishing the relationship between these two characters but  the relationship between the characters is confirmed towards the end. 

The audience straight way can gather a sense of fast pace movement in the first few minutes of the film opening which allows the audience to create many thoughts in there mind.

This also builds an adrenalin within the atmosphere.

To be completely honest , at first I was quit confused with what type of genre this film opening could be but I assume this was to keep the audience in suspense therefore allowing more desire to watch the rest of the opening.

Overall the film opening was very superior and captivating to watch.

This film opening also had a variety of film conventions discussed in the other blog.

Structures of Film Openings

Looking at structures of films i learnt that there are four main ways in which we are introduced to a film, for films such as thrillers we see they tend to have a huge influence on there target audience, who tend to always have the first view and thoughts of what they think of the film. Whist seeing different types of structures used in film openings we see that all openings do not give the audience much detail, only a hint in what they may see in the film itself such as the characters, setting etc. The four different types of film openings are traditional, credits over a blank screen, stylised editing and discrete. All these different types of openings portray different meanings from simple to complex. Although we see there are different types of openings we see that they all tend to last for around 10-25 seconds, although this sounds like a shot timing we always seem to know what kind of film opening it is which also allows the audience see brief information about the film.

A Discrete Title Sequences is shown to give the audience large amounts of information on both the characters and setting of the film. Discrete title sequences are separately edited making them stand apart from other film openings. Looking at this type of title sequence they are heavily edited that clearly represent most opening credits and film titles. Using a discrete title sequence is a good way in getting the audience started before getting introduced to the film this is done through the fast jump cuts which often could be represented unclear in the views mind therefore allowing not to much information
be revealed. Below i have chosen Arlington road which is based on a college professor who suspects that his neighbour is a terrorist. The character is shown to be fanatical in his mission in trying to find out information that could prove his verdict. A discrete title sequence being used in this clip goes really well as we see the fast jump cuts could represent the characters personality as he jumps to conclusion which could also suggest the characters confusion. Whist looking at the clip Arlington road we see we are introduced to the setting. Most frequently we see the name Arlington road being refers to showing us that this is where it is set, the writing in front is shown to be blurred allowing us to see it isn't the main focus.

Most of the colours and images used in this title sequence are identified to be negative as they run into each other and often blurred. Throughout this opening we see a wide range of shots mostly close ups to show detail in objects and places of the film. The sound is also shown to be aggressive building up tension towards the audience. It uses some elements of Mise en scene as we see the sign of Arlington road being referred to continuously making it clear where the film is set (main location). Although we see a lot of information is given, its not clear which makes it more interesting as we haven't got a clear image of what is going on.

Stylised editing is shown to be very sophisticated that will take a long time to do. A stylised title sequence is often split into 2/3 equal parts allowing us to see actions taken place at the same time but through different perspectives. Most stylised title sequences tend to open with blank credits on the screen followed by the 2/3 equal parts of action after. Mezrine 2008 is a key example of stylised editing in the opening of a title sequence. The sound used in stylised editing is shown to be very quiet allowing tension build up to who ever is watching. Using more than one screen represents the sound as in some cases it represents suspicion of what could be behind or in front of the character.

A Traditional Title Sequence has to be the most often sequence used in the openings of most thrillers. This is because they consist of images, places with credits and headings running throughout the images presented. Below i have chosen panic room to analyse. Panic Room is based on a woman and her teenage daughter who gets locked in a panic room by 3 criminals in there own house. The above clip is shown to be the opening of panic room, we see throughout establishing shots are used to give us some idea of the Mise en scene used. The film is based in New York City which is known to be famous for its building and skylines. Looking at the skylines and texts used, they are represented to be big and bold which are resting on certain buildings making it seem like it is apart of the image itself. The font used in this title sequence is very sharp and simple (times of new Romans) this allows us to see that this has some aspects of a thriller as sharp ends could give connotations to murder or weapons such as a knife which could be used in this film. The sound of this title sequence is quiet during the begging but usually high pitched to create some sort of tension.

 

Overall when making the opening for our thriller the traditional title sequence will be something to consider as it is often used. It is shown to be positive in many ways as it sets all the conventions needed when opening a good film.
 

Credits over a blank screen may be simple and effective in some ways but could also be boring to watch. Credits over a blank screen are simple with no images but purely based on text. Having a title sequence based on just credits needs to be thought of carefully as the music will need to be engaging. The music used on title sequences like this should be sharp and should catch the viewers attention fast making them want to continue seeing the credits as well as the title. The background of this type of sequence being black is effective as it allows the font to stand out in the position the text flows in (slides in, fade in/out, jumps in etc).
The thriller Dead Calm 1989 uses credits over a blank screen. Dead calm 1989 is about a mass murderer who kidnaps and seduces a young woman after her husband dies. The credits over a blank screen is effective in this film as we see that the title is shown to over lap one another clearly representing the location of the sea waves passing over each other. Whilst we see the credits fading in and out it allows viewers to build up the mood before the film opens up. The music at this stage is significant as it sets not only the tone but the mood of the film. At this stage the music is calm building up tension when the opening comes to an end. The colours used within dead man is shown to be white and black and the title is shown to be red. The title being the colour read represents the name really well as we see the word 'dead' is shown to give negative associations to blood death etc.

Different Types of Film Openings

Voice Over/Narrative Opening; When a narrator tells the story to the audience, whilst showing the imagery. Sometimes it opens at the end of the story which is called a non-linear narrative.
 
Montage Opening; Is a Multi layering, sometimes in rapid imagery and Multi-layered editing. Using superimposition and dissolving layered imagery the background tells the plot. ‘Seven’ is good example of a montage opening.

Music and Titles; Is the classic and cheapest film opening yet the most boring. A good example of a classic Music and Titles opening is ‘Cypher’.

Collage Opening; A Collage Opening is a more elegant opening which involves slowly dissolving layered imagery. The layers of pictures in the background accompanied sometimes by titles tell the plot of the film.

Title Overlay Opening; A Title Overlay Opening is an overlay of establishing shots, establishing where the film is set and where the plot will unfold. A title overlay opening is always a good opening in which to use good music accompanied by titles.

Rapid Imagery; Tells the plot of the story in 2 minutes. Its mostly targeted at the youth audience and contains things like: Fast paced music, Fast paced editing and Multi-Layering.

Animated Opening; An Animated Opening can be accompanied by a voice over in such films as ‘Lady in the Water’ to introduce the plot of the film.

Direct Address to Camera; The direct to camera can also be shown in a Flashback – The main protagonist or antagonist reminds you of what happened in the last film, or what is going to happen in this film for example a Character may open with a flashback and tell us how she/he is out for revenge.

Research On Intertextuality

Intertextuality is the shaping of texts meanings by other texts.

Some texts refer directly to each other – such as in 'remakes' of films, extra-diegetic references to the media / society in the animated cartoon The Simpsons, and many amusing contemporary TV ads. The interpretation of these references is influenced by the audiences prior knowledge of other texts.

The Simpsons Episode:Bart of Darkness Analysis.
It contains generic characteristics of psychological thriller and you could also guess that it relates to Hitchcock. But there is one very tricky thing about intertextuality or references to popular culture. It presupposes certain knowledge about films, music or politics. If an indivdual lacks the knowledge, than they are not able to fully understand the idea behind an episode/film etc. Taking all these factors into account, it has become clear to me that watching The Simpsons is intellectually challenging.

Research into Thriller Films

In the context of a film, a thriller would entail an exciting suspenseful and mysterious plotline with the intention to thrill the audience. The difference between the genres horror and thriller is that a thriller film is more psychological and makes the audience have to think more than horrors, furthermore a horror film contains more gore then a thriller film and usually has a less gripping storyline.

The thriller genre was first introduced in the 1920’s with Harold Lloyd's comic, Safety Last. Although the first motion picture was in the early 1930’s with a German film called 'M.' One of the most famous film-makers/director was Alfred Hitchcock who helped to create the ‘modern day’ thriller film. Hitchcock's filmography includes such famous movies as, ‘The Birds’ ‘Psycho’ and ‘Rebecca’ although Hitchcock began with the silent film ‘The Lodger’ in 1926. ‘ Hitchcock's films often placed an innocent victim (an average, responsible person) into a strange, life-threatening or terrorizing situation, in a case of mistaken identity, misidentification or wrongful accusation.

The target audience for Thriller Films tend to be Females rather than Males as they are the most interested in Thriller Films. It is also targeted to 16 - 24 yearolds as Thriller films appeal to the elder teens.

Sub - Genre

Subgenre is a collision of two Genres distributed into one film.

A Thriller Sub-Genre which inspires me the most of all is The Godfather as this is a Crime Thriller:

 

This will influence me with our film opening as i will want it to start of in quite a dark scene, very dim lights so the audience are wondering "What is going on ?" I would like our opening scene to start off as quite mysterious therefore it won't reveal much just yet to keep the audience high with tension. I would also like to start the scene with a close up of a characters face, then slowly allow the camera to expand so the audience can see the other characters being introduced and established in the opening scene. The music which will be used in the opening scene, i would like it to be a light piano play or a violin which will also increase tension for the audience.  

 

 

Comparison of Reservoir Dogs to Our Remake of The Opening Scene

• At the very beginning all the characters are siting around a table where they have just finished a meal whereas with our remake, the two characters are seated in sofa chairs discussing business. A voice also talks over whilst the characters are getting up whereas with our remake, Music plays from the beginning till end. We did this because it allows the production to flow better.

• We used slow motion when both of the characters are walking exactly the same as the original. We also made sure that the camera was Tracking the characters rather than Panning therefore we used the same camera angles as the original.

• We also did a Medium close up of both the characters faces and used font to display the characters names whilst in the close up. This is also the exact same feature as the original.

• When the camera is placed behind the two characters in our remake, we have the name of the film which strolls up the screen which is also identical to the original.

Genre

• Genre- a type or category of a particular film
• Cross Genre- a film having more than one genre 

Genres

• Horror
• Gothic 
• Comedy
• Thriller
• Romance 
• Sci fi
• Fantasy
• Adventure 
• Action

ACTION

• Fast moving
• Some slow contrast to action 
• Stunts
• Explosions 
• Binary Opposition - Hero/Villain- Bond, Cruise, Pitt, Will and Stallone 
• Gun/Weapons 
• Transport/Car Chase 
• Fighting 

• Audience 

Helps audience choose + we also have expectations of what we'll see

• Producer/Director 

Genre helps know which stars to approach , which props to use therefore these are the ingredients.

THE LAST STAND

The genre of this film is Action combined with Comedy , the Action is protrayed through mise en scene, for instance the canonball is shooting fire which has a connection with violence and danger therefore represents an element of Action , the comedy element is triggered by the geeky , small guy with the googles on.
The colours help identify the film genre as the colours set out the mood .
The characters are the centre of attention in the film poster , one character looks cool and calm and gives the audince a sense of hero figure , on the other hand the small , geeky guy tells the audince that he would be the one who will create the laughter.



Sub- Genre

A sub- genre is when when two genres collide together into one film .An example of this would be-
ALIEN, is a mix of science- fiction and thriller .

Analysis of Genre

• Genre is a type or category of a Film.

• Cross Genres are when two Genres such as Thriller of Horror are used in a film.

• Conventions of Action Movies are Explosions, Stunts, Guns/Weapons, Fighting, Fast Moving, Hero/Villain and Some slow contrast to action. This helps the audience to identify different features of Action Films compared to other Genres.
• Genre is important to PDE because it allows the film to target a certain audience for example Sci-Fi films are majority male dominant therefore they try and target females by using Cross Genres and putting in Romance which will help attract another type of audience

Type of Genres: Horror, Gothic, Comedy, Thriller, Romance, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Drama, Action and Adventure.

The Genre of this film is Drama and Music. It's shown through this poster as it has a Guitar AMP at the back ,therefore it relates to Music, Rock in particular. This is a convention of a Music Based Film. Both characters have a quite relaxed attitude and body language, this shows that the film has a very laid back feel. They also seem to come across as having a quite close relationship, as they are sitting right next to each other looking out into the distance with Sunglasses on. This is a convention of a Drama Film. The colours used in this poster is also quite bold and so is the font which makes the poster stand out and have quite an effect on the viewer. The two girls in the poster are quite young which shows that the target audience for this film is Young People (Young Females).

Genre's

• Genre is a type or category of a film
• A cross genre is when two genres like a thriller and comedy are used in a film.
• Conventions of actions movies are: fast moving, fighting, transports-car chase, guns/weapons, stunts, some slow contrasts to action, explosions, hero/villain.
• Genre is important in PDE because the right audience where money is going to be made needs to be targeted so for example in sci- fi movies only men would go and watch those films mostly but to get the woman coming to watch that film, they may add a cover of a man and woman staring at each other to make the woman think the movie is a romance as well.
• For the above picture the genre from this cover would be seen as an action film. There is transport in the air, the robot has a big gun, the background looks wrecked and exploded and those are conventions of an action film

Our Reservoir Dogs Remake

Watching Documentary Response Questions

1. What does Thomas Sutcliffe mean when he says "Films need to seduce their audience into long term commitment. While there are many types of seduction, the temptation to go for instant arousal is almost irresistible"? He means that most films have to start the opening scene with a big 'shocker' therefore the audience is intrigued to what will happen next and the director wants the audience to be into the film right from the start.
2. According to Director Jean Jacques Beineix, what are the risks of 'instant arousal'? A risk of 'instant arousal' is that you have to raise the question 'What do i do next ?' and take the risk that you will never answer the question, that's the whole problem in making films.
3. Explain why "a good beginning must make the audience feel that it doesn't know nearly enough yet, and at the same time make sure that it doesn't know too little". The audience is open and receptive. They hope to have their moneys worth.
4. What does critic Stanley Kauffmann describe as the classic opening? Why does this work? The film begins with a establishing shot for example, New York City seen from the East. Then there is a close up of the building. Then the camera went up the building to a window. Then it went in the window. Then it went past the receptionist desk to the private office and there sat the main character. The audience is told by the 'classic opening': Where the film takes place. What the occupation of the character is. The organisation of the world as everything is in place and everything is expected.
5. Why is Kyle Cooper's title sequence to the film Seven so effective? The sequence tuned the viewers to the right genre from the beginning. It started of as a thriller, it waked everyone up and feels like part of the same movie. It's very frequent. It foreshadowed a lot of things that where going to happen and represented the obsessive nature of the main character.
6. What did Orson Welles want to achieve with his opening to the film A Touch of Evil? What did Universal Studios do to it? Why? He intended it to be seen without credits and without title music. He wanted to plunge the audience into his story without giving them time to prepare themselves, The Universal Studio was far more cautious, therefore the effect was lost once they edited it.
7. What is meant by a "favourite trick of Film Noir"? What is the trick? The beginning of a film is actually a type of ending, not a beginning at all. That is the famous trick. They look ahead to what has to come and if the audience doesn't see it first time round, it will be clear when they watch the film again.
8. How does the opening to the film the Shining create suspense? The lift of the overhead camera creates suspense as the camera pursues the car like a predator, high up and behind. Everything tells the audience that these people in the car are travelling in the wrong direction. This builds up suspense as not much is revealed.


MORE editing of our remake on Reservoir Dogs

We used "cmd" then "j" on the keyboard to allow us to edit the pace of our movements. We made it slower so that its a slow motion walk and is the same as Reservoir dogs.

Our Editing of our remake of Reservoir Dogs

We used Flop to change the direction of a Scene we filmed to make it the same as Reservoir Dogs.
The original shot that we filmed was our characters walking left to right, when in the original clip the characters walked right to left. This helped to establish precise shot.
To edit our filming we used final cut pro and to use flop on one of our scenes,we went on effects then video filters, perspective and then clicked on flop.

Conventions of film openings

 

This film opening of johnny english reborn shows most of the conventions of a film opening.

 

• Introduces the main character with a lot of face time
• Cleverly shows the main settings of where the film takes place with some graphics
• The genre is set by showing the movements and gadgets used so its a serious but funny film

What i didnt like is that although johnny english is the main character, the intro didnt introduce other main characters. Also the title of the film wasnt shown in the intro which i thought easily could have been added.

Our Full Group Members!

                                             Reanne                 Bradley          Kavita

 

 

We are very excited to start the Coursework and we will be Blogging our way to the finish line!

Shots We Learned To Film

Practise Shots That We Learned To Film.

 

We practised filming different types of shots within lesson time and these are the type of shots we did:

Establishing Shot: High Angle

 

We used a High Angle Shot of the Shoes to make them come across as intriguing. The lighting was relatively dark, which didn't make the Shoes came across as at all innocent. The shot used created a very soft feel towards the shoes and it's as if a character of a young age will be introduced at this moment.

 

Big Close Up

 

We used a Big Close Up Shot of the Shoes. This emphasies the style of the shoes. It's being framed quite well as their isn't any part of the Shoe being cut off due to the camera. The camera was placed on the floor which created a thrilling feel, as it builds up tension for the audience because they can only view one feature of the person. The Lighting is also dark which reinforces that.

 

Wide Shot

We did a wide shot of our classroom so the whole room comes across as bigger than what it is. It has been framed relatively well because the camera is not cutting off any sides of the Wall of the Classroom, but it is cutting off parts of the chairs being used which doesn't allow the Wide Shot to establish the classroom throughly. Natural Light is being used which creates quite a harmonious Shot.

 

Over The Shoulder Shot

 

We did a Over The Shoulder Shot to try and portray as if a Conversation was happening between two people. It has been framed well as we can see the back of the persons head that the opposite person is talking to. This fits both people within the shot. The Light is quite Dim which creates a Thrilling feel.

 

Two Shot

 

We used a Two Shot which allows two people to be in a shot at once. The framing could be improved as there is parts of the body people cut off due to the camera framing. The lighting is rather Dim which increases the tension.

 

Medium Shot

We used a Medium Shot which emphasies the space within a certain area, as it allows the viewer to see a relatively large amount of space. The framing could be improved as certain parts of the area is being cut off due to the framing. The Natural Light creates quite a innocent feel to the shot and emphasies the person standing in the shot looking out of the window.