Planning: Story Boards

Research: Movie Opening - Credits Comparison

Media Studies – Two Movie Opening Comparison

The Goonies, 1985

-          First off unlike most movies, it does not show the companies name at the start of the movie at all. It also starts off with a scene without any form of opening titles, and starts off with an establishing shot too.

-          It first states the names of the film stars, starring in the film in alphabetical order with their character name listed after theirs. It then proceeds to saying who was the film editors, the producers, co. producers, etc. – but always had the Director’s name presented last for remembering reasons.

-          The film also starts off on showing and presenting the characters as they appear. For example, it first shows a scene of the criminals escaping prison whilst covering the prison’s outside in oil (which was later then lit alight as soon as they started going). After the small intro scene, we then see their displayed names on screen, labelling who’s playing who and who is starring in the film too. It also then further develops to show what the kids are like (whilst still having themselves labelled in the opening titles) and how they behave (i.e. Chunk being lazy and Mikey being mischievous).

-          Dramatic, non-diegetic music is also played as soon as the criminal’s ‘great escape’ goes to plan. We also see the movie start on an epic, wild car chase around town which will already excite the audience and get them engaged into the movie.

-          Although we hear non-diegetic music in the backdrop, we can also hear diegetic and iconic gun shots being fired by both the police cars and the criminals who escaped. So whilst they have a chase, we see all the main characters being introduced and tied into/ interlinked into the intro scene of the movie.

The Shining, 1980

-          Unlike The Goonies, we’re able to see the company’s name and logo ‘Warner Brothers’ so we know what type of movie we’re about to watch.

-          At the start of the movie, we see a hallway for a hotel with weary music in the backdrop getting louder and louder in the process. Blood then comes out of the door filling the hallway with red blood stains all over whilst the opening credits come up and proceed into the next scene. This also introduces the movie title ‘The Shining’ with the company name at the start; making the audience aware they’re watching one of their films.

-          The next seen then continues with a birds-eye view of a car driving by around a mountain/ cliff. This brings tension to the scene since we are unaware of what will happen as the movie progresses with diegetic and iconic sounds in the backdrop whilst more movie opening credits appear.

-          As soon as the driving scene appears, we’re able to hear non-diegetic music which also brings tension into the scene which makes us ‘active audience’ question what’ll happen next (and even then, we still hear creepy and iconic music in the background before the main opening titles/ scene).

-          When the movie titles come up, we see them fade in from a blue font (believed to be a Sans type font). And unlike The Goonies, the director’s name is placed first and not like (unlike many other movies too). It’s then followed by the main star’s names, and then the name of the movie itself. However, the font ‘The SHINING’ is written in isn’t different from the opening credit titles which most directors don’t do nowadays.

Research: Linking Movies with their Theorists

Media Studies – Linking Movies with Theorists’ Theory’s

Movie Theorists

-          Todorov – Narrative’s plot lines follow the same path.

-          Vladimir Propp – The classic and generic movie structure.

-          Lévi-Strauss – Theory of binary opposites.

-          Roland Barthes – Anything can happen in a movie.

Movie Watched

-          The Shining, 1980.

-          Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, 2009.

-          Zombie Land, 2009.

Movies with Theories

I believe that Propp’s theory goes well with the film Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol. I believe this theory ties in well with this movie as it has the main characters needed to prove this theory. For example, in this movie there are the characters; the villain, the hero/ saviour, and donor aka the sidekick(s). Also, throughout the movie there is a beginning, middle and end. The characters shown are the villains who’re fighting against the agents fighting for the brief case – we also have the characters; the mina agent and the sidekicks being other agents helping him collect the brief case. As terms of structure, it follows the structure too. For example, the start starts off as an agent getting shot – making us as the audience think that the first person shown will be the main character throughout the movie. The middle consists of a fighting scene in a building in Dubai when a sandstorm hits too. The final scene is then shown as the heroes and donors being happy they beat the villains and go out to a coffee shop to celebrate.

I believe that Barthes’ theory goes will with the film Zombie Land. I believe that this theory ties in well with the movie since it doesn’t have a start, middle or end – but is consisted with nothing but plain gore; and showing how the citizens of their town are getting killed by the zombies. Though it does have a start; we’re introduced to the movie by a voice over of how we can survive the zombie apocalypse/ outbreak – giving us four steps on living within this hell. We can also see the narrative way; one personal view point whilst this happens too (either it’d be a personal viewpoint of a voice over of what is happening, i.e. the start of the movie).

Finally, I believe that Todorov’s theory goes well with the film The Shining. I believe that this film’s characters and structure link in well with this due to the structure used in the film. A family enter a new house where the son Danny sees really horrible and graphic thoughts through his telepathic mind – which he called ‘The Shining’. When the father is writing up and working on a project, he slowly goes insane and starts to see things i.e ghosts which aren’t appearing for no one else. We then find out the only thing that can save the family is Danny’s power, ‘The Shining’.

Research: Movie Genres

Media Studies – Movie Genre’s

Action Clues:

-          Sounds on the Company name title screen seem loud and dramatic – Iconic sounds associated in the police force. Diegetic sound effect. Synchronised with images.

-          Opening sequence is of door being open – something’s going to happen as the tension rises. Mise-en-Scene, dramatic walking purposely towards the audience.

-          Diegetic sounds associated with serious looking films.

-          Montage of him working in the police force (backstory).

Action Associations

-          Speed

-          Danger

-          Violence

-          Tension

-          Fire arms

-          Crime

Comedy Clues

-          Pulling faces at the camera; humorous though looks too serious.

-          Parody opening sequence.

-          First joke seen by his facial expressing (Mise-en-Scene) – exaggerated, too serious.

-          The music heard is not serious – ironic sounds, takes the micky out of the character.

-          Voiceovers: behind his backstory.

-          He gets stabbed by Santa Clause. Gives off gory detail.

Comedy Associations

-          Exaggeration

-          Parody

-          Accidents

-          Unusual events

-          Juxtaposition

Summary

-          Music.

-          Sound.

-          Mise-en-Scene (objects to lighting).

-          Story telling: the movie uses a montage to show a backstory of the lead character – uses a first person voice over shown from his perspective.

The Shining

-          At the start of the movie, we see a hallway for a hotel with weary music in the backdrop getting louder and louder in the process.

-          Blood then comes out of the door filling the hallway with red blood stains all over whilst the opening credits come up and proceed into the next scene. This also introduces the movie title ‘The Shining’ with the company name at the start; making the audience aware they’re watching one of their films.

-          The next seen then continues with a birds-eye view of a car driving by around a mountain/ cliff. This brings tension to the scene since we are unaware of what will happen as the movie progresses with diegetic and iconic sounds in the backdrop whilst more movie opening credits appear.

-          Whilst the car drives along, we see that car driving on a cliff; which could connote danger to the car driver as he could possibly drive off (getting us ‘active’ audience to think what will happen next).

Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol

-          At the start of the movie, we see one of the characters start in a fight scene which is then killed off within a matter of minutes by one of the girls (in disguise).

-          After this scene, we skip to a scene with the real main characters and heroes where they try and escape a prison. They go down a roped wire – connoting more action to the movie too. He then tells the new woman (another agent we’re introduced to) to ‘light the fuse’ which then the opening titles roll into the movie.

-          In the opening titles being displayed first showing the companies names – in co-operation with each other; Paramount Pictures and Sky Dance Productions. Then rolls onto the main people’s names – i.e. Tom Cruise production, Bad Robot production, Brad Bird film, displaying all the main people/ company names. This then cuts to the film name, being delayed to create tension at the start (hence the action/ adventure movie). It then goes on to starring the characters and finally displaying the director’s name last, since it’s easier to recognise and remember.

-          Though whilst the opening titles unroll to the audience, we see the fuse being lit and is travelling us around the opening titles to link both the movie and the credits together in some way.

-          Once the opening titles end, we see the fuse is lit to some dynamite/T.N.T or some-sort which blows up the first scene within the tunnel which is then linked into the movie’s first act/scene where we see the main agent running away from an explosion.

Focus Group (Part of the Evaluation)

5th Mar. '15 | Media Studies Evaluation Questions and Answers

Media Studies – Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or change forms and conventions of media products?

As a group, we tried to make several changes; a main factor we tried to change however was placing atmospheric shots and TV static sound and visual effects into certain places throughout the movie to stop constant walking shots since this would not appeal to the conventions of a regular horror movie, neither an exciting movie too due to the lack of interesting events happening within the movie opening itself. We had attempted to do this in order for the purpose of the audience’s enticement into the movie; it would be boring to watch if it was a bunch of walking shots to still create the unstable atmosphere from the horror movie, yet supplying this with very simple shots and editing.

Shots-wise (individual shots) were relatively successful, though they were near to all the same, which is already one negative point; we should have used more and a variety of shots to still make an unstable atmosphere. Coming to the plot (which composes the shots all together) I feel as if the movie is quite bland and generic as all it is, is teenagers investigating a neglected house. We could have done more with the story board and planning and used more of a creative structure due to the scenery and things that were available to us on the days we were able to film.

We had several shots in which we had to decide to not use as it clashed with some of our story board and/ or disagreed with some of our members as they were not a part of the shot in which we planned to do. Along with changes, we had also changed our filming locations as we started filming outside of Manor Green School, alongside the outside of Cox Green School too. Due to film and story board changes being made and tweaked, we decided to not use this footage as it did not collaborate well with the rest of the film we produced.

I would consider a lot of changes. One being the storyboard as a whole due to the lack of creativity used in development; it seemed too generic in order to attract a big audience. Another change I (personally) would consider would be removing a lot of the walking shots as we have way too many of them, and since we had to place more atmospheric shots to show some diversity within the movie’s walking shots. We also had placed TV static to switch them up a bit too.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

In my opinion, I wouldn’t say our media product doesn’t show the stereotype for one particular social group; however I believe it shows the curiosity side of the teenagers of today. The plot of the film is generic however it’s about a group of teenagers who set out to venture into an abundant bay known as Lillibrooke Manor. Though with this story being the same as most horror movies to date, I believe it still captures the element of the curious teenagers, to show that some to most have broken the common stereotype of being moody and grumpy all the time.

Though with the characters shown to be curious (which got them to the site in the first place), the horror movie conventions are still the same; one by one, each of the characters will die in a series of horrible yet unique deaths throughout their exploration of the house.

However, at the start, we thought our particular was meant to be shown for older teenagers/ young adults but due to the lack of communication we had as a group (to be honest) we somewhat drifted away from a specific idea on what the film should be suitable for (under BBFC ratings, meant to be a 15).

Why kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

I believe cinemas will be willing to distribute our media product for several reasons. One factor would be the date; due to the nature of today’s society, it would be best for horror movies to be distributed in cinemas at around Halloween time (end of October, start of November). This gives the audience an anxious feeling whilst watching the film.

This film is also like a regular horror movie, with the same conventions, story line and conventional characters. For example, Final Destination; each character was slayed off one by one; depending on their role: the girly one, the silly one, then all ends on the final girl – like we had planned in both our research and in our story board.

The BBFC rating is also a key factor upon our movie. For example, our product is aimed at older teenagers (15 +). We have chosen an age range due to the somewhat strong language used alongside the gory imagery and scenes shown throughout the movie itself.

What audience are you targeting for your media product?

Going back onto the BBFC rating, we are mainly focussing our target audience at older teenagers (15+). We have chosen an age range due to the somewhat strong language used alongside the gory imagery and scenes shown throughout the movie itself. Also, analysing previous and successful media products, we as a group have come to the conclusion as for this product to be shown to at least 15yr olds or older teenagers as a whole.

 

How would you attract and/ or address your audience?

Keeping up with today’s society; getting into with what people our age group (ages 15 to 19), older teenagers are heavily into horror movies; which works perfectly with distributing our films out to the public via distribution companies. With many teens becoming horror film fans themselves, this will get our film out and viewed a lot by the masses fairly easily; though more popular in the Halloween holidays due to the season of our specific movie genre.

In order to get our movie more out into their masses, we would need some aiding of social media: when I say this, I mean twitter and Facebook pages. With likes and followers on both social Medias, we can keep our specific audience on track of the development of the movie and the company itself – to attract more of a bigger audience for future filming products; such as movie trailers to deep descriptions upon our movie product(s).

What have you learnt about the technologies from the process pf constructing this product?

Throughout working as a team in order to distribute our media product, we have learnt a lot on the way. For example, the way in which media is distributed throughout then making to showing process. Our movie company analysed was Four Lions.

-          Produced by Warp Films.
-          Worked alongside Film 4.
-          Distributed by Optimum Releasing.
-          Worked with Wild Bunch for international sales which are a division of StudioCanal, a French company owned by Vivendi.
-          Showcased at Sundance Festival.
-          Was shown in some larger cinemas (Odeon, Vue).

 

The example of Warp Films ‘Four Lions’ show how Synergy has been used throughout the process of production to consumption. The low-budget film company employed the help of other companies for use of studios, sales and distribution. One of Warp Films key financial backers is Optimum Releasing who is involved closely with the development and distribution of Warp Film’s products. Synergy is used in both independent and large-scale film companies in order to create the best quality film that will attract and reach the mass market where independent film companies target as specific group.

What do you feel you have learnt in the progression from the preliminary task to the full product?

Through the progression of the preliminary task to the full, graded media product that the group and I have produced, we have through a lot about the specific components in order to create a successful film; in both practical and theoretical attributes.

For example, camera shots, mise-en-scene, sounds and editing. Camera shots however have been somewhat basic; walking shots, but staying in line with the 180 degree rule, nothing wrong, but personally could’ve done better and a lot more with the scenery itself. Mise-en-scene was more professional; both lighting and props were effective throughout the movie opening, in contrast to our simple preliminary task as we didn’t make it up as we went along. Sounds or mainly music in our case was effective as it links with the images displayed on the media product. Editing, a lot more editing was put into our final media product in contrary to our simple preliminary task. Though one change from this would be our movie-editing software entirely; Sony Vegas Pro. V.11 was used for our preliminary task as it was easier to use, though this time, for our media product, we used Adobe Premiere Pro; where we encountered a couple of problems, such as rendering and increasing screen size.

Though overall, I have to say that I, personally, have learnt a lot in the progression, on the way from our preliminary task to our final media product. I feel as if my contribution to the group has also paid off; some of the planning and acting too. The progression from our preliminary task, to our final media product has changed and developed a lot, in all camera shots, editing, sounds and mise-en-scene in comparison.                                                                                                    

30th Jan. '15 | Lillibrooke manor: An Untold Story (A-S Media Horror Movie Opening)