I will be comparing the opening to three films and seeing what is similar and what is different.
All of these films open with the production team for example Warner brothers. (As shown below) Each have their own unique introduction so automatically audiences recognise their brand. For example with warner brothers they have their own unique music that they play at the start of every film. Each film states the name of the film after naming the production name and the director. At the same time, they have a video playing, introducing the film to keep the viewers interested instead of losing concentration. The 2 comedy films, start by showing a moment in the past of the characters lives, the is a quick introduction to make sense of the film.
The directors know that this is the time that the audience are unsettled and are sometimes late to the cinema, so they do not show an important part of the film, instead they show a part to settle the audience, something interesting while presenting the main productions staffs name at the beggining, and the 'less' important staff at the end. Each of the films start by showing a snippet of the genre of the film, for example in Happy gilmore, they show the boy playing hockey. In spacejam, they show a boy playing basket ball. In Outpost, they show soldiers in a truck. This is to let the audience know from the start what the genre is and what to expect in the film. The title is usually show in big bold writing, to advertise the film for the trailer and to introduce it (as show below).
In the short introduction, they try to introduce the main characters and explain a little bit about them, they can do this by showing a childhood clip, or even showing another character aspiring to this character, insinuating that they are the hero.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0892899/
In war-torn Eastern Europe, a world-weary group of mercenaries discover a long-hidden secret in an abandoned WWII bunker.
The conventions of horror are dark/misty settings which sets the scene (as shown below).
The character looks dark and mysterious, even though you can not see the character or any of the acts he has done. This adds a sense of danger as it is never clear what you can see. It usually adds tension as the evil characters lurk within the 'heroes' distance without ever clearly seeing them, although the audience know that they are there. The sound is another convention of a horror, as the fast paced, high pitched piano music makes the viewers on edge as they relate this to danger (through previous experience of films). As the music slowly gets louder, it is coherent with the scene as the volume climaxes at the 'scary' scene.
In this film, the characters play a big part in setting the scene, as they are all sleeping and look like they have already been in battle. There are symbolic codes embedded within the film for example the uniforms relate to heroes in the modern day, and straight away the viewers are on the side of these characters. The truck journey is very bumpy as it shows the roads have either been damaged, or it could be the director could be trying to show the audience that these soldiers have been through a rough time. This is a brilliant way of subconsciously making the readers think without realising it. The deserted streets and the poverty/destruction show that the characters inside are scared of something, as none of the citizens living there want to come out of their house. When the character is loading the bullets into the gun (as shown below) it tells the audience that there will be plenty of action, and they are preparing to go to war.
The technical codes are the sound, the other character advises him not to go, but still decides to. This shows courage. The dogs barking and growling in the background make audiences relate to anger, making you feel anxious as to what they are driving into.
The mid-shot camera angles show the soldiers war torn uniforms showing that have been in battle. The camera on the back of the truck puts the viewers in a first person perspective, as if they are witnessing the carnage for themselves. The characters faces are zoomed on, showing no emotion like it is too much effort.
The sequence tells us nothing is getting better any time soon. The weather is dull and they are moving into an area that is classified dangerous. I feel like they are trying to insinuate to the audience that these characters are going into a dark place, and let the viewers know the genre from the first 3 minutes.
The opening scene to this film is almost the opposite of Outpost, It is simply a convict sitting in his chair pleading his innocence. This can be very effective to explain the character, Cool, calm and collected. The camera is at an low angle shot, which has just been placed on the desk to make the scene look normal, even though the film is far from it.
The genre conventions you would expect in this film is
Explosions
Gunfire
Far fetched
A Cause
In this film, all of these things is what the target audience would come to expect. Directors would commonly stereotype their film to get more viewers based on preference and also not giving them any false hope.
The technical codes in this scene are simple, the camera angle is low as you cant see the characters face when he walks into the scene (as shown below)
This adds mystery to the character as you don't know the story behind him yet. The connotations of this is the audience automatically feel on edge, they don't know who to believe and what to believe. The mystery makes the viewers intrigued as to what is going to happen next and they want to find out more about this character, as he gives nothing away through appearance or speech. The music that is played at 1:34 is used to exaggerate the mood of the scene and also kills the tension while changing scene. The audience knows what the man is thinking at the time without him saying it, this is done through the camera shots used to zoom in focusing on the emotion of the man. The music enforces that emotion to the viewers.
One of the symbolic codes within this scene is the characters appearance. The beard and moustache could be thought of as scruffy and dirty, showing he has more things on his mind than his own appearance. As the old saying goes 'Never trust a man with a beard'. This is proved correct in this scene, as he says he will never rob a bank again. The irony makes the audience laugh, as it is obvious through the characters expressions and persona that it will happen again. The light in the background of the scene is called 'Back Lighting'. This makes the character have a glow, angel effect although he is planning something that will ruin peoples lives. The contrast of colour also shows he has two separate personalities, one for work, one for pleasure.
The audience that is being targeted is male adults in my view. The extremely exaggerated ideas throughout the film are smart but are out of reach of the every day human being. It allows the viewers to enter their own fantasy world throughout the 90 minutes of watching it, at the same time entertaining the viewers. Every male wants to be rich and get the girl at the end, and this is what happens here.
Third film: Unthinkable Genre: Thriller
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0914863/
A psychological thriller centred around a black-ops interrogator and an FBI agent who press a suspect terrorist into divulging the location of three nuclear weapons set to detonate in the U.S.
The opening scene of this film consists of great acting and use of a still camera shot. The genre of this film is a thriller and the opening scene sets the mood immediately. The conventions of a thriller are:
Camera angles, Quick cuts
Music used to give tension
Lighting, use of shadows to make the evil character darker
The technical codes in this scene are the use of the camera. The colours in the opening are plain and only show black, white and brown.
This is used to highlight the emotions in the characters face and make this the main point of attention to the audience. It is also used to show the lack of 'colour' in the characters life, which gives him the motive to do what he is doing. The camera angle shows a mid shot and does not move throughout. This is to show the characters emotion in his face but to also highlight the anger and remorse in the way his body is working. The character begins by standing further back so you can see the waist upwards, but on the more sinister recording, he moves to a shoulder view to show the anger in his eyes (as shown below). The music that is played in the background of this scene is used to climax the emotion, to being with the music starts of very quiet and barely hear able, but as he gets more and more confidence in his approach to the confession, the music gets louder which insinuates to the audience that he means business.
The symbolic codes in this scene are the use of clothing. The character is very open about his emotions as he is confessing to begin with, but when he finally puts his suit jacket on, he is very stiff and its almost like a change in character. The audience can see that he is regretting his actions to begin with as he is always continuously moving and his facial expressions seem genuine. But when he puts on the suit jacket he has no change in emotion as he moves closer to the camera. The colour also plays a big part in letting the audience know the change in character. The suit jacket he puts on is black, and black usually relates to evil and death. As soon as he puts that on, the way and which he approaches his speech seems much more dark and scripted. Also, a suit usually relates to business, this further implies that the character is much more serious about his threats and wants to be taken seriously.
The key signifiers in this film are the use of words the villain uses. When the character says 'I have to', the audience can clearly see he doesn't believe the actions that he is taking are necessarily right, but its something he 'has to do' for whatever reason. Each cut scene before the last shows a side of the villain that the viewers warm to, as he doesn't seem so evil, although his threats are very extreme the audience can see past that. Each cut scene the protagonist seems to make a mistake, maybe the director is trying to insinuate that the character is making a mistake or that he has made mistakes in the run up to this scene. The facial expressions show that the character is angry at himself for making these mistakes, and in the end shows a different side to himself by announcing himself under a different name. The heavy breathing can relate to nerves, as the character can not seem to compose himself. The white walls around himself show peace, but the irony in this is that he is threatening thousands of lives.
The sequence shows a chain of events from the villains perspective. He continually makes mistakes and is angry at himself for it. It shows the remorse as he puts his hands on his face and continually looks on edge. The character himself at one point looks upset at what he is doing, and the constant Mid-shot camera angle shows all of this with the simplest of techniques. At the end, he finally puts on his suit jacket as if he is 'ready for business' and shoots the final shot, with him declaring himself under a different name as if he is a changed man. This tells the audience that the film will contain lots of twists and with him declaring he has planted 3 bombs, its obvious it will be full of action. The sequence tells us about the content of the movie as it is filmed in one location, and its a still camera angle. Throughout a lot of the film this is the case, but there is a lot going on in one area. The characters scruffy appearance shows us that he no longer cares, and will go to extremes for the people he loves, his wife and family, although he knows inside its wrong.
The audience that is being targeted is adults, people who like edgy thrillers and can accept others views. The way in which the opening presents itself takes a lot of dissecting, with Michael sheen playing the part perfectly in which he shows a change in emotions.
Image : Bomb strapped to the crow, makes viewers laugh, unordinary. Dark humour, but still it continues to make people laugh. This makes the comedy edgy but not malicious. It seems the director tries to make viewers shocked at a lot of things. The images are all dark and the symbols look 'Evil', which makes you think it is a serious film, but when you watch it, you realise it is light hearted comedy which intends to tackle the stereotypical racism but in a humorous way.
The black crow shows death and morbid, with a bomb attached to it which relates to suicide bombers. It seems that the film insinuates that the characters are trying to be serious, but the logistics of the operation (bird being a suicide bomber) succeeding are very low. The background is the colour green, which usually relates to peace, but in this situation it seems far from it. This again insinuates that the film is edgy and there is two sides to it.
The connotative meanings of the film are dark as in dark humour. The crow has black eyes, black feathers, black writing. Black symbols etc. This signifies death, but the film is far from it. The film tackles a serious issue, but also makes viewers see a funny side, which seems very hard to be successful at. The difference in contrast between the top half of the bird and the bottom half (with the bomb) shows there is two sides to the characters. The characters when watched, seem idiotic and innocent, and they dont know the reasoning behind what they are doing, but at the same time, they are planning on killing hundreds of people, so you can look at it either way. There friendship seems above all else important as they are all in it together.
I feel that the poster is trying to decieve the audience, with the colours and the image of a crow with i feel a shock approach to comedy. It makes people laugh even though they feel its wrong. The bomb attached to the crow makes viewers stop and give it a second glance, and maybe keeps the target audience hooked as it is almost teenage banter.
Group : Jake, Jack and Ryan Genre : Comedy Plot : Our idea is for the introduction for a film is similar to the film 'The Negotiator'. It's about a man that has been wrongly accused and goes to extremes to clear his name.
The genre of the film is Action Adventure/Sci Fi.
The codes and conventions of this film is
Guns
Robotics (The writing resembles that of a computer)
CGI Special effects
The signifiers of this poster are
Black - War and power, The colour black comes across to people as dark and mysterious, but at the same time they are almost scared of it. The same goes for the saying 'Everyone is scared of the dark, because you don't know whats inside of it'.
Guns - Action and warfare, The guns are a symbol of the sort of film you expect to see. Plenty of gunfight usually leads to death, with the storyline taking the backseat in most action films.
Clothing - Martial arts, this is again another signal that the film will consist of plenty of fight scenes and mainly orientated on the action.
The denotative meanings in this poster are guns and sun-glasses. This signifies Identity and war/action as the sunglasses mask the characters face so that they are not easily recognisable. The black shade resembles a dark side to the character that the audience is yet to see. The guns in the film are a sign of things to come, a fast paced action shooter which will most likely result in the death of a character.
The connotative meanings in this poster are the writing going down the poster faintly which look like codes within a computer. This describes the idea of the film as it is based on a character whose normal life is quickly turned around by being told there is a world bigger then this, and that he is just living in a computerised world with a planned ending. The poster also shows the confidence of the characters as you look at the faces of the actors, this gives you the idea that they are ready for battle as they also stand there with emotionless faces. All the characters on the poster are wearing quite gothical clothing such as black leather jackets and trench coats, the meaning the director is trying to convey to the audience is that they have seen and been around death for a long time. The back ground of this image consists of mist and smoke. This makes you subconsciously think that something is left unsettled and you are not quite sure yet which side you are on.
Matrix lines
They are communicating to the audience what this film is all about, war, gun fights and action. With all of these characters dressed in black, it is hard to distinguish who is the hero, and who are the villains. Although, the main character can be separated as the clothing he wears is a different shade of black and he is at the front in the image. Also, in small writing at the bottom it says 'On March 31st the fight for the future begins.' That tells the audience many things.
The release date
The genre (Sci Fi) 'Future'
Its the first of a series 'Begins.'
Hello my name is Ryan Mills. I am currently studying at KESH Academy. This blog will contain work for my AS Media Studies course work. My favourite film is The negotiator. My hobbies consist of video games and football and i enjoy going to Villa Park every so often.
