Monday, 14 March 2016

Seven - Opening Scene Analysis

In any film, mise en scene is how it makes the characters look and how it makes the audience see the film. The location of the film seems to be a busy city which could be New York. This is shown through the sounds. Within this over all location, there are 4 main areas which the opening scene is filmed in. These are the house, murder scene, street and then it returns to the house. You know that the house is an apartment that the detective lives in. In a long shot of the kitchen, there are props that are used are significant to the detective character. For example, there is a chess board in view within this shot. A chess board is known to be a slow and strategic game. This game is known to be a game for those that are intellectual. This chess board could represent that the opponent within the film is someone that likes to play games. It also shows how smart the detective is. Within the kitchen, you have a view of the kind of objects in there. There are no clear signs that the detective has a family. There are no picture frames with photos of the family in them. This shows that the detective is lonely and does not have a partner or any children. You tell a lot from what the characters wear. Morgan Freeman's character is smartly dressed and is cleaning shaven. This is shown by his waist coat buttoned up and also he has no stubble. Brad Pitt is the opposite to what he wears. He seems to be very scruffy and no as formally dressed as Morgan's character. Below is a screenshot of the characters together so you can compare the costumes the detective wears.








Within the opening scene, there was not a lot of editing that was done. The only kind of editing technique that was used was cuts. This is a simple technique which could have been used so the audience will concentrate on the content of the film and not what techniques have been used in order to make it look more advanced.


Like in any other film, camera angles are important when filming scenes. One of the camera shots that were used was a close up. This was used at the beginning of the scene when Morgan Freeman, the detective, was looking through his personal belongings which he would soon take to work. This close up was used to show the importance of the objects. In order there was a handkerchief, a police badge, a flip knife and a pen. The objects were left in a certain order and a certain width apart. This shows that the detective could have a form of OCD. You can see this from the organisation of the objects. The director put the knife within the other objects for a reason and the flip knife could foreshadow what may happen later in the film. Another camera show that was used within the film was a low angle. This was when the two detectives were talking outside in the street. The low angle shot was used in order to show the equality between the two detectives even though they are complete opposites.

Sound is used within in any film to create more of an effect for the audience. One of the sounds that were used within the film was the sound of thunder. There was also a ticking sound played shortly before the thunder. This stands for the saying of the ‘calm before the storm’. This means that at the moment the film is calm and not dramatic but later during the film, the atmosphere and the film will be more dramatic which is considered the ‘storm’. Another sound that was used was used during the opening scene is diegetic sounds. These sounds consist of sirens, and shouting. This shows that the location of the film is in a busy city which could be New York. For example, at the beginning of the scene when Morgan freeman is in the kitchen, you can hear the traffic that is near the apartment. You can hear cars and the beeping of the horns which shows what is known as rush hour.  Dialogue in any film is good to use because within the opening scene, the audience can learn a lot about the character. In the opening scene, at the murder scene, a co-worker of the detective asks “What kind of question is that?” This shows that the detective have a different thought process compared to the other detectives. This could also foreshadow events that happen in the film.

Overall, when watching this opening scene, you know a lot about the characters before they even speak. This is by looking at the costumes that they wear and the environment they live in. You can also tell who they are by their body language. The distance between the two detectives (Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman) showed their kind of relationship. It seemed to be quite hostile between them. Also, Morgan Freeman is stood upright and Brad Pitt is slouching.


Monday, 7 March 2016

Analysis of BFI Data - Genre and Classification




The genre that released the most films within one year was thriller. They released 64 films whilst horror released 37 films and romance released 34. This shows that thriller could be the most popular due to how many films they released. On the other hand, by looking at the total income for the films, you can clearly see which films are the most popular. Horror created £57.5 million. Thriller made £29.1 million and romance made £13.9 million. This shows that the popular genre was horror. This is because although the genre made less films, they made more money for the films that they produced and released. The romance genre was not as popular. This is because they released the lowest amount of films and they also made the lowest amount of income.






From this set of data, this shows the average number of theatres that the films reached at the widest point of release and it also shows the amount that the box office made when the film was shown. In the horror genre, films reached 145 box offices. This shows that it reached a large amount of cinemas. Box offices, made about £57.5 million when the horror genre films were shown. Thriller genre reached 89 cinemas. The gross amount that box offices made was £29.1 million. This shows that since the genre didn't reach to as many cinemas. Romance genre has the lowest statistics. The genre only reached 59 cinemas and the gross amount that box offices made was £13.9 million. Over all this shows that the most popular genre is horror.



The chart shows the average amount that each cinema makes from the genre. It is compared with the overall gross amount of the films and also how many box offices the genre reached. In the horror genre, the average profit of the film is £10,708. The genre managed to reach a total number of 5,367 box offices, this is a large amount of money for each box office. Thriller genre made an average of £5,127 for each cinema. The amount of cinemas the genre reached was 5,667. The romance genre managed to make the cinemas roughly £6,895 each. The amount of cinemas the romance genre reached was 2,014. This shows that the horror genre did a lot better in sales due to the amount of audiences reached. Also, the romance genre has interesting statistics. Although the romance genre did not reach to as many cinemas, they still managed to make each box office more than the thriller genre did.




It also allows you to see how many releases the genre made all together within this area. The horror genre released 7 films within the UK and Ireland in 2013. This generated a total of £14.8 million. The thriller genre released 17 films within the UK and Ireland. The total amount made was £4.1 million. Lastly, the romantic comedy only released 3 films throughout the year. The amount the box offices made was a total of £6.2 million. This shows that the horror and romantic genres are popular with the UK and Ireland. The horror genre released more films and made more profit but the romantic genre managed to release less films and almost get half of the horrors profit. The thriller genre did not do as well within the UK and Ireland even though they released more films. They did not make as much profit so this shows that there were less audiences viewing the films.


https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_odmn4UqAZ3ZZ2PKHkYVIVsqTQh3a8KotU_UZ0IEqF-8GqgiAVB85H0V5bYGSxjfhaWXWGIj6hycbvmCD_oLKuf0i7eNZF950__7nOOguKepQTgjMG3_MNah0gGklYtDuMcCeBY5p_aY/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-12-07+at+15.08.29.png
The chart shows the number of films worldwide (e.g. Hollywood films), in the UK and the small budget films within the UK (UK independent films). Action is the most popular UK film and then comedy is the most popular UK independent film. Horror has more films shown at box offices with a 5.8%. They are also shows a lot around the world with a 5.0% of films being shown at box offices. The thriller genre has more worldwide films and UK independent films rather than UK films. The romance genre has a high proportion of films at box offices that are UK independent. The percentage of this is 8.1%. Overall this shows the most popular genre over all would be horror. I think this because from looking at the data, the horror genre has a higher percentage of Hollywood type films.


Friday, 5 February 2016

Mr Judge Feedback - Provisional Mark/Level/Grade: Level 2: 8/20

Medal:
  • Excellent analysis of Maltese Falcon
  • Storyboard could do with some more images and descriptions in terms of framing/camera movement
  • You did well to incorporate your initial opening logo video but we need designs, drafts to determine where this idea stemmed from
  • The machine studios image is far too big and needs to be corrected for homework


You still have elements missing from your previous feedback: 08/12/15


  • Mission
  • Is seems that significant components of textual analysis are missing in the form of the following; 
  • What we now need to see is your evidence for designing and creating studio logo's and your understanding of the correct conventional title orders as studied in class. 
  • Some images are also required to enhance the look and design your blog. 'Se7en' textual analysis
  • Also in addition we need ypur BFI data analysis
  • Mind mapping of initial ideas etc

Planning and research evidence may be partially incomplete;
There is basic research into similar products and a potential target audience;
There is basic organisation of actors, locations, costumes or props;
There is basic work on shotlists, layouts, drafting, scripting or storyboarding;
There is a basic level of care in the presentation of the research and planning;
Time management may not be good.





MINIMAL (L1)
BASIC (L2)
PROFICIENT (L3)
EXCELLENT (L4)
TOTAL
1.RESEARCH & PLANNING
[20]
0-7
8-11
12-15
16-20

8/20
2. CONSTRUCTION – MAIN TASK
[40]
0-23
24-35
36-47
48-60

3.EVALUATION
[20]
0-7
8-11
12-15
16-20



TOTAL GRADE FOR
FOUNDATION PORTFOLIO [100]







/100
Minus -39 = U
40-49 = E
50-59 = D
60-69 = C
70-79 = B
80-100 = A

Wednesday, 16 December 2015

Maltese Falcon


The Maltese Falcon – film noir

Film Noir is a style of filmmaking characterized by elements such as cynical heroes, stark lighting effects, and frequent use of flashbacks, intricate plots.

The Maltese Falcon is a typical film noir set in the 1940s. It crosses all of the typical codes and conventions of film noir, as there is a femme fatale who needs the detectives help, and at the start of the opening sequence the detectives are leering at her and this is a reoccurring theme in a film noir. In all films at this time the mise en scene in this film noir the detectives are typically dressed as they are wearing a trilby hat and an overcoat and in most film noir’s this is what they wore. This is because in a film noir the women are represented as weak and that the men always fall for them and this is shown in the first scene where the detective falls for her and as she is leaving Miles asserts his salivating interest in the striking, rich, and helpless woman who hires them to rescue her sister. Also at the start there is an establishing shot of San Francisco and this is used to show where the film is set in. 

The hard-boiled detective films of the 1940s supplied a surprisingly diverse set of heroes, each offering a variation on the common theme of crime and detection in the dark urban scene and this was shown in The Maltese Falcon where it transforms the traditional detective film where they are finding out who killed the man. Also in the film it introduces the alienated and amoral hero, the femme fatale and the dark disturbed environment. This is shown when the camera editing dissolves to a street corner where the other detective has been shot. The half-smile of recognition on Archer's face as he approaches the camera quickly turns to a look of disbelieving horror as an unseen assailant pulls a gun and shoots him dead at close range. Miles is blown backwards through a fence barrier and he tumbles down a steep hill. In this scene there is a non-diegetic sound of the gunshot and this portrays what happens and in this scene there is restricted narration because as the audience we don’t know who shot the detective and neither does the main detective because he is now being questioned about who killed him. In this film this is a reoccuring concept for the enigma as no one knows who killed the detective.

In this opening sequence there wasn’t a lot of editing as it is an old film noir. The only editing in the scene that was noticeable was at the start and this was when the titles was going up the screen and this helped the audience understand the story line. Another editing technique they used was in between shots as they used a faded editing technique to switch between shots.

Camera shots are important in every film and in this film they used a medium/close up shots when focusing on the woman in the office. They have done this because then the audience can see all of the emotion in the face. Also when they focus on the paper at the end of the opening sequence, they pan up onto the paper and then zoom in to emphasise the news headline. Also they used an over the shoulder shot in the office scene allows the audience an insight into what the character sees from his point in view and by doing this it adds realism to the shot as they see the same view and in this case when the woman is speaking to the detective.  They also included a low angle shot where the detective is looking over at the crime scene where his partner had been killed. This was used as then they could focus on the emotions of the character and also they can see what they are looking at.






Story Board - Diamanté




  • First shot in the opening sequence is an establishing shot of Birmingham.




  •  Femme Fatale in detective’s office explaining about what has happened to her jewel 
  •  Over the shoulder shot of the characters speaking.



  • Femme fatale hiding her jewels trying to frame her former husband of stealing them
  •  Close up on her hand stashing the jewels in his apartment.



  • The 2 detectives go to the former husbands house to look for the jewels that the femme fatale has stashed in his apartment.

 

Monday, 14 December 2015

Machine Studios Penny Black-Title sequence and Studio logo

This is our first attempt at creating our title sequence. This allowed us to learn about how to make a title screen and this meant i could learn about the type of fonts and how to imbed music. This also allowed me to learn the order












Wednesday, 9 December 2015

Script – Diamanté


Script – Diamanté

FADE IN:
EXT: BIRMINGHAM CITY CENTRE – NIGHT
(An Establishing Shot of the city)

INT: OFFICE –WAITING ROOM – NIGHT
(Detective is about to close up and go home when he sees a woman walking in.)

WOMAN – I’m so glad I’ve caught you! I’m in need of some help.

DETECTIVE – So what can I do for you my dear?

WOMAN – Is there somewhere abit more private where we can speak?

DETECTIVE – Sure, come on in to my office… Want a drink?

WOMAN – Sorry I don’t drink.


FADE OUT:

FADE IN:
INT: OFFICE – DETECTIVES ROOM – NIGHT
(Both Detective and Woman walk into the office, and then Detective reaches out and grabs his finest bottle of whiskey and pours himself a glass.)

WOMAN – Right so this is where it all started, yesterday after coming back from my trip to France it appeared to me that some of my most precious jewels have gone missing. These are not any ordinary jewels these are the rarest, finest diamonds that someone can get their hands on! I do have a little idea of who could be behind this.

(Detective whips out his notepad and writes down what the woman is saying to him.)

DETECTIVE – So tell me more about the man that you may think stole the jewels.

WOMAN – His name is Hubert and lets say we have abit of history, this man is my ex husband and well we didn’t split up on good terms.

DETECTIVE – Okay I’ll try my best to get a case together sweetheart.

FADE OUT:
FADE IN:
EXT: HUBERTS HOUSE – BACK GARDEN – MORNING
(POV Shot: Woman hiding her jewels that she claims had been stolen by her ex husband in his back garden.)
(Detectives go into the mans house to search for the jewels that are believed to be stolen from the woman.)