Analysis of the opening sequence "Blade"

The opening titles of Blade are written in red which represents danger. At the beginning of the opening sequence a woman is rushed into hospital with blood excessively coming out her neck, vampires typically attack the neck because it is an easy target. The scene is set at night time which is a convention of vampire films and the two characters go to a club. Blood comes out of the water sprinklers and then the vampires are surrounding the human male, they begin to show him their fangs and their is a close up of a vampire with piercing blue eyes which allows the audience to identify the vampire. In the opening sequence there is a lot of blood, this represents what vampires are and what they eat, just as if it were a human party, water would come out, the vampires see blood as normal.
The human in this scene is male and he is lead by a vampire female, usually males are seen as the dominant figure but because she is a vampire it suggests that vampires are dominant over humans.

I don't really know what else to type right now because I don't want to repeat myself but yeah.

Favourite pitches + my ideal role

I really liked Ells' pitch - from the way she presented it although she didn't want to, she was very confident and had a clear idea of what she would want her opening scene to include. I thought the idea of using teen girls, like our group of friends was a good idea because we'd want to complete a bucket list together so that made me like it even more - because the storyline was simple there could be adaptations to the opening scene if there were ideas to make it better. The only difficulty that would occur would be to establish Paris, but in last lesson me and Ells decided that the location could be changed to London.

I liked Charley's idea too, my bbz, because I thought she had a really good idea of how the opening sequence would be and I liked the idea of them meeting the the woods but you'd see the daily lives of each character to begin with.

The roles I'd prefer to do would be things behind the camera so being the producer - I'm pretty organised.

Vampire Horror Film Synopsis

Having to move away from London because her mother had a job upgrade Imogen was settling in, in her new home in the South of France. Her mother being a fashion designer was never home so Imogen had the freedom to do whatever she wanted as long as she kept her school grades up. One night walking down her drive she saw the boy who lived next door, she started small talk with him and there conversation began to flow. They started to hang out together every day for three months and then Tom just blew her off with no explanation just that he wasn't interested. One night Imogen had enough and was bored having no homework and wasn't really close with anyone else from school, she went over to Tom’s house and climbed through his bedroom window that he had previously told her to climb through if he wasn't in; on Tom’s desk was a book that he told her she could never look inside, it was open so Imogen being a typical girl looked through it, unfortunately for Imogen she found out something she’d be better off not knowing… Tom lived off blood…human blood. He was a vampire.

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly - Remake

Director Research

Steven Spielberg

- American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer and studio entrepreneur.
- He is considered one of the most popular in influential in the history of cinema.
- He covers many themes and genres.
- Focuses on history.
- Films directed :
- Jaws
- E.T
- Schindlers List

-Low height camera tracking shot

Quentin Tarantino 

- American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor.
- Received Golden Globe, BAFTA, Emmy and Grammy Awards.
- Films directed :
-Kill Bill
-Sin City (special guest)
-My Best Friend's Birthday
- Film style - bursting with energy
Different sense of humour in each film.

Charlie Chaplin

- English comic actor, director and composer.
- Use of mime, slapstick.
- His mother was his first influence.
- Use of improvisation.
- Sympathetic light to portray poor and outcasts.
- Received Academy Awards and has a Hollywood walk of fame.
Films directed:
-The Great Dictator
- The Gold Rush
                                                               - A woman of Paris.

Master Shot

Preliminary Exercise Video

Preliminary Exercise Evalutation Editing

In this lesson we were set the task to do a picture edit continuing to edit our preliminary exercise creating a rough cut, placing all the clips that we wanted in the timeline  on iMovie in order without cutting and having action matches. 

In this task our group managed to successfully create a rough cut inserting clips. We also reversed a shot because we didn't have a shot that would allow continuity to work. We still need to record a shot of our main character walking up the stairs as without it our continuity does not work.

In the third lesson we continued to edit our preliminary exercise but fine editing the work that we had produced and edited sound within the shots; we did this by using the precision editor which allowed us to put two clips together with smooth sounding.
Within our sound editing we removed some audio from some of the clips because there were people talking in the background by doing this we made the clips more believable.

In our edit we broke the rule of the 180 degree rule, we done this successfully.
At the end of scene the door is already open as Ellie leaves the room which shouldn't have happened because the door was shut this wasn't too much of a problem as it worked. 

Script.

Establishing shot - school changing room 

Camera zooms out showing the feet of Emma walking towards the camera (door). Zooming out further to show her face. 

Medium shot of Emma looking around nervously as she approaches. 

Emma 

Looks to her left and right (POV shot) sees nobody continues to walk. 

Close up of the door handle panning back to Emma's hand.

Emma

Pulls sleeve down to cover hand (slowly zooming out to medium shot) 

Turns handle slowly. Walks into middle of the room.

POV shot 

Emma
Looks from left to right checking nobody is in the changing room. 

Hello?

No reply. 

POV shot.
Shuffling of feet. 

Emma

Turns head round 360* 

(forceful) Hello?! 

No reply. 

                     

Preliminary Exercise

Last week we were put into groups of four to create our preliminary exercise; for this task I was working with Ellie, Sheida and Muna. To begin with we had to decide on a scenario that we were going to do our preliminary exercise about and create a quick sketched storyboard and chose which shot types would be appropriate. As a group we helped each other to create a successful piece of work; this exercise will help us in the future with our own final piece. In our short clip we decided to have no dialogue & therefore we had no need to present a script. Ellie, Muna & Sheida were all actors & I was working with the camera, although we had these set roles we were able to help each other and give different ideas.
On the outline we were given we were told to use the 180 degree rule successfully. We managed to do this by filming from different levels and angles on one side of the line, when edited together it should flow smoothly while obeying the rule. We incurred in one difficulty and that was the fact that we were working in the school premises and did not have much accessibility to the rooms we wanted to use, we figured this out by adjusting our original plan.  

11th October Workshop; Reflection.

In the first workshop I learnt about teen representations. We looked at how the presentation of a DVD cover effects the audience that decide to buy it. Teenage actors are used in films, with the target audience of teens because this allows the teens to relate more to the character they are portraying.
Looking at two different DVD covers; 'Kidulthood' and 'Mean Girls' we saw a contrast in both of these DVD covers but they both appealed and had the target audience for teenagers. Colours and the actors that were on the covers made it easy for us to decide which gender the covers were intended for. Given a storyline for a film called 'Social Notworking' we worked in groups of four to create a DVD cover for the film; whilst doing this we learnt how the positioning of different characters can have different effects for what the target audience sees. 

In the second workshop that we done we were focusing on the skills of continuity editing. We were shown a bad clip that the visitors had put together and we were asked to point out the bad editing skills within it. They taught us 5 different techniques. Establishing shot, 180* shot, action match, 30* shot/jump cut and shot reverse. We were then given the task to use our continuity skills to edit the shots they had done to make the clip continual. This task was enjoyable because we got to play around with the clips and put them in an order that we wanted to whilst also learning how to develop our continuity editing skills.

The City of God

In the opening sequence of ‘City of God,’ the genre is quickly established as an action movie; this is signified by the extreme close up of a knife blade being sharpened by a rock, the denotation of the knife blade being sharpened would be danger.  Whilst the knife is being sharpened the camera back and forth between a black screen and the knife being sharpened, this could give a sense of the unknown because the viewer is not sure of what’s happening.
           An image of a male character taking a picture which leads to the title ‘Cidade de Desus,’ appears on screen, which translated is ‘City of God,’ a town in Brazil, because the male is taking a picture it could speculate that he is a main character within the film. On screen there are quick shots of the knife being sharpened and music being played which is followed by a close up shot of a chicken then back to a knife peeling vegetables. The camera goes back and forth between these three images using close up shots on each.  For a brief moment there is a close up shot of the chickens head sliced of which could act as a signifier that there is death within this film.
            The chicken in the opening sequence could act as a metaphor of the boy who seems to be running away from somebody, ‘ If Li’l Ze catches you ,he’ll kill you.’ The camera then cuts to a low medium shot of the chicken nearly getting run over by a car, as it is being chased by the older boys who want to kill it. The young boys reply ‘yeah, well, he’s gotta find me first.’ The older boys with their guns approach from an alley way and the main culprit of the chicken chase is focused on, the image goes in slow motion with a close up of him.  As the boy tries to capture the chicken police approach, to the audience it isn’t yet quite clear as to what their role is however the older boys get their guns out and point them at the police. This suggests that in Brazil there is a conflict within the police and the society.
            ‘In the City of God, if you run away, they get you and if you stay, they get you too.’  The chicken may be used as a metaphor to show that the people who live in this town are very trapped within. The continual shots of the chicken running away from the group of boys chasing it leave suspense for the audience because it doesn’t show that it has been caught, however the image does present that it’s trapped.  In the beginning of the opening sequence the chickens have a rope tied around their leg which signifies that they are trapped from living freely and the camera that is wrapped around the boys neck could be another interpretation of that, ‘a picture could change my life,’ these words could make the audience what relevance a picture could do for his life or what kind of picture. The boy doesn’t run and he’s trapped between the police and a group of boys who have guns which adds to his sentence, ‘if you run away, they get you and if you stay, they get you too.’

Target.

My target is to connate my work more and go into depth as to why certain things are shown on screen. This will be a on-going target that I want to reach.

At the end of this year I want to get a B.

Preliminary exercise

Kate is standing by the kitchen window, far to the left waiting for the milk in the saucepan to heat up as she is making two cups of hot chocolate for herself and her sister. Long shot. 

Rosie slowly walks into the kitchen using her mobile phone not paying much attention to much going on around her. Pan shot. 

Kate notices Rosie walk in and goes over to pour the milk into their hot chocolates. 

Rosie sits down tapping away at her phone.  

Kate sets the hot chocolate down at the table and takes a seat, taking a deep breath. 

Kate: Can I trust you? This is serious Rose.
180 degree rule used. Close up shot.

Rosie doesn't stop typing on her phone and just nods.
180 degree rule used. 

Kate sips on her hot chocolate and stares at Rosie until Rosie realises and then puts her phone down (5 seconds)
Camera left shoulder of Kate.

Kate: I'm going to need to move out, I've got some things going on. 

Rosie: Permanently? What kind of things? 

Kate stands up and walks to the other side of the kitchen with her hot chocolate. Walks back to the sink and pours her hot chocolate down the drain, making no eye contact with Rosie. 

Kate: I'm pregnant. 

Rosie sips on her hot chocolate and then smiles. 

Rosie: Thank you for trusting me, I won't tell anyone until you make the announcement. 

Rosie stands up and walks over to Kate and embraces her in a hug.  

180 Degree Rule & Practice Script

The 180 Degree rule whilst filming is used when 2 characters are in a scene, where they are seen to be having a conversation, where they maintain their left and right shoulders so that the camera has the ability to cross over.

Quick Script using 180 degree rule

Camera on the left side of Rebecca's shoulder

Emily: Did you see the look on her face when you approached her?

Camera changes to right side of Emily's shoulder

Rebecca: Of course I did, I was talking to her, she deserved the truth, right?

Camera changes to left side of Rebecca's shoulder

Emily: Yeah, I guess so...maybe you wasn't the person to tell her... 

Camera changes to right side of Emily's shoulder

Rebecca: Well, you if you thought it was such a bad idea you could have said before

Camera changes to left side of Rebecca's shoulder

Emily: Oh well, it's done now. I'm going to class. 

Emily walks off

*End of scene*

Analysis of Opening Sequence: The Godfather

Mise en scene 

The opening scene of The Godfather starts with a black screen which has an overplay of an instrumental piece of music. There is a title with the name of the film with the directors name. 12 seconds after the title disappears we begin to get a picture of a man sitting in a room, with only a black background with a light shining on the actors face. The use of this would help the audience capture the dialogue being used and also question where this man is.

Editing

There is not much use of editing within this scene, however there is the use of fade in, fade out. This may be used to go with the continuous instrumental playing at the beginning of the scene, he is telling narrating something that has happened so it is quite smooth.

Camera

There is no major camera use in this scene other than the close up of the actors face, which then slowly pans out so the audience can see what surrounds him and begin to ask questions, making them curious.

Sound

Within the clip a non-diegetic background music begins the scene right through to 0:21 when the actor first begins to use dialogue 'I believe in America...'

Audience Analysis on Pretty Little Liars.

Pretty Little Liars.

Plot: The series 'Pretty Little Liars' is based on a plot of five girls who are bestfriends, when one of them disappears and is later found dead, the remaining four begin to receive text messages from an anonymous person, signing A after each message, with secrets only Allison knows.   

Gender:  Female; I would say that Pretty Little Liars is aimed towards the female gender because the four main characters are females and it is looking at the show from a girls perspective.

Location: The show is based in a fictional town called Rosewood, Pennsylvania. It is recorded in America, the show has not only aired in America but various other countries too, such as England, Brazil, Australia and many others.

Job Titles: School students, most of the characters are aged 16-18.


Likes and Dislikes: Should enjoy watching drama mystery-thriller and enjoy being left with cliffhangers.
Audience/Age: Teens +14 through to adults. The programme is based on four teenage girls and it is a 'teen drama mystery-thriller' although it is based on teens because there is a mystery about it other age groups can get interested in the plot and continue to watch so find out then end result.