Mini-Plot - At the Start of the film a Young Adult named Charlie is sitting down at a table with a Demonic Book in front of him, the Character walks over to a kitchen draw and grabs a knife, he sits back down and lights the candles placed in front of him and stabs the book once done (This scene is set towards the end of the film in which it says at the end of the opening scene '24 hours before'). The Film is about a Young Adult called Charlie who finds a book outside his house one day and decides to read it, as he's reading the book he becomes lightheaded and wakes up not even knowing hes been possessed by the Demon named ÖHSINJA.
Character Micro
Description
Main Character -
Charlie
Aged between Seventeen/Eighteen, around average height,
Charlie is a Student wanting to go to university. He’s a very Ambitious character who has his eye set on what
he wants. he’s fairly brave however when it comes to clowns he becomes scared -
Coulrophobia (Fear of Clowns). He hates Horror Films but loves Adventures. If
he sees a challenge he will do all he can to try and reach for it.
Black Figure -
ÖHSINJA
Average Height, Covered in Black (Black Cloak, Hood,
Clothes). The Black Figure is the Possessed Demon from the Book that Charlie
opened later on in the film. The Black Figure has a secret name which only charlie
knows at the end of the film in order to survive (the end is the scene we see
at the start of the film but continued) His secret name is ‘شيطان’
- ‘ÖHSINJA’. شيطانis arabic for Demon. (Charlie is the only person who can see ÖHSINJA due to the fact the Demons spirit is inside him)
Opens with Two Children 'Hansel and Gretel' walking through a forest and come across a house made out of candy and sweets. The Children start eating the House until the house door opens leading the Children inside. As the Children enter the house the candles light up instantly - like magic 'relating to the Witch'. The Witch then emerges from the darkness like a solute - relating to a haunting spirit (Evil).
The Witch captures the children and places Hansel in a cage and Gretel working for her, Gretel is able to break out of her chains and stab the Witch with a nail and push her into the oven where she burns to death. Costume is important in this film as the film is set in the 19th century meaning that they need to be wearing old fashioned clothing. The Witch however looks a lot darker than how she is originally written in the fairytale itself, she is wearing a black, distorted dress like clothing with what looks like a goblin looking makeup effects to make her look scary and evil. Because this is a horror film it has to be dark so because they are walking through the forest in the dark, makes it very suspenseful to what might happen to them. The Lighting however in the house is a little bit lighter but a it still has a very scary atmosphere. The Editing in the scene is mainly used when
Gretel fights back and the Witch tries to kill her with her spells but it has no effect on her, the effect looks like a heat wave but with some green particles flowing towards Gretel. The effect isn't over the top as it has to be in some sense believable somehow as it is a mythical story so they have to try and aim for the expectation that myths are real. The Camera work such as Medium Shots and Close-Ups were used to help bring out the emotion/expression of the character - relating to Love, as it helps to make the character look more scared/worried. In the opening scene there is hardly any music as its a Horror film, them music generally tends to calm the audience down but because there isn't any music it makes the audience more scared and makes the scene more suspenseful. Sound Effects how ever were used in the opening scene E.g when the Witch emerges from the darkness and when the Witch uses her evil powers to attempt to kill Gretel etc.
World War Z - 2013
Opens with a Montage of clips (Like The Purge) but in this film it opens with happy looking footage of the sky, a beach, a city 'everyday things we can potentially see' but with suspicious/creepy music played in the background 'this is
the opposite in The Purge the Music is happy and the footage is violent and scary. Their is also an over layering of voice overs from News Broadcasts talking about this illness and about world issues involving health (the montage is the build up towards the present day 'the start of the release of the infection to the point where people are dying). The Soundtrack is building up from start 'Quiet' to end 'Loud and Vibrant' The music sounds like something you would hear in a TV show like Holby City or Casualty due to the fact its about human health and death. Costume wise there isn't
anything really significant about the opening in particular its just a montage of News Broadcasts and establishing shots. The Lighting at the start 'The Sunset' could symbolise the fact that bad things will happen because the light of the sun is often associated with Hope and Religion, the fact that the sun is setting could mean that the hope is slowly drifting away - not even the help of religion and god can help them. The editing in the Opening Credits is really good as it is basic but it stands out because of some mirror transitions and some shapes reflecting the image in the background
or blurring it out a bit, this helps it be less basic and more practical. Also the camera work is set out to be news because of the fact its News, the world has a threat and its trying to be resolved - people need to know about the Virus in order to try and keep themselves safe.
The Dark Knight - 2008 Opens with the Company Credits but with a twist. Normally 'Warner Bros' would stick to their original title screening with the company theme tune and normal CGI intro with bright colours but this opens without the Company Theme and without the bright colours.
Instead it opens with a Fade in - from black 'Transition' with a purple filter but no music is playing in the background not even the symphony soundtrack - this helps to build up the suspense in the scene at the start this continues even through the DC Comics title screen until an establishing shot of a city can be seen as the camera zooms into a building 'there is a very quiet ticking sound - like a clock 'relating to the thought of running out of time - time is of the essence' as the camera zooms into the building the ticking sound 'Diagetic sound' progressively gets louder until the framing changes to two guys in one of the rooms of the building, smashing the glass 'Glass Sound Effect is loud - Diagetic Sound'. The two guys then set up a grappling gun and fires it towards a roof top of another building 'The Bank' the ticking sound can still be heard in the background even when the frame changes to The Joker standing on the side of a street walk holding his mask in his hand - the mask is facing towards the camera, this makes us think about who the man is but we can already tell that he is the joker due to his purple suit in which he is wearing. The Joker then gets in the car in with two other guys already in the front seats, the soundtrack then builds up adding a synth layer on top of it. As the two guys who are zip lining towards another roof top a deep bass drum can be heard which helps make the scene suspenseful because they could fall - its very dangerous plus it helps to tell us that they are dangerous. The Joker arrives at the bank and the two other guys fire bullets into the air - the music progresses and becomes more vibrant and suspenseful. As the other guys reach the safe the music calms down a little bit focusing more on the ticking as the hostages in the bank are all holding grenades - Relating to the ticking sound. One of the Bank Workers doesn't get caught and has a shotgun, he then takes a stand and tries to shoot The Joker in with makes the music a lot harder and brighter - like a hero is trying to help. The music corresponds to
the hostages and bank workers really as the ticking signifies the grenades and the bright, vibrant sound responds to the hero. The music starts to get stronger as the drilling machine on the safe breaks and the worker is walking towards The Joker firing his shotgun, this is like the bank is fighting back and the villains are slightly falling. The Joker then shoots the Bank Worker making the music quieten down a bit. The Music stays the same up until the Bus Crashes into the bank - Diagetic Sound. The Costumes in the scene are very relatable to the comics as the fact that all the villains in the scene are all wearing clown masks makes there identity secret but its ironic because they all work for The Joker yet The Joker is working with them, this is his plan because at the end he is the last one standing with all the money and as he reveals himself (Takes off the mask) this makes him the leader of many villains. The Make-up in the scene is not cheesy what so ever, the make-up for The Joker makes it look like he's been wearing it for a very long time - due to the distortion of the paint and the sweat marks on his face making his red mouth pain sync with his white paint. The Lighting in the scene is like an everyday city which is what makes the scene realistic. Even tho the joker is a clown villain, the story is very believable. The Lighting makes the City look Perfect meaning that this could happen to anytime, anywhere. The Editing in the opening scene is very good and is quite strong, because when The Joker is in the car with the other two criminals with clown masks on they are talking about The Joker - they unfocused The Joker in the background, this made him blurry and not very visible but you can still make out that he is there in the back of the car. The Purge - 2013
Opens with a deep orchestral soundtrack (making the scene suspenseful) with text fading in and out. The text says 'America, 2020, Unemployment is at 1%, Crime is at an all-time low, Violence barely exists, with one exception...' it then fades out and a quote appears on the screen saying 'Blessed be the New Founding Fathers for letting us Purge and cleanse our souls, Blessed be America, a nation reborn' it also then fades out but the deep
orchestral track fades out and happy, early morning music is then played over a montage of what happens during the Purge, but the music starts to get darker (more emotional) the happy music played over a montage of death could symbolise the fact that America in 2020 is proud of this day which occurs ever year and that it helps to bring piece to the nation yet its the worst thing to do. They are a nation who wants nothing more than piece, the purge is a way to let criminals and evil people get the anger off there chests but the irony about it all is that some people do it for fun which could tell us that its really just an act of childishness (America can afford it basically) the happy music can also symbolise the innocence about it all as even innocent people who try and cower away from the purge still get killed even though they are hiding, the music could be a tribute for the dead. When M-E-S comes into play the costumes used are very dark yet normal, they are basically men wearing jackets, tracksuits and costumes 'this includes masks and weapons'. they are meant to be dark and in
some sense scary due to the fact this film is about death and horror, they are basic costumes because of the fact that the murderers are potentially normal everyday citizens of America - anyone can be a killer even if they look innocent. The lighting in the scene isn't really normal due to the fact its filmed at night time however we can talk about editing as well because the camera lens filters are like thermal
The Editing in the film is very good especially with the transitions at the start of the film with the CCTV Camera montage of footage shot during previous Purges since its started. Its like a time line of events building up to what could happen this year in the Purge. The Camera work is set out like a CCTV Camera like I said before as it kind of tells us that even shots wouldn't be taken on foot as the Purge is too dangerous, the Camera Crew are trying to keep it fairly realistic and use CCTV as there camera feed.
I gave you feedback a while ago Ben, but don't really feel you have acted upon it. Could you please ensure that you tackle the changes I have suggested and then reply to this feedback letting me know what you have done. Thanks
Film Opening feedback: There is loads of detail and a clear understanding of the influences/conventions of your genre. Your ideas are in keeping with the genre. However there is far too much detail for an opening of a film, look back at the film openings you have studies, and watch some more. How many scenes does there tend to be? how much of the narrative is revealed? how much of the character is built up? How much of the stting is established? Do you think your ideas fit in with this? THey seem to be whole film ideas rather than just the opening.
Have a look again, you do need whole film ideas, but you also need to be clear about where the opening you are making will end.
Analysis of film openings feedback: You have made an excellent start Ben - using lots of media language and often discussing the meaning of the elements you have picked out. You have also thought about conventions of the genre and linked them to the elements you have picked out. I would like ot see a little more detail however (make sure you cover Sound/mise en scene/ editing and camera movement/framing etc) Your work is currently on a level 3 but in order to improve you should:
Use your Foundation Portfolio Booklet to ensure that all posts have the correct title, and make sure they are in a similar order.
You are marked on grammar and punctuation etc, check through your work for this, including capital letters for "I" proper nouns etc.
Break up your work with JPEG images throughout you analysis (stills from the film) and a video of the opening sequence in order to illustrate your analysis (make then relevent to what you are talking about throughout)
Ensure your work it titled appropriately - put the genres together in separate posts (one post for each genre - two films for each genre!)
Think about the questions below, ensure you are addressingall of them.
Study the opening sequences of any film from the Thriller, Horror, and Romantic comedy genre. E.g. Seven, The Dark Knight Rises, Halloween, Notting Hill, Love Actually etc. Analyse how the sequence has been constructed through its use of: Camera angles, shots, movement, Editing, Sound, Special effects and Mise-en-scene etc.
·In terms of editing how have the separate images been put together - Think in terms of frequency of cuts, fades in/out, jump cuts, dissolves etc.
What visual images appear on screen throughout the sequence? And what do they mean?
·Describe what narrative (story) is being displayed in the sequence from start to finish.
·Describe what kind of music; diegetic/non-diegetic/incidental/ambient etc. is being played over the sequence.
·How and what titles are being displayed during the sequence and in what order.
·What kind of characterisation is evident? - Age, gender, relationships etc.
A man with a bloody scar/cut on his face is running away from something by a canal. The man stops running and looks in horror as the camera Is away from him and a black figure with a cloak can be seen on the left side of the frame. The man repeatedly shouts “Stay Away From Me!” 3 times (Last time he shouts it – “STAY AWAY FROM ME!” screen cuts black with bold distorted text ’12 Hours Earlier’. The frame fades in ‘from black’ and a man can be seen riding a bike through his local town until he falls off his bike and a bag containing an item can be seen from a distance, the man stares at the bag and he hear his name being whispered. He walks over to the man (Foot shot of his feet walking over to the bag – link to later in the video) he picks up the bag and unravels a book (has mystical writing on the cover – looks burnt ‘link to hell’) containing what he thought was an old Latin book (Dead Language) he sits down on a curb and opens the book, he looks through the pages then puts the book down he pulls his phone out of his pocket and starts texting someone “Found this Weird book on the streets, what should I do?” he gets a reply from his friend saying “Read It” (the camera focuses on his phone then the camera focuses on the book) the book opens by itself and turns to a page in the book the man starts reading the book and he can understand it. As he’s reading out the words on the page his voice gets quieter and quieter until his voice changes into an evil sound –scary kind of like Gollum from Lord of the Rings (the camera looks at the book ‘close up’ then the camera tilts up to his face and his eyes are turning pail, Extreme Close-up on his mouth saying the enchantment then the frame changes to his right eye which is closed then he quickly opens it and its white ‘no pupil’ the screen turns black with an echo of a screaming girl). ‘Fade-In’ the man wakes up on the street and its dark ‘Night-time’ he’s walking through the streets and you can see frost come out of his mouth ‘cold – frost breath’ he continues walking until he stumbles ‘collapses in pain’ he pulls himself back up and holds his wrist (the man is starting to freak out) he turns his hand over (camera can view palm) and as he opens his hand and bright light ’Red’ bursts out of his hand with a loud scream, he immediately closes his hand then re opens it and its gone. The sound of a creepy music box is heard ‘echo’ the man turns around (over the shoulder shot and an old fashioned push chair wheels into frame and stops - music stops) the sound of heavy breathing can be heard with a faint heart beat in the background. A shot of the man’s feet is in frame and as he starts slowly walking towards the push chair the music starts playing again (heavy breathing and heartbeat can still be heard – heart beat starts to get louder) he is within centimetres away the push chair and he places his hand on the push chair and the music stops ‘echo’ a P-O-V shot is shown as he looks into the push chair (Push Chair is Empty) but as he pulls himself up a dark black figure (ghost/spirit/demon) can be seen then is cuts out (black screen) shot of shoulder is in frame and a grey hand with claw fingernails is placed on the man’s shoulder then he pulls the man to look at his face and its screaming at him – cut to black screen ‘mini montage of what’s to come in the film –evil laughing in the background ‘echoes’ – show title screen’ (end – credits)
Tick Took - Thriller/Action
‘Fade in’ Cyclist eating a Subway on a bench (Bike is clearly seen on the floor) gets a text on his phone ‘over the shoulder shot’ as man reads the text “Package to be delivered with extreme caution (carefully) Do not open the Package – Don’t disappoint me – Alan” (Shot of man looking at bag on bench ‘focus from his face to bag’). Man picks up bag and starts cycling to the location. As he is cycling he falls off a curb ‘man falls off bike – bag gets damaged’ he pulls himself up rubs his wounds better and goes to pick up bag until he hears Beeping ‘coming from the bag’ he picks up the bag, pulls out the package (beeping is clearly heard) and opens it up carefully ‘bomb with a timer on the front of it is shown in the frame’ man puts it carefully back into the bag and puts it down, he then pulls out his phone and calls his boss ‘Alan’. The man starts questioning him and Alan threatens him on the phone saying that if he doesn’t do as he says then he will die (Alan has the detonator). The man calms Alan down and tries to think, Alan reminds him to go to the location but the man has other ideas (the man runs away – with the bomb) – Alan can’t detonate the bomb as he needs it. The Boss orders his men to eliminate the man and retrieve the bomb from him (the bike/bomb has a tracker on it too pin point the man’s location). The man finds himself by a river stream he pulls the bomb out of the bag and looks at the timer (as its been activated the time is going down) the man is about to throw the bomb into the stream when 4 of the boss’s men find him holding guns to him, the man runs for cover and shouts “thought you were men? Then fight like one” the men all put their guns in their holsters and charge toward the man and start fighting (action sequence) ‘Defeats first Man and takes his gun (shoots 2 more men) thinks that’s all of them but he turns around and another man has a gun pointed to his head (man #4 asks for the bomb) the man pulls the bomb out of his bag and goes to hand it to him but he strikes his hand (knocks the gun out of his hand – in which the man is able to pull the gun from behind his back and knock him out with it ‘doesn’t shoot him’ the man get the trackers off the bike and throws it into the stream (the man can track him as it disappears – he thinks he’s dead) Alan tries to call his men to ask for a status update but can’t get hold of him. His phone rings and it’s the man – Alan looks in Anger/Horror, the man says to him “Hello Alan, it’s me. I’d watch your back if I were you. Nice party you sent me it’s a shame they couldn’t stay till the end to find out what happens to you. I’m coming for you” – puts the phone down on him/hangs up ‘Alan is scared’ – Fade to Black (Title Screen – mini Montage of what’s still to come in the film) Credits.
Love Actually - 2003 opens with a montage of families and friends greeting incoming passengers who have just arrived back in the UK at Heathrow Airport. The People in the framing can clearly be seen hugging and kissing one and other (Boyfriend kissing Girlfriend, Mother kissing Daughter, Sister kissing Sister etc) this was done to embrace the feeling of love into the film even within the first 30 seconds of the introduction. The reason why an Airport was used in the film was because the film is set in December 'Christmas Time' - as families try and rush home to be with their families at Christmas, this helps to show the passion of love at the time. Also an Airport was also used as people from all around the world come to airports in different countries all the time, this tells us that Christmas is a time where everyone no matter what race, religion or country you are from come together at this wonderful time of the year and celebrate Christmas and Love together. When talking about M-E-S Costume is a nice piece to talk about as the people in the scene can clearly be seen wearing reasonably nice colours 'Blue, Green, Red, Brown, Black Etc', also at the very start of the scene (when it fades in from black) you can clearly see a couple wearing a thick jacket - relating to the fact that its cold and snowing outside, they are wearing it to keep themselves warm.
As they are inside an airport the lighting is very Bright but some lens filters may have been used to make the contrast of the scene stand out a little bit more than originally filmed. The Camera angles used are very basic 'Close-Up's, Medium Shot's, Pan's Etc' these shots were used because you can really see the emotion of the characters in the frame when its closer to their face, where as if you used a long shot all you would really see is someone kissing someone or hugging someone without really seeing any emotion. In this scene you can see Female characters crying with joy, smiling, laughing and mainly kiss - to show how love is in the air, Some Editing was used such as some Time Lapse Effects and some added zoom but the zoom would really come from the camera itself. Time Lapse/Slow Motion was used to show the emotion of the character in a bit more detail (as its in slow motion it can bring out the feeling of the character - 'when I saw him it was like time slowed down - linking to the feeling of love and happiness'. The Text edit is very basic with nothing really fancy as the editors want the audience to focus more on what is happening in the scene as its important (towards the end of the film)
Hitch - 2005
opens with men looking at certain women (someone they potentially like/fancy) in some sense the scene was like the men were dreaming about the girl as the way they gaze towards her is like they are dreaming. Then the main Character Hitch can clearly be seen as he enters the frame after one of the girls collects her mail from her locker and he pretends to get his - but he doesn't actually live there. Hitch then starts explaining how to get the girl your Love Actually because they are both love film meaning you have to capture the emotion/expression of the characters on camera in order to gain success in that particular Genre, meaning a fair few Medium shots/Close-Ups were used but also a few long shots/establishing shots (the Establishing shots were mainly used at the very start of the film to inform the audience where the film is set in this case New York). Long shots were used when developing the characters body language to build up the atmosphere (because Hitch is telling us 'The Audience' the simple steps for finding love - directing us to success). interested in 'Step by Step' (The girl 'The Target' is holding a dog, Hitch then pulls a Dog 'Different Gender' out of his bag which attracts the girls dog attention making the Dog run out of the lift as the door closes with the girl left inside it trying to get out so she can get her dog, Hitch then collects the girls Dog and hands it to the man in which he lays on the floor in front of a New York Taxi making the girl believe he saved her dog, causing her to become attracted to him asking him out on a date to return the favour). Costume is very clear and basic but in some sense perfect as all the men are dressed up in work clothing making this film a believable story - this can happen to anyone. The music layered over the top of Will Smith's - Hitch Narration is Non-Diagetic as the character can't hear it in the scene its what the audience can hear, an example of Diagetic sounds would be at the start of the open in scene when the alarm clock goes off, This is Diagetic as its what the Character can hear in the scene - its not layered/edited in. The Narration is both Non-Diagetic sound and Diagetic sound because at the start it has already been recorded Via a Microphone and layered into the scene until Hitch enters the scene - that's when it changes. The Lighting is Bright and Sunny to emphasise the fact that its a perfect day - relating to the thought that perfect things will happen today. An Added minor Glow Transition is used to again relate to the feeling of love - like the character is dreaming. Editing wise the Text is quite fluent and traditional when relating to a romantic film as if the text was plain and boring it wouldn't help set the scene really. Added fade in/out transitions were used on the text to make it soft and smoother plus the text animation makes it look better as it makes it stand out more (the text emerges from a line - underlining). The Camera movement is similar to
