Updates

I have been struggling with uploading things onto facebook and my blog recently due to problems with the internet. A member of my group has been absent and has been difficult to keep up with the workload.
Despite having set up the Audience research group, I have not received as many comments as I would have liked. I still need to post on the audience research group of 3 to 5 people and get their feedback from the moodboard.

Film Openings- Genre Specific Analysis

The film ‘Sin City’ (2005) is established as a neo-noir film as it uses similar conventions of black and white, dramatic lighting to create a serious, almost menacing tone.  The non diegetic slow jazz music is alike to that of the 1940’s, revealing that the female character is seen as a sexual object as well as that she can be perceived as dangerous. The scene starts with an exposition voice over which is common to film noirs, when the hero reveals to the audience his thoughts and hints at his character development; ‘she shivers in the wind like the last leaf on a dying tree’. The speech is said over the events of the scene, which again is seen throughout Film Noirs like D.O.A in 1950 that aid the audience into what the story is about and how it is told. A similar speech pattern is used to that in the 1940’s complete with pauses in the dialogue that fit the scene to add dramatic effect.

   We also learn that the film is set in the city or urban environment as the wide angle long shot of the woman walking towards and standing on the balcony shows her looking out to a city landscape. The use of Barthes Enigma code is also used to intrigue the audience as we are restricted as we hear the thoughts of the man, not the woman. The audience asks questions such as: Who is the man? What is the woman afraid of? Why did he kill her if he said that he loved her?

    The woman in the scene is portrayed as a typical ‘femme fetale’ as she is attractive connoted by her revealing dress, but looks slightly dangerous to the man as the over the shoulder shot shows her turning away from the man. The mise en scene of the cigarettes they both smoke again reinforces a film noir feel to the opening as the cigarettes were frequently used to add a sense of mystery, created by the wisps of smoke shown by the close ups of the woman whilst she smokes and a shot of their hands as he offers her a cigarette. 

    Another element of film noir used in the opening is pathetic fallacy, in which the weather is used to reflect the mood and heighten the drama as the two characters kiss. This creates a feeling that something will happen that will startle the audience or seem gloomy, as rain is commonly associated with sad events. The female is then shot which hints at a theme of violence and crime as the male character murders the woman with a silenced weapon. This also connotes that the male is more powerful than her as the scene ends with a high angle shot that zooms away as he cradles her in the rain. He is also a figure of power connoted by his suit. Men in Film Noirs were commonly shown in suits to show them as attractive and powerful as suits remind the audience of a high paid or respected job of that of a business man or detective. Contrastingly woman are always shown wearing a dress, connoting their femininity and perhaps they’re weakness as a sex. This is shown by the close up of the woman’s face and she hold tightly to the man after they kiss. This highlights her scared emotion and her need to be protected or saved.

    After this short scene, the titles begin of which they are animated pictures like from the original graphic novel the movie was based off. They look similar to comic books as the writing and drawings show. This connotes a further edgier feel to the film as both animation and film clips are used.

 

    Similarly the film D.O.A (1950) is has restricted narration as the audience follows the story of the man we later learn named Frank. During the titles we follow the unnamed character through what seems to be a police station. Until he sits down and reports a murder, we only see the back of his head which engages the audience in finding out who the character is and why we are limited into not seeing his face. This creates a sense of mystery and hints that of Film Noir elements as plotlines revolve around the police and crime as he reports his own murder.

   The use of unnatural lighting creates shadows in the head of homicides office again reinforcing its ‘Noir’ and dark/sinister feel. Unlike ‘Sin City’, there is no exposition and the story is told in a different way.  It uses Barthes Enigma code to raise questions as the character Frank retells a story of what has happened to him over the past week.  The mise en scene of the characters costumes of suits and the 1950’s furniture/objects further add to the ‘Film Noir’ feel.

    The titles are integrated into the scene where the man is walking through the police station, that mainly take up most of the screen but so that you can see some of the action moving behind. The titles then fade out when the character find the door stating 'homicide division'. I like the idea of having titles integrated into the action but would prefer it alot more subtly, less like DOA.

Audience Research: Demographic and Psychographic Profiling

Demographic: This uses the socio-economic scale basing people of their status in soceity as certain films would appear to certain audiences.


Psychographic: This is a better way of determining the audience as it is split up into groups according to how they think.


Age: 16- early 20's


Gender: Mixed (male and female)


Ideally we would like appeal to a wide range audience of a similar age to ourselves (16-19, perhaps early 20's) who are creative and indiviual people as film noir is often though as movies for 'arty' people, rather than being a main stream kind of film genre.  Therefore I aim for our Audience to to be Indivualists (Psychographic) who like to stand out from the crowd and think for themselves rather than mainstreamers who don't like to be different.


I think that the series 'Dexter' is aimed at quite sophiscated people and Individulists where as a show like 'Strictly come Dancing' and 'Eastenders' are made to entertain a wide audience, and therefore Mainstreamers. The opening to 'Dexter' is both clever as it sets up and enigma code and creative by using Film Noir elements. It uses juxtaposition with with the morning routine, a concept which perhaps most people wouldn't get.

I also therefore aim to an audience of the social grades B to C1 (Demographic) who are deemed as intelligent and have the less liklihood of fitting into the other Psychographic groupings remaining like Traditionalists, Hedonists and Rebels.

What are the Key Conventions of Film Noir?

This combined with the words and pictures from my moodboard are my impressions of Film Noir by looking at a number of openings of films and clips from the films of the genre. Such as:

-Double Idemnity (1944)
-Brick (a modern neo-noir film)
-Sin City
-Inner Sanctum (1948)
-Postman always rings twice (1947)


I did however have Ideas left on my Brainstorm from Film Noir that I didn't add to my moodboard:
I used Prezi to assemble Ideas as I didn't have Photoshop at the time.




Film Noir is a style of film making influenced by the great depression and the massive amounts of European film makers who moved to America during the Second World War to escape Hitler. This helps define why the movies are slightly dark and perhaps more simply not a typical 'happy' style of film.


Minimal lighting was essential to create a dramatic look and a high contrast imagewhich was common in Film Noirs. This along with the eerieness of each scene as they used pathetic fallacy (where the weather reflects the setting/story) such as fog or mist, interesting camera angles: trying out differnt lenses, high and low angle shots, moving from object to object to create tension in the audience. The lighting is also used to portray characters differently. Eg. If they are the heroes or if they are villains.

Another aspect of lighting was to place the light behind the subject to silhouette. This fits in with Barthe's Enigma theory as the audience questions who the person is. Acentuating the eyes with light was used to convey emotion and mental state of the character. Shadows are said to be the film makers best friend when creating a 'Film Noir'.

Genre Mood Board

This is my mood board of Film Noir of photos, screenshots from films and various words that I included from a Brainstorm I made for Film Noir.

I Created this using Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator which I then posted onto the social networking site Facebook in order to gain knowledge from and audience into their views of the film noir genre.

I will include an update post of feedback I have got in due course.

First Ideas

I really liked the opening to the series 'Dexter' as it had elements of FILM NOIR as well as using Barthe's Enigma code subtly to intrigue the audience into thinking about the character and re- contextualising the way the audience look at the mundane or normal day life, such as the morning routine.


I would like to do something similar that is creative, that would hopefully appeal to a higher social grade of demographic (B-C1) and those who want to stand or are slightly different like INDIVIDUALISTS.


Potentially I would use aspects of Film Noir and combine this with subtle Engima Codes. I will need to research further into the key conventions into Film Noir to get a feel for the movies and see how they are constructed by the uses of narrations and narratives.

From Script to Screen: Dexter

How does the credit sequence from Dexter work?

Where did the creative ideas come from?

The Creative director , ‘Eric Anderson’ , saw the letter forms in DEXTER look almost identical right side up as well as upside down. Crime scene photography also played a key role in the context of the creative ideas as it showed the mundane or normal everyday things to be sinister, recontextualising how the audience view the ordinary or everyday things such as the morning routine.
Eric Anderson wanted to examine the way an audience looked at everyday things:


"Everything, no matter how mundane or beautiful, has an undercurrent of violence to it. It is just a matter of how closely you look. We are conditioned to see a blossoming flower as beautiful. But if you look closely, if you look differently you will see it more like an explosion. Here we see a mundane morning routine illustrated in extreme close-ups showing the underlying tension found in everyday situations making violence a part of everything"

How did they fit in with the concept of the character of Dexter?

This fits with the concept of the character Dexter as on the whole he looks normal, but really there is something slightly wrong, such as the letter forms of 'DEXTER', the ‘T’ and the ‘R’ which are upside down. Much like his character, on the outside or to soceity he seems normal/acts normal when  secretly he is a serial killer. The use of jump cuts also emphasise the sense that there is something wrong with him as the jump cuts make his routine seem even more sinister. This raises questions and sets an 'enigma code' in which the audience are intrigued to find out more.

How did the actual sequence communicate this meaning about Dexter?


The mise-en-scene of ordinary things that can be seen as violent enhances the audiences understanding that although things may look normal, they have a darker meaning. The morning routine certainly shows this as the simple act of making breakfast, becomes disturbing by the use of close-ups on the food and the knives that are used in preparation of it. The Orange especially does this as it looks like a normal orange, but however when it is cut into, it is red inside which connotes that ‘Dexter’ will be far from ordinary television program and subtly gives indications into of the unusualness of the character Dexter.

How did the use of noir lighting and shallow depth of field add to the atmosphere of the piece?

The shallow depth of field helps to add atmosphere as if you normally look at things you are conditioned to see them as beautiful, where as if you look closely, shown by the extreme macro close up shots of his routine such as his face, you think it is almost grotesque and out of the ordinary as it is a different way to look at something. The creative director was aiming for what he called ‘unpolished grittiness’.

 Noir films portrayed a more dark side about urban life filled with crime, mystery and often a horror feel. In ‘Dexter’, noir lighting was used to enhance the feel that underneath the character surface, that there is something dark about him.
One of the key aspectss of film noir is the lighting which gives a a crisp and precise image and figures outlines in the darkness. Shadow was extremely important to create a certain mood, like in the opening sequence of ‘Dexter’.


How did the choice of music anchor the meaning of Dexter, why was it chosen over the Xploding Plastix track?


Crime Scene Photography: 
The window where Martin Luther King was shot from.
Because we know that he was assassinated from this point,
it seems a lot more sinister



The undercurrent violence that Anderson wanted was meant to represent Dexter, whilst the Xploding Plastix track wasn’t liked by the creators of the show as it seemed too violent and didn’t fit Andersons concept. The second track however gave the audience a playful view of the character Dexter as well allowing them to imagine how normal things can be perceived as violent and at the same time humorous. The first track didn’t work as it came over as too strong of being violent and not the concept that everything mundane can be seen as sinister if you look at it closely



Cutting meat or fish seems like an ordinary task but if you look closely it seems almost violent and disgusting.



Juno Analysis

1.    Change from normal filming to animated sequence connotes its uniqueness and perhaps a theme of change throughout the film. The combination of both the hand drawn element and the actual footage conveys a sense that the film will be different to most films as the title sequence shows creativity and flair rather than high budget films that contain special effects and computer generated animations. The film starts off with a quirky kind of folk song by a child balladeer Barry Louis Polisar about love; ‘If I was a flower growing wild and free,

all I'd want is you to be my sweet honey bee’. This gives a sense that she is an innocent character as well as establishing a genre of love in the movie and that ‘Juno’ is a feel good movie.

2.    The hand drawn connotes a sense of childishness or boredom as they are almost doodle like pictures. The wide angle long shot could also connote the characters emotion of feeling alone or in fact her innocence as she is seen doing childish acts such as balancing on the pavement. This is denoted as unlike the rest of the sequence, she isn’t hand drawn. This also could connote of how much she sticks out from the rest of the setting and is perhaps an oddball character.

3.    The audience expect the main character Juno to have a simple outlook on life or perhaps lead a pleasant life as the drawings seem childish being drawn on graph paper and coloured in with primary colours that are associated with childhood like green, yellow and blue. This is further reinforced as throughout the sequence we see that the names of people involved in the film are coloured in with a felt tip pen. It also could connote her carefree attitude as she strolls through the title sequence and doesn’t seem to be reacting to the multiple changes of setting and pictures. 

4.     Her character seems to be detached from the real world as the rest of her surrounding are not only childish but dream like. This perhaps connotes a sense that she acts young and is not really aware of adult like issues. The film could be seen as (from this point) about the characters change of outlook on life as she currently views the world as it she is a child. The mise-en-scene of the juice bottle also reminds the audience of a childlike nature as juice is predominantly a child’s drink.

5. In some shots similar to this it only shows the bottom of her jeans and her shoes. This is a timeless unisex teenage outfit that indicates that she is a bit of a tomboy, rather than a pretentious typical American, preppy teenage girl. This gives the impression that the film has genres of teen drama of ordinary teenage life in America (setting of a dull town in America shown by Mise-en-scene of joggers with American sportswear) and coming of age. This also shows how she is different from the rest as she is not part of the group of joggers we see during the opening sequence. A theme of isolation is also present as she is given the most screen time. This shot seems quirky as shots of feet are not usually seen in most movies. This gives the audience an expectation that the film itself will be different from most mainstream or Hollywood movies and an indie or low budget aesthetic of the film. We also learn of the time of year is autumn as we see leaves falling. This shot also gives a theme of change as during the season of Autumn, everything changes.

What Are the Key Conventions of an Opening Sequence?

What is the point of an opening sequence?

The opening sequence of the film is supposed to engage the audience and interest them in the film as well as presenting what the story is about, themes, the genres (E.g. Action, Romance, Western etc.) and perhaps giving the audience and insight into character development. 

What are the titles supposed to do?

The title sequence is supposed to set up a narrative for the audience to follow. This can be done in a number of ways by using the  key conventions of an opening sequence. They are also there to give the audience information about the film such as producers and companies, directors and actors that give the audience an insight as they can almost predict what is going to happen.

What are the key conventions of an Opening Sequence?
here is a link to a presentation I made using the website Prezi in order to show what the key conventions of an opening sequence were.

What Opening Sequences Have I studied? and, How are they good examples of the Key Conventions? Examples:

Kick Ass-

• exposition title sequence of a voiceover telling the audience
• use of ellipsis between time his mother died and months afterwards- nothing had changed at all.
• we learn that it is a superhero movie from the opening shots of flying through the sky as well as the use of a comic book style box at the top of the screen saying '..six months earlier'

Juno-

• we learn that she is an average yet quirky teenager connoted by the use of folky non diegetic music. The song is also about love which gives an indication that romance is one of the genres along with comedy.
• the audience learn of the character Juno who lives in a kind of childish dream world and does not deal with adult issues. This is connoted by the hand drawn element and coloured in pictures. This also reveals another theme of coming of age/ Teen Drama
• It is a perhaps a low budget film because of the handrawn element rather than the use of special effects.
• a state of equilibrium is created as well as setting time and place of an American town during Autumn as we see leaves fall and people wearing American Sportswear.

Napoleon Dynamite-

• there is an Indie Asthetic as the titles or producers, directors, actors etc are hand done on plates, paper and other objects. This also connotes a quirky comedy genre.
• a song is used which is whimsical and odd which indicates the kinds of characters within the film and reveals a childlike nature through this as well the the pictures/titles.

London to Brighton-

• Use of Barthes Enigma- Who is Derrick? What happened to that womans eye?
• it is also a restricted narration as it follows the one woman and the audience learn a limited amount of information

 

Main Task

 I need to create an original title sequence and opening of a fiction film that will last a maximum of two minutes.

I have to research and plan my title sequence and opening by looking at and analysing other openings of films to help my understanding of how title sequences work and what title sequences do.

Deadlines in which I have to do this by:

Research Deadline: 01/12/10

Photo-storyboard Deadline: 03/12/10

Filming Deadline: 04/01/11

Production Deadline: 28/01/11

Evaluation Deadline: 11/02/11