Friday, 27 February 2009

27th February: Planning for Filming- Yazzmin Ferguson,Nathan Lawrence,Dillon,Trisha Opolot,


Props- girl will be wearing her school uniform, mystery stalker dark clothes his face will not be seen.

Location/Setting- the filming will take place at school,in the car park,inside classrooms etc

Storyboard- some changes will have to be made to the storyborad

Opening sequence for thriller film,' Taken'.

1. Girl stands at gate waiting for her dad to pick her up.
2.Over the shoulder shot of the mystery stalker looking at her.
3.Her phone rings and she gets it out of her bag.
4.She sees a text from dad saying ' Sorry cant pick you up'
5.She walks back into school.
6.The suspect follows her.We can only see his shoes.
7.She thinks that she is being followed so she looks behind but nobody is there.
8.She walks and meets her friend and they begin to chat.
9.The suspect drops something.
10.The girl hears it and asks her friend whether she has heard the bang,but she says no.
11. CU shot of his shoes walking along.
12. The girl says bye to her friend.


Posted by at No comments:

Wednesday, 25 February 2009

Trisha Opolot- Wednesday 4th February

Gangster Conventions


A gangster film is very similar to a crime film. It involves various aspects of crime and the criminal justice system, and it is developed around the sinister actions of criminals or gangsters. Crime stories in this genre often highlight the life of a crime figure or a crime's victim. Or they glorify the rise and fall of a particular criminal, gang, bank robber, murderer or a rival gang.

Settings:
  • Dark locations
  • Busy cities
  • Urban Lifestyles
  • The Slums- 'living in poverty'
Narrative:
  • Action
  • Violence/murder
  • Rivalry between gangs
  • Comedy?
  • Foul language/slang
  • Money
  • Drugs
  • Weapons (guns,knives...)
Characters:
  • Gangs
  • Individual characters
  • Leader of group
  • Criminals/drug dealers
  • Gamblers
  • Victims (innocent or even involved in the crime)
  • Gangs from ethnic backgrounds
  • The young or old ?
Gangster Films:
  • Snatch
  • The Godfather
  • American Gangster
  • The Departed
  • Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
In our group (Trisha, Yazzmin and Nathan), we decided to analyse a gangster film called 'Snatch', and how this film contributes to the different gangster conventions.


From the opening scene of 'Snatch', there are many points that we can immediately tell that it's a gangster movie, such as:
  • The props: there are weapons such as hand guns which are used in the film to attack the rivals.
  • There are fighting skills as well to show that there is a lot of action.
  • The mise-en-scene starts off with a dark setting- which shows that there is something mysterious that is going to happen.
  • The group move around together as a gang- no one is alone, which shows that they are going to start trouble.
  • The music when fighting is very dramatic and also there are many sound effects such as throwing objects around and punching.
  • They unexpected Jewish folk music which turns into action- very unexpected.
From the credits and the characters of the film, we can immediately see that Guy Ritchie directed the film. This makes us to expect that it will be a very good and successful film. The sub genre of this gangster film would be a British gangster film. as the characters acting are British. Older teenagers and adults would be the audience for the film since the age certificate is '18



Different Film Genre Conventions

Comedy Conventions

A comedy film is a genre of a film, in which the main emphasis is based on humour. Also, films in this style typically have a happy ending. Comedy, puts more focus on individual stars, and while many comedic films are lighthearted stories with no intention other than to amuse, others contain political or social commentary.

There are many sub genres to comedy films. These include:
  • Romantic comedy which involves the development between a relationship between a man an woman, normally with a stereotypical plot. Some examples of romantic comedy films are, 'When Harry met Sally', 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' and 'Pretty Woman'. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MqPcOPIgRw
  • Action comedy films blend comic antics and action where film stars combine one-liners with a thrilling plot and a daring status. Some examples of action comedy films are, 'Hot Fuzz,' 'Beverly Hills Cop,' and 'Rush Hour.' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2q0UTE6swg
  • Comedy horror is a type of horror film in which the usual dark themes are treated with a humorous approach. These include films like. 'Scary Movie,' 'Little Shop of Horrors' and 'Dead Alive.' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cu8ynFSiuM6c














Posted by at No comments:

Friday, 6 February 2009

Friday 6th February 2009 - Yazzmin Ferguson-Dillon, Nathan Lawrence, Trisha Opolot

Treatment Questions

1. What are the conventions of your chosen genre?

2. Who is the target audience?

3. Give a brief outline of your main characters.

4. Give a brief outline of your opening sequence.

5. What settings are going to be required?

  1. The conventions of our chosen genre are as follows: dark, mysterious location-forest
  1. The target audience for this film will be for older teenagers and adults, usually between the ages of 16 and 25, although it would be suited for anyone who enjoys watching thriller or horror films.
  1. The main characters are a teenage girl and the mystery stalker.
  1. The teenage girl has finished her day at school and is sitting on a wall waiting to be picked up. She receives a text message from her dad saying that he is unable to pick her up. So she decides to walk to the bus stop, but takes a short cut through the forest. As she is walking along the road it begins to get darker. She senses that she is not alone and that someone is following her and looks around cautiously. She panics and begins to walk faster. We see the back of the mystery stalker who has been following her and who is hiding behind the bushes. Suddenly a hand is placed on the girl’s shoulder. She freezes and tries to run away but it is too late. Her mouth is covered but we can hear her screaming and squirming to try and save her life.
  2. The settings that will be required are: dark, eerie atmosphere – in the forest, this will establish the sense of suspense and mystery which fits into the conventions for a horror film.
Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, 5 February 2009

5th February 2009 - Yazzmin Ferguson-Dillon,Trisha Opolot,Nathan Lawrence

Main Task

Research and Planning

As a group we have decided that the genre for our opening sequence will be thriller, which is a sub genre of horror. In order for the opening sequence to be successful we will need to provide some research about the conventions for horror films.

This will enable us to create an exciting and imaginative opening sequence that will leave the audience in suspense and anticipation. Many of the conventions for horror films will be included in the opening sequence but not all of them.

Horror Thriller Conventions

Definition: A film which generates fear, suspense and excitement as a major aspect of its narrative. There are many other types of thriller sub genres such as: psychological, crime, action, drama, legal, medical and political.

Settings:

  • Dark,gloomy ,mysterious location
  • Forests,jungles,deserts

Narrative:

  • Complex story
  • Violence,death
  • Innocent victims,criminals

Characters:

  • Central villain
  • Ghosts,vampires,dracula,mummies,zombies.


Examples of horror thriller films are:


Posted by at No comments:

Wednesday, 4 February 2009

Wednesday 4th Febraury 2008 Yazzmin Ferguson-Dillon

RESEARCH OF DIFFERENT GENRES

In class, we looked at a variety of opening sequences showing different genres.The first opening sequence we looked at was taken from the DVD Seven (1995).

It is an American crime thriller starring Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt. It was easy to identify that this was a crime film within a few seconds of it starting. Many of the conventions of a crime film were included in this opening sequence so the audience would immediately be able to recognise which genre it fitted into.

Clip:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l31X8rKCtak

Opening sequence of Seven:

  • Dark setting- dull lighting in the kitchen,

  • He picks up his badge- we can tell that he is a policeman/detective,there is a pen knife

  • Beside it,we see a dead body lying on the floor-blood,

  • Costume-Morgan Freeman is wearing a 'detective' hat suit and jacket, Brad Pitt is wearing similar clothing-suit and tie.

  • The bad weather-raining and gloomy contributes to the crime thriller atmosphere

  • Close up shots of the criminal reveal that this film will have a sinister plot,

  • Flashing titles,quick cross cutting emphasises and creates suspense and tension.
We also looked at a variety of other opening sequences which genres included: comedy, sci-fi,war and horror. Our group were given the task of researching gangster conventions and finding a suitable opening sequence that would fit into the conventions for a gangster film. The film that we chose to analyse the opening sequence was Snatch.


The clips of the opening sequences that we watched are as follows:








I have decided to research the conventions of comedy films. Below, I have included examples of some comedy films and given a brief analysis for the opening sequence for the film AceVentura: Pet Detective.

Comedy Conventions

Definition: A type of film where humour is intended. There are many different sub genres of comedy which include romantic, action, fantasy, sci-fi and military.

Examples of sub genres in comedy films:

• Romantic comedies:


Bridget Jones’ Diary (2001)

• Action comedies:


• Fantasy comedies:



• Sci-fi :




Analysis of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective


The opening sequence that we looked at from the film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective was an example of an action comedy.It stars Jim Carey,an actor who we would usually associate in comedy films so the opening sequence is expected to generate laughter from the audience.

It begins with an extreme close up shot of his shoes walking along the pavement and the titles begin to show.The camera pans up from the feet upwards to show the body of the main characrer which is Jim Carey. His character is a delivery man and you can easily see this from his costume. He is wearing a brown uniform that has a badge above the left breast pocket Then some lively music starts to play and this contributes to the comedy.
The mise en scene shows a sunny location as there are plam trees and a bright yellow apartment block. The medium shot of Carey throwing a parcel in the air while walking down the road tells us that his character is not a serious one. The title of the movie appears after a long shot of Carey still walking along the pavement. The long shots show him doing cartwheels along the pavement and running the parcel along a wall clearly with the intention to destroy it. His behaviuor causes an elderly man to stare at him in bewilderment a cut a way shot reveals his shocked reaction.



Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Comments (Atom)