Podcast 2 How our animatic relates to conventions

Assessment Criteria

G321 - Simplified Marking Criteria as 1 Sheet

General Codes and Conventions of Film Openings

A film always begins with the production company logo's sometimes this is altered to fit the genre and narrative of the movie. The opening credits begin with the principle stars the director and the producer either in typography that suits the narrative or as mise en scene. The sound often bridges over as we see a black screen first followed by the begging shot this polysemy creates narrative enigma. Exposition is provided either by typography, voice over, mise en scene or dialogue. However shots are often varied with short takes that are to create narrative enigma and draw the consumer in. We normally see the pr polysemic protagonist first and are lead into the equilibrium and hinted the disequilibrium. The transitions are normaly cross fades and slow if the genre is Rom Com for example and the music is slow. But for an action film or horror the music has a fast pace and the takes are short cuts. The openings often include an intertextual reference and iconographic genre codes so the audience can connote the preffered reading. Sometimes the narrative can be non linear and begin with the disequilibrium. Often larger budget films try to appeal to a wider audience by making a hybrid genre of film to include crossover appeal for example romance appeals to girls and action apeals to boys a film would include both. While lower budget films cannot afford to market and distribute their product to the masses.

Todorov and Propp

This film was to explore the theories of Todorov and Propp however since this was our second shoot we eventually did three for technical reasons and then took a lesson to save it and import it on the right program to edit it. We eventually only edited it within 10 minutes hence it's quit rough. We were trying to apply a story that began with an equilibrium a problem and a new equilibrium. Our beginning equilibrium was not well enough established but our problem was the hypnotist charming the girl and our new equilibrium was when the hypnotist was dead and the false hero had taken credit for saving the princess but the princess was saved things weren't quite the same. As for Propps theory we had the princess as the girl being hypnotised, the villain was me with the bracelet or magic heart, the hero was Dom who took the magic heart the magic object was the mirror the dispatcher and donor Mary gives and the magic heart the mother was lucy and the false hero was Steph who takes the magic object and claims victory to the mother. The mirror could have been made clearer maybe a close up to show it as a magic object. We showed narrative enigma by showing the dead body at the end and not resolving the situation making the audience contemplate what the preferred reading might be and enthralling them. We added dialogue and sound to anchor the signifies to navigate the audience to a preferred reading although text adds might have done this better and music. We had the binary opposites of male and female, powerful and not powerful, accompanied and lonely with the representation of youth, gender, heterosexuality and disability in the princess in ability to have free will when hypnotized.

Gothic Horror

Interview with a Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles by Neil Jordon 1995 [IMDB]

• It had a budget of $6o million
• It begins with the audio bridge of a child choir singing quite high pitch and slow to create tension
• The camera pans round a bridge then zooms into a city then pans down to a street getting closer to the setting of the film
• It is night which signifies horror
• There is a slowly tracking long shot through a street in America
• The street is modern which juxtaposes and contrasts the gothic old fashioned music
• There is a man waving his arms around who looks homeless signified by his shabby coat and clothing this is a stereotypical representation of the working classes and is similar to the mob in Van Helsing therefore using intertextual references provides anchorage as to the genre of the text and leads us into the preferred reading that the narrative has something to do with Satan.
• The mise en scene along with the choir provide exposition although there is a lot of polysemy to create narrative enigma
• The typography is sans which signifies that this is like a documentary
• As we track up to a normal building the camera pans up to a low angle shot of the building
• Like in "RocknRolla" we only see the back of the villain the vampire's head to create polysemy therefore narrative enigma
• There is the binary opposites of the modern and weak journalist and the powerful and old fashioned vampire
• The journalist is siginfied by his dakr thick glasses frames which also signify he is a geek, the scruffy shirt and braces and the typewriter
• The opening minutes conatin little shot variation which I shouldn't do.

The Phantom of the Opera by Terence Fisher 1962 [IMDB]

• There have been many versions of this narrative
• This film did badly at the box office figure not available
• It is based on a novel and isn't highly regarded because it doesn't appeal to as wider audience because there is no romance between the protagonist the Phantom and his lover Christine
• This film comes after the introduction censorship hence there is no blood, violence, cleavage and big stars like there are in other versions
• It begins with a long shot of a theatre this provides anchorage as to the setting of the text
• There is the slow tones of an organ which are low pitch a signifier of evil
• We cut to a long point of view shot within a cave this darkness is typical of Horror
• The camera pan's as we see a lot of pre-20th century elaborate Gothic furniture though the exact date is not clear this is typical of the gothic horror genre
• The victim signifed by his curled up stance is countertypical because he is male
• There is then a close up on the villains fingers on the keys he is signified as a villain by not revealing his identity and showing power in his height
• Again there is the binary opposites of powerful and mysterious and weak and vulnerable
• The villain is dressed in black while the victim is dressed in brown trousers and a white shirt in Edwardian style clothing this signifies the date and the positions of the characters
• The identity of the villain the Phantom is then signified by an extreme close up on his face
• Something is signified as not quite right by the fact he is wearing a grey mask
• The picture is now still there is music of harsh trumpet and symbol clasp to signify the preferred reading that this is frightening
• The credits come up as the images fade between each other they are a series of still images that zoom closer to his eye
• The typography is blue to signify coldness and sans font to signify this is documentary style

Zombies! Zombies! Zombies! by Jason Murphy 2008 [IMDB]

• This film was low budget and had a budget of $30,000
• The poster has the slogan "Strippers vs Zombies" and use of semi naked women on it appeals to the male gaze
• This film is rated 18 an is and has no stars in it because it's beyond their budget to hire them to be killed off
• It appeals to a male 18-34 audience
• This is more a comedy horror adding comedy to appeal to a wider audience
• It begins with a black background and the audio bridge of a high pitch sound as we see green typography
• We countertypically have a black protagonist as we see a two shot of him and a girl coming through a door this signifies they have some kind of relationship
• The female is dressed in a skimpy cheerleaders outfit with ice skates to appeal to the male gaze while the male is holding a bag and dressed in a tracksuit this signifies they have been doing some exercise
• There is a point of view shot as the protagonists see the Zombies approaching
• The female stereotypically cradles the male in fear while he goes off to fight them
• As he fights them the takes become shorter to signify action
• When the male dies the female counterypically then fights the zombies as wee see the special effects of on of their eyes bleeding
• The audience are mislead as to the identity of the protagonist as we cut out to a television screen of the same film and hear a girl screaming and cut over to the girl using a high angle shot to show her fear.
• The use of her green and red glasses signifies that she is seeing the film in 3D her age of 3 signifies that her parent's don't look after her that well
• There is a blue light shining in the room we see as wee see the father rushing in this is stereotypical of horror
• There is a close up of his face to show his shocked reaction.
• The titles then appear in red to signify blood and gore.

Dracula by John Badham 1979 [IMDB]

• Begins with the sound of a howling wolf and a black screen to create narrative enigma. 
• There is the typography of gothic sans font in metallic grey to provide expostion as we hear a harsh shreak of violins to signify something is unsettled.
• There is a polysemic blue cloud behind the grey mettalic titles on the black screen. It increases and looks like a tunnel the blue signifies horror. 
• We hear the sound of trumpets as we see the silouette of a bat to signify the bat's dominance.
• The tunnel opens up to an establishing long shot of a a sea with a castle in the middle, it is dusk and the sea is still.
• The camera tracks up to the castle and pan's up to a low angle shot of it to signify it is dominant , it then flies over the castle. This along with the discouncerning music signifies evil is lurking.
• We then cross fade to a  long shot of stormy sea at night with a wooden ship in it. 
• The lighting and rain a signifier of dissetlement. The darkness a signifier of evil. The woodenship signifies the past.
• There is a few polysemic close up's of the ship to provide expsition.
• The protaganist is not revealed yet signifying he is powerfull.
• There is the sound of howlilng of a wolf which signifies anger the mise en scene of the words dracular on the crate are shown the same time lightening strikes to signify evil it also provides exposition.
• The sea men are stereotypically, poor, male and foreign.
• There is a point of view shot from Dracula's point of view as his hand breaks out of the crate and strangle the seamen.
• The blood commonly used in horror to signify death.
• The next shot is an establishing shot of  large mansion with a grave in the corner also a common signifier of horror. 

Drama

Donnie Darko by Richard Kelly 2009 [IMDB]

• This is a Sci-Fi, mystery thriller
• It had a budget of $4.5 million and had 58 screenings in the USA
• We begin with a black screen and an Audio bridge of music
• The music signifies horror because it is slow and low pitch
• The lighting is dark also a signifier of horror
• The first take is long which establishes the setting and creates polysemy and narrative enigma
• The protagonist Donnie is laughing and outside in his pyjamas which signifies he is phyco
• The sans serif Chinese style lettering of "Donnie Darko" appears signifying he the character we just saw is him
• The long introductory take is then juxtaposed with short takes of him riding a bike back home
• We are first introduced to his father and sister
• The music of Echo and the Bunny Men used signifies that this is aimed at an older audience
• The lighting changes to a brighter scene this is known as elliptical editing
• The town he enters is middle class a stereotypically representation of social class
• Richard Kelly is an auteur

RocknRolla by Guy Richie 2008 [IMDB]

• This is an action comedy crime
• It's budget was $18 million
• It was a co-production of Dark Castle and Warner Brothers
• We being with an audio bridge as we fad into the setting
• The logo's are branded on the walls of the set
• The audio bridge is a voice over, social class is represented stereotypically with what appears to be a tough guy signified by the fact he is shirtless and smoking a drug this is voiced over by a southern accent of an old man, the toughness is a stereotype of southern characters if using the commutation test a younger female voice was used it would signify a Rom Com not an action film
• The framing of the characters, mise en scene and use of wipe cuts signifies that this is like a comic book as the narrative comes from
• We initially only see the back of the antagonists head, his shiny shoes and his jewelry this polysemy creates narrative enigma then we see his face
• Their is an establishing shot of the building
• The disequilibrium is signified by the 2 men who can't afford to pay the money
• This would have an audience between 15-25 and male although their is no male gaze

Marley and Me by David Frankel 2008 [IMDB]

• This is a Rom Com
• Normally in rom com's there are 3 main characters and the central protagonist has to choose between the other 2 to date in this case the 3rd character is the dog
• It had a $60 million budget
• There are 40 seconds of credits this would have to be shorter in out opening
• The male voice over signifies that he is the protagonist
• The audience is mislead as the the protagonist because there is a boy on screen as we hear the voice over therefore we assume he the voice over is the boy but he's not
• We begin with a long establishing takes of the the field
• We then cut to shorter takes of the dog chasing the protagonist
• The pace of the chase is reflected by the rock music this appeals to a teenage audience
• The protagonist provides exposition in his voice over
• The next seen involves a woman in a wedding dress this appeals to the male gaze and man in a suit drinking from the bottle which signifies that they have got married and come back after the party
• They are dressed and in an elaborate setting which signifies they are upper class a stereotypical positive view of America
• This film is rated PG so is for a wide age range of audience
• In the UK it grossed £15 million

Anamatic 2- Biting

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media product?
It is similar to other films within this genre because a female is the victim, it is set in a graveyard which is a stereotypical setting and it involves a vampire which is a type of villain often portrayed. It is unlike other films of this genre because the opening does involve a bit of romance between the female victim and the grave of the dead person. This film also steers away form blood and gore for simplicity and is in black and white to reflect similar films of the past such as Frankenstein and Dracula.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Gender is represented stereotypically with the female victim and male power. Age is represented stereotypically with both characters being young and therefore mischievous and the male is sexual. Both characters are again able and white a stereotypical view of Britain. The vampire bites a female victim which signifies heterosexuality this is stereotypical because it fails to represent any other sexualities.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
An institution such as Youtube or Facebook because they are free and we have no budget and they appeal to our teenage audience.

Who would be the audience for your media product?
15-34 male and female working to middle class because the relationships are more complex than in Scarred for Life therefore a more sophisticated audience could take it and romance attracts female audiences.

How did you attract/address your audience?
Showing a lost relationship by using the grave and the mourning female, still containing lots of action and eventually this will include interesting mise en scene of the graveyard and vampire. It is in black and white which signifies it is an art house genre. It is a hybrid genre between romance, action and Gothic horror which appeals to a wider audience.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
To choose a good setting costume and make up this final version will be filmed at night. To use more Gothic looking typography I preferred in Scarred for life when it was red. To find a pacier running tune and to create music that runs throughout but reflects the on screen events. I liked the variation of the tune at the end using a ghostly effect to create tension. Some of the I movie sound effects worked well as well such as the thunder. I probably wont put the final film in black and white because although Van Hel Sing did this most other films of this genre don't and colour makes it more visually appealing.

Anamatic-Scarred for Life

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media product?
It is similar to other Gothic Horror films because it contains exaggerated character archetypes, a blue filter, eary music, a narrative of Frankenstein and lots of gore and blood. However it has no budget, the characters are younger than most in other Gothic horror films and the victim survives.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our actors are young which stereotypically represents them as mischievous however the scientist is supposed to be old which is stereotypical of age with power. We counter typically have a male victim but stereotypically have a male villain. All the characters are white and able a stereotypical representation of Britain.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
An institution such as Youtube or Facebook because they are free and we have no budget and they appeal to our teenage audience.


Who would be the audience for your media product?
15-34 male and working class because it contains lots of action and simple archetypes and beginning with the disequilibrium to present action, gore and simple narrative.


How did you attract/address your audience?
Simplifying the narrative by exaggerating the archetypes helps attract less sophisticated working class audience. Using the commutation test and not adding lots of romance and dialogue but instead action and gore attracts a male audience. The music, lighting and sound effects create an unsettling atmosphere this disequilibrium draws the audience in to the preferred reading of the situation in a frightening and interesting way.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
To make sure framing and mise en scene is clearly identifiable of the preferred reading. To record sound in the purest environment with no outside interference. The use of filters, costumes, gore and scientific mise en scene works well at creating an interesting piece but is too hard to get hold of. Repeated and copied sounds turn off the audiences interest. Make the preferred reading clearer.

Podcast Update 1

Film Opening Ideas

Film Ideas a film about:
Recessions
Cloning
Bullying
Witches
Time Travel

I decided on the film about witches because ideas similar to this have been done but very few actual films about witches have. The film would relate to such movies as Harry Potter, Dracula, Time Machine and Physco. It would be a hybrid genre of Sci-Fi, Horror, Fantasy and Slasher. We would begin to add Sci Fi in a science laboratory possibly a biology lab where cloning is happening. It would be night and there would be a storm. A witch would appear behind the scientist in the laboratory. He would turn she would disappear and turn again and she would re-apear. She would strangle him and we hear a gasping sound. But all we see is a boiling glass of water as blood drips in it. The titles would appear with lightening sound Witches. As the lightening flickers we see the witches face laid dead. The narrative would then show the life of the scientist perhaps the next scene would be him giving a public speech. But more than one Witch this time re-apears causing disruption, suspicion and eventually most women are sent to be burnt at the stake. The witches are out to get that scientist because they are clones a science he helped create. They are only women because in the future only women need to exist sperm is simply cloned and stored. Their future is a war created by science, they can time travel so they seek to kill this person and our present to destroy scientific advancement. All the witches are killed and the scientists survives. It turns out he modifies himself to live forever because he invents this. In the war of the future he is sent back to his time because he knows of it, he disguises himself and goes back. It turns out he killed himself at the beginning of the film.

Comedy

Napoleon Dynamite by Jared Hess 2004 [IMDB]
Made by MTV films begins with still frames of credits incorporated in the mise en scene , such as in dinner plates or on credit cards. The film is digital contains no big stars and is budgeted at $400,000 hence it made a loss and only grossed $116,000. The film uses lots of still framing this signifies that the central protagonist is gormless and therefore creates comedy. The protagonist wears a t shirt, is ginger with curly hair, has braces and glasses this signifies he is a geek and he is in outsider signified by his ginger hair. The music is non diagetic and has an upbeat tempo with a clash in alternating pitch this signifies comedy. The still framing created narrative enigma because the shots are polysemic their is no using the commutation test tracking, panning or tilting shots if these were in it would signify action but still framing signifies polysemy and comedy.

Where the Heart Is by Matt WIllaims 2000 [IMDB]
A hybrid genre of film between comedy, drama and romance. It was produced by 20th century fox and distributed by the BBC in the UK on a budget of $15 million. Their are no big stars in it and this is a low budget film for Fox. It would appeal to teen-young adults. It begins with the logo with an audio bridge of the sound of dripping and a shot of a car to create narrative enigma because the shot is polysemic. The mise en scene shows a small hut like housing and an old fashioned car which signifies the characters are working class. The dialogue provides exposition as the the setting and relationships of the characters. Theirs accents signifies southern America therefore a stereotype of this is less educated and poorer as this film represents. Normally you'd expect the first character seen to be the protagonist but the person we see isn't. He signifies he is disrespectfully because he slaps the females bum a stereotypical representation of male power. The use of Natalie Portman appeals to the male gaze although she was not a star before this film it made her famous. Because the film is a romance comedy the audience it appeals to is mainly female 15-35 and working to middle class.

Shaun of the Dead by Edgar Wright 2004 [IMDB]
When we see the Universal and Working title logo's we hear the non diagetic Audio bridging sound of an American police car this appeals to an American audience and creates narrative enigma. We begin with a long take of a medium close up of the protagonist much like how Napoleon Dynamite begins. It then slowly zooms outwards their is the diagetic music this along with his gormless day dreamy look add comedy. The use of the diagetic bell ringing is edited to be quite and raise up in volume to signify he is coming out of a daydream. We then see a shot reverse shot of him having a conversation with a female this signifies they are in a relationship. To anchor this we see a cut away shot of them both but we also see a man in between in the background to signify that he is getting in the way. This person Ed isn't as smartly dressed as the protagonist played by Simon Pegg hence signifying he is lazy. The dialogue provides exposition to this. The use of the gambling machine, bar and diagetic music signifies they are in a pub. The use of the empty glasses on the table is a good way of signifying they are drunk. The two shot of David and Diana signifies that they are a couple but because they are sat separately from the protagonist and girlfriend this signifies that they don't get along. This film was made by WT2 and is rated at 15 so the audience that it appeals for would be 15-30. The use of the signifies of Rom Com with the two shots may also appeal to females as well as males. They would be between E-C2 class.

Hott Fuzz by Edgar Wright 2007 [IMDB]
This opening begins with an establishing long shot of a police corridor this is a long take we see the protagonist walking down the corridor the length of this take because it contradicts the codes and conventions of an action film by not varying the shots it creates comedy because of the timing it is similar to Shaun of the Dead and Napoleon Dynamite. The uniform of the protagonist and office signifies a police office and creates verisimilitude. We go from a long shot to a medium shot as he sits down. We then juxtapose the long takes with short takes of elliptical editing of the protagonists life. The juxtaposition of the binary opposites of a serious voice over which provides exposition and the image of him on a bicycle adds comedy. There is music as we go through this story of his life of Goody Two Shoes by Adam Ant which signifies that the protagonist is a Goody Two shoes this preferred reading would have only have been signified by a 25-34 year old audience. The audience would be mainly male because action appeals to a male audience. The equilibrium is signified by the exposition of his character through the elliptical editing of his life and voice over. The disequilibrium in this film is when he is put in a local rural police station. His character provides a countertypical minority ideological view that thew police force is good. While the main disequilibrium signifies the stereotypical dominant ideological view that the police force is useless. Male power is represented stereotypically. This film was budgeted at $16m and another of WT2's production because Shaun of the dead was so successfully they spent $12m more than Shaun of the dead. It was distributed by Studio Canal.

Anchorman by Adam McKay 2004 [IMDB]
This film begins with the company logo of Dreamworks. We then see the typography of sans serif titles which are black on white this along with the voice over which we hear as we see the helicopter provide exposition. The protagonist Ron Burgundy could be signified by Propp as a hero he is signified as the protagonist because we only hear and see him.

Van Helsing

Van Helsing 2004 Stephen Sommers

Film Noir

Maltese Falcon by John Huston 1941
Typically this genre involves mature adults so If I were to include this genre I would need adults not teenagers. This film makes good use of establishing short takes of iconic landmarks. We fade between each take to gradually reduce closer to the setting of the first scene. We then see a tilting shot inside looking outside towards the landmarks. We see the central protagonist first and we see stereotypes of a rough detective and an innocent maid. Although this scene contains only shot reverse shot it creates variety with pans and the 30 degree rule.

Clerks by Kevin Smith 1994
This is a more modern black and white film. As we see the Miramx logo we hear the background sound of the action to create narrative enigma. Their is a sans typography title to anchor the meaning and signify that this is documentary style. Their is an audio bridge before the first shot. This is 1 minute in of film logo's I will have to make mine much shorter. They have then dressed the set to signify the protagonists character with clothes everywhere, he is on the floor, he is next to his bed, he is half in a cupboard and the room is small all which signify he is lazy, drunk, poor and messy. The first shot is a long take of this and unusually behind the bed to signify the small size of the room I may use this. Their is a cutaway shot of a dog to create humour. The music is then added it is pacy and speeds up the editing to be more elliptical. Their is a lot of close up shots to create anchorage. Their see a point of view shot as he looks in the car bonnet from the car. We are hinted the disequilibrium although as we finish this scene we enter the disequilibrium.

Horror

Halloween by John Carpenter 1978
Halloween begins with credits that flash on orange fade to red then fade back to orange and fade out. The polysemy of having just sans serif titles on a black background creates narrative enigma. The piano music is high pitch rhythmical therefore unsettling it helps signify tension. The logo of the pumpkin also creates narrative enigma although it also creates exposition. This was the beginning 2 minutes to present an opening like this would not show enough content so I would have to contain more in mine. The the scene begins and the film provides anchorage with the sans titles of "Hallenfeild Illanois". To provide anchorage I could use either Titles, Dialogue, mise en scene or Voice Over. The white on black signifies it as documentary style. Their is an audio bridge of the sounds of children to induce the audiences imagination by creating narrative enigma. We then see a long shot with a blue light with shadows of trees on it. The blue light is a signifier of the cold, supernatural and the future though not the preferred reading of this text.

Touch of Evil by Orson Well 1958
The beginning take is one long continuous point of view Steadicam shot of a house with a blue light on it signifying the camera person is the protagonist. A decent way of signifying sex like it does is by showing people going to bed then putting clothes on. Although it presents short cuts to signify action of the murder that go with the beats of the music. The music is rhythmical to interfere with the beats of a heart. The knife is a common signifier of murder and often used in horror as we see it we hear harsh high pitch violins to signify bad will be done with it. The mask used over the lens is a good way of signify a character behind the camera. We end on a cut of the boy to signify him as the person behind the mask.This opening scene was 7 minutes long so clearly I will have to contain mine.

Bride of Chucky by Ronnie Yu 1998
We begin with the universal titles though these are modified with the sound of harsh high pitch string music and we hear a thump every time we see the titles. The use of this polysemy creates narrative enigma. In many film openings we often see the logo then the name as we do here. We rarely see a huge strand of credits but a short one as we also do here. In this is signified lots of short takes to anchor lots of detail. The American Flag signifies America, the blue filter signifies horror, the stonework on the building signifies a high status building, the thunder and rain signifies something is unsettling and nightmare and the camera is off axis on a dutch angle to signify something isn't right. All of these elements together provide exposition as to the preferred reading of the text. We see many inter textual references such as the Hockey Mask as a signifier of Friday the 13th and a Mike Myers looking mask that signifies Scream. The film uses a lot of shot variation to get the audiences interest. It begins with lots of Narrative enigma an doesn't establish the setting with an establishing long shot till later in the text. A common Horror technique is the false scare where the audience is purposely lead into fear of whats going on although nothing really happens. A good way of showing gore in this film is by having the protagonist holding the blood packet to himself in order to hide it as this film does. We see a woman dressed in skimpy leather clothing to appeal to the male gaze. There are no long takes in this film as with most openings. This opening was 3.5 minutes.

Trick Or Treat by Charles Martin Smith 1986
This is a teenage horror. Their is a voice over to provide anchorage and signify the protagonists voice as wee see the titles. To signify a teenager we see the mise en scene of a rock poster, skull and dinosaur all panning and dissolving to break up the shots and create variety. The 1st character is the protagonist. We see a low angle shot of bullies to signify their power. He speaks though the only dialogue is that of the voice over we cannot hear him this is a good way of avoiding dialogue. We see a shot of the male protagonist and a medium shot of a female to signify a relationship that may occur. This was 5.3 minutes long.