CW Opening EG 4: Hot Fuzz

Hot Fuzz

Edgar Wright, 2007 (Comedy/Action, 15)

Produced by: Universal Pictures

Distributed by: Universal Pictures

Budget: $8M

Box Office: £20M

Trailer, Wikipedia

Rotten Tomatoes: Scored 91%

Opening Length: Approx. 5 mins

Idents and Titles:

The Idents are linked together by an audio bridge of some sirens and a jail door, these both link to police and so prepare the audience for the setting

Opening Shot:

Opening Shot.

The opening shot shows the main character walking towards a desk. It is an extreme long shot. The yellow light connotes an action film or a sci-fi. The light is polysemic, as we do not have any Anchorage, we can see on the desk files and other office items. From this Mise en scene we know that this is a busy office as, opposed to having just a few files, there are many files, one of which is open and there is also a paper tray filled with paper. This indicates that the office is actually in use, even though we do not see any receptionist.

Note the people in the background.

Later Shots:
The next shot is cut up by clips from a montage. This was done in order to make the scene feel busy and well populated. This is also shown by having people cross in front and behind of the character. All of the people on screen for this shot are facing the opposite way to the main character, this emphasizes the mission that he is on and also reinforces the busy feeling of the scene. 

The character is also shown, throughout the montage as being brave and a good policeman however, (particularly in screenshot 3) he is also shown to be looking stupid. this highlights both the action genre and the comedy genre. There are other shots within the montages, such as a shot where the camera is seemingly running towards the door, that presents the busy nature of the main character's life.

Screenshot 3

We then cut to an almost complete contrast of this to a meeting between the Sargent and the protagonist. The scene has been slowed down completely. The background music has stopped and been replaced with standard office sounds (ie telephones, typing and paper). This scene shows a dialouge between two characters about nicholas' (the main character's) transfer. This scene sticks to the 180° rule. The camera always stays on the right of nicholas and the left of the Sargent, even during a track shot.

OpeningEG3: Le Donk and Scor-Zay-Zee 2009

Le Donk and Scor-Zay-Zee

Shane Meadows,2009

Film Poster

Production: 
Big Arty Productions  Warp FilmsBudget: £48K; US box office: $3.5m

RottenTomatoes.com 86%

IMDB 6.2

SUMMARY/IDEAS I MIGHT USE:

using 'creative' idents or the use of the directors name going twice once at the start of the titles and once at the end. And maybe using the same theme with the idents as with the titles

Idents/Titles:

Idents:

the idents used have been adapted around the genre of the film - that being cartoon - jokes - and not serious giving it a 'silly' tone. Everything looks like it has been drawn with a black fine liner. This signifies artist and a creative person which we see when the film starts as they have shown a person who likes music and appears to like living on the road.

Idents

Titles:

same applies to the titles in connection with the idents however the director - Shane Meadows has been mentioned twice once at the start of the titles and once at the end of the titles. 
In order of apperance:
Starring Paddy Considine
Scor-zay-zee
Olivia Colman
Featuring Richard Graham
              Seamus O'Neil
With Arctic Monkeys
Set Designer Alex Collins
Sound Danny Crowley 
Camera Dean Rogers
           Shane Meadows
Editor Richard Graham 
Line Producer Clare Slessor
Excecutive Producer Steve Beckett
Original Music By  Scor-zay-zee
Devised by Paddy Considine
                Shane Meadows 
Producer Mark Herbert
Director Shane Meadows 

Opening Scene

Industrial park

Opening Scene: 

• The crowd is cheering - diegetic sound
• battered caravan - rubbish on the floor 
• Le D.I.P above the door of the caravan - duct tape with paper stuck above the door 
• 'star' gets out - wearing trackies - baseball cap - which reads the slogan 'kids need pugs not drugs' - not typical or stereotypical celebrity
• the caravan is situated in the back of an industrial estate connoting its not 'hyped' 'classy' or 'upmarket' - lorries visible
• camera men shown like theyre being filmed - home video? - Band video? 

Opening Scenes: 

Home video theme again 
outside one of the band members houses on his street 
not typical celebrity style home/area 
the street has been shown as - rubbish on floor - working class - red bricked terrace housing - this being associated with cheaper housing and terrace housing being cheaper too - old cars not your stereotypical rich person with expensive cars outside - run down area maybe with abit of poverty - general weather appearance of dark clouds and grey sky and stance showing its not the wealthiest of areas because in typical britain especially in american films it is always shown as either pouring it down with thunder or sunny weather.
door gets jammed showing its not in the best quality showing its age
the paint on the door is shabby and chipping 
not a standard door handle - cheaper 
door opens - holds puppet scares audience - laughs - this showing a comical side to the film - comedy emerging 

Walking on stage

talks about how he thought the film would be a big movie set - and therefore proving this film isnt worth millions - background noise created through passing lorries - not typical in a film - stating it is more documentary style than a film showing it is made on a cheaper budget

Mise-en-scene: 

house is messy - jackets slung over coat dummies - cardboard shoe boxes containing trainers probably due to the Adidas logo on one of them showing theyre not the typical celebrity with the louboutins and the jimmy choos on show. 
simple living area no fancy 'trinkets' - just the basics 
smoking in the house is a general trade of people who are not very well off and live in poor areas 
kitchen is a mess - food and drinks everywhere - rubbish everywhere - knives on the worktops 

the clothes are simplistic - t shirt - beanie - washing machine broken - dirty clothes shown - at one point one isnt wearing trousers 

scor - acts like a typical teenager - headphones on - unmade bed - stuff on the floor - hat on inside - wearing a tracksuit 

Soundtrack:

Showing the musical talent of the singers in the band. showing the comical side as it contains humour within the rap - this is during the idents and titles using audio-bridge this all relates to the film and genre 

OpeningEG2: The Warriors 1979

The Warriors

Walter Hill, 1979

Production: Paramount Pictures

Budget: $7m; 
US box office: $3.5m

RottenTomatoes.com 81%

IMDB 7.6/10

SUMMARY/IDEAS I MIGHT USE:

I like the idea of using the font to connote the strong and the violence however I more into girly chick flicks so may adapt this idea to a more girly format but I like the direct links.  

Ident

Idents/Titles:

Idents:

Paramount Pictures

Titles:

the titles are shown in a bold red colour and the font that has been used is specifically chosen for the genre of the film which has a a graffiti style that looks like it has been painted across the screen. This signifies the bold red being violent and could connote blood also red is a strong colour so it could signify someone or something being mentally or physically strong. 

text for titles

Opening Scene: 

wonder wheel - pink lit up ferris wheel - nighttime

Opening Scenes: 

leader of gang

dark - night - train pulls in lights on - no other light source 
coloured man appears - head dress - traditional african necklace 
group are seen to be getting on an 'old' even for the time period train - full of graffiti - men all wearing leather waistcoats which all have the word warriors on the back along with a skull in between 2 angel wings the edges of the angel wings covered in blood connoting violence

gang 

another group walking under a tunnel in red hats that have a blue strip around them wearing black shirts with a black with a white dotted design tie with cream chinos and a shiny pink waistcoat 
another group - graffiti can be seen - metal bars - black trousers black braces with red and black striped top with a black bowler hat and have white face make up

another gang

point of view of the train - shot to show direction speed and movement 
aother group white trainers baggy jeans navy blue top walk under a tunnel containing grafffiti - scare a woman standing along underneath it
various other small groups shown

Mise-en-scene: 

graffiti showing areas wealth - showing poor area - poverty 
clothes - leather waistcoat shows power and strength 

another gang 

another gang

another gang

Narrative, Genre, Expostition:

Action, Thriller.

Soundtrack:

Eery music sound with steady beat to the rhythm of the train over the top.

There is an audio-bridge between the start of the track and the the idents. 

Opening EG1: Bridget Jones's Diary, 2001

Movie Poster

Bridget Jones's Diary 

Sharon Maguire, 2001

Production: Miramax Films; Universal Pictures; StudioCanal; Working Title Films; Little Bird.

Budget: $26m; UK box office:£ 41m

RottenTomatoes.com 81%; IMDB 6.7

 
SUMMARY/IDEAS I MIGHT USE:

main character starting with a monologue.

Idents/Titles:

Universal Studios 

Studio Canal

Miramax Films 

Working Title - audio bridge - flute plays - non-diegetic sound 

first title - main character  

In order of apperance: 
Renee Zellweger 
Collin Firth
Hugh Grant
Jim Broadbent
Gemma Jones
Casting by Michelle Guish
Line Producer Peter McAlleese
Music Supervisor Nick Angel
Co Producers Debra Hayward
                   Lisa Chasin

Same style of writing used 'girly handwriting'

Original Score by Patrick Doyle
Costume Designer Rachel Fleming
Production Designer Gemma Jackson
Editor Martin Walsh
Director of Photography Stuart Dryburgh
Excecutive Producer Helen Fielding 
Based on the Novel by Helen Fielding 
Screenplay by Helen Fielding 
                    Andrew Davies 
                    Richard Curtis
Produced by Tim Bevan
                  Eric Fellner
                  Jonathan Cavendish
Directed by Sharon Maguire

Synopsis:

starting the diary 

Bridget Jones is a Rom-Com about an unattached 30-something who realizes she's got to change her life. After a New Year's Eve, she vows that this new year is the one in which she'll get her act together. She'll lose weight, she'll smoke and drink less, and she'll document it all in a diary.

Sound:

Elements of the Sound Mix:

• womans voices starts - middle aged - narrator - sarcasm and slightly fed up tone  
• dialogue continues throughout opening between herself narrating with the occasional dialogue from mother christmas music starts - upbeat jolly tunes - non diegetic sound   
• then fades and becomes diegetic sound door closes - diegetic sound older woman starts to talk to middle aged woman - her mum background music and inaudiable chatter

Analysis:

Opening Scene: 

opens on MS of Bridget as she walks past in the snow - blonde middle aged naive woman quite shy - lost - no purpose? 

Opening Scenes: 

binary opposites 

man - woman - bridget and mr darcy 

urban - hometown - london - countryside - parents live - rurual 

dominant - mum bossing her around trying to find her a boyfriend - sparking tension between her and mr darcy 

submissibe - bridget - on her own no one to sympathise with but her dad - actually likes mr darcy and isnt like all the others her mum usually picks out for her or chooses

Mise-en-scene: 

Opening scene - cold wintery snowy weather - pathetic fallacy - miserable - fed up
Bridget - Thick coat and scarf on - not glamourous - no make up and hair is not perfect - made to wear plumper clothes to make her look more overweight.
mum in shot - typical wear of a woman of upper middle class - clothing worn is usually worn by a woman of her age - accent is southern english showing class and this being stereotypical of an english represented in a Rom-Com - the dutch angle used at the beginning signifies alienation and intimidation. 

Bridget 2nd Scene - wearing pjs - red - room is a mess - watching tv - reflecting what she is thinking and feeling within the programmes used - drinking wine A LOT - 

After drinking the wine diegetic sound turns non diegetic as she mouths the words to the song


Representations:

Daniel Cleaver

 Mark Darcy - Important job - a lot of money - dresses according to the job - suit, tie, briefcase etc - shows the townhouse as a sign of his wealth.


Daniel Cleaver - Important job - a lot of money - dresses not according to the job - suit, but no tie and top button undone creating a more relaxed approach - shows the townhouse as a sign of his wealth.

flirtatious remarks from daniel with bridgets bad fashion sense

Bridget Jones - Single - overweight - good job - woman being more dominant - no fashion sense as such - big knickers - and doesn't dress according to her job with low tops and short skirts. 


Soundtrack:

All by myself by celine dion - relates back to the monologue that she is going to be 'living by her self and been eaten when dead by alsatians' if she doesnt do something about it. The song is also sad so reinforces the narrative. 

Mise-En-Scene Film - Hacker

Group Idea:

To create narrative enigma and to build up tension within scenes 

Narrative:

For someone to appear in a work environment and try and 'Hack' the computer system

Feedback:

I really enjoyed working in one big group again as i like how all our ideas put together always come up with something good. I liked how it turned out and how we worked well in our team. 

Reflection:

As a group we found it very difficult to keep within the time schedule because we had so much to film and they were in all different locations which some we had to wait for to become available.

Final Cut Pro X (Pt1)

My first impressions of final cut pro would be that it seems like a very extensive program. I like the look of it as it seems easy to use but complex enough to get quality editing completed. I like the layout and the way in which it is set out along with the easy to remember short cuts on the keyboard. 

so far I have tried:

• layering music over the top of shots 
• layering shots over shots 
• recorded sound 
• changed effects 
• cut shots 
• cut a sequence of shots together to make a film 
• add titles and credits 

As you can see from this screen shot I have one layer of clips and a short sequence has been put together. 

Genre Codes and Conventions

Titles that fade in and out. In Love Actually titles at point to not disturb any action/dialogue

the love triangle is the main foundation of many rom coms,  main characters often have many flaws but more exaggerated.

There is often a main love interest that we see before the second love interest appears.. in Bridget Jones' diary the love between Colin firth's character and the title character is presented by Colin firths character turning around well before Bridget reaches him, and him looking at her.

An example of an atypical Rom-Com is About a Boy, this is what writer tamar jeffer mcdonald, calls a homme-com, this is where the main character is a male as opposed to a female, the make uo of the film is styill the same, with the mans character flaws being exaggerated.

in BJD Bridget Jones humiliates herself in front of the audience, this increases the relatability to the character and makes them seem more human.


original love interest to start
second love interest to create conflict, generally both are similar, but don't get along.
friend to give advise

non-diegetic audio to start often linking the final ident, as seen in our general codes and conventions

My Probable Genre Is....

My first ideas so far is to experiment. By this I thought it would be nice to jump into a genre I wouldn't normally associate with, this being the horror genre. 

As I think it would be nice to be able to watch a range of new films and able to broaden my knowledge and explore new areas. However since my initial idea i have decided to stick to what i know and do something i am interested in that being rom coms. I am probably going to choose this due to the fact i have watched many films and know this is something i will enjoy researching and then being able to transfer my existing knowledge and other research into a quality film opening. With this genre I hope to improve my already existing knowledge of the genre too, which is something i will look forward to doing.

CW: Sound EG 6: Bolt, Howard, Williams, 2008

Film Poster

Bolt

Byron Howard, Chris Williams, 2008 (Animation, PG)

Produced by: Walt Disney Animation Studios

Distributed by: Walt Disney motion Pictures

Budget: $150M

Box office: £17M (UK)

Trailer, Wikipedia

Rottentomatoes: Scored 88%

Synopsis:

Bolt, a dog, is the start of a hit TV show in which he has superpowers, he is mistakenly seperated from the studio and we follow him on his adventure back home and to his owner penny.

An ident from the film

Idents:

The idents are not linked to the main movie through the use of an audio bridge, they each have their own sound.

Music:

The music fades in along with the opening shot, this music is non-diegetic. the music sounds like a music box, this connotes memories, the ancorage provided for the fact that this is a memory is the way the scene has a sepia tone to it. The music changes key at the pivotol point that penny chooses bolt and the screen fades to black quickly.

The key decision that penny makes

Change in Music:

The music has now chasnged as the screen shows that it is 5 years later. The music is now quick paced and sounds 'action-y' it again is non-diegetic and indicates the tone for the rest of the film. This music stops when the title card comes onto screen.

Diegetics:

The music within the opening is mostly non-diegetic. For the first part I think that it is non-diegetic to emphasise the feeling that it is a memory, almost as if the music has sparked the memory of getting the dog. For the later scene the music is non-diegetic to help show that what we are watching is a TV show, it's the type of music that is expected to be found in a children/tween TV show. 

Volume Changes:

The title card

The volume of the music doesn't really change whilst the music is playing. However the volume does change between scenes, in the first scene the music is soft and more atmospheric and less noticeable. in the second scene the music is louder, more noticeable. This makes the audience more alert and aware that there is action going on, as opposed to the scene simply being set.

Why has the music been designed like this?

The music has been made like this very specifically, for the first scene the music is made to feel non-intrusive and reminiscent, for the second scene the music has been made to make the audience feel on edge, it's the type of music that makes you sit up and pay attention as it is clear that something interesting will happen. This is made clear if we do a Commutation test if we were to change the music to being more quiet and less dramatic the scene has not got the same effect, it becomes just as boring as the last shot and the audience will miss the action occuring on screen because they won't be paying full attention.