Chosen Ideas.

Idea No:9
With Sci's idea, i really like it because it has such an interesting and explorable storyline to it. Each part could be portrayed in a number of ways to the audience, and with use of editing and effects, it could work really well. With an opening sequence being what we are all creating, i personally think that with camera shots, especially jump shots of all different parts of †he storyline, it could make a very effective film idea. With this film, i would personally like to be working with the camera and lighting as i feel in this film, these two things will be needed and different techniques will need to be used, which i believe could help me in developing a wider knowledge of camera and lighting skills. 


Idea No:12
With Ellie's idea of the three friends wanting to try all the different chocolates and the twist of the one chocolate they want has a mysterious character involved. With this idea, i think that it would be very easy to achieve as it could be an everyday scenario, with a girly holiday where something goes wrong, in this genre something to do with a vampire. With this film i'd like to work with costume design as i believe that it would be something that i enjoy and could work with effectively. 

Vampire Horror Movies.

Shadow Of The Vampire - Steven Katz
Buffy The Vampire Slayer- Joss Whedon
Vampyr- Carl Theodor Dreyer & Christian Jul

What is the layout and what conventions are there?
- The layout of the scripts are mostly of conversations showing what each person is saying and then in brackets stage directions, camera movements and sounds. The conventions that were used in the scripts were mostly conversations which we know is the norm in most scripts.


Synopsis
The vampire movie that i am going to produce is going to be about a teenage couple where only one is a vampire, and the others not. The elder vampires believe that vampires shouldn't date mortals and decide to try and kill the mortal. Vampires follow the mortal home, get vampires to watch her every move, kill her whole family. The vampire tries his hardest to protect his girlfriend by even killing members of his own family and people who are from the same kind. In the end the mortal eventually gets bitten and her whole life turns upside down. The remaining members of her family believe that she is dead and hold her a funeral, later on we realise that she herself has turnt into a vampire and breaks out of the coffin seeking revenge to the elders who did this to her..

Women Representation In Horror Movies.

Usually with horror films the female's are always predominantly the weaker ones out of the two genders, and most males are either evil or heroes. Its a form of representation showing that females are the weaker ones and that it may be the males job to protect the females. Also in most horrors, there is always a young cheerleader/schoolgirl who gets brutally murdered or sexually abused or followed home, and there is always the idea of the 'dumb blonde' who is gullible and ends up getting herself killed.
Women may have been portrayed this way in horror movies due to the fact that women (maybe at the time of creation of some films) didn't have equal rights to men. Nowadays with recent and modern horror movies, a lot of females are characters who are determined to find the serial killer and is usually a 'final character', and females are now seen to fight back more, not seeming so much like victims who seem weak and frail, scared and always the first to be murdered.

Here is a film trailer of 'Black Sabbath' which was released in 1963 about a woman who was terrorized in her apartment by phonecalls from an anonymous caller.

Director Research

Tim Burton
He directed the following films; Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, Beetlejuice,
Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Batman Returns, Ed Wood, Vincent And Me,
Mars Attack!, Sleepy Hollow, Planet Of The Apes, Big Fish,
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, Charlie and The Chocolate Factory,
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street, Alice in
Wonderland and Frankenweenie.

            Timothy Walter "Tim" Burton was born August 25, 1958.
Aswell as directing films, he also wrote and illustrated a
poetry book called 'Melacholy Death Of Oyster Boy
And Other Storie's '. This was published in 1997.
Also a compilation of his drawings, sketches and other artwork titled 'The Art Of Tim Burton' which was
then released in 2009. He was born in California to Jean Burton and Bill Burton, Tim studied at Burbank High School.
In 1979, Tim graduated from CalArts in California, and from his short film ' Stalk Of The Celery Monster', he attracted the attention of Walt Disney Production' Animations studio, who offered him an animators apprenticeship with them.

Tim Burton was married for two years to Lena Gieseke, but then left to go and live with model and actress, Lisa Marie. She acted in all of Tim's films during their relationship from 1992-2001. After leaving her, Burton developed a romantic relationship with English actress Helena Bonham Carter, whom he met while filming Planet of the Apes. Tim  and Helena  have two children: a son, Billy Raymond,  born October 4, 2003; and a daughter, Nell, born December 15, 2007.  
Johnny Depp is a godfather of both of Burton's children. In Depp's introduction to Burton on Burton, he writes, "What more can I say about him? He is a brother, a friend, my godson's father. He is a unique and brave soul, someone that I would go to the ends of the earth for, and I know, full and well, he would do the same for me."

source of information:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Burton

European Horror Analysis

Martyr is a french film that was directed by Pascal Lauger and it came out in France in 2008. I couldn't find an opening sequence to it, so im going to be analysing the trailer that i found.

Mise En Scene
From the trailer it gives the audience a rough idea of the film but not too much to give the whole entire story away. The first scene that we see is of a young girl, around the age of about 10 or 11, chained to a chair and a shadowy figure enters the room. The next scene is then text, while this bit of text is on the screen there is non-diegetic music that fits in perfectly with the genre to create a scary atmosphere. Throughout the trailer there are a lot of scenes of torture, blood and eerie happenings. For example the scene where we see the girl running out of the building, covered in blood and screaming, we dont know whats happened to her, we can clearly see she has been hurt but we didn't see by who/what or why.
In the next few scenes we see some sort of investigation happening and we then connect it to the scenes that were seen following up. A man talks about a girl and torture and her name is 'Lucie' who it seems is now being looked after. Throught these scenes where its mostly talking (in French with subtitles), we can see that people have been hurt, people are planning to hurt and protect. Lucie seems to go back to the house where she was kept hostage and tortured and try to kill everyone there, the presumed detectives are asking another little girl about Lucie, she tells them that Lucie's scared and in other words wants revenge.
From this point forwards, most of the scenes involve a lot of violence, torture and abuse. We see a lot of blood and naked bodies fighting, for what? the audience don't know until the film is watched. We also see Lucie then killing the people in the house where she was captured and tortured but when she returns it turns out there is another girl in exactly the same position that she was, abused with a metal device attached to the head.

EditingMost of the scenes on the trailer are jump shots, at first there are scenes for a period of around 10-20 seconds long giving the audience an idea of the story, with these there are also scenes with text giving us some information towards the film. As the trailer carries on the jump cuts become to a faster and quicker pace to create a scary atmosphere and feel to the film.

Camera
Most of the shots are close ups, of people fighting, the gun pointing, the girl running and of people walking and talking. There was also extreme closeups such as when there was injuries that were made a point of focus, like the girl with the eye patch, there was an extreme closeup of her face focusing on the injury and her facial expressions. There was alos another close up of the girls face when she was running and we saw the blood coming from her face and also how scared she was.

SoundThere was non-diegetic music over the text scenes which gave the trailer the scary atmosphere to fit in with the genre, There was screaming from the girl and other people forward into the trailer, the sound of gunshots that was fired several times, the sound of metal being clanked and people talking in french.

Essay On Opening Sequence Of 'City Of God'

In the opening sequence of the film "City Of God" there is a busy enviroment within the jump shots of a knife being sharpened, a woman making drinks, drums being played, chickens being skinned and also a lot of other people preparing food and drinks.
A dominant icon in the opening sequence was the chicken, it was seen as an object to the actors in the film. What we see visually within the jump shots leads up to and influences and we percieve the chicken and how we feel towards the scenario. When the opening sequence starts the first thing that we see is an extreme close up shot of a knife being sharpened, this signifies that something is going to be cut or an animal/human is going to be killed. The idea of this is also exxagerated by the size of the knife, as its a big meat knife that could easily cut through anything. The use of the extreme close up shot intensifies the scenario and makes the audience wonder what is going to happen next.
The next scene which is a jump shot from the first shot is where a dead chicken is being skinned, this also is another visual element of the film that signifies that the chickens are killed and used to feed the people. This also explains how the chicken is seen and treated throughout the opening sequence as an object.
The following focus of the scene is where there is medium close up of a single live chicken tied up to something, this automatically makes the audience see what the chicken will be used for. We see the chicken watching everything that is happening and witnessing all the other chickens be killed and skinned. There is diegetic and non diegetic music with the drums being played. With the scene and the audio it makes it seem like it should be something that should be celebrated but even with all the celebrations, the chicken is the most dominant and focused icon of the scene. The audience will not be focused on the celebrations but the chicken as we witness how frantic and anxious the chicken is too escape from the rope which it is tied up with.
In the scene, when the chicken finally does escape. The actors seem to be very frantic over the loss of that one chicken, this could signify the fact that there is alot of poverty and lack of financial materials to support the population. This is shown as when the chicken runs, almost thirty people chase after the chicken trying to catch it, it seems that the chicken is very precious to the people as we see when they are running they do not let anything get in thier way, for example when they were all running after the chicken and a man with alot of pots got in the way. The people running did not stop for him but instead pushed him aside out of the way so that the chicken was visible at all times. While the people and the chicken were running, two different camera shots were used. Firstly the tracking shot was used where it makes the audience feel as if they are running with the people to catch the chicken, along with this camera shot, a high angle view from the people runnings perspective looking down to the chicken running ahead of them, this angle gives the people the sense of authority and power over the chicken. When the camera is focused on to the chicken, a point of view shot was used, it was behind the chicken and we saw the back of the chicken and also what the chicken saw. We saw that the chicken was running quite fast away from the people and also the chicken had to avoid alot of obstacles. We mostly saw peoples frantic reactions with thier feet that signifies that the chicken really is nothing in this big world. Another camera shot that was used was a low angle which pointed up towards the people. It was as if the chicken was looking behind and seeing where they were. With this shot and the chicken being the point of view that it is coming from, this also shows that the people have power and authority over the chicken, which clearly shows that the chicken is literally fearing for its life.
With the two focused scenes of the chicken and people running, when they are intergrated together to make the scene fit in together, it effectively increases the atmosphere and audiences perception of what is happening. The chicken is used as a metaphor as to the people all it was seen as was food and financial prospects, and not the actual fact that it was an animal. The people in the film did so much to catch the chicken that escaped which shows that the chicken is very important to them. the angles and shots that were used also helped the audience to see both points of view between the people and the chicken.

TARGETS.

I have set a target for myself too:

- Use varied terms of media terminology.
- Make clear links with the connotations and denotations.
- To complete my work to the standard i think i am capable of.

Short Script - Continuity Editing & The 180 Degree Rule

*Anonymous hand opening a door, close up of hand and door handle*

*Jump cut to behind man in seats right shoulder, seeinng the anonymous figure walk into the room and close the door behind him*

Dave: Thanks for seeing me at such short notice Sir.

*Camera goes behind Daves left shoulder to see the man in the chair*

Bob: Your lucky! What is it? I dont like wasting time.

*Camera behind Bobs right shoulder*

Dave: Well... (faces floor), my wife is pregnant and at the moment we are really struggling with the mortgage and bills, its hard. Theres no chance i could, maybe, er, um get an advance on my wages? Just to see me by?

*Camera behind Daves left shoulder*

Bob: No chance! Does this company look like a charity for wastes and strays to be helped financially just because they cannot keep on top of all their bills. Now goodbye. Close the door on your way out.

*Camera behind Bobs right shoulder, see Dave walking out the room, looking at the floor. Opening the door and closing it behind him*

Analysis of 'The Godfather'

This is the opening scene to the film 'The Godfather'. With this opening scene the main thing is a man talking to somebody or a group of people. He gives a detailed monolgue of a girl being in an accident with her boyfriend, whom ended up in hospital with a broken nose and shattered jaw. The camera is focused on this man constantly throughout the opening scene all we see is a dark black blackground with a sillouette of the man, we see his face clearly and the white collar of his shirt. Another distinctive look in him is his gold tooth, which stands out the most. The man has a strong itailian accent which can be pretty hard to understand. The colouring is another important factor of the scene, it shows that there is some recency to when this scene was shot.
Before the man comes onto the screen and the opening credits are shown, there is non-diegetic music played before the man starts talking, the other things that we can hear is the tine change in his voice, through him talking about what he is, the subject touches him as you can hear his voice start to break.
With the editing of the opening scene it is a continuous cut on the man, but throughout the scene nearer to the end the 180 degree rule is used as from the shot being a close up of the man, it then zooms out and the appearance of a shoulder comes to view, we know this is a 180 degree rule as this technique is mostly used for when two indivuals are having a conversation.

Analysis of 'Touch Of Evil' Opening Sequence

I watched the opening scene of  'Touch Of Evil'. The Mise En Scene of the opening shot is that it is set in black and white, with it being this colour it gives the film a time setting, which we all know was in olden times. The first thing we see is a close up shot of a bomb that an unfaced man is holding, here it is where the audience know and expect something to happen but the actors do not know. Then there is a moving shot which focuses on a couple linking arms walking through a sidewalk and the man who is holding the bomb is running away and hiding from anybody else. Even though the setting is in black and white we can tell that this scene is at night time, there then is a scene of a man standing in the road acting like a traffic light which we notice that there is none. Which is also another reason how we know its an old movie. There is non-diegetic music as the scenes are played, there is a couple that is focused on throughout the opening scene, firstly when the man with the bomb was at the beginning and we saw the couple linking arms, till the end where we see them talking to the customs officer, then all of a sudden the expected bomb blows. We hear the bomb before we see it. The costume of the actors were what we would expect to see in the olden times as women were in formal dresses and neat bleach blonde hair which represents also that it may have been set the time when Marilyn Monroe, the men were in full piece suits and the workers were in strict identical uniforms.
            Most of the editing of the opening scene is that it is a continuous cut throughout the scene, it makes it look like the camera is walking and following everything thats going on. It is continuous but the camera shows us different points of view, such as when the car is coming out of the car park nearer to the beginning it gives us a birds eye view so that we know the car that would be coming out is the same car we saw before.
With the sound of the opening scene, the most that we hear is the non-diegetic music which is playing most time throughout the scene. There is not much dialogue as the whole opening scene is mostly non-diegetic music and noises of cars, the only dialogue that we hear is when the traffic light men were shouting to cars and when the customs officers were talking to the American citizens, we also hear the sound of the bomb which everybody knew was going to happen some time or another throughout the scene.

Tuesday Media Lesson. Hollyoaks-.Audience Profile.

The audience of the Tv programme Hollyoaks will most likely be aged between 16-24, it would be this age as the programme is based on college and uni students. The gender of the audience would be both males and females and there isnt a certain genre to the programme, also it tells us that the programme isnt specified to just one gender as the opening title to the programme has the male and female symbols. The likely location of the audience would either be a village like where Hollyoaks is filmed or a city where uni's and college's are.
Most likes of the audience would be that they like to go shopping, out for meals, drinking and partying, also that they are mostly dedicated to thier education and family. In Hollyoaks there is also a lot of drama that some individuals can relate to, such as eating disorders, cancer, pregnancies and teen dramas. There would also be dislikes that the audience would have which could be anything, there could be a variety of different things that different people dont like. The programme doesnt give people specific ideas of what to dislike.
The title of the programme is called 'Hollyoaks', I think the name is a good name as even though it doesnt mean anything, it does fit in with the genre of the programme as the name does have a village element to it, also with the name, the directors made the programme name fit in with the name of the school and college which then makes the audience realise that the village is named Hollyoaks.

Analysis of 'Step Up Revolution'

I watched the opening sequence to 'Step up Revolution'

Mise en scene.Most of the actors whom the camera was on were dancers who stopped traffic to show the world them dance. The scene is bright and so is the clothing that all actors are wearing, it makes the scene exciting and happy. In the scene a lot of cars are involved seeing as it staged in the middle of the road. At the beginning there was two males sitting in a car as if they were planning to dance. They all of a sudden stopped the traffic to dance. With the opening sequence they made it seem as if the dancers were doing all of this to prove a point as when the camera went onto the audience watching, a father covered one of his childs eyes as if he didnt want the child to see. With the opening sequence it shows that the movie will be dance themed and with everything that happened in the 3 minutes it makes a statement which is that they should have the freedom to dance.

Editing.With the editing of the scene, there is a continuous cut throughout the scene, it doesnt change time or place just shows the whole dance routine. The scenes fade in and out to show all the different things that are happening at the same time, for example at first it would be the dancers, then it would fade in to a scene of the cars and dancers and then it faded out and back in to the audience to show how they were reacting to the dancers.

Sound.
In the opening sequence, the sounds that were heard was music playing throughout the scene, due to it being a dance routine scene. At the beginning you could hear two males talking and the sound of a car horn as if they were blocking traffic. There was also the dramatic sound of the screeching of a car as it was spun round to block all cars, the dancers were also banging on the cars as they were jumping on the cars and banging on the sides of the cars as they were dancing, this sound was made louder than the music for a brief moment to emphasize the strength of the dance. Another sound that was heard was the cheering of the crowd whom was on the sidewalk watching all the dancers. With all the sounds in the scene it made the sounds upbeat and in a rhythm.

Camera.
The camera zooms in to the cars and the speakers at the beginning to show what will be involved in the scene. Then there was wide shots of the video so we could see everything that was happening (eg the cars moving and the dancers). Throughout the scene the camera did a lot of moving shots, firstly near the beginning it seemed as if the camera was walking fast paced backwards from the first car with the two males as while this is happening we see all the dancers coming out of the cars. Another moving shot is when all the dancers were dancing in front of the camera, the camera seemed like it walked towards the dancers and zoomed in to the actions that they were doing. The camera also uses angles, a low angle is used and it looks up to the dancers dancing, and then there is a high angle used which makes there seem that there is a birds eye view of the dancers dancing.

The target audience for this film would be for individuals who see dance as a passion or young people aged around 11 to 16.

The narrative of the film is shown to the audience through dance, it tells a story through people dancing and music, most dance films have a moral or a message that they want to tell, others have a story that made them dance and others are where two people come together through dance.

Analysis of 'Children Of Men'

I watched the opening sequence to the film 'children of men'.

Mise en scene.
The colour of the scene was a blue/grey colour which gave it a dull look. Almost as if it wasn't in the year of 2027, and that the world was full of a lot of pollution. The youngest person in the world was 18 who died, so the world was all middle aged to elderly people, when the actors were watching the news in the coffee shop it shows that they have a look of worry and sadness on their faces about the death of baby Diego. The man who last bought a coffee from the cafe and walked out as the camera zoomed to the television, it is obvious from the opening sequence that he is the main character.

Sound.
With the sound, at the beginning of the opening sequence there was a blank screen with a voice over of a news report. With doing this, the voice was the only thing that was the main concentration, informing us that there was a seige in Seattle and that the youngest person in the world whom was aged 18 had died. There was also diegetic music in the scene from the television which gave an atmosphere to incident that had happened, as while music was being played, a woman could be heard crying.
Another sound in the opening sequence was the loud sound of the explosion, after this happened it went silent as an aftermath of what had just happened. A few seconds after though we hear a loud high pitch scream from a woman coming out of the smoke from the explosion. I thought the sound that was used and how it was used was very effective as it made an atmosphere when there needed to be one.

Editing.
With the editing of the opening sequence, there is a cut from the blank screen with the voice over to the scene of actors standing in the cafe, from there its a continuous cut to the television where we see the picture of baby Diego. The last cut was a jump cut from the woman screaming to the title of the film.  Most of the cuts were continuous throughout the opening sequence. This also worked well with what was being created.

Camera.
The camera had a couple of angles in the opening sequence, at first the camera was held from a high point of view (as if it was the television) with all the actors looking up at the camera as if they were watching it. Another angle of the camera was after the explosion happened in the cafe, there was a moving shot of the camera walking towards the woman screaming. This too made the opening sequence work very well.