Our group has the idea of using these 4 scores from different movies and changing them using Garage band on the Macintosh. We planned to used Devils Soundtrack in the very tense scenes, inceptions time soundtrack throughout as the main background music, Shutter Islands Symphony at the beginning and the Inceptions mind heist at the elevator Scene. All the songs has a specific role to play to suspend the audiences disbelief and dove tail them seamlessly into the film. We are using these sound tracks to keep the suspense throughout the piece and to make it as interesting as possible.
This is the final video of Group 14 from last year and I'm going to be analysing it's sounds. At the beginning the sound is very asynchronous as it shows a girl going into a shop but the score is very saddening and has a slow tempo. It is also very good how they kept on playing the score in the background but lowered the volume when someone was speaking to still keep the audience in the flow of the opening and suspend their disbelief. However the way they changed the score was very sharp and it wasn't very seamless as it when from one song to the other which is not very good. The sound layering is good as they use a drum beat on top of the score which makes the soundscape very synchronous when she gets an eviction letter. Overall the soundscape is good but could of been improved to make it much more smooth.
This is a Soundscape that didn't like as much. This was because there was a just a song playing throughout. Yes the sound was synchronous as the girl is fancy which it identifies in the song but having no sound layering and having only one non diegetic sound is appalling. I was definitely disappointed with this groups sound as they should of taken more time to make a sound scape.
A conclusion I can make about the target audience of Shutter Island is that its a male audience with a high class grade who is relatively young at between the age 20-35.
Target audience for 'The Dark Knight Rises'
A conclusion I can make from The Dark Knight Rises is that it has a similar type of demographic to Shutter Island. Which is a male, young aged audience who is of a high class and enjoy watching Russel Howard Good News.
Audience profile for our title seuqence
a. John Smith b. Central Scotland c. 25-39 d. ABC1-C2DE e. Law, Business, Engineering f. Straigh forward, Knowledable and quiet. g.Video Games, Boardgames, Movies, Books h. Lenovo, Google Play, Sony, Virgin Media i. Doctor Who, Celebrity Juice, First Dates.
Evaluating the success of The Breakfast Club remake
As a group, we set each other different tasks in oder to speed up the planning and shooting. I was charge of creating the storyboard. Ajah was in charge of writing down the shortlist and Bodunrin was in charge of location and getting all of the props. We all took equal part in filming.
While remaking the opening sequence of "The Breakfast Club", I believe that we had successes, however, as a group we also came across a some difficulties.
I think that we succeeded at finding similar locations and props used in the real movie.
We also used similar angles to the one used in the original.
Original
Remake
Original
Remake
Although we were able to shoot in similar locations, there were some differences in our remake. This is due to the limitation of props. For instance, we were unable to film inside a car, so we did not include this scene.
Also, due to time restrictions our remake was not perfect.
As mentioned above, we missed out on some scenes, our titles aren't fully finished and we found adding the audio quite challenging.
If we had more time in this activity, we would have filmed more of the opening, but due for the lack of time we were only able to recreate the first couple of minutes.
Regardless being given only 2 lessons and limited props, our opening sequence turned out as a good replication of The Breakfast Club, and overall me and the rest of the group are quite happy with the final outcome.
Our group remade the opening of the movie 'Collateral'. What turned out to be a 25 second piece took hours of filming and editing to perfect.
Shots-
At first, the shots were very easy to take notes of and we had no trouble recognising what the shots were and how to recreate it in the remake. However since not all of our group was there at the planning stage, it was very hard to articulate what the different shots were, when they couldn't actually see the opening of the movie collateral. This lead to multiple communication problems and arguments about what the actual shot was. So overall for shots, it was easy to note down the different shot types, but it was a problem when trying to record the remake, when all of the group had diverse opinions.
Storyboard- The storyboard was relatively easy to draw each shot and Onat Arslan had no problem in drawing up the different scenes with detail. However there was a problem on the amount of shots on the storyboard. As we had a short time to illustrate the different scenes, there wasn't as much d etail in the writing aspect of it. We should of included more writing as it would of been much more useful when creating the remake, so we would of had a better understanding and less communication problems. To conclude, the next time we as a group try to make a remake or our own piece, we will try to create a storyboard with a lot more literature so we have less problems in the production.
Location and Costume Choices-
The location of our remake was very important to make the production very similar to the original. The location of our production was outside the college next to the turn stalls. This was in my opinion the best location to use, as it was in a public area were there was people walking by, which is what happened in the movie 'Collateral'. This greatly impacted our final product as it made the remake almost indistinguishable to the original piece. However it was also a hassle being out in a public area as we had to wait multiple times for people to walk by which slowed down the production process. For costume choices we didn't have many options as we couldn't get 2 two suits for the actors to wear in such short notice, so the only costume choice we had were sunglasses which Abdi Nooh was wearing as he played the role of Tom Cruise. Overall the location choice was an obvious, and even though it was troubling to always stop in the middle of a scene, it was worth it. Costume choices were limited however it didn't really effect our remake as the costumes did really tie into the characters persona.
Editing-
Editing played a huge part in our remake. The editing out of all the roles in the remake took hours to put together the scenes but in the end it was worth it. When editing the difficulty lied in were to begin. We had so many scenes and so little time that it seemed impossible to finish. However, after multiple visits to lunch time workshops I finally almost finished my final piece. I used multiple effects and video transitions to make the scenes look seamless which in the end did work out. I used a blur called the 'Gaussian Blur' which blurred the background and focused the audiences attention to the main character. I also incorporated the video transition of 'Dip to Black' which was very effective when switching between the two main characters. Another video transition I used and which I personally enjoyed was 'Cross Dissolve'. This was when the two scenes next to each other on the time line are merged together to get an almost split screen effect which was very useful when I used it in the collision scene, when the two actors bump into each other. Overall, when editing using Premier pro there was a time strain as it took multiple hours to put together a 25 second piece, and when there is only specific times you can edit it outside class did make it hard to do alone. However I think that the editing was the most successful part of the production and even though it was hard, I was glad to see my perseverance paid off at the end.
Titles- The title credits were relatively hard to make. This is because it was hard to place the titles on the screen when there was moving scenes (intergrated) as a person could easily block the visibility of the titles. Also another difficulty was that it was hard to save the black font on the black screen as you wouldn't know were the titles would go making it very hard and exhausting to use Adobe After Effects. When deciding the font It was a obvious choice as I chose Ariel Black in bold with a font size of about 16. This was an obvious decision as the font colour juxtaposed the background making the title credits bulge out into the audiences vision. This made the font very succesful as it was very eye grasping as it did stand out compared to the scene. The font did suit the tone of the film as the films beginning was very mysterious, and thus the black titles did blend into the overall atmosphere of the movie making the titles suit the moving images. Overall it was very hard to use Adobe After Effects when trying to impliment titles into the title sequence, and intergrating titles was very hard to do, however the choice of font, colour and size was a good decision and did really put the remake together.
If I was to complete the task again I would definitately try to learn how to use after effects and premier pro before starting the production so that I am much more efficent in my editing. Another element that I would do differently is that I should have more detail in the shot by shot remake so that It gives a clear example and builds a mental image in our groups head so that we are all on the same page. Apart from these aspects, I think the remake when relatively well and I look forward to making the real production piece.
As a group, we have chosen to create a thriller opening sequence by using some of the thriller conventions, for instance having two main characters- the 'good' one and the 'bad' one.
A mentally ill college student, Jefferson Ever, has a secret obsession with his classmate, Amy Line. To illustrate this, we have decided to include a bunch of scenes where Jefferson is in his room and photos and drawings of Amy are shown. We will be using low lighting, quick cuts, shadows and close ups during these scenes in order to hint the audience that something might go wrong later on in the movie and help them guess the genre. The props we are planning to use are also really important and take a big part in helping us to hook the audience, create tension and suspend their disbelief. For example, as Jefferson gets ready to leave his house, there will be a shot of him cleaning a knife, which will 'play' with the audience's thoughts and make them question themselves about what might happen to the victim.
This part of the opening sequence is influenced by the popular thriller 'Se7en', as the main character is clearly a serial killer, with an obsessive personality, planning his next murder.They also use a lot of close ups and low lighting.
The second part of our opening sequence will include scenes of our main actress-Amy getting ready for college. We will use cross cut s of both actors getting ready and leaving the house. We are planning to have a shot where they both cross paths. When Jefferson sees her, he starts to follow her, she slowly realises as she walks to the elevator and takes her phone out to find out that it has no battery.
Amy walks inside the elevator and Jefferson is after her. The sequence ends as we see Jefferson's eye and the doors closing.
Another movie that influenced us was Obsession(1976), which is about a businessman who becomes fixated upon a woman who resembles his dead wife.
Donnie Brasco- Macro Analysis- Marco analysis is also know as syntactic analysis and it gives the audience as general overview about what the actual movie is about and what story is tells. Key Plot-
The key plot introduced is that the main character angry about his situation he is in as it is shown by the close up of his eyes. It also denotes that he is involved with a particular group of gangster as shown by the multiple still images in the sequences. It also shows images of many people being circled or crossed. This shows that he is a cop and he is in a undercover investigation which is trying to find out secret information . This is also portrayed by the multiple images which show the cop watching them and the repetition of all the cross-cuts to this scene shows that it is a crime movie. Story Line-
The story line i introduced from the ending which is also known as the favourite trick of film noir. As it does show Johnny Depp having a demonic the ending which maybe connotes that he has turned rogue which adds to the narrative thread. Characters-
The main two characters introduced are johnny Depp and Al Pacino. hey are both accredited at the beginning with the first 2 starring titles but Johnny Depp is visually introduced first which denotes that he is the main actor and Al Pacino is shown halfway through the opening proving that he is also an essential character but the story line doesn't evolve around him. Social Groups
One social group which is represent is a sort of Italian Mafia group. They are represented stereotypically as it shows them wearing overcoats, suits. hats and glasses. It also shows a group of men having moustaches , smoking, drinking and owning expensive classic cars. These are some of the codes and conventions which are included in crime genre movies but the actors are genre tropes of this particular genre.
Micro Analysis- Micro analysis is also know as semantic analysis which looks at what is included in the movie which the audience doesn't realise but what ultimately makes it look appealing.
Sound-
The sound in any movie is very important and some say it makes up 50% of the actually movie. In this crime movie sound is used effectively to engage the viewer/ target audience. The movie includes diegetic sound which is sound that we can hear on the set which is plates being put on top of each other and cups being put down. As well as this it uses a sound track on top of the diegetic sound thus using sound layering effectively in the opening sequence. It also uses synchronous sound which is the same tone in in the sound and the visual image. The opening sequence uses synchronous sound throughout the movie.
Mise-en-scene-
This is what is actually the setting of the movie. In the opening title sequence it shows a Cafe you can hear the plates beginning put down and people talking. The props used are Cars, cigarettes and sunglasses. The costumes are mainly suits and hats and the mains characters are Johnny Depp and Al Pacino.
Camera-
There are multiple types of camera shots that are incorporated into this title sequences such as close ups of the main characters eyes, dolly shots of the building that he's is in, medium shots of multiple men across the street, medium shot of the other main actor and a low angel shot of people sitting on a bar.
Editing-
There are multiple editing effects used in the opening title sequence such as dissolving scenes together making the cross cut between scenes almost flawless. There are multiple still images used and put together to create a moving image of the scene which is a technique called 'stop motion'. The speed of the scenes vary from fast and slow speeds and the transitions are that there a multiple uses of dip to black which is integrated which the slow speed music. The editing also uses black and white scenes which cross cut to coloured images.
Title Conventions-
The title sequence is a discrete title sequence due to its secretive nature and the fonts used are mainly white with a size of 14 which is the same for even the title which is unusual and the title credits are integrated as part of the moving image. Order of title credits-
Studio
Production Company
Possessory Credits
Main 2 stars
Movies Title
4 other stars with separate titles
Other stars which are put together
Casting
Music
Costume Designer
Editor
Photograph
Based on a book by
Directed by
Narcos-
Marco Analysis-
Key Plot- The key concept or plot introduced is that this is a movie about crime and gangs as it shows a birds eye view shot of the whole location with areas being circled sort of like targets for a heist of some of some sort. It also shows a white substance which is an B class drug being made, sold and transported across the city. This connotes to the viewer that there will be death as the drug industry expands. Overall the key plot is that drugs will be sold and people will be robbed and killed in the country.This hard to grasp concept was introduced in the title sequence.
Storyline-
The story line is introduced to the viewer chronologically. It starts with selling drugs in small amounts in a small part of town then its grows to become a big business expanding across the country. They do go through bumps along the way such as the government and fights between each other but overall the main storyline is expanding their drug cartel business across the country.
The sound used in this movie is very asynchronous as it shows illegal drug transactions taking place and the song is calming tradition music which denotes that the sound is very asynchronous throughout the title sequence. The sound track put over the sequence is layered very effectively as they put the sound of a guitar on top of the song that is already playing which portrays the rich, cultural ethnic music. As well as this, it connotes that the location of the movie is in a south american country. This also proves how important sound is in a movie as it has shown to make or break peoples title sequences.
Mise-en-scene-
The props used in this movie are drugs, guns ,video recorders, tanks, pictures, planes, suit cases and military gear. The setting is in the favelas near a mountain in the South American country of Mexico. The main actors are Wagner Moura and Boyd Holbrook.
Camera- There are multiple camera angles used in this movie such as a birds eye view of the location of the movie, a medium shot of the drugs and a Long Shot over the mountains,. They also use a dolly shot across the bedroom while simultaneously getting a close of a female actress in the movie. There are multiple shots of females in this movie who are portrayed sexually. There are multiple close ups of the females lip and hands which may connotes an element of romance.
Editing- There are a number of scene where there is an image of a photograph and they zoom into the image with editing effects. They also use very smooth transition such as dip to black which is very effective when used correctly and dissolving the scenes together. In the editing area they also used a an effect whereby they turned the plain image of the blank screen into a scene were it is blue and red. Another effect they use effectively on their title is fade in as the present the title which is 'Narcos'.
Title Conventions-
The movie uses a discrete title sequence and I can tell this because it shows elements of the narrative thread but it shows irrelevant characters( i.e. the females) but not the main characters which indicates to me that this is a discrete title sequence. The fonts also used are a white, Arial font with a size of approximately 12 where they title is big, white and bold with a font size of 24. Also the titles are integrated with the moving image.
Title Order-
Studio
Production Company
2 Main Actors
Other Actors in groups of 3
Producers
Executive Producer
Other Credits (e.g. costume)
Title
Written By
Directed By
Scarface- Macro Analysis-
Key Plot
The key plot introduced is that Fidel Castro let his harbour open where he allowed the Cuban people to leave to join their relatives in the USA. But instead of just sending 125,000 people, 25,000 of those people were criminals which denotes to the reader that movie has a main genre of crime as the refugees metaphorically represent the conflict between the two neighbouring countries.
Story Line
The story line is introduced chronologically as it starts of with the narration which says that the Cuban people are going to transported by boat to the American shores to join their relatives in the neighbouring country.
Character
The main character is 'Al Pacino' who is shown just before the title on the screen and after the possessory credits but he is not actually shown on the screen which is only giving the audience a hint of the narrative thread urging the audience to watch on. The other 4 characters are shown together on one title screen which shows that they are not that significant actors in the movie which connotes that the movie is based on the main character. Social Group
One of the social group that are presented in the opening title sequence is a group of Cuban refugees. Even though they are not shown in a positive manner they are neither portrayed negatively or stereotypical. This is because the main actor is a criminal dreg from Cuba and by having a balanced opinion about the refugees makes the audience feel like they can choose whether they like the character or not and not to be force fed that they should dislike the actor.
Micro Analysis- Sound- Sound plays a major role in the opening title sequence of the movie. When the ident is about to come onto the a very mysterious non-diegetic sound plays which is synchronous with the visual scene as the audience doesn't actually know what is going to happen or appear. There is also on-diegetic sound playing throughout the narration which denotes that the story doesn't have a positive ending. You can also hear the thundering sound in the background as Fidel Castro is giving a very aggressive speech which is also synchronous with the non-diegetic sound. When Fidel Castro is speaking its is diegetic sound and this sound type conveys that there may be an unbalance in the equilibrium of the movie and there might be an anti climax.
Editing
Not much editing is used in the title sequence and the few editing techniques used are fast tempo music to denote that it is and action movie, the ident coming towards the camera lens giving it a zoomed in effect and black and white scenes.
Mise-en-scene
Ocean
Cuba
America
Plane
Boats
Guns
US flag
Ocean
Camera
Medium Shot of Fidel Castro's face
Tracking Shot of people departing on the boats
Birds eye view of people on the boat
Zooming in shot off person
Dolly shot of people
Long shot of boats
Low angle shot of flag
Title Conventions
The type of this title sequence is a narrative title sequence as it tells the viewer what the location is, what's the year and situation to give the viewer enough information to view on and understand the opening. This gives the viewer a hint and persuades the m to view on. The title credits are separate from the moving image which is understandable as the movie did come out in the 1980's. The font colour used in the credits is of a red tone. This connotes that there will be bloodshed and violence in this movie which can also be decoded from the title. The title and the main credits had a font size of about 18 while the narrative information has a font size of 12.
