Analysis of film opening task

Reservoir Dogs

Lock, Stock and Two Flaming Barrels

The Godfather

What I have learnt:

From this task I have learnt a lot about what kind of opening scene I want to go for but also how many variations of creating a great opening there are. Whether you go for a heavy dialogue part or more action involved opening it can always be interesting. One this I have also noticed by watching the rest of these films is that the opening scene is very good at setting the pace for the rest of the film, I should definitely take this into consideration when making my final construction.

Inspiration and Influences

From creating this slideshow I have realized a lot about the films and other influences that I like and that inspire me. Most of these sources are somehow grounded to reality, with the exception of maybe one, but all have some sense of realism that it could happen and that it is not unreasonable to expect it to. They take on quite a dark and maybe cynical view on of the world but only to highlight the beauty of everything that isn't bad and dark. Most of the influences seen are also probably most praised for their realism the realistic relationships and dialogue. I will take all of these points in mind and will be able to reflect on them when my final piece inevitably reflects what I have said here.

Research into a Gangster Sub-Genre (Crime/Thriller)

Styles and Influences

 Conclusion

From this and my research on Tarantino I have learnt that costume is everything and I have to get it right, I definitely prefer the professional gangster look and will definitely try to incorporate that into my final piece. Looking at all these different style however I think I will incorporate less of the typical American, big coat and fedora, look and aim more for the black/grey suit and tie.

Research a Director: Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino Research

Target Audience and the BBFC

What is the BBFC?

Taken from their website:"All classification decisions are based on the BBFC’s published and regularly updated Guidelines. The Guidelines are the product of extensive public consultation, research and the accumulated experience of the BBFC over many years. They reflect current views on film, DVD and video game regulation."

Here is a link to their website for their rating process: http://www.bbfc.co.uk/education-resources/student-guide/rating-process

In terms of gangster films most ratings are around the 18 to 15 age rating permitting a decent amount of violence, sex and drug use however modern films and the film industry aim to get their certifications much lower hitting the golden 12A certification to reach a mass audience and turn over more money. However in terms of my own piece I'll be aiming for the higher certification as going for a more niche audience means you can better focus on certain aspects and draw in more of one audience rather than a few of every audience.

My Target Audience

Voki of my target audience:



Transcript:
"Hey, I'm John Smith. I am 21 years old. I love film, especially organised crime and gangster. I am a big fan of British gangster film, but I like films with more professional criminals, less rough and tumble, more organised and refined. Everyone loves a bit of action and violence, me included. Though, if the action isn't accompanied by a good story and rich characters. I tend to not like the movie at all. I like original ideas and methods. Something, niche. Something, hip. Finally, for the opening of a film, action is good, but very abstract and original openings grab my attention."

Gathering more data

Although this voki is a "pretty good" representation of my target audience I will also send out a survey asking people what they want from a film opening what specifically they like about certain films and how they feel about certain ideas.

Survey:

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Producers and Distributors

In conclusion I think if I were to create my own piece and have any of the companies help me to produce and distribute my work, for a gangster piece, Warner Bros. are a definite pick up they dominated the scene for a long time and are still growing to this date. If an audience member were to see my film on a poster having the Warner Bros. name would definitely help persuade them to watch my production. I also think involvement with PolyGram Filmed productions and Bad Hat Harry would be good, producing a British film and then the connections to distribute it afterwards. Also it would help get the actors and producers from across England into making the final piece. Credits to these producers may appear at the beginning of my film. PolyGram and Warner Bros. for sure but Bad Hat Harry will be subject to what genre I go for and whether fans of Bad Hat Harry would think it does the brand justice and properly represents what they are known for.

Gangster Film Conventions

Gangster/Crime Film Conventions

The Godfather Opening
Goodfellas Opening
Reservoir Dogs Opening
Pulp Fiction Opening
The Departed Opening

What I have learnt...

From this I have been inspired to make sure I include key elements in my final piece, and that costume and mise en scene is never to be ignored or less thought of in my film especially an opening sequence. Certain conventions I definitely want to include and others I'd rather miss out on. Inspiration from Tarantino's films have told me the opening scene can be very abstract from the main story but I do want to make it clear to my audience they are watching a gangster film to begin with and the opening sequence will show, maybe, some sort of motive, relationship or desire of a character/ characters.

Task 10 Evaluating Students Work

Luke's Final Construction:

WWW (What Went Well) :

Good music choice and shots really set the scene well, costumes were used effectively to portray each character giving a brief idea of their class, their importance and their role in the piece. Editing was up to a good standard and helped create the ambiance that was desired.

EBI (Even Better If) :

Although the music chosen was very well picked out the pace of the piece changes but the music doesn't go with it. When their is a murder happening the same music was playing as two guys walking down the street. Some vocals were done post production which was really good but the audio balancing meant at time the music was much louder than the narration so you couldn't hear properly what the narration was talking about.

Louise's Final Construction:

WWW (What Went Well) :

Opening shots created an amazing scene, good lighting, varied shot types and good locations made this piece seems really good. Costume was well picked out and with the other aspects of this piece built up a really good mystery setting.

EBI (Even Better If) :

As mentioned in the table, mise en scene involved a modern phone in a scene that had been built up to be quite dated. From the initial shots of an old clock and all wooden surfaces, the big house and other sets featured




Joel's Final Construction:


WWW (What Went Well) :

Some really good camera shots made this piece really come together, audio quality is also pretty good, low background noise achieving probably one of the best audio qualities out of the student final constructions. Creative use of titles and captions to bring out the feeling the director desired.

EBI (Even Better If) :

Clips didn't drag out for so long giving more variety in shot types and camera shots, low level lighting produces graining and this should be avoided in future.




James' Final Construction:

WWW (What Went Well) :

Some amazing camera shots to make this film really stand out, the opening titles use creative environments and really utilise shot types to deliver each title or caption in an interesting way. The dialogue was well scripted and the lighting was the best out of all the students work I have looked at.

EBI (Even Better If) :

There is a fight scene that was evidently filmed on a rainy day, this usually wouldn't be a problem bu the scene is set in a public car park that leads to outside resulting in horrific background noise, that, crossed with the fact the scene last just way too long makes it almost unbearable to watch and brings such a promising piece down.

What I Have Learnt

From this task I have learnt that lighting and sound are of pinnacle importance as if they are of low quality it can bring down your whole construction. Also the use of creative titles can instantly engross a person into your piece and that music, if suitable, completes a scene. Finally I should be careful as to how my final product comes across, if there is one scene that ruins it, no matter how dear it is to my heart I should either re-shoot it to get rid of the problem or not include it at all as it can completely destroy an opening scene.

Narrative Structure Theory Task - Claude Levi-Strauss' Binary Oppositions + What I have Learnt

Binary Oppositions

Bi(meaning two) and Oppositions(a little more self explanatory), Claude Levi-Strauss' theory states that in terms of a film's theme there are massive similarities in the dilemmas and how they derive from a fundamental opposition of ideas or motives.

Your basic examples of your binary-opposites are;

Good vs Evil,
Black vs White,
Boy vs Girl,
Peace vs War,
Civilised vs Savage,
Democracy vs Dictatorship,
First world vs Third world,
Domestic vs foreign/alien,
Articulate vs inarticulate ,
Young vs Old,
Man vs Nature,
Protagonist vs antagonist,
Action vs inaction,
Motivator vs observer,
Empowered vs victim ,
Man vs Woman,
Good looking vs Ugly,
Strong vs weak,
Decisive vs indecisive,
East vs West,
Humanity vs technology,
Ignorance vs wisdom

Claude Levi-Strauss basically stated that these binary conflicts are the basis for most of the conflict in films and the central climax of a films narrative revolves around these binary oppositions.

In gangster films particularly we tend to see;

The, Good vs Evil,

the, Power vs Weak,

the Crime vs Justice oppositions.

What I Have Learnt

From this task I have gained insight into three awesome theories about film, but what I have learnt that is more valuable to my final piece is how to use these theories to deliver certain messages, invoke certain feelings or contradict the theories to give the opposite effect. I feel I will take inspiration from all these theories but mostly use them to help plan out and create a story for my final construction to be based on.

Narrative Structure Theory Task - Vladimir Propp's 8 Character Types

Vladimir Propp's 8 Character Types

What if I told you that all your favorite characters can be categorised under just eight character types and definitions, well mostly...

The following are your eight character types:

Meet the "HERO":
Our protagonist. Due to wed the princess, reacts to the donor, to defeat the villain.

Meet the "VILLAIN":
Our antagonist. Will fight the hero, he/she usually fights for the other 'team','side', 'power' or 'cause'.

















Meet the "FALSE HERO":
Takes credit for heroes actions or tries to marry the princess figure.

Meet the "DONOR":
Prepares the hero or gives the hero some (magical) object.*Cough*Batmobile/Tank*Cough*.

Meet the "DISPATCHER":
Makes the villain known and sends the hero to defeat him.

Meet the "PRINCESS":

the hero deserves her throughout the story but is unable to marry her because of an unfair evil, usually because of the villain. The hero's journey is often ended when he marries the princess. Sometimes it doesn't always end this way but you get the point.

Meet the "HELPER":

Helps the hero on the quest to defeat the villain.

Meet the "PRINCESS' FATHER":

Gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero, and marries the hero, often sought for during the narrative. Propp noted that functionally, the princess and the father cannot be clearly distinguished.

As demonstrated above these eight character types can be applied to movies, no matter the setting or how abstract some of the 'Characters' may be; Maybe using Gotham as the father figure was a bit of a stretch :P.

These character types can also be applied to gangster films however I think the idea is flawed by people and especially modern characters are a lot more real and complex, everyone has their motives for different reasons and will do different things to resolve their problems. Take 'The Godfather' for example its not particularly easy to define a character as the villain or hero, not everyone's motives are exactly morally pleasing. Much like Todorov's theory Propp's eight character types are very good as broad, vague categories but can't always be applied.

Narrative Structure Theory Task - Todorov's Theory

Tzevetan Todorov (Todorov's Narrative Theory)

Tzevatan Todorov's theory whilst for the most part complies with our everyday linear narrative; A "beginning, middle end" structure also known as "Equilibrium, Disequilibrium, Equilibrium" structure, Todorov's theory is slightly more complex adding an extra two parts. TWO PARTS?!?! Yes, these two extra parts slide in just between

"Disequilibrium" and the final "Equilibrium" stages of our story and they are "Acknowledgement of disruption (Characters become aware of the problem causing the disequilibrium)" and "Attempt to repair disruption (Characters try to fix the problem)"  In these two extra stages, narrative is not perceived as a linear structure but a circular structure instead. The narrative is driven by attempts to restore the equilibrium. However, the final equilibrium at the end of the story is not identical to the first equilibrium at the beginning of the story. Todorov argues that characters and setting undergoes a transformation during the resolution of the disruption, characters and setting can change as a result.

An example of this structure is the well-known Disney film 'Finding Nemo':

Equilibrium - Everything is "hunky-dory" all is well in the life of our favorite fish.

Disequilibrium - Nemo gets captured by a pesky Aussie dentist on a diving trip.

Acknowledgement of disruption - Marvin(Nemo's dad) left without his only son realises he has to save his son and return him home.

Attempt to repair disruption - Marvin sets out on a quest to save his son traversing the vast ocean meeting sharks and a jelly-fish named "Squishy".

Equilibrium - Marvin finds his son and they return home safe and sound with a stronger bond than ever and a few friends that they had met along the way.

Above is a perfect example of where Todorov's theory is proven however it doesn't always apply. Quentin Tarantino's 'Pulp Fiction' is a lot more innovative it follows a more circular/episodic story-line following various characters with different motives, different dilemmas and they all have to solve them in different ways some of which cause more problems for other characters. I digress however as if you were to re-edit, cut up 'Pulp Fiction' and put the pieces back together differently you could sort of put together a story-line that fits Todorov's theory pretty well but not completely and only for a couple of characters.

In my opinion I think in terms of accuracy in interpreting the stories told in film and book, through other media. Todorov's theory blankets the majority of the stories in the world pretty well. Though I think in terms of following the theory, utilizing it for your own film, Todorov's theory is more like an "anti-tool", something to go against, I'm not saying you can't make a great film using this structure but in the current climate of film it helps to be a little more innovative go against the flow and create something completely original.

Narrative Structure Theory Task - What is a Narrative Structure and Introduction

What is a Narrative Structure

By Definition:

"Narrative structure, a literary element, is generally described as the structural framework that underlies the order and manner in which a narrative is presented to a reader, listener, or viewer. The narrative text structures are the plot and the setting."

Essentially how a story is told, and in the following posts I hope to talk about three theories about a stories dilemmas character types, and the conflicts we conventionally see in many of our favorite films everyday.

The posts will be named with he following titles;

1)"Narrative Structure Theory Task - Todorov's Theory" - Here I will talk about "Tzetan Todorov's Theory" and his interpretation of a narrative that every story follows.

2)"Narrative Structure Theory Task - Vladimir Propp's 8 Character Types" - Vladimir believed almost every story will only have these eight character types, no matter how many character's you have they only comply with these eight.

3)"Narrative Structure Theory Task - Claude Levi-Strauss' Binary Oppositions" - Good vs Evil, Crime vs Justice etc. these are the principle binary oppositions Claude summarised films to follow.

A History Of Gangster Films

From this research I have realized the process the film industry and more specifically the gangster genre has had to go to, to get to where it is today. Although not portrayed in the above piece I have learnt more about the prohibition era and although I knew a little about it before, I am now more enticed to base my final piece, maybe, in that era or at least take inspiration. I am intrigued to do more research into organised crime and what it is actually like, to maybe portray it more accurately than modern films tend to do. More research is to be done before anything final is put in place but this research has definitely helped give me a greater understanding of what direction I want to go in with my final piece and how I want the characters to be portrayed.