Genre

Split opening title sequence

In the opening title sequence of Split there is little narrative given to us however, from the small parts we can understand the motive of some of the characters. In the small amounts of narrative we can understand that a girl has been taken against her will by a man and she has been put to sleep. She is being dragged in a wheelbarrow through a corridor and placed on a bed. In the rest of the film we expect the girl to wake up and realise she has been kidnapped. There will probably be a moment in the scene where the girl decides that she has to escape from the man and therefore strategiacally plans to run away. Most films containing a kidnap usually finish with the child being reunited with her family or the police and the kidnapper gets arrested.

From this title sequence we can see that the target audience of Split would probably be for 15+ years old as its an American psychological horror film. I think that the film would appeal to many teenagers as it features many famous actors such as James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy. In the opening sequence only these two characters are featured and are recognisable to the audience. I also think that Split could also target a wide range of adult ages as it features James McAvoy and also is a very popular horror film. The opening sequence is tense and it makes the audience think more about what ig going on which could make more people want to watch it. 

The opening title sequence clearly presents the film genre as a horror film from its psychological tense music and shows scenes of a girl being kidnapped. The title sequences cuts from the titles and the action to create dramatic effect. Only small clips of action is presented however you can still work out what is going on. The lights in the scene are dimly lit to make everything seem more chilling and there is no natural light. The only lights also flicker which is implying that they are old and could break at anytime. The location looks like its in an underground bunker which makes the audience feel chlostrophobic as you can imagine that the girl will find it hard to escape. The titles are all in white writing with a black background and they also flicker like the lights. The titles split up the action which makes the audience have time to process what has been shown and who the characters are. The director has also done this to create dramatic pauses and make the audience feel vulnerable and weary if anything is going to jump out at them. 

In the sequence there are only two characters shown which implies that they are the protagonists. The two characters are a teenage girl and an young adult man which also in this case makes the girl seem more vulnerable. From what we have been shown in the action we can work out that the girl has somehow been passed out and the man; who has probably kidnapped her, is dragging her onto a bed. The man doesn't do anything violent to the girl however the director has wanted it to seem that he is capable of hurting the teenage girl. From the clips in the sequence we don't see many intensions of the man and we don't know why he is dragging her to a bed. The man is portrayed to be daunting to the audience and he also doesn't speak which makes us know less about him.

The first small clip of action shown is of a light. The camera is moving away from the light with a tracking shot. The camera is is a lower position to the light meaning that the audiences attention is focused on it. There are two small clips of the camera tracking away from the light which is implying that the corridor is very long and dimly lit. The next little action shot is of a girl lying down in a wheelbarrow and being dragged by a man down the corridor. The camera is filming down in line with the girls face so that the only thing you can see is the legs of the other person. The background of this shot is blurred which is focusing our attention on her. It also make the man seem more mysterious. The girl also seems to be waking up from being passed out. The next clip is still filmed from the same angle however now you can see the girl open her eyes are looking at the surroundings above her. The final clip of action is filmed from a POV shot. You can't see too much in this scene as the person only has their eyes partially open. From what you can see through the persons eyes is the man laying the girl down on a bed and from her body language she is still passed out. The effect form filming this part in a POV shot means that the man hasn't just kidnapped one girl its more than one. This adds to the tension.

sound:

The editing in Split is used to make the characters seem more mysterious and not let the audience find out too much information about them. The clips which focuses us on the corridor and the light are edited to have a yellow tint as makes everything seem enclosed underground. In the clip where you can see the passed out girl being dragged by the man down the corridor is edited to blur out everything apart from the girl so she gets the focus. The director has also done this to make the man seem anonymous and relate to what the girl feels as she probably doesn't know the man who kidnapped her. 

I thought that the opening title sequence of Split was effective as it didn't give too much away from the film. From the sequence we understood that the genre would be horror, the protagonists are a teenage girl and a man, and we also learnt that he has kidnapped more than one person. I think that this was successful as it made the audience intrigued to find out what will happen to the girl and what the mans intentions were for kidnapping her. The titles are also effective as the director has not put them on top of the action and therefore it gives the audience longer to read them. The titles also split up the action which creates tension as you anticipate what is going to endure in the next clip. 

Split opening title sequence

Baby Driver - action

The opening title sequence of Baby Driver shows us a young adult going to buy coffee for his work. In the coffee shop he sees a girl walking outside the window who he find attractive. At the end of the opening sequence he walks into an abandoned building with his coffee. From this opening we expect the man to be working for some illegal company as he enters an abandoned building. At the start of the scene he is driving in a car and he looks very skilled. I think that he might have a job in being a get away driver and is being used by the people he is imployed by. We don't get too much information if the man is good or bad however, he is portrayed to be a charismatic people by dancing on the streets.

From this title sequence we can see that the target audience for this film is probably intended for anybody over years old. The tho characters we see in the sequence are Lily James and Ansel Elgort who are very well known actors and are recognisable to anyone over the age of ten. The music in the scene is all 80s music. For instance, Harlem Shuffle was released in 1986 and this featured through out the opening scene. The location of the film is set in New York which makes the scene seem more appealing and exciting. The scene also travels around lots of different locations and cool street art which also makes everything seem more appealing. 

The opening title scene clearly presents the genre of the film to be action due to the way the man looks like he is going somewhere important. At the very beginning of the scene the man is driving a getaway car for 4 people. The other 4 people look like they have just committed a crime and are running to escape in the car. In the next part of the scene the man goes to the coffee shop and buys four cups of coffee. The director has done this so that the audience knows who the man named Baby is buying the coffee for. At the end of the scene Baby enters into an abandoned building in New York which is probably wear his group meet to plan illegal things. As he is entering the building he looks behind his shoulder and checks the police are following him as there are sirens in the background. The way he looks behind shows that he knows he is in trouble and could be caught any moment. The car that Baby drives at the beginning is very old which implys that it could be stolen or that Baby doesn't have any moment and that is the reason he has become a getaway driver. 

In the opening sequence we got introduced to five characters. The main ones were Baby; as he featured in it the most and looks like he will be the protagonist, and the girl played by Lily James as she looks like the love interest. At the beginning of the sequence four people enter a stolen car and they look like they have just committed a crime. Baby is the get away driver so hasn't committed the crimes. All of the people in the car are wearing different types of clothing. One of them is wearing a suit, one is wearing casual and the girl is wearing a formal dinning outfit. Their outfits implies that they don't want to be seem suspicious to the police. Baby is wearing headphones and sunglasses, this is possibly also because he doesn't want people to see his identity. The headphones probably gives him music to increase his adrenaline or block out any loud noises. 

At the beginning of the sequence the camera pans and follows the moving car, it is filmed in a mid shot and captures the car driving off into the distance. A tracking shot follows in front of Baby and tracks his movement when he crosses the road. A tracking shot is used throughout however, it captures Baby in a mid shot rather than infant of him. This shot also allows you to see the street art in the background which matches his movement. When Baby is in the coffee shop the camera pans around him and the waiter and does a full circle around them. The way this opening title sequence is filmed is meant to represent the fluidity of Baby's journey and also match the way Baby is listening to his music.

sound:

The sequence is edited to run very fluidly and not have any cuts. The whole opening sequence is filmed in one take and is all filmed on a tracking camera. The titles in this scene are on top of the action and edited on. The yellow font of the title matches to the street art as most of that feature yellow. The titles have also been edited to slowly zoom in to the screen, this also helps with the fluidity of the scene and is better than just having the titles stay still. Baby is alway in the centre of the composition which helps the audience establish that he is the protagonist. Baby's love interest walks from the right to the left of the screen which also subconsciously mean that she is going to a place she has already visited before. 

I think that the opening title sequence of Baby Driver is successful as it already gives you lots of information about the characters without actually telling you. Baby is potrayed to be a getaway driver for a group of people however, despite his work he is shown to be a fun and likeable character. In the sequence there is a potential love interest for Baby which can make the film more interesting. 

baby driver title sequence

 

Opening sequence idea

Wednesday 17th November 2022

Opening sequence idea

The opening scene will take place in a school where children, around the age of 8, are learning what marriage is and the commitments. A mid shot would be used for this and the camera will be placed in the back of the classroom facing the whiteboard. The shot will then cut into a mid shot of the classroom from the front so you can see everyones faces. The shot will then slowly move into one of the girls faces (who has raised her hand) and into a close up shot. The girl will then ask her teacher "What happens if you don't want to get married." The scene will then transition into a master shot of a church and have a 8 years later sign. A tracking shot will move in through the doors of the church and up to the alter. At the alter you will see an elder man standing there looking at this watch and the camera will pan round to show the guests at the wedding yawning and looking bored. All the guests will be saying things such as "where is she", "she must be late" and "maybe she's nervous". A lady then walks up to the man at the alter and says "she's disappeared, she's made a run for it". A birds eye view shot is now used which shows a girl running through a path in a field. She is wearing a wedding dress and looks distressed. To show the distress the girl looks behind her shoulder often to make sure that no one is following her. At the end of the sequence the scene will go blank and the title of the film. The music in this would be calm at the start and slowly progress into a fast pace music when the wedding guests realise she has ran away. Church bells would be played when the master shot is shown. 

Netflix documentary- Developing an idea 

I looked through Netflix and found a documentary called the secrets of the Saqqara Tomb. I thought this would be a good foundation to build a good idea for an opening sequence. I had an idea that the sequence would be set in Egypt and be about a man who uncovered a tomb but when he was inside the tomb the entrance of it collapsed. The opening title sequence would start off with a birds eye view shot of a man lying on the sandy floor digging. The shot would cut to a POV shot of the man looking down at his hands. The non diegetic sound track would be synchronous to the timing of him digging into the ground. A master shot of the pyramids would establish the location to the audience and also would show the audience that the weather is very hot. Also a close up shot of the man wiping the sweat off his forehead would establish this. The shot would transition back to a POV shot and the audience can tell that the hole in the ground has progressively got bigger. The sound track will increase in speed which will build up the tension as the man starts using his hands to dig when he realises he is found something. An Ariel shot will then rise from the ground and into a birds eye view shot of the man. To show that he is tired he will turn onto his back and lie there for a few seconds. He will scream to show his happiness of finding something in the ground but doesn't know its a tomb yet. The scene will then cut to the rest of the film.

A tomb being uncovered 

The location of the opening scene

Inside of a tomb and where the rest of the film 

will take place

Belstone Pictures

Saturday 23rd October 2022

Belstone Pictures

 

The CEO of Belstone Pictures is Finn Cardigan Bruce where in 2016 he started to direct, produce and oversee the physical production and sales of the company. Finn began his love and dream of working in the film industry at Hurtwood House and when he was leaving the school, founded the Belstone Pictures as a way to pursue his dream. Finn worked with many people ;gaining contacts, such as Shaun Redick and Raymansfield. He helped them with the financing, production and worldwide distribution on their feature film. He then moved on to work with film finance Nicola Horlick for 2 years, where he helped the film funds and development. 

Tucked

On May 17th 2019 Belstone Pictures released Tucked. The film is about an 80 year old drag queen who finds our he only has a month left to live due to a terminal illness. He becomes friend with a younger aspiring drag queen, both helping each other through love, loss and friendship. To save money the film was set in Brighton and East Sussex and the company used their close contacts to do lots of the job. They managed to get Jordan Stephens (Faith) who was in the famous British band Rizzle Kicks and April Pearson, who is most known for playing Michelle in the program Skins. The soundtrack for the film was written by Sam Beveridge, who also performed lots of the tracts. As the film was only small budget, it managed to get a box office gross number of $23,080 worldwide. 

Making Tracks

The most recent film released by the company was Making Tracks about a couple who spontaneously decide ro have a trip travelling around Europe however decide to take opposite paths throughout their journey. The release date was October 5th 2020 right after the first pandemic. The film was written by Finn Bruce, Jamie Patterson and April Pearson. April Pearson also starred in Tucked and is married to Jamie Patterson. Jamie Patterson also directed this film. The use of using the same actors and contacts meant that the overall cost of the film wasn't too much. 

PAUL DOOD'S DEADLY LUNCH BREAK

Celebrity cast: 

- Tom Meeten

- Katherine Parkinson

- Kris Marshall

- Jonny Vegas

Directed:

- Nick Gillespe

Written By:

- Nick Gillespe

 Released:

 - March 17th 2021

 About:

 - Paul Good sets out to kill five people as they all  helped to make him miss his audition. 

 Awards:

 - The film was shown in the SXSW 2021 film festival 

 - Winner of the Final Draft Screenwriters Award

The comparison between Black Widow and No Time To Die in products

Sunday 17th October 2022

 

The comparison between Black Widow and No Time To Die in products

Black Widow and No Time To Die are both action films which are part of a much larger franchise. No time to die is part of the 25 film James Bond franchise and Black Widow is part of the Marvel universe which consisted of 23 films. Both franchises appealed to different generations, No Time To Die appealed more to the older generations as the first film was released in the 1960s. Black Widow on the other hand appealed more to the younger gereration as the marvel movies were first created in 1980s and publisised more in the 2000s. However the marvel films got attention from the older generation due to the comics. 

Cast and money earned and spent

Daniel Craige is a massive A-List celebrity who played James Bond in the five most recent films in the franchise. He reportedly made £25 Million on his last Bond film and would also receive more money if the box office goes well. No Time To Die also uses other A list celebrities such as emmy award winner, Rami Melik to help bring more viewers as he is a big star due to his role in Bohemium Rapsody. Melik earned around 7 million US dollars in the film, which made him one of the highest paid cast membours. The use of the celebrities meant that No Time To Die earnt £7millon from the UK box office, putting it as the second most successful box office film out of all of the James Bonds. 

Black Widow also used many A list Hollywood celebrities such as Scarlet Johanson and Florence Pugh. Johansson was paid 15 million US dollars upfront before filming which was the highest paid actor in this film. Scarlet earned less than Daniel Craige even though the marvel films overall, have been more modernised and have more younger viewers. Over the 18months of promoting the film, 150 million US dollars was spent on top of there 200 million dollar production budget. Black widow spent more on marketing than James Bond as they advertised more on Disneys streaming platforms such as Disney Plus. Disney revealed that Black Widow                     earned $150 million streaming on Disney Plus and $60million streaming on other platforms. 

                     Posters

Both posters for Black Widow and No Time To Die show off the lead character in the centre of the picture. In the poster on the left the red represents Black Widows character throughout the whole of the Marvel Universe and also makes the Marvel Studios sign stand out. The artist that designed this poster was called Max Ferguson and said to be inspired by the James Bond films. In the James Bond poster the colours that were used throughout all of the posters were white, blue, black and gold. This created unison and also meant that is someone couldn't read what the poster said they still could make out the 007 and Daniel Craige and understand that its the James Bond poster. The Black widow posters used red, white and black and could be distinctly recognised as a marvel film due to the logo and Scarlet Johansson. The use of having Johansson looking directly into the camera meant that the people looking at the poster would feel connected to her and would entice them to watch the film. 

The Male gaze in the marketing 

Both films used strong female actors in their advertising to gain more views. The male gaze is used by the directors to create attractive females to make the film more "exciting" for males. Even though Ana De Armes wasn't a lead in the film and only featured in one of the scenes, she still features in one of main character posters which is adveritised is many countries. In this picture you can tell that the character Paloma is wearing red lipstick and and a revealing, tight, black dress. This appeals to many people in the audience and gives the media someone to focus on. 

In all of the Marvel films, the character Black Widow has been sexualised a lot as the directors have wanted her to wear tight black lycra to make her seem more "athletic", but I think they want her character to appeal to men. Through the marvel films you can see that Johansson's character is wearing less revealing clothes but still is sexualised in Black Widow.

No Time To Die song 

The No Time To Die theme song was written by Billie Eilish and her brother Feanuis in April 2020. It was meant to be realised a few months before the film was released but due to covid only the song was released as the film was postponed. The song won a GRAMMY for the best song written for visual media and received 90,000 chart sales in the first seven days of being released. This song helped the film get more public attraction as it meant that younger generations, who were fans of Billie, were keen to watch the film. 

analysis of Dead Man's Shoes

Dead Man's Shoes

directed: Shane Meadows

- cross fade and cutting (fades to see them as adults and children as one shot) 

- childhood of two brothers 

- modern however the flashbacks are 1970s 

- age effects over the childhood memories

- small British independent film

- music creates a happy and reminisant tone

- walking right to left shows that they are returning home

- the dissolve sets up the relationship

- depth of path

- long journey but they know it well

- one dressed for country and the other in tracksuit

- older one leading the younger one

- no talking

- late 70s in flash back as brown colours

- come towards the camera and then away

- a to b journey 

The editing using cross cutting between original looking home video footage and the shot images of two brothers walking through a field. To show the whole field a scenic hide establishing shot us used to show the journey of the brothers. The long distance shots show the depth of the girls, creating an idea that they could be walking for a while. Over the top of the field, a non- diegetic song is played, creating a reminiscent melancholic tone. The music is British town folk implying that it could be a coming of age or drama film.                                     

IMAX

 IMAX

The IMAX is a corporation which is a proprietary system of theatres, films projectors and high-resolution cameras. It uses huge screens of 18 x 24m and the film runs horizontally so that the image width can be greater than the width of the film stock. 

- The IMAX were co-founded by Graeme Ferguson, Roman Koritor, Robert Kerr
and William C Shaw in September 1967. 

- The IMAX's tequnique produces an area that is 9 times larger than the usual 35mm format.

- Fox was the first brand to introduce the first 70mm film format which was called the Fox Granduar however, unfortunately this wasn't used for too long. 

-  The name IMAX was invented in 1970 after the original name Multiscreen Corporation, Limited. Many people thought IMAX is an acronym however is a made up word that Furguson created. 

- The screen is 4500 times bigger than and average TV screen.

What is so different about the IMAX than a regular cinema

- The IMAX is different as the screen is in a dome shape and the seats are more vertical. The screen is so large its can fill your field of vision and some people find this motion so strong that they can start feeling sick. The camera that the films are filmed on are massive and weigh around 240 pounds! This also means that the film needs to be larger and this increases the size of the projector. As everything is filmed and produced with much larger equipment, it means that there are more pixels so the quality is much clearer. Everything that is shown on the IMAX needs to be perfect as the audience can see every bit of detail. 

- The theatres are also very different. The screens are domed and the seats sit more horisontal meaning that the screen covers most of the theatre and therefore it makes you feel as if you are part of the film. This immerse type of theatre is amazing for the audiences experience however is very expressive. As the equipment is very heavy it needs about of people to make sure it is safe. It can cost around £100,000 to use the equipment per day, so filming using an IMAX camera can cost millions. 

Type of cameras 

Phantom 65 IMAX 3D digital camera

- This camera was announced in 2011 where IMAX said that they had a 4K 3D digital camera. 

- Transformers Age Of Extinction is the first featre filmed partially filmed with the Phantom Digital Camera.

ARRI Alexa IMAX digital camera

- In 2015, IMAX announced a 2D digital camera.

- It was first used in Captain America Civil war and the next on avengers Infinity War and Endgame

Guardians of Galaxy and Stranger Than Fiction evaluation

Monday 4th October 2022

Guardians of the Galaxy evaluation

The scene begins with groot in the right side of the screen trying to plug in the speaker. The ambient diegetic crackeling sound before it is plugged in shows that the music playing is diegetic and the characters can hear it. However the contrapuntal sound is acting as a non- diegetic sound track as it is playing over the duration of the sequence. There is a freeze frame when groot plugs in the music and the title of the film is shown. The director uses bold writing for the title to make sure it makes a statement and everyone can read it. The camera gets knocked off centre with the action still frozen and then the action plays showing the chaotic scene behind. Groot is in the centre of field in the camera composition showing the audience that he will be the main focus in the title sequence. The location behind Groot is unknown and probably from another planet. We can tell this because of the space ships and mythical creatures. The noise of the explosions and space ships are diegetic and matching the action. The sound effect is synchronous to Groot dancing, showing the audience that it can be heard during the action. It is acting as a sound bridge over the long duration of scenes. When Groot climbs onto the animals back and travels forward the camera moves steady and zooms towards them causing the audience to feel like they are on the journey with them. A birds eye view shot is used to show that Groot is about to fall off the edge however is saved. To show his emotion, a close up shot is used to show that he is petrified after being of the edge of the bridge. The music then stops when the speakers are landed on causing a pleonastic sound effect of the smashed parts landing everywhere. Groot then screams showing his frustration for the speakers being broken which tells the audience that the main part of the film is about to take place. 

Stranger Than Fiction evaluation

The scene begins with a zoom in towards his house and through his window until it reaches his watch, and the scene begins when the diegetic alarm plays. The non-diegetic voice track starts playing introducing the man brushing his teeth. There is a close up shot from the inside of his mouth so you can see his reflection in the mirror. The noise of the brushing is exaggerated to be able to hear over the voice over. The non diegetic music begins which is synchronous to the rhythm of the brushing. Writing is put over the top of the visuals representing the information that his watch would show him. The scene then splits into three showing the journey of him brushing his teeth, this helps speed up the scene and make it not boring. The character then is shown walking to work across his road, the non diegetic sound track still plays in the background. The director then edits his running to slow motion showing the audience that his steps are exactly every one second. The writing now shows what his brain is processing, when he is asked a maths sum you see him internal processing. To show that something abnormal is going to happen there is a blackout and a flashback. To show the flash back the scene is pigmented yellow and a little boy is sitting on the bike with his father. The young boy could be the man however its unknown yet in the opening scene. The scene returns to the man brushing his teeth however it is clear to the audience a whole day has past. The non diegetic voice over becomes an ambient sound so the man in the scene can hear it. The sound track stops showing the audience the importance of this scene. The writing has also stopped to show the audience that the film properly starts there and isn't showing his morning routine anymore. When the man says "Who's talking" its the first time we hear his voice. The camera then does a close up on his face showing the panic and confusion that someone is narrating his life.