Two workable ideas that I can present to the class:
idea 1:
The plot of the film is about a 20 year old lady named Adelaide who has been promoted senior editor in her job and has recently moved into her first cottage on her own. The beginning of the film shows her getting promoted at her works summer party and then move house. She chose the location of her new house as she wants to look into an unsolved murder case that happened 10 years ago in the village. Adelaide believes that if she can find anything about the case she can write about it in the new newspaper article she has been chosen to write. Before she had moved into the house she had published the first article about the case which she had been told that it was a popular read. Adelaide however didnt know that one of the family members in the murder case is still alive but hasn't been seen for many years. She doesn't know that he had read her article and was cautious to let her uncover any secrets about his family. In the middle of the film she works out that the brother's alibi was incorrect and he was actually present at the time of the murder which makes him a suspect. She published her weekly article about it which was read by the brother. She was then kidnapped by the man when she was walking home from work one day and her life was threatened if she carried on writing the articles about him. She was set free and still decided to carry on with her investigations as he was suspicious. In the end of the film Adelaide has managed to solve the case and report everything she has worked out to he police. However, she works out that the brother wasn't the murderer and in fact he had an identical twin brother who framed his brother to make it look like he wasn't the murderer.
The opening scene will begin with an establishing shot of a cottage with the doorway in the centre composition of the frame. A lady will walk out of the doorway. She is wearing a casual flowing dress and hair is up in a messy bun to represent youth. Her age would be around 20 and has recently moved into her first house by herself. The next shot pans out to show more of the cottage and the lady walking out of the house. A tracking shot is used behind her showing her walking infant of the camera. This also allows the audience to see the small village that she is living in. The lady walks into a small coffee shop and the camera tracks the girl from outside the shop. The audience can see the lady inside the shop walk through it towards the counter where she is handed a coffee by one of the waitresses. The camera then travels backwards capturing the lady walking out of the cafe. In the right side of the composition you see a man dressed in all black sitting outside of the cafe. He watches the girl and proceeds to stand up and follow her. In the background of the opening title sequence there is a non-diegetic soundtrack of the song Stairway to Heaven as it creates an eerie tone for the scene. The music also represents the action as its talking about a lady who is very curious and it leads to her death. To show that the man following her is a stalker there will be a POV shot as the man is looking down from a bridge onto the lady entering a train. The last shot that is used to emphasise the theme of thriller is a close up shot inside the ladies car where she looks in her mirror to see the man standing behind her car holding a gun.
idea 2:
The plot of the film is about siblings who grew up in the 1940s. Bella is a year younger than her 18 year old brother Charles. The film begins when the siblings are younger and they live a normal life in a small village with their parents. The children like to spend most of their time in the fields near their house and normally get told off by their parents for coming home too late. Their Father is an military general and spends lots of time away from home which effects the happiness of the children as they miss their dad. The majority of the film is set when the children are 17 and 18 where Bella is finishing her final year at school and Charles has began work and the corner shop next to their house. However, Germany declares war meaning that Britian has to also go to war. Charles is chosen to become a pilot in the army and promises to Bella; who has to stay at home, that he will constantly write to her when he's away. Bella is sent to the country side to live on her grandparents farm. At the end of the film Charles is killed at the Battle Of Dunkirk and Bella is pregnant with her fiancés child. Bella chooses to name her son after Charles.
The scene will be set in a wheat field or a field with long grass. The scene will begin with with a mid shot of a young boy and girl playing in the centre of a field. The shot will be edited to be slow motion to emphasise the theme of youth and friendship. A birds eye view shot will also be used at the beginning of the scene where the boy and girl will be lying on a blanket on the ground pointing up at the sky. The blue sky will then be shown which will be full of clouds. To represent that that the film is going to be set in the 1940s, the girl will be wearing a floral dress with knee high white socks and the boy will be wearing a blue shirt tucked into shorts and also will be wearing knee high socks. A tracking shot of the boy riding his bike down a street and the girl sitting on the handle bars on the front is used to show the change in location. A mid-shot of the backs of the two children sitting by a stream throwing sticks in it. The scene will then be edited to have a teenage boy and girl stitting in the exact same spot. They will be representing the children in the previous scenes however now they have grown up. The girl will now be wearing a tighter dress to show that she has matured and the boy wearing a soldier outfit but will only be wearing his white shirt. The shot then changes from a mid shot behind the teenage to a mid shot from across the stream looking directly at them. This is allowing the audience to see him pass a letter to the girl and her rest her head on his shoulder as she knows that he is going off to war. Through out the scene there is a non-diegetic soundtrack of an orchestra without any singing in it and the music is telling the story.
- Both Love Actually and Yesterday both contain a moment where there is a slow motion moment part which communicates a moment of happiness. Both the beginning and ending scenes of Love Actually is set in an airport, you see families uniting after people have been away. The scene is edited to be in slow motion to emphasise to the audience that the happy emotions on their faces is what make love what it is. The slow motion also makes the scene feel more emotional as you can see the raw happiness on their faces. In yesterday, the moment of happiness is in the middle of the film when the two protagonists create a song. The process of recording the song is shown in small bursts of slow motion which allows the audience the fully appreciate what they are watching. The slow motion also highlights that this is a key scene which leaves an impact onto the characters in the scene.
Airport scene
Yesterday scene
Austin Kleon - "Steal like an artist"
- Austin is an autor who wrote the book
'Steal it like an artist'.
Hunger Games trailer
Hunger Games is one of my favourite films as I love the whole concept of the film. The film is about a girl named Katniss who sacrifices herself for her sister and enters the hunger games which is a trial that happens once a year. One girl and boy from each district gets elected and put forward to be in the hunger games where they have to compete until there is one person standing. However when Katniss goes in with Peter they end up choosing to die for each other which end up leading to them both surviving. The hunger games is an action and thriller film as it includes both fighting scenes and suspense however also includes romance and comedy.
Mumma Mia trailer
One of my all time favourite films is Mumma Mia as its such a fun and lighthearted film. I grew up surrounded with the ABBA soundtrack and visiting Greece when I was younger. I was obsessed with this film to the point that I now have it nearly 100% word perfect! The whole concept of the film is so amazing from the story, to the music and to the dancing. My younger self was also obsessed! The genre of this film is a rom-com but to the fun atmosphere.
The Shawshank redemption
I saw this film only a year ago and was completely mesmerised by the beautiful yet sad story. I especially loved how this film was shocked as it really captured the emotions of all of the prisoners. After watching it I introduced my mum to it as she hadn't watched it and she was also in love with it. The genre of this film is drama crime film due to it being set in a prison and the story being about a man named Andy who was wrongly sent to life in prison.
Kyle Cooper is an American director and designer who is most known for creating title sequences and is a visual effect designer. Cooper has created many famous opening sequences such as Se7en and Godzilla. He was born on Friday 13th is Salem. In 1995 Cooper created the title sequence to the crime film Se7en which was very successful and led to him getting many job offers in the future. A year later in 1996, Kyle Cooper founded Imaginary Forces which became one of Hollywoods most sucsessful creative agencies. Cooper however, decided that he wanted to return to more creative work rather than running a business and therefore, left the company. In his ca rreer he worked on many famous films such as Mission Impossible, The Dark Knight Returns and X Men. Cooper has been nominated for seven Emmy nominations and won two. He was also commended with the lifetime achievement medal from the American institutions of Graphic Art in 2014.
Kyle Coopers demo reel of his work
Kyle Coopers opening sequences are all unique however, most of his work can be interpreted to have been created by him. Lots of his work jumps from image to image quickly so the audience can gauge an idea of the themes that will be in the film. Lots of his sequences contain illustrations and visual effects rather than acting and scenes from the rest of the film. His work is like little films themselves, for instance, the Nanny McPhee opening sequence has a duration of around 4 minutes and is all illustrated. It tells the story through the illustrated pictures whilst also containing the titles of the director and producers. His se7en opening sequences is completely the opposite to his Nanny McPhee one as it doesn't tell the audience any information about the story line. All we understand is that the theme of the film will be horror or thriller as you can see blood and body parts in jars. The titles are onto of the action and are presented in a font that looks like it has been written by somebody. In an interview the Copper did he was asked what makes a good title sequence and he said "It makes you thrilled to be in the theatre at the moment, getting ready to see the movie. It makes you glad that you are nowhere else in the world apart from where you are, getting ready to see something amazing." This is showing that Cooper wants the sequence to be as important as the rest of the film as he wants the audience to be engaged from the moment they enter the cinema.
The Dark Knight Rises
Kyle Coopers opening sequence of the Dark Knight Rises is effective as its not from the protagonists point of view. This is important as you don't see Batman himself. The sequence allows the audience to know little things about the upcoming film. You see Batmans broken mask to show that there will be a part in the film that he is defeated or hurt. The non-diegetic soundtrack in this sequence is low pitched and atmospheric. It has a evil feel to it making the audience feel on edge.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
