Mapping of Opening Credits analysis

 Mapping of Opening Credits

I decided to map 3 films of the action/drama/thriller genre. I decided to map the films.....

• Suicide Squad 2016
• Southpaw 2015
• Spectre 2015

From doing this I have learnt several things about film openings. Firstly, films with a more action/adventure theme have much less credit tittles. For example, Suicide Squad only had a total of 4 tittle credits. this could also be because its a big film that everyone knew about as it was produced by the institution DC.

Films that fit more into the drama genre tend to have more credit tittles. For example,  Southpaw had 32 credit tittles and Spectre had 34. This might be because the job roles are different or less well known then if it was from a large company like DC or Marvel. This means that more key job roles will be there so more credit tittles will be needed.

I have also seen that the first 3-5 credits are about the institution. Then you get the tittle of the film. after that the next 8-10 credits are about the key actors. Then the remaining tittle credits are for producers, designers and other job roles.

 Because of this information, I have decided that on average Drama films have about 33 text Tittles. I have also decided that our opening scene will have a range of 28-36 credit tittles. This is because we will make our film like a big institution and as most drama/action films have lots of tittle credits.

Opening scene analysis - Gaurdians of the Galaxy 2014

How does Marvel make the opening scene to Guardians of the Galaxy emotional?

Marvel uses textual features such as Mise-en-scene, Sound, Camera work and Editing to make the opening scene to Guardians of the Galaxy emotional.

Firstly, Mise-en-scene and camera work help to make the audience feel lots of sympathy and upset for the small boy who is the main character and focus in this sequence. There is a Mid-shot of the boy and his grandfather. The top part of the grandfather is cut out of the shot. This shows that the young boy is very small compared to everything in the shot. This infers that the boy is vulnerable.  This will make the audience feel sympathy for the boy as they will see a small vulnerable child. As well as this, his facial expression is sad and slacked. This suggests something bad has happened or is about to happen. Also, he is clinging to his bag very tightly. And in every shot proxemics are used to show him as small. This emphasizes that he is small and vulnerable and that something bad is going to happen. This creates enigma as the audience will wonder what has happened? or what is about to happen? that has made this child so sad and vulnerable. Then, after this there is a zoom out of the child screaming. It zooms so far out the child looks small and hopeless. This suggests the bad thing has happened and the child is hopeless against it. This creates sympathy for the boy as he is young and the audience will question what the child's future will be like because of how this event has effected it.

Secondly, Mise-en-scene, sound, camera work and editing work together to help represent the mum as powerless but ready to go away to a better place. Firstly, she is never in the shot for very long. Even though, she is clearly the focus of everyone in this scene she is not focused on for very long. This suggests that she doesn't have very long left. Mise-en-scene is also used to portray this as she is wearing white and is very pale. This suggests she is sick and vulnerable. Powerless to her disease. Also, when she is in the shot there is always an acute high angle. This supports the representation that she is powerless. However, Mise-en-scene and sound are also used to show she is ready to go. Her facial expression does not show fear but love and her voice is gentle and soft. This shows she isnt scared of death and is prepared to leave the world they are currently in. She is also in a light pink blanket. This adds some colour into the scene and shows she is vulnerable but happy. As well as this she is smiling which means she is happy in some sort of way. 

Finally, camera work, Mise- en-scene and sound are used to help represent the boy as having some sort of power to do something for his mum. When they bring the boy over to his mother he does not turn and face her. This shows he is upset but the slight low angle in the shot shows there is something he can do for him mum. His mother then says "Take my hand Peter". This suggests that he can do something for his mum or at least do as she asks so she has a peaceful death. however, this is not supported at the end when the young boy is flung out the room and told to stay where he is. 

Mapping of opening scene - Spectre 2015

Mapping of opening scene - Suicide Squad 1016

Mapping of opening scene - SouthPaw 2015

Opening scene analysis - Scream 1997

How has Wes Craven made the opening scene to scream tense?
Wes Craven has used many textual features to make the opening scene of scream tense.

Firstly, sound. The opening tittle has a piece of non-diegetic asynchronous sound in the form of a screaming voice and Foley stab noise. This creates tension because it shows us that the genre of the film is horror. This tells us bad things will happen so we are preparing fear for the first character we see.

Also, between the cut of the tittle clip to the first scene there is another piece of non-diegetic asynchronous sound. This takes form as a quiet heart beat that increases in tempo and dynamics until the first scene officially begins. This creates tension as it tells us something bad will happen that will raise our pulses. It also creates enigma as the audience will question who the bad thing will happen to.

As well as this, there is no ambient sound only the telephone ringing. This creates tension as you would expect to hear other sounds as nowhere is silent. It also focuses on the telephone ringing so tells the audience the phone is important. The phone is also red this is mise-en-scene. Red connotes danger so this suggests to the audience the phone has something to do with the bad thing that is going to happen.

There is also lots of dialogue in the clip. The antagonist has a very flirty tone at first which then quickly changes to a bipolar angry, bored tone with lots of swearing. This creates tension as the enigma of "who is the bad guy?" is answered and the audience will begin to fear for the main character's, Casey's, life. Also, the tone of the dialogue suggests that the conversation is like a game. This creates tension and enigma as the audience will know she will be bargaining for her life so want to know what she will be doing.
As well as that, there are two very noticeable pieces of non-diegetic asynchronous sound used in the sequence. The first is a quiet, fast-paced piece that creates tension as it tells the audience something bad will happen soon. It leaves the audience on the edge of their seats waiting for the bad event to happen. The second is a low-paced, loud, deep, thundering piece. This will create tension as the audience will know that the bad event is happening and they will fear for the life of the young women on screen.

Next, Mise-en-scene. The setting is a large house in the middle of nowhere. This suggests that help wont be able to get there quickly. This creates tension as the audience will know the main character will die but will question how? Also a lot of shadow and low key lighting is used in the scene. This will create tension as she is a blonde female on her own in a dark shadowy house. This implies she is the first to die as that is a convention of horrors. This means the audience know she will die and will fear for her and wonder the method of her murder. 
Kinesics and Proxemics are also used. Casey begins the sequence in a relaxed manor leaning around playing with random house props however as the clip moves on she gets fearful and begins to move fast in a stiff tense manor. This creates tension as the audience will be able to see her fear in her movements. This will add to the fear built up for Casey's life. Casey is also often shown very small in shots. This will create tension as the audience will know she is vulnerable and will be the target of the antagonist even when she seems relaxed and happy.
Casey's make-up has a dark shadowy theme. Her lips are a deep purple-red colour. This suggests she is sinful and could trick the audience into believing she is the antagonist. However red suggests danger as well which connotes she is in danger. The audience will assume she is sinful and has done something to deserve her death. This will create tension and enigma as the audience will want to know what she has done to deserve death and a cruel torturous one at that.
The colour theme for this film is red, dark blue, black and white. These are all dark, negative colours that are conventions of a horror film. The colour red is used a lot and therefore will connote danger. This will create enigma as the audience will wonder who is in danger? and what will happen?

Enigma codes:

From the opening sequence there are many enigma codes such as;

• Who is the killer?
• What is going to happen to the female?
• Why did she claim that she didn't have a boyfriend when she did?
• Why does she continuously keep picking up the phone?
• Why didn't she just cal, the police

Enigma codes help keep the story in suspense and the audience on their seats. If all of the audiences questions were answered they would find the film extremely boring.

Research: Job Roles in the Production of movies

Preliminary Task - Review Part 2

Review part 2

Preliminary Task - Review Part 1

Review part 1

New Preliminary Task Based On Response Sheet

Based on our what went wells and Even Better If's, we have created a video of the preliminary task. The video includes comments based on the response sheets that we have received from our audience on where we can improve for next time.

Response Form For Preliminary Task

This is an example of a response form that was collected after showing our preliminary task. The form tells us what people thought about our preliminary task; what went well and how we can improve for next time. This is beneficial as we are able to understand from the audiences perspective and what they thought about our preliminary task.

Based on the responses from the audience we can understand what they liked and disliked about our preliminary task. So, we know what to include and not include in our main task. For example, in this particular response they have identified that the lightening is dark. So, for our main task we will make sure that the lightening will be brighter

Preliminary Task - Video Bloopers

Preliminary Task - Video

Preliminary Charector Considerations

In our preliminary task we only have two characters. The protagonist is played by a black female and the antagonist is played by another female of Indian heritage. We wanted to do this to challenge the stereotypes in movies. Typically females are portrayed as the weaker ones, who are in need of constant attention from the males. They also depend on the males to get them out of dangerous situations. So, instead of  casting a heroic male protagonist, we chose to cast a female, who is black. By this character being black we also challenge the stereotypical ideas of blacks being presented as the best friend of the main character, or a brassy woman. As our protagonist has none of these attributes we believe that the audience would be more intrigued in our film, as we do not follow the conventional patterns of the movie industry.

We have also have made the antagonist a female as well. The most successful antagonists in the movie industry are typically male. We thought that it would be unique to have a female antagonist, especially one from a Indian background. The common stereotypes of Indians in movies are beautiful maidens, magical medicine men and bloodthirsty warriors. Additionally, in major blockbuster films, the antagonist rarely Indian but usually Caucasian men. So, to have a female playing the role of a villain, especially one from a Indian background challenges the stereotypical ideas, of  a successful antagonist being a Caucasian male.

Interrogation techniques research

Interrogation Techniques

With a few exceptions, the police are allowed to lie to a suspect to get them to confess. The belief is that an innocent person would never confess to a crime he/she didn't commit, even if confronted with false physical evidence of their involvement. However, that's not always the case, but it's a big part of the reason why the police are allowed to employ deceptive tactics in interrogation.

The psychological manipulation begins before the interrogator even opens their mouth. The physical layout of an interrogation room is designed to maximise a suspect's discomfort and sense of powerlessness from the moment they steps inside. The classic interrogation manual "Criminal Interrogation and Confessions" recommends a small, soundproof room with only three chairs (two for detectives, one for the suspect) and a desk, with nothing on the walls. This creates a sense of exposure, unfamiliarity and isolation, heightening the suspect's "get me out of here" sensation throughout the interrogation.

The manual also suggests that the suspect should be seated in an uncomfortable chair, out of reach of any controls like light switches or thermostats, furthering discomfort and setting up a feeling of dependence. A one-way mirror is an ideal addition to the room, because it increases the suspect's anxiety and allows other detectives to watch the process and help the interrogator figure out which techniques are working and which aren't. Before the nine steps of the Reid Interrogation begin, there's an initial interview to determine guilt or innocence. During this time, the interrogator attempts to develop a rapport with the suspect, using casual conversation to create a non-threatening atmosphere - people tend to like and trust people who are like them, so the detective may claim to share some of the suspect's interests or beliefs. If the suspect starts talking to the interrogator about harmless things, it becomes harder to stop talking (or start lying) later when the discussion turns to the crime.

During this initial conversation, the detective observes the suspect's reactions - both verbal and non-verbal - to establish a baseline reaction. The detective will use this baseline later as a comparison point. One method of creating a baseline involves asking questions that cause the suspect to access different parts of their brain. The detective asks non-threatening questions that require memory (simple recall) and questions that require thinking (creativity). When the suspect is remembering something, the eyes often move to the right - just an outward manifestation of the brain activating the memory centre. When he/she is thinking about something, the eyes might move upward or to the left - reflecting activation of the cognitive centre - the detective makes a mental note of the suspect's eye activity. The next step is to turn the questioning to the task at hand. The detective will ask basic questions about the crime and compare the suspect's reactions to the baseline to determine if the suspect is being truthful or deceptive. If the interrogator asks the suspect where they were the night of the crime and he/she answer truthfully, they will be remembering, so the eyes may move to the right; if they're making up an alibi (requiring thinking), the eyes might move to the left. If the interrogator determines that the suspect's reactions indicate deception, and all other evidence points to guilt, the interrogation of a guilty suspect begins. Because my group and I are limited for time and resources in regards to what we can include in our preliminary task production, we will likely be unable to use features such as a one-way mirror and the majority of dialogue (e.g. casual conversation) which would have helped to create tension and is common in a lot of interrogation scenes. Instead we can pick out important elements of this typically structured interrogation scene such as using evidence and questioning the suspect until found guilty.

Preliminary Task - Story Proposal

Working Title:
‘Cold Case’

Production: 
opening title sequence

Genre:
Crime

Duration: 
1 minute 12 seconds

Target Audience:
15 to 60, male

Director/Editor: 
Rachel Fillon-Payoux

Outline:

DETECTIVE walks into a dark questioning room and sits down opposite SUSPECT (Jessica) to question her about the murder of her friend earlier that month. This conversation lasts roughly 1 minute. During this time, the DETECTIVE moves around the room, sitting on, and leaning over the table.

Cast:

DETECTIVE - Tia Weeks

MURDER SUSPECT - Ellie D’Sylva

Characters:

DETECTIVE - a middle aged black woman 

MURDER SUSPECT - a teenage girl named Jessica

Setting:

An interrogation room that is low-key lit and inside a police station.

Visual Elements: 

• lighting
• camera movement
• editing
• setting
• actors
• props 
• costume

Audio Elements:

• synchranous sound (diegetic)
• vocals

Equipment:

• Canon camera
• SD card
• mobile phone 
• torch

Props:

• chairs
• table
• folder
• printed photograph of MURDER SUSPECT in an alleyway

Rationale:

This idea was chosen because it isn't a conventional confrontation between two people; it has a plot and a resolve. A crime genre has strong senses of tension and anticipation as well as being unique because it is not frequently used or with the same story-line.

Budget: 

All equipment and props are borrowed. There are no added effects and actors are volunteers. Total cost = £00.00

Preliminary Task - Script

INT builing day

DETECTIVE 
walks into a dark questioning room and sits down opposite 
SUSPECT
 (Jessica) to question her about the murder of her friend earlier that month. This conversation lasts roughly 1 minutes. During this time, the 
DETECTIVE
 moves around the room, sitting on, and leaning over the table.

DETECTIVE: 
So, Jessica…. Do you know why you’re here?

SUSPECT: 
No I don’t! I already told you people everything.

 DETECTIVE: 
I think you do Jessica. Now, can you tell me your whereabouts on Saturday 17th of December?

SUSPECT: 
Uhhhhh I’ve explained this. I was at home most of the day, and then I went to the mall to shop for some clothes. That’s it! I went straight home afterwards and got there at like 5:30.

DETECTIVE:
Explain this then (lays out images). If what you say is true, then why do we have CCTV footage of you leaving Parkson Lane at 9:43 pm? Hmmm.

SUSPECT: 
I-I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.

SUSPECT: 
Okay I'm sorry, I did it! But that girl got what she deserved.

DETECTIVE: 
I think we've found ourselves a murderer.

Preliminary Task - StoryBoard

Preliminary Task - Camera Shot List

Shot No.	Type of shot	Actors	Props	Costume	Sound	Other comments	Used?
1	-	-	-	-	-	Blank text clip	YES
2	Long shot	Detective	Folder	Smart attire	Diegetic synchronous sound “tap tap” on stairs as detective walks up stair set 1.	High angle	YES
3	Long shot	Detective	Folder	Smart attire	Diegetic synchronous sound “tap tap” on stairs as detective walks up stair set 2.	Low angle	YES
4	Close-up	Detective	Folder	Smart attire	Diegetic synchronous sound of door handle opening.	Hand on handle	YES
5	Mid-shot	Detective	Folder	Smart attire	Diegetic synchronous sound of door handle being released and door slamming shut. “tap tap” of shoes.	Walking through door	YES
6	Mid- shot	Detective	Folder	Smart attire	Diegetic synchronous sound “tap tap” of shoes while walking	Walking across room	YES
7	Close-up	Detective	Table, chair, folder	Smart attire	Dialogue “so Jessica, do you know why you’re here?”	Sitting down	YES
8	Close-up	Suspect	Table, chair, folder	Smart attire	Dialogue “ no I don’t, I told you people everything!”	Sitting down	YES
9	Close-up	Detective	Table, chair, folder	Smart attire	Dialogue “I think you do Jessica, Where was you whereabouts on Saturday 17th of December”	Sitting down	YES
10	Close-up	Suspect	Table, chair, folder	Smart attire	Dialogue “I already told you. I went shopping and then I came home at like 5.30”	Sitting down	YES
11	Mid-shot	Detective and Suspect	Table, chair, folder	Smart attire	Diegetic synchronous sound of turning page. Dialogue “explain this to me then, why do I have CCTV footage of you leaving parkson lane at 9.45PM” “I don’t know what you’re talking about” “this is you isn’t it?” “	Walking round and sitting on table	YES
12	Mid-shot	Detective and Suspect	Table, chair, folder	Smart attire	Dialogues “explain yourself!!” “ o- o –okay! Sorry I did it but that girl got what she deserved!”	Sitting on table	YES
13	Mid-shot	Detective and suspect	Table, chair, folder	Smart attire	Dialogue “I think we found our murderer!”	Sitting on table	YES
14	-	-	-	-	-	Blank text clip	YES
15	-	-	-	-	-	Blank text clip	YES