Friday, 16 October 2015

Atonement Opening Analysis


(Joe Wright, 2007)
Produced by Working Title (+2); distribution: Universal
Budget:$30m
Box Office: $130m (world); $51m (USA), £11.5m








The titles in this opening include:
  • Universal (company idents)
  • Working title (company idents)
  • Universal pictures presents
  • In association with studio canal and relativity media
  • A working title production
  • Atonement       
The titles in this film are unconventionally short and there are only 6 which is strange. Usually there can be up to approximately 30 titles at the start of a movie. This however allows the user to get straight into the film. The title sequence includes 2 company dents including: universal (the distribution company) and working title which can be identified as the production company. The sequence then includes 4 titles which all follow the same format of a black background with white text which follows the conventional documentary style opening giving it a sense of importance. The universal ident lasts 20 seconds whereas the working title ident lasts 10 seconds. This creates the effect that universal is bigger and more important than working title. The opening title sequence (and idents) lasts exactly 52 seconds which again is unconventionally short in regards to film opening durations.

The title 'ATONEMENT' then appears as to be written by a type writer to signify the time period in which it was set achieving a sense of verisimilitude.

The transition into the main film sequence and into the 1st shot is a sudden frame switch which takes place at 53 seconds. This is an example of a cut shot as there is no smooth transition between the frames.

The opening of this movie includes a variety of things which can be connoted and detonated. For example at the start after the titles have played you can simply hear a type writer. This is an example of verisimilitude as it shows that the movie is set in the time of the typewriter, 1939 to be exact. The first shot is one of a big child's play house. This can be denoted to signify wealth and childhood. It also helps the setting of the first scene which is in the bedroom of a young girl. The setting of the whole opening of the movie is mainly in this one house. The camera then follows a long trail of child's toys which further signifies the fact of wealth and the abundance of non-essential play toys.

The sound of the type write keeps playing throughout the first couple of scenes. This is an example of diegetic audio which allows the reader to understand that there is actually a type writer present in the scene. the room in which the first scene is filmed is a big posh children bedroom which again signifies to the viewer the extent of the wealth that the people of the house own.

You quickly learn from the scene that the girl is writing a play which sets the story line going for the film. The girl in context to the whole film may be seen as an antagonist as she plays a part in a sinister role throughout the film. As the girl leaves the room the pace of the recurring type writer increases even though the girl has actually stopped using it. This is an example of non-diegetic audio. This increase in pace works with the fast pace of the girl almost running through the massive estate which is her home. 

The use of camera shots varies between shot reverse shot which aids the viewer in seeing the whole conversation which is involved in the shot reverse shot, and the use of other shots such as close ups which the 1st shot is. The 1st shot is somehow ironic in the sense that it is a close up shot of a doll's house representation of the house in which the film is set. This then leads to the medium over the shoulder shot which sets the scene and introduces the main character.

Source: http://wongproductions.blogspot.co.uk

Thursday, 15 October 2015

Bridget Jones' Diary Opening Analysis

Bridget Jones's Diary

Genre: 
Rom-Com
Romantic Comedy...


The Players:
Richard Curtis- Wrote the original book of which the film was based upon, Andrew Davies adapted that to create the film.

The first few shots taken from Bridget Jones's Diary are the production companies involved in making of Bridget Jones's Diary.







'Working Title' are a major film company, and attract the biggest stars, typically American, and if British, white and southern, this is because, from a marketing point of view, this sells more copies, therefore, more income for Working Title, which is the primary focus of the company.
-4 company idents:
-Universal Studios // 20 seconds
-Studio Canal // 16 seconds
-Miramax Films // 14 seconds
-Working Title // 10 seconds
Altogether 60 seconds

The 1st Shot:




  • In BJD, the opening shot contains the main character, with a medium close up shot. Rarely do you see the main characters face immediately, however due to the nature of the film, it is logical with reference to the non-diegetic sound of her thoughts, therefore we can see who's voice it is, helping the viewer follow the plot. 
  • Female main character, this could suggest it relates to girls more than guys, potentially making it a romantic film, or 'chick flick'. Uses cross fade for transition between shots. The mise en scene has only a small level of importance, however, it is key in determining the time of year and what this could denote it is Christmas/winter due to the weather (snow).
  • The film opening lasts 11 minutes and 54 seconds.
  • The opening sequence begins at 60 seconds / 1 minute.


Titles


  • Main Title is in bold, and a larger font than the subtitles



  • Non Serif.
  • Positioned left side of the screen.
  • They include names of directors and procures etc
  • Each last the same length of time and fade in and out
  • each are the same size apart from the main title
  • The size of the sub titles don't change, signifying each person has contrubted the same to the overall production and making of the film
  • The job of which each person named is smaller and thinner, whereas the name is a bigger font and in bold.
  • the colour stays the same throughout
  • there is no animation to the titles 
  •  























Subtitles before main title...
  • These subtitles come before the main title... 'Bridget Jones's Diary', the subtitles are a lot thinner in comparison, this could denote that every person involved in production adds up to something much bigger, 
  • Signified by the font // Serif font.
  • All positioned on the left and in the same font and size.
  • 19 subtitles in total before main title
  • Each title has a 9-10 second gap between each one and last for 4 seconds each
  • Overall the subtitles last 1 minute and 40 seconds after 1 minute of company idents.



Sound, Music:

  • The opening sequence has non diegetic and diegetic sound.
  • Non diegetic is in the opening shot, we hear 'Bridget Jones's' thoughts over watching her go to her mums for Christmas denoted by the heavy snow, which leads to verisimilitude.


Characters:

The opening scene follows the main character, and uses non diagetic speach from her, from this we get to know the character and can see things from her perspective. There is also binary opposition between 'Bridget', and a 'divorced single man' who her mother tries unsuccessfully to set her up with to begin with.


Shot Variety:
The shot type varies throughout the opening sequence, including and establishing shot in the opening scene. Along with a close up which brings power to the scene.

Source: http://shottype.blogspot.co.uk

Wednesday, 14 October 2015

Le Donk & Scor-Zay-Zee Opening Analysis

Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee

(Shane Meadows, 2009)

Produced by Big Arty Productions and Warp Films
Budget £48,000 (estimated)
Rock roadie, Le Donk, has lived, loved and learned. Along the way, he's lost a classy girlfriend but gained a sidekick, Scorz-Ayz-Ee. He sets out to make Scorz a star with a little help from the Artic Monkeys.[Source IMDB]
Shot By Shot Break Down
Overall, the opening sequence is about 2.5 minutes long, and includes 21 overall titles that last for 1:40 minutes and the first shots before the titles lasting for 55 seconds.
The film seems to be trying for verisimilitude, as it doesn't start with a montage and non-diegetic sound, but with a long-shot of one of the main characters. There isn't much of a narrative enigma, but this works as it fits with the characters (who seem rather unintelligent) and are rather unsubtle



  • This is the first shot of the film. There are no titles - it simply cuts in with a close up shot of the sign on the caravan and then zooms out to reveal the whole caravan (that shifts ever so slightly) of one of the characters in the middle third. All the sound is diegetic. It can be denoted that the character looks what you would call 'chavy' or quite Americanised, he is wearing an American football jersey and red jogging bottoms: this exposes to us that the character is extremely influenced by America, and given that the audience is likely to also be very influenced by America they are likely immediately relate to the character. A narrative enigma is created briefly as an audience wonders what he is going to say and what's going to happen next. The lack of titles seems to have been done to create a strong sense of verisimilitude (as this is a sort a music video)


  • The music video style of the whole opening denotes that the film will have some sort of music theme to it the is also shown in the opening titles were the almost documentary 'behind the scene' style filming turns into a cartoon.



  • This could also denote the childish nature of the film which charts the character almost growing up in the music world.

Opening Credits (in order)



21

  • The next shot after the cartoon aspect of the film if a shot of a run-down street the immediately suggests the social class of the characters of the film as working class or poor this is due to the run down nature of the neighbour hood and the cars (a big telling factor in when making assumptions with films) this also ties in with the opening shots as before the titles start which shows the to characters exiting a 'run down' caravan (as can been seen in the start of the blog post)
  • After that shot the door in front of the camera opens and when are presented with the main character who tries to be funny in a childish sense. This immediately presents the character as fun and the film as a fun film instead of a serious documentary as appose to the documentary style it is in.

Source: http://f9films.blogspot.co.uk

Tuesday, 13 October 2015

Wish You Were Here Opening Analysis

Wish you were here was directed by David Leland. 
The budget was $1.5M. 
The Box Office was $3.8

Summary: Joel Edgerton stars as Dave Flannery, who reluctantly vacations in Cambodia with his pregnant wife Alice (Felicity Price), her younger sister Steph and new boyfriend Jeremy. After a night of partying, Jeremy vanishes without a trace. Dave and the women return to their lives, each bearing differing degrees of knowledge about what happened and slowly put the pieces of the puzzle together to find out what happened that night.  
     Dave reveals he slept with Steph on the beach.He goes for a walk and meets a man, who offers to take him to a small bar. Dave went and began drinking. Alice gets into an argument with Dave. She goes to Steph's house and confronts her. On the way home, she gets into a car accident and is rushed to the hospital, where she prematurely gives birth to the baby. In the end, Dave tells the police the truth of Jeremy's death

This is the opening to 'Wish you were here'. The film was produced in 1987. The film was produced and written by Davis Leland. The film is about a girl who is looked down on by the elder generations because of how she dresses and acts. her mother is dead and her dad has given up on her. (The Title refers to her mother {wishing her mother was there}). It is set in the British seaside in the 1950's.


  The first think that comes up in this 'Film Four International presents..'. The title is white on a black background centre screen. White text on a black background often signifies the film being set on serious social issues and documentation. The text is sans-serif. The film genre is a British comedy-drama. The film opening is1:34 minutes long.


This comes up around 4 seconds after the 'Film Four International'. The writing is the same and the text is centre screen bringing the eyes in. 


This photo of a child then fades in. This image stays on the screen for a relatively longer period of time than the titles. The image is a girl with a gas mask on. We can connote that the film may be based in the past or the past has a lot to do with the life of one of the main characters. The image is not full screen. It has been cropped and on covers the centre of the screen. Again everything seems to be in centre screen. So far we haven't actually seen any of the time period or the area that the film is set in. This is narrative enigma. Information is being with held, making us ask questions, such as who is this child, when was this. This shot comes up at around 0:10 seconds. The fades away at 0:17, which is twice the length of the first two idents.


This is the next shot. Come in at 0:18 seconds. It is on the screen alone for three seconds much ike the idents, the name Tom Bell then appears. Emily Lloyd then disappears at 0:23 listing 0:07 seconds on the screen. Tom Bell i now left and fades out at 0:26 seconds The camera is slowly revealing more of the scene. Slowly moving left. As it moves more titles of actors are put up. This isn't a very long introduction to actors. The first actress to come up in EMILY LLOYD. This suggests that she is the main character of the film. I would usually guess that this meant Emily Lloyd was famous however this was her first film. She was 15 at the time.
  The title is a bold bright red, attracts your eyes to the screen. It is very contrasting in comparison to the background. Which is dull and grey. I can denote that it is the ocean, probably somewhere in England because of the dark grey skies, suggesting it isn't somewhere warm like Spain.


Tom Bell is then added to the screen. We can again denote that these are the main actors of this film. 'Tom Bell' s also in the ocean section of the screen. The text is not covering the structure that we are about to see. The filming that is being done here is crab left. Extreme Long shot to give us the full picture of where we are. The scene is slowly being revealed.Narrative enigma is a big part of this scene. His name fades in at 0:21 and fades out at 0:26 seconds.


The title of the film has now been introduced. The font of the writing has now changed. The writing is serif. Very fancy, something that you would find in a rom-com. However, Wish you were here is a drama comedy. This would be showing the drama side of the film. The writing is very dramatic and over the top.  The semiotics of this are still not giving away, much about what the film is really about.  We have now reached the actually beach. Lana. There is a man walking along the beach in a coat. Costume is very significant when creating a timely film such as 'Wish you were mine'.  
  The man is very far away there we are unable to see the detail. Once agian nothing has been given away. The title of the film comes in at 0:27 and then fades out like the rest at 0:32 seconds, listing 5 seconds.


The text has returned to the simple sans-serif. All of these names are the co-stars. The fact that all of them are on the screen in one shot shows us that the opening of the film will not be very long. the 'and' at the end shows us that, that is the last actor to be mentioned in the opening two minutes of the film. The rest of the titles like this last around bout 0:03 seconds each. Showing that they are less important.





The shot is getting further and further out. We can now see the whole of the man and his dog. he is wearing a long jacket and a hat. Signifying that it is autumn time in Britain. From the background it is clear that we may not be in the best area of Britain. (Sussex). The pier has a section missing. Showing that the place has not been renovated in very long. Not well taken care of. We can connote poverty in this area due to the darkness and how everything so far seems meak and no the idealist of what Britain is really like.


This shot we can see what seems to be a dark green\grey tech chair. if you compare this to Spain or somewhere warm the chair may be lighter colours and with a lighter warmer feeling background. However from first impressions it doesn't seem like the happy kind seaside that Britain stands for. The text 'Designed by Caroline Amies' is right across the chair which brings your eyes toward the detail.


The shot is now being opened up. We can see more of the bigger picture. There are more than one deck chair. There are a few, however most are spread out, why would you want to sit on your own?
The chair is slightly titled, what we can connote from this is that no one has recently sat down on this chair and that the word has moved it. The weather isn't warm.


If you look closely enough we can see a girl in pink riding a bike. Already she stands out by wearing the bright colour. Which again contrasts to the background. The fact that this person is wearing pink shows us that this could be the antagonist of the film. So the first exposed image of the antagonist is at 1:03. Before we see the antagonist we see a flock of birds fleeing an area. This brings our attention to the area. The antagonist the cones in on  bike.


This shot is at 1:06. Showing that the antagonist is quickly approaching. Suddenly from no information being exposed to a front shot of the main character. Wearing very little to say that the woman behind her is wearing a long beige coat. The woman behind her almost blends in with the background. Where as she is standing out. First of all for not wearing much and second of all for wearing pink and smiling.


We now have a side shot of the main characters face. The camera is following her. This shot type could be called a tracking shot. This is a medium shot. We can see her facial expressions and her shoulders are involved in the shot. The ocean in the background blends into the grey skies about her. This could signify the people of east sussex in the 1950s. She is standing out by what she is wearing. The main plot of this film is the fact that the older generation are sticking to the rules and the ways that they know. Blending in. Non of them particularly  have a personality. She does.


'Written and Directed by David Leland'. This is the last text that is shown in the introduction. It is in centre bottom of the screen. Our eyes are on this dancing lady. The dancing lady goes the audience a thought of when this was set in. The lady is also not wearing much, much like the girl riding he bike. The lady is dancing and asking for money. Clearly this is not the desirable job for a lady in the 50's. It is cold and wet. We can connect the girl on the bike to the girl standing and asking for money. 


Finally the music fades out and we have a frontal shot of the antagonist. This is a medium close shot. She is smiling at the camera. The diegetic music then stops and there is a black out. She in a hairdressers smiling at a boy. This is where the film begins.

I would say from what has been revealed to us that the genre of this film is romantic-drama. With underlaying comedy. I can connote this from the opening because of the choice of titles, white on black to begin with. Then a very dull background with bright red sans-serif writing. The bold text stands out much like the antagonist might throoughout the film.

So far i woulddn't say there has been any binary oppositions. However seeing as it is a romantic i feel that the boy to girl binary opposite with come into place as a main element.

The music fades in at about 0:28 seconds. To start with the sound that is coming from the screen is the sound of the ocean. This is non-diegetic sound. This makes me fel like im actually at the seaside,it is far more effective than scilence. The music then fade in (diegetic) this brings you back to reality.

 The antgonist then comes into the shot on a bike, as she gets closer we can hear the sound of the bike, changing gears. This now has non-diegetic and diegetic at the same time. However after tracking Emily Lloyd on the bike we see a woman dancing on a music box. The music then becomes muffeled, as if playing from a music box. We can dennote that the music is coming from the tap dancing lady (we can also hear the tap shoe). When the music stops the lasy stops dancing and it goes to a black out. This is the end to the introduction. There is  faded blackout and then it fades back into the opening scene. Which Emily Lloyd is smiling at a boy.

Source: http://brightnesstudios.blogspot.co.uk