Conventions of a Romance...

Main events:
-Usually obsessive parent, which is the main characters parent. They usually meddle up in the main character's love life, setting them up with opposite personalities etc.
-Bad things happens the two main characters.
-Involves the break ups and divorce either between the main character or the one they are going after.
-love scenes are always involved, which follow the conventions of a typical romance
-State of equilibrium, so everything is normal (normality)
- Usually meet someone, in everyday place etc.

Target audience:
-Usually aimed at a female audience because stereotypically love is associated with the female gender rather than a male, which prefer action and horrors.
-The age ranges from 12 and up as this gives young girls hope of finding love.

Conventions of an action film...

Main events:

-Usually is when the hero or main character of the film has to go through numerous challenges, to reach their goals. This usually involves fights, guns, drugs, and lots of chase scenes and fight scenes.

-Victory is usually achieved at the end of the film, where good becomes victorious over villains.

-A love scene is usually part of these films. There is always a woman who the main character wants and usually gets in the end.

-Lots of fight and chase scenes

-The bad guy/ villain is usually someone from another race e.g. korean

-The main character usually has near death experiences, for example if people are shooting at them they somehow miss all the bullets.

-A friend of the main character usually become injured and even die.

- Main character usually male, which is to attract the male audience more as they can imagine themselves being in the position of the main character.

Setting/Location:

-Usually all the action takes place in an exotic abroad location. 

-Begins in a normal place, usually to relate to the people in the audience so they can escape from everyday life.

-Usually use of big expensive buildings, which are own by the villains.

Camera shots:

-Usually fast cutting editing is involved to build up tension and suspense. This is also to add chaos and panic which would reflect to the audience. 

-Quite a few long shots are usually present in these action films to show all the locations of where the characters are.

-Slow cut editing for romantic parts in when the hero gets their lover.

Sound:

-Lots of gun shot noises

-Car skidding and police sirens during car chases.

-Explosions and devastation

Props:

-Guns and explosives

-Sports cars and high tech vehicles

Target audience:

-Males are usually the target audience of an action film as stereotypically they males are more attracted to the risk factor, involving violence, drugs, car chases etc.

-Males can associate and relate to action films as they can imagine themselves being the main character, for example, James Bond. 

-Usually targeted at ages between 15-40 years of age.

Analysis of opening scene- The Hangover

The establishing shot of the film 'The Hangover', is a medium shot of a lady at her mirror, with what seems to be her parents on the sofa behind her. The focus pull is the lady who gets a phone call, whereas the other people in the background her blurred out. This suggests that she is more important than anybody else in the scene as the focus pull is her. As she is at the front of the shot it allows the audience to see her reactions to the phone call she has received. This suggest that the lady is panicking and due to the use of white clothing, it suggest ti is her wedding day, which makes the women of the audience especially sorry for her.
Having quick cut between characters; from the lady getting all pampered, to Bradley Cooper in what looks like the middle of nowhere with cuts and brusies, shows that they are firstly in two different location. Also having this contrasts shows how big the problem is as it is the wedding day of this lady and the guys are in a complete random place. Having these quick editing cuts increases the effect of panic as they keep jumping from the lady to the man. As you can see Bradley Cooper is the focus pull of this shot as he is the one at the front of the shot, which suggests that he is an important character to the storyline. However the people in the background of are blurred but are still present in the shot, which suggests that even though they are blurred they are still important to the storyline of the film. How Bradley Cooper's character is position the audience are made to look behind him as well, which as the film is a comedy, this may lead to something funny occurring behind his back.
The next shot is a close up of the lady's face. This is effective because it allows the audience to see how angry and panicked she is as her expressions can be seen clearly on the screen.
At eleven seconds of the clip, the length of the shot is the longest out of all them so far. This suggest that this shot has more importance due to the length of it; however it adds the affect that Bradley Cooper's character 'Phil', is struggling on what to say, which makes the audience eager to know what is going on and where they are. The use of dialogue in this shot is minimal which makes the audience want to know and watch more to find out what happens and how they 'fucked up'.
The next shot would be classed as a medium shot, as they it is the waist up of the lady character. This shot allows the audience to see where she is, which seems to be a wedding salon, implying she is preparing for her big day. The use of having lots of expensive items in the background suggests that they may be a fairl;y well off family. Having the lady based in a wedding salon allows the female audience relate to the character as they know the feeling and stress which occurs during this time.
The use of quick editing cuts again adds tension and intrigues the audience, as they cuts from Phil saying ' We lost Doug' to the lady saying 'WHAT!?' back to a side shot of Phil. The side shot of Phil allows the audience to see every aspect of his character and automatically implies he is definitely a main character in this production of film.
Having the camera move to the eyeline of the what Phil is looking at in the sky aloows the audience to feel part of the film and gives them an insight of what and where the location of the hopeless stags are. This shot involves the title of the film to fade on in red bold font.
When the title has faded on, background music begins, signalling the opening scene is over but also creates an effect of the wild west due to the instruments used. The used of the western styled music suggest that they are in the middle of no where, for example like the dessert, but creates an image of there being some kind of danger within the film. But the question is, are they going to make it back to the wedding with or without their friend Doug?

Opening scene analysis- Titanic

Who has never heard of Titanic here? If you haven't, then where have you been?! Titanic is one of most successful film ever produced producing millions and millions of pounds. The film features the one and only Leo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. The genre of this film is Romance consisting of love, devastation and of course based on the historic event of the Titanic.
The use of the music throughout of the opening is the well known iconic music for this film, 'my heart will go on'. Due to the soft tones of the ladies voice, creates a peacefully but upsetting atmosphere because the audience can relate to the event which happens.
The establishing shot is introduced with a fading transition, which from an eye level angle to a low angle shot; from looking at the people below to looking up at a massive ship holding thousands of people. Having the long shot of looking at the people at the docks suggest as though the audience is one of the people at the docks and allows them to relate to the film. Having the camera looking up at the ship, shows how overpowering the ship was and how small we are in comparison. This suggest that the ship is more superior than the people below and the audience themselves. The shot also allows to see the location of the scene and peoples reactions as they are waving over the side of the ship, which implies they are saying farewell to loved ones, showing the sadness and happiness they have for each other. The sepia filter on the camera implies that this happened a long time ago, which as the film is based on the actual Titanic disaster, it actually was.
Having multiple shots of the ship, with people waving goodbye at the camera, shows the significant amount of people on the ship, which to a certain extent, makes the audience sad as they know what happens due to the real thing occurring. The few close ups of the people saying goodbye, shows the happiness of them and implies they are looking forward to their trip, which the audience know, they will never fully finish...
The next shot is a close up of the sea slowly rippling, with the moonlight glistening on it. This implies that this is where the film would be set, on water. The use of using calm water would contrast to what the water caused further on in the film, which suggests to the audience, how can water cause so much chaos when it can be this calm? The title of the film 'Titanic' gradually fades onto the water in white font. The white font suggest the purity and innocence of the people on the ship, which make the audience feel sympathetic for what's going to happen to them. Also having the title appearing on screen on this part is very effective as Titanic is a ship, so it would be on water!
Where the moonlight is shining on the water, the camera zooms into the light and a focusing transition commences. This creates the effect of the audience diving under the water and into the sea, which makes the audience feel part of the film. This allows the shots of the opening to become more fluent. This transition leads to an increase in light due to the submarine machines swimming under the water. This implies that this transition has changed the period of time the film was set in as at the beginning of the film it was set in the past and now is portrayed as being in more modern times. The lighting used in the scene, suggests they are looking for something due to the glow of the like and the movement of lights.
Having a high angled shot with the focus pull being of the searching devices, suggests that the audience are over viewing what is commencing. This makes the audience feel hopeless as they want to help them search for what they are looking. The camera then begins to move and zoom away gradually from the searchers, which makes the audience feel even more hopeless as they are unable to help. This also implies how deep they are and how difficult it is to find something in such a  large deep area. Having the lighting gradually getting smaller, suggest how deep they are but could also imply how the lights slowly went out for people on the ship and how their hope slowly faded...

Analysis of opening scene- The Notebook

The First minute of the opening scene of the Notebook is the opening credits of actors, actresses, producers and directors; however there are different camera shots used throughout these opening credits. The first twenty-four seconds, consists of an extreme long shot  looking through the trees at a sunset glistening over the sea, with someone rowing a boat. Having this extreme long shot allows the audience to cast their eyes over the scenery of the location and to admire the beauty of it. Having such a romantic establishing shot, follows the conventions of a romance as having a romantic location involved. Furthermore, placing the camera looking through the trees, creates a sense of the audience looking at the landscape as if they were their and through their eyes. The use of only using the sunset for the lighting of the shot suggests a romantic setting and is very heart warming and obviously illuminates the person rowing their boat.
The next twelve seconds is a long shot which the focus pull is the person rowing the boat as they are in the light reflection of the sunset, which suggests to the audience that this is an important part of the film, or something to remember. In these few seconds, the title of the film fades onto the screen in the bottom left hand corner, in formal font (roman times), which is simple as it is like the font used in notebooks.
The next nine or so seconds has the camera on the boat behind the rower, which suggests that this is a important element of the story as this is the only close up view of a character, or it is an important events which happens further in the film. Having the camera behind the boat also allows the audience feel part of the film as they can imagine they are on the boat behind them. The slowness of the boat creates no suspense but creates calmness and relaxation, which can allow the audience to escape their stressful life for a few hours.
The next ten seconds goes back to a long shot, which suggests it is allowing and reassuring the audience watching the film is relaxed. It also still allows the audience to see the location again.
The next few seconds is an extreme long shot, which has the same effect as the beginning as it is as if the audience is looking out their window as if they were there. Having this order of shots from extreme to close to long to extreme again, allows the audience to see the location and feel as if they are there.
Having a long shot of the birds flying in the sky, emphasises the peacefulness of the film and suggests innocence. This also could suggest that these birds are iconic to the film and is part of the film if carried on watching it. The lack of light makes the audience concentrate on what they are seeing as they want to see as much as possible. Having the birds flying towards a distant white coloured house suggest that the house is an important place and relates to many parts of the film, as it is the first building present in the scene. Also due to the lack of lighting, the audience's focus pull is the house as it contrasts from its surrounding, which against suggests its importance to the film.
The over the shoulder shot of what seems to look like an older lady, allows the audience to see what she is see and allows them to enter her world of life. Having her looking at the birds suggests the freeness they have compared to the lady standing in the window as she is seen as been trapped in this house due to the camera shot from outside the window.This suggest that the lady wants to escape her life or would like to be somewhere else escape for there. Having long paced shot of this suggest how desperate the lady is to escape, which makes the audience feel sympathetic for her; this creates a sad feeling in the atmosphere.
Having the last shot being a long shot of the house suggests that this would be where most of the storyline is set and that it would be involving this lady within the storyline.
The use of the non digetic  music of a piano playing creates a peacefully atmosphere throughout the opening scene as it is a simple tune and the piano is an instrument which produces the peacefulness of a scene. The slow pace of the rhythm suggest romance, but also sadness as the ladies looks out the window across the freely flying birds. But what does she have to do with the story...

Opening scene analysis- Jeepers Creepers

In the opening scene of the film 'Jeepers Creepers', the opening credits are the first thing which is presented. these opening credits consists of who made the film and of course the name of the film. The font is white and shown on a black background, which is usually used for horror film now-a-days. This allows the font to stand out and contrast from the background. When the title finally appears the word ' Jeepers' has a fade in transition and the the word ' Creepers' fades in, which is effective as it is as if something is creeping, which links to the name of the film. The music used for this part of the opening scene also adds increasing tension as it is fairly low bass and involves the eerie wind sound continuously playing in the background, which makes the audience feel uneasy.
Once the titles have faded out, a long shot is left on the screen, which allows the audience to see the setting of the film, as being a sunny countryside with no disturbance. Having the first scene showing a countryside, is a contrast to other horror films I have analysed, as usually , for example A nightmare on Elm Street, is set in a dark factory with low lighting, to allow the audience to recognise it as being a horror whereas this one is set firstly during day time, which could suggest the normality of the day for these characters. The long shot then begins to pan out and our focus pull is the car moving along the road, towards the camera. This long shot is a continuous one, which again allows the audience to examine the location but also The use of the continuous long shot allows for realistic and dramatically significant background.
The use of the dialogue suggests the normality of the day the characters are having and that they are the significant characters of the film as their dialogue was increased as the car approached towards the camera. The camera shot of over the shoulder of the characters speaking in the car, makes the audience feel as if they are part of the film as it allows them to feel as though they are sitting in the back seat of the car over-viewing their conversation. It also allows the audience to see what the characters look like. The use of clothing suggests that this journey is an everyday thing as they both look and are wearing casual clothes. The over the shoulder shot moves to the bonnet of the car to show the relationship between the two characters. This suggests that the characters have an on off relationship as due to the distance between them, however as they are joking together it shows they are friends or related. Further on in the scene the same shots are repeated when playing the number plate game. These shots shows the characters having a fun, which is seen more as a sister brother like joke as they both seem to want to win this game.
The next shot a low angled long shot, which suggests that the audience is the car. This allows the audience to see where the characters are going and also to see the location around them again. These shots acts as if the audience are looking through the characters eyes as demonstrated by the number plate game they are playing.
When they are passing the caravan the camera is the eyeline of the female character. This makes the audience feel part of the film as it suggest its the audience looking at them rather than just the characters. 
The medium shots, showing both characters shoulders and up keep reversing from on side of the window to the other. This allows creates a focus pull on the other character, which shows their reaction to what the other character says. 
Other continuous shot is used but is a medium continuous shot. This allows us to see both characters and but also see the background behind the characters. As the shot continues a large black vehicle starts to fasten up behind the characters in the car, however the characters do not know what is happening behind them. This makes audience want the characters to turn round causing tension to increase. The horn of the car behind would scare the audience as the volume is increased to add a panicking effect. 
The shot quickly cuts to the camera being in the back of the car as a medium shot. This allows the audience to see the reactions of the characters and makes the whole shot seem chaotic. The next shot is the eyeline of the characters, which is a low angled view, which makes the truck seem more superior than the characters and audience as it is like we are looking up at the truck.
The use of the camera editing from looking at the characters and then the truck behind them is very effective, as the quick use of editing cut from shot to shot, emphasises the sheer panic they are feeling, which produces tension and suspense for the audience.

Analysis of opening scene- The Exorcist (1973)

The opening scene involves presenting the company which made the production, ‘Warner Brothers’, which was firstly shown in colour. After the transition of fading out, the same company logo is repeatedly shown again, however with a black and white filter. This implies to the audience that the film is set in the past or is associated with past events, which are vital in the film. This follows the conventions of a horror, as they usually involve a significant event, which is the cause of the horror and devastation, which takes place throughout the film.

The fading transition shows the establishing shot, which is showing the location of where the film is set as they use a low angled shot with panning movement of the camera. The use of the camera starting at a low angled suggests that the building is significant as, we as an audience, are looking up at it, causing it to make the audience feel less superior. However the panning effect suggest that the audience are looking through their own eyes as if they are examining the location. The use of the everyday looking buildings suggest the normality of the day, which allows the audience to relate to the film due to living their everyday lives. This can make the audience also feel uneasy because having the setting in such a normal place can make them feel as if the horror which will commence in the film can happen in their neighbourhood. The lighting of the shot is fairly dark and is lit up by a lamp post in the street, which casts many shadows on the building implying that the horrifying events of the film will take place there. The camera panning movement allows the audience to see and examine the location but stops when the couple in the street are laughing and walking away from the camera, which could suggest they may have some importance to the film.

The next shot is then a close up of the face of the virgin Mary. The white statue's face suggest purity and innocence, however involving this in a horror film usually means that religion is involved meaning there are paranormal events such as demons and spirits present in the film. Having demons and paranormal events in a horror ensure the audience are scared as no one can prove if they are real and not, so the uncertainty causes the audience to become scared.

The makers of the film then fades onto the screen, ' A William Friedkin Film'. The red font suggest blood and is stereotypically associated with horrors. This style suggest that it is a less modern horror film and films now-a-day use white fonts for horrors as it emphasises that horrors could happen to anyone due to the simplicity of the font. Another transition shows the name of the film ' The exorcist', which is twice the size of the font before, which suggests that it is more important then the knowledge before but also the hugeness suggest that 'the exorcists' can affect a large about of people or is a huge problem in this film.

The slowness of the editing throughout the opening produces a tension as the shots are fairly long they causes the audience to have suspense as they are expecting something sudden to make them scared. 

The final shot of the opening scene is a extreme long shot of a sunset in what seems to be an abroad location due to the music being in a different language and in an indian theme of music. The contrasting location in the opening scene suggests that the first location is where the film is directly set as it was shown first in the scene, which is where the horror would take place. However the second location suggests that this could be the origins of the evilness as unknown exotic places are usually where horror elements begins.

The music changes four times in the opening scene. The first music is digetic music of the wind blowing and a sense of eeriness. This begins to build up tension as it leads to the next music, which is the use a violin played unevenly, which when heard makes you feel very uneasy and scared due to the jaunty sharpness of the sound. The next background music is the sound of demonic language, which is used when someone is possessed, which tells he audience that it involves demons and them taking over people. This demonic music then links into an Indian music, which is where the scene finishes.

Opening scene analysis- A Nightmare on Elm Street

The establishing scene begins with a transition of fading into the shot, which suggests that the audience have  just opened their eyes to see the location of the horror film.The establishing shot consists of a close up of someone dragging their old worn boots along a dirty floor, with someone grabbing a bag full of items inside. The close up shot suggests that the person is the antagonist of the film as the camera does not allow the audience to see very much of them, which makes them intrigued in what they are doing and who they are. Involving the person grabbing the heavy sounding bag, makes the audience more intrigued in what is happening, which follows the conventions of a horror film as having reoccurring suspense and tension is key in these kind of films.The use of quick cutting editing from each shot makes the audience stuck to their seats as they are intrigued to see what is happening and also adds tension and suspense. The use of the worn leather boots, suggest that the antagonist maybe a hard labour work, with not much money as they are very worn. The dark lighting suggest that the location is a bad place as it isn't very well lit, which creates tension in case anything jumps out. Furthermore, the lighting which is used is a glowing red, which could suggest blood, due to it being a horror, but also implies that it is a bad place or the location is in a factory as the lighting implies hot flamed engines working and is backed up by the non-digetic music of heavy metal clanking, screws and nuts bolting.
The next shot is a bird eyes view of the antagonists hands fiddling with numerous tools, which are on the work bench. This shot makes the audience feel more superior as they are over powering everybody below them. It also creates a sense of us looking as if we looking over them, spying on what they are doing, which creates feeling riskiness. This shot allows the audience to see all the what is on the work bench, which are numerous tools and mechanical devices. These suggest that danger is involved due to the dangerous items scattered all over the work bench, as usually in a safe work place they would always be tidy to avoid injury, which draws the question, is pain the aim of the game here? The use of the scattered tools could give a little insight of the character of being untidy and violent. The use if the dirty red jumper and flaky unhygienic hands suggest very bad health care or that an event has happened for their skin to be like this, which makes the audience want to know why they are like this.In this shot the man is picks up a knife and sharp metal parts, which implies this person conflicts the pain and the audience becomes very wry of them as they do not know they are doing with them. The audience would also be inquisitive as the tools which were grabbed viciously, are not usually tools which go and work best together.

The next close up involves the grabbing a leather worn glove, which he grips to tightly, which suggest the importuncy of this part. Having the numerous close ups and shots of this character portrays that they are they are one of the very main characters in the film, as no one else has been present at all in the opening scene. From this close up it jumps to another close up of the antagonist cutting something, but the main focus pull is the dirty thickened rimmed glasses. This main focus pull of the glasses suggests that the antagonist may have a normal life but when the glasses are off and it is at night they are a different person, which people do not want to see or know of.  This makes the audience unable to know who they really are as it suggest they are two different people.
After this close up, there are numerous quick cutting edited close ups of the antagonists cutting and blow heating metal. This implies that what they are making is an important element of the film. The close up with the sharp blade, emphasises the sharpness of it as the lighting glistens of it. This builds up tension as what they are producing looks dangers, so what are they going to use it for or on...
The extreme close up of the hands slotting into one glove, with metal attachments to it, creates tension as the slowness and the heavy satisfying breathing suggest that they are happy with what they have made and are increasingly proud of it. This is then followed by a close up of the antagonist burst out their fingers to extend the fingers. This makes the audience jumps as the musics volume increases. This adds tension as the gloves consist of sharp razor sharp blades on the ends.
A quick fading out transition of this shot allows the opening title of the film to move onto the screen, ' A Nightmare on Elm Street'. Read analysis of fonts for the affect of this effect). The volume and horrific sound increases to provide increasing suspense for the audience.
Due to the bright colouring of the font, the audience is forced to focus on this, which makes the audience jump on the next shot as they are so focused on the titles. The next shot consists of the sharp razors piercing through, what seems to be leather, which is very hard to break and could symbolise skin as leather is cow skin. This emphasises the sharpness of them and pain they can cause. This shows that the antagonist is going to cause unimaginable pain for whoever comes in their path...
The use of the music throughout the opening scene, adds continuous tension and suspense due to the eerie and spooking instruments used. The volume also increases when something bad or something frightening is occurring on the screen.

Font analysis of films

Over years and years of producing horrors the font presenting the name of the film has changed considerable; from the use of colour of the font to the font type used. Having these changes allows the audience of the film or trailer to often predict the genre of the film as you will see from this piece of analysis.

Horror fonts
 Firstly the film, 'Nightmare on Elm Street' produced in 1984, used a red bold bubble writing font with Helvetica rounded font in the middle of it. The red colouring of the bubble font, suggest the presents of blood and gore being spilled throughout the film, which implies the genre of the film being a horror. The red colour also stands out from the background colour of black, which means the font contrasts, causing it to stand out. The use of the white for the 'on Elm Street' part of the title, is placed on the red font, which again allows the white font to contrast to stand out. Having the white font small and inside the the 'Nightmare' suggest that it is affecting the street known as 'Elm Street' and that it is a big problem due to the excessively big font of the word 'Nightmare'. The font type use for the white font suggest normality and that the 'Nightmare' is affecting the normality of the day for everyday people. The hugeness of the red font implies the film is a horror as the word nightmare' relates to peoples fears and horrors. However the font used for this film, creates a sense of tackiness as stereotypically the colour red is associated with blood and the use of the bold bubble writing, generally makes the title seem childish compared to the titles used in modern and new released horrors (see comparison further in analysis).
 The first film of Scream was produced in 1996 and used a white bold font to portray the film. the use of white for the font suggest a ghostly aspect, which can be associated with the antagonist of the white mask scream face. The white colouring also contrasts with the background, as white on black, enhances the title of the film to stand out. The font type also used acts as an onomatopoeia because it symbolises what the word 'scream' would look like as the sharp corners and straight lines suggest the shock and fear the film may contain. This font shows the development of the horror fonts as although the use of red font was still used for horror movies in the 1990's, the use of white font became a popular use for horrors as it creates many effects of paranormal, ghosts, etc.

Insidious one of most profiting horror movies recently created, uses a cross between white and red font, with a fairly formal font type. The use of the mixed of colours suggests that there elements of blood but the white suggest a more spooky, horror aspect to the film. This title also uses the use of a black background which to help contrast the colours used for the fonts but also suggest the the films is full of things which happen in the dark and implies bad things happen in the film , which follows the conventions of a horror film. The use of the simple formal font type does not give anything away about the film and due to the simplicity it creates a vibe of the film being scary, to a certain extent. The placement of the the colour red on the 'si' of the title makes the audience pronounce that 's' sound with more emphasis ,(sibliance).
The conjuring is one horror which does not use a black background, as you can see in its picture, instead they use black font on a white creamy background. This suggests that it is a serious but horrific film as it font can be associated with writing on paper. This use of formal font and colouring emphasises that the film is based on true events, as it is very formal, but having a little worn effect on the lettering suggests it may be an old true event or set in older times, which implies it is going to be scary.
The final horror font I will be analysing is the film 'you're next', which uses a white child-like handwriting font. This white font allows it to stand out from the background and adds more of a horror effect to the childish handwriting. the use of the childish handwriting, suggests that maybe children are involved or an aspect of children is included. Also this font type creates a horror feel as children are not usually associated with horrors, so having jaunty untidy child-like writing creeps out the audience. Also the jauntiness of the handwriting implies it is a horror.
Overall if my project was going to be a horror, I would consider having a black background as it would allow almost all colours stand out, also follows the conventions of a horror film involving a black background, but usually implies bad things are going to happen, which would be present in any horror film. The font I would consider would be using a simply font type like the film 'Insidious' , as the simplicity makes it work, or I would use 'You're next' font as the child-like handwriting adds to the aspect of scare factor, which would be ideal for a horror. The colour I would also use would probably be white as it would contrast perfectly with the background and implies spooky events occurring in the film.

Action
As you can see, the film 'Hot Fuzz',  featuring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, uses bold silver font for the action film. The use of the colour silver and the emblem of a police logo, suggest that it involves crime and the fight against society, which follows aspects of an action film. The use of the bold font with underlined effect, makes the font stand out from the darker background but also suggest urgency due to the underlining.
The film source code uses red font to suggest urgency and attracts the attention of the audience. The font type is also bold which emphasises the urgency and having an explosive background suggests that explosions and destruction is involved in the film, which consists of an action film.
Finally the film ' House at the end of the street', featuring Jennifer Lawerence, uses the use of a black background with yellow font. Having a black background suggest there may be a horror or scary parts to the film as this kind of background is usually used for a horror film. The use of the yellow allows it to stand out and the use of the font type acts as if it is smudged, which gives a sense of mystery.

Romance
P.S I love you is a perfect example of a romance film. The font style used is in the form of handwriting, which suggests that someone has written it themselves to someone, which shows how much this individual loves them. Also the use of red for the font colouring suggest love and romance and is traditionally used for romantic films. The white background is white to make the font stand out but also suggests that someone has just written it down on paper, which makes it even more romantic.
The 'Notebook', one of the best romance around. The use of font used in this film title is very formal with a white background, which suggest it has also been written, for example in a note book.

Overall the even though the title is very minor part of the opening two minutes, it should associate and link to the film you are producing. When it comes to my project, I will have to consider the use of font, colouring and size, to ensure that the title suits my film.

what are you doing here

                         
What was the task?

Our task was to understand the effects of different camera shots and being able to use the camera properly for our preliminary task. We were in groups of three and all we were given was a HD camera and our imaginations to find three different scenes and to make the camera shot we use to be effective. The shot had to involve the line ‘what are you doing here?’ which could add suspense depending on the camera shots we choose.

Overview of our film

As you can see we have used three different camera shots and a little bit of editing. The first shot we experimented with was a high angled shot, where two people saw each other on the stairs. This shot makes the audience feel as though they are looking down at them as if they are spying on their meeting, which was effective. Also having the person coming up the stairs suggests they have more importance than the one coming down the stairs as the audience can clearly see their face rather than the one with their back to the camera. To improve this shot the people could act more shocked in seeing each other as the high angled shot can be more effective for something serious or secretive, rather than just a jolly meeting. The camera could of be filmed on a tripod to keep the camera more steady, which would allow the audience to feel as if it is a professional film instead of young people filming it.

The second camera shot we trialled was the over the shoulder shot of a girl seeing someone else. This was effective as it adds the clear effect of the audience looking over her shoulder and involves the audience more within the film. The shot also allows us to see the setting, what the atmosphere is like and also reflects the importunacy of this character as it is her view of this rather than the other characters. To improve this next time is for the characters to stay in role and for only one to say the line of ‘what are you doing here?’ which would make the dialogue clearer.

The final shot was a close up of the girl’s face, which was followed by the line which was needed for each shot. This was effective as it allowed the audience to see the expressions on the character face but also suggests that she is the main character. This could again be improved if the scene was in a different atmosphere, but also for the girl to stay in character. An eyeline match piece of editing was used to show the audience the person the girl was talking to. This makes the shot more continuous and allows us to experiment with our editing skill of making the dialogue being over the close up of the other girl looking through the door etc. To improve this shot we could change the setting to make it more different from the others but also would make our camera shots more effective. The transition at the end of the third shot allowed the audience to know that the clip has finished but also adds to the effect of where the girl is walking off to next…

Overall we will take all these things into account to make our preliminary task the best of our abilities, making sure we use a tripod to keep the camera steady to using different lighting and camera shots to add further effects to the scene.

Research and Planning Targets

Well done Charlotte - a very nice start to your research and planning. You need to evidence your initial ideas and you need to blog regularly. For your analysis of opening two minutes make sure you comment on the following things to show a broad understanding and appreciation: Target Audience Narrative Characters Use of titles Pace of editing Mise en Scene Camera Composition Use of sound Genre conventions A really good start - you now need to begin to evidence detailed planning for your production, which needs to be detailed and thorough.

Camera shots

The 180 degree rule shot

The main idea of the 180 degree rule is to maintain the continuity of the shot but also to establish and maintain the scene direction of actors or action. The most important element in using this type of rule is to follow the line of action rule. The line of action is an imaginary straight line between the subject and the item or person they are interacting with or it can be an imaginary straight line drawn a long a path that the subject is moving on.

An establishing shot allows the audience to see the setting or location of where the scene is taking place and enables the 180 degree rule to be used as it shows the scene direction of the item or actors.

If the shot is not used successfully or isn’t used properly it would cause the audience to become confused and unable to follow the scene due to going across the line of action.

Example

As you can see in this example from ‘Leon’, the 180 degree rule is used frequently and many times in this scene. When she comes out of the room it is as though the audience is looking at her behind the man’s shoulder (over the shoulder shot also). The camera then is facing the man, and allows the audience to see his reaction to the lady. The camera is on the left shoulder of the lady whereas the shot before is on the right shoulder of the man, which tells us that this scene has successfully used the 180 degree rule as they have not crossed the line of action. This would allow the audience to follow and understand the scene much more clearer and allows them to see the relationship between these two characters.

Shot reverse shot

A shot reverse shot is a shot that views the action from the opposite side of the previous shot, for example from over the shoulder shot to over the shoulder shot in the opposite side. This can be used during a conversation between two characters as it gives the effect of looking from one actor to the other.

Example 

As you can see in this clip you can automatically see that the directors of this scene used the reverse shot as the camera is on reverse shoulders of these characters. This, like the 180 degree rule shot, shows the relationship the two people in the scene.

Match cutting

A match cut is metaphorically linking two shots together which is between two different people, objects or settings. This editing term allows there to be continuity in the scene and if used in our preliminary task, would be very effective. This technique can be done by film the same scene over and over again from different angles, which then can be edited to make the whole scene flow in continuity. Here is an example of this…

Analysis of opening scenes- Monsters INC

The opening scene of Monster Inc is shown after the long opening credits, which involve the use of bright coloured doors and monsters. The transition of going through the door into the darkness, highlight the many fears of what children face, but also help join the establishing shot, which begins in a child’s room. This use of the opening credits allows the audience to understand that it is more of a children’s film as the idea of monsters behind doors relates to many children fears and worries when sleeping.

The close up shot of the toys shows that the film involves children, which represents the innocence and youth of them. The camera then lowers from this close up to a high angled shot, which makes the audience look down on the child as being vulnerable, calm and attempting to sleep peacefully.

The sound track used in the background creates suspense and tension as the noises used are subtle and makes the audience relate to the film as when sleeping little noises usually would make them scared during the night. The sound track used also shows the normality of a summer’s night- but suddenly fades and falls silent, to emphasis the creaking of the cupboard door, which is now the audience’s main focus of attention. The music add to the effect of using the use of close ups  in a row as they suddenly move from one shot to another, which means the audience cannot focus on one point of the room, which increase their adrenaline when watching. The close up in this scene of the boy’s face reacting to the noise, shows the pure fear and worry developed, making the audience feel the boy’s fear too.

Having a camera shot as if the audience is looking through the child eyes darting around the room, allows them to relate to the fear the child is facing as everybody once was scared of having monsters in their room. The unstableness of the camera allows the audience to become part of the film as they feel as it is from their eyes only, increasing the tension and curiosity they have.

The close up of the eyes of the thing being under the bed, creates an enigma as we want to know what it is which develops more suspense and curiosity. This shot relates to children’s fear of something being under the bed, such as the ‘bogey man’, which makes the whole film more realistic, even though it, an animated film. The darkness of under the bed, suggests that whatever is under there is bad and you should be scared of it, as dark colours are stereotypically related to this behaviour.

The low angled shot of the child sleeping the monster increasingly growing behind him emphasises the power the monster has as he is towering over the young youth. This makes the audience want the child to wake up and run, suspense, but the child is far from doing that now. This shot also shows how vulnerable he is due to the height difference in the scene. Also having the light from the window, casts a shadow on the bed, this could suggest that the child is being engulfed in the badness of the monster behind him. Involving instrumental music as the monster engulfs the child with its shadow makes the monster seem even more powering and scary to the audience. Having the music increasing getting louder as well emphasises the hugeness of it and the force of which it has.

Having the close up of child’s reaction and then followed by a two shot view shows both reactions of the characters, which leads onto them both being scared of one another. This ends the suspense and tension of the scene, which leads us to believe that the genre of the film involves comedy. Incorporating the monster scream like a little girl could symbolise that all children’s fears are something which all of them have to face but are silly little ones and will outgrow them, which allows the audience to relate to the film.

Having the final shot being an over the shoulder shot of monsters, allows the audience to feel as they are part of the crowd of assessors for this simulation and allows them to feel as though they can judge the character on what he did. This shot also provides all the expressions of the characters, from the monster looking glum and disappointed in himself to the three monsters engaged and concentrating on the simulation.

Analysis of opening scenes- Saving Private Ryan

The opening scene of Saving Private Ryan is introduced with the transition of the title of the film fading onto the black background. This transition suggests that softness and that the film may have a tear jerking element to it. The font used is also very simple roman styled font, which suggests that this film may be to do with the simpler times.

The constant use of the instrumental music in the background implies heroic aspect of the film and may suggest that it is about someone’s journey of achieving something. This music creates a respecting and honourable feeling for the audience as this music can be associated with the kind of music played at Remembrance Day’s. The music also creates an atmosphere of being sombre and despair as the music is soft due to the several instruments used.

The close up shot of the American flag tells the audience that the film is associated with being in America and involves an American story. This suggests patriotism for America as it shows how proud and the amount of respect people have for their country and having the flag fluttering in the air implies that the country will stand strong through whatever they have to face, which suggests that the film is based on military due to the combining use of the music and close up of the flag. Having a fairly long pause on the flag allows the audience to reflect what has happened in the past and allows them to think about things, which makes them want to watch more.

Having a behind the shoulder shot allows the audience to follow the man as if they are walking behind him. This allows them to see the location of where the film is set and having the camera moving up from low to high shows the age of the character.

The medium shot of the group of people, which is presumed to be behind the man shows the emotions and what they all look like. It also shows the closeness they have for one another as they are all standing fairly close together, which could suggest they are related or have some kind of relationship to each other. Having this shot suggests that there is a separation between the man walking ahead and the group of people behind, which makes the audience want to know where they are going but also why he is ahead of the crowd.

The following shot is also a medium shot, which means the audience can finally see what the man walking ahead looks like from the front and shows the feeling he has running through his mind, which seems  to be quite apprehensive. He is portrayed as being an old man, which implies that he is significant to the story line as he is the only one having a shot to them self. Furthermore the group catches up and forms a line begin the man, which suggests to the audience that they are supporting him in what he is doing. This symbolises the closeness and the supportiveness they have for this man.

Having the two separate long shots of the two contrasting flags, shows that it is something to do with war and the history of it, which is the suggested storyline of this film. The two separate shots could suggest that even though they are far from each other in the world they will stand strong together as they are both fluttering in the wind together and standing tall together. This would represent the alliances between these two countries, which would make the audience remember what has happened in the past and can even associate and relate to them too.

Analysis of opening scenes- Skyfall

Within the first couple of seconds the audience automatically knows what film it is, even without watching the screen! Having the iconic music of James Bond, symbolises the theme of spy, action, guns and fight scenes and allows the male audience to fantasize on being a spy themselves.

Having the establishing scene as being a blurred but long distance shot, creates tension and wanting to know the unknown figure walking towards them. This effect of blurriness suggests the audience is looking from a hidden place as they are unable to adjust their eyes on the figure. However the figure begins to move towards the camera increasing the adrenaline of the audience. Having the bright light contrasting the figure may imply that they bring goodness and is seen and known as being heroic.

As the camera adjusts Mr Bond’s face emerges from the darkness, having half his face lit and the other half in complete darkness. The use of the lighting could imply that his character is good but has a concept of darkness and badness within himself as the half lit face implies this. On the other hand this symbolises the whole bond aspect of being a spy and hidden and all the missions being under lockdown throughout.

The use of the music in the background increases tension and suspense due to the use of sound increasingly getting louder. The ticking elements used in the music allows the audience to associate it with a clock ticking down, implying it is a race against time and it is limiting every action Bond is doing.

The use of props all follow the conventions of an action film as involving the use of guns, technology and killings of enemies all associates with this genre. Having guns and high tech devices present in the scene allows the male audience to imagine being a spy as this attracts them to the film. The dialogue into the hidden microphone on Bond allows the audience to hear who he is talking to, which is a woman’s voice. The voice is very demanding, which gives an insight of her character being very forcefully and demanding. This shows the gender role change as women are not seen as having lots of authority over men, however does show that men do the dirty work, which suggests the gender in society of men and women are expressed as equals.

Having the low angled view of one of Bonds colleague dying due to a gunshot wound, makes the audience sympathise for the spy as it shows the emotions of desperation for surviving. The audience gains mixed emotions as they feel sorry for the spy but also may make them dislike the female voice as she said to Bond to carry on and to forget about him. The use of the light shining on the dying spy could suggest that he is going to a better place and shows his heroicness to whatever happened before James got there.

Analysis of opening scene- Children of Men

Although I haven’t seen the film before, the establishing shot entices you to watch more than the few minutes of this analysis. The establishing shot automatically creates an enigma, as the audience is struck with wonder on why they are standing in pure shock and upset at, what we presume to be the local new due to the news reporter in the background. The enigma is further continued as the use of having the news on the TV in the background, increases the curiosity of the audience on wanting to know more. Using this high angled shot for the establishing shot, makes the people of the scene seem helpless and vulnerable as we are looking down on them, which suggests the audience is more superior to them. This is also effective as it shows all the people who are worried about what is happening in the news, from old to young, to couples and single people.

Having the man barging through past the stunned people, suggests that he is the main character and is certainly part of the storyline; this emphasises his significance to the film. Also as he’s cutting his way through the crowd, his voice is projected louder than the surroundings, which creates an upset atmosphere as his voice his cutting the silence. To an certain extent, using a strong male figure, attracts the ladies, but could also suggest gender roles in society, as men is seen as having more authority than and over women- even in future life as the film is set in future years time.

The use of clothing and props in the first few seconds of the scene concludes the atmosphere immediately, as dark colours stereotypically suggest sadness and despair. Also the clothes are fairly everyday clothes, which shows the normality of the day, which could suggest that the news is a shock as everybody dressed up like usual, expecting nothing bad or devastating to occur.

As the scene starts the use of having the news reporters speaking through the opening credits catches the attention of the audience from the word ‘go’. This again creates the whole enigma, which is generated in the in the establishing shot. The voices are also not shown, which suggest the lack of importance they have for the rest of the storyline, although they are setting the atmosphere of the whole film as giving the vital information. The voices also combined well with the opening credits as the bold white font, contrasting from the background, emphasises urgency and importunacy to the matter commencing.

The close up of the news, shows the importunacy of the news and gives an insight of the film. This also makes the audience have a feeling of confusion as they are saying a ‘baby of 18 years’ has died-however babies are seen as one year olds, aren’t they? This adds further suspense and curiosity for the audience.

The over the shoulder shot of when the man walks out of the café also involves a continuous shot as well. This allows the audience to see the range of people this news is affecting and the emotions they are all going through. Having a policeman in the scene reflects that the people who swore on protecting us, cannot face what is going on in the world- the law has no say in the matter.

The long shot view shows the setting of the film as being the future London, with big high tech screens on buildings and unusual looking vehicles driving past. The huge screens on the buildings emphasises how drastic the news is due to the continuous broadcast of it. This also gives the generalised view on what the future would be like with technology increasing every day, all over the world. Involving the trash bags on the pavement with policemen walking by them with no care whatsoever, in the scene, suggests again that the news is effecting how people are acting and the decreasing amount of respect they have for their living area.

While the man is ‘irishing’ up his coffee, the camera effect of rotating around the character is very effective. This suggests that the film revolves around him and his journey of whatever he has to achieve. It also gives the audience a full sight of the appearance of the character.

The surprising explosion finishes the scene perfectly as all of the audience was encouraged to focus on the man; this would make the audience jump and build up confusion and another enigma on what has just happened in front of them. The camera shot suggest as if the audience was running towards the commotion as the jauntiness and unstableness suggested we were running and stepping forward. This attracts the audience as it encourages them to involve themselves into the scene. The use of the high pitch loud ringing/ screeching noise in the background creates the effect that the audience ears are ringing due to the impact of the explosion, which again involves the audience.

Finally, having the title of the film, ‘Children of Men’, suddenly coming on the screen generates suspense and increasing the curiosity of what is going to happen for the audience.