After a discussion, me and my group decided that the genre that we were to undertake was a thriller. We did this genre because it was something that we all enjoy and believed that we could make a good film. As a group, we decided that we would base our film around a poker game, with a clear protagonist and an antagonist. After, getting all the appropriate equipment, we filmed the poker match with each character arriving. The editing was done by Matt Game who put all of our good shots together and cut out the out-takes. There was not much standing in the way of our filming as we had the correct crops, setting and script in order to make our film simple but effective. We did endure one problem in that when we put the film together in the editing as we noticed that some of our shots were inadequate, such as in one, the camera wire was showing in the bottom corner of the shot. Also, another problem is that we all needed to be free in order to film the film, which meant that we only had one opportunity to complete all the filming.
I was nominated as the main antagonist, i was involved in the main poker scenes, i was the criminal who the main story was based around.
As for our actual shots, we didn't really encounter any major problems, other than wrong camera-shots, bad acting and a increasingly low battery, which meant that our filming time had to be cut short, as we could not film outside due to there being no electrical mains being outside.
With our soundtrack, we were originally going to make our music ourselves with myself knowing how to play the piano. However, due to the amount of time that we had left by this stage, we decided that we were to do this on the computer, using GarageBand. We went for a jazz type music which sounded great, but when we edited it into our film, it didn't mix well with our dialogue, which spoilt it slightly. I believe that it was too fast for our dialogue, and slightly too loud.
Overall, our construction of our film was OK but could have been better. But for the budget that we had which was virtually nothing, wen coped well.
Thursday 6 May 2010
Task 2.6 (Single Sequence Analysis)
Comedy - Johnny English
For this task, I have decided to look at the genre 'comedy'. Within this, I have chosen to analyse the film 'Johnny English' as it is a simple British comedy. Firstly, 'Johnny English' tries to copy a more serious film/genre and adds a comedy sense to it, similar to what 'Austin Powers' did with 'James Bond', but in this case 'Johnny English' imitates James Bond. This is a typical generic convention of comedy in that the main character tries to be serious or tries to achieve some sort of goal. In 'Johnny English', English tries to achieve typical Agent characteristics and to rescue the 'crown jewels' from an antagonist.
This is easily distinguish in the opening sequence as English breaks into a mansion but using comical techniques such as getting past the guard dogs by throwing toys for them to chase, which is typical because of the mise-en-scene of the genre. This appeals to all kind of audiences as it is typically funny and easy to relate to, but everyone realises that this technique would not work in a real life situation.
Next, the comical aspect of the main character, who throughout the film is the protagonist. He goes from being portrayed as a James Bond type of character to just working in an office as he was merely dreaming of the moment that was the opening scene. He is then embarrassed deliberately as he continued to dream but the audience could see his actions outside of his dream. In many comedies, the portrayal of the main protagonist is often that he looks pathetic and clumsy at the start but by the end of the film achieves his goal that developed within the problematic.
Also in comedy, the main protagonist goes through stages of problems or events that lead him to set out on his journey. The film follows the protagonists plot throughout the film whilst indulging into the exploits of the antagonist. This is similar to an action/adventure but obviously in comedy, it adds comical dialogue and actions to the narrative. In Johnny English, to back up that he is clumsy and pathetic at the start of the film and to introduce a problem, all the current agents are blown up at a funeral, despite English saying that the area was 'the most secure place in England'. With all the agents being blown up, English is given the task to resolve the plot.
I believe that these conventions have been approached well in the production of 'Johnny English'. They have taken a serious situation but added a comical side to the plot but with an altogether happy ending.
The film meets the typical generic conventions of comedy with the main protagonist being pathetic and inadequate to the task at hand but in the end, becomes a hero of some sort. Also, this film follows the main character, who is a protagonist, through which he experiences many problems, including one that the audience must feel sorry for the character.
For this task, I have decided to look at the genre 'comedy'. Within this, I have chosen to analyse the film 'Johnny English' as it is a simple British comedy. Firstly, 'Johnny English' tries to copy a more serious film/genre and adds a comedy sense to it, similar to what 'Austin Powers' did with 'James Bond', but in this case 'Johnny English' imitates James Bond. This is a typical generic convention of comedy in that the main character tries to be serious or tries to achieve some sort of goal. In 'Johnny English', English tries to achieve typical Agent characteristics and to rescue the 'crown jewels' from an antagonist.
This is easily distinguish in the opening sequence as English breaks into a mansion but using comical techniques such as getting past the guard dogs by throwing toys for them to chase, which is typical because of the mise-en-scene of the genre. This appeals to all kind of audiences as it is typically funny and easy to relate to, but everyone realises that this technique would not work in a real life situation.
Next, the comical aspect of the main character, who throughout the film is the protagonist. He goes from being portrayed as a James Bond type of character to just working in an office as he was merely dreaming of the moment that was the opening scene. He is then embarrassed deliberately as he continued to dream but the audience could see his actions outside of his dream. In many comedies, the portrayal of the main protagonist is often that he looks pathetic and clumsy at the start but by the end of the film achieves his goal that developed within the problematic.
Also in comedy, the main protagonist goes through stages of problems or events that lead him to set out on his journey. The film follows the protagonists plot throughout the film whilst indulging into the exploits of the antagonist. This is similar to an action/adventure but obviously in comedy, it adds comical dialogue and actions to the narrative. In Johnny English, to back up that he is clumsy and pathetic at the start of the film and to introduce a problem, all the current agents are blown up at a funeral, despite English saying that the area was 'the most secure place in England'. With all the agents being blown up, English is given the task to resolve the plot.
I believe that these conventions have been approached well in the production of 'Johnny English'. They have taken a serious situation but added a comical side to the plot but with an altogether happy ending.
The film meets the typical generic conventions of comedy with the main protagonist being pathetic and inadequate to the task at hand but in the end, becomes a hero of some sort. Also, this film follows the main character, who is a protagonist, through which he experiences many problems, including one that the audience must feel sorry for the character.
Task 2.5 (Comparison of Sequences)
Comparison
In this assignment im going to choose two films with very different Genres or hybrids of genre. I am also going to make a comparison of the different generic elements that you can expect from these different genres. Identify the generic expectations in each case, and whether those conventions are typical of other genres.
The 2 films I am going to compare are Saw (2004) and Bad Boys (1995), after watching many Horror movies you would expect Saw to have a main antagonist, that is in some way addicted to killing or that has some sort of mental issue. There would always normally be a protagonist that may take the appearance of a person in authority i.e. a policeman or special agent. The story would normally piece together as a manhunt, the antagonist in this case Jigsaw would make a string of violent and malicious murders, while the protagonist in this case Detective David Tapp would normally play catch up trying to catch the antagonist in his act and convict him. Normally the end of a horror film will have some amount of resolve, unless in this case it is a sequel to which point the pain and storyline of the murders may carry on.
Again after watching many Action films the original story line is mostly the same, the main protagonist/protagonist's are normally some sort of authority figure i.e. cop, federal agent etc. Normally there will be a lot of special effects like explosions or high speed chases, throughout the film you may see that if there is a personal link between the protagonist and the antagonist, the protagonist may take the law into his/her own hands and therefore may find themselves not conforming and inadvertently become an Anti-Hero. In many cases the antagonist would normally hold something at ransom to the protagonist which may be in the form of hostage taking of civilians, children or even their own family. Conflict in many forms is a necessity for an Action film as it creates tension and a build up generally ending the film with a expected finale.
Nearly the whole way through Saw you get a sense of a grim, dark and mysterious atmosphere which is a prime example of many horrors , the antagonist Jigsaw seems to be untouchable with a flawless scheme of making people fight for their life in the most horrific ways possible. This differs greatly with Bad Boys, the two protagonist's Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowrey start off in a sunny American city with an almost comedy start. The two films content couldn't be much different, throughout Saw there are tasks given to individuals to prove their survival skills, with much gore and violence involved which is typical of the Horror genre, Saw tho is one of few Horror films that seems to adopt the view of mindless uncontrolled violence. Bad Boys is also a good template of the typical action film, with special affects, explosions and the protagonist – antagonist conflict, what Bad Boys does very well tho is they add many small comedy sketches which isn't typical of a normal Action film.
There are a couple of similarities between the two films, the use of authority figures as protagonist's is used and is evident in both films. Where the films differ tho is in the use of the antagonist, in Bad Boys the antagonist is a major drug baron that is after personal gain in the crimes that he does, whereas in Saw the antagonist is shown as a sadistic individual that is purely out to teach people lessons and is after no gain whatsoever. One main difference between the films tho is that in Bad Boys the antagonist is evident and is frequently positioned close to the protagonist's where as in Saw the Antagonist is mysterious and is shrouded by a veil which makes the job of the protagonist hard to figure out who the Antagonist is, and Jigsaws seemingly untouchable attitude makes the task even harder. And because of this the antagonist in Bad Boys is subsequently caught and brought to justice whereas Jigsaw still continues to reek havoc in the sequel to this film, this could be an indicator by the way he seems to evade justice throughout the first second and third films.
Saw
Bad Boys
In this assignment im going to choose two films with very different Genres or hybrids of genre. I am also going to make a comparison of the different generic elements that you can expect from these different genres. Identify the generic expectations in each case, and whether those conventions are typical of other genres.
The 2 films I am going to compare are Saw (2004) and Bad Boys (1995), after watching many Horror movies you would expect Saw to have a main antagonist, that is in some way addicted to killing or that has some sort of mental issue. There would always normally be a protagonist that may take the appearance of a person in authority i.e. a policeman or special agent. The story would normally piece together as a manhunt, the antagonist in this case Jigsaw would make a string of violent and malicious murders, while the protagonist in this case Detective David Tapp would normally play catch up trying to catch the antagonist in his act and convict him. Normally the end of a horror film will have some amount of resolve, unless in this case it is a sequel to which point the pain and storyline of the murders may carry on.
Again after watching many Action films the original story line is mostly the same, the main protagonist/protagonist's are normally some sort of authority figure i.e. cop, federal agent etc. Normally there will be a lot of special effects like explosions or high speed chases, throughout the film you may see that if there is a personal link between the protagonist and the antagonist, the protagonist may take the law into his/her own hands and therefore may find themselves not conforming and inadvertently become an Anti-Hero. In many cases the antagonist would normally hold something at ransom to the protagonist which may be in the form of hostage taking of civilians, children or even their own family. Conflict in many forms is a necessity for an Action film as it creates tension and a build up generally ending the film with a expected finale.
Nearly the whole way through Saw you get a sense of a grim, dark and mysterious atmosphere which is a prime example of many horrors , the antagonist Jigsaw seems to be untouchable with a flawless scheme of making people fight for their life in the most horrific ways possible. This differs greatly with Bad Boys, the two protagonist's Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowrey start off in a sunny American city with an almost comedy start. The two films content couldn't be much different, throughout Saw there are tasks given to individuals to prove their survival skills, with much gore and violence involved which is typical of the Horror genre, Saw tho is one of few Horror films that seems to adopt the view of mindless uncontrolled violence. Bad Boys is also a good template of the typical action film, with special affects, explosions and the protagonist – antagonist conflict, what Bad Boys does very well tho is they add many small comedy sketches which isn't typical of a normal Action film.
There are a couple of similarities between the two films, the use of authority figures as protagonist's is used and is evident in both films. Where the films differ tho is in the use of the antagonist, in Bad Boys the antagonist is a major drug baron that is after personal gain in the crimes that he does, whereas in Saw the antagonist is shown as a sadistic individual that is purely out to teach people lessons and is after no gain whatsoever. One main difference between the films tho is that in Bad Boys the antagonist is evident and is frequently positioned close to the protagonist's where as in Saw the Antagonist is mysterious and is shrouded by a veil which makes the job of the protagonist hard to figure out who the Antagonist is, and Jigsaws seemingly untouchable attitude makes the task even harder. And because of this the antagonist in Bad Boys is subsequently caught and brought to justice whereas Jigsaw still continues to reek havoc in the sequel to this film, this could be an indicator by the way he seems to evade justice throughout the first second and third films.
Saw
Bad Boys
Unit 2.4 - Generic Conventions
For this task, I have decided to focus on four different genres which are Horror, Action, Sci-fi and Adventure. I will look at how the different genres have different generic conventions and the iconography that is expected by the audience.
Generic conventions - Things that make up that particular genre of which the audience is expected to see.
Iconography - Crops, icons or visual imagery that the audience is to see in a typical film. For instance in an Action film the audience would expect explosions and some sort of chase scene between an antagonist and protagonist.
Horror - Scream
The generic conventions and iconography of a Horror singles it out from other genres. Within this opening scene of Scream may generic conventions for a horror are met. The opening scene has all the eeriness you would expect from a typical horror, the antagonist we are introduced to wears a black cape and a terrifying mask. Everything in the opening 5 minutes reeks mystery and suspense. Everything about the clip is typical, a female stranded on her own in a house at night. Not only are the generic conventions present but there is also a vast amount of iconography, for instance the kitchen knife which could be a foreshadowing for what is about to happen. And the crackling overcooked popcorn which could mean time is running out.
Action - Die Hard 3 With a Vengeance
Action Films are reasonably easy to identify Action films are where the story is largely told through physical action as opposed to dialogue. The action typically involves individual efforts on the part of the hero.
The taxi scene sums up an action film perfectly, we are introduced to john McClain an L.A.P.D cop who fights criminals with a fast paced no holds barred approach. Death seems to be around every corner but the protagonist still seems to evade it and still retain his ' bad boy ' style. The protagonist seems to put his life on the line in many different occasions which is typical for a 'hero' character.
Iconography in typical action films would consist of , explosions, gun fights etc. In this taxi scene from die hard the iconography comes in the form of a face paced car chase in a stolen taxi, a wheel spin which shows urgency and also the hero's uniform/badge to single him out from other people.
Science-fiction - Star Trek 2009
Science fiction is defined more by setting details than by other story elements. Science fiction by definition includes extrapolated or theoretical future science and technology as a major component, and is often set on other planets, in outer space, or on a future version of Earth.
Common iconography of Science Fiction films include spaceships, aliens from other planets, weapons that emit laser beams, scenes of the future, time travel and other means of breaking the laws of Physics, and technology (namely, robots and computers) as a character, often slated as the antagonist.
Adventure - Journey To The Center Of The Earth
Adventure is mainly driven by the action within the plot rather than the dialogue. For the audience, this could be due to the high-tempo plot that isn't very complicated. The generic conventions normally include an obvious protagonist that tries to save vulnerable people or in this case, tries to obtain a mystery item that is of major importance.
One would expect panoramic locations, for instance deserts and mountains, modes of transport would also be different instead of automobiles being used throughout, horses and other animals may be used. You may also come across the damsel in distress who in the end gets saved by the ' Hero '. The clothes worn by the characters could be rugged/torn for long term use and not necessarily clean 'Hero' type clothing.
Generic conventions - Things that make up that particular genre of which the audience is expected to see.
Iconography - Crops, icons or visual imagery that the audience is to see in a typical film. For instance in an Action film the audience would expect explosions and some sort of chase scene between an antagonist and protagonist.
Horror - Scream
The generic conventions and iconography of a Horror singles it out from other genres. Within this opening scene of Scream may generic conventions for a horror are met. The opening scene has all the eeriness you would expect from a typical horror, the antagonist we are introduced to wears a black cape and a terrifying mask. Everything in the opening 5 minutes reeks mystery and suspense. Everything about the clip is typical, a female stranded on her own in a house at night. Not only are the generic conventions present but there is also a vast amount of iconography, for instance the kitchen knife which could be a foreshadowing for what is about to happen. And the crackling overcooked popcorn which could mean time is running out.
Action - Die Hard 3 With a Vengeance
Action Films are reasonably easy to identify Action films are where the story is largely told through physical action as opposed to dialogue. The action typically involves individual efforts on the part of the hero.
The taxi scene sums up an action film perfectly, we are introduced to john McClain an L.A.P.D cop who fights criminals with a fast paced no holds barred approach. Death seems to be around every corner but the protagonist still seems to evade it and still retain his ' bad boy ' style. The protagonist seems to put his life on the line in many different occasions which is typical for a 'hero' character.
Iconography in typical action films would consist of , explosions, gun fights etc. In this taxi scene from die hard the iconography comes in the form of a face paced car chase in a stolen taxi, a wheel spin which shows urgency and also the hero's uniform/badge to single him out from other people.
Science-fiction - Star Trek 2009
Science fiction is defined more by setting details than by other story elements. Science fiction by definition includes extrapolated or theoretical future science and technology as a major component, and is often set on other planets, in outer space, or on a future version of Earth.
Common iconography of Science Fiction films include spaceships, aliens from other planets, weapons that emit laser beams, scenes of the future, time travel and other means of breaking the laws of Physics, and technology (namely, robots and computers) as a character, often slated as the antagonist.
Adventure - Journey To The Center Of The Earth
Adventure is mainly driven by the action within the plot rather than the dialogue. For the audience, this could be due to the high-tempo plot that isn't very complicated. The generic conventions normally include an obvious protagonist that tries to save vulnerable people or in this case, tries to obtain a mystery item that is of major importance.
One would expect panoramic locations, for instance deserts and mountains, modes of transport would also be different instead of automobiles being used throughout, horses and other animals may be used. You may also come across the damsel in distress who in the end gets saved by the ' Hero '. The clothes worn by the characters could be rugged/torn for long term use and not necessarily clean 'Hero' type clothing.
Task 2.3 (Production Company Logo Design)
This is our logo for our production company. The initials SMC stand for each person in our production company.
Short-list of Logos
I decided that I wanted a logo and the words 'SMC Productions' as that is the name of my production team. I wanted the logo to be relatively simple but very catchy and outstanding. After making four different logos, I opted to chose the top logo as it was the most eye-catching.
Unit 2.2 - Production Company Background
Since the founding of Warner Bros, there has been an overwhelming use of a shield as the companies main logo. The companies logo has changed and adapted several times since the creation of Warner Bros, As expected WB's first few logos were all in black and white, this trend lasted from 1923 – 1970, the actual design of the shield changed during this time but the black and white appearance stayed. From their first logo WB updated it a further 10 times which all included the initial shield idea. WB updated their logo this many times so keep up with rival competition for instance MGM, Columbia p
ictures and Dreamworks. WB's logos became so well known world wide they were given nicknames throughout the production companies time line. For instance:
1st Logo : Brain Shield (1923-1929)
2nd Logo : Vitaphone Shield (1929-1936)
3rd Logo : Zooming Shield (1936-1937)
4th Logo : WB Shield (1937-1948)
5th Logo : Classic Shield (1948-1967)
6th Logo : WB-7 (1967-1970)
7th Logo : The Kinney Shield (1970-1972)
8th Logo : WCI Shield (1972)
9th Logo : The Big W (1972-1984)
10th Logo : The Shield Returns (1984-1998)
11th Logo : CGI Shield (1998 - )
When examining the logos it is easy to see WB have a set idea for a logo which has taken time to get to the standard it is today, in many ways WB's 5th logo seems as if it was the favored one as it is nearly identical to their modern day 10th and 11th logos.
Paramount Pictures Corporation was founded in 1912 as Famous Players Film Company by Adolph Zukor, and the theater moguls the Frohman brothers, Daniel and Charles.
The Paramount "Majestic Mountain" logo was first drawn as a doodle by W.W. Hodkinson during a meeting with Zukor, based on the Ben Lomond Mountain from his childhood in Utah. It is the oldest surviving Hollywood film logo.
The initial idea of Paramount's logo is still there, there idea of a mountain with a semicircle of stars is an iconic image. Overtime however there have been many graphical changes and some slight alterations. Each iconic image was also given a nickname like WB's for instance :
1st Logo : Majestic Mountain (1914-1952)
2nd Logo : Twisted Mountain (1952-1954)
3rd Logo : VistaVision Mountain (1954-1967)
4th Logo : Majestic Mountain (1968-1975)
5th Logo : Blue Mountain (1975-1987)
6th Logo : CGI Mountain (1987-2002)
7th Logo : Ultra Majestic Mountain (2002- )
In 1987, for their 75th year anniversary, Paramount brought out a computer generated logo to represent the landmark. For their latest logo, brought out in 2002, something similar happened to represent their 90th anniversary with a more modern, so possibly in 2012, Paramount will update their logo once more to represent their 100th year anniversary.
Task 2.1 (Synopsis)
Our film is called Burning Aces and would follow the genre of thriller. It tells the story of a poker game between G-Ride Bouncer and Skull Cruncha which goes wrong as Skull Cruncha, the antagonist, uses brutal force through a hired assassin to win his possessions back from G-Ride Bouncer, who won them fairly in the poker deal, but as the brown package that G-Ride Bouncer uses in the pot of the deal is valuable to Skull Cruncha, he desperately needs to get the brown package.
G-Ride Bouncer, who is the protagonist is then involved in a chase with the assassin hired by Skull Cruncha, after G-Ride Bouncer left the table through a mobile phone, but manages to escape much to Skull Cruncha's dismay. It is revealed at the end of the film that G-Ride Bouncer actually cheated and had a number of Ace cards up his sleeve, which gives dramatic irony to the character who was represented in the film as the protagonist.
G-Ride Bouncer, who is the protagonist is then involved in a chase with the assassin hired by Skull Cruncha, after G-Ride Bouncer left the table through a mobile phone, but manages to escape much to Skull Cruncha's dismay. It is revealed at the end of the film that G-Ride Bouncer actually cheated and had a number of Ace cards up his sleeve, which gives dramatic irony to the character who was represented in the film as the protagonist.
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