The difference between independent and mainstream film opening

The difference between independent and mainstream film opening

Mainstream
. Usually big budget Hollywood block busters
. The content and storyline of the film are often applicable to a wide variety of audiences
. High budgets mean lots of technology can be used to create high impact films e.g. CGI, Performance capture and Technical products that help to create thing like explosions and fires.
. Usually star big a list actors and actresses as they appeal to the audience compared to someone they may not have heard of in an independent film.
. Big budgets also mean lot of money for promotion and advertising which mean ,mainstream film are highly commercialised compared to independent film




Independent
. Budgets are not as big, so less promotion and advertising and less technology used so films aren't as big
. Usually has up and coming stars that aren't very big or well known
. Often aimed at more niche markets so storylines are more biased to specific groups of people
. Produced by lesser known institutions or is a product of a smaller production company funded by the mainstream institutions

Jelly Baby Activity

 

 Above is a picture of the Jelly Baby activity we undertook during class. In this activity, we were given a pack of jelly babies some post it notes and a piece of paper with which we told to create our own film opening of a genre of our choice. We were able to use the jelly babies in order to represent people and objects as well as drawing on the post its. We carried out this activity so that we could experiment with genres and storylines. This activity helped us to use our imaginations and start to think about our own film opening so that we had some initial ideas when it comes to planning our film opening.

Post on different genres and how generic conventions are shown in film openings

Post on different genres and how generic conventions are shown in film openings

Genre- a style or category of art, music, or literature

Within media and storytelling, there are different types of genre that the media can be.  We have different genres so people can know what type of films they like and to know what type of films are the most popular. Genres of films help to give them identity, attract audiences and to sell the film.

The are three types of genre:

Major Genre: a dominant genre that is relatively obvious and easy to define or spot e.g. Horror, Western
Subgenre: A sub division that is very closely related to its major genre, subgenres define a specific major genre by refining it with an adjective e.g. Psychological Thriller, Spaghetti Western
Hybrid genre: a combination of two major genres that creates another type of film e.g., RomCom, Sci-Fi- horror

Generic conventions are similar features that occur in and define a genre e.g. spaceships in a science fiction film

Different genres and there generic conventions

Horror- Blood, Low key lighting , Knives, Jump scares

Thriller- Antagonist, Dramatic Music, Fast Pace, Enigma Code











Action- Fighting, Explosions, Stunts, Car chase, Fast Pace, Weapons, Blood

















Comedy- Bright Colours, Up-beat Music, jokes




Romantic- Pink/Reds, Love, Marriage, Hearts, Happy endings

Certification

 

Film certification involves the classification and censorship of films.

      Classification is when access to material is restricted due to age.
      Censorship is the practice of cutting or preventing access to material.

 

There are different reasons as to why we have film classification, these are:

       Legal obligations this is to prevent material breaking the law 

     Protective, to protect audiences from items that may cause harm 

     Societal, this is to consider broader public opinion in mind with regard to language

 The BBFC, which stands for the British Board of Film Classification, was created in 1912 and is the company in charge of certifying British film. However local councils in charge of cinemas have the power to ignore their decisions and can pick the classification that they believe is appropriate for the film. In 1984 a new law regarding The Video Recording Act, was passed saying that the BBFC is in charge of classifying all videos for home use.  When classifying, the BBFC has to note any dangerous or criminal activities on a video or DVD.

 The BBFC works on several major principles in determining the age rating of a given work:

   Whether the material is in conflict with the law, or has been created through the commission of a criminal offence

   Whether the material, either on its own, or in combination with other content of a similar nature, may cause any physical or psychological harm at the age rating concerned.

   The overall tone of a work may also affect the final decision, if the work has a generally dark or unsettling tone that may disturb the audience at that level, then it may receive a more restrictive rating.

 The main age rating issues that need to be taken into account include:

     
        Violence, Sex, Sexual Violence, Drugs, Horror, Imitable Behaviour, Discrimination, Language

 Knowing about film certification will help us when creating our film opening as it will help us when decide what age our film is suitable for. It will allow us to know what we can and cannot include in our film opening depending on the certification we chose for our film. Having knowledge on certification will also help going to watch a film as through using the certification I will be able to tell what will be included in the film and to what extent.

 

Age Ratings You Trust

      

 

 

 

 

 

                           Suitable for all

     

 

 

 

 

 

                      Parental guidance

      

 

 

 

 

                       Cinema release suitable for 12 years and over

      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                       Video release suitable for 12 years and over

      

 

 

 

 

                          Suitable only for 15 years and over

      

 

 

 

 

 

                       Suitable only for adults

      

 

 

 

 

 

                   Adult works for licensed premises only

Opening Titles Timelines

Below are three title timelines of existing film openings. I wrote out these title timelines in order to learn the set up, order and timing of the different titles that occur in film openings. Carrying out this task meant that I learnt how credits/ titles were positioned and the basic order of which they ran. This allowed me to gather an idea four our own film opening  of how our titles would be placed, the order in which they would run and the timings for each title.  Being able to create an accurate title sequence means that our film opening titles will be realistic to films that already exist.

 

Student film analysis

The genre of this student film, although not immediately obvious is in my opinion an action film. This is show through the use of generic conventions like the gun and the chase element of the film opening. The use of low key lighting and low pitch tense music also backs up this idea as theses are all the generic conventions of an action film. The lack of diegetic sound in this film opening creates an enigma code as we as an audience don't know what is going on and are left to work it out for ourselves, this aspect of the film is also a generic convention of a thriller suggesting this film could be a thriller or even an action thriller.

The characters we see in this film opening are two men in suits and a woman in smart clothing this connotes a sense of professionalism and class leading us to believe this is a job for the men with guns e.g Spy or assassin. we don't see much of the woman in the film opening but from what we do see of her it looks as if we are seeing flashbacks of her initially hiding before being found and killed. This can  seen as stereotypical as the woman is often seen as the damsel in distress and is usually the one in trouble getting saved by the protagonist male figure. Although the characters individually are easy to describe, in relation to the story line , it is a little bit unclear on who out of the two men is the protagonist and who is the antagonist.

The narrative of this film seems to be violence, revenge and crime. This is shown through the use of the guns which suggests that there is going to be violence throughout the film which then leads to the idea of crime as the involvement of weapons within films, usually means that a crime has been or is going to be committed.  The scene with the woman have been edited to look like flash back and in the last one we see, she is lying on ground with one of the suited men standing above her leading us to believe she is dead. The interruptions during the film opening of these flash backs suggests that the other suited man is after revenge for the woman's murder.

The atmosphere in this film opening is quite tense as we are unsure on what is going on and there is no diegetic sound o help us create an idea, just the music in the background which creates a tense mysterious atmosphere.  This is also backed by the dark lighting and run down empty buildings that are seen in the film. The empty building also make it hard for us to figure out the setting of the film as their is not much to look at and nothing that suggest they are anywhere  iconic or well known. This could be part of the film as a way of making it look mysterious and creating the enigma code that it creates.

The titles in this film opening are quite basic and are in white and red. The red could connote bloods which could be foreshadowing what to expect in the rest of the film. Apart from this, the titles don't reveal much about the film as it is a simple text so therefore does not have conventions of a specific genre. One issue with the titles is that the actual film title occurs at the end of the film opening, this is unrealistic as most film titles appear within a minute of the film starting.

Skyfall Film Opening Analysis

The genre of this film opening although not obvious from the start, is easily recognisable when we see a cardboard cut-out target of Daniel Craig with a shot wound and blood coming from the shoulder. Later on in the opening, we also see guns and knives falling from the sky followed by a tracking shot through what looks like a graveyard. These generic conventions help us to conclude that this film is of an action drama genre. Dark colours and low key lighting are also used a lot in the opening which helps to connote the idea that this is mystery action drama.  Sections of fast pace movement also connote the action and adventure that this film might entail.

Throughout the opening sequence we see a glimpse of a few of the characters in the film but not enough to examine them in detail. First of all we see a smartly dressed man in a suit sinking with blood on his shirt. The suit connotes a sense of professionalism while the blood creates the idea that he’s been harmed suggesting he has enemies.  As he sink, we see a female hand grab his and drag him down through the sand shortly after we see a target board of the man with blood coming from the shoulder of which we zoom in to a bullet wound showing that he has been shot.  However later in the opening we see the same man stood up and shooting his shadow this suggest that he may be scared of himself or can't trust anyone around him. The last shadow we se then turs into a silhouette of a man pointing a gun at the suited man after which the shot change to a bullet holes that the camera goes through. Also in this opening sequence we see a brief shot of the male gaze theory (Laura Mulvey) of a silhouette of a woman from head to toe which connotes the feeling of mystery and darkness.

The narrative of this film is quite clearly fighting, death and destruction this is shown in the opening almost instantly and throughout with the constant appearance of blood and guns and bullet holes. As well as this part of the opening has guns and knives falling from the sky followed by a dark misty graveyard scene this automatically connotes death.  The idea of death is also highlight later in the opening when the red blood like liquid/smoke forms the shape of a skull which is a prominent connotation for death.  The fire that occurs at various times in the opening connotes a sense of danger and destruction. At the start of the opening a woman’s hand appears to be pulling the man down suggesting that the woman is hypothetically dragging him down or causing his demise.

The atmosphere in this opening is tense and dramatic with a sense of mystery.  The dark colours and slow pace help to connote this type of atmosphere as well as the blood and guns which creates a tension as they suggest someone is going to get shot but we don’t know who.

The sound also helps to create the tense atmosphere as the theme song that plays during the opening has a low pitch and is quite slow which creates a dark mysterious feel to the opening.  The theme song that plays (Skyfall by Adele) also fits with what’s on screen as the words match the action. For example at the start of the opening we see the man sinking to the bottom of the ocean which then begins to fall away, during this, the words of the song say “ This is the end, hold your breath and count to ten, feel the earth move and then… ”

The titles in this opening sequence are quite simple, in a basic white text; this doesn’t reveal much to us about the film but does show the titles clearly and sharply.  The use of the simplistic titles means that they stand out because there is so much going in the opening in terms of imagery that they don’t need to be big and dramatic titles to show up.

The setting of the film, at the start of the opening, is not very apparent but as the camera is always moving forward it suggests that the film is not set all in one place. However at one point in the opening, we see some Chinese dragons which gives us the idea that the film could be set of have parts set in china.