General Codes and Conventions of Film Openings (reworked and added to)

At the start of any film, it nearly always starts of with the production company name and logo, but some companies for example Universal, are linked to many other subsidiaries. These films will involve more than one company, therefore may have many names and logo's before the film actually starts. For most hollywood blockbuster films, the actual film footage does not start until at least a couple of minutes into the start.

In Halloween (John Carpenter) it uses a blue filter and does not show the main protagonist until 6 minutes into the film, but unusually this is quite early for a horror film.



In the Bride of Chucky (Ronnie Yu) they signify where this horror is set by showing the American flag, but as well as that it includes rain and also is set at night.




Marley and Me starts of with a voice over from the main protagonist, describing his life so far. Also a two shot is used with him and a woman, which could signify it is a Rom Com.

Napolean Dynamite is a comedy film, and this is shown by the main protagonist wearing unusual clothing, and standing on his own which could signify he has limited friends.

Anchorman is another comedy, and in some cases the production company can change their logo depending on the type of film they make, for example they could change the text to make it suit a horror purpose, or animate it for a comedy. Here is an example. As you can see from the same production company logo, it changes from film to film.


Ali G Indahouse is yet another comedy, but with a twist. When the audience sees the establishing shots of all the gun crime and the city, they immediately think that this film must be an action, but then once the main protagonist is introduced they can see straight away that it is a comedy, from his visual appearance and his behavior.

Avatar is a mix of genres, which involve adventure / sci-fi / action, and this is signified by a spaceship moving through space, and a voice over involving the main protagonist explaining the journey he reluctantly takes.

The lost boys is a gothic horror, and this is signified at the opening by small body language, which in this case was the picking of the teeth, which signifies a vampire.

Never Back Down is an action / adventure film and it opens with an introduction into his behavior, which in this case is punching someone in a football match. This relates back to the genre so straight away you know what the film is about.

Harry potter and the philosophers stone is a fantasy film, and this starts by him locked in a house under a wardrobe, so at the start you do not know what the genre is.

Prelim task and Avatar Swede (DRAFT)

Vodcast

My 3 ideas for film openings & Initial pitch. Also my final idea. (Reworked)

1. My first idea and the one I pitched is where a man is at work on the computer, then some red letters appear on the screen saying, 'I am at your home'. The man knows his sister is at home, so trys to ring her, but there is no answer because she is upstairs listening to music, but what you do see is a black glove clicking the phone off, and also in this scene there is a rack of knifes, with one missing. He rushes home and then the person in the home kills the man, then there is a sudden end.

2. My second idea is where a mad scientist is going to operate on a body, but the body is alive and strangles him and walks off.  This idea will not work because we need adult actors in a labratory.

3. My third idea is where a boy is seeing a vision of a ghostly image of himself is a set location, and keeps seeing it, so decides to go to this place to see if it is real, when he gets there he cannot see anything, but then it suddenly appears.

My final idea is where a blonde busty girl is in a forrest on her own, with signifiers that someone is watching her. She has gone to meet a friend but can't find him, so tries to ring him. When he realises that somebody has grabbed the girl, he runs after, only to find the stalker dead, and the girl is a vampire.

Narrative theory (Reposted and reworded)

Our task was to create a unique or already made microdrama involving Propp's seven character types. The are the -

1. Hero
2. Villain
3. Donor
4. Princess and the father
5. False Hero
6. The dispatcher

7. The magical helper

Animatic's

My Filmic Tastes (Reworked)

The last 5 films I have seen are -

Avatar
Never Back Down
Gladiator
Lord of the rings, The Return Of The King
The Hangover


The last move i went to pay and see at the cinema was Avatar


My two favorite film genre's are comedy and action / adventure


My all 5 top favorite films are as follows -


Avatar
The Hangover
Anchorman
Transformers 
Fight Club

The hangover has to be my favorite out of all of these, because even as a comedy it made me laugh throughout it. The plot is as the title suggests, some people in Las Vegas wake up with an extreme hangover due to the alcohol and drugs from the night before. To make this such a funny comedy, everything that happens is very extreme, but still maintains realism.

All of our Podcast's

The seven evaluation questions

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

4. Who would be the audience for your  media product?

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Psychological horror

Psychological horror tends to be subtle compared to traditional horror and typically contains less physical harm, as it works mainly on the factors of mentally affecting the audience rather than the display of graphic imagery seen in the slasher and splatter sub-genres.

It typically plays on archetypal shadow characteristics embodied by the threat.

It creates discomfort in the viewer by exposing common or universal psychological vulnerabilities and fears, most notably the shadowy parts of ourselves in which most people repress or deny.
A good example of this is The Shining.

(wiki)

Hammer Horror Conventions (Reworked)

Extract from Media & Film Stduies Handbook

(Vivienne Clark, Peter Jones, Bill Malyszko and David Wharton)

'British Horror films made by Hammer Film Productions at Hammer Studios, near Bray, on the river Thames in Berkshire. Hammer produced a large number of successful low-budget gothic horror movies from the mid-1950s to the 19070s, such as The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), The brides of Dracula (1960) and Lust for a Vampire (1971). Shot in lurid Technicolor, they made stars of such actors as Peter Crushing, Christopher Lee, Oliver Reed, Ingrid Pitt and Vincent Price.'

Film Tastes (Reworked)

This is the greatest film ever made [wiki]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaun_of_the_Dead

Hot Fuzz powerpoint

Jonathan Bailey - Hot Fuzz