Film Ideas

For our opening sequence of a film, my group chose to do the genre, Romantic Comedy.


1. For our first idea we chose two boys, aiming to go on a holiday away by the sea, but one of the boys, jack, lost the money that he was supposed to use to take Ryan to the seaside, so when they were on the train ready to go and Ryan was in his beach wear, Jack broke it to him that they were going to Tamworth, in the middle of England, no where near the sea, when they arrive in Tamworth Ryan is very angry with Jack and goes to get changed, they bump into two girls they knew from school, Ryan has always had a crush on one of them, and Jack despises the other. They decide to go for a coffee and Jack (the idiot friend) says he knows somewhere nice, they end up in an old shabby coffee shop after passing many other nice ones such as costa and starbucks, the two people (Jack and one of the girls) that despise each other end up arguing and keep making nasty remarks at each other whereas Ryan doesn't want to leave the girl he has always truly loved.


Our second idea was still including the same characters as originally planned, we still kept Ryans clingy friend Jack but this time Ryan was trying several times to go on some sort of date with a girl he liked, although every time he failed due to his idiot friend. Jack always asked to come with Ryan and as many times as Ryan said no, Jack still managed to turn up in one way or another, such as, Ryan was on a meal with the girl, and Jack took their food off the waiter and served them instead. He popped up from several tables and annoyed Ryan's date to the point where she walked out and will never give him another chance unless Jack moves away.


Our third and final idea was still containing our original characters as we think they really suit the roles that we want them to play. This time we combined both ideas but added a few different ideas. This time we decided that the boys will get off a train for a night out, instead of a weekend away, and have an argument over clingy Jack forgetting his money. They bump into two girls from school and one of the girls Ryan has always had a crush on and she has always liked him, and the other one Jack has always hated and she also hates him. Ryan and his crush decide it would be good to join up and go out together, and understandably Jack and his enemy disagree. After completing all of this action we timed it and so far everything we want to include comes to two minutes.

FILM IDEAS FOR OUR ROMANTIC COMEDY:


- Two girls, two boys.
- One of the girls and one of the boys have good careers to suit with the Romantic Comedy theme and have always had a crush on each other.
- The other boy and the other girls have bad jobs, don't have any qualifications and hate each other.
- We believe the comedy aspect of our Romantic Comedy will come through the major characters rather than the main characters as their hatred for each other will create comedy for the audience.
- Holiday/weekend away/hotel
- Meal/restaurant
- Nightclub
- Coffee shop
- The characters new each other from school
- Train (difficulty to film?)
- Costumes;
Ryan: Holiday dress?
Jack: Casual/dirty/unsophisticated clothing
Girl 1: Casual sophisticated/Pretty
Girl 2: Revealing, unsophisticated clothing

U.K Film Institute Analysis Of Genres

There are three genres that we are primarily studying the thriller, the horror and the rom-com. I will be analysing the data on the U.K film institute website into the success of these genres.

Horror has the most number of releases in this country with 31 compared to thriller’s 20 and romantic’s 19. However just because horror has the most releases it does not mean it has made the most money at the box office, in fact the romantic genre has made the most at the box office with £58.4 million.

This is the main reason in us choosing our genre: Romantic-Comedy as combine the two favourite genres people like to watch and you get a lot of box office revenue.

Also with the facilities and budget we have, we feel that we will not be able to create a convincing horror and thriller due to the lack of special effects and goriness.

Questionnaire Review

In the first question of our questionnaire we asked ‘What is your favourite Romantic Comedy of all of time?’ We discovered that the majority of our audience answered with the movie ‘About a boy’ we suspect this is because it is a stereotypical, British, Romantic Comedy, featuring Hugh Grant which brings us nicely on to our second question.

 We then asked our audience, ‘In a Romantic Comedy you have seen, who is the best male character/actor?’ The majority of our audience answered with Hugh Grant, we suspect this is because he is in many Romantic Comedies and has a lot of experience in being the stereotypical male lead. He is also good looking, charming and funny; his British accent captures American audience because they notice the difference and find it appealing.

We then asked our audience, ‘In a Romantic Comedy you have seen who is the best female character?’ The majority of our audience answered, Cameron Diaz, we suspect the reason for this is because she is a stereotypical, good looking actress and her American accent attracts people to watch, also her blonde hair is an obvious attraction for a majority of people, especially men.

 In our fourth question we asked our audience ‘Ideally what certificate should a Romantic Comedy be?’ 60% of our audience think that the certificate should be a 12; we think this may be to attract a wider audience, therefore more people will be able to watch it therefore increasing the potential profits made.

 In question five we asked our audience, ‘What colours would you associate with a title sequence of a Romantic Comedy and why?’ Pink, white and red were the colours that people related to the most in this question, possibly because they are all related to love/romance. Also white is a connotation of innocence which suggests that the film is pure and nothing scary will happen whereas red and pink congers up love and passion.

 In our sixth question we asked our audience, ‘What music would be most effective in a Romantic Comedy?’ A huge majority of our audience answered with ‘A happy, upbeat song!’ which is possibly because Romantic Comedies are stereotypically a jolly/enjoyable genre to watch and the music suits well with what happens. Also it shows that the couple that fall in love in the film are happy together and nothing is going to go wrong.

  We then asked our audience ‘What would be the best setting for a Romantic Comedy?’ For this question the majority of our audience answered with ‘In a big city’ we suspect this may be because previous Romantic Comedies have been set in cities and it is a stereotypical place to fall in love. It is also very romantic to be in, London, Paris, New York with your boyfriend/girlfriend.

  For our eighth question we asked our audience, ‘How influential should the supporting actors/actresses be?’ 70% of our audience answered with, ‘very!’ we think this may be because in a Romantic Comedy, supporting actors often add to the comedy side to the film, for e.g. the male lead often has a best friend who leads him astray making it funny attracting more people to watch it like in Notting Hill.

 For our ninth question we asked our audience, ‘What is more important in a Romantic Comedy, the comedy side to it or the love story?’ 70% of our audience answered with ‘Comedy!’ we suspect this is because people like to enjoy and laugh whilst watching a film as many romances that are not Romantic Comedy tend to be the complete opposite, e.g. ‘Titanic’.

  For our tenth question we asked our audience, ‘What is the stereotypical look of the two main characters in a Romantic Comedy?’ The majority of our audience answered by saying, ‘They should both be good looking’, we think this may be because in previous Romantic Comedies many of the leading roles have been good looking, successful and have been in a good career. We suspect that the reason for the majority of our audience choosing ‘good looking’ is because many people stereotype two people in love to be good looking and happy. People tend not to be influenced by two people who are not as attractive and interesting.

After giving our questionnaires to a majority of people we are still sticking to our original idea of creating a Romantic Comedy. Many of the answers we have been given have gave us ideas and have influenced us more to create our film. We have a good idea of the characters we are looking for and the story line we would like to achieve is quite clear after reading what many people like to see in a Romantic Comedy.

Questionnairre

Romantic comedy films (abbreviated as rom coms or romcoms) are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals...

1.     What’s your favourite rom-com of all time?

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2.     In a rom-com you’ve seen who’s the best male character

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3.     In  a rom-com you’ve seen who’s the best female character

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4.     Ideally what certificate should a rom-com be?

PG………..

12………….

15…………

5.     What colours would you associate with a title sequence of a rom-com and why?

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6.     What music would be most effective in a rom-com

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7.       What would be the best setting for a rom-com?

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8.     How influential should the supporting actors be?

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9.     What is more important in a rom-com the comedy side or the love story?

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10.  What’s the stereotypical look of the two main characters in a rom-com? 

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Moodboards

Romantic:

Horror:

                                 

Christian Metz model of a genre development

Christian Metz in his book 'Language + Cinema' (1974) explored the development of genre film and suggested that genres pass through the four phases of existence.


1. The Experimenal - meaning the phase of early fims which explored and experimented with the horror theme. Films that fit in to this category would be 'Nosferatu' and 'The cabinet of Dr.Caligari'

                                                     

2. The Classic - Established the narrative of the Horror genre in it's most successful and defining period. Universal Studios ceated many of the classic horror films, for example, Dracula and Frankenstein.

 3. The Parody - mimicked a horror film in a comical way, an example of this would be 'Scary Movie'.

4. The Deconstruction - taken the generic elements of a horror film and blended them into various sub genres, i.e. Se7en and Scream

Comparing and contrasting Romantic Comedies

In the films Just Like Heaven and How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days the opening title sequences are very similar. In the fact that the music is very upbeat and always an actual song that has been released in the charts. The colours are very feminin so pink and other light colours are very prominent as its female friendly, which hits their target audience. When the film has actually started the titles still carry on whilst a scene is being acted out, untill the directors name is on the screen.

The protagonist in both films (Kate Hudson&Reese Wetherspoon) both have well paid jobs and jobs that women watching would aspire to. There life is dominated by their work and they both can't find the balance between work and leisure. Although their highflyers and everything seems fine, their life is incomplete as they both have not found a man, perfect storyline for a Rom-Com.

The main characters in Rom-Coms tend to be good looking, setting off the stereotype that good looking women fall for good looking men and visa versa.

In the two films the men, MatthewMcConaughey and Mark Ruffalo are very different characters. In 'How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days' Matthew McConaughey is portrayed as being a bit of a cool rebel, a maverick in the journalism world who happens to be very good with the opposite sex. We know this as he enters in to the scene  dressed in a black leather jacket, jeans and on a black motorbike, then instantly starts chatting up two co-workers. This indicates his coolness to the audience and his casual laid back manner as eveyone else in the shot is in suits whereas he is casually dressed. However in 'Just like Heaven' Mark Ruffallo is portrayed as a bit of a geek who is still heartbroken from the loss of his marriage. Unlike everyone else around him he seems to be a slacker who just sits on the couch and drinks beer a lot. Mark Ruffallo is the comic one in the film along with a few other co-stars. He's not this macho charmer that McConaughey is in his film.

Kate Hudson in 'How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days' represents the modern go getting, anything for a story female journalist who's living the high life. For example getting free tickets to the NBA final.

Rom-Coms mainly typify the stereotypical view people have on life, in the fact that everyone must be settled by being married, having kids and own a pet dog. Rom-coms are just based on the journey people have to get to that stage. In 'Just Like Heaven' the main character Elizabeth's older sister is the stereotypical house wife in which Elisabeth has always wanted to be, so her sister is forever trying to matchmake her with men she knows.

Red Dragon Notes - basic Analyse Pretitle sequence

Red Dragon- (2003) Directed by Brett Ratner
                      Is a remake of manhunter Directed by Michael Mann (1986)


scene 1: Opera House
scene 2: Dinner
scene 3: Special agent Graham
scene 4: Actual title scrapbook


Film music comes in quite early on - instrumental- gives the sinister edge to it.
Title screen one word red - connotation of evil,blood,bad rest of words are white- connotation of pure and good - emphasis being evil is overriding good in this film- highlights the genre- horror.


establishing shot on the orchestra - audience pov of stage - location is real opera house which highlights class. zoom in crane shot  on  Hannibal Lecture to show he is a major character. close up on Hopkins (juxta positioned so we notice him+ we recognise him first as he's the only famous actor)  to show facial expression of annoyance towards the flute player. The audience are upper class we know this as the suits and dresses there wearing. zoom in on tilt of head (connotation being one of a predator before they eat)

Scene 2: dinner party is upper class we know this from the candles and lights in an affluent street. The interior is very upper class i.e- wallpaper, sterling silver cutlery, fine china. all the traits of a brittish victorian upper class house. Pouring wed wine (conntatation of religion) circling his guests (Predator like) old guy refers to the group as prey (connotation of Hannibal being predator) central position from a low angle shot (to show dominance) 'if i tell you, you wouldn't even try it' (euphamism) over the shoulder shot of hannibal smiling when there eating the humans. Lecture wearing white shirt (purity so i agent graham in next scene)

Scene 3: over shoulder shot -special agent Graham (FBI) knows who he is but writer put it in script to introduce him in to the viewer. helping agent Graham with murder cases. vocab for Lecture is intelligent. 'How i'd like to get you on my couch (euphamism too kill him, very subtle) close u on agent graham to show he's thinking on to something, starting to expect Hannibal is guilty party. Lecture is like a father figure to Agent Graham. Books in background to show intelligence. Horizontal tracking when looking at shelf. When looking in book (Shot reverse shot/zoom, music climaxes) comes across sweetbread (zooms in on realisation), Agent Graham realises then Lecture is bad guy draws gun, turns around Lecture stabs him.


Title screen: Anthony Hopkins is first name on there as he is the most famous actor in film (writing fades in and out #editing) again writing red and white connatations of blood, evil then pure and good. Music is quite dark  orchestral with symbols crashing #incidental) Tracking on all newspaper reports (newspaper reports/scrapbooks inform audience on what has happened since) picture of lecture facing audience almost as if he is staring back at audience. zooms in on grandmas teeth to suggest cannabalism runs in the family. Light goes over the book to try and indicate the time of day. Location is in a basement (connotation of a secret area know one knows about) extreme close ups of newspaper cuttings. Pans and Tilts. fan scrapbook to try and mirror Hannibal. Picture of man turning into Red Dragon Revelations 12:3 - hence the name of the book Red Dragon.

Task 2: Research into existing products

Analysing an opening sequence of a horror film: Halloween 1978


Halloween is set in 1978 and is an American independent horror fil set in the fictional in surburbia town of Haddonfield, Illinois, USA on the night of halloween.
Halloween starts of with non-digetiec sound of a theme tune, the tune is iconic because the director John Carpenter acutually wrote the music and it is the only piece of music in the film, it just repeats all through the film at tense moments.
Whilst the music is playing the screen has a slow zoom in of a pumpkin tieing in with the halloween theme, the writing on the screen is yellow and then it turns red, this is a connotation of halloween and death and blood.
After the title screen goes off, there is more non-digetic sound of children singing halloween songs which leads up to a tense opening, also by children singing it shows the sound of innocence and happiness, something that the main character Michael Myers does not have.
The camera angle of the majority of the scene is a point of view shot from Michael. The camera is hand held hrough most of it, to give the effect were in michael's eyes and walking around the house.
When Michael gets the knife (prop) out of the drawer it is a high angle shot, which gives the illusion of him being an adult when infact he is a child, which is the twist at the end of the opning scene. This would shock the audience as a child would never or very rarely ever murder anyone, especially their own sister.
The set of Halloween is a real life location in a fairly affluent area of surburbia, with natural lighting.
When introduced to his parents, they are introduced as a middle class normal couple. The director gives this impression of a perfect family living in surburbia with a mum,dad,daughter and son. The significance of this is to not give a reason for why Michael is doing what he's doing in the essence of he's not from a dis-functional family or does'nt have any abusive past.

Editing wise there is only two edits, this is because its all from Michael's point of view and then the other edit is at the end of the scene where we get to see Michael for the first time on a reverse crane shot. The reverse crane shot gives the effect of being shocked to see that Michael is just a child in a halloween costume, holding a carving knife with blood on it.

Preliminary task video

Task 1: Preliminary Task

In lesson we learnt how to execute the 180 degree rule, a match on action and a shot reverse shot. The camera we used was HD to film within the rules of professional film makers.

180 Degree rule:
In our film the dialogue between me and Harry, if I am on the left and Harry is on the right, then I should be on the right at all times and Harry should always be facing left. Swapping  to the other side of the characters on a cut, so that Harry   is now on the left side and I am on the right, will disorient the viewer, and break the flow of the scene.

Match on action shot: A match on action is when some action occurring before the temporally questionable cut is picked up where the cut left it by the shot immediately following. For example, in our film we had a shot of handing over the wallet and receiving the wallet this can be edited to show two different views, while maintaining continuity.

Shot reverse shot: Shot reverse shot  is where one character is shown looking at another character  and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other. In our film we used the shot when I was looking down the stairs and Harry was looking up the stairs.