Genres
The word Genre is french for 'type'.Genres are a great way to put different types of movies into categories .
For example they include :
- Comedies
- Horrors
- Thrillers
- Romance
- Action
And more ...
For producers , Genres allow them to use a set of generic codes to make the film . Eg what sort of props to use , the type of location and certain actors . They can be reused from film to film and helps tell the producers where to invest money . For example Jim Carey is best known for playing roles in comedies so if a producer wanted to find an actor to star in a comedy , they would probably look into someone like Jim Carey.For marketing purposes , genres help target exact audiences and also helps know how to construct their adds and what sort of generic codes to use . As for audiences the genre would make a clear sense of expectation.
Sub-Genres
Sub-Genres are like classes of the larger category of the main film Genre with thier own style. Sub-Genres types conclude of
- chick flicks
- detective / mystery films
- disaster films
and more ....
Monday 17 December 2012
Friday 14 December 2012
RESEARCH-Genres & Sub genres
A Genre is generally a specific style or type of film, different genres include thrillers, horrors, Sci-fis, Action, comedies etc and can then be classified into an even smaller concept of sub genres, their are many different types of sub genres some of them are crime, mystery, drama, religious, horror etc.
By film having certain genres and sub genres mean the audience and are able to distinguish between various films and identify with them and which ones they would like to watch, also by having them it makes it easier for the film makers as they are able to identify what is needed on set for the location, costumes and props.
Crime thrillers are my favourite sub-genres as i believe out of all sub genres they are most interesting, i think they add an incredible amount of excitement and the mystery, action and suspense created in most are extremely entertaining. All of these things will inspire me for my final thriller opening in February.
one film opening that i thoroughly enjoy and think it involves all aspects a crime thriller should is the dark night, when creating my own i will keep returning to this for inspirations through camera angles suspension and effects used.
By film having certain genres and sub genres mean the audience and are able to distinguish between various films and identify with them and which ones they would like to watch, also by having them it makes it easier for the film makers as they are able to identify what is needed on set for the location, costumes and props.
Crime thrillers are my favourite sub-genres as i believe out of all sub genres they are most interesting, i think they add an incredible amount of excitement and the mystery, action and suspense created in most are extremely entertaining. All of these things will inspire me for my final thriller opening in February.
one film opening that i thoroughly enjoy and think it involves all aspects a crime thriller should is the dark night, when creating my own i will keep returning to this for inspirations through camera angles suspension and effects used.
Thursday 13 December 2012
Reservoir Dogs shot by shot re-make
I believe our re-make of reservoir dogs was very strong considering our location and props.
- The props included a Cigarette, suits, leather jackets and sunglasses, these were used as we tried to make it as precise to the original as possible. I feel that each of our shots replicated the original in the best way possible, even though their was a difference in the lighting as ours was filmed in the evening and the original was filmed during daylight. This meant artificial lighting was used which didn't create the same effect that natural lighting would have.
- In the original seven actors were used unlike us who only had four this meant that not all characters were able to be played and resulted in our re-make becoming shorter then the original. In terms of acting I believe I wasn't entirely professionally which let the group down as I didn't keep in character throughout our re-make.
-Despite this overall I think the re-make turned out pretty strong and was a good effort for a first project.
- The props included a Cigarette, suits, leather jackets and sunglasses, these were used as we tried to make it as precise to the original as possible. I feel that each of our shots replicated the original in the best way possible, even though their was a difference in the lighting as ours was filmed in the evening and the original was filmed during daylight. This meant artificial lighting was used which didn't create the same effect that natural lighting would have.
- In the original seven actors were used unlike us who only had four this meant that not all characters were able to be played and resulted in our re-make becoming shorter then the original. In terms of acting I believe I wasn't entirely professionally which let the group down as I didn't keep in character throughout our re-make.
-Despite this overall I think the re-make turned out pretty strong and was a good effort for a first project.
RESEARCH - genres and sub-genres
Genres
A genre is a way in which movies are assorted into groups. The word genre, is French for type. Some genres are:
- Comedy
- Thriller
- Action
- Horror
- Science-fiction
- Fiction
- Etc...
Sub-genres
A sub-genre is a way in which a genre of movies is assorted into groups, for example some thriller sub-genres are:
- Conspiracy
- Crime
- Disaster
- Mystery
- Psychological
- Supernatural
Comparisons of the original and the remake
I think that the re-make we made was great ,we utilised the appropriate props such as black shades ,suits , leather jackets and a cigarette . We found perfect locations similar to the original and had to ask permission to film in the cafe for the beginning scene. I believe our shots copied the original in the best way possible.
There were a few differences such as the lighting , our remake was filmed while it was dark whereas the original was filmed in the day so we had to use artificial lights instead of the natural light to enable our facial expressions to be scene.However i did think that the dark lighting made it look cooler than the original . Another key difference was the fact that we had only 4 actors whereas the original had 7 , so we had to make do with just 4 actors which made our whole scene much shorter. Aswell the music we used was a higher than the original
There were a few differences such as the lighting , our remake was filmed while it was dark whereas the original was filmed in the day so we had to use artificial lights instead of the natural light to enable our facial expressions to be scene.However i did think that the dark lighting made it look cooler than the original . Another key difference was the fact that we had only 4 actors whereas the original had 7 , so we had to make do with just 4 actors which made our whole scene much shorter. Aswell the music we used was a higher than the original
RESEARCH- Genres and Sub-genres
Genre
The genre of a film is the type of film. An example of some different genre's are:
The genre of a film is the type of film. An example of some different genre's are:
- Thriller
- Action
- Comedy
- Horror
- Science-fiction
- Etc...
Genres allow producers and audiences to distinguish what kind of film it is. For producers, it makes it easier for them to sort out the props, location and actors. For example, if they were to hire an actor like Christian Bale, they would know that he's more suited to thriller films then Rom-Coms.
Sub-genre
A sub-genre is a way in which a type of genre, such as thriller has other different type of genres within that thriller, for example thriller films have:
- Conspiracy thrillers
- Mystery thrillers
- Crime thrillers
- Drama thrillers
- Psychological thrillers
- Religious thrillers
- Horror thrillers
- Supernatural thrillers
Tuesday 11 December 2012
shot by shot remake
 |
| still from original video |
 |
| still from the original video |
 |
| still from the original video |
 |
| screen grab of editing process |
 |
| screen grab of editing process |
 |
| screen grab of editing process |
Comparison of original sequence and our remake
'Reservoir Dogs' comparison
I think that the remake we made was pretty good considering the circumstances we had. We managed to get hold of some last minute props and find a couple of locations to film in.
However there are a couple key differences between the original opening sequence of 'Reservoir Dogs' and our remake production. First of all, the original was filmed in broad daylight while ours was filmed at night so we had to mostly use artificial lighting instead of natural, secondly we only had 4 actors while the original had 7, so we had to compromise and not include 3 of the actors. Another key difference is that the music in the original was slightly sped up compared to the music we used.
On the other hand i believe that the props we used were really good and we managed to make it look reasonably similar to the original, as you can see in the previous post which contains the original opening sequence and our remake.
Shot by shot remake comparison to original
I think the shot by shot remake of Reservoir Dogs went well as we kept it as similar to the original as possible considering our props and location around us.
There were a few errors within the remake, for example the time of day in which we shot the close-ups could have been earlier as natural light would have compared better to the original. We had to attach a light to the camera in order to establish the scenery and our facial expressions. Another small problem was that we only had 4 characters compare to the originals 7 characters. This was something that we couldn't really do anything about, but it slightly lowered the unprofessionalism of our remake.
Although there were some errors, there are also a lot of positive things about the remake. Like the original, we managed to find a good location for the part where the 4 of us are walking past the wall, as it was similar to in a sense that the original also had a brick wall. Another specific part which I thought was good was the timing of the voice saying 'yeah' in the soundtrack with the credits saying 'A film by Quentin Tarantino' I think it worked very well and makes the clip seem more professional.
There were a few errors within the remake, for example the time of day in which we shot the close-ups could have been earlier as natural light would have compared better to the original. We had to attach a light to the camera in order to establish the scenery and our facial expressions. Another small problem was that we only had 4 characters compare to the originals 7 characters. This was something that we couldn't really do anything about, but it slightly lowered the unprofessionalism of our remake.
Although there were some errors, there are also a lot of positive things about the remake. Like the original, we managed to find a good location for the part where the 4 of us are walking past the wall, as it was similar to in a sense that the original also had a brick wall. Another specific part which I thought was good was the timing of the voice saying 'yeah' in the soundtrack with the credits saying 'A film by Quentin Tarantino' I think it worked very well and makes the clip seem more professional.
Tuesday 4 December 2012
Planning remake - Reservoir Dogs
Michael Madsen- Ian
Steve Buscemi- Orrie
Tim Roth- Luke
Quentin Tarantino- Sophie
Camera- Ian to set camera up for each shot however initially no one will be specifically filming.
Location- Corner cafe to film the first scene with the guys are leaving the table , However we will need to get permission before any filming is done.
Side street to film us all walking down in slow motion , this a is a good place because we are able to walk towards a main road.
Props- Boys : Black Sunglasses, Cigar, Cigarette, toothpick , black suits , drawn on side burns and moustaches
Girls : black leather jacket, red lipstick , dark eyeliner .
Monday 3 December 2012
RESEARCH - Halloween.
The movie opening i have decided to analyse is Halloween. I have chosen this as i believe it uses all the conventions a good horror movie should consist of .
The movie starts off by showing us the titles on a plain black background with the colour orange as its font creating the theme of Halloween . This gives suspense as not to much is been given away , all we get to see are images of the Jack O Lantern with a creepy facial expression which lets us know that there is something scary about this film because it connotes evil and ghostly things. As the titles fade in and out ,the Non-diegetic music ( Theme tune ) played gives of the creepy Ora which allows our minds to wonder and creates the eagerness to want to know what will happen next.
We are being showed the conventions of camera angles in the first scene by a point of view shot which is an unusual way of filming ,it builds anxiety but also it enables us to see through the persons eyes . The main type of shot used it a long shot , which means the viewer has much more to focus on making us feel more on edge as something could pop out at any angle .The killer puts on a mask further into the opening and makes an effective opening as were obtaining a sense of enigma due to the fact we cant see whats happening properly. There is only one close up that is used and that is of the knife , this suggest that the knife has some significance to it .
As the killer snoops around the house , Erie music is played which is nail biting as the high pitched sound makes us think something bad is going to happen. As the killer near ens the girl , the music becomes more loud and vigorous warning us that something WILL happen ... as it does straight after.Towards the end of the scene we hear the killer panting , this illustrates the fact that he is scared and panicky of what he's just done.
The use of Mise-en-scene is shown by the young boy wearing a clown costume which is typical to use in a scary movie as a fear of clowns is popular . The dark lighting throughout creates suspense as we cant see much and also creates a mysterious and uneasy atmosphere while he is looking around the house . However when the killer is revealed ,a young boy ,a much brighter lighting is used creating a sense of exposure and enlightenment to the viewer.
RESEARCH- Amercian Psycho (2000)
I have chosen to do my thriller opening analysis on American Psycho, as I think the opening to this film, similar to most thriller films, is very vague and mysterious and this opening creates slight suspense due to how vague it is. The one thing this opening lacked unlike most other thriller openings, is the opening credits, although I don't think the opening credits would have complimented the mysteriousness of this scene.
The clip starts off with non digetic sound of classical piano music which is very soft and also creates a sad mood, which contrasts with the light scenery in the man's (Patrick Bateman) apartment. This sad tone to the music foreshadows the content of Patrick Bateman's character later on in the film. His voice then comes in over the music, and he is describing his life briefly in a very monotone unenthusiastic voice. The audience instantly gets an idea of his mysterious nature through the use of camera work. There is a close up of his face in the reflection of Les Miserables poster which means 'The Miserable' in French. I thought this was very clever as it again subtly foreshadows his character. The camera also zooms into his face slowly which creates an air of edgyness while he's talking.
I think what also creates the air of mysteriousness in this opening scene is the subtle humour that the film uses. For example his daily routine in the morning appears to be quite comical and weird, but the fact that it is quite weird makes the opening maintain its suspense, like most thriller films do.
The most commonly used shots in this opening scene are close ups and medium shots. I think these are used to help the audience vaguely establish the character through use of body language, facial expressions and scenery. The editing is also very fast and snappy which suits the odd vibe of the scene.
When he starts going into further detail about the confusion of his own character, the classical piano music seems to change to a more scary kind of tone, which shows another side of his character as oppose to his mysterious edgy character shown previously in the clip. This is accompanied by a close up, showing his face to be very straight and emotionless. After this, the music drops even deeper and becomes even more scarier, as he says, "I simply am not there".
I think what also creates the air of mysteriousness in this opening scene is the subtle humour that the film uses. For example his daily routine in the morning appears to be quite comical and weird, but the fact that it is quite weird makes the opening maintain its suspense, like most thriller films do.
The most commonly used shots in this opening scene are close ups and medium shots. I think these are used to help the audience vaguely establish the character through use of body language, facial expressions and scenery. The editing is also very fast and snappy which suits the odd vibe of the scene.
When he starts going into further detail about the confusion of his own character, the classical piano music seems to change to a more scary kind of tone, which shows another side of his character as oppose to his mysterious edgy character shown previously in the clip. This is accompanied by a close up, showing his face to be very straight and emotionless. After this, the music drops even deeper and becomes even more scarier, as he says, "I simply am not there".
RESEARCH -The Dark Knight (2008)
The thriller opening I have chosen to analyse is 'The Dark Knight', this is due to the fact that it contains the essential conventions I believe a opening thriller should include.
The opening scene begins with a high establishing shot of a city in complete silence for a number of seconds, Non-Diegetic ticking then begins while the camera tracks into a glass building which already gives the viewer a sense of suspense and uncertainty as it may be implying time is restricted, the ticking builds up to the shattering of glass which breaks the silence dramatically. The scene is then cut to two men wearing clown masks, firing a zip line to an adjacent building. The music begins to increase in intensity as three other characters who are also wearing clown masks are introduced, the use of the clown masks indicates hidden identity and may foreshadow danger which leaves an unnerving atmosphere.
Throughout the scene Pan camera movements are used when the viewer is shown a close up of one of the characters, this is to show the facial expressions or feelings that may be shown. The use of an over the shoulder shot also gives viewers the point of view from another character.
-The suspense is sustained throughout the opening scene through the use of sound and the constant tension which is being built, the use of props adds to the unnerving atmosphere and entices the audience in. Generally fast transitions are used throughout which also contributes to the build up of the plot.
The opening scene begins with a high establishing shot of a city in complete silence for a number of seconds, Non-Diegetic ticking then begins while the camera tracks into a glass building which already gives the viewer a sense of suspense and uncertainty as it may be implying time is restricted, the ticking builds up to the shattering of glass which breaks the silence dramatically. The scene is then cut to two men wearing clown masks, firing a zip line to an adjacent building. The music begins to increase in intensity as three other characters who are also wearing clown masks are introduced, the use of the clown masks indicates hidden identity and may foreshadow danger which leaves an unnerving atmosphere.
Throughout the scene Pan camera movements are used when the viewer is shown a close up of one of the characters, this is to show the facial expressions or feelings that may be shown. The use of an over the shoulder shot also gives viewers the point of view from another character.
-The suspense is sustained throughout the opening scene through the use of sound and the constant tension which is being built, the use of props adds to the unnerving atmosphere and entices the audience in. Generally fast transitions are used throughout which also contributes to the build up of the plot.
RESEARCH - The Book of Eli (2009)
The film opening i have chosen to analyse is The Book of Eli. I like it because it has a really surreal opening that gets people thinking of the future for humanity.
It starts off with a black screen and a non-diegetic sound of gunfire to set the impression of chaos and disaster. Then an establishing shot of a forest is used give the viewer a feeling of isolation. It appears that leaves are falling from the trees but when you look carefully you then realise that it is ash falling from the sky and all the trees are dead. This indicates that something bad has happened and makes the viewer wander what has happened. A convention that is used is mise-en-scene, we see a gun slowly rusting away next to a dead man, and then a track shot takes us to a man in a gas mask wielding a cross bow and waiting for his prey to line up for the perfect shot.
Another convention that is used is sound. You hear the diegetic sound of the wind blowing and trees rustling, this emphasises the isolation of the forest. The music in the background gradually becomes lounder and more intense as the camera moves closer to the man with the bow, as he tightens his bow we hear him breathing. It cuts to a P.O.V shot of the cat, who is trying to locate its predator. The non-diegetic music builds until it reaches its climax and then stops, the man takes one last breath and shoots his arrow. A track shot follows the arrow in slow motion until it hits the cat. The man then gets up and picks up his prey, then the screen fades to white and the scene ends.
It starts off with a black screen and a non-diegetic sound of gunfire to set the impression of chaos and disaster. Then an establishing shot of a forest is used give the viewer a feeling of isolation. It appears that leaves are falling from the trees but when you look carefully you then realise that it is ash falling from the sky and all the trees are dead. This indicates that something bad has happened and makes the viewer wander what has happened. A convention that is used is mise-en-scene, we see a gun slowly rusting away next to a dead man, and then a track shot takes us to a man in a gas mask wielding a cross bow and waiting for his prey to line up for the perfect shot.
Another convention that is used is sound. You hear the diegetic sound of the wind blowing and trees rustling, this emphasises the isolation of the forest. The music in the background gradually becomes lounder and more intense as the camera moves closer to the man with the bow, as he tightens his bow we hear him breathing. It cuts to a P.O.V shot of the cat, who is trying to locate its predator. The non-diegetic music builds until it reaches its climax and then stops, the man takes one last breath and shoots his arrow. A track shot follows the arrow in slow motion until it hits the cat. The man then gets up and picks up his prey, then the screen fades to white and the scene ends.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)