Analysis of opening 2 minutes - Like Crazy

• Paramount pictures on a light screen
• Production company on a white screen
• Inter titles were in the corner of a black screen with dialogue in the background with no picture
• The male character was smart and looked at the female character lovingly
• She leaves a note on his car while looking nervous
• They look at each other in a cliché 'lovey dovey' way on their date in the cafe
• There is soft, slow music playing in the background as they walk together having a heart to heart   

Diary Post - 2

For homework I have been watching and analysing the opening two minutes of films. Along with this I have been watching the whole film to see if there are any other part in the film that I could analyse. In doing this it has helped me to get ideas for the type of music; camera angles; shots; editing and titles that I could and will use in the opening two minutes of my film in order to create the right mood for my film. 

Watching romantic drama films has been helping me a lot so far in the research and planning section of my coursework as I have got a lot of ideas for the types of music and inter titles that I would like to use in my own film. I think with further research into other romantic drama films similar to mine I will be able to create a similar product of the best quality that it could possibly be.

Diary Post - 1

Over the last couple of lessons I have created a mood board for the opening two minutes of my film. Thing included they types of props and colours that I would like to use if possible. It includes things such as:

• Dresses
• Suites
• Cars
• Phones
• Hair
• Makeup

These pictures are all close to the types of things that I will use for real in the opening two minutes of my film. I will compare my costumes and props to the ones on my mood board to make sure that I am creating the same mood as the one my mood board does. This will ensure that the right mood is set for my film.

I have also been doing location research. In doing this I found they pictures of the type of street and house I would like to use in the opening two minutes of my film. I also found a picture of a hotel room that I would like to use for when the girls are getting ready. However, i know that this is unlikely to happen and instead I will probably end up using a different room in thee house. The hotel is unrealistic to happen as I don't think I will be able to book a room in a hotel in order to film. Also if I needed to reshoot bits from the hotel shots I would not be guaranteed to get a space in the hotel again or the same room, so the continuity would not be there.

18/20 Mark Blog

http://thrillerblog2011.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-max=2011-11-12T22:00:00Z&max-results=8&reverse-paginate=true

Thriller Blog

• They watched and remade the opening two minutes of the film Juno – youtube video
• They created a film opening – youtube video
• They analysed the opening credits of RockNRolla - embedded onto scribd
• They did a soundtrack analysis of RockNRolla – embedded into scribed
• They did an opening scene analysis for latymer – blog post
• They did a preliminary task – youtube video
• They did a preliminary evaluation – blog post with pictures
• They analysed the editing technique of enemy of the state – photos
• They did and analysis of successful film director Quentin Tarantino – blog post with photos
• They did an analysis of the opening credits of Memento – blog post and  pictures
• They created a film opening – youtube video
• They analysed the opening  credits of  silence of the lambs
• They looked at different films to analyse the genre
• They looked at thriller conventions
• They looked at the representation of genre
• They looked at genre film convention and presented it in a table on scribd
• They analysed soundtracks – blog post and embedded youtube videos
• Initial ideas for film – blog post and youtube videos
• Credits and title analysis – pictures
• BBFC Ratings – pictures and blog posts
• Target audience research – pictures, mood board, youtube video
• Group planning shot list – pictures
• Animatic – picture
• Group planning initial ideas – picture
• First shoot – pictures and a bit of explanation
• Analysis of their mise-en-scene – pictures analysis

Analysis of opening 2 minutes - 10 Things I Hate About You

• Touchstone pictures and the production company were on a black screen
• There was upbeat music as the film title was over a skyline
• The camera then made a tracking shot from being up high in the sky to coming low and being at face level with the characters
• Actors names were over the action
• Characters and genre introduced by showing tension between a group of girls that look popular and are in a nice car and a girl by herself that doesn't look as popular looking at each other with disgust while stopped at traffic lights

This shot of the boys face is the kind of emotion that I would like to recreate in my film. The look of love in his eyes in what i want to recreate while the husband in the opening two minutes of my film is getting ready.

This shot of the young woman getting ready in the mirror is a shot that I would like to use in the opening two minutes of my film. I would like to use this shot to show the wife getting ready for the wedding.

Location Research

These are the types of locations I would like to use for the opening two minutes of my film. The top house is the location I would like to use for the husband and homeless Jack getting ready for the wedding. The street is the type of street I would like to use that the husband drives down before the crash. The hotel room is what I would like to use for the mum and daughter to get ready in. However, this is very unlikely to happen as it is unrealistic that I would be able to get a hotel room to film my opening two minutes in and I will probably end up just filming it in a different house or just a different room of the same house that I will film the husband and homeless Jack getting ready in. I hope that in using these locations I will be able to create the right mood and feel for my film. 

Research and Planning To Do List

Mr Oswick went through the research and planning to do list and the things I still need to do so that my blog is up to date are:

Research

1. Soundtrack research (non copyright music sites)
2. Location research
3. Font research 
4. Institution research
5. Certificate research
6. Audience research plus a typical audience member
7. At least 6 films analysed using key questions and music/costume/setting/style/shots

Planning

1. Costume and props
2. Actors and characters
3. Diary posts
4. Shot lists
5. Storyboard 
6. Script
7. Practice titles created and uploaded

Mood board

I have created this mood board in order to give people a feel of the opening two minutes of the film I am going to make. I have included pictures of the types of things I would like to use and create. I have tried to pick realistic images so that I know what kind of things I will be able to use and the things that I wont. I will bear these things in mind when I go out and film in order to make sure I create the right mood.

 

I will try to stay true to my mood board when it comes to filming my opening two minutes. I hope to create a film that does give the audience the same kind of feel that this mood board that I have created would.

Teacher Feedback

Blog is starting to come together - well done!

Key targets in red:
Prezi create/embed
Sleepy Hollow analysis with picture of film poster
Proposal analysis with picture/youtube clip
At least 4 films analysed using key questions and youtube clips etc
Hyperlinks to other G321 blogs and analysis of what they have done that works well – steal R and P ideas
Link to Mr Oswick’s blog
Definitions and picture/video exemplifying on blogs please:
Match on action?
Shot/reverse shot?
180 degree rule?
Diary posts – 1 paragraph summing up what you have learned so far about the process…6 of them?
Audience feedback about your idea and thought processes
Moodboard collage
Summary of your idea
Costume research and ideas?
Actors and characters?
Screen grabs of films?
Film clips analysed – music/costume/setting/style/shots

You are currently working towards a B grade if you can catch up with your R and P.

Opening Two Minutes - Final idea

In the opening two minutes of my film I am going to have happy/jolly music as there is a shot of the mother and daughter getting ready for the wedding. The music with then quieten down a bit while the daughter says 'I'm glad you gave dad another chance' and the mum replies 'me too.' The music will then get a bit louder again as the shot changes to the husband and Homeless Jack are getting ready for the wedding. The music will then quieten down a bit as Homeless Jack says 'I'm glad you pulled your act together and won your family back' and the Husband replies 'Yeah me too. Thanks for your help.' The music will then get louder again as it changes shot to the mother and daughter getting ready again looking happy and enjoying themselves. The happy/jolly music will then fade out as the shot turns back to the Husband and Homeless Jack getting ready. The Husband will then say to Homeless Jack 'i have to do something but I'll meet you there' and rushes out of the house as music to create suspense kicks in. The husband will then get in his car and start driving as the music becomes louder. He will then pull out his mobile phone and carry on diving for a bit before he gets in a car crash with a big truck and dies.

Opening Two Minutes Feedback

In our lesson we all presented our ideas of our opening two minutes of our film. We all gave each other feedback to see what we could improve and see if there was anything that could cause any problems in the making of our film.

The feedback that  got was:

• Do I have two males to act in my opening two minutes
• Can I get two suits that look like wedding suits
• Can I get a wedding dress
• Can i get a bridesmaid's dress or something similar
• Do i have accessibility to a car 

I am still going to continue with my idea as i do have access to a car. I can also get two males to act in the opening two minutes of my film. I can also get the costumes to make the opening to minutes of my film. 

Overall apart from the above factors everyone in the class liked my idea for the opening two minutes of my film and though that it would be good if I filmed it correctly and to a good enough standard.

Prezi - Opening 2 Minute ideas

This is the final idea for the opening two minutes of my film. It discusses the genre of my film which is going to be romantic drams. It also gives an idea of the types of people that I am going to get to be the actors and actresses in my film. In this prezi I also have the possible settings that I will use in the opening two minutes of my film which is houses and a street. I may also go to London to film a bit for my establishing shot. I have also discussed the music that I would like to use in the opening two minutes of my film. Finally I have put a suggestion for what the narrative of what the whole film would be, to let people know the whole story of the film.

I will try to stick to most of this when I am choosing my actors, actresses, setting and music. I will also keep this in mind when I film and edit my opening two minutes to make sure that I have stuck to my plan as much as possible.

Analysis of opening 2 minutes - The Proposal

The opening scene of The Proposal is a close up of a forrest, so it looks like someone is walking through the forrest. Although this is the opening scene we know is is not going to be a horror film but instead a lighthearted film because of the happy upbeat music in the background. The camera then zooms out to reveal the leading female role.

We can tell she is sophisticated as:

• She is healthy because she is using her exercise bike
• She is organised because she is riding her exercise bike while working/revising
• She wears a black business suit

The humorous element of this film are introduced when:

• The main male character is introduced as being lazy and oversleeping
• He runs into an elevator door
• He is unorganised as he is in a messy room
• He spills coffee all over a co-work and says "give me the shirt off your back, literally"
• The PA says to his boss "well done" to which she replies "if i want your praise i will ask for it"
• Everyone in the office thinks bossy as they call her names
• All the office workers send each other emails to warn each other that she is coming

The pop of the incoming emails keeps the film light hearted. 

The film is a stereotypical rom com as the two main characters show no interest in each other. The female and male leading actors seem to get on each others nerves as well. This is shown through the close up of each characters face, while the other one is talking. It is also shown as the leading female character calls the male character "pathetic". In rom coms there is always another girl that admires the lead male from afar and in The Proposal this is the woman who works in Starbucks. You can also tell that this film is set in the city of New York straight away as when the camera angle zooms out and you can see the woman exercising there is a view of the New York skyline out the window. This is then confirmed by the yellow taxis on the road when the leading male role is running to get coffee before going to work.This film challenges the typical gender stereotypes as a female is the boss and a male is the personal assistant.

Order of titles:

• Touchstone pictures
• Mandeville films

The production company and the names of actors are then over the action but they don't get in the way of the action. This means the the audience is not distracted from the film by the writing.