AS - Film noir

Themes
- Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish hollywood crime dramas, it can be used to show two sides to a personality. Hollywood classics of film noir are generally thought of being in the 1940s to 1950s. Film noir is seen as depicting a world that is corrupt.

Visual techniques
- Film noir is seen as being representative if the social landscape of the era. Heightening the anxiety and alienation that followed world war 2. Film noir used low key lighting schemes to produce stark light/dark contests on a dramatic pattern. They use shadows our blinds cast upon an actor is a convention of traditional hollywood moviemaking. Film noir is also known for its dutch angles and low angle shots these devices are used to disorientate the audience.

Narrative
- Film noirs tend to have convoluted story lines. They frequently involve flashbacks and flash forwards. The voice over narration is mostly done by the protagonist and is sometimes used as a structural device. The narrative is often focused on crime, heists or cons or false suspicion.

Characters
- Film noirs genrally morally flawed or misunderstood characters. They are characters such as hard boiled detectives or femme fatal. A femme fatal is noted for her treachery . She is filmed for her sexuality and is often used to lure in the protagonist to a twist in the story line.

YM- Analysing an opening sequence

MEMENTO (Nolan, 2000)

Genre

'Momento' belongs to the thriller genre, and of the sub genre psychological thriller.

The audiences expectations of this film in regard to it's genre are fulfilled through the opening sequence due to the conventions that are typically found in psychological thrillers. Conventions such as no dialogue and minor-key music are used to create a sense of mystery for the audience, to keep them on the edge of their seat. Also, although colours are prevalent in the clip, they seem to be muted, to give more of an eerie feel to the film. The way the titles fade in and out of the screen is something that is commonly found among thrillers.

This opening sequences conforms to the characteristics of the genre very much so, through the use of the expected conventions that can be seen. The fact that the first scene is done in reverse is not something that is commonly seen in films, however, with it being a flashback, and put in with several conventions of a psychological thriller, it is a technique that stands out as different but as something that works for this particular genre.

Institutional Context

There are no big name stars in 'Memento'. This is most likely because the film was too low budget to afford a high profile Hollywood name. The absence of a major star could be significant in the sense that it made it harder to draw a wider audience to the cinema. However, Brad Pitt was set to play the protagonist before he had to pull out due to scheduling conflicts.

The film was produced by Newmarket Films and is an independent film.

To market the film, Jonathan Nolan (brother of Christopher Nolan) designed an official website in which he used The Blair Witch Project's website as inspiration. After a short introduction on the website, the viewer is shown a newspaper clipping with details of the murder. More information can be found when the viewer clicks on the highlighted words in this article, such as the protagonist's notes and photographs. The filmmakers also employed the idea of sending out polaroid pictures to random people of a bloody and shirtless protagonist pointing at an unmarked spot on his chest. Nolan also edited the trailers himself before selling them to inexpensive TV channels such as bravo as well as major websites like Yahoo and MSN. It was these trailers that were the key for the widespread awareness of the film.

AMERICAN PSYCHO (Harron, 2000)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF9rP1w2sCE (embedding has been disabled)

Narrative:

The narrative is structured in the sense that it is set in one location for the entire sequence, and the cutting rate is the same throughout. The sequence follows a man through his daily morning routine emphasising the structured narrative. There is a voice over of the protagonist throughout the opening sequence, where he is giving a commentary on his routine and why.

It is easy for the audience to gain an understanding of what is happening in the sequence as the audience are meant to be onlookers, watching the protagonist lead his routine. It gives the audience a chance to learn more about him, by watching his actions and listening to the voice over.

There is only one character introduced in the sequence and this is implied as being the protagonist, especially at the end when he introduces himself. Due to there only being the one character, it is difficult for the audience to feel much for the character as they can't compare to the lives of others. However, the dialogue and the use of close ups to show him staring at himself in the mirror or showing his beauty products suggests that the man is confident making the audience less likely to sympathise with him.

There are not many major themes obvious in the text due to the simplicity of it. However, it is obvious that the character is healthy and likes to look good, and the fact the entire sequence focus' on this suggests it may play a part later in the film.

Tension isn't really created in the sequence until the very end when the protagonist mentions a 'cold gaze' and talks of flesh and finishes with 'i am simply not there' which causes the audience to maybe rethink what they initially thought about the character as the outcome was not expected.

SE7EN (Fincher, 1995)

Film Language:

Mise-en-Scene conveys meaning in this opening sequence through the dull colours throughout, giving the impression the theme of the movie is very serious. The thick black marker pen used suggests death due to the connotation of a darkness that is read by audiences. The flashes of red seen connotes violence, leading to blood and death. The scratchy typography flashes in and out giving a disjointed feel to the film.

Camera conveys meaning in this sequence through the use of extreme close ups and close ups (that work like a montage) of weapons and drawings to emphasise to the audience that the film is about a murderer who plans his victims (suggested through the the first close up of the book and then the close up of the picture of someone being stuck in the book). The use of close ups is used to intrigue the audience through detail as they are not given a clear view of the character. The use of angles is minimal, although there is a slight high angle shot to show the book which is being marked which places the audience there, as if they are the murderer looking down at the book.

The sound anchors the images as the top layer of sound is selective sound that give that connotes that the character is getting ready to go out and murder, for example: the character is playing with metal which could be interpreted as weapons to be used during a kill, or zipping up a bag which carries the same connotations. The soundtrack sounds quite disjointed which anchors the images as the close ups switch from one item to another to show what the character is doing. It also reflects the disturbing tone of the film.

We don't learn much about the characters through dialogue and non-verbal language as no characters are seen. However, the lack of dialogue and through seeing these disjointed images, the audience are led to believe he is a mysterious character.

The director uses a lot of shadowing and dissolving transitions to both emphasise what it happening in the scene and to move from one shot to another quickly and abruptly which could symbolise the cold nature of the killer, as well as giving a feel of disjointedness which fits with the sound used.

Media Audiences

The target audience of the film is males between 18 and 45 however, it is shown that just as many females as males went to watch the film.

It is hard to gage what the audience readings are due to the lack of information given about the characters, however many viewers will automatically have a negative view of the character who is seen crossing peoples faces out etc as it is implied he is a murderer. However, some audiences may be impartial and not read much from the text as it doesn't give a large amount of information.

As a British teenager, I evaluate the text as one that is designed to ignite a sense of mystery to intrigue the audience to continue watching the film.

LB - Analysing A Opening Sequence

Genre

The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, 2008) is in the genre of War Drama/Thriller, this is shown by the location, Iraq. Also the costume conveys the genre as most of the characters are in army uniform.

The generic expectations of this genre are fulfilled in the opening sequence as the bomb squad are dealing with a bomb threat. The tension builds up all the way until the explosion which shows how the Thriller/Drama genre is incorporated into the War environment, something that is a expectation of war. Slow motion is also used to show the explosion as it heightens the gravity of the situation, exploring how war is dangerous and life threatening, a view which will be expected by the audience.

The opening sequence conforms to the characteristics of the genre, as it is a serious war film, which explores the emotion involved with war, something that is a convention of many infuencial war film like 'Saving Private Ryan' (Steven Spielberg, 1998).


Film Language

Mise-en-scene is used effectively in The Hurt Locker to hightlight the war setting. From the location and costume the genre is immediately represented. The characters have guns which shows the situation is critical, helping to add to the tension. The lighting on the set is dull which adds to the atmosphere and emotions of the soldiers as the audience know that they would prefer to be back at home with their families.

Camera shot is used effectively with close ups to help build tension and also to explore the frantic atmosphere. A POV shot is used on the robot that goes to scout out the bomb, this makes the audience feel more involved like they are one of the soldiers controlling the robot, which is used to show the emotions of the soldiers.

Sound is used effectively to create tension as there is a person speaking in a foreign language in the background shouting, this sets the scene of being at war and the shouting helps to put emphasis on the situations extreme nature. Car noises are also used to show how the place is busy and civilians are everywhere, which the audience know would make the soldiers jobs harder.

We learn that the soldiers are technically prepared from there dialogue as they are talking in a very military fashion, which shows they are trained professionals. Also the fact they are dealing with a bomb explores the characters bravery, especially the character in the bomb suit. Which shows that bravery is needed in war which the audience would be aware of.

Slow motion is used by the director when the bomb explodes as it adds drama to the scene. Also it gives more time the the audience to take it the size and scale of the damage caused.

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LB - Analysing An Opening Sequence

Smokin Aces (Joe Carnahan, 2006)

Media Audiences

The Target Audience for this film is young males 16-25, students.

The audience readings for this due to the Target audience being male is that they will feel that they can relate to the film. As the gangsta lifestyle is seen as acceptable. Where as if a middle to older aged audience watched the film they would struggle to relate to the gangsta theme. The film is marketed for young adults who enjoy the themes of gangsta and violence, because of this the audience will feel they can relate to the film even if they do not have personal experiences that are similar to the film.

As a British teenager i feel that the opening is marketed at me, this is due to the sterotype that young british males like the genre of crime/gangster/thriller. I agree as the action and violence seems to be enjoyed by young British males. Where as i feel because of my gender and age see the film as a typical gangsta film with no new ideas in terms of plot. Due to the massive success of films such as Snatch (Guy Ritchie, 2000) and Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels (Guy Ritchie, 1998) i feel that more modern crime/gangsta films try to replicate the originality of these films, which i personally do not enjoy as much as these originals. Due to this i feel my evaluation of the film is that is lacks any new original ideas.

Institutional Context

The film uses stars such as Jeremy Piven and Alicia Keys. This is important as when people see such stars as these they are more likely to watch the film. Alicia Keys being used is also a example of the target audience as Alicia Keys fan base is mainly young people, so is used to help increase audiences of the film.

Working Titles Films as well as Relativity Media and Studio Canal produced the film. They are Independent Film companies.

The marketing for this film was interesting as they created a marketing campaign on Second Life, which is a computer game. This shows that they were trying to find advertising that is cheap and effective.




The colour use in this opening is interesting which i think we can explore in our opening.

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LB - Genre Analysis

Reservior Dogs (Quentin Tarantino, 1992)

i feel we could use of slow motion like it is used in this opening clip.

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AS - Analysing an opening

"The Lives of Others" (Henckle Von Donnersmarck, 2006)

Genre
1. The genre of this film is a thriller. It is set in Germany and is dubbed aiming for the more sophisticated audience. The sound before the video makes us anticipate what is going to happen and this is common place with most of the rest of the film in the genre.
2. The generic expectations of the film are conforming with the generic characteristics with the mysteriousness of the person who may or may not be in trouble.
3. This film does conform with the characteristics of the genre with the fact that it keep the audience thinking anything can happen and go Wong for this person, or is he in trouble or is he part of an act?

Narrative
1. There is not much narrative in this text. There is only a bit when the man who seems to be the lowest class in the scene and he is talking to a high up officer. It is in one clump at the end of the clip with the man being aggressively shouted at.
2.The audience are positioned with the men as they speak to each other in the conversation.
3. The man in informal attire is alienated within the media text as everyone else in the scene is in formal dress and looks smart compared to him. He is currently seen as the villain with him being escored by a prison officer.
4. There are not many major themes in this narrative and there is only a little bit of dialogue.

Institutional context
1. There is not a well know star withing this sequence  and this is trying to pull through less known actors into the genre or film industry.
2. Buena Vista International produced this film.
3. They tried to use the word of mouth with a review in the New York Times as marketing. The film also gained recognition by winning over 20 awards including a Golden Globe, an Academy, and a ceasar award.

Media Audiences
1. The target audience for this sequence is the sophisticated art house audience who are interested in films that are in different languages and convey different cultures. This film would only be targeted in certain areas of the country to be able to gain most money out of the film.
2. The preferred reading of this text is that the man being marched to the officers office has committed an offense. This makes us think he may be the villain in this movie.
3. I see this as being a film more for the older person in general. I see this as being for the sophisticated person who wishes to broaden their horizons in terms of culture.

"Mission Impossible 2" (Woo, 2000)
Genre
1. Mission Impossible 2 is under the genre of action thriller. This allows for the diversification to men and there girlfriends and wives, or their children.
2. The expectations are met with this opening with the explosions and the larger than life actor who is climbing a rock wall with no harness or safety equipment. This gives the audience a thrill and allows them to imagine themselves with the actor.
3. This text does conform with the characteristics of the action thriller genre with the CGI and the hero at the start of the film who is acting cool and this is what people wish to reenact and make it feel like they can do it themselves.

Institutional context
1. There is a well know star in this sequence in Tom Cruise. This is a well know global movie star and he is included in this opening to continue with the franchise with Tom Cruise.
2. Paramount Pictures produced this film.
3. MI2 had a marketing budget of $32,000,000 and this produced a big TV, poster and viral campaign. This helped them to be able to market to many audiences and diversify to different audiences.

Media Audiences
1. The target audience for this sequence is middle class action thrill seekers who have a professional career
2. The preferred reading of this text is that this character is larger than life and he will most probably be the hero. It also shows how we think he is very brave climbing a mountain with no harness.
3. I see this as being a film that will appeal to most males although it may also appeal to some females as well.

"Shooter" (Fuqua, 2007)

Representation and Ideology

1. There are two social groups represented in this opening. There is the US marines who are sniping the antagonists . They are seen as being in control and helping to build ea better world by stopping the antagonists. They are seen as being professional.

2. The beliefs of this are that they are killing these people to help the world and people believe this as many influential people in the media have told the public this.

3. The characteristics of this genre are showing these men to be the good guys in ridding the world of this unnessesary evil. It treats them as people who are inorginised and unaware of what is going to happen to them.

YM- Analysing Ideas

There are several conventions apparent in the clip which we plan on using in our opening sequence, making this a particularly good one to look at.

First of all, it uses the idea of the flashback but in a different way to what is most commonly seen: it rewinds what's happened so the audience can see not only the result of what's happened but how too.

Also, the voiceover was another convention we are looking into using, and it is used to great effect here explaining his thoughts by almost trying to justify them.

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YM- Analysis of ideas.

- I really like the way the opening sequence is a flashback to set the mood and story for the rest of the film. It is a simple way to captivate the audience while simply explaining the basis to the story.

- The use of lighting in this clip is highly effective to create a sense of mystery: using the weather for the idea behind the flashing light is a good, effective way to compress time.

- The voice over at the beginning, shows what has driven him to do what we are shown: it is simple but effective and easy to do, and at the same time being something different to dialogue.

Although this is a horror film and not a thriller, there are some conventions and stylistic features I think we can take and adapt- especially if we continue with our plan to do a psychological thriller.

Group Task - Genre Presentation

Genre Presentation on Prezi

Group task - Genre Research 2 timeline

The thriller genre has evolved from one film into many different sub-genres.

02/10/1911 - "What Women Suffer" - Director Unknown
 - One of the first thriller films was an Australian film made in 1911 that was a silent movie. This was a the makings of the thriller genre within the modern world.

19/03/1921 - "The Cabinet of Dr Caligari"- Director Unknown-
The first thriller movie that had horror incorporated into it. This was made in tinted black and white and was made in the USA.

13/10/1930 - "The Bat Whispers" - Director Unknown
- This was the first thriller film with mono sound. This film inspired Bob Kane to make Batman.

1940 - "Rebecca" - Alfred Hitchcock
- This was the first film to have romance incorporated with the thriller.

12/06/1950 - "Panic in the Streets" - Director Unknown
- This was the first thriller film to have an added soundtrack on it. (I know why (and so do you) By Harry Warren)

1963 - "The Great Escape" - John Surges
- This was the first film that was registered in five different categories of genre. Action, Adventure, Drama, History, and War-Thriller.

1972 - "The Godfather" - Francis Ford Coppola
- This film has been voted the best thriller of all time with a rating of 9.2/10 with 411,088 people voting.
1980 - "The Shining" - Stanley Kubrick
The Shining has an 8.5/10 rating within the thriller genre and is widely seen as one of the best thriller/horro films of the 90's.


1994 - "Pulp Fiction" - Queniten Tarantino
Pulp Ficton has an 8.6/10 and is regarded as a very good film in the thriller genre.


2000 - "Momento" - Christopher Nolan
This is a film we are looking at using some conventons from for our film opening.

2010 - "Inception" - Christopher Nolan
- Inception currently hold the rank of the second best thriller film and was voted best physiological thriller in the last decade.

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Group task - Genre Research 2

- Our genre we are going to do is thriller.

- We have chosen this becuase we believe we can re create the characteristics and conventions to maximum effect and create a very good film opening.

- We feel that this genre could be worked very well with the equipment we could use.

- We have pick this over teen drama because we believe we could capture the imagination of the audience better with a thriller as teen can be seen as taccy and childish. This could make it seem unprofessional and make it hard to look as good as a thriller.

- Also we feel that horror at times can be very hard to create some of the horror aspects and the hard techniques that are used in violent scenes that require alot professional equipment, for example make-up for fake cuts and bruises.

- Thriller has been chosen as we have all seen thriller films like 'Inception', 'Pulp Fiction', 'Reservoir Dogs' and 'The Great Escape' and enjoyed them incredibly, so we feel that this would be the best genre for us to chose.

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YM- Genre Analysis 1

Signs (Shyamalan, 2002)
This is a sub-genre of Psychological Thriller.

Camera:
- Long shot through the window, sets the scene informing the audience that the house is the setting.
- Camera follows the men as they run, placing the audience with them.
- Long shot of room when man wakes up to show the double bed with only him in it, after the close up of the family suggests mother figure isn't around and raises questions from the audience.`



Sound:
- Selective sound of his sharp in take of breath as he wakes up.
- Child screaming followed by the reactions of the two men being worried is motivation for the audience to continue watching.
- Selective sound when men are running through the crops dramatises the hurry they are in to find the children.
- Girl's tone of voice is confused and questioning.


Editing:
- Cutting rate increases after the child's scream to show the dad rushing across the hall; represents his increasing worry and the audience is motivated to know what has happened.
- Motivated cut when children scream 'Dad'.
- Motivated cut when boy turns his dad's head towards the camera; makes the audience want to see what is happening.

Mise en Scene:
- Dull/muted colours throughout, including lighting, matches with the theme and atmosphere of film.
- Bright colours of the child's drawing stands out among the muted colours, reinforcing the dominant ideology that children are care free.
- Drawings on door tell audience it is a child's room.


Conventional Features:
- Titles
- Dialogue and sound are typical of genre
- Varies cutting rate
- Different camera shots and angles, with many close ups

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AS - Genre Analysis 1

Panic Room (David Fincher, 2002)
This is the sub-genre of Crime Thriller.

Sound
-The sound in this starting sequence is in a minor key and is slow which makes you feel emotional and you think about the film and what is going to happen.

Editing:
-The cutting rate is slow which slowly gets quicker as the title sequence goes on.
-The use of typography of the cast is helping to show the larger than life characters who wish to rob the house of the money and the people who are fighting for their lives.

Camera:

-The location setting shots of this starting sequence show the dominant ideology of crime being mostly in the city. This is shown by a montage of long high angle shots looking down on the landscape of New York City.

Mise-en-scene
-The skyscrapers could be signifing the large threat of crime within the city and that a few people are trying to be bigger than the normal routine of life.

Narrative
-There is no narrative in this clip which is strange because there is normally a narritive at the start of a film to introduce characters or a setting.

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