Friday 27 January 2017

Todorov Narrative Theory:

Todorov's Narrative Theory:


Equilibrium:


A young girl grows up within a strict upper class family. Her father is very controlling parental figure over both her and her mother. Since she is an only child the attention is consistently on her. Therefore, the impression that she creates has to reflect well on the family, mainly her father. Moreover, she is forced into completing  feminine activities such as  gardening and flower arrangement. This causes her to be rather resentful of her father at a very young age.


Disruption:


The girl, Violet, hands her father some flowers that she had picked, for decoration, to put into a vase. However, she is unaware that the flowers are wolvesbane, which are extremely poisonous. She is unaware of the damage she has caused and in-affected because she is wearing gardening gloves. Her father has a heart attack shortly after. The real cause was never discovered.


Disequilibrium:


As the years pass Violet  grows up to be very successful, she had almost erased her childhood from her memory, when she comes across the flower again. since it brings back such immense memories that she associates with her fathers the death, she decides to look into it, only to discover that it was in actual fact the cause of her fathers death. Since she had, had a damaging upbringing she has become very psychotic and she has took on the role of her father in terms of being controlling she has always enjoyed teasing men and being in control in any relationship she has had with them . To the point that after she has found out about this flower, she begins to use it to her advantage. She leads men on and when they get too close or clingy she'll use this flower to kill them almost as a hobby.


Attempt to repair the Disruption:

An investigator who is exploring the deaths of a numerous amount of men from the same cause starts to notice her involvement in each case but doesn't have any evidence to back up his suspicions.

New Equilibrium:

When it comes the point that she has lost control in her murders as it is only a matter of time before she is caught. She decides to take control of the only thing left, which is her life. killing herself in the same way she killed her father and all of her male victims she used to flower. This ends the narrative the same way it had begun.





Wednesday 25 January 2017

Order of credits:

Order of Credits in Catch me if you can:

  1. Dreamworks presents
  2. Main Star
  3. Main star
  4. Title
  5. Another Star
  6. Secondary Actors
  7. Casting
  8. Co-Producer
  9. Music Producer
  10. Costume Designer
  11. Film Editor
  12. Director of Photography
  13. Executive Producer
  14. Screenplay
  15. Director

Tuesday 24 January 2017

Titles and Typography:

What do the typography, design and the way in which the titles appear in catch me if you can communicate to the audience/consider connotations of the films:

-Genre
-Style/Mood
-Possible narratives
-Production values
-Themes


Image result for catch me if you can title sequenceThe title sequence of catch me if you can was influenced by Saul Bass. Through the title sequence it tells the whole narrative of the film in an animation form. The typography helped to indicate who the characters were as it would appear in sync with those certain characters. It also interacted within the scene. This helped to tell part of the narrative and created a sense of movement due to the placing of the typography and the different camera movements such as tracking up and down. A sense of different settings are created, there are many links to travel, initially starting at an airport, then a car journey. the character then takes us to a luxury holiday accommodation. There is an orchestral soundtrack which helps to build tension and suspicion.

i think the typography in this Title sequence is well placed and it helps to guide the audiences eye as to where they should be looking. The way in which the texts moves within the animation and how connects to the scene gives it a real purpose as well as informing the audience. The order in which the titles come up is relevant because it gains the audiences attention and keeps them engaged throughout. It also shows the importance of the stars and who has the most star power.

Sunday 22 January 2017

Title Sequence ideas:

Through a group discussion we started to put together a rough plan of our Title Sequence. We decided upon a genre of Thriller/Drama with a female protagonist as we would like the film to prominently explore felinity and female attributes. However, we are leaning more towards a style like American Psycho because we want the Sequence to be quite minimalistic in the sense it will be more suggestive of an underlying subtext.

Saturday 21 January 2017

Analysis of title sequences in my genre:

Our Genre is Drama/Thriller. the conventions of a Thriller are to create suspense and fear. These films capture this well.

David Finches – Seven (1995)
Filmed entirely on 35 mm film. David Finches Seven is a very good example of a title sequence. Created mainly through close ups of flicking through a book that was written from the psychopaths point of view. It helps to give an insight into the type of character without actually providing any shots revealing the character’s identity except from shots involving the hands allowing us to associate him as a male character. The use of the book and flicking through pages creates quite a graphic effect as the character cuts and sticks in explicit and disturbing imagery. The handmade aspect of it shows the character to be quite precise and have a clear view in what he wants to achieve which could link into the obscure but meticulous way in which he kills. The soundtrack is parallel.

American Psycho (2000)

The American psycho title sequence starts of very visual and subtle and then ends up leading onto the actual start of the film. The use of food is very unique. It creates narrative enigma because at first it appears that it Is blood dripping but really it is red sauce going onto a plate of food. The soundtrack is parallel and in time to when the red sauce is dripping. It helps to create a daunting atmosphere. The cutting of meat with a knife could foreshadow the style of murders and indicates towards the narrative.

Dexter:

Image result for dexterDespite this being the Title sequence for a Television series. It is still relevant to the creation of our title sequence. The title sequence for this shows the main character, Dexter's, morning routine. However all of his actions are made in quite a suggestive way. What is meant by this is that the way I which it has been shot by using close angles implies that there is something quite twisted about this character. An example of this is the first shot which is a close up shot of a mosquito about to bite him, this is followed by him slapping and killing the mosquito. this foreshadows him being a murderer. the Typography is significant because when the Title of the show is shown a blood splatter appears next to the text and the redness of the text darkens almost as though blood is spreading across it. The way in which food is incorporated is similar to American Psycho. However it creates a more uncomfortable viewing. The explicit foley sounds emphasising his every action along with the intense
soundtrack add to the implications that there is an underlying characteristic
of Dexter.

Friday 20 January 2017

Analysis of Title sequences:

The incredible Hulk 2008;

The title sequence for the incredible Hulk was so effective because of the creative devices that were used. The first shot is of a red button flashing danger. This immediately engages the audience.  There were shots of newspapers and documents claimed as classified. This made the audience intrigued as to what the documents were about. It also showed the evolution of the hulks DNA and blood cells but in a very abstract way showing the chemical reaction taking place. This was visually pleasing to watch but also informative of the adaptations of the character. As well as this, it showed the scientific aspect of the film and suggested The Hulk was the result of an experiment. There is a point of view shot from The Hulks perspective  of him gazing at a female scientist who is behind the glass. This indicates towards  a romantic subplot that will be explored within the film.  A close up shot of  the x rays of his brain and body creates narrative enigma. The colour green is included throughout the title sequence which is effective because it is key iconography as that colour is largely associated with the Hulk. In addition to this there is a fast paced soundtrack flowing through the Title sequence which helps to build tension for the audience. A voiceover is also included to give a description of what has taken place.

Love actually:

The title sequence is very unconventional because it doesn’t incorporate any of the characters into it. However, using archive footage and through a variety of shots it shows different couples reuniting in Heathrow airport.. The types of shots that are included are two shots and long shots. This explores the importance of relationships and human connection. There is a subtle nostalgic soundtrack along with a voiceover using the voice of one of the characters that is actually included in the film, he is describing the significance of each shot but moreover the significance of love. This gives an overview of the narrative and the themes that run through. 

Thursday 19 January 2017

What is a title Sequence:


What is a title sequence?

-        The start of a film that provides information such who the actors, directors and producers are.

-        It is the first opportunity to create a good impression for the viewer

-        A good title sequence will set the tone and theme of the film

-        The method by which cinematic films or television programmes the title and key production and cast members.

Continuity Sequence:








By Maddison Brownlow, Niamh McHugh, Kelly Loi and Maddison Hodge.








The continuity sequence starred Maddie Hodge and Kelly Loi. Maddie played the victim and Kelly played the perpetrator. The plot of the short sequence was based around these two girls colliding into one another in the corridor. The leading character, Maddie, took no notice of it at the time until she received an unknown message telling her to run. Resulting in her trying to gain access to any room that would provide her with safety.

Since it was our first time filming as a group, it was quite a struggle trying to work with the technology and to make do with our own resources when we didn't have access to studio equipment such as lighting.  The outcome of this was that the sequence was quite grainy due to the low-key lighting. However, we followed the 180 degree rule, used shot-reverse-shot and gained a better understanding of the equipment that we would be using in our Title sequence.

Wednesday 18 January 2017

specification


Preliminary exercise: Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.

Main task: the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes.
All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source. Both preliminary and main tasks may be done individually or as a group. Maximum four members to a group.