Deconstructions #3 - Juno

Juno

click here to watch the trailer

The opening credits start off with a close up shot of the main character 'Juno' drinking a large bottle of sunny D, as she removes the bottle from her mouth the backing music begins to play -  'All I want is you' by Barry Louis Polisar.  This is a very happy and 'bouncy' song which lets the audience know that this is going to be a happy, comedy film with certain aspects of love involved because of the lyrics.  As the music begins, we see the character walkin from a 180 degree angle, this helps show the setting of the film and also the clothing of the character which the audience can the establish what sort of characteristics 'Juno' has.  A group of high school runners then come running past from the other direction.  As she walks behind a tree an effect has been put on which makes everything appear as though it has been turned into a cartoon drawing, this is where we see the first credit which says who is presenting this.  Whilst the character is walking around we see extreme close ups of her feet and some of the credits appear beside letter by letter.

In the second section the camera is angled straight infront so it looks as though Juno is walking to the camera.  This is a long shot which emphasises that Juno is the main character as the audience have nothing else to look at other than her as she almost fills the screens height.  To the right side of the image we see the title appear 'JUNO' which is written in a cartoon style, this keeps to the overall effect of the credits.  The credit 'JUNO' also flashes different colours which draws the audiences eyes to focus on the title. 

Moving on to the third section we see a medium shot angled at the main character as she continues with her day with the acrtesses name credited next to it, 'Ellen Page'.  The shot then changes to a 180 degree rule and just shows the waist down of the character walking.  The background is very light but yet has a lot of detail which is related back to in the film, for instance in this shot we can see a rocking chair and a guitar next to the credits 'Michael Cera' this could be implying to the audience that this is where character played by that actor is living and shows that one of his hobbies is playing the guitar.  The camera then rises straight up so that the audience can see the other credit.

It is almost like a jump cut to get to the fourth section as the character is moving in the same way but the scenery has changed along with the angle.  This draws attention to the editing which could make the audiences focus be slightly disorientated, however I personally think that it is a clever transition in which to show different angles and focus' on the screen.  As Juno walks down the street the camera stays where it is, as Juno walks further down the path letters appear on the fence which create another credit.  We still see Juno drinking a large amount of sunny D, due to the fact that it appears all the time in the credits it is most likely going to be an important part of the film.

In the fifth clip there is a medium close of middle section of the Juno's body, credits for who did the casting appears on the left hand side, however the focus is still on the Sunny D bottle.  The camera then appears to swivel to the left which then all of a sudden is Juno's top half, this is should be quite disorientating however because the effect of the credits are like a cartoon drawing it is not.

This sixth clip is my favourite as it is a birds eye view as we see Juno looking directly up at the leaves falling down to where she is walking.  As the leaves fall the camera zooms onto Juno which gives the effect that it too is falling like the leaves.  As the camera is doing this the credits on the left hand side appear, however they do not bigger as the camera zooms like you would expect them to.  The angle is then changed in a swift movement to a 180 degree rule again, this allows the audience to see a wider view of the scenery and to take notice of the credits before Juno begins to walk by and distract them again.

The runners from the last clip that were going in the opposite direction to juno then 'run onto' the next clip past her as she walks towards her.  So far there is not much continuity going on with the shots but I think this is the great thing about these opening credits, they're not sticking to the normal 'Hollywood', this could be showing that the director does not want to have to adhere to the way things 'should' be done in order to succeed.  Some more credits appear on the right hand side of her as the camera shot is focused from behind.  Once the boys have started to run off of the screen the angle then becomes tilted towards the floor, this makes the audience think that this is the characters point of view however when the camera rises we then go back to seeing a shot from behind of Juno as more credits appear above her head.  Unlike the earlier bits in the clips near the end of this section Juno's body is moving forward but the scenery is suggesting that she isn't going anywhere as that is not changing.  This could be for the audience to take in who the executive producers are, this could imply that they feel that they are more important then everyone else on the credits as they have pretty much had to stop the footage in order for their credits to appear.

Moving onto the eighth clip, the camera has stayed in one spot and is filming juno walk towards it and past it, complared to a lot of the footage already looked at, this is a very smooth transition from one position to the next, as the camear is turning more credits appear.  The camera then films all of Juno's body walking in sections starting from her feet ending up on her face.

Finally the last clip is the ending of the last but with the credits of the directors name 'Jason Reitman' appearing to the right hand side of the characters face.  As Juno walks back into reality and the song decends there is digetic sound on screen as the cartoon effect on the credits fade off and go back to reality.  This is a very good way of showing that film is now going to begin as has the same effects of the beginning of the credit and also one of the key focus' (the Sunny D bottle) has now been chucked away which signifies the start of something new for the audience to focus on.

Deconstructions #2 - Reservoir Dogs

Reservoir Dogs

click here to watch trailer

In opening shot for the credits the camera is at an over the shoulder shot angle so that it is easier for the audience to focus on the person speaking and leaving the room.  As they get up and leave the backing track 'Little Green Bag' - George Baker Selection plays, this is a song that has elements of 'coolness' to it from the jazzy bass intro and the way that the bass line is played twice follwed by a drum groove, this is what gives a bouncy feel to the track which suits nicely for the rest of the opening credits.  There is 4 seconds of a black screen whilst the lyrics are spoken on the soundtrack of the credits before the first credit is displayed; 'A film by Quentin Tarantino', it's in a bright orange toned yellowcolour which succesfully stands out from the black background, resulting in the audience to be able to read this clearly.

Following on from the first section, the men appear on screen gradually, all walking in a group.  We view this from a 180 degree shot.  The background contrasts with their black and white suits so that they stand out, also the scenery is very simple, just a brick wall with a pale blue truck parked in front.  Although the scenery is simple, it's effective as it allows the audience to focus on the characters walking; ergo they are able to establish the groups behaviour and form.

The director changes the 180 degree angle to a portrait close up of the actor Harvey Keitel.  Yet again the credit is the same colour, this shows continuity.  When the camera is close up on the actors face it becomes more apparant that the footage has been slowed down slightly which gives an extra essence of 'coolness' to it, in fact most men who I have spoken to regarding this film think that they look cool wearing a suit because of this film.  The clothes the actors are wearing are almost like a statement to say that they are the 'top dogs'.  The fact that this character was credited first suggests to the audience that he is the alpha male in this group of men.

Simirlarly, the next shot is a close up but of another actor by the name of Michael Madsen.  This shot only lasts around 4 seconds but informs the audience that he is one of the leaders as he is in the front of the pack.  Also it may be an obvious thing to point out, but the character is smoking, now this could be shown in such a blatent manner as something may relate to it later on in the film.

In the fifth shot, the credits are focussing on Chris Penn.  We could see him in the background of the fourth shot and in all honesty, I don't think the transition from him being in the background to being the main focus was all that smooth.  I think that if I was going to do a change of focus on the characters I'd have to take a lot of care into making sure that the transition between the shots are as smooth as possible.

The sixth, seventh and eighth clips are much the same so is hard to talk about something different.  However the difference in the eighth shot is that the credits say 'and Tim Roth, this implies that he is the last 'important' character that needs mentioning.

Finally the last clip lasts longer than the rest and is also like the beginning but at a different angle.  It is a wider shot, angled from behind but the audience can see that they are all walking together in the same formation.  The credit 'are' appears on the screen then dissappears to be followed by 'RESERVOIR DOGS' scrolling from the bottom of the screen up to the top and pausing for roughly 5 seconds.  All of the credits so far seem to have been a build up for the main credit being the title of the film.  This makes the title sound all the more powerful making the audience want to watch the rest of the film.  In the rest of the clip the screen is black with more credits listed on the left hand side in the same colour then more appearing down the central, this goes on as the backing track plays and fades out, once fadeded out we then hear the beginning of the scene commencing.

Deconstructions #1 - Zombieland

Zombieland

click here to watch trailer 

In  the above image, you can see that this is a group shot from the opening  of the film 'Zombieland' which was directed by Ruben Fleischer and written by Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese.  It was released in 2009.  Zombieland is basically an American comedy about zombies starring Jesse Eisenburg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson and Abihail Brelin as the human survivors trying to fight off the zombie annihilation.

The first screen shot the director  has decided to angle the camera from below so that the audience can get a better view of the man jumping down from the balcony in slow motion, this helps the audience identify the sheer terror on the mans face as he leaps down for his life and at the same time see the zombie in the background more clearly.  Also in this section there is a close up of one of the zombies faces which appears to be throwing up blood, by the director having this close up it shows off the detail gone into creating the make up for the zombie.

Continuing to the second clip, the same slow motion effect is continued (and throughout the rest of the opening) this shows continuity in the filming.  We see a woman trying to run away from one of the zombies whilst spilling her milkshake everywhere, this helps the audience identify the fact that people were not fully aware of the zombie devestation that was occuring.  This clip of the woman running away fades out as the next image of the man about to be attacked by two zombies gradually appears on screen at the same time.  This is a nice effect to change to a different situations that these 'innocent people' are involved in.

The third section begins with a car on fire, this is possibly special effects as it does look as though it could be potentially very dangerous for the actors surrounding it.  Also, I thought it was more noticeable in this particular clip that the credits become jumbled and out of place when a character 'touches' the writing, however it does do this in all of the clips.

When the third section fades into the fourth the transition from the smoky background to the muggy background in the fourth is a lot smoother.  This smooth transition helps the audience keep focus on the events happening rather than confusing their eyes causing them to miss bits of the opening.  In this sections the camera is fairly close up to the police and zombies faces, resulting in the audience being able to see how real the blood and stage make up looks.  Following on in this section the brightness all of a sudden contrasts from the gloomy lighting to a bright 'happy ceremony' which in a certain sense ironic as it is no longer a bright and happy day.

There is not too much going on in the fifth section which is what is brilliant about it.  The director still kept with devestation in the background, but by having a character smash a panel of glass with a crow bar draws attention to the centre of the screen, which displays the title of the film in larger writing than the rest of the credits.

Obviously Zombieland is also a comedy, this is displayed in a subtle manner in the sixth section where we see a zombie 'stripper' running after business men.  It is not just the image of a zombie stripper running down the streets with just a pair of small knickers and nipple tassles on that is humourous, it is also the fact that these business men probably have very respected jobs and quite clearly a lot of money and instead of trying to do all they can to save their lives they are still holding their wads of cash, jackets and even their drinks.  This could be showing the directors view on how the majority of people with the means of production are self absorbed and their main priority in life is to have money and be the best.

Section 7 in the opening of the film carries on with the humour emphasised in the clip before, the effects are also the same so there isn't really too much to talk about in this clip so I will swiftly move on to section 8.

Now in section 8 we can see a zombie chasing a fireman while another fireman is oblivioius to all this and putting out a fire.  The fire being put out seems extremely bright in constrast to the dark and dull surroundings, it is possible that certain effects may have been used to accentuate the hell like flames to not only represent how the world is being destroyed but also to give the audience an insight to the realistic effects that could be used in the film.

Finally the last section (shot 9) reflects back to the same camera angle as the first shot as yet again it is filming from below.  The end of the clip fades out into black just like how the credits open from a black screen.  At the end of the shot when the man.zombie crashes through the car window as the glass shatters the end of the backing music is clear as a bell is sounded.  The fact that this backing music started at the beginning of the credits and ends at the end (obviously) it prepares the audience for the film itself.

Continuing on from the questionnaire.

A couple of the questions asked were open answers, some people (ahem reece) didn't take those sections too seriously so I can't take a true reflection from them in total, however some of the results have been useful.  From looking at the results I can see that this survey was done by men and women of the age ranging from 15-40, so this would be my audience I am targeting.  Virtually half of the audience said that they would not continue to watch a film if the opening credits wasn't good even if they knew there was a good story plot. 

So basically in a nutshell, the people questioned overall would like the film to be believable, intelligent story line, filled with suspense in the right times, not a lot of gore and no nudity.
They want the opening credits to last between 2-3 minutes and for those few minutes to be worth while.

:D

I'm going to be participating in the filming for Bret, Fay and Reece's project so I've spoken to our teacher and as long as I can get caught up with them by Monday then I may be able to be part of their group again, however my research stuff will still be slightly separate as we are currently at different stages.

Some results from the questionnaire

If you didn't like the opening to a film would you still watch the rest of it if it appeared to have a good plot

Age .

Do you like it when a thriller has certain aspect of comedy

Do you think that background music is essential to set the tone for a thriller

Gender

How long  would you expect the opening credits to be

What makes a good thriller

Questionnaire

Althought I've already decided on doing a crime/thriller genre, it would still be a good idea to do a questionnaire for the public so I can find a specific audience to aim it to and make sure that I get it right.
I've found a website called SurveyMonkey which Bret, Reece and Fay have used also.  Even though we're not working together anymore they're still helping me out :)
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7ZVDD5R

This is the survey, I've asked people to fill it in so hopefully once some of them have then I can have a better insight as to how to plan my project.

Deciding on a Genre

When I was trying to decide on a genre for my film opening I had to think about whether I would realistically be able to do it successfully or not, for instance if I was to create a film opening for a comedy, the material I actually used within the clip would have to be funny and I couldn't guarantee that it actually would be.  I did consider doing an action film but then came to the conclusion that it would not work as I'd need to be able to use special effects in order to make it look exciting and realistic.. I can barely use Word let alone some form of software which would allow me to do this.
I did also consider doing an opening for a romantic film but then realised that in the majority of romantic films an awful lot of detail for the story line goes into the opening which to me feels like it would be to complex to do, especially as I am working by myself.
So after looking at different options I have decided that I will be doing a crime/thriller genre as the openings can be quite basic however give the audience a good insight as to what the film will entail.

 

Main Task

Brief; The titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes.

Because my attendance at school is low I am not allowed to work in a group with Reece, Fay and Brett like before as it would be unfair for me to bring the groups grades down. This means that I will be working on my own :(

More Preliminary Work.

So as I said before I had to do a power point for the preliminary task, here it is...

Preliminary task yasmin wadsworth

View more presentations from yasminwadsworth.

Better late than never.

Due to the fact that I started this course late and have had time off sick I'm late posting with what I have been doing.  Unfortunately because I had missed so much I did not get to play around with camera's as much as everyone else, however I caught up on the information I had missed and managed to do it in my own time :)

I joined Brett, Reece and Fay in the preliminary task where we had to make a short film and include credits, create a power point on it with an evaluation. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmTRBC-YMeM

The link is above is for the short film that we made, the acting isn't great especially by myself and the story line is not completely clear, however it was made so that we could use different camera shots in the actual making of a film.