Prop List for Opening

Box of contraceptive pills
Mascara
Make up bag
Mirror
Bag
Clear bag
Bottle of Port
2x £20 note
Bottles and cans of alcohol (substitute)

Location Research: Location 5: House Party Venue

The fifth and final scene is the house party venue, the scene varies in location throughout the house using the living room, kitchen and hallways; this is where Candice sells her first set of contraceptive pills as ecstasy before getting caught:

 

 

 

Location Research: Location 4: My Bedroom

Our fourth location is Candice's (my) bedroom where Candice breaks down as she realises the lengths she has to go to, to support her family:

Location Research: Location 3: Doctors Surgery

Our third location was outside the doctor's surgery in Hethersett where Candice collects a set of contraceptive pills which she will go on to sell as 'ecstasy' at a party:

Location Research: Location 2: Living Room

Our second location was in my living room. During our filming of this scene we moved some of the furniture around to make the room appear smaller and made sure that we did not capture any technology whilst filming to make sure we did not contradict ourselves concerning the main character's back story and financial state:

Location Research: Location 1: Alleyway

Our first location within our opening takes place in an alleyway in the city of Norwich where the leader of a well-known gang intimidates Candice as he believes she is trying to take over his 'business' of selling drugs:

Final idea for our AS media Coursework

These are Beckiee and myself's ideas for our final AS media coursework put into a short video.

Character Biography

Candice
Full name: Candice Jackson
Age: 16
Marital Status: Single
Occupation: Student at local college
Residency: Small house in crowded estate in Croydon
Family Life: Dad left before she was born, no idea who he is, lives with drunken mum and three younger siblings (two sisters, one brother - all have different fathers). Mum is incapable of looking after them, spends all her time getting drunk and having sex with men she doesn't really know. Candice has to support her siblings for the sake of their health
Close friends: Had a childhood friend (Nath), grew up together, she was close to his family, spent all their time together but drifted apart when he joined the local gang. Doesn't have any at the moment as all of her time is spent looking after her siblings

Kacey:
Full name: Kacey Brookston
Age: 18
Marital Status: girlfriend, haven't been together long
Occupation: Gang leader, drug dealer
Residency: rents a flat on same crowded estate in Croydon
Family Life: hasn't spoken to parents since starting up his gang, no siblings, girlfriend is pregnant - has doubts about sticking around
Close friends: gang members, closest friend is Nath

Mum:
Full name: Shelly Jackson
Age: 30
Marital Status: Single, has a reputation of sleeping around
Occupation: Unemployed
Residency: Small house in crowded estate in Croydon
Family Life: 4 kids all with different dads - not in contact with any of them, spends all her time getting drunk and sleeping around, doesn't support her children
Close friends: doesn't have any - only the locals that she speaks to when she goes down the pub

Nath:
Full name: Nathan Lawson
Age: 17
Martial Status: Girlfriend - only due to pressure and expectations from Kacey
Occupation: Gang member
Residency: high class estate, close to the estate where Kacey and Candice live, large, expensive house
Family Life: Only child, lives with supportive parents - too caught up in their work and each other that they don't realise that Nath's involved with a gang and that his life is going down hill
Close friends: Had a childhood friend (Candice), grew up together, spent all their time together but drifted apart when he joined the local gang. Kacey and the other gang members

Script

Script

BC STUDIOS

RAXIP FILMS

Alleyway

Kacey has Candice pinned up against a wall. Candice is cowering away from his confrontation with some of Kacey’s gang members staring at her from behind him.

-- Directed and Produced by Courtney Radley and Rebecca Tuner --

K: (stares down at C intimidatingly) did you honestly think you could get away with it?

-- Starring Kahmal Sealey --

C: (starts to talk) I.. I.. I didn’t…

-- Chantelle Cooper --

K: (interrupting) I don’t wanna hear what you’ve got to say, I want you to stop whatever little game you’re playing

-- Courtney Radley --

C: (staring blankly up at him)

-- Josh Denny --

K: (shouts) say something!

C: Errr.. you don’t understand why..

K: (interrupting) I don’t care why you did it, I want my business back and right now you’re in the way

C: (on the verge of crying) I didn’t even realise..

K: (interrupting, yells) I’ve had enough of your bullshit (attempts to hit her round the face)

-- FREEZE --

C: (voice over) So I guess you probably want to know how I got myself into this situation, well let me show you..

In her house

Drunken mum passed out on sofa, all three kids sitting on the floor whining, arguing with each other.

C: (walking down the stairs) can’t believe this is happening again, for fucksake mum

M: (groans, wine slips out of glass) let me sleep

C: it’s eight o’clock in the morning and you’re already out of it…

C1: I’m bored

C2: I’m hungry

C3: Candice can you get us some food?

C: Yep with all that money I have in my back pocket..

All Children: Pleaseeeeeeeee

C: I’ll sort it

Candice storms out, slamming door behind her

Doctors

Candice walking into doctor’s surgery

C: (voice over) this stupid little idea is where it all started. Now looking back trying pull contraceptive pills off as ecstasy is one of the shittest ideas I’ve ever had… it worked though

Reappears with box of contraceptive pills in her hand

Bedroom

Candice takes pills out of contraceptive box and puts them in bags

Candice sitting in front of her mirror applying her make up – stares at her reflection in mirror – breaks downs and cries.

C: (through tears) Candice pull yourself together. You can do this.

Candice hesitates when putting little bags in her purse then walks out of her bedroom

House Party

Establishing shot of party from outside – Candice walking into party

Random shots taken of party (getting off, drinking, snorting sherbet/salt, drug deals)

Hall way:

DG: (whispers, pushy) I want 3

C: £20

DG: Deal

(Close up of money and pills exchanging in hands)

DG walks off

N: (creeps up on Candice from behind) what do you think you’re doing?

Candice: (gasps)

 

-- ECSTASY --

Key:
C = Candice
K = Kacey
M = Mum
C1,C2,C3 = sibling, child 1,2,3
DG = Guy that Candice sells drugs to at the party
N = Nathan

Who's Playing the Roles?

Candice Jackson played by Chantelle Cooper - Age 16

We chose to use Chantelle because not only does she fit our age for the character, but she comes across as quite a strong willing person and will do anything to help her family.

Kacey Brookston played by Kahmal Spencer - Age 18

We chose to use Kahmal to play the role of Kacey because he has a London accent (stereotypical thug) and he seems to have quite a dark side to him.

 

Nath Lawson played byJosh Denny - Age 17

Josh won the role as Nath because he has quite a friendly looking face, yet can still seem intimidating. Nath's character gets into the wrong crowd, but during the film, falls back in love with Candice and helps her out of her situation - Josh gave us the impression that he's a kind, caring, genuine person, which is what we wanted for this character.

 

Shelly ( Candice's Mum) played by Courtney Radley - Age 30

When assigning roles to people we struggled to get adults involved. Due to this we decided to assign me the role of the mum because I look older than what I am.

 

Lou Jackson played by Emily Ellwood - Age 14 

Chloe Jackson - Georgia Banks - Age 11

Jamie Jackson played by Marcus Mauby - Age 14

We chose to have these 3 children as Candice's siblings because 2 of them were my relations - easy to get them-, they fitted the age criteria and as they all knew each other, they already had a family feeling bond which is reflected in the opening.

 

Tom Hooper played by Harry Silvester - Age 17

 

We chose Harry to be our Tom because he fits the age criteria, he's rather cocky, and gives the impression that he only really cares about himself and having a good time, not the consequences of his actions, and we wanted this portrayed in the character.

 

 

Extras as the party, ages 16-18

The extras at the party are some mine and Beckiee's friendship group as they all fit within the age criteria, they were easy to get in contact with and they are all friendly and familiar with each other, this enabling the scene to run smoothly and there wouldn't be any awkward scenes where they didn't know what the other people we like.

Research into Young Carers

When we were planning our final idea, we came up with the idea of having a young carer trying to look after 3 siblings and her alcoholic mother. We decided that as this was a vital part of our media piece, that we should do some research into young carers, so we can portray this in the correct way.

Recent headlines from the BBC show that: "Nearly a quarter of a million children in England and Wales are caring for a relative."
Figures from the ONS suggest 244,000 people under nineteen are carers - about 23,000 are under nine.
Girls are slightly more likely to be carers than boys. Among 15-to-19-year-olds, about 5% of girls are carers and about 4% of boys.

From these statistics, we can not only see that young carers are quite common, but also that female carers are more common than male carers. This has agreed with our idea, and given it more realism.
Having this as a part of our storyline, it not only shows the problems and troubles that some teens face, but it enables us to give off a much more mature feel as its quite a complex situation.

It is seen in some TV programmes, for example The Bill, where teenagers end up selling and/or running drugs or turning to prostitution as a way of being able to financially support their families when their parents cannot. This further supports our idea of combining the use of drugs into finding a way for our main character to get money.

Target Audience/Venue

Our target audience is 15-24 year olds, both male and female. We feel this is a suitable age range as it may include some content that this age range could be going through with the money worries etc. We decided on having it as both male and female, as the female side would be the romantic interest between the main character and one of the gang members, and the more masculine side would be the action that follows the main character on her journey to put everything right.
    We decided that our film would just come straight out on DVD because we don't feel like its a main stream film.

Stop Motion

Stop motion animation is a cinematic process, or technique used to makes static objects appear as if they were moving. This technique is commonly used in claymation and puppet-based animation. The objects are brought to life by breaking up the figure's motion into increments and filming one frame of film per increment.

Fantastic Mr Fox uses stop motion the entire way through the film. This type of film not only appeals to children because of its content, but it appeals to adults also because of how well made and intricate it is. Adults will be interested in this film because of the amount of effort has been put into the making of it, and most likely watch it in admiration.

James and the Giant Peach was also a stop motion film. with the large uses of colour, and the content, this is another stop motion picture with the audience of children.



I think that the majority of stop motion films are mainly targeted at the younger population, therefore, this is something which we haven't really wanted to involve in our opening as we have a very complex and mature storyline which we would like to keep that way, and we dont feel like it would fit.

Narrative in Films

In The Hangover, the film opens with the one of the grooms friends ringing the bride telling her that something has happened whilst they're in vegas. As the film progresses, and they go on a search for Doug, the groom, we find out how they lost him in the first place, and in the ending, they find him, and he gets married. This film does not follow the traditional structure of a film (the Todorov model), however, it still makes sense.

The film which Beckiee and I have decided to create, kid of follows the start of this model. Our opening is going to start off with her current situation (being threatened by the gang leader). Then we're going to have a few flashbacks of how she got into the mess to start with.
The rest of the film is going to show the lead up to the cornering of the entire gang, and then how she manages to get out of both of her situations, owing somone money, and also having money struggles at home.

Opening of King Kong

Colour
When showing New York City, the colours are quite dark and dreary, this could possbly show the mood that is currently in the City.
The theatre is very bright, colourful and happy - showing a fake world, reflecting the island (with everything being fictitious).

Costume/Props
1930s clothing - setting the time era
Anne is always in bright clothing - viring colours, quite petite. Her clothes always look pristine and not worn. Other clothing in the opening people tend to look quite tatty, showing the impact of the great depression.

Setting
Set in New York City. Well known for its years of hard labour and poverty - largely hit by the great depression. Has many iconic buildings, like the empire state, which is used in one of the final shots of the sequence.

Narrative Codes
The beginning here shows all aspects of the film: animals in cages - they locked King Kong up towards the end, poverty - showing how hard people were hit, and how people like Anne got to the situation they did within the films narrative, theatre - the entire film, is actually based on Carl getting his film made, so with the theatricallity within the first few opening sequences, it gives us an indication that this is going to be one of the focusses of the film.
Anne is shown as if to be a damzel in distress almost imediately due to her losing her job at the theatre, and she is slightly moaning at the fact that the other theatre members are not as enthusiastic as she is about the theatre business picking up.

Editing Styles in Films

In films, editing can be used to portray emotions, or speed/pace/action (what's happening in that current scene of the film) and can help to tell the story more effectively.
There are 2 main types of film editing, slow paced editing, and fast paced editing.

Slow Paced Editing

• More than 4-5 seconds of a shot
• Can capture the romance in a scene
• Can portray sad emotions
• In horrors, can show the build up to a "jumpy" shot
• Can increase the tension within a scene

Faced Paced Editing

• Around 4-5 seconds of a shot
• Portrays the action within the scene
• Can adapt the tension within a scene (mainly reduce)
• Can be used in comedy's when there is a fight occuring, (showing the two sides)
• Can be used to make a scene feel "jumpy"

Evidence of the use of both shots is in the film Psycho.

At the very beginning of this clip, we are introduced to the girl in a serene manor, with her just having a shower. Having a shower is a very calm, tranquil scene. This is where short paced editing has been used. They could have used short snippits of her in the shower, but with the upcoming event, the use of slow paced editing makes it unexpected, and causes the resultant scene to be "jumpy" and scare the audience. The final short paced clip we are left with before the girl gets stabbed is where we get our full view of the killer. He/she is holding up a knife, therefore we know what is in line for the girl, this short paced edit is useful here becuase it enables us to prepare for what is coming. 

As soon as the fast paced editing cuts in, we're given every piece of information we need to enable us to understand what is going on. We see a short snippit of a girl screaming (symbolic code for a horror movie), we have continuous shots of the psycho killer (yet more symbolic codes of a horror film) stabbing the girl, and finally we see blood draining down the plug of the bath tub, (another symbolic code of a horror film).

As soon as the killer leaves, we return back to our slow paced editing, which shows our main character (of the scene) dying in her bath tub.

Having the scene planned out as "slow paced - fast paced - slow paced", it almost follows todorovs idea of equilibrium - disequilibrium - equilibrium, as at the end, the girl is no longer in any pain.

Film Treatment

Ideas for a film

Genre: Rom-Com

Narrative: Girl (Selena) gets treated like crap by boyfriend (Stering), unhappy in relationship so breaks it off, Sterling's best friend (Zac) comforts her, end up falling for one another, Sterling gets new girlfriend labelled as 'post-it' (Demi), Sterling catches on to the closeness between Selena and Zac - gets jealous and argues with Selena, fights with Zac and created an argument between Selena and Zac which ends in them breaking up, Zac and Selena both uphappy so they make-up and get back together, all reunited at the end-of-school year party

Codes:

Technical: high school - natural lighting, mainly day-time, restaurant/party scenes - low-key lighting, intimate mood

Symbolic: flowers, jewellery, chocolates, crying girl

Narrative: 'Post-it' - a girl that sticks to everyone despite not being wanted by the majority, break-ups and make-ups

Cast: Selena - played by 2010 Miley Cyrus, Demi played by Ashley Green, Sterling played by Matt Lanter, Zac played by Ashton Kutcher

Framing/Shot Length, and Camera Angles

In film, there are many different camera angles that are used to portray maybe emotions, status, or just to simply connect one view to another. When deciding on your shot, there are diffent aspects you need to consider: Framing/Shot Length and Camera Angles.

Framing/Shot Length

Extreme Long Shot

This shot can be taken as much as half a mile away, and is generally used as a scene-setting, establishing shot. It normally shows the outside, like the exterior of a building, or landscape, and is often used to show thrilling action, like in war films. As this can be from so far away, there is very little detail visible in the shot, but this is because it is maing just to give a general impression.  

Long Shot

Generally shows the image as "life" size. For example, correspnding the distance between the audience and the screen in the cinema. This includes the full shot, so seeing someones full body length, with the head near the top of the frame, and the feet near the bottom. While the focus is on the characters, opposed to the previous shot type, background detail still emerges. Like in the photo, we can tell that the coffins are in a Western-style setting. 

 Medium Shot

This shot contains a person/figure, from the knees/waist up and is normally used for scenes where there is dialogue, or to show some detail of action. A variation of this shot is the OVER-THE-SHOULDER shot. This is where the camera is positioned behind one figure revealing the other figure over the shoulder of the first so you able able to see the figures shoulder and part of his back.

Close-Up

This shows very little background and concentrates on a face, or a specific aspect of the mise-en-scene. Everything else is blurred out. This shot can be used to show the importance of something, for instance, if a particular prop is going to be significant to the storyline, they may do a close up shot of it so that the audience can piece together aspects of the film. 

Extreme Close-Up

This is basically just an extreme version of the Close-Up, generally magnifying beyond what the human eye would experience in real life. An extreme close up of a face would only show the mouth or eyes with no background detail whatsoever.

This is a very artifical shot, and can be used for dramatic effect.

Camera Angles

The Bird's-Eye View

Shows the scene from directly overhead, a very unnatural/strange angle. Some objects may be unrecognisable from this angle at first (umbrellas, dancers legs). This shot does put the audience in a "God-Like" position, looking down on the action. People from this shot can be made to look insignifcant, and ant-like.

High Angle Shot

This shot is not as extreme as the Bird's-Eye View shot, but is still quite high angled. It gives a general overview, and makes the object photographed seem smaller, less significant or even scary.

 

Eye Level Shot
This shot is classed as fairly neutral, the camera is positioned as the a human is actually observing/taking part in the scene. so that actors heads are in level with the focus. The camera is placed approximated five to six feet from the ground.

Low Angle Shot
These angle increase height (useful for short actors like Tom Cruise or James McAvoy) and give a sense of speeded motion. The background of a shot will tend to just be sky or ceiling, the lack of detail about the setting adding to the disorientation of the viewer.

Oblique/Canted Angle Shot
Sometimes the camera is tilted to suggest imbalance, transition and instability (very popular in horror movies). This technique is used to suggest POINT-OF-VIEW shots.
http://www.mediaknowall.com/camangles.html

Preliminary Task

In our preliminary task we were told that we had to record a film opening that included the opening and closing of a door, and the exchanging of dialogue between two people.
Within my group we decided that we wanted to have a "bullying" scene.

Love Actually Re-Creation

We have recreated this Love Actually scene, to assist our knowledge and understanding of dialogue, camera angles, and lighting.
By doing this it enabled us to ensure that when creating our final 2 minute opening we used each aspect to the best of our ability.

Sound in Films

Sound within film refers to everything we can hear. From the speech, to the sound effect used. Sound can be used to change the mood of a scene, tell us about the character of the story (villain, hero etc.), provide us with information about the location, and advance the plot.
   There are two types of sound in film:
   Diagetic Sound
Every sound which is coming from sources inside of the world on the screen, including dialogue, slamming doors, footsteps etc.
   Non-Diagetic Sound
Audio elements that we add in/don't come from the fictional world we can see on the screen, including the music and sound effects like the screeches from the film Psycho's shower scene.

Narration is also non-diagetic sound in most cases, with someone talking over the top of differenct scenes. This is used in the opening of The Breakfast Club where we're given background knowledge that the teens have done something wrong so they're in detention. It also gives us the impression that something is going to change the way they view each other.
    Narration can be used to give us just enough information without completely giving it away, which is why it works so well in The Breakfast Club.

Breaking the 4th wall is also used in films. Like in Ferris Buellers Day Off, it's kind of used to "speak sense" into the audience, and in this case, to tell them not to let life pass by so quickly.

First Plan for Film Opening

Characters:
Main character - Candice
Gang Leader - Kacey
Extras at parties
Mother - Shelly
Siblings - Emily, Georgia, Ethan

Setting:
Livingroom / Kitchen - Jack's House
House Parties
Rough Estate - Anglia Square

Filming:
Starts off with main character (Candice) being confronted in an alley or deserted car park (establishing shot, zooming in to medium shot) by rival drug dealing gang (heard that Candice is trying to over take their top position of dealing drugs on the estate). Gang corner her and begin to shout abuse and gang leader (Kacey) threatens her (close ups and point of view shots). Kacey goes to hit Candice - camera freezes, and goes to narration voice over of candice explaining what the next few shots are going to be (showing how she got into a mess in the first place).

First Flashback
Long shot of Candice walking downstairs, pans across living room, medium shot of mum lying unconcious on sofa with a bottle of wine in her hand, one of the kids poking her face "Mummy wake up" (extreme close up), other kids "I'm hungry" "Candice I want food" etc, Candice "I know, I'll sort it, ok?" Medium shot of her leaving house - walking to doctors - long shot of walking inside doctors then walking out again with box of pills in her hand (extreme close up)

Second Flashback
Panning shot of her bedroom, zooming in of Candice taking pills out of box and putting them into plastic bags to sell as drugs
Begins to get ready for a party - putting on make-up, looks at her reflection in mirror - begins to cry (close up), pulls herself together and continues to get ready
Grabs bag and hesitates when putting pills in (close up), goes ahead with it and walks out of room

Third Flashback
Establishing shots of house party venues
People getting off, laughing, drinking, taking drugs (close ups)
Medium shot of her entering party then close up shots of her handing over drugs (contraceptive pill) in exchange of money

Clothing Analysis of the Cullens (Vampires) in Twilight

When the Cullens enter the cafeteria and Bella spots them for the first time, they are all in much brighter clothing than the other students. This could possibly signify that they are different from all of the others also, it could show the pureness of them. As they are "vegetarian vampires" - only suck animals blood - it could show that they are not bad. White is a very pure colour. Another thing this could symobolise is that they are going to be the main focus of the film, as if the "spotlight is on them". Edward, also one of the Cullens, is wearing much darker clothing from his "siblings", like the rest of the students. This could not only show that he has/is going to have, a much closer relationsip to humans than the others - through Bella - but also to make him stand out from the others in the family, as he is one of the three main characters.

Rough Ideas

These are mine and Beckiee's (beckieeturnermedia.blogspot.com) rough ideas for our final piece.

Textural Analysis of the Forrest Gump Opening

In the opening 2 minutes of Forrest Gump, it is quite simplistic. The only thing that really happens is a feather floating down from the sky along to some music, and a man, we later find out to be Forrest Gump, sitting on a bus stop bench.
    As this opening is very simple, it doesnt really give much away, we don't find out any of the past life of the main character, yet we find out who the main character is. We don't get the slightest insight into what the plot line is, and we also don't find out who or if there are any "sidekicks" to the main character. As far as the narrrative is concerned, we don't actually find out a whole lot. However, the white feather which is the main feature of this entire opening sequence gives us a possible small insight into what the main character is going to be like.
    As the white feather floats down, it chooses its own path, it's not predetermined. This can be the same thing said for Forrest Gump himself. He never tried to control his destiny, he just went wherever life took him. A clear representation shown by the feather in the wind.
    The only sound in this opening sequence is music, and then Forrest opening and closing his case. The music which is used in this opening is very calming and serene, giving the impression that it's going to be that kind of film. Also the music gives the impression that its going to be quite fairytale like, with a happy ending. Which, is what happens. Forrest lives happily every after with Little Forrest.

Use of Props

Upon making this video, we were assigned groups, given a prop, and then left to make anything that we could possibly come up with. Our idea was of a boy that had lost his father and his only connection and fondest memory of him was balloons.

 

Target Audience Research - Feedback

This is our audience feedback video. We have taken this video and adapted our films ideas so we can ensure that it appeals to our target audience.

Target Audience Research Video

This is our Audience Research video. We based our questions on the ideas we had on our idea for our film opening to see if it would appeal to our target audience.

Analysis of film opening: Kidulthood

In the opening 2 minutes of Kidulthood there is a strong sense of "The Streets". This gives off the impression that this isn't going to be some little girl fairy tale movie. Also, its seems quite fast paced with the camera panning extremely quickly from different characters. Each character that is shown speaking is one of the main characters. We are given a little bit of personality of each individual character by the things which they talk about.
   Also, there is a constant soundtrack. This tells us even more about the storyline as the music is quite urban and gangster, giving a good representation of the setting and characters.

I can relate this to my opening because we have instant confrontation between 2 of our main characters. Also, our opening is set in London. Another way I can relate my opening to Kidulthood is due to them both being set on the streets, they both give off the same "thug life" impression.

Narration

      Narration can be used in film openings to give the audience a sense of understanding, and background on what has happened/is happening. However, film openings may not always have narration/any talking within the few opening minutes at all.

      Two contrasting film openings where Forrest Gump and The Breakfast Club. These are contrasting because in Forrest Gump the entire opening sequence is a white feather which floats from the sky very gracefully, and lands at the feet of Tom Hanks, who plays Forrest Gump. This entire scene is narrated by nothing but the music playing, this being effective because it adds to the calmness and serenity of the feather falling. In this opening sequence, nothing is given away, we have no idea what the story is about because there is no clear give away from naration, or the acting of characters. Yet we're still left interested in the significance of the white feather.
      
      However, in The Breakfast Club, the opening sequence not only has music playing, but it has character narration also. This gives me the impression (as I have never seen it before) that it is going to be  much more complex storyline than Forrest Gump, because it's giving you some background information before the actual movie has properly begun.

"Saturday, March 24, 1984. Shermer High School, Shermer, Illinois, 60062. Dear Mr. Vernon, We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. What we did *was* wrong. But we think that you're crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. What do you care? You see us as you want to see us - in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athelete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal. Correct? That's the way we saw each other at 7:00 this morning. We were brainwashed."


      In this opening scene, we are shown the main characters of the film, each one representing a different stereotype from high school, and with the narration over the top, we are able to tell that this is a story of stereotypical teenage characters finding themselves.

      Another film which has narration in the opening few minutes is Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. This opening is much different to the one of the breakfast club. This is because it gives us kind of character profile of the main character, instantly introducing him, and making the audience know that the film is going to be about him. Having the narration completely about the character opposed to anything else, can be good because it instantly makes the audience feel like they can connect with the main character, which you need from every film in order to have complete interest.

"He was like a God walking amongst meer mortals. He had a voice that could make a wolverine, pur. And suits so fine they made Sinatra look like a hobo. In other words Ron Burgundy was the balls."

The narration continues on for another minute or so, but this is just a small example of how it is a character profile.

Initial Ideas of our Final Piece

I have decided to work in a pair with Rebecca Turner (beckieeturnermedia.blogspot.co.uk). We've spoken a little about our ideas. Some things we've come up with are: a teenage girl gets into some kind of trouble and needs a fast way of making money, cannot rely on parents, finds a risky way of making money, starts to work out, she then gets caught.

Film Openings: The Positives and The Negatives.

As far as film openings are concerned, it is a matter of opinion on how successful they are because what might be interesting to one person could be completely irrelevent and pointless to somebody else. The positives of film openings is that it can set the scene for the rest of the film, giving you the necessary information needed. For example, a time period would be rather important if it was a film set in the past, dependent on the time era all factors could affect the plot line, like the role of women (if they were inferior etc) or whether there was currently a war going on... Another reason for this is because it introduces the film. It gives the viewers an insight into what the film will be about, the audience can then imediately make a judgement on whether it will be a film which they are interested in. This can also be reflected as a negative because we're always told not to "judge a book by its cover". Somebody may really enjoy the film if they were to give it half a chance, and sometimes, the opening can give off the wrong impression.

Another reason film openings are seen on a negative note is because sometimes too much is given away, and it doesnt allow the element of surprise to be expressed. Also, film openings can be used to shown the present day with the rest of the film set in the past with the build up to the now. This can be seen negatively because in the main part of the film, something may happen to a character that we have become attached to which we would already know ends up ok due to having seen them in the present day. This could then make us less caring about the character, and not able to get into what is actually happening due to already knowing the ending.

How much is revealed about the storyline, characters etc in film openings?

In film openings, how much revealed can vary. The director/writer may want to give a lot away so you instantly connect with characters then causing you to engage much more in the film wanting to find out what happens to the character. However, they might also want to not give so much away just to make you morre curious as to what the true side to the character really is, or where the plotline is actually going to go.
        In Romantic films, you're more likely to find out a lot about the main character and their background because the director wants to establish an instant connection, almost a relationship, between the audience and the character that the film will be focussed on. In the opening of a Romantic film, we also generally meet the character's future partner or somebody that is going to have a major influence on his/her's life, but it's not made incredibly obvious to us, because it is then created as a surprise later in the film, even though most of the audience feel like they can work it out now due to the vast number of films that have done this.
         This is supported in the film, "The Perks Of Being A WallFlower" when we meet Charlie in the very first few seconds. Then, a few minutes after we have had Charlie "writing a letter", which is the directors way of giving us an insight into what Logan Lerman's character is like, we meet a significant member of Charlie's life - Patrick. He's introduced in a quite goofy way, someone that you wouldnt expect Logan's character to be friends with, thats what we have the element of surprise when they meet and instantly hit it off. By doing this, the director has made us rule out the fact that Patrick is a possible friend for Charlie. Yet for the people that look past the personalities and action of people, it gives them the chance to pick up on the fact that he must be an important character to Charlie as he gets a long scene all dedicated to him.
       This idea is also supported in "(500) Days Of Summer". Another film of the Romantic genre, displaying the idea of meeting the main character and someone that is going to have a large impact on the characters life throughout the film. This film begins with an engaged couple sitting on a bench with some narration which explains that, "This is a story, of boy meets girls". This immediately informs the audience that these characters are going to be the main focus of the film and that these opening few seconds are set in the future. Then as the opening progresses we find that the actual main character is Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character of Tom. This then instantly tells us that Zooey Deschanel's character of Summer is going to be the person that has a mjor impact on Tom's life. The narration gives us the complete background of both characters, and that Tom knows that Summer is the love of his life from the very first moment he meets her, "He knows immediately, she's who he's being searching for". This gives us all the information we need to know that it is going to be a story of a boy chasing after and girl and wanting her attention. The story is completely set out for us. We know the characters, the plot line of them falling in love... That is until the narration goes on to say, "This is not a love story", this completely throws a spanner in the works and makes us completely unsure of how this story is going to pan out. This is effectively done because the writer knows that the audience are then going to be gripped to their screens to see WHY its not a love story.

Obviously in other film genres the directors choose to open their film in different ways, like in Horror, the director may chose have have it as a quite dark, mystical, and curious opening, where as an Action film may be very upbeat and chasey.

GCSE Media assignment: Live Again

This is one of my GCSE media assignments which I had to create. We were told to create a two minute opening sequence for an action adventure film, and within my group, this is what we came up with. We got our idea from the James Bond films, clearly evident, and each invidual participant within the group decided that it would be a good idea if we were to do our own editing, therefore showing off our on skills. This is my interpretation.
After rewatching this assignment, it has enabled me to pick up on areas of improvement for the piece of coursework which I am about to create, such as: linking of the music, camera quality, length of shots and the speech towards the end of the opening sequence being too quiet.

I think by doing GCSE Media Studies it has enabled me to get a real background of the subject and has acted as a valuable learning curve, therefore allowing me to reach my best potential at A Level.

Run Lola Run - How are the three runs really ONE run?