Representation

Barthes Codes

Look at narrative link. Select a film opening of your choice and apply Barthes' 5 narrative codes.

Blade Runner

1.  Identify the key actions within the opening - what kinds of actions are included and how is the narrative moved forward?

To start with there is simply writing for the audience to read, then they key actions were of the city in the night time where buildings are alight. Some sort of space ship is seen flying out of it and more explosions are happening. An eye suddenly appears and then spotlights from out of the city. The camera then switches from a massive buildings to a man standing in a dark, misty room.

2.  Identify the enigma codes within the opening - what kinds of questions are posed and how is the audience meant to read these codes?

Questions such as; what is this about? What is this information im reading? What has it got to do with anything? Why are the buildings on fire? Could they possibly be being blown up? Why is there a spaceship? What is it doing? Where is it going? What has it done? Is there a war? What’s the eye doing? Whose eye is this? Are they in control of what’s happening? Why are they simply just watching? What are the two beaming lights? What building is this? Is it significant? Who’s inside? Who’s this man? Where is he? Is he trapped in the building?

3.  Identify key characters and think about what they represent in the opening

There is only one character shown and it is towards the end of the clip. He is simply standing in a dark room leaning on a chair with a moving fan. The room is misty and all of the objects are simply silhouettes. It represents nothing except form enigma and leaving the audience asking nothing but who is he and what is his purpose.

4. Interpret the cultural codes in the opening.  What kind of knowledge is being drawn on? Social/historical/political/art and culture etc.  Highlight the 3 most important references in the opening that help with audience understanding.

The cultural codes mainly being shown is the future. Firstly it says it is based in 2019 which firstly is ‘a big hint’ also the fact space ships are shown in it is another major hint for the film being set in the future.

Analysing AS Opening Sequence

Level 4: 48 – 60 marks

There is evidence of excellence in the creative use of most of the following technical skills:

• Material appropriate for the target audience conventions
• Using titles appropriately according to institutional conventions
• Using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set
• Shooting material appropriate to the task set, including controlled use of the camera, attention to framing, variety of shot distance and close attention to mise-en-scene
• Using editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer and making selective and appropriate use of shot transitions and other effects.

Level 3: 36 - 47 marks

Proficient

Level 2: 24 – 35 marks

Basic

Level 1: 0 – 23 marks

Minimal

The Edge

• Fitted into target audience – sustained throughout (male age 16 -25)
• Titles were really good and professional – clearly good software
• Music fitted genre and also what was going on
• Transitions (excellence) and shots were really thought through and clear
• Pace was to a T – builds up and matches the action on screen
• However… some of the titles went far too quickly – not enough time for the audience to read
• Editing, titles and music all appealing to target audience
• Not enough use of diagetic sound

Level 4 ( 54 marks)

Preliminary Task Feedback

Prelim Feedback on Prezi

Camera Work Linked with 'Love Actually'

Camera Work on Prezi

Prelim Evaluation

Untitled Prezi on Prezi

Preliminary Task Storyboard

Each shot on this Storyboard is linked to the table below describing the shot. The images start at the top left and move to the right, and so on.

Preliminary Task Planing

This table displays the planning before filming a practise recording and the main one. It will help me and the group to know what is going on and where and what needs to be said. It will help us to be organised and also to know everything we have done and need to put into each shot.  We will use it as a guideline whilst we’re filming.

Batman: Analysis

·         Mise en scene

·         Camerawork  FAM frame, angle, movement

·         Editing TOP transitions, order of narrative, pace

·         Soundtrack

(USE EXAMPLES FROM EXTRACT)

Notes on Batman clip

Night time

Fire

Explosion

Dramatic music

Speaker phone from police car

Cars crashing

Close ups of faces

Dim lights

Suspension – transition from face close up to fast moving car

Helicopter

Quick changes – seeing different teams – batman and police

Car flying

Flashing lights – police siren

High/long angle to fit in setting – create the scene

View from car – displaying danger and speed

Talk about the editing and camerawork of this short clip

The movement and the transitions of this short clip are extremely fast – this means a lot can happen in such a big scene. It also allows everything that happens to be seen. This builds up excitement and suspense for the audience. The different camera views allow the viewer to either see everything such as the start of the clip where there is a bird eye view so the audience are able to see the setting and vaguely guess what’s going on and also to allow the audience unaware of what’s happening – where the cameras view is from the car window. This also displays danger and speed from the car, also adding suspense. The pace is very fast adding to the build up of excitement created for the audience purpose, this is helped by lots of movement. Fast cars driving build up tension and anxiety for the characters from the audience and allow the order of the narrative to flow whilst still being quick and choppy for the thrill factor.

Textual Anlaysis

Looking At Genres

-          Acton/Adventure

-          Noise effects

-          More than 1 thing going in 1 one screen / fast cuts

-          Props

-          Dramatic / fast music

-          Suspense / Thrilling / Romance

-          Establishing shot (seeing what’s in the scene)

-          Tracking shots to follow action

-          Super hero / Villon

-          James Bond / King Kong

-          Violence

Camera: MAF

-          Movement (Tilt/Pan/Tracking/Handheld/Crane/Ariel)

-          Angle (High/Low angle/Eye-level)

-          Frame (ES/LS/MS/CU/ECU)

Task: Find action images, for each of the above – say what effect has, linking to the action, adventure genre.

1) 

 

  This shot is a long shot because even though you cannot see the animals in full, they’re clearly a lot bigger than the woman and are slightly back, out of the edge of the shot. The angle is a tall eye level because it is in level with the animal’s faces but not the woman’s however it is not completely above her.

2)

This shot is a long shot because the buildings are far away whereas the monkey and the aeroplanes are in focus and closer to the camera, this is because obviously they are moving and, here flying towards the camera. It is at a high angle to get the whole capture and clearly show what’s going on in the screen shot. The movement of the shot is tilt to get the full inspiration of the monkey jumping upwards and how high it actually is.

Love Actually Scree Shot Analysis

Studying Opening Scene Elements

The purpose of an opening title sequence to a film is to establish the visual style of the film and to introduce to the viewer the following:

-         Characters

-         Location

-         Narrative/Plot

-         Genre

-         Themes

Typically, an opening sequence will contain:

-         Details of the cast and crew

-         The film’s title

-         An introduction to character/type

-         Indication of the place

-         Indication of the historical period

-         Information regarding mood and tone

-         Introduction to signature theme tune

-         Information about the genre

-         Questions that the viewer finds intriguing

-         Patterns and types of editing that will be echoed in the remainder of the film

-         Mise en scene and cinematography that will be echoed or elaborated upon later in the film

(Cinematography is the creation of motion picture images. It can involve the use of film or digital imagery, usually with a movie camera. It is closely related to the art of still photography. Many additional technical difficulties and creative possibilities arise when the camera and elements of the scene may be in motion.)

This lesson we looked at other Media AS student’s work who had developed their ideas into short movie opening sequences. We watched three including Affliction, Deadly Shadow and Glitch. They was all very high-quality and professional. I was very impressed and they gave me inspiration and some proficient ideas for my ideas. Within the lesson we watched them 3 or four times and analysed them, saying what we thought went really well and things they could of improved on.  This will help me with planning and developing my opening sequence because I can get a good idea on what things really work well and the sort of things that don’t.

Affliction

What went well…

Ü  Brilliant sound effects

Ü  Good music choice

Ü  Straight forward shots

Ü  Created the right mood – enigma

Ü  No Dialogue

Even Better If…

Ü  Some pauses went on for too long

Ü  Too loud when boy trod on the glass

Ü  Mug didn’t fit in with the mood – didn’t look write

Ü  Didn’t understand the purpose of the phone call, confusing for audience

Ü  Actor didn’t respond well to being tortured also costume – didn’t look tortured or as if he was put through a lot to get to where he was

Ü  Also actor’s reaction wasn’t dramatic enough when he found out about his daughter being kidnapped

Deadly Shadow

What went well…

Ü  Slow motion shots

Ü  Really go quality make up

Ü  Good atmosphere created

Ü  Good timing with the shots

Ü  Good use of angles

Even Better If…

Ü  Wrong actor for the main character, too immature and young looking, looked unprofessional and killed the mood slightly.

Ü  Music didn’t match

Ü  Font of the writing of credits didn’t match genre

Ü  Setting was too casual

Ü  Lighting too bright for genre, should have been darker to make a sinister look

Ü  Title and font lead audience to believe ‘religious’ and completely isn’t

Ü  Actions were too sharp, the acting looked to rehearsed

Going For Gold' Storyboard

Sound

Some key terms when analysing sound are;
Symphonic: Music performed by an orchestra.
Melody: A distinctive tune.
Atonal: Music having no established key.
Rhythmic: Percussive sounds forming a beat.
Dissonant: Non harmonious combination of sounds or lacking conventional harmonies.

The term diagetic refers to the world of the film, the fictional space created by every successive shot. Sounds that emerge from sources within the frame are known as diagetic. Those that come from somewhere else are therefore usually non-diagetic, unless it clearly comes from a radio or a stereo in shot.
Non diagetic sounds also cannot be heard by the films characters. (Occasionally however, directors play with our expectations). Sometimes we are able to hear a characters thoughts and sometimes a character may address the audience directly to camera. This is rare in mainstream dramatic movies but a voice over narration from one of the characters is not uncommon.

Many famous celebrities or their character’s have their own trademark them tune. Characters with major role or follow a series of movies tend to have a recognisable and popular original tune of which when played, can immediately relate back to the film or mainly he character. E.g. James Bond movies have a recognisable tune that goes along side when the movie starts, summarily to the Superman them tune.

Ø  Most films are edited with only the dialogue in place and the raw sound in the background of shots.

Ø  The sound editing usually takes place after the visual edit and will include the stripping of unwanted sounds from each shot, with dialogue either ‘looped’ by actors or replaced with a ‘clean’ dialogue track recorded on set. A technique called ADR allows precise lip sync.

Ø  Things such as footsteps, doors opening etc are replaced by Foley arrests. These tracks of several recorded separately are known as Foley tracks. ‘Ambient’ sound or reverb will be added to stimulate and match the visual environment of the scene.

Ø  Other effects may be created entirely by combinations of synthesisers and sampled sounds. For star wars for example, the sound editor included samples of London underground trains to create the effect of spaceships travelling past the camera. It is also common in action sequences for certain effects to be sonically exaggerated (such as gunfire, punches in fights and screeching tyres in chases etc.)
The last element to be added is generally the music which could be anything from a symphonic tune to a pre recorded rock song. Editors will often edit to a ‘temp (temporary) track of some pre existing music. The final stage of sound editing involves creating a mix of all the elements.

Ø  Nowadays, several mixes will be produced for the films exhibition in different theatrical environments. These are made using proprietary equipment and involves sending different elements in the mix to different channels (speakers), including rear surrounds.

Ø  The most widely used are DTS (digital theatre systems) and Dolby digital. The desire to recreate the quality of movie soundtracks in the home has led to the growth of home cinema; using DVD’s to carry six-channel (or more)soundtrack information.

Analysis in terms of Sound
People used to have a piano playing beside a film to add to the effect and emotions being portrayed in the film.
Diagetic:  

·         voices of characters

·         sounds made by objects in the story

·         music represented as coming from instruments in the story space ( = source music)

Diagetic sound can be either on screen or off screen depending on whatever its source is within the frame or outside the frame. Another term for diagetic sound is actual sound.

Monster House

·         Symphonic orchestral music creates the atmosphere and makes the children’s feel seem a little bit scary and unpredictable.

·         When the girl is singing, this is diagetic sound. Other people would have been able to hear her if this was a real life situation.

·         Her bike and the leaves rustling-diagetic sound- she would have been able to hear it and someone close to her in a real life situation would have been able to as well.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

·         Music and images we see on the screen both match

·         Music goes in with the beat of the action taking place and movement on the screen.

·         Music matches the mysteriousness of the weird images and events.

·         It also matches the films theme.

Snatch (A Level Opening Sequence)

·          The music matches the geeky theme perfectly and matches the action on the screen.

·         When all the action stops or someone stops talking the music stops. This adds and creates more drama for the audience to watch.

·         It could be said that the beginning of the film was non diagetic because at this point, as the audience we don’t know that the boy with the headphones in can hear the music that we can hear.

·         At the end of the film we notice that the music was in fact diagetic as the character in the opening sequence could hear the whole time.

·         Diagetic sound was used when the characters were speaking to one another over the computers. They could all hear each other.

·         Sounds from, for example, when the boy was snatched from his room, are all diagetic as the audience and the characters can hear. We can interpret this from their reactions when he is taken.

Analysis of Genre

Film Institutions

Producer's Feedback

Going For Gold

Barthes Code

What he is basically saying is that a text is like a tangled ball of threads which needs unravelling so we can separate out the colours.

Once we start to unravel a text, we encounter an absolute plurality of potential meanings.

We can start by looking at a narrative in one way, from one viewpoint, bringing to bear one set of previous experience, and create one meaning for that text.

You can continue by unravelling the narrative from a different angle, by pulling a different thread if you like, and create an entirely different meaning.

Barthes also decided that the threads that you pull on to try and unravel meaning are called narrative codes and that they could be categorised in the following five ways:

• Action/proiarectic code & enigma code (ie Answers & questions)
• Symbols & Signs
• Points of Cultural Reference
• Simple description/reproduction
• Narrative Structures

Uses and Gratification

This approach focuses on why people use particular media rather than on content.

It is also well known as the understanding of mass production.

The theory concentrates on the audience, instead of the actual message itself by asking ‘what people do with media’ rather than ‘what media does to people’.

Personal Identification, being able to recognise the product in front of you, role models that reflect similar values to yours, aspiration to be someone else.

Information, being able to acquire information, knowledge and understanding.

Entertainment, what you are consuming should give you enjoyment and also some form of ‘escapism’ enabling us to forget our worries temporally.

Social Interaction, the ability for media products to produce a topic of conversation between other people, sparks debates.

Often known as PIES, as the abbreviation, this is used to break down and see the differences to how people use their feelings as an act upon different types of media.

A lot of the public criticize the theory as they believe that nothing has control over the media and what it produces, especially the public. And that it is too fair on the media and they do not want to be help responsibility for what the media produce.

However the theory is more relevant to sky and internet uses. This is because they enable users to have much more freedom and control over what they consume in relation to the pre-internet and analogue TV.

For example, if I was sad or down I would most probably watch a sad love story such as ‘the notebook’ or ‘something borrowed’ as it makes me feel happy and they’re, personally, really good films which capture you in and can block everything bad that’s going on in my life and allow me to relate to the bad things and problems of the characters lives. Watching a movie with a genre matching your mood can let you relate to it and help you realise you are not the only person with, in this case, bad things happening to you and that it always gets better.

If I was happy or in a good mood, Id more probably watch something like 21 jump street or either of the hangover movies. This is because they are both hilarious and would keep or even uplift my already good mood to better. If I watch them they make me feel good because they both make me laugh so much.

When I’m bored I’d most probably watch a rom-com, including ‘knocked up’ and ‘how to lose a guy in 10 days’ this is because it would entertain me whilst I was bored, however they aren’t to full on like comedies or romances but a mixture of both. As I enjoy this genre it is something that I would watch in my time, even though im bored it is something I take pleasure in.

Images and Analysis

This image represents our genre 'Social Realist British Drama' becasue it clearly shows a young girl who is not coping. This could be after a horrible inccedent such as a broken relationship, bullying, depression and many others. It is in a simple setting, a public toliet, hence the low budget scentery. However the lighting is bright in this image, and shouldn't be. As it is represents a bad period the lighting should be dim and sybolise the mood and genre. The expression on her face shows she is confused and most certainly upset. Her head is downwards, this shows she is emabrassed and possiblt thinking about the situation which has just happened. The body language being used shows she could possibly be angry and hiding herself from anybody else in the room or about to walk it. However it also shows she could possibly need something to lean on as no one is there for her. Concluding I think this image is good at representing the genre however there are some improvements that would make it better.

This image also is very good at representing the genre as it, again, is in a low budget setting, a public school. This links into the age because it is clearly teenagers in school. It shows two girls laughing and getting on and another girl standing on her own. The body language shows she is clearly sad, she is looking down and playing with her hands, this also shows she could be nervous or intimidated. The other two girls look comfortable and are happy, becasue of this it contrasts and creates the correct atmosphere which fits into the genre. Even though the lighting is bright it fits into the scene as you can guess, a school. Becasue of the low budget it wouldn't have lots of special effects. I like this image as it fits into the genre and is a natural, well photographed image with everythign in the scene.

Analysis of Opening Scenes

Similarities and Differences of three opening scenes – Se7en, Austin Powers and James Bond Gold Finger

Different features of an opening scene, even within 2 minutes of the start of the movie can distinguish what genre the film is. The music, images, font and dialogue all add up to create a specific atmosphere.  For example the movie ‘Se7en’ is filled with fast screen shots which give nothing about the film away apart from the small snippets of scenes, however not revealing any characters or a plot. The music is intense and builds up to create a spooky atmosphere. It makes the audience feel uncomfortable and on edge. There is also small noises of screaming and danger but no relation to the images which adds mystery and curiosity for the viewer. The structure of the music goes with the screen shots and ads strength to the genre as well as the mood and pace. They add impact for the audience which is key to grip them into the film and make them want to watch on.  Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me completely contradicts the horror genre because everything is the complete opposite however still has the same affect on the audience – grips them in and clearly represents what genre it is. And in this case, comedy. You can tell this from the bright multicoloured bubbly typed fonts which the credits are displayed on… Completely dissimilar to Se7en where the font is curly and edgy adding a creepy effect. The setting and actions are conventional because there are people all around and the setting, a hotel, is used as an advantage to create the genre of comedy. Props are used to cover up private areas of the main character, Mike Myers which makes it comical within the first few seconds. They also represent personality qualities and display he is a light hearted character therefore making the audience want to see more.          The final movie of the three is also completely different, it’s neither comedy or horror, but a genre of romance and action which is juxtaposed through the scenes, car chases and shooting (the action) that is projected on a gold naked lady and having the slow, sexy song ‘Gold Finger’ made pacifically for the film (the romance). The song also portrays the “sexy” agent (James Bond) through the lyrics and no dialogue is not needed. Because of the mixture of genres, the opening scene drags on slightly more than the other two and also because it is an extra one minute long and less is being shown in this opening scene compared to the others. The juxtaposition creates mystery and obscurity to the scene.

Film Analysis

Se7en

-         quick screen shots

-         build up to title of film, music becomes more intense

-         music starts slow

-         unpleasant noise (crying,  screaming, weapons) – builds up drama

-         strange, twisted images – mysterious, enigma

-         credits – class actors viewed first

-         make the audience feel uncomfortable

-         no dialogue

-         structure of music/dialogue fits into theme, scary song lyric

-         close ups, doesn’t give anything away, creates atmosphere

-         mood and pace of shots fits into genre

Austin Powers

-         fast, bubbly music

-         small snippets of dialogue,  comments

-         hotel setting, fast moving

-         good use of props

-         naked, humour, light hearted

-         actions represent personality

-         credits, bubbly multicoloured fonts creates positive and funky feeling of the film

James Bond (Gold Finger)

-         mysterious

-         slow paced

-         simple and clever, however clearly thought through

-         lyrics relate to film (song made for the film)

-         slightly dragged on

-         certain scenes projected onto gold body, builds up genre

-         setting up music to portray “sexy” secret agent (James Bond)

-         juxtaposition, action being viewed (drama) however slow sexy song as well as gold naked lady (romance)