Group Progress - Shotgun Productions

In our media class project we have to make an opening sequence of a genre of our choice. For this sequence we had to make a production company and their name. My group and I decided that we wanted to do a horror film - possibly a psychological horror - so we started to think up horror related production names. However none of the names we came up with seemed right for our production company but we needed a name because we needed to create a group blog to update. I suggested the name shotgun so we could have the sound play will it showed up on the screen and we agreed. We originally we not going to keep this name but we ended up really liking it as we thought it was different as other students usually combine their initials so I thought it was a unique and different name.

 

OUR GROUP BLOG:

SHOTGUN PRODUCTIONS

 

Max Payne Opening Sequence - Enigma

The opening sequence for Max Payne is a good example of enigma and sound in the first few minutes of the opening. Straight away the audience is dropped into the centre of the action making them wonder brought the main character to this situation. The colours used are very bleak showing that these are bad times and this matches the situation that the character is in.

 

I have taken some screenshots of the opening to show the colour and questions raised when watching for the first time:

 

 

All of these questions leave the audience guessing for the rest of the film creating a sense of enigma. The audience will want answers to the questions so they will continue to watch to the film to get all the answers possible. It will leave them looking for clues while they watch to try and solve the questions themselves before the answer is revealed. As the sequence is in the future the audience will know that everything that is happening is leading up to the drowning scene, therefore the character can not die before then and what ever happens he will end up in the sea drowning.

Target Audience

A target audience are the people that the creators of a film had in mind when making the film. The film is aimed at a certain group of people that are most likely to enjoy it, they then add specific things to the film to attract this audience. Target audiences are usually hinted at in the age rating on posters, on the box cover of a DVD and if the age rating is a 18 some people will have to prove their age. Films that are a PG are usually guessed to be aimed a young audience of 8 - 14 if parents permission is needed to see the film, this means that there may be mild violence or swearing but nothing to extreme that would be unsuitable for young people. If the age rating is a 18 it is likely to include blood and gore, sex, violence and swearing and is only suitable for people that are 18 and over, making the target audience an older age range.

Having the right target audience is something that all film creators need to do. If a producer made a gory horror film full of explicit language with a target audience of 8 - 14 year olds it would be likely that most viewers would not enjoy the experience.

Having the right target audience will make the film makers think about what is suitable for them to watch and what isn't. For example most Disney and Pixar films are rated as a PG and the posters are full of colour to attract a younger audience, the films themselves have friendly characters that the audience like to watch and make them laugh but also a antagonist that will not scare the audience like in a horror film but will be the character will be hated by the audience.

Some examples are:

All of them have a character that the audience can make their favourite but also one that they have a strong dislike for. The colours in the posters will attract a younger audience and make them excited to watch the film in the cinemas.

Most 18 films are horror films or serious thriller and are very different from Disney films posters, to attract an older audience they make it simple and sometimes darker to show that the film is not children. This shows the target audience of 18 and above that this film has been made for their age range and is a lot darker than film targeted at children and teenagers.

Some examples are:

Compared to the Disney and Pixar posters these are a lot more adult looking and younger children would be less attracted to these posters as a whole whereas older teens and adults will be intrested to find out more, making them want to watch the film.

The psychological horror film opening that my media group is making has a target audience of 15 to 23 year olds. Although 15 is still quite young for a horror film there is not a lot of violence and blood just scares and a lot of 15 year olds enjoy horror films. We also thought to advertise it to people that enjoy a tense atmosphere and storylines rather than people that enjoy constant jump scares. 

Genre and Gender Representations - Horror

Genre is the most important part of a film as it lets the audience know what to expect when they hit play. All films have a genre such as horror, action, thriller and comedy and some even combine two together such as action thrillers and romantic comedies. All of these genres have something specific about them which makes the film fall under certain categories.

 

Horror is mostly associated with darkness, blood and murder so in a movie trailer if anything like or similar to those aspects the audience automatically knows that the trailer is advertising a horror film and would be surprised if it turned out to be anything else. For example a rom-com is unlike to involve a killer that walks around in a mask and a bloodied knife during the night as this would usually fall under the horror genre, if it did the audience would likely be very surprised when watching the film.

 

Most people can assign a film a genre with classic 'clichés' that show up in trailers or during the film. For example some horror clichés would be:

 

• Creepy Locations (hospitals, abandoned buildings, forests)
• Darkness (with only a flashlight/small amount of light to see)
• Killer / Dolls / Young Girls as Murderers
• Blood
• Demons / Supernatural

These are only a few but most of these things are the parts of horror films that people enjoy the most. The poster for the horror film Friday the 13th shows most of the points above:

 

 

Genre often includes stereotypes of the two different genders by having characters that are require to act a certain way. Sticking with the genre of horror the main protagonist is usually someone that has no idea of their current situation, whether they are male or female and sometimes a sidekick that will usually be killed. The main character is usually a venerable woman that is victim to the killer however narrowly escapes death throughout the film.  The antagonist is typically a full grown man in a mask with a weapon or a young girl or a doll that can do anything a human can, typically dressed in a dress and the things that people would usually associate as being 'cute' or 'innocent' suddenly become creepy. Instead of a weapon the young girls usually have some supernatural power or be able to kill them without a weapon. If the antagonist is grown male they usually have something unique about them that separates them form other horror killers, this is mainly their weapon choice. A knife or machete is usually chosen but some films have had new and scarier weapons such as chainsaws and pickaxes.

 

 

I personally think that these four pictures play to the horror and gender stereotypes: doll, man in a mask, younger girl victim and/or antagonist and a woman having the main role as the victim. Horror films are usually centred around either the protagonist or the antagonist, this means that the audience has to either route for the character or plot against them. However a oblivious female protagonist makes the audience immediately recognise this character as the one the film will be focusing on

Psychological Horror

Horror is a large genre as a whole having many subgenres, one being psychological horror. Instead of constant scares and visual horrors it relys on creating a tense atmosphere and making the audience believe that they are seeing things when in reality there is nothing there. These play on the audience's fears such as creepy sounds, flickering lights and shadows in distance, small things that will make the audience feel tense about what is happening in the scene.

These films focus on metal state of the audience by making them feel just a vulnerable as the character in the film and they are looking for every detail to avoid being scared. These kind of films play mind tricks on the audience playing on common fears, however unlike regular horror films these fears are subtly shown to the audience instead of making the audience jumps and scream.

Some differences between regular horror films and psychological horror films are:

• Horror films are more likely to show the audience the threat during the film (such as killer, antagonists) whereas they will be subtly show the threat to the audience will sounds and images rather than showing it to the audience upfront.
• Psychological creates a tense atmosphere through out the film to keep the audience on the edge of their seat whereas a horror film will build up to a dramatic scene.
• Psychological horrors usually contain  plot twists to throw the audience off guard and make them re-think the film.
• Psychological uses small scares such as strange lighting and shadows, sounds and sudden movements to scare, usually in the same place as the character whereas in ordinary horrors' the can see the horrors first hand and sometimes before the main character.

Preliminary Sequence

For my coursework we had to put together a short sequence called 'Feed the Fish'. We were given a short script which we could choose to follow or add our own scenes to change it up and add our own  twist to it. The preliminary sequence was a chance to experiment with some new camera shots and choose how to display the dialogue in a effective way. We all had to use continuity editing make the sequence flow nicely.

Our preliminary sequence is only 57 seconds long as we made it brief and followed the script, getting straight to the point. We wanted to experiment with different shots when filming the sequence such as low angles and close-ups to make is visually intresting to watch, however I think that one of the weak points about the sequence was the first 10 seconds. The camera moves around from the floor to the side making the footage jump from one cut to another which made the cuts uneffective because we were aiming for the whole sequence to have continuity editing.

Another cut that could of been adjusted is the footage of the door opening. It all happens very quickly but the footage is quickly cut to show a close up of her hand before the door is quickly opened. This would be more smooth if I had edited the footage to match the other shots.

Another small mistake is during the conversation footage the tripod can  be seen in the background. This was a mistake during filming and was not noticed until we began to edit the footage later on. I have learnt to always check that anything that should not be in the shot should be moved before filming.

The best part of the sequence is the conversation that takes place, the camera cuts from when person to another to show who's talking at the right time. It is a clear cut that runs smoothly into the flashback scene. All of the cuts were shot in two parts, one facing the first person and the other facing the second. They were then edited into seperate parts to look more like a natural conversation. When editing this part I had to make sure that if character B was leaning against the wall in one shot she would have to be doing the same in the reverse shot. This meant that I had to look at all the small details when editing to make sure that everything was the same when the shot switched to face the other person.

The flashback footage had a grey effect on it to show that it was a memory of the past, as grey often represents something being old (in the past). We decided to add an element of humour to our sequence by making the 'fish' a shocked fish trying to escape in a box. We made the fish out of paper and put in under the box to  create a new camera shot. We thought this gave the serious dialogue a humorous under tone.

The music was added last and we decided to go for a low sinister music to set the serious tone for the stern conversation. The music also adds to the humour as it contrasts with the flashback footage adding humour and seriousness together. The music may be a bit to tense for the sequence but it can also add to the comic side of the sequence.

Overall I think that the sequence was quite good in some aspects such as the conversation and flashback but there are plenty of parts that could be improved, and I now know what I can improve for my opening sequence that I will be making in the future.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher Stone Opening Sequence Anaylsis

Opening sequences are the first part of the film that the audience will see making it the most important and crucial moment in the film. It has to capture the audiences attention and make them stay to watch and enjoy the rest of the film.

A good opening sequences need to successfully set the tone and genre of the film, introduce characters and settings and some even let the audience know some backstory or information that will be important later on in the film.

A film that has all of these in the opening sequence is Harry Potter and the Philosopher Stone, it contains all of the points above within 4 minutes and leaves the audience wanting to see what happens next and how the story will play out after the events that occurred in those few minutes.

To show all of the points I screenshot all of the shots that contained everything a opening sequence should have and wrote a brief speech bubble on what they all were:

All of these pictures set the theme, introduce characters and leave enigma after it's finished.

After the final shot of a baby Harry's face the camera zooms towards the scar in the shape of a lightning bolt and flashes into the title screen:

 

This is covered in lightning and the 'P' is pointed showing that the tone of the film is also quite dark and not all about magic and wizards. I think that all of the small details such as the lightning, the magical lighter and the shadow show that the film is all about magic but also has dark moments and a intriguing and mysterious backstory that is not all colourful and lively.

Camera Movement Videos

Camera movement is used in every film and TV programme ever made even if it is fairly basic. These videos show camera movement in action:

Tracking:

This shot is from the movie 'Pulp Fiction'. It follows the actor John Travolta (as the character Vincent Vega) around a diner, this shot shows the audience the setting more clearly and sees what the characters sees, this usually sets the scene and the audience will have a clear idea of where they are.

Crane/Aerial:

This shot starts off as a medium long shot then a long shot is shown to the audience. The reason an aerial shot is used in this scene is to reveal some important information to the audience which the character cannot see. This gives the audience an extra piece of knowledge that the characters are not aware of as shown in the clip from Bedlam, the audience can see the giant black X under the car but the character cannot. These shots can give the audience more knowledge or a view of the setting from a higher point of view.

Tilt/Roll:

Although tilt and roll shots are not the same, the camera does move to one side with both shots. A tilt shot can be used to show shock or realisation whereas a roll shot can be used to show disorientation or dizziness. This clip from the program switch shows the roll/tilt shot in action, this shows the surprise in the woman's face as she receives the text. The camera tilts to really show how she feels.

Point-of-View:

Point of view shots are to put the audience into the characters shoes and make them sees what the character sees. The clip from horror movie Halloween put the audience into a young boy's shoes although when watching the audience is fooled into thinking its an older person and as the murder is seen first hand through their eyes we know that this boy is guilty. When the young boy takes of his mask and the camera is no longer a point of view shot the audience is shocked and surprised about who the character really is and what they have just done.

Horror Pictures

For a homework task I had to take horror pictures testing out different camera angles. For my picture I asked my dad to dress in a skull mask and cloak and take a picture in out garden at night. We got a separate mask of a head and got my dad to hold it up with a fake bloody hand holding a fake knife up to the head. I took several photos from different camera angles but my favourite angles were the most simple: a long shot and a medium close up. I put both pictures into a PowerPoint slide and annotated them.

 

The Long Shot:

 

This shot shows more of the background, such as the tree and the bird bath, and less of the man/killer's appearance and what he has done.

 

The Medium Close-Up:

 

 

This shot is closer to the man/killer and it shows what he has done, killed someone and is now holding their head. It also shows that he is holding a knife and what the head and his mask looks like at a closer distance.



Camera Angles and Movement

One of the most important factors in media studies is where you place your camera when taking pictures or videos. Camera angles and movement is what makes an effective picture or video. Each camera angle can represent an emotion or setting, for example a long shot picture of person standing in a large, empty field by themselves could represent loneliness but also freedom.

Lighting and costumes also effect the picture as well as the angle. If the person that the picture is centred on was dressed in bright colours such as yellow and orange on a sunny beach, the audience will assume that the theme of the picture is happiness or something around that theme.

Facial expressions are also important for closer shots as they help show the theme. However expressions are not important if they are in long shots as they would not be seen. These things are called mise-en-scene.

The picture above is a wide, long shot that can also symbolise loneliness but also the beauty

of the scene which represents peace and beauty.

Camera movement is something that is used in every film and TV program. Mise-en-scene is also very important in film making as it is everything the audience sees other than the actors. Camera movements such as a pan shots shows a lot of the background which bring mise-en-scene into film-making. Film shots can be taken anywhere, for example a crane or aerial shot is taken from a high distance or dolly/tracking shots which are taken from a moving car. Each shot has to match the scene and the background (mise--en-scene).

Camera Movement can also show genre. A quick movement will show that something has happened suddenly, this can happen in horror or action. If the movements are slower it is likely that a sad or dramatic scene is happening.

This link will take you to a website page explaining camera angles and movement in more detail and what they need to include -http://www.mediaknowall.com/camangles.html.