I used Adobe for the first time when editing my first focus on camera angles, when using adobe i had to cut the clips in order to make the videos flow smoothly as they followed each other, and add background sounds of wind to make the scenes feel eerie. But when doing so I found that the sound side of the editing was difficult as at parts of each clip it would mute out and I had to redo the process in order not to ruin the clips, though I was able to improve the volume of the sound of the clips seeing as the microphone on our camera wasn't very good.
We haven't yet edited the graphic of our videos but in our next filming we plan to add in special effects in order to make the scenes look more exciting, We did find the look of the software quite difficult looking when we first opened it and that is why we only managed the basics on our first go and had to restrict ourselves to only cutting and overlapping sound, even though we found that somewhat annoying to adjust.
We didn't add in any credits either which we plan on doing the next time seeing as that seems simple enough to add in the title of the film and the ending credits, we also want tot add in some more extravagant transitions between scenes to give a more professional effect.
Here me and my group used corners as a topic of sorts for our first focus on camera angles, showing them in long, medium and low angle shots. We used the medium shot to show the camera as a person to make out audience feel involved in the scene and make the insinuated person seem mysterious, We follow this on when we next go outside showing a girl from my group emerge from the bushes to again say to the camera "what are you doing here", we showed this in a long shot to show the surroundings of an empty and mysterious field to make our audience wonder why the girl is in the field and to keep with the mysterious theme we also again made the camera seem to be in the spot of the character the girl talks to. Our final scene was shot at a low angle involving two characters this time, where we show our characters at a high position as their on the stair case towering over the camera, we also put one character in more of a powerful position where we are able to see her face when she speak and also is on a higher step the character in front of her making her also more focused on than the other girl.
Our strengths within this task were finding different locations in order to make the scene be interesting,as we though using a staircase and empty field would be an awkward place to film but would be good for lighting and colour with the field and get a more interesting angle with the staircase. Being able to position the camera in a stable and realistic position, We managed to make the camera sturdy in order to make the film type setting to make the realism of the scene be set, and editing the clips to sync and overlap with sound effects of the ocean, With our cutting of clips we found this relatively easy as it was needed as our actors got giggly whilst filming and needed to cut out the beginning and end of our clips and also to make the scenes follow each other smoothly.
Though we did have weakness's in trying to adjust the volume on video making the audio quite low, The microphone on our camera wasn't very good but we still attempted to make a higher volume on editing but this lead to the clip cutting in and out of sound so had to start the process again but we did get there in the end, We also found the ideas of camera angles and making them seem more elaborate difficult, We didn't track actors or move our camera which is probably an idea we should have used within our scenes but didn't want to risk the camera shaking and becoming unrealistic but would we will progress into finding a method of making a steady moving shot, But with these in mind our targets would be to have more adventurous and exciting camera angles in order to make the scene more interesting and to practice more with adobe in order to perfect our audio skills as it was an obstacle.
"13 Going On 30"(2004) is romantic comedy following a 13 year old , Jenna, who wishes to be 30 on her 13th birthday when her opportunity to become popular with a group of girls in her school, her wish is granted, where Jenna is fast forwarded to life at 30 where she has to cope with being an adult and having a job which seems to be more of a struggle than she though, and is shocked to realise that she has become a bad person, she then has to seek help from her childhood best friend Matt who she finds out she drifted from, and now has to put her life back in order.
The film opens with a bright blue background with pink and green sparkles, immediately illustrating to the audience that the film is seemingly "girly" due to the stereotypically feminine colour scheme, we also hear the song "Head Over Heels" which is a preppy rock like song which would stereotypically be related to girls and younger possibly teenaged people due to the taste in music. The speechless gradually fade to reveal a blue sky with clouds, to which are revealed to be the background of a school photo that is about to be taken where we see in a close up shot a young "nerdy" looking girl emerges and sits down in front of the background, The camera continues to pan out showing the girl to be wearing bright pink jeans and top, suggesting the teenager to be "girly", but her mannerisms seem to be quite shy looking as she seems to look at the ground avoiding eye contact with other people and clings to her books. Behind her we see on a sign that the year is 1987 so the film is being set at a past date.
As the photographer walks back to the camera he instructs Jenna to turn around a bit, but instead calls her gina, as Jenna tries to correct him he takes the picture, then revealing to the audience an unattractive picture of Jenna mid sentence with her hair sticking out. This makes the audience think that Jenna isn't very popular due to her having her name forgotten a number of times, and also makes the audience sympathise with Jenna due to her bad school photo and the fact the she has braces.
As we see Jenna in a medium wide shot walking through the corridor looking down at her unfortunate school photo, we see that this is possibly a high school movie, no one seems to paying much attention to her and makes her seem somewhat invisible to the rest of her school and makes it seem as though she doesn't have a lot if not any friend. We are then shown in a medium shot a blu leaving a classroom taking a picture of people around him coming across as somewhat annoying to the rest of the people in the corridor. He then sneaks up on Jenna and takes a picture with her, she asks for no more pictures smiling, to which Matt (boy with the camera) reveals that it is Jenna's 13th birthday.
We then see a wide shot of the corridor with people moving to the sides making room for a group of "popular" looking girls who appear to be envied by Jenna as she looks longingly at them as they approach her in slow motion, The girls appear to be "girly" as well but also a bit more chic than Jenna, the group of girls all have the same hair style grouping them together as the same personality's, they all seem to have the same moody expression on their faces making the audience not take a huge liking to them. They then make a snide remark to Matt making the audience view them as the typical rude girls, They then somehow get to trick Jenna into doing their group report for them so that they can attend her party, they also introduce the audience to an apparent love interest for Jenna "Chris", who lights up when the leader of the mean group says that he wants to come to her party, making the audience completely dislike her character as they can see she is using Jenna to get out of doing her work.
The camera then cuts to a high angled shot of Jenna and Matt walking home with each other making the audience see that this is Jenna's only friend. As they talk we hear that Jenna's dream is to be a 6 chick, But her friend seem completely against her doing what she can to be one as he believes they are using Jenna, making the audience value Matt as an intelligent, caring friend. We then see another high angled shot as Jenna and Mat are revealed to be neighbours going to their separate houses.
13 Going On 30 is a film that I wanted to be apart of when i was younger as i wanted to see what I would be doing when i was 30, and i think is aimed at more of a young teen audience due to Jenna's age, as this is what is being shown to be a 13 year olds dream to be older.
"10 Things I Hate About You" (1999) is set in an american high school setting where sisters Kat and Bianca are at polar opposites at school, Kat(the eldest) is a has been popular girl now an outcast with a bad attitude, while younger sister Bianca is the new miss queen b and is embarrassed by her sister. Now Kat getting in the way of Bianca being able to date by not dating herself, Love struck with Bianca, Cameron pays rebel Patrick to try and date Kat, though this isn't going to be as easy as Patrick thought.
We open to a black screen that get filled with bright blue and green as it appears to get scratched on in a cartoon style, illustrating a establishing shot of a city, then turning into realistic image of the drawing, setting a silly and light hearted mood due to the cartoon style introductory to the scene. The camera then pans around to further focus on the location of the film, The song "One Week" is heard playing at this time, which is an upbeat rock type song, setting the possible characters in the film to be interested in this type of music which would be younger people, also reflecting on the audience type as younger people as this is the type of music young people stereotypically like. The credits of the actors in the film also are in the same scratched, colourful, cartoon style handwriting making it seem rough and uncaring, also making it seem that it could involve young people but more within their teen years.
As the camera continues to pan around revealing a suburban street in a long shot, showing a convertible car pull up with teenage girls dancing to the song, in a silly, laughing way that conforms to their stereotype of being loud and preppy at their age. The girls are in a blue convertible car with bright vests on showing off skin suggesting that the girls are a preppy popular girl type as this is the stereotype that is being shown. We then hear the music blur as we hear other music block it out, with the girls in the cars smiles dropping the audience are led to believe that they don't like the character that has pulled up next to them.
In a medium shot the camera pans to the car next to them where heavier rock music is being played from a red car with it having a normal roof, making the character within the car seem completely opposite to the girls in the blue convertible, the colour red also shows the character might have a bad temper or is an angry person in general, The song "Bad Reputation", also illustrates to the audience that what is then revealed to be a sour faced, long-sleeved top wearing ,teenage girl who has her hair up, suggesting that she doesn't care about looking pretty or fitting in with society and shoots daggers at the car next to her, seem to be the typical outcast who doesn't care about being popular. When given this look the girls next to her look away immediately showing a sense of fear. In a high angled medium shot the larger red car steams ahead of the girls making her appear to be a vital role in this film to the audience.
The camera then jump cuts to a low angled straight close up shot of people wearing roller skates with hockey sticks hitting a ball around, suggesting to the audience that this is a possible club, Though the camera pans out and raises to a high angled shot showing a high school with loads of students bundled outside together, showing the audience that this a high school movie set around teenagers and most likely the stubborn looking girl seen in the red car at the beginning as she is seen as different to the majority of characters seen already.
We then jump cut to a medium shot where we are tracking the back of the girl that was in the red car, Where we see her storm over to a poster, campaigning a girls prom queen election, and she rips it down leaving a girl behind her irritated but seems too nervous to confront her completely. Ripping down the poster makes the audience feel as though the girl who is in focus at the moment dislikes school and its mainstream activities such as prom, confirming to the audience that she is in fact an outcast who is feared by others due to her incapability to fit in with the rest of the school in attitude and style, it also makes the audience think why the girl behaves like this, and if something has happened to have caused the girl to dislike school so much.
10 Things I Hate About You is one of these cringey films that I can't help but love,with it's cheesy quotes and feel good factor happy ending I can't help but watch it over and over, and thats the type of audience the film attracts, young teens who can relate to the struggle of fitting in but also has the somewhat unrealistic cute and romantic love story that comes with being a rebel.
"Bridget Jones's Diary"(2001) is a romantic comedy following a 30 something lonely woman, Bridget,living in London, caught in a love triangle between her boss, Daniel, and mysterious but somewhat rude barrister,Mark, causing a tough decision for Bridget, Though her clumsiness and loveable traits make the course of her choice lighthearted and humorous.
The film opens from a black fading to colour showing a medium shot of a blonde woman walking through what seems to be a heavy fall of snow, setting the time of year to be in winter and also presumably in a colder country, also what seems to be England as we see in the background a traditional London black cab. We hear a narrative immediately, which is often used in romance films, The narrator is a woman which suggests to the audience that this is the woman in focus, she lays the scene as new years day and sets some key facts to show that it is a romance film by saying that she is single and that she is attending her mother's annual turkey curry buffet, and that her mother always tries to set her up with a "bore", suggesting that the mother is controlling in the woman's love life. We then see an empty and quiet seeming street, with the woman emerging from a cab, approaching her mothers house, where we see a rather large house with fancy bushes at the front shaped into two swans forming a love heart, showing a sense of wealth and also again referencing the genre of film and possibly the mothers interest in peoples love lives.
The camera then jump cuts to the woman with a medium close up over the shoulder shot, showing her mother at the front door saying "there you are dumpling", assuming the audience to think that the mother is caring for her daughter, we also see that the mother is wearing a brightly coloured dress showing that she has a bright personality and is a likeable character, the dress also has long sleeves and is mid length showing that she is quite conservative meaning that she is old fashioned. We also see a high angled shot inside of the home from the top of the staircase showing the daughter cross the threshold, which again comes across as very wealthy looking due to the cleanliness and fancy looking furnishings. The mother then reveals to Bridget(The blonde haired woman) a barrister "Mark" is going to be at the party and hints to her that she is going to try to set her up with him, which doesn't come as a shock to her, suggesting to the audience her mother has done this on plenty of occasions, and also suggests to them that this means that Bridget has been single for a long time as well.
Bridget's mother then tells her she has to go change as she looks like she "just walked out of aushwitgz", showing again an old fashioned and somewhat harsh sense of humour you get with older people, we also get from this that even with Bridget being a grown woman her mother still controls Bridget. Bridget then emerges from around the corner in a close up where we see her wearing a bright red blouse with a a flower embroiled red jacket, like her mother's sense of style, showing that her mother believes she is the right image to attract a man and wants Bridget to follow in her footsteps. Though Bridget looks awkward and nervous due to her attire and says in her narrative that she was "wearing a carpet", With this we ear the song "Cant Take My Eyes Off Of You", almost mocking Bridget because of her outfit making the audience see the humorous side of it. As Bridget walks in with her "pervy" uncle, we see in the background a christmas tree, therefore confirming to the audience that it is christmas time.
We then see the typical cliche of the back of the possible love interest where Bridget's narrative states that "maybe mum got it right" building the audiences anticipation to see what he looks like and if it will be a love at first sight moment. As he turns around we see it occur in slow motion with a slow love type song to show that he is the "dreamy" character of the film. With Bridget's mother escorting her over to mark like a child you see in Bridget's face a look of awkwardness and embarrassment as you see her trying to avoid facing the man and looking in opposite directions, once her mother leaves to leave the two to chat Bridget starts to face mark and try to make joking conversation, although mark seems irritated and comes across to the audience as rude and impolite, as he seems to be looking in other directions not smiling at her and also standing rather far away from Bridget, coming across as snobby conforming to his stereotype of being a posh, rude character.
As the two talk in a medium shot we are shown that the two are at completely different roles, as Bridget is seen smoking and wobbling from her drink (alcohol), with Mark seemingly looking down on Bridget in disgust as she makes a fool of herself and seems to patronisingly answer all of her questions, making the audience almost dislike mark, as Bridget would be seen as a working class "normal" girl, which is the majority of the audience that would watch the film. Making an excuse to leave, mark walks off without saying goodbye, leaving Bridget unaware of his rudeness conforming to her stereotype of being a "dumb blonde".
The camera then cuts to a medium shot of mark talking to an older woman (presumably his mother) where she says "apparently she lives right around the corner from you", making the audience believe the due to the previous scene that the woman is talking about Bridget, Where we see Bridget in the background going for food at the buffet. Mark rudely talks about Bridget saying that he doesn't want
to go on date with someone who "smokes like a chimney, drinks like a fish and dresses like her mother", making the audience completely dislike mark at this moment, and sympathise with Bridget, who pretends she didn't hear mark while she puts on a brave face and is seen walking away in a close up falsely smiling.
The camera then fades and shows a tall building (presumably Bridget's home) In a long shot, where we see her in her red pyjamas (the colour of lust, but is seen in an ironic way as Bridget is being presented as a lonely, clumsy singleton) on a sofa with a bottle of wine smoking , showing perhaps that what mark has said truly has upset her, which is then confirmed when we see a presumably drunken Bridget lip syncing to "All By Myself", setting a comedic and dramatic mood, leaving the audience hoping Bridget will get a boyfriend through the course of the film.
Bridget jones's Diary is one of the few romantic comedy films that I actually enjoy as it isn't the typical rom com and actually has humorous comedic value featured in the film.
Romance films often use the same cringey, romanticised scenes, as this is the type of themes and settings that make the audience feel good and why they watch the films. The type of scenes you can expect to see in pretty much every romance film, consist of the girl or boy who usually dreams of being with the attractive and popular male or female, wanting to change themselves to get them to notice them but in doing so find someone that loves them for them and end up with that person. Or being a chosen outcast , build an emotional wall and constantly try and block out their love interest, but they allow themselves gradually to let them in and end up living the so called "happily ever after", which every romance film has. You can also expect to see a scene towards the end of the film where the two main characters realise they can't live without each other, and run to each other in the rain and share a passionate kiss. You can also expect to see a misunderstanding, that aggravates the audience, to cause a drift between the pair midway during the film, but will be reunited as the end, it goes without saying. Their is also usually a love rival, that usually would be that drift, this is what causes the audience to hate the rival as they are usually, sneaky and mean.
Conventions
Character and Location Conventions
The main character usually doesn't fit in whether is be a teen romance, or adult, The character is either outcast either due to lack of popularity, clumsiness or by choice and usually are a rebellious "tough" guy or girl, with a large emotional barrier, soon to be broken down by there future partner. The character usually has a tough parent who doesn't allow the child to go out with their love interest.You also usually have a "dorky" friend who gets in-between the two, unintentionally causes a drift between them. The films are usually set in busy city's in order to show that although there is a huge amount of people , these two people have found each other and are perfect for one another. Other times they set in small countryside towns, that have large, beautiful scenery's, to amuse the audience and fit with the love story.
Shot types/ Camera Effects
Typical shots used are high angled close up shots on the woman to show her looking lovingly into the mans eyes, also showing that the male is dominant as the woman I seen looking up to the man, and men looking lovingly into the woman's eyes in a low angled shot to show him looking down at her. You usually have a slow motion running scene where the man/woman run to one another and kiss passionately in the rain showing that they do care about each other and forget all about their argument. Romance films also tend to have the car scene where angry and upset the person drives ,sound tracked by a sad love song to express the mood of the scene and how the actor feels.
Theme and Narrative Conventions
Romance films have a number of themes that portrays love, and is usually at different ages. Teen romances usually involves the nerdy kid wanting the popular girl to end up with a "nerdy" girl like him and be happy together, This will usually be set in a high school, where cliques and hierarchy groups are desired and overcome towards the end. Then you have slightly older people who usually have a job they dislike a crush they know they'll never get and live in a large city away from their family, with some funny friends who attempt to help them in a stupid way to get a boyfriend/girlfriend. Narrators are usually the main character in a future date talking back about how hey met the love of their life and come in at regular intervals to show you what they where thinking at the time, and give their unspoken opinion of the vents that occur, this is usually used in a comedic way, giving a light feel to the movie. Sometimes we have both male and female comment and be narrator to show what each other are thinking when they converse with each other, again used in comedic way. You tend to have narrative in rom coms rather than romance drama as it gives a less realistic effect.
"Sin City"(2005) is a film focusing on four tales about crime, based on comic novels, using love, corrupt law enforcement and earning blood money, Sin City shows vivid action through a black and white comic book like effect, showing little colour. The opening shot shows a high angled shot with a bold black and white effect on a empty rooftop terrace , in what appears to be overlooking a busy city at night, we hear cars rush by also leading the audience to believe that the location is in an urban area. We then see a woman emerge from directly under the camera with a blood red dress on and rest against the balcony, not showing her face making her come across as mysterious, The woman is shown as significant here as she has attention drawn to her, as this is the only colour onscreen. We then hear light jazz music in the background suggesting that the film is being set in a past decade due to the popular love of jazz in the past.We then hear a man's narrative over the scene seemingly describing the woman in shot, making the audience wonder who the man is, and if he is possibly her partner. The camera then cuts showing the woman's face, showing also her lipstick in colour to be blood red, the colour also makes the audience think that the woman is lustful and or dangerous, as red is considered the colour of lust but also is the colour of blood, sending mixed signals about her.
We also see a shaded man approach behind her, making the audience think that this could be the man narrating and means he could be a leading role in the film. This is then confirmed when he says "I let her hear my footsteps", making the audience further wonder whether he has feelings of love or hate for this woman. Behind the man we see bright lights coming from what appears to be a posh,fancy building, which explains why the woman is wearing an elegant dress and the shaded man in a suit, also suggesting to the audience that a party may be occurring. In a medium shot we see that the man edges closer to the woman when she realises he is there she doesn't seem fazed by it, making the audience think that she knows the man. Now showing the man in the light to be seen by the audience in a close up smiling and appearing to be a young charismatic man. He has slicked back hair and seems very presentable, making the audience see him as an organised, respectable and charming man.
The woman now facing the gentleman, accepts a "smoke" from the him, seemingly flirting with him, making the audience fit her to be flirtatious due to her dress and lip colour also. The man seems to also be attracted to the woman as he states he came here for her, further suggesting he is interested in the woman love wise. The man goes onto compliment her face and figure, making it seem he is after something. He then compliments her eyes, which glow bright green contrasting to the bleak colours around her, The green eyes give a cat like effect , making her seem like a loner due to cats independent qualities. It is then revealed by the man that the woman is "sick of running" and "ready to face what she has to face", suggesting to the audience that the women is perhaps a criminal and committed a terrible crime and is on the run, and maybe the man is after her or is trying to help her. The woman confirms that she "doesn't want to face it alone", suggesting that she wants the man to be with her, still not showing whether they know each other or not, still showing a mysterious sense about the story, Other than the dark lighting showing that the film is going to be a dark and perhaps sinister theme throughout.
The woman then turns to the man , showing that it is raining, also setting a perhaps romantic mood as most romantic scenes are in a rain setting, but due to the dark colours and mysterious vibes, there is an unusual sense about this moment. The woman then kisses the man, with the camera turning to a side shot of the couple in white silhouettes in a long shot, with the background then changing to a cartoon type setting, showing it as a love story in this shot, making the audience root for their relationship.
The effect then goes back to the black and white, showing the two embracing each other in the rain, in a medium side close up, where the man goes on further describing the woman in sweet ways to which the audience would see him as a kind ,considerate and romantic man. The man then goes on to say what he tells the woman, then saying "I tell her I love her", giving the audience only a quick moment to admire this as suddenly after he says this we hear a gun shot, making the audience jump, seeing the woman's body go limp, we assume that she has been shot, and we see the man raise a gun, puzzling the audience as to why the man would shoot her after saying everything romantic about her, and why he didn't shoot her when she hadn't noticed him as soon as he saw her?
But promptly after we see the man at a high angled shot holding the woman on the floor, saying " I hold her close until she is gone", making the audience believe the man did know her and did care about her but for some unknown reason had to kill her, and truly did mean the things that he said. The rain falls onto the body, making it seem depressing as the once romantic rain is now setting an upsetting scene. The scene closes with the man saying "I'll cash her cheque in the morning", possibly seeming to the audience that the woman being killed was a bounty and the man is either an official of the law or an assassin, ordered to kill her for money, or the woman herself for some reason requested for him to kill her, and the cheque was actually hers, snd he killed her out of love.
"Casino Royale"(2006) the twenty second instalment of the James Bond series focuses on our protagonist, agent 007, sets out to bring down a suspected financial support to a terrorist organisation, by going against the fiend in a high stakes poker game.
The scene opens on a low angled wide shot of a tall multi-storey building with a black fancy car pulling up outside, the colour is in black and white giving off the effect of a past event, the low angle shot of the building gives an eerie and sceptical effect, also making the camera look up the the building puts it in a high position, also making the audience think that something important will or does occur here.It also appears to be night, this explains the emptiness of the streets, also causing the audience to ask why there is a car approaching at this time of night. It is then revealed with white text fading onto the screen that this scene is being set in Prague,Czech Republic.
A man steps out of the car, showing a low angled close up of the mans face, which appears to be anxious as he looks around him to possibly see if anyone is around, but also due to the camera looking up to him makes the audience see him as a powerful character. We start to hear light, murky sound in the background, setting a creepy and mysterious tone. We then see an elevator rise up, again from a low angle, giving the impression that this a powerful scene and or place. The man is shown at a high angle to be in the elevator alone, suggesting a deserted building or that the man is not supposed to be there, He is then shown staring impatiently at the screen that shows the floor of which elevator is on.
We then see the man walking along a clear corridor, the building appears to have a lot o windows and makes the audience draw their attention to around the man as to see if there is anything unusual standing or lurking around the mysterious gentleman. We then presumably see the mans shadow as he enters the room, it is a very dark setting with barely any light being scene, making the audience feel on edge as they are partly blind to the situation. From a low angles shot of the man entering the room, the camera then pans around to behind a chair still showing the back of the man as he approaches the opposite side of the room. The effect of the camera being so close to the head of the chair as it faces the man makes the audience wonder if there is anyone seated in it due to the eerie dark mood.
The man then is now shown in a high angled close up, now seemingly putting him at a lower position within the building than outside,showing that someone or something overpowers him. The now expressionless man is then seen focusing on the mirror where a distressed face appears on him as if he has seen something odd in the background. The man's face suddenly turns and we see another man sitting in the chair, with a light striking his face but almost complete blackness around him, putting him in the spotlight and in an important role. He then says "M really doesn't mind you making a little money on the side Dryden, but preferred if it wasn't selling secrets", identifying the man in the lift as Dryden , it seems to put him in a less powerful position by using his assumed last name, also introducing the name of a new character "M" to the audience, making them wonder whether they are the boss and if they are male or female. Also showing that this man must have done something wrong to them as he has been accused of "selling secrets" making the audience believe that "M" is part of something that is a secret, also making them wonder whether the man sitting in the chair is on Dryden's side or M's, making them think is it advice or a warning.
We see the two in a wide shot, showing the accused in a bright light with the other man in more darkness hard to be seen, suggesting an interrogation setting. Dryden opens a draw sneakily revealing a gun, suggesting to the audience that he is the antagonist of the situation. As Dryden continues to speak cockily and sarcastically, the audience becomes more and more opposed to the man. Dryden then asks the shady gentleman if he is "a fan of cricket?", and flashes the audience back to a brighter setting still in black and white but in the day, at a high angled shot showing a crowd of seated people watching a game of cricket, also stating that it is being set in Lahore,Pakistan. going along with action genre convention of being set in luxurious exotic countries.
We see a low angled straight shot of the bowler on the field running to throw the ball. which is hit, and then caught by a member of the crowd and hear a loud cheer, within that section of the crowd we focus on a man who was smiling but then looks concerned when he see's what appears to be the mysterious man in the office chair, the lighting of his face is still shaded with barely bing able to make out his facial expressions, in contrast to those around him who all all in the light. This suggests to the audience that his character is a dark and alone role with always staying away from society, hidden away. The man in crowd looks panicked and starts to run away, with the mysterious shaded man calm sliding out of view, suggesting to the audience he is after him.
An up beat violin played song sets an upbeat and fast paced mood showing the tenseness of the chase. The camera follows in an unsteady medium close up shot of the back of the panicked man, as he rushes around the inside of the building, darting down corridors, and we see him pull out a gun also suggesting he is a criminal and a villain. As he darts up a stairway, we see an over the shoulder high angled shot showing the blurred, obscured man, again calm walking through a doorway at the bottom, suggesting that the man sees no competition in chasing this man. The armed gunman continues to rush around ending up in a bathroom, where he aims his gun at a frightened man who runs out of the toilet, making the audience side against him. The suited now clearly visible man bursts into the room, brawling with the villain, until suddenly we flash back to the office back in Prague, where now Dryden has pulled his gun onto the gentlemen opposite him, pulls the trigger attempting to kill him, but is shown to have failed, due to the man removing the amo from the gun before hand, showing the audience that the gentleman is intelligent and makes the wonder who he is as we haven't heard any information about him.
The suited man then states that the man he was brawling with in Pakistan was Dryden's "contact" revealing for the two of the villains to be in cahoots, and flashes us back to the brawl where the fiend is now disarmed and being strangled and then attempted to be drown in a sick, then seeming dead he falls to the floor. Again flashing back to Prague Dryden seems unfazed that his contact dies, showing a lack of compassion in his character, The apparent protagonist killer then shoots Dryden mid sentence, sending him flying off his chair seeming dead, with the shooter seeming equally as unfazed about the murder as Dryden was about his contact.
We are then flashed back for a final time to Pakistan where the suited man walks away from the body being down to pick up a black object, when suddenly the apparent drowned man quickly picks up the guns lying next with him and aims it at the oppositional gentleman but when our protagonist reveals the black object to also be a gun he shoots the gun, showing a circular object apparently the bullet or perhaps the bullet wound, zooming out showing the gentleman gun held in the position of him after firing the gun the white circle white blood sliding down covering the screen, with The James bond theme tune, revealing this to be our main character, James Bond, and shows the audience that this is where after the credits the film is going to set off from. Setting a violent and dark theme.
"Pain & Gain" (2013) is a film based on a true story of 3 body builders who kidnap a wealthy corrupt man to try and steal his money in order to improve their depressed lives. Though when their victim survives after they succeed in taking his money, they come under huge threat from a shady detective who could bring their now snobby rich antics to an abrupt end. The film opens from a black screen fading into colour showing a wide shot of what appears to be the top of a roof, as there is an aerial and cleaning equipment seen , the area looks very untidy suggesting that not many people go up there ,in the shot we see a well built man hanging off of a wall, advertising a gym , with also the man doing sit ups , suggesting to the audience that due to the man's toned figure, him exercising and the advertisement, that the man possibly has something to do with this gym, This also suggests that due to the abandoned looking roof, and him being on his own that he is the type of character that dislikes being around other people. We can hear loud Traffic in the background, with the man yelling out motivational things to himself such as "I'm big!" , "I'm hot!", suggesting also to the audience that there is a need for the man to stay in shape. The lighting in this shows bright but dull blues suggests a light but also dark moods, suggesting to the audience that it could have some funny aspects but also the film can take some dark turns.
We then see a low angle shot of the man, now showing that we are following this character , making him the main character. We see a shadow casted over the man but with everything surrounding him bright, suggesting that he is a dark sided character, even though the audience is viewing him as our protagonist at this moment.
The camera then cuts to a close up shot of the mans face,sweating and red due to the exercise,and also showing an agitated expression, suggesting to the audience maybe he is venting, also making them wonder why this could be. The camera then twists in a circular shape onto the streets below showing a police car pulling up, showing what the situation looks like through the man's perspective, The man is then shown again in a close up with a shocked, startled expression exclaiming a curse word which sets the tone of being a film for adults setting a more serious note, which also makes the audience believe that the reason why the man is presumably being chased by the police is serious, fitting with the presentation of his dark and aggressive looking character. The camera then shows the man jump from the ladder and run towards the camera,grabbing his jacket,confirming that he is on the run from the police. we then see a medium shot of the police in black vans run out holding guns, also showing that the man must have committed a seriously terrible crime due to the need for guns, suggesting to the audience the man is a danger to society. The man is seen at a low angle running across the roof, this puts the man at a high position in the film and also emphasising the height the man is at. The camera is then shown moving at an unsteady and high speed, giving the perspective of the man running, also putting the audience in his situation, making us feel the thrill and anticipation of whether he's going to get caught or not. More police cars are shown driving round a corner at a low angle. putting the policeman in a high position, with guns hanging out of the trucks, further showing that the man is in trouble and has committed a terrible crime. The man,still on top of the roof, looks down onto the police cars, showing a shocked and scared expression, suggesting that he is being surrounded and that he is worried he's going to get caught.
We then see a medium close up of swat team officers, move in with guns running into the building, presumably the one the man is in. Suddenly we see more members of the swat team jump out of a truck in a medium shot in slow motion, with a slow piano played song, making the films pace to slow down also making the audience relax a bit more instead of hanging on whether the man will be caught. In white text it is revealed that it is June 27th 1995, making this film set place in a past date, revealing it to be told like a story making the audience wonder if there will be a narrative. We then see a long shot of the man running from the policeman jump from the building into a garbage skip in an attempt to escape, then rolling out and making a fast run,whilst is again in white text it states that the men chasing him are the Miami Dade Police, setting the location aswell to be in Miami, USA. The man is then seen in a slow motion close up yelling as he runs,looking back to see if the police are catching up with him, making him seem hopeless and an underdog, making the audience sympathise with him. The main title of the film flashes up in white graffiti like font on a grim ,dark,green wall suggesting the film to be dark and in parts wincingly gross.
As the man continues to run in a close up in slow motion, we hear "My name was Daniel Lugo, and I believe in fitness", The term "was" used in this sentence makes it appear to the audience as if the character has either had to change his name or had died, death seems more explainable though due to the film being set at a past time, This also makes us wonder if so how he died and focus on this character as we only have concentrated on his face and emotions through the beginning of the film. Using only this sentence as an opener, we see the key information about him, portraying the character as someone who doesn't like to talk about himself, fitting to the action stereotype of the main man being a tough guy who doesn't like to share his emotions and is really into keeping in shape and being muscly due to his belief in fitness.
We then see "Daniel" get hit in slow motion by a police car,with him being knocked into the air and slamming down on the windshield smashing it, with him rolling off the front and fading to black,making the audience wonder whether this meant he got caught by the police, what his crime was ,why he would commit the crime anyway and whether he actually committed it or not.
Action films usually centre on young, high skilled and aggressive men, who have a love or talent in being able to beat men to a pulp, being able to dodge bullets and overcome an unfair ratio fight and walk away with hardly a scratch on them. The high amount of violence and gore attracts a large male audience as with women you typically wouldn't stereotype them to be a fan of these themes. Male's typically are fans of these films due to the thrill and rush of excitement they get from the heated car chases, gun fights and explosions, Men see this typically is all seen as very masculine stereotypes and so make men empowered when they watch action films. Whereas most women become squeamish to violent and gory scenes as it is more of a masculine film type. For example this is the audience drawn for the 2015 film "Kingsman Secret Service".
With the film being an age rating of 15, the audience that it attracts is of the age 15 and upwards, But we can see through the table that in fact it is the age bracket of 15-24 that has the highest amount of people who went to see it with 50% half of the people who went to watch it attend, this is most likely due to the fact that the main character of the movie is a teenaged character, like the main audience who would be interested in mostly the same type of things, making the audience relate to his character. The least amount drawn in is 35-44 year olds with 10% this is because these people are older may not have as much time to go to the cinema but also because they aren't interested in high amount of violence and gore. Though 45+ has the percentage of 19%, suggesting that the a main character , colin firth, would appeal to the older audience. We also see that 61% of the audience who watched the movie was male, further showing that men are more interested in action films than women who had 39%,, though it was still a good amount of women for an action film, this was partly due to there being comedic aspects of the movie and also because of the star studded charismatic cast. Men also are used to seeing violence and such due to them being more interested in video games where themes like this are featured frequently and so they seek watching this in movies and love the thrill and excitement it brings. We can also see that the highest amount of people to attend the film in a class was C1, which is people with steady jobs ,the working class which is the targeted group due the money needed to buy tickets and to buy the dvd, with 35% we see that it was more the the higher teens and early 20's in that group due to the jobs needed to pay to attend the film. Also due to the more mature age, it makes the audience more suited to the violence.
When turning on an action movie you can gather some of the things you are going to see, due to everyone action classed film containing the majority of what's on my list. Typically in an action film you can expect to see at least 5 explosions, it's whats expected when watching, it has been classed as a standard must have in an action film, but the explosion wouldn't be complete without our protagonist "scaring" the audience by thinking they have died in a huge explosive bomb attack, when we see them emerge without a scratch on them with only a smokey dirty body. We also have the antagonist of the film think he has become victorious over the hero and tell him his entire plan before leaving the hero ,to their misfortune, escape with the knowledge needed to claim success. We sometimes also have our antagonist save our villain at the last minute, for some reason the hero cannot bring themselves to kill them, trying to show the audience that even though the hero has killed people in order to find the villain, it's bad morals to kill the evil character. We also have the antagonists love interest captured at some point by the villain, leaving the hero having to follow orders and almost always sets them back on their plan.
Conventions
Character and Location Conventions
The main protagonist usually has a high set of skills, which always at some stage are used in his favour. They usually always have some Witt swell, by using cheesy,cringey line before they kill their rival. Usually in very good shape showing their bodies off in some scene where they have to rip their shirt off due to an injury. They usually have a bitter view towards society and are rude to people they interact with due to a past experience possibly a heart break as to men this is seen as humiliating and isn't shown as an masculine quality, This usually makes their love interest in the film start off as them not getting long well, then learn to open their heart again. The whereabouts of the film is usually set in large cities like New York and London, this is usually to make the audience familiar and to also show the film on a large scale to show a compact crowed environment. Though usually at some point the characters we'll have to go abroad in search for a particular person or object(s) and will usually pick an exotic country in an attempt to make the audience experience the country for the first time with the character and make the culture look as different as possible to the main audience which depends on the language spoken.
Shot types/Camera angles and Effects
In majority of action films we see a lot of long and wide shots to show the "action" which is taking place, due to the amount of running, car chases and explosions we need to see the full of each and need a wider view of it. We also see a lot of slow motion, which is usually during an explosion where the protagonist has to make a leap in order to stop being blown to pieces,which they almost always succeed with. We also frequently see birds eye views, mostly of car chases to show a long line of police cars or vans in a high speed race with our protagonist, Films like the fast and furious franchise we see a lot of car chases and see frequent birds-eye views throughout the films.
Theme and Narrative Conventions
We usually follow themes like an old timers last mission before their retirement, who because of their age struggle a bit but seem to make a bloody victory, we also see a group of protagonists such as policemen, go out in order to bring down a large operation together and also the made protagonist of finding out he/she has to go out and save the day rather than be prepared for it, showing weakness throughout the film but eventually discover a major piece of evidence to bring down the criminal. The Narrative is almost always our main protagonist speaking ahead of time and telling the story as it goes along with sometimes beginning at the end and saying the typical line "how did i get here, right?" and then flashing the audience back to the beginning of their story and telling us how they got to that position and when reaching it say one more cringe line then ends the narrative. When there is narrative used we usually have key information known during the beginning of the first scene.
"Insidious"(2010) is a paranormal movie centring on parents Josh and Renai lambert, whose son's body is taken over by an evil spirit when they move into their new home ,which seems to be haunting them. They take it into their own hands to try and save the boy. The film opens with a bright white circle, which slowly turns to be a round lamp hanging from the ceiling, as the camera then pans downwards, we see a young boy in his bed, sleeping,The music in the back ground almost sounds like wind, giving a sinister effect to the scene, making the audience expect something to suddenly flash up onto the screen. the moon light from the window is shining through the white thin curtains, projecting shadows onto the boys face, also creating a ghostly appearance. The high angled wide shot of the boy tucked in bed gives the effect of hovering over the boy making a haunting effect.
The camera continues to pan around the boy's bedroom, causing the audience to pay attention to his surroundings looking for something "freakish", we see a teddy bear sat directly in the corner of the room with the moonlight projected on it so we can see it clear, also looking rather creepy in this position. Once the camera reaches a high chest of draws it forms a close up shot of the boys belongings, including a blue lava lamp which projects a eerie blue across the surface of the table. As we exit the boys room we are guided into the hallway of the house, showing almost complete blackness, keeping the audience on edge as to what's going to pop up next. We approach a corner, and as the camera turns, the audience are immediately drawn to white blinded window where we see a shadow of a woman's face,As soon as the camera turned that corner we here a high pitched shrill tune, changing the mood quickly,though due to the pace of the camera doesn't make the audience jump quite as much, but keeps the audience looking around the house to find the creepy shadows. As the camera zooms closer and closer to the woman, we see her turn right, which is the direction the camera is headed making the audience specifically look for the woman.
The camera pans right to again a black hall, where only a small light is seen flickering at the end, where we pan closer and closer towards it revealing a pale, teeth gritted, matted hair woman holding a candle whilst the shrill music continues and the screen fades to black. Giving the audience a sense of unease due to the extreme close up of the frightening woman and the tense music. The use of the weird ghostly woman doesn't quite yet determine the convention of the horror, as this woman looks real and could be a killer, like a slasher film, or could be a "demon" ,and set a paranormal film. The screen,still black, immediately flashes up in an old fashioned, bold font with another sudden high pitched note, causing the audience to jump due to the change of atmosphere and sudden noise, the title "Insidious" in red lettering, illustrating with the colour that blood will be spilt, and perhaps people are going to die. The font flickers like a candle and also gives the effect of darkness. The shrill suddenly stops and the screen fades to black, then appearing is a black and white still image of the outside of a house , with blacked windows as to not seem a welcoming home. The credits used in the bottom can be seen in the same red lettering as the title, and seem to disappear with a smoke effect, also getting the audience to presume that in the film things seem to do things by themselves like a puff of smoke.The screen fades in and out during the change of each image, which the audience can gather as the same house as it brings us to the inside of the house, showing a landing full of boxes labelled and sprawled across the floor, suggesting to the audience that the owners of the home have just moved in, linking to the strange women, also maybe they are being haunted. The images seem to flicker like candle light, and seem to follow this candle theme a lot throughout the opening, with the freakish woman holding a candle, gives the effect that perhaps the woman is looking through these photos in darkness using her candle as a source of light. Suddenly the images take a weird turn, when we go from seeing normal pictures of the home, to seeing a black silhouette of what appears to be a man very clearly in the background of a bedroom, also suggesting haunting within the house. The music increases its frequency here also to make the audience if they haven't already realised that a shadowy figure is looming there. After this image it then forces the audience to look at every spot of the image to see if there's another lurking figure in the background. Though we do not see another easy to spot image straight away, in one particular image we see a picture of the kitchen, with a strange man with some features seen if you look closely,reflected in the mirror where there appears to be none standing in front of it, here is where it confirms to be a paranormal film due to the impossibleness of there being a reflected face with nothing to reflect from. Making the audience see what direction the film is going. We also see a dutch angle of a clock, setting a disorientated and unstable theme, making the audience fell unnerved as to what they may see next, following this we see a wooden floor slowly reveal footprints with each one appearing the one behind vanishing, also following the ghostly theme. In the second to last image we see a family picture of a father, mother and two sons, making the audience believe this is a family home and the boy sleeping in his bed shown at the beginning of the film, is seen in this photograph. Then also revealing our main characters and who the audience will be focusing on.
