Blog 17- Prezi on analysis of sound in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY title sequence

Blog 17- ANALYSING SOUND IN A TITLE SEQUENCE - YouTube video annotations

Apologies the YouTube video could not be embedded due to copyright reasons but here is the link to access my annotated YouTube video- an analysis of the title sequence GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY.

Here is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQYXb96vDgc

Blog 16- Importance of sound

BLOG POST 22 - Shot by Shot Remake Evaluation

In class my group and I remade a title sequence for the film The Breakfast Club, to do this we had to create a storyboard and then act it out, and film it accordingly. To begin with we watched the title sequence of the original film a couple times to note down the different shots that we would have to shot in the amount of time that we were given, this wasn't hard to do as in the title sequence for The Breakfast Club all the shots can be clearly identified, meaning that it was easy to understand what shots we had to film. When we were storyboarding the shots we wanted to replicate the original title sequence as closely as we could but it turned out to be a bit of a struggle as we couldn't replicate the shots exactly or we couldn't film some of the shots at all as we didn't have the correct props or locations but we tried our best. There is no characters featured in the title sequence  which made it easier for us as we would've needed costumes, however due to The Breakfast Club being set in a school it would be easy for us to replicate the clothing worn as we could just wear our own normal clothing. When we were editing our group took turns in creating the title sequence which made it easier as we could all put forward our ideas, this made it easier as it wasn't just one person doing all of the work. Whilst choosing the font, I had a clear idea of what it should look like and I wanted it to look as much like The Breakfast Club as possible. In the original title sequence they used an orange colour for the font, which I tried to replicate when editing. We couldn't find the exact font that was used in the original title sequence so we used something very similar, this gave a powerful impact as it was a lot like what was in the title sequence of The Breakfast Club, the font suited the film as it gave a calm tone to the film which was expressed through some of the characters. For the tilte sequences it was edited separately to the film, the titles were in the middle of a black screen with music overlapped, this had a strong impact as the music is very motivational and it makes the viewer watching feel powerful. If I could do this task all over again I would try to replicate the original shots filmed more closely to have a stronger impact. Whilst editing the title shots I would aim to make them move more seamlessly into one another.

BLOG POST 13 - TASK 1: What's a target audience?

For this blog post I am going to be developing my understanding of audiences and identifying the different target audiences for different film genres. To do this I first researched what an audience was, it is an individual or collective group who read or consume any media text, e.g films, social media, news and television. I then researched the definition of a target audience and it is the intended audience of a specific form of media, if you were making a film you could find your target audience by using audience profiling. This allows you to narrow down the audience to your targeted audience.

It is useful for a film to have a target audience as it allows them to design their product or media form to suit the wants and needs of their consumers, this will help boost sales in the box office. 

Different genres appeal to different people and this is because everyone has their own opinions therefore not everyone will like the same genre of film. Below I've written a few different genres and the type of person that they appeal to:

• Action films - These types of films would mainly appeal to men as it makes them feel powerful and more masculine. It wouldn't usually attract  a women audience as they typically dislike blood and killing.
• Romance films - These types of films would mainly attract an audience of women aged 14+ because the films would make them emotional. Romance films would especially make a younger women  aspire to have a relationship like the one she has seen in the film.
• Horror films - These types of films would attracts an audience of men aged 15+ as they feature a lot of blood which women typically wouldn't like.
• Animated films - These types of films would attract an audience of children aged 3-12, this is because they use bright colours that entice them.

BLOG POST 12 - BFI Statistical Yearbook research

For this blog post It was necessary to develop my knowledge of the success of different film genres at the box office and the preferences amongst different audience types. To do this I looked at the BFI Statistical Yearbook of 2014, this helped to me to gain more knowledge about different genres and audiences.
In 2014, the most successful genres at the UK box office was animation, action and comedy which suggests that the people living in the UK would like to continue seeing these types of movies. In contrary, the least popular genres in 2014 were romance, documentaries and war; this suggests that the targeted audience were not intrigued by these types of movies.
The genre of comedy released 153 films in 2013-2014 which emphasises the enjoyment that they bring to people watching them. This is a great achievement as there were only 33 animated films made and only 47 action films made. This suggests that the film production of comedy films is a lot faster than action or animated films, therefore more can be produced in a shorter amount of time. In conclusion, it shows that the film audiences want to see  more of this genre which is shown by the amount of them being produced.

In 2014, people aged 15-24 made up the largest proportion of cinema admissions in the UK, suggesting that they have more times on their hands as they're students or have not been working for a long period of time. In this age group, the most successful comedy film was The Hangover 2. The most popular film that was watched by people over the age of 50 in 2014 was Quartet, this is a comedy-drama film. During this year It was evident that men enjoyed watching action films more than any others, the reason for this could be that men have a desire to feel more masculine and strong, so by seeing a soldier battling at war it allows them to see themselves as that soldier. In contrary, it was evident that women were more attracted to watching romance films; the reason for this is that they could be wanting something more in life, like a more compassionate partner or a better love life.
The most popular films that were watched by people aged 7-14 were One Direction: This is Us, Wreck-It Ralph and Despicable Me 2, It's evident that this age group prefer to watch animated films as they are more fun and entertaining which allows them to relate to the film that they're watching. For people aged 35-44, the most popular films watched were Frozen, The Croods and Jack and The Giant Slayer, these are popular in this age group because the majority of people this age are parents and are going to the cinema with their children. This makes the film more successful in the box office as more cinema tickets are sold and the parents can buy their children the merchandise that's brought out for the film. The most popular films within the 25-34 age group is Django Unchained, Fast and Furious 6 and Rush.

Blog 5- Extension task

Q1) What does Thomas Sutcliffe mean when he says:

 "Films need to seduce their audience into long commitment. While there are many types of seduction the temptation to go for instant arousal is almost irresistible".

 A: If the first page doesn't give you a hard one, says the veteran director Sam Fuller you should throw the thing away.

Q2) According to Director Jean Jacques Beineix, what are the risks of 'instant arousal'? 

A: That starting with something strong at the start, raises questions on what to do next. However the questions are never answered and that is the problem of making films.

Q3) Explain why "a good beginning must make the audience feel that it doesn't know nearly enough yet. and at the same time make sure that it doesn't know too little"

A: So it can interest the audience straight away and make them understand the tone of the film. At an early stage the audience can know what nature the film will be and establish many things at once to keep them engaged into the film.

Q4) What does critic Stanley Kauffmann describe as the classic opening? Why does it work?
A: Cliche opening: Establishing shot of New York City- usually seen from the west. Then a close up of building, camera going up the building to the window and then going through the window past the receptionist to the private office. There sat Cary Grant.
The reason why it works is because you have been told from a simple, classic process where the film is taking place, what the occupation of the hero was. He says you have been told of the organisation of the world that everything was in place. Cosmos orderly and that progress was irrational and expected.

Q5) Why is Kyle Copper's title sequence to the film Seven so effective?

A: 

•  It successfully told a story- introduced the obsessive, psychotic nature of the main character .
•  It foreshadowed a lot of things that were going to happen . 
• The psychotic energy of the titles proved more influential of the film itself.
• It was able to wake everyone up and make them feel as part of the film. 

Q6)  What did Orson Welles want to achieve with his opening to the film 'A Touch of Evil'? What did Universal Studios do to it? Why?
A; Orson wanted his sequence to seen without credits and title music. As he wanted the audience to get the audience plunged into the story straight away.
However the Universal Studios did't understand and they put a nice score underneath it and credits so the effect was lost. They did this as it all happened before the actual film began.

Q7) What is meant by "a favourite trick of Film Noir"? What is the trick?
A; It is like an ending but it is not really an ending. It feels like a destination as much as departure point looking ahead to what is to come. The trick is if you can't see it first time round it will be clear when we see the film again.

Q8) How does the opening to the film The Shining create suspense? 
A; We are first shown a helicopter shot and the camera pursues car as a predator from high up and behind. The camera is fixed on the tiny object and everything just says the people inside the car are just travelling in the wrong direction.

22. Evaluation of our Remake

As a group we decided we wanted to do a shot by shot remake of the opening for The Breakfast Club because it was the most convenient. The setting for the film is a high school which was practical for us to shoot in our college. Also, there is no people or actors present in the film and we were able to film within the hours that people won’t be around in college. The film is set in 1984 but we decided to add modern elements to it and changing the contents to a few of the shots.

Planning our remake was fairly easy, we sat down as a group and watched the opening sequence a few times and each took down information. After making notes we then started drawing up our story board. We did change a few shots to suit our surroundings but it was easy to work with. Being able to film at college helped us a lot because it closely resembled the high school and many of our shots look exactly the same as the film.

The Breakfast Club

Shot by Shot Remake

The title credits were easy to produce because the film opening used Titles on a Blank Screen. The original film used large yellow text, and we were able to find a similar font and colour which had a modern vibe to it.

If I was able to do the task again, I would allocate each member of the group roles on what they should do and make sure everyone takes a go at filming. I would also make sure to write a plan out on what time I would like to finish a certain part of filming. Overall, I think our remake was a success, it helped us get used to the camera and decide how to plan our time in the future.