Opening Two Minutes of Juno

The opening two minutes of Juno are mainly titles, presented as animated. This is relevant to the theme of the film, which is about the controversy of teenage pregnancy, and the cartoon style title sequence suggests that she is only a child herself. It only introduces one character, the protagonist Juno, which engages the target audience of females. An interesting camera angle used is a low shot of Juno, which suggests that she is a dominant, strong character. Long shots are used to show the embedded titles, for example on shop fronts, and close-ups of identifying features of the character - converses, which show she is a teenager, one of the main focuses of the film and Sunny D, stereotypically a children's drink to, again, show that she is only young yet already having responsibilities thrust upon her. The main colours are orange and blue, which has connotations of happiness, which sets the mood of the comedy. I will use orange as well as pink, as they are feminine colours and will appeal to my target audience of teenage girls.

Music

I will use cheesy, upbeat copyright free music found on YouTube or sites such as incompetech.com. It will be guitar music, as that is quite commonly played during the titles of a film because it is calming but uplifting and sets the mood, for example, in The Proposal, Find My Way by The Gabe Dixon Band is used. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wez59kjsPk
I was considering using a well known pop song, which would engage my target audience of teenage girls, who would be encouraged to sing along, but this would not be copyright free.
The song Meatball Parade is bouncy and bright, which is suitable for my film as it uplifts the audience's mood before the film has een engaged them, although it may be too fast paced for my film. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeXj4EEbU84
I am also considering using Winner Winner! as it is fun and catchy, which would create an iconic opening two minutes that stick with the audience and make the film memorable.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOwqrm5dDcg

G321 Blog Review

http://rubiaproductions.blogspot.co.uk/
I really like the final product of this blog, and I will take a lot of ideas from it, especially the embedded intertitles. It is the same genre as my film, romantic, although it is not clear if it is a comedy - in my opening two minutes, there will be some comical moments to grab the attention of the audience and engage them. I also like the organised layout of this blog, as it is easy to navigate and user friendly. Furthermore, the logo of the made up production company is impressive and original, although I do not think I will create one myself. The blog appears professional and the analysises are in depth and detailed, as the creator has obviously put a lot of time and effort into it.

http://jordanrhill.blogspot.co.uk/
This blog is good as it uses screengrabs of the process of editing the film and annotates them in clear, understandable detail. I will do this when editing my film to show the different techniques I have experimented with and learnt. To improve, however, this blog needs to have a wider range of ICT, for example, voiceovers, videos or prezis.

Audience Research Survey

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RGYBQD8


My survey results showed that the majority of people who answered watched romantic comedies when they saw them advertised. However, most of these people would describe themselves as an individual, which tells me that my film should be a traditional romantic comedy with an authentic twist. Most helpfully, my survey results showed that to keep an audience engaged in a film, my opening should involve a cliffhanger, drama or an interesting and relevant soundtrack.

Certification

The U symbol stands for Universal. A U film should be suitable for audiences aged four years and over. However, it is impossible to predict what might upset a particular child, especially at this lower end of the category range.

PG stands for Parental Guidance. This means a film is suitable for general viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children. A PG film should not unsettle a child aged around eight or older. Parents should consider whether the content may upset younger, or more sensitive, children.

Films classified 12A and video works classified 12 contain material that is not generally suitable for children aged under 12. No one younger than 12 may see a 12A film in a cinema unless accompanied by an adult. Adults planning to take a child under 12 to view a 12A film should consider whether the film is suitable for that child. To help them decide, we recommend that they check the BBFCinsight for that film in advance.

No-one under 15 is allowed to see a 15 film at the cinema or buy/rent a 15 rated video. 15 rated works are not suitable for children under 15 years of age.

Films rated 18 are for adults. No-one under 18 is allowed to see an 18 film at the cinema or buy / rent an 18 rated video. No 18 rated works are suitable for children.

The R18 category is a special and legally-restricted classification primarily for explicit works of consenting sex or strong fetish material involving adults. Films may only be shown to adults in specially licensed cinemas, and video works may be supplied to adults only in licensed sex shops. R18 videos may not be supplied by mail order.

Summary of Ideas and Audience Feedback

My idea for my film is a romantic comedy, in the opening two minutes of which a happy teenage girl is getting ready - the connotations of this scene are that she is in a happy relationship, as there are disposable photos of her and a boy stuck round her mirror and she draws a heart in the condensation on the mirror. The last shot will be a boy moodily turning off his alarm clock. This introduces the characters as contrasting, likewise in many other rom coms such as The Proposal. The intertitles will be embedded in the scene, for example, written in makeup. My audience fed back that this was a good idea, as many other similar films have been made and met positive reviews, although the titles may be challenging and time consuming.

Diary Post 3

Recently in media, we have been studying genre, certification and audience of certain genres of films. I have been looking at the target audience for my film. If my film is to have mild sex references, I will have to make the certificate a 12, as making it a 15 would limit my target audience of teenage females. Also, this is the certification of the majority of romantic comedies I researched.

18/20 Mark Blog

This blog uses a variety of technology, such as Prezi, embedded YouTube videos and Scribd. They have analysed the opening and soundtrack of films like Hitman, Kill Bill and RockNRoller, with screen grabs. They have researched audience, certificate, production companies etc, as well as made a mood board and pitch.

Soundtrack, Location, Font, Institution and Certificate Research

Mood Board

Diary Post 2

Recently in media, we have been studying the opening two minutes of different films, such as It's a Boy Girl Thing and The Proposal. We have had to analyse the representation of the characters, the setting, props and mise en scene. 

Ideas For the Opening Two Minutes of My Film

Romantic Comedy Audience

These figures are taken from the Pearl & Dean website. All these rom com films have a predominantly female audience, because the films are from females’ point of view. The majority are class AB – C1, apart from Freaky Friday, perhaps because it features less serious, more comical issues. The audience of these films is aged 12-24, due to sex and drug references. The typical audience member for my film is a fifteen year old caucasian female (as the main character is this, but older, as fans of the film would idolise her).

Romantic Comedy Mood Board

For my romantic comedy mood board, I have used pictures that depict a stereotypical teenage girl's morning routine, which is what my opening two minutes follows, for example, hair straighteners and products, make up and toothpaste. I will have a smiley face drawn onto the character's mirror in condensation and show pictures of a teenage couple (one of whom will be a main character) to show how happy they are and to create a positive mood.

Link to Mr Oswick's Blog

mroswickchsmediastudies.blogspot.co.uk

Opening Two Minutes of It’s A Boy Girl Thing

It's a Boy Girl Thing is Icon / Rocket Pictures / Scion Films / Alliance Atlantis. The credits are accompanied by cute animation, which portrays two children. The first scene is a girl and a boy being introduced as very different people: the female studying Shakespeare, which is shown by the non-diegetic sound of her reading the book in her head, and the male distracting her by dancing to loud pop music. The upbeat music, which uses a diegetic switch, suits the comical and funny mood. It is set in their bedrooms, which are opposite each other, at night. It is obviously a romance film as the first sound we hear is a Romeo and Juliet quote.

Teacher Feedback

Lots to do Zoe - by this stage you should have double the posts covering the key areas below:

Prezi create
Sleepy Hollow analysis with picture of film poster
Proposal analysis with picture/youtube clip
At least 4 films analysed using key questions and youtube clips etc
Hyperlinks to other G321 blogs and analysis of what they have done that works well – steal R and P ideas
Link to Mr Oswick’s blog
Definitions and picture/video exemplifying on blogs please:
Match on action?
Shot/reverse shot?
180 degree rule?
Diary posts – 1 paragraph summing up what you have learned so far about the process…6 of them?
Audience feedback about your idea and thought processes 
Moodboard collage
Summary of your idea
Costume research and ideas? 
Actors and characters? 
Screen grabs of films? 
Film clips analysed – music/costume/setting/style/shots 

Opening Two Minutes Of The Proposal

The Proposal is a Touchstone Pictures/Mandeville film. The guitar music is upbeat, to match the humourous and comical mood. The opening two minutes introduces the two main characters as very different: the female, Sandra Bullock, has with a clean kitchen; organised morning routine; smart, fashionable clothes and flawless hair, whereas the male, Ryan Reynolds, is disorganised; in a rush and amusingly clumsy. The film is clearly in New York as skyline is shown behind the female as she is exercising first thing in the morning, presenting her as conscious of her appearance and rich (because of the prop of her expensive-looking exercise bike and the setting of her apartment in Central Park). Other minor characters intoduced, such as the starbucks barrista and Bob, but are not focused on. It will probably be the only or one of few times they appear in the film.

Opening Two Minutes of Sleepy Hollow

The horror genre is introduced by using creepy music, mist on the opening titles, which are on a black screen, and a close up of a blood-like liquid. Pathetic fallacy (lightning and rain) and dark colours are used to set the mood, which is gloomy. The mise-en-scene is a letter, evidently a will, being written and an old hand holding a young one, which suggests that something sad will happen or has previously. The narrative is introduced as a plan being constructed. I would take the use of music to set the creepy mood and use it in my own film opening. The camera shots used are mainly close-ups, and there are some point-of-view angles to make the audience feel as if they are in the film.

G321 Blogs Review (SlideShare Upload Testing)

G321 blogs review from zoehineg321

Diary Post 1

I have learnt about match on action, an editing technique for continuity editing in which one shot cuts to another portraying the action of the subject in the first shot. Also, I learnt about shot reverse shot, where one character is shown looking at another character, who is then shown looking at the first. I am now aware of the 180 degree rule, in which over the shoulder shots are used to show different points of view. The cameraman must stay on the same side when filming, or when the piece is edited it will be confusing and not make sense.

Teacher Feedback

Great start!

Mockingjay Trailer (YouTube Video Upload Testing)