1) What did you think of the final product we produced?
Wednesday 31 March 2010
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Making the Final piece - The diary
Drop Dead Gorgeous
Drop Dead Gorgeous is a mockumentary that follows a teen beauty pageant in America. The opening sequence consists of typical conventions like the written introduction that sets the time and place. The character also showed
Awareness to the camera and the lay out was in interview format, with a title introducing the characters. These are all useful conventions of a mockumentary that establish the genre of the film from the beginning; we plan to use conventions like these in our opening sequence to convey a mockumentary. The non-diegetic music that plays in the background is very patriotic and represents the pageant as being a typical American occurrence. The camera movements are typical of a mockumentary as they are shaky and sometimes out of focus. For example when the character is adjusting her hair the camera zooms out and focuses on her to add realism. The sub-title comes up
showing her name and profession so that the audience know her the character is and her importance to the story. We cam also her the interviewers voice showing that the interview is in progress, this is very typical of a mockumentary because it adds realism to the interview. There are tracking shots of the public acting naturally
And although they acknowledge the camera they do not change their behavior. This represents that it is in fact real life and not scripted conveying the style of a documentary even though mockumentary's are in fact scripted and pretend to be based on fact.
Opening sequence to a Sci-Fi/Action
Opening sequence to a Sci-Fi/Action
The film ‘Watchmen’ could be described as an action/ sci-fi movie, an adaptation of the comic book with a brilliant opening sequence. With the song "The Times They Are A-Changin” Written and Performed by Dylan playing in the background, an audience are exposed to a series of slow motion clips and effective still images all consisting of action and themes that overall create a back story, setting up the whole movie for audience who may have read or may not have read the comic book the movie has been adapted from. The songs lyrics and the paste of the many cross cut clips make it obvious to viewers that they are in fact representing a long period of time passing. Known as montage editing. Credits for the film appear in the opening sequence and text in newspapers and on TV screens is used to convey the time setting, for an example on the small TV it reads ‘Vietnam war escalates’. The costume, makeup and unrealistic settings like the Moon and space are all conventions often seen In Sci-fi movies. The explosives and use of flashing lights contrasted with black outs are also conventions of action and Sci-Fi movies, seen from the opening sequence, establishing the genre of the movie.
Scream - The opening sequence
Scream - The opening sequence ...
Scream is very clearly a horror film. It is set for a specific target audience which are people who like horror films. As the film is about to begin the title “Scream” appears in a dripping red colour, this is to represent blood but the colour also represents danger which is the key factor in the opening scene. The scene is set at a house which appears to be quite cosy and safe which we can see with the bright lighting and the warm atmosphere. The opening shot is a close up of a phone ringing to highlight that there is some significance in it. We are introduced to a young woman wearing white showing that she is good and pure, the victim, alone in the house locking the doors showing that the house is safe and secure. She also puts some popcorn on the stove to cook which is cooking nicely reflecting the mood. She pulls a knife out of the knife rack as she is talking about scary films to the stranger on the phone representing a danger that is approaching. The mood changes within a second as the stranger on the phone tells the woman he wants to “know who [he’s] looking at”. At this moment tense non-diegetic music starts playing in the background building up to the danger and tension. The popcorn has grown in stature now and is bigger showing how the tension and danger is also rising. While she runs through the house looking all the doors the non-diegetic music raises in volume to show the rise in danger. The camera also tracks her movements most likely by the use of a dolly. Another typical shot for a horror is the P.O.V shot used to show the outside of the house through the characters eyes, accompanied by scary music it really builds the tension up. The thumping non-diegetic sounds are representative of a heart beat as the situation is escalating. The mist outside adds more tension and confusion has it shields our view along with the characters of what is outside. The camera slowly zooms in on the woman while she is on the phone cowering behind the T.V to show how weak and isolated she is. When she runs back into the kitchen it is filled with smoke and the popcorn is on fire showing the situation has escalated over the top and is getting more and more dangerous. The chair through the window has shown how the barrier between the outside and inside is broken. There are shadows in the house which makes it seem that the danger from outside is creeping into the house. The woman is now holding the phone and a knife as her only protection showing how serious the situation has gotten. The mask of the killer adds to the suspense and danger and the confusion of the audience as well as the woman. The quick zoom followed by the loud clash of lightning at the end represents the quickness of which the killer killed and the extremely evil circumstances in which he has done so. That is why Scream is a good horror film because it uses typical codes and conventions to easily identify its genre as a horror film.