Jonathan Levine 2013 Box office: 117 million USD Budget: 35 million USD Sound - voice over, harmless non-diegetic string instrument music connoting peace (contradicting what is on screen) signifies the comedy element ECU on protagonist opening shot is of guy staring into camera similar to hot fuzz first shot (1 continuous shot) clothes + dirt on floor - blue filter on screen - intertextualising halloween (horror element) Yet to show protagonists full face (slight narrative enigma) narrative enigma on setting slow motion showing little emotion in his voice chairs fallen over dark, no sun yellow signs suggest it is at airport denotes the miseducating-en-scene ironically ("hoodie suggests unemployed") music changes after 52 seconds of opening to become even more joyful when discussing past life classic old filter to show flashback - brown tint with shaky outer layer false scare - standard for horror music cuts off during false scare scream used (likely added in foley sound) music reenters after 2 seconds green screen style when discussing past signs fallen over straight blue jeans with zip up red hoodie (used to connote blood) standard grey hoodie Broken tv's as m-en-s constant tracking camera Colours change to bright and colourful when discussing past"we wish you a merry Christmas" starts playing Cuts out hen it returns to present diegetic sound of people talking introduced then cut out cracked windows panning out shot revealing outside location with hand of god style shot has no main title - uses high angle ElS shots to transition into main film binary opposites + countertypes with humans Bride of Chucky 1998 Ronny Yu Box office: 50.7 million USD Budget: 25 million USD Blue tint Clear 'prize' denotation Black tight fitted dress High heels Late and dark - usually suggests something bad is about to happen panning up from worms eye view leans on abandoned police car - rebellious blonde hair covering face heavy makeup cuts to her doing her nails with blood non-diegetic sound that would be associated with the antagonist wearing choker wet abandoned street narrative enigma on character male gaze with nail shot - the chest shown in background due to the revealing dress licks the blood with her finger - sexual connotations diegetic sound of high heels on road very 'creepy' sound of nail file against nails unknown beam of light coming from sky reaches into police car and finds a lighter (fire is another signifier that something will go wrong) 'dumb blonde' stereotype when the female says "cool" Music peaks when she brings mask up Shape of windows suggests she is near a chapel or church electric guitar kicks in after "well hello dolly" She walks moving the bin bag between her hands What is in the bag? panning out shot to reveal establishing shot 'Bride of Chucky' - largest font - seems to be made out of bloody parts for bubble font - 'bride of' in cursive italics first normal shot is panning around a tree
Land of the dead Budget: 16 million USD Box office: 46.8 million USD George A. Romero No jingles however first one has background sound that fits with it atmosphere pictures Wild Bunch and Universal Pictures presents In association with atmosphere entertainment A Mark Canton-Bernie Goldmann and Romero-Grunwald production In association with Rangerkim George A Romero's Land of the Dead (auteur) Smoke coming from main title Actors names come up as the storyline begins High pitched sound in the background Large font on main title Splatter style connotes blood splatter Bold bubble serif font Different flashing images while titles are going on All black and white titles and images
Halloween Director: John Carpenter Box office: $60–70 million Budget: 325,000 USD Creepy fast music builds heart rate No jingles A Compass international pictures release Moustapha Akkad presents Donald Pleasence in John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN largest font Titles do not take place over the opening scene First shot
Sound Audio bridges often go over the final ident to transition into the main film Foley sound is when the audio is recorded in post-production Successful ambient sound achieves verisimilitude and continuity editing Music can be non-diegetic or diegetic Music is used to signify genres i.e slow smooth piano music might be linked to a romance In horror, music quite often cuts off at a sudden moment (false scare)
Other than this, music quite often fades out/in
Many movies have music produced for the movie (can be a way of bringing more of an audience to the film)
Movies can also use pre-existing music
Typically, large budget movies will have foley sound recorded First shot First shot is opening 30 seconds of film
Hot fuzz has an ongoing 30 second shot to open (shortly followed by a transition) ELS conventional first establishing shot verisimilitude Used for exposition Sometimes audio bridge Often diegetic scene Sound often exaggerated Often narrative enigma on setting and protagonist always genre significations in first shot however can leave polysemy
Titles often run over
Central Protagonist + Narrative
Different theories surrounding narrative structure include:
Propp - 7 character archetypes
Todorov - (narrative structure) equilibrium to disequilibrium to new equilibrium
Levi-Strauss - binary opposites
Roland Barthes - narrative enigma
The 7 character archetypes Propp discovered were the hero, helper, villain, false hero, donor, dispatcher and princess. Hero is often shown through establishing shots. Hero will always be the central protagonist in the movie. Often narrative enigma on the main character at the start.
Narrative enigma is when there is a mystery in the narrative.
Todorov's theory states that there is a brief 5 point structure that many films follow. This is:
Equilibrium
Disruption of equilibrium
Recognition of this disruption
An attempt to repair the damage
New equilibrium
Levi-Strauss proposed an idea that al films have binary opposites. This is when one character is the opposite to another (male/female, lower-class/upper-class, sporty/nerdy)
Mise-en-scene for exposition
Directors achieve exposition through mise-en-scene using props, costume, make-up, body language, setting and set-design. Replaces the need for voice-overs and/or any diegetic dialogue. Links to the theme of simulacra, believing there is always an ongoing chain of signifiers, and everything is set up in the miseducating-en-scene to connote something.
Total time can vary as some go up to 2 minutes but other can end at around 20 seconds
When referring to a company, the text will usually say 'In association with' or 'presents'
When the director is mentioned, it might say 'a film directed by'
Actors will be referred to as 'introducing', 'starring' or 'featuring'
If the director is an auteur, their name is likely to be either first for emphasis, or last
The fonts change based on the genre
Usually serif fonts would be associated with horror/slasher/thriller style of genre
When there is a bigger star, they will earn a bigger title as the aim of the production is to bring more people in with the star power
if it is an auteur director, their name is likely to be larger and have a greater focus on it
Upper case fonts usually bring a larger focus to them, so the important parts might have a large upper case font
The upper case font also depends on the genre as it doesn't fit with genres like romance
Colour also depends on the genre
A horror might have a red or blue tint (intertextualising Halloween if blue)
Zombieland is an example of a movie including interactive titles
This is a countertype as most titles are static
Production context
UK Film council was a non-departmental public body set up in 2000 to develop and promote the film industry in the UK. It is funded by the National Lottery. Films it has funded include '28 Days Later' and 'The King's Speech'. BBFC is responsible for setting the age ratings for films in the UK Production companies Funding Big 5 are the largest production companies (Paramount, Sony Columbia, 20th Century Fox, Universal, Warner Bros) UK Film
Idents
Idents are placed towards the start of a movie
They identify all companies mainly involved in the production of the movie
Average length of around 6-7 seconds per ident
Adds up to around 20-30 seconds in total
The typical ident is a simple style
The standard is to have 2-4 idents before the opening of the film
This alters for indie movies as they can occasionally have none
When the conglomerate is larger, they will have more screen time for their idents (Big 5)
