/// POST-PRODUCTION Bathroom sample scene

/// POST-PRODUCTION4 Non-diegetic music option

I made a short song on GarageBand that we could use in our film opening

/// POST-PRODUCTION3 Hallway scene + audience feedback

Sample scene



Audience feedback

/// POST-PRODUCTION2 Outside sample scene 2 + audience feedback

This is my second attempt at the outside scene rough cut. Things I changed:

• Added foley sound
• Shortened it
• Used less shots but faster shots
• Added Emma's character sooner

/// GENRE CONVENTIONS: General Media Language

Warm Bodies

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

/// GENRE CONVENTIONS: Titles, Idents and production context

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

/// GENERAL CONVENTIONS: General media language

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.

Transitioning to main film

Audio bridges

Crossfade to/from black

/// POST-PRODUCTION1 Outside sample scene + audience feedback

OUTSIDE ROUGH CUT



FEEDBACK