Arty Style influences

Some clips that I think could help us carry out our arty style and with editing techniques:

Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind (Gondry, 2004)
(watch from 0:50 when the titles start, i like the sequence at 3:25)












Also Insomnia (Nolan, 2002)
I like the really close up shots of the blood on the fabric, we could do something similar...

Soundtrack Idea!

Clips of influences

The idea of someone seeing things that aren't really there was influenced by the hallway scene from 'The Shining' (Kubrick, 1980):



The idea of a character witnessing a murder comes from Shaft (Singleton, 2000)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuPzRwY708A

The idea of a character stalking another comes from Following, (Nolan, 1998)

Initial Ideas

Here is my brainstorm of possible events our sequence could revolve around:

Genre Research

Research

After our group meeting in class, we decided that the genre of our opening sequence would be 'Thriller' I looked through the various sub genres, of which psychological thriller interested me the most.

From Wikipedia:

This is mainly because it doesn't rely heavily on the use of props  (guns, knives etc) as much as 'elements relating to the mind'- which could become complicated but allows us less limits and more space to be creative as potentially, any thing could happen.

Opening Sequences

Questions:
i) What forms can opening sequences take? Can you list the conventional features of opening sequences?
- Introduction of a character- the protagonist or antagonist
- Establishing shot of the setting
- Opening credits – producers, directors, leading actors

ii) What narrative functions of opening sequences can you identify?
- Introduces the main character
- Introduces a setting and situation
- Establishes an equilibrium
- Hints the disruption of the equilibrium
- presents a problem that will need to be solved throughout the rest of the film

iii)What do audiences gain from watching the opening sequence?
- introduction to the film’s characters and the story that may develop
- connection with the characters
- idea of a genre and therefore an idea of what may happen in the rest of the film
- find out whether or not they will want to watch the rest of the film
- there may be questions raised in the opening sequence that the audience will want answered, to do so they will watch the rest of the film

iv) What do film-makers gain from including an opening sequence?
- set up the foundation for the rest of the storyline to develop
- capture the audience’s attention and make them want to watch the rest of the film
- needed to put the rest of the film in a context so that people will understand the significance of what happens

Applying Propp's Narrative functions of a Fairytale to 'Finding Nemo'

Brief Synopsis
The clownfishes Marlin & Coral move into a new home but she and all but 1 of her eggs get eaten by a barracuda. Marlin names it Nemo as suggested by Coral. Some time later is Nemo’s 1st day at school and he gets annoyed and embarrassed by Marlin. Disobeying him, Nemo swims out to open water and gets caught by a scuba diver. Marlin chases after him but can’t catch up. On the way he meets Dory who has short term memory loss. Dory helps Marlin try to find Nemo and on their adventure they meet sharks, an angler fish, a school of fish, jellyfish, sea turtles called crush and squirt, a pelican called Nigel and also a whale who takes them to Sydney which is where Nemo is. This all goes on while Nemo is in a fish tank in a dentist’s making new friends who help him try to escape using various different methods, they have a time limit though as a little girl called Darla wants to take Nemo home to kill him. In the end Marlin and Dory find Nemo and Marlin reconciles with Nemo and apologizes for being overprotective. Once they have returned home, Marlin is able to let Nemo "go have an adventure" at school with his classmates, including the new exchange student, Squirt. The 3 sharks bring Dory home from a Fish-Eaters Anonymous meeting. The fish in the dentist's office make their escape, having followed their earlier plan of breaking the filter and rolling out the window, across the street, and into the harbor, leaving them with the dilemma of how to escape their plastic bags.

Character Types
Villain Humans (Darla)Donor Dory gives marlin the address to where Nemo isHelper Dory helps marlin in his questHero Marlin

Narrative Functions
1) Hero is introduced
2) Interdiction announced (Marlin tells Nemo not to do dangerous things)
3) Interdiction violated - Nemo swims out to open sea
8)Villain causes harm, carries away a victim- scuba diver takes nemo away
8a)member of heros family desires something
11) Hero leaves home- marlin leaves home to find nemo
14) Hero gets magical object that helps with the quest- diver's mask
15) Location shifts to where the lack is to be found- the whale carries marlin and dory to sydney which is where Nemo is
16) Hero and villain in direct combat- in the dentists office where marlin is flown in by Nigel and chaos occurs
18) Viallain defeated - Darla loses Nemo as he goes down the drain
20) Hero sets out for home
25) Difficult task is set - all the fishes trapped in the net and Nemo has to save them
Critique of Propp - Here are the main functions that do not fit with the story:
There is not really any magical object or any kind of magic in the story.
Hero doesnt marry and ascend throne.
Hero is not given new appearance (but he does think differently about his overprotectiveness).
There isn't really a true and false hero - Nemo has his heroic moments but Marlin is the main hero.

Applying Todorov's Theory of Equilibrium to the opening sequence of Bubble Boy

1. Who are the agents: the protagonist (the main hero who propels the narrative forward) and antagonist (opposing agent).The protagonist is Jimmy Livingston who is the bubble boy who has no immunities so he has to live in a bubble to protect him from germs. He voiceovers the first few minutes of the opening sequence to tell us his story- he is obviously the main character.
The antagonist is Jimmy’s mum who stops him from leaving home and is against him making friends or having a life outside his home. In the opening sequence she also bursts the ball that the children in the neighbourhood are playing with.
2. Describe the Equilibrium. How is it represented? What kind of camera shots can you identify? (e.g establishing shots to create a sense of space or use of CUs/cutaways to emphasise particular objects/characters faces). Pick out 2 or 3 examples. Describe the mise-en-scene: what meanings to the props/costumes/lighting/framing carry?The first shot is a clear blue sky, white clouds moving slowly - it looks very calm, peaceful and untroubled for a couple of seconds.
The shot of the baby (representing innocence) in the white room looks very pure and clean. Jimmy’s voiceover and actions as he grows up are also very innocent as he is just doing what his mother tells him to do.
Establishing/ LS as jimmy is brought home shows a sunny neighbourhood with children playing. Also a MCU cutaway of Jimmy’s face smiling in awe reinforces the equilibrium of the opening as he is happy.
Jimmy’s voiceover is very positive all the way through - even when his mother isn’t.
3. Is the Disruption or Disequilibrium introduced or hinted at? (e.g the serial killer in "Seven" is introduced in the title sequence).
The mother is presented as a controlling woman who enforces her own extreme views on both her husband and Jimmy. As soon as they bring Jimmy home for the first time she says ‘You’ll never have to go out there again’ and she puts the idea of the world being a horrible place in his head. This will be a problem as later on in the opening sequence he meets Chloe.
4. Are there any visual/verbal/aural clues that hint at what the hero's journey might be? (E.g. having to solve the murders within a time-limit of seven days in "Seven")The first shot he falls from the sky - this hints that he will escape from his home in the world - probably without his mother’s approval. He also wants to do everything that ‘normal’ children get to do as he tries to ride a bike in his room with his father’s help and mother’s disapproval; this also suggests he may escape.
5. From your knowledge of the film, how will the equilibrium be restored and what will be the new equilibrium?
Restoring equilibrium: Jimmy will escape and meet lots of people that will help him get to Niagara Falls where Chloe is supposed to get married except she won’t when she sees him. His parents follow him there. He takes off his bubble suit as he talks to her, he collapses and presumably dies. Jimmy's father then forces Jimmy's mother to confess that Jimmy had developed a fully functional immune system when he was four years old, and Jimmy realizes that he is not dead at all. It is revealed that Mrs. Livingston had hidden this fact from Jimmy to protect him from the world. Jimmy forgives her and leaves the church with Chloe.
New equilibrium: Later, Jimmy and Chloe are married with all of their new friends in attendance.

Analysis of Continuity in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

I have analyzed the continuity of the sequence from 3:28 to 6:30

- Charlie walks out of the shop the door into the centre of the frame and looks towards the action (the right of the frame), the camera cuts to an MLS of the crowd from Charlie’s POV.
- Back to MCU of Charlie as he sets off towards the crowd, this shot flows into the next where we see him running into the frame of a LS of the crowd (Match on action).
- When he gets there, a HA shot shows the newspaper headline between 2 men having a conversation explaining it, so we now know what all the kerfuffle is about.
- MCU of Charlie at his eye level of his shocked reaction to the news.
- He turns to walk away in the above shot, match on action and shot reverse shot to the crab shot, MCU of Charlie walking away from the crowd.
- As he walks we see people in the background continue to read the paper and the audience knows where he is going in relation to the original crowd of people.

- This leads onto a LA, MS of Charlie as he takes out the Wonka bar and looks at it hopefully, cuts to HA of Charlie opening chocolate bar – variety of angles for one simple but important action.
- CUs of Charlie to show his anticipation and CU of chocolate bar covered in shiny foil and Charlie’s fingers as he opens it - focuses and involves the audience in the action of finding the ticket.
- Fast paced cuts between reaction shots and opening the bar = excitement
- Cutaway: ECU of the coveted golden ticket

- Hand comes from right of frame which we know is where the crowd of people were.
- MLS to show dialogue and action between Charlie and woman then quick pan to MLS of crowd as Charlie gets dragged back and disappears into it.
- Crab shot as he fights his way through the crowd and pan to the right as he runs off into the distance
- LSs as he runs home – Est. shots of the different places in town through which he runs give a sense of the direction in which he is running, distance and freedom
- Reverse track to LA as he runs – involves the audience in the movement
- Sideways track (crab shot) of MCU of Charlie running with a smile – focuses on the emotion of the character, the close range leads us to forget that he’s just run into a dark alleyway, this makes the next shot more shocking.
- Zoom into Slugworth as Charlie almost runs into him - audience feel this action too as the shot is from Charlie’s POV.
- Shot reverse shot of the characters as Slugworth talks.
- LA from Charlie’s POV looking up at Slugworth - involves the audience again
- BCU of Slugworth’s face makes him seem even more intimidating
- Wider shot of both characters takes audience out of the conversation as onlookers
- OTS of Charlie looking nervous = emotion
- Camera shows Slugworth walking away from Charlie and Charlie’s expression in this shot matches the CU of him in the next (match on action) before he continues running home.

COMPARISON OF OPENING SEQUENCES ‘Legally Blonde’ and ‘Se7en’

Narrative Info:
Helpful Qs: What kind of story is being told in each sequence?How much of the story is revealed to the audience?

Legally Blonde:
- Camera follows a card addressed to the main character - Elle- As it does so a sunny, perfect looking, materialistic campus is revealed – fountains, mowed lawns, massive houses, boys messing around, girls striving to look perfect (working out, doing their make up) - Everyone seems happy so something will probably go wrong to create a problem or some sort of conflict later on.
- We know a lot about Elle by the end of the sequence (throughout it we see her getting ready) but her identity is built up and kept from us until the card reaches her room, as she is the most important character

Se7en:
- Unlike Legally Blonde we’re introduced to the main character straight away, not much is held back as a minute into the sequence we see the dead body in a pool of blood signifying that this is a thriller with a crime and a mystery of whodunit
- Another difference is that we already see conflict between the characters and things seem far from perfect, we are introduced to the 2 detectives, they start a conversation and we expect a partnership will form but there are already signs of them not getting along.
- In both sequences, expectations are built up of where the story will go. We expect something to go wrong in seemingly perfect Elle’s life and in Se7en a crime has taken place and the detectives have to solve the mystery, we also expect them to have seven days to solve the mystery as the sequence begins with Monday signifying the beginning of the case.

Character Types
Helpful Qs: What are your first impressions of the characters you see?
What role do you think the characters will play in their respective storylines?

- Although the characters are very different, in both sequences we learn a lot about the main characters in the first few minutes by the way other characters react to them, the way they act themselves and the props that surround them.

Legally Blonde:
- Main character is very typically girly and rich – lots of pink in her room, makeup, perfume, designer shopping bags etc
- She’s at college and very popular - homecoming queen and class president, lots of people sign her card and care is taken for it to reach her
- She seem to be likeable as she seems to be liked by everyone and also quite innocent and childish - seeing as she is presented so perfectly something bad is bound to happen to her.

Se7en:
- By the way he gets dressed, the main character appears a careful, considered and thoughtful character - he does things a certain way (metronome turned on to get him to sleep)
- The way he lies awake at night suggests internal conflict- maybe worrying about the past or future (unlike Elle who is carefree and materialistic)
- He is retiring which suggests he is very experienced at his job but…
- Unlike Elle in Legally Blonde, his colleagues don’t respect him or seem to like him as he questions everything about the crime scene - we side with him because he seems to be the ‘good guy’ that wants the truth and justice - so he may be the one that solves the crime in the film
- Unlike in legally blonde where everyone on campus looks the same (perfectly groomed and happy)and is the same age, there is contrast between Brad Pitt ‘s character who is young, relaxed and easy going with Morgan Freeman’s character who is older, more experienced, and thoughtful.

Shot Types
Identify at least 3 different shot types/camera techniques used in each sequence
Explain the impact on the audience

Legally Blonde:
- 1st shot is out of focus CU of blonde hair which then become in focus – dreamy effect-idealism
- Pan across campus as girl rides bike across- people playing, fountain, sunny weather and sunlight reflecting off the water presents an idea of perfection and idealism (reinforced by the soundtrack)
- Tracking of people holding the card shows the journey of the card and the care taken to make sure it is delivered - she is obviously an important, popular character
- CUs of perfume, make up etc reinforce her image as a girly girl
- Lots of bright colour, opening credits are glowing pink with curly writing- perfection

Se7en:
- 1st shot seems like we’re watching him, we’re hidden by the furniture as if we can see him but he cant see us = sinister, stalker effect
- Not much colour - even the pool of blood isn’t red, contrasts and shadows, quite dark, very gloomy and rainy – nothings perfect (like in LB)
- Opening credits - lots of fast paced, distorted images presents a psychotic but very careful and specific killer
- LA of the 2 detectives in conversation outside- looks up at them and the rain = gloomy, stalker effect
- -Zoom in to Morgan Freeman and metronome as he tries to sleep = something is on his mind, conflicted character