Looking into Romance #1

Looking into the Romantic genre, I have chosen to do a brief analysis of the opening for 'The Vow'. I have chosen this because I think it is a very powerful opening and the entire film was outstanding.

The producers open this film very well with calm slow and happy music being played as an overhead zooming in shot is used to show a couple coming out of a theatre as it is snowing, as they're linking arms we can tell they have a romantic relationship, and the falling snow adds a magical and romantic effect to it.

There is then a pan shown of the setting around them, one big blanket of snow as they are talking about how beautiful it is. The music is taken down a notch to a gentle and magical almost christmassy feel with slight jingling sounds and a piano playing high notes and he is shown kissing her head as they almost cuddle up. This tells us these two are very much in love and the beautiful setting could be a metaphore for their relationship.

As they enter the car we have a back seat view of the two which I think makes the viewers feel a part of it more as though we were in the car with them.

Emphasising the romance further, Leo, turns on the radio singing along to 'I would do anything for love' and as they're laughing and having a good time Paige says 'I'm married to a cheeser'. This shows us that they aren't just a fling, their relationship is serious and real, they're at one of, if not the biggest step in a relationship which shows the audience its depth. The fact we are shown a close up clip of the radio being turned on shows us its diagetic sound - the characters can hear it too.

As the car stops, the music does too and the fun atmosphere has almost disappeared as we can only hear the running engine and wind wipers in the background.

Paige then starts talking and begins the sentence with 'I have a theory", its still a light hearted atmosphere as she goes on to say "a girl will get pregnant if she does it in a car". The two characters begin to get intimate with each other and we see a close up of Paige releasing her belt.

Suddenly the story line gets dark, the noise is turned to a tense sound slowly getting louder as we see headlights of another car in the back mirror of theirs. Then a voiceover comes on of a present day Leo as we see that the sound isn't diagetic, he says he has a theory too. This is powerful as we can tell from the tone of his voice that this is serious, the reason we feel something bad is about to happen is because of a theory his wife had so hearing he has one with a deeper meaning as we see the two cars getting closer together builds tension and emotion in the opening.

As he tells us his theory is about "moments of impact" just after the last word the cars collide, we see the impact the collision had as the glass windows instantly smash as sad music plays in the background and as the only other thing we can hear is the smash of the front windscreen as Paige fly's through it - again because of the impact.

This all happens in slow motion and after Paige has gone through the windscreen, time speeds up, the glass falls and there is no more noise except for the intense instrumental sounds being played in the background as another overhead shot is used this time zooming out as the snow falls.

Not only is the performance and direction very good for the opening in this film, but also the techniques used and opposites, for example Barthes code of binary oppositions, the very begining of the opening shows an overhead shot zooming in with the snow with beautiful scenery and happiness, however the end of the opening is an overhead shot zooming out with the snow, but this time not so beautiful scenery, and a devastating accident. This is 100% a pro to this example of a romantic opening.

I also like how we were given an exactly perfect amount of information just in the few minutes, the intensity of their relationship (they were trying for a baby) and that something was about to change due to a fatal accident, which is inciting because we don't know what that will be or the effect it will have.

I really liked the voiceover, as from that point on, it managed to change the mood and direction of the entire opening from just the tone of the voice in the first sentence. I think voiceovers are very powerful, especially when it is done in such a way that it is a present day character referring to something that happened in their past - it shows growth. I would take inspiration from this in particular if i was to make an opening in this, or any genre.

There's nothing from this particular opening that I didn't like, one con if I had to pick at it would be that the voiceover did not carry on in the opening, it didn't come to a final sentence for closure expanding his theory on impact, however this can be seen as a good thing as after the opening the voice over may continue throughout the film - it can be a reason to keep watching, so it is bittersweet in that sense.

A brief plot synopsis idea for a film in this genre
Rosie is 25 wanting to settle down and wondering why every relationship she has been in has never worked out, she takes a trip down memory lane visiting lovers from her past only to realise exactly why she has ended up this way. An unexpected twist occurs for Rosie when someone from her past shed never even met could be the one to change her life forever...

Silent Films

A silent film has no recorded sound synchronised with the performance of characters within the story. There is no spoken dialogue in it although diagetic sound can be used. The only type of diagetic sound there may be in these films are screams or breathing. Silent films will often use the non diagetic sound of music just to portray and set the atmosphere, fun jumpy music may be used for example to reflect a happy mood, or slow and scary music may be used to reflect an situation where tension is built.

Dialogue in silent films is shown through gestures and mime. This also usually meant body language and facial expression were sometimes exaggerated in these films because it was one of the only ways to show the audience how the character was feeling, or the relationship between two characters.

I believe silent films are good for the comedy genre because you don't necessarily need dialogue to be funny, actions speak louder than words in that sense. My film is a much more serious and dramatic one, I feel like I need some form of dialogue to help my audience understand the situation as its much more complicated than a general 'funny film', due to this I don't feel like filming my opening idea in the style of a silent film is very fitting or suitable, I also don't personally enjoy silent films as I like for a film to have dialogue and therefore, I will not be using it.

Looking into Drama #1

Looking into drama I have decided to focus on one of the most dramatic and intensely emotional films I have ever watched; Titanic. The opening has no dialogue in it what so ever however I personally believe that it is immensely powerful. 

The scene starts with the sound I can only describe as the shore on a stormy beach, this sound lasts for about 3 seconds before we hear a very low base instrument and a woman who begins to sing. As she is singing one note she goes into many keys, however on the third as they are getting higher a sound of a base drum hits.

On this base note, a sepia film appears where we see a cruise ship (the titanic) thats about to depart as there are masses of people waving goodbye on land- they are the first thing we see as the camera zooms up to the boat and the people on it. Knowing the the tragic story this film follows, a sense of irony appears as the camera zooms up, in an upward shot as this would usually signify importance and high status of the people on this cruise ship - which in order to afford this holiday they thought they were, however we know the real end, which is even more upsetting.

The shot then moves to masses of people on the boat waving goodbye, with joy and their hats in the air and then focuses on more specific parts of the boat for example the deck, then the corner, then people at a stairway and so on. I believe this is because the film shows how this disaster affects many people, old couples, upper class, lower class and young families. One very well done thing in this film opening was showing people waving goodbye as a close up rather than many in a widescreen makes the film become more personal, making people emotional and causing them to connect more with the film.

The opening carries on with music throughout and its significance is almost beautiful when shown in an emotional light. Everyone knows titanic is an emotional and romantic film, revealing a beautiful, tragic, heartbreaking yet heart warming storyline. It is a juxtaposition. Just like the film, the music can be portrayed in this light too, the background instruments are low and convey an underlying sadness that is about to come whilst the higher singing voice can be seen as calming and happy - together they create something very bittersweet. I think this is definitely a positive as it immediately gives off this atmosphere letting us indirectly know how this film might make us feel as the audience

This opening also talks brings history into the scene, as it is also common knowledge that Ireland was the titanic's last port of call, the tune being sung particularly up until 11 seconds is extremely comparable to traditional Irish music. The sepia effect (filter) also emphasises that it is an old event as this and black and white were the colours people would watch the tv in, in the olden days - almost making us feel as though we were back there with them.

Another thing noticeable with the music is that it is very in time with the camera movements, at many of the higher notes there is a transition, either from masses of people or individual people. This is particularly meaningful as soon after the shot moves from daylight to darkness of the sea where we can see its movements in the wind and can guess that this disaster will have something to do with the water, which they show for 11 seconds all together after finally revealing the title of the film above this water 'TITANIC". As this appears the woman singing is at her highest note in the section of that song as well as the song all together, this is highlighting the importance of the actual titanic in this film, almost honouring it or the people inside it, again rising emotions.

As the womans voice continues we hear the sound we heard at the beginning again beginning to almost overpower it, and we see that the shot has moved into the deeper parts of the sea with a submarines lights as the shot gets higher and begins to be a downwards shot looking down on the submarines. After a few seconds, with now two submarines with many lights on them almost looking for something under the water it becomes clear to us that this is due to an accident and the voice then drowns out for almost five seconds before continuing and coming to an end as these submarine become further and further into the distance.

This five second pause also portrays a message of silence, respect and -you could say- sympathy. Similar to the two minute silence, it is almost something honorary and it is something whereby people feel connected to what has happened and feel the sorrow and effects of the accident through this emptiness.

Overall I think it is an outstanding opening and can not be competed with. I can genuinely find no fault whatsoever apart from that I would have liked to get a glimpse of the shipwreck at the end of the opening as it could add to reason and complete and answer the question we've been contemplating throughout the opening - if there was a disaster, what was it? However I believe the producers decision to not put this in was clever as it doesn't reveal everything right away, it lets us wonder and fear and feel for the people we saw at the begining more for a while longer.

Any inspiration I would take from this film would be the use of angles to portray different kinds of emotion and contradictory/ironic emotion as explained above, and the use of music to deliver the message of the story. Both of these are very powerful.

A brief plot synopsis idea for a film in this genre
Two 11 year old twins who are also the best of friends find out that they're being evacuated, but separately as it is the only way they can be safe. They live for 5 years with no contact allowed and both go on a desperate journey to find one another at last.

Looking into Documentary #1

The documentary film I have decided to look into is 'This is Us" by One direction. This is a documentary about each of 1D boys and their tour life.

The documentary stars off with a blank screen and Niall Horan talking about his life, this then leads on to each of the other boys doing the same thing. They initially talk about their life as young children and their background and Niall perfectly starts this off as the voiceover begins with "When I was small I had a desk", he goes on to say that on this desk he had carved "when I grow up i wanna be a singer" into it. This sets the rest of the opening up very well because each of the boys begin to talk about something when they were younger in relation to their career now, for example "When I was little, I knew I wanted to entertain" - and they are now entertainers.

When each boy begins to speak a picture of where they were brought up is shown along with a signpost for the place, for example when Louis Tomlinson comes on the train station sign of Doncaster comes up. After the pictures of their location appear, baby pictures or videos follow with relevance to what they are saying - when Harry Styles talks about how he always wanted to perform a clip of his younger self singing on a school stage is shown and when he talks about his sister, pictures of them together as children are included.

As each boy has their turn we hear faint screams from adoring fans and a guitar strum, signifying they achieved their musical dream as we see the production for their tour being set up with hundreds of seats only on the floor. There is slightly more background to their lives delivered to us through another voiceover and the guitar strums at a higher key when a photo of one of the boys standing on a stage looking out to a very big crowd comes onto the screen. We are then shown more pictures but of the boys as older children, we hear more screams and the guitar strums at a higher key again. There is then a pause where each of the boys are having a group moment on stage as they put their hands in together, after this there is a very fast montage of photos of them all from their childhood up will now and it is at this point where the voice over ends with Zayn Malik saying "That is when the dream started".

I really like that the guitar strum got higher and higher in key in the opening at each stage, the first strum, like i said, was when the set for their tour was being set up. I think this is very clever as it is meaningful and marks the beginning of their musical career as well as the fact they achieved all those childhood dreams they were talking about just seconds before in the voiceover and photo montage. The second strum was when one of the boys were facing a crowd with thousand of people screaming in excitement that adore him and his band, this is in a higher strum from the tour because its more personal and individual to that specific member. The third, final and highest key strum is before there is a pause where the boys all group together, showing their friendship and the emotional journey they have all had together through their dream. These three strums signify three elements to the film, the boys growing up and reaching their dream, how each individual boy's life changed and their friendship and life together. It gives an amazing and inspiring story emotion as you see these stars as real life people rather than robots who sing - and so the plot is revealed.

I wouldn't say there were any cons to this film opening because it is very emotional and enticing, especially for fans of this band. I would have said it could be improved by everything happening in order for example all pictures and stories to be shown then moving onto the tour rather than going backwards and forwards, however I feel like this adds to the emotion and intensity as showing the present day are just little flashes to constantly remind us how far these ordinary boys have come.

Like i said for the twilight film, I also really like the idea of voiceovers, whether it is to give thoughts away or things that have happened - I think it adds a more personal touch from the characters to the film, without breaking the fourth wall. However in a documentary it is almost necessary to break the fourth wall because it is real and therefore people expect a bigger connection to the people in it, this is mainly done through interviews during the documentary etc.

A brief plot synopsis idea for a film in this genre

Casie is 16 years old getting bullied by not only her peers, but by her work colleagues and customers too. Get an inside look as we follow this young girl letting her express how society has destroyed her confidence and investigate why body weight is something society feels is important enough to judge someone by.

Dialogue in an opening

Rather than using music or a monologue, some films are opened jumping straight into dialogue, 'Mean Girls' is an example of this.

The film opens with a low angle shot of Cady's parents looking and talking to her, her dad passes her her lunch and tells her she can "ask one of the big kids" where she can buy milk, and her mum passes her a note with her phone number on it. Her mum then asks if she is ready to which Cady replies with "I think so". From the dialogue we would assume Cady is starting her first day at school, and as a voiceover starts we learn that she is.

The voiceover lasts for around 30 seconds where Cady tells us about her experience in africa and why  she lived there and as it stops theres more dialogue as she nearly gets hit by a bus but turns to tell her parents that she is ok.

A good thing about dialogue here is that it allows you to see the relationship between characters, we can see that Cady and her parents have a close relationship and that they still see her as a baby but care for her a lot. Even though there is only a bit of dialogue in the opening two minutes, it is a very good introduction to the film as the entirety of it is about an innocent homeschooled girl joining a 'scary' high school and the dialogue between the parents and Cady at the start show this, as well as the patronising low angle as Cady's parents are looking down at her.

In this particular opening there is a very good mixture of techniques, there is dialogue to start with, then a voiceover with flashbacks and towards the end of it there is music too. However, a problem with an entire film opening consisting of 100% dialogue is that it doesn't set a mood, it only delivers information either through the conversation between characters or their relationship, that is part of why I think the opening and entire 'mean girls' film is so successful, the different techniques used and the layout of it makes it interesting to watch.

Music in Film

Bride Wars

You can see the opening of bride wars by clicking here

This opening starts with a fun up-beat tune and then a close up shot of a wedding scrapbook covered in fun colours and materials is shown, there is then a montage of shots all relevant to a wedding shown for example a bride and groom cake stand. Throughout all of this the fun music is playing and that too is also relevant.

The first lyric is "I found so many things I dreamed of" followed by lyrics including "days go by and were still laughing" and "he's all mine and were never alone". All of these lyrics are positive and are strongly linked to romance, as well as weddings (from the shots and clips as the music is playing). This immediately tells the audience that the story is upbeat, like the tune, and is about love.

Aside from the lyrics, the tune itself is infectious, it instantly makes you feel happy and positive, it sets a light hearted and fun atmosphere and personally, would make me want to continue watching.

Titanic

I have done a post about this film opening and I talk about music a lot in it you can find that here however to summarise, the music is very depressing, it has a low base and instead of singing lyrics, notes are sung in a very slow but moving way. Unlike the opening for "Bride Wars" it doesn't make the audience feel happy and it isn't upbeat, however still very powerful and informative along with the shots in the background telling us it will be a sad story as the sad music plays in the background of people on the titanic waving goodbye to their families. Another thing I mentioned in the post is that at most of the higher notes there is a transition in shots moving from different people on the ship waving to their loved ones, it heightens the emotion and sets the mood making us feel as if the film and storyline itself may not have such a happy ending due to the strong focus of the 'goodbyes' in the opening. Finally, the music resembles traditional Irish music and Ireland was the last 'port of call' before the titanic set sail, so it is very fitting

Music does an incredible job of setting the atmosphere and mood, it is something people listen to everyday and they will listen to different songs depending on their mood, which is why I think having music in an opening is a very good way of letting the audience know what the overall mood, atmosphere or feel of the film may be, people strongly connect to music and therefore I believe its a powerful thing to include.

The only disadvantage to using music for the whole opening is that it may not give enough information about what the film is going to entail, the titanic is a very well known story across the world therefore it isn't really a problem in the film's opening, however if a less known film only  had music in it for the first few minutes the audience may get bored or make an instant judgment about the whole film based on the music, therefore I think in an opening it would be better to only have music in the first half.

Breaking the Fourth Wall

In a theatre you usually see three walls, the back wall and the two side walls, this adds up to three, the fourth wall is the invisible wall, allowing the audience to look in. Usually in a theatre show the characters/action on the stage never make themselves aware of what is behind the fourth wall, they act as if they are in a closed room with no one looking in, however some theatre shows involve the audience, particularly for interactive kids shows; *character asks* "WHERE IS HE?" *audience scream* "HE'S BEHIND YOU!" - this is known as breaking the fourth wall as the characters and action on stage are aware of what is behind this imaginary fourth wall.

Breaking the fourth wall doesn't just apply to theatres, it also applies to TV, even if characters in a film are outside, the set still has dimensions as we can see what is around them whether its walls or other houses, in TV/Film breaking the wall is to be taken less literally due to this, however it still means acknowledging the audience - it is having direct contact with the audience.

On live tv or theatre shows, breaking the fourth wall can also be done by mistake for example if the actor is stunned by the audience or looks directly into the camera - it is all considered contact with the 'outside world' aka, what is behind that imaginary wall.

Below is a youtube clip with 10 'breaking the fourth wall' moments.

Personally, I don't like when the fourth wall is broken because I feel like it ruins the drama and makes the film seem less real, if an audience is very engaged in the tension and drama of a story for example a funeral, and a character turns round and begins to break the fourth wall by talking to them, I feel like it would ruin the atmosphere. It is my personal preference to watch a film and feel like I am watching a story myself rather than feel like I'm being spoken to by characters who aren't supposed to know I'm there - it ruins the nature of a situation such as a funeral.

Aside from this, one pro to breaking the fourth wall could be in a comedy film because its less intense and more light hearted, it could be seen as funny which is the aim of any comedy genre.

Sound in Slumdog Millionaire

This film begins with diagetic sound, sound the characters in the film can hear,  for this particular film this is heavy breathing, cigar smoking and finally the sound of a slap as the elder man hits Jamal. This shows the intensity between the two characters and the apparent  dangerous tension between them.

The diagetic sound of this slap then coincides with non diagetic background music of the famous 'who wants to be a millionaire?' ticking and tune, this is overlaid with a question directed to the audience to make us think about the character and his progress despite his conditions - this is also how we know its non diagetic. There is then the diagetic sound placed over this ticking noise of masses of money being placed onto a table and whilst both of these sounds are still present, another diagetic sound comes from the host of the 'who wants to be a millionaire?' introducing the show and welcoming everyone followed by the sound of the audience cheering.

I really like the use of overlapping sounds that are both diagetic and non diagetic as it helps set the mood and can give the audience more information, for example this popular shows theme tune will immediately let the audience know the characters are in a game show.

Then a non diagetic sound of rising background noise is used to build the tension and once the contestant, Jamal, has been introduced this fades and the main theme tune of the show is used as he walks out to centre stage. This time the music is diagetic sound as all of the audience can hear it, its used to welcome a contestant, whereas the ticking noise is only used as time runs out for the contestant to answer a question and Jamal wasn't in this situation when the sound was being used, thats also how we know it was non diagetic.

In this opening sound is mainly used to build tension or to show intensity, which is very fitting because it is a very intense film showing third world issues and how a boy lived through them.

Sound in Film

Sound is a key aspect of film, without it there is a big chance none would understand what is going on and its almost guaranteed that the audience wouldn't pick up the entire storyline either. Aside from the sound of dialogue, which many would agree is one of the more obvious contributors to sound, there are several other aspects of sound that make the audience relate to or empathise with the characters in the story, that can put the viewer in the audiences shoes or that can change the entire mood and atmosphere of a particular scene in the film.

Diegetic sound is sound that can be heard by characters within a scene. Examples of this are the rustling of leaves as the character walks through them, splashing of water as the character jumps into the pool, shutting the door and of course, dialogue. All dialogue is diegetic, even if one character is whispering to himself whilst the others can't hear, because if one character can hear it that is enough. Voices heard by the audience in a flashback or memory of a character are also considered a part of diegetic sound because the character experiencing them can hear them. Narration by a character is also considered diegetic as it is labelled an 'internal monologue' which means it is in and a part of the story.

Non-Diegetic sound is sound that the characters can't hear and is not part of the story, this is the opposite of diegetic and includes a musical soundtrack or voiceover.

Other types of sound include sound effects and something called a 'score'. Sound effects are sounds that are added to a film during the editing process. This may be rain in an animation film where rice is dropped onto a hard surface creating a sound similar to rain drops falling. These appear diegetic whilst we are watching the film - and they are, however some are also artificial.

Finally, a score is the musical component of a programme's soundtrack that is usually specifically composed for a scene in some films, mainly children's. In Disney films, audio (singing) is added above these tracks for example in their 'Frozen' film the songs 'let it go', 'for the first time in forever' and 'do you wanna build a snowman' are all composed specifically for that film.

Overall you can see that sound is very important when it comes to film. Personally, I believe music touches people and in sad films, just adding relevant music can make people more emotionally connected to the story just like a happy and upbeat song can make an individual feel happy. All the different types of sound come together and if used correctly, can help to make a film 10X more interesting to watch.