Hello, this is my blog for my AS Media coursework, detailing the research + planning, production and evaluation process of creating a two-minute film opening
Match Cut, this video says: "jumps from one shot to a similiar shot by either matching the action or the composition", change in space mostly but also in time, it is not cutting on action because we are changing to a different moving subject/action, where as with cutting on action we're still following the same subject. Like in The Two Towers, when Gandalf falls after trying to heal the king
Verbal Match Cut, the diegetic sound spoken by one character is, is not the same as an audio bridge, because we there we can't see the first part spoken, here one sentence is completed by the other (like in Candalabra)
TRANSITIONS:
Fade In & Fade Out
Dissolve (The panning shot from one to another of Billy's room)
Smash Cut, sudden abrupt change, often waking up from a dream (if I had done the dream where Billy dreams of kissing Rachel)
Iris, an alternate way of cutting to or zooming in on a close-up
Wipes, simple square, or can be different types of shapes (like with the pool table)
Invisible Cut, where it's made to look like that it's still one single take, but it really is done through camera angles, like in whip pans, or mise-en-scene, like lighting
L-Cut, audio carries over but is different
J-Cut, same as audio bridge? Also difference that sometimes diegetic sound turns into non-diegetic sound. Also "the audio of the next scene starts before you get to it", you hear what's going on before you see what's going on. Also great to introduce a new element of a scene(Tom Hanks stepping on piano and hearing it before we see it)
Both L- and J-Cut are designed to create a seamless flow, continuity editing, to make it look real, to achieve verisimilitude.
Production co's: Production financing: UK, US theatrical distributors: Universal LINKS:IMDB; RottenTomatoesBoxOfficeMojo; The- Numbers; Wiki; Official site/page; Facebook;Twitter
TRAILER
IDENTS: Two idents: Universal and vertically integratedsubsidiary Working Title, as is always the case for Working Title their ident is dubbed over with diegetic sound, however in this case Universal also have been dubbed (has been done, as I saw in Shaun Of The Deadfor example, and has been done in early examples such as The Breakfast Club). Pretty Pictures along with other companies's idents are not present.
A landscape/extreme longshot
....
The rule of thirds is applied, background is in shallow focus. This anchors her as an important character, and without any foreknowledge of the film, one could immediately connote that she is the protagonist, the Danish Girl.
The time and location is given through a white caption in white upper-case letters. Again reflection, connoting the theme of artistic expressionism.
... ONE OR TWO PROTAGONISTS? From the editing it appears that we are following a couple. It is not quite clear, for we follow the two home together, we see them in bed together. Following the husband eventually signifies that he is the main character overall of the narrative. The actress Alicia Vikander was nominated for and won (ceremony) the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, there was some controversy that she hadn't been nominated for the Best Actress category.
SOUNDTRACK: The diegetic sound of water and rushing wind is soon added to the incidental non-diegetic sound. This, like Psycho, only consists of incidental music, unlike historical films of more recent times like This Is England ,there is no music of the time to play alongside the film. The classical-like soundtrack fits the melancholic atmosphere of the film.
Production companies: New Line Cinema, The Safran Company, Evergreen Media Group
Distributor: Warner Bros Pictures
Budget: $20m
Worldwide (US + International)
The UK
Critical Success:
Trailer
THE SHOT
Before the opening shot we get a black. We have voiceovers, all American, denoting the location of the film, USA (not the south). We have the female. Although we don't know. We have a binary opposition already, an unsure female character assured by a male character, ancient stereotype?The first shot exposes a central character, the antagonist. It is more usual that we have a protagonist (as Shawn in This Is England), but in a sense one of the protagonists has already been introduced before through the voiceover. Binary opposition, real life human
The camera zooms out slowly to a close-up. Rule of thirds isn't applied, further anchors this is something abnormal, the monster lurking in the corner of your eye. The eye is looking at the audience, viewers empathise with the feeling of surveillance the dummy will give all the characters throughout the film.
I had a track covered by an independent musician that
was assigned to a record label owned by main company, so
just like with Duffy I had horizontal integration,
but very limited, more like the Arctic Monkeys in Warp's Le
Donk + Scor-Zay-Zee and Submarine. but arguably
even less so.
My film ended up being a 12 and PG-13, so I'm not
taking the same risk as an 18-rated film.
POSSIBLE POINTS OF INFLUENCE:
As I've seen in Warp Films, the danger of my film being
rated 18 can even increase my limited commercial success along
with the major setback of an indie and no A-List stars, however even
without an A-Lister and an actor who has some recognition in the US
(I would eventually choose Rachel Weisz), if one has a genre
that can appeal to a certain audience it can be successful, as
the Krays are culturally recognisable in the UK, and the gangster genre
will be more appealing in the USA in, the violence and possible
blood having similar appeal to that of horror. This can increase
digital streaming interest for teens.
TITLE
Director, 2009
PRODUCTION COMPANIES:Working Title, UK Film Council, Aramid Entertainment
Notice how a lot of the praise is on the double performance of Tom Hardy.
TRAILERS:
...
The opening sequence after idents and titles and before we cut to the main title has been made available on YouTube by STUDIOCANAL Australia.
INST
the-numbers.com graph highlights the downside of working-class characters in a UK set film
One of the production companies is Amazon Instant Video. An example of convergence with the film cycle step exhibition being challenged. The distributors providers/exhibitors are now also becoming producers. This is can be seen as vertical integration
The opening sequence after idents and titles and before we cut to the main title has been made available on YouTube by STUDIOCANAL Australia.
SYNPNOSIS
A clear exposition of the setting, 1960s London, and the narrative, the Krays brothers. The two twins are introduced as a rising force in the criminal underworld, however their differences aren't anchored in the opening sequence, but by the time of the opening sequence it is shown who we are meant to follow as the protagonist.
IDENTS
20 seconds you get the Studiocanal. Universal is the distributor but we don't get their ident. A look at the Universal UK YouTube channel shows that the conglomerate owned by Comcast didn't show that much interest in this film, which its box office shows. However, Working Title had much more belief in it than for example The Program, a film which flopped both internationally and in the UK with only a UK box office of 500km, which was not on their YouTube channel along with Grimsby from their most recent films.
Working Title started with promoting their films on YouTube with behind the scenes footage in 2013 with the adaptation of the hit musical Les Miserables. The Program and Grimsby aren't shown here, signifies not their lower importance.
TITLES:
There are very few titles, the rest were shown at the end credits. These only include the distributing and production companies as separate white on black captions
STUDIOCANALPRESENTS
IN ASSOCIATION WITHANTON CAPITAL ENTERTAINMENT
&AMAZON PRIME INSTANT VIDEO
A WORKING TITLEPRODUCTION
LEGEND
MISE-EN-SCENE: There is use of CGI for the city. The car is
glamorised, it shines, it's not clear whether it has been
editing. . There are multiple people in the background.
REPRESENTATIONS: When a text today represents (it
can never truly show what the past was like, just like any media
representation) an historical time period, it can be difficult to judge whether
there has been
But nevertheless, the constant repetition of 'able-bodied',
caucasian, heterosexual etc. characters in the media creates a normative effect on society.
SEXUALITY: Through the line "My Reggie", the left
Kray is signified as heterosexual, and so is the narrator, immediately
showing that there are more heterosexual characters.
Ronnie's homosexuality is not signified. AGE: The classic image of the gangster is The
Godfather, age is status there.
SOCIAL CLASS: These are working
class lads who rose up in the crime world. Is this a somewhat different
representation of class than is typical for Working Title? REGIONAL IDENTITY: This is closely linked with class and status, and the expectation of
GENDER: Bechdel Test? Decision to
focus not just on symbols of male power but have it narrated by a female
character
NARRATIVE, GENRE, EXPOSITION: From this line we expect
The Krays aren't clearly morally anchored heroes as the film
will show, however we will see that Ronnie has a more sensitive side. So here
he is called: "Bloodthirsty" and the smoke like a fire breathing
dragon seems to anchor he is the more malicious twin, and then Reggie
is called different. So this sets up an apparent
THE CENTRAL PROTAGONIST?: As
we transition to the main film, we follow Reggie as he asserts his
authority, meets his love interest.
In this opening sequence this is signified by the narrative
This two-shot that could signify closeness is made to look cold
by them not looking at each other.
SOUND: We get an audio
bridge of the non-diegetic incidental music
from the Working Title ident to the opening shot. We then get
diegetic
The track of the closing credits is foreshadowed
by this line:
Believe me when I say, It took a lot of love for
me to hate him the way I do.
This track also intertextuality references a Led Zeppelin song of the time period, also called Whole Lotta Love.
*Screenshot of Spotify*
This track is an example of horizontal
integration, Duffy is contracted with
