Roles of production

 My research into roles of production:

Director: 

Directors are responsible for the takes- beginning of scene and end of scene. Directors have to be in charge to get the best out of their actors as well as guiding them in the right direction of the tone of the film but also need to ensure that all of the technical aspects are in place to achieve getting the greatest scene. An example of someone in this industry would be Steven Spielberg, who is known for his successful movies over this years such as E.T, Schindler's list, Jaws and many more.

Some things that Spielberg has suggested as how to succeed and stay motivated when trying to get into the industry of film making as a director. Some of the things in which he has said have been things such as "fight for and stay devoted to your original idea" "if you want to make movies, make movies. All the tools are completely available to you today" 

Editor:As an editor they are placed in charge of the material such as camera footage, sound, dialogue, effects, graphics and special effects to produce a final film product. This is a key role in the post production process and the skills of the editor can determine the quality of the final outcome.

The editor in which I have looked at is Micheal Khan who has edited a total of 53 films. Some of the things in which he has suggested is "don't edit from knowledge, edit from feeling. if you never make a change to a cut, you will never get a good cut". Something that these people in the industry have in common, is the idea about feeling and putting your personal uniqueness in what you do.

Camera operator: Camera operators are in charge of the capturing of shots and action within the scene. They shoot whats happening, whether thats on location or somewhere else they are in charge of capturing it all. The skills needed to be a camera operator is the technological knowledge of cameras and how they work, as on set they are going to need to be able to know how to work with it all as well as working at a pace as there is so much to film. They need to be able to compose creative shots, and apply to what the director is hoping for.

A famous camera operator would be Roger Deakins, he has worked on at least 55 films through out his career. Some of the movies in which he has worked on would be Sky fall, O brother, Blade runner and many more. Some of the advice in which he has given is "get some life experience" as well as talking about how to understand what you are doing. Understand lighting and how to operate with different situations. Thats what makes a good camera operator.

Producer: The producer is someone responsible for finding and launching the project as well as the financing of the production and finding roles within the production such as director, and key members of the creative team. They are normally In charge of over seeing elements of the preproduction, production and post production right up the point of the release.

An example of someone within the industry is Kevin Feige. He is an American film and television producer who has actually been the producer of the Marvel studios and the primary producer of the Marvel cinematic universe. He has produced every single Marvel cinematic universe film since Iron Man. He got his start as an associate and executive producer on films such as Men trilogy, And Lee Hulk, X men trilogy, Avengers etc. Kevin Feige actually refuses to give advice to his success but some of the general notes in which I researched to being a successful producer is: Connecting with musicians, know your space as well as working with your mistakes rather than against them.

Art Director/ DOP: An art director will report to the production designer, they normally design the set and elements of it as well as overseeing artists and construction workers of the set. Overall they will be in charge of determining how majority or all of the set will look like. During pre production they will be the liaison between the production designer and the construction workers within set, basically saying that they are the communications within this period of time. 

An example of a famous and one of the best DOPs would be Emmanuel Lebezki. He has 8 Oscar nominations for best cinematography. Winning 3 times for Gravity (2013), Birdman, and the revenant (2014). He is a Mexican cinematographer and sometimes goes by the nickname Chivo. He is known for having a unique shooting style and works with directors in a certain style. He talks about how you should work with what you have. For example he once said "If we are in a house and its not working, instead of bringing in lights we would rewrite the scene and resemble outside. Or we would shoot another day when it is sunnier. He believes that it should be and look natural when working. It has shown that what he does succeeds and works well.

 

comparing titles sequences

Looking at both American horror story and grease, they are both completely different movies and genres. Some of the ways that the differences have been reinforced is through the titles at the beginning of the film in the opening title sequence. For example American horror story is a horror, while grease is an upbeat fun musical. They both have major differences. 

The first title sequence is Grease.  Looking at the way they have used their titles is important as they are trying to send a completely different message compared to American horror story. The genre of Grease is an upbeat musical of teenagers in their last year of high school. Within their title sequence they have used large exaggerate fonts with bright colors. It connotes a fun and care free attitude towards the movie. The photo on the right is a title for the lead male character. IT has been done in a sharp font and dark red color. Its dominant and bright, and portrays his dominant character. 

we can compare this to the female lead. The same font has been used which communicates the dominance that she has within the whole of the film. But a different color has been used. The color is a lot lighter and brings a different tone to it. Can present that she's a lot different, possibly pure and an element of innocence compared to the font of Danny.

The titles within American Horror story are the juxtaposition of what Greas's titles looked like. The colors have been darker and contain a color scheme of black, brown and grey, which tend to have negative connotations of death or unpleasant connotations in general. This fits the ideologies of American Horror Story anyway so fits the atmosphere of it. The font in which they used is sharper and bold which communicates their sharp and bold events within the sequence. If we compare the two title sequences, they have both successfully connoted the ideologies and atmospheres well of the genre that they are following. The dark color of the fonts in American Horror storys titles adds to it and reinforces the scary/ mysterious narrative. Something colorful and bubbly like Greases titles wouldn't fit and wouldn't make sense to the genre or ideas. This is why titles are so important, they reinforce narratives and help audiences understand what is occurring or bout to take place. They also determine how audiences should feel about the clip.

What are titles?

 Titles are used to establish and communicate key information to the audience within the opening scene. They help reinforce the key positions of the films, and are typically used in the credits at the end of the film or the beginning of the film in a title sequence. 

Some of the titles include: 

- money     - production    - directors name     - main star     - film title     - actor 1-5    - casting

- costume designer       - music       - editor      - production designer      -  (DOP)director of photography

- executive producer     - produced by       - based upon...    - screen play    - director 

how are titles effective: 

titles communicate the tone and atmosphere of the upcoming movie. The can also present the characters personality by the color and font. For example a teenage girls name might be presented in neon pink in a bubbly font. This communicates her stereotypical girl attitudes and care free attitude to life. Something so simple and chosen tells a large message. Or if it was the opening of a horror, the font might be large and sharp in the color black and red, automatically audiences get a sense of dark, blood and mystery for the future of this film.

Western title sequence

 THE HARDER THEY FALL

The opening scene of 'The Harder They Fall' was a clear opening scene to a typical western genre film. It is evident through out by the sound, props, costume etc. The movie directed by The Bullitts and released in 2013, clearly indicated its genre and successfully grasped its audiences attentions. For example the use of Costume and props was very effective, the old outdated style of clothes and cowboy hats followed the stereotypical conventions of a western film. When the unknown cowboy character barged in to the house the use of the pleonastic diegetic sound - emphasis on his boots. This paired with the tracking behind him, created a mysterious atmosphere around him. All of the above costume parts were clear indicators of the type of lifestyles these characters lived. For example the female in a long conservative dress also symbolized the time period and the expectation of women (men holding power). The ambient diegetic sounds right at the beginning communicated the large abandoned desert location in which they lived in. This Is also majorly stereotypical of the genre to be based in the middle of nowhere (desert). The location a is simple family household that sits in a hot sunny and sandy area.

The scenes narrative begins with a family dinner which is then interrupted by an unknown man. With the use of props 2 mini guns (again following the key conventions of a western film). The guns connote a sense of danger and tend to normally point out the villain, the scene ends with the guns being pointed at the family members. We can by the ending of this scene confidently point out who the villain is. I would assume that from this the future narrative would be finding out who this mysterious man is and why he is doing such a brutal thing. The is massively engaging with the audience as it makes them ask multiple questions to why this is occurring. We are left with the guns being held and the final piece of dialogue (diegetic) "im so sorry". Overall I felt that this was hugely engaging and gripping with an audience and would take them by surprise.

The use of the over the shoulder shot as the character walks in connotes him as a large and could be described 'powerful' character. This is then paired with an non diegetic instrumental soundtrack faintly playing in the background. This juxtaposes what is actually happening and creates a false sense of security about this character. To conclude this opening scene was very successful in capturing and targeting their audience, and followed the key conventions to a successful western film.

Drama title sequence

 GOOD WILL HUNTING

The movie good will hunting directed by Gus Van Sant starring Mat Damon, Robin Williams and Ben Affleck in 1997 is categorized in the drama genre. Key conventions of a drama include high stakes and multiple conflicts which normally include emotionally driven characters. From this opening scene this isn't clearly presented and someone from an audience or in general might not have been able to categorize this film by only seeing the opening scene. They would probably have to see the rest of the film to be able to categorize it themselves.

We are presented with different sets of characters. Clearly we are able to see a professor type character, a janitor and a group of classmates in what we could say university. Its located in 1 main location as well as a small feature of the house that the janitor character lives in, as shown in the photograph above. Looking at the character positioning, and the relationships of characters, towards the end of the opening scene there has been a shot on the janitor which created a certain emphasis around him. We watch as an audience as 

he looks at the board of equations.This has been directly done to communicate a message. This engages the audience as we start to think or try to imagine why he is looking at this board. This actively makes the audience ask questions  keeping them interested and engaged. I believe that in the future of this narrative this will mean more. But for now I feel that this is presenting this character as engaged and wanting to learn possibly. This is possibly the future. That its about someone who stereotypically wouldn't be smart or interested due to the status that we see him as at the beginning. But slowly through time he becomes the unexpected and beats those stereotypes and associations. 

Looking at the way they have used sound, it has been carefully thought about and positioned purposely. For example the scene starts with a non diegetic instrumental soundtrack that includes the use of piano and violin. This Is effective as it creates a serious yet content atmosphere. It doesn't connote anything bad but communicates an element of possibility for change. Paired with the tracking of both characters leaving the house, gives us a minor implication to what their like personally. it is quite a happy soundtrack so creates an okay atmosphere. And lastly the way the opening scene has been edited has included long shot durations as well as zero transitions except cuts. This is simple and goes along with the narrative within this opening scene. It connotes a sense of calmness and simplicity, which is what the narrative is like. Overall I felt that this wasn't a representation of the drama genre and tended to subvert to the typical conventions of a drama, yet engaged successfully with audiences keeping them entertained.

War title sequence

DUNKIRK

When looking into the genre of war I decided to pick the movie 'Dunkirk'. This movie is a very popular war film based on true events directed by Christopher Nolan in 2017 (Warner Bros). The first thing I noticed straight away was the sound and editing. The opening scene begins with little sound so is calm and peaceful. Something very unexpected and juxtaposes the war genre. The only thing that is heard is the falling of paper (pleonastic diegetic sound) which has the words "you are surrounded". This places a massive emphasis on the paper, and the message behind it. When you pair this with the editing and the shot duration. The long shot duration exposures of the soldiers allow us as an audience to fully see the misery they are in. Automatically we feel a sense of sympathy for them. Again the expectations of a war film is quick, loud and a true sense of war. But what this opening scene has successfully done is show a different element of war which is sometimes not what is expected of the war genre. The use of a handheld camera shot when they are under attack was extremely effective as it created a sense of realism as if the audience are there in person. It creates a personal connection with the audience. The multiple use of establishing shots creates an emphasis n the abandoned location.

This scene is located in Dunkirk - a coastal city in Northern France, which in world war 2 was taken over and the British and French were trapped there by the Germans. Due to this movie being based on a true story, it brings an audience who want to see a quality film that presents what happened on this tragic event. It began slow and steady and then suddenly they were under attack. In general this can communicate the idea of war and what it was like, the idea that war is constantly changing and it is unexpected.With the use of cuts and quick transitions it creates an awareness of war and communicates how chaotic it was when this was taking place. Therefore it successfully demonstrated the genre of war, and gave an insight to what it was like.

Looking at the narrative of the opening scene, as mentioned before the beginning of the opening scene starts out with 6-7 soldiers walking along the streets of Dunkirk, where it is silent and none of them are speaking. I personally believe that this was an active choice on the directors behalf to show the effect that war has and how little energy these men have. It then goes into a dramatic scene of shooting and chasing and only one of the few soldiers survives. The one that survives ends up just walking away on to the beach looking completely unaffected by what has just happened. this can connote to the audience that this isn't the first time something like this has occurred and to him this is just a normality of day to day life now. We as audience feel a sense of guilt to this, as he probably had no choice but to be involved within the war. A possible future narrative to this could be the whole layout of the war, what happens, etc the ending of who ins. From this entry we get the impression that this is only the beginning and its about to get a lot worse. From the use of non diegetic instrumental of the violin playing in the background of this opening it communicates a sense of seriousness which fits well with the narrative and idea behind the scene (parallel sound). And lastly looking at the nature and relationships of characters, they all present that they have had enough. Considering this is only the beginning of the movie it makes us feel a great deal of sympathy due to the fact that this is only the beginning and they look emotionally and mentally drained.

Thriller title sequence

SPLIT

The movie 'split' directed by M Shya Malan released in 2016 is categorized as a thriller and I agree to a large extent it is. The beginning of the narrative starts out as any relaxed discussion between a dad, daughter and friends. They go into the car and are waiting for the dad character to join them. This ends up not happening and the scene goes from a relaxed walk to the car to the girls being trapped with an unfamiliar man played by James McAvoywho then uses a spray to make them unconscious. This is hugely gripping and massively captures the audiences attention. As an audience we are then gripped in to finding out what happened to these girls who we got used to within the first 3 minutes. We are left with this cliffhanger and multiple questions to who this man is, why he is here and what he is doing. The man that has entered the car had zero dialogue between him and girls. This portrays a level of dominance and power that he has, as with non verbal communication this man knows what he's doing. Out of the 3 girls which are introduced to the audience 2 of them take a lot longer to realize what is happening while the other girl noticed immediately. It connotes to the audience that 1 of the girls is socially aware and could be described as 'smarter' than the others.

The opening scene takes place in 3 locations. Inside a cafe/party event, the car park and inside the car. The first 2 locations is relaxed and calm and do not follow the key conventions of a thriller. While in the car we notice a change in atmosphere and as an audience gain a realization that someone has entered that is unfamiliar to the girls. The opening scene as mentioned ends with the girls unconscious. A possible future narrative could be that the girls get taken and the story that lies with it. The girls get taken, and could be the story and us finding out more about this weird man. I felt that this scene was successful in portraying a thriller and followed an exciting narrative that communicated the key conventions of the thriller genre. 

For example the costumes are all used to symbolize the characteristics and age of each character. The daughter and friends are dressed in brighter colors. in specifics the 2 girls who can be described at 'ditzy' or 'socially unaware' are dressed in brighter colors such as blues, purses and pinks. This connotes a sense of immaturity which is then shown when the unusual man enters the car. While the young girl in the front who is socially aware and 'smarter' is dressed in darker colors, which can communicate her maturity as a character to the audience. When paired with the diegetic dialogue of the 2 girls in the back seat. Them laughing and looking at their phones reinforces the idea of their immaturity. The shot duration of the girl in the front seat is a lot longer than the girls in the bag, this is a mild indicator to the audience that she could be an important character (places an emphasis on her).

And lastly another way that they have successfully targeted their audience of the thriller genre is by their use of camera. For example when the 4 characters are heading back to the car, the use of tracking connotes a sense of following with the combination of a POV hand held camera movement, creates an emphasis about what is looking at them. Element of surprise and creepiness. 

Action title sequence

IRON MAN 1

For the genre of Action I chose the first Iron man movie released in 2008 and directed by Jon Favreau by Marvel studios. This film is an action film which is successfully presented within the opening scene; starring Robert Downey Jr. The opening scene is shot in one location in Afghanistan in a desert. They travel within an army tank. This is obvious due to the choice of costume (mis en scene). They have used Army costumes to communicate the type of characters within this scene. This communicates the profession and atmosphere of the scene. With the use of the costume of the suit, it isolates and creates an importance around this character (Robert Downey Jr). Combined with the non diegetic soundtrack which then fades into a diegetic soundtrack, it can be described as a contrapuntal soundtrack due to the fact that the rock music used juxtaposes the professional connotations which come with being a part of the army. As an audience we are exposed to the dialogue between the 4 characters (who we don't know the names of), the dialogue is relaxed and mildly comedic as he makes jokes around the female driver about her "bone structure". this presents to the audience jokey/ unserious type of character he is yet we can estimate from the costume he plays an important role within this scene.

From what we've scene there is not much to the narrative in the opening scene. Quite abruptly 2 minutes into the scene, there is an explosion of one of the cars in front it not only shocks the characters within but shows the audience, creating a fearful and tense atmosphere.  The use of these visual and special effects creates a sense of realism and makes the scene more believable. As this takes place the audience are immediately engaged and are desperate to learn who makes it and what will happen next. The final part of this opening sequence is where the character in the suit is tied to a chair with a gun to his head. we are not shown whether or not he makes it or dies. The possible future of this narrative could be either him making it out. He is presented as cocky and confident; if he adheres to this character he might possibly get out alive, surviving and fighting back. Or he could subvert to this and end up dying, leaving us with a complete cliffhanger. This scene was successful to communicating an action film. It followed and adhered to the conventions of a typical action filmed opening scene. This gave the impression to our audience that the rest of the movie will be an action filled movie, and the inclusion of chaos and the unknown. There was a variety of camera angles used as well as movement. The use of a handheld shot emphasized the chaos which was paired with pleonastic sound effects which overall created a chaotic and unorganized mess, adhering to the Action genre.

Sci fi title sequence

 GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

When looking into the genre of sci fi I decided to pick the guardians of the galaxy movie directed by James Gunn as it follows key conventions of a sci fi genre film. The move was released in 2014 by Marvel. The scene begins with a non diegetic soundtrack that presents the connotations of a serious/ evil character and atmosphere. This then stops and a diegetic soundtrack then plays (contrapuntal to the expectations of the genre) which completely changed the scenes atmosphere and makes us question what is happening. It then connotes a sense of comedy and gives the audience the impression that the narrative could change at any point, communicating a quick pace/ constantly moving narrative. This opening is located in an a very weird location (stereotypical of the sci fi genre) its rocky, with weird lighting which gives us (audience) an impression that this is an unknown world/ universe/ or planet location. Something that reinforces this is the CGI in which they have used. Within the sci fi genre it is extremely common to see mutants, aliens or extraterrestrial life forms of some sort; and with the CGI they have created small alien looking chameleons, which hugely reinforces the sci fi genre and magical world in which this character might be in.The character and only character which is presented in the opening scene (Chris Pratt) is a young Male who comes across as confident and relaxed. As he is harassed by these smaller aliens he flicks them off as if second nature and normality to him. Which makes us feel as if this world is not new or unknown to him; as an audience we then are engaged to watch more to find out more information on this world. As something that is so known and comfortable to him is so far from our reality, which is a way that sci fi genres tend to hook in their audiences. If we look at why people watch and consume certain medias is normally due to trying to escape their reality, information, education, entertainment and more. Sci fi tends to help audiences escape their realities creating something creative and interesting for audiences to be exposed to. A future narrative of this could be the exposure to this world and the storyline of this male character. We haven't even heard him speak yet; I feel that this was a purposeful and active choice as we don't know anything about him except his fearlessness and carelessness in this type of atmosphere. Further on , from what I have been able to gather is that maybe its him who does come across as so calm and kept together, maybe actually not as calm but scared and lonely and we as an audience might find out the truth of this and his personal story. 

The camera angles that were used were normally high angled establishing shots. This made him seem so much smaller compared to the massive location that he is in. This looking at it deeper could completely juxtapose him as a character; someone who acts so confident is actually so small and weak. Pairing this with the long durations of shots meant that he was completely exposed to the audience and the audience were able to analyze him in a detailed way. Even though he was faced with this small aliens, they were tiny and anyone could probably fight them off. It is no longer impressive after a while. But again this is the first impression that is given, they have successfully targeted a niche audience of sci fi lovers, by completely following the key conventions of the genre and sticking to what is simple yet effective.

The use of pleonastic diegetic sounds emphasize the peculiar sounds that come with certain actions and things he does. It makes us more engaged with the actions and unfamiliar activities. For example there is the use of CGI to create fire out of his shoes towards the end when he is flying from rock to rock. When paired with the pleonastic diegetic sound effect, it creates a hook to audiences as this is not reality. Overall this opening scene has successfully portrayed the sci fi genre as well as engaging and intriguing their targeted audiences through the following of the key conventions.

Horror title sequence

 NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET: 

For the genre of horror I chose the movie 'Nightmare On Elm Street'. This sequence includes the feature of hands doing different things, such as moving knives and the use of metals. Without any exposure of the person behind this. This immediately adheres to the conventions of the horror genre, as it enforces the ideas of mystery, question and nervousness around what this person is up to. As an audience we are actively engaged and have an anxious response to what is going on. The first 5 minutes of an opening scene is the point of determining for an audience, who the characters are, who the audience like and dislike and what the possible future for these characters are. This scene successfully communicates the horror genre, and adheres to the stereotypes which are typically associated with the genre itself. The dirty hands which we are instantly exposed to have negative connotations and don't present well, Subtly creating awareness around this specific character. Within the horror genre there is always a 'villain' or 'scary' character which causes most of the problems. From this sequence we can take a guess that this is possibly the 'villain' of the entire movie. Although we can guess this, it is yet neither confirmed nor denied that this is true. Which again is a successful way to keep the audience actively engaged with the film and continuing to watch the film and base opinions off it.

The scene is located in an ambiguous/ unknown location. But from the pleonastic sound effects of water in the background we could guess that its in a sewage type location or underground. It connotes an idea of abandonment and isolation making audiences feel uncomfortable. Quite quickly we are exposed to another character. A young blonde girl in a white dress. typically young blondes are the stereotype of a 'damsel in distress'/ victim within the film industry. The dress she is wearing is a long white dress. Conservative as well as the white connoting a sense of purity and innocence reinforcing the victim role she is possibly playing. More of the location is exposed as this female character wonders round, and what we can assume from the body language she is hiding from someone. This creates a juxtaposition between the two characters, someone mysterious and non trusting and a innocent, scared, young girl.

I believe that this narrative successfully plays well into portraying this mysterious character as scary and questionable. we as an audience immediately want to see his face. The sequence just shows us the small journey across this abandoned location to the meet of the characters. Instantly we want to know what happens next, and fear for the female victim within the scene. The possible future narrative could either be the escape of this character or as a way to shock the audience, is to kill her off. This way we are completely shocked and can't guess the ending or who is 

next. but she could subvert to the stereotypes of her being

 weak 

and submissive and prove the audience wrong by fighting back.                    

That is how they have successfully communicated the horror genre, by making it interpretable and unknown.

Looking at the way that mis en scene has been used is clearly been used by the choice of colors within clothes, material and atmosphere. The white dress is a huge symbol and communicates the characters personality without even speaking. When this is combined with the non diegetic soundtrack (contrapuntal), something so innocent is present in a creepy atmosphere. 

The choice of editing is effective as it 

plays to the chaos of the scene and the unknown events. For 

example,  while we have long shot durations of the young girl

we have short durations of screen time for the unknown character, this is effective as it plays to the idea that we get short exposures as an audience, and are not getting to see who this character is. The character is unknown and this makes it scarier to watch.  Towards the end of the sequence the  shots become a lot shorter, using editing cuts to make the sequence continuous, as well as the high angled establishing shots. This not only captures and gives the audience more of an exposure to the location but also makes the young female character look smaller and 'weak', in such a big abandoned space.