Opening Title Sequence - Grown Ups 2

How does the director use media techniques to make the “Grown Ups 2” Opening Sequence effective? 

The Sequence begins with non-diegetic asynchronous music, whilst the Production Company (Columbia) appears on screen. As Columbia is such a well known Media Company, the music which was used along with this would automatically capture the viewers attention, drawing them in with the familiar sound effects. 

The second production company appears moments later on a golf ball, where it is hit by a golf club into the ‘screen’. At this moment in time, the Director uses synchronous music and a computer-generated sound effect, in order to make it seem as though the ball has hit the screen and smashed it. This technique was effective, as the sound was unexpected, and draws the audience in for more surprises. 

We are then presented with several birds eye view shots of the area in which we are about to visit - home of the cast Adam Sandler and his family. There is not much content to the shots which portray  several houses, an empty road and multiple trees scattered across acres. Despite this, the director is able to connote a peaceful neighbourhood, one in which people desire to live in. Talk about target audience. 

Officially moving into the house, we’re presented with a close-up shot of Adam Sandler and then his wife. The fact Mr Sandler is so well known for his humorous nature in films which he has previously starred in, suggests to the audience that the film is due to be great, as a result of his popularity in the public eye. This also implies that a large sum of money was spent on him as being part of the cast, due to this fame. 

In regards to mise-en-scene, the director presents a shot-reverse shot of the two characters in bed with each other, connoting that they slept together last night. The female appears to be wearing little to no clothes, which keeps the adult audience enticed for any future action that may occur. This fantasy is almost disrupted not long after, by a dear wearing a bra on one of its antlers. The sight of seeing a deer in their home is very shocking, however the fact that it is wearing a bra sparks a bit of humour to the potentially dangerous situation. 

The continuity editing begins to speed up by this point, however it is still relatively slow; enabling the director to capture the expressions of the characters. It isn't until the deer is frightened by the scream of the female, to which the editing begins to speed up, as it gets scared and begins to urinate all over Lenny’s (Adam) face, and run around the house. The fact that such a creature is in their home in the first place is a hilarious nightmare, making the scene that much more humorous. 

The props which were used in the production of the Opening Sequence, mainly in Lenny’s home, work together harmoniously to portray a beautiful family home - exactly what was suggested by the shots of the area surrounding the house at the beginning. The colours, although very different add a modern touch to the house, despite some of the more older looking furniture. 

Overall the media techniques that were used in the production of the Opening Sequence were effective. I believe the mise-en-scene of the film played a very contributing role, as the characters/ animals assisted with the comedy genre in which the director intended to portray. The fact that a dear made its way into the house seemed possible due to the characters’ location, however people that do not live in the country wouldn't expect to experience such events, allowing them to see the humorous side of things as opposed to the dangers. 

Opening Title Analysis - Life Of Pi

How does the director use media techniques to make the “Life Of Pi” Opening Sequence effective? 

Life Of Pi begins with the Production Company (20th Century Fox), which automatically gives the impression that the film is due to be of a high quality, with excellent graphics and great content; due to the large budget of the company. The non-diegetic asynchronous sound   that is played in the background whilst further titles appear, entices the audience that much more, especially younger viewers as the theme tune would be familiar to them. 

The Opening Scene consists of an establishing shot of what appears to be a zoo, with a giraffe chewing on the leaves of a tree. Several more animals are also portrayed shortly after, each and every one known to be of a friendly nature. The mise-en-scene of these scenes that were edited together undoubtably attract animal lovers and children, promising more of the same kind throughout the narrative. The calm non-diegetic Indian music also contributes to the effectiveness of the scene, allowing the audience to comfortably settle into the film. 

The zoo in which the animals are kept seems to be very open and well looked after, connoting that the animals have a lot of freedom. This enables the audience to feel better about the fact that they are being held captive. With the help of the bright colours and various different types of animals, there is something for everyone - maintaining the interest of the target audience.

The continuity editing remains slow throughout, which allows the viewers to take in the content on the screen. The fact that the camera focusses more on animals as opposed to anything else, suggests that they play a huge role in the parts of the film to come. Despite this, they are all framed in low angles throughout, giving the impression that they are inferior to something to come. A species that isn't seen until later on in the narrative.

Later on in the sequence, the tempo of the music speeds up, and the pace in which the animals move do so too. After having the audience explore the zoo until the main action is introduced, allows for a more dramatic scene to follow up from. This is proven when we see a tiger walking alongside a pond from the refection of the water. The fact it wasn't officially shown, and that we only saw the reflection implies that there is more to come of this character later. This shot was very effective, as it adds to the suspense of the sequence. 

Overall I believe that the media techniques in which the director portrayed were extremely effective, as they managed to build up the suspense of the sequence just before the film developed even further. In my opinion the continuity editing was one of the most effective aspects, as it allowed the audience to really take in the content which was provided; drawing them in and encouraging them to continue watching. 

Opening Title Analysis - Its a boy girl thing

How does the director use media techniques to make the “Its a boy girl thing” opening sequence effective? 

The mise-en-scene of the opening sequence to this film plays a huge role, as it gives us an insight of the target audience that it is aimed at. At first were presented with a blank background, followed by several sparks of lightning, which undoubtably is used to captivate the viewers by creating a mysterious atmosphere with the existence of low key lighting. The image of an eye and the first production company are also presented. Shortly after this, the second of three production companies appears on screen (Rocket Pictures), whereby a rocket travels around space in and out of planets and swerving stars. Already this creates a friendly feel to the teen film, possibly connoting that it is aimed more in the direction of boys as opposed to girls, due to the typical ‘boys are interested in rockets and cars’ stereotype. 

Depicted after this are two characters who seem to be playing nicely, until one throws a rounded object at the head of the other, until they both disappear into a gush of smoke. As the object is thrown the characters falls over, portraying the humorous side of the sequence. After the disappearance of the two characters, they reappear and continue to be a nuisance - just as teenagers are towards one another. The director was very clever with this part of the sequence, making it relatable to capture the viewers attention that much more. 

The opening scene to the narrative begins with an establishing shot of a house surrounded by trees. This gives the impression that whoever lives here has a huge back garden and a lot of space to play, again relating to the desires of a young person. However this is no normal establishing shot, as a visible part of the drawing from the previous action still remains on screen. Although this may seem like a continuity error to some, I presume that it was a deliberate attempt to reassure the audience that the fun was not due to stop after the characters had left. In fact the the humour had only just begun. 

The establishing shot is edited to show for approximately five seconds, allowing for closer observation. It is night time and we hear the sound of a females voice reciting a part of Shakespeare's famous play - Romeo and Juliet. This play was also cleverly chosen, as Shakespeare is commonly studied in Britain in secondary school, which is around the age of the target audience. With this being said, most teenagers would be currently studying him and his work, or already have -consequently drawing them further into the narrative, as they have something in common with the character already. 

An additional shot takes us into the females room, where we see her attempting to read whilst loud diegetic music is playing in the background. The colours of the room are very feminine, consisting mostly of different shades of pink and the odd hint of blue, colours that females are likely to enjoy. The director plays with real life situations and ‘struggles’ as some may call them, as the female is forced to attempt to ignore the racket in pursuit of her studies. He uses the stereotype that females are more hard-working than males in order to create effect. 

Again this relates back to the previous action where the two cartoon characters were irritating each other. Could the director possibly have been insinuating that it is a male playing the loud music, as they do?

Throughout the opening sequence the text included was very bold and clear, allowing it to be easily read and interpreted by its anticipated young viewers. The title “Its a Boy Girl thing” was presented in light blue and light pink, very subtle colours, which are attractive to both genders. In regards to the editing, the female is framed in an acute high angle, showing her inferiority to the male who constantly annoys her throughout the narrative. Despite this, it seems as though she appears a lot more on screen than her rival, allowing the director to demonstrate the continuous embarrassment and suffering she is put through through different camera shots - more often than not, close-up shots of her face. 

Overall, all of the factors mentioned above contribute to the effectiveness of the opening sequence of the film, by allowing the director to portray the life of two fairly normal teenagers. I believe the diegetic synchronous sound effects played one of the most significant roles in production of the film, as young people like to hear as well as see the action in a film in order to stay engaged for the duration.

Preliminary Task Reflection

For the OCR G321 Preliminary Task, my group consisted of three people and myself. Our task required us to create an audio visual representation, which involved us coming up with an idea, filming it, and then going on to edited it; in order to gain our first fifteen marks towards our coursework. We were required to complete the following task criteria: a match-on-action of a character walking through a door, then going on to walk into a room, and then a further shot-reverse-shot of two characters exchanging dialogue at a table.

As a group, I believed we worked particularly well in all aspects of the task. We began by selecting a genre, in which we all had different opinions; however we managed to merge them together so that everyone was happy. After that, we all opted for tasks based on our specialities, which made piecing together the action and filming and editing much faster - making it a well-structured practice.

To improve our preliminary task, we could add non-diegetic sound to the conversation between the two characters; which would build up the tension to the point where the folder is thrown off of the table. Low-key lighting could also be used in the setting of the room, to create shadows and different effects. As low-key images are darker, they present more drama and tension, which contributes to the suspense of the narrative.   

If I had the chance to change anything about the preliminary task video that we made, I would ensure that the voices were a lot clearer than originally, as I believed the little exchange of dialogue that we included, somewhat echoed.

Preliminary Task Video

Preliminary Task Story Proposal

'RAGE'

Premise: The troubled football fanatics distressing outburst – can his blasé psychiatrist provide the help that he needs? 
 

Narrative: The TEENAGER, 16, is on his way to a meeting with his PSYCHIATRIST to have a general discussion about his life, and anything else that may be on his mind. As a conversation starter, the psychiatrist jokes about the TEENAGER'S team playing well last night, causing him to become aggressive and very threatening. The situation then escalates, where the TEENAGER ends up throwing the PSYCHIATRIST’S file off of the table. 

Theme: The outburst occurs when the TEENAGER hears the manipulative tone that the PSYCHIATRIST uses, while asking him about how his team played.

Format:  A 40 second film shown at film festivals.

Tone: The film is set in the daytime where the news of the game is still playing on the teenagers mind. It was established over a 1-2 hour time period, where the characters worked to piece the film together. The film aims to demonstrate real life situations where troubled teenagers are being left in the wrong hands, and consequently not receiving the help that they need.  

Character: A teenage boy at the age of 16, who finds it hard to speak up about his problems; especially in terms of his anger.

Preliminary Task Script

INT. CLASSROOM. DAY

Male character is running late to his session with his mentor.

RHYA:

    

These sessions are going to be weekly, your team played well

ROWLAND:

What d’you say to me?

RHYA:

Calm down

ROWLAND:

DON’T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!!

Preliminary Task Storyboard

 

Preliminary Task Camera Shot List

Camera shot list:

0:00	Opening title
0:04	Establishing shot, high angle long shot on running man.
0:08	Camera angle change, high angle long shot
0:09	Change of angle, high angle long shot moving to mid shot, with a left pan to show man opening door.
0:11	Change of angle, low angle inside the door, pan to the left following the figure
0:16	Same shot, zoom into a close up
0:18	Change of camera angle
0:21	Shot reverse shot onto a new character
0:24	Reverse shot back onto antagonist
0:25	Mid shot on both characters and props
0:28	Fade out after action shot
0:29	End Credits

Preliminary Task Planning

As a group there were lots of ideas that were bought up about what we should do for our preliminary task. As seen by our mind maps different members of our group put forward there idea. However a unanimous decision was made to combine mine and Rhya’s preliminary task idea.

Our main idea is to show a distressed angered teenager who is either late, determined or stressed about having to come to a counselling/intervention meeting. This should allow us to demonstrate and practise different camera techniques.

It was decided that Rowland would play the destressed teenager and Rhya would play the counsellor. I would direct and edit and Tenisha would use the camera.

After this we decided that the group should split and work on different aspects of the preliminary:

Robert: I will list the camera shot list

Rhya: will create story proposal

Rowland: will create the scrip

Tenisha: will create the storyboard

This is so that we can work quickly and efficiently as a team with the preliminary task.

First Time Filming and Editing

Operating the camera for the first time was particularly challenging for me, as I had very little practice with a digital camera in the past. However, over time I began to adapt to the different functions, and recording became a lot easier. Balancing the camera on the tripod made it easier to move the camera around, as I found that without this apparatus, the camera wasn’t as steady when I was recording. I believe the most challenging part about recording is zooming in and out efficiently to create effect, as I would sometimes zoom too fast and completely miss a vital element of an aspect I intended to capture.

In terms of editing, I found adding text and different effects relatively straight forward, however cropping different parts of my video was slightly more challenging, as I had to make sure it still made sense without the parts that I had removed.

Preliminary Task Mind Map

The Brief

This is an overview of what we as a group will be working on for our AS Media Coursework. 

First of all we will participate in a ‘Preliminary Task’, in which we are required to film and edit a character opening a door, travelling to a chair, and taking a seat opposite another character. There must then be an exchange of dialogue and a match-on-action, shot-reverse-shot filtered in there too. It is also important that we adhere to the 180 degree rule to ensure continuity. Any action from this point onwards can be decided upon by the group, preferably a finishing motion as the task is intended to be relatively short. 

Then there come our main task, where we will be filming an ‘Opening Title Sequence’ to a new fiction film. The film must last for a maximum of two minutes, and is prohibited to contain original content only - unless of course copyright music is included in the production of our content. 

Each task must be completed over the course of the year leading up to the exam, with all candidates within the group contributing to the overall pieces of work. The maximum number of participants within a group is four students.