Lesson 14

This is our survey that we have conducted to see what typography we should use for our comic film titles. We handed out 14 surveys to various groups and 7 people come back with the same answer as their perforate font for our sequence should be the typography below.

As a group, this was our preferred one from the start and we was planning to use this, so our feedback has been very positive and we feel we can progress knowing that what he have chosen, will work and be effective at getting the comic element across.

Genre Research + Codes And Conventions

Comedy
The genre film me and my group have chosen for out film is Comedy. We have chosen this because our group is comical and comical situations and sketches naturally come to us.


Comedy Sub-Groupings
Comedy falls under two main sub-groupings.
1. The Comedian-led film - Where is is structured through gags and sketches
2. The Comedy situation - Where the film has more coherent narrative


Comedy Elements
In a comedy film, people react to two different comedy elements:
1. The Gag - Visual, aural, verbal jokes, carefully timed and delivered for maximum impact
2. Comic Situation - This is narrative comedy and this happens when people in the film are developing relationships between characters and the social environment that causes us to laugh




Types Of comedy

Slapstick - Slapstick is 'visual and vulgar'. It is in one sense primitive and universal, relying on our almost instinctive reaction to characters assailed by danger, pain etc. At the same time it requires great timing and all round performance skills. And in the form of the traditional cinema cartoon it can become a highly sophisticated exploration of human behavior.

Observational - Observational comedy is gentler and more subtle and presents everyday life as quirky with unusual behavior in a realist context. Parody mocks existing forms, requiring audiences to have specific knowledge of media texts, although in its current incarnation as the 'spoof', this knowledge could be limited to what is available on mainstream television.

Satire - Satire is comedy used to make political and social commentary. This requires analysis of the whole social context, implying an educated audience. These different types can be mixed together. 

Codes and Conventions of Comedy
1. Film Language

The secret of comedy is timing and performance. A person could analyse routines, gags etc. and see how they are used within a narrative feature. It would be interesting to compare a visual gag with a classic suspense sequence. Both involve a careful playoff between what we know as the audience and the awareness displayed by the character. Our pleasure comes from the gleeful anticipation of the humiliation of the comic character or our fear for the hero.

2. Representation 
Possibly the most productive approach, analysis of character 'types' and situations should open up comedy films for student analysis. Comedy, like drama, depends on conflicts, in particular between weak and strong characters. Much comedy arises from the success of the weak in deflating the powerful. On the other hand, comedy is also a weapon against fear of the unknown or 'the Other', so that the basis for comedy becomes racism, sexism etc.

3. Audience 
The advantage of comedy to producers is that it appeals across all audience groups. However, there are distinct differences in audiences for certain types of comedy. In the UK these are often class differences and age differences.

4. Institutions 

Comedy films may be quite good for studying institution. Historically, various cycles of films can be traced back to their origins in other forms such as music hall, radio and television and in the last twenty years, from club 'stand-up'.

Lesson 3

Saul Bass Write up

Saul Bass was born on May 8th 1920 in New York. He was a Jewish-American graphic designer and film maker and he is well known for his motion picture title sequences.

He made the titles for the films:

• Around The World In 80 Days
• The Man With The Golden Arm
• Anatomy of a Murder
• Psycho
• Walk On The Wild Side
• It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World
• Bunny Lake Is Missing
• The Human Factor
• North By Northwest
• Vertigo
• Why Man Creates

These are the film titles that Saul Bass created in his 40 year career. He is the most famous motion picture title sequence designer that has ever lived and has inspired many people.

Saul Bass died on April 25th 1996.

Purpose Of Title Sequence

The purpose of a title sequence is to give background information to the film and helps the audience understand the characters and their story so far. It gives the audience something to see, so they feel up-to-date and know the brief background of the characters.

Also the Title sequences set the theme, pace and genre of the story. The reason the audience needs to know this is because they  know what pace the film is going to be and whether they will be interested in the film. If they do not know the setting, they will not know what to expect, and even though you don't want them to expect anything,  you want them to have an interest.

Within a title sequence there is always an enigma that the audience questions, and this gets their attraction and ties them into the film. By creating an enigma, it makes the audience question what is happening and try to guess the storyline, and most of the time it is something unpredictable which makes the audience satisfied because it is entertaining. 

Lesson 10

Andrew Anderson

This is mine, Jason's and Dominic's pitch about our new film 'Andrew Anderson.' We presented this presentation to the class and  had to answer questions on our film.

We had to come up with a film idea, director, cast and title sequence and pitch it to companies to try sell our idea. We even estimated how much we would spend and how much we will make profit.

We pitched out presentation to the audience and we had got good feedback from them, and they made comments on how our pitch was and what they thought of our film idea and the general consensus was that they liked it all.

Editing And Camera Cuts

Take - The single uninterrupted recording of a shot.

Sequence - A series of related shots and scenes forming a unit of action.

Cut - A change from one shot to another.

Jump Cut - An abrupt cut between shots in which a notable jump in time and'or location is demonstrated.

Fade - A means of closing or starting a scene with the image disappearing to black or 'fading up' from black.

Wipe - A transition from one scene to another where the new scene pushes or 'wipes off' the old.

Dissolve - A transition where one scene fades out at the same time as the other fades in, one superimposed over the other. Sometimes called a cross-fade.

Superimpose - placing two or more images above each other in the same frame, usually during a dissolve.

Montage - An editing style which is consciously constructed to achieve a particular effect on an audience as opposed to the invisible editing of Hollywood.

Invisible Editing - Cutting from one shot to another so that the viewer is virtually unaware of the change in the camera's position.

Cross-Cutting - Cutting between two independent, different actions to show the relationship between the two.

Motivated Editing - cutting from one shot to another of the same action so the action seem continuous. Distance and angle changes so long as the action continues in the same manner.

Long Take - A lengthy shot which is uncut.

Slow Motion - Action on a screen at a rate slower than normal.

Shot-Reverse-Shot - Editing where the camera cuts between two interacting/conversing individuals. Frequently employed using an over-the-shoudler shot.

Dubbing - The mxing and recording of dialogue, and various sounds and integrating them after a film/programme has been shot. Also can be used as another term for mixing.

Mixing - Process of combining dialogue, sound effects and music into a single composite soundtrack.

Eyeline Match - The level at which a shot is taken representing the point of view of an observer of average height which serves as a point of reference for succeeding shots in a sequence thus they match up at eyeline!

Match on Action - The matching of details, movement and dialogue from shot to shot to ensure effective continuity.

Rhythm - The sense of movement within a sequence of film based on relationships between the distance of shots and length of shots.

180 Degree Rule - An imaginary line drawn between actors to keep the camera on one side of the action so whent he shots are edited together the perspective remains constant and the audience are not confused.

Working Title Presentation

This is the presentation me and my group made about our studio 'Working Title'  and in the presentation we explained what our business is and is about. We also mentioned previous films that have been made by a 'working title production' and how much they cost to make and the profit that each film made.

Lesson 4

Michael Riley Presentation
Michael Riley 

View more presentations from donovini94.

Dawn Of The Dead Title Sequence

How the genre of the film constructed? What do the opening titles show visually?
The film is set right at the very start and you know it is going to be a comedy zombie film. The words come up in a shaky visual effect on screen, which disorientates the audience and gets the prepared for the film ahead. The title sequence is like a pre-show before the film starts and it shows how the virus has been spread and how the zombies have started to take over the world.

What is the enigma?
The enigma in this film is asked from within the title sequence and that is 'What caused it?' This gets asked in a news programme to which a man who seems to be high up and has a lot of power and we can tell this because he is surrounded by paparazzi and they ask him, 'what caused it?' to which he replies 'I don't know' and this makes the audience try to guess what happened to cause the nationwide problem.

Why Kyle Cooper uses this footage?
Kyle Cooper uses this footage because it sets the mood of the film and to show that its going to be a gory and comical film. He uses the news footage to emphasize the severity of the situation and to show it is a nation/worldwide issue. Once the audience know it is a worldwide issue, they feel as if they are a part of it.

Shaun - Use Somebody

Zombieland Title Sequence Analysis

This is the opening titles for Zombieland and it is very eye catching. It is full of quick camera movements to attract the audiences eye. From the start you can tell its going to be a gory film, and slightly comical by the way it is in slow motion. The typograophy also suggests that it is going to be very gory. The man gets thrown throwh the words as if it was some sort of window, which  further emphasises that it is going to be a very grim film. It sets the mood of the film and the audience is automatically shocked because of how graffic and bloody the film is just at the titles, so they know its not necissarily going to be a nice film.

The slow motion is of course to show that it will be a film with a lot of action, but it is also used for a comic affect. The slow motion is actually overused so that when we see the man throwing up his blood and guts, something that would not typically be slowed down in a serious film, we can see the humour in the title sequence and be prepared for a comical gross film.

I think this film is more aimed at the male audience. Males tend to like bloody, gory films were there is going to be plenty of action. Women obviously can watch it but I think that its main audience is males as women will be more cringed out by all the horror and grossness of it all.

The music in the title is very rocky and upbeat. The reason for this is that it raises the audiences heart rate and gets them excited for the start. It gets the audience pumped up for an action packed film which won't be for the people weak stomachs. The rock music gives the audience a shot of adrenaline from the start which will get them anticipating what will be happening in the film.

I suggest this film as it is comical and gory.

Groundhog Day Title Sequence

Media Continuity CW

This is my continuity piece which I worked with Jason and Dominic.  Jason and I was the actors and dominic was the cameraman.

I enjoyed doing this piece because we got to use the camera equipment, take a few shots and then edit it in to on the Imacs and then collaborate each take into one to make a continuous sequence which made it look really effective. It was a sense of satisfaction at the end when you do all of the work from making the story boards to the final editing of each take and making a productive short film. It also makes you realise how hard it is to make a film and make each cut look good and to fit perfectly. It then makes you admire the work of directors and their editing staff to be able to make a film look realistic.

I struggled with trying to keep to the storyboard because it is a small scene and to be able to keep to your lines when your trying to make an effective piece of work. Also because we are not actors, it is hard to make it look realistic when you have to say specific lines.

We had to keep a lot of things in our minds whilst producing our clip. Things like shot times is always on our minds and making sure they are not too short so the audience can't understand or follow properly and not too long because they will then lose interest if the scene is dragging with the same camera angle.