Film Opening Research- Brian

LORD OF WAR OPENING SCENE ANALYSIS 

Lord of War uses a very effective opening sequence that draws its audience in because of its uniqueness and originality. The opening consists of a 1st person narrative of a bullet. We see how the bullet is manufactured, checked over, packaged, shipped, loaded and used to kill.

The first scene starts with a crane shot/establishing shot coming down overlooking a factory. The factories lighting is very dark. This could possibly be to show how sinister the birth place of a bullet is. This factory creates weapons of death and the dim lighting used corresponds this. It could also be dark to show how the bullet is still in the womb of its process as it gradually gets lighter as it is shipped about until finally the bullet is taken out of its box and spilled onto the floor. Here bright colours are used to show its final birth before it is loaded into the gun. A fantastic view down the barrel of the gun is then used while the gun is aimed about and finally shot. As the bullet leaves the barrel we follow its path until slow motion is used to allow us to look into the face of its victim. Quiet shockingly the victim is a young boy which makes it all the worse when the bullet penetrates his head.

The lighting also shows us how far around the world this bullet has travelled from a dark factory to a pale shipping dock to a rather sunny equatorial region of Africa.
Amazing camera shots such as panning are used when the bullet is dropped and begins to roll. The camera remains in a 1st person shot spinning around and around until it is picked up just before falling over the edge of a dock. When it is picked up a finger and thumb appear each side of the camera making it very realistic as if the camera is really a bullet being picked up. 

The song choice (Buffalo Springfield "Stop Children What’s That Sound")is also an excellent one as it is calm and relaxed and not at all the sort of song you would expect to be played when corresponded with images of bullets, guns and death. However the pace of the song matches the flow of the course the bullet is taking well and also lyrically matches the theme of guns and resistance, "Step out of line the man come and take you away".

Personally this film opening to me was successfully and probably of o the most effective openings I have seen as it kept me trying to read into the message that was the director wanted to pass with it, mainly about the causes as well as the consequences of war and violence.

By Brian

Generic Conventions Of A Horror Film By Afsara Tasnim

Sound

• Diagetic sounds such as footsteps, echoes, screams, heavy breathing
• Creepy sound backing track, often to go with the atmosphere and mood of the actors or actresses

Camera Shots

• Extreme close ups 
• Close ups; often close ups shots of objects or characters expression on the face to show the tension
• Low angle shot
• Shadows
• Shots of characters reflection in one or more mirrors

Props

• Knife
• Fire
• Blood
• Dead trees and leaves

Setting

• Forest/woods
• Castle
• Abandoned building
• New big house

Horror Research - Chloe Lawler

This is our chosen genre which is horror. 

This presentation shows the common acts and events that occur in a horror film

Brainstorms of two genres By Afsara Tasnim

Generic Conventions for a Chick Flick

·      Understated beautiful girls

·      Geeks

·      Heart throb – initially a basketball/ soccer player

·      Usually set in schools/ ice cream parlors/ shopping mall

·      Set in the daytime

·      Colors of pinks, purples, red (vibrant bright colors)

Generic Conventions for a Horror

• Usually set at night time
•  Children/parents
•  The victim is usually a girl for e.g. in “The Ring” the victim is Samara
•  Set in big houses
•   Shadows

Brian's Evaluation

In our preliminary task my role was playing as one of the cast members who was "The Unseen Man". This part involved me acting as a man that was supposed to appear as creepy and almost as an supernatural entity that had an agenda that had a sinister agenda. This role was a stepping stone for my part in helping the group as it was out of my comfort zone which is normally behind the scene. It helped me also gain confidence in working in front of the camera as well as being able to act out well what i was going to edit later making it easier to plan what actions I wanted in each scene. However there were some areas which would have done well with room for improvement such as the organisation. By this i mean that I learnt that before the filming our group would have benefitted from more perpetration time for the order of the scenes as well as writing up a script to follow instead of making it up as we went on. Time management is also another area that our group learnt to improve on as some scenes took much more time that needed to film as we were not fully prepared as to the types of shots we were going to use and so this helped our group be more prepared for future tasks that involve the same amount of work. Apart from these small negatives the perks were better as the task helped us work even better as a group and also improve our skills in our work area.

Afsara's Evaluation

In the practical's I have carried out I have learnt many skills which are media related. For example one of the many areas I have gained confidence in is The basic editing on Final cut pro. At first I found it very difficult to edit a basic video, when it came to using 3D boris or even adding the music whilst the video was playing. Another skill I have learnt is the effects of lighting and how it can portray the actor in certain ways.
Areas I feel I need to improve on is the camera work and how to use the effects in particular shots, for e.g. I could use the auto focus on the background of a person or an object to show the importance of it. I will practise this further by experimenting with all the camera functions and getting used to the effects so I can take advantage of them whilst filming with my coursework group.
In my recent practical I've worked with Chloe, Yasir and Brian. In this preliminary task we had to come up with a storyboard relating to our genre which is horror and also film it too. Each member of my group had a role they had to maintain and my role was to produce. Overall I helped my other group members come up with a good narrative for our storyboard and I also played a part in the acting too.
3 Targets I'd like to meet by the end of my coursework practical is to:

• Know how to create a detail storyboard with colour and being able to apply it on the practical.
• Being able to edit and add effects of a variety choice to my coursework
• To take part in using the camera to film various shots.

Yasir's Evaluation

In my practical task with Brian, Afsara, and Chloe I chose to be the camera man as I thought I needed to improve my camera skills for my coursework. The two things I've learnt from this practical was to apply the 5 second rule whilst filming. This is to wait for 5 seconds before and after I film a various scene or shot. This is because it is easy to cut out the parts which I don't need, however, if I miss something important we would have to record that scene all over again. I have also learnt that it is important to take at least two shots of the each scene which will then allow us to choose the best one out of the shots which we have taken.

Chloe's Evaluation

During my practical task I worked with Brian, Yasir and Afsara. I chose to work with them due to the fact that Brian is good at editing and has knowledge of the computer software. Yasir, however, is very good at using the camera and finding the right positions in which they should go. Afsara is great when it comes to acting and helping out with the storyboards as she is very creative. I, on the other hand, direct and plan the scenes when filming. When we were filming my role was to direct where the main actors should go. I chose this role because I feel my most confident in this area. Our group chose to do the genre of horror, as we all feel most comfortable in this genre and it is the genre in which we are going to do our main film opening to, so we wanted to have the experience of filming certain shots. The characters during the filming were chosen to be the typical stereotypes of what horror films normally include, the vulnerable girl and the mysterious male. Our video represents the stereotype of classic horrors with the characters both being either frightened or eerie. I have learnt how to direct in more of an appropriate manner and I have also learnt how to plan my ideas into a more effective way. The planning technologies have become more familiar with me in the process of making and editing the film also. In the future we all plan to make good use of our practical time and make sure that the scene that we are using has the appropriate features of a typical horror film opening.  

About Us

Our production name is Run The Block Entertainment (RTB for short).
Our group consists of four people, Chloe, Yasir, Brian and Afsara.
We all have our own individual skills that help us to make ourselves a better production team and we hope that our work is a reflection of what we are capable of.
Welcome...

Run The Block Logo

The RTB Crew

Hey, my name is Chloe and my role within RTB Entertainment is to direct the film opening. My role consists of taking charge of the scenes and organising the actors. I will also be planning the storyboards for the film and I hope that my creativity will come into good practice. I chose to direct the film opening due to the fact that I consider myself to be a very organised person and I feel capable of holding the responsibilities of the other RTB Entertainment crew. I hope you enjoy our final production.


Hi, my name is Yasir. My role within RTB is to be the 1st cameraman and co-editor. It is my role to choose the right shots and visualise whether it will work and to see if it is appropriate or not. My role as the co-editor consists of reviewing the final edits and cutting them at the right points, ensuring that the film runs consistently. The reason why I have chosen to be the 1st cameraman is because I believe I am capable seeing and picturing how the camera-shot will display the scene and how it will improve and contribute to the final meaning and understanding of the scene. Also, the reason why I have chosen to be the co-editor is because I believe I am capable of using final cut pro, to an extent in which I am able to produce a good final edit.


Hello , my name is Afsara and my role within RTB Entertainment is to be the producer. This role consists me of being able to communicate with all the cast members and making sure everything is going the way it is planned. My duty towards RTB Entertainment as a producer will enable me to improve my interaction skills amongst the other cast members i'll be working with. I believe I am capable of managing the group as I have a welcoming personality and my cast members will be able to confide in me if they were to come across any problems.


Greetings to all of you out there, my name is Brian and my role within RTB Entertainment is mainly producing the final edits as well as being the sound producer/composer. I chose to go with these roles due to the fact that they happened to be the areas of my expertise. I am mostly comfortable with doing the edits and effects as well as producing the music we include in our videos as it is something I also enjoy. Apart from the technical of dealing with the work in the group, I happen to be patient and so dealing with the challenges that arise while producing making it easier to cope with stress of work now and then. By the end of our two years I hope to have made a large contribution within out group as well as gaining wider range of experience as well as a good relationship with the group members. I hope that all of you will enjoy touring our blog and even learn something new each time you visit, thank you.