Opening scenes

Research and Blog - Film Openings-1

The 3 movies I will mainly focuses on are:

*Murder mystery

This movie is about a couple that finally get to celebrate their honeymoon the wife meets this mysterious man on a plane they hit it of and he invites her and her husband on his family trip in a yacht so he can be distracted from his ex-fiancé who left him for his uncle who's a billion (70 billion$ to be exact). They reach the yacht and someone assassinates him after he was going to read his will, almost leaving everything to his mistress (the mysterious mans ex-fiancé). The rest of this film is spent trying to find out who killed him. This is a comedy film because when they add an element of comedy to the film it takes away from the seriousness of the other sub-genre which is crime.

*Venom

This film was about a parasite who comes to Earth to take over but to do that it must take control of a human body. In an attempt to take over a host it fails and they end up sharing a body. This is a scientific break through and this attracts attention from other aliens and humans. 

*Twilight

This is about a girl who moves to forks a small town in Seattle to be with her dad she goes to a a school and thats where she meets Edward a vampire who turns her life around.

What is the time for the opening scene?

Murder mystery's opening scene lasts about 50secs 

Venom's opening scene lasts about 50secs

Twilight's opening scene lasts about 45.91secs   

Side note: For my film project when I have to do a mystery that lasts 2:00

Summarize the opening scene and explain how it connects to the overall plot of the film

Murder mystery started with a grey hue over the screen showing the mood of that scene. They were walking out of a precinct and because this a crime movie the law has something to do with the film.

Venom started with the camera pointed toward the star telling us that the movie will be centered around something out of this world.

Twilight started with A very focused green shot of the forest which tell us that they maybe face isolation 

After reviewing the main purposes for film openings, identify the purpose for each of the films' openings you chose

• compare / contrast the following for each of the films

• visual elements - cinematography, mise-en-scene, editing

• auditory elements - sound, music, dialogue

• character - predict what roles are likely to be important

• representation - is there a stereotype obvious in the opening

Murder mystery looks like it was filmed on a cloudy day the grey lighting makes it look visually say . They did this because you hear he failed detective test. It's also quite so you can only here the, not much noise in the background telling us that we have to hear and pay attention to that part. Everyone is wearing a dark blue while Adam Sandler is wear light blue that pops out and since it a crime movie and you heard the dialogue between him and his friend when he said he failed his test,  that may play a part in the film.

Venom starts with a scene of a space you hear some dialogue when the ship was coming down that sounds like it's out of a sci-fi

In twilight you see this HD shot of the forest represents what the vampires see (a very hd view). The deer was also very fast and you can see the camera running after it we can assume that are in a vampires 

perspective

Document of my research on film openings

Research and Blog - Film Openings

key elements / features of a film opening sequence 

it usually contains (or begins with) the text of the opening credits and aids in establishing the setting and tone of the show. It might include live action, animation, music, still photos, and/or graphics click here to learn more and reasons for film openings

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_sequence#:~:text=It%20typically%20includes%20(or%20begins,preceded%20by%20a%20cold%20open.

The purpose of an opening scene is to set the tone for the rest of film this makes the audience fall into the mood as the film. It introduces the protagonists or antagonists open scene can communicate what kind of goals they have or fears maybe even flaws that may play a big part of film 

what are the similarities in the opening scenes (conventions) irrespective of genre?

https://pariwashkamran.files.wordpress.com/2019/03/codes-and-conventions-of-film-opening-sequence.pdf

This link goes too one of my favorite PDF's that explained its the best for me and has all the info that answered most of my questions and hopefully yours too!

If thats to long I will summarize it now. To put it simply in every opening scene starts with a meaning and different conventions to portray a feeling and that will carry out through the film.

For 3 different genres (think of the ones you are considering for your portfolio opening)

I am thinking of doing a crime, horror or drama I want to do a something that uses a lot of low lighting and shadows because I feel like I'm really good at that and good at setting that mood. For my opening scene I want to add visual elements like dark rooms and shadows paired with auditory elements like a low clam voice voice I feel like that combo adds a sense of eeriness and a dark mood. 

by, Kayhanah St Victor

Mise-en-Scene

What is Mise-en-Scene?

Mise-en-scene is everything that is put together in the film to give off the feeling of eeriness, happiness, or whatever the author wants to portray. To put it simply mise-en-scene is, the sound, cinematography, colors chosen, position, literally everything and how it fits into to film/scene to tell a story and give the the viewer is feeling watching the clip.

Background Research

Design-setting, props, lighting, and actors.

composition-the organization, distribution, balance, and general relationship of actors and objects

props-weapons, phone, wand etc, it is a prop that has purpose to the character and story

sometimes light is used to separate between worlds but usually to make mood(ex. red can mean romance but on the flip side can mean death same with blue, it can mean passion or cold/distant this all just depends on how you use it and with certain context)

For example you would not make mystery overly funny or a rom-com overly sad with dark colors 

Content application

I watched the videos and wrote down notes. To fully understand mise-en-scene we did a project to capture mise-en-scene in a picture and going back to the notes I took and took a picture on what I had I also had put what I found into an excel. Everything I done was specifically lighting, cinematography, sound, and how props can play into mise-en-scene.

Reflection

I knew that the everything such as hair, costume, sound, lighting etc all went into mise-en-scene. I want to know if characters words fall into mise-en-scene or is it just props and lighting. I learned that almost everything you see plays into mise-en-scene and have all delicately been put there to enhance the feeling you should be getting from a film. It's almost unreal broken down seeing how much and deliberate everything is.

References/sources

What is Mise-en-scene powerpoint and video

 

https://www.careersinfilm.com/mise-en-scene/

https://.studiobinder.com/blog/mise-en-scene/

Cinematography

  

 What is cinematography?

What exactly is cinematography and how is it used? Well, cinematography can be broken into parts, but basically cinematography is used in angles and shots to build depth and tension in a shot/character. That's what makes it so useful it can portray emotion without the words, characters, or objects.

What is your background research?

In cinematography there are several methods to arrange a shot and, as a result, communicate meaning. Whether through film or video, the spatial connection to the camera is critical in creating, sustaining, and/or changing the viewer's impression of the character and context of the shot or film. Cinematography is the decions made about the lighting, filters, position/movement, and everything going into making a shot.

Content application

I watched many videos on cinematography and read many articles on how it works. I wrote notes along with the article and videos I seen in the class and applied it to my blog. I used the sources below and referred to them multiple times to put in my notes to apply to my blog.

a while back we also used this information to make an excel and "identify shot types"

Filmmakers employ camera views and angles to assist the viewer grasp the story. These aspects are necessary for filmmakers to be able to portray key areas of the film from various perspectives. Long shot, Medium shot, and Close-up shot are the three primary types of shots that define how close or far the camera is from the subject. When developing a film or photo essay, each shot has a specific purpose. The camera angle is crucial in addition to the camera shots. Another technique to provide the viewers new viewpoints and information is to shoot a photo from a different angle.

Reflection

I know that cinematography is includes lighting, filters, position/movement, and everything else that goes into creating a shot. I would like to further my knowledge in different shots and to better identify the feel of each shot and how it ties together. I learned that each shot tells a story and each shot has a meaning to the overall film.

References/sources

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cinematography

https://filmglossary.ccnmtl.columbia.edu/term/cinematography/

https://www.nfi.edu/cinematographer/ (<favorite source)

see you next time!

 sincerely,

Kayhanah St Victor

Kayhanah media studies film genre

Kayhanah st Victor 

10/4/2021

    What is genre and what is it's impact? 

Their are many different types of genre romance,  comedy, action, crime, and many others each having their own sub-genres that keep branching out into smaller genres still associated with the bigger one. Movies have different social function, some movies objectives is to give a sense of security, some is to make you wary of everything, whatever it my be there is always a deeper message the director is trying to get to you. 

what's the research?

My group went on multiple different sources to find our information specifically on romantic comedies. We found the history, development, and social functions of the genre. We did some research, some related and unrelated to the genre because we wanted to see if when the movie has romance and comedy does it make the movie a romantic comedy and with help/ background information from my peers presentations it furthered our knowledge, and overall understanding on different genres. I learned the primary elements of a conventional horror which are:

*opening up with an action scene

*obvious suspenseful soundtrack

*the character has to face death

*has a desire for justice

*placed in the suburbs(usually)

Specific character 

1.) person with a mask

2.) early-ish death of clueless people

3.)The basic witty girl

4.) Authority is present to help but gets caught or woking with the killer

Conventions

1.)loud, frighting, and frantic music 

2.) hand-held shots

3.) elements such as fog, dark to dim contrast lighting, and shadows

4.)jump scares

5.)over the shoulder shots to build tension

6.)P.O.V shots

7.) long shots

All of which work together and sets the mise-en-scene of the film

With comedy films it is the complete opposite the feel, conventions, and element what make it what it is. I learned that comedy is a genre of fiction their is a bunch of sub genres of comedy such as, classical, romantic, & sub-mental, but what itself makes a comedy?

I learned the reason of a comedy is to make the audience shocked, disgusted and a plethora of other emotion the reason is to make the audience feel some kind of emotion because there are different things that make people feel joy which you should get from a comedy.

 

Social function 

Comedies are made to make the viewer happy and no matter what they're going through a comedy will always be there to make you laugh.

Old and New?

I learned the difference between old and new comedies. Old comedies where in black and white because of the tech so they need to act more because they didn't have tech to perform certain cuts. New comedies are more vulgar because of Genz humor.

Romantic comedies

Rom-coms are actually a sub-genre of the comedy genre. Me and my partner did extensive research on the sub-genre, come to find out it was more interesting then what we first assumed. All explained the PDF below 

file:///Users/evensstvictor/Downloads/Presentation9.pdf

but to summaries, A romantic comedy is a lighthearted film genre that is defined by a central love relationship as the major source of comedic tension. The film's shenanigan concept nurtures or tests the relationship between two romantically connected individuals. ​

​

Films featuring two people falling in love are known as romantic comedies, or rom-coms. They must, in many situations, overcome obstacles that keep them apart, defy the odds, and live happily ever after. ​

*My class also learned about the action genre which has special effects, fights, vehicle and weapons and can be put into adventure films. We can see the actions driving themes are vengeance, justice, and sacrifice. We also learned the social function which is justice will always prevail or evil will always face justice.

*We learned the social influence gangsta are that some people might want to copy what they see and it creates harmful stereotypes. This genre conventionally has low lighting, dolled up girls, and "hero" man.

* We learned Sci-fi the purpose of sci-fi is to bring up technology and there advancements in society and how they might be good or bad. Usually the genre will bring up or integrate political issues happening at the time into the film. Sci-fi also "predicates" how tech will look in the future setting a expectation that we will make that invention in the future which leads to new inventions and ideas that people will want to make. Sci-fi's plot elements are dystopia, advanced tech/society/government, the future, outer space, set in different worlds, a sense of evil. The editing (VFX, fast shutter speed, forced perspective, wide angle shot/low angle shot, strong in light & cooler light for ex. the color blue, or green is often used). Older movies tend to combine horror and sci-fi and newer films aren't only set in dystopian time but in space and around the universe.

* Crime/mystery films conventionally deal with the investigation of murder or missing persons. This genre kind of gives off that of a mystery with dim lighting giving off an eerie feel, and usually the protagonists is someone going through odds and solving this crime/conflict will make their reputation better.

Content application

I made a PowerPoint I put:

 The history

Analyzing Rom-coms (which was my topic)

Understanding Romcoms

Social functions

The comparisons

What rom-com will withstand the test of time?

and bullets more of info such as:

*newer rom-com usually have a image in the background whereas older rom-coms have a solid fill color As the background with Props showing what the movie is centered Around

the early 2000's all follow the same old convention of a rom-coms, standing back-to-back and the red (representing the color of love) if not on the poster, then on women in a form of a dress. etc

I have done days of research from varies sources which can be found in References/sources

Reflection

Knowing all I know about film now I can accurately tell the social functions/authors message in the film. I would like to know if something does not fit into the convention of that genre can it really be considered part of that genre? After all I learned about genre when I watch a film I can't help but pick apart the different lighting, sound, and location they used to make the film fit into the genre they choose for the film.

References/sources 

 

https://www.google.com/search?kgmid=/m/014l6_&hl=en-US&q=Pretty+Woman&kgs=126f7f2a0810e006&shndl=0&source=sh/x/kp/1&entrypoint=sh/x/kp

https://www.overthinkingit.com/2011/09/21/romantic-comedies/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romantic_comedy

and my peers presentations!

What is genre? 

by, Kayhanah St Victor