Film Language Analysis

We had to analyse the film language used in the first six minutes of the 1991 film, Boyz n the hood. During the opening scene, there are many symbols put across to us. The film starts with a grey screen as there is speech over the top, the people speaking sound like they are in a gang of some sort as they are about to perform a drive-by, one of them clarifies who it is to shoot, then the use of audio added in post adds the screech of a car wheel followed by multiple shots being fired. This is shortly followed by screams of what sounds like, people nearby. One of the people (a child) says "they shot my brother" as well as other phrases. All this happens whilst on screen text is displayed stating a fact about Black-American Male murders. This clearly tells us that one of the films purposes is teach us that this needs to stop, as well as giving us an insight of a child's life in this lifestyle. Another use of semiotics is when the screen cuts from the grey background to a pan in of a 'Stop' sign, also symbolising to us that these murders need to stop. The film opening also suggests that it is going to tell us about the tough lives children have to deal with. The children appear to have not done their homework, by the way the children talk, we can assume that they are also not very literate. As well as this the children are clearly exposed to their harsh surroundings as they investigate a crime scene. The transition from crime scene is also clever in that one of the children ask why the blood turns yellow, another child answers and the clip transitions with a fade into the classroom scene. The next shot shows some kid's drawings which show a man in a coffin, followed with a fade transition of a black man being stopped by the police, also followed by a picture of a helicopter with LAPD (Los Angeles Police Department) drawn on the side shooting down at a car. The camera then pans round to the classroom where a class is taking place, the teacher is very laid back and clearly does not have much care for the children's education, as a result, their efforts are minimal too. One of the children makes a joke then is told to teach the class due to their arrogance, also showing the lack of care and attention the children have towards their education. Two of the children begin to argue, with the camera cutting from one to the other, they then begin using foul language and start to fight emphasising the influence their surroundings has on them, the camera cuts to a view of the fight from the back of the classroom with all of the other children cheering them on. This is a clear contrast to how the children will feel about violence in the future.

Editing Practice

For this task we had to practice using Adobe Premiere to get to grips with using the software and to learn how to create a dramatic and enticing piece. We had to play about with the software and learn how to import, export and generally edit multiple clips up into one final piece.

For the first piece I made a short trailer/clip using James Bond Clip's I downloaded from YouTube and imported into Premiere as they were higher quality than the ones given to us and also allowed me more freedom when creating the trailer. I also downloaded the James Bond Soundtrack and added that on top of the video clips.
Here is a screenshot of the different tracks in Adobe Premiere:

Film Opening Analysis

For this task we had to study three film openings and apply the 'DISTINCT' acronym to them.

Ghost Ship Opening Scene

This film's opening scene takes place on a luxury looking cruise. The opening shot shows the camera flying over/past the boat to instantly give us an idea of the setting. The style of the film looks as if it is to be set in the 60s due to it's nostalgic feel. As well as this the music also fits this kind of time period and starts the film off with a cheery start. The film opening takes a quick turn for the worst when a mysterious hand pulls a lever, causing a contraption to start working, the music begins to fade in the background and begins to become muffled as an eerie tune is played over the top of the music. The song comes to an end and the contraption is set off, lights explode around the dancers and razor wire is seen to pulled tight by the contraption, the camera follows the razor wire as it cuts through the crowd, the characters all make a "oof" sound as the razor wire hits them. The wire, now covered in blood, springs in front of the camera, the eerie sound continues to play on top of the screeches of metal and the spring of the wire, occasional coughs and moans can be heard from the crowd, but the scene ultimately has this strange silence to it, as the audience anticipates what is to happen next. The camera pans through the crowd of people, focusing on their shocked faces. The next shot shows a mans glass (sliced in half) fall to the ground, the smashing of the glass almost indicates to us that the reaction is about to take place and acts as a cue for the aftermath. The camera then shows the bodies begin to fall to the floor, chopped in half, the whole scene looks bloody and gory as guts and limbs scatter the floor, the camera pans across the victims, showing some who are trying to move then shows a close up of the girl, indicating that she is likely to be one of the main characters in the film. The girl looks up at the captain, the camera looks at the camera from the girls point of view, who's face is sliced in half and slides off towards the camera, followed by his body which falls to the floor. The girl then begins to breath heavily and screams, the camera then changes to a view of the ship from the ocean and dives underwater, the girl still screaming, the screen then turns black. From this opening we can assume that the film has a scary horror aspect to it, as well as mystery element to the film, the only characters we currently know of are the girl and the mysterious man who pulled the lever.





Harry Brown Opening Scene

This film opening is quite eerie and begins with multiple muffled voices being played in the background with some white text on the black screen. The screen fades to reveal multiple characters in a subway persuading someone to take drugs and "become a man". The whole film opening is filmed in the first person with a hand held camera. The camera is very shakey and gives the impression that the audience is a part of the film and feel more immersed in the scene, with the voices becoming louder and clearer. The voices begin to muffle and eventually fade away as the screen also turns black and there is nothing but silence and some text on the screen, a good way of narrating what is happening as well as listing the cast/producers etc of the film. The white text fades out and the next scene starts loudly, the camera once again being recorded by one of the characters, the scene shows a motorbike with two individuals on it (one holding the camera).



Guardians of the Galaxy Opening Scene

This film opening has a very positive vibe to it, it begins with a happy, upbeat 80s track playing and the title of the film appears in time with the first beat of the music. The film opening also shows one of the characters (Chris Pratt as Starlord) dancing to the music playing on his cassette player (Come and get your love). The opening scene is set in quite a dark and eerie place, but due to the positive opening and style of the movie we can assume that this film has a comedic element to it. The camera pans around the character as he dances to the music, there is also an aerial shot showing Starlord spinning around. As well as this we can see the use of special effects when he kicks Dinosaur-looking creatures as well as when he uses his jetpack-boots to fly over a small crevice in the ground. The film opening stops with the music coming to a swift end, with an echo as the camera pans onto a mysterious looking orb of some form.

Semiotics

For this task we had to take a poster and analyse it in a Negotiated form, so we look at the poster from a neutral view and study the denotations and the connotations of the poster. For the denotations we look at the things that we can initially see and write about them and then for the denotations we will look deeper into the image and write about what these things may suggest, i.e. the situation our characters are in, how they may feel.

Poster for 'The Walking Dead'

Denotations:  
From this photo we can see multiple people lined up on the ground and on their knees. These characters carry different emotions ranging from angry, upset to scared. We can also see another character with his back turned away from us and facing towards the crowd, he appears to be holding a baseball bat too. We can also see that this is a poster for AMC's 'The Walking Dead'.

Connotations:

We can gather that the characters lined up on the ground are main characters, worried and are in danger, hence their range of emotions. We can also presume that the character with the baseball bat is a bad character because of his sinister look and the fact that he is facing away from us. We can also presume that something bad is about to happen due to the setting and the way that the characters are lined up, as if one of them are about to meet their fate.

Genre Analysis



Genre: Apocalyptic
For this image we had to try and capture the genre 'Apocalyptic'. The genre and theme of apocalyptic generally carries the connotation of the "end of the world", therefore we thought to go with the typical idea of the infamous zombie apocalypse. Therefore, with our limited resources, we decided to have the 'zombie' feast on it's victim/prey. We used a close up shot through a wire fence on an empty playground to give the idea of an eerie abandoned school. The use of the fence also gave the feel of the 'zombie' being caged in and made for an interesting shot.

Genre: Mystery/Thriller
This image follows the genre of Thriller/Mystery so we used a detective-looking hat to show that I was a detective inspecting a 'dead body'. We decided not to show the victims face so that it remains a mystery as to what happened to the victim. We also decided to take the shot at an angle and up close to add a bit of depth to the image.



Genre: Action
For this image we had to capture an action shot and attempted to capture it using a panoramic shot. We used this style of shot to show a progression of movement and try and create the image of the person running/teleporting and jumping forward. The shot also shows a progression of movement and the wide angle/panoramic shot makes for a change from an ordinary shot and also shows the background.

Film Opening

I like this film opening because it is a classic film and has a very magical opening scene. This scene shows the credits is backed with very cheerful and enthusiastic instrumental music, the famous Willy Wonka theme tune. Willy Wonka is a Fantasy and Comedy Music film that is incredibly popular amongst all audiences. The opening shows luscious shots of chocolate flowing and the production of many popular chocolate treats. This opening immediately appeals to all audiences due to it's friendly, happy music and background shots.