Representation Homework

Throughout this extract we see a huge representation of the colour. The two main colours that are shown here are red and blue. The red symbolising our main character's future and the blue representing his past. Through the majority of this extract, he wears a red jacket which shows us that he is searching for his future and in these shots, we see a tone of blue colours coming through especially in the background. This shows us that he is searching for his future but his past is somehow watching him. In one of these shots at 1:23 we see that him standing in the road with his red jacket on, representing his future and he is looking back down the street into the blue light in this wide over the shoulder shot. The harsh conditions here with the snow and cold weather could point to the fact that he is experiencing a hard life as he is trying to find out where he came from. With no real home we see Jason sleeping on a bench in a park and two police officers come and confront him. As the pair of officers taunt and judge Jason we see a side of Jason that we haven't seen before. Immediately as Jason feels threatened he attacks the officers and knocks them both out in a matter of seconds. We see here for the first time what Jason is capable of and what his past may be. 

In the first shot we see Jason on a port in a country we don't know about. As he is walking out onto the main street we are looking at him through a wide tracking shot and this gives us the effect that we are in the scene with him due to the movement of the camera. As the scene progresses we see him on a train looking out the window, however the train is in a tunnel which blocks his view of the outside world. This could be linked to the overall plot of the film because Jason is trying to find his past but is blocked by his amnesia which in this case could be the tunnel. The camera angles in this shot try to give the audience a sense of being in the scene with Jason and what he is going through, like the tracking shot I mentioned previously. Other shots could include the aerial shot we see of the train entering the tunnel. In this shot we get an establishing shot including a tracking shot merged into one. The next shot shows Jason sitting in the train and is shot using hand held camera work. In this scene we feel like another passenger on the train as the hand held camera work mimics the walking motion. In this shot we also see the colour red again which indicates that he is getting close to his future. There is also use of an over the shoulder shot showing a piece of evidence that links to his past and he is looking down at it wondering where he came from. This over the shoulder shot also makes it seem as if we are in the scene with him or that we are looking over his shoulder in the seat behind him possibly. Once Jason is off the train we get more tracking shots of him looking around and wondering where he is and what he next move is.The next shot at 1:23 we see that him standing in the road with his red jacket on, representing his future and he is looking back down the street into the blue light in this wide over the shoulder shot. This shot is very controversial and we can see that Jason is wanting to go back to is past and figure out where he came from. The scene changes to a low angle shot of two officers walking past a footpath. They spot the main actor asleep on a park bench and they confront him. The camera looks like it is on a dolly or a glide cam in order for the shot to be this smooth. The next shot is a close up pan from right to left of the main actor waking up with a flashlight shining on his face. The officers ask him why he is there and at first he doesn't have an answer until he suddenly realises that he can speak their language. One of the officers poke him with a stick and the main character grabs it. The camera slightly zooms in before our main character starts to fight these two officers. After the fight scene we cut to a wide shot of the main character running away and throwing his jacket away. This scene shows us what Jason is capable of and how he can adapt to certain situations.

The audio in this extract is very basic however some music is added in order to create suspense and tension. Most of this audio is creating a feel of adventure and discovery as well as Jason is trying to find his beginnings. Another thing to note is the mix of diegetic and non diegetic sound through the extract. We hear diegetic sounds in the form of, boats, cars, trains, people talking, and public areas. We hear non diegetic sound through music throughout the sequence. 

The editing in this extract does not involve heavy vfx however basic cuts, match on action, shot reverse shot and the 180 degree rule in order to make the film visually pleasing to the audience. Some vfx is used here however and this would be used to create more buildings in the port scene and could also be used to take out objects from the shot that the film company can not have due to copyright (brands etc) and ugly objects that can be displeasing to the viewer. 

The mise en scene in this extract shows many different climates that can have an underlying meaning towards our main character and what he is going through. At first he is on a port with a gloomy condition and this could point to his remembrance of having a clouded memory of his life. The next view shots are in areas that have snow and cold climates. This could point out how he is finding it extremely hard to fit in this world and to find his past.   

PT1 Final Edit

             

PT1 Rough Edit

             

Thriller Sub Genre Homework

Thriller sub genre homework from AddisonSaxby

Opening Sequences Homework

1) What is the purpose of an opening sequence?

The purpose of an opening sequence is to set the scene for the views so that we know where the film is being set. This also includes at what time the film is going to be set so that we know what the cultures of that day would be. The opening scene can also give away or give hints to what the genre of the film is going to be, we can see as the audience what the genre would be based off the conventions that the opening scene gives off. For example we can see that "Skyfall" has a good opening sequence to show us that it is an action. 

(Knifes show danger that indicate action) 

(Blood shows injury and coupled with the use of the target board we see that he has been shot)

In some films an opening sequence shows an establishing shot to tell the audience where the first few scene of the film is going to take place. For example a castle on a hill. This technique is often used in TV and Film opening sequences because it shows the audience exactly where the scene, and potentially the movie, will take place. It also gives the audience a clear view of where they are in the "film world" These sequences can give away very little details as to where the film is set, but can give us clue to the genre of the film.

2) What is the difference between an Opening Credits and a Title Sequence?

Opening Credits are different to Title Sequences in film and TV because opening credits show the key roles in the film and also the "A-list" actors that are staring in the film. By including these key roles and actors the audience can read them and see who is in the film and who made it and can immediately make a judgement based on these roles about whether or not the film is worth their time. The difference between an opening credits and a title sequence would be that a title sequence can almost tell a story, or show a past films recap to get the audience "all caught up" and can give hints to what is to come in the film. However an opening credits simply opens the films and informs the audience of the key roles and the "A-list" actors involved in the film. Sometimes, films and TV programmes break the conventions in order to create a bigger, more unique, and more elaborate abstract title sequence, this could include a montage, voice over, or flashback. 

 ^An Opening Credits^

^A Title Sequence^

3) What techniques can be employed in Opening Sequences?

Some techniques to show an opening sequence in a film or TV show would be an establishing wide shot to show the audience where the film is going to take place, this is a very popular technique. Another way to show an opening sequence is to merge a title sequence and use the elements of a story based opening and then couple it with the elements of an opening credits scene. This can show the audience a small story at the beginning of the film and also show them who made the film and who is staring. By merging the two we can get a unique way of starting a film and the audience can get exactly what they want. 

My two films for research are 

1) The Joker (2019)

2) Vertigo (1997) 

Joker Opening scene 

The opening scene to The Joker starts off with happy digetic sound in the form of a piano player in the streets of gotham. There are other sounds in this scene too as we can also hear car noises and people talking on the street. The Joker we see as a clown waving a sign around resembles happiness and joy. But as the scene progress we hear that people are telling insults to him and he is oblivious. We see a close up shot of a boy hitting the sign away from the joker and this starts a chase scene. As The Jokers chases the boys that now have his sign, the music fades away and we know that the tone has switched from joy to sadness. We see dangers of the cars on the street as the boy run through the open road and the joker follows them. We have tracking shots showing the joker running after the kids and the kids running away from the joker. As the joker catches up to the boys they ambush him and beat him to the ground and destroy his sign. The boys run off and we see a low angle tracking shot that slowly moves up to where the joker is, lying on the ground in pain and has his sign smashed to pieces around him. The sign shows that he is broken and can never be the same. The colours in this scene are very dark colours that make the joker pop out in his colourful clown costume. The bright yellow sign shows that it is of importance, and the boys and other extras have be given dark clothes to wear to resemble the reality of life. The editing is very fast paced when in the chase scene however slows down when the joker is lying on the floor. When we see that the joker is on the floor we have the big title of "The Joker" appear above him as he is in pain on the floor. The overall mixture of the dark tones, fast-paced editing, chase scene, violence and dangerous under tones all mix together to create a thriller mood and tone. 

Vertigo Opening scene

In the vertigo opening scene we see the use of close-ups in order to create a sense of the unknown as we cannot see what the character sees. The emphasis on the eyes mixed with the extreme close-ups not only hides what the character is seeing from the audience by also creates a sense of danger as the character's eyes widen and almost look shocked and frightened about what is she is seeing. The can give suspense as the audience cannot see what is there and therefore we can get scared by the unknown. The colour grade slowly changes when we see the girl and it changes from a standard grade to one that is red when her eyes widen. This can indicate to us that what she is seeing is something of danger as red is symbolic of blood and danger. A fade is introduced and we see a spiral is show emerging from the characters eye. This symbolises falling which is linked to the plot of the film.

The difference:

The difference between these two films would be the change in obviously, film quality, the difference in tone within the colours used, the music used fits into the scene and therefore creates a different mood and feel, the camera shots in "The Joker" are more elaborate than of the ones in Vertigo. The difference in symbolism between the eyes in "Vertigo" and yellow sign in "The Joker" is the same concept however used differently due to the difference in time.  The overall genre is the same however how it is portrayed is extremely different.