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Student opening sequence analysis

From viewing at one of other student work, I have noticed some of the positives aspects that were implemented in the opening sequence of their chosen genre. For example, after looking few seconds of the opening sequence, I could immediately tell the genre of the opening scene was drama aimed at 13 – 18 teenagers. The hint that it gave way the genre was though the use of costumes, the choice of the characters and the settings. As you can see from the costumes worn by the characters were school uniform which signifies that it is aimed at teenagers and also it was set in school which connotes that the target audience are who goes to the school. This hooks the teenagers to keep on watching it, as it may have content that relates to them, such as school problems. Secondly, the props used in the opening sequences were nerd glasses, a book, a guitar and a lipstick. They were effective as it used Walter Lippmann’s theory of stereotypes. For example, glasses were used to portray the character as being a nerd who likes to study books. The stereotype helps to differentiate the character from each other and have different image in our head towards them. As soon as I saw a character wearing glasses I assumed that she must be intelligent and get straight A’s. Also, close up shot of eyes and lips were used which goes with the theory of Laura Mulvey of male glaze .The male glaze shows close up of a women’s body part to attract male audience as they might find it attractive. Various camera shots and movement were used which I really liked. For example, the opening sequences starts with a panning on axes at high angle. The panning was a creativity way of starting the opening scene and the fact that it was taken from a high angle, it gave the power to the viewers and the characters looked small and weak. Also when revealing the characters by tilting the camera up from legs to face made me curious who the character was. It was well edited as it had transition such as cut and fade which complimented the scene as it gave it more inside about the character. However, the opening sequence looked more like music video rather than opening sequence due to the fact it lacked in having an Ident and distribution companies at the beginning of the opening sequence. Also, the credit did not look professional as it did not have specified member such as Director, make-up artist ,producer and etc. They could have improved by adding voice over when the characters were being introduced and adding ident and the distribution company at the beginning of the opening sequence.


  2) The following clip's genre is also teen drama genre but it has other sub genres such as thriller. Variety of camera angle and shot types were used. Editing was effective done as they used cross cutting to build tension to show two scene happing at the same time. Again the costume were appropriate for the teen genre because the character wore costume what teenagers would normally wear e.g. jeans and converse. This suggests that the target audience are teenagers and also the characters were teenagers this helps the opening scene to be aimed at teens.Also, the non- diegestic of keyboard playing helped to create a mood of sadness which compliments the genre of the opening scene. However, the lighting was poor specially the shot that was taken at night. It was extremely dark which made it hard to see and know what was going on. Maybe they should have used different light in the dark or filmed it during the day time.The camera was not steady in some of the shots and as being a viewer it gave me a headache.They could have improved it by using a tripod. Finally ,they could have added shot reverse shot when the characters were having conversation .

Conclusion
In conclusion, All the mistake I found in those opening sequence will help me prevent mistakes they have done.Also, it helped me understand more about our genre and some of the positive aspects will be carried to our video.These analysis has helped me to extent my knowledge on how the music is used to create mood and changes the feeling of the audience. For example, keyboard playing may create a mood of melancholy. Also, I found out that props and costume are highly important and that they can be used to represent a character in a certain way. For example, big glasses may imply intelligent. Also, I have learnt that ident , distribution companies name should be in the beginning of the opening scene as it will make it look like a real movie opening.

Type cast

A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes.Films of the same genre are similar in narrative, style, and contains iconography associated with the genre. Films of the same genre are similar in narrative style and contains iconography associated with the genre.

Typecasting may mean: Typecasting, the process by which an actor is strongly identified with a specific character, role, or trait. 

The actor that usually appears in my my genre is Zac Efron .He is known for his role in high school musical and 17 again.The film genre he was linked to was family , comedy and drama.However, he has released several Film that falls onto romantic genre,This is called positive type cast,However negatives include actors not being able to leave the genre and explore other areas.

Zac Efron has done many movies that involves drama, romance and comedy.He is chosen in this genre because he is known as being the cool guy who plays sports.For example, In movies such as High School musical and 17 again , he played basketball.The directors may have chosen him because it meets the psychographics of his fans which the film is aiming at and also his fan may see him as a role model.This fits the role of the genre and helps to identify the genre of the movie just by looking at the casting of the movie. This draws the audience and boost the revenue and fans will go to see the film even if the plot has been done again and again.  

A key part of identifying genre would be seen as the iconography used in the film to give away  what category the film falls in.For example if we were to look at teen comedy/drama iconography , there would be expectation of being set in high school, classroom and lockers.

Tzvetan Todorov’s theory

Tzvetan Todorov’s 

Tzvetan todorov was born in March 1, 1939, Sofia, Bulgaria. He came up with the theory that all narrative follows three parts, after making a study on a Russian folk tales.

Tzvetan Todorov suggests all the narratives follow 5-part structure and it applies to all narrative such as plays, books, music video.

Equilibrium- Everything is balanced, meaning it is as it should be.

Disruption- Disturbance or problems which interrupt an event, activity, or process. This is when a problem occurs.

Realisation- This is a part when everyone realises a problem has occurred.

Disequilibrium- Something causes a problem that needs solving

Resorted order -This is the part when character attempts to repair the damage and restore the problem.

Resolution- The problem is solved.

For example in Finding Nemo.

Equilibrium - In the start of the movie, everything was fine.

Disequilibrium- This is when Nemo was captured by the scuba driver and was taken to Sydney.

Resolution-Merlin and Nemo are reunited.

Another example for a movie but this time for a teen drama called Juno.

Equilibrium- She lives her normal life as she has nothing to to do.This is when she experiments to have sex with her friend.

Disequilibrium- set up - finds out that she is pregnant,

set back - decides to give birth.

Resolution- climax- gives the baby to the adoption and makes up with her boyfriend Paulie.

Can we use this?

I think we should use Tzvetan Todorov's theory. The reason behind this is because of the genre that we chose is drama. Drama always has Disequilibrium that needs solving, just like Tzvetan's Theory . Every Drama follows the narrative structure.Juno has a plot that follows Tzvetan Todorov's narrative structure. For example, the plot starts with the main character getting pregnant then the problem is solved by giving the baby to the adoption. As, you can see from this it does always have to follow the narrative structure. We can have a flash of what happened in the past, this would hook the audience, as they might be interested on what happened.

Overall, as you can see all Tzvetan's points are proven with in the ' Finding Nemo 'and there are many films which follow the narrative structure. Other film that follow narrative structure are toy story 3, Kung Fu panda , frozen and many more.

However, it does not always have to start with equilibrium it can start with Resolution and have a flash back which would drive a story forward.

http://www.appshed.com/appbuilder/preview/387676narrative structure

AnbishTmg Preliminary task

Production log

Production Log

REMAKE EVALUATION

Evaluation

Analysis


 To come with the name for our group I made a mind map using a website called bubbl.us.Then I asked my friends and team mates which name they like the most.Most of friends liked TMG Production, Fineline, Paradise Production and Roar studios.It was really difficult decision but we chose Fineline as it suited our group more.

Production Name