Genre Research: Action and Drama

As we changed our genre to Action/Drama, I then did some research on each:
 
Here is a synopsis of action films and drama films, courtesy of www.filmsite.org:

Action films

This major genre type includes films that have tremendous impact, continuous high energy, lots of physical stunts and activity, possibly extended chase scenes, races, rescues, battles, martial arts, mountains and mountaineering, destructive disasters (floods, explosions, natural disasters, fires, etc.), fights, escapes, non-stop motion, spectacular rhythm and pacing, and adventurous heroes - all designed for pure audience escapism with the action sequences at the core of the film.

Action films and adventure films have tremendous cross-over potential as film genres, and road films often overlap with action films. Both types of films come in a variety of forms or genre-hybrids: sci-fi or space, thrillers, crime-drama, war, horror, westerns, etc. Oftentimes, action films are great box-office hits, but lack critical appeal because of their two-dimensional heroes or villains.

Dramas
Drama Films are serious presentations or stories with settings or life situations that portray realistic characters in conflict with either themselves, others, or forces of nature. A dramatic film shows us human beings at their best, their worst, and everything in-between. Each of the types of subject-matter themes have various kinds of dramatic plots. Dramatic films are probably the largest film genre because they include a broad spectrum of films.

Dramatic themes often include current issues, societal ills, and problems, concerns or injustices, such as political unrest, class divisions, mental illness, corrupt societal institutions, or other explosive issues of the times. These films have successfully drawn attention to the issues by taking advantage of the topical interest of the subject.

The top 10 Action Films and Top 10 Dramas, courtesy of IMDB:

Genre Research: Psychological Thriller

Here is a synopsis of thrillers, courtesy of www.filmsite.org:

These are types of films known to promote intense excitement, suspense, a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety, and nerve-wracking tension. Thriller and suspense films are virtually synonymous and interchangeable categorizations, with similar characteristics and features.

If the genre is to be defined strictly, a genuine thriller is a film that rentlessly pursues a single-minded goal - to provide thrills and keep the audience cliff-hanging at the 'edge of their seats' as the plot builds towards a climax. The tension usually arises when the main character(s) is placed in a menacing situation or mystery, or an escape or dangerous mission from which escape seems impossible. Life itself is threatened, usually because the principal character is unsuspecting or unknowingly involved in a dangerous or potentially deadly situation. Plots of thrillers involve characters which come into conflict with each other or with outside forces.

Suspense-thrillers come in all shapes and forms: there are murder mysteries, private eye tales, chase thrillers, women-in-danger films, courtroom and legal thrillers, erotic thrillers, surreal cult-film soap operas, and atmospheric, plot-twisting psychodramas.

'Best Psychological Thriller Movies' by skoknicglumac on IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/list/mo5IG2eK5DA/

Barthe's Theory

The Butterfly Effect (2004)

1. Identify the key actions within the opening - what kinds of actions are included and how is the narrative moved forward?
At the very beginning of the movie, we see Evan (played by Ashton Kutcher) run in to what looks like an office in the dark, move the tables and chairs to block the door, and hide under the table. We see him picking up a notepad and quickly write on it; writing '...I might be able to save her.' This helps the narrative to move forward, as we understand that he wants to try and save 'her', who we guess is someone he loves. Also, as we see that he is writing onto a notepad, this is really important too - as he needs to write things down to travel back in time, which we see later on in the film.
After this scene, we see the opening credits, and we then flip back to 13 years earlier. We learn that Evan has quite a close relationship with his mother, but barely ever sees his father. (At the end of this clip we realise that he has never actually seen his father, and his first encounter is located in his father's pyschiatric institute.)
The next few scenes show Evan at school, at home and at his friend's house, and in all three scenes, we learn that he seems to blank out and forget his actions - 'I don't remember' and 'Where am I? Where'd we all go? I was just somewhere else!'
We also see that he's slightly disturbed and has a disturbing life, although he doesn't remember anything. At school he drew a picture of him killing people, at home he picked up a knife, and at his friend's house, he found himself being filmed for child pornography.
So in these opening 10 minutes, we have seen a lot of Evan's past and we can learn a lot about him, and this helps the story of the film move forward.

2.  Identify the enigma codes within the opening - what kinds of questions are posed and how is the audience meant to read these codes?
As explained in question one, there are many things that happen in the opening sequence, especially in Evan's past. We find ourseleves as the audience asking 'What happened to him, why couldn't he remember anything he did?' as well as 'Why did he draw a picture of himself killing people, and why did he suddenly hold a knife when he was in the kitchen?'
This makes us wonder a lot about Evan and if there is something wrong with him; why does he keep doing strange things and keep forgetting about them? Does he just black out, or is someone possessing him? But even if we are unsure and slightly confused, we know that it will all be answered later on the movie.
However, it's not only Evan's past which makes us question what is going on - even the first scene when he is in present time. We're asking 'what is he doing? Is he being hunted/chased down? Why is he writing under a table, and who is 'her'?'
So as we can see, many questions and enigma codes are raised in this opening, which make it a great way of drawing the audience in and making them want to watch the rest of the film.

3.  Identify key characters and think about what they represent in the opening.
The main key character in this film is Evan, and we can see that he is a troubled child, with a disturbing life. He is always find himself doing strange things, not remembering anything he has done, being abused by his friend's father and living without a father of his own. He represents the main part of the film and we follow his journey: we sympathise him, are shocked by him, and we almost want to go in to the film and help him.
Another key character we see in the opening sequence is his mother. She helped to bring Evan up on her own - her husband/his father is staying at a pyschiatric ward - and she loves and is terribly worried for her son. We can see she is a loving mother and is trying to help him, by bringing him to get his brain checked and bringing him to see his father, but we can also see she seems a bit helpless, and this is shown by her crying in the car, and asking for help.

4. Interpret the cultural codes in the opening.  What kind of knowledge is being drawn on? social/historical/political/art and culture etc.  Highlight the 3 most important references in the opening that help with audience understanding.
The film starts with a quote saying 'It has been said that something as small as the flutter of a butterfly's wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world.' This immediately shows the audience that the film is about small changes and how this effects fate, and this is reinforced by the saying 'the butterfly effect', which is the title of the film.
There are also very obvious settings in the film, meaning they don't have to say where they are, but because we are familiar with the settings, we know exactly where they are. For example, at the very beginning of the film, we don't need a close up on a sign saying 'OFFICE'; we know where he is because of the tables, water dispenser and files. And also, in the past when Evan's mum drops him off to school, it doesn't show the name of the school or anything, but we can tell it is a school just by the shape and structure of the building, and the ring of the bell.

5.  Identify key themes and analyse how they are presented visually/technically.
The key themes in the opening sequence would be enigma and the unknowing, as the characters in the film, as well as us, are wondering what is going on. This is presented by Evan's mysterious actions and how he has gotten to where he is, as he doesn't ever remember anything.
There is also a theme of sin/crime, as when he does these mysterious actions, there is always a knife and killing involved, and when he found himself at his friend's house naked, we see that their dad is filming them.
Finally, there is also a theme of fear and worry, and this is mostly represented by Evan's mother, as well as Evan's teacher and doctor, when they all worry for Evan's mental health and stability.

Continuity in Film

 In the Land of Women (2007) (scene starts from 0:04, ends at 3:04)
The scene starts with a close up of the headlights of a car, and we can see that it is parking and coming to a halt. Immediately we know that they have drove at night to some sort of field, as we can see the grass in the background. The camera zooms slightly out and then pans upwards, so that we can see Carter (Adam Brody's character) exit the car. We then have a VLS pan of Carter and the scenery behind him - this is our establishing shot, as it establishes where the scene has taken place. From what we can see, we guess they have driven to their school, as we can see a very school-like building in the background, and on the field there are white painted football lines. While this pan is taking place, we can hear our other character (Lucy, played by Kristen Stewart) get out of the car, and she is only seen in the next shot.
We then have a two shot of both our characters; Carter is bending down and Lucy is behind. This is our Master Shot, and the dialogue between them begins.
At 0:48, Carter gets up and walks towards Lucy, while the camera zooms and pans along. The fact that the scene starts with VLSs and slowly gets closer to a LS shows the continuity and follows the rule of short order. When he sits down we get a MS of him, and as the dialogue continues, the camera gets into a sequence of OTS shots.
The first OTS shot (1:06) is slightly further out and a MLS, and we can see Lucy's whole body. The next is of Carter (1:17), and we can see from his chest upwards, as it is a MS. Then the camera shows Lucy again, but this time we have a CU of just her face. So again, just by viewing these three shots, we can see that the scene is following the rule of short order, and slowly zooming in.
This carries on till about 1:34, when Lucy gets up, and we see the camera start to slowly zoom out again. And now that Lucy is standing up and Carter is sitting down, there is a large height difference, so the eyeline match rule is obviously seen. When she is talking (1:40) she has to look down, and at 1:44, he looks up to see her face. So this shot not only shows the eyeline match rule, but is also a reaction shot, as he reacts to what she has said and looks up.
The next minute of this scene carries on with more OTS/POV shots as the conversation between the two characters continue, with the shots zooming in and out again, the furthest out being the LS of Carter at 2:23.

Applying Levi Strauss's Theory

Step Up (2006)


1. What is the genre of the film? How are the genre signifiers introduced?
The genre of this film is dance. This is shown straight at the beginning, with loud music with strong beats, and cross cutting between two dance scenes: one showing a ballet class at the Maryland School of Arts, and the other showing streetdance at a party. The two dances are in time with the beat of the music, and although they are two completely different dances, they are made to look slightly similar so we can compare them, e.g. at the beginning, we see medium close ups of their feet, and in both scenes, they are jumping. This is done so that we can see the different ways of jumping in different dances, so by doing the same move, they are highlighting the opposites and differences. The ballet scene is also tinted a light pink (conveying a brightness and the female gender) and the party scene is dark and navy blue (conveying the male gender), so again highlight the opposites.


2. Who are the main characters and how are they opposed?
The main two characters are Tyler Gage and Nora Clark, and there are also other important characters, such as Mac Carter, and his younger brother, Skinny Carter.
Tyler Gage is the male protagonist in the film, and is a streetdancer and trouble maker. His best friend is Mac Carter, and he is mostly always with his younger brother Skinny, who also gets into a lot of trouble, especially at parties and at the beginning of the film. This is shown when they throw bottles and cans at cars and houses, and then break in to the school. They are all from a poorer part of town, so when they break into the school and see the grand stage and building, we hear them saying 'This looks like a museum', 'Looks like stuck up rich folks' and 'Man, these rich kids get everything.'
The other main character is Nora Clark, who is the female protagonist, but isn't shown in the opening sequence. (She is in fact only shown at about 15 minutes into the film, after we see Tyler work and do community service for the Maryland School of Arts, which can be seen in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quGqAN60YJ0&feature=related) Nora is a beautiful and talented ballet dancer, and goes to the Maryland School of Arts. She doesn't get into trouble and is one of the top students there.
So already, we can see that the two main characters are completely different and opposite, from their personality and preffered type of dance. And as she goes to the school, we can also guess that she is quite well off, to be able to afford school fees.
However, although they are completely different, they end up falling in love. We can see this when we first meet Nora, as while she is having a lesson, Tyler is on the side working, and he stops and stares at her. When she looks over her shoulder and smiles at him, we can see and feel their chemistry, and they almost have a love at first sight moment (him more than her - she then goes off with her boyfriend.)


3. What are the main themes of the film and how are they introduced?
Within all the dancing, the main themes of this film are romance and love, and also crime.
In the opening sequence, the camera keeps cross cutting between ballet - a 'girls dance' - and streetdance - a more 'manly dance' - so we can start to guess the romance theme, as we can guess that although they come from different worlds, they may meet up and fall in love.
This is reinforced with the entrance of Nora (shown in part 2, see link above), where they see eachother, and we as viewers can see the connection, and guess that they will fall in love later on in the film.
Finally, the film also has a theme of crime and fighting, and this is shown by the fight at the party, and the three boys breaking in to the school.


4. How is the narrative organised to show conflict?
At the beginning when we see the cross cutting between the two types of dance, it shows a little bit of conflict, as they are totally opposite, and this is reinforced with the colourings/brightnesses of both scenes - one is light/pink and the other is dark/navy.
There is also conflict between Tyler and one of the people at the party, as when Tyler is dancing with that man's girlfriend, they end up in a fight, and the other man produces a gun from his pocket.
Finally, we also see conflict between the boys and the police officer when they get arrested for breaking into the school. But we see more of a conflict between Tyler and the officer, as he instructs Mac to leave, so that only he gets in trouble, instead of all three of them.

Applying Todorov's Theory

A Cinderella Story (2004)


1. Who are the agents: the protagonist and antagonist?
Our protagonist is Sam Montgomery, who plays our 'Cinderella' like role, who seems to have the perfect life. This is shown at the beginning, and she in fact says 'What did I need a wish for? I had amazing friends and the coolest dad'.
The antagonist would be Fiona, who plays Sam's stepmother, who has help from her two daughters - Sam's stepsisters - Brianna and Gabriella.


2. Describe the Equilibrium. How is it represented? What kind of camera shots can you identify? Pick out 2 or 3 examples. Describe the mise-en-scene: what meanings to the props/costumes/lighting/framing carry?
The equilibrium at the beginning of the film shows Sam having the perfect fairytale life, with all her friends and her dad. At the beginning of the film, we see shots of mountains and a fairytale castle (the camera seems to be flying over the mountains during these shots), and when the camera then zooms out, we realise that it actually the inside of a snowglobe. When the camera fully zooms out to reveal the real world, we see Sam and her dad, and the scenery around them. This VLS establishes the location: we can see that they are on the top of a hill, and the exact location is given by the voiceover: San Fernando Valley. At the end of the shot we can see her dad put his arm around her, and this not only shows the close relationship between the two characters, but also reinforces the theme of Sam's perfect life.
The next scene and various shots are of 'Hal's Diner', which is the diner that Sam's dad owns. We first see the exterior, and then the interior, and we can see that the place is full of colour, people, balloons and smiles: which again reinforces Sam's perfect life and the equilibrium at the start of the film. We also see a close up of writing on the wall, which says 'Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.' This quote is in fact a quote from her father, and is a key quote in the film. It sort of has the 'if at first you dont succeed, try and try again' notion, which conveys a positive mood, so again reinforces the perfect place. The diner is also filled with vivid, bright colours - for example for all the balloons - are used in the diner show and help to portray the happiness of Sam's life, and back up her quote 'I was the luckiest girl in the world.', which is said just before the scene changes.


3. Is the Disruption or Disequilibrium introduced or hinted at?
Right after we see Sam blowing out the candles of her birthday cake and the voiceover saying 'What did I need a wish for? I had amazing friends and the coolest dad', the theme and mood change. This is shown by a pause in the music, and the voiceover then saying 'But I guess my dad thought I needed one more thing... Fiona.' Suddenly, the music changes, and so does the scene. We see a shot of her dad and Fiona getting married, and we are introduced to Fiona's two daughters, Brianna and Gabriella. We see that in the scene, they are about to have a wedding photo taken, and we see Fiona purposely dropping her bouquet of flowers for Sam to pick up, so she is purposely our of the photo, and we hear Fiona then say 'One's enough'. So this already shows the disruption in the equilibrium, as we can see that Sam's perfect life is starting to go downhill, with the entrance of her stepmother.
However, the final turning point is when there is an earthquake, and Sam's father dies. This is a key part of her background and story, and this is emphasised by the slow motion close up of their separation of hands, and a cutaway shot to her snowglobe which smashes to the ground. This is symbolic because the snowglobe represents her fairytale life, and since it smashes, her perfect life smashes too.


4. Are there any visual/verbal/aural clues that hint at what the hero's journey might be?
There aren't many clues that hint at what the hero's journey might be, as at the beginning of the film we just learn about her past and story so far. However, we do realise that her dad has died and her life has gone totally downhill, and this is reinforced by the voiceover, saying 'Since my father didn't leave a will, my stepmother got everything; the house, the diner, and to her dismay: me.'


5. From your knowledge of the film, how will the equilibrium be restored and what will be the new equilibrium?
Similar to the original Cinderella, she meets her Prince Charming, and lives 'happily ever after'. However, this film is a more updated and modern version, so she meets her 'Prince Charming' online. However, as they are online, they don't know who eachother are: he is in fact a popular jock called Austin, and she is known as a sort of loser, and is nicknamed 'Diner Girl' (as she works there). She is teased and doesn't have that many friends, but always talks to Austin online, and they fall in love (despite not knowing who is actually on the other end of the computer!). At the end of the movie, they find out who eachother are, and despite coming from different cliques, they date and then go to Princeton University together, and live 'happily ever after!' :)

Continuity

From reading the 'Making Your Film Make Sense' booklet, pages from the folder and doing the accidents task during class, I have learnt many key tips for making a film make sense, and continue.

The main things I have learnt are the rules for continuity editting, especially the '180 degree rule', '30 degree rule', 'match on action', 'shot/rverse/shot' and 'eyeline match'.

The 180 degree rule shows us that it is important to not cross the 'line of vision'. This is because if there are two people in one shot facing eachother, it is important not to make it seem like they are on the same side/coming from the same way, as this may confuse the viewer. This was demonstrated by another group doing the accidents task, as when they filmed two people bumping into eachother, they accidentally made both people walk from the same direction. So from reading the booklet, I have learnt that the camera has to stay on the same side, as this diagram illlustrates:

There is also the 30 degree rule, which tells us that we cannot jump from one camera angle to another angle which is less than 30 degrees apart. This is because it will look confusing to the viewer, and it won't look easy on the eye, as it will just look as though the camera has 'jumped'. This was in fact shown by my group, during the accident task. We shot two shots of 'the fall', one where she is mid air, and then another where she is falling down. However, when we shot the two different shots, they were shot from different angles, so when they were put together, the camera jumped maybe about 30 degrees, and the fall looked very strange.

Another reason why our shot of the fall looked strange was because we didn't match the two shots exactly. This is the rule 'match on action', where we must match two action shots exactly, to make it flow. i.e. the end of the first action shot must be the beginning of the second.

From the booklet, I had also learnt the rule 'shot/reverse/shot', where we must first shoot one character who is facing one direction, and the second character who is facing the other direction. This was also demonstrated by the other group in the accident task, who accomplished this rule well, by showing the two people's faces, before one decided to kick the other.
Their two shots also worked well as they accomplished the 'eyeline match' rule too, which is where the gazes of two characters match (e.g. if one is taller than the other, they are looking down, while the other is looking up).

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Other than these Continuity Editing rules, I have learnt about all the different transitions, lighting, camera movement and framing. These were learnt from not only reading the booklet, but the task during class where we had to film various shots.

There are different transitions such as cuts, dissolves, fades and wipes; all of which convey meaning and help the film flow. The main transition is a cut, which is almost invisible to the viewer, and the least common is a wipe, as this sometimes looks too childish.

I also recapped all the different camera distances and framings, including VLS, LS, MS, CU and ECU. In class we also learnt about the 'Establishing Shot', which is a VLS which shows the audience the setting, and where everyone is in comparison to other characters, and is usually shown first in a sequence.

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So from reading the booklet and doing the tasks during class, I have learnt a lot, and they will help me largely in the future. For example, by just doing the accidents task, my group and I had accidentally broken the 30 degree rule and match on action rule, and we can now learn from our mistakes.

Storyboarding

http://accad.osu.edu/womenandtech/Storyboard%20Resource/
This website just shows us an overview on storyboarding, with definitions of storyboarding, and storyboard language, so is a good website to just brush up on a few facts. There are also a few examples, so we can get an idea of how one should look like.

http://www.youtube.com/user/StoryboardSecrets
I found this user on Youtube called 'StoryboardSecrets', and I found that this person's videos were quite useful. In the videos, we see the person drawing the storyboards, and he talks over the top, giving us tips on the best ways to draw them. For example, the video named 'How To Choose the Best Angle and Composition' was very useful, and showed me quick and easy ways to draw different angles, and what works best.

Storyboarding

Why is storyboarding an essential part of the film making process?
- It helps the director to visualize scenes before they have been shot.
- It allows the director to see if there are any potential problems before shooting, therefore saving time.
- It helps the actors, as they know what to do; it's a visual way of presenting a script.
- It shows the narrative flow of a story, and we can see how the film progresses easily.
- It shows the camera angle, camera distance, camera movements and lighting, so this helps the director to shoot the shot.
- It tells us how the shots are linked together (e.g. cut, mix to), so this tells the editors what to do during editing sessions.
- They show how each shot would look like, so we can imagine the mise-en-scene easily, and this makes it easier for the prop managers as well as the director.
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'P' is for Psycho
1. What is happening in the opening sequence of the film?
In the opening sequence of the film, we can see that it is about a man who seems to be a killer, murderer, or 'psycho'.
The film begins with a low angled wide shot of a toilet door, with low key lighting. The dark lighting tells us that the film is going to be quite scary and maybe a horror or thriller, and the shot of the door tells us that we are probably going to find out what someone is doing inside. The shot then mixes to a low angle midshot of a man. We can at first only see his legs standing by a sink, and then his upper half, via a tilt. These shots are all shot from a low angle, making the character seem larger and more dominant. The scene is then cut to a slow pan, and we get to see his belongings. We see that he has taken off his watch, and taken out his wallet, notepad and photograph.
Next is a key image, a close up of a plug hole, with blood flowing down into the sink. We then assume that he has taken part in a murder of some sort, as he is washing the blood off his hands. We then have other close ups of his hands, with him wrapping a bandage up and clenching his fist, showing aggression, and reinforcing the image of him being some sort of killer.
The shot then tilts up to his head, and finally, we have a close up of his face. We can finally see who he is, but this is interrupted by the sound of a door opening, and his head turning to the side, to see who has entered the toilet. We then see what he sees; the shot is cut to a midshot of a boy entering, and then the camera is back on our main character - he is now tucking a gun into his belt.
The entering of the boy seems to enrage the main character, and we see an extreme close up of his eyes. From this image we can see the emotion and anger, and there are shadows from lighting underneath, so reinforces the character of being a 'psycho'. We then hear him say 'BAD MOVE, KID...', the screen fades to black, and there is a brief pause. Suddenly, we hear gun shots, and as viewers, assume that he has killed the innocent boy.


2. How is the narrative flow established?
The narrative flow has been established with shots linking on to eachother smoothly, via tilts, pans, cuts and mixes. For example, the midshot of his legs is linked together with the shot of his upper body via a tilt.
The shots also all link together story-wise, too, as all the shots are in the toilet and part of the same scene; there is no jumping between two scenes that are happening at the same time.


3. If you were directing this sequence, what aspects of the storyboard would you like to change?
If I was directing this sequence, there would be a few alterations that I would make. For example, the pan across his belongings is marked as 'very slow'. I would speed this up, as there aren't many objects that the viewers properly have to examine, and a 'very slow' pan would just waste screen time. I wouldn't make it a whip pan, just speed it up so we get a glimpse of his belongings.
And in shot 10, we see the main character tuck a gun into his belt. I think this is a bit pointless and doesn't really go with the story, as this means he tucks a gun into his belt, and then immediately takes it out to shoot the boy...? Instead, I think it would be better if we saw a close up of his hand next to his gun already in his pocket, as if he is thinking about taking it out. This way, we can still highlight the fact that he has a gun, and it goes better with the story.
Finally, at the end, the shot fades to black. The fade would completely ruin the anticipation and exciting mood; it should cut immediatly to black instead. This would make a dramatic ending, with the gunshots in the background too.

Introduction to Narrative Theory

This is the opening sequence to the film Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. This is the third instalment to the Pirates of the Caribbean series, which we would categorise under action, adventure and fantasy. So if viewers have already seen the first two, they would already know the main characters; Captain Jack Sparrow, Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner. However, the opening scene of At World’s End doesn’t show any of them, but other pirates instead.

The scene begins with a close up of a rope; one used to hang people. It slowly pans across, from right to left, allowing the sun to beam on the edges of the rope, creating a serious atmosphere. This is also reinforced by the silence; there are no sound effects whatsoever, creating that solemn mood. Next, the shot is cut to a flag and then a close up of peoples’ feet, all chained together. This tells the audience that people are being held prisoners, and the loud sound of the chains being smashed to the ground, and a drum in the background almost make the viewers jump.

We then see wider shots, and can now see that there are many prisoners, all chained together, and people of high position – maybe the navy or army, due to their uniforms and guns – lining them up. There is now a voiceover, from the representative of ‘Cutler Beckett’, giving the orders, and we realise that it is Lord Beckett who is lining all the prisoners up to be hung.

There are then a series of shots; showing the prisoners’ faces, standing while the officials place the rope around their heads, the announcer/representative, and finally, the man who pulls the lever. The floor opens up, and we get a long shot of beneath the stage, and the feet of the many people who have now been hung. This is quite a disturbing image, and the viewers can tell that this opening is serious, so will not be expecting a light hearted comedy for the rest of the film (though there is comedic value, from Captain Jack Sparrow/Johnny Depp).

The shots of people getting hung continues for about a minute, so the viewers can see the vast amount of people getting hung, and this repetitive notion adds to this sombre atmosphere. The fact that the whole scene is also tinted blue also adds to the sadness.

Finally, (at 1:33 in this YouTube video) the scene reaches its turning point, as one of the people getting hung is a small boy, who looks around the age of 12. We see him stepping up to the stage, and when underneath the rope, we have a high angle shot of him, making him seem even more vulnerable – he already is in a very vulnerable state, he’s only a small boy and he’s going to be hung to his death! We then see a close up of his hands, and he is holding a pirate’s coin, - one of the ‘pieces of 8’. This is a key image and prop in the film, so is introduced is the first scene.

We then get a mid long shot of the boy, and the camera zooms in, and we now hear that he is singing. He is in fact singing the song ‘Hoist the Colours’, a pirate song. His voice is quite high, and is a large contrast to the quiet beginning, which makes the song sound quite creepy and haunting.

He sings the first verse on his own, and is then placed on a barrel (he is too short to be hung) and this again adds to his vulnerability. The screen is then focused on another pirate, who starts to sing, and after that, all the pirates join in too. The sound effects and music in this scene are done amazingly well; it really creates a great and eerie atmosphere. The song itself is quite scary on its own, but as they are all singing it in a solemn voice, they come together as a choir and it’s actually quite spine-tingling! The addition of the banging chains and handcuffs not only give a beat to the song, but add to the fact that they’re prisoners and about to be hung to their death; it’s done extremely well in my opinion. Near the end of the song, one of the officers says ‘Lord Beckett, they’ve started to sing.’, in which he replies ‘Finally.’

The last beat of the song is actually the pull of the lever, and we realise they have now been hung. The screen then cuts to black, with the coin falling down, and the title ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End’ appears.

This is, in my opinion, actually one of the best scenes in the film, and is done to a great standard. It is only one scene, so doesn't confuse the viewers, and each shot is just simply cut to eachother, so that the film simply flows. It introduces the film, with the theme of the pirates against the navy and Lord Beckett (Lord Beckett being the one we automatically don’t like, and the pirates being the ones we support), but doesn’t show any of the other main characters. This is so that the audience are just in the right mind frame for the film, and the whole scene seems to take them out of the cinema and into the film, with the great atmospheric music. So although not that much is actually told in the opening scene – as Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner or Elizabeth Swann are not shown, and most of the people who are shown are killed straight away – it just gives the audience a background story and gets them immediately drawn into the film.

(Note – the opening sequence also doesn’t need to immediately introduce the main characters straight away, as this is the third in the series – the audience should already be familiar with them.) 

Our Film Still

1. Describe your shot and identify in what way it could be described as representing your chosen genre.
Our shot represents the genre horror/thriller/slasher. It is a MCU of a teenage girl sitting in a toilet cubicle, and all we can see is her feet and her hand dangling down, under the toilet cubicle door. (And the bottom of the cubicle door creates a frame within in a frame.)
There is very minimal lighting, with shadows all around, creating a very dark image, so this helps to represent the genre of horror/thriller. The actress's second finger is also cut and bloody, so this helps to portray the genre too. And as she is a teenager (although we cannot actually see her face, we assume she is a teenager by what she is wearing - skinny jeans, pink converse and black nail varnish) it shows the subgenre to be teenage horror.



4. What would you do differently in hindsight?
If we were to reshoot or edit the photo, I would probably make sure the camera angle is right, to make sure that the shot is straight. (At the moment, the bottom of the toilet cubicle is not perfectly horizontal). I would probably also move the bits of tissue on the right hand side out of the picture, so that the background is totally dark and black, so that our eyes are definately drawn to the brightness of the shoes and hand, and not the white part on the side.
So we could either reshoot with the camera angle correct and move the bit of tissue, or just edit the photo now, by rotating it slightly and cropping it. If editting I would also slightly adjust the contrast to make the difference between the character and mise-en-scene even more prominant, and the end result would look something like this:

3. Identify what is successful about your shot.
Our shot is successful because I think that it identifies the genre well. I am really proud of our team's lighting; the desired effect was created very successfully with the pad light. The fact that our actress was perfect for our shot definately helped: her finger was bleeding and her nail varnish that day was black!2. What did you actually do to achieve the effect?
To achieve the dark shadowy effect of the shot, we turned out all the lights in the toilets, and just used a small pad light, with the barn doors half closed. This produced a small thin light, directed and concentrated onto her feet, and created darkness and shadows all around. The shot is a mid close up, so that the audience can concentrate on her feet and her hand in the shot, but also see the background and mise-en-scene, so that they know where the character is placed. We also got the actress to slightly undo one of her alces and dangle her arm, which makes her look vulnerable and alone, and make the audience ask themselves, 'Is she dead?' She is also wearing black nail varnish, and this also helps to connote the genre of horror.