Final Piece

Final Plan

Our final idea is to create a fantasy themed film set in an empty school. Two boys wake up after falling asleep in lesson and find the school deserted. They begin to explore and discover a mysterious trapdoor...

Sam has created a piece of music suitable for the fantasy genre. This will accompany the boys as they explore the school, adding emphasis to important moments within the opening scene. The piece was created after studying music for similar films such as The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe and The Harry Potter films.

We plan to open the credits with empty shots of the school. This will tell the viewer that the area is empty before the characters know it themselves. This will draw the viewer in. In addition to this, the shots will effectively set the scene, giving the viewers a sense of time and place. there will be limited dialogue between characters to heighten the sense of mystery. Who exactly are the characters?

Home Alone Opening Analysis

The film begins with an opening shot of a full moon in a dark sky, giving viewers a sense of what time it is. This calm shot of the moon is replaced by people manically rushing around a house - the contrast heightens the impression of the people being in a hurry. Kevin, the main character is then introduced. The viewer immediately get a sense of his character through the conversation with his parents - he is portrayed as a confident boy who likes playing pranks on people. This allows the viewer to form a idea of what the film is going to be like - comic.

Because the opening is mostly compromised of dialogue, it can be assumed that the film is aimed at older children. Films targeting a younger audience tend to have a very fast paced opening sequence to keep young viewers interested, and this film does not. The target audience is likely to be young children around Kevin's age - roughly 7-11.

Music is not a main factor in the opening sequence as it is masked by the dialogue. However, before anything else can be seen the music lets you know that it is chistmas through its array of bells, a common factor in such songs.

Monsters Inc Opening

The credits begin with upbeat music, well suited for children. This immediately suggests that the film will be light-hearted and cheerful like the music. The imagery is mainly made up of doors moving about. There is a vast array of colour, again suggesting that the film will be well suited for children, and this suits the accompanying music. The credits also reveal two main themes within the rest of the film - doors and monsters.

However, a darker atmosphere then occupies the screen. The impact of this is reinforced by the contrast against the jolly music and colourful titles that were present just before. The new atmosphere creates tension and provides a hook to help draw viewers in. There is then more contrast as scary atmosphere and tension dissapears and is replaced with near slapstick comedy. This type of humour is usually reserved for children, and shows it is a film aimed mainly at younger people.
The 'Scary monster' is then shown to be a comical, clumsy character. All traces of fear are gone. This is done to suit the younger viewer - nothing bad happens and the scary moment is kept short.

Nightmare Before Christmas Intro Analysis

You can immediately tell that the film is a child friendly horror by the use of images associated with children's halloween. Pumpkins and scarecrows are shown, but the images are not made to be as scary as possible due to the jolly narration and singing. The characters are all typically 'scary' things for kids, such as ghosts. monsters under the bed, witches etc. However, through song they seem less menacing and seem to be introducing themselves rather than scaring people. However, they are still all typical halloween images, and halloween is usually depicted as scary. The introduction cleary shows that there will be scary monsters in it, but the monsters are friendly and pull the film away from horror and more towards Fantasy.


The sound used in the opening of the film is mostly comprimised of the 'pantomime' styled song, which is sung by the monsters. It is used to introduce the characters via song, which makes them seem less scary to the viewer, which is key to restraining the horror elements of the film to make it watchable for young viewers. Instantly regocnisable sounds accopany the music and introduction of the characters. For example, the witches cackle instantly gives the film ties to halloween, creating more powerful imagery associated with halloween. The sound is especially impotant in this opening scene as it hold the film back from being too scary by creating a pantomine atmosphere.


There is a wide range of characters that are introduced in the opening sequence through song, forming a close link between character introduction and sound. Nearly all of the residents of 'Halloween Town' are introduced during the pantomine style song, which gradually leads up to the introduction of the films main protagonist: 'The Pumpkin King'. This graual build up creates a sense of anticipation within the viewer before the Pumpkin King is introduced. You can immediately tell that the other characters are his 'subjects' by the way they are dancing and performing around him in a celebratory way, as if he has returned from an absense. Again, this provides a hook to keep viewers watching.


A scary atmosphere, suitable for young children, is set almost immediately by the vast range of Iconography relating to Halloween. Examples of this include witches and other monsters. In contrast to this, a jolly atmosphere is created through the pantomine stlye song sung by the characters. The two constrasting atmospheres are blended together expertly and, being a childrens film, the jolly, sing-song atmosphere is more prominent than the scaryness. The two atmospheres are also different in the medium they are presented in - the scaryness is fabricated using imagery whilst the lighter mood is offered via song.

Breif Plan

Opening scene plan:

The scene will be based around a sense of mystery, leading up to the discovery of a trapdoor, at which point to opening scene will end. Our opening will be based around two main themes: Adventure and Mystery. 'Fantasy' music will accompany the film.

Our opening will be rated a PG, and aimed mainly towards children between the ages of 8-12. It will be similar to the syle of 'Home Alone', when the boy is first left alone - eg searching for other people. However, we plan to have two people acting to allow a wider range of dialogue.

Homework Analysis

Drillbit Taylor (opening 3 minute analysis)


The film start with children music as the owners of the film shows the title 'Paramount'. The title then fades into a scene of a house with one light on using a long shot camera angle. Titles roll-on as you here a phone ring a kids voice pick it up and talks to his friend about there first day of college. The shot is changed to a mid-shot, and cuts between the two characters talking on the phone (both of wich are on there beds in there rooms at there homes). The shot changes to a mid close up as another character acting as a farthaly figure is introduced and tells, the boy to go to sleep. The scene changes to a warm sunny day next morning, and focuses on a new camer using a mid close up again. The shot then changes into a longshot of this new character standing outside a his home (a tent) in the middle of a forest. It then changes to an extreme long shot of a veiw of a beach, next to a motorway.

Peace x

Planning

Narrative

Our narrative will tell the audience that the film will contain elements of mystery, and will follow the conventions of the Fantasy genre. We believe this genre is well suited to children due to our research, which showed that childrens fantasy films are extremely popular in the cinemas. To meet the Genre requirements we may need to use some special effects while editing our film.

Plan:

Genres:
Comedy
Adventure
Fantasy

These are the 3 genres we have identified as possible options, although each has its own advantages and disadvantages. For example, while Fantasy films are very popular with children, the special effects required to make an effective opening for one is likely to beyond our skill range. A film we have studied fitting the fantasy genre is Nightmare Before Christmas, and the visuals used back up our previous point.

Comedy/Adventure. A film that fits both these genres is Monsters inc. This film is fully animated, so we will not be able to use the same levels of surrealism in our film. Despite this extensive CGI is not needed as much in Adventure and Comedy films in comparison to Fantasy. However, we will use it as a rough guide for our opening sequence.

Our narrative will tell the audience that the film will be ?, and will follow the conventions of the ? genre. We believe this genre is well suited to children due to our research, which showed that ?. To achieve this we will use a mix of suspense and humor, contrasting the two.

Characters

Characters could be introduced in a multitude of ways - we could simply reveal the character straight away, or keep the viewer in suspense by keeping the protagonist's true identity hidden throughout the opening sequence.

Potential characters:
Dave - Schoolboy
Sam - Schoolboy
Mickey - Janitor
Joe - Teacher

The Lion King Opening Scene

It is difficuly to fully understand the genre of the film judged on the opening scene alone. However, it is most likely to be an Adventure film well suited to children. The sign of it being an adventure film is primarily shown by the newborn lion being held aloft by the aged chimp at the end of the sequence. The respectful and jubilant reaction of the ammassed animals instantly shows the viewer that the baby lion is very important - and he/she will be the main protagonist in the movie.

From the opening sequence viewers can derive that it is a childrens film. Firstly, the bright and colourful landscape, full of life, is directed at children as many children have a fondness for animals. In addition to this perfect harmony is present between the wildlife - none are seen attacking each other. This has been purposefully done to suit younger viewers who would not like to see violence and much prefer the fictional harmony.

Sound plays a huge part within this opening sequence - it is the main contributor the suspense and atmosphere created. Based loosely around traditional African music, the piece was written specifically for the film and, consequently, relates directly to the scene. The composition is called 'The Circle Of Life', well suited, as the whole opening scene is ultimately about the birth of new life.

The music's tempo increases suitingly to the scenes shown - it begings very slowly, picking up pace slightly as the animals begin to come out. As Pride Rock comes into view the music becomes more powerful, building a sense of importance with the location. It then quitens down as the newborn Simba is shown being marked by the chimp, creating a sense of importance. The leading panpipes help create the sense of relaxation. The music then reaches its expressive high as Simba is thrust into the air, and the animals bow their heads in respect. The increase in volume suggests power behind the newborn lion, furthering the viewers expectations of him. This is the most important moment in the opening sequence.

Few characters are shown in the opening scene, and as there is no dialogue it is hard to make a judgement on any of them. The first main character shown is Zazu the bird, and he is immediately shown to be in a lower standing position than the large lion stood atop the rock, who is shown to be a powerful animal who would be respected. This is illustated by his powerful pose, and Zazu's submissive bow to him. This attracts the viewers interest as they wish to know why he is being bowed to. Next, the aged chimp appears. The crowd parts for him in a respectful way, suggesting he is a very knowledgable beast who is known by all. He then performs some sort of ritual on the newborn lion. This, similarly to before, gains viewers interest by making them want to know who he is, and why he has performed a ritual on the newborn. Fianlly, Simba is introduced as an innocent newborn who is content just to be with his mother. However, he is presented before a whole gathering of animals which instantly makes him seem important, but it not revealed why. This creates a hook to keep viewers interested as the scene ends.

The atmosphere created by the opening scene is one of mystery. At first the viewer wonders why the animals are all moving purposefully towards the same location, then when that location is revealed they want to know what is atop the rock. Even after this there are more questions to be answered - who exactly is the chimp and why does he perform the ritual before holding the newborn lion up to the sky. All of these work as hooks and keep the viewer constantly interested and give a sense of mystery. The music plays an important part in creating this sense of mystery - the music rises or falls every time a new question is asked. For example, when Simba is held aloft the music becomes more powerful and dramatic, whereas when the newborn is being 'initiated' by the chimp the music is more mellow and mysterious.

In addition to this, there are beautiful landscapes to admire and a peaceful atmosphere is created at the beggining as the sun rises and animals awaken. The empty landscape is suddenly full as the animals begin to head towards the same place. However, the journey does not seem rushed and there is a respect between the animals which preserves an element of the peace. This works as a hook, drawing the viewer in and making them wonder where all the animals are going. The music also contributed a lot to this peaceful atmosphere with its traditional African music.

Storyboarding

In todays lesson we watched the opening scene of the film 'Back to the Future', and were asked to draw up a story board analysing the key images, sound effects and camera movement from the clip.

The scene begins with one long continuous shot which last appoxamately 2 minutes. We showed this on the story board by putting arrows between each key image, illustrating the direction that the camera was tracking in.

After drawing up the story board we then, as a whole class, had a discussion, analysing each others work focusing on the good and bad parts. For example, had the group included all of the key images, or given enough detail when writing about their images. In our case our drawings weren't clear enough and our arrows showing the continuous shot's direction of movement were a little confusing. Getting feedback on this task has helped us get a better perspective on what needs to be demonstrated in our childrens film storyboard - next time we will take more care over our illustrations and make our arrows showing camera movement clearer.

Childrens Films and the BBFC.

What is a children's film?

Children's films are specifically aimed at children. Because of this they are often adventure films involving elements of comedy and fantasy. Characters usually fit the conventions required to be easily identified as heroes or villains, and the hero ultimately triumphs over the villian. With children's films, it is common for animation to be used often, and sometimes whole films are animated. Usually CGI techniques allows the films to acheive the element of fantasy that children enjoy. In addition to this, if the film is clearly not real it is less likely to scare children viewing it.



PG Certificate

PG stands for 'Parental guidance'. The film may not be suitable for children under the age of 8. Although children of any age may watch unaccompanied, parents and carers are asked to consider whether the film may affect their child and act accordingly - PG films may upset younger or more sensitive children. Below, a PG certificate image can be seen.

U Certificate

The U stands for Universal. The certificate U means that the film is suitable for all ages without parental guidance - there is no content present in the film which may upset people on any age. However, in recent years ratings and censorship has been relaxed. This has led to many films getting classed as a U, whereas longer ago they would have been at least a PG. Below a U certificate can be seen. This image appears on all films and videos rated as Universal.

The BBFC

The BBFC are a company that award films their respective certificates and determine whether it is appropriate for viewers bellow a certain age. The BBFC has been classifying films since it was setup in 1912, and since the video recordings act, which was passed in 1984, they have classified videos/DVDs as well.

You can view their website by clicking here.

Lemony Snicket - A Series Of Unfortunate Events Opening Scene.

Themes- Family, Love, Tragedy, Adventure, Mystery.

Genre- Mystery/Adventure

Narrative - The narrative shows the children have different skills. For example, Violetis a brilliant inventor. The skills of the children be used later - why else would the viewer be told about them. The narrative also gives important information about the childrens lives and hints at what lies ahead in the film.

Character - The 3 main protaganists are introduced immediately in a brisk fashion by the narrator, voiced by Lemony Snicket himself. Background information is given on Violet, Klaus and Sunny and their individual skills are outlined. They are presented as nice, kind children and this helps the viewer empathise with them when the news of their parent's deaths is broken to them.

Atmosphere/mood- At the beginning the viewer is led to believe it is a film about 'The Happy Little Elf' - perhaps they are in the wrong cinema? However, this sequence is cut brutally short and all the colour and joy vanishes as The Happy Little Elf is replaced by a desolate shoreline and the 3 children. The use of the Elf short amplifies the negative effect of the beach. The eerie mist and drab use of colour immediately gives the audience the impression that something terrible is about to happen. The film creates suspense and atmosphere by using its barren landscape, but increases the impact created by this scenery via The Happy Little Elf sequence at the start of the film, which causes the powerful contrast.

Group 52

David O'Keefe, Kriss Okai-koi, David Haynes, Sam Bols.

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