I thought of a logo and name that I would like to use as my production company logo. My idea is:
a Papillon Production film
On the dot of the first 'I' i want to have an animated butterfly that flies from off screen onto the screen and stops at the top of the 'I'.
I originally was going to use an image of a butterfly that I found on the Internet and cut the different sections out ( right wing, left wing and body) for the animation but i found it quite difficult to do this on after effects so decided to draw my own butterfly on there instead. In addition, the image i planned on using may have had copyright on it and i wouldn't have been able to use it whereas if i draw my own I won't have this problem.
I chose to use a butterfly as my logo and company name because it perhaps gives the impression that my company is a free less mainstream company that doesn't produce huge glamorous Hollywood type films. In addition i really like butterflies and think that they are really pretty and it may create a false sense of security compared to the film I currently plan on creating a 2 minute opening for.
An uploaded version of my complete animated production company logo will be uploaded asap.
Another video i looked at was the opening credits of Edward Scissorhands by Tim Burton:
I really like how all the credits are angled and shaped so that they look like scissors. I think this is a really effective way to make them link in with the plot of the film. I haven't actually seen this film and all i know about it is that a man has scissorhands. Even from watching the opening i still don't really know much about the film which in my opinion is a good thing because you don't want to give too much away in the beginning. Sometimes the ending is implied in the beginning sequence and perhaps in this film he gets normal hands again as you see a pair of normal hands, but then, this could be just to highlight the fact that he has scissors for hands.
The title sequence is quite simple, there isn't really any fancy animations, just simple movement animations and fading but i think that having them in the shape of scissors is really effective and i really like that idea. They are in white which contrasts with the background- a dull grey colour which makes them clear to see and read also, it says 'Vincent Price as the Inventor' which is unusual because films don't tend to say who people are starring as and in addition they are in the centre of the screen which I think is unusual aswell because many films have them to the side of the screen so you can see the action in the background such as The Hangover.
Timeline of the Title Sequence
0:19 Twentieth Century Fox Presents
0:24 A Tim Burton Film
0:32 Edward Scissorhands
0:49 Johnny Depp
0:54 Winona Ryder
0:58 Dianne Wiest
1:03 Anthony Michael Hall
1:08 Kathy Baker
1:13 Robert Oliveri
1:18 Conchata Ferrell, Caroline Aaron
1:23 Dick Anthony Williams, O-Lan Jones
1:28 Vincent Price as the Inventor
1:33 And Alan Arkin
1:37 Music by Danny Elfman
1:42 Casting by Victoria Thomas
1:47 Costume Designer Colleen Atwood
1:53 Special Makeup and Scissorhands Effects Produced by Stan Winston
1:59 Edited by Richard Halsey A.C.E
2:07 Production Designer Bo Welch
2:11 Director of Photography Stefan Czapsky
2:16 Executive Producer Richard Hashimoto
2:22 Story by Tim Burton & Caroline Thompson
2:26 Screenplay by Caroline Thompson
2:31 Produced by Denise Di Novi, Tim Burton
2:36 Directed by Tim Burton
Compared to Taxi Driver this title sequence is much longer because it starts much later at 19 seconds compared to 3 seconds in taxi driver. I like Edward Scissorhands much better because it's much slower and isn't trying to cram all the credits in in time which is how it feels when watching Taxi Driver but then, this could be because Taxi Driver is a more action packed film and has much quicker action in it compared with Edward Scissorhands. However I think that Se7en had a much more creative and interesting animation of the credits which made it much more interesting to watch but I guess it depends on what genre film it is to what the opening title sequence is like.
This is our preliminary task of a character walking into a room and having a conversation with another character. We went for the storyline of someone being held hostage to try and make it more interesting to watch as the basic story of the video isn't really very interesting. We didn't let the audience know what the girl was being held hostage for until towards the end of the clip to keep them guessing and the fact that it was something quite ridiculous gives it a bit of comedy about it.
This was a really quick exercise allowing us to experiment with different angles and shots to get used to using the camera such as the close ups on the hands opening the door. These type of shots don't give away too much of what the characters are like or where the plot may go and therefore might keep the audience more interested which is a good technique to use when creating our own 2 minute opening.
We looked at some interesting ways of a titling sequence which could reflect the genre of your film. A good example of this is the title sequence of Se7en:
The titling in this looks similar to handwriting which you see a lot of in the opening sequence. The font and the animation of this really gives a sense of something horrible that might happen. In addition the untidiness and flickering of the titling could give us an impression of what perhaps the main character could be like. It all fits in with what you see on screen and the eerie/screeching music does too. I think that it works really well and the fact that it doesn't really give much of the plot away makes you want to know what the person is actually doing. In addition, I think that its really effective because it makes the opening 2 minutes really interesting to watch because of the flicking between images, the flickering of credits and the music which in my opinion makes you want to carry on watching the film however it does sometimes make it quite difficult to read. I really like these opening credits because they are different to what you usually see on a film and make it more unique and interesting to watch.
0.03 NEW LINE CINEMA PRESENTS
0.06 AN Arnold Kopelson PRODUCTION
0.10 A FILM BY David Fincher
0.14 Brad Pitt
0.18 Morgan Freeman
0.24 SE7EN
0.30 Gwyneth Paltrow
0.33 Richard Roundtree
0.38 R. LeeErmey
0.42 John C. McGinley
0.46 Julie Araskog Mark Boone Junior
0.54 John Cassini Reginald E. Cathey Peter Crombie
0.57 Hawthorne James Michael Massee Leland Orser
1.03 Richard Patnow Richard Schiff Pamala Tyson
1.10 CASTING BY Billy Hopkins. Suzanne Smith Kerry Borden
1.17 MUSIC BY Howard Shore
1.22 COSTUMES DESIGNED BY Michael Kaplan
1.24 EDITED BY Richard Francis-Bruce
1.26 PRODUCTION DESIGNED BY Arthur Max
1.34 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Darius Khondji
1.40 CO PRODUCERS Steven Brown Nana Greenwald Sanford Panitch
1.43 CO EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS Lynn Harris Richard Saperstein
1.50 EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS Glanni Nunnari Dan Kalsrud Anne Kopelson
1.53 WRITTEN BY Andrew Kevin Walker
1.58 PRODUCED BY Arnold Kopelson Phyllis Carlyle
2.04 DIRECTED BY David Fincher
The trip to Cinema City gave us an insight into how cinema has become more popular, who the main companies are and the fact that we are getting a fewer choice of film to see at the cinema.
Over the years, cinema has become more and more popular with figures rising up to 164.2 million last year however that seems like nothing compared with the figures in the post war 1940's which were 500 million. In addition, in 1982 there was a dramatic decline in the number of visitors to the cinema with a very low number of only 50 million a year. This was due to the introduction of home videos. This meant that people didn't have to pay to go and see their favourite film. They could simply buy it on video and watch it as many times as they liked in the comfort of their own home. However, a couple of years later in 1984, there was a huge multiplex built in Milton Keynes making the figures of cinema go on the increase once again.
It seems that in America, the time when viewing figures are at a high is during the summer. This is because it is the holiday season and people have time to go to the cinema and also because in some cases it is much cooler inside the cinema complex. On the other hand, in Britain the peak time is between January and March. This is because the weather is colder and unlike in America where the weather is nice and sunny most of the time, people in Britain want to make the most of the sunshine whilst it lasts.
The term blockbuster was non-existent before the film 'Jaws' was released. The term came about because of the long queues that literally went round the block. Considering the rise in numbers of people going to the cinema, there has been a fewer choice of types of films to see in the cinema. Typically they have been big hollywood blockbusters and there is very little opportunity to see local British films or films of a different culture.
The film that we got to see, Animal Kingdom was a first time directors film from Australia. It was released by Sony pictures classics, their independent division and was made on a low budget of $5.2m and even managed to win the Sun Dance award. Compared to others, this budget was a very low budget.
Avatar $237m
Pirates of The Caribbean 4 $250m
Kings Speech $15m
Slumdog Millionaire $15m
Similarly to Animal Kingdom, Cinema City likes to show films of different languages, cultures and others that you wouldn't perhaps have a chance to see in a big cinema such as Odeon or Vue. Films such as 'Amelie'- a french film or completely different films such as 'We need to talk about Kevin'.
Currently, Cinema City are always trying to thing of new ways to bring audiences in and don't always rely on films. They also use the stage and show live opera performances among other types of performances and also offer an educational programme to deliver presentations to students about cinema and film.
Cinema City only has 3 screens which is a small amount compared to the 14 at Odeon, however they still bring in a lot of money. These films were the 5 most viewed films from Septemeber to October 2010 at cinema city with the King's Speech bringing the most profit they have had for 10 years.
The King's Speech
Slumdog Millionaire
The Single Man
The Reader
Quantum of Solace
Animal Kingdom, 2010
Director: David Michod
This film was inspired by real life events in the criminal world of Melbourne, Australia and tells the story of a 17 year old boy who gets caught up in his uncles' run ins with the law resulting in nearly everyone getting killed.
In my opinion this was a good film for a first time director. The characters were not overplayed or exaggerated and the first quiet and innocent perceptions of Janine really do hide the real evil that lurks below. However, for me, I think that there were perhaps too many people being murdered which perhaps made it feel a bit over the top but at some points the director killed characters off in an unexpected way which often made you jump which kept you involved with the film. Also, I feel like there was too much going on to get your head round and that perhaps you would have to watch it a few more times to fully understand the film. Other than that, I think that it was an excellent film.
Here is my textual analysis of 'P.s I love you' and ' The Ugly Truth'
Both of these films fall into the Romantic- Comedy genre. They both typically consist of a young and beautiful lead woman and a young handsome lead male role.
'The Ugly Truth' starts off with a plain birds eye view of an American city where everything is the same. There are tall,grey tower blocks nestled in networks of long straight roads for as far as the eye can see. Straight away, this suggests that the film is set in an everyday location with everyday people in an everyday situation. There is nothing special or different about this setting to immediately set it apart from anywhere else. The fact that the beginning suggests this, contrasts with where the main female role 'Abi' lives. She lives in an apartment building that all looks similar however, it is far from the city and everything seems perfectly symmetrical. Even the trees and the shrubs in the pots seem to be symmetrically matched either side of the walkway. This could suggest that Abi is a bit of a 'neat freak', that she likes everything to be absolutely perfect and in place which is also reflected in her costume. However it could imply that she is different to an everyday person you would find in the city. Immediately you can tell by her neat, clean and smart appearance that she has a well paid job and we are first introduced to her character as she is bustling out of her door in a hurry with her phone to her ear ( a call that is without doubt related to her job). Her costume is quite plain and so are the colours of her house, the setting and her workplace. This could all imply that she is a bit plain herself and that she has no variety in her life; that she has a set routine and she follows it strictly. The fact that she is dressed in a pale blue striped shirt and her workplace is shrouded in shades of blue could suggest that she is in need of a man in her life which is the typical plot of a Rom-Com or on the other hand could imply that she needs to get in touch with her feminine side more. Also, Abi wears glasses which automatically makes her look more intelligent and authoritative and makes us believe that she is more intelligent because of stereotypical views of people with glasses.
When she pulls up into her workplace in her plain and simple car it also highlights how plain her personality may be and the van parked behind implies that she works in a studio. Because of her body language and costume, it is obvious that she is some kind of leader within the work place. She stands tall and walks like she is on a mission. Everyone comes running to her with problems that need to be sorted and they just follow her as she carries on her path wherever she is headed. The fact that she is dressed in a plain suit and the majority of people that are coming to her with problems are dressed less formally or with brightly coloured patterns, suggests that she is the type of person that can keep everything together and under control because she doesn't bring complications or variety into her life to disrupt her ways. Which, consequently allows her to stay calm and collected in the busy hustle and bustle of her chaotic work place. The panning shot of the TV studio confirms that she does in fact work in a television studio as you can see all the props, the entire studio with all the cameras and different sections for weather, the kitchen area and the anchor room. When she gets called into an office, you can immediately see who is the more authoritative figure. Usually, a character closer in the frame is the more dominant authoritative figure but in this case it was obvious that that the man in the suit sitting in the big comfy, black, swivel chair was the much more dominant person. The plain fact that he is sitting behind the desk automatically make us assume he has a higher position in the workplace because of typical stereotypes we have. Baring this in mind, the two films are similar in terms of dominance. It appears that both the lead women hold some sort of authority over other people. In 'P.S I Love You' it suggests that the main female role 'Holly' is the more dominant person in the situation because she seems to be leading the main male role 'Gerry' down the street with him obediently following behind. From this you can automatically see that there is something wrong between them; that they have had an argument. You can tell this because of Holly's stiff and strong posture and her expressions. The fact that they emerge from the underground station could suggest that they prefer to keep their problems hidden from everyone else until they get into the comfort of their own four walls. Likewise in 'The Ugly Truth' the setting is an everyday, busy scene suggesting that these are everyday, regular people. Which is also reflected in the appearance of the apartment block. Everything looks the same. It's nothing fancy, it's just a regular apartment block. As soon as they enter the lobby into the apartment, you are swallowed into a sea of red. All the doors are red and so are the walls. This emphasises perhaps the anger that she feels towards him or perhaps tries to emphasise the underlying love and passion between them. When walking up the stairs Holly is always looking down on Gerry and Gerry is always looking up to Holly. This could imply that this is how their relationship is or alternatively could imply that Holly always has to depend on Gerry to 'catch her when she falls' and that he is always her safety net. From the very first beginning five minutes of this film you can tell a lot about Gerry's character because of his body language and facial expressions. For example, even though they are arguing about something he still has a bounce in his step and still manages to laugh and tease Holly. This suggests that Gerry is a very carefree kind of character that likes to have fun and laugh all the time whereas Holly brings more seriousness and reality into the situation. Once inside the apartment it becomes apparent that shoes will have an importance in the film as they always seem to be in the frame and Gerry keeps hold of the shoe that she throws at him. There just seems to be shoes everywhere in their apartment and later on in the film you do in fact discover that she becomes a successful shoe designer. So this is a perfect example of a prop which has some importance in letting the audience know where the plot could go. Also, Gerry keeps playing with his braces which could also imply that they have an importance in the film too or it could perhaps imply that he is just nervous because of their argument. However, they do in fact help Holly's inspiration to be a shoe designer later in the film. One other main thing in 'PS I Love You' is that Holly always seems to be in the light whereas Gerry is in the dark. Her chest of drawers are light whereas Gerry's are dark and in shadow. This could suggest something ominous is going to happen to Gerry or it could simply be to highlight the innocence and purity of Holly's personality and characteristics or, in addition, because it's as if the frame is cut in half and they are both stuck on their separate sides could imply that they get divided from each other in some way. Overall, both of these films conform to the stereotypical views of a Rom-Com. They both have attractive and young lead roles who face a problem or learn a lesson. It's obvious where the plot of a Rom-Com can go- the main lead characters are going to fall in love. However in 'P.S I Love You' it appears that the couple are already together so there must be something that goes wrong from them both to learn from. Similarly both of these films are set in everyday locations which makes them easy to relate to in real life because it shows that these people are just regular people and that they have similar problems to us. However, no matter how much they make the settings and situations realistic, there are always elements which make these films a place of escapism which is what most films are for people. Rom-Coms are ways to escape from your own love problems or perhaps to lift your spirits that there is always a happy ending.
0.02: Columbia Pictures Presents
0.08: Robert deNiro in
0.35: Taxi Driver
0.39: Bill/Phillips production of a Martin Scorsese Film
0.42:- Starring Jodi Foster
0.44: Albert Brooks as Tom
Harvey Keitel
0.49: Leonard Harris
0.50: Peter Boyle as Wizard
0.54: And Cybill Shephard as Betsy
1.07: Music by Bernard Herman
1.13: Supervising Film Editor Marcia Lucas
Film Editors Tom Ralf a.c.e, Melvin Shaphird
1.16: Special Makeup Dick Smith
1.21: Visual Consultant, David Nichols
Creative Consultant, Sandra Weintraub
1.26: Director of Photography Michael Chapman
1.29: Written by Paul Schrader
1.41: Directed by Martin Scorsese
As you can see, there are a lot of credits in under the first 2 minutes of the film. In this case there isn't much action going on in the background. It's mainly full of establishing shots to give you and idea of the location and in some occasions it shows a close up view of some eyes which briefly introduces you to the character.
This could be the kind of shots that i could use in my own 2 minute opening- it doesn't give much of the film away and keeps the audience interested. Also, the credits were quite simple and had no fancy animations to them so again, i could use this idea in my film if it reflected what it was about.
Diagetic sound: Is the sound that can be heard by the characters withing the scene
Non- Diagetic sound: Is the sound only heard by the audience- the narration/ soundtrack
League of Gentlemen Apocalypse Introduction plays with the rules of diagetic and non diagetic sound. At first it sounds like a non diagetic sound- the soundtrack but in fact you find out that it is the ring tone to the characters phone so it is in fact a diagetic sound.
Score: Is the musical component of the soundtrack, usually composed specifically for the scene.
Narration: A voice telling the story as it goes. This can be used both alongside and instead of dialogue within the scene.
League of Gentlemen series 1 episode 1 plays with the rules of narration. At first you think that it is a narration of the letter that the character is reading from some family member when in fact it is an old lady reading the letter over his shoulder aloud.
This play on the usual concepts of narration and diagetic sound give the programme a twist and make it stand out compared to others.
There are many different types of shots used for many different reasons.
Extreme Wide Shot (EWS)
Very Wide Shot (VWS)
These are also known as establishing shots and are used to set the scene
Wide shot/ long shot: the subject takes up the full screen or as much as possible.
Mid shot: shows some part of the subject in detail whilst still giving an impression of the whole subject
Medium close up: half way between a mid shot and a close up
Close up: focuses on a certain feature or part of the subject and takes up the whole frame.
Extreme close up: shows extreme detail
Cutaway: a shot of something other that the action to perhaps show location
Cut-in: shows part of the subject in detail i.e the hands
Two- shot : a shot of two people framed similarly to a mid shot
Over the shoulder shot- looking from behind a person at the subject
Noddy shot- Usually refers to a shot of the interviewe listening and reacting to the subject
Point of view shot- shows a view from the subjects perspective
Weather shot: Shows the weather so is usually of the sky.
Here is a video to show some of the different shots
This video also shows the different movements of the camera:
Pan- This is where the camera pivots from left to right or right to left, usually to show the setting.
Tilt- This is similar to the pan but instead of pivoting horizontally it pivots vertically from up to down or down to up.
Track- This is where the camera follows a subject and can be done via a 'dolly' or in documentary style where there is quite abrupt movements of the camera.
Editing: This is the process of which sound and images are organised into a narrative.
Continuity editing: This is the most common type of editing and creates a sense of reality and time moving forward. It usually happens where events are in chronological order and is often referred to as 'invisible editing' as it does not draw attention to the process.
Credits: These are the text at the beginning and ending of a film to tell you details about cast and crew.
Cross cutting: This is an editing technique of alternating, interweaving or interspersing one narrative action with another (usually in different locations). By combining the 2 separate events it suggests to the audience that they are happening simultaneously. Such as in the Hangover
Eye line match: cutting from a character to what they are looking at. Here is an example
Flashback: This is a scene or a moment in the film which is shown as something that happened earlier. likewise a flash-forward where the audience is shown something that will happen in the future.
Montage editing: Different shots that are edited together which are usually unconnected to create meaning. For Example the Rocky 1 Training sequence. Instead of showing you long clips of all the training that he has done in time order following him when he is running through towns, which would eventually become boring and tedious. They have put together a montage of short clips of the different training that he has done all together over a few minutes.
Fast paced editing: This consists of a rapid succession of many shots over a short period of time. Usually 2 seconds per shot. These are mainly used to create suspense and tension and to make the audience feel involved.
Slow paced editing: The opposite to fast paced. These usually consist of long shots of dialogue often up to 10-15 seconds each. This gives much more time to show characters reactions and emotions as it focuses on facial expressions.
This relates to the positioning of the camera in relation to what is being shot. They camera may be at eye level, a high angle or a low angle to what is being filmed:
High angle shot: When the camera is pointing up high at someone/something. These types of shots are often used to emphasise power or importance of a character/ object because you are 'looking up' to something/someone which indicates that they have some sort of dominance or power over you.
Low angle shot: When the camera is pointing low at someone or something. These shots are often used to show the opposite of a high angle shot. They imply a character with less dominance, power and/or importance because you are 'looking down' on them.
Eye level shot: This is when the camera is directly eye level at the character or object. These are often used when, appearance, facial expression or emotion is the main feature of the shot.
