Today in the lesson, we were going over various techniques used in media and put them into a wordle to help us remember them when we are revising for our exam.

Les Bleus De Ramville-titles analysis

The hockey film Les Bleus De Ramville gave our group a lot of creative insight into how different shots and shot techniques are used. This will be very useful when we are creating our own film titles as it is important to show as much creativity in our camerawork as possible

The opening credits of this film utilize a variety of shots, including slow motion, close ups, wide angle and shots from varying heights and angles. As well as this the titles have incorporated the credits into hockey related things, such as equipment, ice rinks, lockers etc.

These credits have given us a number of ideas that we can try to incorporate into our own work, to demonstrate a wider knowledge of camera use.

Reservoir dogs-title analysis

Tarantino’s own spin on the classic heist flick, Reservoir dogs examines a group of contract bank robbers, in the events occurring before and after a botched robbery as they all try to rat out the rat with the police hot on their tails.

The opening of the film is highly stylised like most of Tarantino’s films, with all members of the gang walking down the street in slow motion to the catchy “little green bag” this has the effect of creating something that is almost cartoonish in style but also very slick and smooth. The overall brightness of the surroundings, the bright sunny day, blue car, green trees etc. is in deep contrast with the black suits, black ties and black glasses of the dogs and this gives away that this is a “bad guy” movie.

The song “little green bag” used in the main titles reflects very much the period that the film is set in (late 70’s early 80’s) the rhythm of the song also sets the pace of the scene very well with a clear beat and smooth pace that matches very well with what is actually happening in the scene.
The titles themselves are very simple in font and styling, with the name of the actor appearing underneath them when each gets a close up shot.

The final title “Reservoir Dogs” appears above all members of the group as they slowly walk into the distance unifying them as one.

Alien-title analysis

 

 

Set in the deep and farthest reaches of space. A commercial spaceship crew are pitted against a vicious, nightmarish alien life form that infiltrates their ship. Armed only with engineering tools and their limited knowledge of combat, they must try to kill the monster before it kills them.

The opening titles of this film are very simplistic but use suspense, ambience and lighting to incredible effect. The title alien slowly fades in as the main credits are shown, starting with a simple /       |      \ and finishing with A L I E N. The background and colour scheme used is a very dark combination of blacks, greys and greens which is the first sign  that the film will be set in space, because dark colours are normally what people associate with deep space. The outline of a mysterious shape can be seen in the background, it is unclear what this shape can be but as the film progresses we realise that it is in fact one of the alien eggs.

The film uses very a very faint ambience that steadily grows (although it still remains very quiet) to increase the suspense of the film. This has the effect of creating tension in the audience, so that when the horror does kick in, they will be terrified from the suspense and the film will not be relying on its effects alone.

The simplicity of and unusual transitions of the opening credits keeps the audience’s attention because they are intrigued to find out what the titles are leading to.
They end on a full shot of the ship “NOSTROMO” in deep space and this helps emphasise the main source of fear in the film that the crew are all alone in the farthest reaches of space, which is also the basis for the films slogan “in space no one can hear you scream.”

Casino Royal-title analysis

CASINO ROYALE



Daniel Craig’s first film as the new Bond is a remake of Ian Fleming’s classic novel Casino Royale. A classic bond hit it’s got guns, car chases, fights and suspenseful and daring situations, it truly is one of the greats.

The film titles are very bold, modern and daring, but at the same time they still hold that essence that is essential to a bond film. The classic view of bond through the barrel of a gun is the first shot then with a transmission to the next image via use of blood running down the screen.  The rest of the titles are very modern and highly stylised but they still remain in close context with the actual film, incorporating guns and the card house symbols in reference to large gambling element in the film.

The colour scheme is highly contrasted primarily using highlighted reds and blacks (again in reference to the card houses) As well as this there are many silhouettes used highlighted in red and black of bond fighting an antagonist and when he beats them they explode into red diamonds. This has the connotations with violence death and action

The song used is a homage to the original bond theme but with a new rather rockish element that emphasises the modern take on the Bond series. It fits the the theme of the film like a glove.

The BBFC

The BBFC is charged with judging what rating new films and games should be, who should view them and what content they include etc. Before new films are released to the general public, they are submitted to the BBFC who view them and rate them. The films are then submitted back and then released under the appropriate rating.

The grades of classification

U- A film for children of any age. These films never have any kind of violence or sadistic themes, however all children are different and some things will upset children that wouldn’t upset others, which makes it hard to predict.

PG- A film that is still for young children, however the themes may be a little more adult, with some small portions of violence and possibly upsetting scenes. These films should not disturb a child aged 8 or over, however any under this age will need parental guidance.

12A/12- The A stands for accompanied and advisory, it also means that anyone aged 12 or over can go and see the film unaccompanied. Children younger than 12 may see the film if they are accompanied by an adult, who must watch the film with them. These films may have scenes of violence or mild sexual nature or bad language.

15- No one under 15 may see these films. They can contain quite strong scens of violence, sexual nature and bad language as well as upsetting themes.

18- This is the highest grade a film can be rated. No one under 18 may see an 18 rated film. These films can contain very strong elements of violence, sex and bad language, as well as using high fear factors and upsetting plot elements.

Case study-Reservoir dogs

Reservoir dogs was received with a considerable amount of excitement because of it’s positive reviews from various film festivals, with its iconic mix of dark comedy, pop references and sadistic violence. The film was a big hit with Tarantino fans.

Some views were expressed that its rather gruesome and sadistic nature would cause some people to walk out of the film. It was also noted that Mr Blonde’s evident enjoyment of what he is doing as he dances around the helpless victim to the strains of 'Stuck In The Middle With You' coming from the radio, glamorised the sadism.

It was mainly because of the violence as well as the near constant swearing and sexual references, that the film was not surprisingly at the time given an 18 certificate.

Game-God of War 2

A sequel to the first God of War and  new twist on the ancient greek legends of their many deities, this game was given an 18 certificate, because of the strong violence and sexual images used in game play. Considered one of the bloodiest and most violent games on the market at present time, it is not surprising that this game was given the 18 certificate.

 

The BBFC

The BBFC was created as a classification service to identify what ratings films should be and what age groups of the public people should be allowed to view them. The film reservoir dogs was given an 18 certificate becasue of the violent, sadistic nature. However the film Monsters Inc was given a PG rating because it was msotly a comedy for young children with some mild action sequences.

 

Research into British films

Four lions

Information gathered from: Wikipedia, rottentomatoes, IMDB, four lions website

The 2010 film Four Lions depict a group of moronic, terrorist wannabe’s who dream of committing the ultimate terrorist act and becoming martyrs in the eyes of Al Qaeda. Unfortunately their incompetence and idiotic ideas prevent them from actually getting anywhere.

As a film, the audience who would be drawn to it would generally be an older audience because of its fifteen rating as well as the very black comedy and satire orientated story and theme. The film is very relevant to the problems of terrorism and the film parodies these problems very well, so people who enjoy satire of real life would be drawn to the film as well.

The Four Lions official website enlists a lot of interactivity to interest the viewer. As soon as you click on the link, you are taken to a homepage with lots of information but it is set out neatly and simply so as not to overload the computer screen or the viewer with information.

The website first offers you a trailer of the film, this is a very good thing to have on the homepage, because if someone does not know anything about the film they will immediately be given a visual explanation and the trailer should also give them a small insight into whether they will like the film or not (seeing as the trailer is very funny this would hopefully entice them into wanting to see it). As well as this there are also several link buttons that go to pages of information that people might like to know about the film, e.g. buy DVD, special features, about and contact.

This website is very user friendly and gives a good first impression about the film in general this would be very successful in drawing people in to see this film.

Attack the block

Information gathered from: Wikipedia, rottentomatoes, IMBD, attack the block official site

Attack the block is set in a chavvy block of London council flats. The film centres on a group of teenager who try to defend their estate from a group of vicious aliens. Armed with sports equipment and makeshift weaponry and with the help of their hippie drug dealer they attempt to beat back the invasion.

Attack the block is a sci-fi, horror comedy film, so this would immediately be attractive to people who enjoy this genre. Nick frost also plays a big part so people who enjoy his humour would probably want to see it as well.

This films website relies mainly on visual aids to entice its audience. The main page is an HD version of the film poster (one that would be put up in cinemas on buses etc) and underneath it has lots of different links to individual pages. These links are well placed and blend well with the background image, but neither do they disappear into the image. This good balance creates a very user friendly homepage and creates a lot of valuable interface to make the website friendlier to use.

The background picture has lots of interesting colour (blue, green, white) these are easily identifiable with space, aliens etc. This would immediately give the impression of a sci-fi movie. This means that readers always have a good visual image to look and it is animated as well so the image will never become boring and this would hopefully interest people enough to want to see the film.

The inbetweeners movie

Information gathered from: Wikipedia, rottentomatoes, IMDB, E4 official site

The beloved characters of Simon, Will, Jay and Neil have finished their schooling and set off on the “ultimate lads holiday” on a mission for sex, booze and partying.

The main audiences for the inbetweeners movie would be fans of the TV series and those how enjoy crude but witty humour.

The film is rated a fifteen so most audiences would be teenagers and upwards. The film also identifies with a lot of the many problems that teenagers and young adults have in life so this would also help attract the mostly teenage audience.

The inbetweeners main page on E4 doubles up as the official site for the TV show and the film. The main page has a large picture of the inbetweeners themselves across the top as well as lots of links to lots of entertainment pages based on the series (quizzes, wallpapers, videos, etc). The page is very user friendly and easy to navigate and one of the main links is to 4OD so that if someone hasn’t seen the inbetweeners they can immediately watch episodes if they want to find out about it.