essay 3 (we were soldiers opening sequence)

induction to character type: soldiers walking down a dirt road.

enigma: blood splatted on the senior officer hat and face and the shot went through the trumpeter’s throat.

information on genre: costumes, props, location, characters special effects.

Mise-en-scene:

characters costume: dressed in military uniform the indicates that they are soldiers.

props: guns, trumpet, blood which is associated with war, destruction and death.

camera techniques:

establishing shot is a medium shot of the environment.

a close shot of the soldiers feet as they are walking.

wide shot the convoy that the soldiers are protecting.

close up shot of one of the senior officer with the blood splatter on his hat and face.

close up shot of the trumpeter when a bullet goes through his throat.

medium shot of the RPG soldier.

long shot of the enemy coming out of the high grass.

close up on the vietnamese soldiers that had stabbed the soldier in the back.

medium shot of the vietnamese soldiers check that the soldiers are dead.

the sequence look like an opening sequence because the first couple of shots show the audience only the background and soldiers that then gives the audiences a couple of question. E.G. they don’t know who they are? or which army they belong to? the opening doesn’t conform with a traditional opening sequence. the sequence doesn’t show the name of the film, director or the actors names that play the character. it also has parts that conform with the traditional opening sequence which is the enigma that show that a soldier is covered in blood but doesn’t show who shot the soldier.

the sub genre conventions that were used are the costumes that the characters wear. the props were used to show the genre of the film.

camera techniques are from medium shots to close up shots to show the tension and the drama of the opening scene.

the editing techniques are started with long shot duration but quickly changed to short shot duration when the soldier was shot along with a few cut transitions throughout the action sequence of the opening. there was a fade out of text at the beginning of the opening sequence.

the sound and music of the opening sequence is at the beginning was a voice over narrative that is the tell the audience the film was inspired by a true story. there was music that was to lower tension and suspense. then there was dialogue that is french and vietnamese which by the sound of the dialogue, the french is more relax and the vietnamese is more harsher and violent.  

Media studies homework

Key and conventions of opening title sequence

• Name of production companies.
• Director.
• Producer.
• Executive producer.
• Top billing actors.
• The movie title.
• Distribution Company.
• Details of cast and crew.
• Introduction to character or character type.
• Indication of place and period.
• Information regarding mood and tone.
• Introduction to theme tune.
• Information on genre.
• Question’s that the viewer will find intriguing.
• Patterns and types of editing that will be echoed in the remainder of the film.
• Mise-en-scene and cinematography that will be echoed or elaborated upon later on in the film.

Media studies homework

British board of film classification

The British board of film classification is a non-government body, classified films since it was set up in 1912, and videos since passing the video recordings act 1984.

Guidelines

Guidelines also take into account the UK laws to change classification decisions, updated every 4 years. Recent issue is 2009.

Areas which are considered:

• Discrimination
• Drugs
• Horror
• Imitable behaviour
• Language
• Nudity
• Sex
• Theme
• Violence

The classifications that we are looking at are 15 and 18.

Suitable only for 15 years and over

No one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema. No one younger than 15 may rent or buy a ‘15’ rated video work.

Discrimination: The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.

Drugs: Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.

Horror: Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.

Imitable behaviour: Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.

Language: There may be frequent use of strong language (for example, ‘fuck’). The strongest terms (for example, ‘cunt’) may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.

Nudity: Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.

Sex: Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.

Theme: No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.

Violence: Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.

Suitable only for adults

No-one younger than 18 may see an ‘18’ film in a cinema.

No-one younger than 18 may rent or buy an ‘18’ rated video.

In line with the consistent findings of the BBFC’s public consultations and The Human Rights Act 1998, at ‘18’ the BBFC’s guideline concerns will not normally override the principle that adults should be free to choose their own entertainment. Exceptions are most likely in the following areas:

• where the material is in breach of the criminal law, or has been created through the commission of a criminal offence
• Where material or treatment appears to the BBFC to risk harm to individuals or, through their behaviour, to society – for example, any detailed portrayal of violent or dangerous acts, or of illegal drug use, which may cause harm to public health or morals. This may include portrayals of sexual or sexualised violence which might, for example, eroticise or endorse sexual assault
• Where there are more explicit images of sexual activity which cannot be justified by context. Such images may be appropriate in ‘R18’ works, and in ‘sex works’ (see below) would normally be confined to that category.

In the case of video works (including video games), which may be more accessible to younger viewers, intervention may be more frequent than for cinema films.

Sex education at ‘18’: Where sex material genuinely seeks to inform and educate in matters such as human sexuality, safer sex and health, explicit images of sexual activity may be permitted.

Sex works at ‘18’: Sex works are works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation. Sex works containing only materials which may be simulated are generally passed ‘18’. Sex works containing clear images of real sex, strong fetish material, sexually explicit animated images, or other very strong sexual images will be confined to the ‘R18’ category. Material which is unacceptable in a sex work at ‘R18’ is also unacceptable in a sex work at ‘18’.

Media studies homework

Thriller films conventions

• Enigma
• Identity
• Micro Elements-build suspense
• Protagonist in danger
• Antagonist traps Protagonist

Media studies homework

Film opening timeline

BLACK HAWK DOWN

• Text-based on an actual event
• Text-“only the dead have seen the end of war”-Plato
• (Music starts [person singing][violin playing] )
• Location – Somalia – East Africa 1992
• Text-years of warfare among rival clans cause famine on a biblical scale.
• Text-300000 civilians die of starvation.
• Text-Farrah Aidid, the most powerful of the warlords, rules the capital Mogadishu.
• Text-He seizes international food shipments at the ports. Hunger is his weapon.
• Text-the world responds. Behind a force of 20000 US marines, food is delivered and order is restored.
• (Music stopped [person singing])
• Text- April 1993. Aidid waits until the marines withdraw, and then declares war on the remaining UN peacekeepers.
• Text-in June, Aidid’s militia ambush and slaughter 24 Pakistani soldiers, and begin targeting American personnel.
• Text-in late August, America’s elite soldiers, Delta Force, Army Rangers and the 160^th SOAR are sent to Mogadishu to remove Aidid and restore order.
• Text-the mission was to take three weeks, but six weeks later Washington was growing impatient.
• Film title
• Date- Saturday – October 2^nd, 1993.
• Building- red cross food distribution center.

Media studies homework

Film opening h/w:

The Beatles yellow submarine (animated):

The mood and tone are upbeat and happy at the beginning of the film opening but during the film opening the mood and tone of the film changes dramatically to sad and losing the will to live for a few moments then the mood and tone changes again to happy and upbeat. The mise-en-scene in the film is mostly brightly coloured type of suit that the colour scheme will be carried on through the film. The film is set in the 1968 that the period of when the Beatles were popular. The distribution company is apple films and the production company is a king features. The title is The Beatles Yellow Submarine. It stars Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and the Beatles. Al Brodax is the producer and the director is George Dunning.

The Pirates of the Caribbean on Stranger Tides:

 The film includes Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz as the main two characters. The production company is Jerry Bruckheimer and the distribution company for the film is Walt Disney. The period is in the 1800’s when there was piracy on the high seas. The mise-en-scene during the film is of clothes in the Victorian times that use very dull colours. The film name is the pirates of the Caribbean on stranger tides and it’s the 4^th in the pirates of the Caribbean series. The mood is gloomy and mysterious and the tone is harsh.

Demolition Man:

Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes are the main two characters in the film. Distribution Company is warner bros and the production company is silver pictures. The film is Demolition Man. The mise-en-scene in the film is mostly of dull colour and ripped and old clothes at the beginning of the film then it changes slightly to bright coloured clothes but there are the dull coloured clothes also during the film. The film start in 1996 and then goes to 2032 to show what happens in the future.

Media Studies homework

Essay 1

FILM: Bourne Identity

The film starts out with an enigma of the main character unconscious and floats at sea until a French fishing ship see him in the sea. The opening sequence show the protagonist (that at the moment we don’t know who he is) in danger in the form of having been shot in the back twice by survived. The protagonist has amnesia so he doesn’t know where he is, who he is. There is a French man that starts to clean up his wound by find that in the protagonist’s is a laser pen which when the button is press will show his bank account information that is in Zurich, Switzerland.

   

 The mise-en-scene of the opening sequence are the main character’s black diving suit and the French fishermen’s brightly coloured overalls but after the boat the main character is on comes to dock the main characters clothes change to slightly more colourful. The lighting at the opening sequence is a mixture of high and low key lighting to simulate night and day but also to show the cabin on the boat at time is used low and high key lighting to show night and day on the boat. The clothes and the technology showed that the film is modern and that its period the film is place in would be 2000-2006.

The first sounds are thunder and lightning which show in most film at the beginning is never good and also you hear the sea and the waves. There is a slow violin piece and also there is the sound of high winds howling away and waves crashing against the boat. Then a flute starts playing and also when the camera goes to inside the boat you hear the floorboards creaking and the dialogue of the French fishermen are happy and joking about after a day of hard work. The dialogue changes when one of the fishermen spotted the protagonist in the water to confused and suspicion and then changes to carefulness when they find out he is alive. Then the music changed to more dramatic sounds as a French fisherman starts to patch up the unconscious protagonist.

The establishing shot is a high angle long shot of a body float in the ocean this shows that someone is dead or about to die. Then the next shot is of the boat that is a long shot in a storm this show that there is a chance that they will discover the body. The next shot is a tracking shot as it is like a crew member on the ship has walked down from the deck of the ship to below deck. The next shot is a close up on the card game they are playing. Then a close shot turning into a zoom on the floating body that shows that they will find the body.

The first piece of editing is a dissolve in of the picture which is the floating body and the next bit is a jump cut to the ship and another jump cut to the crew inside the and another outside the boat. 

essay 2

Media Studies homework

Essay 2

FILM: Bourne Supremacy

The film starts as a flashback of the protagonist. Then it goes to the protagonist at the modern time in the film.

The mise-en-scene is dull coloured clothes which are the pyjamas of the protagonist and his girlfriend. The lighting is low key to simulate night. 

The establishing shot is over the shoulder shot which show every little but that they are in a car. Then next two shots are a track and pan shots which show the protagonist moving along the backseat and looking at a sign out the window.

The editing at the beginning is fast duration and there is a lot of jump cut that show the protagonist may have amnesia so only seeing piece of the flashback.

The sound is compose of drums, violin. There is very little dialogue but the dialogue is most about the protagonists military training and that he tells his girlfriend he has a headache.

Black Hawk Down Essay 2

This is the opening scene from the film "Black Hawk Down" Directed by Ridley Scott. The Film Black Hawk Down is based on a true story of a civil war in somalia - East Africa 1992, pretty much everything that happens in this film actually happend in real life. Before the scene starts you hear what sounds like African singing, but not upbeat, very depressing even though you cannot understand what he is singing you can tell from the music and the way he's singing its depressing. The scene then goes onto writing saying "based on actual events" capturing the viewers interest, followed by a quote saying "Only the dead have seen the end of war - Plato" this implys that humanity will always be facing wars until they die. As the scene starts, the image is dark, gloomy and depressing. It seems they are in a desert of some sort, where bodies of dead humans are covered up by what looks like sheets or cloths. when the images flash up they fade away then writing appears explaining whats happend why  their are dead bodies. the first scene showing of the body you see what looks like a relative of the body who is extremely skinny who looks like they havnt eaten for months, covering the body up. when the scene fades it shows another body covered up by a sheet or cloth of some sort tied to cart. the next scene then shows more writing about the civil war then fades and shows what looks like an aid truck driving past starving civilians carry or pushing dead bodies on carts, showing you the reality of man kind and war with writing then saying "300,000 civilians die of starvation". the scene then goes onto show more bodies being carried followed by writing saying "Mohamed Farrah Aidid, the most powerful of warlords, rules the capital of mogadishu. He seizes international food shipments at the ports. Hunger is his weapon" this clearly explains why in the scenes there are starving civilians and dead bodies everywhere being carried by their own family. The next scene then shows what looks like a missionary trying to help a starving man followed by writing saying "The world responds. Followed by 20,000 U.S. Marines, food is delivered and order is restored." this writing fits in perfectly with this clip as it shows a missionary helping a starving man. the next scene shows more writing which explains the situation and then goes onto say "In late August, America's Elite Soldiers, Delta Force, Army Rangers and the 160th SOAR are sent to Mogadishu to remove Aidid and restore order....The mission was to take 3 weeks.... but 6 weeks later, washington was growing impatient" in this scene for the last 20 seconds or so, you can hear what sounds like a helicopter, and the music then starts to build up after the writing fades away to then show the title "BLACK HAWK DOWN" the music builds up even more when this appears and then you hear the Helicopter and see it flying over a shanty town which almost looks deserted to then a close up on the main character or one of the main characters "Josh Harnett" in the helicopter looking out to then what would seem like a POV shot showing what he can see which is hundreds possbly thousands of civilians which may have well run from the deserted shanty town previously to running up a hill to what apparently in the film is called "Red Cross Food Distribution Center" to then a close up on the ground of a heavily armed vehicle and man driving towards the scene of where the commotion is starting which then showing a truck which seems to have plenty of food, to then showing heavily armed vehicles driving around the back of the people to have a better view, these men are "Mohamed Farrah Aidid's Militia", which what you then see is an allied (American) Black Hawk helicopter circling the area. The music by now has picked up even more keeping it upbeat with all the people rushing to the area. this then changes to a shot of the helicopter circling the area showing a new character pointing out whats going on and also pointing out that there are Militan troops down there. the next scene shows people desperately trying to climb aboard the truck and take food, but there are people around the truck and on top of the truck with what looks like bamboo sticks hitting the starving civilians who are trying to get food, trying to stop them from taking it. there is a massive commotion of people shouting which then gets out of control to then the trucks gate opening to then all the food falling out, which you then see people trying to take the bags of food which then suddenly a hurl of bullets and loud gun fire is shot into the croud by the militia killing innocent civilians, which then there is a over shoulder shot of the gunner who is firing into the crowd, which then goes into slow motion at a mid-close up shot, showing women and men being slaughtered helplessly even though they are un-armed they are still slaughtered like animals, but thid successfully disperses the crowd, which then is followed by Josh Harnetts reaction who is almost in dis-belief in what hes just saw and points out what happend, who then tells his pilot who then contacts command and explains that there are un-armed civilians being killed, request permission to engage, the command replies with, Super 6 4 (name of helicopter unit) are you taking fire over, negative comman the pilot says, command responds then by saying, negative jurisdiction 4 we cannot intervene over. there is then a close up on the pilots face who as you can see is annoyed or hacked off. to then a long shot of the helicopter flying away. you then see actor Josh Harnetts face who is still in disbelief about what he just saw and cannot believe that they cannot intervene and help the innocent civilians from being killed. you then see a close up on a militan soldier pretending to fire a rocket and the helicopter which is then followed by laughing to himself.

Presentation

Narrative

Our film carries on from our preliminary about two guys who are allie commandos. They went AWOL from their unit after being set up by russian agents on a killing of a british general. The two commandos abandon their unit and go into hiding trying to discover why they were set up in particular. what they end up discovering are coded messages from previous missions. After decoding the messages, they discover an old compound is being used by Russian Mercernaries who managed to sneak their way into Britain and take over this compound near London, using it to store weapons and neuclear weapons. They choose to attack and take the compound themselves as their old unit would not believe them. So their objective is to take the compound and call in reinforcements to take over.  They choose to attack a certain spot of the compound which they called "The Blindspot". The Blindspot is heavily mined but no armed personal is guarding the area, this is why they wish to attack this area, although it is heavily mined, they can easily make their way through the mine field without being caught and this is their only chance of success, they plan to make their way through the minefield at night so there is no chance at all of being caught or seen. Throughout the night they observe the compound watching each of the guards movements and when they change shifts and what routes they take. The following morning they attack wiping out all the guards. when examining the compound they come accross a large object covered by a sheet, they unveil the sheet and discover a neauclear bomb with a timer, they go to disarm the bomb and two elite mercernaries attack them, there then is a massive battle between them, one of the commandos is killed in an explosion leaving the other commando shell shocked, he rocovers from the shell shock and defeats the two russian mercernaries, disarms the bomb and calls in for reinforcements to take over the compound.

Genre

Thriller

Sub Genre

Action/War

Characters

2 Elite Commandos
2 Elite Russian Mercernaries
Russian Mercernaries

Location

Woods
Skirmish sight
Field

Target Audience

15-55 year olds
targeted to mainly male.

Roles

Camera man will rotate around the group so everyone uses the camera.
Luke Sumner, Sam Howse, Marc Barnes, Lorcan Lehane-Cox will bring props.
Costume is applied by everyone.
The lighting will be done by natural sunlight and artificial light (torches etc)
Actors....
Lorcan Lehane-Cox - Elite Commando
Luke Sumner - Elite Commando
Sam Howse - Russian Mercernary/Elite Russian Mercernary
Marc Barnes - Russian Mercernary/Elite Russian Mercernary

Our Quick Story Board

Preliminary part 1

For our preliminary, our idea is war based. We have chosen this area because it suits us and we are capable of having/getting the props needed with ease.