Opening sequences

The opening sequence of Layer Cake, starring Daniel Craig, is exceptional due to it being so unique, also most of the budget for the film is spent on the opening. As you can tell the creators obviously wanted to draw the audience in straight away and give them a useful insight into the film.

Daniel Craig narrates throughout the opening so this informs the audience that he is the main character even though it isn’t clear which character is him yet. Subsequently the camera tracks back and he introduces himself "That's me." as he is shown walking up the street, he is portrayed as smart and superior because of him mentioning that he wants to get out of drug dealing when he has enough money, this shows that he is not greedy and knows that its a dangerous job. Also he deals out the money to his friends showing he is in charge, he has authority, which shows that people must trust and respect him to work for him. Even though he is a drug dealer (a character who people wouldn’t normally take a warm approach to) the audience is made to like him because he is a not 'power hungry' and knows that its a dangerous and risky business, also obviously he is the main character so eventually the once the audience have built up a relationship and understanding of him they feel fondly towards him and can relate to the situation. Also there's a long shot of him mixing another powder in to the drugs so that it looks like there's more and he will gain more money, this again shows his intelligence and business prospects, moreover the mise-en-scene shows him wearing gloves and masks so you realise he does not take drugs and this again makes him more likable.

The opening introduces all of the main characters showing their characteristics so you get a feel for the plot, which will help the audience get to know the characters easier. Also it sets up the disequilibrium by showing him nearly able to quit and leave the drug dealing business but then his boss Jimmy asks him to dinner and it is clear by the looks of his partners that this is bad. Just by seeing the characters in the opening you can tell the genre is action because of the drugs, guns and the look of the gang's.

The camera work was simple but effective, when he introduces him self and the camera tracks back; it is on a crane because the camera flies up a few floors and zooms, where you go into the room. At the start there are a lot of well planned graphic matches like the girl walking past to the police guard, this helps the opening flow because he is talking about different times, like going through the ages of drugs. Mostly they just tracked people walking or have a long shot of a group, but this worked well to introduce the characters. There is one special effect, which would have cost a lot due to the amount of props they would have used, this is where he walked through a shop and every item on the shelf changed as he walked past, his message was that drugs will be used greater in the future.

All the music is synchronised to the scene, for example; he was walking thinking everything is going well so there was calm music. This is just to help the audience understand his emotion and how the situation is then.

I believe that this opening works well because it introduces the characters, you can tell who the villains are and you realise which ones you are supposed to like. Also you can see the plot unravelling, genre and what the disequilibrium is. I have learnt from analysing this opening scene that it is vital to grab the audience's attention straight from the start which will hopefully draw them in to watching the rest of the film.

Catch Me if You Can Opening Title Sequence

Title sequences are a very important part of the film and incredibly powerful if done properly, as it sets the tone for the rest of the film. So if done effectively the title sequence will entice the audience from the very start and they are left wanting more, however if inadequate effort is put into making the title sequence and its not very effective then the audience will be disappointed from the start and might decide the film isn’t worth watching.

The Title sequence opens by introducing the production of company which is DreamWorks; the audience will instantly acknowledge the production company and assume this film will be a good film as DreamWorks is responsible for many successful films. We also learn that the director of this film is the renowned Steven Spielberg, undoubtedly one of the most influential film personalities in the history of film; Steven Spielberg is perhaps Hollywood's best known director and one of the wealthiest filmmakers in the world. Therefore by informing the audience of this in the title sequence, it draws them in from the starts and creates a sense of excitement as Spielberg is such a success. The same can be said for introducing Leonardo Dicaprio and Tom Hanks as the main characters, as they are such prominent actors this will attract the audience aswell. The way in which their names are layed out in the title sequence is extremely effective as it tells us the basic story line; we can see a suspicious looking character (silhouette) tip toeing about with the name Leonardo Dicaprio above his head with an arrow pointing to him so obviously we learn that he is Leonardo Dicaprio’s character. Subsequently we are introduced to Tom hanks character; we can make the assumption that he is some sort of detective from his appearance and actions. The character is wearing a suit with a tie and a top hat, this is a typical outfit for a detective in past times, and he’s reading a newspaper presumably to disguise him self so he blends in but as soon as Dicaprio’s character shuffled past him he immediately throws the newspaper down and follows him. The title sequence has instantly set a cat and mouse tone for the film and the audience know what kind of storyline to expect; not only do the visuals create this tone but also the music. The jazzy music is typically used in cartoons such as Tom and Jerry, therefore this highlights the chase within the film; the tempo builds up as the detective character draws closer and closer to the character trying to evade him. The music and the visuals also work well together to set the time period and also the actual setting of the film: the jazzy music, the art deco styled set up to the title sequence, the old fashioned top hat Tom Hanks character is wearing, the women working on type writers and the classic old American cabs tells us the era of the film is likely to be the 60’s and we can strongly assume its set in America because of the classic taxis.

characterisation, victim and hero

Victim

There are 3 types of victims

1)      Monster fodder – To show the power of the threat, we don’t know about the victim.

2)      Deserving – The victim deserves to die because they are generally stupid and underestimate the threat, or they are just a bad person.

3)      Stalked – The audience has built up a relationship with the victim and therefore feels sad when they are killed. 

Typical teen horror film victims: female, innocent, naive, stupid, drunk, arrogant because we want to see some people killed.

Example of a teen horror victim, from scream...

She is a good looking older teenage girl, who appears to be alone in a big house, showing she is vulnerable and open to attack. Not a great deal of her personality is revealed, I believe this is because she is “monster fodder,”  she is there to show the power of the villain therefore the audience do not need to build up an understanding of her character as she is there merely to be killed early on. All we lean about her is she’s a polite naive young women, because she comes across very friendly to the random stranger on the phone but after she hangs up and the man rings again, she leads him on, and in a sense you could argue she’s a bit flirtatious. Her innocence in a way leads to her death.

Typical teen horror hero’s: usually male, brave, natural leader, usually police officers or hold some sense of authority, and usually if the hero is a male he normally saves the damsel in distress and ends up with her.

 Hero

Typical teen horror hero’s: usually male, brave, natural leader, usually police officers or hold some sense of authority, and usually if the hero is a male he normally saves the damsel in distress and ends up with her.

An example of this is the police officer in the film scream 3, he saves the girl.

Sometimes the gender stereotype is subverted and the women saves or attempts to save the victims, this has became much more apparent in recent years, to avoid sexism and show that women are as independent and not inferior to men.

An example of this is in the film Jeepers Creepers when the girl attempts to save her brother.

The hero/heroine can also be referred to as the main character
In movies like Friday the 13th, Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street and similar fare, the main character (also referred to as the hero/heroine) spends much of the movie terrified and his/her companion are generally hacked, slashed, sliced, fried, crushed or dispatched in any number of other horrific manners, and in the end the hero (main character) is ultimately killed too.

Characterisation, Horror film characters. VILLAIN

The Villain   A typical teen horror film villain is either a monster, such as: zombies, demons, aliens, mutated beings, or an evil twisted everyday character out to kill. They're usally incredibly brutal and heartless

Frederick  Krueger is a notorious movie screen baddy, the product of the violent rape of the nun Amanda Krueger by one hundred maniacs (a.k.a. "The bastard son of a hundred maniacs). Called Freddy, he was constantly ridiculed for his infamous and brutal conception. It was then he started murdering small animals, and as he grew into adulthood, he turned his masochistic behavior on himself. After suffering abuse from his stepfather for many years, he brutally murdered him with a razor. It was after child services took his daughter away that Krueger became a child killer earning the name "The Springwood Slasher". After he was captured for his string of grizzly murders, he was unexpectedly freed on a technicality. The enraged parents of Springwood took the law into their own hands by following Krueger to a building where he took his victims and ignited it with gasoline into a raging inferno. However, no one expected the end result of this act. Freddy's soul was so corrupt that it was decided he could be of use to dream demons imprisoned in hell. When he was promised eternal life in the world of dreams, Freddy could hardly refuse. Ever since that night, Krueger has taken his revenge on the parents of Springwood by stalking their children through their dreams. Each time he is able to twist what would seem to be a normal dream into his own brutal imagination's delight of terror. Some children have escaped thinking they have defeated him, only to have him rise again sometime later.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn1hDQT_bb0   <-- WATCH THIS...Freddy Krueger!

 He holds many key conventions of a horror film villain; his creepy voice makes the audience feel uneasy, badly scarred face makes him look callous and very intimidating, sharp bloody teeth shows he is blood thirsty and out to kill, sharp metal fingers he wears as a glove, to slice up his victims. All of these key elements tell the audience he is a brutal villain. Krueger wears a tatty red and green jumper, and in my opinion I interpret this is a representation of Dennis the menace, showing the audience that Krueger is a menace but obviously on a much bigger and gruesome scale.

From this video we learn that Freddy’s character is a great deal deeper and darker than we initially thought. We see a shot of him passionately stroking and licking a photo of a small girl, this immediately creates lots of assumptions about Krueger. This shot links with a shot of a child’s doll burning in a furnace; these shots strongly suggest to the audience that he is a sickening paedophile who abducts and possibly kills children; the shot of the doll burning could represent the children being murdered. We also learn that he is proud of the awful

things he has done because we see him sticking pictures and newspaper articles about the abducted children into an album, it’s as if he’s framing the children he’s abducted and killed, he’s writing actions down, so he can always remember and remind himself about what he done. This shows he is psychotically sinister and pure evil. We also see how he kills his victims, and I believe this is which sets him apart from other horror film villains. He kills his victims inhumanely and wants them to suffer, in ways which should only be able to happen in dreams. For example, one boy was sucked into his bed and a fountain of blood was left gushing towards the ceiling. Incredibly gruesome.

Freddy Krueger is a great example of a teen horror villain and he will influence my work because i believe he is so brutal and scary he attratcs an audience to watch him, as he is like no other villain.

Freddy Krueger is the main antagonist and a killer from the slasher film series A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Characterisation- How the character "Bullet tooth Tony" is conveyed in the film Snatch

Bullet tooth tony’s personality is conveyed through misenscene, dialogue, inserts and action codes. Before we even catch a glimpse of Tony we can create a rough picture in our heads of what he will look and act like, through the dialogue of the perceptible gangsters all dressed in smart black suits and leather jackets, sitting in a darkened seedy bar. The misenscene creates a gloomy east end gangster affect because of the clothes the characters are wearing and the pub its set in, it’s a typical east end pub due to the worn out wood furniture, classic menu on the wall, big fire place, old fashioned clocks, and historic pictures on the wall, these elements all combine to create a typical English pub and through their accents we can make the assumption they’re tough east end gangsters. The dialogue used to describe Tony tells us a lot about him. “He’d find you Moses in a burning bush if you paid him to.” This metaphor tells us he is motivated by money and is extremely resilient, also we learn he “got shot six times and had the bullets moulded into gold.” We can infer that he is tough and almost invincible; also you could argue he is slightly crazy as he got the bullets moulded into gold, this suggests he is proud and wants to boost about surviving this ordeal. Furthermore we discover he is a “liability” and from what we have already gathered about him we can guess that maybe he is a bit of a maverick, and doesn’t take to well to following instructions. I get the impression that he is a last resort option because the character looking for someone sounds desperate and will accept anyone’s help. The clip cuts to an insert of Tony walking into a club, we can tell it’s a clip from a previous time due to Tony’s classic old fashioned Barnet and also because Madonna’s music is playing in the back ground, which creates an 80’s feel. As Tony walks into a room he is greeted with a man shouting “Tony” which tells us he has status and a reputation as he is recognised, suddenly the man repeatedly shoots Tony whilst screaming, and therefore we learn that Tony must be a mischievous character who upsets other people and that he is threatening as he replies “you silly fuck.” Tony’s invincible resilient side comes out as he doesn’t seem to be affected by the 6 bullets he has just had shot into his body and we see a shot of him putting a sword to the man’s neck with a sinister facial expression and blood dripping down his chin, the fact that he looks like a vampire due to the blood drooling down his chin shows us an evil sinister side to him. You don’t mess with Tony. Next it jumps to a clip of Tony in modern times; I can infer this because the misenscene is very different, Tony is wearing smart black clothes and has slicked back hair to give him that hard man image, also the music playing is very different. The upbeat modern music does not match with the violent footage we see, I think this is done to show that violence is an everyday thing in Tony’s life and isn’t a big deal. Tony’s smart clothes and flash executive car tell us that he’s successful and professional; he has most probably grown in status and become an iconic figure since the insert. Also we can guess that maybe violence is a part of his job and he is a hitman because the gangsters need his help and also because while bashing someone’s head in with his car door he answers his phone which suggests he is use to being in these situations and the phone call could be from a customer requiring his services. Amid Tony’s violent almost cold blooded personality, we see a humorous side which makes him likeable. He appears to be a very serious guy but when he answers his phone he says “bonjour,” with a cheeky facial expression, this shows a light hearted side to Tony and suggests he’s a bit of a lad with a sense of humour.