About a Boy Analysis

About A Boy Opening

About a Boy (2007)

Producing - Working Title Distribution - Universal

Budget - $30m

Box Office - $130m (World) $41m (USA)

Cinematic release in 51 separate countries

• Co-Directed by Chris and Paul Weitz

Production Companies

20 seconds

10 seconds

10 seconds

Idents

• 3 company idents in the centre of the shot
• Universal Studios, Studio Canal and Working Title

Titles

• 2 production company's titles, centre shot, white on black - connotes a professional film
• Font connotes that the film is a comedy

•  The producers of the film
• Does not obey rule of thirds, names are in the right third of the shot
• Audio bridge with diegetic sound

Opening Shot

•  Diegetic sound from the TV
•  Chris Tarrant Who Wants To Be A Millionaire - achieving verisimilitude
• medium shot

•  Large book denotes that the character reads books, this is stereotypically middle class
• The book juxtaposes with the opened can of RedBull and signifies the film will not be stereotypically middle class

• The title of the film does not have any upper-case lettering, this connotes that the film is targeted at youth. 

• Tracking shot

• The opening is using narrative enigma by not showing the face of the protagonist
• However, the opening is also showing a lot of the house giving the audience an idea of the class of the protagonist

• Each take ranges from 4-25 seconds in length
• No regularity in editing

•  Non-diagetic voice over
• Voice of the character on screen

• 34 total names used in the title sequence
• 8 scene set-ups in the title sequence

•  Establishing shot is a two shot with the protagonist and another character
• This denotes that these two characters will be connected later on in the film

• Ninth scene set-up of the opening
• Shot reverse shot

•  Breaks shot reverse shot pattern
• The house is a stereotypical middle class british house
• In contrast, the house is cluttered, which signifies and gives anchoragethat the film will not be the stereotypical middle class british film

• Master shot of the room
• Long shot

1st Shot

• Long shot 
• Cross fade transition from opening sequence to main body of the film

Running time of opening - 5:41

Length of idents - 40 seconds

Time between idents and opening shot - 5:01

Source: http://westgatefilms.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/about-boy-opening.html

Pretty in Pink Film Analysis

Opening EGs: Pretty in Pink (Deutch, 1986) 

Image from clothing shop promo, 2013

Pretty in Pink 
Howard Deutch, 1986
Paramount Pictures (prod. AND distrib.)

Budget: $9m; US box office: $40.5m

Opening duration: 2:30/4:41*
RottenTomatoes.com 81%; IMDB 6.6 ; Roger Ebert 4*.

*Scene in house up to 2:57; title theme comes in and out 'til 4:41

SUMMARY/IDEAS I MIGHT USE:
[its useful to pick out ideas/elements you might use] An opening of contrasts: grim mise-en-scene, but straight into the rom-com love triangle narrative. Surprisingly plain sans-serif titles and downbeat title theme song. Front-loaded with titles. Interesting gender representation: is Ringwald stereotype, countertype or a complex mix of both?



SYNOPSIS:
Classic teen rom-com penned by 80s master John Hughes, with a love triangle centred on class identity; the female lead (Ringwald) is from a poor (in US cinema terms!!!) single parent household. Fiercely independent, she makes her own clothes, but is mocked by richer cheerleader types. Low budget but a sizeable hit, and continues to sell well today (long tail theory?!).

A vertically integrated conglomerate

IDENTS/TITLES:
[I use this example in the titles/idents vodcast] 
Just 1 ident: this was an example of partial vertical integration, with 'big 6' conglomerate Paramount handling production and distribution.
The titles begin with (1) Paramount Pictures presents (2) a John Hughes Production. Hughes had already made his name, and was a big draw worth emphasizing; while the auteur theory typically credits the director with authorship, this was a Hughes film, not the rather anonymous Deutch.

Hughes is the real big name here

The title might suggest a feminine, swirly (handwriting style) serif font ... but instead we get this fairly plain, sans-serif font. We can also denote the white on black background. Taken together, these choices signify realism ... which the gritty, (sub)urban mise-en-scene of the opening shots further reinforces, or anchors. However ... the font style is similar to that associated with 1920s era glamour (see Corbert font screenshot below); these conflicting connotationsarguably reflect the hybrid nature of rom-com well.

We only get these two title frames before the action begins. Further titles appear over action shots, in this order and (generally upper) case; they each fade out after about 3secs:

PRETTY IN PINK [centred]
STARRING MOLLY RINGWALD [we cut on screen to shot of her putting on tights]
HARRY DEAN STANTON [these 2 are centred; the lesser 'stars' below are bottom-right]

Roles are in reduced font size; 2 names split over 2 lines

JON CRYER 
ANNIE POTT
JAMES SPADER
AND ANDREW McCARTHY ['and' smaller font, as with DVD/poster billing block] 
CO-STARRING JIM HAYNIE
ALEXA KENIN 
KATE VERNON [its noticeable that these names fade out quicker] 
MUSIC SCORE COMPOSED BYMICHAEL GORE
CASTING BY PAULA HEROD AND MARCI LIROFF [split over 2 lines]

I googled '1920s font'; this is 1 eg: sim to titles?

COSTUME DESIGNER MARILYN VANCE
EDITED BY RICHARD MARKS
PRODUCTION DESIGNER JOHN W. CORSO
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY TAK FUJIMOTO
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS JOHN HUGHES AND MICHAEL CINICH [again, split over 2 lines]
WRITTEN BY JOHN HUGHES
PRODUCED BY LAUREN SHULER
DIRECTED BY HOWARD DEUTCH [film time: 2:57]

'Crossing the tracks': class conflict is central

If this was released today would we see quite so many credits front-loaded? Equally, we expect today to see more company credits and idents!
As the title theme fades in and out but doesn't actually end until 4:41, when we cut to a classroom, its arguable whether the end of the titles or the end of the title music denotes the end of the opening sequence.

MISE-EN-SCENE:

Not the opening image the title leads us to expect?!

Finally some colour! Mise-en-scene binary/juxtaposition 

The opening shot is surprising, given the title: a road-sweeping vehicle, tracked along a cracked road where weeds grow along the edge of the paving, the gardens are overgrown, and the cars that eventually come into view are old (even for the time of release), all providing connotations of this as a working-class neighbourhood. This reading is backed up by the 2nd shot (which we cross-fade into): opening on a chain-link fence around a tarmac backlot (again overgrown with weeds, also barb-wire topped), we cross tracks (a common cliche itself for class divides, as we'll see in this narrative).
The one dash of colour we get is the pink car, finally revealed as the roadsweeper trundles out of frame.
The girl's bedroom is signified by a series of abstracted shots of clothing, jewellry etc.
The father's bedroom is untidy, and we enter this with the curtains closed, both successfully connoting his frame of mind. His unruly hair and not-quite clean-shaven reinforce this impression. A particular nice touch is what appears to be a framed photo of the absent mother on the bedside drawers.
Once we cut to the high school, we get simple but crucial props for verismilitude: the high school sign itself is visible; we see both the classic yellow school bus and scooters denoting older students parked up outside; we track Ringwald as she approaches her school locker, another classic signifier of school.
Clothing codes quickly emerge as important plot points: Ringwald is set up in binary opposition to welathier cheerleader types who explicitly mock her clothing, while Ducky's outrageous ensemble also forms a binary with his suave, 'posh' love rival who wears more mature 'country club' clothing. 

Nice hats...their binary opposites wear 'mature' clothing.

REPRESENTATIONS:
The absences are fairly routine, but still worth highlighting: homosexual or disabled characters, with the main cast all caucasian. Remember, the constant repetition of 'able-bodied', caucasian, heterosexual etc creates a normative effect, though we do get an interesting mix of stereotypes and countertypes here, not least with the unusual single-parent family.
Representations of age, gender and social class are all notable.

Like his female counterpart, preppy/country club style

AGE: Ducky is a classic stereotype of teens: loud and brash in manner as well as in clothing. However, his love rival dresses in a mature, even 'fogeyish' style. Ducky's rolled-up sleeves and badges could be read as a deconstruction of this, so perhaps not such a basic steretype after all? Similarly Ringwald and her cheerleader-type social rival form a binary, with Ringwald's costume bright and garish, flower-patterned black waistcoat over a pink blouse with a thick woolly pink cardigan while the tokenistic wealthy blonde rival has a smart lemon dress (and big 80s hairsprayed hair!).

Cynical male gaze?

Who the adult is in the Ringwald/father relationship is questionable: its she that tries to get him up and motivated in the morning! 

SOCIAL CLASS: Ducky and Ringwald are from one side of the tracks, while we got the wealthy opposites. Clothing codes, with the working-class characters more easily associated with youth, are key, but the opening quickly established that the working-class characters are outsiders.

GENDER: Again we see basic stereotypes which are revealed as a little more nuanced upon examination. Ringwald is revealed in a series of abstracted shots revealing body parts and her picking out clothing and jewellry - male gaze, right? This is no bimbo, however; fiercely independent and intelligent, her clothes are self-made, and her intelligence is signified by the simple prop of specs (which she puts on in the classroom)! 
Would this movie pass the Bechdel test?!

NARRATIVE, GENRE, EXPOSITION:

An unexpected role reversal (BUT gender stereotype?)

We find out about Ringwald's single-parent, working-class family background, her close relationship with Ducky - and their mutual low standing in the high school social circles. Their older-teen age is well 

Ducky gets handbagged + ends up ridiculed on the floor

established. We learn little about the two wealthier characters who will emerge as central, bar their fakeness and high social standing. McCarthy's lingering look after Ringwald (we get an eyeline match) clearly connotes the central disruption of the narrative, their on-off romance, disrupting the equilibrium of her/Ducky's relationship, with a 4th character (the sarky blonde) signified as an additional element to this love triangle.

Rom-coms typically feature a humiliated, emasculated male as part of a love triangle, and Ducky fits that role, ending up on the floor having been handbagged. As is most commonly the case, the character we literally follow and thus are encouraged to identify with is female.
The gritty mise-en-scene and the downbeat title track are countertypical, however, signalling that this might be a cut above the standard rom-com.
In the space of 4mins the basis of the film is well established.

SOUNDTRACK:

To funk: Enter the Ducky...who ain't gonna get lucky!

A little bit unsual: the title theme comes in from the 1st shot, but fades in and out, eventually ending nearly 5mins later. The initial fade out is nicely edited to emphasize Ringwald's diegetic calling out for her father - her voice rising as she tries for a response.
When Ducky 1st appears we get a short burst of an 80s funk track, with a low bass sound ... swiftly fading out as the response to him hardly anchors a reading of Ducky as cool, macho man!

If you want to see for yourself, here's a montage someone put together:

A ropey VHS transfer of the 1st 40secs:

The trailer:



Source: http://asmediafilmopening.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/opening-egs-pretty-in-pink-deutch-1986.html

Bridget Jones's Diary Analysis

Genre: 
Rom-Com
Romantic Comedy...


The Players:
Richard Curtis- Wrote the original book of which the film was based upon, Andrew Davies adapted that to create the film.

Production Budget:
According to box office mojo, the procession budget was: 
$25 Million

Production Companies

The first few shots taken from Bridget Jones's Diary are the production companies involved in making of Bridget Jones's Diary.

'Working Title' are a major film company, and attract the biggest stars, typically American, and if British, white and southern, this is because, from a marketing point of view, this sells more copies, therefore, more income for Working Title, which is the primary focus of the company.

-4 company idents:

-Universal Studios // 20 seconds

-Studio Canal // 16 seconds
-Miramax Films // 14 seconds

-Working Title // 10 seconds
Altogether 60 seconds

The 1st Shot:

• In BJD, the opening shot contains the main character, with a medium close up shot. Rarely do you see the main characters face immediately, however due to the nature of the film, it is logical with reference to the non-diegetic sound of her thoughts, therefore we can see who's voice it is, helping the viewer follow the plot. 

• Female main character, this could suggest it relates to girls more than guys, potentially making it a romantic film, or 'chick flick'. Uses cross fade for transition between shots. The mise en scene has only a small level of importance, however, it is key in determining the time of year and what this could denote it is Christmas/winter due to the weather (snow).

• The film opening lasts 11 minutes and 54 seconds.

• The opening sequence begins at 60 seconds / 1 minute.

Titles

• Main Title is in bold, and a larger font than the subtitles





Non Serif.
Positioned left side of the screen.
They include names of directors and procures etc
Each last the same length of time and fade in and out
each are the same size apart from the main title
The size of the sub titles don't change, signifying each person has contrubted the same to the overall production and making of the film
The job of which each person named is smaller and thinner, whereas the name is a bigger font and in bold.
the colour stays the same throughout
there is no animation to the titles 
 

Subtitles before main title...

• These subtitles come before the main title... 'Bridget Jones's Diary', the subtitles are a lot thinner in comparison, this could denote that every person involved in production adds up to something much bigger, 
• Signified by the font // Serif font.
• All positioned on the left and in the same font and size.
• 19 subtitles in total before main title
• Each title has a 9-10 second gap between each one and last for 4 seconds each
• Overall the subtitles last 1 minute and 40 seconds after 1 minute of company idents.

Sound, Music:

• The opening sequence has non diegetic and diegetic sound.

• Non diegetic is in the opening shot, we hear 'Bridget Jones's' thoughts over watching her go to her mums for Christmas denoted by the heavy snow, which leads to verisimilitude.
• 
  

• All By Myself, as linked at the top - https://youtu.be/t8iTZm8-mbA

Characters:

The opening scene follows the main character, and uses non diagetic speach from her, from this we get to know the character and can see things from her perspective. There is also binary opposition between 'Bridget', and a 'divorced single man' who her mother tries unsuccessfully to set her up with to begin with.


Shot Variety:
The shot type varies throughout the opening sequence, including and establishing shot in the opening scene. Along with a close up which brings power to the scene.

Initial Idea Brainstorm

Genre of possible films:
-Thriller
-Action
-Horror

1 of these 3 would work really well as many techniques can be used. The reason I didn't chose a comedy for example would be that it focuses on dialogue, which can take the focus away from the film, camera techniques and shots.

Non diegetic sound /// backing track, creating suspense and engaging the audience.


The Plot:

• High speed chase/// free running theme
• Urban mise en scene

Key points of film:

• Music to follow the shots /// slow and calm at beginning, and speed up as action occurs
• Sunset taken from sky bar in Leeds.
• Training scene
• High speed chase

Reason for chase:

Possibility of...

• murder
• mugging
• assault

Film Openings...

Due to looking at, researching and analysing a film opening, Pretty in Pink, I have concluded which particular aspects i should be looking for...

-Opening shot

• In relation to...
• Mise-en-scene.
• Typically and establishing shot, reasons for why it isn't?
• Rarely face of main character.
• Genre signifiers.
• Diagetic or non-diagetic sound.
• Length of opening sequence, how does it transition? Cross fade for example...

-Titles used /// style of titles

• Fundamental parts of the title, does it reflect upon the film or represent anything in particular, perhaps relating to the genre of film?
• Signifiers to the film.
• Wording on titles and sub titles.
  

-Characters

• Protagonist.
• Antagonist.
• Binary opposition.
• Representation of age and gender*

-Costume

• Genre signified.
• Verisimilitude.
• Make sure cast know what is expected.
• Representation of age and gender*

-Sound /// Music
• Diagetic / Non-diagetic.

-Intertextuality

• Where the meaning of one text is linked to the meaning of another.
• Making it more relatable to the audience /// linking to a secondary audience. E.G film made for target audience of 16-25 however with links to an older film (intertextuality) to relate to an older audience.

AS Work

TASK 1: (post) Researching conventions in our courseworkUsing either your printed copy or an online version, look through the assessment criteria for all three marked sections of your coursework and note in this post any and all elements of this that are linked to researching the conventions of film openings (and film/genre conventions more broadly). Include any relevant Evaluation questions in your list.

TASK 2: (post) What I should look for when blogging on film openings.

TASK 3: [multiple posts] Titles, 1st shot, length of openingYou will each view and analyse 2 film openings, feeding individual findings, including typed detail and plentiful screenshots, into the following posts:

TITLES EG2 [Film Title] - as we did with Pretty in Pink, note every title. Include several screenshots to demonstrate any common features and variations in these (size, colour, position, font, case, animation/transition/FX, diegetic integration, single/multiple credits, any name credited twice [hint: auteur]). Note clearly the timings of these: do they appear continually; from the very start or later (when?); continue right to the end (maybe beyond?) the opening; are the gaps between them equal in timing or variable (is there any pattern to this). Note the specific language used for company names - and specific whether these companies or production or distribution companies (look them up - and include relevant hyperlinks as part of your post's presentation!). Discuss the main font used: is it serif or sans-serif; clearly linked to (connoting) a genre - is this the expected connotation or signifying, maybe even juxtaposing, a different genre; what are your general thoughts on its semiotics? Is the main title font any different (always screenshot this)?

OPENING SHOT EG3 [Film Title] - we've discussed the semiotics of TisEng's opening shot in detail, now do the same for this. Don't twist your analysis to fit the genre, it doesn't always match the genre so neatly. Consider exposition, narrative enigma, (non-)diegetic sound, anchorage/polysemy - sound is relevant as well as mise-en-scene. Is the camera static or moving (does the shot/framing change?). What does this lead into? Looking ahead, you could apply Todorov's narrative model (equilibrium) http://www.slideshare.net/Katrinabrookes/todorovs-narrative-theory-24244633.

OPENING LENGTH + NARRATIVE [Film Title] - how long is the opening sequence? How is the ending of this denoted? What exposition has been provided (type a very brief bullet list for this, not a paragraph): have the pro/antagonists been signified (can you detail how with reference to framing and editing in particular?); Proppian archetypes; binary oppositions; the location; time/era; genre (maybe hybrid?); equilibrium, dis-equilibrium (central conflict). To what extent has narrative enigma been utilised? Can you spot any intertextuality?We will review your findings and then you will individually work these into three vodcasts which will cover a sizeable chunk of your openings research:

VODCAST1: Titles in film openings

VODCAST2: The semiotics of the opening shot

VODCAST3: Film openings - length and narrative exposition




Source: http://asmediafilmopening.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/task-starting-to-consider-film-opening.html

AS Coursework Markscheme

THE BRIEF

Your mission is to carry out the following brief:

Preliminary exercise: Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.
Main task: the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes.
All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source.

The coursework is worth 50% of the AS (same at A2) and the marking (detailed later) is divided into 3 sections:

RESEARCH AND PLANNING: 20%

PRODUCTION: 60%

EVALUATION: 20%

Your work is marked partially on my observations of your approach and level of organisation, but fundamentally its a DVD and your blog that are marked.

EVALUATION

Even before you start shooting (let alone planning) your production, you need to keep this final stage in mind. If you start (b)logging notes on this now it will save you a lot of stress as the final deadline (in May!) approaches. You are tasked with answering these questions (see below for details on how this is marked):

• In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? 

• How does your media product represent particular socialgroups?

• What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? 

• Who would be the audience for your media product? 

• How did you attract/address your audience? 

• What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? 

• Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

HOW ITS ALL MARKED [ie THE ASSESSMENT CRITERIA]

When I'm marking all this, I've got to write a paragraph for the exam board justifying the marks I've given you. The grid embedded below summarises the criteria I have to follow, and so you're advised to occasionally re-read this and ask yourself where you think you'll fall within the marking scheme!
For each section there are key components of the work which I have to assess as being one of the following:

MINIMAL
BASIC
PROFICIENT

EXCELLENT

source: http://asmediafilmopening.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/brief-evaluation-how-its-all-marked.html

source: http://www.scribd.com/doc/110898821/G321-AS-CWK-Markscheme-on-1pg-DB