Evaluation

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

Opening sequences in real media products are used to start off the narrative of the movie and to introduce characters, settings and the genre. The opening as a whole should be used to hook the audience and keep them interested in the narrative enough for them to watch the rest of the product.

I think that my product opens half of my fusion genre. My narrative is based on comedy and action used together to create a wider audience however in my opening I have only introduced the comedy half of the fraction. This may be a problem for the audience watching for the action as they aren't kept very interested in terms of their chosen genre, however the comedy audience would have some features of their genre to keep them hooked and make them want to watch on.

Pretty much all movie openings include both titles and credits that introduce the actors/actresses, the corporations involved and sometimes even the production team. In my opening I have shown the names of two corporations involved in the making and I have given the names of the two main actors. Compared to real media products I have only used a small amount of titles and credits however that doesn't refer to all real media products as some of them only use little amount of credits. It's normally the big hollywood movies that include loads of titles and credits because they have a lot of teams involved in the planning, making and distribution of the product.

My opening challenges real product openings because it doesn't introduce both genres plus it only slightly hints at the main purpose of the movie, drugs. The slight hint at drugs was an intentional feature as I wanted the opening to focus more on the main character and his daily routine, then at the end I wanted to show the disequilibrium where the main character gets fired.

I also think that my product challenges real products as it is laid out like more of a music video than an opening. My this I mean that the actions and emotions of the characters slightly blend with the music and it seems very rhythmic.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The social groups that my product represents are young adults and working men. The young adults representation is done using the stereotypes of a first house/flat as the living conditions of my two main characters show that they're very messy and lazy. Because of this the comedy aspect is introduced because the flat looks like the setting of a comedy TV show or movie.

The working men social group is represented showing the stereotypical everyday routine for getting ready for work and not putting much effort into it. It very simply shows the main characters alarm going off and then him having a cigarette and then getting ready for work, which we assume is a regular routine and hopefully it is easy to relate to other young men.

I have chosen there two social groups to represent as they are the typical social groups used in real products similar to my idea therefore I wanted to keep the kind of tradition and continue using young, lazy and somewhat hardworking men. I also wanted to use these social groups as I feel like they are very easy to relate to with people within my target audience.

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

A movie narrative very similar to mine is 21 Jump Street (2012) and it was distributed by Sony/Columbia Pictures. Because of this I would suggest that Sony be the main distributor for my product due to the similar story lines between my movie and 21 Jump Street. I would also suggest Sony because of their usual genre choices for movies.

Sony like to distribute a variety of different movies relating to genre and/or stars involved. Because of this Sony have created a wider audience for their products and therefore they generate income from all over the audience spectrum. This could be useful with my product as it includes two genres and therefore needs two (or more) genre audiences to be pushed towards and Sony has the power to do so because of the audiences they have generated using previous real life products.

Another main reason why Sony would be a good choice is because they have attraction and power to distribute a product whether it be over social networks or media platforms worldwide. They have the connections with many others companies and any company that agrees to work with them generates attraction and a reputation to themselves.

All of this being said, I would say that Sony is the best choice to distribute my product due to the similar narratives that they have worked with in the past and because of the power they have to get my product out to the audience(s). Plus Sony use many social media platforms to distribute products and they rarely fail to gain popularity from the chosen platform.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

In terms of social groups my product would be aimed at mid/late teens to adults in their late 20's depending on the genre they're into. If an adult is into action films then the product would be great for them and the teens would be perfect because of the crude/black humour that would be used in the later product.

However in terms of age ratings my audience would be set at a 15 due to the language and slight violence planned in the narrative. Using the BBFC guidelines I have decided the a 15 is appropriate because of the 'strong language', 'violent nature' and 'drug use'. All of these features/aspects can be relate-able to my target audience and they are used in similar films that are set with a 15 rating from the BBFC therefore I would suggest that it is only right to go with the real life products that my product is based off.

How did you attract/address your audience?

I have chosen to attract my audience by using features in my product that can be easily related to. I have used smoking, a flat, young men, popular music and more in my product therefore there are any features of my narrative that can be easily related to and discussed about within my audience.

The genre is going to attract many different viewers and it's hard to pin-point a main group because comedy is a widely loved genre therefore finding the certain group would be difficult. But put comedy aside and the action side of the product can be used to attract an audience because it makes the narrative sound similar to movies such as 21 Jump Street and The Other Guys, both popular movies with late teens and young adults.

The flat setting of my movie can be related to strongly due to the fact that many young people these days move into flats/homes with a close friend and rarely clean or look after the place.

I think that the music used in my product is very catchy and goes with the sequence. The song is Neon Trees - Everybody Talks (Full Band Cover by Ratham Stone feat. Camryn Wessner) which was is a very popular song over social networks with a total of 14 million views on the original Neon Trees video. Because of this it generates more popularity for the song and my product at the same time.

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

In the production and editing process of my product I used a Panasonic Lumix HD Movie camera, a tripod,  Corel Video Studio 6, various websites such as Youtube and Slideshare and props within the product.

Because of video production and editing work that I have worked on in the past I was very confident in the production of this product because I was aware of what technology I needed and how to use it. However I did discover a few new skills that I have learnt from and could use in the future. 

I was confident with the filming and editing of my product until it came up to the uploading to YouTube stage as just after my video had processed I found out that you can now add filters to videos using YouTube. Because I this I decided to test out a few of the filters to see what they would look like on my product. The final result shows that I ended up adding a dirty/vintage filter to my video. I chose said filters because I felt like it added more filth to the mood and made out how messy the flat and characters are supposed to be. This has definitely helped the production of my product and without it I don't think the final piece would look as effective as it does.

During the rendering stage of my product I was moving the original video files about and this messed the system up. When the video rendering had finished it turned out the software couldn't find the videos therefore they didn't show up on the final piece. Because of this I had to go back and re-render without moving the files. This is certainly something that I have learnt from and won't make the mistake again.

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

My coursework shows that I have learnt to work with filters and a wider range of camera angles compared to my preliminary task. In my preliminary I only used simple over the shoulder shots and the 180 degree rule whereas in my coursework I have explored high and low angles as well as close ups and extreme close ups to show and emphasize actions/movements.

My skills have developed in terms of editing as my final piece seems to run a lot smoother than my preliminary and at the same time includes a lot of different shots and editing techniques. This has taught me that now matter how many angles/shots you use you can still make a product run really smoothly and piece together to make a well edited final product.

I have learnt many things from this coursework. I have learnt that the research you put into the planning stage can really effect your final piece as you know more codes, conventions and features of the genre and social groups to include to make the final product stand out to your chosen audience and maybe even attract unplanned viewers.

Final Product

Preliminary Video

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Evidence of filming

Storyboard

The following three images are of my initial storyboards that I created during the planning process of my product. The overall idea is the same but due to the setting I had to change some of the slides slightly.

Audience Research

The audience I have chosen would be appropriate for my idea is teenager men from the age of 15 to adults of 30 yeas old. This was chosen for my idea mainly because of the chosen genres of comedy and action. The action side of the film would be appealing to the older half of my audience and the comedy to the younger side of my audience. I felt this was appropraite because my research of previous similar films showed that people from the ages of my idea tend to enjoy these films as they rated them fairly high and also said what their preferred genre is, which related to my comedy/action idea.

 

To gather information from my initial target audience I constructed a questionnaire and handed out a number of copies. A filled out copy of the questionnaire is below.

The questionnaire has helped me to find out some name ideas for my movie, it has given me ideas for adjusting the synopsis and has given me a clear idea of what is to be include into my idea to make it both original and effective. I am going to use the majority of my research to create a well constructed movie opening that appeals to people both inside and outside my target audience.

The questionnaire included questions asking the person about my synopsis, my movie title and movies similar to my idea. The research about similar movies helped me to realise what to relate my opening and overall idea to.

The two images below are put together as an example of one of the filled in questionnaires. The rest of the questionnaires that I collected included similar forms of answers but there was variety in the useful information.

Description of 2 minute opening

The guys having a conversation about their lives whilst James is getting ready for work. The camera will cut between the two and will clearly show their contrasting personalities as well as their lifestyles. When James is ready he leaves for work and Ryan goes back to sleep, however the disequillibrium is when James is fired at the end of the opening.

Synopsis of chosen idea

Film Idea 3 - Action Comedy

Two contrasting guys in their late teens/early 20's live in a flat together and rely on James, the hardworking of the two, to pay the majority of the rent. Ryan, the slob of the two, rely's on James to feed and look after him and be a mother figure. But all of the things they crave in life become limited when James loses his job and they are being evicted at the end of the month. So having limited qualifications and experiences with drugs Ryan starts to make his own range of drug that becomes quickly popular in the local town and gets them lots of money and LOTS of trouble.

In the jist of all the drug drama, Ryan has a child on the way but doesn't realise how mature he should be acting. But he wants to carry on with the drug business to earn money to look after his child and the mother.

The business is going well until the former drug dealer of the town wants to be a part of the money which James doesn't really warm to the idea of. Despite James wanting nothing to do with him, Ryan goes and discusses business with the former dealer behind James' back, which puts them in a sticky situation. After James realizes what Ryan has done, he decides to take matters into his own hands and plots to get rid of the former dealer, however James doesn't know what this man is capable of.

James and Ryan end up coming into lots of disagreements about the drugs and the former dealer steals Ryan and uses him for his drugs, taking over James' position. Not satisfied with how things are going, James creates one last plan to get rid of the new dealer but he needs Ryan's help.

Ryan warms to the idea after the pair talk about their ambitions and after James reminds Ryan that the dealer could be a threat to his up and coming family. Now they are both in on the job and go after the dealer. During a shoot off in a stranded junkyard Ryan gets a gun pushed to his head by the dealer and seeing his buddy on the edge off death makes James realize his friendship and business is almost at end so he takes one last sneaky shot and defeats the dealer. James and Ryan get rid of any evidence that could get them caught and flee the scene.

Shortly after the death of the dealer Ryan rushes to the hospital after hearing his child is on the way. However when he turns up the child is born but the mother passed away during the birth. Now that Ryan is left with 100% responibility of his child he realizes that the drug business should be finished. They make one last deal to flog the rest of their product and earn theirselves a 7-digit number to split between them.

Ryan decided to name his newly born boy James after his closest friend, he also chose James as the godfather.

Film Ideas

Film 1: Comedy

Concept - A story that follows the life of a man who is based on all of the stereotypes of a 'normal guy'. It follows his life as he finds himself in tricky situations trying to find a 'normal girl'.

Opening - An upbeat sequence of the 'normal' guy getting ready to start his day. Includes waking up and getting dressed etc. Music will be very happy and match his movements. In terms of mise-en-scene, there will be bright colours and props to make the 'getting ready' more realistic.

Film 2: Romantic Drama

Concept - This film is entirely filmed hand held from the perspective of the main characters with the odd camera shot not on the camera. It shows the lives of a teenage couple and their struggles as the girl of the couple becomes extremely ill and is told she doesn't have long left. The boyfriend decides to film their perspective on the struggle and films all of the things that make her laugh so that she can watch them back when she feels down and can be reminded that she had a good time over all of the bad.

Opening - The opening would show the boy getting out the camera for the first time and filming himself explaining what he is doing for her. It would be a simple shot of him and her sitting down talking about the struggles they're going to face.

Film 3: Action Comedy

Concept - Two contrasting guys that grew up together have moved in together and have been living rough for years. However the sensible of the two loses his job therefore the guys have next to no money between them. To creat an income, the slob of the two creates a drug and it suprisingly becomes very popular.

Opening - The opening could be the guys getting ready to start the day and it could end with the sensible one losing his job. This allows a range of camerawork and you could include a fair few props.

Final Choice:

I like the overall storyline idea for number 2 but hte only problem with doing that idea is that the opening wouldn't be very detailed. By this I mean that even though there would be a lot of sound and maybe even props, there wouldn't be any oppurtunites to use a range of camera angles and explore camera work and mise-en-scene. However, I like the idea of doing synopsis 3 as it would be a great oppurtunity to use a range of camera angles and also include lots of dialogue, props and other features. Therefore I am going to go with film idea 3 as it is a better oppurtunity to explore techniques.

Target Audience

dictionary.com's definition for target audience:

Definition: The intended group for which something is performed or marketed; the specific group to which advertising is directed.
Example: The target audience for the book is from young adults upwards.

I personally think that this definition is very accurate as the way I see it is a specific group of people that a product is aimed and advertised towards. Every specific target audience is made up from factors of personality, for example age, gender or religion. However to go and watch a media product does not mean you have to be under the target audience factors, anyone can watch any film and it is certainly a good thing when a film with one target audience attracts more than one audience as it raises the initial grossing prediction for the film and therefore brings more popularity and fame to the product and companies/people involved.

You can find out more information about a specific target audience by conducting a research situation. This could be done by asking people in the target audience to fill out a questionnaire and then you could conclude you results to create a more specific audience and to gather more ideas to change your initial narrative idea etc.

Target audience research methods:

Primary Research - Primary research is to start from scratch and find out all of your research independently without help of other people or products. If it's possible, talk to your initial target audience and find out more information regarding codes, conventions and stereotypes. Ask your audience questions about your product and find out a mixture of positive and negative thoughts and use this research to help you to improve your product so that it appeals to a wider audience.

Secondary Research - Secondary research is the opposite of primary and requires using sources of information to gather useful information. The research could come from books, blogs or general internet searches. This method gives you a wider perspective on a strategy or method and instead of questioning people yourself, the source will do it for you. The best places to go to gather wider research and still include other peoples opinions are blogs and forums.

Movie Planning:

If you're trying to find out target audience information about a movie you could get an opinion of your movie idea by handing over copies of your synopsis and gather the good and bad things about it. You could also use this method to find out what you movie needs to make it more appealing to either a wider or more specific audience. This method also works for other media products such as TV, music and video games.

Certificates:

A media product certificate is the age rating that a board has given the product due to the suitability of content. The guidelines are usually picked based on violence and language that may offend younger viewers or be of a bad influence. All age ratings for movies being broadcasted in the UK are passed by a company called the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification). This means that any movie that passes thorugh to the UK from another country MUST go through the BBFC so that they can decide on a suitable ratings for British audiences.

The BBFC process is simple. The product is given to them for what they call a 'solo viewing' where a small group of their people will sit down and watch the product. The people will take notes whilst watching about content and put hteir idea's towards the final decision. However before they decide on a decision they rate the product on a scale of 2. The scale is simply to decide what area of the age ratings they are going to place it in and once the scale vote is finalised they will come to an agreement for the final ceritficate. The official BBFC certificate guidelines are as follows:

U - The U symbol stands for Universal. A U film should be suitable for audiences aged four years and over. However, it is impossible to predict what might upset a particular child, especially at this lower end of the category range.

PG - PG stands for Parental Guidance. This means a film is suitable for general viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for younger children. A PG film should not disturb a child aged around eight or older. Parents should consider whether the content might upset younger or more sensitive children.

12/12A - The 12 certificate is just for videos, DVDs and Blu-rays. 12A is for films at the cinema only. 12A means that anyone aged 12 or over can go and see the film unaccompanied. The A stands for 'accompanied' and 'advisory'. Children younger than 12 may see the film if they are accompanied by an adult (eg someone over the age of 18), who must watch the film with them.

15 - No-one under 15 is allowed to see a 15 film at the cinema or buy/rent a ‘15’ rated DVD. 15 rated works are not suitable for children under 15 years of age. 15's could include any of the following:

strong violence

frequent strong language (eg 'f***').

portrayals of sexual activity

strong verbal references to sex

sexual nudity

brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence

discriminatory language or behaviour

drug taking

18 - Films rated 18 are for adults. No-one under 18 is allowed to see an 18 film at the cinema or buy/rent an 18 rated DVD. No 18 rated works are suitable for children. 18's could include any of the following:

very strong violence

frequent strong language (eg 'f***') and/or very strong language (eg ‘c***’)

strong portrayals of sexual activity

scenes of sexual violence

strong horror

strong blood and gore

real sex (in some circumstances)

discriminatory language and behaviour

Titles & Credits

The titles and credits are a very important part of every movie. It lets the audience know the ascociated actors/actresses or directors/producers and lets them know what to expect. The titles and credits of a movie can put across the genre if a movie without revealing too much. This can be done by using different colours, fonts and music that relate to certain genres of media products and all of these features can help an audience member to easily recogonise the overall genre, as well as any sub-genres.

Grown Ups: Title Sequence Analysis

Grown Ups is all about a group of friends that were a basketball team as kids meeting up in their later lives. The reason for the meet up is their old team coach has passed away, and they all go and stay at a cabin they stayed at when they were in the team. The opening titles of this movie lead onto the rest of the film very well. The titles show up next to every character over a video of the team in a completion final, in which they win (shown below).

In the movie, we see the younger version of the characters before seeing the main actors playing the older versions. Even though we haven’t seen the main actors yet, we know who every kid will be played by as during the match the video pauses for a split second after every character makes a signature move or says a line that sums them up. For example, when number 15 is said to have ‘double dribbled’ during the game, he turns round and confronts the referee by saying “Why? Cause I’m black?!”, the video then pauses in his face and the actors name, Chris Rock, pops up next to him in a simple white font. This happens for every character and clearly shows the characters personality. Also, if you know the actor from previous work, you would probably see the resemblance in the younger characters appearance. The routine in which the team use to win the final game is then mimicked later on in the movie when the team is older and they are challenged to a rematch by the team they previously won against.

Other than the actors names that pop up next to the characters in the opening scene, other information such as the production company (Happy Madison Productions) show up at points during the game randomly. Some Adam Sandler fans might see the production company and automatically relate the characters to previous movies under the production company’s name. This is because the company uses a range of reoccurring actors and actresses throughout its movies as Adam Sandler is the founder of the company.

I think that the colours and mood of the opening titles introduce the genre very well. The colours are fairly bright to reflect the happiness of the team and crowd when the game is won and this works very well as the bright orange uniform reinforces this. Simple body language and facial expressions help with getting the comedy aspect across as all the characters are happy, with the exception of the losing team. This slightly puts across the message that the winners are the good guys and the losers are enemies and this all relates to the late scenes in the movie when the two teams meet in later life and have a rematch.

Overall, this title sequence opens the movie very well and introduces the characters by relating to the genre and creates a happy mood for the viewer by using the comedy aspect with the young children using adult humour.

                                                                                                                               


I used the Grown Ups opening titles for my analysis (above) as I think that it clearly and simply puts across the genre to the audience. It does this by using colours and dialougue and I think that these are the two main ways of doing so, therefore I think that these two aspects make up genre.

The titles and credits for Grown Ups are very simple however, when mixed with the opening sequence (video) they make a good mixture and really show the mood.

Characterisation

Goffman's Character Theory

Erving Goffman's character theory suggests that there are four main types of broad character in a media text or production;

1. The protagonist (leading character)
2. The deuteragonist (secondary character)
3. The bit player (minor character whose specific background the audience is not aware of)
4. The fool (a character that uses humor to convey messages)

Goffman's Theory is an excellent way of looking at character because the types are very exact. There is always one of each of these types in every movie and some of them are usually doubled up to add to genre.

I feel like Goofman's Character Theory is very accurate in most movies and that in most cases, one of the roles is emphasised or there is many charatcers under one role in order to broadcast the genre further. For example, I think that in comedy, we encounter many 'fools' and because their role is to convey a message using humour, therefore we see them to add to the genre.


Film: Happy Gilmore (2003)
Genre: Comedy/Sport
Other Info: Adam Sandler, 12

The introduction to the character, Happy Gilmore, is set out with the character doing a voice over some old childhood videos explaining his life so far and telling the audience him ambition. The introduction to the character is also the opening to the film, this shows that he is the main character and it starts off the narrative of the film.

The opening line to the introduction is "My name is Happy Gilmore." and is said as soon as the first childhood clip is shown by the main character himself. The second line is then " As soon as I learnt to skate, I loved hockey, but I wasn't really the greatest skater." This line opens the narrative of the film as it introduces the main characters hobby. This line just reinforces the fact that the opening to the character is there to explain his story and provide some vital information about him.

When the opening is being played, it is a small rectangle at the right of the screen as if you were watching it on small camera bringing back the memories. However, as the introduction is playing, the opening credits sneak in to the left of the screen. I say sneak as the audiences attention is on the clips playing to the right, and not a lot of attention is payed to the credits.

Next in the introduction, Happy talks about his Dad's love for hockey, saying that his mum got so fed up that she moved away from the family and saying that his Dad used to bring him to see their favourite player every time he played. Happy describes that this player "fears nobody, just like me". This gives us an insight to his behaviour, maybe describing that he can put up a fight. Meanwhile in the footage, there is a clip of his Dad filming him watching a hockey game, but then all attention is turned to the game where one of the players hits the puck at Happy's Dad and kills him. It then tells us how after his Dad's funeral he was sent to live with his Grandma, who he never really met before.

Happy then goes on to tell us a big list of previous jobs and show us clips from each job of him performing an inappropriate act with different objects related to that job. The list includes jobs as a road worker, a janitor, a security guard and a plumber. As he has had many jobs, this could suggest that he can't stick to anything and gives/messes up easily. The opening sequence then ends with Happy saying "I was put on this planet for one reason, to play hockey." showing that he is very dedicated.

In this introduction to the character of Happy Gilmore, he is portrayed as a bit of a nasty guy but he clearly loves his family. We find this out due to dialogue of him explaining him and his Dad's love for hockey and his Grandma taking him in. Camerawork in the sequence is all handheld home videos of Happy growing up and playing hockey. The music through the entire sequence is just one song that goes along with the narrative and fits the mood and tone of Happy's voice over.

Overall, Happy is put across mainly by the voice over by his character. He explains his life story and his ambition and shows to the audience that he is very dedicated. The narrative is explained well with the voice over and home videos put together as the voice simply narrates the clips being shown.

Screenshots:

Genre: Research

Academic Research:

The PowerPoint below contains a number of slides containing academic research into my chosen genre of comedy. It is about comedy as it is what I have planned my movie openin to be, therefore I have explored the different sub-genres of comedy, the most famous comedy movies in history and the ways that comedy movies are protrayed.





As a result of my research, I have found that a comedy movie contains bright colours such as yellow or light blue. This is because these colours are known to epresent fairly happy moods and therefore they fit with the comedy genre due to the laughter and happiness that a comedy media piece provides. Also from my research I have found out the most popular techniques used in comedy media. For example, I researched movies similar to my plot and looked up reviews to find out what techniques are effective and how they are used. I found that in 'The Change-Up' the use of adult humour and the occasional offensive joke was a big hit. This may because in our current day, we rely on offensive jokes and insults to gain happiness and laughter.

Codes & Conventions

Comedy movies often use a mixture between adult and simple humour to gain different audiences. By this I mean that a film may be a certificate U, PG or 12 but still contain humour that only adults would understand. A great example of this is Grown Ups starring Adam Sandler. Adam Sandler tends to create a variety of movies, some aimed at kids, some at adults, but he mainly tries to blend the two together. In Grown Ups there are plently of childish jokes and silly things that amuse children, however there are also plently of adult jokes due to the fact it's a family movie. Most family movies tend to add sly adult humour to give them something to get entertained with instead of sitting and watching a childish film with their kids.

The setting of comedy films often depend of the certificate. For example, if a comedy is a 15, you could expect to see a bar/pub or some form of party depending on the narrative. The same goes for a comedy certified 12 and you could expect to see some sort family home or supermarket as comedies that are 12's are usually aimed at families and therefore have them involved in the storyline. A good example of a 15 with these settings is The Sitter starring Jonah Hill. The movie is about a guy wanting to earn a little cash so he babysits for his mum's friend and ends up getting into trouble with gangs and going to a bar and a party, like mentioned earlier. An example of a 12 with these settings is yet again Grown Ups. In my opinion, Grown Ups is an excellent example of a comedy/family movie as it includes so many codes and conventions that you would expect.

Props are a big tool in comedy films due to the fact they sometimes make up the narrative. For example, in Keith Lemon's movie, the narrative is based around his invention and therefore it is constantly mentioned and related to because it's a good topic for humour, which gets the genre across. Plently of little props in a comedy help to create small jokes and punchlines that keep the audience interested and entertained but mosto f the time, the prop is mentioned briefly and then forgetton about, because the joke is dead. This is why you have to be creative when creating a comedy as you have to create and use humour that last a long time and doesn't die out quickly, it has to be humour that you can comed back to and still find funny.

Sub-genres

As mentioned and listed in my academic research powerpoint above, there are plenty of subgenres in every genre and especially in comedy. The main reason why there are plenty of comedy subgenres is because there are so many different types of humour and they vary between different audiences and age ranges. However, there are a few subgenres that are most popular based on our modern day perception of comedy/humour. There are a few examples listed below.

Black Comedy:
Much like comedy-horror, black comedy, or dark comedy, is a type of comedy film that often uses cruelty as the source of humour. Most black comedies involve crime or other intense moments like average school/workplace bullying. Some examples of these films include The Cable Guy, Ruthless People and Dr. Strangelove.

Parody:
Parody is defined as a work created to mock, comment on, or poke fun at an original work, its subject, or author, by means of humorous or satiric imitation. Parody is nothing but a composition that imitates or misrepresents somebody's style in a humorous way.

Action Comedy:
Films in this sub-genre blend comic antics and action where the film stars combine wit and one-liners with a thrilling plot and daring stunts. The genre became a specific draw in North America in the eighties when comedians such as Eddie Murphy started taking more action oriented roles such as in 48 Hrs. and Beverly Hills Cop. These type of films are often buddy films, with mismatched partners such as in Midnight Run, Rush Hour, Bad Boys, and Hot Fuzz. Slapstick martial arts films became a mainstay of Hong Kong action cinema through the work of Jackie Chan among others. It may also focus on superheroes such as The Incredibles, Hancock or Kick-Ass.

Narrative

Narrative in the media is the way in which a story is presented to the audience. The main use of the narrative, much like the opening, is to hook the audience but to continue doing so throughout the movie. To put it simply, the narrative is the plot and it is structured in a way that makes the audience follow along.

Theory Model:

In Tzvetan Todorov's theory of narrative, he suggested that the narrative of a media piece was split into 5 stages:

1. A state of equilibrium at the outset;
2. A disruption of the equilibrium by some action;
3. The recognition that there has been a disruption;
4. An attempt to repair the disruption;
5. A reinstatement of the equilibrium.

To shorten it down, Todorov's theory model consisted of a beginning, middle and end. The beginning is an equilibrium where everything in the narrative is at piece and balanced. The middle of the structure is a disequilibrium where something happens to the narrative that disrupts the original equilibrium, this creates the bulk of the story. An finally, the end of the narrative structure is a new equilibrium when everything is returned to normality. This is a closure or resolution to the story.

Narrative Codes:

Narrative codes are another form of narrative structure. There are two main types, enigma codes and action codes and they are the codes that keep the audience hooked by posing quesitons about the narrative. These two codes make you ask questions without giving away too much of the narrative and by keeping a lot of suspense.

Enigma Codes:

An enigma code is when you are watching a film and question something that should be fairly obvious. This type of code is used a lot in horror movies when someone/thing is round the corner or behind a door. Sometimes, enigma codes can't always meet your expectations and you something very unexpected will happen. The use of enigma codes is to capture further attention of the audience and keep them hooked and interested even more. However, sometimes enigma codes are answered straight away and in some cases you can be waiting until the end of the movie to find out the answer.

Action Codes:

An action code is sometimes the answer to a previous enigma code.The answer often helps the audience to find out something new about the the narrative or it could be something simple like a small detail about a main charatcter that is infact very important. In some circumstances, an action code could lead onto a further enigma code therefore creating a continuous cycle of questions and answers throughout the entire film/tv show.

Opening Sequences

The role of an opening sequence in a movie is to open the narrative and more importantly, introduce the main characters. The opening sequence in every movie will always include some form of opening credits, whether they be edited in or planted into the scenery. Another use of an opening sequence is to hook the audience in a way that makes them want to keep watching the movie. This can be done by clearly introducing the genre and narrative to let the audience know what to expect.

An opening sequence could also be used to create the start of the narrative stages. The end of the opening may lead to the agent of change or equilibrium of the movie and therefore create a bigger hook for the audience.

Layer Cake Opening Sequence: Analysis

The opening to Layer Cake starts with a reverse zoom from the back doors of a robbery van and as the zoom progresses, the doors blow open. A voice over then comes in and starts with "When I was born, the world was a much simpler place; it was all just cops and robbers". We have no clue what the source of the is but from the final part of the first line, we get a clue what the genre of the film is. "Cops and robbers" tells us that the main focus of the film is crime and robbery.

After the reverse zoom from the van we see a couple of masked men swearing and shouting at people to get down and this also backs up the genre of them film. A shot of a woman hiding behind a car is then shown, and a graphic match then sweeps across her hair to the hair of a hippie in the 1960's. The hippie that is revealed by the transition is smoking some drugs which could hint towards more of the genre and maybe even the plot. The camera follows and woman's legs across the same room as the hippie that then uses another graphic match and fades to black, followed by a fade in to a prison guard walking round a prison hall. The guard walks past the men from the robbery and the hippie that was smoking drugs at a prison table discussing crime and working together. The voice over then says "We're in the wrong fucking game!" but the line goes with the movement of the robbers mouth, this could suggest that the voice over is done by the robber?

Another graphic match is used to switch from the prison to a pharmacy full of 'FCUK' branded drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy. This could be some form of product placement but either way it works well with other props used in mise-en-scene. A slow pan follows along one of the shelves in the pharmacy and the Daniel Craig is revealed as the voice over as the protagonist. We know it's him doing the voice over as when the line "they won't leave it to people like me" is narrated, Daniel Craig walks from behind the shelf. There is an automatic link made by the audience between the voice over and Daniel Craig. The drugs then change into usual drugs you'd see at a pharmacy and there is a very unique edit used here. As Daniel walks, the drugs change behind him like a shadow following him and this is all followed by a simple pan around the room.

We still do not know Daniel Craig's character's name which isn't really noticed. People that watch this film don't really pick up on the fact we never know the main characters name. But next we see him walking down the street, drugs in hand and a crane then follows up to a window of a dark room where Daniel walks in to where we see drugs being made by who we assume is Daniel's accomplice. Daniel instantly walks in and gets to work which shows that he may have a very controlled routine and he knows what he is doing. So far, he seems like a very organised and smart man as he is simply following what seems to be a routine. He says "I'm not a gangster, I'm a businessman.". This puts the audience on his side as it shows he is a trustworthy man.

A pan then follows around the table from one side to another to show the two men making and packing a pile of drugs. But when the pan reaches the other side of the table, there are police sirens heard. This makes the men stop what they’re doing and they both simultaneously look outside the window. This gives us the impression that the men and very safe with what they do and to know danger when they hear it. A reverse zoom then goes out of the window that we entered through and pans down on a crane to the police cars driving down the road outside the window. The pan hits the roof of the car and follows it through to a graphic match of a police car in Amsterdam. Therefore, the graphic match here was also the transition to another setting where a steadicam follows a group of grown men walking a street whilst the man that we assume to be in charge is on a phone call organising what sounds like a drug meet. We assume he is in charge as he is linking arms with a woman, is dressed in a fair bit of jewellery and is the one organising the meet.

A lamppost in front of the screen is then used to wipe across back into the drug room that the main character was previously in. In the room, the men are weighing out a batch of cocaine and neatly laying each package across the table. From the pan across the drugs on the table, there is then a fast cut back to the lead man in Amsterdam sniffing some cocaine and then a pan to another one of the men having sex in the same room. This all comes together to show/prove that they are some sort of important gang in the film and are ‘gangsters’.

Another quick cut shows Daniel opening the door to let someone dressed very smartly into the drug room along with a big and strong man. There is then a pan of big loads of money being handed to all of the men sitting at the same table. This emphasises the entire ‘businessman’ quote as they are doing it all neatly and the men are very happy and having a laugh whilst getting handed the money.

A couple of over the shoulder shots then show two of the men talking about when ‘Gene and Jimmy’ are going to turn up. From what we hear in the conversation, Jimmy and Gene are a pair that work together to collect and distribute the drugs made. Jimmy then collects a big bag of money and speaks to Daniel about meeting for lunch with a big dealer/distributer. We see a couple of over the shoulders whilst this conversation is happening of the other men fiddling with random items and not looking very impressed with why he wants to meet. This shows that Jimmy is a big deal and maybe they don’t safe about the meeting.

A steadicam then follows Daniel coming out of an estate agent that is apparently his secret job to make himself look like a normal everyday man. The camera follows him into a cab where he drives to meet with a Mr R Singh where some kind of deal happens and money is transferred to a bank account. A steadicam also follows Daniel out of the building and follows him down the street swinging a briefcase looking like a proper businessman.

Overall, the first impressions we get of the main character is that he is mysterious, smart and organised. He seems to have this routine that he does every day and he is sown to be a very respected man that nobody really hates as he does his own thing and he has this big plan to make his first million in his current business and then use it to get away somewhere to live the dream life.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: Opening Analysis (PowerPoint):

 

Introduction

For my coursework, I am required to make a movie opening of 2 minutes (maximum) that must consist of credits and titles. All of the final product must be planned, produced and edited by myself and this blog should show various evidence of my planning and making. The final product should include any aspects mentioned in this paragraph or planning.