In order to prepare for our filming and planning, Jess and I took pictures of the area in which we will be using to set our film opening. We felt that the mise en scene of the locations were very suited to a conventional thriller film, due to the eerie vastness of the countryside area. Hopefully on the day we shoot the film, the weather will be dull and grey, as this will introduce a natural pathetic fallacy.
Conventionally, the beginning of a thriller genre, sub-genre phycological film, includes still shots of the location where the film is set with the intention of engaging the audience and creating suspense within the first few seconds. Therefore, we will be using the roundabout in the park, the long road in the field and the old abandoned lorries to shoot, with different camera angles such as low and camera shots such as establishing. This will help the audience have a better understanding of the setting of the film and how eerie it is, implying that something is about to happen - slowly introducing the enigma.
The tree we shall be using to hang the dolls on will be this one, as there are many thick branches and without leaves in the winter, it looks scary.
Just opposite this tree is the lake which we shall be using for when the lady finds the floating shoe and doll. It's quite a marsh-y lake, which can be easily associated with tragic drowning deaths, which is also featured in the classic thriller film The Woman In Black.
Jess Fisher and I filmed our own preliminary film together, as we will be working together in order to produce our final film opening. Filming this preliminary film gave us an opportunity to develop our understanding of camera angles and shots and how to use them effectively within practicals.
The genre of our final task will be a psychological thriller, therefore, we tried to incorporate as many typical conventions that thrillers behold, which we've found out via previous research. We specifically chose a location with a low-key lighting in order to make the audience feel unease and tense, furthermore building an eerie suspense. It has negative connotations, suggesting that something bad or scary is about to happen to the protagonist. The darkness blocks the audience's vision, therefore obstructing their understanding of what is happening, enticing them further. Using technical equipment during editing (iMovie), we were able to develop on this conventional lighting by adding a filtered special effect onto the film footage called Bleach Bypass. It exaggerates the darker lit areas, presenting a scary atmosphere. We also used the X-Ray special effect whilst Jess' character washed her hands, quickly flicking it from normal to X-Ray to create the creepy psychological effect. Whilst my character walks into the toilet cubicle, we shot from a high angle, which is a conventional thriller genre shot as it symbolises the belittlement of the antagonist, as if being watched. An institution is a company that issues a media product (in this sense, a film) for audience consumption. Institutions such as Warner Brothers Entertainment Inc, 20th Century Fox and Universal are incredibly large film institutions, producing high budget films, some making profits within the opening weekend. Lionsgate is a large institution with the majority of their films being of the genres Drama, Action and Thriller. If my product were to be distributed by a large film institution it would most likely be by Lionsgate. However, because I am making this film independently, with a small budget, filming crew and cast, my film would most likely have to be distributed by an independent institution, therefore making my film an "Indie film". Institutions such as BBC Films are the forefront in producing British independent films and produce many feature films. Vertigo Films also distribute commercially driven independent cinema. Both institution take care and pay attention to their budgets. For my film I would contemplate advancing towards one of these independent film institutions because they would help cover my budget issues. We have decided that the audience for this preliminary film would be 12A on the BBFC due to the genre being psychological thriller. The BBFC website claims that "moderate psychological threat is permitted at 12 or 12A as long as horror sequences are not too frequent or sustained and the overall tone is not disturbing". Although some of the psychological aspects of this preliminary may be seen as disturbing for some people, it is fairly moderate in comparison to most. The scary notion that there is a mysterious killer out to get the girl in the bathroom may be an unsettling concept for children under the age of 12 as this connotes with murder and disturbing death scenes, however, there is not enough particularly strong violence shown or use of strong language to BBFC rate this preliminary film as a 15.
From filming this preliminary task, we were able to experiment practically with camera angles and styles of editing. Whilst filming, Jess decided it would be effective if we drastically changed the camera angle for one shot, enticing the audience. She did this by raising the camera above the toilet cubicle, so that it was filming down into the cubicle my character was walking into. This was very successful as it gave the sense that my character was being secretly watched, which only the audience knew, incorporating dramatic irony. This helps to build up more of an understandable storyline to the film. We also learnt how to edit as a team, agreeing on what special effects, sound effects and titles to use. In order to incorporate continuity editing into this film, we had to carefully edit the film to allow the shots to flow seamlessly from one to the other, showing the linear sequence of the narrative. At the sink shot, we tried to make the special effects of the footage flicker, to create tension that thriller films portray. However, I feel we need more practise with this as it did not look legitimate enough, and you could clearly tell that it was badly edited in, which ruins the effect. We were also able to experiment with shot-reverse-shot and jump cuts which are conventional shots within thriller films.
Creating our own preliminary task will help us to learn from our mistakes in order not to make them again in our final product.
Our teacher, Mr Osbourne, gave us a feedback sheet after he watched our preliminary film. His comments were that we incorporated a "strong sense of tension and suspense".
As a class, we filmed a preliminary exercise of Ellie Scarlett walking from outside into our classroom in order to demonstrate our understanding of continuity editing. In small groups, in turn, we directed how to shoot each shot with alternating camera angles.
When a mysterious doll is found floating on the local lake, peculiar events begin to unfold...
On an ordinary day in the peaceful village of Upper Boddington, a mysterious shoe and doll is discovered to be floating around in the local lake. When an innocent villager passes by and decides to hang the doll up in the tree, this quiet village begins to feel eerie spiritual connections. Are the dolls possessed? Or is there a certain ventriloquist behind this...
Jess Fisher and I created a mind map whilst planning and brainstorming ideas for our film opening idea. With a rough plot in mind, we now had to consider where we would film, what sounds and editing techniques we could potentially use and how we will arrange lighting for it to look like a conventional thriller film. We also came up with a rough plot idea too, carefully incorporating an enigma within it so as to ensure our film will be entertaining to watch. This mind map was just for ideas and to know roughly what we plan to achieve with our 2 minute thriller film opening.
When thinking of an idea for our film, Jess Fisher and I sat down and discussed possible ideas. We thought about thriller films we've watched and The Woman In Black was mentioned, and we discussed how creepy the dolls within the film made it. From then on, we decided that we would definitely use dolls in our film, which gave Jess another idea - to base our film off the true story of Isla de las Muñecas. Isla de las Muñecas (Island of the Dolls) is in Mexico, just south of Mexico City.
The Legend -
"Don Julian Santana Barrera was the caretaker of the island. The story goes that Julian found a little girl drowned in mysterious circumstances while he was not able to save her life. Shortly thereafter, Julian saw a floating doll near the canals. Most probably, the doll belonged to the girl. He picked up the doll and hung it to a tree, as a way of showing respect and support the spirit of the girl. Julian was apparently haunted by the spirit of the girl and started hanging more dolls in an attempt to please her spirit. Apparently he was very marked by the fact that he was not able to save the little girl’s life. After 50 years of collecting dolls and hanging them on the island, Julian was found dead, drowned in the same spot where the girl did." - this legend information is from the Isla de las Muñecas website http://www.isladelasmunecas.com/
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So using this legend, Jess and I will create a film which has aspects of this story within it, such as the dolls in the tree and the drowning girl.
Narratives play an important role in film making. They are about things happening in a specific order, allowing the audience to clearly understand the content of the film and comprehend the meanings intended by the director. For a film to be successful in this way, it needs to be structured correctly.
Most commonly, narratives develop in a linear way, chronologically, where a set of events links into one another throughout the movie, developing a simple plot line. However, some movies, such as Pulp Fiction, follow a non-linear path. These types of films often use flashbacks in order to purposely interrupt the chronology.
There are many different theories behind narratives.
The Three Tvetzan Todorov Stages:
Equilibrium (introductions)
Disruption (introduces a problem)
Resolution (all issues are resolved)
PROPP:
Vladimir Propp was a Russian critic in the 1920's. As more and more films were being produced, he became increasing interested in the narrative of folk tales. Via research, he identified a theory about different characters and actions as narrative functions within film.
The Seven Archetypes -
Overcoming the monster
Rags to riches
The Quest
Voyage and Return
Comedy
Tragedy
Rebirth
Character theories -
The Hero - a character that seeks something
The Villain - who opposes or actively blocks the hero's quest
The Donor - who provides an object with magical properties
The Dispatcher - who sends the hero on their quest
The False Hero - who disrupts the hero's success by making false claims
The Helper - who aids the hero
The Princess - acts as the reward for the hero and the object of the villains plots
Her Father - who acts to reward the hero for their effort
There can also be a parallel narrative which includes two stories going on within film.
The 180 degree rule is a common basic guideline regarding the communication of the character relationships on-screen during filming. An imaginary axis line, or line of action, connects the two characters or objects together. This rule is most commonly used to allow the audience to visually connect with the movement occurring behind the subject of the shot. It's most often used within eye-line match shots. If this rule is broken, then this will be on purpose by the director in order to represent something within the film, such as a disruption.
The match cut, also called a
graphic match, is a cut in film editing between wither two different objects,
two different spaces, or two different compositions in which objects in the two
shots graphically match, often helping to establish a strong continuity of
action and linking the two different comparisons.
They form the basis of continuity editing,
which aims to create a sense of reality, allowing the audience to not draw
attention to the editing taken place. In the film, Lawrence of Arabia,
we see a very famous editing scene, demonstrating match cutting, when as the
candle is blown out, it cuts to a completely different scene, however, it is
still linking the two shots together - continuing the action within the scene.
Continuity Editing
Continuity editing is the principle form of film editing. The main purpose of using continuity editing is to allow the discontinuity of post-production editing to be smoothed over in order to establish a logical coherence between shots. Continuity editing can introduce a theme of realism and can be used to communicate the narrative of the film.
It can also be referred to as invisible editing, implying how the technique does not draw attention to the editing process. In this video, we can clearly see the man walking towards his destination, with different cuts of him opening doors and walking as he goes. This continuous follow up of the man with differentiating shots prevents the audience from becoming bored of simply just watching him move from one place to the other.
Dissolve
Dissolve editing is a transition editing technique which is a gradual change from one shot to the other. Fade-ins and Fade-outs are types of dissolving transitions, which are often used at the beginning or end of scenes. This is different to cutting as there is no such transition.
A dissolve overlaps two shots for the extent of the effect and can also be used for montage sequences, such as within this video. It can also sometimes be used to symbolise the passing of a long period of time and the change of that object throughout the time.
Eyeline Match
An eyeline match is a type of edit which cuts from one character to what they have been focussing on and can be associated with continuity editing. The eyeline match will begin with a character looking at something/someone off screen closely followed by a cut to the object/person that character had been looking at.
There's a lot of eyeline match used within this video scene. It has mainly been used to build an intense atmosphere. As the woman is smaller than the man, when there's a shot of the woman, the camera is angled at a low angle, and vise versa for when the man is in shot.
Jump Cut
A jump cut is an abrupt, disorienting transitional device in the middle of a continuous shot. Two sequential shots of the same subject are taken at different angles or camera positions which vary only slightly. This style of editing gives the film an effect of jumping forwards in time, keeping the audience engaged. The abrupt editing prevents them from becoming bored of watching something and keeps the film interesting. Sometimes, jump cuts are considered as a violation of classic, simple continuity editing.
Montage Editing
The style of montage editing is commonly used to show the passing of a long time period over just a few minutes of film time. It's the juxtaposition of seemingly unconnected images in order to create meaning. Montage's convey a lot of information within a relatively short period.
Within this montage clip of the 1985 Rocky IV film, it's apparent through the montage editing that he is going through a lot of training to be a boxer. However, via the use of the montage the audience can see the juxtaposition between how Rocky is training, and how other boxer's are training.
Cross Cutting
Cross cutting is the editing technique of alternating, interweaving, or interspersing one narrative action with another. The narratives are usually in different locations or places, thus combining the two: this editing technique usually suggests parallel action. This editing style is commonly used to dramatically build tension and suspense in chase scenes or to compare two different scenes.
For example, within this short clip of Interception, there are two different narratives occurring and the editing is cutting back and forth from these clips to show that these events are happening within the film at the same time. One narrative is of a car chase and the other is of men fighting in a hallway.
Shot Reverse Shot Cutting
A shot reverse shot is a type of edit which switches back and forth between two characters interacting directly with each other in the shot. It's often used during a conversation, where the characters are both looking at one another as they speak. It helps to incorporate a sense of reality within the shot, as a style of a continuity editing technique. It keeps the conversation and the scene flowing smoothly.
The British Film Board of Classification controls and decides on the age rating on films before they are released. This ensures the highest level of protection and empowerment in order to protect children from unsuitable or stressing contents in films. The ratings allow people to receive information they may need to know about a film before they view it. The BBFC look at matters within films such as discrimination, drugs, horror, dangerous behaviour, sex, nudity, language, and violence when making decisions on what the rating for a film should be.
There are 5 ratings overall:
1.
This U symbol stands for Universal, meaning that it's suitable for all audiences aged 4 and over (they give films for audiences under 4 special BBFC insight stating they are ‘particularly suitable for pre-school children’). The only bad language allowed to be used within a U rated film will be mild words such as 'damn' and 'hell', which is used infrequently and violence will also be very mild. The only sexual behaviour permitted to be shown would be kissing and hugging. 2.
PG stands for Parental Guidance, which means that any age from 8 to 11 can watch it, however if they are under the age of 8, it's recommended that they must have a parent or adult present with them whilst they watch it. These films are mainly suitable for general viewing however, it's down to the parents to consider whether it's suitable for their children or not as there may be scenes of fairly mild violence however, it's unlikely that there will be sexual references, drug references. There may however be mild swear words used such as "crap" or innuendos.
3.
Films classified 12A contain material that is not generally suitable for children aged under 12. It's not recommended that someone younger than 12 may see a 12A film in a cinema unless accompanied by an adult. Adults planning to take a child under 12 to view a 12A film should consider whether the film is suitable for that child. A 12 rated film means that anyone above the age of 12 can watch that film unaccompanied by an adult.
12 rated films may include:
> Brief sexual behaviour
> Strong language
> Moderate violence
> Brief nudity
> Moderate physical and psychological threats in horror/thriller films
> Some dangerous behaviour
> Infrequent sight of drugs
4.
This rating simply means that no-one under the age of 15 is allowed to watch a 15 rated film in the cinema. This is because a 15 rated film can contain the following:
> Strong violence
> Frequent strong language (e.g '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
Sexual activity can be portrayed in a 15, but usually it's without strong detail.
Strong violence can also be shown however, the shots must not dwell too long on injury and gory images are likely to be unacceptable.
5.
An 18 rated film means that it is for adults to watch in cinemas only. No 18 rated film is at all suitable for children to watch. Issues shown in 18 films are similar to those shown in 15's however they are more detailed and dwelled upon, such as:
> Real sex (in some circumstances)
> Strong horror, blood and gore
> Very strong language and violence
At 18 drug taking may be shown but the work as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse.
The Bourne Identity (2002) is a
conspiracy thriller, based on the story of a young man salvaged near death out
in the ocean by Italian fishermen. When he becomes conscious again, he suffers
from complete amnesia without knowing his identity or background. This
incorporates the genre of conspiracy, particularly considering he's
trying to be lethally pursued by assassins and doesn't know why. Due to
his lack of knowledge about himself, the audience also has a lack of knowledge
and therefore is enticed by the possibility of an expected surprise or plot
twist.
Narrative
The narrative of this opening scene is
fairly conventional to a thriller conspiracy in that cross cutting is used to
show a parallel narrative, showing the two different contexts occurring,
giving the scene texture and creates tension within the audience. Parallel
narrative is often used in conspiracy thrillers so that the audience has more
background knowledge, allowing them to understand what is going on within the
film at the same time as being intrigued as to find out what happens next. The
parallel narratives occurring are fairly contrasted in that
the fishermen are laughing, having a good time playing Poker, however,
outside on the water, a man is floating unconsciously amongst the rain and
thunder and lightning. It is not until 1:23 when the two narratives collide,
one of the fishermen goes outside on the boat and sees this figure
floating on the water. After he sees this, he immediately starts to
help save this floating body. This leaves the audience wondering what a
man's body was doing in the middle of the ocean, and also entices them to
question whether the body is alive or dead and what happened to him. Therefore,
this opening scene builds the atmosphere of tension within the audience, right
at the beginning of the film.
Mise en Scene
Beginning with a blackout, the scene
fades into the first scene. The quality is blurred, signifying the uncertainty
of what is going on and the dark lighting of the dark blue contrasts clearly
with the bright light flashing, communicating that it is night time and there
is a storm occurring. Storms can often be associated with
conspiracies, such as there may be a storm just before something bad is about
to happen. This stereotypical notion is therefore inflicted upon the audience -
to believe that something bad is about to happen. Although the image is
blurred, the lightning contrasts with the dark blue of what appears to be the
ocean, illuminating the eerie image of the dark silhouette of what looks
like a man's body, floating on the surface of the ocean
water.
It then cuts to an establishing shot of
a fishing boat out on the water during the same storm. We then are shown a shot
of the fishermen inside. On the table, it is communicated that they are playing
cards around the table together, ignoring the storm outside and drinking
alcohol. This shows that they are completely oblivious as to what is about to
happen, therefore reflecting on how the audience is feeling at this moment in
time within the scene. The camera action is shaking slightly so as to imply
that the boat is rocking a lot due to the heavy storm outside. However, we can see
from their facial expressions that they are unphased by the ocean storm, and
the audience can assume that this is simply because they are fishermen so they
are used to it.
After this shot, it cuts back to the
parallel narrative of what is happening outside in the ocean amongst the strong
storm. It shows the downfall of rain and the dark, blurry horizon, signifying
how no-one knows what is going to happen next, not even the audience. It
quickly cuts back to the fishermen inside their boat, only this time there is a
close up shot of the objects on the table. Here we can clearly see they are
having an interesting, fun game of poker, suggested via them laughing and
talking loudly and excitedly. Their facial expressions also suggest
this, and they are smoking cigarettes which can
often be associated to signify relaxation and casualness. This
notion emphasises on the fact that these emotions the men are portraying are
conflicting with the audiences tense emotions and the suspense within the
atmosphere of the scene, creating two very different collisions of
emotions.
The next shot draws the audience into
the reality of what is going on. The camera zooms further in to the body
floating on the water, communicating to the audience that this body is the main
subject of the entire scene. The lighting is very low-key, connoting that
danger has struck or something serious has happened. The lightning is still
flashing, creating the pathetic fallacy of danger too and suspense, as this is
often what lightning connotes.
This is followed by the scene of one of
the fishermen walking outside onto the boat in the pouring rain and lightning.
He stumbles around, perhaps from being slightly intoxicated however mainly from
the rocking of the boat on the stormy waves. Due to the dark lighting outside
because it's night, when the camera tracks him walking down towards the edge of
the boat, all the audience can see is the fishermen's silhouette.
This immediately encourages the audience to link this back to
the mysterious body floating on the surface of the water, therefore implying
that the two characters are soon about to meet, finally interacting the two
parallel narratives. There is a mid shot of this fisherman suddenly looking up
and out to sea after he chucks something over the edge of the boat (the reason
why he went outside on the boat in the first place). Here is the exact point
where the audience knows what he is looking at - the floating body. There are
further close up shots of the fisherman's face as he squints and moves his head
to get a better look at what is out in the water. The close up shot is used to
express the emotions of the character, which in this case,
is curiosity and also confusion.
After this shot, it cuts to the first clear shot of
this mysterious body in the ocean. This midlength shot is taken from underneath
the waters surface, and now, due to the camera being closer to the subject, the
audience can properly confirm that this is an unconscious body. However, they
still do not know who it is or how they came into this state. The idea that the
fisherman has seen this body implies that perhaps he will try and save this
body, therefore, helping the audience to reveal more about who this man is -
which throughout the film, the character doesn't even know himself as he
suffers with amnesia when he recuperates.
For our media AS, my class will be creating in small groups a 2 minute opening to a thriller film. Before doing any more research into thriller films, I thought it would be useful for me to understand the codes and conventions typically shown within one so I will be able to easily identify and use these conventions within my own research and production.
A thriller consists of these conventions:
Low key lighting
Quick cuts
Shadows
Tension music
Different angle shots
Black and white shots
The characters in a thriller are often a protagonist whose aim is to restore the equilibrium. However, due to a plot twist as a surprise, an antagonist mysteriously reveals themselves as the film progresses. They usually seek revenge from past events.
Thrillers are so powerful and engage the audience so well because their motive and theme is to make the audience think there is a chance that the events happening in the film could potentially happen to them, therefore scaring them more.
Conventional shots and angles in a thriller: there will classically be a lot of close up and extreme close up shots of the protagonist character displayed in order to portray their emotions and can be used to focus on the narrative.
Shots of the antagonist character however are quick so as to hide their identity, keeping the audience engaged and interested, giving them a 'thrill'. In some thriller films, the antagonists character sometimes isn't even shot or shown throughout the film, or is only shown towards the very end. This is used for a tense effect in order to surprise and excite the audience watching. Producers of thriller films will often hold back on revealing who the antagonist actually is for cinematic effect.
In terms of editing a thriller film, jump cuts, cross cutting and continuity editing are the most common conventions due to their ambiguous characterisations, which create a suspense within the audience and atmosphere of the film. This is essential within a thriller film as its aim is to build suspense.
Sound in thrillers also feature an essential role in a thriller because it can help to set a tense and dramatic atmosphere. The effect of sound in a thriller, or any film, is that it can help hint to the audience that something is going to happen during a significant part of the film.
Set in the 1970's, The Anchorman (2004) is a comedy based on the story of a hotshot, sexist Anchorman - Ron Burgundy who doesn't believe in women working in the world of broadcast. So when talented journalist Veronica Corningstone begins working alongside Burgundy and out-shining him, Ron begins to grow jealous. After making a vulgar slip on the TV during the dispute rivalry between the two, Ron ruins his career and his fired. However, when a huge news story breaks through, he gets a chance to redeem himself.
Narrative
The opening to this film is conventional of a comedy film because of the use of a narrator voice over, over the top of the helicopter, aerial shots of the city buildings. This narrator sets the scene of the film being set in the 70's, introduces the character of Ron Burgundy, and establishes that the film is also set in San Diego. The things that the narrator says are comedic. The narrative within the opening of this film is mainly a montage, as there are multiple clips on Ron Burgundy getting ready to present the news on TV.
Mise en scene
The first live action shot to the opening scene of The Anchorman is a wide, establishing shot of a city, which the audience later comes to understand is San Diego. It shows tall buildings, a long bridge and the sea. This creates an exciting atmosphere within the first shot of the opening, which is important as these first few shots are vital in the role of incorporating the chosen genre. The lighting is bright and the sky is blue in the background, depicting that the day is sunny. This mise en scene within the first shot incorporates the notion that the film will be fun, as sunshine and brightness connotes ideas of this.
After the establishing shot of the city, a helicopter rises up into the shot, to the centre of the frame. This illustrates to the audience that there is someone of importance, or perhaps the main character, is in that helicopter because they are the now the centre of the shot, therefore the centre of the audience's attention.
There are many different shots of the helicopter from various angles after this and then it cuts from a shot of it being in the air, to a shot of the helicopter landing on the streets of San Diego. Normally, a helicopter would never usually just randomly land in the middle of the road whilst pedestrians are there, so this notion incorporates a theme of silliness into the film, which is a convention of comedy.
The narrator then says, after explaining the world of news, "and in San Diego, one anchorman was more man than the rest. His name was Ron Burgundy." After he says this the music changes and a there's a low, close up shot of just this character's foot stepping out of the helicopter. The mise en scene of this shot is significant because the white of the shoe connotes the strange fashion sense of the 70's, implying that the film is emphasising on this stereotype in order to highlight the humour of this notion. As an audience, we do not see this introduced characters face, enticing the audience to watch more so as to find out.
Following this, there continues to be many shots of this character without revealing his actual face. However, the mise en scene within these shots depict a lot about the characteristics of this main character. There's an extreme close up shot of him putting on his golden ring which has the number 4 on, implying that it's a "Channel 4 News" ring, where he works. The golden ring also represents that he is wealthy.
There is then an over the shoulder shot of him putting on his suit jacket, and someone behind him is brushing it down with a lint roller to make it look good. The fact that he has someone to brush it off for him implies his importance within the world of broadcasting in this film, which gives him a fairly arrogant persona already.
After this the audience finally sees the face of this main character when he is looking at himself in the mirror. The opening credits begin after this, and are presented as a montage of Ron warming up before presenting on live broadcast. The mise en scene of this scene within the opening credits montage is Ron behind a news presenting desk. His suit is red which connotes power and he has a moustache which adds for comedic effect. Visible on his desk also is a glass of what he claims is whisky, which also incorporates the comedy genre because he is drinking alcohol before presenting the news, which is a very important job. The fact that he is able to drink whisky before presenting illustrates how much people let him get away with things simply because he is a "bigshot". This notion foreshadows the on-going theme throughout most of the film.
This opening credits montage continues for 1 minute and 33 seconds, and involves different shots of Ron Burgundy being silly and arrogant which incorporates the genre of the film and also the characteristics of Ron. Then begins the characters who work on filming Ron for live television, counting down and getting ready to actually begin filming him. The mise en scene within this mid shot would be the technology they are using. On the left there is a screen, which has the script Ron must read when he's on live, presenting. This outlines the fact that the film is about news broadcasting, as many news readers have a screen with the script on for assistance whilst presenting. The small screen however, and chunky body of the equipment suggests that the film is also set in the 70's, when technology looked a lot different to how it looks now.
When the man counts down to 1, the show goes on air, and as the audience, we get to see what this looks like. It begins with a low angle, zoom shot of a billboard which says "If Ron Burgundy says it...It's the truth!". This phrase is comedic, therefore depicting the genre effectively.
Sound
Non-diegetic:
Whilst the first two credits appear on the black screen at the very beginning, there is soft music of piano and strings. This then follows into a trumpet and louder strings for a more dramatic effect when the black screen fades into the opening establishing shot. The style of this music is quite inspirational and motivational, in order to make the film outline that news reading is an incredibly important, heroic thing to do, which the audience knows isn't really the case. This demonstrates a convention of comedy. When Ron Burgundy steps out of the helicopter, the music suddenly changes from an inspirational tone to a more upbeat and funky one. The upbeat music incorporates the happy atmosphere within the film which an audience who is seeking to watch a comedy film is expecting to feel whilst watching it. Towards the end of the opening, there is a part where it shows what the intro to the Channel 4 News show looks like. For this, the music is fast and newsreel-like - including instruments such as a trumpet, piano and there's even an acapella there too! This acapella is for a silly effect and adds to the humour being demonstrated. Another non-diegetic sound would be the narrator's voice, which is a voice over throughout the first 50 seconds of the film. There is also another voice over at the end of the opening which is used for the intro to their news channel.
Diegetic:
The character of Ron Burgundy (played by actor Will Ferrell) talks over the non-diegetic music during the opening credits montage. The things he says are funny and help to immediately incorporate the genre of comedy.
Editing
The opening to The Anchorman uses a fade in, continuity editing, jump cuts and montage. They have also cleverly used animation to create a more interesting opening credits montage
The Woman In Black (2012) is a thriller/horror film set in the Edwardian era, in the Yorkshire Dales. The film is based around the terrifying story of if you see the "Woman in black", all the children you come across will be killed. By basing the film within the Yorkshire Dales, this suggests the notion of isolation, a typical convention of a horror film in order to entice the audience and keep them intrigued. The film opening establishes the horrifying theme of children committing suicide, which re-occurs again and again within the rest of the film.
Mise en Scene
The first shot establishes the lighting of the scene - low key, grey and mysterious, creating an eerie atmosphere within the room and therefore, immediately scaring the audience. The prop of an old china tea set communicates the innocence of the children, how they are just having a fun time together playing with their dolls. However, there is a juxtaposition within this scene due to the lighting and the sound, as these two aspects suggest a darker, scarier side to the scene. Obvious juxtapositions such as these are common within horror films as they entice the audience into wondering what is going to happen and the sense of vagueness scares them - however, this is how people who are into horror films want to feel.
The prop of the dolls has cleverly been used to symbolise the youth of the children and their innocence. Although dolls are supposed to be nice and aesthetically pretty to look at and play with, these particular dolls are oddly terrifying due to their old, worn down Edwardian appearance. This makes the audience wonder why they are playing with such toys. Old, eerie toys which the audience can associate with are often used as a prop within horror films as it allows the audience to become more involved within what is happening, as toys are familiar objects. We see a small, child's hand pretending to make her dolly "drink the tea", therefore, controlling the toys actions. This notion of controlling foreshadows what is about to happen to the children.
This establishing shot introduces the audience to the three characters of the little girls playing happily with their dolls together. Their facial expressions are happy as they are smiling, and the audience can identify that all the dolls are placed in a circle, communicating that the young girls are having a 'tea party'. Again, here, the non-diegetic music and low-key lighting suggests otherwise. Within the background, an old Edwardian style pram is in the left corner, and an old high chair is in the right corner. These props suggest that the scene is in a nursery, located in an attic room at the very top of the house (implied by the slanted roof in the background). This significant detail comes into consideration later when the children jump out the window, enticing the audience to think about just how high the small children jumped from, exaggerating their death. Exaggerated deaths are common within horror film genres as it creates suspense, tension and drama - which is just what fans of the genre want to see.
Suddenly, the children stop concentrating on their tea party and look up to the corner of the room, where the camera filming them is situated, suggesting that this is a point of view shot from whatever they are looking at (which in this moment of the scene, the audience don't know). This sense of unknowing entices the audience and the intense change in music grasps them further, perhaps scaring them even more, giving them the adrenaline that they want to get out of watching a thriller/horror film.
As the children stand up and walk towards the window, they step on all their toys and break them with their feet. This symbolises how they are possessed by whatever was in that corner of the room because what they treated with gentleness only a matter of seconds ago, they are now treating with disregard. This shot resembles the death within the dolls, and therefore, within the girls.
The lighting in this shot is cleverly done. The main source of light is coming from outside the window, where the children are standing, the rest of the room has a low-key, eerie lighting. The contrast of light and dark allows the girls' figures to become silhouettes. As they are about to jump off the window to their deaths, the bright light connotes heaven, because the scenery outside the window is barely visible; it is just a bright white light.
This final establishing shot of the nursery room implies to the audience that the children are no longer there, for the audience to take into account what just happened, and the room is completely empty, apart from the toys they once played with. The window in which they jumped out of is in the centre of the frame, which connotes that this was the main subject of the scene. As the camera zooms out, there is suddenly the outline of the side of someone's face; a woman with a veil over her face. Due to the position of the camera and the lighting coming from the window, the audience can only make out her black silhouette suggesting that maybe she is the Woman In Black. As she is standing in the right corner of the room, this allows the audience to link back to the shot where the girls look over at that very corner, implying that this woman was the one who possessed the children to kill themselves.
Sound
The Woman In Black opening scene uses very sinister non-diegetic music which starts off quietly and gradually becomes louder, and more emphasised, to enhance the scary atmosphere and tension within the audience. The music sounds as if it would come from a music box, only the tempo is slow and has a twist on it so it sounds similar to tolled church bells ringing, like they would at a funeral service. There is diegetic sound of the china set clinking as one of the girls pretends to pour the tea into a cup and later on, again as the girl drops the cup onto the floor as she's possessed. The diegetic sound of smashing comes from when the girls tread on the cups and porcelain dolls heads. This sound is loud, and echo's slightly. This effect on the noise is used to build tension within the audience and to accentuate the noise over the non-diegetic music. As the three girls jump in slow motion, the music box style music stops and intense non-diegetic strings play. This sound gets louder and louder, scaring the audience, perhaps making their heart race as they find out that the children are killing themselves.
The only dialogue within the scene is a woman's voice after the children jump. She screams and shouts "MY BABIES!", suggesting that this voice (which the audience can not see as it's coming from outside the window) is the mother to these children. The personal mother and child bond is felt within the audience, therefore exaggerating just how horrifying their deaths were.
Editing
The first shot uses a fading in transition, as this goes along with the fading in of the music. It also introduces the slow tempo of the scene, to create more of an eerie effect. Continuity editing is used in time with the music in order to create a sense of realism, because this will scare the audience more if they believe that it is all real. The entire scene is in a slight slow motion and especially when the children jump out the window, the tempo of the filming is slowed right down in order to accentuate and intensify their deaths - implying that this is an important action of the scene.
Opening credits
Horror/thriller movies do not conventionally have their opening credits within the opening scene as this could potentially spoil the introduction to the whole mood of the film, depending on how it's done, or what specifically the opening is. Due to the opening scene of The Woman In Black being so important to focus on due to the plot, it would be unconventional to have opening credits here.
I like this film opening as it really entices the audience into wanting to know what happened, why it happened and it also really introduces the genre of horror/thriller because within the first 3 minutes of watching the film you are already scared.
