Research - Genre Analysis: The Anchorman (2004) Intro

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 

Research - Genre Analysis: The Woman In Black (2012) Intro

Narrative

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. 

Research - Genre Analysis: The Italian Job (1969) Intro

This movie introduction is a very famous one, as it features classic footage of the Italian Alps from the viewpoint of someone driving along in the car as the opening credits appear on screen. The song 'On Days Like These' by Matt Monro, which was written for the The Italian Job, is famously played prominently in the background in the opening credits. 

Narrative

The Italian Job is an Action-crime film, with a subgenre of thriller. The opening is a mystery to the audience, as we do not truly know what is going on, other than a man is driving a sports car around what appears to be the Alps. The film follows Charlie Croker (played by Michael Caine) who is allocated to do a "big job" in Italy to rob 4 million dollars worth of Chinese gold. This was the plan of the man who gets killed within the opening scene. Towards the end of the clip, the audience is introduced to the Mafia. This immediately introduces the theme of crime and gangsters. The isolation of the Italian Alps represents how within this film, it's 'every man for himself' and also the secrecy of the undercover "big job".

Mise en Scene

The mise en scene of this opening involves many scenery shots of the Alps as the sports car drives along the twisty, windy roads. As he is driving quite quickly, it suggests to the audience that perhaps he is in a rush to get somewhere, therefore, introducing the sense of the film being a crime/action film. The crime genre usually has an audience that like to be kept under suspense and unknowing, so this opening really entices them due to the lack of context given. 

The opening starts off calmly. There is a red Lamborghini sports car driving around what appears to be the Italian Alps (due to the beginning part of the opening song being in Italian, and also, a Lamborghini is an Italian made car). This subliminally foreshadows the scene in which the film ends as well. For the first 30 seconds, we do not see the driver of this car, which engages the audience as they are enticed to find out more about the context and meaning of this scene. The lighting is bright, creating a positive atmosphere - and when the non-diegetic sound of 'On Days Like These' begins to play, the audience becomes at ease with the scene as it suggests a sense of calmness. 

The opening to The Italian Job is a famous scene used for the opening credits. As the driver rides along the twisty mountainous roads, the credits appear on screen continuously as there is a Point-Of-View shot of the driver on the dashboard to the car. On the left we can see him turning the steering wheel a lot due to the twisty roads. Due to how quickly the surrounding scenery is going past as he drives, it communicates to the audience that the driver is driving fairly quickly. This is unsettling within the audience due to the dangerous roads with no barriers because he could easily slip whilst turning a corner and fall off the edge, down the mountain. This notion foreshadows what will happen by the end of the scene. 

There are a few close up shots are used to introduce the audience to this character, whom they know nothing about. Close up shots are often used to give the audience an insight as to how the character is feeling and may also give them a clue about their personality, however, these close up shots only suggest the stereotypical character of this man via his appearances. We first see him driving casually with a cigarette hanging out his mouth, his head turned slightly to the side so the audience can have a good profile of him, without giving too much away. His squinted eyes closely follow the road, communicating that he is focused. This notion could suggest that he is intending to be somewhere important, quickly. A few shots later, he puts on some sunglasses whilst he's driving. The sunglasses and cigarette imply he could be some sort of crook. 

At 2:56, the music fades out and he drives through a long tunnel. There is a shot of what is on the other side of the tunnel. A low angle shot of what appears to be a large digger blocking the end of the tunnel. This immediately indicates what is going to happen to the driver next (however, the audience doesn't know why). Above the tunnel are men in black suits and black hats. This connotes that this death has been set up by a group of crooks, potentially the Mafia, considering this particular scene is set in Italy. The man standing in front of the car, although we can only see his legs and lower back, it is visible that he is holding a memorial wreath, often used to put on peoples graves. This is signifies that this murder has been purposely set up by them and also indicates that the man driving the car through the tunnel is now going to crash into the digger and die.  

After the crash, the camera zooms into a man in a suit and glasses amongst all the smoke from the fatal crash. Looking smug, he indicates to the digger driver to push the broken car off the edge of the mountain road. Afterwards, he steps on the sunglasses of the man he just killed, the sunglasses and cigarette being the only remains of him left. From this mise en scene of this character and from what he has just done, the audience are immediately able to identify him as the antagonist of the film.

This establishing shot used as the digger pushes the Lamborghini off the side of the mountain edge gives the audience a full perspective of what is happening, and where it's being done. The size of the mountainous area can also be taken into consideration here, communicating that the drop off the edge is very high and dangerous. The trees and mountains connote peace and tranquility, which is why this scene is so iconic (and ironic) in that amongst all this beautiful scenery, this group of people have decided to brutally murder this man. 

Sound

At the beginning, before the non-diegetic music starts, there is diegetic sound of the sports cars loud engine as the driver accelerates. This suggests how fast they are travelling and how fancy the sports car is, which also implies they're quite a wealthy person. At 0:25 seconds, the non-diegetic music of 'On Days Like These' by Matt Monro begins to fade in, which relaxes the mode of the scene. This music blocks out any other diegetic noise, such as the car acceleration, suggesting that this the opening credits scene. At 2:56, the music fades out and the audience can hear the diegetic noise of the car again as he drives through a tunnel. The lack of calm music at this moment uneases the audience, as it communicates that something is about to happen. A few seconds later, we hear the loud non-diegetic noise of the car violently breaking (it is non-diegetic as we do not see the actual car on screen) and then a crash, followed by a diegetic explosion noise which lasts for 8 seconds as the audience sees the rise of smoke and fire at the end of the tunnel, indicating that the man has crashed to his death. After the car rolls and crashes off the edge of the mountain road, into the stream at the bottom, non-diegetic soundtrack music begins playing as the antagonist steps on the sunglasses of the man who rode the Lamborghini and throws the memorial wreath down the edge into the stream as well. 

Editing

The editing within the opening to The Italian Job follows the car driving around the Alps, and is carefully used to show that the car is driving forward somewhere. This is done via continuity editing to create a sense of realism and time moving forward as the car is. Some cuts may go from the driver in the car, to the scenery of the Alps, to the point of view shot where the credits are being displayed. This is to make sure the scene doesn't get boring for the viewer to watch, because if it was just a single shot of the camera following the car around the Alps then this would not be enticing to watch. 

Opening Credits

In the 60's when this film was made, films would have most of their credits at the very start of the film before there was even any dialogue or notion of what the film was about. This suggests why there are so many credits at the beginning of The Italian Job. The font of the credits is in quite a European font, almost cursive implying that it was set in a European country such as Italy. The font colour is red which connotes the genre of crime, and importance of the 'Italian Job' that they do in the film. The opening credits last for 1 minute 48 seconds.

This film opening is so classic due to the music and beautiful iconic scenery of the Italian Alps. I really like how there is such a long period where everything is calm and the audience are distracted from where the driver is going, and then towards the end there is the iconic scene of pushing the expensive red Lamborghini down the edge of the mountain cliff.  

Research - Genre Analysis: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) Intro

Research - Genre Analysis: Wall-E (2008) Intro

Narrative

Wall-E (2008) is a Disney Pixar (produced by Pixar and released by Disney) animated film, set in the far future on earth, where nothing is left but waste. Although this sounds distressing, the story follows a loveable robot named Wall-E who is built and designed to happily sort out the abandoned waste left on Earth. By setting the film in the far future, featuring robots and the thought of an abandoned world it already follows the conventions of a sci-fi genre. The location around Wall-E is clearly communicated that he is isolated. This creates tension within the audience as they are left wondering where all the humans are. The film opening establishes that the film will be sci-fi as the first shot is of outer space and there are no main character established straight away. 

Mise en Scene 

The mise en scene of the opening is conventionally sci-fi due to many factors such as the atmosphere of space and the sans serif, wide font of the opening titles which stereotypically looks like an out-of-space font. We are introduced to the main character of Wall-E, who is a robot. Robots are conventionally used within sci-fi films, as this signifies the development of technology in the advanced future. 

What really stands out and sets the scene is the lighting of the animation and how they have cleverly made the atmosphere surrounding the earth look murky and polluted. Within this shot, North America is clearly visible - what the audience knows shows up as having green land with some slight brown land on satellite images of the earth. However, what is significantly different and noticeable within this shot is that North America is completely brown/murky-yellow. These colours connote pollution and dirt, suggesting that this may be what our Earth will look like in the far future, therefore, introducing the notion that this is when the film is set. 

                                     

This shot is very clever, all due to the carefully thought out mise en scene. In the foreground is a pile of what appears to be rubbish, rubble, and waste - much like you'd expect to see at a landfill site, which as the audience knows, are not environmentally friendly. What's ironic is the wind energy turbines amongst all this. Wind turbines are a method of reducing the burning and use of fossil fuels - a key contributor to pollution and global warming, as the audience knows. Therefore, the waste piles juxtapose the wind turbines. This whole shot communicates to the audience that the humans on earth had tried with their petty attempts to reduce global warming and pollution on earth - which sends a powerful thought out to the audience of 'Are we trying hard enough to stop pollution now?'. In the background, it's so foggy that there isn't even a visible horizon due to the emissions. The isolation of the shot gives an eerie sense of abandonment via the neglected wind turbines, intriguing the audience. Followed by this shot, is one of abandoned nuclear power stations - again, another huge impact on global warming and harmful gas emissions. 

                                       

Throughout the intro, the lighting is fairly low key whilst panning through all of the misty piles of waste, however when we are introduced to Wall-E the tone becomes lighter. Despite the brighter lighting, the colours used are very dull and murky. Within the shot below, it is clearly communicated that the Earth has been neglected and all the humans are gone, due to the windows on the building being dusty and broken and all the rubbish on the side of the dusty path. 

At 1:47, this close up shot of Wall-E the robot is the first time the audience have been able to identify his name and who it actually is. The material that he is made from is rusty and the logo of his name is beginning to wear away. This communicates to the audience that if he is a robot from the future, and even he is looking old, then this film must be set in the very far future. It also indicates that perhaps Wall-E has been alone on Earth for a long time. 

Sound

The intro to Wall-E combines an image of the Earth in the far future with old vocals from the 50's/60's era of "Hello Dolly" the musical. This combination is interesting as the sound is contrapuntal as to what is actually being displayed within the shots, as the music is happy and cheerful, however the images in the shots are dim and slightly depressing due to the abandonment of the Earth, which is a serious matter. At the beginning of the intro, this music is non-diegetic because it acts as the background intro music, then at 1:22, it becomes apparent that the music is actually diegetic. This is communicated when the music begins to fade out at 1:10 and then start playing again when Wall-E drives into the shot (at 1:22). The music fades in and out as Wall-E enters and exits the shots, suggesting that he is playing it outloud. I think this use of music is very interesting as it is not conventionally a style of sci-fi genre sound/music. However, this film is also a children's animation film, so the happy music could be a convention of that. When Wall-E is creating cubes of waste, there is diegetic sound of his mechanics working and also, when he drives along the ground, we can diegetically hear his engine running as a high pitched whurring. These types of sounds are more stereotypically used within sci-fi genre films, especially when associated with robots.

Editing

During the first 30 seconds of the introduction to Wall-E, there are a few establishing shots of space scenes, such as the Milky Way, Galaxy and Planets. These shots are all edited together via the use of jump cuts and continuity editing. This builds up the tension, as the quick, immediate cuts represent how the setting is in the vastness of space. However, after these first 30 seconds, most of the other shots are edited together with fading transitions, almost like a slideshow of all the shots which communicate the neglect of the Earth. 

Opening credits

There are very few opening credits within the introduction to Wall-E. These screenshots are the only credits featured. The font of it is conventional to the genre of a sci-fi film as it appears very futuristic and compliments the background imagery of space and planets. Within these first few seconds, just the simple font of these two credits suggests to the audience that this film will be set in outer space and in the far future. 

I like this opening scene to Wall-E as it covers many things such as loneliness, air pollution, potential results of increased climate change, space, and just one of the perspectives of the future in that robots will become used more frequently for every day things, just like Wall-E is. 

Research - What the term GENRE means in media

The word genre, evolves from the French word meaning 'type'. Within film and television, there are many types of different genres, such as:

• Action
• Comedy
• Thriller
• Horror 
• Romantic 
• Fantasy
• Science Fiction
• Crime

The list goes on. Each individual genre can be identified by its common set of distinguished features known as the codes and conventions. 

Genres help audiences and institutions to decide on what they want to see from a film. For example, someone may be more into romantic films than action films. To expand more on a genre, producers can craftily create slightly different conventions to be seen throughout their film, therefore incorporating a sub-genre. Again, the list goes on with many different possible sub-genres throughout each genre, such as:

• Action Suspense-Thrillers
• Family-comedies 
• Costume dramas
• Sci-Fi Thrillers

Genre's are so important within film and television because it helps when planning the film, and shooting it, to follow a convention and code in order to create a certain feel about the film that the director wants and gives the film more of a meaning. 

Introduction - Beth Taylor

I am a Year 12 student who is currently studying German, English Literature and Language, Geography and Media Studies. I have previously studied Media for 2 years, in Year 10 and 11 for GCSEs, which I enjoyed very much. I achieved an A* for my final Media GCSE grade. 

For AS Level, I would like to enjoy Media just as I did for GCSEs. It would be good for me to aspire to achieve a grade A by the end of Year 12. I have always had an acquired interest in creating films. In Year 8 I took part in a 'Film In A Week' program, and have done a few animation courses and sometimes make short films in my own time, so I am looking forward to developing and demonstrating my skills in this coursework.