Film Research - Film openings


The Notebook (2004):

• Silhouette of a man in a rowing boat on a lake at sunset. Sky is red and orange. Silhouettes of birds flying and reeds on the river bank.



• Names of the cast and the title of the film appear in quite small text in the bottom left corner. White, Times New Roman font.



• Over shoulder shot of old lady looking out of her window watching man on lake.



• Establishing shot of big house behind the lake.



• Slow paino music playing softly and slowly.

Influences for our film: The use of insignificant font for the titles is a nice idea as we want the plot to be the main focus right from the start. Also the soft, slow piano music was really nice and would ease the audience to relax into the film.

Titanic (1997):

• Old fashioned footage of wiping over each other showing people waving as the Titanic departs.



• Footage is in a sepia effect.



• Cross fade to full screen of ocean water and the title TITANIC fades on to the screen

Influences for our film: The use of sepia to determine the past and then colour to determine the present. It would be something we would probably think about using if trying to film more of the film, to show our main character before she went in the coma.

A Walk To Remember (2002):

• 2 Jeeps speed into establishing shot at in industrial site.



• Teenage boys and girls get out the car, most of them have been drinking.



• Night Scene, jump off a tall tower as a dare



• Get chased in their cars by police, 1 boy crashes his car as he has been drinking.

Influences for our film: The opening of this film had a lot of action and could fit into the middle of the film, it didn't nessecarily seem like a opening scene.

Stephanie Beard

Synopsis

Elizabeth Smith is a 19 year old girl that wakes up from a 4 year coma. Her mother struggles with how to tell her resulting in Lizzy making this discovery herself. Lucas, Lizzy’s boyfriend before the coma, gives up on her waking up and then a few days later finds out that she has woken up and can’t bring himself to go see her as he feels guilty that he let go at the last minute. Lizzy finds it hard to come to terms with the amount of time she has lost and becomes very defensive, resulting in arguments with her mother and former boyfriend, this is a result of still feeling that she is 15 rather than 19. Lizzy goes through a lot of things in a short time that a lot of people go through in the space of there whole life. She feels like she is going to lose out on a lot more than when she was in the coma, so she decides to change her ways and ends up back in her first loves arms.

Stephanie Beard

Survey

1. Which of these have the genre of Drama? Please circle as many as you think



Babe Pig in the City

The Shawshank Redemption

The Godfather

Pulp Fiction

Mamma Mia

WALL-E

Forrest Gump

Love Actually



Please Mention one other film that you believe is a drama

....................................................................................................................



2.How do you watch your films?

Cinema

DVD's

Downloads

(Other........................................................................)



3. How often do you watch films?

Once a week

Twice a week

Once a month

Once every 6 months

Once a year



4. Do you tend to empathise/relate with characters in a film?

Yes

No

Sometimes



5. What genre of film do you tend to watch?

Rom-Com
Comedy
Drama
Thriller
Horror
Dance
Musical

6. What do you tend to watch a film for? Circle two

Entertainment
Fear
Excitement/Adrenaline
Amusement
A Good Feeling
An Emotional response

7. Do you consider Storyline to be vital to your enjoyment of a film?

Yes
No

8. Please circle the TWO that you find most important in a drama genre film

Storyline
Explosions
A Message
High Quality Special FX
Original Music

9. What cinema do you go to?

Vue
Cineworld
(other..........................................)

10. What conventions would you expect to see in a drama?

..........................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................

11. What certificate would you expect a drama genre to be? Circle ONE

U PG 12A 15 18

12. Name THREE of your favourite actors

.................................................
.................................................
.................................................

13. Name THREE of your favourite actresses

.................................................
.................................................
.................................................

14. Finally, do you prefer films set in present day or from a different era? Please state in the space below

....................................................................................................

Thankyou for your time :D

Survey Results

Which of these have the genre of Drama? Correct ones are red
Babe Pig in the City

Mamma Mia
1
The Shawshank Redemption
4
WALL-E

The Godfather
6
Forrest Gump
4
Pulp Fiction
1
Love Actually
1
(One other film you believe to be a drama)
Pride and Prejudice
Titanic
The Green Mile
Atonement

How do you watch your films?
Cinema
4
DVDs
8
Downloads

(other)
TV

How often do you watch films?
Once a week
3
Twice a week
5
Once a month

Once every 6 months
1
Once a year

Do you tend to relate with characters?
Yes
1
No

Sometimes
7

What genre do you usually watch?
Rom-Com
4
Comedy
2
Drama
2
Thriller
1
Horror

Dance
1
Musical

What do you tend to watch a film for?
Entertainment
7
Fear
4
Excitement/Adrenaline
1
Amusement
4
A Good Feeling
2
Emotional Response
1
Do you consider Storyline to be vital to your enjoyment of a film?
Yes
8
No

If Yes, then what do you expect from it?
An extensive plot
1
Twists and turns
6

Fast pace
2
Sequels & prequels

Lavish detail
1
Circle two you find important for a drama
Storyline
7
Explosions
6
A message
6
High Quality special FX
1
Original music

What cinema do you go to?
Vue
3
Cineworld
5
(Other)
None
Both

What Conventions would you expect to see in a drama film? Give examples
Storyline
Tension building music
Violent consultations
A lot of non-diegetic music
Many characters
City life
People in love
An accident murder/death
Suspension

What Certificate would you expect a drama genre to be given?
U

PG
1
12A
4
15
3
18

Favourite actors:
Michael Cane
Denzil Washington
Clive Owen
Will Smith
Jim Carey
Ben Stiller
Robin Williams
Rowan Atkinson
Brad Pitt
Tom Hanks
Morgan Freeman
Nicholas Cage
Sean Bean
Heath Ledger
Johnny Depp
Orlando Bloom
Liam Neeson

Favourite actresses:
Zooey Deschanel
Angelina Jolie
Kate Winslet
Jennifer Lopez
Uma Thurman
Keira Knightly
Jennifer Aniston
Doris Day
Julie Walters
Bette Midler
Catherine Zeta-Jones
Julia Roberts
Courtney Cox
Do you prefer Present day set films? Or...

...Different Era? Suggestions
Dark ages
1950’s
1990’s
1970’s
1980’s

Blue=Answers Given

Red=Answers we were looking for

Stephanie Beard

Character profiles

Main Female Character: Elizabeth (Lizzy) Smith
Age: 19

Lizzy has been in a coma for 4 years after a horrific car crash. Before the accident she had a good life, a stable family that she loved and a serious boyfriend adored. After 4 forgotton years she comes out of her coma believing life was just as she left it and finds it hard to cope when she realises how much it has changed.

Main Male Character: Lucas (Luc) Andrews
Age: 20

Lucas still loves Lizzy but he is now, after 4 years, rapidly losing hope. He hasn't had another girlfriend in the 4 years Lizzy's been in the coma as he feels a sense of loyalty to his unconcious first love. On the other hand he feels like he needs to move on so that he can start carrying on with his life with or without Lizzy.

Female Character: Janet Smith (Lizzy's Mum)
Age: 45

Janet wants to protect Lizzy from everything, even the fact that she's been in a coma for 4 years. She feels like she's missed out on a huge part of Lizzy's life and can't let go of the past and move on even though Lizzy comes out of her coma.

Male Character: Doctor Greg
Age: N/A

Doctor Greg has only been Lizzy's Doctor for a short time but he becomes someone that the family talk to as a shoulder to cry on. They like that he's not a conventional Doctor and think that he has a good understanding of there problems and worries.



Stephanie Beard

The Poster

Here are three preliminary designs for the poster, however they may well change depending on the final decision on the name of the film, the first design features a title and strap line whereas the second does not. These images have a similar feel but have slight variations. All were assembled in paint.net, paint and Microsoft word. During the filming process i used my phone to photograph the set and props with a poster in mind, so using these i was able to create a poster design by first identifying the elements i wanted, for instance the bed and isolating them, deleting the surrounding picture.To create the framed picture i obtained a copyright free photo frame image from the internet, i then removed the image from it's center, layered the picture behind it and lined them up. Then once i had the components i used effect processing to stylize the image, and then it became a case of creating a suitable mix out of the images.



Design 1: This design features the title "was" in the style of a seven segment display, however the "w" does violate this style i decided it made a more visually satisfying result than compromising to fit the seven segment style. I had planned initially for the title to be a clock face with bright red letters on a black backdrop, however this was too conflicting.













Design 2: The main difference with design 1 is the placement of the photo, by turning the picture on an angle, reducing the pictures height to create the impression that it is lying down and by placing a bulge effect on the frame gives it a curved edge. The photo is the only part of the picture in focus deliberately to create a contrast.

Design 3: Of all three this is the most stylized, i created it as a minimalist alternative to the other two.









I plan to create a survey for the film title and poster in the very near future.
-Elliot.

Remember and Forget demo.

To accompany the opening of our film we considered the use of instrumental piano music as it is a popular convention of cinematic dramas, so using Cubase 4 I composed and sequenced a song entitled 'Remember and Forget' which is embedded below (please note that the title on the video is incorrectly spelled and it should read 'remember & Forget') The song comprises of two piano parts overlayed, one playing a sequence of chords with a synchronized delay effect, the other performing a melody in between chords, at points in the arrangement the parts converge or fail to with the intention of creating a slightly surreal and blurred mental picture to reflect the story and events of our film opening.


Although we are now considering reworking the song's arrangement to bring the musical climax earlier and increase the build time this is the first complete demo of the song.
-Elliot