Analaysis of previous students AS work (film openings)

Below the film names you will find a youtube video of the film opening and my analysis also including a mark out of 60. Their are four levels that can be achieved.
These are:

• Level one [0-23 marks] - The work for the main task is possibly incomplete. Their is minimal evidence in the work of the creative use of any relevant technical skills.
• Level two [24-35 marks] - There is evidence of a basic level of ability in the creative use of some of the technical skills.
• Level three [36-47 marks] - There is evidence of proficiency in the creative use of many of the technical skills.    
• Level four [48-60 marks] - There is evidence of excellence in the creative use of most of the technical skills.

These technical skills include:

• Holding a shot steady, where appropriate;
• Framing a shot, including and excluding elemants as appropriate;
• Using a variety of shot distances as appropriate;
• Shooting material appropriate to the task set;
• Selecting Mise en scène including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting;
• Editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer;
• Using varied shot transitions and other effects selectively and appropriately for the task set;
• Using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task;
• Using titles appropriately.

After much research of this mark scheme, i have found that the only real difference between a level four and level one is simply either including something or including something and using it excelently. For example, using a extreme close up shot may give you the mark but using it where appropriate and really building on representation, and giving a certain effect will give you them extra marks to get a level four rather than a level one. This has helped hugely with the ideas for the creation of my own film opening as from this, i can see what the examiner will be looking for and what to include to get them extra marks.  

Gangster openings:

Noir opening: Deception

What was good about it?

• Held a shot steadily very good;
• Farmed a shot good, including and excluding elements as appropriate;
• Nicely used a variety of shots and transitions, including other effects selectively and appropriately for the task set;
• The shooting material was appropriate to the task set;

What could of been done better?  

• Their was a lack of titles/credits; 
• It felt out of place;
• It got a little confusing at times;
• It lacked using a variety of shit distances as appropriate; 
• Mise en scène could of been better;
• The editing was somehow effective but could of been done better; 

Score: 35/60 

Roses Are Red

What was good about it?

• Excellently framed a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate; 
• Used a large variety of shot distances as appropriate; 
• Shooting material was appropriate to the task set;
• Excellent showing of Mise en scène including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting; 
• very good showing of shot transitions and other effects selectively and appropriately for the task set; 
• good use of sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set; 
• very good use of appropriate titles; 
• Genre was clear;
• great lighting;
• clear narrative; 

What could of been done better?  

• Lack of diegetic sound;
• Shot was not held steady where appropriate and could of been done better (camera was shaky at times).

Score: 55/60 

Karma

What was good about it?

• Framed a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate;
• Used a variety of shot distances as appropriate;
• Some editing was good and somehow effective;   

What could of been done better? 

• Lighting was not considered; 
• Shots are not steady; 
• Titles got confusing and where too late;   
• Whole scene creates confusion for the viewer;
• Did not feel like a film opening; 
• Editing could of been better; 

Score: 23/60 

The Edge

What was good about it?

• Genre was very clear; 
• Great lighting and  Mise en scène;
• Well use of titles; 
• clear narrative; 
• Framed a shot excellently, including and excluding elements as appropriate;
• Used an excellent variety of shot distances as appropriate;
• Shooting material was appropriate to the task set; 
• Excellent editing to make the meaning apparent to the viewer and was highly effective; 
• Used a varied amount of shot transitions and other effects selectively and appropriately for the task set; 
• Very good use of sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set; 

What could of been done better? 

• Camera was shaky at times 
• Some diegetic sound; 

Score: 59/60 

Born from the streets

What was good about it?

• Shots where held steadily where appropriate;
• Shots where framed, including and excluding elements as appropriate;
• Used a huge variety of shot distances as appropriate, and came to be very effective;
• Shooting material was somehow appropriate to the task set; 
•  Mise en scène was not brilliant but good enough to have an effect; 

What could of been done better? 

• Bad choice of costumes;
• The location could of been better;
• Narrative was not good; 
• It was quite confusing; 
• Some sound effects where unneeded; 
• Shot transitions where not very good;
• Sounds with images and editing appropriately was lacked;
• Titles where not used appropriately;
• The editing was not used effectively and could of improved;

Score: 37/60 

Made man

What was good about it?

• Voice over was somehow effective; 
• Shots where held steadily, where appropriate;
• Shots where framed very good, including and excluding elements as appropriate; 
• Used a variety of shot distances as appropriate;
• Shooting material was appropriate to the task set;
•  Good use of Mise en scène;
• Editing was very effective;

What could of been done better? 

• Jumped into the story straight away;
• Did not feel like an opening;
• Gets boring at times (no sound); 
• Too much dialogue and no music;
• Their was a lack of titles being used appropriately; 

This task has not only created ideas for my own production but also inspired me to create a successful opening and now know what I need to include in my own. An example of the most common mistake people made, was a shaky camera and so from this I now know to use a tripod and not forget even the smallest of things. Furthermore, most of these opening did not really feel like openings as they gave away too much and lacked a lot of dialogue making them a little boring at times.  

 Films such as 'The Edge' in particular has inspired me most due its high success and effectiveness. And so I have took the extra step in contacting the director: 'Toebex.' which can be found on the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/user/Toebex

Films that i admire or that will influence me

American gangster due to its high success, more modern gangster theme and effective opening.

The Godfather due to its extremely high success and plot.

Scarface due to its high success and amazing plot. 

METHOD

Tzveton Todorov's theory:

Tzveton Todorv had a theory that in every narrative there are always certain people that play certain roles. this is further explained below...

The 'hero' leads the narrative and is usually looking for something (a quest) or trying to solve something (a mystery). The 'hero' does not have to be a male. The 'villian' on the other side is the one that conflicts with the hero and the one that is not intended to be liked by the audience. Furthermore, their is also a 'heroine' which is usually some sorry of price for the 'hero' E.g. If your 'hero' is female, your 'heroine' could be a male. Whats more, their is also normally a 'father' which is an authority figure who offers a reward to the hero for completing their quest. That might be a princess. Additionally, their is also a 'helper' which intends to help the 'hero' and often acts as a 'sidekick.' Whats more, is that their is also normally a 'donor' which intends to give the hero something-a clue which helps them complete their quest. Adding on, we also sometimes have a 'mentor' which is intended to be some sort of 'teacher' and is suppose to guide the 'hero.'

Todorov proposed that all narratives (whether that be plays, book, files etc). contain these five fundamental stages, in this order:

1. A state of equilibrium (all is as it should be).
2. A disruption of that order by an event.
3. A recognition that the disorder has occurred.
4. An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption.
5. A return of Restoration of a new equilibrium (it does not have to be the same old system).

This theory can be applied to any mainstream movie such as: Godfather, The Departed, Scarface, etc.

State of Equilibrium:

In the start of The Godfather, the audience witness the rise of Michael Corleone and the fall of Vito Corleone, and the rest of the story remains a enigma. Then the audience see the attack on Santana leading to confusion and attack on Vito Corleone. After that, we see the murder of the, heads of the five other mafia families. Part one and three of the film series include a linear narrative structure and part two includes a parallel narrative structure. 


I now know from this task, how to structure my own production and can create ideas for my own production. I can now structure my narrative and know what theories I can link with my my own narrative. This will make it simple and easy for the audience creating a effective opening.

Research in to the MOB gangster genre

I have already looked in to the history, and have analysed some film openings of my chosen sub-genre (MOB). So now i will present my findings of my specific sub genre onto this post.  

In my research i have found that the most successful films go as:

Snapshots taken from IMDB.com [1990-2013 IMDb.com, Inc.]

The most profitable films (out of the 4 above) go as: 

1.  The Godfather 
Budget: $6,000,000 (estimated)

Gross: $134,821,952 (USA) (2 May 1997)

2.  The Departed

Budget: $90,000,000 (estimated)

Gross: $132,373,442 (USA) (16 March 2007)

3.  The Godfather Part II

Budget: $13,000,000 (estimated)

Gross: $57,300,000 (USA)

4.  Goodfellas

Budget: $25,000,000 (estimated)

Gross: $46,836,394 (USA)

The most influential film to me, would be 'American Gangster' due to its high success and more modern theme. 

So what are the main conventions of a MOB Gangster film? 

.Firstly the text fonts are usually a lot bigger and in higher case. 

.Next, the overall budget of the mob films are usually quite big and normally higher than a British Gangster films budget. This can be looked up or quite easily noticed while comparing films.

.The filming also seems to be in a slower pace
.The sound is more dietetic than non-dietetic. Non dietetic sound is often a quite instrumental.
.The colors used are often very dark, grey and black are the most common. Red is also used quite frequently, as it represents a variety of themes.
.Low level lighting is commonly seen

.The setting in gangster films is almost always an Urban/City location. Rundown areas and industries estates are commonly seen, as well as some housing estates.

.The costume and make up is usually formal outfits like suits and ties, tuxedos, dresses, etc. The color red often ties in with these outfits also. makeup in gangster films generally consist of blood and scars. Red lipsticks also seen quite frequently on women.

.The props are most commonly guns, cigarettes, drugs and money. These often tie into the story line and theme of gangster films (especially money). 

This task has allowed me to go further into the research of conventions of a gangster film and can now use these conventions in my own production. From this I can also come up with my own ideas for the conventions I can use for my own production. From this task, I did not just look at the common props of gangster film such as 'Scarface' but researched even further by comparing successful MOB films and can now point out the props and costumes that make a gangster MOB film. These films have inspired me for the making of my own and can now apply these to my own production. 

Influences of style

In this post, i will be looking at society and things which may influence the use of costume.

Below, you will see my mood board demonstrating inspiration from other films such as: Scarface, The Godfather, Good Fellas, etc.  

 I have deliberately focused on one style and this is the sort of formal Mob Gangster costume style with clothing's such as: Tuxedos, Mob hats, etc. And props such as: guns and cigars.

I am greatly inspired with the modern American Gangster style (top left corner) which stands out from the rest as it would fit perfectly with the gangster opening that i am planning and intending to direct. This is because of the environments that i will be filming and i think it will be a better choice to go with a more modern look as it would make my filming a lot more effective, filming in the same city type as the film 'American gangster.' Furthermore, the modern suits used in this film fit my idea more of a modern gangster. Using this style will not require me of fusing ideas with the more modern look from the traditional look as their is not much difference of the city landscape between then and now.

This task, I have found extremely useful towards ideas for the planning of my own gangster opening and now have ideas towards what costumes and props I can use for my own production. Looking at these particular films which are the most influential has prepared me for the planning of my production. Without this task, I would probably lack ideas for the planning and production and would therefore waste valuable time researching when i should be planning/producing.

My research into Quentin Tarantino and his previous work

Quentin Tarantino mini biography:

Job title: Actor, Producer, other
Born: Quentin Jerome Tarantino on 27th March 1963 in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

'In January of 1992, Reservoir Dogs (1992) appeared at the Sundance Film Festival, by first-time writer-director Quentin Tarantino. The film garnered critical acclaim and the director became a legend immediately. Two years later, he followed up Dogs success with Pulp Fiction (1994) which premiered at the Cannes film festival, winning the coveted Palme D'Or Award. At the 1995 Academy Awards, it was nominated for the best picture, best director and best original screenplay. Tarantino and writing partner Roger Avary came away with the award only for best original screenplay. In 1995, Tarantino directed one fourth of the anthology Four Rooms (1995) with friends and fellow auteurs Alexandre Rockwell, Robert Rodriguez and Allison Anders. The film opened on December 25th in the United States to very weak reviews. Tarantino's next film was From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), a vampire/crime story which he wrote and co-starred with George Clooney. The film did fairly well theatrically.' 


[1990-2013IMDb.com, Inc.]

Click here for the full Biography


From this particular task, i now know what makes a successfully director and can now incorporate ideas into my own production. I have purposely chose to look at this particular director due to his great success and films types as i now have knowledge of both MOB gangster films and British gangster, and will be prepared  for any changes in my planning. 

Analaysing of gangster films from the same genre.

In this task, we looked at three gangster mob films, a British gangster film and analysed their openings in order to produce ideas for our own. We used the technique of creating a time line, from the very beginning of the opening to the end of it and analysed the clip for: what we sow, how long we sow it for, what we heard, how long we heard it for, detail of it i.e. what it said (if it was text),

what type of shot it was, etc.

We looked at:

American Gangster (mob film)

The Departed Jacks (mob film)

Scarface 1932 (mob film)



 Lock Stock and 2 smoking barrels (British gangster)


 Comparing mob films to British gangster, we found:

• That the text fonts are usually a lot bigger and in higher case, in mob films.
• The lighting is a lot more natural in British gangster films.
• The overall budget of the mob films are usually a lot more than the British gangster films.
• The British gangster titles seem to straight cut and not fade, while for the Mob films, the titles seem to slowly fade in and out in a more professional and smoother way.
• The titles again are up for a longer period in mob films.
• The filming also seems to be in a slower pace in the mob films.

From this research, i now know what to include in my gangster MOB film and will be using very similar techniques to other well known gangster films such as American gangster and Scarface which stood out most out of these films. Furthermore, this task got me to look at every aspect of a opening and now know what makes a effective opening.