Homework

Continue with the following task which will support your Coursework

1. Work on the presentation, outlined in the previous blog

2. Create a mood board that represents the characters and locations you want for your film. Here is an example of the main character from Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Preparing for your Presentation

Group Pre-filming Presentation: (20 mins) Your presentation must include:

• Definition of genre and specific examples of similar openings


• Audience profile with details and evidence based on your research


• Narrative and enigmas. What happens in your opening? Create a visual representation, storyboard, etc


• Location and props: Why you chose this location and particular props. Include photographs of your location


• Actors and props: Why were they chosen, how will they represent a particular social group.


• Process: storyboarding, creating shot list and script.

What does the Audience learn in the opening of a film?

Answer the above questions using visual images along with text.

Memorable Openings

This website features a lot of good film openings. Check it out.

Test PPT

Audience Profiling

Sample Moodboard

Here is an example of a Moodboard for the Crime Thriller Subgenre. I have included some conventional Iconography for the Genre: Locations, Settings and Props that are common, along with some Actors that you might expect to be cast in a film of this type. You should also include a brief commentary, as shown below.

Crime Thrillers often centre around the 'seedy underbelly' of Urban Settings, commonly London (pictured), New York or LA. Cars and Guns form an important part of the Iconography of the Genre, and create an expectation of Action and Violence for the Audience. Stars of these films are predominantly male, Mid-to-late thirties, and are often not typical Hollywood 'heart-throbs' in appearance. Rather they tend to be more average looking, thus creating a sense of 'gritty' realism, or 'verisimilitude' for the film. Robert De Niro and Al Pacino (pictured) are well-known and highly regarded for their performances in films within the Genre.

Sample Opening Analysis

The sequence opens with a slow tracking shot, eventually pausing on door with metal grating. The absence of a non-diegetic soundtrack, which is common in the opening sequences of most films, particularly those in the crime/thriller Genre, focuses the audiences' attention on the diegetic sound. The lack of camera movement in the first sequence is disquieting for the audience, and focuses our attention on the movements of these characters; the fact that we only see them in Medium Long Shot also distances us from the emotionally - these are not characters that we warm to.

The hiss of grasshoppers is a commonly used signifier of a warm climate, which makes the first man's clothing all the more notable. He is clearly coded as a villain - his black clothes, ornate belt-buckle and sharply manicured goatee are all commonly used conventions. The other man is clearly his subordinate - his clothes are far scruffier, as is his generally appearance. The fact that he is the one carrying the bigs also connotes lower status on his part.

This analysis covers only the first 20 seconds - bear in mind the level of detail and that you should be covering at least the first 2 minutes.