This is our final premilinary video task. We had to reshoot it after the origional filming because we filmed the conversation incorrectly - breaking the 180 degree rule. This version however, is filmed correctly and flows a lot better than the origional!
There are a few things that could have been better, for example the editing when the girl stands up from the chair jumps slightly because the two shots didn't quite match. She also looks into the camera lens, breaking the fourth wall.
However, we were very pleased with the editing between opening the door and coming into the room, and how the shots around the table were framed.
Well done girls. You are making excellent progress with your research and seem to have a very clear idea already of where you are going with this. Get the prelim task uploaded as soon as possible and remember to discuss the first prelim you made and what you learnt! You could even post the first prelim too to show this. It will demonsrate the learning progress! See me if you have any problems or questions.
Film4 develops and co-finances films and is known for working with the most innovative talent in the UK, whether new or established. Film4 releases in 2010 included Sam Taylor Wood's Nowhere Boy, Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones,Chris Morris' Four Lions, Hideo Nakata's Chatroom and Mike Leigh's Another Year.
Film4 Productions is the feature film commissioning department of Channel 4. They develop and co-finance a slate of smart and distinctive feature films like the Academy Award winning Slumdog Millionaire, Mike Leigh's Happy Go Lucky and Shane Meadows' This Is England.
Our film can fit into the category of those Film4 produce because it would be an English film, showcasing new talent. Film4 also tends to produce films of our genre, Social Realism, as shown above with 'This is England' and others.
I like this scene because it is very simple, it displays the themes of the film well within a very small amount of time, the audience can identify the genre immediately. I also like the idea of starting a film with a flash forward.
I find this opening sequence quite useful because of the way it is filmed and some of the content, for example the fact that he is alone in his room smoking, and the fact that it is simple. You can immediately tell the road that the film seems to be going down.
Analysis.
The first thing we notice about the opening sequence is that it is black and white. This not only gives us a sense that the film is set in the past, but also casts a kind of dampened mood over the scene, as if the characters are seeing their own world in black and white, because it is not particularly interesting or fulfilling to them.
When the scene opens, there is complete silence on a close up of the main character, sat on the floor, leading into the beginning of a voice over – something we often find in gritty social realism films. As the boy lowers his head and we cut to a long shot of him sat alone in the room, we got a sense of isolation of the character. This, coupled with the voice over talking of ‘existence’ leads us to believe that our characters existence is a lonely, and not a very satisfying one. Also, the mese en scene in the room is very minimal, giving nothing away about his personality - we don't even know where he is.
We then see the title of the film ‘Control’ flicker onto the screen, also in complete silence. The effect this creates is quite ominous, and the fact that the word ‘control’ flickers in and out of sight suggests that the film is going to be based around the idea of keeping control of lives and emotions, and sometimes not being able to.
When the next scene fades in, the words ‘Macclesfield, England, 1973’ officially set the time and place for us. This idea of telling the audience exactly where and when we are through the use of a subtitle is also something typically seen in social realist films, to clearly establish the feel of that place or time.
In the scene, the character, Ian, is shown in an extreme long shot, again without any non-diagetic sound, walking past what appears to be a block of run down flats. This, again, adds to the sense we get of the character being someone of a loner, or outsider. This is also reiterated by the fact that he does not speak to any of the other characters who interact with him: the boys outside, or his family. The non-diagetic music (which later becomes diagetic when Ian plays it in his room) starts as he is entering the house, then his bedroom, suggesting that we are now finding out more about the character and he is more comfortable and himself in that environment. The music also reminds us of the year, because it is a track from that period. The lyrics of the song playing are associated with romance or sex, suggesting that this is or is going to be a big part of the characters life.
A long shot is used when Ian lights a cigarette sitting on his bed. This shows us that he is relaxed in his room and the next medium shot of him led on his bed, closing his eyes as he enjoys smoking, suggests that he feels the need to do so, to keep him calm and happy, and therefore does so often. The camera then cuts to a series of close ups of: the record player which is now playing the music (also with magazines beside it with other artists of the day), a shelf of books including ‘Howl’ by Allen Ginsberg: a book of poems, which could give us some clue into the characters interests and personality. Also there is a card with the words ‘James Morrison 1943-1971’ James Morrison, AKA Jim Morrison, was a famous musician and lyricist, lead singer of the American band ‘The Doors.’ The fact that Ian has this in his room, shows us the importance that he places on music and lyrics (shown also through the poetry book), as well as the kind of music he thinks is the best.
The camera finally cuts to another medium shot of Ian dressed up, as though he's going out and applying eye-liner in a full length mirror. In the reflection, we can see a close up of his face, which shows us that he obviously cares about his appearance. Again, here we can see pictures on his walls of musicians etc. These artists are also obviously important to him, as music in general is shown to be throughout the scene, since otherwise, the room is quite minimalistic.
To entertain the majority of their audience, films need to follow the conventions of whichever genre they are producing. If they stray from these conventions, people will not appreciate it, as it will disrupt their idea of what a film of that genre is suppose to be like.
Our Genre (Social Realism)
Gritty, realistic story lines.
Local locations, not big cities.
Trying to escape from something/situation.
Low budget.
Focussed on a cultural/social issues. (eg racism)
Focussed on the working classes.
Setting up audience expectations.
Plot - what do we immediately think the film is going to be about? Things in the opening sequence should give us some clues to, if not outrightly demonstrate this, including the style in which it is shot and the media language, particularly mise en scene, lighting and editing to show the environment in which the film is being set.
Introducing characters.
Usually the main character is introduced in the first few minutes of the film so that we immediately connect to that character and are intrigued by them. Sometimes, we are introduced to the main antagonist in the same way, but instead lead to fear them, not engage with them. Usually, we are only introduced to central characters at this point, not the whole cast of the film so we are not overwhelmed.
Setting up enigmas.
The setting up of enigmas in the opening sequence is basically what stops people from getting up and leaving the cinema, or turning the film off. Enigmas drive the narrative, and keep thee audience hooked, awaiting answers. Without them, the film would be very boring.
Initial Equilibrium.
This is natural balance that most films have at the beginning which will later be disrupted by an event or person. This disruption is then what has to be solved or fixed in the rest of the film. Sometimes, a film can open with a disruption, so we are immediately thrown into the action, this is one way in which conventions can be challenged.
Introducing themes/ideologies.
Themes and ideologies are generally clear from the outset, weather it be a gritty film that is trying to challenge an ideology, or simply the theme of something being 'war,' or 'romance.' If these are not set up, (again though media language etc) it would be difficult for people to tell weather or not they want to watch the film because they would not know weather or not they are interested in it.
Establishing place/time.
We usually establish place and time by where a scene is shot - showing us weather it is day or night and through establishing shots where we are. This is also sometimes done with captions telling us the place and date, or voice overs, explaining what is happening. This is also a convention which is most easily manipulated to create affect. For example. if we do not immediately know where a character is, it creates suspensions and makes up want to find out more about their surroundings.
Our first thought for the genre of our opening sequence was social realism, firstly because it is appealing and something we enjoy but also because it does not require the kind of special effects that we would not be able to produce in a class and without a million pound budget!
As for the sequence itself, we had a few first ideas, all focused around one central female character (now named Lex, although we did not know that at the time).
The initial ideas were as follows:
Originally, we wanted the scene to include a girl at a party, getting drunk, taking drugs and generally misbehaving, but we realised that it would be impractical to try and stage a party like this.
Girl wakes up in her room. It's night time when she opens the curtains, but despite this, she starts getting ready to go out. The room is cluttered with clothes, makeup, alcohol bottles, cigarettes, drugs, food wrappers etc - this look of the bedroom is something that is repeated in almost all the ideas. She goes out in the dark, basically goes to a train station and leaves. We decided however, that this is too much to put into an opening sequence.
The second variation of this was a similar idea but involved a dream sequence where we would see something that may, or may not be real, happening inside her head. This would involve two male characters having a fight, (one of whom is Lex's on-off boyfriend.) and the other boy getting seriously hurt. Then Lex seeing her 'boyfriend' outside her window when she wakes, and going out the back door to avoid him. However, we realised we couldn't put a dream sequence into a film on social realism!
So, then we though of just showing the same idea but as flashbacks. However, again we realised that we might be trying to pack too much into an opening sequence.
The idea which we seem to have, for now at least, settled on, is similar to the idea above but cutting out the flashback sequence entirely. In this case, we are more focused on the our main character and her bedroom (which is important as it gives us an early insight into her character and we will not see it again). Also, we see more of her in this environment, smoking and doing things she usually would, until we do see the boy outside her house who she seems to run away from. Although this is in most ways the same as the other idea, it does not waste time with flashbacks which can easily be explained further into the film.
