Every genre has its cliches and conventions which make it distinctly the genre which it aims to be. In this post I shall be assessing some of the cliches associated with the action genre:
The Antagonist
- Physically weak antagonist with incredible mind.
- Owns a dangerous pet, such as a shark.
- Has a repertoire of several cliche lines such as: 'I've been expecting you', or tells the protagonist a long story about their childhood that somehow relates to the situation.
- A fan of inventive torture techniques.
- Gets captured by the protagonist and then escapes to the shocking realisation that 'he wanted to be caught'
- Is accompanied by physically strong bodyguard.
- Tortured childhood or past.
- Kills own men without a second thought over the smallest error.
- An expert of the double-cross.
- Has a mole in the government.
- Psychologically unhinged.
The Protagonist
- Haunted past.
- Orphan
- Has some sort of tutor, usually an old man.
- Half way through gives up and then finds a reason to carry on.
- Self surgery expert.
- Bursting muscles.
- Has a love-interest
- Is accompanied by a loveable side-kick
- Can work any type of vehicle, from helicopters to diggers...whatever's convenient
- An expert at improvised weaponry - particularly explosives
Story
- Chase and fight sequences
- Torture scenes
- Sex scenes
- Slow motion explosives with the protagonist either walking away or getting blown away.
- Bomb diffusal seconds before detonation.
- Hacking into computers, to the elated cry of 'I'm in'
- 'Have you done the job?'
- 'You're going to wish you'd never been born'
- 'It's done'
- 'You really shouldn't have done that'
- 'Bond, James Bond'
- 'He wanted us to capture him!'
- 'Never'
- 'We meet again'
...the list is endless...
Wednesday, 31 October 2012
Thursday, 18 October 2012
Analysis of an Opening - 'The Goodfellas' and 'The Departed'
The Goodfellas
'Goodfellas' is one of the great post-Godfather gangster films that is thought by many to be Scorsese's finest work. It shows one mans rise and fall in a 'family', so this subject matter demanded a strong, relevant opening.
The first shots are the opening credits, which try to reflect the setting of the opening scene of a road by having the writing pass across the screen with a car sound effect. Back when it was filmed this would have seemed very classy and clever, but nowadays it seems a bit cheap. The writing is white on black to try and make the genre seem more 'high-brow', increasing the production value and involving a wider audience. The credits are also in a very tactical order, to show the audience that the film has a very strong cast and crew, such as Martin Scorsese and Robert DeNiro. This pulls the audience straight in and makes them realise that it is probably going to be a very good film as they trust the cast and crew. At the end of these credits it says 'This film is based on a true story.' which draws the audience in by making them intrigued as to why it is being shown.
The first live action shot follows nicely on from the opening credits by showing a car. This theme was introduced in the opening credits, and now the audience is able to see why there was a car sound in the credits. The car is a very stylish one for the time, so this conforms to the conventions of the gangster/crime genre by showing them as rich and stylish. The camera moves around the car and gets a bit ahead of it showing the road ahead. This framing is very interesting as it shows that there is more to the scene that is coming. By the end of the shot the car is in the lower right third of the shot, which is not the most important part of the shot where the audience is drawn to. The most powerful place in shot composition is the upper left third, which here is being filled by the road ahead. Therefore Scorsese is showing them this third for a reason, and the reason is most probably that there is something is about to happen there. Of course, by the next shot we know that nothing does happen in that third, so instead the audience's perspective of the road being in that third changes so they realise something is going to happen later down the road. Framing is key in giving a message, such as in Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho', the use of off central framing in the shower scene creates tension and later in the scene, the upper left third is finally filled with the killer. Hitchcock pioneered the use of this unconventional framing in many of his suspense films, and we can see that it is applied here as well to create intrigue. Despite it not being an obvious enigma, it certainly is one, but just one that the audience is subconciously aware of, making it an extremely clever shot.
'New York, 1970' then appears on screen, to orientate the audience to the time era. We will see this technique used in one of Scorsese's later films - 'The Departed'. The title is done in a very interesting way, in order to try and appear more 'high-brow'. It is in white on black again, which I have already discussed, but there is also an odd use of the comma between 'New York' and '1970'. This is how it would have been written in a book, and is also the correct way to write it, but in many films they miss out the comma in favour of impact. Most films do not want the comma as it is used as a breath, and they do not want the audience to pause when they read it. They want impact, and a fast, snappy title, so the audience is not drawn away from the film for too long, and it makes the film seem more 'epic'. However here the comma is used almost casually, and it seems oddly stylish to have the title written 'correctly'. There is also a slight fade into the title which slows the title even more. It builds the suspense from the previous shot with the off-central framing, and the contrast of tense framing and relaxed titles works well to lull the audience into a false sense of security that will be destroyed later in the scene.
After this we are introduced to the characters in the car. We are introduced to a few obvious enigmas with the hammering in the boot and the characters at first not knowing what it was, and then their sudden realisation. The acting is very naturalistic and they all seem to know what the other one means, like they're all in something together. There is some swearing in this exchange as well which again fits in with the conventions of a gangster movie. This is all in one shot which is effective as it continues with the laid back feeling of the opening, and in its relaxation builds suspense as to what the scene is building towards. The characters get out of the car and one of them pulls a knife out of their suit pocket, showing the character as violent and always ready to kill people. The scene is lit with a very red light from the back lights of the car, and this helps make it seem more bloody and violent. At last we are shown what the banging was, and that it was in the boot of the car. An injured man covered in blood is lying in there, and the gangsters kill him brutally while swearing. This appeals hugely to the conventions of a gangster film through violence and swearing. Enigmas are set up through the dead man in the boot, as the audience are left wondering who they are and what they did to deserve death. Finally, at the end of the scene the audience is presented with another enigma as there is a freeze frame on one of the gangsters while a voice over says: 'I've always wanted to be a gangster'. BUT WHY?
The Departed
The opening to 'The Departed' is very similar to the opening to 'Goodfellas' for the simple reason that it is the same director - Martin Scorsese. 'Goodfellas' had just missed out on the oscar for Best Picture, but this time round Scorsese was more successful and won it. So clearly this time he did something better than he had done in 'Goodfellas'...
From the first frame we can clearly see the similarities between 'The Departed' and 'Goodfellas' by the text 'BOSTON Some years ago'. Once again the title is white on black, but this time it is a lot more casual. By saying 'some years ago' instead of an exact date, the film is given a more laid back feel than 'Goodfellas' and perhaps this reflects the status of the gangsters portrayed in it. It is trying to set up the audience in a more casual setting, and is trying to fit in more with the dialect.
In this opening we are presented clearly with a character and a setting. The character narrates the history of the setting, with his own twists in accordance with his opinion, which neatly kills two birds with one stone. The audience is shown the progression of Boston through old fake documentary film, and Nicholson's character guides them through this by saying what the society has relied on. In the end it all comes down to the point that he has the power - what all gangsters crave. This is a clear convention of the gangster/crime genre as most gangster dons like to assert their power through baseball bats, piano lids and horses heads. The point is, as far as Hollywood is concerned, when it comes to gangsters, it's all about power, and that is what Nicholson's character has. To further this sense of power, Nicholson's opening monologue sounds like the character knows the society and he knows what he's talking about. For most people, the opening narration is quite hard to understand and get their head around on first viewing, but that is the point, as Scorsese doesn't want you to understand THAT, he wants you to understand that the main antagonist is clever, powerful and knows what he is doing. The fact that in the opening few shots the audience relies on the narration gives a further indication of how much power he has, as for the first few minutes what he says is what we believe. It may not be entirely true, but we have to believe it.
The first shot of the main antagonist is in silhouette, which is a very clever technique for showing the audience only what you want to show them. In this case, what we can see of the character is that he's smoking and he's wearing sunglasses, immediately gangster stereotypes come to mind. As this silhouette comes in, more swearing comes into the narration, as if the character has suddenly become more informal. He is also very racist, and talks a lot about divides in ethnicities...from the outset we can see that ethnic tension is going to be an issue in this film. Finally at the end of the narration he says: 'No one gives it to you...you have to take it'. Immediately the audience is thrown into a very hostile environment where you don't make friends, you make alliances. Taking is a much more violent verb than giving, especially when they're used in the same sentence, and this is really brought out, not just through the writing, but also the emphasis the actor puts on the word 'take'. Stealing becomes a prominent theme.
Both films have very strong openings, and both conform to the conventions of gangster/crime films through violence, power and swearing. 'Goodfellas' centres its effectiveness on the enigmas it introduces, whilst 'The Departed' centres its effectiveness on the character and setting it introduces. Personally I prefer the opening to 'The Departed', as the voice over leaves a lot of holes to fill in, and the lead antagonist seems more interesting.
'Goodfellas' is one of the great post-Godfather gangster films that is thought by many to be Scorsese's finest work. It shows one mans rise and fall in a 'family', so this subject matter demanded a strong, relevant opening.
The first shots are the opening credits, which try to reflect the setting of the opening scene of a road by having the writing pass across the screen with a car sound effect. Back when it was filmed this would have seemed very classy and clever, but nowadays it seems a bit cheap. The writing is white on black to try and make the genre seem more 'high-brow', increasing the production value and involving a wider audience. The credits are also in a very tactical order, to show the audience that the film has a very strong cast and crew, such as Martin Scorsese and Robert DeNiro. This pulls the audience straight in and makes them realise that it is probably going to be a very good film as they trust the cast and crew. At the end of these credits it says 'This film is based on a true story.' which draws the audience in by making them intrigued as to why it is being shown.
The first live action shot follows nicely on from the opening credits by showing a car. This theme was introduced in the opening credits, and now the audience is able to see why there was a car sound in the credits. The car is a very stylish one for the time, so this conforms to the conventions of the gangster/crime genre by showing them as rich and stylish. The camera moves around the car and gets a bit ahead of it showing the road ahead. This framing is very interesting as it shows that there is more to the scene that is coming. By the end of the shot the car is in the lower right third of the shot, which is not the most important part of the shot where the audience is drawn to. The most powerful place in shot composition is the upper left third, which here is being filled by the road ahead. Therefore Scorsese is showing them this third for a reason, and the reason is most probably that there is something is about to happen there. Of course, by the next shot we know that nothing does happen in that third, so instead the audience's perspective of the road being in that third changes so they realise something is going to happen later down the road. Framing is key in giving a message, such as in Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho', the use of off central framing in the shower scene creates tension and later in the scene, the upper left third is finally filled with the killer. Hitchcock pioneered the use of this unconventional framing in many of his suspense films, and we can see that it is applied here as well to create intrigue. Despite it not being an obvious enigma, it certainly is one, but just one that the audience is subconciously aware of, making it an extremely clever shot.
'New York, 1970' then appears on screen, to orientate the audience to the time era. We will see this technique used in one of Scorsese's later films - 'The Departed'. The title is done in a very interesting way, in order to try and appear more 'high-brow'. It is in white on black again, which I have already discussed, but there is also an odd use of the comma between 'New York' and '1970'. This is how it would have been written in a book, and is also the correct way to write it, but in many films they miss out the comma in favour of impact. Most films do not want the comma as it is used as a breath, and they do not want the audience to pause when they read it. They want impact, and a fast, snappy title, so the audience is not drawn away from the film for too long, and it makes the film seem more 'epic'. However here the comma is used almost casually, and it seems oddly stylish to have the title written 'correctly'. There is also a slight fade into the title which slows the title even more. It builds the suspense from the previous shot with the off-central framing, and the contrast of tense framing and relaxed titles works well to lull the audience into a false sense of security that will be destroyed later in the scene.
After this we are introduced to the characters in the car. We are introduced to a few obvious enigmas with the hammering in the boot and the characters at first not knowing what it was, and then their sudden realisation. The acting is very naturalistic and they all seem to know what the other one means, like they're all in something together. There is some swearing in this exchange as well which again fits in with the conventions of a gangster movie. This is all in one shot which is effective as it continues with the laid back feeling of the opening, and in its relaxation builds suspense as to what the scene is building towards. The characters get out of the car and one of them pulls a knife out of their suit pocket, showing the character as violent and always ready to kill people. The scene is lit with a very red light from the back lights of the car, and this helps make it seem more bloody and violent. At last we are shown what the banging was, and that it was in the boot of the car. An injured man covered in blood is lying in there, and the gangsters kill him brutally while swearing. This appeals hugely to the conventions of a gangster film through violence and swearing. Enigmas are set up through the dead man in the boot, as the audience are left wondering who they are and what they did to deserve death. Finally, at the end of the scene the audience is presented with another enigma as there is a freeze frame on one of the gangsters while a voice over says: 'I've always wanted to be a gangster'. BUT WHY?
The Departed
The opening to 'The Departed' is very similar to the opening to 'Goodfellas' for the simple reason that it is the same director - Martin Scorsese. 'Goodfellas' had just missed out on the oscar for Best Picture, but this time round Scorsese was more successful and won it. So clearly this time he did something better than he had done in 'Goodfellas'...
From the first frame we can clearly see the similarities between 'The Departed' and 'Goodfellas' by the text 'BOSTON Some years ago'. Once again the title is white on black, but this time it is a lot more casual. By saying 'some years ago' instead of an exact date, the film is given a more laid back feel than 'Goodfellas' and perhaps this reflects the status of the gangsters portrayed in it. It is trying to set up the audience in a more casual setting, and is trying to fit in more with the dialect.
In this opening we are presented clearly with a character and a setting. The character narrates the history of the setting, with his own twists in accordance with his opinion, which neatly kills two birds with one stone. The audience is shown the progression of Boston through old fake documentary film, and Nicholson's character guides them through this by saying what the society has relied on. In the end it all comes down to the point that he has the power - what all gangsters crave. This is a clear convention of the gangster/crime genre as most gangster dons like to assert their power through baseball bats, piano lids and horses heads. The point is, as far as Hollywood is concerned, when it comes to gangsters, it's all about power, and that is what Nicholson's character has. To further this sense of power, Nicholson's opening monologue sounds like the character knows the society and he knows what he's talking about. For most people, the opening narration is quite hard to understand and get their head around on first viewing, but that is the point, as Scorsese doesn't want you to understand THAT, he wants you to understand that the main antagonist is clever, powerful and knows what he is doing. The fact that in the opening few shots the audience relies on the narration gives a further indication of how much power he has, as for the first few minutes what he says is what we believe. It may not be entirely true, but we have to believe it.
The first shot of the main antagonist is in silhouette, which is a very clever technique for showing the audience only what you want to show them. In this case, what we can see of the character is that he's smoking and he's wearing sunglasses, immediately gangster stereotypes come to mind. As this silhouette comes in, more swearing comes into the narration, as if the character has suddenly become more informal. He is also very racist, and talks a lot about divides in ethnicities...from the outset we can see that ethnic tension is going to be an issue in this film. Finally at the end of the narration he says: 'No one gives it to you...you have to take it'. Immediately the audience is thrown into a very hostile environment where you don't make friends, you make alliances. Taking is a much more violent verb than giving, especially when they're used in the same sentence, and this is really brought out, not just through the writing, but also the emphasis the actor puts on the word 'take'. Stealing becomes a prominent theme.
Both films have very strong openings, and both conform to the conventions of gangster/crime films through violence, power and swearing. 'Goodfellas' centres its effectiveness on the enigmas it introduces, whilst 'The Departed' centres its effectiveness on the character and setting it introduces. Personally I prefer the opening to 'The Departed', as the voice over leaves a lot of holes to fill in, and the lead antagonist seems more interesting.
Tuesday, 2 October 2012
Analysis of an Opening - 'Love Actually' and 'Love Story'
Love Actually
'Love Actually' is a dearly loved, star-studded, sweeping, British rom-com that is cherished by many people, British or not. The opening scene to this is very thoughtful and provocative, introducing the main subject matter, which is, of course - love.
The visuals in this opening are not so important, but instead the audience is focused on the narration. The opening scene reveals none of the main characters, plot lines or famous actors, but instead it decides that it is more important to focus the audience on the main idea of 'love'. This is narrated by Hugh Grant, in his very recognisable British accent, and is appropriate as an audience will immediately know who is speaking. He brings up a lot of points that we, as an audience would not necessarily think of, such as the arrivals gate at Heathrow airport, and the twin towers. This subverts the audience's expectation, cheers them up, and prepares them for a film that is going to be heart-warming and provocative.
The beginning also links to the end of the film, where at the beginning we see strangers at the arrivals gate at Heathrow airport, at the end we see this scene with characters we have learnt to love and cherish. This has a far more emotional impact than the first scene, as we know the characters' stories, how they got there, what their love is and we can relate to them a lot more then the complete strangers that we are presented with at the beginning. It gives the film a rounded, cyclical feel to it, and comes back to the point that 'love actually is all around', which is the main theme the film is trying to communicate. Of course, I'm not supposed to be analysing the end, but to analyse the beginning of this film, the end is a natural place to jump to.
Onto the visuals! The shots in this opening are very stylistically done. It may be an unoriginal, overused type of stylising, but it is stylised none the less! On each of the shots of people embracing, kissing or lifting up a small child the camera focuses on them, while leaving everything else around it out of focus, centralising the audience's attention on the lovers. In a lot of the shots the lovers may not be noticeable if the camera hadn't made everyone else out of focus, and this helps with the concept that 'love actually is all around'. Another effect which is employed is the slow-motion when people are moving at a fast pace, such as when children are running to their mother, or someone is being hoisted up in the air. This creates a very cheesy effect, and not one that I am a particular fan of, as I don't believe slow motion should be used on humans because it diminishes the reality. However this might be the effect that 'Love Actually' is going for - it may want to take a step back from reality and just believe that love is always perfect and eternal.
The most obvious impact which the scene has is right at the end, when the text comes up on screen saying 'love actually IS all around', in time to Hugh Grant saying it. Throughout the scene it was obvious there was going to be a final thought, and this was it. Looking back on the scene you can see how it all relates to the point through the dialogue, and it all just slots nicely together. Overall it is a very strong opening scene as it establishes the main theme of the film...although I still hate slow-motion people...
Love Story
'Love Story' is a classic love story with a very interesting opening, full of enigmas! The film is a great, critically acclaimed film that won an oscar for Best Original Score and was nominated for another six, including Best Lead Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Director, Writing and most prominently Best Picture. In other words, it was nominated for all the biggest awards, but only won one of the lesser ones.
The opening scene to 'Love Story' is beautiful and touching. The dialogue is emotive and pulls at all the heartstrings. The camera-work is smooth and simple. The narration is tear-jerking and brilliant, the setting picturesque and reminiscent, and the music is outstanding. 'Love Story' shows how such a simple scene is so effective and beautiful, and by the end of the first scene the audience is already attached to the lovers through sympathy and an understanding that they do not have. It is so connectable and yet so distant. The audience long to have an understanding of the pain; in a strange way they almost long for something so dramatic to happen in their life, yet at the same time they hate the thought of it happening. This is the impact of the opening to 'Love Story'.
The music is very very beautiful, and one of the big factors in the success of this scene. It is classical piano music accompanied by an orchestra, and it adopts the minor key in order to evoke a feeling of melancholy and reminiscence. Being classical music, it relates to the line of dialogue 'she loved Mozart and Bach', and it also foreshadows one of the main features of the film - Jenny's musical talent. It is filled with passion, and really brings the scene forward in it's beauty and effectiveness. The pianist plays with true emotion as if they are one of the lovers, and this shows through in the soundtrack. You can see why it won the award for Best Original Score!
Cinematography-wise, the camera work is kept very simple, so it does not intrude in the scene or the story. It is all one shot, panning down from a town in the snow to a man sitting on the floor facing away. This keeps an element of continuity about the scene, and is the best way to present the scene, as fancy cinematography would take away the raw emotion of the scene.
The acting is incredible. So much passion is put into the voice-over, and you can hear that the character is struggling to retell a story with so much pain in it. There are pauses in just the right places, and you hear the character talk as if talking through tears. It hits it's high point right on the pause before he says '...and me', which is simply beautiful.
'What can you say about a 25 year old girl who died, that she was beautiful and brilliant, that she loved Mozart and Bach, the Beatles...and me'
It is also successful as it presents the audience with a number of enigmas. They want to know why she dies, who she was, what their story was, and what course the film is going to take next. These make the audience want to watch on, if only to find out the answers to these questions. The opening obeys a few of the conventions of the romance genre, such as the idea of 'doomed love', which is used in many romance films such as 'Titanic' and 'A Walk to Remember'.
Overall the opening scene was truly brilliant, and would make some people cry before they even see the film. Right from the first piece of dialogue the film has connected the audience to the characters, and they already empathise with them.
Both films had strong beginnings, and both gave the audience something to think about. 'Love Actually' starts the audience off with a positive, happy frame of mind, whereas 'Love Story' starts them off in tears! Both techniques work well for the films they are a part of, and both set up the mood of the film very clearly.
'Love Actually' is a dearly loved, star-studded, sweeping, British rom-com that is cherished by many people, British or not. The opening scene to this is very thoughtful and provocative, introducing the main subject matter, which is, of course - love.
The visuals in this opening are not so important, but instead the audience is focused on the narration. The opening scene reveals none of the main characters, plot lines or famous actors, but instead it decides that it is more important to focus the audience on the main idea of 'love'. This is narrated by Hugh Grant, in his very recognisable British accent, and is appropriate as an audience will immediately know who is speaking. He brings up a lot of points that we, as an audience would not necessarily think of, such as the arrivals gate at Heathrow airport, and the twin towers. This subverts the audience's expectation, cheers them up, and prepares them for a film that is going to be heart-warming and provocative.
The beginning also links to the end of the film, where at the beginning we see strangers at the arrivals gate at Heathrow airport, at the end we see this scene with characters we have learnt to love and cherish. This has a far more emotional impact than the first scene, as we know the characters' stories, how they got there, what their love is and we can relate to them a lot more then the complete strangers that we are presented with at the beginning. It gives the film a rounded, cyclical feel to it, and comes back to the point that 'love actually is all around', which is the main theme the film is trying to communicate. Of course, I'm not supposed to be analysing the end, but to analyse the beginning of this film, the end is a natural place to jump to.
Onto the visuals! The shots in this opening are very stylistically done. It may be an unoriginal, overused type of stylising, but it is stylised none the less! On each of the shots of people embracing, kissing or lifting up a small child the camera focuses on them, while leaving everything else around it out of focus, centralising the audience's attention on the lovers. In a lot of the shots the lovers may not be noticeable if the camera hadn't made everyone else out of focus, and this helps with the concept that 'love actually is all around'. Another effect which is employed is the slow-motion when people are moving at a fast pace, such as when children are running to their mother, or someone is being hoisted up in the air. This creates a very cheesy effect, and not one that I am a particular fan of, as I don't believe slow motion should be used on humans because it diminishes the reality. However this might be the effect that 'Love Actually' is going for - it may want to take a step back from reality and just believe that love is always perfect and eternal.
The most obvious impact which the scene has is right at the end, when the text comes up on screen saying 'love actually IS all around', in time to Hugh Grant saying it. Throughout the scene it was obvious there was going to be a final thought, and this was it. Looking back on the scene you can see how it all relates to the point through the dialogue, and it all just slots nicely together. Overall it is a very strong opening scene as it establishes the main theme of the film...although I still hate slow-motion people...
Love Story
'Love Story' is a classic love story with a very interesting opening, full of enigmas! The film is a great, critically acclaimed film that won an oscar for Best Original Score and was nominated for another six, including Best Lead Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Director, Writing and most prominently Best Picture. In other words, it was nominated for all the biggest awards, but only won one of the lesser ones.
The opening scene to 'Love Story' is beautiful and touching. The dialogue is emotive and pulls at all the heartstrings. The camera-work is smooth and simple. The narration is tear-jerking and brilliant, the setting picturesque and reminiscent, and the music is outstanding. 'Love Story' shows how such a simple scene is so effective and beautiful, and by the end of the first scene the audience is already attached to the lovers through sympathy and an understanding that they do not have. It is so connectable and yet so distant. The audience long to have an understanding of the pain; in a strange way they almost long for something so dramatic to happen in their life, yet at the same time they hate the thought of it happening. This is the impact of the opening to 'Love Story'.
The music is very very beautiful, and one of the big factors in the success of this scene. It is classical piano music accompanied by an orchestra, and it adopts the minor key in order to evoke a feeling of melancholy and reminiscence. Being classical music, it relates to the line of dialogue 'she loved Mozart and Bach', and it also foreshadows one of the main features of the film - Jenny's musical talent. It is filled with passion, and really brings the scene forward in it's beauty and effectiveness. The pianist plays with true emotion as if they are one of the lovers, and this shows through in the soundtrack. You can see why it won the award for Best Original Score!
Cinematography-wise, the camera work is kept very simple, so it does not intrude in the scene or the story. It is all one shot, panning down from a town in the snow to a man sitting on the floor facing away. This keeps an element of continuity about the scene, and is the best way to present the scene, as fancy cinematography would take away the raw emotion of the scene.
The acting is incredible. So much passion is put into the voice-over, and you can hear that the character is struggling to retell a story with so much pain in it. There are pauses in just the right places, and you hear the character talk as if talking through tears. It hits it's high point right on the pause before he says '...and me', which is simply beautiful.
'What can you say about a 25 year old girl who died, that she was beautiful and brilliant, that she loved Mozart and Bach, the Beatles...and me'
It is also successful as it presents the audience with a number of enigmas. They want to know why she dies, who she was, what their story was, and what course the film is going to take next. These make the audience want to watch on, if only to find out the answers to these questions. The opening obeys a few of the conventions of the romance genre, such as the idea of 'doomed love', which is used in many romance films such as 'Titanic' and 'A Walk to Remember'.
Overall the opening scene was truly brilliant, and would make some people cry before they even see the film. Right from the first piece of dialogue the film has connected the audience to the characters, and they already empathise with them.
Both films had strong beginnings, and both gave the audience something to think about. 'Love Actually' starts the audience off with a positive, happy frame of mind, whereas 'Love Story' starts them off in tears! Both techniques work well for the films they are a part of, and both set up the mood of the film very clearly.
Monday, 1 October 2012
Analysis of an Opening - 'High School Musical' and 'Phantom of the Opera (1925)'
High School Musical
For this analysis, I decided to analyse two completely different styles of opening against each other, both in the romance genre, in order to see what impact each style has.
'High School Musical' is a romance film that covers every romance cliche known to mankind, as it is aimed at a younger audience who enjoy watching films with predictable, yet warm-hearted plot lines. The film as a whole is clearly aimed at a young audience, and the first scene makes this very clear from the outset, by starting the love story in a very idealistic, too-good-to-be-true fashion.
The first shot is an establishing shot of a ski resort, and the text on the screen tells us that it is New Years Eve. This starts off the idealistic feel to the film, as New Years Eve can signify the start of something new (as is made clear in the first song) and it is also close to Christmas, which is the favourite time of the year for many young people. The text that appears on screen is very bland and uninteresting, however does have a glowing edge. For an older audience this could seem a bit childish, but for the younger audience, at which it is aimed, the text choice is perfect. For we must remember that to give this film opening a fair analysis we must remember that it is aimed at a much younger audience, who have far different tastes to adult films.
After this first establishing shot we are brought closer to the action and what is going on inside the resort. The audience is guided around a party scene, with teenagers wearing odd, fancy dress hats, colourful balloons and fairy lights. Again we can see that this is a very idealistic outlook on teenagers, and a film aimed at an older audience would probably present teenagers smoking, drinking and taking drugs. However here the teenagers are shaking hands and making friends and getting along very nicely while drinking what is, presumably, orange squash.
After this scene we are shown the lead female character who is bowing to the age old romance convention of being vulnerable, a bit geeky, and quiet. This cliche is seen in many other romance films such as 'Love Actually' and 'A Walk to Remember'. She is shown to follow this criteria by avidly reading a book on New Years Eve instead of going to parties or hanging out with her family. Not only is this good because it keeps the young viewers hooked on the film through the cliches, but it also encourages young people to read more, and not be worried about what people may think. Parents of the children would want to use this, so they would buy their child the film in the hope that it would inspire them to read more.
The next short scene is of the male lead playing basketball, which is a very American male sport, which shows him as 'the sporty, popular one', another cliche of the romance genre. As an audience we know from the rules of the romance genre that he will fall in love with the female lead, as they have completely opposite personalities and this leads to the idea of almost 'forbidden' or unlikely love. The male lead is played by Zac Efron who is a traditionally 'good-looking' actor who appeals to a young audience. In this scene the acting is very melodramatic and over-the-top to make it easier for a younger audience to follow. Their actions are exaggerated and their lines are very very cliche. This is, however, a good thing, as a younger audience would enjoy it more than deadly serious acting.
The production design as a whole is very colourful and vibrant, once again appealing to the target audience. Every location has a lot of colour, which helps the children feel safe and comforted in the environment in which the film is set. There is no litter or graffiti or anything negative about the scenes, and this presents an appriate setting for a childrens film.
Overall I think it is a strong opening for the film, as it appeals to the target audience, presents them with a safe and familiar environment, and follows the standard conventions of a romance movie. If it had been aimed at an adult audience then it would not have been good at all, but it was good for what it was.
Phantom of the Opera (1925)
'The Phantom of the Opera' was one of the first great silent movies at the beginning of the 20th Century, and so, needless to say, it relies more on images than dialogue. It is also in black and white, so colour could not be changed either, and even the cameras weren't high-quality so image quality couldn't be a factor. The standard fps was lower, resulting in the images moving slightly faster then normal, and lighting and editing were not nearly as advanced as today. With this in mind 'Phantom of the Opera' must be analysed according to the limitations of the time, and what it did with what it had.
The opening two minutes (starting at 00:01:00) is a long shot of the inside of an underground crypt, with arches and old architecture. A man with a lantern walks in and stands around for a bit, before ducking behind a pillar as athe shadow of a man walks past. Then the man walks back into shot and stands around for a bit with horror chords blasting before exiting. The shadow of the man follows him.
Despite being a gothic romance film, it follows no romance conventions whatsoever, instead it seems to follow the conventions of a horror film, with gothic architecture and mysterious shadows. Perhaps it does not want to set up romance as a happy, wonderful thing, but rather as a dark mysterious venture into the unknown. The lead male is shown as a man who is hiding underneath an opera house in torture chamber, hiding from people coming downstairs - hardly the popular, sporty jock that is shown in 'High School Musical'. The opening also gives the idea of forbidden love, as the man is hiding and secretive, and is perhaps unsuitable for the lead woman who we have not met yet
The key to this opening is in the enigmas that it brings up. It drags the audience in through asking them questions about who the man is, why he is hiding, and why there are horror chords whenever he walks into the centre of the shot. This encourages the audience to carry on watching as they don't know how this is going to link to the romance genre, and they want to know all about this man and his past.
The lighting is very unlike any film lighting that would be used nowadays. Nowadays the lighting would be intricately set up, with three point lighting and many filters, although in this opening, the lighting is very minimalistic, and is only lit from the lights that are availible to the character, in this case - a lantern. Although this would have been the standard thing to do at the time, it doesn't work at all. We can't see the character clearly, or anything else on screen, and this is not a stylistic choice, but it's just bad lighting...sometimes you can just tell the difference. Admittedly this would have been because the cinematographer would not have been able to play back the footage afterwards and check it, nor would he have been able to see properly what was going to come out of it.
I think that the opening to 'High School Musical' is far stronger than the 'Phantom of the Opera' opening as you can actually tell what is happening, instead of having to watch meticulously over and over until you work it out. Despite the obvious handicap of being silent, the film should have been able to hold the story together. The lighting ruins the scene. 'High School Musical' however has a strong opening for the audience it is aimed at, and obeys the rules of its genre.
For this analysis, I decided to analyse two completely different styles of opening against each other, both in the romance genre, in order to see what impact each style has.
'High School Musical' is a romance film that covers every romance cliche known to mankind, as it is aimed at a younger audience who enjoy watching films with predictable, yet warm-hearted plot lines. The film as a whole is clearly aimed at a young audience, and the first scene makes this very clear from the outset, by starting the love story in a very idealistic, too-good-to-be-true fashion.
The first shot is an establishing shot of a ski resort, and the text on the screen tells us that it is New Years Eve. This starts off the idealistic feel to the film, as New Years Eve can signify the start of something new (as is made clear in the first song) and it is also close to Christmas, which is the favourite time of the year for many young people. The text that appears on screen is very bland and uninteresting, however does have a glowing edge. For an older audience this could seem a bit childish, but for the younger audience, at which it is aimed, the text choice is perfect. For we must remember that to give this film opening a fair analysis we must remember that it is aimed at a much younger audience, who have far different tastes to adult films.
After this first establishing shot we are brought closer to the action and what is going on inside the resort. The audience is guided around a party scene, with teenagers wearing odd, fancy dress hats, colourful balloons and fairy lights. Again we can see that this is a very idealistic outlook on teenagers, and a film aimed at an older audience would probably present teenagers smoking, drinking and taking drugs. However here the teenagers are shaking hands and making friends and getting along very nicely while drinking what is, presumably, orange squash.
After this scene we are shown the lead female character who is bowing to the age old romance convention of being vulnerable, a bit geeky, and quiet. This cliche is seen in many other romance films such as 'Love Actually' and 'A Walk to Remember'. She is shown to follow this criteria by avidly reading a book on New Years Eve instead of going to parties or hanging out with her family. Not only is this good because it keeps the young viewers hooked on the film through the cliches, but it also encourages young people to read more, and not be worried about what people may think. Parents of the children would want to use this, so they would buy their child the film in the hope that it would inspire them to read more.
The next short scene is of the male lead playing basketball, which is a very American male sport, which shows him as 'the sporty, popular one', another cliche of the romance genre. As an audience we know from the rules of the romance genre that he will fall in love with the female lead, as they have completely opposite personalities and this leads to the idea of almost 'forbidden' or unlikely love. The male lead is played by Zac Efron who is a traditionally 'good-looking' actor who appeals to a young audience. In this scene the acting is very melodramatic and over-the-top to make it easier for a younger audience to follow. Their actions are exaggerated and their lines are very very cliche. This is, however, a good thing, as a younger audience would enjoy it more than deadly serious acting.
The production design as a whole is very colourful and vibrant, once again appealing to the target audience. Every location has a lot of colour, which helps the children feel safe and comforted in the environment in which the film is set. There is no litter or graffiti or anything negative about the scenes, and this presents an appriate setting for a childrens film.
Overall I think it is a strong opening for the film, as it appeals to the target audience, presents them with a safe and familiar environment, and follows the standard conventions of a romance movie. If it had been aimed at an adult audience then it would not have been good at all, but it was good for what it was.
Phantom of the Opera (1925)
'The Phantom of the Opera' was one of the first great silent movies at the beginning of the 20th Century, and so, needless to say, it relies more on images than dialogue. It is also in black and white, so colour could not be changed either, and even the cameras weren't high-quality so image quality couldn't be a factor. The standard fps was lower, resulting in the images moving slightly faster then normal, and lighting and editing were not nearly as advanced as today. With this in mind 'Phantom of the Opera' must be analysed according to the limitations of the time, and what it did with what it had.
The opening two minutes (starting at 00:01:00) is a long shot of the inside of an underground crypt, with arches and old architecture. A man with a lantern walks in and stands around for a bit, before ducking behind a pillar as athe shadow of a man walks past. Then the man walks back into shot and stands around for a bit with horror chords blasting before exiting. The shadow of the man follows him.
Despite being a gothic romance film, it follows no romance conventions whatsoever, instead it seems to follow the conventions of a horror film, with gothic architecture and mysterious shadows. Perhaps it does not want to set up romance as a happy, wonderful thing, but rather as a dark mysterious venture into the unknown. The lead male is shown as a man who is hiding underneath an opera house in torture chamber, hiding from people coming downstairs - hardly the popular, sporty jock that is shown in 'High School Musical'. The opening also gives the idea of forbidden love, as the man is hiding and secretive, and is perhaps unsuitable for the lead woman who we have not met yet
The key to this opening is in the enigmas that it brings up. It drags the audience in through asking them questions about who the man is, why he is hiding, and why there are horror chords whenever he walks into the centre of the shot. This encourages the audience to carry on watching as they don't know how this is going to link to the romance genre, and they want to know all about this man and his past.
The lighting is very unlike any film lighting that would be used nowadays. Nowadays the lighting would be intricately set up, with three point lighting and many filters, although in this opening, the lighting is very minimalistic, and is only lit from the lights that are availible to the character, in this case - a lantern. Although this would have been the standard thing to do at the time, it doesn't work at all. We can't see the character clearly, or anything else on screen, and this is not a stylistic choice, but it's just bad lighting...sometimes you can just tell the difference. Admittedly this would have been because the cinematographer would not have been able to play back the footage afterwards and check it, nor would he have been able to see properly what was going to come out of it.
I think that the opening to 'High School Musical' is far stronger than the 'Phantom of the Opera' opening as you can actually tell what is happening, instead of having to watch meticulously over and over until you work it out. Despite the obvious handicap of being silent, the film should have been able to hold the story together. The lighting ruins the scene. 'High School Musical' however has a strong opening for the audience it is aimed at, and obeys the rules of its genre.
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