FILM ANALYSIS/INFLUENCES : Submarine- mies-en-scene, locations, sound, music

Analysis of Submarine and how it could influence our film

Mise-en-scene

Submarine has many different aspects that we would use in our film opening. 

For example the  mise-en scene of the boys bedroom is key in this as it portray the boys 

character in the first few shots. 

They use old furniture and intriguing art and objects to connote that this 

protagonist is mature, quirky and acts older than his age.
Influence
As we want our female character to be quirky and an individual we can represent this through the mise-en-scene. Taking inspiration from this film we can add strange retro art and books to help connote that the female protagonist is an individual.

Submarine mise-en-scene

Submarine Title with background

Locations

Within Submarine establishing shots are used to add exposition, it denotes that the film is set along the coast in Wales.
Inspiration
Locations is another big component in our film opening. We will start with a series of long shots of landscapes just as Submarine does. Living near Ilkley Moor is very important as it gives us the idilic location to film all of the establishing shots. We will do this to denote that our film is set in Yorkshire as it will show a lot of fields. 

Sound and Music

Sound and music are also other key factors that Submarine has. It uses slow 

music to set the scene as calm and relaxing. We can tell this by if we used the

 commutation test and replaced it with rock music it would have a huge change

on the audiences interpretation of the female protagonist. The audience would now see her as a rebel and an outcast rather than quirky. The acoustic guitar also denotes that part of the films genre is romance.
Inspiration
We would also use Submarines approach of using acoustic guitar soundtrack to denote the  romantic aspect of our hybrid genre. 

FILM ANALYSIS : Tyrannosaur- narrative, music

Analysis of Tyrannosaur

Narrative
Tyrannosaur is also a good example of Todrovs Equilibrium. This involves Equilibrium,

 Disequilibrium and New Equilibrium. This is how our film would be structured if we did the

 full thing. Also the different shots used is part of the narrative as we see most of the shots are focused at the start on the main protagonist. This will also be the same in ours but we will

 slowing reinforce the preferred reading as we will hint the forthcoming activity's by

 introducing the other two people that forms our rom-com love triangle.

Music
Music is one of he main components that we will use from Tyrannosaur. It 

uses slow acoustic instrumental music to create a sad and calm atmosphere

 but in comparison ours will get faster and more upbeat when we transfer into

 the busting scene.

GENRE – ROM-COM History

Rom-com history

What is a Rom-Com?

A rom-com is a hybrid genre as it's a mixture of romance and comedy. These are 

normally light hearted films with funny plot lines and are normally centred on romantic

 ideals such as true love can overcome an obstacle. In a typical rom-com the two main

 protagonists tend to be young, likeable and "meant for each other" but they're kept apart

 by a complicated situation, (e.g. Class differences, unwilling parents and them interfering, 

another male/female etc.) they then defy the odds and are reunited at the end of the film.

 This genre is suited to a female audience because of the romance and it's commonly 

referred to as a "chick-flick" but it also brings in a male audience with the added comedy. 

History
Rom-Coms had been around since Shakespearian times but the first film that we can 

class as a Rom-Com didn't come about until the 1940's. The Seven Year Itch is probably

 one of the first and most iconic Rom-Coms ever made.

Examples of Rom-Coms and Directors
I found these examples of films on this list of the 101 best Rom-Coms of all time 
1) Pretty Woman - Garry Marshall
2) Knocked up - Judd Apatow
3) When Harry Met Sally - Rob Reiner
4) How to Loose a Guy in 10 Days - Donald Petrie
5) The Wedding Singer - Frank Coraci
6) Romancing the Stone - Robert Zemeckis
 7) Bridget Jones Diary - Sharon Maguire
8) Splash - Ron Howard
9) What Women Want - Nancy Meyers
10) The Seven Year Itch - Billy Wilder

FILM ANALYSIS : Trick or Treat - mise-en-scene, camera shots, sound and music

Film analysis of Trick or Treat

Director:   Charles Martin Smith

Box Office: $6,797,218 (USA)

Distributors: 

Arsenal Filmverleih (1987) (West Germany) (theatrical)

De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG) (1986) (USA) (theatrical)

Paramount Pictures Corporation (Canada) (Canada) (theatrical)

Castle Home Video (UK) (VHS)

Concorde Home Entertainment (2003) (Germany) (DVD)

Esselte CIC Video (Netherlands) (VHS)

Future Film (2004) (Finland) (DVD)

Lorimar Home Video (1987) (USA) (VHS)

NSM Records (2014) (Austria) (DVD)

Nea Kinisi Video (1988) (Greece) (VHS)

Nelonen (1999) (Finland) (TV)

Platinum Disc (2003) (USA) (DVD)

Transworld Video (1989) (Finland) (VHS)

Umbrella Entertainment (2002) (Australia) (DVD)

VCL Communications (West Germany) (VHS)

Warner Home Video (2009) (Japan) (DVD)

Warner Home Video (USA) (VHS)

 Mise-en-scene

This is the mise-en-scene in the opening shot of Trick or Treat. It is very similar to what we are going to produce as all of the details connote what the character is like, but in ours we are going to connote a quirky arty character instead of rock style music lover.

Camera Shots
The camera shots in this opening shot is also very important as they use a 

panning shot around the room at the start just like we want to do in our film. 

This will show more of the surround's which is typical in a social realist film. 

Sound and Music
In trick or treat we get rock music straight when the film starts until 5:48 seconds into the film. In our film opening we will also have music running over the top but it will be soft acoustic to start of with but then getting more upbeat as it progresses. There is also a voice over which we will do also as we can hear what they are thinking which helps the audience understand the film.

GENRE - ROMANCE CONVENTIONS: Heathers, Rushmore, Girls just want to have fun, She's all that

I have looked at the films:
Heathers
Rushmore
Girls just want to have fun
She's all that 

Key features in each film that stood out for me were these:
In 'Heathers'

 Character- One of the lead role, played by Christian Slater, is the 'bad boy' which is a dangerous character who is usually very handsome, dressed in black, riding a motorcycle and bad influence whilst also being disruptive at school. Other common features of a bad boy are that they smoke, drink, have a husky voice and swear. 

Costume- The clothes worn are the fashionable clothes of the 1980's. These could influence our main character as she will be wearing retro vintage clothing, consisting of oversized blazers with large shoulder pads, bright block colours or complex patterns, tartan and tennis skirts. This could also link to make-up as they have distinctive bright eye make-up on when going out and volumed curled hair.

Titles- The 'produced by' is in swirly curled writing typical of a romantic film and shows that this film is focused more at a female audience. The names are all in blocked white and red font which shows that it is a high school film. The wording is quite formal as they use the phrase "produced by" rather than "made by".

 'Rushmore'
Titles- The text position moves around the shot which looks vey affective as it also changes colour depending on the background it is placed. Also the colour varies from white to black but the main title is a bright red which looks very effective whilst also connoting that the film is a romantic or romcom film. 

 Mise-en-scene- The headmasters room contains a lot of dark wood and leather furniture. This isn't the exact style of furniture that we would go for but the full packed and obvious mise-en-scene is what our room will be like. 

Shot types- one of our shots maybe of a book showing the name of our chosen male protagonist so this type of shot is very effective as it uses the rule of thirds. 
 Also this shot of a newspaper that would also link to mise-en-scene relates to our film as we wanted our male protagonist to stand out as being an individual and him holding a newspaper would clearly show that. 

'Girls just want to have fun'

Titles- The font is bold and a bright orange colour stereo typical of rom-coms. Used the phrase "directed by" but not a "Alan Metter film".

Mise-en-scene- This retro Tv would fit with or retro style of mise-en-scene.
Costume- The outfits worn were typical of youths in the    80's again.

'She's all that'

 Titles- Again the font is brightly coloured using the most popular colours of a rom-com orange, yellow and red. This time the text is rounded and smooth but still bold.
Characters- As our female and male protagonists will be outcasts the main female character in 'She's all that' is a perfect example as you can tell immediately that she is a quirky individual. (Costume + Props + Make-up) This is shown by her holding art pads and paints when walking around school whilst also wearing glasses with messy tied up hair, no make up and ripped dungarees with brightly coloured teeshirts that gave her a tomboy look. The male character in 'She's all that' is a stereo typical posh popular boy like in 'Pretty in Pink' (Costume) he wore plainish clothes like jeans and tee-shirts as well as a varsity jacket. We may cast a character much like this as a love interest. 

Podcast 3

Podcast 3



In this podcast we talk about:
Our first production scedual
planning our music choices

Our working title is Candelabra

Our Working Title is...

Candelabra

We wanted something quirky and abstract like Submarine to show that our film is going to be quite abstract. It also will link with our mise-en-scene as we want a candelabra in the bedroom scene.

INFLUENCES SHOOT 2 : Shop dancing scene Pretty in Pink

Possible scene idea

We like the idea of this scene from Pretty in Pink where Duckie is dancing 

around the shop as we can link it to intertextuality and also it would fit with 

our quirky characters as we could incorporate a flashback style scene. 

We were thinking about using Jumbo Records in Leeds as our set.

Jumbo records in Leeds, Johns Centre

GENRE – ROM-COM Openings, Dear Jhon, Bridget Jones Diary, About a Boy, Love Actually, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, The Notebook, Wild Child

Rom-com conventions

From looking at five different Rom-Com openings I have decided on some main conventions

 and key things that appear.
Rom-Coms I looked at:-
Dear John
Bridget Jones Diary
About a Boy
Love Actually
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Notting Hill
The Notebook
Wild Child

VOICE OVER AT THE BEGINNING

Bridget Jones Diary opening scene

At the beginning of Dear John, Bridget Jones Diary, Love Actually

 and About a Boy the voice over is normally by the

main protagonist of the film and it is usually, particularly 

in these examples, a really important and meaningful message

 that is conveyed. In Love Actually for example, Hugh Grant

 talks about love and how its everywhere and when it comes down 

to it, thats all that matters. It also gives us an

 insight to the character, in Bridget Jones Diary her voiceover tells us a lot about her 

situation, "It all began on New Years Eve on my 32nd year of being single. Once again

 I found myself on my own going to my mothers annual turkey curry buffet, every year

 she tries to set me up with some buffy haired bore..." In this first 20 seconds or so we 

Love Actually opening at Heathrow Airport

already know that she's single and she has been for some time, she's reluctantly going 

to her mothers and that her mother has had some disastrous 

attempts at finding her a boyfriend. The voice over gives exposition.

Dear John opening

About a Boy opening

LOVE TRIANGLE

The Notebook, showing the love between Noah and Allie

 In almost every rom-com there is a love triangle,

 this is a situation where there is a couple who are

 "meant to be" but there is another person who 

also loves one of these people. In Bridget Jones

 Diary theres herself, Daniel Cleaver and Mark 

Darcy, in The Notebook its between Noah, Allie

 and Lon. The love triangle usually is what the

 film is based around, e.g The Notebook the

 whole film is based around the fact that Allie, a well to do upperclass lady, is in love with Noah, 

who's a low class working man, but she is destined to marry Lon who is also a well to do business

 man. This then takes over the full film as we see the tragic tale of a girl who has to choose between

 her heart and her mind. 

BINARY OPPOSITE WITHIN LOVE TRIANGLE

Daniel Cleaver

Mark Darcy

Within the love triangle of the films, there is always binary opposition between two characters that the main protagonist has to choose between. For example in Bridget Jones Diary, Bridget has to choose between the-well-to-do, upperclass barrister, Mark Darcy and the sleazy yet charismatic Daniel Cleaver who also happens to be her boss. Another example of this would be in The Notebook, Allie has to decide between her summer romance and first love Noah, a country boy who's very poor and only has his love to give her and Lon, her parents choice, a wealthy handsome business man who can giver her everything she's ever wanted and more.

THE "MEET-CUTE"

Notting Hill opening scene, two shot

This is the first encounter of the two potential romantic characters in an unusual or comic circumstance, film critics like Roger Ebert referred to this as the "meet-cute" situation. During this

 the scriptwriters often create a humorous

 sense of awkwardness between the two 

characters by an initial clash of personalities

 or beliefs, an embarrassing situation, a comical misunderstanding or a mistaken identity. 

InNotting Hill the two protagonists meet in Hugh Grants characters bookshop when a man

 hides a book down his pants and then asks for an autograph off Julia Roberts' character 

which creates an awkward atmosphere between William and Anna. They then run into each

 other again and this time William spills his drink all down Anna's top which is an embarrassing

 situation for them both yet humorous for the audience.

THE REUNION 

At the end of every Rom-Com the two main characters that 

were established as the "meant to be" pair reunite at the end

 of the film. In The Notebook, when Allie sees Noah's picture 

in the paper she immediately drives to his house to see him 

again and when they're reunited, although awkward at first, their love is rekindled. 

ADULT VS. TEEN

Four Weddings and a Funeral Cast

Wild Child dinner scene

Another common convention of the Rom-Com genre is that there are two main types of them, teen Rom-Coms and Adult Rom-Coms. The difference between the two is that and adult one is usually centred around the "adult life" so the main protagonist will be 20+, they usually have the "meet-cute" in the workplace or around this, their main audience is 18+ whereas in a teen Rom-Com the main protagonists are under 18 focuses on aspects of teen 

culture and the aim for their audience is 12-18. Wild Child is an example of a teen Rom-Com

 as the main protagonists are all below or around 18, Four Weddings and a Funeral is an example

 of an Adult Rom-Com.

OPENING SHOT

Establishing shot of Bridget Jones Diary

Opening of About a Boy.

Opening of Wild Child.

The opening shot of a Rom-Com is normally an extreme long shot of the surrounding area but with its focus on the main protagonist. 

In the films  Love Actually, Bridget Jones Diary, About a Boy and Wild Child a tracking shot or a 

panning shot is used and it will follow the main character with either an audio bridge over the top or a voiceover. 

AUDIO BRIDGE

The audio bridge in almost every Rom-Com is either pop or pop/rock music being played while 

the establishing sequence is taking place.

TITLES

The titles that run through the opening sequence of a Rom-Com are usually in a sans-serif font and have the attributes of a hand-writing, swirly or bubble nature. Also the colour is usually a bright and bold to connote that it isn't a serious film. For example in Bridget Jones Diary they use a mix of bubbly 

styled writing and also a hand-writing styled font.