Action opening- Hancock

Hancock 

Aerial shot of the highway with many police cars, already we know there is an incident, close up of the criminals inside the getaway car with their guns. Quick long shot of the police cars that are closely trailing behind building up suspense as if they are close to being caught. Camera swaps from the chaos to a medium shot of a homeless man on bench sleeping. Two shot of the homeless man and a young boy as he tries to wake him up, informing him about what’s happening as if he is supposed to do something. Shot of lots of telly’s showing the chase symbolising it is a major event.

Long shot of him flying up in the air destructing things in his path shows he isnt very considerate to his city. Extreme long shot as he zooms off into the city at a sonic speed surprising the audience. Hand held shot while he is flying throughout the recognizable skyscrapers.  Canted shots are used also both of these create realism giving you the view of what you would see if you were “Hancock”. Close up of him flying with his thumb in the top of his alcohol bottle as if spilling it at this moment would be disastrous. Birds flying at him showing the audience how high he is as well as adding to obstacles he is having to dodge; linking with the backing song.

Character we focus mainly on is the homeless man. As he is sleeping on the bench his body language is very open, his arms spread out, he is very relaxed as if he has nothing to be concerned about. We later see that he has powers of some kind therefore can protect himself against anything. As the child is talking to him he is very rude and tells him to go away making him far from a “super hero” who is supposed to be kind to the public. As he draws an alcohol bottle out from under the bench it’s obvious he has problems with liquor, the audience want to know why. Also he is rather obnoxious as we see him try to grope a lady, all signs point to him being an unorthodox super hero.

Action genre is all about car chases, guns, bad guys and destruction. All of which this opening contains making it your typical exciting action film.

Action music’s playing, the typical kind used to build suspense leading up to something, we can also we can hear police sirens and shouting in foreign fitting the stereotype of foreigners being the baddy. Bullets flying confirming the genre to be action as well as the car chase that is happening. Diegetic tires skidding around the road showing that they are putting up a fight to get away by going at very hasty speed.  Music suddenly stops as we are averted to a different situation, quiet, calm guitar music plays while we see a man sleeping on a public bench being hassled by a child. In the background diegetic news in playing about the highway chase that we just saw suggesting it is an event which has not yet been controlled. After he abruptly fly’s in the air an aggressive and rude song starts to play as he is swerving in and out of the buildings this could reflect him as a character; rude and aggressive. 

Action opening - Iron Man

Iron Man 

Our main character is the man in the expensive suit, he is holding whiskey showing authority and wealth, he makes a lot of jokes to break the ice, audience see that he is very likeable but self absorbed at the same time. Due to the soldiers asking him question and wanting pictures with him, he obviously owns something or has done something to remember. His importance is shown by the level of security within his transportation. His cool calm behaviour soon disappears as the attack begins, he seems panicked and un aware what to do suggesting he hasn’t been out in the field before, as its zooms in on the missile with his name on, we now know he is in the weaponry business, but something has gone wrong.

In the first 3 minutes it is very clear that this is an action film, as it contains many of the convections associated with the action genre: army vehicles, solders, guns, explosions and bullets flying.

At the beginning a heroic fun song starts, while the man power travels through the dessert. At first we think it is non diegetic but as scene goes inside the car we see that in fact it is diegetic. This song reflects the main characters mood. Music gets quieter as characters have a conversation. As scene changes dramatically music stops showing that the happy calm setting disappeared, an explosion and gunshots follows creating turmoil within the scene. High pitched sound occurs giving the audience a sense of what they would hear if they were in that situation creating realism. At the very end we hear muffled foreign voices suggesting that he was taken by people who attacked them.

Establishing shot of the desert with army vehicles approaching as well as armed men sticking out the top of the vehicle shows they are always aware that something may occur letting the audience know that something is likely to happen soon. High angle shot of the vehicles showing that the army is very powerful. Close up of a whisky glass which looks very out of place. Soldiers within the car are all looking inquisitive and scared towards the main character until he starts talking to try as break that barrier of silence between them. Mainly close up shots are used either on the person who is talking or on a person’s reaction. Two shots of them getting picture taken talking about peace and then an explosion happens, long shot of the explosion and then quickly back into the car showing the characters panic in trying to deal with the situation.

Long shot of a solider being shot and killed is very effective as it shows that they are in serious trouble here. Main characters point of view shot as the last solider has been killed causing audience to be empathetic with main character as he is alone, unarmed and defenceless.  As he gets out of the car and a start running the camera is uneven, meaning a hand held shot as well as interpreting canted shots symbolising the chaos. Close up of a missile that’s about to explode, we as the audience are on the edge of our seat at this point as we are waiting for it to explode. Last shot is a high angle panning out shot showing loneliness and vulnerability of the main character as he is lying on the ground injured.

Action Target Audience

Action Target Audience

Core target audience for an action film is young adults- male , they tend to see this with other men of similar age as watching a action is seen to “masculine” as they contains feature like car chases, fights and guns. Another reason for the majority of the audience to be male is action films contain mannish male actors who they aspire to be like as well as being interested in the female actors. Finally action offers an adrenaline rush which men strive for. They want people to think of them as manly men therefore they don’t watch a romance even if they secretly want to.

Romance Opening - Silver Linings Playbook

Silver Linings Playbook 

This film in its opening 2 minutes doesn’t follow the conventions of a romance; there is no bright colours and blue skies instead a dull plain hospital. We are still able to identify that it is a romance through small features, like the use of music and the character talking about his recent love life and how he wants it back.

At the start of the film little information is given about the character personality, although we understand that he is regretful of how his life turned out and how he wants to return to his past. We understand he is in love with someone when he is talking to himself bout true love. When the main character disobeys orders we immediately see independence and stubbornness within his personality. We as the viewers feel sorry for him and feel happy for him in a way that he wants to turn his life around by no longer taking pills. During the fitness scene we see he is determined. When the camera focuses on a discharge approval form from a mental hospital, we see that this character has been ill, but has managed to return to mental wellbeing; except his voice and body language are rigid suggesting he is rather uncomfortable in life and not in touch with many emotions.

Very start of the film the first thing we indentify is the sound, starting off with calm non diegetic music suggesting everything is un disturbed, without any visual yet we hear a males voice who we assume is the main character because we don’t see him we immediate create an enigma enticing the audience to take interest in this character. He is talking about his family and the past, dwelling upon it suggesting he misses it and wants to return to his past we wonder what’s happened to is life to make him want to go back in time. Diegetic knock occurs followed by a man’s voice giving the main character orders that he chooses to ignore as he carries on talking to himself, we see no one is with him therefore he we get the sense he may be mentally ill, as well as the characters repeating the sentence “I’m better now, I’m better now” supports idea of mental illness and wanting to return to his family. We immediately feel sorry for this man.

 Hearing a distant authoritative voice again who is giving him orders about seeing a doctor confirms the predicated location of a hospital .Once he is finished talking to himself non diegetic music starts to play, it’s a mellow low pitched piano linking with the romance genre then a guitar is added on top of the music suggesting the scene is building up to something. As the scene progresses more music is introduced especially during his work out, the music is light hearted with tones of relief linking to this characters emotions that he is happy he is getting his life back to how it was becoming content with the new him although when the new character is introduced sound decreased in pace and tempo suggesting this character brings upset to him causing drama within the scene.

First Shot we see fades into a mid-shot of a man’s back obtaining idea of mystery as the shot stays on this man we concentrate a lot on what he is saying as there’s not much detail to focus on except a man’s plain black clothed shoulders, short hair and a window. Mise-en-scene is very basic so far due to the plain tidy room although we do notice the bars on the windows furthering the idea of a hospital. Camera scans the room giving audience a feel for his living condition. Then a fast past pan around the side of his face then stopping with a close up of his expressionless face, leaving him vulnerable for the audience to judge him, audience focuses on his eyes as they are slightly red and look miserable connoting his heart ache the audience now feels emotionally closer to this character. This character then looks down hiding his face connoting he is self conscious and no longer wants to be judged. Quickly the scene changes, going from him  having a long intense evaluation on life to running down the stairs this suggests that he gets distracted quickly and can’t stay on one thought path for long.

Mid-shot as well as point of view shot of a pill he is being asked to take although being a simply shot has a large effect he then spits out the pill, and doesn’t want their help, he feels he  can get better on his own. A tracking shot entering a group discussion makes audience feel a part of the scene. Then focuses on one man who is obsessively talking about his hair showing he too has mental issues. Leads on to a tilt shot of him working out, becoming not only physically fitter but mentally healthier.

 Low angle shot of him on the floor in a new characters shadow create idea dominance and importance to the new character following onto a mid shot of 3 people, the main character being as the back suggesting he is less important and being treating like a child as the people in front decide what to do with his even though he is obviously old enough to make his own mind up, causing main character to be frustrating and his mental well being to spiral downwards. We start to connect part of his problems to this new female character, who associate to be his mother.

Romance Opening - "10 Things I Hate About You"

10 Things I Hate About You

Opening of this film is massively stereotypical; not only to romance genre but to how people perceive school and teenagers to be. Typical popular girls in their convertible car match conventions, although as the other car pulls up stereotypes are challenged. As the new boy is being shown around there is supposedly all these social groups within a high school, which are never accurate and finally as he sees this beautiful girl that he is astounded by her beauty, classical music starts to play confirming the genre as romance.

We focus on a few characters, the guidance councillor who obviously doesn’t care for students as she should, she used rude language around the pupils and is more interested on writing a novel, reflecting why the behaviour of the students is poor. Leading on to our next main character, a teenage girl with very opinionated views, she doesn’t care for he appearance like the other girls, she is an outcast with her different music, clothing and approach to school. Seems well educated as she is talking about books during English, she seems to get frustrated with the level of intelligence shown by her fellow pupils suggesting she may think she is better than them. We also focus on 2 boys, one being the new boy who moves from school to school a lot, he falls straight in love with the prettiest girl in school despite the challenges it may bring. Finally we are introduced to the rebellious troubled outcast boy with his no care attitude towards school, it is obvious already that they two troubled teens are most likely to fall in love.

Sound presented at the start is rocky electric music symbolising youth, a teenage rap song takes over; these are all signs pointing towards this film being about teenagers and target audience being teenagers. As camera swaps to a popular girls car,  a normal pop song is playing whereas a rebellious song overpowers as we pan to a girl who obviously has different attitude to life and how she doesn’t “give a dam about her  bad reputation”  suggesting that she is an outcast in the high school scene.

As scene changes to the office the music stops while dialog continues, then non diegetic drum and guitar music starts as he is being shown to all the stereotypical social groups. This is because when the adults are present in a scene the music played is not fitted to the setting therefore it stops, and then carries on when they are in the hallway. When he sees a girl music changes to romance song confirming the genre. Then to finish a diegetic school bell cuts out the music. Now they are in a classroom there is no music only talking because there’s a adult present in the scene.

                 Establishing shot opens the movie showing an area outside of the city suggesting this is a normal school, containing normal people. Opening credits are very quirky and fun showing that the target audience is for teenagers. Medium shot of two cars pulling up has the effect of showing the audience to two different types of girls whom attend this school. Close up shot of the girls in the car as they roll their eyes to the other girl showing that they don’t like her and that she isn’t popular. Followed by an over the shoulder shot of the main girl ripping down a prom poster giving the impression that she hates school events which involve popularity status. Now in the office a two shot of the boys as their paths cross, the shorter and more vulnerable one seems afraid of this raged looking teen. Camera then follows this new boy around as he is getting a tour by another student, we focus mainly on them but also pay attention to the groups of people and how they are interpreted through their clothes and lifestyle choices. Medium shot of the boys with people walking past behind them, we now have a feel to how this high school setting is.

Slow motion medium shot of a girl takes the attention away from the boys,  as she walks past the camera we go back to the boys seeing his reaction. Effect of slow motion is to suggest that for the new boy what he has just seen was so beautiful that it occurred slow motion to him, this is also to symbolise that she is a main character. Two shot of the girls as they are talking, we immediately see that they don’t have a high intellectual level as they are talking about very superficial things. Fitting in with the stereotypes of high school girls. Finishing with a high angle shot of classroom setting showing a clash of opinions between two students. 

Romance Opening - Life As We Know It

Life As We Know It

Genre is clear, mise-en-scene contains all romantic conventions, the evening setting, the colour red appearing often as well as other couples walking past. The music also points towards the genre being romance. Although this opening the characters challenge to conventions through the lack of romantic interest between them which ultimately ends in disaster.

Starting music is a Non diegetic Amy Winehouse song which contains romantic lyrics as well as a passionate tune. Straight away we see that romance is present in the scene. The diegetic knock cuts the music out as we are introduced to a Man. Dialog then starts along with a subtle, calming jingle which sets the mood between to two for the audience. At the end of the opening, after their argument the women behaviour went from ladylike and calm to angry. The music changes to fit her mood therefore we get a more upbeat, higher tempo music as she storms away.

Two starting shots are extreme close ups focusing on a part of the body, first red lips then red shoes, the colour red connotes romance therefore the audience knows she is getting ready for a date. A long shot of the room shows her sitting there reading a book as if she is waiting for someone. Point of view shots are used as they are having a conversation. Long shot of them walking, her body is faced toward him suggesting she is making an effort and engrossed in what he has to say, whereas his body is facing forward suggesting he doesn’t really care for what she is saying. The man in this scene is wearing all black, which is quite neutral as well as his motorbike which is also black therefore he has showed no romantic interest yet, whereas the women is wearing red lipstick, shoes and also has a red car all signs she is wanting to find love. As they get in the car a couple walks past on the left being another sign that this is a romance film. Two shot of them in the car rather cramped and very awkward looking. At the end of this opening the camera follows the women back to her house but with the man in the background so we are still able to see them both, but it’s obvious they aren’t together. She then walks past a bush which finishes the opening scene while the credits play.

First character we are introduced to is a women, blonde, pretty, early 30’s and looking for love. We wonder why she isn’t in a relationship already. Quickly after we are shown a second character; a man. He is wearing a cap and casual clothes. He has definitely not made an effort compared to the women reflecting his laid back attitude. There are obvious signs of awkwardness, they know each other on a first name basis only which may suggest they have been set up on a blind date, that she was excited for but he felt forced into. As they are walking outside she is asking him question after question because he is not expanding on any of his answers, making her come across rather forward. Her expectations are higher than he can offer, she was expecting a car not a motor bike, she was expecting a planned evening not for her to have to organise it.

 It is plain to see that he is a hopeless romantic. They both are being pleasant and civil until he gets off the phone with his “Sick Friend” which was apparent it was a lustful friend of his. She has had enough of his rude and inconsiderate behaviour, she expresses how she really feels and they both go their separate ways. But the audience knows that they are most likely to cross paths again.

Romance Target Audience

Romance Target Audience 

Romance audiences tend to be female; girls from the age of 15 to women of an elderly age. Women are the main audience as they love and seek romance in life. Romance reflects how women want their real life to be, with a happy ending by falling in love with an attractive muscular man who treats her like a princess e.g. Patrick Swayze or Channing Tatum. Although women are the main audience, men do still watch romance, but usually this is only with a girlfriend or a wife in order to please them. Not many groups of men chose a romance over an action and adventure