Film poster analysis using theorists - The Descent

I have chosen to use The Descent for the film poster anaylsis task because it is a similar genre to the film I intend to create.

Image: http://media.photobucket.com/image/the%20descent%20film%20poster/ptnik/movies/the-descent-movie-poster-small.jpg

Summary of the film:
The film is directed and written by Neil Marshall and was released in the UK in July 2005, rated 18. The genre of the film is Drama, Thriller and Horror.

The film is about a family who go on holiday, have a tragic car accident in which the main characters husband and daughter dies, leaving her the only remaining family member. Later, the main character Sarah goes on a exploration holiday of caves in the mountains with a group of friend. Whilst exploring they get trapped in cave, encounter monsterous creatures and have to fight for survival.

Saussure’s Signs:
Saussure looks at the signs and the signified - what is actually shown in the product and the representation of what is being shown.

In the poster for the The Descent a very significant sign is the female in the poster this is because the image depicts that she is in danger thus creating suspense for the film. The cuts on the females face show danger and show her as a victim and suggests struggle .
The smoke/ light rays in the image show faces in the light which is a sign. This signifies an element of danger and could suggest that the female is being watched. The light also signifies that the female may be trapped suggesting that she is a passive, victimised character in the film. The light may also signify that the light offers and escape route but due to the positioning of the woman at the bottom of the page, she is unable to escape.

Barthes Myths – the cultural connotations of the signs
Barthes myths say that the culture in which the product is placed and the meanings it has, are based upon the cultural beliefs of that region.

The light shown in the poster could have a religious angle. The source of the light could be from God. This can have two alternate meanings. Firstly, God is shining the light on the character to offer support and strength which would help the woman escape. Alternatively, the light could suggest Judgement Day in which the woman is a victim of bad fate as she is looking up to the light suggesting God has power over her, showing her as a passive character. Also, the faces in the light look similar to a religious statue which supports the idea of the religious aspect in this poster.


Levi- Strauss Binary Opposites
Levi Strauss looks at narrative structure in terms of binary opposites. This means that opposites such as the known and unkown are used to set the structure of media texts.

In my opinion, binary opposites cannot be seen in the poster for The Descent as the poster creates questions in the audiences head by creating suspense due to the mise en scene of the poster. The poster suggests an enigma so by revealing the structure of the film to the audience. This would dampen the hype for the film which would decrease the viewing, therefore decreasing the revenue.

A2 Skills Developement

As a starter (preliminary task) to get us used to filming and using the editing software avaliable in the college's computers we started a task in which we were in small groups to produce video consisting of two scenes inside the college.

The group members are:
Myself
Nathan Greenaway
Likwha

The aim of this task was to use the camera to film in sections and edit the video using the Apple Macs to come up a final piece.

From this task we got an introduction to filming and how to use iMovie. Unfortunately, due to teacher absence we were unable to finish this task.

Synopsis

A group of teenagers are enjoying a social evening and walk through the woods on their way home. During this walk home, they discover a teenage girl being attacked by a notorious gang and flee the scene, later that evening they are huddled, still shocked from the findings, and discuss their options on what they should do. The teenagers later get found by the police and get taken to the police station for questioning… But does justice get done?

Main characters
Matthew Branimir (M)
Matthew is the main character who is the ring leader of the teenage group. He knows the reasons behind the crime scene and has some attachment to it that the other characters are unaware of. He tries persuading the other characters not to say any thing to anyone.

Heidi Silverrain (F)
Heidi is a normal teenager who is enjopying a carefree life. Upon discovering the attack, she is unsure what to do as she becomes worried about any repercussions from the gang involved.

Jason Garvil (M)
Jason is a similar charcater to Heidi and they often spend a lot of time together. Jason is also unsure on what to do about the discovery of the attack but doesnt seem to force any opinions.

Felix Blakely (F)
Felix Blakey is very much the "baby" of the group and seems to be concerned about everything and always wants to do good by people. She is very concerned about the attack and is adament that the group should go to the police.

Police voice (optional)
I may use a voice of a police officer without an actor being in the shot to avoid using too many actors which may be unreliable. I have listed the police voice as optional because I may leave the questions asked to the audiences imagination by getting the actors to reveal parts of the questions in their answers to the interview/ interrgoation.

Setting
Woodland area for crime scene
Small room for the interviews
Small room for the police/prison cell

Props
Bottles – alcohol?
Tissues
Desks and chairs (police interviews)

Film Proposal

Production title
Unknown at present

Assignment brief
A2 G324: Advanced Portfolio in Media
A short film in its entirety, lasting approximately five minutes, which may be live action or animated or a combination of both.

Proposal
I propose to create an enigma in my film by creating suspense. A group of actors will be running through dark woodland area, screaming and shouting and looking behind them. They have just seen a crime scene which the character Matthew Branimir is connected with. The other characters are unaware of the connection between the crime and Matthew. Later, when the group has come out of the woods and are at home, still together, Matthew tries persuading the group not to tell anyone about what they have just seen. The scene ends up a heated debate and the outcome is unknown to the audience, it just simply ends in silence. I will not show the crime scene but expose some of the details from the interview without giving to much detail. Felix Blakely who pleaded to tell the police when having the discussion gets put on trial and awaits a court hearing in connection with the crime. The closing scene will be Felix Blakely being put into a police cell and banging and sobbing at the door.

Group Members:
Characters:
Matthew Branimir (main character)
Heidi Silverrain
Jason Garvil
Felix Blakely (innocent charcacter)

Actors:
Unknown at present

Approval and comments:

About a girl by Brian Percival -- Film Review

I have watched the short film "About a Girl" By Brian Percival and have analysed how the film was made using mise en scene to show how the representations have been conveyed.

Link to the film: http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/films/p0055x2k

Notes:
- Non linear
- Enigma
- Character
- 1st person narration
- Juxta positioning
- Mise en scene
- Language
- Colour

Representation
- Disability
- Age
- Gender
- Sexual orientation
- Religion
- Race – stereotype - shameless
- Socioeconomic ( class )

Review
About a girl is a short film representing a young girl aged 13 whose morals have been damaged by her family life.

The main representations of this film are age, gender, race and socioeconomic, they are portrayed through mise en scene.


THE SETTING
The setting is important in conveying the story as the girl was on her own walking through the streets of Manchester. This focuses directly on her and connotes that her parents aren't particularly worried about her as you would not normally expect to se a young girl walking on her own through a rough looking area. This helps convey the subject matter as she is talking about her family life which seems fairly negative.

By contrast, in some of the scenes (like the opening scene), the young girl is seen with her friends singing lyrics from songs and seemingly enjoying her life which portrays her childlike nature and subsequently suggests a sense of innocence. These scenes make the ending of the film (where she throws her baby into the river whilst saying she has "become good at hiding things" even more shocking.

THE PROPS
The cola and crisps are used as props in the short film to express the difference between the lifestyles the girl is witnessing. Her life with her father is presented as fun and optimistic yet when it is shown in the film it is very much contrasted.

COSTUME
The girl is wearing plain clothing which highlights the socioeconomics of the film. Furthermore, the plain clothing may be representative of how she seems to go unnoticed in her family life, this is because if you were to see the girl in "real life", the clothing she is wearing does not make her stand out from the crowd and she is very likely to go unnoticed.

MAKE UP/ HAIR
The girl doesn’t seem to be wearing any makeup and her hair is swept up in a ponytail which highlights her childhood. The lack of makeup and the hair style, also help represent the socioeconomics of the film.

THE EXPRESSION AND MOVEMENT OF THE ACTORS
The film is enhanced by the movement of the girl through because you are able to get a good view of Liverpool and the surrounding areas which add to the atmosphere of the short film.

LIGHTING
The lighting is a very important influence to the film as it becomes darker when the girl drops the baby into the river. As she walks away, the lighting becomes lighter which echoes the burden being lifted off of her shoulders that her parents are unaware of her pregnancy and the baby. However, she will have the burden of her conscience of dropping her baby into the river.


STRUCTURE/ SEQUENCE
The film is in a linear sequence which is important for the structure of the film because the audience are able to understand the events of girls life before the film is set and can understand the events of the plot during what is shown in the film.

Analysis of short films

I have watched short films from Cinema 16 to get an idea of the content and how short films are made. These films do not necessarily have the same genre as the film I intend to make but it will give me greater experience in short films which will help build and develop ideas for my own film.

Cinema 16:

Joyride by Jim Gillespie (1995)
The director of this film, Jim Gillespie went on to make the film "I know what you didlast summer".

Content: An electrician leaves a job which he hasn't worked on and plans to go home. On his way he stops because there is an animal in the road and he gets hit over the head with an axe and gets kidnapped and is put in the boot of the car. Police pull the car over and the man in the boot starts banging and shouting to inform them of his presence but before the police can rescue him, the kidnapper murders the police then drives off. Later, the kinapper crashes the car and the kidnapped man manages to get out who is covered in petrol/ oil, the location at this point is back to the beginning where he'd left the job unfinished. The kidnapped man is standing with the police and a spark comes down from the powerplant and he is set alight and dies.

How it is made:
The main focus of the short film is the driving which uses a pan shot. Based upon my ideas for my film, I do not believe that I am going to use any features from this film in my own creation.


Where's the money Ronnie! by Shane Meadows
Content:
This film is about a group of men who have been involved in a crime and steal money. Following the offense, the men get questioned by the police. In this scene, the police men cannot be seen and the film has been edited so that the men narrate the story based on the information that they give to the police. This is a feature that I really like and would want to recreate a similar interview style in my own film.


I have also looked at:
Epilog by Tom Tykwer (1992)
Epilog has a slight surreal feel to the film as it is a flashback to the events that have happened and then give the actual events of what happened. I like how this is done and I may be able to use this style for my own film. I could use this idea combined with the interview scene to give a greater insight into the plot.

Eight by Stephen Daldry (1998)
This is a film set in Liverpool. The story is about a young boy who is dealing with the death of his father and coping through football. With the ideas that I have had for my film, I do not believe I can take anything from this film as an influence.


Next I have used Youtube to find short films with a similar genre to the film which I will be making to get an idea of the conventions used for a thriller film. I intentionally researched films of a similiar length to the one I will be making.

Prank Call
(Duration 5:54)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0ooByDtAwM

Content:
Prank Call is about a man who has got his victim tied up, he unties her and circles her. He hands her a phone and tells her to call somebody close who cares about her to prank call. He takes photos and laughs and walks around her, he then tells her to leave and she picks up a gun then shoots him.

How it has been made:
Opening sequence: Dialogue with the sound of phone keypad tones to match the content/title. Music plays and the camera pans around the room followed by a closeup of the victims hands which are tied up. There are many close ups of the victims face and the man which forces the audience where to look for effect. The colour of the scene is dark and the girl is in a lighter area which emphasises her. The closing sequence compliments the opening by displaying a similar dialogue for the definiton of a serial killer.


Bon Voyage!
(Duration 4:38)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_Nk1qkr_4M

Content:
Bon Voyage! is a film which follows a teenage male who is hallucinating after taking some magic mushrooms. We see the hallucinations he is having. He is frantically moving around the house to avoid the character which is following him, he picks up a shotgun but turns around and the character has gone. We understand the situation of the male when he passes a television which is showing the news and reveals the story about the magic mushrooms and the hallucinations.

How it has been made:
Opening: Bon Voyage! begins with the name of a production company and a close up of the males car.
Camera: There are many close up camera angles as the male leaves his car, enters his house and puts his keys down. Many of the shots are medium/ close ups.
Music:
Colouring: very dark, black/white contract
Closing sequence: ends with the credits.

Slapen
(Duration 5:50 mins)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLw0Aew1NAI&feature=related

Content:
In Slapen, a woman is on the floor who is quite frantic, she is laying over a dead body and is crying and trying to cover her wounds. The daughter comes in and the mum speaks to her in a foreign language then takes her out of the room and her teddy gets droped on the floor. The daughter picks up the teddy and cradles over the dead body and reaches for something beneath the sheet covering the dead body and gets injured. The mum then comes in and cradles her daughter and begins crying, a neighbour comes over to offer comfort and then sees the deas body behind the mum, he looks shocked when he realises that it is a dead body and the mum picks up a large rock and the scene goes blank which suggests that she strikes him with the rock and kills him.

How it has been made:
Opening: Mist over the moon which shows the title of the film, then goes straight into the action.
Camera shots: Low shots and close up.
Music: low tone, violin strings
Colours: The colour are very dark, contrast between black and white.
Closing shots: The shot goes black and after a few seconds the cast listing appears.


What I have learnt from this task?
This tasl has been very beneficical to my research because it is good to see many other short films to get an idea of features and conventions that have been used and to see if there are any that I can use. Also, by looking at a range of films, I am able to see aspects that I do not want in my own film which will help elliminate ideas. From this, I have liked the interview in "Where's the money Ronnie!" which has given me good ideas for my own film which I am likely to adapt to my own film.

What I will be doing in my coursework and idea generating

For this piece of coursework the options are:
- To create a short film (lasting approximately 5 minutes)
- An extract from a documentary

I have decided to make a film because I believe their is more to work with in a film and wouls get the better marks.

To decide what film I want to make, I looked at Youtube and Google and have created a brainstorm of the genres in which I can use.

From this list of genres I have eliminated any genres which I am not particularly interested in because I feel that I will enjoy and get better milage out of a genre which I enjoy. One of my favourite films is "One Missed Call" which is a horror film, the reason I enjoy it so much is because of having to think about whats going on on-screen and try and work it out as the film is progressing then come to a conclusion at the end. A horror/ suspense film will enable me to create a similar connection between the audience and the film as they are intruiged like I was inOne Missed Call. A horror/ suspense film is more preferable than a romantic comedy because I believe I can create a greater audience/film relationship and be able to make a better film in the horror/suspense genre.

I have used Google to help my research to come up with ideas:

http://www.kristofcreative.com/learning/production/film/36-dramatic-situations.shtml

Next, I have brainstormed some ideas for the genres I have selected. These are:

- Horror

- Thriller

- Suspense

This is my main idea:
Introduction:
Screaming, shouting, crying and running through woodland looking behind.

Middle:
Police interrogation

Ending:
Person being put into a cell (mental health?) and sobbing at the door.

Advert analysis

Rihanna
Image: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMa882Y_pqX9ccVGCiN-fFWAXEGNMZM3OztDgTM2s4aCtPf01JAbEDTzfMZyzxrEET_nHSKaDvSFhexbnwq-QEe0rXZaZD0-u-TlnlCQfkyTlWFRt7rDRJ5zZ887dwxR1x9eF45_1ft4U/s400/rihanna-you-magazine.jpg

(page to be scanned in)

YOU magazine is sold with the Mail on Sunday generally packed in a plastic sheet which enables it to be placed at the back in front of the sports page to attract a male audience.

Chanel
Image: http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/07_02/MOssMOS1507_468x668.jpg


Smoky eyes – sexy, sultry imagery – provocative implications
Lip - natural colouring, pursed lips.
White clothing - purity
Lace - passionate romantic
Unbuttoned shirt exposing cleavage area – seductive imagery, revealing
White background –
Hair is tied back to expose all of the face.
Skin colour is similar to the colour of the perfume.
Vogue – representing fashion magazine, high reputation.
Coco – brand name, quality price, prestige.
Positioning – trying to hide herself
Type face- rebellious to standard forms

Audience – aimed at women because of the content of the advert however also aimed at men to buy the perfume for a woman.

NHS stop smoking advert

Image: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01376/HEALTH_1376022c.jpg

Letter to the first year students

What do you know now, that you wished you knew about media coursework in the first year?

Dear first years,

Make sure that you keep all of the hand-outs and make sure they are adequately filled out because at a later date you will need to write about them in your blog and hand them in with your final piece of coursework. Also, regularly update your blog, keep adding new posts so you can do various different posts at the same time and go back to any you need to add to or edit.

Screenshot at every stage of your coursework and put them in a word document (add a brief summary underneath so when it comes to adding them to your blog you remember what you’ve done), you may not need all of the screenshots but at least you have evidence of your work and have a selection for what goes into your blog (it will get you more marks, the more detail you have the better!)

Good luck!! :)