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Prelim Videos

                                         

Prelim Basic 

                                         

Prelim Breaking the 180 Rule

Prelim with Titles 

Prelim with Titles and SFX

Bridget Jones's Diary Opening Analysis

Genre: 
Rom-Com
Romantic Comedy...


The Players:
Richard Curtis- Wrote the original book of which the film was based upon, Andrew Davies adapted that to create the film.

Production Budget:
According to box office mojo, the procession budget was: 
$25 Million

Production Companies

The first few shots taken from Bridget Jones's Diary are the production companies involved in making of Bridget Jones's Diary.

'Working Title' are a major film company, and attract the biggest stars, typically American, and if British, white and southern, this is because, from a marketing point of view, this sells more copies, therefore, more income for Working Title, which is the primary focus of the company.

-4 company idents:

-Universal Studios // 20 seconds

-Studio Canal // 16 seconds
-Miramax Films // 14 seconds

-Working Title // 10 seconds
Altogether 60 seconds

The 1st Shot:

• In BJD, the opening shot contains the main character, with a medium close up shot. Rarely do you see the main characters face immediately, however due to the nature of the film, it is logical with reference to the non-diegetic sound of her thoughts, therefore we can see who's voice it is, helping the viewer follow the plot. 

• Female main character, this could suggest it relates to girls more than guys, potentially making it a romantic film, or 'chick flick'. Uses cross fade for transition between shots. The mise en scene has only a small level of importance, however, it is key in determining the time of year and what this could denote it is Christmas/winter due to the weather (snow).

• The film opening lasts 11 minutes and 54 seconds.

• The opening sequence begins at 60 seconds / 1 minute.

Titles

• Main Title is in bold, and a larger font than the subtitles
• San Serif.






Positioned left side of the screen.
They include names of directors and procures etc
Each last the same length of time and fade in and out
each are the same size apart from the main title
The size of the sub titles don't change, signifying each person has contrubted the same to the overall production and making of the film
The job of which each person named is smaller and thinner, whereas the name is a bigger font and in bold.
the colour stays the same throughout
there is no animation to the titles 
 

Subtitles before main title...

• These subtitles come before the main title... 'Bridget Jones's Diary', the subtitles are a lot thinner in comparison, this could denote that every person involved in production adds up to something much bigger, 
• Signified by the font // Serif font.
• All positioned on the left and in the same font and size.
• 19 subtitles in total before main title
• Each title has a 9-10 second gap between each one and last for 4 seconds each
• Overall the subtitles last 1 minute and 40 seconds after 1 minute of company idents.

Sound, Music:

• The opening sequence has non diegetic and diegetic sound.

• Non diegetic is in the opening shot, we hear 'Bridget Jones's' thoughts over watching her go to her mums for Christmas denoted by the heavy snow, which leads to verisimilitude.
• 
  

• All By Myself, as linked at the top - https://youtu.be/t8iTZm8-mbA

Characters:

The opening scene follows the main character, and uses non diagetic speach from her, from this we get to know the character and can see things from her perspective. There is also binary oppositionbetween 'Bridget', and a 'divorced single man' who her mother tries unsuccessfully to set her up with to begin with.


Shot Variety:
The shot type varies throughout the opening sequence, including and establishing shot in the opening scene. Along with a close up which brings power to the scene.

Source: (http://shottype.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/bridget-joness-diary.html)

Atonement Opening Analysis

(Joe Wright, 2007)
Produced by Working Title (+2); distribution: Universal
Budget:$30m
Box Office: $130m (world); $51m (USA), £11.5m

The titles in this opening include:

• Universal (company idents)
• Working title (company idents)
• Universal pictures presents
• In association with studio canal and relativity media
• A working title production
• Atonement       

The titles in this film are unconventionally short and there are only 6 which is strange. Usually there can be up to approximately 30 titles at the start of a movie. This however allows the user to get straight into the film. The title sequence includes 2 company dents including: universal (the distribution company) and working title which can be identified as the production company. The sequence then includes 4 titles which all follow the same format of a black background with white text which follows the conventional documentary style opening giving it a sense of importance. The universal ident lasts 20 seconds whereas the working title ident lasts 10 seconds. This creates the effect that universal is bigger and more important than working title. The opening title sequence (and idents) lasts exactly 52 seconds which again is unconventionally short in regards to film opening durations.

The title 'ATONEMENT' then appears as to be written by a type writer to signify the time period in which it was set achieving a sense of verisimilitude.

The transition into the main film sequence and into the 1st shot is a sudden frame switch which takes place at 53 seconds. This is an example of a cut shot as there is no smooth transition between the frames.

The opening of this movie includes a variety of things which can be connoted and detonated. For example at the start after the titles have played you can simply hear a type writer. This is an example of verisimilitude as it shows that the movie is set in the time of the typewriter, 1939 to be exact. The first shot is one of a big child's play house. This can be denoted to signify wealth and childhood. It also helps the setting of the first scene which is in the bedroom of a young girl. The setting of the whole opening of the movie is mainly in this one house. The camera then follows a long trail of child's toys which further signifies the fact of wealth and the abundance of non-essential play toys.

The sound of the type write keeps playing throughout the first couple of scenes. This is an example of diegetic audio which allows the reader to understand that there is actually a type writer present in the scene. the room in which the first scene is filmed is a big posh children bedroom which again signifies to the viewer the extent of the wealth that the people of the house own.

You quickly learn from the scene that the girl is writing a play which sets the story line going for the film. The girl in context to the whole film may be seen as an antagonist as she plays a part in a sinister role throughout the film. As the girl leaves the room the pace of the recurring type writer increases even though the girl has actually stopped using it. This is an example of non-diegeticaudio. This increase in pace works with the fast pace of the girl almost running through the massive estate which is her home. 

The use of camera shots varies between shot reverse shot which aids the viewer in seeing the whole conversation which is involved in the shot reverse shot, and the use of other shots such as close ups which the 1st shot is. The 1st shot is somehow ironic in the sense that it is a close up shot of a doll's house representation of the house in which the film is set. This then leads to the medium over the shoulder shot which sets the scene and introduces the main character.

Source (http://wongproductions.blogspot.co.uk/)

Four Lions Opening Analysis

Four Lions

(Chris Morris, 2010)

Produced by Warp Films, (+ Film4; Wild Bunch, Optimum Releasing)

Budget: £2.5 million

Overall, the opening sequence is about 3mins20secs long, with two company idents and four titles. It seems that the lack of titles for this opening is done deliberately so that the audience will focus on the story and characters right away. The film seems to be trying for verisimilitude, as it doesn't start with a montage and non-diegetic sound, but with a long-shot of one of the main characters. There isn't much of a narrative enigma, but this works as it fits with the characters (who seem rather unintelligent) and are rather unsubtle.

The film opens with the company ident for Wild Bunch (10 seconds in length.) As "Wild Bunch" is a German Film Distribution Company, we understand this company ident to mean that they were the distributors for "Four Lions"

"Film4" is a production company, so this company ident (10 seconds in length) reveals to us that they produced "Four Lions".

Both company idents keep their original sound.

This is the first shot of the film. There are no titles - it simply cuts in with a static medium-long shot (that shifts ever so slightly) of one of the characters in the middle third. All the sound is diegetic. It can be denoted that the character looks middle-eastern, is wearing dark, khaki clothing, and a head band with what appears to be islamic writing on it: this exposition shows us that the character is islamic, and given that the audience is likely to have seen videos of terrorist propaganda on the news (intertextuality) we understand that this character is meant to be a terrorist. A narrative enigma is created briefly as an audience wonders what he is going to say and what's going to happen next. The lack of titles seems to have been done to create a strong sense of verisimilitude (as if this were really a terrorist demands video, as that wouldn't have titles.) 

In the next shot (cuts to a long shot - which is important as it increases the shot variety) the rest of the main characters are revealed, and it becomes clear to the audience that they are not actually a serious terrorist group, but just four Pakistani's from Sheffield, West Yorkshire (exposed through their accents.)  However, there is a slight narrative enigma as we (the audience) are left wondering what they're trying to achieve by being terrorists. We can denote that the room they are in is shabby and sparsely furnished, which has connotations of our main characters being lower-middle class. 

However, there is a jump-cut to a medium shot of Omar's (the protagonist's) family, but now the room in which they are in is a lot cleaner and nicer, a direct contrast to the place in which we first met Omar. This creates a binary opposition; the terrorist, and the family man. It must be denoted that his wife is a nurse, and that he has a young son; these two facts both make the audience more connected to Omar, despite his attempts to be a terrorist. All sound up until this point has been diegetic, but non-diegetic music begins to fade in (providing an audio bridge.)

This is the 1st title to appear in the film, however it doesn't appear until 3:01. The word "presents" shows us that Film4 produced this film. Non-diegetic music (which sounds middle eastern and quite serious) has begun to play by this point. This footage provides the transition (with the aid of an audio bridge) from the introduction to the main film, and also gives anchorage to help with the context (e.g. that it takes place within a city.)

This is the (2nd and) main title (the name) of the movie. It's written in sans-serif and is easy to read; fonts like this are commonly used in comedies and dramas ("Four Lions" being a combination of the two.) It's small, and in the lower middle third of the screen, however as the camera zooms in on the Mosque with fairy lights (center, middle third) we understand that this movie is to focus on Islam; the mosque is being used as anchorage. As we've seen the four Jihadi terrorists by this point, we understand the title "Four Lions" is a direct reference to them. 

Just as with the 1st and 2nd titles, the writing here is small, sans-serif style and pale coloured, meaning it is not eye-catching. Again it's also in the bottom two thirds, almost as if it was not meant to be seen (or at least focused on.) This title mentions the production company (Warp Films) and the director (Chris Morris - who is only mentioned once within the titles; this is unusual, as normally the director is mentioned twice.) The mise-en-scene here depicts an empty shopping center, which is revealed to be the place of employment of Omar. The use of the empty shopping center is to anchor the fact that Omar lives in the western world, which makes his involvement in a Jihadi terrorist group all the more confusing for the audience.

This is the final title for the opening, and it simply names two companies involved in the majority of distribution of this film; Wild Bunch and Optimum Releasing. Again, the writing is small and difficult to read, especially as it's placed in the bottom third. (The non-diegetic music ends here.)

*Each title lasts approximately 5 seconds (and they fade in/out,) with the overall title sequence stretching from 3:01 to 3:20.

(Main) Props List

• Camera
• Toy Rifle
• Laptop

Location

• Shabby living room
• Modern kitchen
• City at night
• Empty shopping center\

Source (http://silversaltstudios.blogspot.co.uk)