Research: Film Openings- Institutional 

Film 1: 'Batman' (1989, Burton)

-The use of having the distribution company at the start of the opening it encourages people to see the film because if the audience notices a well-known distributor then they are more likely to see the film. -The text for the institutional titles and the main title are in a normal font, but in the yellow colour, this hints the batman logo and colours, the yellow text also juxtaposes with the dark background, emphasising the title of the film and the people who have been involved in the production process of making this film.
-The Batman theme is heard playing throughout of the opening, suggesting it's debut and orchestration specifically for this film.
-Throughout the opening the soundtrack has periods of builds and fades/slows, coupled with the different transitions within the images (so with fast paced build of the soundtrack the images transition speeds up and this is the opposite for the slow paced sections of the soundtrack).
-For the visuals, there really isn't much to show as it is just a dark transition of the logo, close up, until the very end when it shows the full Batman logo.
-The build ups create a sort of action, intense atmosphere which gets people to start to look forward to the film.
-The main title of the film and other titles are centred in the frame, it tries to emphasise the main title and the people involved in making this film happen.
-In this opening there is 27 institutional titles which suggests to us as the audience that this is a big budget film which has had a lot of effort put into the making of this film due to the large number of institutional titles.
-For this opening it only has one camera transition, which is like a panning shot of a close-up of the Batman logo, this gets the audience to wonder what the film is about, thus getting people wanting to know what more of the narrative is, therefore they sit and watch the rest of the film to know what the narrative is.
- Orchestral sound is used heavily through the opening for this film, especially when the batman theme was specifically composed for the film, makes the film more memorable for the audience.

Film 2: 'Blade 2' (2002. Del Toro)

- For Blade 2 the institutional line is quite sparse, with only 4 institutional titles throughout the opening, this could be because the film makers want people to focus more on the voice over and the visuals more than the text, to get people to be excited for the rest of the film, plus it fills in the narrative for people who cannot remember the events of the first film or to fill in the narrative for people who may not have seen the first film.
- Throughout the opening the main theme for blade plays while also having Blade's voice over for the majority of the opening, which fills in the narrative for the audience.
- Other pieces of audio are really just sound effects which enhance the experience to make it sound more realistic for the audience.
- The Visuals as mainly made up of scenes from the pervious film, thus allowing the audience to familiarise themselves with the narrative of the film.
- Other visuals include the use of different weapons (props) which suggests that he is getting ready for a battle, resulting in the audience deducing that this is a action film, coupled with a pinch of horror, due to the bloody clips and the voice over.
-The main title for this film is in the centre of the frame this shows the title of the film clearly, a grabs the audience's attention onto the man title.
-This uses a mixture of moving and still images which help to show the narrative and characterisation.
- The use of gram negative filters on some scenes within the opening create a sense of horror for the audience.
- The use of many props within the opening helps to set the genre for the rest of the film resulting in the audience thinking that this is an action film.

Group film opening analysis 

'The Conjuring' (2013, Wan)

- In this opening throughout the soundtrack is quite eerie, thus creating an uncomfortable feel for the audience, therefore adding to the sense of horror.
- Also for the audio in the opening, in certain places a  sound is added for roughly a second suddenly (For example a crow or a door bell or a door opening), resulting in a scary atmosphere.
- For the visuals it shows old newspaper articles, which adds to the sense of realism to which the audience can relate to and gets the audience to believe that this actually happened.
- For institutional titles, there are 17 in all in which show mostly the actors names and the director's name which is shown twice, both at the beginning of the opening and the end, to show who the director is.
- In some sections the music builds which creates a more intense atmosphere, which makes the viewing experience more uncomfortable for the audience, thus enhancing the horror feeling, which the film and the director is hoping to achieve, for the film to be successful.
- This opening uses mostly still images, but for the turning of news article pages they use a moving images to give it a sense of realism of actually turning the pages of the article.
- Throughout the opening the producers are given a mention especially the executive producers.
- The visuals throughout (the newspaper articles) create the narrative of the film by showing he audience past events before the film's proper beginning, this is also hinted towards the end with the still image of the tree and the large farm house in the background, with a noose tied to one of the branches of the tree, resulting in the audience suspecting the most recent past narrative or this could hint events that are to come later in the film, it gets the audience to start to guess whether this is a past or future reference.
- Different props are used to convey a horror tone for example a Ouija board is used in one of the clips, this is usually associated with horror scenes, this gets the audience to experience the horror aspect of this opening.


General sense from film openings- what the audience experiences in general, what ideas they are given. 

From film openings the audience can get a sense of the idea of what the film would be about without having to see the whole film to the end to get the sense of narrative. Also the audience can check to see which production companies are involved to see whether any well-known companies have been used to make this film happen. Moreover the audience can see who actually is directing it, because a well-known director can get people to watch the rest of the film, plus not question what is happening (in this section of the film), as people would be sort of familiar with their work. Finally the audience can see who is actually starring in this film, this can form opinions for many viewers, as different actors/actresses are right for specific roles. Film openings establish quite a few things for the audience. It can establish:
- Location of film
- Characters
- Narrative of the film
- Title, Credits
- Genre
- Tone/Atmosphere

Hollywood blockbuster out this christmas

'Rogue One a Star wars story' (2016, Edwards)

Release Date: 16th December 2016

Premise 

After the formation of the Galactic Empire, the Rebel Alliance recruits Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) to work with a team including Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) to steal the design schematics of the Empire's new superweapon, the Death Star with enough power to blow up an entire planet. (Wikipedia)

Trailers

Trailer 1

Trailer 2

Trailer 3

International trailer 1

Company Credits (IMDB) 

Production Companies:
Lucasfilm
Allison Shearmur Productions
Black Hangar Studios (location shooting)
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Distributors:
Cinecolor Films (2016) (Chile) (theatrical)
Forum Hungary (2016) (Hungary) (theatrical)
Walt Disney Studios Japan (2017) (Japan) (theatrical)
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (2016) (Argentina) (theatrical)
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (2016) (Germany) (theatrical)
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (2016) (UK) (theatrical)
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (2016) (Singapore) (theatrical)
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (2016) (USA) (theatrical)

Visit the Official Site guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rogue One Official Website

Cast (IMDB)

Felicity Jones	...	Jyn Erso
	Diego Luna	...	Cassian Andor
	Alan Tudyk	...	K-2SO
	Donnie Yen	...	Chirrut Îmwe
	Wen Jiang	...	Baze Malbus
	Ben Mendelsohn	...	Orson Krennic
	Forest Whitaker	...	Saw Gerrera
	Riz Ahmed	...	Bodhi Rook
	Mads Mikkelsen	...	Galen Erso
	Jimmy Smits	...	Bail Organa
	Alistair Petrie	...	General Draven
	Genevieve O'Reilly	...	Mon Mothma
	Ben Daniels	...	General Merrick
	Paul Kasey	...	Admiral Raddus

Thoughts? 

From watching this film recently, I would highly recommend this film especially for people who are avid watchers of the Star Wars Franchise, as they will not be disappointed with what Disney has done. I would also highly recommend this film also for people who have not watched the original trilogy or who haven't watched any of the Star Wars films before as this really doesn't spoil anything for people who haven't seen the original trilogy. The acting by the cast was brilliant with many scenes done perfectly especially Felicity Jones who was portraying the main character in this film.

Here is our trial run of filming, here is our extract called 'Spy Mission', check it out we would really appreciate it!

Pre-Production

- Thought of an original concept
- Thought of different characters to fit the narrative
- Thought of the location we wanted to film at
- Traveled to the location we wanted to film at first to see whether it fitted the narrative correctly and whether it gave us the correct space needed to film the section of the extract
- We pitched the roles to each other and issued them accordingly
- Wrote a script to help fit the narrative
- Gathered together equipment that was needed for example camera, tripod and tissue paper
- Drew a storyboard for the narrative

Production

- Filmed at multiple locations
- Used different camera effects to create different themes for example the use of handheld camera gave the audience the sense that they are in the extract with the character
- Used a close-up on the villain's face to make the scene more believable and more personal to the audience making it look as though the villain's attention and gaze is directed towards the audience
- The use of manual focus/zoom during the final scene of the extract to stop the scene becoming blurry due to auto focus/zoom, to allow the final scene to end perfectly.
- Used props to make the extract more believable to the audience

Post- Production

- Use of editing software using IMac's, to join different scenes together to create a more longer video than what was filmed individually
- On the editing software we added sound effects and music in order to give the extract more continuity to create more atmosphere that the scene is already creating
- Proceeded to then upload this to Youtube where we watched the final cut with others and we were able to engage with the audience and acknowledge their reactions to the extract

WWW- We as a group were able to work effectively together and were able to listen to other people's contributions to ideas/concepts about what our extract should consist of. Also we molded the characters from our own preferences and this also helped us to shape our script.

EBI- That we used different filters for the editing process and that we could have used different camera techniques to help enhance the viewing experience for the audience.

Learnt?

I have learnt how to use editing software effectively and I have learnt how to use different camera techniques with different stages of production

I believe that our final product was very intriguing and I had a lot of fun coming up with ideas/concepts and actually help to make this extract a reality. The audience's reaction I noticed when from watching this was that they enjoyed the funnier scenes especially the end scene and that they stayed quiet for most of the extract, therefore suggesting that their attention was directed towards the narrative. This shapes my future production projects as the skills that I have learnt this time I can use for the other projects for example using editing software.

Case Study 4: 'Spectre' (Mendes, 2015) 

Here are some pictures and movie posters of 'Spectre', enjoys guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is the trailer also guys, enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This trailer uses different conventions:

- Straight away the trailer opens with action scenes in the first 20 seconds of the trailer.
- Also in the first part of the trailer it showcases the stars in the film, showing people which actors and actresses are playing different roles especially key roles, for example James Bond is played by Daniel Craig.
- For the entire trailer the iconic James Bond Theme can be heard playing in the background over the clips and dialogue, when the action/fast paced scenes are being shown the climax to soundtrack starts to play to create more atmosphere, when the scenes are quiet and narrative related the soundtrack gets quieter.
- The use of both fast visual images and slightly slower fades to the next clip/image this maintains the pace of the trailer.
- In this trailer the main title of the film is not revealed until the very end, this encourages people to watch the whole of the trailer in order to see what the film's title is, therefore creating a larger demographic market of people that want to see the film, from just what they have been watching so far in the trailer.
- The trailer also highlights some of the 'best bits' of the film, for example action and driving scenes, this also allows the audience to establish the genre of the film from watching this trailer.
-However the action wasn't really interspersed with the credits on the screen either.

The target audience are people that enjoy action films and people that are avid consumers of the James Bond franchise. The distributor has targeted this audience by using various action scenes within the trailer and using the iconic James Bond Theme playing in the background.

Overall, for me, I believe that this trailer was very well edited and made because of the way it was edited together makes me, as a consumer and the targeted demographic to go and pay money to actually watch this film in the cinema, as it encouraged me through the use of well placed action scenes and theme tunes.

Here is the soundtrack to Spectre performed by Sam Smith, 'Writing's On The Wall'

Here is the replica of the Spectre ring from the film if you guys want to check it out, follow the link!!!

Spectre Ring

Plot summary

A cryptic message from the past sends James Bond on a rogue mission to Mexico City and eventually Rome, where he meets Lucia, the beautiful and forbidden widow of an infamous criminal. Bond infiltrates a secret meeting and uncovers the existence of the sinister organisation known as SPECTRE. Meanwhile back in London, Max Denbigh, the new head of the Centre of National Security, questions Bond's actions and challenges the relevance of MI6 led by M. Bond covertly enlists Moneypenny and Q to help him seek out Madeleine Swann, the daughter of his old nemesis Mr White, who may hold the clue to untangling the web of SPECTRE. As the daughter of the assassin, she understands Bond in a way most others cannot. As Bond ventures towards the heart of SPECTRE, he learns a chilling connection between himself and the enemy he seeks. (IMDB)


Premiere 

The World Premiere of SPECTRE was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London on Monday 26 October. In attendance were Daniel Craig, Léa Seydoux, Monica Bellucci, Naomie Harris, Christoph Waltz, Dave Bautista, Sam Mendes, Andrew Scott, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, Producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, Stephanie Sigman, Jesper Christensen, Sam Smith and Rory Kinnear. They joined Their Royal Highnesses, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry at the premiere of the 24th Bond film.

Why seen as a blockbuster film?
- During the film they have different scenes which are shown to have a high budget for example during the opening sequence of the film where they have the festival of the dead where they use a large quantity of extras and local people showing that this was a high budget film. 
- This was also filmed in multiple locations for example Tokyo, London, Austria, Mexico City, Rome and Morocco. This shows that by the film being shot in different locations this shows that this film had quite a high budget. 

Case Study 3: 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 1' (Lawrence, 2014)

Hey guys here are a few pictures and the movie posters of 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 1'

Here is the trailer guys, enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This trailer shows different conventions:

- This trailer has a voice over through the first 45 seconds, this helps to tell slightly what the narrative of the film is.
- This trailer also showcases the film's major stars like Jennifer Lawrence and Philip Seymour Hoffman, this makes the film more persuasive to the audience for them to see the film as they 'advertise' the main actors and actresses involved.
- This trailer also doesn't display the title of the film until the end of the trailer as this keeps the audience interested in the trailer so they watch it all to the very end, as this makes people less likely to skip the trailer altogether.
- The trailer highlight's the best bits of the film successfully, as a result we as the audience can establish the genre of this film.
- This trailer has a soundtrack which plays in the background at the start while the voice over is occurring and later in the trailer it gets louder and more prevalent towards the end, this helps to build atmosphere up until the major title reveal at the end of the trailer- so it builds to a climax and then ends.
- However this trailer doesn't have one liners, mostly parts of speeches or monologues so they can relay more of the narrative in the trailer without giving away the ending.

The target audience for this film is people who enjoy action/romance films, the distributor has targeted this audience with the use of action clips used and the romance hinted at between Katniss and Peeta with the successive clips of both Katniss and Peeta.

I feel that this trailer worked quite well to convey who its target audience was and the editing used to create the final product worked well to create a trailer that had the aspects needed to get people interested in the film.

Plot

Katniss Everdeen is in District 13 after she shatters the games forever. Under the leadership of President Coin and the advice of her trusted friends, Katniss spreads her wings as she fights to save Peeta and a nation moved by her courage.

Case Study 2: 'Suffragette' (Gavron, 2015)

Here are some movie posters for 'Suffragette' guys!!!!!!!!!

Here guys is the trailer for 'Suffragette', enjoy!!!!!!!!!

This trailer has uses different conventions as part of the marketing campaign for the trailer:

- Throughout the trailer the successful use of quick clips, gives the trailer a sense of tension, coupled with the dialogue of these clips and the slight voiceover from either previous clips carrying onto the next clip or the next clip dialogue starting on the previous clip. These all add to the tension of the trailer. (e.g. quick succession of clips/images one after the other throughout)
- The main title of the film isn't shown until the very end of the trailer, this editing techniques is used to attract target audiences and persuade them to watch the trailer to the end so they know what the title is, plus this gets the audience to watch the rest of the trailer to get an idea of what the narrative of the film is, when and where it is being released.
- The use of a tagline in the trailer grabs the attention of the audience 'Nothing ever changes', also the use of the phrase 'inspired by real events'.
- The use of quick clips of fast paced scenes, makes the film appealing to the audience, to help persuade people to see the rest of the trailer and the film.

The target audience for this film are people who enjoy historical films and to people that enjoy the Victorian era in history.

The distributor has targeted this audience by adding taglines in this trailer such as 'inspired by real events' and they have used quite well known British Actresses to make the film more appealing.

Here is also the suffragette press conference if you guys want to check it out!!!!

Company credits (IMDB): 

Production Companies:
Ruby Films
Pathé
Film4
British Film Institute (BFI)
Canal+ France
Ciné +
Focus Features
Ingenious Media (in association with)
Pathé International
Redgill Productions

Distributors:
Andes Films (2015) (Chile) (theatrical)
BIM Distribuzione (2016) (Italy) (theatrical)
Concorde Filmverleih (2016) (Germany) (theatrical)
Focus Features (2015) (USA) (theatrical)
Longride (2017) (Japan) (theatrical)
NOS Audiovisuais (2015) (Portugal) (theatrical)
Paradiso Entertainment (2015) (Belgium) (theatrical)
Paradiso Entertainment (2015) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
Pathé Films (2015) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
Pathé (2015) (France) (theatrical)
Seven Films - Spentzos Film (2015) (Greece) (theatrical)
Shaw Organisation (2015) (Singapore) (theatrical)
United International Pictures (UIP) (2016) (Argentina) (theatrical)
Bir Film (2015) (Turkey) (all media)
Concorde Home Entertainment (2016) (Germany) (DVD)
Concorde Home Entertainment (2016) (Germany) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
DeA Planeta Home Entertainment (2015) (Spain) (all media)
Film1 (2016) (Netherlands) (TV) (limited)
KVH Media Group (2015) (World-wide) (all media) (ships)
Paradiso Home Entertainment (2016) (Netherlands) (DVD)
Red Apollo Group (2015) (China) (all media)

Synopsis: 

A drama that tracks the story of the foot soldiers of the early feminist movement, women who were forced underground to pursue a dangerous game of cat and mouse with an increasingly brutal State. These women were not primarily from the genteel educated classes, they were working women who had seen peaceful protest achieve nothing. Radicalized and turning to violence as the only route to change, they were willing to lose everything in their fight for equality - their jobs, their homes, their children and their lives. Maud was one such foot soldier. The story of her fight for dignity is as gripping and visceral as any thriller, it is also heart-breaking and inspirational. (source IMDB)

Box Office (IMDB)

Budget:

$14,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:
$4,693,356 (USA) (10 January 2016)
$4,668,603 (USA) (3 January 2016)
$4,646,895 (USA) (27 December 2015)
$4,612,137 (USA) (20 December 2015)
$4,515,435 (USA) (13 December 2015)
$4,331,176 (USA) (6 December 2015)
$4,069,970 (USA) (29 November 2015)
$3,568,054 (USA) (22 November 2015)
$2,569,505 (USA) (15 November 2015)
$1,121,447 (USA) (8 November 2015)
AUD 3,072,589 (Australia) (10 January 2016)
AUD 2,159,923 (Australia) (3 January 2016)
AUD 827,080 (Australia) (27 December 2015)
€1,120,586 (Italy) (20 March 2016)
€882,881 (Italy) (13 March 2016)

Marketing?

After seeing the film and viewing the box office statistics I believe that their marketing campaign for 'Suffragette' was successful in some respects but overall I believe that the marketing wasn't as large as a Hollywood blockbuster film, however there was posters which were used and trailers, both theatrical and teaser trailers.

If you guts want to check out more about this film here is the IMDB page, as it can get confused with a Bollywood title that has the same title and was released the same year.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2802496/

Here are some images from the film Sixteen by Robert Brown guys!!!!!!!!

Case Study 1: 'Sixteen' (Brown, 2013)

Here is the trailer for the film Sixteen (2013) by Robert Brown

This trailer has uses different conventions as part of the marketing campaign for the trailer:

- The trailer highlights some of the key moments within the film (e.g. the trailer opens with a scene of  an old pensioner being stabbed by a younger person under a bridge)
- The use of dark colours create a type of thriller atmosphere that relays to the audience what type of genre this film is (e.g. the use of scene filmed at night or at dusk)
- This also showcases the film's stars in the first few seconds of the trailer (e.g. shows the characters of Jumah and his friend witnessing the stabbing)
- The trailer ends with a short clip of Jumah staring into the camera
- During the trailer the characters have different conversations with each other (e.g. when Jumah and Laura are talking to the headmaster at his school, when Jumah is having an argument with Laura)
- During the trailer they have a quote from the BFI saying that "A beautifully realised and moving take on the British Urban Thriller"- the use of this also helps to convey that this film is a thriller.
- The use of shaky camera movements creates the sense that the audience are actually experiencing the events in the trailer, which gives it a sense of personalisation to the audience.
- The soundtrack played in the background, for the most part of the trailer, for some scenes there really isn't any soundtrack, only the dialogue of the individual clip which gives it that sense of a thriller appeal.

The target audience for this trailer is people who enjoy films that have a sense  of realism and that in this society that many people can relate to this certain type of situation.

The distributor has targeted this audience by making the trailer dark and gritty to give it a sense of realism, which the target audience can feel.

This is what Sixteen is about:

SIXTEEN is an urban thriller about an African former child soldier called Jumah was brought to London by Laura, an aid worker who he now lives with. Jumah is about to turn 16 in two days and wants to leave his violent past behind him. Things seem to have taken a turn for the better with Jumah now; he has a sweet but tentative romance blossoming with a girl at school. But then Jumah witnesses a stabbing and the people involved want to make sure that he says nothing to the police about what he saw that night. Pressure mounts as violence forces it's way back into Jumah's life.

Hey Guys, been a while since my last post, anyway new case study film: Sixteen. Directed by Rob Brown

Kubo and the Two Strings the movie has posted good stuff on their facebook page, check them out!!!

https://www.facebook.com/KuboMovie/?fref=ts

Also Empire Magazine has written a review for Kubo and the Two Strings, check it out!!!!!

http://www.empireonline.com/movies/kubo-two-strings/review/

The New York Daily News newspaper has written a review of Kubo and the Two Strings

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/kubo-strings-pulls-parents-kids-heartstrings-article-1.2752035

Here is the official website for Kubo and the Two Strings, if you guys want to know more about the film

http://www.kubomovie.co.uk/

The BBC has reviewed Kubo and the Two Strings, link below

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b07vchj7/the-film-review-captain-fantastic-kubo-and-the-two-strings-hell-or-high-water

Here is the trailer to Kubo and the Two Strings (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vex0gPFnBvM) (12 September 2016)

One of the newest must see films this side of the year!!!

Hey Guys this is just a quick introduction into my new blog, hope you guys enjoy!!!