Friday 29 January 2016

Dawn of the Dead & RocknRolla - Opening Credits Analysis

Dawn of the Dead (2004)


Camerawork:

  • They use a montage of different clips showing different setting featuring a large panic of people. This use of a montage creates the impression of chaos because all of these clips are about 3 seconds long, so putting them all together makes the audience feel in a panic, due to what is being shown on the screen.

  • Some of the clips are of news broadcasts about a certain epidemic/zombie apocalypse. This gives of an impression of anxiety and importance for the audience. This is because news broadcasts are usually shown to show important stories which can affect the entire world, therefore making the audience feel nervous and anxious as to whether they are in danger or not.

Mise-en-scene:

  • Throughout the entirety of the opening credits, they use dull lighting to create an impression of eeriness. This use of dull lighting creates an impression of eeriness because dull and low key lighting has connotations of death and general darkness (in the sense of horror darkness), so this use of dull lighting sets the atmosphere for the entire movie.

  • The setting for the opening credits of Dawn of the Dead are in America, more specifically Washington DC, the capital of the USA. This setting gives the impression of importance to the audience because Washington DC is one of the most important cities in the entire world, so having this city in a sense of danger makes the audience feel uncomfortable because the city that makes the world important is in danger so they feel in danger as well.

Editing:

  • The credits that they have are in a bold font, making them stand out from the chaotic montage that is playing in between. The use of bold credits makes the audience feel uncomfortable because bold credits have connotations of importance and danger, therefore making the audience feel uncomfortable with what is about to happen

  • The colour of the credits are in red, matching the atmosphere of the film. The colour of the credits make the audience feel anxious because the colour red has connotations with death, murder and anger, therefore making the audience feel uncomfortable because they feel unsafe with the amount of danger in the film.

Sound:

  • The music playing throughout the entirety of the film is Johnny Cash's "The man comes to town". This song makes the audience feel worried because some of the lyrics included in the song include: "There's a man goin' 'round takin' names." and "When the man comes around.", which implies that the "man" being referenced in the song is death itself/the grim reaper, giving the impression of uncertainty and anxiety for the audience.

  • At the beginning of the opening sequence, they use a soundscape of a variety of different chaotic sounds, such as: screams, muffled sounds, chants and news conferences. This makes the audience feel uncomfortable because hearing a variety of different sounds will not allow them to focus on the visuals of the opening sequence, getting distracted by the different sounds, therefore feeling anxious and uncomfortable.

RocknRolla (2008)



Camerawork:

  • During the actor's credits, they zoom in on major stars, or important characters featured in the film, such as: Gerald Butler; Thandie Newton; and Tom Hardy. This makes the audience invested in the film because they are highlighting  key characters and high profile actors featured in the film, making the audience feel excited about who's featuring in the film.

  • At the beginning of the opening sequence, they use a zoom in shot on the main character (played by Gerald Butler) with his back towards the audience/camera. This makes the audience feel anxious because they are awaiting what is about to happen, whether it be impactful or not a lot.

Mise-en-scene:

  • The colour saturation for the majority of the opening sequence is in the colour scheme of brown and black and is portrayed in a very gritty and dull. This implies that this film is of the western genre because generically, western films are portrayed in a gritty style, making the audience feel anxious at every moment of the film, which is how this opening sequence is playing out.

  • The props used in the opening sequence include a bong and guns. This gives off the impression of worry and danger. This is because guns have connotations of action and death, making the audience feel worried because they don't want their favourite actor or character to die, making them feel anxious throughout the film.

Editing:

  • They use a montage towards the beginning of the film, showing 2 or 3 second long shots of drug use, alcohol use and sex. This makes the audience feel uncomfortable because they wouldn't have been expecting to see something that graphic that early on in the film. Also, it sets the audience up for what they can expect throughout the entire film, implying that there will be sections of graphic content in the film.

  • At the end of the opening credits, they use a dissolve from the actor's credits into a shot of the character of Archie, who is implied to be the narrator of the film. This suggests that he will appear throughout moments of the film, enhancing important moments of the film.

Sound:

  • Throughout the credits (from start to finish), there is a prominent strong guitar beat playing. This suggests that this is a masculine film because a generic guitar sound has connotations of being on country songs or western songs, making the audience feel comfortable watching a strong film with a strong message.

  • The narrator's voice is very low, implying that he is from East End London. This suggests that this will be a dramatic film because the east end or "cockney" accent has associations with drama and danger, making the audience excited with what they will show.

Thursday 28 January 2016

Half term Progress

What have I done?

My group and I have done various things going towards our media course. One of the main things we have done is our continuity task. What this is is a short piece of film (roughly about 2 minutes maximum) which involves 3 editing techniques: match on action; shot/reverse shot; and the 180 degree rule. The continuity task is a good thing to have done because it teaches you simple filming and editing skills (for those who haven't done GCSE Media) and shows how to construct a linear story narrative in film. Another thing that I have done as part of my media course is analyse various opening credits in blockbuster films.

What have I learnt?

From this half term of learning about Media, I have learnt about how to make a successful opening for a movie. I have learnt this through looking at different movie opening which have received good critic acclaim such as: Seven; The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; Dawn of the Dead; and RocknRolla. Looking at these opening credits inspired me about the ideas towards our opening credits because each of these opening credits are unique with certain features of them which make them stand out and make them so critically acclaimed, so taking features of these opening credits will make our opening credits stand out and be memorable. An example of these features that make these particular film openings memorable include:


  • The music - The music from these film openings made the opening memorable because for example: in the opening for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, the music in this opening was dramatic and impactful, making the audience feel on edge and disturbed by the opening, keeping them intrigued. Another example is in the opening for Dawn of the Dead. The music in this film opening makes it memorable because the song used was Johnny Cash's "The Man comes around". This song made the opening memorable because the song lyrics relate to death and death being inevitable and the genre of "Dawn of the Dead" is horror/thriller with the main subject of it being zombies, who are remembered for eating human flesh and killing.
  • The montage/editing - The use of montage in these film openings made them memorable because as an audience, it is easier to remember the genre of the film from the montage, or who is in the film to make it appealing for the audience. For example: in the film opening for RocknRolla, they use a montage of the actors with the actors in different poses representing their character in the film. This would make this opening memorable because the audience would remember their favourite actor from the montage and continue to watch the film, looking out for their favourite actor. Also, in the opening for Dawn of the Dead, they use a montage a clips of different destruction scenes (people running down the street; vans & lorries crashing into walls; zombies running after people; etc). This use of a montage makes this film opening memorable because it identifies the genre for the audience and keeps them interested as the montage makes them question why there is a clip of all these different destruction scenes in a movie about zombies and death.

What will I take forward to next half term?

As we go towards filming, I will take this knowledge of these opening credits and use them towards our own opening credits. I think this will benefit our group, as well as me, because the film "Dawn of the Dead" is a horror film, and our opening credits are for a horror film, so we can use elements from this to influence our own opening credits. Also, another point I will take forward to next half term is using the target audience research to influence what we include in our opening credits. I think this will benefit the opening credits because if we use our target audience research, then we can create the best set of opening credits suitable for our opening credits.