Our Pitch

The Pitch that my group proposed to the class involved 2 different ideas. One being a full on Action film, and the other being more of a Murder/Mystery film. When we asked the class at the end of which idea they preferred, the majority said they would want us to produce the Murder/Mystery pitch. As a group we also preferred the Murder/Mystery one over the full on Action.

After we delivered the Pitch, we got feed back from the class. 

It included:

• Is it too much to try and put into 2 Minutes of filming?
• Try and keep the plot simple
• What Enigma will be raised during the 2 Minutes?
• Is the idea practical?
• Does the idea work to the strengths of the group?
• Is it something you can film and edit within the time allocated?

We took into consideration all of the points raised by the class. We have decided to make our Film as simple and practical as possible, however still using technical and professional skills to produce it. We have planned the whole opening and allocated a time for each scene, making sure that it will fit within 2 minutes.

Generic Conventions of a Murder/Mystery - C.M.I.N.T.S

Generic Conventions are conventions which would generally be expected to be seen in specific genres. The Generic Conventions of our chosen genre would be:

Characters:

Characters in Murder Mystery films would be expected to be dress depending on their position. The Detectives generally wear smart, well-tailored clothes, however the Villains of the film are generally seen in dark, mysterious clothing, to cover their identity.

Mise-en-Scene

Clothing - The Detectives are mainly dresses in smart clothing. This connotes authority and contrasts the different social divides between classes of society. The Villains are generally dresses in dark, mysterious clothing. This makes them more suspicious to the audience, creating enigma.


Lighting - Low Key (Dark) lighting is normally used during the scene of the murder, this adds a negative atmosphere to the overall scene. However High Key (Light) lighting is generally used during the day, when the Detectives are working out the mystery.

Actors - The Detectives (Actors) are normally very brave, and do very bold, rash movements. This signifies that they're in control of the situation and can solve the case. The murderer is alot more stealthy, trying to cover his tracks to stay mysterious and not get caught.

Make-Up - There are a few different types of make-up used. The main type of make-up used is blood. This adds a scope of realism to the film. Dark make-up may also be used on the Villains to create a shadow affect on their face.

Props - Main props used by the murderer would be some sort of weapon or maybe some sort of clothing to hide their identity, creating enigma for the audience. Detective may have such props like a cane or some addition clothing like a top hat, Sherlock Holmes would be an example of props used by the Detectives. 

Setting - The setting for a Murder Mystery are generally well populated, built up areas, such as London, where Sherlock Holmes was set.

Iconography - In a Murder Mystery, things like knives, blood and pipes would be classed as Iconography.

Narrative - The use of having a Narrative at the beginning of a film would be to set the scene/story. It may get the audience on a particular characters side, or maybe create enigma, leaving unanswered questions in the audience' minds.

Sound - Sound can have a huge affect on a particular scene. Such as when Non-Diagetic sounds such as music speeds up, it creates more suspense and puts the audience on edge. Diagetic sound such as dialogue can also set the scene, looking at certain Modes of Address, how are the actors communicating together?   

Analysis is Ex-Student's 2 Minute Opening

As part of our research in the planning of our 2 Minute Film Opening, we was asked to analyse a 2 Minute Opening that was done by an Ex Media AS Student.

The Film Opening that I have chosen to analyse is called Paranoia, and was Produced and Developed by Ex Media AS De-Aston Students last year.

Film Genre/Audience Analysis

After doing some research on the UK Film Council website, I have found some data which could help our group decide what Genre of film to pick for our Opening 2 Minutes. Some of the diagrams below show data about Audience Response:

After analysing data on film audiences from the UK Film council, it is clear that there is a potentially huge market for me to target. 26% of people are saying Thriller/Suspense is their favourite genre. 

(Page 116 - Table Above)  

As shown in the table above, the people who like Thriller/Suspense of a larger proportion are females over the age of 35. Because our group is thinking on doing a Thriller/Suspense genre, our Target Audience would be aimed mainly at females over the age of 35, however the genre is quite popular throughout all the ages so we would also try to link our film with the other ages. Also, the people in the C2 Social Class like Thriller/Suspense the most, C2 includes skilled manual workers like plumbers and builders.  

All of this data is very important to our group because it is giving us an idea of what genres are popular and with what Gender/Age group.

A link to the website in which I found all of this information is below:

http://www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/media/pdf/d/n/Portrayal_Vs._Betrayal_Research_Report_UK_Film_Council_2011.pdf

Our Chosen Film Genre

As a group, we have all concluded that our chosen film genre was going to be Murder/Mystery. This genre has bits of everything that each individual member of our team wanted to have in our Final Production. I wanted some action in the film, and being a Murder/Mystery, there is going to be some action to set the mood of the film and create enigma. Will wanted to have some secrecy and detective work within the film, so the killer is not going to be reveled within the first 2 minutes, to create further Enigma. For the detective side, we have all agreed on the idea that we want some sort of Press Room Conference at the beginning of the 2 minutes, to explain to the audience whats happened regarding the murders. Lewis wanted roughly the same things that me and Will were thinking of, however Lewis did more of the back stage work, such as creating the Production Logo and taking part in the Editing of the Film.

History of the Murder/Mystery Genre
Mystery Film is a sub-genre of the more general category of Crime film and at times the Thriller genre. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of a crime by means of clues, investigation, and clever deduction.

All information I needed to find out on the Murder/Mystery genre, I found by looking on the internet on a site called Wikipedia, the following link shows the page I used:

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_film

Film Openings - Using the Production Logo's

This video is just what we found while searching around on YouTube. I found it really interesting and it gave our group LOTS of ideas for how we are going to open our 2 Minute Film Opening. It goes through how big production companies has introduced their 'Company Logo' into the opening on the film.

Early Ideas of our own Opening 2 Minute film!

As a group we have discussed different ideas we would like to do for the project. As different individuals, obviously we want to bring different things onto the table - I was very interested in bringing some action in, Will wanted some Mysteries and secrecy, and Lewis wants to design some of his own Logo's and Production names. Putting all of these together, we have come up with the following:

• Action
• Murder/Mystery
• Thriller

Some early idea's of Production Logo's

Graffiti Dragon Productions! 

Inconspicuous Bear Productions!

Mad Lion Productions!

Goodfellas (1990) - 2 Minute Analysis #3

Goodfellas - 1990

The story of a half-Irish, half-Sicilian Brooklyn boy initiated into a neighborhood mob in his youth, and the struggles he encounters with the gang throughout the next 25 years.

Conventions

• It does break convention in one way - In the beggining there is no music, whereas normally there would be. This makes it more realistic, like you're not watching a film, but something that really happened (Which as the titles show later, the film is based on a true story)
• Typical of a crime thriller, within the opening 2 minutes there is a murder and gun as well as a knife is seen and used
• The killing takes place at night, something you would expect to see

Mise-en-scene

Costume - All of them are wearing clean cut, smart ironed suits. This suggesting they are business men and they are at work. They're neat, the shirts tucked in with an open collar, apart from Tommy's which has a buttoned up high collar. Henry is also wearing an expensive watch, again showing that they have money.

Lighting - The lighting is Low Key around the trio, heightening the disaffected feeling of the three who don't appear to care very much about the man they just killed. It suits the time which is at night, which is when bad things often happen to people in the movies. 

Actors - Tommy's face during the stabbing is mainly cast in shadow, there is no clarity, suggesting he's not thinking clearly whilst carrying out the murder. His words are angry, and almost childish in the way he repeatedly says "DIE", suggesting he is immature and maybe unintelligent. Jimmy's face on the other hand is seen as calm, his movements careful and measured as he pulls out the gun and shoots. Suggesting he knows what hes doing. Henry is the only one who doesn't take part in the killing, he only watches, being observant. When he speaks in the beginning he seems fairly easy going.

Make-up - Within the first 2 minutes, there is not prominent make-up used. However, there may have been make-up used to stop the actors sweating or make them more pale or darker than usual, giving them a different natural look.

Props - Tommy is carrying around a knife, not even a switchblade, but a kitchen knife. Jimmy too carries a gun. Jimmy hand is also carrying a shovel, this all suggests that they are going to bury the person in the car boot. A typical gangster car was also a prob, giving the gangsters transport and showing they can afford a nice car.

Setting - The film is set in New York City, America. Set in a places called Brooklyn at the beginning when he was a kid and later on in the film it's set mainly in Queens, America.

Editing - The editing is kept to a minimum through the first 2 minutes. We see Invisible editing, this is used to bring two scenes together without disruption. Fast editing is also used to keep the audience involved with the action while it's taking place.

Camera - The very first shot in the film is the car which has been placed center framed, suggesting it will be central to the film. There is a medium shot of the 3 people in the car. The most prominently placed is the driver Henry, then Jimmy who is dozing beside him and then Tommy who is out of focus on the back seat - perhaps he is less important than the others. Or maybe because he is out of focus suggests he is slightly sinister and ambiguous. When they get out of the car, the camera shoots a low angle of them, this making the audience look up at them showing that they are in the position of power. There is also close ups to show the expression on the actors faces, zooms to get the audience involved in the scene and medium shots to show 2 or more people.

Sherlock Holmes (2009) - 2 Minute Analysis #2

Sherlock Holmes - 2009


Detective Sherlock Holmes and his partner Watson engage in a battle of whits and brawn with an enemy who's plots is a threat to all of England.

Conventions

Different conventions were included in the first 2 minutes which we would expect to see. These include: 

• The companies Logo
• An introduction to the main characters 
• Letting the audience see where the film was set, setting the location
• The point in time which is shown to us through the use of denotation

Mise-en-scene 

Costume - Police uniforms (From the time era), long dark coats, hats - All very                secretive/Protect recognition

Lighting - All very Low key lighting (Dark) - Mainly because it's night and for the secrecy of the film

Actors - All the actors in the first 2 minutes are extremely well organised and seem to have every step though through before hand. This gives the intention that it's a tense moment, and that if anything goes wrong, then it could lead to big consequences. Thus adding to the intention of secrecy and suspicion.

Make-up - No viable/prominent make-up has been used with the first 2 minutes. However some make-up has been used to portray the characters as a lower class of citizen or to hide their identity. 

Props - The main prop used was a horse and cart (Also helped to set the location/time zone) and also the costumes worn and the guns used.

Setting - The film was set in London in the early 1900's. We know this because of famous landmarks like the Tower of London which in the film was being build. Alot the costume the actors are wearing give the audience some indication of the location and time zone of the film.


Editing - Within the first 2 minutes we hardly see any editing at all! Only 'Invisible' editing was used, this is were 2 scenes are brought together without any disturbance or confusion. I think it's used to allow the opening to run smoothly and to keep the audiences concentration.


Camera - As with every film, there are different camera shot/movements used in the opening 2 minutes. At the very start, we saw the camera 'Track' the horse and cart, this allowed the audience to follow the movements of the carriage and to add some pace to the scene. There was also a 'Long shot' targeted at the carriage to show some distance and speed. 'Close-ups' were also used to let the audience see the expressions and reactions on the actors faces.


Sound
Diagetic - Diagetic sounds would include sound that the actors them self could hear. This would include the dialogue of the characters when interacting, the reloading of the gun and the noise of the horse and cart travelling along the cobbled roads.
Non-Diagetic - Non-Diagetic sounds are noises that have been edited in after the scene was shot. The only real Non-Diagetic sound was the voice of Sherlock Holmes, discussing and planning his tactics for passing the guard.

Full Metal Jacket (1987) - 2 Minute Analysis #1

Full Metal Jacket – 2 Minute Intro

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This is the first Film Opening Analysis that myself and William Davidson have done. It is the analysis of Full Metal Jacket filmed in 1987. It is about a U.S Marine who observes the effects the Vietnam War has on his fellow Marines, from recruits, to their brutal basic training to the bloody street fighting set in 1968 Hue, Vietnam.

• All of the Opening 2 minutes Analysis of Full Metal Jacket is show on the little PowerPoint above.

What is ENIGMA?

Enigma is the questions the film asks the audience to keep their concentration and interest. These questions can include: 'Who's that?', 'What's happening?', 'Where are they?', 'When is this? (What point in time ect)' and 'Why is that happening?' What Enigma does is set up an ambiguous explanation, deliberately done to make the audience ask questions. It is important that film openings have Enigma to ensure the audience continues to watch the whole film, not lose interest 10 minutes in and switch it off! 

Conventions of a Film Opening

There are different conventions that we might expect to see in the opening 2 minutes of a film.
These include:

• Establishing shot
• Set the story
• Introduction of characters (Mise en scene)
• Narration
• Enigma - A question left unanswered to create suspense
• Music/Lighting - Can be used to set the mood
• Set the scene by using time or location
• Point of View shots
• Titles and Credits

Introduction to my Group

I am working in a group with Lewis Pickering and William Davidson, we have known each other for a few years now and have become quite good mates. Me and Will have been at De-Aston School for 5 years, and Lewis 3 years. We all share common interests like Air Cadets and shooting. We have all done activities together before like D of E awards and week long camps. We will make a good team because we can work together and also we have the same ideas of things we would like to achieve.

Me (Kane Guichard)

William Davidson

Lewis Pickering