Juno / The Strangers Storyboard

Between our group we had to create a Shot list and a Storyboard for each film we were planning to recreate. We spilt these up between our group and i was asked to create the Juno and The Strangers storyboards. These are the storyboards i made:

The Strangers

Juno Storyboard

Analysis of three comedy openings

Pineapple Express Opening


Genre-Comedy
Narrative- Normal guy, smokes weed and the opening introduces his job and his views on weed
Atmosphere- funny, happy and different. Slightly over the top-  shows humour
Titles- yellow connoting happiness and fun
Sound- famous reggae song- reminds audience of weed
Character- introduces main male, he doesnt take his job seriously ' you've been served'
Themes- weed and happiness
Setting- his own car, maybe not a homely character, a variety of common places are shown


The Hangover Opening
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKtHA8EFgIo
*the sound on this video is slightly quiet*

Genre- Comedy

Narrative- someone's getting married., the bride is worried about the groom. where is he?

Atmosphere- starts nice and smoothly seems romantic. after phone call its panic but slow and quiet

Titles- match wedding smooth and flowing. change when the setting does possibly connotes something gone wrong

Sound- music starts after the title comes on, gives a eerie feeling its slow and rocky

Character- important female is introduced. then an important male

Themes-  wedding someone is lost

Setting- family home, reception is there? desolate desert don't know where?

Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle Opening


*Only watch to about 1.30*

Genre- comedy

Narrative- about a geek guy who gets bullied where he works

Atmosphere- funny everything is over the top

Titles- plain and white shows the film/characters may be simple

Sound- funky, almost like a pornography music suggesting its funny and odd. a tagline is used as the title is sung over the music

Character- three people are shown but it is obvious who is the main character as the titles appears when he is on screen

Themes- work, bullied, stereotypes

Setting- work place- common and public

Extra research

To help me decide my final genre I decided to analysis the first genre our group wanted to look at. This genre was crime and we wanted it to have a gangster film. I have decided to analysis 'Snatch', 'The Godfather' and 'Trainspotting' I have already also analysed 'Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' when I was looking at famous film openings.

Snatch


Genre- Crime and Adventure
Narrative- there is clearly a con, making money from stealing, gambling. getting into trouble, having to fight with violence and guns
Atmosphere- fast, interesting. Everything seems to be linked
Titles-  Plain, bold. There is a pause when the titles appear, the background colour is changed which makes them stand out more
Sound- just music, no words although you still understand the story. The music is fast but slightly creepy
Character- There are many characters shown in this piece. a short clip of each person is played, then there name appears. This a good way to let the audience learn about the characters but there are a lot of characters in this opening.
Themes- Crime gangsters, con, money, fighting
Setting- Dark places, most likely hidden and unused places

The genre is shown by the titles as they are simple and to the point, And the narrative lets the audience know the film is about money and fighting, suggesting its most likely a crime film.

Trainspotting

Genre- Crime and action
Narrative- Breaking the law, having to run away. About a group of boys
Atmosphere- Fast paced, dangerous
Titles- Plain, very simple. Shot freezes when titles appear
Sound, quiet and fast fun background music. Non diegetic voice over. Chose...
Character- Shows the main people, there is clearly a main character- the man speaking Renton
Themes- Drugs, illegal
Setting- Backstreet, town, Horrible flat- no furniture just a place to stay.
The genre is shown by the music in the background as it suggests a fast fun life. The titles are a good signifier for the genre as they are plain and simple and bold, as they appear when the shot is frozen.


Our group started thinking about an entirely different genre and wanted to start on a comedy piece. As I've only touched on comedy films i started to analysis some extra films so i could see how to convey the comedy genre in the opening sequence
Pineapple Express

Genre- Comedy

Narrative- Finding something new, police sequence, smoking weed

Atmosphere- funny, rude. Something different with the guy smoking

Titles- There aren't any tittles in this opening scene, but it clearly shows the genre without them

Sound- there isn't a background soundtrack to this but only diegetic conversation. This makes the audience concentrate more on what they are saying

Character- there aren't really main characters in this, the main focus is on the man smoking the weed though as its the main theme.

Themes- Weed, illegal, police

Setting- Underground, secret bunker

The genre is shown by the narrative and what the man smoking is doing and saying

Step Brothers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sczh_KjjFNU

Genre- Comedy

Narrative- long opening, but introduces the main characters and what is going on- they don't like each other, mum and dad getting married

Atmosphere- tense, funny

Titles- The titles seem really handwritten, possibly by someone young

Sound- really fun fast and happy background music

Character- there are two main characters introduced and the mother and father

Themes- family, brotherhood, laughing

Setting- Family homes, showing the boys live at home

The genre is shown by the diegetic conversation used between the families

What I Have Learnt

Our group (Green Productions) finished filming and editing our 3 film openings. After we had finished this we had to look back on what we had done. For this I reviewed myself and how I worked with my group including what I thought I had done well and what i could improve on.


I thought that as a group we worked pretty well. We spilt up the tasks equally and this was helpful as know of us felt that we had to much to do. I found that filming in a group of four was really useful when we were filming Juno as we each had a certain task to do e.g. me moving the doll, Scott filming, Charly checking the set up was right and Devon making sure what we were doing matched with our shot list and storyboard. We filmed Juno quicker than we though and it all worked really well. After this me and Scott spent some of our spare time to film The Strangers and Charly and Devon would then film Vertigo alone. Although this was the plan it didn't work out like this as the girls realised they couldn't film it alone and I had to appear in the Vertigo piece as they couldn't film each other properly. This wasn't a worry as we were able to film it quickly in one of our lesson as our group do work together well.
For the editing part of the project I found out how hard it was to edit in a group of three. Our group are extremely lucky as Charly owns the same equipment as we use in the school. It was really helpful as she didn't take over at all and spent her time showing us what she was doing so we knew how to do it. Our editing took a long time as we spent a lot of time doing things we didn't necessarily need but they made it look slightly better. I didn't mind spending my time editing as our projects looked rather good in the end.


Personally I thought I contributed enough to the group, as i showed up to all of the editing sessions I could and I filmed some part in each remake. I think that for our final project I will set back a little as sometimes I feel I am to controlling. Although saying this I find it might help our group as we all have our certain traits and that is mine. I think for our final project our group will work really well together as we are all really committed. As I really enjoy the lessons and want a good grade I think I'm working harder than I was in my last group, as I feel our group can really excel.

Timeline

Only watch to 5.20 minutes.

I have chosen to make a time line for this opening as it shows more about the females side. How there is a hidden life. This film is a comedy but it is more of a romantic comedy. I wanted to analysis this opening as the titles were really clear and interesting.
Making a time line from this will help me and my group know where to put the titles in on our own film.

Insitution Logo                    comes in at 0 and lasts for 13seconds
Warner Brothers presents                    comes in at 17
a Clifford Werber production                    comes in at 24
in association with Dylan Sellers production                    comes in at 27
Hilary Duff                    comes in at 30
A Cinderella Story                    comes in at 37
LONG PAUSE
Jenifier Coolidge                    comes in at 1.09
Chad Micheal Murry                    comes in at  1.14
Dan Byrd                    comes in at 1.19
and Regina King                    comes in at 1.23

Julie Gonzalo
Lin Shaye                    comes in at 1.28

Madeline Zina
Andrea Avery                    comes in at 1.37

Mary Pal Gleason
Paul Rodriquez                    comes in at 1.44

Whip Hubbley
Kevin Kilner                    comes in at 1.49

Erica Hubbard
Simon Helbery                    comes in at 1.55

Casting By
Randi Hiller C.S.A
and Sarah Halley Finn C.S.A                    comes in at 2.19

Costumes Designed by
Denise Wingate                    comes in at 2.46
Music by
Christophe Beck                    comes in at 2.54
Music Supervisor
Debra A. Baum                    comes in at 3.05
Edited by
Cara Silverman A.C.E                    comes in at 3.12
Director of Photography
Anthony B. Richard ASC/BSC                    comes in at 3.24
LONG PAUSE
Co-Execuative Producer
Susan Duff                    comes in at 4.26
Executive Producer
Michael Rachmil                    comes in at 4.36
Produced by
Huni Lawry
Dylan Sellers                    comes in at 4.40
Produced by
Clifford Werber
Ilyssa Goodman                    comes in at 4.55
Written by
Leigh Dunlop                    comes in at 5.10
Directed by
Mark Rosman                    comes in at 5.17

From this timeline i found there were lots of similar titles as comedys but there were more Actors names and seemed to be on for a lot longer. As this is a romantic comedy i found that were more long pauses for dramatic effect. for instance nearer the end the titles are off screen for a really long time when the dad dies. this is so the audiance is purely focused on what is happening. We can use this when creating our film opening.

Looking At Types of Audience and Certificates

Before our group came up with an idea we had to firgure out what audience we were going to aim our piece at. To do this I researched into the different types of auidance, most of the research was knowlegde I learnt in class but i researched further to find out examples of each type etc.


The two major types of audience are
MASS AUDIENCE
Mainstream films with big stars in them. Always played in cinemas like Odeon and Cineworld
NICHE AUDIENCE
These are people that enjoy films that have a defined audience. they don't often included major stars and are played in Picture and Art house cinemas.


There are then different groups under the heading DEMOGRAPHIC GROUPS
These are:
A- Top management of companies, doctors etc
B- Middle class, creative eg artists and product designers, teachers
C1- Office supervisors and nurses
C2- Skilled works eg carpenters
D- Semi-skilled and unskilled. Blue collar workers
E-  Unemployed, students and pensioners
Theses different groups effect preferences of film as they experience different things in life. and there education is most likely different to each others, meaning they are interested and know about different things




To help us figure out our chosen audience we also looked into different certificates. Films are classified by a group of people called the British Board of Film (BBFC, established in 1912). After we  have come up with a potential target audience we have to certify our own opening. to help us do this I looked into our genres top 10 films and looked at what certificate they were given.
I found a website that had taken a poll for the best film of 2009/2010,


10. I Love You, Phillip Morris (2009) Cert. 15
9. Hot Tub Time Machine (2010) Cert. 15
8. Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010) Cert. PG
7.Our Family Wedding (2010) Cert 12A
6. Cop Out (2010) Cert. 15
5. Greenberg (2010) Cert. 15
4. Date Night (2010) Cert. 15
3. Death at a Funeral (2010) Cert. 15
2. MacGruber (2010) Cert. 15
1. Get Him To The Greek (2010) Cert. 15


Its obvious from these results that the majority of comedies are given a certificate of 15. This is helpful as my group will most likely follow this trend, and make our film a certificate 15. To do this we will follow the rules of certificate 15.

Jelly Baby Work

In one of our Media lessons our group was asked to create a short opening to a film using jellybabies as actors. We had to comment on things like Shots, Timings, Sound and short descriptions of the shot. Our opening included 5 different Jelly babies

ONE ATTRACTIVE LADY

ONE ATTRACTIVE MAN

THREE AVERAGE GEEKS

The basis of our story was a Romantic Comedy about three boys. The boys weren't your average popular kids, they were the extremes of geek and unpopular. one being fat, on super tall and one sterotypical geek. The opening started with a close up of the attractive ladies feet and then tilted up to her face, to then zoom out and backwards track her. A razor cut then goes to a long shot showing the 3 boys. jump cutting to a arc to show mid shots of the boys. As we wanted to include stills in our final production, we decided we would experiment with this in our jelly Baby work. So there are then three stills of the boys, which is where the actors names appear. To show the comedy side of the piece we wanted to include there facial expressions as the girl 'walks towards them'. There is then another long shot which includes the boys standing on one side as the attractive lady walks towards them. As she walks closer the title of the film comes up behind her. It then goes onto show the woman walking through the boys, showing the audience she was never walking towards them when in fact she wwas walking the the attractive man, this is where we were going to use a point of view shot from the boys, to the lady as she happily walks with the attractive man into a nearby house. A razor cut is then used to show a long shot of the boys, then a pathetic fallacy is used as the boys are upset its starts to heavily rain.

As the other part of my group were creating most of the storyline i decided to write up the angles, shots and timings for the opening. To make things easier we used postit nots to begin with, so if we had to change anythign we easily could. I created a line of postits for the different shots used, then another line to create timings. These were our first nots on the piece:

We then we onto comment on the sound. Together our group decided we wouldn't have any diegetic sound in the piece, this lets the scene take more of an impact on the audience as the absence of sound is more effective than sound itself. We then decided we wanted a upbeat fast and slightly rocky soundtrack.

After we had decided for definite the opening sequence another member of my group wrote up the exact timings, shots and descriptions of each part as we all discussed the piece. This showed that we worked well together as a group as everyone had a say and we all had the same sort of ideas. The write of this can be found on the group blog (Green Productions)