Thursday, 12 November 2015

Blue Velvet Analysis

The scene begins with a transition from a curtain of blue velvet into the clear blue sky, the transition used is fade in. This transition was used to show how calm the town is to create a tranquil vibe so the audience is unaware of what is to come, the fact that the sky is clear also continues that feeling as it completely clear which could be representing how the town/community is perfect and how nothing eventful usually happens.


The shot then pans down to a view of a white picket fence and some roses growing. This helps to continue the feeling of serenity as picket fences are usually associated with the perfect traditional family home, perhaps this is because of how fences create a sense of safety as they are stopping anything from entering, the colour of the fence also portrays a nice family home as white sometimes represents something of purity as it isn't tarnished with anything else or it could be viewed as clean as white is sometime the colour of something new and unused. Roses are occasionally used to show love which could be thought of as the innocence of the town as sometimes roses are usually given to people you love. Some flowers are shown not long after, however these are daffodils. Daffodils are known to have the symbolic meaning of temperance and calm, they were probably used to create this effect of the whole town.

The innocence of the flowers is continued as the scene, again, transitions smoothly into another to show a lollipop lady helping some children across the street, which has no danger to it all and helps to portray how the community is quite close to one another as they care about the children's safety, not all towns have this.  The non-diegetic music playing also helps to keep this vibe as well as serenity because its not very fast and just keeps to a very simple and basic melody that does not build up at any point. 

The non-diegetic music playing throughout the whole opening scene maintains the calm atmosphere as it has minimal layers, keeping the sound very basic and serene, the song does not build up and stays like this for the whole scene to keep the audience thinking that the scene will be uneventful but by the end of the scene the music and what is on the screen are contrasting immensely. Also there is diegetic noises of birds chirping which suggests that the town is very calm as birds don't usually like loud noises or feeling as if they are in danger, so for them to be chirping freely says that they feel safe.


Also during this section we see a red fire truck drive past houses with a man and dog waving whilst going past, this suggests that the town is quite happy and friendly as fire trucks are usually only used in emergencies but this one is just patrolling the town as there doesn't seem to be any trouble.

Then we cut to a lady sat in her house watching TV and on the screen is somebody holding a gun, this could be foreshadowing that something bad or to do with death is going to happen further into the film. Next the scene cuts to a man watering his flowers, we had actually seen this man earlier on in this sequence so him being shown multiple times could be suggesting that this man has some sort of importance to the movie, we get this idea because if he didn't have any importance its unlikely he'd be shown more than once (e.g. the man on the fire truck).


Where the hose is connected to the wall is then shown, it is spurting water out the sides of the tap which portrays that there is something wrong with it as this is not a normal thing for a hose to do, this, again, foreshadows that something bad is going to happen because the bad things/aspects keep building up. Then it cuts to a shot of the man pulling at the hose because it is caught on something. To carry on building the tension and suspense there are three shots that are shown multiple times: the man pulling/checking the hose, the hose being wrapped around something and the tap at which the hose is connected. This build tension because these three shots being shown repeatedly are also very quick and snappy shots which makes the audience want to know what is wrong. Also at this point the audio is also building suspense because the calm music is being covered up by the dramatic noises of the water hissing out the sides of the tap and what seems to be to water gurgling up to the tap.

After this the man then grabs his neck in pain and collapses to the floor. When the man writhing around on the ground he is also making gargling noises die the pain he is in. Once the man has stop moving and we guess is unconscious we also see a baby (which could be representing the man's innocence to whatever happened to him) and also a dog drinking the water from the hose.

Lastly we see what I assume to be a POV shot of something moving in the grass. At this point the non-diegetic music is very very faint in the background as its being covered up by the diegetic noises of the grass being moved by whatever we are seeing through the eyes of. This portrays to be whatever the thing is to be dangerous as the cheerful music has stopped in its presence, suggesting that this creature is not cheerful.



Wednesday, 11 November 2015

Genres and Film Noir

Genres
Where did genres come from?
Genres originated in the 20's, this happened because they just started to produce the films that were popular at the time. This was because this was when entertainment was becoming more popular as technology was advancing quite a lot.

How did the 'Golden Age of Hollywood' reinforce genres?
Film companies would produce films of a similar story as they knew that people would watch it because they were a popular type of film at the time. And as time went on peoples interest would change so genres were made more noticeable.

Which Genres became popular in Hollywood?
Genres such as film noirs became popular during the 20's because people were interested in the mystery and action of it all, it may have also been popular because of the females which were sometime the femme fatale who were shown to be strong and powerful, which was new for movies at this time. Westerns also became favoured, this may have been because they showed different cultures which a lot of people may have been unaware of, perhaps also because of the action and guns used in the films. Other genres that were popular were musicals and science fictions.

Why do audiences like genre films?
I think that people may like to have genres because when they do watch the film they may have a small idea of what they are going to see so can judge if they're going to like it, meaning they may be saving because they won't be wasting their time with a genre they don't like.




Codes and conventions of film noirs
Codes and conventions are used in films to help make the film fit the genre they are trying to make. Film noirs have quite unique codes and conventions, this is important because it helps to create the movies moods and atmosphere. Examples of some of the codes and conventions are:
  • Characters - the most common ones being the detective or the hero and the femme fatale and the main storyline will revolve around these two characters as the femme fatale will begin in the movie acting all innocent which makes the main male character fall for her, but then he will be betrayed by her to get what she wants.
  • Lighting - used in these films are usually quite similar as the movies are in black and white and the scenes are usually very dark in order to maintain the movies atmosphere of mystery. Silhouette and shadows are two examples of how this is created because as you cannot see the whole picture is leaves the audience wanting to know what it is in the darkness. This could be considered to be a type of restricted narrative.
  • Narrative - the spider and the fly is probably the most commonly used narrative in film noirs as it very easy one to create as it is basically that the main female character will seduce the main male into helping her to get what she wants before exposing that she did it all for selfish reasons, so captures him in her 'web'. There is sometimes a voice-over during the movie which helps to give the audience an idea to what character that's doing it opinion or feelings are.






Film Noir
Film Noirs became popular during the 1920's, this may have been because of the new narrative they used of the spider and fly which would've been portrayed by the hero, main male character (fly) and the femme fatale (spider), which may have drawn the audiences in due to its sexual nature which was a new aspect to the film world in those years.



Monday, 9 November 2015

Mr Judge feedback

Complete the following tasks ASAP 3. NO PRELIMINARY TASK EVALUATION EVIDENT 4. NO BLUE VELVET TEXTUAL ANALYSIS (COULD USE BOND: SPECTRE INSTEAD) 5. NO BLUE VELVET SCREEN GRABS IN PLACE 6. NO SE7EN TEXTUAL ANALYSIS IN EVIDENCE 7. NO SCREEN GRABS FROM SE7EN TO ILLUSTRATE POINTS 8. NO work on GENRE from Mr Rutherford

Tuesday, 3 November 2015

Conventions of an Opening Scene
In an opening scene, a lot of different effects are used to capture the audiences attention immediately so they will continue watching. The features are essential for a good opening scene as it gives the audience some information about the film, who will be in it, a vague introduction of what the film will be about, who directed it etc. ,so will capture their interest right from the beginning.


  • The title of the film is very important for the opening scene as it shows the audience what film they are actually watching and helps to give a tiny glimpse of what the film will be about, the font could also help. For example in a horror movie a cliché title would be red with the letters looking as if they were dripping which could foreshadow the death that will occur in the film.
  • Names of the actors and people who worked on the film (e.g. director, producer, production company) are also titles of the film but they may attract the audience for a different reason because somebody may only be watching the film because their favourite actor/actress is included in the movie.
  • Sounds used in the opening scene are crucial, whether they are diegetic or non-diegetic as they both help the audience to understand the film. As diegetic is more useful for helping with the actual narrative of the film, non-diegetic is more to aid the development of the atmosphere in the film.
  • Perhaps the most essential thing needed in an opening scene is grabbing the audiences attention with the hook. If there is no hook then nobody will want to continue watching as it hasn't got them interested on what will happen.
  • Another useful aspect is the shots used during the opening scene as it gives the audience an idea of where the movie is set this would be done with an establishing shot, or who will be the main characters in the film which could be established with close ups.
  • An introduction to the main character(s) could also be used as it makes it clear who will be in the film at what their personality is like and just get to know them a little.
  • An enigma is also commonly used as it makes the audience question which grips them to the movie as they will want their questions answered as it is an element of mystery.