group members

I'm working with Lily Rosenblum, Josh Young, and Erin Watson. Our genre is mystery/detective.

Film Opening Research #2 - Seven

how many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?

"New Line Cinema" is the only title displayed.

what images are prioritized in the opening sequence?

The policeman and the crime scene is prioritized, especially the blood and the bodies.

what connotations do the images carry?

The policeman is apart of the police force that is trying to capture the serial killer, making him the protagonist. The crime scene is the carnege from the killer, who is the antoganist. These images convey a sense of good vs. evil and man vs. society conflicts. 

how is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?

Seven is a detetctive/mystery film. The dark lighting makes the film feel mysterious and ominous. The close up of the police badge clues in the audience that it is a detetive movie. The panning shot of the bodies on the ground also are a dead giveaway that this movie is centered around findng a serial killer. 

how does the film establish an enigma from the outset?

The crime scene and the bodies on the floor are a clear indicator of an enigma from the onset. The enigma is the serial killer.

what strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?

The dark lighting, digestic sound of the sirens and cars honking, and the close ups of the crime scene all appeal to the target audience by creating a sense of mystery and overall dark mood. The target audience for crime/mystery would genreally be intersted in these images and sounds. 

how has technology been used effectively? 

The digestic sound of the sirens wailing and the vehicles honking immediately grabs the audience's attention. 

Film Opening Research #1 - The Golden Compass

how many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?
Three titles: one saying "New Line Cinema", "Ingenious Film Partners" and another saying "The Golden Compass".

what images are prioritized in the opening sequence?
Bright Lights are prioritized because they are supposed to be the "dust", which is essentially someone's soul. Animals, called daemons are also prioritized because they serve as companions to people in the universe that the movie takes place in.  

what connotations do the images carry?
The bright lights and dust symbolize a person's soul.
The animals are spiritually linked to people. The animals represent a person's personality.

The Aurora Lights symbolize a passage to another world.

how is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?
The genre is fantasy. The talking animals and the contrast between the dark city and the bright lights reaffirm the magic of the universe. The close up of the witches and the talking polar bears also reaffirm that this is a fantasy film.

how does the film establish an enigma from the outset?
The film establishes an enigma from the onset because it immediately cuts to a scene of children playing. They are chasing each other while the adults yell at them to behave. The kids are chasing the protagonist, Lyra. This chase sets the tone for the rest of the movie. Lyra is racing against time throughout the movie because she is trying to save children from being magically severed from their daemons. 

what strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?

The film immediately cuts to images of magical dust, witches, and talking animals to appeal to those who like fantasy.

how has technology been used effectively? 

Technology has been used effectively with the CGI. The animals that have been used throughout the film, such as the ice bears, are somewhat realistic looking. The close-up shots used are effective because they capture the happiness and sense of wonder in the children who are playing. The voice over is effective because it explains the universe of the Golden Compass but is still engaging because the images of the dust, witches, and animals captivate the audience. 

My Favorite Genre Powerpoint

My favorite Genre Video

My Favorite Genre - PowerPoint

Film Viewing Practice Essay

Agent Carter is a television series that takes part in the Marvel universe. The protagonist is Agent Carter, who is struggling to work her office job while she assists Howard Stark. The series takes place in New York City post World War II. The extract from the show utilizes film elements such as sound, mise-en-scene, composition, and camera movements and to convey meaning.

To begin with, the opening shot utilizes sound to create drama. Captain America is speaking to Agent Carter has he is about to make the tough decision of sacrificing his life. The editor uses non-diegetic sound in the form of strings and vocals to create a sad mood and to raise intensity. The scene cuts to an office setting, presumably in the future, where Agent Carter works. The sound is most apparent in the scene as sirens are going off. The sirens are digested sound, and are used to create a sense of chaos within the work environment. Immediately after the sirens are going off, a man picks up the phone and the audience is able to hear what is being said through the phone. This is synchronous sound because the audience and the director can both hear the person on the phone. The sense of chaos from sirens carries over as the audience and the director is informed of an enemy being spotted. 

The non-diegetic sound of the strings intensifies again and sets an ominous tone. 

The mise-en-scene of the extract, including costume, acting, and blocking help communicate the themes and recognizable details of the series. Since the time period is post World War II, the costumes are an important in signifying that to audience. The protagonist, Agent Peggy Carter, is wearing a navy blue  pencil skirt and blazer with padded shoulders. Her makeup is minimal. The  modest business wear helps clue the audience in that the time period is the 1940s. The other men in the workplace wear traditional grey suits and ties. The lack of color in Agent Carter's outfit and the men's outfits are meant to convey a feeling of gloom to the audience. The muted color palette is representative of Agent Carter's frustration and despair because she is not being taken seriously at work. Her superiors do not recognize how smart and capable she is just because is is a woman. The acting enhances this theme as the men say things to her like "How are you holding up sweetie?" and "War's over. We'll handle the rough stuff." Agent Carter's frustration is also shown through her acting. She approaches her boss and asks why she hasn't been given an assignment. She also makes comments about how expertise is in field code breaking and data analysis and how she is bored with the work she is given. Lastly, the blocking mirrors how under appreciated she is. Agent Carter's office is placed away from the men. At 2:10 you can see how her superiors travel up a flight of stairs and past rows of empty desks to finally reach Agent Carter. This strategic placement shows how the men do not let her get involved in any of the meaningful work. Instead she is placed out of the way where is forced to act as a secretary instead off an agent. 

The camera angles also convey meaning, especially during the fight scene when Agent Carter is looking for Zodiac. The director uses a full shot as Agent Carter approaches the building. The audience can see her full body as she confidently strides to the entrance. The director chooses a tracking camera movement to show the three men react to the screaming of the fourth man.  This movement invites the audience into the action that is about to come. As the men run to go help, the audience is along for the ride. The camera movements switch to what looks like handheld shots while Agent Carter fights off the men. The hand held camera creates a sense of chaos and helps create drama within the scene. 

Graphic Organizer

Mise en Scene

I decided to write my mise-en-scene analysis on the pilot episode of the HULU Original, The Handmaid's Tale. I chose this episode because the costumes and the props are important for distinguishing between Offred's flashbacks and the present moment. The costumes are also key for understanding the class system in Gilled. The handmaids wear the iconic red dresses and with bonnets that frame their faces. The red symbolizes fertility. The Commanders wear classic black suits to symbolize power. The Commander's wives wear a bluish green to symbolize Virgin Mary. I chose to analyze the Handmaid's Tale because I am interested in Margret Atwood's themes of feminism, complacency, and political manipulation.  From what I can tell, the television series stay faithful to the book, with only minor changes to reflect the current society. 

The episode opens up with Offred's flashback. She, her husband, and child are escaping the to border of Canada. The scene takes place on an empty highway during sometime in the fall. The lighting is low-key to convey a sense of sadness as the family tries to escape the country. The lighting remains low-key as Offred is separated from her husband and child. The scene cuts to future when Offred has been taken by the government and transformed into a handmaid. The director utilizes shallow space to to convey how trapped Offred feels. The shallow depth of field is especially noticeable when her bonnet is on. The viewer can only see her face while the rest of the background is blurred out. This shallow depth of field represent the limited vision that Offred has when she wear the bonnet. The bonnet is a form of control over her since it limits her vision.

The acting becomes crucial when the episodes progresses to the scene where Offred meets the family at her new station. Offred and the Commander's wife have a conversation that sets the tone of the episode from the point forward. The blocking of Offred and Mrs. Waterford is very distant. The wife is standing in the doorway while Offred is sitting on the windowsill. The distance represents the tension between the two characters. Mrs. Waterford's acting reflects a woman who is trying to assert her dominance over the handmaid. Mrs. Waterford's tone is cold when she asks Ovid if she knows the rules. Mrs. Waterford then goes on to talk about how the training the previous handmaid was like training a dog, only "not a very smart one". 

Master Edits with Audio

https://youtu.be/8rtrBCRq2Dg

Music - I added music to convey leitmotif. I took the Lone Ranger theme, William Tell Overture, to express a sense of urgency as the students race through the hallways as they try to get to class on time.

Direct Sound - I kept the direct sound in the simultaneity scene. I kept the sound because it accurately conveyed the echoing of the footsteps on the stairs and it allowed the audience to hear Lia and I stop and say hi to each other.

Voice Over - In the contrast clip, Lia and I added voice-overs. We wanted to show the difference in thought processes between a student who is working hard and studying and a student who is lazy and texting during class.

Post Synchronization Dubbing - In the parallelism clips, we added audio of a person drinking a water bottle. In the original clip of Lia drinking the audience could not hear her drinking because the camera could not detect it. In post, Lia and I added the audio back in so that it would appear to be as if Lia were drinking loudly.

Week 7:

Simultaneity - Christopher Nolan's movie, Inception, uses simultaneity to show that there are multiple dream states that are occurring at the same time. In each layer of the dreams, Cobb and his team are trying to plant an idea into Robert Micheal Fischer's subconscious. In the clip, the team has to drive the van off the bridge to give themselves a "kick", which will wake them up and take them out of the dream. The scene then cuts to the team dropping down an elevator shaft to "kick" themselves awake. This is simultaneity because of the act of free falling expressed in both cuts are happening at the same time.

Parallelism - The cartoon, Bojack Horseman, uses parallelism as a transition. Todd Chavez and Princess Carolyn are in the woods. They are being attacked by clowns that are infected with rabies. The screen is covered in blood but then cuts to Todd squeezing ketchup out of a bottle. in a restaurant The squirting of blood/ketchup is parallelism.

Symbolism - The apple in Snow White is a biblical reference to the Adam and Eve story. Eve is tempted by the devil disguised as a serpent into eating a forbidden apple. Similarly, Snow White is tempted by the evil queen disguised as a hag into eating a poison apple. The apple in Snow White is a symbol of Snow White's sin of talking to strangers when she wasn't supposed to. 

Contrast - The TV series, Reign, ends its final episode with a scene of Queen Mary Stuart at the end of her life. She is old, in tears, and preparing for her execution. Just as the blade is about to come down, the scene cuts to Mary at the prime of her life. She is young and reunited with her husband, who passed away 27 years before she did. This is contrast because she goes from being old and at the end of her life to her being young and happy. 

Leitmotif -  Jaws is a classic example of leitmotif. The theme song provides continuity by acting as a recurring musical idea. The song only plays when people are in the water. The music gives the audience anxiety as the camera cuts to a first person perspective from the shark. The music is dark and threatening make the audience fear the shark.