...
...
After this pitch I decided this idea wasn't going to work because:
- I decided that the idea of 7-8 year old children bullying and victimizing a 7-8 year old girl on a playground wasn't appropriate and would be hard to film because of parental agreement necessary. I thought that parents probably wouldn't want their children to be endorsed with bullying. Also, the whole scene could be very influential to children that age. So this made me realise that the whole film opening idea of showing the past life of the female killer being bullied as a child would not be appropriate or strictly feasible. This realisation made me have to change my idea completely, therefore I had to think of another motive which a female killer could have.
- Filming at night time in town is hard and also not that feasible unless you have a special lighting kit. Also, I realised there would be a lot of people around in town who I didn't really want to be in the in view of the camera. So, my next idea was to film in the forest where there aren't any people and it's quiet so you can here any dialogue being spoken.
WlLD CHILD
IDENTS
...
The first film ident shown is Universal Pictures (one of the big six conglomerates) and has a signature sound, that people recognise, that accompanies their ident. Universal Pictures produces all of Working Title films. This film ident lasts 19 seconds.
...
Working Title seems to always work along side Studiocanal and Universal Pictures. This is the second film ident shown. Usually in most film openings there are normally 3-4 film idents shown but in this case there were only 2 shown. This film ident cross fades into the first opening shot. This film ident lasts 10 seconds.
...
TITLES
...
The first title shown is 'Universal Pictures Presents". Universal Pictures is the main production company of the film so it appears first in the titles and the idents. There is a sans serif font used in white to connote the contemporary, modern, girly vibe/genre of the film.
...
SHOT 1
...
The opening shot is an establishing extreme long shot to establish the setting and in some cases to give a certain feel/vibe of how the film will be like. In this case, the feel/vibe is displayed through this shot, of happiness, awakening and peace to connote the genre of the film.This shot was taken specifically in the morning to connote the romcom genre through the bright awakening colours that accompany the morning light in L.A. Usually in film openings, narrative enigma (withholding information from the audience) is used to keep the audience in some suspense and curious to know more.
...
STEREOTYPES
- The posh, upper class, wealthy british people from London.
- The incomprehensible scottish maid who is laughed at for being incomprehensible. This attracts an international, american audience because they relate with this how they don't understand scottish accents.
- The good looking, rich, formal, well educated guy who all the girls in the boarding school admire and like.
- The typical teenage american girl from L.A who is spoilt, rebellious, bitchy, stylish and outgoing. This is how British people see certain american teenage girls so this attracts also a British audience.
- The formal, uniformed, strict head teacher who wears a long black gown. This is a stereotype of head teachers in Britain that an international and american audience associate with.
- The reference to wagon wheels and roll ups from Drippy attracts a british audience because only British people would relate and understand this.
- The old, traditional, big, wealthy looking, wooden boarding school, Abbey Mount, attracts an american, international and British audience because this is a very British stereotype that americans have of British boarding schools.
SETTING
The setting is in L.A at some points of the film and in the main body of the film the setting is an old, traditional, posh, expensive boarding school in the rural areas outside of London.
GENRE
This film is a romcom.
NARRATIVE STRUCTURE
Todorov's 5-Part Narrative Theory
1. Equilibrium established - The setting to start with is warm, sunny L.A in a rich, modern house with an infinity pool to connote wealth and
2. Disruption -
Propp's 7 Recurring Character Types
From the study of fairytales:
1. The Villain (antagonist) is
Harriet Bentley - struggles against Poppy.
2. The Donor is
Mrs Kingsley - prepares Poppy and gives her advice and words that inspire her to do better and no longer be rebellious.
3. The Helper
Drippy, Kiki, Josie and Kate - help Poppy in the quest to get out of the boarding school (be expelled).
4. The Hero is
Poppy Moore - reacts to Mrs Kingsley, saves the day, she gets together with Freddy in the end.
5. The False Hero is
Harriet Bentley - takes credit for Poppy's actions and tries to get with Freddy throughout the whole film.
6. The Princess or Prize is
Freddy Kingsley - Poppy deserves him throughout the story but is unable to get together with him because of an unfair evil, because of Harriet. Poppy's journey is ended when she gets together with Freddy, thereby beating Harriet.
Poppy's mother - Poppy sees a picture of her mum as captain of the lacrosse team and she didn't know her mother was a student at Abbey Mount so this makes her finally aware that her dad sent her here for a reason and her heart heals a bit more which makes her strong and realise who she really is.
Levi-Strauss' Binary Opposition - There is juxtaposition between Poppy Moore and Harriet Bentley. Poppy Moore is cool, fashionable, likeable, confident, rebellious and outgoing; Harriet is posh, snooty, mean, controlling, childish, selfish and the teacher's pet (until later in the film when Mrs Kingsley and the audience find out that she isn't as innocent as she appears to be). These are two binary opposites that are the key device for generating conflict and thus drama in the film.
'71
IDENTS
...
The first film ident shown is Studiocanal which is 19 seconds long.
...
The second film ident shown is Film 4 which is 8 seconds long. Film 4 is owned by Channel Four Television Corporation.
...
TITLES
...
The font here used is serif to connote the old fashioned, historic setting/time era when this film was set (1970's). Also it is a typewritten font to connote that the genre of the film is serious drama and historic/set in back in time. Film 4 and BFI appear first in the titles. BFI is a funding agency who get money from the national lottery to produce this film (Warp Films usually). Also, Film4 is a funding agency who give money to Warp.
...
Screen Yorkshire and Creative Scotland appear next, these are funding agencies to Warp who get money from the government to produce this film.
...
Here, Warp has a small logo next to it. This is an unusual way of writing a title, you do not see this logo or type of logo at all in any of the other Warp Films.
...
SHOT 1
...
You would expect to see an establishing extreme long shot here. This is an unusual choice for an opening shot. This first shot is a whip pan. If an establishing extreme long shot was used you would see the Barracks in the shot and the specific setting where this army based camp is.
...
NARRATIVE STRUCTURE
Todorov's 5-Part Narrative Theory
1. Equilibrium established - Through the boxing match between the main protagonist and another character. This scene connotes that the setting and vibe of the whole film is war-like and violent.
2. Disruption - This is when Gary finds out he is going to Belfast.
3. Recognition the order has been disrupted -
Script
"In this vodcast I will be covering some of the key aspects of narrative, from what I have seen in the 5 movies I have chosen. There are usually 3 or 4 film idents shown at the start.
Narrative enigma
Barthes' narrative theory of 'narrative enigma' can be seen in 'For those in Peril', 'Wild Child' and somewhat in 'We are your Friends'. You see the main protagonists in each film opening. Although, in Bridget Jones's diary there is minimal narrative enigma.
Sound
In We Are Your Friends, there is immediately an audio bridge of non-diegetic sound that starts in the second film ident. In For those in Peril there is diegetic sound of waves in the sea throughout.
Immediately the first shot is also a mid shot of the main protagonist from behind; this is unusual of a film to not have an establishing extreme long shot as the opening shot.
Shots
In For Those in Peril, the audience is shown a mid shot of a naked boy standing on a boat in the sea. There is narrative enigma here, since the boy is shot not in focus and again, this is strange to have this type of shot as the opening shot of the film opening. Also the camera movements are shaky to connote verisimilitude of standing on a boat. There is only diegetic sound in this shot of the waves in the sea. Immediately the first shot is also a mid shot of the main protagonist from behind; this is unusual of a film to not have an establishing extreme long shot as the opening shot.
Todorov's narrative theory
Referring to Todorov's 5-part narrative theory, the equilibrium only, is established in all the film openings I looked at.
