Social Drama Opening Title Sequences

THIS IS ENGLAND (SHANE MEADOWS, 2006)

(from left to right)

-Row 1-

Shot 1)

• this shot is simply of the title of the film
• the font used is clear and bold, and stands out to the audience
• the  mise-en-scene is quite bleak, and sets up the general setting of the film, such as the tattered grass area and balconies
• it establishes the social class of the characters involved in the film 

Shot 2)

• in the duration of this shot, we see a group of men, dressed exactly the same, sporting similar shaved heads.
• although not much is revealed in this shot at all, I think it's safe to say that some may assume them to be a gang of some description.
• this may prove valuable when narrowing down the message of the film and it's genre.
• we also have actor credits visible on the screen to us, in the same font as the title.

Shot 3)

• this shot shows a crowd of rowdy men at a concert of some description.
• this shot is part of archive footage, and does not provide any direct involvement with the film, except giving us some insight as to the year/decade.

-Row 2-

Shot 4)

• this is shot tells us the least about the sequence and the film
• it features two sets of couples dancing and kissing at some kind of party
• although the camera work and quality is poor, and it adds to the realistic view of the opening sequence as it's not polished and perfect, which gives this sequence a certain effect

Shot 5)

• this is the shot the stands out the most to me, even though it simply features three males, draping the Union Jack over their shoulders.
• this patriotic display can have different connotations, in regards to the scenes in the film; such as racial differences during different decades in England's modern history

Shot 6)

• in this series of shots, we see a young boy on what looks like, either an early television or computer game console (it isn't very clear, again due to the quality and that his head follows the movements on the screen)
• this, again, gives us some rough indication as to the year the film is set in.

-Row 3-

Shot 7)

• this series of shots feature a riot/fight between men in working and casual clothes.
• The importance of this, is that there aren't any police officials involved, so we can almost rule out a large political/governmental uproar.
• again, this helps in the build up to the start of the film, by using archive footage relevant to the time frame, as shown by the quality of camera work.

Shot 8)

• perhaps who one the most recognisable shots in the sequence, it is the march to Port Stanley during the Falklands War in 1982.
• so we know that the time frame is most likely going to be during the year 1982, or the immediate aftermath in the following years
• this shot symbolises a more serious take on the film's building foundations, and foreshadows an emotional attachment

Shot 9)

• there are various shots of Margaret Thatcher in the opening sequence, who was one of the most influential female figures during her time in office as the Conservative Prime Minister during the years 1975-1990
• this is all archive footage, and appears all the way through the sequence, probably a figure most would associate with and recognise on the screen.

Overall, this opening sequence is incredibly successful at grabbing and maintaining audience attention. Rather than just leaving the audience to focus on the writing, images are provided for entertainment and to inform the viewers on the background of the film.

Social Drama Opening Title Sequences

  THE KID (2010, NICK MORAN)

Shots 1 and 2.)
These show the company sponsoring and working with he production of the film.

3.)
Although this shot is minimal, it creates the setting and clear indication as to what the year is during this part of the film.
NOTE, this establishment of the year in writing happens throughout the film.

4.)
This shot clearly establishes the main character. Just by the way they have positioned him, we can tell he is beaten and bruised and has just been kicked out of a van by two men.

5.)
This is where the opening sequence really begins! Throughout the following shots, actor names are presented on walls and surrounding setting in a child-like crayon manner. I think this embellishes the innocence and sadness of the story, through loss of a childhood.

6.)
The setting presented to us in this shot, really establishes the setting n the rest of the film. This is where it becomes more obvious that the genre is a drama, featuring the convention ; run down housing estate, a home to our protagonist.

7.)
This shot also continues to establish the setting, although tries to show as little as possible to ready the audience for the following shots.

8, 9, 10 and 11.)
These continue to follow the protagonist through a run down abandoned house, leading us upstairs to an empty stark box room. In terms of mise-en-scene, the lighting is dim; to follow the mood, costume is simple; so as to keep the focus of attention on background, and the props are plentiful; to foreshadow what the character is doing.

The pill tubs and bottles of alcohol establish that the character is already in a bad place, before the film has even begun, so this adds tension and makes the audience want to know what happened.

12.)
This shot always stands out to me, as it features the title and the 'based on a true story' title in similar fonts to the actors names.
However, the main reason it stands out, is because the director's name is not included. In fact, Nick Moran's name is not mentioned until the end of the film.






In my opinion, The Kid, (2010, Director Nick Moran)has one of the most effective opening sequences, hence why I chose to look at more of the opening shots.  

Opening Film Sequence

Recently, I have been trying to decide between Social Drama and Horror, for my opening film sequence.



Although I was pretty certain that I would choose the Social Drama option, I did weigh up the possibility of Horror, and how I could successfully explore that genre.

However, I am still set on Social Drama. For me, it is the genre I enjoy and appreciate the most, and already have a mini brainstorm of ideas ready to start planning with.

Although Horror would have been an interesting choice, I am certain on Social, as it's something I enjoy, and believe I will be better at.

Social Drama vs British Horror-BRITISH HORROR

BRITISH HORROR:

Pros's:

• Horror is generally a popular favourite amongst an audience, so already it is hyped up to an expecting fan-base.
• Being a British Horror, comedy elements can be in-corporated into the plot, to give it that 'quirky-British' feel.
• Again, location can be kept simple and straight forward, it is important, because it will catch the attention of the audience, but also the main focus is on the acting and plot.

Con's:

• Acting/casting choices can be quite dicey. It is important for the actors to have a certain look about them and a quality that can keep the audience interested, which is why I think it is harder to cast a Horror film.
• Compared to Hollywood, the money received to make British film is generally lower, so this can have a direct effect on the set up of a British Horror film, but it can be avoided, so long as the crew and writers don't try and make it a Hollywood film.
• It's easier to fall into the 'predictable' plot line trap. the audience will always have expectations when it comes to what might happen, whether it be down to reviews or just knowing the general layout of the genre.

So it's best to try and subvert from these classic expectations.


Examples:


28 Days Later (2002, Director, Danny Boyle.)

The Wicker Man (1973, Director Robin Hardy)

Overall, I think this genre is harder to grasp, and come out of it successful, as many people have high expectations of horror, as it is one of the most popular and successful film genres.


Although this genre does not particularly appeal to me in the slightest, I can appreciate the genuine and successful British Horror films, which many have become film classics. It proves that we are capable of producing good horror, and it's not just up to Hollywood to scare us!

Social Drama vs British Horror-SOCIAL DRAMA

Now we have our Preliminary Tasks out of the way, we can now concentrate on our next main task. Filming a 2 minute opening sequence to either a British Social Drama, or British Horror film.

Now I will weigh up the pros's and con's of both genres to help me decide which I will base my opening sequence on.

SOCIAL DRAMA

Pros's:

• You are free to work with most locations.
• more freedom with the storyline/plot line.
• Casting choices are made easier, because the plot is close to reality, so choosing a cast is quite straight forward.
• Relatively cheap, not investing in a studio location, all filmed on location where appropriate.

Con's:

• Slight difficulty making the plot believable, to an extent where an audience can really relate to what is happening.
• Again with plot, it's important to make a clear difference between your film and another, making sure they are not too similar, as many social drama's can be too alike.

Examples of British Social Drama:

About a Boy (2002, Directors, Chris and Paul Weitz))

The Kid (2010, Director, Nick Moran)

Overall, I think this genre is very easily accessible, and can be achieved quite easily too. I think the only challenging concept is actually coming up with a plot line.

I also think that this genre is popular to a general audience as it can focus on many different aspects of British culture, thus making it appealing to different types of audience, depending on what the film is dealing with this time round.

Personally, I enjoy this genre of film very much, I have see many different issues dealt with in this genre, and the fact that it is British, makes it very personal and a proud achievement.



Preliminary Task Video and Editing Process

This is the completed result of the Preliminary Task.

Personally, I think the editing went well. I have not had very much confidence in the editing field before, but this time round I felt a little more comfortable editing it.  We shot many versions of the same shot to be safe when it came to editing it. I think we managed the timing and effects well, keeping it simple and naturalistic.

The initial editing was a problem as we had to re teach the process to each other, in order to grasp the concept of it. Also, the timing was a little difficult to control as it was vital certain shots demonstrated fluidity.

What did I learn?

From this task, I have taken away vital skills on film making and editing. I now know the continuity rules, which I know will help me when it comes to making my opening film sequence. Especially the 180 line rule, now that I am aware of it, I can keep an eye on it when filming.  

Filming Process

In preparation for filming the animatic as a live sequence we ensured we had actors, location and equipment/props ready.

However, we did face many problems filming the actual sequence.

We were forced to change he set we had originally planned to use, due to reasons we were not initially aware of. This meant that we had to re think our layout of certain scenes when it came to filming. For example, which side the actors would be facing, taking into mind the change of set and scenery.

However, we think we successfully overcame this problem quickly, and soon found a similar location, using any resources we had.

Once we had the actors and props in position, our next challenge was keeping to the 180 line.


Even though we both have had good examples with filming before hand, it became harder to remember the line when we actually had to think about it. Before, we had just filmed away, and now we had to re think certain shots to make sure they ticked the right boxes.

In regards to the storyboard sequence, we had to subvert from what we had originally had in place, due to time and circumstances. This, however, proved to be not too much hassle, and we think we successfully handled the situation and made the best out of it.


My main target next time I am filming, will be to keep an eye on the 180 line and make sure I have the correct side mapped out.

Animatic

This is the animatic supporting the filming for the Preliminary Task.

In this, we were expected to;

1.) pay close attention to the 180° line, and follow this rule.
2.) use each of the skills taught to us:

• Eye line match
• Match-on-action
• shot/reverse shot

To make the animatic successful, we made sure to include each of these at least once, to ensure it met the standards. We also kept an eye on the task set, which was exactly the same as the original photo task in layout.

1.) character enters room
2.) character crosses room
3.) character sits opposite another character
4.) a few lines of dialogue are exchanged between the pair


Overall, I think our animatic was successful in showing what we were trying to get across. We included everything required and hopefully put an interesting twist on the storyline.