Saturday 20 December 2014

Plenary Post

So I've finished analyzing my chosen title sequences of the apocalyptic genre and today's post is the plenary. This will include a general overview, what narrative I'll use, representations etc. So if you want to know what I've chosen then keep on reading.


Overview
Generally, I found all of the opening sequence has both their similarities and differences between them. The main one that stood out for me was the use of colours. They all were dark and dim which helped to set the tone of the film (especially in the beginning of the credits) - the world's just ended so of course no one's too happy about it. No matter the genre, all had dull colours. For example, Land Of the Dead used is more of the horror genre and uses such colours. Whereas Armageddon falls into the science fiction genre and uses similar colours because of the space element involved.
 Also, the music used - if there was any - was generally low and dense, before building up as a way of creating tension. The only exception was World War Z as it used a different range of instruments and the tempo was quicker, it still built up in a similar fashion.

However, there was a couple of similarities worth mentioning too. For example, the range of camera angles, movements and shots differed too.

The best example which included the full range was The Day the Earth Stood Still and Armageddon. They both included many different shots and angles. TDTESS had a very impressive range of shots such as an array of close up all the way through to wide shots and long shots. Armageddon includes a range of shots and camera movements. For example, when everyone begins to panic, the camera swivels very quickly numerous times around Billy Bob Thornton and the camera follows him when he walks through to address the room. Sorry for the set up of this paragraph, the pictures refuse to stay put.
There is a general template that these films follow. It starts with the distributor's logo, then the credits appear on screen in the order of the distributor and producer, names of the stars, the title of the film, other co-star's names, other crew members (makeup, set design, casting director etc) before finishing with the director's name. However, other films such as I Am Legend doesn't even have an opening sequence as such and World War Z finished with the title instead of the director's name. Yet, the majority stuck to the order and that is the order I will produce mine in.

Institutions
There was a range of different large scale and popular distributors used in the films I chose; 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Universal, Buena Vista. These are big studios rather than independent so I will keep this in mind when I create my final piece. After completely some more research I found the best distributor to use would either be Universal or 20th Century Fox as they have both produced popular apocalyptic films such as 28 Days Later, Children of Men, Dawn of the Dead etc.

Representations
Now, not many of the films I chose showed an obvious representation of a social group. The only three were Armageddon, I Am Legend and The Day the Earth Stood Still. All three of these films represented men as the dominant sex. They all have power to survive and control over others (this is particularly highlighted in Armageddon). However, despite this I've chosen to represent teenagers in my opening sequence as I feel the market has a gap within this genre. There aren't many with children, the only recent film I could find was How I Live Now but this wasn't the kind of film I particularly wanted to look at as this was more of a romance hybrid. So, I will be representing youths within my final piece.

Audience
Surprisingly enough there wasn't much I could find out about my target audience other than the general age and this was more to do with general knowledge of my chosen genre as typically these type of films are aimed at those of 12 and over. However, in some of the films I'd chosen - especially Land of the Dead - there were graphic scenes such as blood and gore and other scenes related to death that those of a younger age would find upsetting. Looking at the age ratings of the six films I chose, they all had around the same result:
Land Of the Dead - UK 15, US R
Armageddon - UK 12, US PG-13
The Day After Tomorrow - UK 12A, US PG-13
World War Z - UK 15, US PG-13
The Day the Earth Stood Still - UK 12A, US PG-13
I Am Legend - UK 15, US PG-13
So it seems the target audience is at least 12 but I find the best apocalyptic films and TV shows are aimed for those of 15 and over which is why I will rate my sequence at 15. This will allow me to include more graphic content as well as producing a more graphic script too.

Narrative
The way each story was told differed. Some title sequences didn't include any dialogue or even any actions scenes which wasn't effective in creating a storyline and was quite boring to watch (here's looking at you World War Z). The best narrative was Armageddon as it immediately started off with a voiceover which foreshadowed the plot of the film whilst including an action scene whilst the credits were playing. I Am Legend and The Day the Earth Stood Still were also very good in narrating and introducing the storyline. These opening sequences are similar to how I want to structure mine.

Genre
As far as elements go, it depends on the genre. I find that apocalyptic films are generally of the science fiction without needing to include any obvious elements such as space or giant asteroids. I will be including more horror elements in my sequence such as blood, gore and dark dull colours when it comes to editing. Due to the time of year I'm filming, I hope to use the winter weather to my advantage which will probably involve a few early mornings here and there.

So that's all for this plenary post. As I said this was just a general overview of the opening title sequence I've analysed over these past couple of weeks.

Until next time,
                          Toni

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