Pre-Production - Opening Sequence Titles Analysis

http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/03/17/300/

Film: 300

The opening sequence does not really contain any specific clue to how the films narrative takes place but does give us clues to the themes through the use of props, colours and costumes using Computer generated images and of course through the titles used. We pick up that the film is about the Spartan soldiers and war through the images of blood being split, soldiers on horses and the constant use of the colour red representing blood of soldiers. The sequence is set with the sky being colours such as red, gold and yellow representing the sky burning - an idea of hell for the viewer.




This is the institution logo that Warner Bros (institution responsible for 300) use. The logo was not included as it would damage the themes and ideas of the sequence. This may be because the logos colour scheme does not match that of the sequence. Also, the institution may not have been the selling point of the film explaining why it was not included in the opening sequence.

Typography used

The font is red and used in italics. This emphasizes the intensity of the film that the editor may be trying to show us along with the constant referral to the colour red which brings us to recognise the blood that is split in the wars of 300.
   The font is slightly carved on the edges to prevent it looking too straight and formal. This could also give us the feeling that the fonts have been cut with swords of the Persian army or sliced in the mix of the battle in the opening sequence.
   Also, the names are larger in font size to ensure the audience get a good view of who is featured in the making of the film. This enables the audience to spot out their favourite actors, directors, producers etc.
   Lastly, the font is placed behind the darkest part of the frame, again to emphasize the names that are present on the screen so that the audience can spot out the people involved in the film that they are fans of.

Title Annotation


1) "Directed by Zack Snyder"
-The person in charge of the overall look and feel of the film.
-This credit may come first as people may recognise the film because they are fans of this Director through their older pieces of work.

2) "Screenplay by Zack Snyder &Kurt Johnstad and Michael B Gordon"
-In charge of the films script.

3) "Based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley"
-Where the film idea originates from.
-Comes early on in the credits as the film may be significantly recognised for its plot which comes from the graphic novel.

4) "Produced by Gianni Nuanni"
5) "Produced by Mark Canton"
6) "Produced by Bernie Goldman and Jeffery Silver"
-The person who initiates the making of the film
-Comes early on in the credits as it is again, one of the selling points of the film for fans of this producer in particular.      

7) "Executive producers D.Snyder, F.Miller, C.J.Flores"
8) "Executive Producers T. Tull, W. Fay, S. Mednick, B. Waisbren"
-The executives are the ones who are in charge of the decisions made in terms of the production.

9) "Director of Photography Larry Fong"
-The person who supervises the photography in the production.

10) "Production designer James Bissel"
-The person who designs the overall look of the film.

11) "Edited by William Hoy, A.C.E."
-The person who creates the sequence of shots for the film.

-These members of the production all play a vital part in creating a successful film, in this case 300. Their names are shown in the credits to show recognition to who played the bigger parts in creating the film. Also, their names come early on in the credits to ultimately show of all of the big names and promote the scale of the production.

Actors

12) "Jerrard Butler"
-Plays the main role in the acting of the film.
-He is the person who will be most commonly recognised by the audience which is why he is the first actor to be shown. This credit also provides a form of introduction to the following credit - the title.

13) "300"
-Title
-Shown after the main actor and the names of the technical managers and producers etc. to show the scale of the films production and prepare the audience for the intensity of the film.

14) "Lence Henry"
15) "David Wenham"
16) "And Domonic West"
17) "Vincent Regan, Michale Fassbunder"
19) "Tom Wisdom, Andrew Pleavin"
20) "Andrew Tiernan, Rodrigo Santoro"
21) "Peter Mensah, Stephen McHattie"
-This is the well-recognised members of the cast that help to promote the film and create suspense as the audience builds their excitement to view the film with so many recognised names. The order of the cast is most likely goes in the order of who was paid the most, which then most probably correlates with who is the most famous and the best actors out of the cast.
Others

22) "Casting by Carrie Hilton"
-Shown after the cast as the viewers will be more interested in who is acting over who got hold of the actors.
23) "Co-Producers Steve Barnett and Josette Perotta"
-Giving recognition to the people who played the main roles back stage, which comes later on as people are less concerned with these factors.

24) "Costumes designed by Michael Wilkinson" 
25) "Music by Taylor Bates"
-Given recognition because factors such a the films music and actors costumes are vital to the feel of the film and give it a realistic effect.

26) "Visual effects supervisor Chris Watts"
-Visual effects are vital in a film like this as the graphics are what may make the film so successful and popular.

27) "A Warner Bros pictures presentation" (REPEAT)

28) "In association with Legendary Pictures"
29) "And virtual studios"
-Vital to the production and therefore must have some recognition in the credits.

30) "A Mark Canton, Gianni Nunnari production" (REPEAT)

31) "A Zack Snyder film" (REPEAT)

32) "Unit production managers, Jack Lavore, Jeffery Silver.
-Responsible for the administration of the films production.

33) "First assistant director Martin Watters"
-Given recognition as he helped to create the feel of the film and therefor contributed the the success.

34) "Visual effects by Grant Freckellon"
-Visual effects are vital in a film like this as the graphics are what may make the film so successful and popular.

35) "Associate producer Wesly Coller, Silenn Thomas, Nathalie Petercentesse"

The order in which the credits are shown commonly correlate to the amount of money each person has been paid, for example Zack Snyder comes very early on and also gets a repeat towards the end. He most probably got paid the most by far.

Pre-Production - Opening Sequence Analysis - Mean Streets

Open publication - Free publishing - More analysis

Pre-Production - Sound Analysis of BSR Opening Sequence

Trainspotting Opening sequence - SOUND


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Naf_WiEb9Qs

The initial soundtrack of the opening sequence is a song called Iggy Pop- Lust for Life, which was released in 1977. This songs helps to save money on the budget by helping the audience to gather an idea of the time the film is set in - the 70's and also the location of where the film is set - in an urban British location, in this case, Edinburgh. The Rock and Roll theme of the film gives us an idea of some of the themes of the film as it represents the idea of being out of control and not caring about what goes on in life.

This image gives a small representation of the previous explanation. It gives a an idea of the bleak life that 'Renton' lives through the result of drug abuse and a lack of care for life.

This idea is later supported by the dialogue that is introduced to us through 'Renton’s' voice who is the main character. "Choose life, choose a job, choose a career, and choose a family ... I chose not to do that ... and the reasons, who needs reasons when you've got Heroin." This dialogue is just a small selection of the 'wise words' that Renton gives us throughout the sequence. The dialogue fills the audience in as to who the main character is, where he comes from through his accent and dialect, and what the general plot of the film is about. This saves money for the producers as they can spend less on filming sets and props to gives us the same information. Instead, we get told this information by Renton which is not only cheaper but also provides us with a much more realistic approach as we are being told about his life in an almost face to face approach.

Synchronous sound is used when Renton falls to the ground twice in two different frames in the opening sequence. The sound of his head hitting the floor almost becomes a Leit Motif in the first part of the film. Once when he takes a draw on his 'Heroin Spliff' and once when the ball hits his head in the five-a-side football match. The diegetic sound creates a representation of failure for 'Renton' which again introduces us to the key plot of the film which is about his failure in life and climbing out of the drug scene to avoid failure.

These points in the sequence are illustrated below.

Pre-Production - Production Log Week 2

This week we have been specifically learning about the various codes and conventions of British Social Realism. (BSR)
The conventions we are introduced to are mostly based around controversial issues in society that can be applied mostly to the working class. A couple of conventions introducing narrative, characters and setting - there for not focusing too much on actual plot. Working class characters played by new British talent, voiceovers and typical themes such as racism and law breaking. Generally creating a solid introduction the basis of the films which would commonly include establishing shots.

Once this had been taught to us, it was up to us as individuals to explore the various ways in which we could include these conventions in our opening sequence. For example, although these conventions are all vital to BSR films, they do not necessarily all have to be explored in opening sequences. I plan on including factors such as drugs, law breaking and more vitally, not focusing too much on the plot and rather using the 2 minutes of screen time to set up the plot by showing the themes, characters and issues that are included in the film.



My ideas have been largely influenced through the study of other BSR opening sequences, for example, 'The Football Factory.' The reason I initially looked at this film’s opening sequence is because it relates to the plot that I will be focusing on in my work - following the life of a care-free and reckless antagonist who needs to get out of the lifestyle that he is stuck in.

Pre-Production - BSR Opening sequence Analysis - 'Scum' (BBC1 Pt. 1)

Open publication - Free publishing - More analysis

Pre-Production - Themes and Ideologies Analysis

Analysis
British Social Realism films will always have key themes that relate to both the producer and the films ideologies.  This is a key concept of the genre as it means that viewer can generate their own personal ideas and views on the themes of the film. A key convention of British Social Realism is about dealing with British society’s cultural ideas and problems of what is usually the working class. For example in Trainspotting, the idea of drug culture is dealt with in a negative way by perceiving the drugs to be useless  but at the same time showing how much the users can enjoy the sensations. By doing this we recognise that drug culture needs to be dealt with if we want to see an improvement in the youths chances of becoming successful and living drug free lives. It is unusual to find these types of ideas and themes in other film genre which is why British Social Realism is exclusive in its type. Therefore from studying a variety of British Social Realism films we begin to recognise the patterns of themes and ideologies as they all combine to deal with societies genuine problems that are only noticed by the working class as they are the ones experiencing them.

What’s in the news?

The evening standard have presented this article which deals with the rat race to win tickets to the London 2012 Olympics. From this subject I have generated an idea for a film synopsis for a British Social Realism film.

Synopsis
The Olympic site is being built as we speak in Stratford – previously one of London’s poorest areas. The government have invested millions into recreating the entire area to create the start of a new town which is soon to be one of the most expensive areas in Britain. However, was this done by the government to save the potential of all of the young lives in this ex-poor area? This is what we have been told. Because this is what we want to hear. Something beneficial for Britain’s youth who are now so commonly named as the most violent culture of young people that the history of Britain has ever seen. But from my view, this is yet another investment from the British government that is based on only one factor – Money. My film synopsis is based around the theme of government corruption. The film will deal with ideas such as social status and government actions and how they deal with the problems in the country’s capital. It will give a clear idea of the split between working class, middle class and upper class. An issue which everyone wants to see change in. The basic plot is about how the government lie to the public by telling us the Olympic games is in the best interest of the capitals people. However due to the internet’s modern wonders – for example, Wiki Links, the government is then exposed to the public to show that the Olympic games is purely for the purpose of making money to invest in bank shares, politicians bonuses and other money related issues that are not actually helping to deal with the problems in Britain’s social culture, but only make them worst.

Pre-Production - Production Log - Week 1

During the course of the week we have been introduced to the beginning of the unit by learning how we will be marked and what we can do to avoid a poor piece of work and create a high quality piece of work.

We were introduced to the four levels that we will be assessed by:

Minimal: work will be of a minimum quality and quantity, negligible.

Basic: forming an essential foundation or starting point to our work

Proficient: competent or skilled in doing the necessary work.

Excellent: outstanding levels of skill and knowledge in work when executed.

To help gain an understanding of this we marked pupils work from the previous years which helped me recognise the qualities and faults of work - this will hopefully result in my work avoiding cliché errors and containing originality and flair.

Specifically from marking this work we found that it is vital that we avoid cliché film ideas and typical trailer scenes such as waking up in bed and flashbacks. I will be sure to avoid these ideas as it will show a lack of creativity and flair - both of which are mentioned in the marking scheme as vital for higher grades.

We recognised this by contrasting and comparing two different trailers. The better one was about university fee protests which provided the trailer with creativity and flair as it was a controversial issue in England at the time - meaning it went down well as a British Social Realism film as they always include controversial issues and ideas in the plot.

Main points learned this week:-Avoid cliché
-Be creative/show flair
-Conventions of BSR.

Pre-Production - Post Secret - Inspirational Ideas

http://www.postsecret.com/

"I often find myself walking through busy downtown neighborhoods, passing by people of all ages, ethnicities, and backgrounds, going about their lives, hurrying to get somewhere, or trying to leave. All of them, a different face, a different life, a different story.

Whenever I see them, I can't help but think, what secrets are these people carrying with them every day, wherever they go, that no one else in the world knows about? Do their secrets weigh them down? Do we have any secrets in common? Do their secrets make them feel alone?"


This idea could easily form the idea to a British Social Realism film as it relates to the problems that go un-heard of in society. The narrative could be based around a teenage boy whos Mum is terminally ill. A massive secret that he may not have told to anyone which could lead to deppresion with the help of a drug addiction he picks up along the way. It would relate to how normal working class people experience life changing events that we dont usually think of and also tackle the issue of drug abuse in Britain.