Feedback From Pitch (first draft)

Once we had a film idea, we had to create a pitch for it which had to be presented to our whole class. Once we have finished presenting, we were given feedback on what to do to improve our presentation.


Feedback Forms

Pitch (first draft)

Set for "The Journey of self-discovery" title sequence

The initial idea for our title sequence is to recall the actions of Louise in the morning to show her boring, mundane life in London. These images below are some of the set where my title sequence will be taking place (bedroom & bathroom). The first pictures are of the bedroom we plan to shoot our title sequence in, as the setting of our film is London city. This bedroom is set in  greater London and you can see the building in London which shows it is a miserable place to be in (links to the narrative). however, we have decided not to shoot the film in this bedroom as it is too masculine for the main character. in stead we have decided to use a more feminine bedroom in Greater London instead so the bedroom matches the personality of the main character. Underneath the bedroom images is ones of a bathroom which is another setting for our title sequence. We think this bathroom is right for our sequence as it is basic and simple, which shows that Louise is a normal woman with basic necessities. Also, the room has a mirror which would be good to us in different shots to show the characters expressions more easily.

Narrative Idea- The Journey of Self-Discovery

For my AS media coursework title sequence I am working with Michael knight to create a title sequence for a feel good drama. we have been heavily influenced by the following films:
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller, US, 2013)
Jerry Maguire  (Carmon Crow, US, 1996)
Forest Gump (Robert Zemeckis, US, 1994)


film title
Me and Michael have decided that the name of our film is going to be 'The Journey of Self-Discovery'. we have decided this name as it is the basis of the narrative, as the main character is on a journey to India, whilst finding herself and her purpose in life as well.

Genre
Feel-good drama

Conventions to consider

• Subplot of romance
• Miserable/sad beginning
• Happy ending
• Main character following a path/ journey
• Moral or character has learnt something

Todorov Narrative

Equilibrium
a women (Louise Brown) is stuck in a dead end office job which she hates, which involves endless amount of work, unpaid overtime and sexist comments from the staff/boss in a patriarchal society. one guy who is the main perpetrator of these comments is Mike Healy She dreams that one day she could travel the world and experience new cultures and sharing her own experiences, as well as finding herself in the world she lives in, not just the office she works in.

Disequilibrium
After having a massive breakdown at work, Louise is fired from her job and kicked out of her flat shared with her friend, as she count afford to pay her rent, Louise had no where to go and decided to travel the world to get away from her depressing life in London.

Recognition
Realising she has nothing left in London, Louise uses her life saving to travel round the world to try and 'find herself' and a new purpose for her in life.

Attempt to repair equilibrium
She ends up in India where she managed to find a place to stay with a local Indian family. There, she bond a young Indian girl who dreams of becoming a teacher. The woman then has a epiphany and realises how lucky she was in London and decides to help the girl fulfil her dream buy helping girls get an education, even though the odds/government is against her. This is her new goal.

New Equilibrium
Louise managed to break though and now all Indian girls  in that village can get an education for free so all girls can fulfil their dreams of life. Louise now stays in India and lives a happy life as the founder of an organisation, which helps girls in India get an education. Louise meets a missionary there which she has a relationship with together.

Main Characters/ Propp's character type
Louise Brown
Age-36
Character: main character, protagonist
Occupation- unemployed
Function/ relationship to other characters- (main character) helps girls get an education in India

Mike Healy
Age- 42
Character: supporting role, antagonist
Occupation- office work
Function/ relationship to other characters- antagonist to Louise, makes her work life a misery

Anita Davar
Age- 11
Character: supporting character, helper
Occupation-pupil
Function/ relationship to other characters- friend of Louise

Matthew King- love interest of Louise
Age- 39
Character: supporting role, damsel in distress
Occupation- missionary
Function/ relationship to other characters- love interest of Louise

Comparable films

• The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
• Eat Pray Love
• Forrest Gump

Target audience
Age 13-40
Gender- women
Personality traits- likes romance films, companionship with main character

STINCS For Title Sequence

These are our STINCS for our title sequence of a feel good drama. This will help us layout the basic structure of our film and what we need to include in the title sequence.

Setting
London Office Buildings
Rural India

Theme
friendship
human rights
politics
self discovery

Iconography
London- sky scrapers, taxis, modern technology, grey/dull officewear
India- shack houses, cultural clothing, rickshaws, little/no technology

Narrative
(Refer to previous post)

Characters
Louise Brown- main character
Mike Healy- villain
Anita Davar- young Indian girl
Matthew King- love interest of Louise

Style
uplifting
credits planted around the scene
slow pace

Planning for Film Idea

Title Sequence Designer Saul Bass

Bass is the title sequence designer I looked at for my coursework. I decided to look at this designer as he is one of the most popular title sequence designers which has influence many designers of today. an example of his work is The Pink Panther. I liked the animation in his text which has influenced me to something similar for my title sequence, but on a smaller scale.

Title Sequence Designers Richard Morrisson

Morrison is the title sequence designer I looked at for my coursework. I decided to look at this designer as some of the title sequences he has done previously are to do with my genre (i.e. A Long Way Down). I liked the animation in his text with has influenced me to something similar for my title sequence, but on a smaller scale. I had to present this presentation in class so all of us can learn a bit about different designers.

Title Sequence Analysis: Eat Pray Love (2010)

Genre: Drama, Romance


Plot: Liz Gilbert (Roberts) had everything a modern woman is supposed to dream of having - a husband, a house, a successful career - yet like so many others, she found herself lost, confused, and searching for what she really wanted in life. Newly divorced and at a crossroads, Gilbert steps out of her comfort zone, risking everything to change her life, embarking on a journey around the world that becomes a quest for self-discovery. In her travels, she discovers the true pleasure of nourishment by eating in Italy; the power of prayer in India, and, finally and unexpectedly, the inner peace and balance of true love in Bali.

Title sequence: http://www.netflix.com/WiPlayer?movieid=70130445&trkid=50361908&tctx=0,0,eat

This title sequence starts off with the company credits, then into black and white typography which could connote good vs. evil. The sequence then cross cuts from the Arial view of an exotic forest to the text to give you hints about the narrative and setting. The sequence then changes to as the scene cuts to the woman on her bike to the environment she is in. the woman the stops at a local Indian temple in which the sequence ends. The lighting is bright and natural throughout which shows the natural environment and how calming it is there, making the audience feel calm and at ease. The soundtrack is uplifting orchestral sounds of Jamaican drums which sets the tone of the movie of a calm/ happy atmosphere. However there is a voiceover of the main character talking about her friend and how she had to analysis some Cambodian refugees and the ordeals they went through. This contrast the tone as it is talking about a horrible thing even though it is in a light hearted way.

What I like about this title sequence is the cross cuts between texts and setting as it gives hints to the audience where the film is set in a subtle way. Also I like the sequence as conveys the genre of a feel good drama/ romance film with an uplifting soundtrack and soft lighting. I choose to analyse this film as it is the same genre as my title sequence.

Title Sequence Analysis: Feel-Good Drama

Case study 1: Forrest Gump (1994)

Genre: Drama, romance

Plot: Forrest Gump is a simple man with a low I.Q. but good intentions. He is running through childhood with his best and only friend Jenny. His 'mama' teaches him the ways of life and leaves him to choose his destiny. Forrest joins the army for service in Vietnam, finding new friends called Dan and Bubba, he wins medals, creates a famous shrimp fishing fleet, inspires people to jog, starts a ping-pong craze, create the smiley, write bumper stickers and songs, donating to people and meeting the president several times. However, this is all irrelevant to Forrest who can only think of his childhood sweetheart Jenny Curran. Who has messed up her life. Although in the end all he wants to prove is that anyone can love anyone.

Title sequence: http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/forrest-gump/

This title sequence follows a feather which floats around town to different places also connoting what the narrative is about as it is all about his life story, like he is ‘floating through life’.

What I like about this title sequence is how simplistic the sequence is as conveys the genre of a feel good drama with an orchestral soundtrack and soft lighting.

Case study 2: Tamara Drewe (2010)

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Plot: Once the ugly duckling in the Dorset village of Ewedown, Tamara Drewe returns to sell her late mother's house, now a glamorous journalist with a life-changing nose job. She awakens feelings in sexy old flame, Andy, the decent odd job man at pretentious author Nicholas Hardiment's writers' school and in Nicholas himself, a serial philanderer who cheats on his loyal wife Beth. But Tamara has a new man in her life, Ben, an obnoxious rock drummer whose marriage proposal she accepts, to the dismay of local girl - and Ben's biggest fan - Jody. Jody's efforts to sabotage the engagement lead to Tamara, on the rebound and finding Andy in the arms of another, allowing Nicholas to have his wicked way with her, and also allowing it to be photographed and sent to a distraught Beth. Beth's secret admirer, American writer Glen, confronts Nicholas out in the fields, but Ben's dog Boss has got loose and has caused a local farmer's cattle to stampede towards them, an event which will shape the futures of everybody.

Title sequence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0IYR0JrVUU&safe=active

This title sequence is of a British country side with shots of the county and a man cutting wood with text coming up around him. This follows Morrison’s technique of film sequence as the sequence shows little of what the film is about, only the setting.

What I like about this sequence is how little of the narrative is revealed in the titles and how the use of warm colours from the setting connote the genre of a feel good drama.

Codes & Conventions of a Title Sequence

·       Details of cast and crew

·       The film’s title

·       An introduction to characters/ character type

·       Indication of setting

·       Indication of historical period

·       Information regarding mood and tone

·       Introduction to signature soundtrack

·       Information about genre

·       Questions that the viewer finds intriguing; sets up enigmas

·       Pattern of editing

·       Mise en scene and cinematography

Comedy/ Drama Genre

This is the start of my AS coursework for media. the brief for this coursework is to create a title sequence for our chosen genre. i am working with Michael Knight for this project.The genre we want to do for our film is a feel good drama, as these movies are light-hearted they are usually under the comedy genre as well. This is why I did my research and case studies including the comedy genre also. We have chosen to do this genre as we though it is very unique and though it would be an interesting one to do as you can explore the genres in many different ways, compared to the horror genre which has the basic codes and conventions of blood, dime lighting, etc.

Drama: an exciting, emotional, or unexpected event or circumstance

Conventions of the Drama genre

·       Focus on real life situations: Many drama films are focused on telling the story of real-life situations and things which happen in our everyday lives. They usually follow normal people, and their problems, highlighting what things affect our lives and the way in which we live.

·       The theme of character development: Often, the main character will go through a transition, or will change dramatically throughout the film, for example, in my imagined film ‘Naomi’s Choice’, the main character Naomi goes through a transition, and overtime, matures into a young woman raising her child in the best way that she can. This shows a dramatic change to the person she used to be before having Bethany in her life.

·       Emotionally affect the audience: Because of the truthfulness of many drama films, the spectator is often left feeling emotional at various points of the film, whether this is sadness or happiness, as seen in ‘Stand By Me’(Rob Reiner, 1986).

·       Particular themes explored: There are a variety of themes which are often explored in drama films, including: self-discovery

Codes of the drama genre

·       Characters must be easily accessible for the audience-this means that they are  easy to relate to.

·       A form of realisation towards the end of the film

·       The character has a clear relationship with people and to themselves.

·       Use of realistic storylines

·       Usually some form of a journey

·       realistic setting

·       Paradigmatic: Social issues involved, the need of having a job

Comedy: a play characterized by its humorous or satirical tone and its depiction of amusing people or incidents, in which the characters ultimately triumph over adversity

Codes/ conventions of the comedy genre

·       Humour

·       Quotable dialogue

·       A goal to be reached or problem to be resolved

·       Happy endings

·       Modern settings

·       Stupid decisions

·       Questionable morals

·       Interesting types of characters

·       Highly stereotyped- characters

·       Humorous misfortune

·       Sidekick/Best friend (friendship)

·       Embarrassment

·       Over short period of time

·       Easy watching- simple not complex

·       Doesn’t make you think about deep and meaningful things

The Game Title Analysis

http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/the-game/

The genre of this film is a drama mystery thriller and this is portrayed in the title sequence. The basic narrative of the title sequence is home videos of a young boy’s birthday from the past. Adding the miss en scene and soundtrack creates a nostalgic/eerie atmosphere, thus connoting the genre and hinting the narrative of the whole film. The enigma of the narrative is who the boy is and why is he so important? This intrigues the audiences to watch the rest of the film as they want to know who he is and his purpose. This is one of the reasons which Richard Baily has chosen to use long shots in this sequence so the audience can see the full setting and situation of the clip. For example, the audience could see a grand house which shows the family is wealthy and upper class.

The music for the sequence is by Howard Shore who is renounced for being a conductor/orchestor in films, including the hobbit. The track for this scene is a piano playing softly, representing the elegance of the family and their wealth. I think Shore choose this track as it creates a nostalgic/ eerie atmosphere. The soundtrack with the mise en scene together creates uneasiness for the audience as it feels something is missing, which makes them feel on edge. The films soundtrack at the beginning is quite dark with the sounds of puzzle pieces and low toned orchestral music as well. This contrasts the main soundtrack of the title sequence which put the audience on edge.

The typography that has been used in this sequence is a white elegant font which is all in bold. The typography is very minimal and only at the start of the sequence; probably to put more emphasis on the home videos. The font is in bold showing the importance of the text. The font colour is white which contrast the black background. This could connote binary oppositions of good vs. evil, light vs. dark.

The mise en scene is of organic footage of a wealthy boys birthday party you can see mid-long shots of the boy with his dad, showing that family is possibly a theme of the movie. This tells the audiences that the dad and son have a very close relationship. However, near the end of the sequence, the dad walks into the darkness, which could connote his disappearance in his son life; either accidental (death) or on purpose (walking out on him). This makes the audience feel unsure about the father as they don’t know whether to trust him or not. There are multiple water related objects in the sequence which could represent the theme of water. I think this as they are multiple shots with the boy holding a yacht, a remote controlled boat moving in water and a boy getting pushed into a pool. At the end of the sequence you see a man washing his face with water, hinting he is the boy from the home videos and that it is his birthday today. You can see the contrast of their face as the boy is smiling whereas the man is sad. You can tell this by their facial expression. There are shots of the staff preparing the food for the party in the home videos, which shows how wealthy they are.

The information provided in the sequence is to show how happy the man was as a child and now how unhappy he is as an adult. These contrasts each clip and are binary opposition of happy vs. sad. It also provides hints for the film narrative, as it about a strange present the child gets as an adult.

The sequence has been edited through a vary of different cuts, fades creating a nostalgic setting through cellophane jumps. Fincher wanted to sequence to be minimal but have a great impact on the audience. At the beginning where typography is used, Baily uses a puzzle transitions to move onto the next text. Fincher said ‘the Polygram thing at the beginning with the puzzle pieces. It was just an elegant introduction to who the character is’. This is probably to show that he is a complicated man who has a piece of his life missing. This could be seen as happiness as when he is an adult, he has a sad facial expression.


Overall The Game title sequence shows its genre of a mystery drama thriller through the micro features of sound, cinematography, mise en scene and editing to create a nostalgic and ominous atmosphere and to give hint to the audience of what the narrative of the film is, combining its themes and genre.

Se7en Title Sequence Analysis

http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/se7en/

The genre of this film is a psychological thriller and this is portrayed in the title sequence. The basic narrative of the title sequence is man is filling out/ editing his book which is full of unusual things, such as drawings of obscure injuries and bible passages. Adding the miss en scene and soundtrack creates a dark and eerie atmosphere, thus connoting the genre. The enigma of the narrative is who is the guy in the scene? This intrigues the audiences to watch the rest of the film as they want to know who he is and his purpose. This is one of the reasons which Copper has chosen to use close up in the sequence, in order to hide the person face, which we assume is the villain. The shots used throughout the sequence are POV which means the audience is looking through the eyes of the villain as they can see what he sees.

The music for the sequence is by Trent Reznor, who is a rock musician from the band Nine Inch Nail, and usually collaborates with Copper in the film industry as he has done ‘Gone Girl’ with him as well. I think the film maker choose this track as it creates an eerie atmosphere, with the scratch noises and electronic sound which creates a dark atmosphere. This could connote this villain and how he has a disorientated state of mind. At the end of the sequence, there is dialogue saying ‘you brought me closer to god’, which shows there is an element of religion in the film, which is part of the whole films narrative. The films soundtrack makes the audience feel on anxious as the music crescents which makes them foreshadow something bad is going to happen.

The typography that has been used in this sequence is a type writer font and scratched imperfect font. The typed font is for traducing the cast where has the scratched font is for the actors and cast names. The typed font shows mechanical tendencies which means it has no identity and hard to be traced to the writer, this is probably the reason for why Copper used it to introduce the cast. Copper may have used the scratched font to show no one is perfect as the font is imperfect also. This is probably the reason why Copper used this font for the cast and crew names. The font colour is white which contrast the black background. This could connote binary oppositions of good vs. evil, light vs. dark.

The mise en scene is of rough cuts and close up footage of ordinary tools of reproduction which is all situated around a book the villain is editing. You can see close ups of the villain harming himself with a blade to remove his fingerprints. This tells the audiences that he is smart and cunning. There are close-ups of him blacking out words such as homosexual, transsexual and intercourse, which could mean he is prejudice or has a religious mind-set as the is also bible passages in the sequence as well. The use of these close ups create an ominous and unsettling atmosphere.

The information provided in the sequence is the personality of the villain and shows his unstable state of mind and the possibility that he could be a psychopath. Other information could be that he is a religious man as he has bible passages but could also be a murderer as he is removing his fingerprints and possibly have a prejudice to people who are not following god’s way of life (films narrative). This is seen at the end of the sequence where he cuts out the word god when then the soundtrack states someone brought him closer to him, so the sound contrasts the mise en scene.

The sequence has been edited through a vary of different cuts, fades and impositions to show the villain’s disorientated state of mind and to show the possible themes of the genre; one of them is crime. The cuts are usually fast and can jump (crossing out boys face). There are fade when he flicks the page over in the book or writing in it which connotes time passing.

Overall the se7en title sequence shows its genre of a psychological thriller through the micro features of sound, cinematography, mise en scene and editing to create an ominous and unsettling atmosphere and to give hint to the audience of what the narrative of the film is, combining its themes and genre.

ZombieLand Titles Sequence Analysis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uUHamXmUAI

The genre of this film is a comedy/ horror and this is portrayed in the title sequence. The basic narrative of the title sequence is different situation of different people either running away or having conflicts with zombie. Adding soundtrack creates a dark atmosphere whereas the mise en scene make the scene more humorous, thus connoting the genre. The enigma of the narrative is ‘are there zombies on earth and how do you stop them?’ This intrigues the audiences to watch the rest of the film as they want to the answer. This is one of the reasons why Ben Conrad has chosen to use different scenarios of zombies as he wanted to show how wide spread the disease has come but in a light-hearted way. This is probably the reason he used slow motion as it show the comedy genre better, compared to normal time which would turn the sequence into a more action/adventure genre.  One of the themes for this film is zombies which is obvious due to the mise en scene,  which the audience know is linked to chaos due to previous zombie films made.

The music for the sequence is by Metallica, who is a well renounced heavy metal/ rock band, which songs has featured in multiple films across the years. The sound track was unusually chosen by the director, Fleischer who chose the song “For Whom the Bell Tolls”. The director may have chosen this dong as it could symbolize time, and how humans are running out of it as the zombies take over. Even though the directors choose the soundtrack, it was always Conrad’s decision. The films soundtrack makes the audience feel intrigued as the hard sound matches the action on screen.

The typography that has been used in this sequence is bold capital letters with a slight shadow behind it. Conrad said in response to an interviewer ‘We wanted to seamlessly integrate the type into the scene, making the type become another character. We were inspired by the tension between beauty and horror that the slow motion footage created. The goal for the type was to respond to that horrific grace, to react to the movement.’ The colours used for the font was red which could connote the blood and gore in the movie, which you can see in the sequence. However, there is animation which some of the lettering flips and turns white. This could connote the battle of survival between zombies and humans. The red would represent blood and the zombie and the white would represent the purity and infection free humans.

The cinematography is mostly consists of long shots, mid long shots and close ups. The long shots are usually used to bring more contexts to the scenario, for example the policemen putting out a file while the other one is running from a zombie on fire. If this scenario was done with a different shot, the audience wouldn't have got the full emphasis of the situation; do your job or run. The mid long shot were mostly used for the running scene as there is little need for detail for it as there is no conflict. This shows the audience how scared some people are of zombies and in some of the situations, you either run or die. This shot works best for this reaction as you can see their legs running but close enough to see the human’s reactions as well. The other most used shot is the close up which shoes the action between the two races in the scene; i.e. the zombie getting pushed away by shield. This shot was probably used to show the violence between each race.

The mise en scene is mostly of blood and gore which and a convention of the horror genre. Weapons such as guns were scene as well which promote violence. The only humor that I could get from the mise en scene is some of the characters. This is especially of the larger people as some people find it humorous when fat people run, especially if they are zombies.

The information provided in the sequence is that the world is coming to an end with the start of a zombie apocalypse. It is now a fight for survival between everyone and you cannot let any emotional attachments get in your way. An example of this in the sequence is of the wedding scenario in which the groom’s wife attacks him and kills him as she was a zombie. Another piece of information in the sequence that is was a battle between the two races and only one can survive. An example of this is the man with the gun as he shoots at zombie mercilessly.

The sequence has been edited through fades of each scenario involving zombies. This continues throughout the whole sequence. This was probably to show how zombies are everywhere you go and is a continuous thing. There has also been use of special effect, once when the title of the film came up and another at the end. Both time included the smashing of glass one way or another. The first time it happens, a guy smashes through the glass with a crowbar as he runs away from the zombies chasing him. The smashing of the glass in this context could connote his escape from the zombies as if there is another way out. However, the man also breaks the typography with the crowbar which could represent how chaotic the world is there or how he is trying to abolish all of the zombies. The next time the glass smashes is when a zombie falls onto it with his blood first. This could connote how the zombies are getting through to the humans and connote there is no escape from them. The typography also falls in the scene which could connote the breakdown of civilization.

Overall the ZombieLand title sequence shows its genre of a comedy/ horror through the micro features of sound, cinematography, mise en scene and editing to create a chaotic yet humorous atmosphere and to give hints to the audience of what the narrative of the film is, combining its themes and genre.