Group - Location Shots

Kitchen shot where the man has breakfast:

Bedroom shot where the man wakes up:

When we are filming our opening in these locations, we will be sure to remove all unnecessary objects from our shots. We will need to remove all objects that interfere with the rule of thirds, or any framing that we use whilst filming. By doing this we will increase the quality of the shots, and the realness of character.

GD - Analysing and Opening Sequrnce - Die Hard (Tiernan, 1988)

Genre:

• This genre of film is an Action-Thriller and is about a New York cop facing terrorists in a hostage situation on his own whilst off duty.



• I think that the expectations of the audience for this film are fullfilled as the character comes across as a typical 'cocky' man who's a bit rugged but obviously knows what he is doing as he has done it for a long time yet will come across as heroic within the story as he goes beyond what his duties are and what hes been trained in showing great courage. Furthermore the setting is a typical urban area which is common for a thriller.



• I think that this film follows the characteristics of its genre exactly through things such as the characters and the normal settings which can help create tension as it makes the audience relate to where they are maybe. However picturing the her with a large teddy bear at the beggining could be treating it playfully as it goes against the typical hard image he has, yet also shows a possible weakness for the 'bad guys' to exploit which is always needed in a thriller or 'good guy' vs 'bad guy' film.

Film Language:

• The costume in this sequence i think conveys meaning as he is dressed very casually and would not be recognised as a hero which i think is good as the audience can then maybe aspire to be like him or show the that people like themselves can be a hero which will make them enjoy the film more and root for the hero. Moreover the gun which pokes out of his shirt which the man sees gives power to the hero placing him above the other characters and asserts him as someone who could help with the hostage situation later in the film. Furthermore as mentioned the character of the hero is very slick and witty but also hard boiled.



• The close up of the gun shows once again how Willis is the hero and the one in power over the ordinary citizens of the plane. However the long shot of hit waiting at the airport shows the audience how normal he looks and how similar he is to them which once again side him with them.


• The dialogue "Don't worry im a cop" after the man sees hes got a gun not only creates a character for Willis but also gives us as the audience comfort within Willis' character and the fact that hes done it for so many years shows us hes a proffesional which people will admire. The hustle and bustle of the airport shows what a busy place that city is and can help to raise tension with the audience knowing something bad is going to happen which may harm a lot of people and only the hero can stop it. The music which is jingling bells and drums is quite contrasting and creates a serious and harsh attitude.


• For Willis' character we learn immediately he is witty by outdoing his flying companion on years in his profession "trust me, ive been doing it for eleven years" copying what the man has just said. Whilst standing at the airport he lights up a ciggarette and from this you can see he is a very serious character and the smoking conforms to the part of a typical hard boiled cop. The way Willis looks at the cabin girl also gives us an idea of his character as a very heterosexual tough guy whos interested in all the things he should be which people will like about him.

Narrative:

• In this begginig sequence the narrative, like many action-thrillers, starts off as a normal day for the person/ hero involved which then suddenly will change later on in the story as they get more and more tangled up. This helps create a relaxed feeling for the audience so the drama intensifies later and also helps the audience to build a chracter idea of the main ones involved.


• The audience on this is very much placed with Willis as it follows him and shows how his day just gets worse and worse and is severely outnumbered, which in turn keeps us on his side. Yet the audience at points is also placed with the terrorists so as to understand what there plot is and what they are doing.


• As mentioned the audience can identify with Willis as he dresses very normally and has a typically normal job which people can understand and empathise with. However with people like the terrorists they are involved with crime and may very rich and of different nationality which the majorty of the audience would not relate to.


• The major themes within the narrative in this sequence is to establish the character of Willis and what he is and what hes like, furthermore it helps set the scene and why and how he gets tangled up in this mess.


• The tension in this sequence is made through the normality of his day yet all the while the audience know something bad is going to happen and the music helps to build up to this.

Representaion & Ideology:

• n this sequence i think that two social groups are represented here and both on the plane. The first is the more wealthy businessman type who ikes to brag about his success to Willis, he would not be so popular with the audience as Willis the normal, witty, heroic polis officer shows little interest in him and as we are sided with him brings the representation of the other man down. Especially when he outdoes the businessman.


• I think that the vallues of Willis' chracter are evident here as he has worked for the police force for so long it shows that he is committed and is proud of that which some people may aspire to do like him which is why he is the hero. Furthermore the fact he is holding a huge cuddly toy shows how he has an affectionate side for someone and that that is important to maintain which the audience will respect as well.


• The semiotics of this sequence show Willis in very dark or blue toned clothes which represent masculinity along with his rugged hairstyle and look which wil side the male audience with him. Whereas with the businessman his hair is neatley in place and is wearing glasses which isnt seen to be as masculine so may give a negative representation. Furthermore the attractive cabin crew memeber is wearing make up and smartly dressed with neat hair also so looking very femeine so creates that set structure of the feminine women being attracted to the masculine man which the audience will recognise and mostly like.

Media Audiences:

• The target audience for this film i think is the young adult male as it involves a lot of action and very heroic masculine male people can idolise and also very typical stereotypes they can recognise and relate to.


• The likely reading for this text is that Willis' character is a bit of a wild card yet sticks to his duty and that they will be very much sided with him and also try and to relate with him by agreeing with his 'shrugging off' ogf the business man and intimate look with the stewardess. However some people may see him in a negative light as a bit of a 'player' who fools around with girls and doesnt care for anybody and is quite inconsiderate.


• As a British Teenager i evaluate the text in a very positive way as like many other teenage boys would agree enjoy the 'die hard' films because of the action and tenacity of Willis' character so therefore can pick out and relate with some of the points mentioned. Furthermore as i am a male this film appeals to me even more as it shows high levels of masculinity that i can agree with and aspire to. However as im British and this being an American film having never been to america films like this can be a basis for peoples understanding of what America is like and the only thing theyve seen for the policeman chracter therefore possibly giving a distorted view of stereotypes.

Institutional Context:

• The star in this film is 'Bruce Willis', at this point in his career had only been in a few films so could have a fan base which help to bring in ore of an audience. However for Willis the 'Die Hard' series is one he is remembered for and people like him for.


• This film is an industrial film and was produced by 20th Century Fox so has a good company backing it which may be one reason why it was so successful.


• To market the film as it is Fox will have the benefit of syergistic marketing so would include things like tv adverts, posters, column inches with 94% of reviews at first giving a positive view on the film.


• I think that the institutional context is evident due to things like the titles, the large scale of the sets and reality of the whole situation creates avery proffesional look to the film which is a big clue to showing that its an industrial film.

JCutts - Analysing an opening sequence of The Dark Knight

Genre:


The Dark Kight is a crime thriller.The opening sequence is typical of its genre. It includes a bank robbery and within the first 2 minutes we aleady see a gun shot. This is most likely going to fulfill the vewers expectations. From the opning sequence we get the sence of the crime thriller through the oraganised crime and in this case, the bank robbery. However within this obbery there is a corruption within itself. This may challenge the viewers expectations and also help to make the viewer of who to consider to side with.


Film Language:


All the ''villians'' in this sequence have a mask covring their face. This not only disgises their identity but also gives a sense of mysteriousness to who it could be and hence allows the viewer to guess from the very start what is exactly going on. We also see things such as guns, hammers, and other weapons which all convey crime of some sort.


The camera angle is never actually face on with any of the charecters and always either behind them or at an angle which means the viewer cannot clearly see any charecter . Again allowing the viewer to use their imagintion and and gives a sense of confusion why exactly they are hiding their faces. A dolly would have been used to shoot a lot of this scene as the camera is often moving as well as a high cutting rate . This builds tension , this is re-enforced with the frequent cross cuts. Also allowing us to see what every mans task is in the ''job''.


The sound in the opening sequence starts off in correlaton to the cuttin rate. It starts off slow but as the tension builds so does the beats in the sound and cutting rate.


Welearn through the dialogue that this bank robbery has evidently been well planned. We hear one guy say ; '' The joker, the guy who planned the whole job'' In an establishing shot of the charecters. This sutbly informs the viewer of what is going on. Through non-verbal languge we also can assume they have done this before by their confidence and pace in their body language .


Narrative:


The audience is positioned as almost involved in the robbery and allows us to see all the aspects of the bank robbery. However there is a slight sense of allienation for us , the viewer, as we do not see the identity of the robbers, behind the masks. The major themes of the narrative include organised crime, and thi sis shown through many aspects. For example the gun shots connote crime and villiany. Tension is maintained throughout the sequence by a range of different techniques. They use the soundtrack by using sudden loud noices, as well as an increasing ''drum'' beat sound. A hight cutting rate is also used during points of actions to really allow the viewer to feel the tension of the scene.

Representation & Ideology:

Two social groups are explored in this opening sequence. There are the mysterious group of men commiting the organised crime. We rarely get a face on shot of these , often it will be n angled shot to add mystery to the charecter, they also are all wearing masks which stop the viewer from seeing their identity, keeping them guessing of the significance of this. Also the innocent bank workers are representated as helpless and certainly inferior , this would be supporting the basic ideologies of a crime thriller, as bank workers are often seen as the victims.

The values and beliefs of most people thinking the law is somethign that should be stuck by would be broken by this organised crime. Also withing the crime , there is a case of the men killing one another ( again organised) in order to increase their slice in the reward. This is not only breaking the law but also maybe seen as ethically wrong and decietful.

The semiotics in the opening are used very cleverly. The masks used to hide identity are almost ''clown like'' Which is often used in mysterious films and in other films of a similar genre, For example ''Saw''. Guns automatically have conotations and signifiers of crime , and the way they are used with such confidence suggest they have done or used them previously ot this job. Re-enforcing the fact they are or should be seen as ''the bad guys''. The very opening of the scene shows a long shot of the city which shows very tall sky scrapers, this emphises the urban and city landscape the scene is going to take place in. We are instantly hown that something unusual is going to happen with a sudden smash of glass in one of the buildings, connoting crime of some sort instantly.

Media Audiences:

This is a tentpole and therefore aimed at all four of the quadrants. We know this firstly because the film itself was given a ''15'' Certificate but they appealed and cut certain bits out to ensure it's ''12A'' certificate. This was agreed to reduce the certificate as a lot of the more ''explicit'' parts are not actually filmed, but are left to the viewers imagination to think of what happened. I think the majority of the readers of this text are clearly meant to be against the villains commiting the crime. This is so that later in the film when we are actually introduced to Batman, we can side with him , and it is made more obvious that , that is the intention of the film.

As a British teenager i see this opening sequence as firstly very gripping. It has high action points with also a twist in terms of the plan to kill them off to increase their percentage of the money . Although it still leaves a lot to keep the viewer guessing which is a great technique to keep the viewer interested, by putting them in the position to try and ''work out '' the problem. Despite this it is clear we are meant to side against the criminals and i think they way it is filmed allows us to do that , but still taking an interest in the ''Jokers'' role.

Institutional Context:

Several key actors are used in this film ; Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Micheal Caine, Morgan Freeman. These are very well known actors and would atract film lovers from all of the gour quadrants, emphising the fact it is a tentpole. This was produced by Legendary pictures, and was certainly an Industrial film. This Film went out on Blanket release in order for it to be seen as an ''event'' and increase more people to go. Hopefully also avoiding as much piracy as possible. It also used media synergy and was released on many platforms , such as DVD, Computer games etc. This enabled them to maximise profits on this film.