breaking the forth wall

Breaking the fourth wall

The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imagined wall separates actors from the audience. ... "Breaking the fourth wall" is any instance in which this performance convention, having been adopted more generally in the drama, is violated.
Films that include breaking the Fourth Wall: 

• “Annie Hall” A classic breaking of the fourth wall comes from Woody Allen's classic romantic comedy, “Annie Hall.” ... 
• “Funny Games” ... 
• “American Psycho” ... 
• “Fight Club” ... 
• “Spaceballs" ... 
• “Ferris Bueller's Day Off” ... 
• “High Fidelity” ... 
• “Amélie”

character

Characters

How important are characters particularly in the opening 2 minutes of a film?

Movies tell stories about people. In every script, the writer has to create one character (or a set of characters) that the audience will root for or hate. This special character is known as the main character, often referred to as the protagonist. He or she will be the character with most obstacles and normally the one with most screen time.

Creating interesting, realistic characters is an art in itself. To find the right dose of believability and novelty to mix together and form an exciting, plausible character ranks as one of the hardest tasks in screenwriting. However characters in the first 2 minutes of a film are not too important as you could get a film opening of a setting, so overall characters are important for the film however are not essential in the first two minutes 

3 existing character profiles 

Mia Wallace (Pulp Fiction)

 

Before we even see her, Mia Wallace is the most talked about character in the film.

We know she's the big man's new wife, a "don't touch" person if there ever was one. But she's also beautiful and bored. So when Jules, and later the bartender, learn that Vincent has to "take her out" and "show her a good time," they think it's hilarious. She's the most dangerous character in the movie. 

Vincent needs to get high on heroin in order to go through with it.

Heath Ledger as The Joker (The dark knight) 

 

Appearing to be the most evil, deranged, and flat out psychotic killer of all comic book villains, The Joker is the primary antagonist of Batman. He is the complete opposite of Batman, in everything from appearance (Batman tends to be a rather large and muscular man, while The Joker is typically a man of average height or even taller possessing a skinny frame), to ideals. The Joker views murder as sport, and will not hesitate to toy with his food before he eats it, even if said food are the men he has hired to work for him. As intimidating as he is psychotic, he still manages to recruit hordes of henchmen despite his maniacal insanity.

The Joker's physical appearance is a polar opposite of that of Batman. Batman uses dark colors such as gray and black to intimidate criminals, while The Joker relies on bright colors, such as purple, green, and sometimes orange to do his bidding. The Joker also has a melted cliche clown face, the origins of which differ depending on the continuity he is used in. Some incarnations of The Joker see him wearing actual make up (such as in the film "The Dark Knight"), while others show his skin actually having been bleached (as in the 1989 "Batman"). He also traditionally has green hair and red lips, to complete the look of the psycho clown.

His methods are unpredictable and incalculable. He does things according to his own twisted sense of logic, and does not desire money. If there was one thing that he did desire, it would be the power to instill anarchy into Gotham by any means necessary, proving that organization is meaningless and futile. He is an exceptionally intelligent man, and this tends to be his greatest weapon against Batman, the police, and the District Attorney's office. He is often confronted by the authorities, but easily evades capture due to sick and twisted mind games he plays on them, all full of mystery. While Batman prefers to stay in the shadows, The Joker basks in the spotlight, often broadcasting himself to the public and media outlets.

 Renton - Ewan McGregor (trainspotting)

 

The main protagonist in Trainspotting, Mark Renton is the Scottish anti-hero who struggles with drug addiction in memorable scenes beginning with a scene in which he fishes a suppository from a blocked toilet to feed his habit. Later he overdoses on heroin and is subsequently held captive by his parents in an intervention where he experiences withdrawal hallucinations. Despite this, throughout the movie Renton remains the most sympathetic character as we occasionally hear his voiceover in the first person. Escaping to London Renton's old life catches up to him as "friends" get back in touch. The movie closes with Renton departing after stealing the proceeds of a drug deal from his associates.

All of the character above are iconic because they are memorable characters from legendary film that everyone knows because of their extorindary acting and the fact that each of these characters creates a relationship with the viewer even if they are a 'villan'.  They add excitement and the thrill factor to each film and

preliminary task

Preliminary Task

1. The 180 Degree Rule
The 180 degree rule is a rule stating that a camera should be placed somewhere inside 180 degrees on a particular side of the invisible line of a shot containing two people filmed in sequence. In the context of the task the 180 degree rule helped to focus on the conversation between the two people and their relationship as friends. 

2. Match-on-action
Match on action is an editing technique used to portray the action of someone in separate shots.  An example of match on action is someone walking through a door., being shown opening the door from behind but then the next immediate shot is the door opened from the other side.

3.Shot/Reverse shot
A shot/reverse shot, is a technique that is usually used when two people are having a conversation, it's were it goes from a single shot of one person in the scene to the other and then back to the other person, which helps emphasis the significance of the conversation.
 https://youtu.be/wM6exo00T5I - an example of shot/reverse shot from the wolf of wall street.

 4.How did the preliminary go?
I personally found that the preliminary exercise went well because I knew the people who were in the video, so I found it easy to tell them to do things again, and if they were doing something wrong I did not feel uncomfortable telling them how to correct it. The location was good, and we did not disturb surrounding classes. However the plot of the video could of been improved as their was nothing much to it, just a casual, boring conversation between two friends. My media partner used her own camera, so because it was her own it was very easy to film because she knew exactly how to use it and helped me use it also.

5.What would you change if you had the chance to do the task again?
The only thing I would change about the video is the plot, I would try to make it more interesting instead of such a simple conversation.

attracting target audience

ATTRACTING YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE

ATTRACTING YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE

What ways would you go about attracting your target audience to come and see this film?

Advertising:  Advertising is an audio or visual form of marketing communication that employs an openly sponsored, non-personal message to promote or sell a product, service or idea. This would help attract the target audience of a film by advertising the age the film is for, the outline of what the film is about, including a trailer.

Marketing:  Marketing the action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising.

dialogue

DIALOGUE

WHAT IS DIALOGUE?
Dialogue is a conversation between two or more people as a feature of a book, play, or film. In a way, it is any form of speech. Possibly in order to solve a problem.

IS DIALOGUE NECESSARY IN THE OPENING TWO MINUTES OF A FILM?
In my opinion, i believe that dialogue is not necessary in the two minute opening scene of a movie as it could be seen to be too overpowering and can distract the audience into understanding what genre it is. I think the simple use of music is much more effective, as it can give the audience an opportunity to understand what is going on, rather that jumping straight into characterization. However, others may disagree because a film cannot be ruined if there is dialogue involved. For example in 'Like Crazy' which is a romance film, the opening scene consists of the characters sitting in a class room or lecture room, which involves the teacher 'teaching' them. This doesn't make the movie a bad one, it just may have the power to distract the audience.

A comedy where dialogue is not used in the opening scene: AIRPLANE




The opening scene of this movie is where the airplane is in the clouds remaking the scene of jaws swimming in the sea. The opening scene of this consists of the jaws theme tune and doesn't involve any speech. This keeps it nice and simple and doesn't over complicate.





A comedy where dialogue is used in the opening scene: TED
Ted's opening scene consists of the two main characters sitting on the sofa in front of the telly sitting and talking to each other. In a way, this helps tell the audience that it is a comedy as they are talking about funny things etc. It may confuse the audience however as they will not know why they are talking about the specific conversation they are having. This would lead to confusion.






A horror where dialogue is not used in the opening scene: The Women in Black
The opening scene of this film involves no dialogue, just music, which insinuates on the spookiness as it just concentrates on the dark, gloomy music. This will help develop the audience to consider how scary the film is going to be and how serious it portrays in the opening scene.

A horror where dialogue is used in the opening scene: Blare witch Project




The opening scene of this film consists of the characters recording themselves, therefore opening the film with dialogue. The use of dialogue insinuates on the idea of how the characters are filming it themselves as the whole film is based on them going on a trip into the woods, not knowing that something is following/ haunting them.

sound

SOUND

SOUND:
What are the conventions of music in film openings in the following genres?
In opening scenes of films, there is usually sound. Non-diegetic and diegetic sound. Non-diegetic sound is the most popular because it helps set the scene for the audience and conveys the type of genre the film is and what to expect within the film. For example, slow and tense music will used in a horror. However, some opening films use diegetic music to help set the scene were the actors can hear the music too. This is usually used in film genres such as comedy where the actor might be dancing too a funny type of music to help the audience establish the type of genre they are watching.





COMEDY: The sound that portrays a comedy film would be bouncy and jolly, in order for the audience to understand hat genre it is. For example in 'Cheaper by the Dozen's' opening scene where all of the actors are in the kitchen, cheery and happy, listening to the radio playing. That would be the use of diegetic sound as the actors can hear the music as well as the audience.





HORROR: The sound that would play in an opening scene of a horror film would be something slow, tense and gloomy as it would help develop an understanding for the audience to see which genre the film is. An example would be 'The women in black' Where the three young girls are playing with their dolls and then see a figue or know that someone or something is telling them to die insinuating on the music where it is dark and spooky and sounds dramatic.





ACTION: The sound that you would hear in the opening scene of an action film would be something exciting and possibly dangerous and loud. This would help portray that something exciting may happen, leading the audience to understand what genre it is and causing them to want to carry on watching it. For example, the film 'Skyfall' where James Bond is being chased has dramatic music (Non-diegetic).





DRAMA: The sound that you would hear in the opening scene of a drama movie would be something dramatic and bouncy and exiting. However the music could be sad and dull or depressing as this drama can go both ways. Either happy or sad. Usually it would be non-diegetic as the actors or characters would be able to hear it. However, for example in 'Frozen' it would be diegetic as the characters are singing, therefore they can hear the music as well as the viewers. The music in the opening scene of 'Frozen' sounds angry and strong, as of the characters are motivating each other in getting their work done. This can insinuate on the movie being dramatic as you would want to find out why the characters are cutting ice.






ROMANCE: The sound you would usually hear in a romance film would be something soft and gentle, sweet and light. Nothing too overpowering or heavy as the producers would want to portray something lovable is about to occur. The music playing could potentially be done by musical instruments like the piano or violin as they are known to be quite romantic.The perfect example of this is from the opening scene of 'The Notebook'. Ryan Gosling who plays Noah in the film 'The Notebook' is sitting in a row boat on a lake whilst the sun is setting and the only music you can hear is the piano playing. It is a great way to insinuate on how the movie is going to be a romance genre as the piano is soft and not too distracting. Moreover, it does happen to sound overly romantic.

narrative

NARRATIVE

WHAT IS NARRATIVE?
Narrative means a story or account of events, experiences, or the like, whether true or fictitious. A story is taken as a synonym of narrative.

Film trailers are an engaging way of teaching fiction genres and narrative structure. It is important that genre is established in a trailer as it grabs the attention of audiences that studios know will want to see the film.

Typical narrative structure is often broken down in this way:

1. Opening: establishes setting and introduces character
2. Build up: Relationships established. Development of characters and their world
3. Problem: a dilemma or series of complications. Characters are faced with an obstacle to overcome a mystery to solve, or often more than one
4. Events: a series of events/action as characters try to overcome obstacle, solve problem, discover truth and so on. Further complications may arise in the process
5. Resolution: the protagonists are victorious, problems are solved, truth revealed
6. Ending: characters reflect on events, reinstate relationships and look forward.

What are the conventions of narratives in each of the following genres?:





COMEDY: The narrative of comedy is that it is funny and witty, encouraging to make the audience laugh and to enjoy themselves whilst watching it. An example of a comedy would be 'The Inbetweeners'. This film throughout start to finish expresses humor in different manners but each time works successfully. Moreover, the genre -comedy isn't a serious genre of film. You don't have to really focus in order to understand the film.





HORROR: The narrative of Horror is that it is scary and sinister, also overly realistic for the audience to watch as they feel that they are made to feel that ghosts etc. are real. An example of a Horror movie would be 'Women in Black' which encourages the audience to feel freaked out as it is very dark and gloomy. Also the story told throughout the film makes out that the 'Women in black' could in fact be real, therefore scaring the audience after the film has been watched to make them feel that she is actually real. This is what horrors are for, they are made to make the audience feel scared.





ACTION: The narrative of an Action film is that they are very up beat and fast. This will lead the audiences adrenaline to rush as they are exciting and interesting as you never know what will happen next. An example of an action film could be 'Skyfall - James Bond'. This film encourages the audience to want to know what is going to happen next as there are continuously knew things occurring that you want to find out more about.





DRAMA: The narrative of a drama film could be any emotion, because when the problem occurs during the middle of the film, it could end happily, or sad. It could leave any emotion. For example, with 'Toy Story' everything is all going well until Andy buys a new toy (Buzz Lightyear) and Andy doesn't like him because he is jealous, causing the audience to possibly feel sorry for Andy.





ROMANCE: The narrative for a romance film it to share feelings and emotions between the couple. The problem in a romance film could involve the couple breaking up or having an argument. This would cause the audience to feel upset or sorry for the characters which creates emotion. An example of a romance film could be 'The Fault in Our Stars' which is a sad film as the problem is where both of them have cancer. This is the dilemma which may or may not be solved but it is romantic because the couple are both very loved up.


NARRATIVE THEORY:
Propp: Vladimir Propp broke up fairy tales into sections. Through these sections he was able to define the tale into a series of sequences that occurred within the Russian fairytale. Usually there is an initial situation, after which the tale usually takes the following 31 functions.
Todorov: Tzvetan Todorov is a Bulgarian-French historian, philosopher, structuralist literary critic, sociologist and essayist. He is the author of many books and essays, which have had a significant influence in anthropology, sociology, semiotics, literary theory, thought history and culture theory
Barthes: Roland Gérard Barthes was a French literary theorist, philosopher, linguist, critic, and semiotician. Barthes' ideas explored a diverse range of fields and he influenced the development of schools of theory including structuralism, semiotics, social theory, design theory, anthropology and post-structuralism.
Levi-straus: Claude Lévi-Strauss was a French anthropologist and ethnologist whose work was key in the development of the theory of structuralism and structural anthropology. He held the chair of Social Anthropology at the Collège de France between 1959 and 1982 and was elected a member of the Académie française in 1973. He received numerous honors from universities and institutions throughout the world and has been called, alongside James George Frazer and Franz Boas, the "father of modern anthropology".