Some more research sources

• http://www.ehow.com/how_2138317_analyze-scene-film.html

• http://www.ehow.com/how_2089470_analyze-movies.html

• http://www.slideshare.net/jodiebutcher/film-opening-analysis

• http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/12/19/30-unforgettable-movie-title-sequences/

Research you should have done

1. Identify 5-10 films in the genre you have chosen and analyse the opening sequences (ideally, title sequence and first film). This can be done using Prezi, Slideshare, Storyboard This! or similar tools, or you could just do blog postings. You should go into detail and mention the following things:

• Institutions - studio and distributor
• Representations - social groups/ places
• Audience - who is it aimed at and how do you know
• Media language [macro features] - what sort of shots/ edits/ angles/ movement etc. are used? How is sound/ colour used?
• Narrative - how is the story introduced? What kind of narrative elements (for example enigma codes, disequilibria etc.) are put in place?
• Genre - how is media language used to create a sense of genre. Are there typical ("generic") elements

For each analysis, you should create as detailed a deconstruction as possible. As you produce more, you should log differences and similarities between the sequences you have looked at. At the end, you should produce the following plenary blog posts:

• Overview - your findings in terms of differences/ similarities. Is there a template for an opening sequence in your genre of choice, or do you have a range of options to choose from. What are your initial ideas (feeding into planning)
• Institutions - are there "typical" studios/ distributors for your kind of film? Are they mainly big studios or independents? Which studio/ distributor are you going to use? Create a profile of your institutional source, outlining why this is appropriate for your project. If you decide to create your own independent studio, justify this choice based on your research
• Representations - is there a typical social group or place represented in your genre, or a range? How is this influencing your planning?
• Audience - what have you discovered about your target audience? Is there any primary research you can do? Have you found information about audience figures (for example, using IMDB or Box Office Mojo - what does this tell you about audience? What about age ratings (particularly in the UK and US - you can use the BBFC website to help with this). Who are you going to aim your film at? What does this mean about content?
• Media language - what typical/ atypical features have you identified? Which might you use for your piece? Why?
• Narrative - what kind of storytelling is typical? How are you going to use these ideas in your piece?
• Genre - which generic elements are you going to use?

If you do all of this, you should set yourself up to complete your planning effectively and efficiently.

Useful tutorial sites

Please see below for a couple of links to useful video tutorial sites:

• http://www.videocopilot.net (good for after-effects tutorials, amongst other things)
• http://vimeo.com/videoschool (one stop-shop for ideas and suggestions)

Codes and conventions of title sequences

Your first task should have been be to undertake research into the codes/ conventions of title sequences. What do they generally contain? How are they designed to prepare the audience for the film? What makes a good title sequence? Are there any "rules"?


Resources to help you include:

• Art of the Title: http://www.artofthetitle.com/
• 20 Amazing Title Sequences: http://www.creativebloq.com/design/top-movie-title-sequences-10121014
• Watch the Titles (not available in school): http://www.watchthetitles.com/
• 50 Brilliant Opening Sequences: http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/title-sequences/31057/50-brilliant-movie-opening-credits-sequences
• Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_sequence
• Den of Geek article: http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/18511/the-importance-of-title-sequences-in-the-movies

Your research should be packaged as presentations and embedded in your blog via slideshare. You should use as many examples as possible.

Box Office Mojo

The website boxofficemojo.com is a very good resource in terms of identifying how successful (or otherwise) particular films are. For example, a genre search on "Romantic Comedy" provides the following data (these are the top Romantic Comedies of all time):

Rank	Title (click to view)	Studio	Lifetime Gross / Theaters		Opening / Theaters		Date
1	My Big Fat Greek Wedding	IFC	$241,438,208	2,016	$597,362	108	4/19/02
2	What Women Want	Par.	$182,811,707	3,092	$33,614,543	3,012	12/15/00
3	Hitch	Sony	$179,495,555	3,575	$43,142,214	3,575	2/11/05
4	Pretty Woman	BV	$178,406,268	1,811	$11,280,591	1,325	3/23/90
5	There's Something About Mary	Fox	$176,484,651	2,555	$13,740,644	2,186	7/15/98
6	The Proposal	BV	$163,958,031	3,158	$33,627,598	3,056	6/19/09
7	Sex and the City	WB (NL)	$152,647,258	3,325	$57,038,404	3,285	5/30/08
8	Runaway Bride	Par.	$152,257,509	3,240	$35,055,556	3,158	7/30/99
9	Knocked Up	Uni.	$148,768,917	2,975	$30,690,990	2,871	6/1/07
10	As Good as It Gets	Sony	$148,478,011	1,837	$12,606,928	1,572	12/23/97

The top ten films of this year (in the US):

1	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2	WB	$381,011,219	4,375	$169,189,427	4,375	7/15	11/24
2	Transformers: Dark of the Moon	P/DW	$352,390,543	4,088	$97,852,865	4,088	6/29	10/13
3	The Hangover Part II	WB	$254,464,305	3,675	$85,946,294	3,615	5/26	9/15
4	The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1	Sum.	$247,300,000	4,066	$138,122,261	4,061	11/18	-
5	Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides	BV	$241,071,802	4,164	$90,151,958	4,155	5/20	9/29
6	Fast Five	Uni.	$209,837,675	3,793	$86,198,765	3,644	4/29	8/11
7	Cars 2	BV	$191,438,939	4,115	$66,135,507	4,115	6/24	-
8	Thor	Par.	$181,030,624	3,963	$65,723,338	3,955	5/6	8/25
9	Captain America: The First Avenger	Par.	$176,654,505	3,715	$65,058,524	3,715	7/22	11/10
10	Rise of the Planet of the Apes	Fox	$176,598,171	3,691	$54,806,191	3,648	8/5	-

Just a brief reminder that your planning deadline is the end of Sunday 10th January - by Monday 11th, you should be in a position to start shooting. This gives you just under two weeks... from now!


You need to make sure you have:

• Outline of the plot for your film
• Posts about genre, representation, audience and institution as relating to your film
• Script/ scenario for your opening sequence
• Breakdown of titles
• Music
• Storyboards/ sketches
• Location scouting/ photos/ videos
• Production schedule
• Shot lists
• Call sheets
• Test/ preliminary footage
• Animatics
• Mood boards  
• Props lists

The more planning you do... the better!

So-called holiday



We are just over halfway through this planning period (otherwise known as a "holiday").  I would hope to see a flurry of activity in the next few days, since otherwise some of you will be leaving yourself with a lot to do in not much time next week... I would like to see at the very least outlines, scripts and storyboards from each of you (as a minimum!). You also need to finish off your research...