50's research

For our opening sequence we have the idea of setting it in the late 1950's/ early 1960s. So I thought it might be a good idea to do some research around that time. Here are some iconic events/people from the 1950's;

Vietnam war began:

Even though our opening sequence has absolutely nothing to do with the war I thought it would be important to address that it started around this time as it might be in small parts of mise-en-scene or script.

Rock and Roll:

Rock and roll is a form of popular music that evolved in the 1950's from rhythm and blues, characterised by the use of electric guitars, a strong rhythm with an accent on the offbeat, and youth orientated lyrics.

Elvis:

Elvis Aaron Presley was an American singer and actor. He is probably one of the most significant Rock and roll icons of the 20th century, he is often referred to as "the King of Rock and Roll", or simply, "the King".

 

Grace Kelly:

Grace Kelly is an American actress who married the price of Monaco. She influenced many female fashion and hairstyles.

 

 

Buddy Holly:

an American musician and singer/songwriter who was a huge icon of mid-1950s rock and roll.

Rock & Roll

Even though Tom is in charge of sound and creating the sound needed for our opening sequence I thought it would still be important if I did some research on 50's sound and music, as our opening scene is about a band set in that time.

After some research I found that the most popular genre of music from the 50's is 'Rock and Roll'. Rock and roll is a form of popular music that evolved in the 1950's from rhythm and blues, characterised by the use of electric guitars, a strong rhythm with an accent on the offbeat, and youth orientated lyrics.

Typically there is a sequence of chords in a rock and roll song. This sequence is called the 'twlve bar blues.' The twelve bar blues is simply a chord progression of 3 chords. It is very simple. If the song started in C chord, this is what the progression would be like;

C C C C

F F C C 

G F C C

 Examples of songs that use the 12 bar blues are;

Chuck Berry - Johnny B-Goode

Chuck Berry - Roll over Beethoven

Bill Haley & his Comets - Rock around the clock

Elvis Presley - Jailhouse Rock

Elvis Presley - Hound dog

Buddy Holly - Peggy Sue

Buddy Holly & his Crickets - That'll be the day

60's/50's style.

For our opening sequence we have the idea of setting it in the late 1950's/ early 1960s. So I thought it might be a good idea to do some research on how people dressed around that time.


1950s women fashion & hair styles:

Grace kelly

1960s women fashion & hair styles:

1950s men fashion & hair styles:

Elvis Presley & Buddy Holly

1950s men fashion & hair styles:

Still from Mad Men

Premiere pro workshop

Today in class an ex student came in and did a workshop on how to use Premiere Pro and how to make really cool titles on in, which will be really helpful when editing my opening sequence.

Here is what I made for practice;

1950s/1960s mood board

https://uk.pinterest.com/ella3456/50s60s-mood-board/

Opening sequence - Scott Pilgrim vs the World/ digetic sound (unfinished)

As my group have the idea of doing an opening sequence about a band, I thought it was a good idea to analysis the opening scene of Scott Pilgrim vs the World, and maybe get some inspiration for our main task....

Link:

Scott Pilgrim vs the World (2010) — Art of the Title

At the beginning the Universal logo has been converted in to 8 bit style (very pixilated) to initiate the idea the film is like a video game - the classic universal music has also been converted to sound like a video games.

Examples of 8 bit pictures

The voice at the beginning sets the context of the beginning scene. As the camera tilts down, a recognisable sounds from the video game 'Zelda' is played, again sticking to the idea the film is going to be like a video game.

Every Time a new character is introduced there is a little bit of information next to them, this profiling, adds to the general theme of comics books/video games. Some of them add to the humour of the film - e.g. Scott's says "Rating: awesome"

When Scott and knives little box of information appears these is a sound given off from the video game Zelda which means there is an achievement.

When knives enters and sits, we see an establishing shot of the house, filled with instruments, which tells the audience they are in a band. As they talk there is lots of digestive sound in the background amplifiers and testings.

Illustrated depictions of sound emphasising the digestive sound - again emphasising the theme of comic books/ video games.

When they begin to play begin to the editing becomes a lot faster.

he camera then zooms out from the band, giving the impression the room is bigger than it is, which portrays the sound filling a bigger space. The music is so loud and powerful that it gives the impression of pushing knives (the character watching) back, blowing her away.

The titles the flicking of colours and patterns, representing the colourful nature the characters in the film. Each actors name has a different background which represents rah character they play, e.g. Chris Evans character is a famous skateboarder, and when his name appears flickering images of downloads are in the background behind his name.

All the digetic sound seems a little over emphasised e.g. bitting toast, shutting cupboards, opening and closing doors and even when Scott drops a coat. - emphasising the post-modern & exaggerated style of the film.

This will help me later on when editing my main task, when it comes to adding sound we could come up with ideas to be more creative.

Opening sequence - Submarine

As my group have the idea of doing an independent drama for our opening sequence, I thought it was a good idea to analysis the opening scene of Submarine, and maybe get some inspiration for our main task.

The many production companies shows that this is an independent film. This film is an example of production synergy (uses various companies to produce the film). There are the two main companies are Film 4, and the UK Film Council. Along with these, there are 6 other companies. These are all showed in white writing on a blue background, which helps us associate the film with the sea, creating a link with the location.

There are cuts between these titles - A slow panning shot of the protagonists room which gives subtle clues as to the location of the film through diegetic sound. Faintly waves can be heard as well as sea gulls telling us that this film is located by the sea.

The establishing shots have a long duration, representing the pace of the film.

In this shot the protagonist - Tate - Is under the horizon. Which looks like he Is under the sea, whish could represent him drowning in his surrounding, like a submarine.

Opening scene w/ non digetic sound - Nowhere boy

In class we were asked to find a clip which includes digetic and non digetic sound, which this opening sequence does. As my group and I have the idea of doing a Film opening sequence set around the late 50s/ early 60s, I though it appropriate to analysis the opening scene of Nowhere boy which is a film about the teenage years of John Lennon; 

The non - digetic sound in this opening sequence it very important. The song 'Wild child' repeats the phrase 'I'm a wild one' throughout the scene, establishing John's character as wild and cheeky. Not only does the song portray johns character but when the film is going to be set from the song style.

The shot at the beginning shows he is especially close with his uncle , but maybe not so much with his aunt, as later she is portrayed as bit more strict when shouting at him to put his glasses on.

These shots also show John and his friends cheeky nature, from his friend imitating his aunt, John flashing female interests and him getting told off in the principles office, so the audience no know what sort of person he is going to be and what sort of attitudes we will see later on in the film.

The title and opening credits also give the audience and idea when the film will be set from the old fashion font. 

Main task - initial ideas

The brief for my main task is to create the titles and opening of a new fiction film, which is to last a maximum of two minutes.

We were given the chance to work in either in a group of 2 or 3. In my group, we have myself, Tom and Livvy. for us to organise ourselves and achieve a high grade for our practical work, we have split reponsiblilities on out task:

Livvy - Camera work/ angles
Tom - Sound 
Ella - Editing 

But we will work as a team in deciding our narrative and certain editing styles/camera angles to go with our the genre of our production. 

 And so we came together and created a mind map of ideas;

And then we had to pitch our ideas to the class only using 25 words:

Opening sequence - Mad men

I know this is not the opening sequence to a film but I have just started to watch it and love it so much I wanted to write about it. Mad men is about people working in an advertising agency and the struggles they face there and in their personal lives. This is what is shown after the opening credits on the very first episode: 

In an interview about the opening sequence The series creator/executive producer Matthew Weiner says "An american business man jumps out of the window - that makes a statement... Its part of our iconography.":

From the beginning, the animated approach gives a mysterious, dream like vibe, and the silhouette of who we assume is the protagonist (Don Draper) will be somewhat of an enigma himself. 

The falling objects could signify the main characters life is built on shaky grounds, and could be about to fall apart.

There are a few things we can gather from the next few shots. We see him falling. On the surface it could look like he jumped out if the window but it probably really means that his life is on the edge of an abyss. Also we can tell the the programme will be about advertising from all the pictures on the buildings that surround him as he falls. We can also tell from the style of the photos the programme will be set in the late 1950s or early 1960s. 

The significance of Don falling through the picture of the happy family, past the legs of the woman and through the drink - which above it says -

"Enjoy the best American has to offer." These represent the pressures he faces at work, his issues with his family life, the affairs he has, his huge use of alcohol and cigarettes. Not to mention his wealthy life style.

The idea that these images are towering over him and he is falling between then signifies he has no way of escape his family, alcoholism, his high stress job, and everything else that are shown on the walls on the buildings as he falls.

And then finally at the end this iconic imagine is shown, which has Don Draper relaxed in an arm chair, holding a cigarette. from this we know, there is going to be A LOT of smoking. 
In this shot he signifies the epitome of suave coolness of the advertising industry at the start of the 1960s, and the fact that it is shown at the end could signify he keeps composed while dealing with all the pressures of his life. Or the the shot could just be laying ground for the cool setting of the series. 


The song played 'A beautiful mine' is also contemporary enough to appeal to a young audience.
at the start the music sets up a tension underlying the pressures affecting the protagonist. The music resolves at the end, reflecting the coolness of the final shot.