Genres

There are many differernt genres within films, these include:

There are films that dont stick to one particular genre, these are known as hybrid films. These are like Rom-Com's which are a mix of romance and comedy or Zom-Com's which are a cross between a zombie thriller and comedy.

Some genres also feature sub-genres which are a variation of film that still fall under the same main genre, e.g. Swashbuckle films (Pirates of the Caribbean) are a seperate sub genre to other action/adventure films.

The film film that we have created and filmed the opening two minutes of is a Rom-Com.

Bafta Nominations

Best Film:
 The Artist, The Descendants, Drive, The Help, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy



Outstanding British Film: My Week With Marilyn, Senna, Shame, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, We Need To Talk About Kevin

Director: The Artist - Michel Hazanavicius, Drive - Nicolas Winding Refn, Hugo - Martin Scorsese, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - Tomas Alfredson, We Need To Talk About Kevin - Lynne Ramsay

Leading actor: 
Brad Pitt – Moneyball, Gary Oldman - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, George Clooney - The Descendants, Jean Dujardin - The Artist, Michael Fassbender - Shame





Leading actress: Berenice Bejo - The Artist, Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady, Michelle Williams - My Week With Marilyn, Tilda Swinton - We Need To Talk About Kevin, Viola Davis - The Help



Supporting actor: Christopher Plummer – Beginners, Jim Broadbent - The Iron Lady, Jonah Hill – Moneyball, Kenneth Branagh - My Week With Marilyn, Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Ides Of March



Supporting actress: Carey Mulligan – Drive, Jessica Chastain - The Help, Judi Dench - My Week With Marilyn, Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids, Octavia Spencer - The Help

Preliminary Film

Our preliminary film was set in a cafe. It is about a man asking his friend to be his best man at his wedding. The dialogue in the film goes:
Man 1: "Ill be there in a bit" (on phone)
Man 2: "Ive got something to ask you"
Man 1: "Course mate, ask me anything"
Man 2: "Well basically..."
Waitress: "Can I get you anything?"
Man 1: "Ill have a coffee"
Man 2: " Im fine thanks, anyway, as i was saying. You know im getting married in July, well i want you to be my best man"
Man 1: "Ah mate, Course I will"

It uses a range of shots. During the dialogue we use over the shoulder shots. We also use a range on mid shots during the shots where Man 1 is approaching the cafe and long shots to establish the setting.
We also use pans in our shots when we see Man 1 walking through the town.

Similar style film/opening inspiration

To get ideas for our own opening sequence we watched other films of similar genres to get an idea of the way the opening is done. As our film is a Rom-Com we looked for a successful and well known Rom-Com and we came to the decision of "4 weddings and a funeral". In the opening of "4 weddings and a funeral" you see each character getting ready in their own little segment. This is because it establishes each character which is important  because it is vital that the audience knows who the characters are as Rom-Coms are usually very intimate/personal films and it helps if the audience can relate and feel as if they know the characters. We decided to use this in our opening sequence as we felt this would be an effective way of showing who the characters in our film are and it also is used in other Rom-Coms so it makes our opening stick to the conventions romantic comedies.

Film inspiration

After watching the film "Submarine" we got a few ideas of what we could do in our opening two minutes from some of the techniques used in the opening two minutes of "Submarine". The reason we watched "Submarine" for ideas is that within the film romance is featured quite heavily and is therefore relevant to our film as it is a Rom-Com. In "Submarine", the main character narrates/voice overs the top of the actual dialogue and narrative that is being shown. This makes the whole opening more intimate as it feels as if the character is talking directly to you. As well as that, it also introduces and establishes the character which is fairly common in Rom-Com's opening sequences, with films such as "4 weddings and a funeral" where each major character is shown and established to an extent in the opening sequence. This is the reason we thought that having one of the characters in our film narrating/voice over in our opening would be a good technique to use as it is used within other films of the same genre. However, when we came to filming we decided that we weren't going to use this idea simply because we didnt feel as if it fitted well with our music, dialogue and how our opening was set.

Halloween opening sequence

The film Halloween, directed by John Carpenter (1978) has a very interseting and different opening sequence. Rather than having a range of shots used in the opening it is one long shot. The shot is a P.O.V and makes the auidence feel as if they are seeing what the character is seeing. Rather than the audience feeling as if they are just watching the character on screen, they should feel as if they are sharing the characters experience. Although the use of this 1 shot is an effective one it also suggests that the film was a fairly low budget as there isnt use of clever cuts, transitions and effects. It also suggests that the film may also be on a fairly intimate level as the very opeing shot shows you exactly what the character is seeing and so is very close and personal. The opening sequence is quite different from many other opening sequences. Not only does it use only one shot, it also shows a lot of credits rather than just the main actors, production compaines, distributors and the director that a majority of films do.

Film Theories

There are 4 main theories to the way films are made. These are the Todorov, Propp, Barthes and Levi-Strauss theories.
Todorov stated that all narratives follow a basic structure. This structure is that films start with an equilibrium, then there is a disequilibrium which is the followed by a new equilibrium/resolution.
The equilibrium is described as a period of calm where setting and main characters can be introduced. The disequilibrium is a period where a problem occurs that the main characters must solve and the new equilibrium/resolution is where the problem has been solved and the characters can go back to living in  peace. This theory is also known as the "Hollywood" style film or the "Classic" style film. This is the simplest style of narrative.

Propp's theory is that there are 8 main character types. These are; the hero, the villain, the donor, the dispatcher, the false hero, the helper, the princess and her father. It is possible for one character to be in more than one of these categories as the theory does not state that each character type has to be a separate person.
The theory also states that once the character type of a particular character has been discovered it is easy to figure out what kind of role they will play in the rest of the narrative. For example, it is clear that the hero will save the princess.

Barthes stated that a narrative will establish enigmas and mysteries as it develops. The enigmas provide clues to what will happen at the end of the narrative. It is also the aim of the narrative to solve the mysteries that have been established throughout. This is called the enigma code.

Levi-Strauss' theory was called the theory of binary opposition. This theory sates that tension within a narrative is based on wither conflict or opposition. This can be through two opposite sides fighting. That is the simplest form of binary opposition but it can often be more on an ideological level. It is likely that the two opposing sides will represent different ideologies, such as in Star Wars with the Rebellion conflicting against the Empire. The Rebellion represents good and the Empire represents evil.