The film openings mainly begin by showing the production companies logo, for my example I will be using 'Universal Pictures'.
Universal Pictures start off their films by showing their logo:
Cowboys and Aliens:
Another film that was produced by Universal Pictures is 'Death Race 2', instead of using the main logo in the trailer to promote the film, they just said 'From Universal Pictures'
Another example is 'The Adjustment Bureau'
All three of the films include the production companies logo (Universal) in the first few seconds of starting the opening scene.
After showing the productions logo it will then go straight into the movie or show other important information such as the director or members of the cast.
On cowboys and aliens, it shows another production company called 'Dreamworks' before continuing onto the film. (shown below)
As the film begins, we then see the setting as we get an image of the location that the character is in. (shown below)
This location looks empty which can suggest the character is lost/deserted as there is nothing happening at the location.
The symbolic codes in this image is that it is a field (rural area) which is where cowboys traditionally ride, and as the film is called 'Cowboys and Aliens' it is a perfect location.
This is setting the scene, they also do this with the two other examples:
Death race 2:
The opening shot on Death race 2 shows a building surrounded by sea and just one road for the entrance/exit. This shows the building is in the middle of no where.
The symbolic codes in this image is that it shows a building surrounded by sea, we find out that it is infact a prison as the film progresses, the image suggests that to us as the building looks highly protected as their is only one way to access/exit the building.
The adjustment Bureau:
The opening shot for 'The adjustment Bureau' shows one man in a building on his own, this is telling us where he is and suggests the man is abit lonely.
The symbolic code in this image is that it shows a man on his own which suggests he is lonely, as the film goes on he falls in love and fights for the women he loves, which shows he doesn't want to be lonely anymore.
A technical code for all three of these openings is that they start with music, this interests the audience and keeps their attention.
Audience research is important because it gives an understanding of the types of audiences and how the audience think, this is good for producers as they can target certain audiences to make the film successful as they can send across the right message to attract an audience. If the producers didn't have the information from the research then they wouldn't understand the audience and may not be able to appeal to the audience to make them watch their film, which means the film wouldn't be successful. So Audience research is very important as it can be the difference on whether your film is successful or not.
Audiences are categorised so that the producers can target certain audiences, for example, children are most likely to watch animated films so the producers advertise animated films for children, this is categorising the audience. This is how audiences are categorised and producers do this because it allows them to target certain age groups such as mature adults, children etc in order to make their production a success.
Media theories are used to make a film successful, some of them theories are listed below:
Hypodermic Needle Effect
This theory suggests that audiences receive text from the media and the audiences experience, intelligence and opinion are irrelevant on the reception of the text as the audience will not challenge the information sent to them by the medias text. The theory suggests that the audience is manipulated by the creators of the media text and that our behaviour and thinking can easily be changed by the media makers. An example is that if a child watches a violent movie then they will be manipulated into being violent themselves.
Uses & Gratifications theory
This theory suggests that the audience has a set of needs that are met by the media. It suggests that the audience watch the films to get away from their own lives and that they place themselves within the film, this is so they can forget about all their problems and get away from them. It also suggests that different audiences interpret the media text differently depending on their own culture and way of living.
Reception theory
The reception theory suggests that people (the audience) base the film they are watching on their own lives, for example; when men go to watch a film and see men in the film with muscular bodies, they feel like they have to go and get a muscular body whilst comparing to their own, another example is when women see a film and the women have 'beautiful figures' and 'curves' then they compare the bodies they see on the film to their own, the theory suggests that the audience does not passively accept the text and they interpret the meaning of the text based on their own culture/life experience.
The main theme is a man going to the extremes to clear his name and prove his innocence. He must make the government, police and even his own family believe he is not responsible for the murder of the government official.
The distinctive main character is an average going guy with a normal day job as a car factory worker. He has a loving family with a wife and two kids. His life then turns upside down when he loses everything in his life that was important to him, he then has nothing to lose.
The main characters goal is to make everyone believe he is innocent of everything pinned on him and gain the trust and love of his family back. He will do this by holding hostage a government official that knows the truth about his story, but is framing this man instead. As you would imagine, it starts to get out of control and with nothing to lose, who knows what the man will do.
The ones that stand in his way however are the police the government and the the special agents. They are intent in pinning everything on top of him and driving him to extreme lengths.
The stake on him is his life, dignity and family without these three he has nothing to lose in order to keep driving him on to make sure he proves the corruption put upon him.
The location of this film opening is in the suburbs of the city where the man is holding a government official hostage.
The other main and distinctive character is the special agent who wants to make sure the real truth does not get out. That the innocent man will face the consequences and feel the wrath of the governments corruption enslaving the country.
A genre is a way of categorising films so that the audience are aware of what they are about to see (what the films about), so if a films genre is 'action' then the audience will expect alot of action such as explosions and fighting.
Some advantages of Genre is that it can reassure the audience of the world we live in, the films mainly have happy endings by the bad guys dieing or getting arrested and the good guys come off the best, however in real life this doesn't always happen.
Another advantage of Genre is that it offers recognisable conventions so that the audience knows what they are going to see before they see the film, for example: If genre didn't exist then the audience wouldn't know what the film is going to include, however, genre allows the audience to know what the films going to be about, so if they see that the genre is action, then they know the film will include alot of fighting and action.
An advantage for film producers is that genre reduces the risk of failure as some audiences watch films because they like the genre it is under. Producers use genre as a strategy to identify their film to the audience, so the audience know what the film will be about (and if it interests them) just by seeing the genre of the film.
Genre constantly changes which is an advantage because it means the audience wont get bored of that specific genre. It also changes in certain areas (different countries) due to cultural differences and/or religion, this is due to the audiences understanding of life.
A disadvantage of genre is that it tells the audience what the film is about before they watch it, for example if the genre is romance they will know that the film is about love and romance. However, if genre didn't exist then the audience wouldn't know it was romance until they watched it, so a negative of genre is that is tells the audience what they are about to watch instead of going to find out for themselves.
My film genre is an action Thriller and the conventions of this film is that there will most likely be fighting, explosions, gunfire and many more action packed events.
The origins/history of an action film http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_film#History
During the 1920s and 1930s, action-based films were often swashbuckling adventure films in which Douglas Fairbanks wielded swords in period pieces or Westerns.
The 1940s and 1950s saw "action" in the form of war and cowboy movies. Alfred Hitchcock almost single-handedly ushered in the spy-adventure genre, also firmly establishing the use of action-oriented "set pieces" like the famous crop-duster scene and the Mount Rushmore finale in "North by Northwest". That film, along with a war-adventure called "The Guns of Navaronne" directly inspired producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman to invest in their own spy-adventure based on the novels of Ian Fleming.
The long-running success of the James Bond series (which easily dominated the 1960s) essentially introduced all the staples of the modern-day action film. The "Bond movies" were characterized by larger-than-life characters, such as the resourceful hero: a veritable "one-man army" who was able to dispatch villainous masterminds (and their disposable "henchmen") in ever-more creative ways, often followed by a ready one-liner. The Bond films also utilized quick cutting, car chases, fist fights, a variety of weapons and "gadgets", and ever more elaborate action sequences.
Steven Spielberg varies his film genres however he has produced alot of popular films such as 'Saving Private Ryan' 'Jurassic Park' and 'Jaws'.
He is a good director and a good example to use for my genre as he has alot of experience and is very popular amongst the media industry, he has produced alot of brilliant films.
Joel Schumacher has produced alot of films, some examples are 'Phone booth' and 'Batman Begins'.
He is a good director and a good example for my chosen genre because he has produced alot of successful films such as 'Batman Begins', 'Batman and Robin' and 'Phone Booth'.
The negotiator
This film is a very good example of our genre, it is very similar to the film my group is creating as the plot has alot of similarities, such as a man being accused of killing a police officer (law enforcer) and also the fact that nobody believes the character in this film that he didn't kill the person, which is the same scenario in my groups idea. This particular film is very good as it keeps the audience on the edge of their seats, as you want to find out if he is really guilty or not and you also want to see the outcome of his actions. The main character (Samuel L Jackson) also suggests that he shot a man whilst negotiating his way out and trying to prove his innocence, we then go on to find that he didn't shoot him, he just pretended so the police thought he was capable of anything, this tells us that he is a good person as he could of easily killed the person but chose not to, which suggests that he is telling the truth about not killing the police officer. This is a very good film as it gives you alot to think about aswell as including alot of action scenes such as shooting and explosions. Its an all round thriller and very enjoyable.
