Research into filming roles

I am researching into the different roles of film making in terms of what they do, examples and any advice they have. I am doing this as I will eventually be taking part in these roles when i film my opening scene. 

Director:

They are one of the main leaders of the production and control the creative side of the film for example scripts, choosing actors, working with the sound/ editors to produce the final outcome of the film, staying in budget and much more. 

An example of a well-known director is Chistopher Nolan, who started by doing low-budget inderpendent films to now directing films such as inception and interstellar and has now been a director for 15 years. 

This clip shows Noland talking about directing and how to use your strengths to your advantage and other directing advice.

Camera operator: 

 

They film the actors and essentially create the content used to make the film but also set up the film/camera equipment and put it away.  

 
 

An example of a well-known camera operator is David Lynch who is from America. Not only does he do filmmaking but also a painter, visual artist, writer and musician. He has filmed movies such as Dune and Wild at heart.

This clip shows him talking about shooting on digital.

Editor:

Editors have aa very important role of taking the film footage such as dialogue, sound and sometimes GCI to create the final outcome of the film. Their role is very valuable as it determines how successful or unsuccessful a film is.  

An example of a well-known editor is Alan Eddward bell who has edited well-known films such as the amazing spider man and hunger games: catching fire.He started in the 80’s as an assistant editor for films such as lord of the flies to then editing more independent films.  

This clip shown is him talking about commitment to the profession.

Art director:

They determine what sort of things the set needs as well as 

presenting the correct\accurate style and tone.  

An example of a famous art director is Rick Carter, born in LA and is a production designer and art director. His most famous works include Forrest Gump in which got him an Oscar nomination.  

This clip shows him talking about product design.

Producer:

Producers sort out the business/economical side of the film such as finance, scale and production costs. 

An example of a sucsessful producer is Kevin Feige who is a film and also television producer for franchises such as Marvel. He has also produced films such as Black Panther.

This interview discusses how he got started in the industry and more.

The function of opening title sequences

Greece was one of the opening title sequences I looked at. The genre is conveyed through the upbeat soundtrack giving connotes of positivity with features of the title of the song adding to the musical element. The use of the comic style text also suggests the genre of musical or hybrid genre of romance/drama. 

 The style of animation which is bold is similar style to the text tying them together and also character drawings exaggerating the fun and uplifting tone to the film.

The use of 'as' when naming the actors and their characters suggests it is a musical as this is what is steriotypically done in musicals and in theatres.

The setting is also clearly shown through the title sequence. We are shown its set in America through the characters such as Elvis Presley and Marlyn Monroe which were famous Hollywood celebrity's in America at this time, But also the school shown is a steriotypical American school. This also tells the audience the time, which is around the 1950's as this is when these celebritys were popular but also the costumes and cars used are in the style of this era. 

When the animation of the highschoool transitions into real life it emphasises the importance and relevance of the school, maybe foreboadin g that this is where the main events of the story occur.

The sequence suggests a slight romance between sandy and danny but may go through some struggeles due to their juxtaposing bedrooms as danny's is messy and dirty where as sandy's is big and grand. Cars may be a key concept in the film as they are featured a lot in the opening. Lastly that there will be some form of rebellion as a lot of the male characters are wearing leather jackets and smoking giving connotations of bad boys. 

The characters introduced include:

• Danny a lazy, vein, cool, laid back and leader due to being not grouped with the others .

• Sandy a rich, feminine, kind, beautiful and Nieve female shown when animals dress her (snow white\Cinderella). 

American horror story was the second opening title sequence I looked at. The genre is established by the disturbing soundtrack/ effects such as creeking, the font of the text being quite gothic and the dark mysterious lighting all telling the audience that this is a horror.

The tone is very dark and mysterious caused by the lack of dialouge and characters shown causing a feeling of mystery towards the audience.
The key titles that appear include the name of the film, director and key actors. 

We know it is set in America due to the title of the movie 'American horror story' but also the setting of the basement which is something American homes steriotypically have.

The suggestion of a mystery of some sort of murder is what may occur from what we have been told by the opening sequence which is shown by the props such as baby's in jars and flash photos of children in black and white.

There are no characters introduced adding to the mystery of the scene, apart from one shot when a person walks past the camera adding suspicion to who this is maybe that they are discovering what is happening. There is also a white dress shown showing innocenece and the female steriotypical victim.

In conclusion I think that both of them do equally as well at establishsing genre but the greece sequence is more clear at showing characters, narrative, set and time. 

Titles

• Titles give institutional and creative names involved in funding, making and producing the film, They also give key info and is often shown before the film, referred to as title sequence. They can include 21 titles, 

• with What they include links to genre and style. The 21 titles are: 

• -Money 

• -Production 

• -Directors film name 

• -Main star 

• -Film title 

• -Actor 1 

• -Actor 2 

• -Actor 3 

• -Actor 4 

• -Actor 5 

• -Casting 

• -Costume designer

• -Music 

• -Edited 

• -Production designer 

• -Director of phototography 

• -Executive producer

• -Produced by 

• -Based upon 

• -Screen play writer

• -Director 

They can be applied as part of the film with different font choices, colour and transitions. Which all help to reflect the tone and genre of the film.For example :

For the Legally blonde title sequence the use of neon curly writing suggests rom-com or drama genre and the neon pink suggests its going to be a 'girly' movie aimed at teenage girls. 

For inception the use of plain simple text creats the idea of order suggesting sci-fi genre and a dark/action tone. 

Opening scene research- Action

The film I chose was Baby driver, a 2017 Tristar pictures action film directed by Edgar Wright. The main cast include Ansel Elgort (Baby), Lily James (Deborah), Jon Hamm (buddy), Jamies Foxx (Bats) and Eliza Gonzales (Darling). 

The genre is established right from the beginning when a red fast car is shown, as fast cars are linked to action and thrill. The use of non-diegetic music which speeds up throughout the scene, emphasising this as it is some sort of guitar playing with drums which all links to fast paced and action. There is also a car chase with the characters and the police officer's mid-way through using handheld camera suggesting chaotic and unpredictable actions. The tone is light-hearted but full of thrill by the music, short shot durations and no dialogue. 

The opening scene is set in America which we know due to the type of police cars used during the car chase, which is one of the only things that gives this away due to the lack of dialogue in this scene. The time is definitely modern or current time period, which is shown through the costumes, for example Baby wears a bomber jacket, white t-shirt and jeans. Another way the time period is shown is through the setting as they are in a built-up modern city with lots of tall buildings and roads. 

 

The target audience would be teenage boys as this is stereo typically the sort of thing boys is interested in such as cars, going fast, guns and music. So really attracts a certain type of audience drawing them in a lot just from the opening scene which includes all the above. 

The characters in this scene include Baby, Buddy, Bats and Darling. We know that all four of these characters know what they are doing and have done before if not multiple times due to the fact they do everything so smoothly no matter how complex their plan is, which is shown by the lack of facial expressions they have when being chased by police, switching cars and threatening people with guns. This also tells us they are 'bad people' as what they are doing is illegal and dangerous showing the action-packed life they have drawing in the audience as they are interested into how they get away with things like this and maybe why they do it. Baby is presented as a slightly odd character as he is a teenager driving around felons. He also listens to music throughout the whole protocol of their plan which is heard by the audience, maybe suggesting it has a deeper meaning to him.  

Once watching the opening audience, we know that they escape the police without a sweat, driving away in a different car. Maybe the rest of the films goes onto their next Rade or deeper into Baby's life and why he does what he does as he could potentially be a main character due to the fact, he stands out from the other three characters. 

In conclusion I think that baby driver has a very good opening scene to draw in the audience with by establishing a clear genre, characters and their traits, a few Suprises without giving too much away.