Work on Garageband

Last lesson we experimented with the Garageband software on the iMac and looked at the range of musical instruments and compiling some together to get the right sound. With our genre being comedy/action, we want a spoofy action soundtrack, and we created a decent attempt using some electric guitar, a drum beat and the use of some synth. Our track must be subtly over-the-top action-esque so that it adds to the humour as and when it happens in the scenes.

The importance of a good and accurate theme tune is that it represents the genre perfectly, and helps to build the atmosphere that is relevant to the narrative and how it needs to be recieved by the audience. The best thing about comedy as a genre is that it can use music associated with other genres can be used for the comedic effect, such as taking a real action-styled piece of music and put it to a seemingly average task, for example in Bean (The Ultimate Disaster Movie) when the loud dramatic music is played when Mr. Bean is shaving. This adds to the character image that we are building in our mind.

Mood Board of Inspiration

Further Research into Introductions to Comedy Films

In the 2004 film Starsky & Hutch (the modern film adaptation of the 1970s television series), there are some techniques that would be great to adapt into my groups film opening production task. The film actually starts off with the introduction to the villain, however that is not the approach we want to take, but from 00 : 02 : 16 (Hours : Minutes : Seconds) to 00: 04 : 22 where the main characters are introduced through their own narrations. From the Starsky & Hutch scenes, they highlight the character traits that they both have sperately, and we can see the contrast, and anticipate the comdic chemistry they must have, because, the film is named after them, we know they are important to the plot. Additionally, the actors, Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson (and Vince Vaughn) are recognised as comedic actors from the Frat Pack, and this builds up the anticipation of a good, funny film ahead. Facial expressions are very important to comedy films, and to get the right expression is key - Ben Stiller is an expert at producing serious looks with humorous aspects to them.

A Variety of Genres

The opening two minutes evaluation.

Western: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Mise-en-scene: cigarettes, unshaven, hat, horses
Camera: long shot (establishing scene), still close-ups
Editing: deep bold colours, slow transitions, not much happening (an anticipation build-up)
Sound: flute, guitar - traditional western music, an ery silence (anticipation again)
Generic Conventions: quiet, not much going on - building of tension at the start

Horror: Scream
Mise-en-scene: average house, doors and windows with no curtains - voyerism
Camera: close-ups of facial expression
Editing: slow, speeds up with introduction of bad guy presence (over the phone)
Sound: quiet - too quiet...
Generic Conventions: bad guy, attractive woman - victim, blood, knife

Romance: P.S. I Love You
Mise-en-scene: normal couple, normal appartment (high up)
Camera: over-the shoulder shots - the distance of the relationshop of the the couple at this time
Editing: production credits straight out of the way
Sound: slow, easy-listening
Generic Conventions: a couple, conflict (usually not at the start, but is at the start of this film), ongoing questions for audience to htink about before the plot unravels

Adventure: Pirates of the Caribbean
Mise-en scene: costume (accurate to set the period of time the story is set - conventionally in the past)
Camera: low angles of boat, and of Elizabeth Swan - showing the importance of them
Editing: name of film straight away, with no distracting cast names during introduction - signifying the serious plot aider at the beginning
Sound: quiet violins, gradually building up, they get more clunky, dawnting - something about to happen
Generic Conventions: mystery, starts further back in time, giving a bit of back story, then to return to main event

Sci-Fi: The Running Man
Mise-en-scene: headset - technology, uniformed costume
Camera: close-up of face - reaction shot of character recieving conflicting views
Editing: quick-pace for action aspects, the colour red forshadowing the danger, a backstory written down in rolling titles - detail about the sci-fi universe the film is set in
Sound: tense, futuristic
Generic Conventions: the backstory written down in rolling titles - the detail of the sci-fi universe film is set in, is set at a different time to present (may be future, or past)

Drama: The Persuit of Happyness
Mise-en-scene: pyjamas, soft toy = child, afro + sideburns = 1980s
Camera: low angle of the USA flag - the authority and respect of the nation
Editing: slow transition, left to right - the daily routine (ordinary), the 'y' in the title suggesting the solution (of the title question) is mathematical
Sound: delicate, violins, contrast to image on occasion
Generic Conventions: relationships, relatable, real

Comedy: Bean
Mise-en-scene: silly things in the mirror
Camera: close-ups of funny expressions
Editing: quick pace - over-exaggeration of sequence of images
Sound: over-exaggeration to whats happening, dramatic for trivial images
Generic Conventions: recognised actor(s), funny action, facial expression

British Realist: The Full Monty
Mise-en-scene: dark, bleak, REAL
Camera: up above - watching/spying
Editing: establishing setting with small screen, just a small introduction, put credits underneath it
Sound: upbeat in promotional advert, quiet in factory - dying industry
Generic Conventions: REALISM, accurate characters, accent, colloquialisms

Film Noir: Touch of Evil
Mise-en-scene: city life, nice car, smart dress
Camera: always tracking thoughout opening sequence with no cutting or altered view - almost a point of view shot
Editing: no cut, straight to action, anicipation built of bomb going to go off - when??
Sound: accurate of the time
Generic Conventions: city scene, dark, night (theme)

Action: Mission Impossible 2
Mise-en-scene: virus injection (implications) (green=toxic poison), white coats, test tubes
Camera: close-up - see the action, establishing setting - birds eye shot of Sydney
Editing: quickly transitioned
Sound: quick, calmer on plane
Generic Conventions: fast pace = action, russian character brings mystery

Generic Codes and Conventions of Comedy

Within the genre of comedy, there are several aspects that occur regularly, for example, the music is genrally upbeat, and lighthearted. However, this can be altered to subvert and mock another genre, for example, to change the musical score to that of a more serious tone, when the action is that of something silly, the genre action or thriller is belittled, making humour. Also, there are a lot of close-ups, because the actors, especially in the sub-genre slapstick comedy, pull funny and over-exaggerated expressions. Also, it is conventional for actors to stick to this genre, and rarely do other, 'more serious' films in other genres, such as Ben Stiller or Will Ferrell or Jack Black (all members of the comedic film-makers group, the Frat Pack) - they rarely star in (or produce) films outside of comedy.

Comedy is such a large genre, and there are many sub-genres that have spawned from it, like Slapstick Comedy (e.g. Bean (The Ultimate Disaster Movie)), Romantic Comedy (e.g. Along Came Polly), Dark Comedy (e.g. In Bruges), Sci-Fi Comedy (e.g. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), Teen Comedy (e.g. Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World), among others.

Second Prelim

Prelim Video

Evaluation of Prelim Task

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PnWvZmJC8M

In general, I am very pleased with how our video has turned out, we managed to incorporate all of the various shot types into it, except the dutch angle. This is because we couldn't find an appropriate place to use it, as it would have looked very out of place, and confusing. Unfortunately, in evaluating the video, having already produced it, I can notice that we broke the 180 degree rule, by having the high angle shots of Lara going over the other side of me, rather than maintaining the shots from the other side of the room. We had experienced some problems using the imovie program (the black and white function wasn't working), however, we were able to sort it out on another Mac, and I think it has worked very well and helped to develop the style of the film we wanted (old, Godfather-like). The main thing that I'm not as pleased with, is filming in school (it was the easiest thing for me and Lara to do) so the background setting appears to be a classroom and there are computers and even a bottle of Lucasade in certain shots. In the proper project, I will ensure that the set will be more professional and a better representation of the plot/situation. All in all, I am happy with the way we worked together and have produced a decent preliminary project.

(I apologise for the lateness of the post - I only realised I hadn't published it when I checked my blog earlier today)