The Role of the BBFC

 

Se7en 

The hook within this opening sequence is is who the characters, what they are they doing and what they are writing inside the journal; this encourages the audience to keep watching.

The last few seconds show the film in set in this city, definitely in america based on the noise and buildings; this shows the audience that the film is based is present tense.

Three characters are introduced; the old man, the person writing the journal and the two characters at the end. The old man is lying in his bed restless. The busy start contrasts to the room which is silent, this shows he is lonely. The personal writing the journal has cloth around his finger tips; this shows he is trying to be careful not to show any fingerprints; indicating that he could be a criminal? The two characters are in bed together, showing they are a couple.The clip mainly has dark lightning throughout and a glimpse of red in some short scene; this showing that the film is horror/thriller. The scenes are flicker and fade into each other, this shows that there is a lot going on. The music is earry; this build a lot of tension within 2 minutes and make the audience know that something is going to happen, this encourages them to keep watching. Something of the objects are also blurred; could shows the genre could be a mystery.
The credits shake and flicker; this showing that the film is a horror/thriller. The last few seconds show 'Monday'. There are 7 days in a week, this build the tension and shows something also going to happen within the 7 days. The title itself replaces the 'V' with a '7'; this could shows that the film has an unexpected twist.

Catch me if you can


The hook with this opening scene is knowing if the person running away is going to get caught, if so, what happens? Do we even know what he has done?


The cars and planes shows that the film is set in the present tense from the present transport. The scenes are constantly changing, this showing that the setting changes.
The person running is in always moving around and in different scene, this showing that he is on the run person running was always in a different character, this implying that he may have been an impersonator. The audience was also introduced to the 'impersonator' at night, this showing that he was trying to hide and he didn't want to be spotted. The main tracking him down is in formal wear and a top hat, this showing that he is a policeman.
The music was very jazzy and comedic; this indicating that the film was a comedy. The policeman tracking down the person also indicates that it may be a crime. The opening sequence is in cartoon when the actual film is through person, this also shows the comedy element to the film.
The titles was in different colours; this showing the different characters the criminal is. The credits also had lines going up and down, this could show that the film has many up and down sides and also shows that the criminal goes in different directions to get away from the policeman. All the way through, there was a 'black' theme with different colours; the black shows the mystery side and the fact that the criminal is trying to stay hidden yet the colours shows the comedy element to it.

                                                       

Conventions

The purpose: The purpose of  film openings is  to keep the viewer interested; causing them to carry on watching. Film openings will contain charaters, setting; these will shows the audience what genre the film is.

Timing of conventions: Film openings have an an average of being 2 mintues long; major film can have film opening up to 5 minutes.

Set the scene: Film openings will shows the audience the scene; through the way character are dressed or their choice of locations, this will also tell the audience what year the film has been set.

Action 

The background music during the titles suggests that this genre of this film is action. The close up of the first character that is introduced shows the audience that he is one the main characters. The characters are dressed in the opening scene are dressed in suits or in bright clothing; this showing that the film is set in present.

Codes and Conventions

Media students identify three categories of codes that may be used to

convey meanings in media messages:

TECHNICAL CODES, which include camera techniques, framing, depth of field, Mise en scene, editing,  lighting and sound;

SYMBOLIC CODES, which refer to objects, setting, body language, clothing and colour.

WRITTEN CODES in the form of headlines, captions, speech bubbles and language style.

Conventions:

Conventions are the generally accepted ways of doing something, and in the case of media texts, they are generally accepted patterns of code that communicate a particular message.

There are general conventions in any medium, such as the use of quotes in a print article, but conventions are also genre specific. For example, in Westerns fights scenes are generally shot from a low angle, the setting is usually dusty and desolate, and even the sounds used within the scene are conventional, such as castonettes, or some sort of whistle.

Preliminary Exercise

 

Main exercise

Main exercise:

The main titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last maximum of 2 minutes