Title Sequence - Love Actually (2003)

Love Actually is a Romcom however I will look more indepth to see how the conventions of Romance are introduced in the title sequence.

In terms of film conventions, it begins with the production companies images

 

Then there is footage of people hugging in Heathrow, showing the film is about love and care. This clip isn't really 'part of the movie', nor is the voice over.

 The beginning also includes credits with the institution and production companies. There is then also the voice over which shows it is about love and care, which is when they also introduce the title of the film. The quote is:

"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaking suspicion... love actually is all around."

 The credits go over the film. The more famous actors, have their names alone (such as Alan Rickman and Colin Firth) Colin Firth has connotations of being a good 'romance actor' because of his popularity at the BBC adaption of Pride and Prejudice in 1995. The actors and actresses are mostly all British, especially the ones given separate credits.This helps set the scene as the action takes place in London. 

 We also have different shots introducing us to the characters that we will be following throughout the story. We have an idea on background of the characters. For example we see that Liam Neeson's character has recently been widowed and we have expectations that his plot line will be him either finding a new love or coming to terms with his wife's death. 

 

 The fact the story is based around christmas could be a link to the romance genre. Christmas is a time of giving gifts to those you love or spending time with loved ones. The audience will expect happy family moments (which the film subverts slightly in the storyline of Emma Thompson/Alan Rickmans character.) 

The audience also expects love to be heavily involved because in the opening sequence we also have the introduction of a wedding. Incidentally, it has almost a 'red herring' subsitute in terms of comedy as it introduces the wedding with the best man and the groom standing together. When I first watched it, I thought it was a gay couple until they started talking. Whether this was incidental or not, I don't know.

The credits also include: Casting, Music/Music Supervisor, Co-producers, Hair & Make-up, Costume, Line Producer, Production designer, Director of Photography, Editor, Producers and the Writer/Director. 

In this case, the writer/director was very important. Richard Curtis directed and wrote the screenplay for this film. He is heavily connotated with comedies such as Blackadder and Vicar of Dibley. He, too, is British. This film targets British audiences heavily, showing the best of british talent.

Casting may be important here because the cast is majorly the 'Prides of Britain'. Music is important because it determines the mood of the film and most films, including Romance, determine on music to create the mood (in the case the mood of love/happiness)

Title Sequence - Grease (1977)

Although a famous musical, Grease is also famous for telling the love story between T-Bird Danny Zuko and Good Girl Sandy.

The beginning of the film is the image of the media insitution - Paramount Pictures

 

It then has a bit of the film. This is important as it conveys the romance genre with the romantic sunset and the appearance of the two leads; Danny and Sandy. This introduces the fact that it was supposed to be a 'summer romance' but had resulted in a relationship. (This is done through speech) 

Romance is built up because the song 'Love is a Splendid thing' plays in the background as waves crash against the beach. This introduces the idea of the summer romance and then we see a sunset image with two silhouettes. 

The real title sequence falls more into the 1st bullet point I stated below. It is in the format of a cartoon/drawing that depicts each character and their personalities. The male lead is introduced first.

The picture on the left shows the stereotypical teenage boys room, a mess. He has 'bed hair' and there is a flag with the school name on at his bed which suggests he supports the school. To the right we get a cartoon image of the character. We're given only his first name, perhaps so we can build a relationship with the character. John Travolta at this time was just becoming famous, having been in TV Series and a couple of movies so he was known enough.

The second character introduced is the female lead. I'm slightly surprised because Olivia Newton-John was more famous than John at this point and maybe she should've gone first however she had had a few 'flops' just previous to this film. There is a big contrast between Danny's images and Sandy's images which could show an obstacle to their relationship. 

Sandy is portrayed as very graceful, kind. They use an image similarly seen in 'Snow White' where the animals flock around her, showing her 'friendly aura'.

The title sequence also gives the audience a reference to the time in which it was set. It is set in the 50's, twenty years prior to the film and this reference was needed. For example there were neo-Nazis and Martin Luther King Jnr/Civil Rights

 

The film is set slightly around a car (Grease Lightning) so a lot of the credits are given on billboards as cars drive passed. The Main supporting actors are given grouped credits (excluding Stockard Channing and Jeff Conaway who were quite famous at this time). 

 





The credits include : Music, Producers, The Title, Choreographer, Edited By,Director of Photography, Director, 'Based on', Screenplay, adapted by, Production design.

Music, Choreographer, 'based on' and Adapted by are vital here because it's a musical. Since mine is not a musical, they will not be heavily depended on.

The different types of Title Sequence.

1. Separate credit/ title sequence

2.     Titles appear over the images as narrative plays

3.     Film (blackscreen with credit) film (credit) etc.
(There are ofcourse films that don't have opening credits, such as Time Travellers Wife and Stardust. The credits are left until the end.)

The first one could be seen mainly in TV shows, where the title sequence does not feature in the actual movie. 

The film Se7en (find analysis below) would fall into the second category/third as some of the titles appear in the actual image and other on a black screen. 

The Dawn of the Dead is an example of the third section. 

I will now analyse different Romance films to see the credits included in a romance film, the type of title sequence and what is involved in the title sequence that introduces the genre, plot, characters etc.

Title Sequences

Editing

• Jump Cuts - creates a psychotic impression of the character, who we never see the face of. 
• Visual Effects - Ghosting. This emphasises the strange character and the genre of the film. 
• Colours - Dark, black/white, little contrast. 

Titles

• Director of Photography (Visual film)
• Production Company (shows it's an Independent Film)
• Actors/Actresses (Famous ones; Brad Pitt, Gwenyth Paltrow to name two)

Music

• Discorded, squeaky, sinister "Nine Inch Nails - Closer"

Camera shots

• ECUs - We don't see the face of the person, letting us know we shouldn't relate to them. We see dirty fingers and visual clues towards the character.

What does the audience expect from the text?

Survey:
Do you expect a happy ending or tragedy?

Happy Ending (17)    Tragic  (3)

Which season do you think is best for romance?

Spring  (3)     Summer (5)    Winter  (5)  Autumn  (5)  Don't know (2)

How old should the main characters be?

15-17 (6)   18-25  (6)    26-35  (4)    36-50 (3)    50+ (1)

Do you prefer a charming male or a couple that clash (Bennet and Darcy)? ]

Charming  (6)     Clash  (6)      Don't Mind (8)

Whose perspective should the film be from?

Girls (9)  Boys (0)  Mixture (11)

After conducting this small survey, I've found out that when watching a romance film my target audience expect:

• A Happy Ending
• A Season depending on plot *
• Characters slightly older/same age as themselves (18-25 was most)
• They don't really mind about the type of relationship
• From both the girl's and boy's perspective

* They suggested: 

Summer - Teenage relationship

Winter - A Tragic relationship

Autumn/Spring- 

Who is the target audience of the text?

Women; teenage girls; little girls (Fairytales). 

Looking at my research, most romance films look at the relationship from the woman's point of view. The males are either perfectly charming, or perfectly stubborn which may not be able to target the male audiences. Emotions that are displayed in the romance genre, are not conventionally enjoyed by men (males stereotypically do not like publically sharing emotions)  Fairytales (Lady and the Tramp; Beauty and the Beast; Sleeping Beauty) are forms of romance that are targeted towards children, showing innocent love. 

Most romance films are PG to 18. The films go up in certificate depending on the 'sexual' natures of the films. Sleepless in Seattle, for example, is a PG however I think it's aimed more towards adults because of the adult leads. Twilight, a 12, is a romance film that is targeted towards teenagers as opposed to adults. We see this by the age of the lead characters. 

Target Audience Questions

Four Golden Questions
1. Who is the target audience of the text?

2. What does the audience expect from the text?

3. How does the text appeal to or cater for the target audience?

4. To what extent does the target audience feel the text is successful in targeting them?


In the next two blogs, I'll answer the first two questions looking at the romance genre. 

    

Sound of Music - Characterisation

The Sound of Music is a 1965 Rodger and Hammerstein Musical based in the 1930's/1940's. Maria is a nun who can't really live the secluded life, she goes to the hills to sing. Her Matron sends her to Captain Von Trapp's house to be a Governess for his 7 'perfect' children. Von Trapp is a strict military widow who originally disapproves of Maria's idea of fun, freedom and singing but they do fall in love. 

Interpretations after approx. 2 minutes. 

Maria

1. Carefree - She sings and spins on the hills happily. She doesn't mind not having anything (extreme longshot to show she has no one around and nothing but the clothes on her back) 
2. Poor - Her clothes are drabby, dark and look overworn. 
3. 'Head in the Clouds' - She hears the bells of the Convent and starts to panic, showing she isn't where she is supposed to be. 
4. Wants more freedom- "My Hearts wants to beat like the wings of the birds..." 
5. Feels like an outcast - "I go to the hills, when my heart is lonely..."

The last two suggest she wants to find someone who accepts her as she doesn't fulfill the 'criteria' to be a nun. This helps the audience expect change or a possible romance. 

Captain Von Trapp

He still misses his wife, it appears he still wears the
wedding ring in this picture. This shows that the strict
demeanor may be to hide his sadness and loneliness
after he lost his wife.

1. Widowed with children -  Dialogue from the Matron to Maria
2. Rich - Lives in a mansion, this could also be a sign of being a workaholic as he is very strict and treats his children like soldiers in his 'navy'. He is also dressed in a sharp suit.
3. Intimidating - He slams the doors open and he has a stern expression so Maria runs out without him having to say anything to her. He also says 'I will not permit them [The children] to dream their summers away'
4. Cold, Emotionless - He stands far away from Maria, his voice is very emotionless and he is either frowning or has no expression. 
5. Can't control/isn't there for his kids - "You're twelfth in a long line of Governesses" 
6. Proud - "There's nothing wrong with the children, only with the Governesses" 
7. Naval Officer - His name and he uses a naval whistle to 'assemble' the children. It shows he had strict training and upbringing. He is controlled and takes 'no nonsense'

You've Got Mail -Characterisation

You've Got Mail was created by the same director as Sleepless in Seattle,  including the same actors as the leads. It was released in 1998 about a modest shop keeper, Kathleen Kelly, who finds she communicates online with a chain-store owner, Joe Fox, who becomes her enemy. 


Interpretations after approx. 2 minutes. 


Kathleen Kelly 

1. Laid back - She is still in bed, dressed in PJ's whilst her boyfriend is dressed in a suit ready for work. Her house isn't spotless suggesting she's laid back and doesn't feel the need to tidy up to impress people. She doesn't seem to mind that she is almost ordered about dinner 'Sushi!' although this could be a reminder which would fit into the next point. 
2. Good humoured/Disobedient -  the music that plays in the background as she sneaks to check whether her boyfriend's gone, mixed with how she moves (quite childlike)
3. Confident -  Despite living with a man, the house looks predominantly feminine, inferring she stands her ground.

Joe Fox

1. The Voiceover - his jokes and hearing his thoughts portray him as very humourous and kind- more likely to be the real him as he doesn't need to be afraid of being himself as Kathleen doesn't know who he is (at this stage, he doesn't know it's her talking to him either)
2. Dominated - His girlfriend tells him to put the cappuccino machine on and he does it without question (subverts male/female stereotype) and she persuades him to attend a party he initially planned to avoid. 
3. Solves problems by throwing money at it - "Can't I just send some money?" 
4. Dog lover - He talks fondly of his dog and shows him affection
5. Businessman - He's dressed in a smart, expensive looking suit. His kitchen at the beginning is very modern for it's time and everything seems tidy. 

He also has 'sneaky' music. This suggests what they're doing is almost seen as 'forbidden'. This is more obvious with Kathleen as her boyfriend says her laptop is dangerous -'You think it's your friend but it isn't' 

Character Analysis: 'Pretty Woman’s Edward Lewis

(Watch to about 3.20)

Richard Gere’s character in Pretty Woman is known as Edward Lewis and he is represented as a rich, successful and perhaps emotionless man.

He is represented as rich through mise-en-scène effectively. His house is a grand house in the ‘posh side’ of Hollywood and he is dressed in an expensive and sharp suit. Dialogue is also used to portray Richard’s character but also the theme of the film. His lawyer says “It’s all about the money”. His success also contributes to this representation as people approach him congratulating him. He is spoken about several times before we even showing him, representing his success ‘Where is the guest of honour?’ Through dialogue, we hear that Edward works with stocks and this strengthens the representation of a businessperson. His success and wealth is also shown through his pampered lifestyle, he does not appear to be able to drive and we can infer that he’s always being driven everywhere.

He appears to be a workaholic businessman, he speaks to his partner about not being able to see her and she says “I speak more to your secretary more than I speak to you,” and when he asked a former girlfriend whether it was the same for her, she replies “She was one of my Bridesmaids” showing that this was not a new thing. He spends little time with his guests, talking to his girlfriend as if it’s a business transaction and heading straight out, showing focus. His workaholic nature appears to have made him an emotionless character. When we first see him, he turns his back on the camera, as if preventing the audience from creating much of a relationship with him. 

He doesn’t seem too upset by the argument he has with his partner. His house, though posh, is very cold. There is very little personality (such as photos) and little colour. It has a clinical atmosphere to the house, because everything is white, and he does not seem too attached to it as a home as opposed just a place to stay as he leaves quickly. He shows no consideration to his guests as he leaves suggesting he doesn’t really have friends, just colleagues and other business partners or employees. 

This is Edward with his ex. You can also see the white clinical walls in the background

The Perfect Man

Pride and Prejudice film opening

Narrative Structures/Genre research

Brokeback Mountain

The Notebook

Sleepless In Seattle

Genre Analysis - Brokeback Mountain, Sleepless in Seattle, The Notebook

Films very rarely adhere to just the romance genre; more common now are the ‘romcoms’ where romance is lightened by the appearance of Comedy. The romance genre is more intense with the love in the film, as opposed to the humour in ‘The Chase.’ In this essay, three films that conform almost solely to the romance genre will be compared in how they follow the conventions of the romance genre or maybe how they have altered the conventions.

Sleepless in Seattle is based in 90’s America and is a good example of a film that does follow a majority of the conventions but alters the convention in some way. According to Valerie Williamson, the romance genre begins by showing the heroine, representing her as vulnerable in some way however in this film, it is the opposite. We are introduced to the main male character, Samuel, who is seen as very vulnerable. They do this by introducing him standing in a graveyard. Beside him stands his son and a distance away is the rest of the congregation that attended this funeral. From this shot, we could infer that Sam and his son are very isolated from everyone else in their grief. We could infer that the coffin belongs to Sam’s wife, as he is stood with a child but not a partner of some sort. This is confirmed by the voiceover by Sam ‘Mommy got sick. It happened just like that. There was nothing anybody could do.’ This emphasises his vulnerability as it sounds like he feels somewhat to blame as he could be convincing himself that nothing could be done. He also says ‘it happened just like that’, which suggests he was not prepared to be a single father or considered a life after her. 

In another setting, we see that he is seen as a stereotypical male as a woman tells him about heating food up in a microwave, which could show his vulnerability of not being able to take care of him and his son properly. From this introduction, we would have expectations that the plot is about Sam falling in love again. The plot of the story is that, showing the themes of ‘love at first sight’, ‘older love’ and in the case of the woman, ‘obsessive love.’ Romantic plots explore the relationship between two people and it stereotypically begins with a clash between the lovers. In Sleepless in Seattle, there is no real clash between the lovers, but Sam does not want to meet Annie because of the distance between them. Like most romance films, it is based in the time it was filmed. This allows the audience to believe the plot as it is in a time they know well. Sleepless in Seattle was released in 1993 and conforms to that period. It is set in a modern home of the time, the work place and the graveyard. This is not always the case, as we can see in Brokeback Mountain.

Brokeback Mountain was released in 2005 but the film is set in 1963 however, this was to highlight the homophobic nature of America in that time. The romantic genre is stereotypically based on a loving relationship between a man and woman, as heterosexuality has always been considered ‘the norm’ in the film industry. Brokeback Mountain is famous for being based on the relationship between two men, showing the theme of ‘forbidden love,’ especially at that period where even African Americans were still treated publically as second-class citizens. There is no speech in the opening two minutes of the film however; we see the two main characters. The first character, Ennis, we see more of, he could still be seen as vulnerable although not as obviously so as Sam in Sleepless in Seattle. We see him in a lorry heading down the hill and fields of Wyoming (this is emphasised as a rough area through the extreme long shot) before he climbs out, the driver continuing. We can infer that he had to hitch a lift, which shows him as vulnerable as we assume he is too poor to own his own car. Through this sequence, a graphic match helps emphasise the passage of time as the mise-en-scѐne changes from a misty night to a morning. This helps to create some vulnerability, as he had to travel so far to get work. He then walks to a tatty caravan and stands outside. It doesn’t belong to him, it belongs to the man who would hire him and the other main character to work up at Brokeback Mountain; this confirms the inference that he’s poor because he has to resort to work from a boss in poor conditions shown by the long shot and the mise-en-scѐne. 



The second character, Jack, pulls up in a dirty pick-up that keeps backfiring, telling us that he is richer than the first character however still considerably poor. There is an insert here to create cause and effect as we see Ennis’s reaction, showing the idea of a clash as he did not seem to care too much about the new man. He does not come out of the car within the first two minutes but through the window, we see that he wears denim, which is more expensive than the clothes the original character is wearing. The clash in this film is because Jack is more accepting of his sexuality than Ennis when they find it out. Obstacles in the film are the connotations with being homosexual at that time; Ennis later tells a story where his father leads him to a quarry where they find two corpses of men who were killed for being gay. They both live in different parts of the country and both marry after they first meet, though they continue seeing each other in secret. It ultimately ends in ‘tragic love’ as Jack is killed for being gay just when Ennis is ready to embrace his sexuality as his wife remarries. The music begins as non-diegetic guitar sound creates a sorrowful mood though it has little content to it, suggesting the coldness of the wilderness and of Ennis. This mood is also created by the diegetic sound of a wind that is not ‘scary’ but it is not a gentle breeze.

Like Brokeback Mountain, the first two minutes of The Notebook includes no speech, allowing the mood determine the story. It opens to a sunset, the colour red is emphasised which could be associated with the heart, showing it is of a romance genre. The sunset in itself is stereotypically a romantic convention and setting. It has a soft song underneath, it conveys a blissful happiness which is a mood showed by the romantic genre. We are introduced to the two main characters, who are seen to be an elderly pair. There are a flock of birds that the male character seems to follow. This is a link to later on in the story where the female character, Allie, asks whether she was a bird in a former life. This could be seen as a romantic convention as it symbolizes he still follows her and it’s a symbol of the freedom and happiness he gives her. The film is a story in itself of how the two characters fell in love and how their relationship grows. It follows the convention as the characters clash to begin with because of their social classes, which soon becomes an obstacle as Allie’s parents disapprove of the male, Noah. Another obstacle is Allie’s dementia when she is older, which also follows the convention of a vulnerable heroine. They split because of Allie’s parents moving her away and she becomes engaged to another man before they meet again.  The film ends with her remembering and they die holding each other. The plot follows the theme of ‘forbidden love’, ‘tragic love’ and ‘sentimental love’.

These three films show the different ways of following the romance conventions, some of which are not stereotypical of the romance genre. 

Genre Research. part 2

The plot of the Romance genre usually follows a certain narrative.

The story is said to begin with a clash between lovers, owing to misunderstanding, rumours they heard about each other, meeting under bad circumstances and prejudice assumptions made by each character. It is not necessary to have the background of the characters, you could just begin with them meeting, perhaps, under bad circumstances. The idea of the film would be to explore the relationship between the two lovers.

The films usually explore several themes of love: Love at first sight, unrequited love, obsessive love, younger/older love, tragic love etc. They usually have to get over obstacles in their relationship;
Finances, physical illness, racial/social class, occupation, psychological restraints or family that threatens to break their union.

If we use the example of The Notebook. 
-The clash between the lovers is Social Class. (which you can see here because of the difference in clothing)

-The obstacles were firstly finances and family that breaks their union, but there is also Allie's physical illness. (Allie gets Dementia, the story of the Notebook is that Noah reads it to her to remind her)

Genre research. part 1

The genre I've decided to create a film about is Romance. 


Wikipedia told me that Romance films are based on the chilvary of Knights in Medieval times, who show faithfulness in adversity. This is very easy to see in the charming heroes we see frequently in Romance films. 

This charm isn't always evident at the beginning, however, as many romance films start with a misunderstanding/clash between the two main characters. This could be due to rumours, a wrong first impression. An obvious example of this is from Pride and Prejudice. 

This video shows a clash between infamous lovers when they first meet. 


Elizabeth Bennett also follows the convention of a vulnerable, isolated, defenceless whose 'Social standing' demands that she weds a wealthy man whether she loves him or not. The clash with Mr Darcey and the men she is 'set up with' allows her to show her strength and independence (another convention of the romance genre.) 

The convention of romance genre is that the protagonist is the woman and we see the occurrences from her point of view. Pride and Prejudice follow all these conventions. 

Narrative Codes - The Silence Of The Lambs.

The first narrative code introduced in the clip was an enigma code, we are told where the setting is and we query why it is set there. It is almost directly followed by an action code in the form of the main character climbing up the rope which is combined with the enigma code of who the person is and why she is there. There is then a triplet of action codes as she is running through the wood and climbing over the net. This helps to answer the question why she is there as the audience can see that she is going through an obstacle course and from this we can infer that she is in training. All these codes get us interested into the character and into the plot. Later in the clip, we get answers to her name, first her surname, then her first name; Clarice Starling.

A man is introduced early in the clip, giving the enigma code of ‘Who is he?’ but also an important action code as he says, “Starling, Crawford wants to see you in his office,” This is important in the film as it’s what leads her to investigate the murderer and it reveals her last name. It also exposes an enigma code in the form of ‘Who is Crawford?’ and makes us interested in ‘why does he need to see her?’ The messenger then turns, revealing an action code in the form of a hat with the name ‘FBI’ written on it, showing his job and how the main character may be linked to him. We then see her running past people into the building, which gives more of a hint to her job as they are all in uniform. This poses the question ‘Why is she not in uniform?’ but this question is not answered till later in the film (not in the clip.)

When she is in the building, she is high-fived by another woman. This is an action code which is combined with an enigma code. The woman introduces the main character’s first name but we also question who this woman is. It is very important that we are introduced to the character as we need to build a relationship with her, as she is the main character or the ‘Protagonist’- the person who the story revolves around. She continues and walks into a lift, an action code that reveals that she may face sexism (which is also an enigma code) as she stands small in different clothing and of different gender to the tall men who share a uniform who surround her. One even looks down to her as though she’s dirt which makes us question whether she faces discrimination.

There is a close up of the sign ‘Behavioural Science’ and this is an action code as the audience then expect some psychology to be involved in the plot and it is an important part of the story that needs to be known. This is followed by an action code of a man saying ‘Crawford isn’t here right now, why don’t you just wait in his office?’ this is an important action code as it creates slight tension as we wonder what will happen while she is alone in the room. This is combined with the Enigma code ‘Where is Crawford?’ and then followed by another as she stops suddenly; her face is towards the camera so we can’t see what she is looking at. We are especially curious over what she sees because of her reaction to whatever she saw. This is also an action code because she is looking at pictures of dead bodies and she has to investigate the psychology of the killer and thus creates the plot of the story.