Past Students Work

This is a picture of my analysis of past students work. I watched 5 different peoples opening sequence and wrote strengths and weaknesses of their work.















To view it written up click here:
http://issuu.com/joeshepherd/docs/media_past_students_work_sheetx

Straight Edge

I think the first shot was done very well. The mise-en-scene used is very conventional of a BSR film, with all the graffiti etc, and i think the girl being there gives more of a hint on the storyline. I would improve this by maybe showing more of the location in the mise-en-scene and add an establishing shot before it.

The second shot, a close up of the boys face, gets the audience familiar with one of the main characters of the film, and the facial expressions after seeing the girl on the floor drinking connotes to the audience part of hes personality. To improve i would make it closer to hes face so its more of a close up shot so the audience can clearly denote hes facial expression.

The next shot i think is done quite well. By using low key lighting, making the scene look dull, is common of Social realism films, as it helps set a dull mood to the audience because it makes the scene look more rough and effective, so they get more into the film as it tries to portray the mood of the characters. 

The 4th shot was done quite well, drug abuse is a common theme in BSR films, as its very stereotypical of young generations in urban areas to do this. This makes it more of a BSR film, however to improve this shot i would add more attention to detail of the teenager using the drugs, like doing a close up of the drugs in the bag, to make it more realistic and effective.

The use of text in this shot is done very well. By making the credits go down the side of the screen next to the girl sitting on the window, was a great was of doing it as it fits perfectly into this shot, and doesn't take the audiences attention away from whats happening, but at the same time, it looks like the girl is looking at the credits, so it makes the audience take note that they are there.

In the sixth shot, we denote the male character strangling the female character. Violence is a very typical theme seen in most BSR films, so it conforms to conventions of the genre, and by doing this at the start makes the audience want to watch the rest of the film. And the use of dialogue, like swearing also relates to BSR films. But to improve i would show more attention to the violence show the audience a bit more of it to get them more involved and interested.

The 7th shot is also done well. Blending the title into the actual film, is much better then adding graphics into it, as it keeps the audience more interested to watch the opening sequence, as reading lots of graphics gets boring, but by adding the credits into the film makes it more interesting. To improve i would do this more in the film as it wasn't done that much.

In the next shot, which is the first shot we see, is a definition of the title of the film. In the background there is a voice over explaining the definition. This shot introduces the audience to what the films all about, and gives them an idea of the themes and situations. But to make this shot better, i would put the voice over into the film, instead of over a graphic, to make it more interesting.

The last shot is of the production company. In this shot they used hand held camera work, that looked quite rough. This adds to the conventions of BSR as they use rough, minimalistic camera work, and by using the hand held shot adds effect to the film and makes it look like a BSR film. 

Link to video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HQQtWqOHYs

Cycle

In the first shot, of the police van driving through an estate, is done very well. When the audience denote a police van, it connotes to them that crime is a theme in this film, and as crime is a conventional theme of BSR films, it works very well. Also the mise-en-scene looks like council houses, which adds effect to the roughness of the film and gives it the British culture feel.

By using a long shot in the second one, the audience can denote 5 people wearing hoodies and tracksuits. This portrays to the audience that gangs and violence may be a theme and situation, as teenagers in hoodies is usually stereotyped to gangs, violence and drugs. This shot also introduces to the audience some of the recurring characters that will be seen throughout the film. But to improve i would show more detail and come a bit closer to the characters so the audience can see them more clearly.

The third shot is the starting shot of this opening sequence. It goes straight into action of a character running, which is called a smash mouth. By using a smash mouth approach, it grabs the audiences attention straight away and gets them thinking, and creates an enigma which then makes them want to watch the rest to find out what the action is all about.

In the next shot, we denote the gang robbing a lady in a empty place. This connotes to the audience, that crime is a theme in the film which is conventional, and shows the stereotypes of gangs, that they always steal etc. However to improve this shot i would retake it at night, as this would increase verisimilitude and relate to the stereotypes more, because more robberies happen at night time, so making it in day time doesn't make it as effective.

The 5th shot is a graphic of the title. I think this isn't a very good shot, as the title looks very plain and boring. It isn't very creative and doesn't really link to the film in anyways. So i would change to design to make it fit more to the films themes and situations.

The next shot is also done quite badly. Firstly, the editing is quite bad, as this shot is very very long, which takes up a lot of the opening sequences time, and doesn't make it very interesting because nothing really is happening in the scene to make it such a long shot, so i would put more cuts in to make it more interesting  Secondly, we can denote a window at the back, and it is daylight, but then later in the scene, which is only a minute in the world of the film, it suddenly becomes dark, which is bad camerawork and editing that should be fixed to make it more realistic. 

In the 7th shot, the lighting is very dark, and makes it hard for the audience to see what is happening in this shot. Dull lighting does add a dull mood, but in this shot its too dark, so to improve it i would make the lighting a bit brighter so the audience can denote whats happening more clearly.

The next shot, we denote the characters talking. The dialect in these scene are very typically of BSR films, and matches the stereotypes of the teenagers and gangs as they use slang. So the dialect used in this scene makes it more realistic for the audience as it relates to real life, which also gets the audience more involved as they may relate to it.

Finally, in the last shot, we denote the production company of the film. I think the logo and name is quite creative, and the way they have shown it makes it look like a BSR film straight away as its nothing to fancy like Hollywood films do, its just dull and simple.

Link to video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HQQtWqOHYs