Evaluation

Positive aspects of the process

The process was a lot different and harder to what I expected to be, but it still had many positive aspects. It was cool to take all the photos for the stop motion sequence and see them fit together and play so well in the end, and as I did the filming over quite a large range of time it was nice to see it all come together in the end. Learning all about the new processes was also helpful, especially for the production task next year. Coming up with an idea was really cool too.

Steps in the process that could have been better done
 My time management and personal organisation could've definitley been done much better, gathering my images quicker, not losing my work, spending less time thinking about doing stuff rather than actually doing it.
Strategies suggested to achieve this
I believe I could've achieved a better end result if I made my production log earlier and actually keeping to it, and made more blog updates about the process and what was happening. Putting everything off just made it harder to do in the long run and it was a bad idea even though it was hard to juggle this internal with the mock exams happening at the time. Generally being more organised and motivated would've helped the whole process.
Some evaluation of how these changes to the production process may have affected the media product
If I had been more organised I believe I couldv'e made the movie more professional and polished, adding the transition effects between some of the shots and fading out the music at the end would've been two things I would have definitley done if I had more time, which would greatly affected my end product. Being more organised may have meant I could have taken screencaps for the technology standard also, making that grade better.

Song Choice

I never wrote about what song I ended up choosing, so I will do it now. I used Spooky Couch by Albert Hammond Jr, because it was instrumental which meant the narration would be the main focused sound. The song builds, which relates to the story building, and also creates some more drama. It was also longer than my film, at 7.19, so I didnt have to worry about using more than one song. The simple use of instruments also lends to the hand made feel of my opening.

Technology

Operating a video camera

I didn't have any trouble using my 'video camera' because it was just a digital camera (a Kodak EasyShare c813 zoom) on the video setting. I used it on a tripod for some shots, but there wasnt enough space to use it properly so it didn't change it much. My camera couldn't zoom on the video setting so to zoom I had to just move the camera closer.

Composing shots

Composing the shots was really easy because I shot them in sequence, so the files were all in the right order all ready. I had to speed a few up and slow a few down in order to make it fit with the narration, and cut them when I wasn't planning on to make the narration work also. I did lots of short shots, so there was minimal cutting needed. Lots of my shots were birds eye view, so I stood above my desk to achieve this. Close ups were also used, but I faced trouble shooting these because of the zoom.
Recording or using sound effects, dialogue or music

I recorded the narration on Garage Band, as one big long clip. So to make that easier to use, I cut it according to the pages/scenes. My music was an mp3 I had in itunes already.
Importing images & video files

Importing the files was really easy because as I said shot them in order so it didn't take too long. My photos for the stop motion took the longest because I had to shorten them all up after importing (default time was at 5 seconds). I had to re-import everything a few times because it didnt save to the right place, didnt save at all or I lost my usb with the saved work on it.
Creating music or sound effects
 My movie opening isn't very dramatic, it's more of a background story, so there wasn't any need for sound effects. The only 'music' I created was the narration, which I did in one take on garageband. I had never used it before but my friend Isla showed me the jist of it and it was pretty easy.
Editing images for moving image production (use of editing software)
 I didn't really have to edit my images/footage for my film, as I used both my ceiling light and lamp for adequate lighting when shooting them. I lightened a few of them up using curves on photoshop.
Editing sound for moving image production (use of editing software)
I did no sound editing using special software, so this doesnt really apply, but I adjusted the volumes and did some cuts in Premier Pro.

Production Log

AUGUST

4 August- Gather imagery during class, print off. Technology used- comuter, printer.
22 August- Film 1/2 of footage in the evening. Use Camera, props (book, pencils etc). Technology used- Camera with auto-focus, zoom.
27 August- Photograph stop motion sequence. Use Camera and props (book and ken doll). Technology used- Camera.

SEPTEMBER

12 September- Filmed 1/4 of remaing pages. Use Camera, props (book, pencils etc). Technology used- Camera with auto-focus, zoom.
16 September- Start editing clips together. Technology used- Premier Pro
20 September- Filmed last quarter of footage. Use Camera, props (book, pencils etc). Technology used- Camera with auto-focus, zoom.
21 September- Record narration using Garage band after school.
23 September- Finish editing clips, place narration with it during class and lunch. Technology used- Premier pro.

Production Update

I finished making the book yesterday, filmed the incomplete pages and recorded the narration today, and tomorrow and Friday I will be doing the editing from the start because I have had trouble with files being incompatible/ the movie not saving/ losing my usbs with work on them.
Aimed to be finished the actual film on Friday to work on the written tasks more during the weekend.

Exam Evaluation

Genre
I definitley studied the most for this exam, and I edited my practice essay to make it more of a concise arguement, and I feel I did pretty well. I hope I will get excellence, but merit would be okay too. I wrote quite a bit and remembered all the stuff I needed to.

Representations
 I did not really do that much study for representations because I wanted to focus on genre so I only have to study lots for one exam at the end of the year. I re-read what we wrote in class and wrote some stuff onto a flashcard, but it definitley wasnt as much of a priority as genre. I wrote like 2 pages for representations, and much more for genre. I'm aiming for achieved on that one

In general
Overall, I feel pretty good about the exam. I had time left over because I didnt really care about the representations so that gave me extra time at the end, but in the actual exam when I write more for representations I will not have as much time left over at end, but that doesnt matter anyway because in the actual exams you can just leave and don't have to sit there in silence. I will do more study for representations over the next months and make sure that I make any improvments needed in my genre one too.

In the weekend I did the first stop motion sequence. Here is a preview :

Yesterday I filmed 4 scenes, which was most of the pages I've completed collaging.
Here is some similar things.

Production Log

Looking at my production log, I was meant to be finished filming over a week ago, and I havent started, so I will review this log and most likely do all my filming this weekend. I have got most of the photos but faced trouble finding a camera, and printing them off (both printers I have access to at my parents houses are a bit broken and I can't afford to print off everything at once at school.)

Peter

Lola

 Alternate Outfits, head shot

Zelia

 Outfit

Headshot

Script

/subject to change/

Music plays as the camera zooms in on the front cover, showing a naming sticker. A hand turns the cover revealing the main title as the camera pans around other images on the page.
Narrator:  The Art Of Life

Fade to next page, revealing main titles.
Narrator:  This film has been directed, edited, and generally created by Annamarie Moot.
Zelia is played by Red Barbie, Lola is Brunette Barbie, and Peter is Ken.

Page turns, images and text about the main character Peter.
Peter is an idealistic artist. Currently, his inspirations are botanical illustrations, any type of large scale installation art, and graffiti. Sadly, Peter is having trouble selling his paintings, causing him to live off coffee and cigarettes, with occasional 2 minute noodles. He likes to listen to movie soundtracks and Arcade Fire on his second hand walkman while he works in his studio. Peters lack of funds has caused him to start painting on free community newspapers he receives, which causes problems when working with water colours. Peter is looking for some kind of new start, as he is suffering from creative block more often than usual and does not know how to solve this problem.

Page turns again, and it appears that while Peter is walking across thwe pages buildings are popping up around him. Music continues playing as he walks onto the next page, which has many buildings depicted.
Narrator: Peter, is an appreciator of fine buildings. Living in a town with rather unappealing architecture, he dreams of living somewhere more his style, like Paris with its heritage and grandeur, or New York with gleaming glass panelled skyscrapers. He occasionally thinks that his sub-par surroundings are the reason for his creative block. His appartment's decor reflects his financial status, with minimal furniture and bare bulbs hanging from the ceiling. There are unframed prints on the walls, mostly gifts from other artist friends.

Hand turns page again, Peter walks through crowds in a gallery opening/ show. Music continues playing. Page turns again (fade).
Narrator: This is Zelia (shows picture of Red Barbie)  Zelia lives in Paris. She works at a boutique and has many friends who are artists.  Her favourite place in Paris is the The Louvre gallery. This is Lola (shows picture of brunettebarbie). She lives in New York, and works as a freelance photo journalist. When she can she takes a trip to Washington DC to go to the National Galley of Art. Neither of them know it yet, but both of them will play an important role in Peter's near future.

Page turns, images of Peter's art studio.
Narrator: This is Peter's art studio. It has been neglected as of late, with paint tubes left untouched and a large half finished work on the easel. He used to spend hours, or even days here, painting till the tubes run dry and the final product is so impasto that the canvas almost sags with the weight. Lately, he only pops in for an hour or two to stare at his work, often never picking up a paintbrush. Before he was a ~serious artiste~ he would throw parties occasionally, but he stopped because he didn't want his works to get ruined and cleaning alcohol became prioritised over drinking alcohol.

Fade to the next page, littered with bills and an eviction notice.
Narrator: With Peter's main source of income running dry, he got a part time job at a pretentious cafe, which could've been a good thing if he hadn't taken 4 coffees and muffins back to his friends flat each day for the first week expecting not to pay for them. Lack of employment lead to unpaid rent and bills. Peter arrived home after spending a day in the library to find a notice attached to his door. A red notice. Peter had been evicted, due to his pet cat walking through some paint and then going for a wander around the apartment block, littering the newly stained floors with brightly coloured paw prints. Needless to say his landlord was not impressed, as pets aren't even allowed in the first place.

Hand turns to the next page, which is about Peter being homeless.
Narrator: Peter has been living out of a suitcase for a 2 weeks. He has spent time at 3 different friends houses. Staying at couches is causing him to have back problems, which means he is grumpy, which makes him an unattractive room mate. This is a vicious cycle which can only be repeated so many times because he is a reclusive artist, with only so many friends.

Page changes again, littered with lotto and scratchie tickets.
Narrator: Not thinking about logical ways to fix his cash flow problem, Peter believes the solution to his woes is in a lotto draw. He buys as many tickets as he can, lotto, keno and scratchies. As usual, he purchases a ticket with money borrowed from his friends and waits for the weekend draw. While eating his 2 minute noodles on the couch, he notices the time and turns on the television to watch the draw. The numbers are 5, 12, 8, 4, 19, 35, and 22 for the bonus ball. As he was only half-paying attention, it takes Peter a while to notice that he has those numbers. Not knowing how to react, he stares at the ticket blankly for a long time before folding it up very small and putting it in his wallet to take down to the dairy and claim in the morning.

Page changes, winning celebration
Narrator: Peter won 2 million dollars with his lotto ticket. He decides to give some moeny to his friends for letting him stay with them, and wants to throw a big celebration party. He stocks up on everything you could want at a party, just because he can, because he is now a millionaire. Crackers, chips, many different alcoholic beverages, pinatas, candy, and a very large cake. He throws it in his art studio, because he will not be using that space again for a long time. With all his money he plans to buy a house with its own studio or go travelling instead.

Page turns, packing up boxes.
Narrator: With the celebration over, Peter packs up all his art supplies and half finished paintings to put them into storage. While looking at his most recent unfinished work, he decides that he needs a massive change of scenery if he is ever going to finish his works and feel good about painting again. This long time dream can actally turn into something now that money is no longer a problem. After sealing the boxes up with duct tape, and on the way to the storage garages, Peter drives past a travel agency. On the way back from the storage place he goes in and enquires about a trip. He also passes a realtor on the way back to his friends apartment and looks in the window. There is a good range of suitable houses that he likes, but if Peter goes travelling he doesnt need to buy a house.

Page turns, with adverts for houses and travel ads all mized together.
Narrator: Peter needs to decide wether he is going to buy a house or go on a really long trip. Everything he owns is allready packed, so it is easy for him to up and leave now. He asks his friends what they think would be best for him, or what they would do, and they give him the same amount of yes's and no's on both sides. He even contemplates going to a phsycic, but decides against it because he can afford to both travel and buy a house but he doesn't know what order to spend his money in. To make his final decision, he flips a coin, heads for house and tails for travel.

Page turns, and book becomes landscape to show Peter entering an airport. 
Narrator: The coin landed on tails. Peter's investigation for inspiration is now starting. Paris/New York/ Tokyo and everywhere in between, gone for a year, with 1 million to blow and 1 suitcase to get him there.

Photo of airport becomes real, and the music becomes louder as the narrator stops talking as he enters the airport doors, fading out with the screen which fades to black. 

/yet to be timed/

Locations, permissions.

Because it's all pictures I don't really have to get permission to use any locations, apart from my final scene which is at the airport. I might film this early in the morning when there are not many people around so I won't get in anyones way and hopefully I won't have to get permission because the forms seem scary and the council is pretty busy with earthquake shizz.

But for the sake of my own understanding, here are the majority of the 'locations' that are in my film.

First main character page- various cafes and galleries.

Buildings in walking sequence- skyscrapers, most likely from America/China

Settings- shitty looking apartment, more cafes/galleries, Paris, New York (aspirations of where he wants to go)

People and walking sequence- Maybe some gallery interiors or shop fronts

Secondary characters- Paris, New York, various cafes and galleries there.

Art studio- a clean white art studio 

Homeless couch times- some random couch/lounge places

Decision to stay or leave- both pictures of N.Y and Paris and pictures of nice apartments here

Leaving- airport photo (or maybe just leaving house depending on permission)

Photo becoming real- same location.

Art Department

The 'art department' will be very important to my film, as it is so heavily influenced by art.

The notebook is from Warehouse Stationary Papanui, phone (03) 352 1160

Photos in the book will be sourced from various places, mostly the internet or taken by myself. I will arrange them and glue them down myself. I have already started finding these images.

I am going to hopefully find my old barbies, and use the clothes I already have, or buy a cheap ken and blonde barbie, and then buy one of the nice Black Basics brunette ones because they are nice and have good clothes already. (preferably the fourth or fifth from the right, or first on the left doll)

Crew and Talent

My crew is myself, I'm going to film and edit and make everything. I have my phone number and details for out of school work. My mum may help with transport.
Isla is letting me use her recording program because I can't figure the school one out.

Talent- I'm going to use Barbie's for my actors, because they are poseable and look like people enough to be good actors, but they are smaller so they can easily fit into this sketchbook world, and be posed infront of magazines/images and appear like they are in the actual place.

Page order

treatment is a bit hard to understand so here is the page order.

• Cover
• credits
• main character person
• walking with buildings appearing
• setting/s
• walking with people appearing
• secondary characters (and where the are)
• main character art studio
• eviction notice
• homeless couch times
• lotto tickets (one winning)
• party timez with balloons
• packing up (lots of boxes)
• deciding whether to get a new appartment or go traveling
• one photo of him facing the airport
• photo becomes real and he walks into the airport

Treatment

This is called the film treatment. It should be in the present tense, and describe in detail what happens, what the audience will see and hear in your film opening.


 Cut from above, looking at a book slightly off centre in the frame. The book is on a desk, and there is also various art supplies (paints, brushes, paper etc) and a mug of coffee in the upper left corner of the frame. The song playing (yet to be chosen) continues throughout the opening. It will change volume when the narrator starts speaking but I am unsure if it will change with the pages yet. Anyway, The camera slowly zooms in towards the black sketch book. It has worn edges and has been somewhat customised with doodles/stickers on the cover. It zooms in on the most important sticker, a "my name is" sticker with the main characters name on it. That name has also yet to be chosen. The book fades away and the title page appears over it. The narrator reads the title and turns the page. The next page has the credits on it. The actors names will be made up most likely as I won't have many actual people in it if possible. The narrator turns the page again. This double page spread is about the main character. As the camera pans over the detail images, the narrator explains them without giving too much away about the character. The narrator turns the page again but her nail polish changes in the process.  
The main character appears to walk over the next to pages, his background changing from a blank page to layers of buildings because the next double page spread is about the settings in the movie, as he is walking, the character tracks him. The narrator will repeat the explaining thing like for the other pages. All the shots are from above (bird's eye shots).
As the main character disappears into the next page, the narrator turns the page and her nailpolish/ rings change again. The drink in the top left corner also changes to a different type of tea/coffee and the amount of it being drunk is different too. 
This narration process repeats with slight variations for all the pages. The camera will stay b.e.v, occasionally zooming in on the images.  Then there is another page about the main character, this one is more focused on his failing art career. There will be a black page with an eviction notice in the middle on the next page. He crashes on his friends couch. After this the pages will be covered with lotto tickets all saying "try again' and then the camera will zoom in on one that says 'congratulations you have won".  The next page will be the main character celebrating his win, so the page will be decorated with balloons and stuff. 
He wants to get a new apartment or go traveling.  This is shown by house and travel flyers.
He decides to go traveling and find his muse so he can be awesome at art again. 
The final page is a large photo of him facing the airport. This photo zooms in and the photo becomes an actual footage from the point of view of Peter, walking into the airport.

MOVIE DEVELOPMENT

Collage- a movie about the art of life.

So my movie opening is going to be kind of a stop motion animation, but not really. I'm going to make this a4 sketch book the opening, with me turning pages and each page will have different titles/ characters doing things and getting introduced and stuff. This means because most of my things are just photos, I just need to take the photos and stick them down, so it wont be too hard to source.
I don't really know what the plot of the movie would be but I imagine it would be like some guy who is some washed up artist who is sick of spending all his time in cafes and needs to find inspiration so he goes to all these art galleries around the world (maybe he wins the lotto for the cash flow problem) and craft fairs looking for a muse. I guess it could be classed as a quest movie but kind of indie because its about art and stuff?
Because it would be starting as an almost clinical blank page, and then exploding to all this colour and stuff I want it to be surprising. I also want it to show different eras of art, like minimalism and romanticism, pop art etc. These different art aspects would all represent one character, but I'm not going to think about that too much because I don't have to make the whole movie and otherwise I will spend too much time developing the story and not making the opening.
I want the audience to leave feeling like they have just seen something beautiful that has enriched their appreciation of art, and want to know where the characters lives is heading. I don't know how our class would receive this film, because I envisage it to be a movie with scenes that are just this guy looking at some amazing painting with eerie far away music playing and it slowly zooming in/out on the painting, so its not particularly action packed.
Because its just shots of a book, it could get boring so I will change shots and use closeups probably. Most of it will be in mid-shots. The change in pictures will also create interest, and ill change my nail-polish/rings/bracelets in random times to make little quirks.
I think it would be cool to make the book appear that it belonged to the main character, so on the black front cover I will personalise it according to his character development.
I could get film stills of various actors/actresses and make them my main characters (as long as they have been in enough movies to get the right actions to screen-cap) or if that is too much work just take photos of my friends/family to use instead.
I know I want to end it by having a picture in the book and then that picture becoming the establishing shot of the first scene with real people interacting and moving. Like they go into the book blues clues style.
I still need to think of a soundtrack/song, which I should do first because thats the most important thing.

Analyse

The convention of isolated houses was used successfully in both movies, helping create the right atmosphere and social context for the film.

The houses in Scream are rather extravagant and large, showing the town of Woodsboro's wealth. How this wealth is accumulated is not stated, but you can assume it is some natural resource/ town enterprise as all the houses viewed are rather similar in size/wealth. This relates to the social climate at the time as in the late ninties most of America was affluent, so it makes the environment relatable to those seeing the movie in cinemas. This relatablility makes the movie more scary, because that means anyone could be a target. This helped the movie become a success, as if people can relate to something, they are going to talk about it. And example conversation could go like this "Did you see Scream yet? Stu's house looks just like Molly's!"
"Oh really? That's creepy. When's the next showing?"
That conversation may seem rather false and un-realistic, but it must have some truths, because the movie was very successful.
Sequels of this film also play with the idea of isolation, with Sidney becoming almost Agoraphobic in Scream 3. This makes her isolated in her own home, as she is too scared of the outside world and its dangers to leave. Although the wide open spaces where anything can lurk can be frightening, being unsafe in your own home can be equally scary.
The convention would've bought the publics' attention to the fact that any where could be a possible location for a gory murder. This could've made people feel uneasy about their community and their surroundings. Parents who were all ready rather paranoid about their teenagers hi-jinx may have become extra paranoid about leaving their children alone when they leave for the weekend, like Sidney's dad did.

Although the 'Norman Bates murder house' is a similar style to the houses in Scream, you can tell from its interior, and the state the motel is in, that Norman is rather poor. This also enhances the scary-ness, as places with creaky floorboards, and dripping taps due to no maintenance are see to be stereotypically scary. The isolation of the location keeps the same location as  the novel the movie was loosely based on, which was based on a real murder case (Ed Gein murders). That case also influenced other horrors like Silence Of The Lambs and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. This movie continued the popularity of the isolated setting convention, as Hitchcock had, and still has a lot of influence on other movie writers and directors. Lots of the movies we studied, either being before or after Psycho, used either literal isolation in a location or a less obvious social isolation. Psycho used this convention very successfully, because the isolation of the location and therefore the killer makes the murders harder to solve and draws out the story, making for a good movie. It helped the movie's success because high-way  hotels were a usual thing in the 60's so it was an interesting setting, which hadn't been used much before, if at all. It helped the movie remain popular to this day because there is always isolated areas in every town. The slight cliche around the idea in more modern times also help this movie sucesfully use this convention, because it is used so much better than other roadside motel horrors around (like Vacancy).

Explain

The convention of isolated settings in Psycho and Scream was used to make the movie more suspense filled and scary, which helps the film as a whole because these two things are nessecary to have a good horror film.

One of the tag lines for Phsyco was "The master of suspense moves his cameras into the icy blackness of the unexplored!" This idea of the unexplored, icy blackness is portrayed using the convention of an isolated setting. It's isolation from the main road and closest town makes it practically unexplored. The first murder happens at night time, so this is where the icy blackness is included. The darkness creates a more scary feel to an unknown location, because if it is dark and the viewer cannot see much in the unfamiliar setting. This makes the cinema  patrons less likely to predict what is going to happen next, not that being predictable was a problem of Hitchcock's. Phsyco's use of an isolated setting help establish this conventions usefullness, maybe even help make it become a convention (even if isolated settings had been used way back in Nosferatu).

The isolated settings in Scream continue the refrencing of other movies, but it was mainly used to make it harder for people for people to die, so the twist ending is more effective. Because everyone is so seperated, it makes more sense that there is a tag team type murder happening, otherwise movie watchers would get very suspicious as how one guy can move around so quick, and make so many costume changes. There is more than one isolated setting in Scream, which like in Psycho makes the viewers uneasy and unsure of where the next attack will happen, as there are many possibilities when everything is far away and no one will hear the screams. The use of this convention in this film definitley conforms to tradition, as it refrences many other traditions. The fact they chose such an American looking house also conforms to tradition, as similar houses were used in Night of The Living Dead and Psycho.

Describe

Isolation in Psycho and Scream.

Isolation is used in Psycho and Scream in very similar ways, as the place where most of the murders happens in a very isolated place, but there is secondary locations which are also isolated.

Stu's house is the final location in Scream, where there is a party happening. This location is isolated as the whole movie is set in a small town, so most of the houses are far apart. It is a stately home and the isolation makes it feel more creepy, as it is harder to get help when everyone else is so far away. The establishing shot above shows this isolation. This helplessness is taken advantage of with the first killing in the movie, where Casey is having a conversation with the killer on her phone.Casey states "Look, I am two seconds away from calling the police!" but the killer responds with "They'll never make it in time." This, and the fact that Casey is isolated herself (she is home alone), clearly show isolation.

There two principal locations in Psycho are both isolated from the closest city. The Bates hotel is so isolated as the highway was moved away from it years ago. When Marion asks if there are any vacancies, Norman states there are "12 rooms and 12 vacancies." This quote shows that because the highway was moved there has been much less traffic passing the hotel, meaning less people staying there. The other location, the 'family' home, although close to the hotel, is rather isolated as it is situated on top of a hill. This positioning makes it seem agressivley placed, much like a high angle shot (see below picture).

Both the houses in the film are very large and have similar architecture, with wooden exteriors and windows in the roof. These similarities suggest the houses were built around the same time, even though there is a 40 year difference in the movies production. The movie Scream refrenced many horror movies and typical conventions, and the similar style of house and location may be another refrence taken from Phsyco (use of a knife, and falling down stairs are others.)

FUN FACTS

The things Amelie does, relate to what credit is up on screen.

When the "dialogues" (script writer?) is being credited, Amelie is shown with a face painted on her chin pulling funny faces, as if it is talking.The costuming credit comes up after close ups of Amelie wearing a pair of cherries as earrings.The director of photography credit shows Amelie looking through large glasses with thick lenses, similar to the director of photography looking through the camera lens. The hair and makeup credits show a face painted on Amelies hand <with the gap between thumb and forefinger being a mouth> which has lipstick and eyeshadow/mascara on.

This is a cool gimmicky thing that is so obvious that it is un-obvious. I assume this was done on purpose to amuse the people who figured it out and add to the child like feeling to the shots.

Lighting and colours

Lighting and colour choices are very important to create the mood in the opening to Amelie. The lighting is the same for the whole movie practically, with a yellowy washed out tone to it. The main colours in this film are red and yellow, with some shades of green thrown in for good measure.

The yellow tone in the lighting is also introduced very early on, in the first shot of the blue bottle fly. This lighting fits with the setting , which the narrator informs you of (it is 6.28pm), so dusk would have this type of lighting. The tone in the lighting creates a nostalgic feel, even though the viewer is unsure what Amelie is nostalgic for at the time. The nostalgic feel helps set the time, as the narrators first line states that it is 1973 (soft faded tones hint to a vintage origin). It also creates good shadows and contrast with her facial features and dark hair, which appears aesthetically pleasing to the eye (rather than a harsh spotlight).

Yellow, as a colour, is introduced in the very first moment when the company titles come up in yellow on a black background. The yellow is a good contrast and makes them easily visible. Yellow is a reasonably inoffensive colour and is associated with positivity. This colour choice helps the childlike/happy mood of the opening be developed through more than one technique.

The colour green is also introduced in the narrated scene (vines on wall). These neutral/ muted tones stay like that for a bit until you get to a microscopic close up of the sperm/egg that will become the main character Amelie. This colour change indicates the importance in the scene.

Once the narration stops the main colours become a yellow/red  combination rather than  a yellow/green one. The background is yellowish, and the text is red for the first title, then it switches for a contrasting second title. Most of Amelie's toys are red or green (red cherries and paper dolls, green juice in musical glass and leaf instrument) which contrast with the washed out background. 

Amelie's shirt in this scene is a pale green shade, which reflects what she will wear in the future. The colours red/yellow/green are used as a main colour scheme for her wardrobe (see drawing below).

Sound/music

The sound in the opening is a rather important feature in this opening. As mentioned in a previous posts, there is a song composed by Yann Tiersen playing at most times. Tiersen composed all the songs for this film so they all fit the movies aesthetic and mood (more fast music when dramatic things are happening, slow music when  more calm events are unfolding).The music is instrumental so it doesn't detract from the narration or what the actors are doing in the film. This type of music appeals to the French viewer because it is familiar and aids to the nostalgic feel (it may be similar to music from their childhood). Other viewers who watch with subtitles will like this music because it is so obviously 'french' and completes their foreign film experience.

 The music in the first short scene before the credits is more violin heavy than than the song playing in the credits, and it is played at a lower volume. The means it doesn't detract from the narration and the diagetic noise in the scene, which has been heightened. The diagetic noise has been heightened to enhance the idea that small things can change a persons life/fate in the long term. Because the diagetic noise is usually barely noticeable, you notice it a lot more and it shifts perception of what is happening (like when that bug gets ran over, you feel a bit sorry for it). As the song builds intensity by getting faster and adding more instruments to the work, it makes you excited for what is coming next, before it stops almost anti-climatically.

There is a shift in the music after the short narrated shots as the music becomes more focused in a montage type scene. The narration stops and the music becomes more piano based as the credits come up. This makes the viewer pay more attention to the introduction of Amelies character and what she is doing. Diagetic sound is still used, but it is less heightened than in the previous scene. This may be because when Amelie is playing she doesn't think too much about what she is doing and gets lost in a safe fantasy world so the sounds are less important. The music composed by Tiersen fits with this fantasty ideal well. The violins/accordian/piano group are written to be rather whimsical and this works with the idea that Amelie is still safe inside her childhood fantasy world even though she is now an adult (the scene with the soccer game on the roof, and the sabotage of Collignon are parrallels in this sense also). 


This music with violin is quite whimsical and that aids the idea of a fantasy world being created. Later on you in the film it is revealed that Amelie creates this world because here childhood is quite closeted, and this is how she copes. But before you know this fact, you just think she is a little girl who is off-with-the-fairies while playing listening to some pretty sounding music.

Camera movement, shot size/angle

There is a large amount of close ups ( a shot which shows a detail/expression) in the first 5 minutes of Amelie, compared to other openings that would use more mid-shots and establishing shots to introduce the settings and characters in a more obvious way. Jean-Pierre Jeunet  did the opposite of this, to introduce the movie in a slightly unfamiliar way, but still convey the ideas well.

The first shot is almost expected, an establishing shot. This shot doesn't change for a good 10 seconds, and has a low angle, like the camera has been placed on the road. It almost has the feel of a photo, as the camera doesn't move very much at all. This shot helps set the scene, as it shows a suburban area. The following establishing shot shows the Eiffel Tower in the background, immediately indicating the film is set in Paris (highlighted in the blue square on the screencap, I added this unlike the sperm circling in a previous post).

After the outdoor shots, there is a midshot of  character never mentioned again. He is introduced with a standard introduction to character (mid-shot zooming in to a close-up). This displays the characters emotions well, which is important because it is an emotional moment for him as he erases his best friend's phone number from his address book. Sticking to the normal set up makes sure the viewer understands what is happening and doesn't think 'what is up with this movie?'.
To keep them interested though, he changes this set up when introducing Amelie. The first shot you see of Amelie, is a close up of her hands. Then there is a shot of her mouth. The next shot shows her face, but it is being squished against a clear plastic/glass wall. You have to wait 30 seconds into this montage before you can get a clear view of what Amelie looks like, while wearing fruit as earrings.

This shooting style (zoomed introduction/shots) introduces the idea that small details are important to the film. Small details/chance events change Amelie's fate (in a good way) in almost a chain reaction style, so it is good that this idea is introduced early in the film.

 Detail shots are used often to reveal what the characters like which backs up the small details are important. They are what make each of the characters special and different. The most comparative detail shot is the red circle drawn around that sperm shot (I didn't notice how significant that shot was until doing this asignment and it popping up so often) and the red circle drawn around a spot/bug in the scene when Amelie is discussing what she likes. The circles used are exactly the same colour and size, and this creates a nice continuity to the films style. Midshots are also frequently used throughout the film, to add to the continuity and keep the style of the shots neat.

Editing/transitions

Amelie's opening has very strange editing compared to most other films. Closeups are used differently, and the editing style is much more rough than what contemporary viewers of today expect (seamless cuts). There is a classical editing style used for the first 10 or 15 seconds after the logos show, with text fading in and out from the center of the screen. This is followed by an expected establishing scene, but in doing this a false expectation of what is yet to come is created so the viewers are surprised (hopefully pleasantly) when the opening credits actually start.

The most obvious unusual editing style is the jump cuts and almost hand held quality to the filming. Some of the zooming is choppy and when the camera is focused on child Amelie (played by Flora Guiet) it moves a tad and changes focus slowly rather than being completley still and smooth. This aids the subject matter (a child) as you could almost imagine a child doing the editing and it ending up similar to this (but it wouldn't because the actual editors did this on purpose).

The transitions in the opening also follow this choppy style with jump cuts being used often. Light flares are also used, but they are cleverly done so it appears to be an accidental error in the film/lighting rather than something the editor did on purpose. This paired with the other home-made aspects in the opening aid the mood and put it in a class of its own compared to more classical seamless edits and openings with perfect studio lighting. These non-traditional editing techniques are used to aid the nostalgic mood Jeunet is creating. They could make people think that the movie needed a larger editing budget, but really it is placing importance on the little things in the movie once more, which is an idea raised often in the film. The small details are what makes this film and its characters special and unique from cookie cutter genre molds.

All of these editing techniques add to the quirky charm and help set the era the start of the movie is set (1970's) when Amelie is a 6/7 year old girl. The choppy cuts are used occasionally through the rest of the film, but the jumpy cuts in the opening could hint at the large jump cut/time compression when Amelie suddenly grows up.

Genre/ Atmosphere

In the short scene before the actual credits start, the mood is rather factual and impersonal. This is achieved by the dialogue- which uses impersonal statements, and the shots used- scientific subject matter in close-ups. The narrators tone of voice and the emphasis he uses while speaking also reinforce this mood.
Specific dates and places are used- "September 3rd, 1973, at 6.28 PM and 32 seconds... Rue St Vincent, Montmartre." "Avenue Trudaine, Paris 9" is another example of these specifics. Full names are used when people are being discussed - "Eugene Colere" and "Raphael Poulain".

 But this stiff and formal mood is lessened with the soft tone in the colours (no stark bright whites, crisp colours) and the 'paint' style of circling a specific sperm in an otherwise scientifically shot scene (most likely stock footage). The background music in the scene has been quieted, with diagetic sound being heightened (dragonfly wings beating, cars going past, bird song, eraser to paper, breathing etc). This sound effect is often  paired with zooming in on what is making the noise , to make the point of each shot clear and emphasize what is happening. This emphasis of small detail is used throughout the film, so it introduces an important idea/technique.

After that scene when the opening credits start the mood shifts to a childish/happy/quirky/nostalgic mood, with small Amelie playing and having fun. It is almost like a look back to Amelie's childhood.
The french song playing, called 'J'y Suis Jamais Alle' composed by Yann Tiersen, becomes the main sound focus, with the narration stopping. This aids the mood of the scene with its fast pace  It helps set up the soundtrack for the rest of the film, which features this music heavy with violin and piano throughout. (Listen on youtube here)

The nostalgic tone is brought in with the styling of the film, there are slight 'errors' in the lighting and the piano at the start of the scene could almost be mistaken for the piano playing at the start of a silent film. Light leaks are used through out the scene and near the end of the credits you can hear a flickering noise similar to a roll of film reaching the end of the roll, like in old movie theatres. The tones used here to make it seem nostalgic also coincide with the setting that was introduced in the mini scene earlier- 1973. The yellows and soft tones, with nice patterned wallpaper are all setting appropriate.

The lighting and softer focus used create a child like and romantic atmosphere. This sets up the films main genre- romance. The story is about Amelie falling in love in an unexpected way. The red used in the opening could be symbolic to romance (red roses, hearts, passion etc), but is used suitably so that it isn't too obvious or out of place when placed in the context of a 6 year old child playing.

The toys she plays with during the opening credits are not generic 'girls' toys such as dolls and soft toys. She is playing with almost unexpected things (fruit and dominoes) which are not typical toys per-say. This establishes the type of girl Amelie is and how she will develop both with age and as a character.
Amelie's hair and outfit is rather plain for a young girl, so this creates a false sense of what the character will be like in the movie. Although her hairstyle and costuming remain simple the character develops into someone much more complex than she appears.

AMELIE

 

The Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain

I chose to do Amelie (directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet), because I have seen it the least out of the films I chose, so I would be less likely to get sick of it during the course of this assesment. 

   Amelie's opening has a short scene, where the narrator describes things happening at a certain point in time, before it goes into the opening credits. This short scene shows small narratives of various objects/people and what they are doing, "On September 3rd 1973, at 6:28pm and 32 seconds, a bluebottle fly capable of 14,670 wing beats a minute landed on Rue St Vincent, Montmartre. At the same moment, on a restaurant terrace nearby, the wind magically made two glasses dance unseen on a tablecloth. Meanwhile, in a 5th-floor flat, 28 Avenue Trudaine, Paris 9, returning from his best friend's funeral, Eugène Colère erased his name from his address book. At the same moment, a sperm with one X chromosome, belonging to Raphaël Poulain, made a dash for an egg in his wife Amandine. Nine months later, Amélie Poulain was born." There are other moments in the film like this, and it shows how all the little details are important. This sequence also introduces the setting of the movie (Montmartre).

   The actual opening credits show Amelie as a child playing and enjoying herself, but with no other people around. This reflects her future life, as she enjoys what she does but has few companions. Red and yellow are the feature colours in the credits, and they are used often for the rest of the film. They contrasts with the other tones in the movie which are quite unsaturated/pale in comparison. This opening appealed to me because it is rather aesthetically pleasing and quirky, like the whole film. The shots used are interesting and it has a nice song in the background.

Opening Links

Amelie opening title is here on youtube (0.01 to 3.00)
This is a better quality one, but it doesn't have english subtitles.

Edward Scissorhands opening title is here on youtube (0.01 to 2.50)

Coraline title here at the Art of the Title

Breakfast at Tiffany's is here on youtube. In better quality than Amelie, even though being made 40 years earlier.

Choosing the winning opening tonight.

Exciting first post is exciting

I have watched a few movies and have created a short list of contenders.

• Breakfast at Tiffany's

• Edward Scissorhands

• Coraline

• Amelie

I intend to re-watch all of these starts and choose a winner. If this doesn't go to plan thanks to my indecisiveness, I will pull a movie out of a hat so I can start this project.