Analyse how the film’s opening establishes genre conventions and reaches target audiences through technical codes, narrative and characterisation.

Se7en

Se7en is an American film that was released in 1995, the genre of the film is Thriller and it has grossed over $327 million. The film was directed by David Fletcher and written by Andrew Walker.

The film is about two detectives, one a rookie and the other a veteran, they both investigate a series of murders related to the seven deadly sins. They find clues at each grime scene and then realise they are dealing with a serial killer.

I will be looking at how the opening of the film shows the genre of the film using different technical codes.

The film doesn’t start with titles it starts by introducing the first main character which is William Somerset one of the two detectives who is played by Morgan Freeman. The shot shows him getting ready for work and then the next scene goes straight o the first crime scene and it shows a man dead lying In a puddle of his own blood, this instantly shows you that the film has blood and death in it, this gets you in the mood for the rest of the film and it shows you what the film is going to be about.

After this there is a shot of William walking through the hall way into the kitchen, he is looking at everything around him looking for clues, this shows he is always working and is trying everything he can to solve the crime. This also shows that he is in charge and operates the investigation. David Mills the second detective and main character then comes up the stairs looking for Somerset, Somerset is the veteran detective and Mills looks up to him and follows his orders, and Somerset is in charge. Throughout this scene the lighting is dark and the dialogue is quiet, this creates a feeling, it’s a tense place and no one wants to be there. The whole film is pretty much in the dark there is no colourful places and objects in the scenes, creates a feeling for the whole film and makes you on edge throughout the film because you know that something is going to happen.

Somerset and Mills are then walking down the street and the camera is low and it is raining and dark outside, the camera being low shows they are bigger than everyone around then and they are in control, the weather creates atmosphere for the film and shows that it isn’t a happy place.

There is then an establishing wide shot of Somerset in his bed alone, this shows the emptiness of the room making him look small and lonely, he then pushes a hand to makes it start ticking and the tick is louder than it should be, the ticking could be like a timer for the next murders, something bad is going to happen, the camera uses a close up of the timer so you know where the ticking is coming from and it could be related to the film in some way. The ticking slowly gets louder creating tension and it makes you feel uneasy like something’s going to happen.

The titles then play and the text used is bold but it shakes and along with the music makes you feel uneasy and uncomfortable, the music is mainly like sound effects of different noise that you don’t normally hear. There are also images and clips of the seven deadly sins which suits the whole film because that is what the deaths are based on, the titles suit the genre of the film and again set the mood for the film.

Analyse how the film’s opening establishes genre conventions and reaches target audiences through technical codes, narrative and characterisation.

Notting Hill

Notting Hill is a 1999 British romantic comedy film set in Notting Hill, London, and the film was released on 21^st May 1999, the film had a budget of $43 million and has grossed $363,889,700 at the Box office. It was produced by Duncan Kenworthy and directed by Roger Michell. The film stars Hugh Grant, Julia Roberts, Rhys Ifans, Emma Chambers, Tim McInnerny, Gina McKee and Hugh Bonneville.

William Thacker who is played by Hugh Grant owns an independent travel book shop in Notting Hill, he is divorced and shares his house with ‘Spike’ who is an unemployed, clumsy welsh guy. One day when Will was at his book shop a famous actress comes in the shop and buys a book, they then fall in love and Will’s live is changed forever.

The opening of the film starts with women called Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) who is the world’s most famous actress and she is posing for photos, there are super imposed shots from each photo shoot that she does showing that she travels a lot and is always working. This also shows he fame and fortune, this is when you are first introduced to Anna Scott and you instantly know that she is rich and famous. The titles then come in after and there is also music playing while the titles are rolling, the music gets you in the mood for the rest of the film, the titles also fit the genre of the film, they aren’t too big or bold they are quite small and soft, they are like the writing you get on Valentines cards and the colour of them is pinkie, purple.

After the credits have gone there is an establishing shot of the street that Will lives down and it is very busy and while the camera is showing the area where Will lives there is a voice over from Will, he is telling his life, about him being divorced and how him and his ex-wife painting his house. His house is blue and it stands out from the rest of the houses around him, this could be like himself, he stands out from everyone else. The next scene is inside Will’s house and it shows you him opening the door and then hitting a bike that is behind it, this shows that his house is messy and he doesn’t really compare to Anna Scott in any way, she it rich, classy, famous and he is less wealthy doesn’t really do anything, no one knows about him and he doesn’t really care about himself and his life. He is unlucky in love and his luck then suddenly changes. Will is clumsy and this is how people look at British men, American men in films are usually rich and powerful but in British films they are clumsy and poor, silly and they have no luck.

Will is first introduced to Anna Scott in his bookshop and the camera is focussing on him as she walks in and he looks up realising he has a customer and there is a close up on him and you can see his expression’s, he is looking at her trying to figure out if it’s actually her, he is shy and didn’t want to talk to her. She then goes to his house and she she’s Spike which would put you off someone because you wouldn’t think that someone like her would go for someone like Will, they are un compatible and even though he is really low compared to her she stills goes for him.  

In conclusion I think that the Titles create the best effect for telling what the genre is at the beginning of the film, this is because they are in a soft font and they are quite small and the colour of them is pinkie/purple which is the a loving colour. The font is like the font that you get on valentines cards which links to the film genre of a romantic comedy.        

Analyse how the film’s opening establishes genre conventions and reaches target audiences through technical codes, narrative and characterisation.

Candyman

Candyman is a Horror that was released around 1992 and 1993; the film was directed by Bernard Rose and written by Clive Barker and Bernard Rose. The film is about a university student named Helen Lyle who learns about the myth of the Candyman and then decides to write a thesis about him. The Candyman is a murderer who has a hook for a hand and he only appears when you say his name five times into a mirror, Helen didn’t believe the myth but when she starts to investigate random murders take place and questions are being asked.

The film had an estimated budget of $8,000,000 and has grossed over $25,000,000 in the USA alone. The film was a success and was the start of the trilogy with Candyman 2- Farewell to the flesh and Candyman 3- Day of the dead being created and released after the first film making the trilogy.       

I will be looking at how the opening of the Candyman fits the genre of the film and how you know what the film is, the film starts with a birds eye view of a busy motorway and the camera is panning  to the left, while this is happening the title appear and music begins to play. The music that is playing creates feeling and tension the music makes you feel uneasy and it sets the scene for what the film is about and how it is going to make you feel, the music suits the genre of horror and gets you in the mood for the rest of the film, the music is mainly made up of organs and a choir, both relate to a church and churches relate to death and funerals which suits the theme of the film because death happens a lot in the film and many people fear death which makes the film more scary. The road that you can see is busy and it looks like the time is rush hour, all the people ion the cars are probably going to work which means they do this every day and they are used to it, they don’t know what is about to hit them and they have probably never heard of the Candyman, they are just carrying on with their normal every day lives. The bird’s eye view shot is also an establishing shot because it shows you that the film is going to be based in a busy city where there are lots of people but it also shows that everything is normal and fine, nothing is different yet. The titles that are playing are bold and big and when the Candyman comes on in the titles it is different to the rest, it stands out more and the text is bigger bolder and the points are sharp which suggest that whoever the candyman is, in a way is like the title, bigger than everyone else he stands out and doesn’t fit in with everything and everyone, he is also sharp, this can be referring to his hook that he has for a hand and that he uses for a weapon.

After the titles finish it goes onto the first scene, the first scene is of lots and lots of wasps and there is a voice over, the voice is the Candyman’s voice and you instantly think what has wasps got to do with the Candyman and it could mean that he is in a way like wasps, a lot of people fear them and they can be very dangerous just like him they are also unwanted and disliked just like him. Their is then a shot of millions of wasps that fly and cover the whole city and they are trapped, this could mean that the candyman is going to do the same, he is going to trap the city and make them all scared and make sure no one can escape. Once this has happened the voice over says “I came for you” the scene then changes to a women who must be the one who the Candyman came for.

The next scene is when you are firstly introduced to the Candyman and what he does, a woman is telling Helen the main character a story about the Candyman and what he does, the story tells you about how the Candyman comes and also a description of what he looks like and what he does to his victims. When the Candyman kills he does it in the dark and when you see him first kill you only get a quick second to have a look at him and see what he looks like you cant actually see him, this makes him more scary and makes you feel uneasy because you don’t know what he looks like and because he comes in the dark you suddenly think that the dark is scary because of what is associated with it e.g. the Candyman. The Candyman is a traditional serial killer in a horror, there is one main killer (The Candyman) and he is unknown, no one knows of him and how to stop him you don’t know when he is going to strike and he is dangerous and scary. People fear the dark already and when put together with a killer it becomes even scarier and more people will the dark with death and fear.

In many horrors there is one main victim that the killer plans to kill and in the Candyman it is Helen. In most horrors the main victim is also a woman this is because they are seen to be weaker and more vulnerable towards killers. Helen is a young woman which makes her more suiting for a victim because she is young and pretty and young and pretty women are also a target for killers, they are learning about things and they are still learning how to look after themselves which is why killers go after them because they are easy targets.

Overall I would say that the soundtrack in the opening of the film is the very effective when showing the genre of the film, this is because the soundtrack makes you instantly feel uncomfortable and makes the film eerie. The sound suits the genre of the film and you know from now on what the film is going to be like. The soundtrack has organs in which are related to church’s and some people when thinking of church’s instantly think of death and funerals which is related to the films genre.