Four Lions

(Chris Morris, 2010)

Produced by Warp Films, (+ Film4; Wild Bunch, Optimum Releasing)

Budget: £2.5 million

Overall, the opening sequence is about 3mins20secs long, with two company idents and four titles. It seems that the lack of titles for this opening is done deliberately so that the audience will focus on the story and characters right away. The film seems to be trying for verisimilitude, as it doesn't start with a montage and non-diegetic sound, but with a long-shot of one of the main characters. There isn't much of a narrative enigma, but this works as it fits with the characters (who seem rather unintelligent) and are rather unsubtle.

The film opens with the company ident for Wild Bunch (10 seconds in length.) As "Wild Bunch" is a German Film Distribution Company, we understand this company ident to mean that they were the distributors for "Four Lions"

"Film4" is a production company, so this company ident (10 seconds in length) reveals to us that they produced "Four Lions".

Both company idents keep their original sound.

This is the first shot of the film. There are no titles - it simply cuts in with a static medium-long shot (that shifts ever so slightly) of one of the characters in the middle third. All the sound is diegetic. It can be denoted that the character looks middle-eastern, is wearing dark, khaki clothing, and a head band with what appears to be islamic writing on it: this exposition shows us that the character is islamic, and given that the audience is likely to have seen videos of terrorist propaganda on the news (intertextuality) we understand that this character is meant to be a terrorist. A narrative enigma is created briefly as an audience wonders what he is going to say and what's going to happen next. The lack of titles seems to have been done to create a strong sense of verisimilitude (as if this were really a terrorist demands video, as that wouldn't have titles.) 

In the next shot (cuts to a long shot - which is important as it increases the shot variety) the rest of the main characters are revealed, and it becomes clear to the audience that they are not actually a serious terrorist group, but just four Pakistani's from Sheffield, West Yorkshire (exposed through their accents.)  However, there is a slight narrative enigma as we (the audience) are left wondering what they're trying to achieve by being terrorists. We can denote that the room they are in is shabby and sparsely furnished, which has connotations of our main characters being lower-middle class. 

However, there is a jump-cut to a medium shot of Omar's (the protagonist's) family, but now the room in which they are in is a lot cleaner and nicer, a direct contrast to the place in which we first met Omar. This creates a binary opposition; the terrorist, and the family man. It must be denoted that his wife is a nurse, and that he has a young son; these two facts both make the audience more connected to Omar, despite his attempts to be a terrorist. All sound up until this point has been diegetic, but non-diegetic music begins to fade in (providing an audio bridge.)

This is the 1st title to appear in the film, however it doesn't appear until 3:01. The word "presents" shows us that Film4 produced this film. Non-diegetic music (which sounds middle eastern and quite serious) has begun to play by this point. This footage provides the transition (with the aid of an audio bridge) from the introduction to the main film, and also gives anchorage to help with the context (e.g. that it takes place within a city.)

This is the (2nd and) main title (the name) of the movie. It's written in sans-serif and is easy to read; fonts like this are commonly used in comedies and dramas ("Four Lions" being a combination of the two.) It's small, and in the lower middle third of the screen, however as the camera zooms in on the Mosque with fairy lights (center, middle third) we understand that this movie is to focus on Islam; the mosque is being used as anchorage. As we've seen the four Jihadi terrorists by this point, we understand the title "Four Lions" is a direct reference to them. 

Just as with the 1st and 2nd titles, the writing here is small, sans-serif style and pale coloured, meaning it is not eye-catching. Again it's also in the bottom two thirds, almost as if it was not meant to be seen (or at least focused on.) This title mentions the production company (Warp Films) and the director (Chris Morris - who is only mentioned once within the titles; this is unusual, as normally the director is mentioned twice.) The mise-en-scene here depicts an empty shopping center, which is revealed to be the place of employment of Omar. The use of the empty shopping center is to anchor the fact that Omar lives in the western world, which makes his involvement in a Jihadi terrorist group all the more confusing for the audience.

This is the final title for the opening, and it simply names two companies involved in the majority of distribution of this film; Wild Bunch and Optimum Releasing. Again, the writing is small and difficult to read, especially as it's placed in the bottom third. (The non-diegetic music ends here.)

*Each title lasts approximately 5 seconds (and they fade in/out,) with the overall title sequence stretching from 3:01 to 3:20. 

(Main) Props List

• Camera
• Toy Rifle
• Laptop

Location

• Shabby living room
• Modern kitchen
• City at night
• Empty shopping centre

source: http://silversaltstudios.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/opening-conventions-of-four-lions.html

Prelim AS Opening

THE BRIEF

Your mission is to carry out the following brief:

Preliminary exercise: Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.
Main task: the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes.
All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source.

The coursework is worth 50% of the AS (same at A2) and the marking (detailed later) is divided into 3 sections:

RESEARCH AND PLANNING: 20%

PRODUCTION: 60%

EVALUATION: 20%

Your work is marked partially on my observations of your approach and level of organisation, but fundamentally its a DVD and your blog that are marked.

EVALUATION

Even before you start shooting (let alone planning) your production, you need to keep this final stage in mind. If you start (b)logging notes on this now it will save you a lot of stress as the final deadline (in May!) approaches. You are tasked with answering these questions (see below for details on how this is marked):

• In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? 

• How does your media product represent particular socialgroups?

• What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? 

• Who would be the audience for your media product? 

• How did you attract/address your audience? 

• What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? 

• Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

HOW ITS ALL MARKED [ie THE ASSESSMENT CRITERIA]

When I'm marking all this, I've got to write a paragraph for the exam board justifying the marks I've given you. The grid embedded below summarises the criteria I have to follow, and so you're advised to occasionally re-read this and ask yourself where you think you'll fall within the marking scheme!
For each section there are key components of the work which I have to assess as being one of the following:

MINIMAL
BASIC
PROFICIENT

EXCELLENT

If you think you're currently at the 'minimal' or 'basic' level for any of these, ask yourself (and me!) what you can do to jump up to at least proficient.

Analysis of Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason Trailer

Analysis of Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason Trailer

• Set in London and Southern England which is an appealing location for global viewers
• Has three big well known stars (Colin Firth, Hugh grant and Renee Zellweger)
• Has a big american star as leading role (Renee Zellweger)
• Includes stereotypical british people
• Main characters are all white upper class people
• Budget of $40 million 
• The genre is comedy which is a very popular genre
• Has a 15 Rating therefore there is a large audience able to watch the movie

Screenshot analysis

• The graffiti on the church denotes they feelings of the director and his views on the subject
• This old car in the background is a signifier of the time period in which the film is set.
• The words 'Maggie is a twat' on the church connects rounghness and disrespect as they have vandalised a church this denotes that religion is not important in the area.
• The graffiti is a polysemy as it can multiply meanings

• The font bubble style, this represents a childs view of England and the area. This also links to the main character because he is a child.
• Text is in the centre making to stand out and a true statement
• The text has black marks which signifies decay - which links to buildings the background also looking decayed
• Text has been placed intentionally with the mise-en-scene of the tower block showing that this is really England.
• It connotes that the film will be based upon working class characters.
• Text in the upper case anchors that it is a bold and true statement   

Analysis of This is England

This is England was released in 2006 and produced by warp films, big arty productions, em media, film 4, optimum releasing, screen yorkshire and uk film council. Optimum releasing are a distribution company. Co production is very normal in the film industry because one production company on its own wouldn't have enough money to fund the whole film. Found here.

It was directed by Shane Meadows who has also directed once upon a time in midland, Dead Mans Shoes and Le Donk and Scor-Zay-Zee. 

This is England is an example of a social realist genre that the UK is slightly associated with. Social realism when there us a focus specificly on social issues and the hardship of every day life. This is a popular genre because it means people can connect and relate to the films.

This is england raised £1.3 m in the uk box office and was running in cinemas for 4 weeks. It started off with only being shown in 62 screens and got a maximum number of 151. In the US box office it raised $328 k and ran for 15 weeks. It started off being shown in 1 screen and got a maximum of 14 screens.

Cinematography in Paul

This is the establishing shot. The mise-en-scene gives the viewer a very good understanding of the time period and sets the scene straight away. In this shot there are lots of object s that make the time period very believable and real.

      This is a shot from the opening scene, it is an extreme long shot which shows a full view of the scene including all the surroundings which gives you a sense of what the area is like. It gives you a greater understanding of the location. The weather in the shot makes it look dramatic which fits the mood. 

      This a close up shot. It helps portray the emotion on the girls face and makes the viewer interested in what it is that is making her looked shocked therefore making the viewer intrigued in the situation and wanting to keep watching. There is a shallow depth of field making the girl stand out more and also letting the viewer understand here emotion in greater detail.