Evaluation - Question #7

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

I have learnt a lot from the point I finished filming the preliminary task to the present day. I have gained more knowledge in all areas; from editing to sound to mise-en-scene. Back when I was filming the preliminary it didn't occur to me that you could make an audience feel a certain emotion with the camera, I have learnt that through particular camera angles you can do this. For example, long-lasting close-ups of a person's face can you feel different emotions from angry to feeling sorry for that character. If there was a close-up on a crying person the audience are likely to feel empathy towards that character.

Kind of following on from the last point, lighting is a key part of shooting a film. Lighting shouldn't be out of mind when planning the mise-en-scene. You can use lighting to a great effect to control the mood of a film. For example in a noir film you would use as little lighting as possible, to keep that tone you find in every high quality noir film.

Also I learnt something from sound. I didn't include any sort of music on top of my preliminary. In my opening I included a tension-building sting. Over the process I found out that sound can change the tone of a scene as well as changing the pace. The sting in my film was a great factor in rising the tension levels.

Furthermore, there is more to sound than just stings, sound effects, a score and/or a soundtrack can also help to improve a film. In the end of my opening I have multiple knife stab effects, sound effects can help enhance particular story points. They can also inform the audience in more detail of how a character is feeling. In my case the stabbing effect made the attack seem more painful, making the the audience feel more empathy towards the dying character. In my preliminary I didn't feature any sound effects. With soundtracks and scores I learnt that you can create all different types of moods and tones, the right piece of music can create any emotion.

No equipment were used to make my preliminary other than the camera itself. For the end product it was key that I had a tripod to shoot many films. The constant shakiness of a camera can put off an audience from even watching a film. It can be handled well (like in Cloverfield) but more often than not it comes off irritating. So as I progressed I learnt that film equipment can be a very important part of shooting a movie.

Here is my preliminary:

Evaluation - Question #6

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

Whilst creating the opening to my film I used a range of technologies. From the beginning of this process I have been using this blog. It was fascinating to see how easy it is to create a piece of writing and post it onto the internet. This website taught me that it's pretty simple to get your work into other people's hands thanks to the internet. To edit my film I used Camtasia, this software was very easy to use. I learnt from Camtasia that due to the improvement in technology it is now so much easier to edit a film then it was many years ago. I say this because on the software with just a few clicks you can rearrange shots, add in credits, import music etc. After editing, I uploaded my film to YouTube. YouTube taught me, just like blogger, that it due to technology it is easy to share your work. The rapidity you can upload a video to the website and get it seen by so many people is astonishing. You are also provided the service to edit your videos on the website. It seems that online now you can rework your craft for free. There was a website I used in my research phase called surveymonkey.com This website gave me the opportunity to create a questionnaire. From this service I learnt that there are some great ways to research and find out about an audience through the internet.

Evaluation - Question #5

How did you attract/address your audience?

One of my film's genres is horror. To find out what things an audience enjoys seeing in a horror film I created a questionnaire. From the results of said questionnaire I added the elements people loved seeing into the opening to my film. For example one of the questions I asked was "In your opinion, what movie-making techniques (eg stings, PoV shots) are most important for a horror film?". Here are a few of the responses: "I've always thought with horror, less is more. The idea of something scary is usually better than just showing something scary. And I think horror films should mostly be normal dramas, but with the characters lives in peril", "Leaving some things slightly off camera, leaving elements to the viewers imagination". I thought these points made were great. So I incorporated these ideas into my film. Throughout the start of the opening I left the main character Jules' face outside of the shots. This was to leave what he looked like to the audiences imagination, which was part of what the people I asked enjoyed about horrors.

Jules with no head in the frame

One of the next questions was "What's your favourite type of horror villain?". I asked this to find out if the typical horror audience would watch my film based on the script I wrote and the type of villain I had included. 'Psychopathic killer' came second in the poll with 36% of the votes only just behind 'zombie' which received 45% of the votes. So it turned out a lot of the audience would love seeing my 'psychopathic killer' in the horror movie.

A later question was "Are you a fan of horrors that include other genres (eg horror-comedy, horror-romance?". I had a strong suspicion that my film would definitely be multiple genres, so I decided to ask this question just in case it was a terrible decision. I turns out that everyone I asked prefers a multiple genre horror film over just a plain horror film. In fact one of my other questions was "What's your favourite horror movie?" and a few people replied with Shaun of the Dead a fantastic example of a successful horror-comedy. Therefore I carried on my idea of a horror-thriller-detective film.

Evaluation - Question #4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

At the beginning of production I targeted my film at an audience of both genders aged 20-35. I will start by noting elements that my opening doesn't incorporate that would appeal to people not of my target demographic. The general view of 13-19 year olds is that they only enjoy films that contain many, many explosions. People believe this point  In my opening sequence there is not one single explosion, or even an over exaggerated visual effect. One reason is that I didn't have the budget to include such extravagant effects. But more importantly none of this would improve the quality of my film. On the other end of the spectrum I don't think my film would appeal to the elderly. The elderly are depicted as loving only old films - especially dramas, westerns, and war films. I think the age range I mentioned at the beginning would be the optimum age due to what they are stereotypically known to like. They are not to keen on explosive, flashy films, but also not 100% with massive dramas. In my film I aimed for a thriller filled with character arcs and a fast paced but original story.
Fight Club seems like a film that has targeted a similar age range to the one I have targeted. I have used quite a few similar story-telling techniques that Fight Club has used. Just like that film my film is focused on two characters - one a bit more than the other. This audience seem to enjoy films being told like this. As well as this I have a small plot twist, Fight Club has a much larger one which has a lot greater in many people's eyes.

I made a 'writeboard' to find get feedback from the audience to see what kind of people did enjoy it: http://123.writeboard.com/63j33si3yld0etx8xe3i98uh

As you can see on the website, the age range I targeted seemed to have the greatest understanding of what I was aiming for. They also seemed to enjoy the opening the most.

Evaluation - Question #3

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

Due to various factors it looks like my film would be distributed my an indie company over a big company like Fox or Sony. One of the reasons I suggest this is that I have used 'unknown' actors. There is a bigger chance that an independent company would distribute my film then one of the big ones due to my film having no A-List actors. Studios would rather distribute films with A-Listers as they have a bigger chance of bringing in the success. However some films distributed by independent companies do have big stars in their cast. For example The King's Speech had Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush playing the leads. All three being very big in the entertainment business.
Another reason an indie company would be more likely to distribute my film is because of franchises. A film like Skyfall is part of the mega-successful franchise that is James Bond. A bigger company would distribute a James Bond film as they are guaranteed success. James Bond is a household name and almost everyone and their grandmother will want to go see this film at the cinema. The bigger company will be able to distribute the film to all these people in all the different countries with ease. As my film isn't part of one of these well-known franchises it is will not be as eagerly anticipated. Therefore it wouldn't need to be distributed to all the different territories.
There is also the fact that my film doesn't have a typical 'Hollywood' storyline.A lot of indoes produce unique films and that's what I fell my film is.
Also, as I have created a small, British film, it is more likely to receive success in the UK than any other country.
However it may not be safe to distribute to cinemas at all. Due to all the features missing in my film that you can find in mainstream blockbusters (A-list actors, huge budget), more money could be spent on distributing to cinemas than what is grossed in return. There is the choice of distributing straight to online services such as Netflix and iTunes. These are global names, a huge number of people around the  world use these services. There is also the film Joss Whedon wrote that was recently released: In Your Eyes. This film was distributed online through vimeo. The public were able to purchase the film for $5 and watch it through the website. This could be a good pathway for my film.

Evaluation - Question #2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The opening to A Dish Best Served Cold doesn't feature many characters. In fact there are only 2 that can be classed as "main characters" and one of them dies by the end of the opening. However I have still used the characters for representation. I made sure that the character that died (Jonah) was wearing an Ipswich top to show the audience where the film was set. For me I wanted to create something more interesting than just a caption on the screen explaining where the film was based.
With Jules I made the actor where 'ordinary' clothes to make him seem like any other person living in the town. The character isn't supposed to have a stereotypical look that gives him away as a murderer. He wears a casual jacket and jeans to present him just like everyone else.
Since my actor's ages were roughly around the same age I wanted the characters to be I didn't have to change anything to do with appearance in that sense. The actors also didn't need to incorporate any extra factors whilst shooting because of this.
In terms of accents the actors were once again fine as the characters they were playing are from the same town as themselves.
And again my actors are around the same age as I wrote the characters to be. So no special details were used to persuade the audience to believe the characters were of a different age.

Evaluation - Question #1

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

Just like a real film my film features a range of action and enigma codes. Since the genres of my film are detective/thriller/horror, plenty of enigma codes definitely enhance the effectiveness of the opening. Some enigma codes I have included in my opening ask things like: character decisions, what characters do, what some items mean. One specific example is when I don't reveal the main character's face (Jules), the audience question who's life they are watching.

For my story I decided to follow 3 distinct genres, one being broad (horror) and the other 2 being more specific (thriller and detective). Real films often have multiple genres attached to their name. To show that my film are these genres, I have included various techniques in my opening. At the start of the opening there are 2 production companies shown. Right at the start the titles of the production companies instantly give off a certain tone for the film.

The word 'perimo' means 'to kill' in Latin, that word along with the image of the magnifying glass give off a mysterious vibe. Connecting to the 'detective' genre. The other production company is 'Slime Productions', I felt that the animation shown for this company linked to the horror genre I was aiming for. I also emphasized the genre through sound. Towards the end of the opening a sting begins to play, stings like that are often found in thriller movies.

Related to that are the titles. I have used, for the title and the actor/director credits, a font called 'Comeback of the Damned'. I specifically chose this font because it created this fantastic horror vibe. Another reason was because in the back of my mind I had planned to get Jules to write some letters to people, and this font was in the style of a person's handwriting, so it fit perfectly.

Much like a real film I also targeted characterisation as an element I should focus on. Jules Blonde is a mentally unstable killer. To show his instability I made the actor perform a certain way. Towards the beginning of the film I needed Jules to prepare a meal. Since he has this insane mind I made the character grab a banana and randomly chop it to pieces. The fact that it's a banana and out of nowhere he just chops it and leaves it leave the audiences a sense of astonishment, they are wondering why the character would behave so strangely.

Another one of Jules' traits is that he believes he is always the smartest person in the room. I researched and found out that classical music often correlates to “self-perceived intelligence”. This made me include that piece of music at the start of the opening, it was to suggest the big-headedness of the character.

Through mise-en-scene I also attempted to show more about the characters. One of the key parts of the costumes in my opening was that I wanted Jules to wear dark colours. The darkness gives the obvious connotations of evilness, and Jules is an evil character - he kills people.

Jules wearing dark-coloured clothes

To help further the plot points I manipulated the camera into certain positions. For example near to the start of the opening I have shot a close up of a newspaper article. The newspaper states "killer murders tenth policeman". The fact that it is a close up shot, and that I have kept the camera on the prop for such a long amount of time tells the audience that this is an important detail. This shot can also be seen as another enigma code.

Another prop I made sure received a lot of focus was the knife. I gave it so many close ups as foreshadowing, as you can see in the opening it foreshadows the death of the character at the end of the opening.

Evaluation - Analysis of Own Film

Here is a video I created that shows my own personal analysis of my film. I have mentioned why I shot scenes in certain ways and what action/enigma codes I used etc.

Evidence of Production

Here are some video clips that show me at sets etc.

At one of the sets.

Walking to a different location with 2 of the actors.

Moving unnecessary objects from a set.

The Opening to my Film - A Dish Best Served Cold

Here is the opening to A Dish Best Served Cold:



In the description I have included the name's of the people that created the music and sound effects.

Premise and Synopsis of My Whole Film (A Dish Best Served Cold)

A Dish Best Served Cold – Synopsis

The film begins in Ipswich, a relatively highly-populated town which hasn't been affected by major crime (murders etc.) for 5 years. Jules Blonde (a mass-murderer) is in his home making a strange meal. He ventures out of his house to find a man named Jonah Liefeld. Jonah is taking part in the same cooking competition as Jules. Once Jonah has been found Blonde lures the man back to his home by implying his “sister” is in trouble and needs help. Back at his house Jules viciously stabs Jonah to death whilst shouting about how he is going to “win this competition” and that he has “missed killing”.

Eames Kubrick, the only detective in Ipswich, is sitting doing nothing at his home. He and his wife argue about him needing to get out more. Kubrick then goes to bed. In the middle of the night the doorbell goes. Eames answers the door to see Mrs.Liefeld, the wife of Jonah Liefeld. She explains to the man that her husband has gone missing and that he never has been away for more than a few hours from her. Eames attempts to get as much information as he can about the missing person. Just so he can get rid of the case as soon as possible, he doesn't like uncertainty.

The following day Dick Ramis is hopping at a supermarket. He is buying the most expensive wine. Other shoppers stare in astonishment, Ramis is known as one of the greatest chefs in the town. Dick leaves the shop with his expensive wine and expensive food. Waiting in the shadows outside the store is Jules. Blonde is aiming for Ramis to be his next victim. Stealthily as possible Jules follows the great chef back to his home. Since Dick is so famous, almost everyone knows where his house is located. Therefore, Jules already had his plan laid out of how to follow without being spotted. However Jules isn't the greatest at being stealthy; Dick knows that he is being followed. Once Dick arrives at the gates of his land he shouts explaining he knows he was being followed. Jules jumps out from the shadows and stabs Dick in the back. Ramis returns the favor by smashing the bottle of wine against Jules. A fight occurs between the two men. The fight is so loud that nearby pedestrians notice it. However they aren't quick enough to stop it. Jules successfully murders the man and flees quickly from the scene. Due to the body being left at the scene the murder becomes big news in the daily papers and on TV.

The next day Eames visits his local corner shop. Inside the shop all the newspapers explain of Dick Ramis' death. As the town's only detective Kubrick is angry that he wasn't told about death.

Kubrick visits the scene of the murder, because there are no policemen in the town there is no tape sealing off the public from the victim. Eames pushes everyone aside to study Dick's body. Eames pulls out his mobile and calls Leia Sullivan; one of Eames greatest friends back when the police were around. She arrives at his location. They discuss the situation and find fingerprints on the victim.

Jules is in his bedroom. He pulls out a notepad from one of his drawers. On one of the pages in the notepad is a list of names. There are 8 names listed on the page, with 6 of them crossed out. On the back of this page is the name "Eames Kubrick" bold an circled. This list was written by Jules as a reminder to which people where there when his sister died six year ago. These 9 policemen and detectives weren't able to rescue Jules' sister in time, therefore Jules believed that those 9 men should also die. He managed to kill 6 of them 5 years ago, however he was forced to stop when the heat became too hot.

Back at Kubricks' home Leia and Eames are studying a diagram they have created. Eames believes the disappearance of Jonah Liefeld is linked to the murder of Dick Ramis. The duo come to the conclusion that they should travel to the closed down abandoned police station to see if the fingerprints they have found link to any on the database.

Also on the way to the police station is Jules Blonde, he's travelling there to get more information on the men on his list. Since the police station is so run down Jules has to hop of fences and break into windows to get inside. Searching through various rooms he keeps looking for the information, he is desperate for it.

Down the road Eames is in his car driving to the station. He arrives at the building, luckily for him he can just unlock the gates and doors as Leia kept her old key. Since Jules is eager to find the details he is making a lot of noise. Eames hears this and follows the noise right down to Jules' location. At the last second Jules realises that there is someone else in the building, he grabs the intel he already has and sprints, looking for any exit. Eames follows, also sprinting. A large chase occurs. Eames belives that he has cornered Jules, seeing a dark figure sitting down at the end of a small, dark room. Eames flicks on his torch revealing a dead hobo as the figure, Jules escaped. But Eames now has an idea of what the murderer looks like.

Back at his home Eames uses the fingerprint on the software he found and is astonished to see that the man they are hunting is Jules Blonde, the man he tracked down 5 years ago for the murder of 6 people.

The cooking competition Jules has been preparing for starts the following day. Without the 2 highly-rated competitors (Dick and Jonah) unable to attend Jules believes he has a great chance of coming first.

Over at the Kubrick household, Leia arrives with urgent news. She explains to Eames that from the evidence they have found the only conclusion, however unlikely, is that the murderer is killing people in the cooking competition. The two argue with Eames describing the event last night and how Jules wants to kill the policeman, not chefs. The discussion ends with Leia travelling to where the competition is being held and Eames travelling to one of the policeman's homes.

Once inside Leia notices a man fitting the description Eames used to describe the man at the chase the night before. Leia calls Eames and tells him of what is happening, Eames turns his car around to get to her location. Whilst cooking Leia also notices that the man, who is Jules Blonde, is using a knife that fits the description of the one that was used to kill Dick.

Jules does win the competition and collects his trophy at the end. Sullivan approaches Blonde and asks him to come with her for questioning, at that moment Eames enters the building with gun in hand. Upon seeing whom Jules calls his "arch-nemesis" in Eames Kubrick, Jules grabs Leia and puts a knife to her throat. Jules shouts, telling Eames to put his gun down. He does not wanting any harm to come to his best friend. But instantly afterwards Eames swiftly pulls out another gun from his pocket and shoots Jules in the arm. He drops his trademark knife and falls to the ground.
Jules is taken to a prison in a nearby town, as there is nowhere to place him in Ipswich. His last words to Eames Kubrick are of how he will get his revenge on Eames eventually.

Premise of the Film

I wanted to write and direct a film where the audience could join in with the detective character on screen (Eames) in working out why Jules is murdering these people. Using the camera I would show hints on why the character was doing it. For example in the opening I will include a shot of Jules making a meal, this tells the audience that he enjoys cooking. A film-maker wouldn't include a scene like this if it was of no importance. Of course the audience has an advantage as they know who is committing these acts whereas Kubrick has no clue. However I wouldn't make it tedious work for the audience, I'd treat it as optional fun.

The Storyboard to the Opening of my Film

On this prezi is a detailed look at my storyboard. As well as showing the panels i also compare it with the script.

http://prezi.com/pgutbnfk1oi6/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Creating Props for the Film

To add detail and context to the story I believed that some props needed to be made. Here is a picture of one I have created:

It is a fake newspaper article. To create this I found a newspaper template on the internet, then I edited the titles and images to suit my own needs.

My Script for the Opening of my Film

Below you can see the most recent draft that I have written of my script for the opening of my film:

Proper Media Script - Newest

Here is one of my earlier drafts of the script:

My Script for the Opening of my Media Film

PowerPoint of a Questionnaire Given to the Target Audience

I created a questionnaire using www.surveymonkey.com The survey was created to find out more from my audience about what they would enjoy in my film.

Media Questionnaire from Sam Burgess

Pictures of the Film's Set

Here are some pictures of the sets I plan to use:

3 Film Ideas

Idea 1: 
Genre: Action/Spy/Thriller
Main story: After being suspended by the intelligence agency secret agent Clancy Thompson has to go on an extreme adventure across the world alone tracking down a group of lethal terrorists. Luckily, to help him along the way he'll assemble a team of highly-skilled personalities to give him some extra back-up to defeat these harsh criminals.
The opening: It would be about Clancy Thompson working through a shopping centre's car park to get to the terrorist's bomb to disable it. Along the way he'll have to face multiple terrorists. At the end of the opening the terrorists will escape whilst taking a civilian hostage. This is the reason why Clancy will be suspended.
Protagonist: Clancy Thompson. One of the best secret agents in the world. Excellent hand-to-hand fighter. Excellent with firearms. Intelligent in his line of work but average intelligence overall. Sometimes too keen/eager; which leads him into trouble.
Antagonist: Tyreese Blonsky. He is the leader of the terrorist group. Born in London. Devious, cunning, evil.
Type of movie: This would be a big budget American Hollywood movie. My target audience would be males in their 40s and male teenagers. Especially aimed at the ones that love action films (generally 80s ones). It would be similar to films such as: Mission Impossible, Die Hard. When looking at Die Hard's Facebook page every comment on one particular post that I saw was from a man. The main age range seemed to be 30-50. I'm aiming to appeal to this audience so I would use similar techniques to Die Hard. For example some great features include: lots of explosions; big fight scenes; a likeable, funny, witty central character etc.


Idea 2:
Genre: Detective/Crime/Drama
Main story: A detective (Blake Johnson) is close to retirement and is on one last case before he stops, but this case is tough.
The opening: This would be set in the streets of London. It would be about Blake catching an average crook. He describes 'rules' of being a detective throughout the opening.
Protagonist: Blake Johnson. Aged 50. A very, very good detective. Not very fit compared to others in the business (mainly due to his age).
Antagonist: Mike Scalone. Late 40s. A high-level crime-lord.
Type of movie: This film wouldn't be a big blockbuster but also isn't a small budget indie film. My target audience for this film would be males in their 20s+. Similar to films such as: Goodfellas. As inspiration from Goodfellas my film would use techniques like: a large but interesting amount of characters (detectives, criminals etc.); a voiceover going over the majority of the film; being set over different decades of time.


Idea 3:
Genre: Horror/Detective/Thriller
Main story: A detective is sent on a long spiralling mystery as he tries his hardest to catch the only criminal left in his safe haven town.
The opening: It would be focused on the antagonist, this is to give a big focus on how smart, deadly etc. he is. The general story behind this opening is that this criminal lures a victim into his home and murders him.
Protagonist: Detective Brian Blunt, the 29 year old that is almost forced to leave his job due to the lack of crime. He’s smart but quite rusty thanks to obvious reasons.
Antagonist: Simon Teller. Simon is a veteran in the killing business; he used to terrorize the town many years ago when he was just a kid. However he was forced to stop when the heat became too large. Back then Simon was killing for vengeance (the cops failed to save his sister in time when she was in danger), but this time there is a much different reason. Simon has always wanted to be a world-famous cook. To enlarge the chances of him becoming the world’s greatest, he decides to kill the other chefs competing in the same competition that he is.
Type of film: This would be an indie film with a low budget. Due to the lack of funds the film would have little to no special effects. My target audience for this film would be both sexes (but predominantly males) in the age range of 16-27. The film would be similar to: Silence of the Lambs, Prisoners. The film I would create would be similar to Silence of the Lambs in the way that there is quite a large focus on the antagonist. As for Prisoners, it would be similar to that by having lots of shocking twists, as well as moments which build up a lot of (and sometimes unbearable) tension.


Decision:
I have opted for the third idea as I believe I will create the strongest and most creative script with this concept. I also think that visually I would make the most impressive film possible through the use of camera angles and mise-en-scne etc. using this idea.

Dawn of the Dead (2004) Opening - Enigma Codes, Action Codes & Camera

When watching Dawn of the Dead you understand that the equilibrium is the nurse and her boyfriend living a 'normal' and 'average' life. Through a mixture of dialogue and camera the audience interpret that the nurse is a relaxed but hard-working person and lives a generally happy life. The disequilibrium occurs when the girl appears in the room (6:37). And the agent of change is the zombie outbreak. There are plenty of enigma codes throughout this opening. Some of the enigma codes include: News bulletin, What happened to the little girl?, How widespread is the outbreak?, How did the outbreak start?. We are also given some action codes. There is a patient that arrives at the hospital with a “bite”, so through the use of dialogue and mise-en-scene we are given answers like how the outbreak is starting etc.

This opening is filled with a range of camera techniques. One of the techniques is a POV shot. This shot shows a pair of legs hanging out the end of a parked ambulance. This puts you into the characters mind as you and her wonder what is going on in the vehicle. As well as being an interesting shot this also produces an enigma code, is this the first zombie? However this scene is a 'red herring', you're lead to believe that the zombie outbreak has started while in fact it is just an ordinary person. Another shot used was a shot-reverse-shot, this shot was used to create tension. In this opening a 'bird's eye view' has been used for one of the shots, it has been used to show the normality of the world. However later on an aerial shot is used, this happens after the outbreak, it's used to contrast the earlier shot. The track technique is another type of shot used in this opening. This one is used to show the setting, it familiarizes the audience with the surroundings.

The Difference in Film's Opening Credits

I have recently watched the opening credits for the following films: Shallow Grave, Casino and Twelve Monkeys. These are descriptions of what happens and the differences between them.

Shallow Grave

This film doesn't have many titles during it's credits. The probable reason behind this is that the film isn't a major blockbuster and the director isn't a well known person (yet). Therefore the film doesn't need to waste time showing you the director's name when it is likely you have never heard of him before. These are the credits:

“Film four international in association with the [continued]”. This is scrolling right to left as white text on a red background. A voice over begins whilst a scene is being shown.

Next you are shown the actor's names “Kerry Fox”, “Christopher Eccleston”, “Ewen McGregor”. At the time of release Kerry Fox was the most famous star so she was listed first in the titles. These names are also in white text however this time it appears over the film rather than a solid colour background.

The final piece of text you see in these opening credits is “Shallow Grave”. This text is in red on top of the film.

'Smaller' films generally include a low amount of titles in their credits as they don't want to risk losing the audience and want to get straight into the film. Having some of the titles appear on top of the movie also suggests that the film-makers just wanted to start showing the film. It seems silly for a not very well known group of film-makers to be blasting the names of various production staff. From this opening you understand that the credits are not an important part of the film in Danny Boyle's opinion.

Casino

Martin Scorsese is one of the most respected directors out there, this means that many people will at some point in their lives be watching this film. With that in mind it would seem crazy to guess that the opening credits will be quite long and feature many names. In this opening a certain font is used that gives you a casino-like vibe, it is a very classy font.

This is what the credits show:

“Universal Pictures and Sylalis D.D. & Legende Enterprises Present”. This appears as white text on a black background.

“A De Fina/Cappa Production”. Also as white text on the same black background.

“Adapted from a true story”. White text. Black background.

“1983”. White text. Black background.

(A few seconds later after a voice over)

“A Martin Scorsese Picture”. White text but this time on film. From here we see a quite shocking first scene.

“Robert De Niro”. White text on top of the same scene.

“Sharon Stone”. White text. Same scene.

“Joe Pesci”. White text. Same scene.

“Casino” (drifiting). White text. On film.

“James Woods”, “Don Rickels”, “Alan King”. There are fade-outs and fade-ins for each name. The names are now on top of a different type of background. What is on top of the background is hard to recognise however you still get the sense of the 'casino' theme.

“Kevin Pollak”.

“L.Q. Jones”.

“Dick Smothers Frank Vincent John Bloom”.

“Casting by Ellen Lewis”.

“Costume Designers Rita Ryack and John Dunn”.

“Title Sequence by Elaine & Saul Bass”.

“Editor Thelma Schoohmaker”.

“Production Designed by Dante Ferretti”.

“Director of Photography Robert Richardson A.S.C.”.

“Based on the book by Nicholas Pleggi”.

“Screenplay by Nicholas Pileggi & Martin Scorsese”.

“Produced by Barbara De Fina”.

“Directed by Martin Scorsese”.

Now that is a very long opening sequence. You could say it has been created like this to create tension, especially after what happens part way through the credits. You can definitely see the differences in opening credits when you compare Shallow Grave with Casino. Casino has a much flashier and more elegant opening whilst Shallow Grave has a simple, extremely short one. But then again there is one similarity. Both opening credits feature a voice over at some point.

Twelve Monkeys

“Universal Pictures and Atlas-Classico Present” White text on a black background.

“An Atlas Entertainment Production”

“...5 billion people will die from a deadly virus in 1997...[continued]” This appears in a green font, the text is displayed like it is being typed up whilst you are watching. You also hear the 'typewriter' sound effect. These credits give you a sense of what this film is likely to be about. You instantly are able to deduce what kind of movie you are likely to witness.

“excerpts from interview [continued]” White font on the same background as above. However when this segment is then added on you are given a sense of confusion.

“A Terry Gilliam film” Scrolling from right to left. This appears on a very different background displaying images of monkeys in a 3D spiral effect.

“Bruce Willis” Also scrolling from right to left. The rest of the credits follow on from one another each scrolling from right to left.

“Madeleine Stone”

“Brad Pitt”

“Twelve Monkeys” This title appears at the 'back' of the screen in very small font in slowly gets bigger to reveal to the audience what it says.

One of the similarities between all three films is each film displayed their actors in the order of most famous to least. However Casino also showed many more members of the production whereas Twelve Monkeys and Shallow Grave only gave us the actors' names. Something Twelve Monkeys and Shallow Grave did differently to Casino was end with the title.

Reservoir dogs

This film begins with a scene in a diner that introduces the characters whilst showing you part of their personalities. Then you are shown the credits. A voice over is playing when the credits start.

“A Film by Quentin Tarantino”. This is in orange font on a black background.

It then cuts back to the film, the characters are walking down a street.

“Harvey Keitel”. This again is in orange font but now on top of the film. Each actor title from now is shown beside the character on the film.

“Michael Madsen”. Orange font. Black Background.

“Chris Penn”.

“Steve Buscemi”.

“Lawrence Tierney”.

“Eddie Bunker”.

“Quentin Tarantino”.

“and Tim Roth”.

“are”.

“Reservoir Dogs”. This title scrolls up from 'underneath' the screen.

Then it goes back to the black background.

“Randy Books”, “Kirk Baltz”, “Rich Turner”, “and the voice of”, “Steven Wright”. All appear one after the other scrolling up on the left hand side of the screen.

“Casting” “Ronnie Yeskel, C.S.A.”.

“Music Supervisor” “Karyn Rachtman”.

“Costume Designer” “Betsy Heimann”.

“Editor” “Sally Menke”.

“Prodcution Designer” “David Wasco”.

“Director of Photography” “Andrzej Sekula”.

“Co-Producer” “Harvey Keitel”.

“Executive Producers” “Richard N. Gladstein” “Ronna B. Wallace” “and” “Monte Hellman”.

“Produced by” “Lawrence Bender”.

Considering that this is Quentin Tarantino's first feature film it is quite surprising how large the opening credits. His name is also shown twice in the credits, some may find this ballsy and arrogant as he isn't as famous. Back then he wouldn't have been as well known and loved as he is now. However ultimately it seems it does pay off as this film ends up being brilliant. It still is worth remembering though that not all rookie's first films will end up as great as this one has, so it is safer to not go through a credit scene as long as this. He does make it work very well by creating a unique sequence. Having the actor's name pops up next to the character is a great touch.