GENRE EG1: Tyrannosaur

(SAM'S WORK) - input by me in green
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Budget: £750k
Box Office: $299k (Worldwide) / $22k (US)
Ratings: 84% (RottenTomatoes) / 7.6/10 (IMDb) / 3.5/4 (Roger Ebert)
Production Companies: Film4, UK Film Council, Screen Yorkshire, EM Media, Warp X, Inflammable Films
Director: Paddy Considine

IDENTS:

No Idents.

TITLES:

• serif font
• white font on black background connotes seriousness and drama
• different sizing between the titles and names to distinguish the different roles 
• the main title is centered and all capitals
• animated titles, fade in and out
• different positioning of titles
• for aesthetic purposes
• duration of title sequence: 00:00:03 - 00:02:04
• numbers of titles: 12
• In the other Paddy Considine film we looked at (Journeyman) there were also no titles before names (other examples had "with" "starring" "introducing" etc.)

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Tyrannosaur credits from harriet Barlow

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SOUND:

• soft guitar sound with notes that are a few seconds apart has an impact on our mood
• it connotes drama / seriousness
• get the serious feel
• makes us calm
• ambients sound of radio to add verisimilitude
• the incidental acoustic music is very conventional of social realist films
• it kicks in just after he has kicked his dog - this encourages the audience to empathise with the protagonist, rather than see him as a villain

1st SHOT:

• establishing shot
• starts with a close up of a male character
• narrative enigma because it's not very clear how the male character looks like due to shadows 
• using natural lights
• lowkey lighting

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CENTRAL PROTAGONIST + NARRATIVE:

• the male character is in every shot
• tracking shot when he is walking back home while having his dog in his arms
• shot variety of him
• he is always in focus
• it cuts back to him
• anchors he is going to be the central protagonist
• he is coming from the working class ( track pants, white and dirty shirt, drunk, is desperate for money)
• The music allows the audience to empathise with him, rather than see him as the villain who just kicked his dog to death in a drunken rampage
• This is quite a controversial and dark theme, something more commonly found in social realists
• the protagonist is an anti-hero: complex an din shades of grey, not a 2 dimensional stereotype
• this is similar to what was found in the New Wave movements

MISE-EN-SCENE FOR EXPOSITION:

•  small room 
•  squeaky floor
• bland colours
• anchors poverty
• The beer cans are used to confirm that he is drunk

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TRANSITION TO MAIN FILM:

• The equilibrium is disrupted when the central protagonist kills his dog
• Todorov's 5 point narrative theory:
• establish equilibrium
• the protagonist is a violent, alcohol drinking, swearing unemployed man
• disrupt equilibrium
• when accidentally injures his dog and realises he has to kill it so that it won't be in pain anymore, he later has a breakdown, and realises he must change something in his life, but has little power to change much
• the rest of the theory is not seen in the opening, but is present throughout the film

Fail or Success?

From the ratings I can tell that the movie was quite a success. Paddy Considine even got an award for the best film and best debut director award. Olivia Colman who plays Hannah in the movie got an award for the best actress.

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However, the movie didn't do well in Box Office. One reason is because it only got a limited screening in America in just 5 theatre. Also, Warp managed to get Tyrannosaur quite widely distributed on DVD and not so much in cinema which the Box Office doesn't count the sales of DVD's.
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It only grossed £299k (only the Box Office worldwide), whereas, the budget is £750k. The movie received a positive reviews and currently has a score of 83% on RottenTomatoes. Stuart McGurk of GQ magazine even called Tyrannosaur  "The best British film of the year". This is very rare for Indie movies to win awards and get good reviews from companies such as GQ or RottenTomatoes. This also indicates that the movie was a success. But still in the UK the movie doesn't sell well due to it's genre "a brutal, frank, and ultimately rewarding story of violent men seeking far-off redemption". 

For our film opening I took influence of the background music. It's a guitar with notes that are several seconds apart. For the font I like the serif font, it connotes seriousness. However, I am definitely including the white font on black background that anchors seriousness and drama. 

GENERAL CONVENTIONS 5: central protagonist & narrative

MY INFLUENCES:

• make the central protagonist clear in our film opening
• using tracking shot
• different focus 
• central framing (rule of thirds)
• make the character stand out
• shot-reverse shot

A protagonist is the leading character of a story. The protagonist is at the center of the story (central protagonist), it makes the key decision, and experiences the consequences of those decisions. The protagonist is the primary agent propelling the story forward and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. The protagonist is the character whose fate is most closely followed by the reader or audience, and who is opposed by the antagonist. The antagonist will provide obstacles and complications and create conflicts that test the protagonist, thus revealing the strengths and weaknesses of the protagonist's character
Summary

• Uses & gratifications theory - identification (Submarine)
• Todorov 5 point narrative (Submarine)
• Counter+stereotypes - realistic representation (eg Molly Pretty in Pink)
• Binary opposition (eg Bridget Jones Diary)
• Archetypes (Bond)
• Narrative enigma + voiceover (Bond, The Mexican, Drive, Baby Driver)
• Amount of time the camera spends on protagonist/first character introduced - cutting back to protagonist - reactions, rule of thirds(Drive)
• iconography as part of narrative (Baby Driver)
• establishing/panning shots + tracking (Bond)

  

  Todorv's 5 point narrative (from DB media blog)

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Vodcast

Baby Driver and Submarine take very different yet equally effective approaches to the central protagonist and the narrative: Submarine uses a voiceover for exposition and has a heavy focus on set dressing (mis-en-scene), whereas Baby Driver has almost no dialogue and begins with an action sequence.

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RESEARCH(MINE):

Submarine

Submarine opening shot

The voiceover offers a lot of exposition, as the protagonist is stating that he does not believe he is a completely unique individual as the rest of the word does, and this level of awareness makes him feel unique. This is reflected in his positon in the shot: awkwardly cramped into the corner of a cluttered room, seen from a high angled long shot.

• Uses and gratifications theory would suggest that a teenage boys would identify with the protagonist, making them the primary target audience. 
•  This is indicated by non-glamourizing low-key lighting (also reflective of the institutional background)
• Welsh accent (rather than a southern English or American)

• Todorov’s 5 point narrative theory would suggest that the film begins with an equilibrium. This film is clearly divided into parts (intertitle “Prologue”)

  

  Submarine intertitle

•  the protagonist feels alone, surrounded by people who feel as though they are unique – the equilibrium is established to the audience
•  There will then be a conflict, or change to the equilibrium – in this example a romantic narrative – the introduction of Jordana Bevan later in the film

From the other examples I’ve looked at a voiceover for exposition is used in Apocalypse Now, Mean Girls and L4yer Cak3

• A use of counter and stereotypes is employed in the representation of the protagonist:
• The Welsh accent implies a sense of regional identity within the uk and the stereotypes that come with it: areas in the North are considered poorer, more industrial, grim and sometimes less intelligent, but also more friendly.
• This protagonist seems intelligent, but arguable antisocial, and was filmed on location (Wales) giving the film a rural rather than industrial setting.
• There is also a mild North-South binary opposition between the protagonist and his parents

Baby Driver

The opening scene in Baby Driver tells us a lot about the protagonist and the narrative however with no dialogue or voiceover.

• The first character we see is a medium-close-up of the protagonists face (also rule of thirds), and as the 3 other people in the car leave - the film stays with the protagonist
•  In special features the director, Edgar Wright, stated that the film was built around the character (it has also been stating that a large part of all his films is having characters which are easy to draw - recognisable & memorable)
•   The framing of shots make it clear that we are seeing the world form the point of view of this character, and also that he is not properly committed to crime (he stays in the car while the others go inside, and in the opening credits when he is getting coffee for everyone else but not himself)via GIPHY

• The sunglasses are used repeatedly throughout the film for iconography: when the protagonist wear them he is choosing to blind himself to the immorality of crime (music is also a way in which he does this) – when gunshots are heard in the bank he watches over the top of his sunglasses, showing how he cannot truly do this
•  This shows that the character has a moral compass and makes him easier for audiences to identify with

Baby Driver opening scene screenshot 

• Through visuals we learn more about the main character than through any dialogue (that he is a good getaway driver but has reservations in his attitude towards crime, he likes music and dancing, he is on a lower level to the people he works with as he’s the one who goes to buy coffee)
•  All we learn about the character through dialogue is his name

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Apocalypse Now

Apocalypse Now has a voiceover very late in the opening sequence, but the narrative focus/genre is signified only through visuals: an establishing shot of helicopters flying over burning palm trees denoting a war setting. The layering of the protagonist face on top of this also introduces us to the main character before any other, like in Baby Driver and Submarine 

Apocalypse Now opening scene screenshot

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RESEARCH(SAM'S):

Spectre (2015):
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• First, there's a tracking shot of a man wearing a white suit (stands out) where you would think he's the central protagonist but it then changes to Daniel Craig. 
• A dis-equilibrium is created
• Narrative enigma created by Daniel Craig wearing a mask
• Also he's with a woman who's also wearing a mask which let's the audience ask themselves who that woman is (narrative enigma)
• The tracking shot of Daniel Craig signifies that he's the central protagonist
• The camera zooms in
• We see him the longest on screen
• Opening scene is a 4 minutes long tracking shot of Daniel Craig which anchors that he's the central protagonist

Drive (2011):

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• Voice over before we see a character gives us a suspicion it’s the central protagonist talking also another way of creating narrative enigma. 
• The map makes the viewers think why did he use the map (What is it for)?
• The first short starts with a tilting shot of the man which again creates narrative enigma. 
• Always cut back to the driver (to see he’s reaction or face expression) 
• Tracking shot of the driver getting out 

Baby Driver (2017):

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• First shot starts with a red Subaru pulling up which creates narrative enigma (who is driving?)
• Not showing face of the protagonist immediately
• First showing hands and MP3 player (again narrative enigma)
• Protagonist is earing sunglasses which doesn't allow the viewers to see the whole face of the male character
• First chracter we get to see is the male character wearing sunglasses which already gives us an idea that he is the central protagonist
• 00:48 the 3 chracter wearing a black Bandana and sunglasses are out of focus, where the male character is infocus with his car in the background
• Male character is the central protagonist because we see him the longest on screen
• It always cuts back to him to see his facial expression (reactions)
• At 00:58 when he is dancing/singing in the car we get a lot of shot variety of the central protagonist

GENERAL CONVENTIONS 7: Transition to main film

MY INFLUENCES:

• after learning about Todorov's theory I understand much better when the main movie has started
• 3 different stages of equilibrium
• I could also use this theory for my own film opening
• how to create a dis-equilibrium

WHAT I DISCUSS IN THIS POST:

• Todorov's Narrative Theory
• understand when the main movie starts
• 3 part equilibrium 

SUMMARY:
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• represented from Todorov's Narrative theory
• it suggests that it follows a 3 part equilibrium structure 
• this equilibrium is disrupted by something (binary opposition)
• then reaches a solution when equilibrium is restored

RESEARCH(SAM'S):

The clear transitioning to the main film can be represented from Todorov's Narrative Theory. Tzvetan Todorov's narrative theory suggests that all narratives follow a 3 part equilibrium structure, it progresses as suddenly something comes/happen to disrupt that equilibrium (e.g. binary opposition) and finally reach a solution when the equilibrium is restored. The transition to the main film starts with an equilibrium (everything is as it should be) then there's a disruption (by an event or change in the characters life) that's when it's clear it has transitioned to the main film.

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For This Is England it was when Shaun met Woody. Before, Shaun's life was miserable, he always gets picked on by his schoolmates. When he met Woody everything changes, Shaun felt accepted and confident with his new group.

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In Would You Rather (2013) the equilibrium is that the central protagonist and her brother have been left in debt after their parents died and the brother is very ill who needs medical help which they can't afford. Her life changes when it's offered to her to win a lot of money which can pay for her school, debts, and her brother's treatment. In order to win she has to compete in a game with other participants. 

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In Need For Speed (2014) the equilibrium is that the central protagonist stopped racing after he sat in prison for a few years. But soon he changes his mind and his life changed when he started preparing himself for that famous race he decided to take part in. As well as to revenge his friend who got killed at a car accident.

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RESEARCH(MINE):

Summary:

• Fade to black and crossfading
• Todorov's 5 point narrative - transition at establishment of equilibrium, or at disruption 
•  title cards

Mean Girls

This examples uses a cross-fade to transition to the main film

• After the protagonist has spent her first day of school being told off and sitting by herself
•  there is a clear disruption of the equilibrium established at the start of the film, where she was initially excited.
• She comes home to her parents and shrugs them off rather than engaging with them as she did at the start

Mean Girls cross-fade to mark transition

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Submarine

• This examples has a series of wide shots of the welsh countryside, then a title card
• establishing an equilibrium with the protagonist fitting in more with the countryside than 'most people' - as he puts it

  

  Submarine title card

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Baby Driver

• Quite similar to Submarine, this example had a title sequence that began with a worms eye view of a building, and the film title transitioned in with a little animation
• at the en dog the title sequence the protagonist enters the same building 
• this creates a sense of closure, and establishes an equilibrium (the protagonist is in a sense driving in circles in his life, with nothing new ever happening)
• You see a police car quickly drive past (also part of the equilibrium as the police are in a sense always just behind the protagonist (catching up maybe?)
  

  

  Baby Driver - juist after protagonist has re-entered building

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The Mexican

Quite typical - fade to black then fade up to begin the main film

• Creates narrative enigma as we just heard a car crash - who was in it? did they survive? was it actually an accident?
• Isn't done in chronological order - the happens towards the end of the film

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The Notebook

• This film begins with a serious os wide shots of a lake at sunset 
• it's really serene and romantic 
• Marks the transition to the main film with a sudden cut to a closeup shot of an old woman's face, and the music playing comes to an end

  

  The Notebook closeup shot

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GENERAL CONVENTIONS 8: Other points

RESEARCH(SAM'S):

MY INFLUENCES:

• I like the idea to have a villain and hero in our film opening
• after studying the archetype I feel like it could make our film opening easier to understand
• more interesting/exciting

SUMMARY:
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RESEARCH(MINE):
Propp's 7 Recurring Character Types:

Vladimir Propp argued that there are essentially just seven basic character types or archetypes:

1. The villain - struggles against the hero. 
2. The donor - prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object.
3. The helper - helps the hero in the quest.
4. The princess or prize and her father - the hero deserves her throughout the story but is unable to marry her because of an unfair evil, usually because of the villain.
5. The dispatcher - character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off.
6. The hero - reacts to the donor, weds the princess
7. False Hero - takes credit for the hero's actions or tries to marry the princess.

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I took Star Wars to apply these archetypes.

1. The Hero is Luke Skywalker, he defeats the evil Darth Vader
2. The Villain is Darth Vader who looks to rein terror across the galaxy and defeat Luke Skywalker 
3. The Donor is Obi-Wan Kenobi presents Luke with a Lightsaber.
4. The Dispatcher is R2D2 who has a message from Princess Leia to Luke.
5. The Princess is Leia who needs saving from the Empire.
6. The Helper is Han Solo and Chewie who accompanies Luke on missions.
7. The Father is Darth Vader who isn't revealed to be the father till later on.

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RESEARCH(MINE):
Things I want to avoid doing

• Revealing the protagonist immediately
• in For Those in Peril the opening shot is a close-up of the protagonist's face
• creates no narrative enigma
• Have clumsy dialogue that serves only for blatant exposition 
• in the 2002 Spiderman with Tobey Maguire he gets on the bus and a classmate says "you're so lame Parker'
• Having dialogue that just seems to be there to fill silence
• Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones in a romantic scene the protagonist says "I don't like sand" 
• It's not romantic, it doesn't really have anything to do with the plot and you can see the light fading behind the actor's eyes as he has to say it
  
• Have nothing happen
• The opening of Submarine effectively sets the tone for the film, but we only see one character, and there is no binary opposition created, no real narrative enigma as we ate immediately introduced to the protagonist and get a sense of his character, an equilibrium is established but there is no disruption