Hit and Run final

This is the completed version of our film.

Hit and Run #1

This is the first version of our film that we showed our media class for feedback on

Evaluation part two

Luke Stevens evaluation 2 - The best home videos are here (had to do it in two parts as both had to be below 10 minutes)

Evaluation part one

Luke Stevens evaluation 1 - The best home videos are here (had to do it on metacafe)

Goodfella's opening analysis

Goodfella's is a gritty gangster film directed by Martin Scorcese, a prestigious director. The opening credits are made to look like moving cars on a road, the animation is matched with recorded moving cars. Text states that the film is based on a true story, this brings the viewer in, they are more intrigued and feel like they are further involved. The animation now merges into a real car, quite an iconic looking gangster car, the camera follows the car then there is a fade to black, where text tells us when the film is based, this is a quick way of establishing context. The camera fades to inside the car, this gives the illusion of time passing, the journey now seems a long one, as if the three men in the car have been there a long time. Two of the men are asleep and the driver, who seems to be the main character, looks tired, also giving the illusion of a long journey. The passengers in the car become concerned by a foreign noise emulating from the car, pulling over to see what it could be. The use of lighting is minimal when the men pull over, using only the red brake light to show what is happening. Each man is armed with a weapon, this shows the viewer that it is a gangster film. The men open the boot, to find that the dead man in their boot is, in fact alive. The camera cuts now speed up, this enthuses the violence, the gun shots fired into the man are accented by a flash. As the main character shuts the 'trunk' of the car, there is a voice-over, an interesting tool in opening sequences as it establishes many things. The voice-over says "As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster", the character shuts the boot and an extremely contextual song starts, this then continues through a credit sequence.

City of God opening analysis

0.00-5.01 This is the ‘action packed’ opening sequence for City of God. The sequence starts with upbeat music, there is a black out showing only the credits, then the audience is surprised by a grinding noise and a clip of a knife being sharpened, the music behing this is emotion provoking, it is very upbeat and goes with the clip well. The camera then changes to the whole area, we see many people, someone barbequing, a band playing the music. We are also shown the preparation of food and some random chicken parts, primarily feet. The camera now focuses on a chicken hutch, there is an extremely stressed chicken, the chicken shows lots of human actions, this is a result of the camera work, the chicken is not told to look stressed, the editing and camera work create a stressful atmosphere and the viewer associates the knives, the barbeque, the taking of other chickens and the stressful chicken with butchery. The viewer becomes attached to the chicken and wants it to escape its inevitable fate, the chicken then has a chance to escape, seizing this opportunity, the chicken jumps away from it’s prison. The chicken is now followed by the camera, still escaping. There is now an introduction to an important looking man, he is the first to talk in the film, which signifies to the viewer that he will be important in the forthcoming film. The chicken is now chased by a gang wielding knives and guns, they shoot at the chicken regardless to what other people around might think. We are now introduced to two more characters, they are talking about how they want to get out of the slum, the viewer knows straight away that they will have a struggle in this process, and that the gang that are trying to get the chicken will make it hard for this to happen. Now we go back and forth between the chase and the conversation, the conversation is about a picture, this is a picture that would get the character a job but would put him in danger, they are talking about the decision they will have to make and that if “Li’l ze” finds out he will be dead, but then “Li’l ze”, the leader of the chicken chasing gang, comes round the corner. The chicken is between the gang and the boys, the gang force one of the boys to get the chicken at gun point, this evokes stress, a very good camera angle is used to show the chicken between the two groups. The police then turn up, the camera spins around the boy getting the chicken, then he narrates, saying that “in the City of God, if you run, the catch you, and if you stay, they catch you”, this shows the viewer that he cannot do anything to change the current situation or the situation with the picture. The camera now spins again and the narrator says that it has been this way since he was a child, the camera spins into the same shot on a football pitch and he is a child. The audience now know that the film will focus on him. The audience see that the character is bad at football, we are then introduced to him through narration, he meets two boys. We are now told about Shaggy and the Tender Trio, this is the end of the opening sequence, Shaggy kicks the ball in the air and shoots it. Next to the ball is white text, which says "the story of the tender trio"

Children of Men opening sequence analysis

Children of Men opening sequence analysis- "How effectively does the opening sequence from 'Children of Men' (2006) use the forms and conventions of film openings? What is your personal response as a member of the audience?" “In 2027, in a chaotic world in which humans can no longer procreate, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea, where her child's birth may help scientists save the future of humankind.” An opening sequence's aim is to engage the viewer in a way which makes the viewer want to watch the film in it's entirety, the film 'Children Of Men' jumps straight into the narrative, the viewer is shown a blank screen and hears newscasters broadcasting, this is a rarely used technique to open a film and grab the viewer's attention, the mystery of the plain black screen engages the eye, in suspense awaiting a change and an explanation for it. The viewer knows straight away what the film will be about, this is effective because when the viewer is in suspense, they feel involved in the film, and if a viewer is involved in the film they will enjoy it and want to watch the rest. The opening sequence to Children Of Men is in keeping with the conventions of opening sequences due to this, as most opening sequences aim to entice the viewer into further viewing. The sequence differs from the conventions followed by most opening sequences as it shocks the viewer, there is a large explosion at the end of the clip, the purpose of the explosion is to stun the viewer and make them jump, it straight away establishes the film's genre, an action film, and shows the viewers that the forthcoming film will have more explosions and action. Another thing that differs from conventions is that there is no real establishing of character, we are introduced to a man, we do not learn his name, the only information we can gain from him is that he does not care too much for the breaking news he sees on the television, and that he likes to drink alcohol. The main character, as well as the audience, is shocked by the explosion, if he had no reaction the audience would assume he was responsible for the explosion. This is both a convention and a contrast to the conventions, it introduces the main character straight away, but does not allow the viewer to make a connection with him. The setting of the clip is 2027, there imagery is very futuristic, showing a future London, which, in a way looks more dismal than it is in present day, which sets an enigma, this is a commonly used trait in opening sequences, there are a lot of enigmas started in this clip, why was baby Diego the youngest person on Earth? What caused that explosion? The fact that there are many enigmas is common in opening sequences as it makes viewers want to watch more. The first thing a viewer is faced with is the production company logo, this is the same in every film, however, there is no sound in the first 30 seconds of the film, this is interesting to the viewer, they are fixated on the screen while they await the next thing, this goes against conventions of opening sequences as the viewer is engaged in a different way to which many other films open. The setting of the film is established as soon as the iconography shows it is London, as soon as the character walks out of the cafe and is passed by an iconic big red bus, then in the skyline St. Paul's cathedral can be seen, this is a famous landmark and is important to British history and heritage, it is a world famous building, the viewer can see straight away that the film will be set in London, thereby focusing their attention, as they can relate to the storyline. The main character is played by Clive Owen, a renowned and established actor, the audience can recognize this and think that the film will be similar to films that made him famous, such as 'Inside Man' and 'Sin City', both of which are heavy in violence and action but follow an interesting storyline. The studio that produced the film is 'Universal', a prestigious production company that consumers know and trust, a prospective viewer will feel comfortable in the fact that 'Universal' would not produce a film of bad quality. The fact that the main character takes little notice to the death of 'the youngest person on the planet' shows the audience that he is abnormal, everyone else seen in the shop is fixated on the television set, waiting for more news about baby Diego, the characters in the cafe look like ordinary people, they are intrigued as to what is happening in the news, this accents how abnormal the main character is, the viewer is concerned as to why the character is not affected by the news. The setting is dark, the London seen is very polluted and dirty, the fact that the youngest person on earth is 18 years old and was killed for not signing an autograph shows that the world has changed into a dark place, the viewer is then pulled into the film, wondering why people are not having babies any more. I had an extremely positive response to the opening sequence, it has made me want to watch the film in it's entirety, this has fulfilled the aim of the sequence, so the filmmakers have succeeded. I thought that the opening sequence was great, it showed the me, in the short time that it had, that the film would be full of action, the man who was seen filling up his coffee with alcohol would be the main character, and that he was a somewhat unusual character, who did not care that the world was slowly ending. The effectiveness of the opening sequence can be seen through my response as I plan to go out of my way to purchase the film, giving the stars of the film and the production team what they set out to get. My favourite part of the opening sequence was the newscaster section, it established quickly that it was set in the future, which opens our mind to many different ideas, personally, I made many assumptions, one, that it would be a Science Fiction film and that it would be something like the other Sci-Fi's I have watched. I was pleasantly surprised by the realism of the opening sequence, it was based in the future, but not drastically, so the new things that are included are understandable, there is nothing like flying cars or floating buildings, there are just more advanced technological improvements, such as buildings with television screens on the side, this made me think that I was involved in the fictional world. In conclusion, I think that the opening sequence was extremely effective, and that it was in keeping with the codes and conventions of opening sequences in all genres, Science Fiction specifically.