British Films and King's Speech Case Study

I have done some research on what makes a British film, I used an example, The King's Speech as it is a Drama film. I thought it would be helpful to look at a British drama film in detail and the production that went into it as it could help me with my own drama film.

British films

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Nine Frame Analysis of the Opening Scene of 'Public Enemies'

In the first frame of the film the focus is on the prisoner's feet marching. This appealed to me as I had originally liked the idea of opening my film with the focus on somebody's feet walking. The screen is black for a few seconds and we can hear the sound of the marching feet before the picture comes to the screen. I find this effective as it draws us into the story.

The shot then changes to the hands of the prisoners, we still do not see their faces in the shot, this helps us to question who is being arrested, possibly. Or the fact that we cannot see the faces of the people reflects how they are not seen as people. They are all dressed the same, in the same position and doing the same thing. The only thing that defines them as individuals is their face and this is the very thing that is hidden from the audience.

We now see the backs of the heads of the marching prisoners. Not quite their faces, but it allows us to slowly be brought into them. We can see the divestiy of people being arrested, age and race varying. This shot also allows us to get our first glimpse of the surroundings. All of the previous shots are fairly close up, whereas now we are very subtly easing out of the close up shots. This allows us to see the bigger picture and lets us discover more about the story we have been thrown into.

At this point we finally see the faces of the prisoners marching by. The camera angle has changed, and the shot is still close up. The focus throughout all of the frames so far has been wholley on the prisoners, nothing else. Their expressions are firm and so far no music has been played in the film. Music could have had a large impact and influence on how we view the prisoners at this point in the film. If sad music was played, we may feel empathy or sympathy for them, perhaps leading us to thing they are not deserving their sentence. If menacing, dark music had been playing we would perhaps think these people were evil and deserved the treatment they were getting. As there is no music we cannot help but to take a neutral standpoint on the prisoners, and as we see later on in the film, this is for a good reason.

We now have our first shot that is not purely focused on the prisoners. A guard is watching them pass by, and the shot previous to this one could have been following his eyeline to what he was seeing as the angle of the prisoners walking by matches the position he is standing in beside them. The shots are still close ups, not allowing us much scope to see the conditions or setting, although from the people we have seen we are lead to believe it is a prison. This is interesting, as we are told the surroundings not by being shown a large prison building, but by seeing the people, what they are wearing and the way in which they behave.

A wider shot now allows us to see a fallen prisoner, this is a short, yet powerful shot. It can tell us much about what the prisoners are going through and the conditions. It is quite amazing how such a short shot can tell us so much. We also see that nobody is paying any attention to this fallen prisoner. The prisoners marching do not appear to be even looking at him, and the guards are paying no attention to him, either.

The shot remains wide, showing us the sheer size of the surroundings. The people seem swallowed up by the building around them, this shot seems to reflect the power of the prison itself. The shot shows how powerless the people look in comparison to the huge towering walls. This may help us to understand how the prisoners feel, they were once in power over others when commiting crimes, but now they are powerless under the iron fist of the law in the prison.

We then return to a cluse up shot of the hands of the prisoners. Once again I feel that if music were used this could create a strong feeling of how we view these people. Hands can show a huge amount of emotion. This image could show the weakness of the prisoners, or it could show their anger and how they wish to break free again.

Again we see the prisoners walking away from us. Although not a huge amount happens in these first nine frames, no words, no music, all we see is the prisoners walking by us and all we hear are their footsteps. This film opening is simple, but I feel it holds a vast amount of power and the mood can be influenced so much by very small and subtle changes. Many close-ups are used and I feel this is effective as the audience is kept in the dark to a certain degree as to what is going on and where the story is taking place. I would like to try to use some of these techniques in my own film opening.

Title Sequence Timeline of 'The Moulin Rouge'

I analysed the opening scene of the Moulin Rouge by putting into a timeline. I think this will be very helpful when I am planning my own film, as the timeline allows me to see how shots change and how fast they change. They really help you to see the style of the director of the film and highlight some interesting techniques that you make not otherwise notice unless you take the film apart into such small details.

Iconic Sounds

I am extremely fond of classical music being used in films. I find it can evoke a great deal of emotion and sets a subtle mood. Sometimes, when used effectively, you are not even aware that there is music playing in the background of a film.

I find that using classical numbers will help set the more sombre tone to my piece. I am very fond of Elliot Goldenthal's work. He has done the soundtrack for the Crime Drama Public Enemies, I find the pieces composed for this film are extremely powerful and I would like to use similar music to this if I choose to use music in my task.

As I am also fond of Film Noir, I have a soft spot for typical 1930's singers, too. I love Billie Holiday's music, and find her style is also powerful as her voice carries a great deal of emotion and passion when she sings.

                                              

 

In the film Pride and Prejudice, I find the classical music is some of the best I have ever heard in a film. My favorite piece from the film has to be 'Liz on top of the World'. 

Another song which I find deep and emotive is Cold by Aqualung & Lucy Schwartz.

Typical Synopsis

As I have mentioned in my previous posts, the Drama film genre is very broad. It contains many sub-genres, some of which I am going to write about here. I am hoping that by summarising some of the sub-genres of Drama films, I will be able to decide which sub-genre of Drama I would like to use in my film opening.

A style of film which I have a passion for is Film Noir, I find that fact that it is in black and white is not just original but also helps give an overall mood to the film, I am quite fixed on trying to make the opening of my film in Black and white, too. I find that the darker tones will show connotations of the mood I am trying to reflect in my film, I am quite keen on a sombre tone. Film Noir is not really a genre of film, but it is a kind of film that has a very strong emotion and tone to it, something which I would like to try and create myself. The film often uses dark images and silhouettes, something which I find very effective in creating emotion and a tone in a film.

Melodramas

These are sub-genre of Drama films. These often incorporate unrealistic characters dealing with romance or domestic issues with characters that came under certain stereotypes. These kinds of films are made to appeal predominantly to female audiences. They are often described as 'tear-jerkers', 'woman's films' or even 'chick flicks'. An example of a Melodramatic film is 'A Time to Love and a Time to Die' which is about romance during the war time.

Biopics

Another sub-genre of Drama. Biopics focus on the life of a person or group of people, telling their story. Sometimes the people focused on in these films are famous people, and the film will tell their story. The word 'Biopics' is combinationg of 'Biography' and 'Pictures'. Biopics can fall under many film genres, not just Drama. An example of a Biopic is Ron Howard's film 'A Beautiful Mind' which focuses on the life of a schitzophrenic. This sub-genre appeals to me, as I feel that I would like to focus on just one person in my film opening. I want my film opening to be serious, and to draw the auidience in, something which I think a film under this sub-genre will achieve very effectively yet subtely.

Romantic Dramas

A very large sub-genre of Drama is Romance. These films generally focus on the struggles of two people in love to be together and their journey as a couple, facing certain issues together. The romantic films that fall under the Drama category can often end in tradgedy, the happier Romance films often come under the Comdey or Chick Flick genre.

Supernatural Films

Perhaps a less obvious idea of a sub-genre of Drama films. But horror films and other similar films use a great deal of suspense to build up an emotion of uncertainty or fear in the audience. By making the audience feel frightened, the film must be effective as to be afraid, you have to be able to connect with the film and it needs to be believable to some degree. To do this I believe it is a great skill, which does use some dramatic effect. Many of these films are filmed using handheld cameras, such as the Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity and Cloverfield, all of which are quite sucessful or controversial. As I am also going to be filming my film opening with a handheld camera I feel that perhaps by looking at the techniques used in these films I will find an effective way of creating suspense in my own film. These films have proved that you do not need advanced equipment to make a successful film, it's about how you use what you have in an intelligent and new way that the audience is not used to. These films are extremely clever as they use no digetic sound or music over what the characters are hearing, this makes it hard to tell when something will happen as in more conventional horror films you will hear music building up to an event to scare us.

After looking at these sub-genres of Drama films I am keen on trying to make a Biopic film, following the life of somebody in a darker light, perhaps incorporating some of the techniques from other sub-genres that appeal to me. I will look at techniques used by supernatural films using handheld cameras to build suspense and to gather ideas that I like from them that I may like to try and use in my own film. I will also look closely at techniques used in Film Noir as this is my favourite style of film due to it's originality and tone.

Whilst browsing, I found the page on the same website that I posted previously which is very helpful when looking into sub-genres as it is easy to read. http://www.filmsite.org/subgenres.html

Audience Expectations!

Interviews with the Audience


Here are some interviews with my target audience on what they think a drama film is all about and what they would expect to see in one.

 Just from interviewing these people it is clear how many sub-genres Drama contains as many different themes were brought up, such as: war, romance, crime and death.

It is clear from most of the interviews that some form of strong emotion or conflict is a key theme in a film that comes under the drama genre.

Conventions and Trends of the Drama Genre

Drama is a very broad genre with a great deal of sub-genres within it. Despite this, there are still certain conventions that are a running trend throughout a great deal of films that come under the Drama genre.

• The characters in the films tend to be more serious and believable, as opposed to large characters that are blown out of proportion for comical or other reasons.
• The protagonist is often after a object, person, or state of mind. There is generally always some kind of aim of the characters or problem they have to face.
• The music used is often sombre in tone, and classical as opposed to more popular pop songs. If songs with words are used, they tend to describe how one of the characters is feeling at that particular point in time. The music is key in drama films, it sets the tone for the scene and gives it a depth that the audience can connect with on another level.
• Many Drama films start at the ending of the film, showing us how the character is at the end of the story. The film then goes back to show the previous events that landed the character in their current situation.
• When films begin at the endings, they often show a character as being defeated and sad, then we go back to see what caused this.

I have found a good website which states the general conventions of a vast number of film genres, for Drama, it said: 'Dramas are serious, plot-driven presentations, portraying realistic characters, settings, life situations, and stories involving intense character development and interaction.'
Reference: http://www.filmsite.org/genres.html

Whilst looking up common conventions and trends of the Drama genre I also stumbled across another website with a good definition: "Conflict is the essence of drama, and the purpose of a dramatic storyline is to move or touch the audience in some emotional way. There is usually a struggle going on that is wrought with hardships, difficulty and pain… Dramas are generally serious stories depicting life situations in a realistic way with characters behaving at their worst and at their best.” Reference: http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/3080/Film-Genres.html

The History of the Drama Genre

The Drama genre covers a broad spectrum of films. It is usually a more serious representation or realistic characters facing conflict with themselves, others or some particular issue. Many sub-genres can sprout from the roots of a Drama, examples of these are romance, crime, comedy, tragedy and thrillers.

Dramas usually include current issues that are largely affecting groups of people, such as: Racism, Discrimination, Mental illness, Corruption or other important issues in the public eye. In the past, when censorship was more common, these kinds of films would largely blame the individual for their problems instead of society or any other causes. The development of Drama films throughout time reflect the realism of life and it's troubles, in the 1950's people began to enjoy more realistic portrayals of characters as this made stories more believable. Dramas also taught audiences about issues at the time and how it effected the different classes of people, an example of one of these issues is the Depression.

Dramatic, well-known actors also rose up during this period. Marilyn Monroe and Bette Davies, are probably amongst the most recognised. In the 1960's Dramas began to focus a lot more of the concept of war and sport.

During the 1970's, more modern directors made some of their first iconic films. An example of one of these is Francis Ford Coppola directing the Godfather in this period of time. During the 80's and 90's, Drama began to focus on much more emotional themes, however, common themes such as war continued to develop. Some of the films directed and released during this time are Das Boot (directed by Wolfgang Petersen), and E.T which was directed by Steven Spielberg. The 90's brought forward some more comical Dramas, a well-known example of this is Forrest Gump. Drama was also brought to a younger target audience as Disney went on to release the Lion King.

Research into Film Directors

Tim Burton:

Tim Burton is an American director. His films are traditionally dark and have an extremely quirky twist to them. This is almost a trademark which runs throughout his films as his vast imagination helps him to create surreal characters and worlds. This appeals to me because I feel that his films are original, and stand out from many other films made by different directors.

I have already seen ten of his films. Some of my favorite films that Tim Burton has directed are:

• Sweeney Todd

The film recieved four Golden Globe nominations, it also won the award for Best Motion Picture in the Musical/Comedy genre. Tim Burton was also nominated for Best Director.

The actors protrayed the roles so convincingly in the film and Tim Burton's quirky camera work shone through in many scenes. The composition of this film made it one of my favorite films that I have ever seen. The overall production is both powerful and moving at the same time. You get a real sense of the mood from watching the film and a representation of how unfair life could be in the Victorian era.

• The Nightmare before Christmas

Probably one of the most famous of Tim Burton's films. His quirky design shines through in this dark children's film. It is filmed using Stop Motion Animation, something which Tim Burton used in some of his other films such as The Corpse Bride and James and the Giant Peach.

The film was extremely successful, yet despite this success Tim Burton said that he did not want to make a sequal. He said that he had a strong belief in keeping the purity of the movie and by making another it would take away that kind of magic the original held.

A huge amount of merchandise was released for the film; clothes, action figures, playing cards, games, i-pod cases and huge amounts of other things across all different Medias.

• Alice in Wonderland

This film is unusually bright for Tim's dark style, yet the original and quirky design of Wonderland couldn't have been portrayed by a better director. I admire Burton's imagination and originality, and I feel that Lewis Caroll also shared this vast imagination. By combining both their talents to tell such a classic story with a twist was something which I think worked extremely well.

A vast array of well-known actors starred in the film, whether that was actually in person or by voicing certain characters. Some of these people were; Johnny Depp, Stephen Fry, Anne Hathaway, Timothy Spall, Alan Rickman and many others. This must have also helped contribute hugely to the film's success.

Michael Mann:

Michael Mann is an American Director, Producer and Screenwriter. He has won a BAFTA Award for Best Film, two Primetime Emmy Awards and an NBR for Best Director.

He directed the Crime Drama film, Public Enemies. A film which matches in some aspects the moods I would like to try and use in my Foundation Portfolio. The film is quite dark in areas and focuses on crime in the 1930's. The portrayal of women in this era is also something which I would like to use in my filming.

Quite a lot of Public Enemies was filmed on location where the actual events took place. Michael Mann reasearched the traits of these real life characters which he was telling the story of in his film. The actors visited the families of the real people they were portraying and learned about their small quirks which they could incorperate into their act to make it more convincing. Despite all Mann's work, not everything in Public Enemies is historically correct.



Baz Luhrmann:

Baz Luhrmann is an Australian Director. He is most famous for his Red Curtain Trilogy and Australia. The Red Curtain Trilogy includes Strictly Ballroom, Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and the Moulin Rouge.

I like the way that he represents women in his films, especially how Satine is represented in the Moulin Rouge and how Juliet is first shown in Romeo and Juliet. This style is something which I would like to try to use in my Foundation Portfolio, too.

The Moulin Rouge is one of my other favorite films. I love the opening sequence and how simple expressions and small movements were put into a slow motion. This makes the piece have a huge impact on the audience and is something which I found very original and effective. I also really like how the opening and a lot of the film is narrated by Christian in a voice over and how the voice over is telling the story by reading the story as he types it out. This is something which I think I will try to do in my Foundation Portfolio. The slow motion is also subtely used in Romeo and Juliet, I find it extremely effective in capturing the emotions of the characters being focused on in that moment in time.

Drama Genre Mood Board

Here is my finished mood board. Creating it really helped me to gather my ideas and come up with a more finalised idea of what I want to do in my Foundation Portfolio. I used pictures from the Moulin Rouge, Public Enemies, Secret Window, Sweeney Todd and Paranormal Activity. Some of the pictures I included were of possible locations in which I may choose to film parts of my project.

What I Have Learned From My Preliminary Task

 What I have learned from My Preliminary Task

I have learned a great deal from my preliminary task, from simple filming techniques to more complex rules that help make a piece what we see on the larger screen. One of the first basic skills that I learned was how to make a storyboard; it helps immensely whilst you are filming to ensure you remember every shot that you wanted and so that you know which shots people speak in or make certain movements in. Storyboarding not only helped me to stay organised with my filming and editing the clips in the right order, it also helped me to ensure continuity wasn’t an issue in my task.

     One of the next important things I learned whilst doing my preliminary task was how to film using a tripod, which involved learning to follow people through the shots as they moved and panning around the scene through large areas of movement. I also learned that you should operate the camera instead of using static shots to capture whole movements, for example, lowering the camera with a person as they sit down instead of keeping the camera still to capture the whole movement. By doing this you also avoid having empty space in the area above the character once they have sat down. That leads onto another point I learned through filming my preliminary task; not to leave great amounts of head room, empty space above the head is useless, so you need to have the camera lower, so that you can capture relevant parts of what you’re filming whilst not wasting space in the shots.

     In one of my shots in my preliminary task I had two people sitting opposite each other, it was difficult to use the space well and not have empty space in the shots, but afterwards I realised that if I had turned diagonally a little further in between the two people, then I would have been able to utilise the space more efficiently whilst sticking to my 180˚ rule. This links to probably the most important thing I learned whilst filming and editing my preliminary task; the camera rules, the first of which was the 180˚ rule which I mentioned earlier.

     The 180˚ rule allowed for me to keep my shots organised and helped me to maintain a firm structure whilst I was filming the scenario, I knew where I could and couldn’t stand to get my shots, therefore the rule allowed me to be able to match my shots later on without getting confused (which I certainly would have been if I had not followed the 180˚ rule).  Another rule which I learned through filming my preliminary task was match-on-action, through following this rule, I realised that certain shots e.g. somebody walking through a door would have to be filmed numerous times from different camera angles and places so that when the clips were edited and put together there were no continuity errors and it allowed for us to see a fluid movement from one place to another, or from one person speaking to another person’s response.

     The final main camera rule which I learned was shot/reverse shot, this was a little more challenging for me as I would have to make sure that the actors in the video whose shoulder I was filming over stayed still so that they did not block the face of the person who they were talking to and I was filming. I also realised whilst doing this that scenes would need to be re-enacted numerous times to get the conversations from different angles that I could cut into the final clip, as we had to film the same piece numerous times, I had to be aware of certain continuity errors such as the position the person was sitting in and certain differences in what they may have said.

     One of the more complex ideas that I learned from producing my preliminary task was having to match shots and angles. So when filming a close up of somebody or in shot/reverse shot, making sure that the angle you are filming from is as close as you can get to the angle the person you are filming next to is seeing the scene from. I also learned that it is good to try and match eye-lines in shots, which is difficult, but is something that can help make two shots flow and look more natural once edited together.

     Another invaluable thing I learned from editing my preliminary task and putting it together was how to use Final Cut. I managed to get my head around the basics of the program and learned how to do things such as cutting clips and removing audio.

     Overall I have learned a huge amount from my preliminary task; it will be invaluable to me once I start filming my next piece. I am now aware of many new skills and techniques that will help me with my future work with cameras and editing.

My Preliminary Task

Preliminary Task ......Art skills, sorted!

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