Title Research: Goodfellas Movie

What movie was the title sequence from?
A: I did a movie called Goodfellas. This movie is about a man who grows up in a mob and tries to advance himself. Henry and his two friends advance from misdemeanors to felonies.

What website was used?
A: In order to watch the clip Goodfellas, I used the website artofthetitle.com.

How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?
A: There are 16 titles displayed in the opening sequence.

What images are prioritized in the opening sequences ?
A: The images that are prioritized are black screens with words coming up on them. The words slide across the screen like a car zooming on a road. The next images are the men in a car. They open the truck and there is a man there all bloody. One man then proceeds to stab him and another one shoots him.

What connotation do the images carry?
A: The images carry an explicit representation of someone doing a deed they are not supposed to. The color black represents that something bad is happening. The images also carry the sound of a car, which creates a wonder of what is happening.

How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?
A: Genre is reinforced through symbolic and technial codes because the drama comes from the suspense from the black screens of not knowing what is going on. As the screen comes on, all that is seen is 3 men in a car. Sound is then heard from the trunk, which creates drama because the men don't know what's going on. Crime is enforced through the scenes because there is a bloody man in the trunk. One guy proceeds to stab him and the other shoots him.

How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?
A: The film establishes an enigma from the black screens by creating suspense on what is actually happening. It leads the audience to want to know what is going on. When the actual pictures come on, it leads the audience to wanting to watch the movie, as they are being captured by what is going on.

What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?
A: The film uses the sound of a car speeding and swiping the words across the scene, creating drama because the audience wants to know what is going on. Drama is also created when the men hear bumping in the trunk, and pull over to check it out. Crime is created when the bloody man is presented, and one man stabs him repeatedly while the other shoots him.

How has technology been used effectively? (Consider camera angles, transitions and editing techniques)
A: A high angle was used to create the suspense of the trunk and what was inside. The black screens transitioned to an actual car driving, which confirms the noise of a car zooming. Also, editing played a role with the eyeline match scene where the guys were looking at the trunk and it showed the trunk.

Title Research: Hostage Movie

What movie was the title sequence from?
For this blog i chose The movie hostage. The movie is about an officer in the Los Angeles Police Department (Jeff Talley) who quits the force and relocates his family to the suburbs. He becomes the the sheriff in a sleepy town, and thinks he has escaped the the hustle in his old job. All is well until an elaborate local heist puts him back in the center of action.

How Long was the title sequence ?
- The title sequence was 2 minutes and 56 seconds long.

What website did the title sequence come from?
- The sequence was from www.watchthetitles.com

How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?
- There were 31 titles displayed during the opening sequence. Also, the title of the film was shown after 7 other titles came up on the screen.

What images are prioritized in the opening sequences ?
- There were men who were “paused” as in standing still. They were armed with heavy artillery and their gear had symbols from different police forces and departments, such as SWAT. The rooftops of the large buildings were also shown at different angles which explains the setting of the beginning of the film.

What connotation do do the images carry?
- Negative because heavy police presence usually  means there is a threat. Heavy artillery is deadly force used to take out an immediate threat.

How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?

 - Many of the shots in the titles are in front of pictures of the tops of buildings. They are also not in color which creates suspense and curiosity in the view were because he wants to know what the setting is going to be like.

How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?
- The music that is playing in the background is calm but it gets louder then calm again in a way. The music also has a suspenseful beat to it. Toward the end of the titles and when the film is about to begin, the sound decreased. This created suspense and tension because all of the sound that was playing before was action-like but then it suddenly cease-and-desists.

What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?
- The title of this movie will cause individuals with interest in this genre or type of movie with draw them in. Also the titles quickly exit as soon as they enter which makes the process of showing them faster and makes it easier for individuals to not lose interest in the movie before it even starts.

How has technology been used effectively? (Consider camera angles, transitions and editing techniques)

- Fade in and fade outs created suspense. Also the aerial view shots of the tops of the city view established location.

Title Research: Seven Movie

For this blog, I chose a movie from another website to indulge into the title. I will be answering questions about this movie. The questions are:

- What Website?
I got this movie off of ‘www.watchthetitles.com’. This is the website that I decided to use because it’s easy to navigate. I had no complications finding my movie and watching the opening sequence.

- What film?
The name of this movie is Seven. This movie is about a retiring detective that decides to go on one last case with a new detective in town that he was paired with against his will. Through this last case they realize that they’re dealing with a serial killer. This serial killer justifies his crimes by using the seven deadly sins as his motive. Being that one detective is new on the force and the other is an old dog, the two have a tough time coexisting. Despite this, they both have the common end goal that is catching this serial killer.

- How long was it?
The title sequence was 2 minutes and 8 seconds.

- How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?
There are 27 titles displayed during the opening sequences. Of that, the title of the movie was shown after the 6th title and once again after the 26th title.

- What imagines are prioritized in the opening sequences?
The images that are prioritized are the ones that showcase gruesome murder and equipment along with news.

- What connotations do the images carry?
The images connote mystery, death and overall chaos.

- How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?
Genre is reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset in many ways. In symbolic codes, the genre is reinforced in the opening sequence based off the images. As stated earlier, the serial killer justifies his killings as punishment for what he thinks is the “ignorance” of others regarding the seven deadly sins. In the outset, it shows what seems to be someone planning and this planning is showing us what is beneath the surface which is the killers multiple murders. In technical codes, the genre is reinforced through the lighting. The lighting for the shots along with the angles are used to create an eerie feeling.

- How does the film establish enigma from the outset?
The film establishes enigma by the use of props and color. The outset is in black and white with weird and unusual props being used.

- What strategies are used to make sure the film appeals to its target audience?
The strategies are the sound, lighting, and focus of the camera onto certain things such as the props.
The non-diegetic sounds along with lighting and focus of the camera all draws the audience attention and has them intrigued. While the sound has them on edge, the lighting also establishes enigma and the focus of the camera leaves them curios and guessing.

- How was technology been used effectively?
Technology was used through the editing techniques of fade-in and dissolve. This caused an effect of leaving the audience curious and on edge as discussed earlier. Also, through the camera angle of extreme close up and camera movement of pan. This is where enigma is once again apparent.

Title Research: Smokin' Aces Movie

What movie was the title sequence from?

The title sequence researched is from the 2006 film, Smokin' Aces. It qualifies as multiple genres, two of which are crime and drama.

What website was used?

In order to watch the title sequence of Smokin' Aces, I used the website watchthetitles.com.
How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?

Throughout the sequence, a total of 29 titles are displayed. They start with actors, then some producers, and the final one is the name of the film.

What images are prioritized in the opening sequences?

In the titles, prioritized images are those of people. The images feature still frames of action shots with an artistic filter over them.

What connotations do the images carry?

Overall, the images give off a feeling as if they are intended to be intimidating. This feeling comes from both the action poses and the artistic filters.

How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset

Genre is hardly reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset. In symbolic codes, the genre is reinforced in the opening sequence based on the images. The fact that most of the still frames in the title sequence feature characters with guns ties into the genre of crime.

How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?

The film establishes enigma through the use of and colors. The colors and overall design used are similar to that of the art style pop art.

What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?

The film appeals to its target audience by being what it intends to be. As it is a crime film, it features images depicting scenes that can be expected in crime films. Also, the coloration in the title sequence is unique, which can also potentially appeal to the audience.

How has technology been used effectively? (Consider camera angles, transitions, and editing techniques)
Without the technology that was used, the title sequence wouldn't even be possible. It uses a mixture of transitions, added music, and other effects.

Title Research: Watch the Titles Website

The website, watchthetitles.com, is a website that provides examples of titles in film. This includes movies, TV shows, and even interviews. A typical film title sequence includes multiple different things. Titles aren't just the title of the movie. Titles also include cast such as the director, and also notable actors. I chose to use this website for a few reasons. The first of which is the simplicity, as the site is easy to navigate. The website is divided into 3 major categories: Title Sequences, Designers, and Studios. There is a search bar to find if there are title sequences included for a specific film. If just browsing, the website also has titles divided into different categories. The categories are Feature Film, TV Shows, Event Titles, Student Projects, and Video Games. With each category, there is a selection of titles from films of that category. Each title clip also has paragraphs written going into detail on the film. There is a brief summary of the plot, and the year the film was produced. There also is a section labelled 'complete cast'.

Title Research: Art of the Title Website

I am looking into the “artofthetitle” site because it’s an interesting site that is focused on intriguing movie titles. This site brings awareness to things that we typically look over when watching a film. This is specifically in the beginning. Throughout this site, I've seen multiple films with interesting titles. The site is introduced to a viewer by having the top 10 best title sequences of 2019 as the front page as you can see from the picture. Underneath these films, there's paragraphs that provides background information about the films and the meanings behind the titles. This site even dwells into the color schemes of titles. It lets you know why the titles may have been placed in that specific location, the feeling the titles may or may not be trying to draw from the audience, and even the production team behind it. This site has taught me that the titles have an enormous amount of importance to the film. Throughout this site, I've also learned that the directors emotions behind the film shines through in ways we wouldn't think of. Most films are the directors way of bringing awareness to an issue that may be important to him/her. Also, we can also even go as far as learning who/where the money for making this film came from. The names in the beginning is likely to be the names of the companies that aided in the film. This site is definitely the place to go for a further look into the meanings of titles. It gives an intense amount of detail that I highly doubt any other site has to offer.

Genre Research: Roman J. Israel, Esq. Movie

This movie was about a man named Roman. When his boss dies unexpectedly, he has to takeover and defend a young man accused of murdering a store clerk. What I liked about this film was the fact that the movie starts off by giving background story on how Roman was being disbarred. It had the qualities of what you would see in a court case packet, which was different than most movies I've seen.

What I disliked about this movie is that I felt that it moved too quickly. I feel like they should have established exactly who Roman's boss actually was and what he looked like, before he died.

Camera Angles:
1) Eye level: The camera was fixiated directly at the judge.
2) High angle: Roman and the book in his house.
3) Low angle: Camera is pointing up at the man.

Camera Movements:
1) Pan: This was a movement from the notepads on office shelves to Roman in the office.
2) Tracking: The camera was moving with Roman as he walked inside the courtroom.
3) Zoom: At the beginning of the movie, the zooming in on the words.

Camera Shots:
1) Three shot: Two men and a woman were talking in the courthouse.
2) Over the shoulder shot: The camera is over the defendant's shoulder, while Roman is in front of him, talking.
3) Two shot: The Judge and officer who was talking.

Editing:
1) Fade in: From a black screen, to the office.
2) Shot/ Reverse Shot: This shot was from Roman, to officer in the courthouse, back to Roman.
3) Eye-line match: This shows Roman looking out the window, and it shows what is out the window.

Sound:
1) Voiceover: This took place at the beginning of the movie, with the voice of Roman.
2) Dialogue: This dialogue was between Roman and a woman talking about William (Roman's boss who had a heart attack).
3) Digetic: The car sounds as Roman was walking to the courthouse.

Costumes:
Since this movie mostly takes place in a courthouse, policewear, an orange jumpsuit, and professional clothing is worn by people in the movie.

Lighting:
In the beginning of the movie, Roman is seen in an office, which has a sufficient amount of lighting. The movie then goes outside, which is natural lighting. Lastly, the courtroom is well lit, as important deeds are being taken care of.

Actors:
Since this is a legal based movie, most of the characters are normal people, and others acting as a defendant, a judge, lawyers, and officers.

Makeup:
The defendant is seen having a bruised eye when he talks to Roman. Also, the lawyer on the prosecution has light makeup on.

Props:
Brief cases, handcuffs, and a mallet are mostly shown throughout the movie.

Settings:
- The courtroom
- The office
- Outside
- The outside of the courtroom.

Genre Research: Denial Movie

A film example of the Legal Drama genre is a movie titled "Denial". It can be found to watch on Hulu, and for sale on other platforms. It dramatizes the Irving v Penguin Books Ltd. case, where David Irving, a holocaust denier, sues author Deborah Lipstadt for libel. Irving tries to prove that there were no gas chambers. Lipstadt visits the former Auschwitz concentration camp site to gather evidence that the holocaust did in fact happen. The case concluded with Lipstadt as the victor. I found the film interesting, as it shows the extremities of the beliefs of some people. I liked how the film portrayed the case overall.

Camera Angles:

 ⁃ Medium long shot : the teacher is talking to the class

   - Medium close up : the teacher near the glass window speaking to the students in the classroom

  - High Angle : The can of food being emptied

Camera Shots :

 ⁃ Two shot: Her and the dog entering the room, she has a box in her hand as well

 ⁃ Point of View shot: Walking up the stairs and when the can of food is emptied

 ⁃ Medium Close up: When they introduce her as an author

Camera Movements:

 ⁃ Zoom: They zoom in on the lady’s face when she is praying outside in the snow

 ⁃ Tracking: Her walking around with the boxes in her hand

 ⁃ Flash pan: The transition from when she is on TV so when she is performing live about what she is saying

 ⁃ Stationary: When they enter the bar

Costumes: Throughout the film, the costume doesn't change much. It features a lot of formal and semi-formal attire, such as what you would find in a courtroom.

Lighting: The film consists of scenes that are both indoors and outdoors. In the outdoor scenes, the lightning is natural lighting, and in the indoor scenes, there are ceiling lights, and possibly lighting rigs.

Acting: The acting in the film helps to portray the plotline. The actors are able to make the viewer feel that what they say is their actual beliefs.

Makeup: Some of the female characters appear to be wearing makeup. Also, the hairstyles on characters are more likely than not done by the makeup team.

Props: Props in the film are all related to the scenes depicted. This includes the judge's gavel, and also plates and cups in a scene where the characters are eating.

Setting: Settings include in a restaurant, the courtroom, the remnants of a Nazi gas chamber, and a classroom.

Genre Research: The Judge Movie

This movie was like many others that I often enjoy watching on my free time. It displayed real-world family problems and relationship issues. What I found the most interesting was when the lawyers' child began speaking to him about the divorce he and his wife were thinking of having. She showed actual knowledge and did not hide the fact that it bothered her.
     The only thing I can say that I did not like about this film was the mother dying and them announcing it in court at the beginning of the movie.

    Camera Shots:
1. Wide Shot: When the lawyers are in the bathroom and Hank is confronted by the counsel on the opposing side
2. Long Shot: When "The Judge" is entering the courtroom
3. Point of View: The conversations in the car
    Camera Angles :
1. High angle: The drive on the way to his fathers' house, showing the city and the water
2. Eye-level: Throughout the dialogue
3. Low angle: The confrontation about the car accident
    Camera Movement :
1. Tilt: "The Judge" entering the courtroom in the middle of the movie
2. Zoom: Hank is on the plane, and receives a phone call about his father
3. Flashpan: Dialogue back and forth with officers in the department

    Costumes: This movie takes place mostly at the courthouse and the homes of the characters. They wear business attire when in the courtroom and semi-formal throughout this film.
    Lighting: The beginning of the movie is filmed outside where there is natural lighting and sunlight. The lighting is the same throughout because they are in buildings, except for when they are in the basement because of the storm. The light is very dim then.
    Action/Actors: In the beginning, they are in a courtroom and there is a quarrel between the two lawyers, in the bathroom one of them urinates on the other. They show the body of the main characters' deceased mother in the casket. Most of the actors are either a part of the trial, policemen, or family members of the main characters.
    Make-up: The deceased mother is dressed up in the casket. Throughout the movie, the attire of the characters does not really change. When "The Judge" is vomiting and defecating himself in the bathroom, he looks rather pale.
    Props: The empty ring box that Hank has. Everything else is inanimate and stays the same.
   Setting:
- The house of "The Judge"
- The courtroom
- The courtroom bathroom
- The judges' chambers
- The cars

Genre Research: PINK Movie

One of the movies that fall under the Legal Drama genre is a movie called “PINK”. This movie can be found on Netflix. It’s about a sexual assault victim that is getting charged unjustly with attempted murder of the man that attacked her. She’s defended by a retired lawyer that challenges the rape laws in their country that is India. This movie was interesting as it brought awareness to the things that happens to people in other countries. I liked the fact that although the lawyer suffered from bipolar disorder that he was ashamed of, he still came out of retirement to defend these girls. Being that the attacker is the son of a politician, no other lawyer in town wanted to take the risk of defending her.
What I didn’t like about this movie is the fact that it portrays Indian society towards women who don’t follow what they think is the right thing for women to do. Another reason why no one wanted to defend the victim is because they felt that she was in the wrong although she’s the one that got attacked. This movie was overall a whirlwind of emotions.

Camera Shots
- Extreme Close Up: First shot of the lawyer. He’s now introduced to the plot.
- Two Shot: The scene where the attacker and his friend were filmed on their way to the hospital.

Camera Angles:
- Eye Level: This is filmed as the girls are panicking and and in a frenzy about what happened.
- Low Angle: Show the girl in the jail cell.

Camera Movement:
- Zoom: It zooms into the attackers bruises
-Pan: This was used in the courtroom during the trial.

Editing:
- Fade-in: This is in the beginning of the movie as it goes from credits to the opening scene.
- Cross-cutting: Camera went back and forth between the girl getting kidnapped to the lawyers house.

Sound:
- Diegetic Sound: Sounds of cars passing by.
- Dialogue: All throughout the movie.

Costumes-
This movie takes place mostly at the police station, outside in the streets and the actor’s homes.

Lighting-
This film was shot indoors and outdoors. Outdoors there is natural lighting and indoors there is no ring light but there is ceiling light.

Acting-
The acting in this movie is good. The girl plays her role as a damaged sexual assault victim being that later on in the movie, the attacker found her and kidnapped her. This was to roughen her up. The guy is very aggressive and well executes his role as he does an excellent job of acting in it. The lawyer takes medicated pills to keep his bipolar disorder at bay.

Makeup-
The females in this movie are not wearing makeup. If so, it’s for the scenes where they are crying. This is done to make a dramatic effect. It has the ability to keep the audience intrigued.

Props-
The props used in this movie were hand props such as the lawyers briefcase, phones, pills, and weapons.

Settings-
The settings in this movie varies. The setting include home, hospital, jail cell, the park and the police station.

Genre Research: Chosen Genre

After researching these three genres, we chose legal drama. The reason why we chose this genre is because we felt that it would be more interesting. Also, we would have more availability to get props and costumes for this film. Legal drama would bring a smart but twisted effect for our audience. We feel that western would be too standard. It is unlikely for us to be able to create a desert looking setting with cowboy hats and guns. For musical, we feel that it wouldn't be that much interesting. We wanted to choose a genre that would have our audience on the edge of their seats. With legal drama as our genre choice, that is sure to happen.

Genre Research: Western and Legal Drama

Genre Research: Musical Genre

This assignment was about explaining what a musical film is. We were given this genre and was told to give examples of camera angles, movements, and shots. Our PowerPoint was to choose pictures and colors that correlated with our genre. 

Since our genre was musical, we used uplifting colors in transitions that would help our PowerPoint pop out, and be more visually appealing. This assignment was to expose us to the fact that there's more to a genre on a film than what is shown on the surface. After this assignment, watching other films and productions made it easy to point out camera movements and angles. I believed the purpose was to do this and it worked. Musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing.

Chosen Pitch

The two pitches that we narrowed the choices down to is 'The Escape Room' and 'Two - Faced'. The reason why we canceled the 'Forbidden Love' pitch is because there is not enough availability for us to film it. It would be too long of a storyline. Even if we tried to fit it in two minutes, it would look very rushed. We also canceled it because Escape Room and Double Deceit would be more interesting approaches, than an African - American and a Caucasian falling in love. Additionally, those approaches have more availability to film. In the next paragraphs, we will explain why.

The first pitch is The Escape Room. This pitch is about a group of people who had their drinks drugged at a party, then they find themselves in a room they must escape from. The storyline that we were going to make for this pitch is how different obstacles are in the room, making it hard for them to escape. What makes it even harder is that the pill that was slipped into their drinks has the ability to impair their thinking. Only one person out of the whole group is going to survive this course. My group and I figured that this would be an interesting film to make. However, there is not enough availability. We would have to make an 'escape room' and all the obstacles to suffice our filming needs.

The second pitch is Double Deceit. This pitch is about a woman who is a lawyer by day and criminal master mind by night. She is defending a woman who is being charged with neglect for the kidnapping of her son. What the woman doesn't know is that her lawyer is the culprit. My group and I decided that this pitch is also a more interesting approach. It also has more availability for us to film. We would be able to incorporate the characters, the plot, and the cliffhanger all in two minutes. We feel that this may be our choice out of both pitches.

The pitch that my group and I decided to choose was Double Deceit. We chose this pitch because we thought that it would be a good way to catch the attention of our audience. There is no proper way to present a cliffhanger, than to have your character playing both sides. We also thought that it had more availability than the other two approaches. It would be easy for us to film a kidnapping, a law type of environment, and more. We feel that the most important part of this two - minute film is to leave the audience on the edge of their seats. Leaving them wondering is exactly what we will achieve by choosing Double Deceit.

Start of Final Task

I know its been awhile and you guys probably already forgot about me. Allow me to re-introduce myself. Hi, I am Janell. Last time you guys heard of me, I was working on filming the music video. By the way, that was a success. My group and I got a B on it. It was definitely a better grade than I expected since we were totally stuck on the editing part. However, it is a new year and I am ready to apply the skills I've learned in the next project we have. As you all know, my group members were Micahia and Jessica. However, we now have an edition to the group, Eric.

Within this half a year, I have learned a lot in this class. For starters, I learned how to blog. Yes, teens of this generations love our phones, but this "blogging" term is not something I did on a regular basis. My teacher has taught me how to structure these paragraphs, and how to get the information to you guys. I also learned how to edit. Believe me, I have not had to edit any type of footage a day in my life. That is until I got into this class. The talent that I am bringing is my writing skills. My group members and I all had talents that we portrayed in the last media projects, but I did most of the writing. Writing gives me a way to express myself and gives others a better understanding of what I have to say. 

A pitch is a term derived from Hollywood that is used to describe an idea of a film. This idea is an idea of the film that is spewed out quickly and simply in 25 words or less. An example of this can include a movie scene where one trying to move their way up in their current job position (an assistant that wants to become team lead), but the boss is too busy to spare more than five minutes of their time. This assistant is on limited time and therefore has to make a pitch that'll hopefully catch the bosses attention. I'm pretty sure we've all seen a movie like this. A recent example is what men want by Adam Shankman. Our 1st pitch: A group of people have their drinks drugged at a party, then they find themselves in a room they have to escape from. 2nd pitch: A Caucasian male and African-American female find themselves in love with eachother and although this isn't the olden days, their love is still forbidden. 3rd pitch: She's a lawyer by day and criminal mastermind by night and she abducted her client's child because she wants to build a family. Only one of these interesting pitches can be the topic of our 2-minute movie.