Film Opening VLOG

">

Title Sequence - Mise-en-scene focus

The title sequence of James Bond: Spectre begins with flames firing up on the screen, this catches the audience attention as it is is a very active and mystical moment for a James Bond film. The scene is accompanied by the diegetic sound of Sam Smiths track 'writing on the wall'. This song was produced for the film however Sam Smith being a very popular artists it also engages the audience more as they recognise the soundtrack so they will be more intrigued by what is happening on the screen. 

The title sequence in the film ‘Spectre’ is shown after the introduction scene of the film. It begins with James Bond (Daniel Craig) in the helicopter after he had just tackled an opposition. The lighting is quite high-key as it demonstrates how James Bond has been successful in his task so it shows positivity. The director has then used the prop of a ring to lead us into the title sequence, it shows James Bond has a connection with the ring so it makes the audience wonder where it is going to take him. 

James Bond appears on the screen half naked with all naked girls dancing elegantly around him and placing fire on his skin. The use of elegance attracts a wider audience as some watchers who may not be interested in the violence side of James Bond will be intrigued by the more suttle and elegance of the scene enabling them to watch more. 

Following from this moment, the camera then zooms out of the characters and focuses on a huge Octopus in the centre of the fiery surroundings. This makes the audience wonder what the meaning of the Octopus is and what connection does he have to the film. We are then introduced to two characters who are falling through the screen, a man (James Bond) and a women. This demonstrates the Hero character and the princess character of the film. When the two finally meet on the centre of the screen, clearly shown using reverse shot reverse, the tempo of the song also slows and the pitch becomes higher creating a softer tone, the lighting also becomes low-key and the two characters become to passionately touch eachothers bear skin. This again portrays the James Bond film in a different genre that attracts women and watchers who like romance instead of thriller/action, expanding the market. 

The Octopus is shown in most camera shots in the title sequence, this makes the audience think it is a symbol for something as it is always there. At the end of the title sequence, James Bond appears on the screen in a low-key lighted setting pointing a gun at someone, this reflects back to action/thriller genre of the film and excites the audience as the climax has been built throughout the title sequence through different elements such as, lighting, props, diegetic sounds and the use of advanced editing. 

Genre Study of Neale

Stephen Roy Albert Neale is a British Analytic philosopher and specialist in the philosophy of language who has written extensively about meaning, information, interpretation, and communication, and more generally about issues at the intersection of philosophy and linguistics. Neale's writings are primarily in the philosophy of language, construed broadly enough to intersect with generative linguistics, the philosophy of mind, cognitive sciences, philosophical logic, and formal logic. 

Genre is a term that can be split up into different categories, based on characteristics that they share, for example, settings, storyline's, narratives, characters and themes.  In particular, genre can be referred to music videos, and they can be classified as being a particular genre, for example, thriller, horror, romance.  

Steve Neale states that 'genres are instances of repetition and difference' and 'genres are not systems, they are processes of systemisation'. He also say's that, definitions of genre are historically relative and are therefore historically specific. Believed that there was a system of expectation and that by using own knowledge and applying conventions of the genre, the audience should be able to infer the narrative and storyline of the film. He also declares that difference is essential to the economy of genre; mere repetition would not attract the audience.

Film Institution Research

Film Review - Ouija: Origin of Evil

Film Review by Kim Newman

Los Angeles, 1967. Widow Alice Zander (Elizabeth Reaser) buys a ouija board to use in her bogus spiritualist act, and her daughter Doris (Lulu Wilson) contacts restless, perhaps-malign spirits who haunt their home. Lina (Annalise Basso), Doris’s older sister, tries to defend the family from supernatural evil. ★★★

With Ouija, Hasbro (Transformers, G.I. Joe and, um, Battleship) tried to spin a film franchise out of one of the odder items in their Intellectual Property catalogue. Somehow suggesting that a novelty spiritualist board game invites evil spirits to haunt, possess or murder customers wasn’t deemed bad for business. The result was a formula spook picture which nevertheless became a modest box office hit. 

    

"Writer-director 

Mike Flanagan 

crafts a 

much-improved

 follow-up.

 " 

Turning out a period-set Ouija prequel (on the model of Annabelle) might not seem a promising project, but writer-director Mike Flanagan crafts a much-improved follow-up. Origin Of Evil hits all the mandatory ghost-story marks and elaborates intelligently on the storyline of the first movie, but is a surprisingly personal work and not at all out of place in Flanagan’s interesting filmography (Absentia, Oculus, Hush). He is very strong on family relationships strained by supernatural or psychopathic circumstances, and this gets a lot out of its talented cast.

"With engaging characters, a decent mystery and well-realised scares, this makes a satisfying Hallowe’en attraction. Even if you skipped Ouija, give this one a chance." 

                                               

Thriller - Sub Genre Links

Mindmap of Thriller Genre

Theories of Representation using Hall