For this research I looked into previous students work and analysed different aspects of it and consider:
Things I liked/disliked.
What i consider the strengths and weaknesses of the opening sequence.
Areas of improvement.
Is the material appropriate for target audiences.
Is the rise en scene appropriate.
Is the editing and camera work suitable and good quality.
This is the first previous students work I looked at: Sophie Barrett
The second one I looked at: Roses Are Red
Learning Comment:
From carrying out this research task I have been inspired and have a few more ideas of what is possible when it comes to creating my own opening sequence. As a member of the coming of age genre target audience I am able to see what techniques were used to engage the audience which will be helpful when I begin to plan and create my own opening scene. For example I enjoyed the opening of roses are red however it didn't get into the narrative at all and I got bored however there were mo titles at all in the Sophie Barrett one which was hard to then know what kind of atmosphere the film will be.
For this task I worked in a group with Megan Bennett, Rebecca Moffat and Freya Vincent. We researched the audience for 5 coming of age films (The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Superbad, Pretty In Pink and The Perks Of Being A Wallflower) we also carried out focus groups to
understand how the audience that was primary for these films felt about them now.
I researched The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Pretty In Pink.
Rebecca Moffat researched The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Superbad;
Megan Bennett and Freya Vincent carried out the focus group and a survey:
Results from the focus group:
The focus group told us that they were quite interested in the film being related to themselves (teenagers). We also found out that they prefer a gripping and engaging opening sequence however they don't whether they are introduced to the protagonist straight away. Results from the audience research:
From analyzing the results of the survey we have found that the majority of the participants know what a coming of age film is. However when they were asked to rate the genres: comedy, romance, action, thriller, drama, crime, adventure, anime/cartoon, horror, coming of age and fantasy, in order of favourite to least favourite, only one person put that the coming of age genre is their favourite the most popular position for coming of age was 10th out of 11. This tells us that they are not very popular and that when we plan and create ours we will have to make it stand out from all of the current coming of age films. From the same question we have discovered by majority the favourite genre is comedy and that is also shown in the question what they enjoyed most about their favourite coming of age film as most answers were that the film included comedy. This will help us when planning and creating as we will know what would appeal to the target audience and how to engage them.
Learning Comment
Film research
From researching Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and looking at Rebecca's research into Superbad and The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I discovered that the majority of them were specifically advertised on channels that are targeted towards teenagers, this helps target the primary audience as they are more likely to see the trailer.
For this task I selected three opening title sequences The Breakfast Club(1985), Easy A (2010), Almost Famous (2000) to analyse:
Learning Comment
By completing this task I have learnt about a few design techniques that I liked for example the technique used in 'Easy A' that blended the title names into the background to represent their teenage audience trying to fit in. I also like the friendly, more personal effect of the writing out the credits as seen in 'Almost Famous'. Doing this task has helped me as I have inspiration and ideas for my own opening credits.
That they fit in with the teenage audience.
Give an insight to the tone and narrative of the film.
For this task, I researched into a director that is famously known for directing coming-of-age. I chose to do John Hughes who wrote, directed and produced blockbuster hits such as The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Pretty In Pink:
John
Hughes John Wilden Hughes Jr is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He was most famous for writing and producing Home Alone 2 and then directing, producing and writing Ferris Bueller's Day Off and The Breakfast Club. John Hughes's first credited screenplay, Class reunion, was written while he still worked at National Lampoons magazine; the film was classed as a disastrous attempt to duplicate the success of Animal House. The next screen play that Hughes wrote was National Lampoons Vacation (1983) and was said to 'put the Lampoon back on the map'. along with more success from his script 'Mr Mom', John Hughes recieved a three movie deal with Universal Studies. John Hughes's directorial debut was a coming-of-age film; Sixteen Candles. John Hughes films are usually recognisable for his
signature trademarks as he usually; set his films in the chicago area, uses a
close up shot of 2 of the characters locking eyes. Most of his films end in a
freeze frame, most iconically the freeze frame of John Bender (Judd Nelson)
holding his fist in the air walking across the field at the end of The
Breakfast Club. He is also commonly known for writing roles for John
Candy, Anthony Michael Hall and casting members of the brat pack. As his films are usually fun and light-hearted,
such as The Great Outdoors and Uncle Buck, the
target demographic would be C2, D and E. John Hughes is well known for
targeting a young adult demographic and portraying the struggles of teenage
lives realistically and empathetically, he was one of the very first writers
that portray the teenagers in the film that voice the struggles they face for
example in The Breakfast Club they deal with the issue of
pressure from parents and the battle to form their own individual
identity. Ferris Bueller's Day Off confronts the problem of
growing up and becoming independent, deciding your future and going different
ways.
A lot of John Hughes films
go straight into the film and do not have much of an opening sequence, I find
this much more effective at engaging the audiences attention as they then want
to know what happens in the rest of the film as the earlier the film begins the
earlier you gain interest as if there is a long section of credits the audience
could get bored and stop watching. In a few John Hughes films that are
primarily targeted at a teenage audience, begin with an opening monologue such
as The Breakfast Club and most notably Ferris
Bueller's Day Off, these monologues tend to include the opinion of the
main character or voice a universal feeling of the target teen audience.
John Hughes formed a close
bond with Molly Ringwald and often cast her as the lead role, John Hughes films
that she starred in included Sixteen Candles (1984), The Breakfast Club (1985),
Pretty In Pink (1986).
Learning comment:From researching John Hughes, I have learnt that he is famous for directing and writing some of the most well known coming of age films such as 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off', 'The Breakfast Club', 'Pretty in Pink' and 'Sixteen Candles'. I have also learnt from completing this task that he is known for his trademarks that represent to the audience that it was John Hughes who either wrote and/or directed them. Trademarks such as a freeze frame at the ending of his films, the most famous of which, at the end of 'The Breakfast Club' where Judd Nelson is walking across the field and it freezes with his fist in the air. He also was well know for casting Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall and John Candy. I enjoyed researching John Hughes and recognised a lot of his films that I didn't know that he wrote. I like the idea of having a trademark and therefore researching him was extremely helpful and will help when I plan and design my own opening sequence. Here are a few examples of the opening sequences for the films John Hughes wrote; 'The Breakfast Club', 'Sixteen Candles' and 'Uncle Buck'.
