Examples of interesting shots

The Blurry shot that Olivia and I will use is similar to this one. This shot will look effective in our media for when the 'unpopular' female puts her glasses on. We will do mainy practice shots to achieve our final overall 'blurred' glasses shot.

I believe that this blurred shot will look effective and will flow well with our romantic comedy genre - the element of subtle humour of the character not being able to see.





This clip is usuful for inspiration for the getting ready scenes in our film opening. My idea was to use something similar to this however when Demi Moore (the actress in the film clip) puts her underwear on we will use a close up/ extreme close up, (for our credits) using name lables in the seams of the briefs.




This 'Birds eye view' shot can be used effectively in the bike scene of our film opening. The bike scene is when the 'unpopular' girl bikes on a dirt path, gravel road to school: she goes under a tunnel and i had the idea of standing on the top of the tunel and film her going through it.

Character Research

This is a clip from the 2004 romantic comedy Mean Girls. The Clip is of 'Regina George': a stereotypical upper-class American teenagers. The character is high maintenance this is evident from the 'over the top' screaming. Regina is also wealthy - the character has a very large, ostentatiously decorated bedroom.

She is also wearing expensive looking clothes: tight fitted blue denim jeans, black heeled shoes and a puffy, pink satin coat. Her hair is clipped back however it has been styled.

It is evident that the charcter is a feminine 'girly' character - the colours used in this scene are mainly pinks: Walls, carpet, wardrobe, lamps (a hazy pink lighting), chair, she is even dressed in pink (coat).



This film clip is from the romantic comedy 'Never been kissed' (1999). The charcter in the clip is called Josie: it is evident that she is lonely and hasn't got many friends- she sits alone speaking to a tortoise also the first camera shot is of two photo frames one is of herself, the other is at her graduation with her family - no pictures of friends. The character also is obviously a 'nerd' - she makes pillow cases.

In the living room the charcter has many pillows, presumably ones she has made. The colours in the living room clash: Blue walls, cream curtains, a checked brown/red sofa, white carpet with a beige rug - this represents her un co-ordinated character.

She is wearing an over sized un- fashionable jumper - pink and brown patterns with white tights. Her hair is messily clipped back - for practicality reasons.

These stereotpical characteristics could be used for the binary opposite characters, in our film opening. It is apprant that the characters are two complete contrasts.

Research - Binary opposite character ideas.

The characters Betty and Amanda in the american hit drama 'Ugly Betty' are prime examples of binary opposite characters.

BETTY

Typical Clothes Betty Wears:

Attributes
Caring
Thinks of others
Hard working
Sweet
Wears braces on her teeth
Innocent
'Nerdy'
Wears glasses
Messy, un- combed hair
Colour clashing clothes
Freckles
No make up
Un- plucked eyebrows

Intelligent

AMANDA

Typical Clothes Amanda wears:

Amanda's Attributes

Un – caring

Selfish

Lazy

Bitter

Sexual

Popular

Perfect vision

Perfect teeth
Styled hair

Fashionable clothing
Heavy, perfectly done make – up
Shaped, plucked eyebrows

Dumb

Here is a short clip of Amanda and Betty which shows all the above character research:

In the series of Ugly Betty it is evident that Betty and Amanda are binary opposite characters. The film opening that Olivia and I are going to produce could possibily benefit from the similar characters. To produce the best possible film opening Olivia and I shall research Ugly Betty and analysis the characters in greater depth.

Film opening research: When Harry met Sally.

The opening credits of the film when Harry met Sally are in my opinion both effective and ineffective. They are effective in the sense that they are bold and clear- with the white writing on the black background. This black and white contrast could possibly represent the two binary opposite characters: the white representing innocence and the black represents and blunt bond character.
However the opening credits run for about 2 minutes with white writing on a black background, which the audience could possibly find tedious. Furthermore the continuous upbeat music seems to become fairly repetitive, which can also become and irritant for the audience.
Therefore Olivia and I will not be using the white on black for our opening credits however the idea of contrasting colours could be used effectively.



It becomes apparent within 39 seconds of the first scene of the film ‘when harry met sally’ it is a romantic comedy. The element of romance is used from the backdrop of the first shot – serene settings with trees either side of the road and slow jazzy music. The next shot (rotating shot) is of a male and female in close proximately and gazing into one another’s eyes, it portrays they are a couple and in love; the couple then begin to passionately kiss. The element of comedy is introduced when a female character in an old, yellow car pulls up alongside them; looking uncomfortable clears her throat attempting to get noticed. The female in the car is clearly an impatient uptight character which therefore makes the scene amusing.
As the film continues (4.11 – 5.23) the characters are represented as binary opposites. Firstly the female driver (Sally) is impatient, sarcastic and takes herself very seriously. However the male character (Harry) patient (waits for the car to arrive), he is down to earth and he clearly doesn’t take himself to seriously – a joker.

I believe that the idea of binary opposite characters could be used effectively in our film opening. Many romantic comedies use the idea of binary opposite characters; it often gives films the element of comedy.