Evaluation Question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Our film, ‘Do Not Pass Go’, tells the story of a young, up-and-coming criminal by the name of Jacob, played by me, struggling to adapt to his new illicit lifestyle, and thus facing the wrath of two of his experienced (and much more successful) lawbreaking colleagues, Louie and Mitchell who act as his ‘mentors’.

Immediately, Jacob is portrayed as vastly inexperienced, yet still extremely confident, displayed within the ‘upbeat’ non-diegetic music playing concurrently with his ‘strutting’ towards the store, and when the character looks at the shop he is about to rob and slicks back his hair. This unnecessary cockiness blows up in Jacob’s face as he proves unsuccessful in the robbery, alluding to the comedic overtones of the film.

This initial scene establishes the movie as a crime-comedy, as the protagonist engages in an [failed] stick-up, conventions of a typical crime-comedy film are the used within the preceding 3 minute sequence.

The credits used did not distract from any significant action occurring on screen, but rather only the initial sequence of events, preceding the opening titles. The credits solely give the information of those involved within the acting and production of the film.

Our genre is clearly established due to the use of swearing for comedic effect as well as the cuts used. Immediately after requesting a cashier to hand over the money in the register, the clerk refuses and tells Jacob to “fuck off, [mate]” in order to display her discontent and Jacob’s inability as a criminal. This is immediately followed by the title sequence, connected by a sound bridge, in which the names of the characters are shown in different bright colours, to signal their individuality. These bright colours, reflect the colour schemes of other such comedy films such as ‘The Mask’ and to a certain extent, ‘The Italian Job’.

We used a conventional feature of a comedy film due to our use of slapstick, in which Jacob, is hit by a door opened by newly introduced character, Louie, causing a nosebleed to occur. This style of comedy was used in many comedic films within the turn of the 20^th Century and is prominent within many films such as ‘The Naked Gun’, and more recently, ‘The Pink Panther’.

A low-angle, POV, reaction shot immediately succeeded the impact to show Louie’s belief that he was not in the wrong regarding the incident, which in turn is immediately followed with a close-up on Jacob’s face as he lay bloodied on the floor, whilst the two other characters’ present seem not to care all that much, in an amusing series of events.

   Many props present within a typical crime film are present within this scene as Louie places a roll of assorted £20 and £10 notes onto the table, focused on by a medium close up; as well as a knife and ~£2,000 in £20 notes. These props confirm the film as one of a crime genre.

Do Not Pass Go

Pre-Production Questionnaire Results

Pre-Production Questionnaire Results from GeorgeJohnsonMedia

Post-Production Questionnaire

Title Sequence Analysis: SNATCH.

Title Sequence Analysis: SNATCH.

 

 

The cold open of Guy Ritchie’s hard-nosed crime comedy Snatch is slightly misleading.
A smooth-talking narrator (Jason Statham) quickly convinces viewers that this is a movie about a bloke named after a plane crash and a lad who claims to be the namesake of one of history’s greatest firearms — modest boxing promoters simply trying to stay out of trouble. But as the opening jewel heist-cum-title sequence gets underway, the audience learns that Turkish and Tommy are but minor players in a topsy-turvy tale of the criminal underworld, a microcosm of thieves, gangsters, and lowlifes. There’s Sol and Mickey, Vinny and Avi, Franky Four Fingers, Boris the Blade, Bullet-Tooth Tony, and Brick Top. Oh, and a diamond the size of a fist, of course.

Setting the board for an intercontinental con, the title sequence introduces the cast as the unlikeliest of robberies goes down and the characters are presented through a series of rip-roaring vignettes and posturized freeze-frames. If the sequence seems clichéd now, that’s because it was a genre-defining piece of cinema. Cool as hell circa 2000, the opening minutes of Snatch almost single-handedly reinvigorated the British gangster movie.

The title sequence showcases freeze frames that are inspired by some of the old-fashioned boxing posters back in the 20th century, featuring black and white stencils and minimal colour pallets, featuring 2 and maybe 3 different colours. Not only does this give a sort of vintage aura to the beginning of the film, audiences are left to analyse the characters mentioned in the film with the sort of "Posters" they are freeze-framed into. There were initial notions that it would in some way be animated and that The Wild Bunch titles were an influence too.

Another thing that the opening shares is the different lives of crime that the characters share, and how they are linked together. they do this with the use of Cinematography, editing and mise-en-scene. It begins with the diamond that the robbers have snatched from the jeweller, of which it then zooms out to show Cousin Avi, Storing it away into a safe of which the character Sol pulls out from the other end of the wall using the shadows in the safe. The shots continue like this to show all the characters and how they all link together in the story before coming back around in full circle to continue the story.

With this technique the audience can expect the characteristics of different actors in the film and what kind of scenes they'll expect to see from them. A good example of this is Franky Four Fingers, who is freeze-framed with 3 jacks in his hand. The audience can instantly tell that this character is a gambler, with typical Mise-en-scene of the 3 cards, deep sunglasses, stylish suit, etc. And as such, Franky's hand then slams to the table, and as the camera follows, the scene changes and the camera pans up again to see Turkish playing a similar gambling game.

You can find the rest of the video at http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/snatch/

 

 

Analysis of a Title Sequence: Snatch

Snatch from GeorgeJohnsonMedia

Potential Film Distributors

I believe that a suitable distributor for our film 'Do Not Pass Go' would be that of American distributor, Screen Gems.
Due to their success in the production of similar films of our genre including that of 'Snatch' and 'Armored' and the immense financial success that many of their films have attained throughout many years of production, this leads me to believe that Screen Gems as a film distributor, could, in turn allow our film to be hugely successful.

Another possible distributor of our film could be that of StudioCanal UK/ Optimum Releasing, a British production company which, too has achieved a large quantity of both critically and commercially successful films throughout the years, with the likes of ''71', 'Hot Fuzz' and 'Four Lions'. The company, who would ideally would respect the Anglocentric nature of our project based on the immeasurable success of other British films that they have produced.

Both of these distributors also exhibit films of a wide variety of genre, from Romantic Comedy to Horror, yet films with a dramatic and comedic nature seem to be a speciality of both of these companies, and thus would be welcomed as our distributor.

FILM DISTRIBUTORS

FILM DISTRIBUTOR: 
Altitude Films
Vertigo Films

MOVIES THEY DISTRIBUTE: 

Altitude Films distributed:
     - Run
     - Little Men
     - Alone in Berlin
     - The Odyssey
     - Moonlight

Vertigo Films distribute:
     - Let's be Evil
     - 100 Streets
     - Indignation
     - Chi-Raq
     - Snowden
     - Sweeney
WHY IT'S SUITABLE FOR US:

Altitude Films are some of the distributors behind some movies that are considered must-watches, for example "Run" is the historical story of legendary Olympic athlete Jesse Owens. They specialise in a wide range of genres from horror to comedy to documentaries to animation.

Vertigo Films also specialise in a wide variety of genres, that are willing to distribute films that would gain attention to minority audiences. Looking at some of these films, Vertigo films don't specialise in family-friendly films, instead they'll look for films ranging around the 15-18+ rating films, most of which are horrors. Examples of this are the Sweeney, Ethel and Ernest, Let's be evil and Shrooms. While some of the more family-friendly ones range from the horrid Henry movie, Pudsey the movie, Street Dance series and All Stars.

Run - Altitude Films
The Odyssey - Altitude Films
100 Streets - Vertigo Films
Sweeney - Vertigo Films