opening scene of Titanic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtVyu-A3vkY

Sound - There is non-diegetic sound when the film starts playing as there is a piano or another instrument playing while images from the film are flashing up on the screen. There is backing vocals  that is playing is being sung by a female. Her voice is soft and gentle showing delicacy and innocence when she is singing, which is the same song that is being sung throughout the film in other scenes such as the end when the film is finishing. At the point of 1:02, there is the noise of a submarine under water that interrupts the backing vocals that is being sung by the women but the music continues to play. At the point of 1:09 the music stops and has a slight break and then it carries on again. The music then tailors off to silence.

Characters - There are no characters being shown in the opening scene. This is done because the writer of the film, James Cameron, did not want the target audience to be distracted by the message that he is trying to give out.




Audience - The target audience for this film could be more encouraged for women because the film is based on love and emotion which is stereotypically what women are into, whereas men are known for the action based films. The target audience could also be people that are fans of the characters. However, who watches it could depend on whether the person is interested in the real titanic or whether the person is more interested in the romance side of the film.


Characters - There were no actual characters in the film to represent but there was lots of people in the image at the start of the film that are all involved throughout the film. However, the two main characters throughout the film are Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Usually in a romance film they put a good looking male character and a really pretty female character together to be the ones to fall in love. This is done to make people think that it is always a happy ever after when there is true love involved.  

Analysis of 'Taken' (action/thriller)

In the clip that I have put up, it shows three different scenes that show what is involved in an action film and what makes it obvious that it is an action film. The key features that make it stand out that it is a action film is the violence and the fast paced fighting that is involved within the three different scenes.

Setting - The setting for this action film is set ion Parris which is well known for the occasional fights that takes place often. France has been in over a dozen wars which may have been the reason why it was chosen to make an action film as the atmosphere and the surroundings would make up a high standard film. The settings that wee in these clips looked very run downs and almost like favelas which may have been done for the purpose of the film, however, many people do not have any other option but to live in this way in order for them to be safe and stay alive in many areas of the world, involving many people in France.

Audience - Traditionally, the target audience for these types of action films are men that are aged between 13 and their mid 30s. This is because this is the age that they get into fights and arguments that they can often relate to in their own lives. The target audience will immediately know if this is the type of genre/film that they are interested in from the beginning as they would understand the concept of things and why certain things have been done in the film for pure entertainment for the viewer.

Camera - The camera angles for these scenes mainly consist of medium shots and close ups of Liam Neeson's face and so the target audience is able to see the emotion and feeling in his face from what he is doing. Also the camera angles are close enough to show the body language that the character has at any one time showing the type of mood that they want to set throughout the film.  The camera does a close up of the antagonist and the protagonist which shows that they are fighting against each other because they are facing separate ways from each other. Liam Neeson is standing up while the other guy is sitting down. The impact of this is that it shows who hold the most power which in this case it is Liam because his body is higher up than the other persons.

Lighting - The lighting in taken appears to be darker in most of the areas and some places are exposed to more light. This sets the mood such as danger as it is darker which can also express the emotion fear. By doing this, it sets the atmosphere and so it alerts they target audience what type of mood and emotion they may get off the characters due to the way the camera angle is and how much artificial and outside light is being let into the camera shots.

Favorite film - Treehouse

One of my favourite films is 'Treehouse', it is a horror based film. The reason why This film is one of my favourites is that you don't know what is going to happen and so everything takes you by surprise. This is effective for people who enjoy the suspense of a horror because they like to be surprised by the abnormal and the graphics that come with horror films.  Treehouse is a well-paced thriller/horror, which brings a lot of emotion to the screen. A supernatural or malicious physical element is plaguing a pair of teenagers and tension is built by this threatening element. The title of the film is a great standout indie feature, because of its attention to directing techniques and the performances provided by actors J. Michael Trautmann and Dana Melanie


The film is about a teenage boy that discovers the perpetrators of several brutal kidnappings in his home town. Him and his brother plan to do fireworks in the middle of the woods when the come across a shallow and rustic looking Treehouse on its own. Finding out there is a girl inside that knows what is going to happen to them if they do not attempt to get away, the older brother attempts to drive his bike to the nearest town which takes around 45 minutes to get there, leaving the younger brother and the frightened girl alone in the Treehouse. Discovering that they are not alone in the woods and finding out that the brother is not returning to them, they attempt to make their own escape when they stumble upon an abandoned looking home. Realising that they are in the murderers home, they try and escape but they find themselves fighting for their lives in the middle of nowhere where no one can hear them or help them. There stood on a open area was his brothers body which had been tied up on a pole and had been burned until only his clothes and rags remained. After being able to kill two of the killers along their way of escaping there is still another one out there. Determined to get revenge for killing his brother and the girls baby brother, Little Bob, they go out with two sniper guns ready to hunt down the third and final killer. Only then will they get the justice that they deserve. The cast for this film are as follows:






Dana Melanie who plays Elizabeth
J. Michael Trautmann who plays Killian
Clint James who plays Killian's father
Caleb Cox who plays Tyler
Daniel Fredrick who plays Crawford
Victoria Spencer Smith who plays Killian's mum
Darren Kennedy who plays Officer Morgan
Shannon Knopke who plays Marsha
Elaine Jenkins who plays Alicia
Jake Gregory who plays Little Bob
Mallory Malibu Waugh who plays Betty (voice)
Chance Nichols who plays Geminski
Meghan Socha who plays Arielle (voice)
Debbie Forester who plays the Grandma
Nathan L. Henderson who plays Coach Reynolds

Scene for 'The Other Woman' (Romance)

Setting - The setting for this scene of the other woman is in an expensive looking office which tells the audience that who ever works here is quite a wealthy person suggesting that it could be a business owned by them. This has been done to show the audience the different roles the men and women are aloud to have in a work place compared to many year ago when men were the ones to go out and be the ones to work in offices etc. In this scene, it shows only women working in offices showing the comparison and flexibility that both genders have in a work place. The office that the women are working in this scene is very clean and spotless backing up the stereotypical view that women are the clean and tidy ones compared to men.

Lighting - The lighting in this scene is very bright as the windows and doors are glass and so the outside light has a chance to shine through. The camera angles mainly focus on Cameron Diaz who played Carly Whitten as they wanted to show that she is one of the main characters in the film but also show the target audience that she is one of the well known actresses that people would automatically recognise in a film.

Audience - The target audience for this film could mainly be aimed at  women because it can relate to the way that some women have been treated by men and what they have to go through and deal with when it does happen in reality. Men could also be influenced to watch 'the other woman' because they might want to watch nit because of the particular cast that are involved within the film. They may take an interest in looking at the stereotypical pretty but single girl who happens to be the one who is being used and exploited by the male actor. The camera angle starts off with a medium shot of Carly and has a quick rebound to a long shot of her full body. This is done to show the audience how she is standing which helps them get a feel of what she is feeling.

Sound - The sound that is used in this scene is diegetic sound as it is the characters talking to each other, there is no non-diegetic sound such as music which sets the tone in the space. By not putting any music in the background, it tells the target audience that it is serious as it is a romance film and so to resemble that there would usually be gentle music such as a piano or a violin to soften the tone of the atmosphere.

Characters - One of the well known characters in this film is Nicki Minaj which everyone recognises as a famous music artist and so many people would be a big fan of hers as she has sold millions of records around the world. When the target audience realises that Nicki Minaj is in the film, it would encourage more people to want to watch to just to see her play her role as 'Lydia' in the film. The other main female characters in the film are Leslie Mann, Cameron Diaz and Kate Upton. These happen to have the lead female roles because they happen to be the ladies that the one main guy Mark King which is played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau ends up cheating on all of them at the same time.

party scene from Dirty dancing

Setting - The setting for this dirty dancing scene is at a resort and the party is in a barn looking hall. This automatically suggests that the target audience is aimed at families who like to visit family resorts which would draw them into want to watch the film. This has been done to emphasise the way that they want to bring the romance into a film that looks as if it is a dirty and unromantic place. When Baby (played by Jennifer Grey) enters the little barn where there seems to be a party, the expression on her face suggests that she didn't not expect there to be lots of people dancing in the way that they were.

Lighting - The lighting in this scene comes across as smoky which is done by the amount of people smoking, which is also something that is stereotypically done by people who dance and act in that manner. The lights in the party area are bright which tells the target audience immediately that there is a party going on as it stands out compared to the darkness that is surrounded outside. The camera  starts with a long shot showing all of Baby's and the boys she is with bodies. this then quickly turns into a medium shot. The camera shots back and forth having close ups of Baby's face showing her expression and emotion of what she is experiencing. This varies from shock in a good way and excitement.

Audience - In a romance film, there is usually the main male character that is muscly that all the girls instantly falls for and there is the main female character that is really pretty  that immediately attracts the male audience. This suggests that the target audience could either be aimed at the men or the women depending on what they are looking for in a romance film.

Characters - The main male character in this film is Patrick Swayze. The have done this because he is a famous actor that many people know and so when people find out that he is the main male character in the film, they are going to want to watch it more because they know that he is famous. The main female character in dirty dancing is Jennifer Grey which is also a well known actress as she also played a role in a film called 'Red Dawn' and 'American Flyer' which were famous films in the 1980s. Putting her in one of the more romantic films was seen as a good idea because it shows the audience that both men and women have an equal role when taking part in films.

Genre analysis on Action Films

Characters - The characters that are usually involved in an action film are usually a protagonists and antagonists. The protagonists is the good person throughout the film and the antagonist is usually the bad person in the film. There are also females on both sides that end up fighting each other while the protagonist and the antagonist end up fighting throughout the film. The protagonist usually tries to protect someone or people and so they very rarely get hurt and injured whereas the antagonist is usually the one to get injured or possibly die.

Setting - The setting for an action can usually be set in big cities where there are lots of people and so a lot of people will be effected buy the drama that is going on around them. The setting can also be at great heights up in the sky where the drama such as explosions would take place up above people where is could effect them when they do not know it is coming. It can sometimes be exaggerated when doing an action film to let the audience know that the explosions and car chases are all associated with the genre of action.

Camera - The angles in an action film are usually taken at a birds eye view and so the audience can see what is happen at a height. This would also help to exaggerate what is happen and this would make an impact on the audience of why that has been done. The camera usually quickly moves into a close up if there is a car chase as it wants the audience to capture the essence of what is going on in the film. Usually the camera will be a close up of the protagonist as they want to make it clear on who is the good person and who is trying to look out and protect the other people around them. When doing an action film they usually put in extreme close up of the antagonist to show the emotion that they are feeling when they are committing their crimes.

Audience - The target audience for an action film is usually boys as they are the gender that are more interested in things like cars, chases and explosions and so they can recognise the target audience from when it starts. The age range for an action film is aged 14-20 as it is the age that they start to know what they like and they can relate to those type of things.

Action films have a tremendous impact, continuous high energy throughout the film, they contain lots of physical stunts that are complicated for many people to do, and many extender car chases, battles and rescues. These are the types of things that people expect to see in an action film which is why they would pay a lot of money to go and see a film like this in the cinema, because it is living up to their expectations of what makes a good action film.

opening 2 minutes of Sinister

I have chosen to do Sinister to look at. In the trailer of sinister (2012) there are a man and a women walking towards a house together. this might suggest that they are going to be living together as a family. Just before this happens the camera moves towards the front of the house slowly suggesting that the film could be based on the house as it is just on its own in the view of the camera. the next shot quickly moves onto the family around the table having a meal, however,  the light is shining on the table and they are surrounded by darkness. This instantly gives away that this film could be a horror because it has a lot of darkness. The scenes constantly move quite quickly from one scene to another as if the audience is waiting for something to happen. In the shot shown before the trailer starts, the angle of the camera is a close up able to show the expressions on his face. By the look in his eyes, the audience are able to pick up on the fact that he is in fear of what is happening in front of him. Also the way that his mouth sits slightly open suggests to us that he is shocked by what he is seeing. 

Towards the end of the trailer we see that it contains five children that have their faces painted in a creepy way. The effect of this is that it goes against what children are stereo-typically supposed to be which is innocent and cute but instead they are represented as dangerous monsters for human beings. Most the the film is set out in the dark which tells the audience that it is a horror film. This creates a visual image for the audience to understand what they might witness in the film.      

At the beginning of the trailer where there are quick changing shots, the camera continuously goes back to the view of the house. This suggests to the audience that this is where the film is mostly going to be based on as it is given most prevalence during the trailer. The shot changes to a shot of the father packing away boxes. This is showing the stereotypical view of a normal everyday family when the father is out working and being the breadwinner of the family.  The daughter is doing drawings which exposes to the audience what young children enjoy doing. The audience may view her as an innocent sweet young girl which is cliche to what most horror films do. They use young children to be seen as innocent and vulnerable but in the end they are not always viewed like this by the end of the film.  This is conventional for a horror based film as it entices the audience and makes them want to carry on watching it to find out what happens to her at the end.This will then leave them wondering if this is done throughout all/most horror films or if it is done occasionally. 

From around 1:36 of the trailer, the shots start to be fast paced and dramatic making it exhilarating for the audience to watch.  

Romance cliche codes and conventions

Audience - The target audience is mainly aimed at women because they become more inetersted and fascinated by the fact of being in love and someone actually being there to look afetr them. Romance films is usually about the female wanting attention from the male which relates to reality and how women want to be noticed by men. The target audience is usually recognisable from when the film starts and who is involved in with the film.

Characters - The chasracters that are usually in a romance film is a really pretty girl and a good looking man. They then happen to fall in love but they have to overcome many problems and
dispute that might come across in the relationship. there is often the case of the man that falls in love with another women is usually married or they have a relationship with another women. This may be done to throw the female off guard and see how powerful her love for the man is and so if she is still seeing him and wants a relationship then you know that she is genrally in love with him and so would do anything to be with him.

Sound - The sounds that are involved in a romance film can vary depending on the senario of the film. The diegetic sound in most romance films is dialogue of the characters speaking or music which can usually be a piano or a violin playing soft gental music to show that it is a 'love' film and that it is a delicate situation. there can be alot of non-diegetic sounds which very often is the narrater telling the target audience what the characters are thinking and how they feel and sometimes it is just telling the audience the story so far. the narrater usually mentions that it is a romance love filme when they start talking at the start and somethimes say things that influence the target audience to believe that the film is going to be based on romance. the opening scenes of romance films stereotypically can start with a guitar aswell and the strings are played gently to give off a fragile sound.

Setting - The setting of a romance film is usually somewhere busy but has beautiful scenes and views such as a city like New York. this is done to resemble the fact that there is going to be something happening at a pretty place. In the film 'Holiday' , there was another setting where it was a man and a women in the car together in some sort of city. This also tells the target audience that this could come across and a romance film because of the way that they are looking at each other but also the fact that it is just those two in the car on their own and they are looking happy together. At the start of the film, the setting is sometimes shown behind the characters or will be shown to the audience through the uses of establishing shots. This would make it recognisable to the target audience.

Camera Angles - The camera angles in a romance film usually consists of alot of close ups of the characters face to express the facial expressions showing the audience how the characters feel without them speaking. There are also alot of two shots which involve two of the characters in a shot at the same time. This is usually the female and the male lovers in one shot showing that most of the film is about them but also shows the relationship between them. Long shots are used the show the full setting of the film in one shot to show the target audience where the film is going to be set and how it links in with the romance story.

Certificate - The certificate for a romance film is usually aged within 12-15 years of age. This maximizes the target audience. The typical romance genre would include sexuality, gender and status which may not be wanted to be exposed to younger children.

Opening of 'The Matrix' (action)

When the film starts is has non-diegetic sound which is music that is playing in the background. This is played when the logos at the start of the film flash up on the screen which is when the name of the film slowly appears. This is purely done for effect, backing this up was the fact that it was written in bright green writing, which is also effective because it helps it to stand out and makes it appear a lot more dramatic than what it really is.

The main character in the film is suggested to be Carrie-Anne Moss which plays the character Trinity in the film. I believe that she could be the main character or one of the main characters in the film because of the way that she was sat on her own in the room and everyone one else when they entered was behind her, they were not able to see her face as they were pointing towards her back. This is also backed up by the fact that she is given the most prevalence in the end of the opening scene which the camera then finishes on a close up of her face.

At 1 minute 28 seconds of the opening scene, there is a bright lights that introduces the first character in the film which is a close up of the face. This suggests to the target audience that this could be one of the main or important characters as they were introduced so dramatically. From that point on when the second character is introduced, we see that the camera is put at a particular angle and so it shows the audience that the torch light introduces the second character too. 

Mise-en-scene - By looking at the setting and the props used in this scene, it automatically suggests to the target audience that it is an action film. This is because the first characters that are introduced ion the film are holding guns which may suggest that there is going to be some sort of fight which is what people may expect to see in an action film. The genre of the film may also be suggested judging by the force that the character used when he kicked in the door. His facial expression suggests to the target audience that he may be feeling angry but we can also see that he is trying to put as much force into it as possibles as his face is all turn up as if he is trying to show how he is concentrating. As the film opening goes on, we can hear that although the characters with the guns may have more dominance because they are screaming the orders, we as the audience can still hear the terror in their voices as they are screaming at the female character in the room. This suggests to the audience that she is more powerful because her body language and her facial expression shows that she is aware that they have weapons but she is not fazed by it at all. 

opening 2 minutes of 'The Ward' (Horror)

Setting - for the setting of the ward, it is set in an asylum for women. This automatically tells the target audience that it is something to do with women and that they have something wrong with them. this may also set the target audience because it could be aimed towards women because of the fact that they whole film is about women and what they have experienced. inside the asylum, it has an old look about it suggesting that it has been around for years. This also lets the targets audience know what genre it is as it is starting to run down but also because it does not have the look of a normal hospital for mental women, it looks a lot more dirtier.

Lighting - when the camera is in shot of the boat in the water, there is not much light as there is only the light from the torch, letting the audience know that the genre that it is a horror film. As the film goes on the setting turn to inside of the asylum where their are bright white lights flicking on and off on their own. this This sets the theme that it is a horror film because this is not something that usually happens in reality.

Characters - The main character in 'the ward' is Amber Heard. The makers of the film have made the main character a female because the film is based on women and the problems that women can come past in life. also she is a well known actress and so people would want to watch her films. The other main characters in the film are also women and so this enhances the fact that the film based on women. This shows the audience that women do have a particular role and they can achieve the same thing that men can showing equality. the other main characters are may not be as well known as Amber Heard which is why they may not have been given as big a part as Amber did.

Sound - At the start of the 2 minutes there is a violin playing quietly which sets the atmosphere in the room while the film is playing. this suggests to the audience that it is quite a gentle scene and that even though it is a horror film, nothing bad is going to happen. As the film continues on, the tempo of the music increase and there is a long but low piano key playing causing it to sound more dramatic and dangerous than it really is. This suggests to the target audience that something bad or frightening is going to happen as soon as the film officially starts.

HorroR, Grenre, Post, Conventions