Max Payne Opening Sequence

Max Payne Extract

Shot Number	Technical Sound Description	Effects
1	Motif: 20th Century Fox	The 20th Century Fox song gives a motif that the audience can relate to as it’s a well-known piece of sound featured in the majority of films
2	Off screen dialogue: the main character narrating	The off screen dialogue gives the audience an idea into what they can expect from the scene and gives an insight into what the character is like.
3	Diegetic Sound: Water Splashing Foley Track: Breathing	The diegetic water splashing creates the effect of a realistic 3D world for the audience, providing an authentic sound experience. The Foley track of breathing gives the effect of a first person experience and helps put the viewer in the diegesis with the use of more realistic sound
4	Diegetic Sound: Muffled Audio	The diegetic sound of the muffled audio gives a realistic approach on how the environment would sound when underwater
5	Foley Track: Breathing	The Foley track of breathing gives the effect of a first person experience and helps put the viewer in the diegesis with the use of more realistic sound
6	Diegetic Sound: Air Bubbles	The diegetic Sound of the air bubbles rising gives the viewer a sense of realism as well as an indication of what is happening in the scene
7	Diegetic Sound: Air Bubbles Sound Bridge: Off Screen Dialogue	The diegetic Sound of the air bubbles rising gives the viewer a sense of realism as well as an indication of what is happening in the scene The sound bridge of the dialogue from the opening sequence gives the audience a build-up of the story and creates suspense of what is to come
8	Sound Bridge: Off Screen Dialogue Foley Track: Clock Ticking, Baby Crying	The effect of the Foley track is that the baby crying in a faded tone gives the impression of past memories and creates the sense of the unknown to the viewer. The clock ticking creates a link between the flashback and the underwater scene, showing that time is running out as he can’t breathe underwater
9	The same as shot 8	The same as shot 8
10	Foley Track: Clock Ticking	The Foley track of the clock ticking comes back to the scene in which it was linked with from shot 8. This shows a progression in time and helps to build-up tense for the viewers
11	Foley Track: Door opening	The sound of the door opening accompanied by a swooshing sound helps to represent a flashback of events and travel from one scene to another.
12	Foley Track: Clock Ticking	The sound of the clock ticking could in  this case be used to enhance the feeling of the past, which continues from shot 11
13	Foley Track: Clock Ticking	The sound of the clock becomes distorted as if to give the impression that something is depressing, which fits in with the previous shot where a body is shown. This creates an un-nerving feeling for the audience
14	Diegetic/ Foley Track: Baby Cradle Chimes	The sound of the baby chimes fading out and distorting gives the viewer the impression that this has stopped and is a thing of the past (possibly saying that there is no need for the chimes anymore, regarding the loss of a child)
15	Sound Bridge: City noise, Sirens	The fading in of sounds from a new scene gives the viewer the impression of a fresh start and the previous experiences have moved on
16	Off Screen Diegetic Sound/ Foley Track: City Noise, Sirens	The use of off screen diegetic sound gives the viewer the realistic feel of a city, as if tis a 3D world (Diegesis)

Title

Due to our media room getting robbed I used the old iMacs with the programme Live Type to create the title for our groups opening sequence. The title of our opening sequence is Graves and the font that is used is an adaption of the Stencil font. I chose the title to have a white shadow in order to give it the feel of street graffiti, this is because in some graffiti stencils are used in order to mark out words. I chose to have the graffiti style even though the genre is detective as I felt that with the fight scene it gave the sequence a feel of street crime due to the actors having the stereotypical "street thug" costume.

Editing

Due to our original film being shot in the snow and our pick up shots being shot in the dry we had to apply a colour correction filter to our pick up shots in order for the clips to look similar. We had play around with the  RGB colour wheel as well as the sliders to enhance the whites and the blacks in the clip in order to make it look similar to the colour of the shots in the snow. This blended the clip into the rest of the scene, therefore making the scene flow seamlessly.

The Rock Assessment

The Rock – Camera Movement sequence analysis – Pan & Track

NAMES:   Ryan&Tom  Date: 19/10/12
	The shot used I this scene is a tracking shot, which follows the actor, which is also a low angle shot. The tracking shot emphasises the importance on the character as it follows him, the low angle shot looking at the character also connotes that the particular is a powerful figure, as the camera angle seems to make it seem as if he is looking down on us, because he has power.  The fact that he is also barging through a group of civilians complements him as he is a character of importance and he has a distinctive amount of power in contrast to the civilians.
	The first thing that stands out is the logo of the of the Ferrari car, this logo suggests that this moment in the film is going to be fast, pacey and adventurous as the car is.  The camera angle is tilted and there is a close up on the car, which makes it stand, the colour of the car is also significant as it instantly catches your attention. The extreme close up on the gear stick of the car, and the low angle on the wheels shows the urgency that is currently running throughout this clip. The angle of the camera also shows you a black Porsche in the background; when you see the black Porsche with the Ferrari you then have a sense of location and you know the setting is a relatively rich area.
	There is an extreme close up on Nicholas Cage’s face which allows the viewer to see his facial expressions, his facial expression shows the fact that he is at one point he is distressed as he knows the danger at hand & after his facial expression changes to a more serious and concentrated look which shows that he has more control in the situation than previously. The camera movement next shown is a tracking movement as the camera follows the car this makes the audience feel like they are right in the action almost if they are ‘taking part’. Then there is a medium shot with the camera tracking the truck, as it smashes into the vegetable stand it creates a sense of danger. Then the car crashes into a yellow taxi, which creates a sense of disorientation which is complemented by the fact
	The camera angle is a close up on the man but a medium shot on the car, the close up allows you to see the facial expressions on the mans face, whilst watching the cars drive past which allows you to put yourself right in the action with the man. Whilst the car is moving they are using tracking shot which gives the audience a better view of the action so they can see more than they could in real life, upon impact the camera angle changes to a close up which emphasises the crash, which then shows a medium shot of a man running away from the cars, with the cars in the background coming towards the viewer highlights the sense of danger.
	This is a POV shot, which places you in the characters shoes. It allows you to visualise yourself more in this specific situation, with the car moving and the camera moving up and down, shows the car is moving at a speed, which signifies the sense of urgency. The close up on the mans face instantly shows that he is serious and focused as this is a important moment in the film.
	The camera angle is a low angle shot with the subject moving into the space, these in turn creates a sense that the car at first is coming towards you. Then you see the man driving the trucks facial expressions with a extreme close up which tells you that he is desperate to get away, he is scared. Then there is a medium shot of the police cars, which is effective because using a different shot for the truck, and police car’s creates a different feel about them.  Then you see another low camera angle which is looking up at all the vehicles but includes a stop sign on the ground, that creates a feel that these people feel they can go above the law, meaning they are characters of power. Then finally you see an over view of the long road, which suggests the chase is still on.
	Then you see the facial expression of the two characters, which shows the clash between them, however they both express urgency in their facial expression, the gritting of their teeth signifies this.

Phantom of the Opera Analysis

The opening of the Phantom of the Opera is film noir, with the characters being partially lit to create mystery in the scene. This gives a sense of secrecy between the characters and the set and entices the viewer to want to know more about the history behind the film. The characters remain partially lit until the chandelier is lifted to light up the entire set. The chandelier signifies the change from film noir into colour, this gives the feel like the history has been revealed and a burden has been lifted from the characters through the use of light.

 The use of dust and cobwebs throughout the set signifies the past as it gives the impression as if the set has been abandoned. This adds to the effect that the set is in disrepair with the use of debris. This gives the sense that destruction or disasters have happened here. This is parallel with the lighting as it shows a mystery between the set and characters and entices the viewer to find out more. With the use of props and lighting for effect it sets the baseline for what the viewers should expect to see in the following scene.

The costumes used for the actors during the entering of the building are made to give the characters a sophisticated look; this gives the idea of hierarchy between the different classes of people around the street. The majority of actors in the street are dressed in the “sophisticated” look which gives the audience the idea that this is a wealthy area and that the opera is for high class people. The “sophisticated” look is achieved by the use of high class suits and dresses; this is the general stereotype for high class people.

The use of red and gold in the theatre has the conventions of power and fame and gives the set an important feel. The use of gold could symbolise the class of people who would attend the theatre, of which gives the viewer the idea of what the high class people of that era liked to do as activities. The use of red could symbolise importance, for instance the seats are red and could represent a modern VIP feel like a red carpet at theatres for celebrities. The colour red could also be interpreted as blood, which links in to the use of debris earlier on and show the fact that a disaster could have occurred and still lives in the history of the theatre.

The use of narrow shots through the set behind the stage, alongside the volume of actors gives the viewer the feel of hustle and bustle. This helps to explain the rush for everyone to get ready for the performance, and how important the play is to the actors.

Overall mise en scene plays an important role in the film, by using different techniques such as specific camera shots, colours, costumes, props etc. These different techniques help to tell the story of the film and help give the audience an authentic feel into the life of the characters in this time period.

Editing

Over the past week we have been working on analytically selecting the clips for our opening sequence. From this we then developed a hierarchy for the work to be completed, this is ; 1. Sequence, 2. Monologue, 3. Credits, 4. Soundtrack, 5. Logo. In my opinion I feel that we are making sufficient progress on the opening sequence and we are overcoming the problems that we find with some of our shots. Overall I feel that the sequence should be completed by the end of next week.

Filming Day 2

Due to our previous piece of filming being unusable (because the shots were too dark due to filming at night for the desired effect of mystery and darkness) we had to shoot the majority of shots again. This took place on Saturday the 19th which we spent the day shooting our previous shots as well as new ones to help us pick the right shot when editing. The day went well with good idea discussion helping us to further improve our opening sequence through the use of different angled shots and completely new ideas that can be incorporated through the use of editing (such as a slow motion shot of a cup dropping with the use of a green screen to add a black background).