Kyle Cooper

Kyle cooper presentation from Nicolavickery

Journal 26/11/12 production company research

List of production companies
- 20th century fox
- Universal pictures
- disney/pixar
- dark castle
- twisted pictures
- raw nerve
- Happy Madison
- lionsgate
- warner bros
- spy glass
- paramount
- lake shore
- sony
- MGM
- dreamworks
- columbia pictures
- touchstone pictures
- newline cinema
- miramax

What is a film studio?  film studio is a company that produces and/or distributes motion picture.

6 main studios operating today (the big six)
- Walt disney
- paramount
- universal pictures
- warner bros
- sony/columbia
- 20th centuary fox

How does it work?
A film is produced by the producer who provides money to a distributor in order to distribute the made film. Money is then given to the cinema's to screen the film, and once this has happened to customer pay to see the film. All the money through these steps return to the producer first as they are the first paid, then a small share of the money goes to the distributors and the cinema.

What is the role of a distributor?
The distribution company is in charge of getting the film out to audiences, this involves organising regulation bodies, such as the BBFC and MPAA; arranging exhibition outlets globally and DVD; television rights; arranging for prints of the film; and marketing, publicity and promotion of the film.

2 factors to consider when choosing a production company
- think about how much will the film cost?
- what genre is the film?

Our film is a hit blockbuster therefore we decided to go for a mainstream and one of the big six production companies to ensure the film gets distributed as globally as possible due to the potential it has to succeed. In the end we went with universal studios due to it specialising in distributing family comedies, thus it fits our film profiling.

Film studio research task

Film Studio research task on Prezi

Fight sequence

We was set a task to create a fight sequence, however once created the sound was muted so foley sound could be added to create a certain effect on the viewer and add realism to what was being presented visually. I whole point of this task was to gain some experience with foley sound which would be beneficial to the title sequence in which needs to created.

In order to actual create the sequence the group when through a planning stage which consisted of brainstorming, scripting the piece and then storyboarding which allowed the written script to be represented visually. After which we began film and paid close attention to the camera shots and angles in order to have the right effect created, for example we used an extreme close up of an from a high angle to show both fear and vulnerability.

Once the sequence was created we needed to add foley sound, to do this we first planned what we needed to add and this was done simply by watching the sequence and noted down everything in need of sound. This included:
- Mobile phone beep
- Slow footsteps
- shopping bag rustle
- Door creek
- Heavy footsteps
- Loud bang
- slap
- grunt
- walking stick taps
- Umbrella slam
- sliding umbrella
-cracking skull
- dragging on floor
- Kick
- crack of bone
- Police sirens

It was then time to start recording the sounds. We started off with a walnut shell which will split in half to have a more echo'd effect, we tapped this on a table top the same pace in which the umbrella would tap against the floor thus allowing it to be in sync. I found this difficult as I thought it was hard to get a sense of the rhythm through visuals.

Another sound we got was for the slaps and to do this we took two pieces of meat and slammed them together thus mimicking a slap noise.We overlapped the slap noise with the breaking of a carrot which sounded like a bone breaking; we did this to get a stronger effect as it added realism when the sounds were overlapped.

To create the sound of the actors falling to the floor we combined a dropping of a walnut with the dropping of a pack of paper to give the contrast of lightness and heaviness. This worked well for effect as not all the body weight would be hitting the floor simultaneously so by combing a heavy sound with a light one make the fall sound both realistic and accurate. To give even more of impact we took the surface of the floor into consideration as the floor was hard and created an echo which we wanted to come across in our video. With this in mind we added an effect on final cut pro named reverb which gave allowed the sound to be gradually echoed as it would if there was a genuine fall.

After making this video I had more knowledge of using the final cut pro software, which is strongly needed due to it being the programme in which my group will be creating our title sequences. I also had an entire now insight of foley sound and how it works and is used for both effect and emphasis on key objects or areas. The task also allowed my group to think about which items make specific noises and which we would like to include in our title sequence, for example there will be lots of comedic slip up's therefore meat would be good for resembling falls or fights.

Mr teddy pitch video

Mr teddy pitch presentation

Call me mr teddy presentation from Nicolavickery

Saul Bass presentation

Saul bass presentation from Nicolavickery

Journal 5/11/12 Genre

Genre

How are we able to tell that 'the game' is a thriller? 

Setting: Big house, 1960's-1970's, country, set at a birthday party.

Themes: Love, psychological, loneliness, family, father figure, friendship, identity,childhood, and age

Style: 

- Shattering jigsaw relates to title the game. Jigsaw look mysterious and could represent n unclear personality or something unexpected happening like the breaking of normality.

- Orange creeping over images could resemble fire

- Old film reel shows looking back and gives an impression of character being nostalgic. Hints character regrets something in the past

- Breaks out of the past by splashing water on face, still affecting character and gives a sense of passed time

Narrative: A man possibly suffering from a psychological illness wanting to discover who he is or change his life resulting in him playing a game which will test him in his life. However, the game has consequences on the mind and he starts to question his sanity and actions.

Iconography: 

- Boy in black(connotes evil) pushing child into pool suggests he is sinister.

- Child in white(connotes innocence) possible victim? 

- Child being left alone, father merging into darkness gives a sense of isolation. Creates enigma why is he being left alone? 

Key indicators of genre:

- Dark lighting

- jigsaw puzzle (psychological thriller)

- Child being left

- Colours (mainly black and white)

- Orange on the film reel 

- Pushing child in pool 

- splashing water over face

- Linked events birthday then and birthday now

Our films genre - action/comedy/spy
Indicators and codes and conventions of genre
- hero
- explosions
- prize
- black tuxedo
- advanced technology
- computers
- high tech weapons
- villain
- fast cars
- a watch
- running
- idiotic moments from hero
- jokes in dialogue
- woman with sex appeal
- gadgets
- instructor/boss
- a crime
- guns
- CGI
- a city location
- shocked public
- ID badges
- money
- briefcase
- hidden spy facility
- high budget place such as a hotel
- a happy ending

Pitch feedback sheets

After pitching our ideas to the class they were asking to fill in  a simple feedback sheet, these are our results. I am rather satisfied with the feedback in which we have received despite the negatives which we have taken into consideration for improvement.

 One negative we received was the budget, however we did a large amount of research into the statistics of film budgets of the same genre and with the famous Hollywood stars playing the lead roles in our film being taken into consideration it is clear that our budget is rather accurate to a legit production. Therefore we felt no need to raise or lower our budget  as it is as accurate as it can be according to our research.

A second negative was the casting, as there are two comedic actors playing the lead role. however, we wanted our film to have a strong humorous style to it one similar to dumb and dumber therefore we over looked this point as we felt it wasn't applicable. 

The last negative feedback we received was on the contents of the film as it seems rather cliché, however the group doesn't see this to be a problem as we wanted to take the classic humorous style found in films of the same genre and revolutionise it and by this I mean make it modern with a unique selling point. The unique selling point for our film is the cast, as not only does it feature multiple comedic actors for the main roles but also combines actors from separate action comedies and allows them to come together into one thus giving our film a unique twist.  

The positives however were strongly appreciated as they reflected the amount of effort we had put into the planning of our production for example the target audience which we narrowed down thoroughly  For example we included traits of our target audience to give a clear insight of the target audience to the class so the whole concept of the film would seem more realistic.

The name was a popular positive comment which is very pleasing as this was one of the groups favourite aspects of the film and it generally suits the film perfectly as it allows both the spy theme of the film to be unleashed along with the comedy genre. 

Journal 19/11/12 Sound design

Sound design

What is sound design?
Sound design is the creation and layering of dialogue, background noise and other sound effects to create a sophisticated aural environment.

What does it consist of?
- Foley sound
- Pleonastic sound
- non-diegetic sound
- Diegetic sound
- Dialogue
- sound effects

What constitutes good sound design?
- Sound altered for audience to hear so they recognise the importance.
- Having the right ambient sound
- Having sound suit the situation

What are the three main sound styles?
Realism: All sounds are natural and sound realistic for the viewer.
Hyper-realism: The exaggeration of sounds
unrealism/surrealism: Adding sound which wouldn't normally be heard, unrealistically

Four main things
Dialogue track: The dialogue recorded separately
Wild track: Audio which is recorded but not synchronized with the video footage. (sets mood and keeps background noise consistent)
Foley track: Using additional sound to act like things are happening
Soundtrack: Adding of music

Analysing title sequences - Johnny English reborn

Jonny English reborn title sequence analysis









Johnny English Reborn - Main Title Sequence from Fugitive Studios on Vimeo.
This is the opening title sequence for Johnny English reborn, this was our groups chosen sequence to analysis due to it being of the same genre of the film we are creating and also consists of all the codes and conventions of our genre for example the introduction of the protagonist who is represented in a comedic way and explosions etc.

The title sequence opens with an editing technique of split screening, which gives a sense of the protagonist’s lifestyle consisting of multiple events occurring at the same time, this effect remains consistent throughout most of the sequence. This gives an impression of the protagonist being organised, which meets the standards of the expectancies of a spy in a film of the action genre.

The font used replicates computer fonts, which is a key aspect to any spy film. The font gives a sense of the viewer having approved access into the characters life, a response is created by the audience by this as it creates an effect of being able to follow the character. The fact only the last name of the character is being portrayed gives a sense of mystery and shows the character has some authority which creates an enigma for the audience as they are intrigued to discover who he is. The fact the font is being displayed alongside an image of the Earth revels he is on a plane, thus the theme of traveling can be clearly identified.  The image of the Earth is holographic, which indicates to the audience that futuristic machinery will feature as iconography in the film, which is expected for a spy film thus the genre is indicated to the audience well through visual effects. The earth has a line which rushing up and down it creates an effect of scanning which portrays the character is hard to locate without professional expertise. This sets a stereotypical character profile for a spy as already in the title sequence alone the audience are getting a sense of the protagonist being unknown.

The protagonist can be seen casually walking out of a mass of explosions in slow motion; this slow motion effect is commonly seen in spy films due to making the character appear attractive and powerful to the viewer whilst appearing unbeatable and looking although he should be feared by villains. The way the character is walking indicates to the audience he has caused this explosion to happen and even though he is wearing black it is clear to see he is a good character as a sense of trust is created as he is causing destruction a good reason. Explosions, or CGI are a key code and convention for any action film, thus the film is also working to fulfil the audience’s expectations whilst allowing impression on the character to be created.

Another reason the audience are aware that this character is not an antagonist is from the use of upbeat music, with a positive feel to it. This music remains to have a positive effect throughout the whole sequence which creates an effect of the film ending in restoration. This also indicates a younger audience as the exuberant tone of the music is strongly suitable for a child. The music has a rather fast tempo which works in sync with the pace of the action being portrayed; this allows confirmation on the genre to be action/spy.

The character is dressed in a black tuxedo which shows he takes pride in his appearance but also reveals the film is set in the present in a formal and wealthier area. The colour black connotes mystery which creates an enigma for the audience as they constantly want to know more about this man. The costume choice of a tuxedo is an expectation for any spy film as it has become a large aspect of the protagonist’s appearance, for example James Bond wears almost identical attire.

The location of the film is revealed to be London, which suitable and expected for the film considering it is titled ‘Johnny English’. A city is considered a key element for most spy films thus by having London as the setting creates satisfaction for the viewer. The fact the location is reviewed on a holographic images which resembles a computer monitor, portrays that the journey is tracked revealed how well prepared the characters are in the film.

A close up shot is used to reveal the weapon of the character, the fact the gun is small creates an enigma for the audience as they question whether or not the character is small minded. The use of this prop indicates a humorous element to the film revealing comedy as a theme or a sub-genre. This duplicates the weapon of the famous spy Austin powers, who is known for humour so by interferencing Austin Powers it is immediately known to the audience that there will be a consistent amount of comedy throughout the film.

The typography used for the actors names is coloured a light silver, almost white, which resembles weapons and looks like a blade with light reflecting off of the blade. The fact the font is in italics could represent the character as being not as surgically presented as others as the slanted effect creates a sense of imperfection. The font exit’s the frame exceedingly fast, which suits the genre of the film as fast paced action is expected thus this is being representing through the font.

The whole sequence relies on fast cut editing and split screens which make it difficult for the viewer to focus on everything that is occurring due to so much happening all at once. This suggests the story for the film will be presented at a fast pace, which is a general expectation for a film of the action genre.

A faded image of a gas meter is overlapping the image of the protagonist’s gun, this could resemble to speed in which the character can kill or also that no one can escape him, whilst revealing to the audience that fast cars are to be expected.

The holographic effect is used again to show a weapon, which is rotated to show off it appearance to the audience, this shows the props used in the film will be futuristic and sophisticated designs which are an important part of spy films, as gadgets always created excitement for the audience.

The viewing of a plane disappearing into the black smoke of an explosion can be seen which creates a sense of villains needing to be hunted down, which results in an enigma for the audience as they want to know who the villains actually are. However, this could also show the hero having a quick escape and being able to escape any situation and become invisible to the enemy thus why the plane is vanishing into the smoke.

A close up is used to finally reveal the identity of the character, who is seen to be blowing red smoke from the barrel of his gun. The red smoke connotes danger and death which indicates to the audience that this character is used to killing, and is a dangerous person to be going against. It also reveals he always wins thus the film is expected to be a stereotypical spy film where the hero always claims victory, which is identified as yet another theme.

The character is then positioned with his back towards the camera and a poker chip can be seen in the foreground about to cross over the character. The use of a poker chip suggests a theme of gambling which portrays that money will come into the story at some point. The fact the character turns round fast and shoots the chip reveals he is always alert and always hits his target. The section of the sequence is an interference to casino royale, however it appears to have a more comical aspect making it appear almost like a spoof which informs the viewer that the character is likely to be more idiotic than he is being presented. As the chip is shot through, it comes spinning towards the audience almost like a warning to show it would be a mistake to try and harm this character. The character still remains to be seen through the hole in the chip which intrigues the audience to look as they are somewhat impressed by what he is capable of. The fact the chip is destroyed reveals to the audience the character is eliminating all bad deeds; to keep the world out it should be, out of harm.

A target is shown multiple times throughout the sequence which indicates the finding of villains and that the character is always aware of his next step and no one can hide from him. An image then overlaps this shot which consist of the protagonist’s hand holding his gun being duplicated many times which reveals even if the character is working independently the outcome is of the standard of a whole team of people working together.

A silhouette of woman is portrayed in the background of a shot, the fact the silhouette is black makes her appear mysterious which intrigues the audience as they want her identity to be revealed. The entrance of a woman allows assumptions to be made about the narrative as it reveals a possible love interest will enter the protagonist’s life. The woman’s body features are being emphasised as she is dancing to show off her femininity, which suits the role of the typical femme fatale character that is a convention to spy films. This reveals the film will appeal to a male audience as male gaze comes across strongly due to the amount of emphasis on this section of the sequence which doesn’t cut to a different clip as fast as the others; this is to draw attention and show her significance as a character. By the viewing of a woman a theme or sub-genre of romance can be identified which is expected for any film of the action/spy genre.

In the next shot he woman appears to have multiplied, this could represent her having many personalities or it being unclear who she really is. The fact she is now dancing in flames suggests to the audience the character is possibly evil and an enigma is created as the audience wonder is a theme of betrayal is present.As the sequence starts to come to an end the split screen is no longer in use, by showing single shots creates more of a significance to what the audience is viewing and it stresses the importance these objects will have to the story line as a whole.

The audience are then again informed on the location of the film being London, which allows an enigma to be created as to why this specific location is of such importance. The camera then pans into the hologram of the earth and enters London, where car are is being followed through the use of an Ariel shot which allows the audience to become part of the action from another characters perspective. A taxi is in view with a target on it, the taxi is black which has negative connotations thus is suggests to the audience that a villain in the vehicle and as it is being targeted this adds to the assumption. Being transported by taxi often consists of the driver and the passenger being strangers which could suggest a possible kidnapping becoming part of the narrative as it appears to be targeted therefore the audience question its importance.

The audience is then taken into the taxi where they are face to face with the protagonist; this creates a sense of humour as it is expected for a villain to be seated in the car when in actual fact it is the hero which makes him seem comical and lacking intelligence. The way the character is seated also adds to the humour as he is sitting crossed legged on the seat which makes him appear childish and contrasts with how powerful he was being portrayed before.

Analysing existing title sequences - The pink panther

Pink panther title sequence
I decided to analyse the title sequence for the pink panther as is has a similar storyline and the same genre as the film my group is creating a title sequence for. I figured this would help inspire us and give us a rough idea of what to include and what not to when creating our own.

‘The art of film title design throughout cinema history.’ article - Homework

‘The art of film title design throughout cinema history.’

This article is a detailed description of film titles and how they have changed and developed through history. The article goes into detail on the silent era of films, I found it interesting that films used white font on a black background simply for appearance, as I thought there would be a bigger concern of making the titles relate to the film’s story structure.

I find the inter titles from the film ‘the new janitor’ to be interesting as the genre can’t be identified through the font style or the use of colour, which is unusual as in modern day cinema titles and fonts play a big role in communicating a theme or genre to the audience. I also find the layout to be interesting due to it taking the form of a book, and strongly resemble a fairy tale. This appears to be unusual for a film to consist of titles, as film takes a visual form, thus I found this to be interesting as it portrays just how drastically film has developed over the years. Also, the fact a comedy and a western have been placed side by side allows a comparison to be made. This comparison is one of similarity, which is peculiar as the genres of the films differ widely yet how they are being portrayed on screen looks almost identical due to the same colour choice and similar font. This intriguing as it shows just how difficult it must have been for an audience to identify genres through the titles of silent films.

I found it appealing to see how much of a different a simple change in font made to a film title, for example Nosferatu. The font used for the later restored version has a far more dramatic impact on the film and actually entitles an audience to create an impression due to the use of visually.

I think the ‘Humorous phases of funny faces’ is a rather outstanding animation, as although it is simple it appears way beyond the time of 1906 due to it looking so visually creative. I find this to be impressive due to the fact it is obvious to see how later animations had been inspired by the concept and have improved It through the development of technology. Another reason I am intrigued by this animation is because of the time it was produced, from watching it I can understand the shocking effect it must have had on an audience as it is such a detailed animation, with a realistic effect to it caused by the detail gone into the drawings. I also admire that the genre can be identified, as from the title the word ‘funny’ suggest it is humorous, and the entertaining comical actions which occur in the film secure the genre and being comedy.

I found the similarities between monsters inc and the man with the golden arm to be shocking due to the resemblance in both visuals and audio. It also just goes to show how inspiring a film title discovery can be and how much it can affect a newer sequence. I like how Susan Bradley anticipated the effects conceived by Fischinger as it portrays just how far an idea will go and just how much effort will be put into an idea until it is perfected, or modernised to suit a new range of audience and their expectations.

I found the Dr no title sequence to be effective due to the signature gun barrel shot being so identically filmed to the shots we see in the recent bond films and also how the shot has always remained the same even after fifty years of bond films being developed.

Finally, I found it interesting to see how title sequences have changed throughout the years to suit social trends, and fit into fashion movements. This portrays the dedication in adapting title sequences and developing them further to suit the time era the film is set it. I also like how the introduction of typography resulted in signature fonts for many different films as still to this day those films are easily identified just through the typography, which portrays just how much of an impact typography was and still is on film titles.

Kiss kiss bang bang title sequence analysis

This sequence opens with a pan across a city at a low angle, which instantly indicates to the audience the location of the film, which appears to be New York due to the tall buildings and apartment building staircases. The fact the camera is placed at ground level gives an impression of a human running. As the camera moves across the setting lights are seen to be turning on in the apartment windows, which reveals attention, or possibly suspicious in being raised among society, which creates an enigma for the audience, as they are intrigued to find out what is causing this reaction. The city appears to have a slightly urban feel to it due to the showing of staircases linked to low budget apartments. This gives a sense of the film taking place is a slightly more run down area of New York such as Brooklyn.

The whole sequence is portrayed in cartoon graphics, which give a comical effect to the opening, and indicates a Film noire, murder mystery genre to the film. This added with the lack of colour resembles the discolouration on the pages of stereotypical crime novels.

The non- diegetic music added to the scene is a classic film noire based piece of music. It is a mixture of low and high tones which creates a sense of mystery. An increase in sounds at certain points is to create tension or possibly show an increase in enthusiasm in the crimes case. The music is used to resemble the development of the story and how the crime comes together  thus the confusing mixture of volume, tempo and instruments as the case in itself isn't simple therefore the music shouldn't be either. The use of this music sets high expectations of the film as it is expected to meet the standards of the classic film noire genre, which is popular in cinema. The effect caused by music is mysterious, and gives a sense of someone hiding in the shadows. This is an intentional effect given to the receiver as it suits the storyline and indicates themes of crime, detective passion, and undercover. Which all work simultaneously together to deliver the genre of the film to the audience. 

The sketchy outlines of certain features in the scene give the whole sequence a drawing effect which indicates to the audience it is going to be a very cliché crime story much like one found in books. However the fact that aspects of the scene are being drawn shows the start of a new story and the progression of the case as it starts to from together into it’s own original story.

A long shot is used to reveal a character climbing over a wire fence. The fact the shot is far away makes the character seem more obscure, which creates an impression of the character being mysterious and slightly unknown as he is going through to a place unnoticed.  The use of a long shot indicates the action genre as they are frequently used in this genre to reveal locations and capture elements that are occurring in the background for example an explosion. The fact the character is portrayed in black adds to the mystery theory, it also makes him appear to be in the dark which reveals he doesn't have a clear mind on what is actually happening in the story.

The wire fence show a crossing of lines, and also gives a sense of breaking and entering as it is clear the character is not meant to be entering this location due to him climbing in. This reveals information about the film as it show boundaries are going to be pushed which creates excitement for the audience as it makes them want to watch on due to being lured in by daring actions.

Bold red font then appears on screen, this writing is presented in upper case, which suggests bold heroic actions, which are going to stand out and make a difference. The fact the font is a bright red colour for one makes it eye-catching, but also connotes blood that again adds to the genre of the film as typical iconography of a crime or action genre is blood. This red also connotes passion and romance, which allows the audience to identify themes of the film simply through the choice of colour.

The music then has a high-pitched chime sound, which indicates to the audience the finding of clues, and creates an enigma for the audience as they are left in suspense and what to know of the discovery. The fact this has been placed after the character breaking into a location shows the significance of the place and also shows the chronological order of the film.

A pair of eyes then appears in the sky, which appears to be out of place in the scene and create confusion for the viewer. The fact the eyes are higher than the character gives a sense of the character being looked down upon by this person. It also gives an impression of this person being dead due to the look of sorrow in her eyes, and the fact she is in the sky, which intrudes the audience, as they want to find out who she is. From the presentation of the eye it is clear to see the woman is female due to the femininity caused from the long eyelashes. The depressed look in her eyes also gives a strong sense of her wanting to be discovered, or possibly what happened to her to finally be known to others. Also, the fact her eyes only are being presented reveals she is being forgotten about due to people lacking to discover her story.

As the title sequence is progressing, an actors name appears however unlike the other names this one gets pierced by bullets ,causing it to shatter and non-diegetic sound is added of a firing gun shot. This has an effect of confusion on the audience as it creates an enigma as to whether or not this character is going to die as the story progresses or even be shot. This could also have a more subtle deeper meaning and could be a simple representation of the deterioration of the character, as maybe they could be the one experiencing the loss of someone very dear to them.

The camera continues to follow this unknown character as they are seen running towards a spot light, this could could have a number of meanings depending on how deeply the light is looked into.The most basic meaning is a simple location change from New York to possibly Hollywood, as lights are symbolic objects of Hollywood due to their production of films. With this, it is clear to identify that the case will show a strong progression throughout the film as already, the character is moving away from the original starting point portraying only one thing, the character is one step closer to uncovering the truth. As the light is drawn in with black, which has negative connotations, this could show the character putting themselves in danger, thus running into a villains spotlight.

Once the character has entered what appears to be some sort of film set, a mess of plants is seen merging together, these plants are red so as they combine they appear to form a puddle of blood. This represents death, as plants are living things and then suddenly they are being transformed into blood. This creates an enigma for the audience as lots of representations of blood have been presented and they are intrigued  to find out whose blood it actually is, thus creating an aspect of excitement which leaves the viewer wanting to watch more. The order in which these plants appear, once place is entered, seems significant as it creates an effect on the audience due it appearing that once this place is entered bad events will occur leading to death.

The film's title then appears, the title in itself is yet another indicator of the themes of the films for example 'kiss' suggests a romantic undertone and 'bang' suggests action.The writing has a slight smudged effect to it causing it to resemble red lipstick, or possibly bleeding this gives a sense of the death of a woman in the film or could simply be a way of presenting a love in the film. The writing has then been placed onto a simple white background which connotes innocence and purity, by combing this with the red creates an effect on the audience as it resembles death of something innocent.

A silhouette of a woman is then shown, showing a certain woman is of great importance in the film. The fact this shot is placed after the name of the title appears could be suggesting this character is the one who dies. However this hypothesis is juxtaposed with the fact she is holding a gun, creating an impression she is simply out for revenge and because of this the audience now know this character has/had a strong relationship with the victim. The posture of the woman is a very sexual one, as she is standing strong with her legs slightly spread, which emphasis her curves. This reveals that the film is aimed at the male gender as already evidence of the male gaze is being shown in the opening sequence.

A close up shot of a gun is used, this adds to the genre of the film as close up shots of guns are commonly used in film noire to simply create tension for the audience as they are unaware as to whether or not the character will take the life of someone else, especially if it's the hero pointing the gun. Suddenly swirls emerge from the barrel of the gun, with juxtaposes with guns representing violence as the swirls appear to be rather flattering to the eye. The use of this technique appears to be an interference to the opening sequence of Casino Royale as the same swirls also appear from a gun, which convey a message to the audience that this film will contain similar qualities. The swirls then bloom into flowers, which grow tall and fill the screen, this shows a progression in the case and all the clues finally coming together to form something beautiful or natural, due to the flowers, which is most likely to be the truth being revealed. However this truth may not be as beautiful as it is being mad out to be as the flowers suddenly turn red and the tempo of the music excelerates.

What appears to be a cinema or a club is then shown in the background of a shot, and in the window the woman can be seen once again, this conveys to the audience that this character is likely to take matters into her own hands and go undercover. In the foreground of the shot is a chalk outline of a body, which could reveal possibly the death of the female character or as it has been placed after t close up of the gun could be a way of portraying the audience that an action will lead to death.

A long shot is then used to reveal a party scene occurring in the distance this is clearly identified through the bright lighting and substantial number of people present in the single location, also they are holding glasses designed for alcoholic beverages which is a cliché form of iconography found at a party.This scene is seen through the trees which shows the audience are being shown the scene through what appears to be the perspective of the protagonist, the same person the camera has been following throughout the whole sequence, thus the perspective changes from third person to first person creating an effect of the viewer getting closer or becoming one with the protagonist.This also allows the viewer to become part of the story as they are viewing the scene as the protagonist is, giving a sense of realism to what is being shown. The way this has been filmed creates a sense of spying, or eavesdropping as the location is being watched, which leaves the audience questioning as to who is actually looking, as it isn't fully clear that it is being shown from the protagonists view.  The trees bordered around the building are constructed from basic shapes and the use of the simple colours black and white create a visual illusion of them forming into the shapes of skulls. By the tree's forming skulls allows the audience to identify that evil is present at this location whether it be a person or a sinister event.

Until this point the opening has been a continuous sequence with the camera speeding up to hurry the viewers attention, this technique is then broken at this point as the camera cuts to inside the party. As this has yet to happen at any other point and this is the first location the audience are taken into it has a strong significance as portrays that an important event of the story takes place here which creates an enigma for the audience as they desire to know what is going to happen here. Inside the camera remains slightly lower than an eye level shot which gives an impression or blending in or being unnoticed which is a strong element of film noire, being unnoticed. This film noire genre is then also again identifiable through the costume choice of fancy evening gowns and tuxedo's which are stereotypical film noire iconography. This also makes the style of the film, film noire also due to the clothing choices and crime book effect used throughout.

A woman is then shown being pushed off of a balcony, which reveals she is going to die and clarifies the victim is a woman for earlier hypothesis. A non-diegetic sound of a push has been added at this point however it is rather subtle which reveals this push was unnoticed and the person who did it is a rather sly character. This represents women as being weak as the character is being pushed off a balcony at a busy party scene which shows her to be rather careless and vulnerable. The camera follows the character as she falls using tilt down cinematography, however this tilt is very slow movement and actually appears relaxing and emphasis that she is falling slowly. The fact she is moving slowly, conveys to the audience that she needs to be saved and that time is running out for the hero to save her, thus making her a typical damsel in distress a key aspect to any murder mystery. However this falling could simply be a metaphor for the character being in trouble and falling into a pit of danger and needed to be rescued, this impression is created due to the character falling in front of the moon and changing colour which makes her appear mysterious and that she has got herself into trouble rather than her falling to her death.

The female character then hits the floor, and the volume of the music increases to emphasis how hard she hit the floor. This gives more clarification that the death is of a woman and again acts as evidence for women being shown as weak in this film. Lines cross over her and have been edited to cross over her at a fast pace, showing the quick discovery of the body, these lines simply represent crime scene tape.

The audience are then taken back to New York where the opening originally began, and the cinematography follows the original pattern of using crap camera movement to reveal the location. This indicates to the audience that the answer to the case was right in front of the characters and they possibly followed a false lead causing them to go off of the case leaving the trail cold. This allows the audience to identify information on the characters and that they have strong determination.

A car quickly rushes past the camera, blocking the view, this car is black which connotes it was an enemy. Foley sound is used to great a wind sound to show the speed, this car could be used to represent the character being distracted as it distracts the audience from seeing the location. It could also be a way of mocking the protagonist due to the character going astray from the case, and the car driving past is a way of showing his obliviousness. The sound of the scale of piano key being played from high to low at an intense speed is used, the fact this going from high to low shows the story going from good to bad, which adds to the characters falling astray.

Book pages are then pasted onto the screen, which appears to being fragments from crime novels due to blood splatters falling on the pages which would look more horror based however the music works alongside the visuals to reveal it isn't horror. At this point the music calms down slightly and consists of mainly the backing music used as an undertone of the more dramatic track played on top. This conveys a sense of everything falling back into place, this could possibly be from the help of a book guiding he character in the right direction. The fact the help could be coming from a book rather than a character creates an enigma for the viewer as the question whether the protagonist is a fake hero, trying to be someone who only exists in fiction.

A lipstick mark has also been placed onto a page of the book creating a connection between the book and romance, which could show a form a romance within the book becoming a reality as the protagonist falls in love. This similarity between what the protagonist is doing, solving a crime, and the lipstick conveys a sense of foreshadowing  that the protagonist will get the girl. At the end of he sequence the books fall down which portrays they aren't going to be what fully helps the case become uncovered in the end and actually something else will reveal the truth as the characters aren't living in a fictional story.

Overall the sequence uses many techniques which only work together to provide information and allow enigma's to be created. The editing in the sequence is used to show the location and the following of a character. The comic book effect added which creates silhouettes of characters works to give the film a murder mystery style to it. The fact that a continuous long sequence is used up to the point where the audience is taken into a location allows the audience to identify significant locations. Also, towards the end of the scene the editing is faster cut, showing an increase in action. The cinematography is used to reveal certain themes to the audience, for example the fact the camera glides around freely creates a sense of mystery and almost makes the audience feel like they are blending into the shadows and going by unnoticed which is a deliberate intention due to this film being a film noire. The music is used to ensure the viewer that the film is action based as the constant use of blood representation is used which without the music could create a confusion for the audience as it would appear rather horror based. It is also used to show the progression of the story as it subliminally indicates certain things which will happen for example, the Foley sound of the car rushing past indicates a character being mislead. Towards the end of the sequence the music consists of a single note being held which sounds rather pleasing and revealing this alone, creates an effect of the story having a happy ending. The choice of colour is also by far an extremely important aspect to the sequence as it allows the viewer to create impressions on character due to the associations of colour. From this sequence it is clear to see the genre of the film is action and film noire with themes of romance and crime.