Film Producers & Distributors

In this task I have looked at many different major and minor film producers and distributors in order to be able to discuss who I would want to distribute my coming of age film. The research I have gathered can be seen in this Prezi below:



Learning Comment:

From this piece of research I have learned the difference between major and minor film institutions. I now know that companies like Universal are more likely to distribute films with high budgets such as Avatar because they have funding from companies like the uk film council, and therefore they can afford to hire more well known actors. Blockbuster companies commonly have subsidiaries to their companies so that they have smaller independent companies to release films of a smaller genre/sub-genre in case they are not popular with the target audience and flop in the cinema upon release. 

Some of the common companies that are well known for producing coming of age films are Mr Mudd and Film4. These are art house broadcasting companies that are known for creating coming of age film and television, such as Submarine. These are the types of companies we should use when producing and distributing our film opening sequences. These are recognisable institutions for people who enjoy watching coming of age films, so by using companies that are associated with the genre, we will thereby increase the likelihood of attracting and engaging a large target audience, primarily in audience demographic E.   

Conventions of an Opening Sequence

Sixteen Candles 



Here is an example of work done by Ella Henley:

 

Here is another powerpoint done by a member of my media class, Freya Vincent:

 

  Learning Comment:

After viewing my previous learning comments,  I now know that not only do film opening sequences use specific codes and conventions depending on the genre of the movie, but also that different directors use specific conventions as a signature in their own opening titles', for example there are many similarities between the John Hughes' directed films, Sixteen Candles and Ferris Beuller's Day Off, such as the use of family to set the scene in the first two minutes of the film. 
The use of mise en scene in these opening sequences is subtle but very effective because it is partly what helps the target audience identify with the film. For example in the Sixteen Candles opening sequence, they use the body language of the protagonist to show that she's a very insecure teenager and this was felt by a lot of young people at the time therefore making the film a lot more relatable to the target audience; it helped to identify the film as having a coming of age genre and also helped to engage their interest in the film too. 
The way that the credits were edited between the opening introduction scene and the start of the actual film was good because it set up the perfect start to the narrative. The dialogue used was effective too because after the first two minutes, the audience already knew what the film was going to be about and therefore could decide whether the film was engaging for them or not.

History of Coming of Age Films

In my second task, I researched into the history of some famous coming of age films with an audience of teenagers between 13-19 years old. To present this I made a timeline of the films by release, which you can see below: -  




Learning comment:

In the past, coming of age films have had inspirational opening sequences that engage the target audience demographic with ease. The majority of coming of age films have a target audience of teenagers between 13 and 19 years of age. This is because the term "coming of age" means the progression from your teenage years up to young adulthood, which implies that films of this genre will be relatable for people in audience demographic E, more than others.  It is evident from the parts of narrative given away in the opening sequences that these films will be of the coming of age genre, because the protagonist in all of the films I have looked at has been a teenager. When it comes to making my opening sequence, the main character I will use will be of a similar age to myself, as this seems to be a big convention in these movies.
I have also learnt that famous directors of this genre include John Hughes and Jason Reitman. Therefore when styling my opening sequence, I will aim to use as many conventions of their openings titles as possible.

Famous Opening Sequences

In this task, I had to do research into ten different famous opening sequences. In the photographs below you can see the outcomes of my research and the video links to the clips I have analysed: - 

Learning comment:

In this task I have learnt about the structure of an opening sequence. I now know that when composing an opening title sequence, the text on the screen must reflect the genre of film I intend to make. The typography is important because the colour and style of the font you use can give important connotations and give you an insight into the narrative of the film. 
I have found that a convention of opening titles is non-diegetic sounds like music and sound effects. For example, gun shots and fast-paced music are conventions of action films, and are often added in order to intensify and emphasise the notion of danger and to reveal some small parts of the narrative. Most opening sequences do give away parts of the narrative in order to give the audience an idea of what the film is about, but not too much away that the story becomes predictable. 
The opening that I liked the most from this task was Ferris Bueller's Day Off because it was entertaining, had a clear audience targeted and showed me enough of the film to know it was going to be fun and enjoyable to watch. However the opening sequence to The Shining by Stephen King was also very interesting because of the contrapuntal sound which left me wanting to know more and gave a foreboding atmosphere to the whole sequence.