Planning: Casting

For my short biopic film trailer, I will need to find actors that fit the roles represented in my trailer about the story of an aspiring young footballer. Ideally, for my main actor, I would want to find someone who has a good level of footballing ability because there will be a lot of shots showing the young footballer playing youth matches and 5-a-side matches with his friends. Furthermore, there will be shots of him super imposed in real-life football stadiums such as Old Trafford, Santiago Bernabeu and Camp Nou, therefore, the actor would have to be quite skillfull and have decent footballing ability to make the trailer seem believable and realistic.  There will be need to between 3-4 more actors to show a close and strong bond between the main character and 3-4 other characters.

Due to the fact that I am filming the young footballer from when he is a young child to his late teenage years, I will need to have 2 actors for my main character role. The first actor will have to be aged between 7-10 as the first part of the trailer will show the main character as a child playing 5-a-side football with his childhood friends. However, I would have to get consent from the actors' parents and the actor himself in order for me to be able to film him for my biopic trailer. Ideally, the two actors playing the main character would have to look similar, despite being different ages, to make the biopic trailer seem believable and true to life. For the 2nd actor, they have be a male aged 16-18 as in the later part of the biopic trailer, he is coming through youth team football. I have thought that the actor best for this role would be Rossi Salvatore as I need someone athletic and skillfull to play the role of a young up-and-coming footballer. This will also be the part where he meets another young promising player coming through the youth system. He ends up befriending him and they also become teammates later on in the biopic. I feel like the target audience would be able to connect with and relate to the main character as he is a young male trying to be successful.

The 2nd actor that I will need for my biopic short film is also someone between the ages of 16-18. This is because I need them to play another young player coming through the youth system alongside my main character. They will also have to have good footballing ability but it is not essential as they are only the secondary character in the trailer. Furthermore, the other youth player/friend of the main character will only appear during the youth football part of the trailer and the later stages of the biopic trailer. This is because the main character first meets the secondary character when they are starting youth team football. Therefore, the main character will be playing with different kids, which are his childhood friends, when he is a young child as he hasn't yet met the secondary character. The actor will also have to be able to represent a strong friendship between him and the main character.

The 3rd actor that will be in my biopic short film will have to be a female aged between 17-18. This is because I need a teenage girl to play the love interest of the young aspiring footballer.

The 4th actor that will be in my biopic will have to be a male aged between 30-45. This is because I need an older person to play the youth team coach as they will be a character that gives the young players tough love and guidance through out the youth team football part of the trailer. This is up until the 2 main characters get offers to do trials for a Premier League club due to their excellent form with a youth team. He then wishes them good luck in the trials and gives them his goodbyes. I feel this would be an accurate but stereotypical representation of a youth team coach and it would allow teenage boys that have played for football  to be able to relate to what is being portrayed in my biopic.

The 5th actor in my biopic trailer will have to play the manager of the Premier League club that the 2 main characters will end up playing for. He will have to be a strong motivator and someone that inspires the players to work hard for their team and produce great performances that will help the whole team to succeed. He will appear in the later parts of the trailer when the main characters are playing at an elite level.

Other smaller parts such as the main character's childhood friends, youth team mates and team mates at the Premier League club will be played by anybody that can be available at the time. Extras such as the crowd at Premier League matches and real-life players will be super-imposed in the short biopic film. I feel like having real-life players would allow the audience to see some of their favourite footballers and making the short biopic film seem realistic.

Planning: Choosing Locations

In order for my biopic trailer to be as realistic and effective as possible, I will need to choose locations that best fit my narrative and seem believable in the case of my footballer biopic short film trailer.  For the early parts of the trailer, I will need to find football pitches in a rural environment to give the youth team football a grassroots and real feel.

One of the first locations I thought would be most suitable would be the playing fields just outside Kings Sutton. This is because it has a full size football pitch and goals with nets. However, I may have to ask permission to use the football field from the local football club. I will also have to make sure that I conduct my filming at a time when the local team aren't playing. Therefore, timing my filming days will be crucial in order to use this location to film.

The second possible location that I could use for my biopic trailer could be Astrop Road playing fields in Middleton Cheney. There is a lot more green space and football pitches that I could film at rather than Kings Sutton. It may be easier to film in Middleton Cheney due to the amount of space I have, however, I may still have to get permission to film from the land owners or football club owners. I would still have to time my filming days because the local football club play there every Saturday or Sunday, therefore, it will be crucial for my project to be able to use one or two of these locations for my biopic.

The third possible location that I could use for my biopic could be the exterior of the Brackley Football Club Stadium, St James Park, which will be used for the part of the trailer displaying the main character's youth football career. However, I wouldn't be able to use the pitch to film my trailer as the pitch has to be done by the groundsman in preparation for club fixtures on certain weekdays and Saturdays or Sundays. I can film the exterior of the stadium as long as I can get written permission
from the club officials to film the stadium on non-matchdays so there are no members of the public that don't want to be filmed. I could also use the five-a-side pitch next to the ground to film parts of the trailer when the character is training as a youth player or when he is playing with his friends as a young boy. Despite that, I would still have to get permission from the pitch owners to film on their property for my biopic trailer.

Mood Board

  This a Mood Board displaying all of my initial ideas for my short film football biopic trailer following the journey of a young footballer on his path to glory and success on a European and World stage by competing in the Premier League, Champions League and World Cup.

Planning: Choosing an Idea

For my final A2 Media Studies project, I have chosen to do a trailer for a short biopic film following the story of a young footballer on his path to success in the Champions League, Premier League and at the World Cup for the English National Team. The piece will be called 'World at Your Feet'. I chose this Idea over the Hip-Hop and RnB music videos because I felt I could be much more creative with a short biopic film trailer as music videos tend to have stricter conventions that must be followed. With this idea, I have a lot more freedom with what I can do and furthermore, I can either follow certain conventions or I can choose to subvert them for dramatic effect

This will allow me to develop new skills that I may not have had knowledge of during last year's AS Coursework and it could also allow me to display my skills in a different type of genre that I have not had previous experience of exploring and using for a project. I feel doing a biopic would be more challenging than my other ideas because I have to find the perfect actor suitable for the role I want to portray and also the camerawork and editing I would have to do will be more complicated.

I also feel that the target audience I would have to cater for may be different to the target audiences of my music video ideas. This is because the audience for my biopic will most likely be male football fans and on the other hand people that like rap/hip-hop may not like football as much as the intended target market of my biopic trailer. Therefore, my intended target audience will be more likely to enjoy my biopic as they are fans of football and would be probably understand and connect with the story better. However, I could incorporate RnB beats to match the high intensity and tension of being a professional footballer. This could make the trailer appeal to people that enjoy RnB but aren't fans of football and could make them enjoy it. Finally, the trailer would be perfect for people that are both fans of football and RnB because it would combine their two of their favourite things.

My second best idea was to do a hip-hop/rap video aimed at teenagers aged between 15-18. However, I didn't really plan a narrative for this idea, therefore, it was a weaker idea than my biopic short film trailer which had a clear narrative. I also felt that I couldn't really come up with an original music video idea in the hip-hop/rap genre as I felt I would just be copying previous ideas that were original ideas. Furthermore, hip-hop videos are easier to film than biopics and I felt that I wanted to challenge myself rather than stick with a safe option that may not test my skills that much. 

Introduce Main Task

The brief that I chose for my final project from the OCR Specification is to create a trailer for a biopic short film, along with a promotional package consisting of two ancillary products. The two ancillary products will be a poster for the short film and a magazine cover featuring the film.

I decided to do a short film trailer because it would help me build on the skills I developed during the AS Coursework that I did last year when I created a short film with the help of a group. Having achieved a solid C grade in my coursework, I wanted to improve the knowledge and skills I learnt last year and develop new ideas and skills in a genre that I haven't previously done.

The genre of the film trailer will be a biopic following the story of a young footballer on his path to success all the way from playing youth team football to playing in the Champions League, Euros and the World Cup. This will be an interesting genre to do as there are a lot of key conventions that I can either follow or subvert.

The reason for choosing to do the film poster is due to the fact that I have worked on film posters earlier on in my education as this was part of my Year 7 Media Course at my previous school. Therefore, previous knowledge I had from that experience will help me produce a high quality poster to promote my short film trailer using similar or even more advanced software such as Adobe InDesign or Photoshop. The other reason being is that a lot of posters I've seen have attracted my attention and resulted in me watching the film it was promoting. Here is a poster promoting the film Goal, which is also a short biopic film following the story of a young footballer, that has helped me develop ideas for producing my poster. I also chose to do a magazine cover to promote the short film trailer because I've seen a lot of magazine covers that have promoted blockbuster films successfully. This is what I wish to do with my second ancillary product because I want to produce a high-quality and professional magazine cover that promotes my short film trailer effectively.

Main Task Planner

In order to know what I could do for each initial idea that I had, I had to plan each of my 3 ideas using the parameters of chosen genre, log-line, synopsis, representation and media language. The Main Task Planning Table has allowed me to organise my ideas and judge which one of my ideas is the strongest and best possible option for my final film.

Initial Ideas Video Pitch Evaluation

I felt that in my Initial Ideas Video Pitch, I gained some constructive feedback from a focus group on my initial ideas for my Final A2 Media Studies project and tips on how I could film my final project. The majority of the audience said that my music video ideas didn't have strong enough narratives for them to work out for my project. Therefore, they thought that my biopic idea about a footballer was definitely the best idea out of the 3 that I pitched.

One of the focus group proposed that I should do the biopic as a trailer rather than a short film. They felt that the trailer would be the most effective way of portraying the story and the main character that the story revolves around. A lot of the group recommended to do a lot of close up shots, first person shots and background breathing or heart beat noises while the footballer is taking a penalty. The group also recommended to do super impositions onto real-life football stadiums to make the biopic as believable and realistic as possible.

The focus group said that my first idea of a hip-hop/rap music video was too underdeveloped to be strong enough to be my final piece for my A2 project. They liked that my idea stuck to conventions of a rap video but they felt that the idea was too generic to be a developed idea. The main criticism was that it was underdeveloped and not good enough to be a final project.

They also said that my 2nd idea of a RnB music video was also underdeveloped and not good enough to be my final project. This is due to the fact that there isn't a clear narrative to my music video and this wouldn't help my music video be good enough on its own. Therefore, they chose my 3rd idea of a biopic short film trailer over my two music videos.

Finally, I learnt that there were advantages and disadvantages to every initial idea. However, the biopic emerged as the strongest idea and therefore, based on this feedback and constructive criticism, I have decided to do a biopic short film trailer for my final A2 Media Studies Project.

Initial Ideas Video Pitch

This a Video Pitch of the 3 Main Ideas for my A2 Media Studies Final Project which I also posted on my A2 Media Studies YouTube channel as well as my blog.

Initial Ideas PowerPoint

3 main pitches from knoxieman99

Genre-Specific Evaluation 3 - Goal! The Dream Begins

Camera

In this opening scene from Goal, there is a lot of effective camera shots used throughout to create an effect on the audience and reinforce the true meaning of the film. The key camera shots will be identified and evaluated as to what impact they have on the audience and what they try to suggest or what message they try to create

The opening scene begins with close up of a football being kicked up by a young boy instantly suggesting that the main narrative of the film is going to be about football. The first effective shot is a mid shot of the boy doing keep-ups with a football. This shot is effective because it shows a young boy dressed in casual clothing with broad smile on his face while playing football. It suggests that the boy is happy to be playing football because it is his passion and he enjoys doing it. Furthermore, this confirms our assumptions that the film is about football.

The second effective camera shot is a mid-shot of Santiago's dad opening the door and telling his son that they have to go. In this part of the scene his dad doesn't mention where the family is going but he does tell Santiago to pack his things and hurry up. This shot is quite significant because it shows a turning point in the film as the family are desperate to leave their homes and later on we find out where the family are going. A further reason for the significance of this shot is that the lighting is darker and more moody and pale blue in comparison to the previous shots which were colorful and vibrant signifying a happier mood at the time than the one in this particular shot. The fact that they have to leave suggests that there will be a change of scenery in the movie. 

The third and final effective camera shot in this opening scene is a wide shot of Santiago dropping his football while he and his family are trying to get across the US-Mexico border. This is significant because once he drops his football he instantly wants to go back and pick it up. However, his dad says they have to keep on going and that he will have to leave his football. This creates meaning because it shows that Santiago has to leave the happy memories he had in his home country Mexico and start a new life in the USA. Furthermore, the football was what brought him a lot of happy memories and the emotional attachment he had to that football had to be broken due to the important matter of crossing a border while trying to not get caught by US Border Patrol. 

Editing

In this opening scene from Goal! The Dream Begins, a lot of editing techniques are used effectively to create an effect on the audience and create meaning. Some of these are quite simple but they convey the true meaning of the film right at the start in the opening scene.

The first effective editing technique used in this opening scene is the use of slow motion when Santiago is playing football as a young child. This is effective because it highlights an important memory and moment in Santiago's life. The use of slow motion attracts the focus on this key event for the audience and helps them understand the importance of the main character's background. It also helps the audience understand his upbringing so they can understand the hard work that he had to do to become a professional footballer.

The next effective use of editing in this scene is when a shot-reverse-shot is used to show Santiago's dad looking at his son while he packs his possessions into a bag. This is significant because it shows his dad telling him to hurry up suggesting that they have to be where ever they are going really quickly. It also suggests that Santiago and his dad have quite a strong relationship despite his dad having to force him to leave the house.

The final effective use of editing in this scene is when a shot of Santiago running after he drops his football fades to black. This is significant because it signals an end to his old life in Mexico and also shows that he has to leave his childhood behind, even if it means that he has to leave his football behind. It also shows that Santiago had to make a big decision to leave behind what was his prize possession. Furthermore, the fade to black also indicates that the scene has ended and that a transition to a new scene will occur.

Sound

In this opening scene from the film Goal! The Dream Begins, sound is used effectively and in a number of different ways. In this part of the essay, a few of the best uses of sound in this scene will be analysed. Both non-diegetic and diegetic sound is effectively used throughout the opening scene of the film.

The first effective use of sound in this opening scene is at the beginning of it when Mexican folk guitar music is playing while Santiago is playing football as a young child. This is significant because it suggests that the first part of the scene is set in a Latin American country due to the style of music being played as non-diegetic sound. It also suggests that Santiago's childhood was quite a happy period as the music that is playing sounds cheerful and while this is playing Santiago is playing football with his friends suggesting that it makes him happy and cheerful reflected through the upbeat Mexican string music.

The second effective use of sound in this opening scene is when diegetic sound of Santiago's dad telling his son that they have to leave immediately. This is significant because it tells us that the family are desperate to leave wherever they were previously living. It could also suggest that wherever they have to get to they have to get there quickly otherwise they wouldn't be able to make it in time. Overall, this one of the most effective uses of sound in this opening scene because it moves the location of the story to the USA where most of the beginning of the film is set.

The third effective use of sound in this opening scene is the diegetic sound of the border patrol saying: "Stop right there, this is the US Border Patrol". This is significant because it shows that what Santiago's family is doing is illegal but it also shows the courage of his father to risk getting arrested in order to provide a better life for his son and the rest of his family. This part is also significant for a different reason because it happens right before the camera transitions to a different scene in the films. The sound of the siren is also effective because it carries on after the scene transitions to the next scene of an overhead shot of Los Angeles and then cuts abruptly as non-diegetic sound. Furthermore, this is effective because it shows that the memory of crossing the border was still prevalent in the minds of Santiago and the rest of his family.

Mise-en-scene

In this opening scene from the film 'Goal! The Dream Begins', mise-en-scene is used effectively throughout this scene and in many different ways. In this part of the essay, a few of the best examples of mise-en-scene used within this scene will be analysed and their meaning or reason for being in the scene.

The first effective use of mise-en-scene in the opening scene is when different types of settings and colours are used to contrast two different parts of the scene. For example, when Santiago is playing football as a young child, the mise-en-scene consists of colours and scenery with a bright orange tint suggesting that this part of the scene is taking place in a hot country which is in fact Mexico; that is the birth place of the main character Santiago Munez and where he lived in his early childhood. The color scheme is quite bright suggesting that it was a happy period in Santiago's life as he was enjoying himself through playing his favourite sport, football. On the other hand, when Santiago's dad wakes him up and tells him that they have to leave, the color scheme has a dark blue theme reflecting the mood of the situation, which would be quite negative and possibly saddening from Santiago's perspective, as he is leaving behind his early childhood and memories of playing football and having fun with friends in the place that he was born in.

The second effective use of mise-en-scene in this opening scene is when the

Genre-Specific Evaluation 2 - All Eyez On Me

Camera

The opening scene begins with a medium shot looking at the back of Tupac and it slowly zooms in at the back of his head and upper body. The lighting in the scene is quite low apart from a beam of light shining down on Tupac. This could suggest that Tupac Shakur was looked at by his fans and other people as a god of rap and therefore this religious symbolism reinforces this idea. Although, Shakur wasn't religious, he still believed in God and a lot of people looked up to 2Pac as a god.  After this scene, the opener finishes and through the sound of a gun shot it transitioned to the film titles: 'All Eyez On Me' .

The next significant in the film opener is a tracking shot of Tupac being escorted by a prison guard for an interview with someone who appears to be a journalist or news reporter. This shot is quite significant because it then leads onto the news reporter talking to Tupac about how he wants to be remembered if he dies. It also significant because both the news reporter and Tupac feel like they are 'brothers' or equals due to feeling like society singles them out in a negative fashion.

The third significant shot is of an over-the-shoulder shot of Tupac sitting for an interview at the prison with a journalist/news reporter talking to the camera. This is significant because it shows that Tupac and the news reporter are equal as they are sat facing each other while the camera is filming them. It also shows that 2Pac wants to do the interview even though it may look like he is being forced to do by the prison.

Editing

The opening scene of All Eyez On Me uses a lot of editing techniques to create different effects. Despite most of the editing techniques being quite simple, they are still quite effective and create an impression on the audience.

The first significant editing technique is when the first camera shot of Tupac standing in front of the audience transitions in to the titles of the film. This is effective because the screen goes completely dark after the first part of the scene, which was also dark in lighting apart from a beam of light and Tupac. It then transitions to the titles which are the words "All Eyez On Me" and red cross behind those titles. This continiues the religious symbolism from the opening shot and continues to suggest that Tupac was quite a spiritual person that did believe in a God but not religion.

The second piece of effective editing is when tracking shots of a prison bus cut to a quick collection of shots of a prison. This editing is effective because it shows that the bus is going to that prison. It also suggests that Tupac is on the prison bus because one of his songs is playing in the background which is reflecting his childhood. This is common as most people reflect on their lives when they go to prison.

|The third and final piece of effective editing in this opening scene is quick transitions between shots of the prison and medium and close up shots of a journalist looking outside the window to see if he's entering the building yet. This is effective because it shows that journalist cares enough about Tupac to be looking out for him from a window because he is his interviewee. These transitions stop before a section of the scene when Tupac finally walks in to the room while being escorted by a prison guard.

Sound

In this opening scene, sound is used effectively in a number of ways. In this section, it will be seen how effectively sound is used and how it creates a lasting impact on the audience.

The first effective use of sound is during the production titles when the non-diegetic sound of a man repeating to the crowd that "We will not give up the fight". Furthermore, this non-diegetic sound of a man also talked about how African-Americans are treated and how on behalf of white political prisoners they won't give up the fight. This introduces the themes of the film really well and it also gives us some background information and knowledge to keep in mind while watching the film. This is probably the most powerful use of sound in this entire opening scene from All Eyez On Me.

Another effective use of sound is the non-diegetic sound of one of Tupac's songs playing while he is on a bus on the way to a prison. This use of sound is effective because it is reflecting on his childhood when he went to elementary school. It is effective because it shows that he is reflecting on his life before going to prison.

The third effective piece of sound is the diegetic sound of the journalist talking to Tupac about how he wanted to do the interviews but he wanted people to know the true full story about his life and didn't want to hide anything from people. This shows that according to the film, Tupac was quite open about what he wanted the general public to know. It's an effective use of sound because it tells us more about the personality and mindset of Tupac.

Mise-en-scene

In this opening scene from All Eyez On Me, mise-en-scene is used effectively used a number of times throughout. It also helps to create a lasting impact on the audience throughout the film and this opening scene.

The first effective use of mise-en-scene is when Tupac is being escorted through the prison with the rest of the prisoners. This is effective because it shows all the prisoners as equal dressed in orange jumpsuits and fenced off with barbed wire fences. However, Tupac gets a special privilege to be interviewed by a journalist which other prisoners wouldn't get. This shows how much of an important figure Tupac is.

The second and final effective use of mise-en-scene is when Tupac is being interviewed in a solitary room by a journalist in front of a camera. This is effective because Tupac is the only inmate wearing a green jumpsuit, signifying that he is special and more important than the rest of the prison population. The seats being placed opposite each other suggests that the journalist and Tupac are equals as they would be facing each other. Therefore, it also shows that they have to be transparent with each other as there is no way they can cower away from each other.

Genre-Specific Evaluation 1 - Straight Outta Compton

Camera

The film starts off with a moving aerial shot of Los Angeles at night time as if it's a police helicopter searching for criminals in the city. This sets the scene for the film very well because from the first camera shot we know that the plot is going to take place in the city of LA. It also tells us that the main characters are probably from Los Angeles and live there as well. 

The next shot in the film is an establishing shot of a house in a ghetto neighborhood and a grey lowrider car parked at the side of the curb of the road. This is inferring that one of the main characters live in this rough neighborhood of Los Angeles This is sort of confirmed later on in the scene when one of the main characters pulls up to house in another car. and walks It also suggests that the characters that live there are probably part of a street gang, which is also true as once the character opens up his trunk, he pulls a pistol out of a speaker. 

The next significant shot in this opening scene is this mid-shot of Eazy-E. This shot is significant because it introduces us to one of the main characters in the film. In addition to that, it also shows what he looks like as we weren't able to tell this from previous shots in the scene. The shots also shows us what he dresses like and this could suggest that the rest of the main characters dress in the same or similar clothing to Eazy-E.

The most significant shot after that is a mid shot of Eazy-E and a two guys getting up. This shot is important because it happens right after Eazy-E disrespects the two guys living in the house. The fact that they are getting up so quickly suggests that they are angry at Eazy-E for disrespecting their house. It also suggests that fight is about to happen but at the same time Eric Wright is trying to calm the situation by saying he is confused as to what he is disrespecting. This only makes it worse because one of the other guys locks the door and stands up right next to Eazy. 

The last significant shot in the scene is this long shot of an armed police truck driving through the ghetto neighborhood. This camera shot is significant because it shows that the police are searching for drug traffickers in the area and it also alerts one of the henchmen to tell his bosses that the cop are coming. Another reason why this shot is significant is that it allows Eazy-E to escape and probably get the people he was talking to arrested because they are in possession of the cocaine that Eazy gave to them. 

Editing

In this opening scene of Straight Outta Compton, quite a few editing techniques are used to created different effects. However, most of the editing techniques are simple but at the same time are very effective in introducing the story of the film and the opening scene in great fashion. 

The first effective piece of editing is a simple cut between the aerial tracking shot of LA at night from the perspective of a police helicopter and a wide shot of a house in a ghetto neighborhood. This editing technique is significant because it suggests that the police helicopter is searching the neighborhood for the house in the next shot. Therefore, this also suggests that the people living in the house are criminals, otherwise, the police wouldn't be searching the area for them.

The second piece of effective editing is the use of titles, especially at 0:59 and 2:10. The first use of titles is the text 'Compton, CA 1986' when Eazy steps out of the car. This not only tells us the setting of the film, it also tells us what year the film is set in. In addition, it gives the film context straight  from the start of the opening scene. The second use of titles is the text 'Eric Wright a.k.a. Eazy-E' when he enters the house of the people who is making a drug deal with. It introduces to one of the main characters in the movie and we also learn his name.

The third and final significant piece of editing is a fade to black with titles transition from when Eazy-E escapes the dope house and from their guard dog. The reason why this transition is so significant is because it transitions to the title of the film after the opening scene. The opening scene allows us to understand what the rest of the film will be about and the ending of the opening is signified by the titles of the film. Also, the dramatic music change at the end helps make this transition more seamless.

Sound

The use of sound, both diegetic and non-diegetic, is effective at making an impact on the audience throughout the opening scene of Straight Outta Compton. For example, the non-diegetic sound at the start gives us some background information on the context on the film whereas the diegetic sound of dialogue and other sounds makes the audience more involved in the beginning of the film and obviously throughout the entire movie.

The first effective use of sound in the film opening is the non-diegetic sound of news reports during the production titles before the opening scene has even started. This is really effective because the snippets of information playing at the same time gives us more background information about drug trafficking and street violence in Los Angeles, California. This helps us as an audience to understand the context of the movie and also helps us to better understand the representations portrayed throughout the film.

The second effective use of sound in the film opening is the non-diegetic sound of Eazy-E saying 'You're about to witness the strength of street knowledge' just before the film cuts to the opening scene. This helps us to understand that one of the key themes in the film throughout the film is street culture in the U.S. and it also serves as a memory of Eazy-E, who passed away due to AIDs in 1995. 

Non-diegetic sound is also effectively used when the house in the ghetto neighborhood is introduced to us at the start of the opening scene. It changes back to a rap beat once the camera shows the dope house in a ghetto neighborhood to signify that some rappers in the late 80's were involved in drug trafficking. More importantly, it suggests that gangster rap originated from rough neighborhoods in suburban parts of American cities.

The most effective use of diegetic sound is when the siren of an armed police truck is playing near the end of the film opener. This probably the most effective piece of diegetic sound because it alerts the people in the dope house that a police raid is going to happen and on top of that, it allows Eazy-E to escape because the police act as a distraction to the drug dealers. Furthermore, it sets off a quick chain of events that tie up a great opening to a film and also leads to the title of the film.

Mise-en-scene

The first effective use of mise-en-scene in this film opener is when we first see a wide shot of a house in Compton, CA. Due to the low level lighting and the low riders parked in the street, it allows us to assume that the house is in a ghetto neighborhood because society tends to generalize that people that have low-riders are usually gang or street criminals. The fact that the house looks a bit run-down suggests that this scene is in a poor part of a large city.

The second use of mise-en-scene is the MLB (Major League Baseball) cap that Eazy-E is wearing. This helps us understand that street rappers tend to wear sports clothing along with trendy casual clothes. Additionally, the fact that he is wearing a MLB cap tells us that this film is set in the USA because baseball is one of the biggest sports in that country.

The third effective use of mise-en-scene is the inside of the dope house. It looks quite suspect and also pretty run down, much like the exterior of the house. The living room has a lot of drug paraphernalia and the furniture looks quite over-used and old. This suggests that some of the stuff maybe stolen and could suggest that the people living there are criminals and are definitely involved in crime relating to drugs. 

Timeline Analysis 2 - Wolf of Wall Street Opening Scene

0:00-0:22- Tracking shot of Jordan Belfort walking down the stairs of his stately mansion, walking out of his house and throwing a glass into a hedge while beginning a monologue of him talking about how he became so successful
0:22-0:26- Medium shot of Belfort getting into his limo
0:26-0:32- Match-on-action shot of limo driving away from Belfort's mansion and then driving up to a glass tower building
0:32-0:37- Tracking shot of Jordan Belfort walking through the front door and towards the camera
0:37-0:39- Extreme close up of Belfort's fingers making lines of cocaine
0:39-0:48- Close up of Belfort's face talking and then the camera pans down to show him snorting cocaine.
0:49-0:50- Close up tracking shot of dollar bill sucking up cocaine
0:50-0:52- Side view mid shot of Jordan cocking his head back
0:52-0:55- Mid shot of Jordan Belfort sat at his desk talking and rolling out a dollar bill
0:55-0:56- Close up of dollar bill being held by Belfort
0:56-0:58- Low angle shot of Jordan crushing up dollar bill
0:58-0:59- Graphic match of him throwing the dollar bill into a bin
0:59-1:00- Extreme close up of 100 dollar bill
1:00-1:10- Tracking shot of Jordan Belfort pushing two doors open and and walking in to the main part of the office. He then stops walking, holds his hands out and the workers start clapping him.
1:10-1:13- Mid shot of Jordan turning around to face the audience clapping him.
1:13-1:17- Wide shot showing entire office clapping Belfort while he is stood at the front of it with his arms still out.
1:17-1:19- Dirty Mid shot of Jordan looking across the office while his non-diegetic voice-over says: "I always wanted to be rich."

Timeline Analysis 1 - Kendrick Lamar - HUMBLE.

0:00-0:14 - Long Shot displaying Kendrick dressed in religious clothing inside a church and lighting shining down on him. This shows that he is of importance in this music video because the light shining down on him connotes that God sees him as powerful and important.

0:15-0:18 - Mid shot still showing Kendrick but this time he is a rapping and dancing to the beat of the non-diegetic music audio.

0:18-0:20 - High angle shot of Kendrick, this time dressed in a black sweater and jeans, shooting a money gun at the camera slowly zooms out to show that he is lying on a table of money with women dressed in lingerie working at the sides of the table. This connotes that Kendrick is very desirable and rich due to the amount of money he is lying down on.

0:21-0:24 - Quick Montage of High angle shots of each woman sorting money into a machine and one using money to fan herself while looking at the camera. 

0:24-0:31 - Wide shots and Mid Shots of Kendrick this time dressed in religious clothing switches between high angle shots of Kendrick dressed in casual clothing lying on a table of money.
0:31-0:40 - Dolly Zoom Wide shot and Mid Shot of Kendrick sitting in a hair salon switches between close ups and mid shots of him rapping in the church.
0:40-0:52 - High Angle shots of Kendrick riding a bicycle down the street transition between more shots of Kendrick rapping in the church.
0:53-0:55 - Long shot of Kendrick in a church raising his head saying "My left stroke just went viral"
0:55-0:59 - Wide shot of Kendrick standing on top of a car hitting a golf ball with his club zooms out to show he is on a pass going under bridges in a suburban neighborhood.
0:59-1:13 - Canted High angle shot of Kendrick standing and rapping in a choir all dressed in black bobbing their heads. Camera slowly zooms out once Kendrick puts his head down and shows some of the choir raising their heads to rap the backing lyrics of the song while Kendrick, with his head down raps the rest of the lyrics.
1:13-1:23 Wide shot of Kendrick sitting at a table with other people recanting the Last Supper from the Bible. Slowly zooms out to show rest of people sitting at table. Guy decides to stand up but then Kendrick gestures him to sit down along with the lyrics of the song "Sit down, be humble". Switches back to mid shot of Kendrick sat in the main chair and other guy laughing while the camera shakes for a bit.
1:23-1:24 - Mid shot of Kendrick rapping in the church
1:24-1:30 - Switches back to a Medium shot of Kendrick and his friends back at the Last Supper turning round to look at the camera. Quickly transitions to Kendrick rapping in a choir. Then transitions to mid shot of Kendrick sat at the table while the camera shakes for a few seconds.
1:30-1:41 - Mid shot of Kendrick in a white hoodie with his hair on fire in front of other guys dressed on black t-shirts with burning rope rapped around their heads slowly zooms out to show other guys dressed in all black casual clothing with chains and snap backs sat behind Kendrick and the burning head people on a storage container with no ropes around their faces. Slow zoom also shows other burning head people bopping their heads to the beat while the people around them dance to the beat.
1:41-1:56 - Mid shot of Kendrick looking at a model dressed in a bikini rapping about his complaints about how they are photo shopped and modified to be perfect and that he wants to see pictures that are natural and haven't been retouched. At end of sequence, it switches to close up of Kendrick's face being split by two sides of the camera.
1:56-2:06 - Mid of shot Kendrick stood under a bridge with other people quickly transitions between different camera shots such as Medium Shots, Dirty Shots, High Angle shots and a Mid Shot. All these shots show different perspectives in the scene that he is and the different standing around him
2:06-2:16 - Mid shot of guy sat in the drivers seat of car bopping his head to the beat of the song quickly pans to the back of the car showing Kendrick Lamar making a sandwich. He then passes peanut over to other guys sat in a car.
2:16-2:22 - Wide shot showing Kendrick standing and rapping behind a window of a house with lasers pointing at him and police sirens flashing in the background.
2:22-2:37 - Close up of Kendrick dressed in white standing in a crowd of men dressed in black and white suits. Quickly transitions between Kendrick stood in the choir, in the living room of the house with lasers pointing at him and back to a Mid shot of Kendrick stood in the crowd of men dressed in suits. Repeats quick transitions between those shots and other shots previous in the music and then goes back to a Long shot of Kendrick stood in a group of men dressed in suits.
2:37-2:50 - More fast transitions between the shot of Kendrick stood under the bridge, in the all black choir, back to the group of suited men, high angle shot of Kendrick on a bicycle. Then transitions to the women in the salon turning around with each letter of HUMBLE on the back of their heads and switches to Kendrick playing golf on top of the car.
2:51-3:03- Quick transitions between shots of suited men slowly walking away, Kendrick stood at the Last Supper table with 'apostles', Kendrick dancing in the church, riding his bicycle and shooting his money gun. Once music ends and all the other suited men walk away, Kendrick walks down carpeted stairs of a religious building and walks up to the camera. Screen goes black.

                                                             

Chosen Genre and Conventions

My chosen genre is between a hip-hop/rap music video and a biopic short film or trailer about the journey of a young footballer to success. At the moment, I am more leaning towards a biopic short film rather than a hip-hop/rap music video with low lighting and dark scenery/setting. However, I also have the idea to do an R n B music video with colourful visuals and upbeat and high-tempo beats.

The conventions of a biopic film is that it is a sub-genre of drama or epic films. These films depict and dramatise the life of an iconic person from the past or in the present time. Sometimes biopics stretch the truth and tell a story with varying degrees of accuracy. Biopics are divided into two sections called semantic and syntactic, according to theorist Rick Altman. These types of films convey a sense of truth using techniques such as flashbacks, voice overs and montages. Other techniques used include close up shots and first person shots.

The conventions of a hip-hop/rap music video is that it mainly uses low-angled, close-up shots to imply the artist has power over the audience. The low angle gives the artist power as they are looking down on the audience and the close up shots give the rapper status because it suggests they are important enough to have a frame to themselves. In hip-hop videos, a crowd is usually seen as dancing to the beat of the song. This makes it seem that the people in the video are actually dancing to the song, which implies that they like the song. This makes it easier for the audience to enjoy and like the song. Music videos also include attire such as basketball tops and designer clothes and they also have expensive cars, jewellery and money to display wealth and power over the audience.

The conventions of a trailer is that it usually includes montages of scenes from the film and text showing release dates and age ratings. Usually at the start of the trailer, the film's production logo is displayed in order to benefit the reputation of the production company. The title of the film is also shown in trailers so that it is easier for the audience to remember the name of the film. Depending on the colours and fonts, it is easier for the audience to tell what the genre of the film is going to be. The camera shots used in film trailers are usually designed to entice the viewer to watch the film and find out happens. They usually leave audiences on a cliffhanger and wanting to find out what goes in the film. In addition, it usually has fast paced music or a different type of music that fits in with the genre of the film and compliments the trailer really well. For example, if there are fast montages of camera shots in the trailer, it will have a fast paced track that suits the genre of the film.