Research + Analysis: Swat (2003)

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I will now look at the film swat, and analyse the title sequence and first part of the film.

The film starts with a radio sequence which would be used by the emergency services, you hear them talking about a hostage situation and how they need the 'swat' (special weapons and tactics). From this the film begins, you go straight into the action with a long shot of the famous Hollywood sign upon the hills, and as it pans in your hear the diegetic sound of a helicopter flying above the head. The camera tilts up to a shot of the police helicopter in the sky.

However as you hear the sound of the police radio you see blue flashing lights, which represent the emergency services and from the lights you see the titles appear in front of the blurred lights. The title sequence is short and to the point, you see who the film is made by (Colombia pictures)  and then the title of the film (S.W.A.T) this just allows them to get the audience to watch as it goes straight into the action and the story begins.

You see the people who have taken the hostages outside in balacava's which represents them as criminals, shooting at police cars which inevitably shows them as the criminals they are. This gives a clear link from the representations and what is correct. You also see the police struggling to hold them back which is building up for the 'swat' team to come and be shown as hero's.

Levi strauss's idea of binary oposition is very clear here, the hero's which are the police, and the villans which are the people taking the building hostage.

Throughout the whole opening sequence the writer and directors are giving a clear message of how the films going to plan out, full of action and major incidents.

The 'swat' are represented in a positive way when they come, through the action on screen and the non-diegetic music thats played as they arrive. As the truck pulls up the camera focuses on them as people move barriers and all out the way for the arrival of them, this shows there importance as people all seem to be glad of there arrival through there actions. The music shows more importance as it is almost a heroic theme and is fast paced so again shows signs of what the rest of the film is going to be like.

Research analysis: Dexter

Levi Strauss - Notion of binary oppositions as a useful way to consider the production of meanings within narratives.

Examples of binary oppositions -
- Good vs evil
- Rich vs poor
- Hero vs Villan

In the t.v series dexter the binary opposition of the main character would be most of the world as he is a psychopath and the norm of the world aren't so,  opposes the character we see.

The starting to dexter also puts across the hermeneutic code, and poses lots of questions to the audience. As he looks aggressive and appears to be doing something wrong. The semantic code builds up suspense and the music makes you believe more there is something suspicious about the character.

Mission Impossible Research

To annalyse the the opening sequence to the film 'Mission Impossible' i looked at the music, editing, shot types and the shots themselves to see how they convey the genre of the film, the character set up and how they try and invite the audience into watching more.

The now famous mission impossible theme tune sets the tone straight away for how the film is going to be. The fast paced music gives the audience the idea the film is going to be fast paced and full of action.

The clothes the characters are wearing not only show the time period the film is in but the role of each character. The general suits show its not futuristic nor a film for the past. The suits most of them are wearing gives an idea of intelligence yet hard work, which would be crucial for the role in a high American policing unit. You see tom cruise in a tank top after which shows he is going to be involved in some kind of action.

The editing itself conveys the message of a fast pace film as cut's between are fast. The names and titles that come up are written twice, one which is a still of the name giving you a chance to read the names, however you see it in the backdrop of the shot going across at speed, which yet again gives the clue the film is going to be fast paced and full of action.

This shot in the title sequence gives a glimpse of action to come in the film. The high angle shot gives a chance to see whats to come in the film and also sets the scene to the film, in the middle of a fairly big city. The low key lighting means the flame stands out even more creating an intense picture and gets the audience considering what is going to happen and means they want to watch on to find out.

A mix of close ups, extreme close ups and occasional mid shot of Tom Cruise give the audience a sense of importance to him and his character, which also gets the audience wondering what role he will have and what will happen to him.

The constant referal to the lit fuse poses the question what its for and what all the characters in the title sequence have to do with it. Through the whole sequence you see the lit fuse and the theme tune follows the pace of the burning fuse, which is intriguing as no one knows what is happening to it.

The title sequence itself does the job of giving the audience an idea of what the film is like, a fast paced action thriller without giving to much away. It also posts alot of questions in your head and makes you want to watch on to find out more.

As media coursework

For our media coursework we need to create the title sequence to a new film created by us, from the title sequence we need to convey the genre of the film and who the main characters are and what they're like.
I will be working with harry stokes to complete the task we have a set of deadlines to work to;
- 26/11/10, research deadline.
- 3/12/10, Storyboard deadline.
- 7/1/11, Filming deadline.
- 28/1/11, Production deadline.
- 11/2/11, Evaluation deadline.
We are planning on using the genre action, however we have a budget of £0 so special effects will be a null.

Preliminary research evaluation

My old blog has been lost so all my post have gone.

Preliminary Video