Task 2.1- Textual analysis: Se7en

Se7en, directed by David Fincher, is a crime drama/ thriller which follows a rookie and veteran detective in the hunt of a serial killer. David Fincher uses editing, music, camera angles and other such things to set a very clear atmosphere and vibe through the opening sequence. This foreshadows to the viewer and gives them a taste of what is to come and what to expect right from the very beginning.

The opening scene starts of with the sound of thunder, which has connotations to danger. Having such a powerful and sharp sound such as thunder quickly grabs the viewers attention and puts them on edge. 

 Further more the titles and text in the opening sequence can be seen flipping and vibrating in an erratic manner. This schizophrenic like movement unsettles the viewer and could even be seen as a foreshadowing of characters that may show up in the film, such as a crazy/disorganised antagonist or even protagonist. This sort of foreshadowing can even be seen in films such as shutter island where the protagonist is actually a mentally deranged asylum patient. The technique of shaky and blurry titles can be seen in both.

Furthermore se7en also has a very unsettling set of noises accompanied by eerie music which plays at an uncomfortable and unpredictable beat. This variation in beats is designed to be irregular to the beat of our hearts, when the technique of beat irregularity is successfully executed it tends to create the feeling of anxiety and discomfort within the viewer, which further.  

Another note to add is the font of the text that can be seen in the opening. The font can be described as aggressive and jarring. This is due to the fact that it almost resembles words scratched into a surface, furthermore the words are often shadowed/multi layered. This makes it uneasy on the eye and further implies the theme of craziness due to its inconsistency and constant changing state.

The opening scene is non linear meaning it contains a lot of jump cuts, this makes the clips in the opening scene disjointed and fast paced further engaging the viewer and reinforcing the idea of a schizophrenic like character possibly present in the film.

 Mise en scene continues to solidify this idea of a crazy/mentally deranged character, but it also tells us that perhaps the character is a murder/villain. This connoted by the fact we can see a close up on characters hand cutting their finger prints off with a razor. This could mean that the character has something to hide and doesn't want to leave behind evidence so therefore could be potentially seen as a killer. We then also see this unidentified character sewing together a hand written book. This shows that the person is very organised with OCD like attention to detail, which is also seen as a trait in many serial killers. So through the use of mise en scene David finch has successfully conveyed and portrayed a potential murderer/serial killer. This mystery as to why this character is cutting off their finger prints and carefully sewing personal documentations engages the viewer and makes them want the see more and uncover the mystery of what the opening scene has presented,

Task 2.1- Film noir

What is a film noir?

Film Noir is a cinematic term used to describe Hollywood crime dramas. They normally contain sexual motivations and stereotypically use a black and white colour scheme inspired by German creationism 
Film Noir is best described as a feeling expressed through visual styling of low-key lighting and story conventions. Which is often a serious feeling or some melancholic feeling 
Stereotypical film noir - film noir was a term originally coined by Nino Frank, who was a French film critic and a writer. Stereotypical film noir usually contains a detective, who throughout the noir usually voices over what happens through the use of monologues.

Stereotypically the detective is usually face with problems created by a femme fatale. A femme fatale being a usually sexually appealing female who acts as a damsel in distress, but is actually out to trap and double cross the detective.  
Film Noir is best described as a feeling through visual styling of low-key lighting and story conventions.

Common conventions of Film Noir:

• flashbacks
• Political corruption 
• contrast
• night time setting
• male detective
• crime
• narration/voice-over
• low key lighting
• femme fatale

What is the purpose in genre?

The purpose of genre is to benefit the consumer and in return earn more money. Genre labelling is useful for consumers as their purpose allows for a potential viewer to decide whether or not they would want to watch a certain film or tv show. This is because certain people may view other genres more favourably, so their decision to watch the film could be based solely on the genre alone. This makes it easier to get people to view your film as by stating the genre you give the viewer a general idea of what the film will contain, this is due to the fact that certain genres usually follow specific codes and conventions, which in turn will result in more money for the company that produced the film.

How did ‘the golden age of hollywood’ reinforce genres?
It reinforced the idea of genre due to the fact that creating genre films yielded great profit for the top studios at the time, these being Warner Bros, Paramount, Columbia, MGM and Universal. This was due to the fact that having genre films allowed consumers to know what to expect from the film they are about to watch as genre films often follow certain conventions associated with its genre, this means deciding to purchase a movie ticket became an easier choice which also therefore increased sales for studious that produced genre films. Ultimately leading the creation of more and more genre films as money/profit is of course the main driving force for these studios and companies.

Which genres became popular in Hollywood?
At the time of the golden age of Hollywood (Most notably around the 1930's) the most popular genres were Westerns, Horrors, slapstick comedy, gangster films and science fiction .
Some of these genres are still very prominent in today's industry, such as horror and science fiction. However westerns and gangster films are not as popular, with the exception of  films such as Django unchained and other such films. This is because during the time of the golden age the Wild west was still an interesting topic to tackle as it was relatively fresh. The same can be said for gangster films due to the fact of things such as the Italian mafia and Newyork mobsters being a big deal in media at the time. However now that things such as the mafia are not really issue in modern day society we have now started to lean away from making films about such topics as they are no longer really relevant and relevancy is connected to how interested consumers will be in the film. So less relevancy means less interest, which means less sales and therefore less money. So therefore nowadays we only see the occasional western or mafia film and such occasions are usually tackled by industry renowned directors such as quentin tarantino.  

Why do audiences like genre films?

Audiences enjoy genre films due to the fact that that some people prefer one type of genre over the other, such as horror and western. Furthermore genre films under the same genre share a lot of similarities. For instance conventions, themes and tropes are commonly shared throughout films of the same genre. Therefore if audiences enjoy these certain themes and conventions within the genre of, let’s say, sci-fi they will enjoy genre films as the aspects they enjoy about that genre are commonly seen throughout films that subside within said genre

The top ten rated film noirs as told from the Guardian 

10. They Live by Night

9. Kiss Me Deadly

8. Blood Simple

7. Lift to the Scaffold

6. The Third Man

5. Out of the Past

4. Double Indemnity

3. Touch of Evil

2. Chinatown

1. The Big Sleep

Task 2.1- Textual analysis:Blue Velvet

Blue velvet by David Lynch

From the opening scene of blue velvet we can see the use of non diegetic sound. The song playing in the opening scene is edited in on top of the film, meaning that it is a sound that is only audible to the viewer and not the characters in the film world.  This helps to establish the setting and tone of the clip. The music has an uplifting rhythm and an emotionally happy/calming series of notes, therefore, as an audience, we also feel happy and put in a state of calmness. The music helps to establish a stereotypical American type setting due to its origin and style of music which was commonly seen in America during the time period the clip was set it. The music is oxymoronic as once you've seen the entirety of the clip you'll see that the calm state the music and mise en scene/lighting lulls you into is actually false. This can be seen when the clip dramatically changes tone and atmosphere when the old man watering his garden mysteriously dies. When it gets to the old man watering his garden, as previously mentioned the mood of the music changes – it becomes dull and dark. This creates a foreshadowing of what is to come as the sudden change in tone alarms the viewer and puts them on edge. This is effective because it creates anticipation and generates a build up to an unknown climax which will keep the viewers engaged .

 Mise on scene plays a big part in the opening scene because the first thing we see is the white picket fence, which was often related and associated with suburbs in America during the set time period, and the red roses which which when both juxtaposed to the sky could be a metaphor for the American flag due to its iconic red white and blue colour palet. 

 The colour red can imply danger but also love, which is reinforced by the fact roses are often an item representative of love. However the picket fence in the background of the roses are white, this could imply death as white roses are common at funerals. So by putting the fence behind the roses this could therefore imply a deeper meaning. This confuses the audience because it leaves them unsure to whether something dangerous or bad is going to occur or whether love is going to develop.

As the opening scene carries on we see a red fire engine, which reinforces the fact that this is set in America. This is due to the style of the engine and the fact that a Dalmatian is on board as these dogs were commonly used in the fire fighters force during the time. A fire engine normally implies danger so this helps us narrow down that in the film something bad/dangerous is going to happen. Flowers then make another appearance but this time with yellow daisies. This leads back to confusion we face when we see the red roses because the yellow daisies mean cheerfulness. This is effective because it leaves the audience questioning what is going to happen, so it leaves them wanting to watch more so they can find out what is really going to happen.

The diegetic sound of the hose pipe building up in pressure is jarringly opposed with the happy tone of the music, this unsettles the viewer. The shuddering/shaking noise of the hosepipe slowly, and very faintly, gets louder and louder . This could connote that there is something else building up, something bad which is to come. The scene then moves on to the man suddenly collapsing to the floor. Overtime the sound of the shuddering slowly begins to overpower the music overplayed onto the clip. It can be seen that the dog runs to the man on the floor, who seems to be writhing in pain, however editing is used to slow down the scene. This could connote the old man's life slowly coming to an end.

The camera then slowly pans down to the grass and begins to zoom in on it, whilst this is happening the sound of the music is now inaudible and the shuddering sounds has gotten louder. The camera is now in a worm eye view of the ground and the grass now covers the entire scene which gives the atmosphere of a jungle, which connotes danger. The camera slowly makes it way through blades of grass which builds tension and mystery as it is unclear to what is going to be found or uncovered. This further engages the viewer and keeps them wanting to see what happens next.

The opening scene then ends with showing the viewer what looks to be like a bunch of insects/bugs crawling around in the grass. This connotes to death and decay as insects are often linked to things such as the plague.

The opening scene then ends, this leaves many unanswered questions to the viewer and makes them want to stay and keep watching to get all of the answers to the questions which are left from the message filled and intentionally confusing opening scene.

Mr Judge feedback - Act on this now!!!!

Alex, your blog is woefully short on the things that you should've done by now which is really disappointing  You've clearly made class notes throughout the time but you have not transposed that information to your blog. This needs to be done as soon as possible, as your film is very good but without the evidence it cannot receive high marks.

­­­­­­­­	TASKS COMPLETED/ TO BE COMPLETED:	YES:  TICK	N0:   X	If N0 – when will this be completed – Date (   / /15)
1.	VIDEO: EMBEDDING PRELIMINARY TASK FROM OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL: TV TAMWORTH	/
2.	WRITING: PRELIMINARY TASK EVALUATION	/
3.	TEXTUAL ANALYSIS: BLUE VELVET/ SPECTRE	X
4.	IMAGE/VIDEO EMBEDDING: BLUE VELVET VIDEO/ IMAGES/SCREEN GRABS	X
5.	TEXTUAL ANALYSIS: SE7EN OPENING	X
6.	IMAGE/VIDEO EMBEDDING: SE7EN VIDEO/ IMAGES/SCREEN GRABS	X
7.	GENRE THEORY: CHRISTIAN METZ MODEL OF GENRE DEVELOPMENT	X
8.	IMAGE EMBEDDING FOR CHRISTIAN METZ	X
9.	GENRE THEORY: FILM NOIR - HSR	X
10.	WRITING: FILM OPENING SEQUENCES - HSR	X
11.	FILM NOIR TEXTUAL ANALYSIS: MALTESE FALCON + VIDEO/IMAGE EMBEDDING - HSR	X
12.	MEDIA THEORY: STEREOTYPICAL REPRESENTATIONS IN THRILLERS/HORRORS (Dracula/Single White female) + EMBEDDING IMAGES	X
13.	TEXTUAL ANALYSIS: DIFFERENCES/SIMILARITIES BETWEEN HOLLYWOOD STUDIO LOGOS	X
14.	EMBEDDING YOUR STUDIO LOGO/TITLE SEQUENCE	X
15.	ANALYSING BFI DATA ON GENRE & AUDIENCES	X
16.	ANY SCRIPTING/DRAFTING/STORYBOARD PLANNING EVIDENCE	X
17.	PRODUCTION SCHEDULE: TIMES/DATES OF FILMING	X