This post is about research I did for the movie - Jason
Big
1. Taken [2008]
Taken is an action movie released in 2008 directed by Pierre Morel. Distributed by 20th Century Fox and produced by Europa Corp. The story follows an ex-CIA agent who tries to save his daughter after a kidnapping while on holiday in france. It seems that the opening was intended as an exposition to the storyline (setting up an equilibrium according to narrative theory)
Media Language
The opening immediately introduces Bryan Miller's character's trait as a washed-up divorced CIA agent who misses his daughter. They use very dark and moody colors during the intro along with a slightly creepy piano theme to create a dark and lonely ambience. They even use digetic cricket noises to further show his lonliness. Lights at the house were also kept dark to also show that there maybe no other resident in the building. The two chinese delivery boxes were also seen on one side of the table only. meaning he may be eating alone as well while disregarding physical fitness as an ex-CIA agent. During the flashback, analog lines were used to show the age of the video which is then followed by a sudden cut of Bryan Mills waking up. A preffered reading of this would be that Bryan is washed up and alone and also misses his daughter. They also hid some foreshadowing by putting a picture of Kim next to the title.
Audience:
The movie is rated for 13 and above and I believe that the audience would be majority male as most main characters are males. This movies utilises female gaze extensively by setting female characters as mere victims which may not be as appealing to female audiences. Liam Neeson's violent masculine character would make it far more appealing to men as well. The age of the actors in the movie also suggests that it may be targeted towards people in their thirties or above.
Representation:
We got the stereotypical divorced dad who still loves his lost daughter. He is represented in line with conventions. Drunk, lazy and busy reminiscing over the past. The main thing that differentiates him from the rest is his absolute attention to detail over the smallest things. Women as usual are put aside in the narrative as the story takes focus on Bryan [Female gaze perhaps]
Industry:
The movie opening was most likely filmed with high quality cameras with filters being used for the flashback scene although it is a possibility they used a real camcorder. Nowadays this would be simple editing with keyframes on After Effects or Premier.
Like/Dislike
I like the pacing of this opening as it is far slower than the rest of the movie. It sets up Bryan Mills as a Character very well and foreshadows a lot [especially with the title scene being next to a picture of Kim.
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5. The Passion of The Christ [2004] Icon Productions 
https://www.bilibili.tv/id/video/2014054722?bstar_from=bstar-web.homepage.recommend.all
The Passion Of The Christ is a drama directed by Mel Gibson produced by Icon productions. Ths story would follow the well-known storyline of Jesus Christ's cruxifiction. The opening strangely starts with the disruption as Jesus feels troubled in the Garden of Gethsemane
Media Language
The movie starts with an establishing shot of a cloudy full moon. A large full moon is usually associated with fear and makes the audience uneasy especially with the introduction of non-digetic music of Judean origin which features a low droning note under a very vibrato-ed wind instrument. The set was designed with trees of large trunks and thick leaves. This may have been used to show the vulnerability of Jesus as he was sillhoutted among the trees. This opening relies heavily on cultural codes and knowledge known berforehand to be understood as characters are depicted using commonly used stereotypes such as Jesus being the one with European features, long hair and a beard. The image of Jesus in the movie matches the image pushed by Catholic and Christian churches.
Audience
For a movie about Jesus, one would expect that its audience would be of the christian demographic. This movie happens to be incredibly violent which may dissuade families and children, however, I like many others was shown this movie at a young age so it seems there may be a spillover to another audience for religious reasons
Representation
It represents chracters accordingly as it is in the bible. This may be due to possible repurcussions if they did not. The average viewer with no past understanding maynot be able to understand anything due to the lack of subtitles.
Like/Dislike
I like the use of sillhouttes and the use of foreign languages. It is a real attempt to submerge the audience into the historical events. The dark forboding nature of the opening properly foreshadows he tone of the rest of the movie. The pacing of the scene really sells the desperation and horror coming in the movie
I did not like how nothing subverted audience expectations. They kept the euro-centric depiction of Christ instead of looking for more accurate jewish depictions of Christ. I also felt that the scene felt incredibly slow and dragged. The foreign languages, despite being unique, can be difficult to understand without subtitles.
Small
2. 3 Idiots [Comedy]
https://www.bilibili.tv/id/video/2043029248?bstar_from=bstar-web.homepage.recommend.all
3 Idiots [2009] is a comedy directed by Rajkumar Hirani, produced by Vinud Chopra Films, and distributed by Reliance BIG Pictures. It follows the college lives of 3 friends and a future storyline where they have to find their lost friend. It begins with an establishing shot of large empty roads with buildings of indian architecture. This tells the audience that they are in India. Digetic sound of an airplane is then heard. It then cuts to a midshot of a man taking a call right before take off. The audience is left being unable to hear the conversation which is a Barthes' hermeneutic code. The audience is left asking further as non digetic piano jingle is heard with a creepy tone. The suspense grows as the man starts to breathe heavier which is a proairetic code. Cross cuts are used to make time feel faster. A brilliant angle was used as the plane takes off but the camera remains in the same orientation allowing for a dutch angle as the man stands up. It gives a sense of uneasiness as the man struggles before falling down in time with the score. As the steward comes up to him, a high angle is used on his body to show weakness. This opening works well as the catch of the joke is revealed later on in a closeup which shows his eyes moving with the score. The way in which the score follows the character is almost cartoonish and it fits well with the childish tone of the initial part of the movie.
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3. Pengkhianatan G30SPKI [History, thriller]
Pengkhianatan G30S/PKI (1984) is a historical thriller directed by Arifin C. Noer produced by Departemen Penerangan (Enlightenment Department) and Perusahaan Film Negara. It was distributed by the government and aired anually by the new order regime. It follows a hypothetical narrative of the killings of 6 generals and an attempted coup which occured on September 30 1965. The movie was produced with relatively low lighting to make the audience feel more uneasy. The opening had a close up of a flame and then a freeze frame. Text then appears on screen with machine noises only with the digetic flame behind it. The emptiness further makes audiences more uneasy. It then fades for the narrator to describe the current state of the new equilibrium which breaks Todorov's narrative theory. Close up of stone carvings of violent scenes makes the audience feel more uneasy especially with the creeping music in the background. A dissonant reading of a inscription next to the "Lubang Buaya" the camera then rotates downwards into a POV shot of the hole shown before in one of the stone carvings where a man was being thrown into. At this time, the main theme is finally heard which is also of a terrifying nature especially with the sudden falling piano chords. This intro was a masterpiece in sound design in my opinion as merely listening to this can make someone scared. This movie was notorious for being traumatising for a generation of Indonesians of which the government pushed this propaganda to.
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4. Interstellar [2014]
Interstellar is a scifi drama thriller directed by Christopher Nolan, produced by Legendary Pictures, Syncopy, and Lynda Obst Production. It was distributed by Warner Bros. outside NA while Paramount distributed it in NA. The opening had one-off intros for the production and distribution companies as they were all in black and white and was dead silent which subverted their normal convention of majestic intros which were full of color and light. A single note is heard in the score at this point to set the lonely mood of the storyline. It cuts to a title shot. The story of the movie was foreshadowed in the title shot as it was a close up of a bookshelf in the background and rockets in the foreground which hints the plot of the movie. It also contains dust falling off which is part of the current equilibrium accortding to Todorov's narrative theory. The first shot was a midshot at eye level with the subject to show emotion. The intro followed the conventions found on documentaries with the subject in the foreground and having the background blurred out. This style may make it seem that the character on screen is likely to be insignificant to the storyline and is thus easily forgotten. An establishing shot of grass was then used to show that he was a farmer while there was digetic rumbling of an airplane which created a hermeneutic code to keep audiences attracted. The sudden cut from ground to sky also creates a binary opposite of Easrth vs Sky/Space which would be a common theme in the movie. It cuts to a POV shot from outside the aircraft that was creating the noise. The sudden change in speed of the scene makes it seem faster and more urgent. The POV shot helps the audience feel more immersed into the scene as digetic alarm beeps are heard along with the over the shoulder shot of the pilot. It cuts back to the same POV shot which shows heavy rapid turbulence. This creates a proairetic code as it brings the plot forward to show the plane falling. It sets the theme of the movie well. The futuristic design of the aircraft sells the sci-fi part of the movie very well. The side angle medium shots of Cooper sets him up as a character of sginificance in the storyline. No audience can really be defined by this opening but its dull colors may suggest a more mature audience. It subverts the Sci-fi genre by including some emphasis on earthly farming, which is against the exotic interplanetary themes commonly focused on by Sci-fi movies.
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6. Baby Driver
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| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ARFyrM6gVs |
Baby Driver [2017] is a crime action movie directed by Edgar Wright, produced by TriStar Pictures, MRC, Big Talk Productions, and Working Title Films. It was distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. The scene begins with digetic sounds of vehicles, however the scene was pitch black. This creates a hermeneutic code as it leaves audience to speculate the scene. The screen fades to reveal an establishing shot of an old bank. The camera shows no movement as a red bright car crosses the screen. The bright red color heavily contrasts the rest of the setting. The wheel of the red car blocks the camera 's view of the bank and so it becomes a close up of the car's wheel. As brightly colored cars are often associated with youth or angst. The wheel blocking the camera could also represent the desperate need for attention for glamour that is also often associated with media representations of the youth. It then cuts to a closeup of a man turning on his ipod as it starts playing digetic music. This is to make the audience more immersed into the experience. the song starts to play (still with the droning violin note in the background which retains tension). The first shot reveals the man supposedly with the ipod. The man is relatively babyfacecd and so it is representative of the youth side of the opening. It then cuts to reveal other people in the car who are in sunglasses. These people were bearded (apart from the woman) and wore dark clothing. This may be used to connote their age or their mentality as being more mature this is supported by their style of doing things: heavily choreographed, rigid, and in sync as if there is no space for youthful wastefulness in their sense. This starts the binary opposite of fun vs serious or youthful vs matured. The man's youthfulness is further shown by his act of singing out loud in a car with a bottle as a "microphone" he even starts the wipers and nods his head along with it. This breaks stereotypical representations of thieves as being coordinated as it shows him being funny and not serious at times. This feeds into the immaturity of the man
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7. Dunkirk - 2017
Dunkirk (2017) is a historical action drama directed by Christopher Nolan, produced by Warner Bros, Syncopy Inc, RatPac-Dune Ent., Canal+, Cine+, and StudioCanal. It was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The movie starts with Blue variations of the ditributor's segments. The blue color sets the cold despair nature of the movie straight from the beggining. The title was also brilliantly used to tell the audience of the setting of the movie. It opens with a long shot of men on a street with pamphlets falling from the sky. Mis-en-scene was used brilliantly here as the road was long and narrow, showing that there were little options and that the journey there was long. The falling pamphlets show that they are surrounded and weak to the enemies as they walk right under them. The open sky also shows that the soldiers are vulnerable to any attack. Cross cuts are used to give exposition using text. Immediately, non-digetic ticking backed by low pulses is heard. It gives the audience a sense of urgency, as if something had to be completed before a set time. The pace of the opening is slow until the first bullet was shot. The ambient score cuts to a brutal, realistic long shot of the men running away as they are shot down
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8. (500) Days of Summer - June Entertainment - 2009
(500) Days of Summer (2009) is a romance drama directed by Marc Webb produced by Dune Entertainment and distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures. The movie starts with white text on black background explaining that the work is fictional with sounds that seem to be traffic in the back. However, the intro singles out a person and proceeds to call them a vulgarity. This may show the loose and more relaxed nature for the movie to the audience. The title is then shown on what seems to be pages in a diary. This may connote that the movie is far more personal. The opening title was also used creatively to show time moving. The movie subvert's Todorov's narrative theory as we see the new equilibrium instead of the intial equilibrium. A match cut is used to introduce us into the scene. It shows a male and a female sitting close to one another on a bench. The audience may associate this with feelings of love. The score even feels romantic as we enter a midshot of the female. It shows her smiling at the man before cutting to a similar midshot of the man doing the same. It then cuts to a high angle shot of the woman's hands over the mans. She has a ring in her ring finger. This may be a cultural code to connote that they are married to one another at that point. The movie then subverts norms by adding a narrator.
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9. Twilight - Summit [2008]
Audience expectation: Teen angsst movie, romance [suggested in opening]
Tone: relatively dark, melancholic
Like: nothing in particular
Dislike: spoiling important characters in the intro, Scene with deer did not mesh well with the rest of the movie.
Representation: High school angsty teenager conforms to sterotype of character
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