Institutions

The institution we use at the start of Panophobia is Film4. We decided to use Film4 as they typically fund lower budget/indie films, such as Trainspotting and American Honey, films which have earned critical acclaim.
Film4 is also owned and operated by Channel Four, a channel which shows a lot of teen dramas, including My Mad Fat Diary and skins, which entertains the same audience we are trying to attract.
Additionally, Film4 has a logo which is "Great films, free of charge" and does indeed screen films for free on their TV channel, meaning our film is available to people who may not be able to afford to buy films, attracting a wider audience.

Production logo

The production logo we decided to go with was Hall Productions (Phoebe's production company).
We used this as it is fast and simple, and we felt it fitted in with the overall look of the film.

Alternative music choices

Feedback from our peers suggested we have an upbeat song to match the happiness of our characters, so we searched for other songs we could have possibly used.
these songs included:
I'll Never Find Another You - The Seekers.
This song would have been a good alternative choice as the lyrics talk about a girl who has gone away, and it is more upbeat, which would have fitted the friendly feel of the montage.

 Special Years - Van Doonican
This song, although slower, is about girls growing up and the good times they have, so could have worked well with the footage. However, it's slow beat was the main reason we decided not to use it, as we would have had to alter the speed which would have thrown the whole thing off and also altered the pitch.

Panophobia music

The song we used for Panophobia was "I'd Like To Walk Around In Your Mind" by Vashti Bunyan. We chose this song as it had the soft and pleasant sound we wanted, in order to suit the friendly montage scenes but also contrast to the burning photo sequences.
Due to the song being 50 years old, the sound quality is slightly crackly - however, this added to our piece, as the crackling sounded almost like flames.
Additionally, the lyrics suit the narrative of Panophobia, with the main line being "I'd like to walk around in your mind someday", showing Erin's friends have no idea why or where she's gone and want answers.

Title research

Finding the title of our film included listing various possible titles, then going down the route of looking at different phobia names and seeing which ones would best suit the plot.
We decided on Panophobia, as it is described as "the fear of everything", which was short and snappy, and also created an intriguing tagline without giving anything away.
The other name that we eventually decided against in favour of Panophobia was Athazagorophobia (the fear of being forgotten, ignored or abandoned). However, we decided it was too long and hard to remember or pronounce to be a good film title, as we wanted something punchy.

Title font

Apart from the first two titles, which are: "Lucy Hocart presents - a Hall Productions films"
the titles of our film are handwritten on the back of disposable camera photos in black Sharpie.
We wanted to hand make our titles and present them in an interesting way, as although a lot of people edit their titles in and they look good, we wanted to show our titles in an original way.
The reversed shots of burning photos was one of the first things I pictured when we created Panophobia, so our credits were always going to be shown that way.
We wrote in black sharpie to ensure that in the dim light the words would still be easy to read.

Classwork

The top photo is of Amara (with Phoebe's help) creating the interactive storyboard, and the bottom shot is of myself editing the montage scenes we filmed around school.

Locations

The locations we filmed in were:
Amara's bedroom - the "come home" plea
Tenpin Bowling arcade - memories montage & disposable camera photos
Great Baddow High School - memories/school montage & disposable camera photos

Interactive storyboard

Phoebe created this interactive storyboard for Panophobia.

Marketing - social media

To further promote our film, we had the idea of creating a Twitter account posting about the film - this is appropriate to our target audience as teens are the main users of social media, and Twitter is a popular site.
We created this image by cropping our own photos into a Twitter account template found on Google.

Marketing - Bus poster

Our first main marketing idea was to have our film poster on the side of a bus - we thought of this first as we constantly see school buses advertising the latest films, and it would effectively attract our target audience of teens/young adults.

Storyboard 2

This is our second storyboard, which contained more accurate detail about camera shots and timings.
We decided to create a second, more detailed storyboard as the first one didn't have the timings we needed, while this one enabled us to work out exactly where we wanted shots to start and end.

Production diary

Our production diary from the 1st of December.

Storyboard 1

Our first storyboard was a basic plan of the shots we wanted, with not a lot of detail and without the actual timings. This was because we had not yet filmed some of it and therefore we weren't sure which shots we would be able to get, how good everything would look put together etc. We decided not to include some of the shots we had initially planned. including the one of Erin (Amara) holding the lighter up to look at the flame. This was both due to the risk of Amara getting burnt and the fact that we simply didn't need the shot.

Filming the burning photos

For our third filming session (Saturday the 26th of November) we collected the photos which had turned out clearest and burnt them in Phoebe's back garden.
In order to do this safely, we burnt the photos on a stone patio so they would not land on any flammable materials.
Filming began at around 5pm, as we needed to ensure it was dark enough to look like night-time, and also so the flames would stand out more and give the darkened surroundings a more mysterious atmosphere.
The photos we used were developed with a matte finish, so although light reflection was lessened considerably, we had to hold the torch we were using at a very particular angle so that the glare wouldn't be extremely obvious.
To burn the photos we used two lighters, as halfway through filming the first lighter stopped working, and we had to be extremely careful not to burn ourselves with either.
Our roles were as follows:
Phoebe - holding the torch
Myself - filming
Amara - burning the photos.

Arcade filming

For our montage, the first idea we had was to film in an arcade, as we wanted a setting which would be bright and colourful, and enable us to have fun naturally so the three of us going on the games together didn't look forced in any way.

We filmed shots of each other on the games (with help from a friend who filmed all three of us at various points) using my Sony Cybershot DSLR camera, as it films in HD and gave us the clear and professional look we were going for.

 While we were there, we took the disposable camera photos to burn later. We took a variety of photos, mostly of us playing the arcade games.
Here is a photo Jess (the friend helping us film) took of me photographing Phoebe and Amara on my disposable camera, and below is one of the photos we took that turned out well.

Official Risk Assessment

Panophobia - First draft

This is the full first draft of our film opening, "Panophobia".
While I'm pleased with how it turned out overall, there a few things which we got negative feedback on, such as the photos being too dark and not being able to see them when turned around, and needing more footage as a group of friends hanging out, and not just at the arcade.

To improve this, we are creating another shooting schedule in order to re-film some parts, take more disposable camera photos and film them being burnt again.
During editing, I also plan to work more on the lighting and colour correction, and lower the music during some parts, as other feedback suggested it was too loud at some points and overpowered the voiceover.

Panophobia - Marketing

We decided the main methods of marketing we would go for is social media accounts promoting our film, and posters on the sides of buses.
Using social media rather than media such as newspapers or magazines to promote our film works best as it is a teen drama, and putting it online specifically promotes it towards our target audience of teenagers.
Additionally, most school buses have film posters on the side, which is effective in promoting films to students, so we decided this would be a good marketing method.

Film poster

The is the poster for our film opening, titled "Panophobia".
We decided to make the poster fairly simple in order to create a feeling of mystery, which ties in to the actual plot of the film.
Underneath the title is the definition of panophobia, which we decided to include as our tagline as not only does it add authenticity to the poster but it gives us a clue about what the film is about.
The image of a disposable camera shot of three friends also shows the plot of the film, as does the match next to it which also adds mystery and enigma.

Peer assessment

I assessed the film opening "Untamed", and provided a range of feedback for the group.

What elements of this sequence did you feel were successful? Give at least two elements, and explain why they were successful.

- The varying camera angles - provided a good range of shots (close-ups, wide shots)
- The music tied in nicely to the plot & shots, titles also went well with the beat.

Were there any aspects of the sequence which you felt were confusing/distracting/missing, etc?

- Felt a little rushed, could slow down the dialogue
- More context could be shown.

List 2 things which you feel would have improved this sequence and explain your opinion.

- Lighting/colour correction - would make the footage look a bit more polished.

Panophobia feedback

What elements of this sequence did you feel were successful? Give at least two elements, and explain why they were successful.

"I liked the end scene of the phone being filmed and Amara holding the lighter - large element of suspicion - want to carry on watching."

"Very inventive titles.
The music was appropriate.
Good sense of enigma at the end.
Well edited - I liked how it was slightly jumpy and fast."

"- Love the voiceover.
- Clear title.
- True expression.
- Love the titles.
- Plea involves audience."

"- nice twists at the end, keeps people interested
- Good acting which added to the drama"


Were there any aspects of the sequence which you felt were confusing/distracting/missing, etc?

"Maybe too many blank screens so people think its over."

"At times the voice overs were not very clear."

"Didn't understand music - feel like you needed something more upbeat."

"I couldn't see the pictures when they turned them around."


List 2 things which you feel would have improved this sequence and explain your opinion.

"Shorten black screens."

"Make ending more clear that she is watching."

"Make the picture showing part longer."

"The audio could be a bit clearer."

Coursework - "come home" plea filming

We filmed the "come home" plea in Amara's room - we decided to use this location as it was the largest and most unobstructed room out of all ours, and had good lighting.
Additionally, we decided to use a bedroom in general as the video we were filming had to look like it was completely homemade by two teenagers, so it wouldn't be in a professional setting.

Whilst filming, we had to think carefully about the shots we wanted, as the room we filmed has two large mirrors facing each other - so we didn't catch the camera reflection or any of our equipment in the footage, we decided to film it facing the bed. We also had Amara behind the camera, in case her or her reflection in the mirror was caught on tape, as this would be almost impossible to edit out, and take additional time to re-film.

We created realistic "MISSING" posters to show during this video, to add authenticity. I made the most accurate poster I could by looking at different, real life missing posters online and seeing what kind of details they would have on there, what kind of photos, and the general layout and colours.

The photo at the bottom shows Phoebe looking at the scripts we made for this video - we wrote out a general outline of what we wanted to say, and folded our scripts behind the missing posters we were holding up in order to be able to look at them whilst hiding them from the camera.

Coursework - camera setup

These photos show the setup of the camera we used to film part of our film opening - the "come home" plea from Amber and Isla, addressed to Erin, which we then posted to YouTube. We had to film this in order to create a later scene, where an anonymous person (revealed to be Erin) is shown watching the video on their phone.

Our setup included my Nikon Coolpix (we decided to use a lower quality camera than my Sony Cybershot in order to make the video look suitably homemade compared to the rest of the footage) attached to a tripod - however, we found that part of the tripod kept falling slightly to one side and making the angle wonky, so we had to improvise by pushing a quality street sweet under the loose part in order to keep the camera stable, so that the shot was completely horizontal.

Opening Sequence

(Coursework) come home Erin

For the part of our film opening where Erin is shown watching a "come home" plea made by her friends, we filmed a real scripted video. We had to create realistic missing posters, scripts for our dialogue and a suitable setting. We also decided to use a lower quality camera, to make it seem realistically home made.
The finished video turned out the way we wanted, although it took some time to complete it - learning the script was quite difficult, as was acting in front of the camera. As a result we have a fair few outtakes.

Coursework planning - Plot & Titles

Risk assessment

RISK                       HAZARD                       PREVENTION

Fire                       Getting burnt/                   Tie hair back, be careful generally, have water nearby
                             setting fire to nearby
                             objects  

Night time           Tripping hazard                  Use torches

Heavy                  Potential back strain           Help each other, lift with a straight back & bent knees
equipment                          

Coursework planning - Prop list

Panophobia Moodboard (coursework)

This is a series of images which represent and provide inspiration for our film opening. Collectively they capture the mood we're trying to create for Panophobia, with the images showing friendship, fire, 35mm photos and travelling.

Both of these music videos are inspiration for the montage part of our film opening - when imagining the specific way we wanted to do the montage (hand-held camera, steady shots using a tripod etc), watching these videos gave us an idea of how we want it to look.
Like the first video, we plan to use a lower quality camera (either a small digital camera or an iPhone camera) to make the footage appear more natural and less staged, as it would with a high quality camera.
The second video gave us the idea of filming in an arcade, as I personally really liked the way the colours and lights look on camera, and we all agreed it would be a place we are naturally able to have fun, which would translate well on film into a realistic performance.

Student film openings

Although I liked the different and creative ways in which this film opening displays the film titles and credits, I believe the close up shots (for instance, the shot where the music credit is shown on the laptop screen) should have been clearer - this could have been done by them checking that the camera was in focus while filming, and then checking the footage while editing.
As a whole, the opening has a clear narrative of the girl getting ready, however, it is a fairly cliche and overused way of starting a film. Additionally, the genre is not entirely clear, as nothing really happens, and the clip at the end throws it off slightly. I think it could have had a clearer genre if the clip at the end with the voice over was not included.


I thought the plot of this film opening was interesting and original, and followed a clear narrative. There was a wide range of shots used, and although the camera remained steady and in focus, I think the editing could have been done better. For example, some of the transitions from scene to scene were slow and quite jarred, and it made the whole opening feel almost clunky.
Additionally, the sound quality was fairly poor and too loud at some points.
However, I liked the way the titles were displayed on screen, and felt the blood splatter imagery fit the genre very well.
Out of all the film openings, I think this one was the highest quality, with the best plot and clearest narrative. The HD camera and sound gives it an extremely professional feel, as does the detailed set design.
Additionally, the props, setting and radio recording of Winston Churchill show the time that this is set in, and make it even more authentic.
Although I think more varying camera angles could have been used, this was overall a brilliant film opening and would get an extremely high mark.

Student film openings (mark scheme)

The mark scheme for student's film openings           

     

Low budget vs high budget institutions from Lucy Hocart

Film inspo

This video by popular vlogger Jack Harries served as inspiration for our opening credits and the end scene of our film, in particular at 1:22 into the video where he burns a piece of paper with writing on it - due to the reversal of the footage, the paper forms a whole piece again, showing the writing in full. This is what we plan to do with disposable camera photos, which will have our titles and credits written on them.

Panophobia by Amara, Lucy and Phoebe

Feedback

Clear genre, themes, message?
"Thriller/drama"
"Clear genre, interesting theme, clear message"

What is the narrative?
"Girl gone missing, friends plead for her to come home"
"Lots of enigma, very interesting story. 3 friends - one missing girl"
"Mysterious and intriguing - voice over makes it more original"

Interesting characters?
"Erin Blake, Isla Hall, Amber Hocart - 3 teenage friends, interesting"
"3 friends - don't know much about them - enigma"
"3 different characters"

Does it target the right audience?
"15+ teen drama- strong female roles - suitable for target audience"
"15+ - nothing in film that would make it unsuitable for 12a"
"15+, suits narrative"

Institution?
Film4

Any comments about the film, would you watch it, is it doable and interesting?
"Would watch it - it is doable, however shots will be difficult"
"Yes, I would watch it"

Genre Analysis

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower is a coming-of-age film, revolving around a 15 year old, mentally ill boy called Charlie, and his friends Patrick and Sam.
The film is set in the nineties, which can be told from the clothing the characters are wearing in the poster. You are also able to tell it is a coming-of-age story due to the characters being young.
Additionally, the young age of the characters can be told as the background looks like the wall of a high school gym.
The colours used include only a stark black against a bright lime green, and a short quote is placed directly in the middle of the poster.

The Shining is a well-known film, which enables the film poster to remain minimal, using only this iconic image of the main character, Jack, pushing his face through the door he had just axed through.
Additionally, the actual disturbing and crazed expression of Jack lets the audience know that the film is horror.
Using bright white font on a plain black background with just a little bit of red creates a very stark, bold image, and uses the bloody connotations of red to foreshadow events in the film.

(Translated) We Are The Best! is a Swedish drama film, set in Stockholm in 1982. It revolves around three 13 year old girls called Bobo, Klara and Hedvig, who start a punk band together, despite only Hedvig having musical talent.
The three young characters with their androgynous punk styles show that this film is aimed towards a target audience of people who enjoy sharing in punk culture, and younger people who are finding their own sense of style.
The drama genre can be told from the serious expressions on the girls faces, and the fairly minimal background and font.

Preliminary Task - School Musical High

Here is the finished (short) film of School Musical High. We used this for the title to make it clear that it is supposed to be a spoof of cliché musicals, specifically High School Musical.
Overall, I am happy with how it turned out, and it gave us the opportunity to try new skills in terms of editing, camera angles and matching up sound with footage.

Titles

 

Title 1 - Institutions, 00:08
Title 2 - Film title, 00:14
Title 3 - Lead actors, 00:21 - 00:37
Title 4 - Supporting actors, 00:39
Title 5 - Casting director, 00:52
Title 6 - Music by, 00:58
Title 7 - Additional music people, 01:02
Title 8 - Costume designer, 01:07
Title 9 - Editor, 01:12
Title 10 - Production designer, 01:17
Title 11 - Director of photography, 01:22
Title 12 - Executive producer, 01:26
Title 13 - Producers, 01:32
Title 14 - Screenplay by, 01:38
Title 15 - Director, 01:43

Juno evaluation

How did the filming go?
Despite some difficulty getting the exact shots we needed, filming went smoothly in terms of getting the shots we needed and using our limited locations as best we could. We managed to find places that mostly matched the original shots, and I feel overall that filming went very well.

Was your storyboard accurate?
Our storyboard (drawn by Charlotte) matched the shots we needed and gave a basic outline of the angles and distances we needed to think about while filming and matching up our own footage with the original.

What were the strengths and weaknesses in the group?
The main strength of our group was that we worked well together with no arguments, and effectively communicated our ideas and thoughts to each other. We were all punctual and came prepared with the props and costumes we needed. Our weakness was that we helped another group with their filming, so we didn't have a lot of time to film our own and had to quickly find a location for our last shot, meaning the production was slightly rushed.
Did you get all the footage you needed?
Despite leaving some of it to the last minute, yes, we got all the footage we needed. However, some clips were shorter than they should have been, so we had to slow them down in editing in order to get the correct amount of screen time.
What technical skills either camera or on premiere did you learn?  How does it compare to the original?
In terms of camera skills, we had to incorporate zoom-in shots and tracking. While editing on Premiere, I learnt how to apply effects onto footage, how to slow footage down, add in transitions and increase/decrease the footage's brightness.
Although some shots are slightly different to the original, overall I believe our version was a good enough match for people to clearly recognise the aim of our production (which was to recreate the Juno film opening).
What went well- what I learnt- what I will take with me into the next production. 
Overall, the entire production went well and gave me my first idea of what its like working in a group while filming. Additionally, it enabled me to further my editing skills and experiment with different camera angles and techniques.

Prelim Task - Evaluation

This our completed preliminary task, titled "School Musical High", which is a play on "High School Musical". I originally suggested the title to be "School Musical (Everyone Is) High), in order to show further the sarcasm and parodying nature of our prelim, however it was decided that was too long a title.

I'm extremely pleased with the way our prelim turned out, and think we all (me, Charlotte and Harry) performed well, which was helped by the fact we enjoyed what we were doing and found the comedic parts funny ourselves.
I'm also very happy with how it turned out in terms of editing, especially the small montage in which I'm stalking Harry's character, Roy - I wanted there to be at least a few short clips in various locations to clearly show my character following him.

Feedback for this included many positive comments, including:
"It brought tears to my eyes from laughing"
"I like the transitions and how the jump cuts are timed"

As a group, we feel that this task went very well and came out how we wanted it to.

Preliminary task - production diary

11/10/16- In today's lesson, we were put into our groups and I found out I am working with Charlotte and Harry. We were given the genre "Musical", which initially felt challenging - however, we soon began to have a lot of ideas, including our main idea of making a kind of musical spoof, with the cliché of a girl and boy meeting and falling in love (played by Charlotte and Harry), with the comedic character of another girl who is obsessed with the boy (played by me).

12/10/16- Today we worked together to create a storyboard and plan out the exact scenes and plot, which enabled us to figure out which songs we wanted to include.

13/10/16- Today we began filming, using my camera, a school tripod, and Charlotte's phone. We were only able to film a short piece of footage however, as we spent most of the hour helping another group film their prelim, as they did not have enough people to play the characters they needed. We decided against using the footage we filmed eventually, as we knew we could recreate in a better setting.

14/10/16- Today we filmed the first scene, where Charlotte and Harry meet for the first time, with Charlotte tripping and dropping all her things, and Harry helping her to pick them up. We used a lot of the required shots, including close-ups, over the shoulder shots and panning. We had to film the same parts a few times, in order to get the different angles we needed, but we were able to film the whole scene, including Harry and Charlotte lip-syncing to "Start of Something New" from High School Musical, and my character screaming and slamming a locker in anger.

17/10/16- In this lesson, we filmed the scene where my character stalks Harry's character "Roy", following him to the water fountain, and becomes angry when he talks to Charlotte's character, "Babriella". This took the whole lesson to film, as we needed the right angle for my character peering round a wall, and a cutaway point where one shot jumped to another.

 18/10/16- In this lesson we put together and edited the footage we had so far, and decided to include a song for my character to make her role of being obsessed with Roy clearer. The song we decided on was "Hello, I Love You" by Adore Delano, as it included essentially perfect lyrics for my character, with lines such as "I like the outfit you got yesterday at 12:23, and my favourite thing to do is watch you dream in your sleep", and "I think you blocked my number so I got a new phone".

20/10/16- Today was the last lesson working on our Prelim, and while editing we realised we had not included a required shot, so had to quickly use a school camera to film Roy walking through a door and his hand on the door handle. We edited this part into the final cut and matched up all the songs, then added our title of "School Musical High" at the start, leaving us with a finished piece.

Audience

Who creates the content, the media or the audience?

While this question may have been more easily answered in the past, before websites such as YouTube or tumblr existed, currently it is almost equally both the audience and the media who create content.
YouTube enables people to create and share their own content without being professionally involved in the media - nowadays, short films are extremely popular, often following a very indie route in terms of subjects and plot, which appeals to young adults.
Additionally, websites such as tumblr, Archive Of Our Own and Wattpad enable people to create and share their own writing, and have millions of full novel-length stories that anyone can read for free.

Can the media exist/function without an audience? Can an audience (public) exist/function without media?

Without an audience, there would be no point to the media at all. The media is a corporation based around sharing information in the form of writing, films, music or social networking - the media without an audience is the cyber equivalent of shouting into the void.

While the public would technically be able to survive without media, the lack of being able to know what is happening in the world could lead to potentially dangerous situations. Therefore, society would not be able to function in a stable manner.

Who is more powerful: the media or the audience why/how?

I believe though the media is more powerful - although this power has been abused many times before (for an extreme example, the media was fully taken over by Nazi propaganda in 1940s Germany including radio broadcasts, censorship, posters and films), the media can make drastic changes in the way people think. For example, releasing films showing the horror certain diverse groups have faced (12 Years A Slave, Boys Don't Cry) have lead to negative opinions being changed and more positive activism.

Can the media control an audience?

The media can definitely control an audience and how they think or feel, by putting out content that is aimed at certain groups/ages and manipulating them with content that appeals to that specific group of people.

Audience

What do we mean when we use the word 'film'?
Film is technically the material fed through older cameras which would enable visuals to be recorded or photographs to be taken.




Do you think it means the same as the word 'movie'?
Although movies can also be referred to as films (typically older movies), movies are what film creates. A movie is a series of moving images with characters and a narrative and plot.




And what about the word 'cinema'?
Cinema can refer to the entire industry of film, but also to the theatre in which movies are shown to an audience.







Top 10 films
10 Things I Hate About You
Amelie
Grease
Juno
Vi är bäst! (We are the best!)
St Trinians
Submarine
Pan's Labyrinth
Donnie Darko
Big Hero 6

Narrative

Narrative - The retelling of a story

Barthes' Codes- Significant items and objects.
Stated that texts may be open: "Text is like a tangled ball of threads... needs unravelling so we can separate out the colours."
Example - enigma code
What are key characters showing (who, what, why, where?)

Aristotle - A famous Greek philosopher. He stated that all stories need a beginning, middle and end, and created a template for this.

Todorov - theorized that each narrative passed five stages:
Equilibrium - the state of normality.
Disruption of equilibrium - a character or action or action which disrupts the state of normality.
Main protagonist recognises that the equilibrium has been disrupted.
Restoration of equilibrium- The protagonist attempts to restore the equilibrium.
New equilibrium - Equilibrium is restored, but transformations and changes have occurred from the original equilibrium.

Propp
- All narratives have a common structure
- Shaped by characters

Levi-Strauss
- good narrative is caused by opposites (binary opposites such as male/female, good/evil)

Up narrative:
Significant items/signs-Clouds, mailbox, picnic basket

Production Logo

This is my production logo to put at the start of my films. I chose this image as I find the purple tones and pixelated artwork aesthetically pleasing, and it went with the name "Pixeltown Productions".

Boyz in the Hood - Analysis

Boyz in the Hood analysis

Camera
Frame- The camera uses a long shot in the opening scene which shows the run down state of the neighborhood the film is set in.
Angles- The camera remains at the level of the children, with them in the centre, showing they are the important subjects and the focus of the scene.
Movement- Through most of the scene focusing on the children, the camera follows them with a camera on a tripod (e.g. not hand held, so smooth movement)

Mise en Scene
Costume- The costumes for every actor are stereotypical 90s American clothing (bright colours and double denim), which is accurate as it was filmed and set in the late 1990s.
Lighting- Natural lighting is used throughout the opening of Boyz in the Hood.
Actors- Young actors are primarily used, to show the contrast between the innocence they should have would it not be for the fact that they are discussing shootings, murder and using profanity.
Makeup- No makeup on the children as realistically they would not be wearing makeup in real life, however the teacher and mother appear to be wearing light makeup.
Props- The children have school bags and lunchboxes, and the main young boy has a pencil which he is drawing with in class.
Setting- Neighborhood streets, a school classroom and a family home.

Sound
Music- Synthesized sounds are added here and there, alongside low, minor key strings when the children see what is presumably a crime scene.
Onscreen/offscreen- Offscreen, some dialogue can be heard between two presumably black males who seem to be planning some kind of attack - then shooting can be heard. After that, the voice of a young boy cries "They shot my brother, they shot my brother!"
Voiceover- There is no voiceover
Dialogue- The offscreen dialogue consisted of two males muttering about how they were going to "get" someone, then a young boy crying "they shot my brother, they shot my brother". Dialogue followed between the four children, the teacher and the main boy, and the teacher and his mother.

Editing
Screentime- The children have the most screen time throughout the opening, which adds to the juxtaposition of the film being about gang violence next to the children who should be innocent and not exposed to this type of crime.
Transitions- The image of old blood on the floor fades into the children's drawings of death and crime scenes, which is likely intended as disturbing imagery. Other shots simply switch from one to the otherwith no fade effect.
Order of narrative- Firstly the blank screen with factual text on it is shown, stating that: "One out of every twenty-one Black American males will be murdered in their lifetime... Most will die at the hands of another Black male".
We are then shown four children walking to school, who stop along the way to explore a crime scene.
The film moves on to a classroom scene, where a fight breaks out between two of the boys, which ends in a scene where one of their mothers is called.
Pace- The pace for this opening is fairly slow and calm, however, this changes once the two young boys start fighting. The angles and shots begin to change more frequently, making the pace faster.
Special effects- There are no obvious special effects used in this film opening.

Representation

Representation is the way in which people, events and ideas are portrayed to an audience - the media uses representation in a way so they often stereotype people, leading the audience to possibly become comfortable/lazy with the image that has been created and use this representation as a stereotype.

The two types of stereotyping are:
Archetypes - The most extreme stereotype possible (for example, a French man named Felippe who wears a string of onions and a beret).
Counterypes - Something that goes against the stereotype (for example, a French man named Greg who hates onions and only wears a fedora)

The film "Mean Girls" is a good example of stereotyping - the students are sorted into (direct quote): "Preps, J.V Jocks, Asian Nerds, Cool Asians, Varsity Jocks, Unfriendly Black Hotties... Desperate Wannabes, Burnouts...the Plastics".

Each clique is only shown for a couple of seconds, however we can easily establish who is who just by seeing them for that short amount of time. For instance, the Burnouts are slouched over and giggly, as though high (which is clearly implied by their given clique name), and the Plastics are sitting upright, dressed in light colours and looking pristine and pretty, and very separated from the other cliques.
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Semiotics

This poster shows a smiling young woman in a halo of warm yellow light above a French café on a cobbled street. Below this is the film title, which translated from French says: 'The Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain'. Other text on the poster includes the name of the director, acting credits and the names of the two main actors.
When looking at this poster, it is obvious that the main character of the film is the young woman in the foreground. The warm toned colours such as the dark orange-red she is wearing and the yellow circle surrounding her insinuate that she is a warm and friendly person. Another interesting point is that the café below her shares the same colours, making it appear a warm and inviting place. The fact that it is also 1. The only open place on the street and 2. Full of colour in a grey-blue street draws more attention to it.