27 Dresses

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OkLNOCUfLY&feature=related

• The beginning of this film starts off in a busy atmonsphere of someone's wedding, with non diagetic sound over the top of the moving people. This is effective as the audience can relate to the chaotic scene of this, as every wedding is busy with people everywhere as they are a big occasion where many people gather. The woman talking is then introduced to the audience as she walks through all the people as an 8 year old child. By portraying her as a child at the beginning, it helps the audience see where her love of wedding's first started, and how she was when she was a child.

• By how she is dressed and how she looks, the audience are able to understand that she is a bridesmaid, and this is where her chain of being a bridesmaid first started. After this the bride comes running in screaming, using language that displays how worried and annoyed she is as she has ripped her wedding dress and her dress is one of the most important things on the day, which she has spent a fortune on. This is put in a comical sense to make the audience laugh. By making the audience laugh right at the beginning of the film, it makes them more eager and keen to watch the rest of it, as they want to see what other brides have funny problems on their wedding day. You then see the little girl as a helpful sweet person, as she uses her sister's wedding bow to cover the rip in order to save the wedding. This is effective as it makes the audience grow a bond with the little girl who will grow up to be the main character, as they see that she is not evil as children are sometimes portrayed in films.

• After the little girl has walked down the isle holding the bride's train, it flicks to the next scene which is her when she is much older standing in a wedding dress shop, trying on a dress, which leads the audience to think that she is making preparations for her big day, with all the staff complimenting her and her saying the nervous "really? You really think so?" about how she looks in her wedding dress. As the scene continues a member of staff walks up to her with her phone, saying "it's the bride." this is effective as it makes the audience laugh at the fact that they have been led to believe it is her wedding day, when in fact she is just trying on the wedding dress for the actual bride. She then says on the phone "I know, thank God we're the same size." This makes the film seem comical as she is only a bridesmaid but she is trying on the bride's dress for her, and making it seem as though it is her wedding; when in fact she's just very helpful.

•  The effect of making the film as much a comedy, as a romance is that a wider audience can watch it. If it was just a romance, males would be less likely to watch it, as it probably bores them, but since it is funny as well as a romance, it appeals to them more. By not introducing the love interest at the very start; it makes the film less cliche and more interesting, as you do not definitely know that there will be a love interest. By not introducing the love interest at the beginning, it may be easier for boys to watch it as it does not make them cringe from the start. Also some boys are more willing to watch a rom com if it does not have millions of cliche moments right from the start as it is too predictable and boring for them.

27 Dresses could influence my ideas for a film, as if we were to do a rom com, we could do a film in this style as it does not have as many cliche's so a wider audience may be able to watch it. Also the beginning is different from most romantic comedies so it may be more interesting for people to watch. Also it may influence our ideas to be more original as it is a very different opening to many.

A Cinderella Story

• The beginning of this film starts off with non diagetic sound of the girl talking about a fairytale. This is effective as it helps the audience to understand what kind of film it is going to be, and what it is based on. There is then an zoom shot on a castle in order for the audience to see that the beginning is supposed to be like a fairytale. As the film continues, you are introduced to the fact that the little girl hasn't got a mother, only a father, but their bond is unbreakable. From the beginning few minutes you are able to see that the film genre is probably aimed more towards girls as it starts off like a typical fairytale film, and from the non diagetic sound you are able to tell that the film is going to be about her as she is the only one talking, and is talking about her life.

• There is then an establishing shot of her Dad's 'Diner' where she considers her family to be. By including this in the film it can create a sense of empathy for the girl, as she has all the people she could ever need, except her mum. This beginning of this romance film is different to most, as it shows the character from when she was a child instead of just when she is grown up. This may be effective as the audience feel more involved in the characters life as they have been able to see her when she was a child and what she is like, and how it effected the person she now is. 

• After the setting has been established, there is a panning shot of everyone in the Diner doing their work, which helps to show the audience how the director wants you to think of them as a family. This is effective as the audience can feel more a part of the film as they are getting to know the characters whole life. It also helps to clear up the audience's wonder about what the inside of the diner looks like, and who she considers her family to be.

• It also then goes to a panning shot of all her 'family' looking down on her whilst she blows out her candles, which shows the audience who the closest people to her are. Throughout the beginning of the film, her talking and the music is positive, to show her happiness; but when the 'evil stepmother' is introduced, her voice changes to more angry and more negative. This helps to show the audience that the stepmother is following the traditional fairytale expectation of her being evil and mean.

180 Rule

• The rule for this filming is that there is an imaginary line. If the line is to the right of them when they are sitting down, then the camera would not go beyond 180 degrees as then it would confuse the audience and cause them to lose concentration on the moment in the film.

• If two people were talking and the rule was not followed, then you would not be able to work out who was on what side of the table. For example in our filming, Amie was on the left, and Ellis on the right. If the 180 degree line was crossed it would not be clear whether Ellis was on the left or right.

• We applied this rule by when filming staying to the right of the classroom. Whichever shot we did, it never crossed the 180 line, so when watching the two of them remain in the same place.

Crime cliche's

• In many crime films, there is gang rivalry. This is a popular cliche as crime is linked to police, and in the news there is a lot of gang rivalry. By using this cliche the audience are able to get involved in the film as they know it is linked to a real subject going in the world that they want stopped, and in crime films most of the time the good guys stop the gang rivalry to make everything okay again.

• Another popular cliche is good cop, bad cop interrogations. Using this in films is good because the audience likes to see the different sides of the police, to see who manages to get the information they need out of the bad guy. Also it can help them decide who's side they are on, either the good cop's or the bad cop's.

• Most of the time there is a 'rat' who is an undercover cop pretending to be part of a gang or on the bad guy's side. This is a effective thing to do as being undercover they can find out a lot of stuff the gang's wouldn't tell anyone else as they trust the rat to be trustworthy and faithful towards them. 

• Sometimes when the crime people are investigating, there is a dead body in the trunk of a car. This is a popular thing to do as the audience are led to question how long the body has been there for and who has done it, and why they have left the car and body alone for the police to find. As there is always a reason behind it, the audience feel the need to continue watching it.

• Never in crime films do they ask for ID. There could be someone the cops are protecting in custody, and the bad guy can walk right in past the guards, as the guards just assume they aren't there to kill the person; when most of the time that is their sole reason for being there. This a popular cliche that appears in many crime films, that the audience most of the time expect. It is effective because the audience still get frustrated at the situation even though they know it was going to happen. 

• There is also a lot of violence in crime films, as when you think about the police and detectives, their job is to do with violence, as they investigate murders and assaults etc. This is effective as the audience can relate it to real life and it makes it seem more real instead of it just feeling fake. 

• Most of the time there is also a corrupt cop, who doesn't play by the rules completely. He may sometimes let the bad guy's off or agree with them etc. This is effective as the audience can have someone they don't like and don't agree with to help them choose sides.

• There is also 'the neighbourhood' where all the crime takes place. This is mainly because the gang's are fighting for 'their territory' and don't want another gang to take over. 'The neighbourhood' can also be where the gang members have grown up, and would do anything to protect it.

• A lot of the time there is a respected gang leader, and what he says goes. Most of the time he is the person the cops want to catch most, as without him there is not a gang. The effectiveness of this is that the audience see the gang isn't so big and tough without their leader.

• Sometimes there is also a corrupt doctor/lawyer along with the corrupt cop. The corrupt lawyer may not act how he should and help the bad guy out, or possibly take a bribe etc. This cliche is effective as it may happen in the real world as well as the film, and may make it easier for the audience to relate. 

Comedy cliche's

• The comedy genre appeals to all age groups and genders. This is because different comedy films can be made for everyone, as many people like to watch something that'll make them laugh,
  
  
• Different cliche's are used to make the audience laugh. One popular cliche is that the hero is an idiot. This is effective to the audience as since the main character is an idiot, they know that he is going to make them laugh, and that the film is going to be worthwhile to watch. Also they will become interested in how he can out do himself on how stupid he can be.

• Another cliche is the 'slapstick' (someone making a mistake) this is effective as if someone for example fell over, the audience would find it hilarious, as watching someone falling over even if they do not get injured, is incredibly funny for most people and amusing to watch, 
  
  
• There is also most of the time a journey that the hero goes on, this is effective as during the journey the audience can start to grow attached to them, or if they didn't like them at the beginning, may start to like them now. Also the journey could be a funny one as the character could do loads of things wrong.
  
  
• There is also a best friend/sidekick in most comedies that can be quite hopeless, but is effective to the audience as we get to know how he thinks his best friend should deal with his problems, and how he and the main character act around each other. Also you get to relate to them as you may have a best friend that you act the same around.

• Another cliche in comedy films is the jokes or issues about stereotypes. the jokes about stereotypes include; sexuality, racial, disability and two dimensinal characters. The effectiveness of making jokes about these groups, or mentioning them is that they can be very funny. And some people will watch a comedy just to see someone taking the mick out of sexuality etc. The bad thing about this cliche is some jokes made in the comedy can be offensive and put people off.

• There is also sometimes a romantic sub plot in comedies, which can appeal more to females as they might feel they can relate more to the film if for example, secretly the comical guy, has a sweet part inside him that the woman can grow to love, also it may make males laugh and relate too as they could be going through the same thing that the character in the film is going through.

• Looking at comedies could be effective for my film production, as a lot of people watch and enjoy comedies. So the film we may possibly make could appeal to more audiences and groups of people if it was comical and made them laugh. If for example we made a romantic comedy, men may not want to watch it and find it boring, so the audience ratings may be affected. The same thing may happen with a horror as not everyone likes horror films even if they are older, and it may scare them, putting them off watching it. As action films appeal to men mainly, women may not find our film interesting if we did an action one, as the genre leans more towards the male audience.

Dodgeball -

• In the film 'Dodgeball' many cliche's that I have mentioned above are used. For example at the very beginning, there is a full of himself idiot. This is effective as the audience may start to not like this character as he is very abnoxious, leaving room for a new character they may like. Also by introducing a character who the audience may not like, will make them want him to mess up and create problems for himself, which would make a very funny comedy.

• Another cliche that is used is the physical comedy. After the full of himself idiot is introduced, you see an old picture of him where he is very fat eating ice cream. This for any audience to see is hilarious as over weight people have a better comical effect than a skinny person. The other physical comedy used is when a man gets stuck in the gym equipment. This is funny as seeing people fall over, walk into things etc is generally funny.

• The scene then leads to another person who is in his flat, asleep on the sofa having not washed, and not being able to pay his bills. His flat is also very dirty with clothes and rubbish everywhere. The comical effect of this is that most people's bedrooms are like this, and the program playing on tv is the full of himself character. The 'coinsidence' of this is that the man on the sofa, is the type of person the other character is talking about. The man on the sofa also has an old rusty car where everything goes wrong. This is funny as it is something that happens in everyday life.

• There is also another gym introduced which is full of losers, which makes the two gyms appear as a competion. Losers vs winners. There are also references to bodily functions and gay jokes. These jokes are effective as they make people laugh and make you want to watch more of the film to see what happens.

Mindmaps

Blog Feedback

Research and Planning 16/20: Well done so far. Continuing like this will certainly put you int eh Level Four category. To improve your work try to include some mindmaps and link your comments to target audience and your own ideas for production work. A very good start to your blog. Well done!