The title of the film

We decided that we should insert the title of the film last. This was due to the fact that a still image would erase the audio and visual bombardment of all the prior shots which would then lead to a magnificent piece of art work in which we created via the programme Photoshop and which we inserted to final cut pro. This allows for the audience to have time to interpret what has just happened in the opening sequence allowing them to understand what happens later on in the film. Positioning the title at the end of the sequence was heavily inspired by the film kidulthood and although their production team may have not positioned the title at the end of the opening sequence for the same reason we thought it was clever to interpret their idea in order for our own objectives as fore mentioned above.

Setting

A realistic setting we decided would be in an exposed corridor near a main road which we located near Kenton train station. We thought this would be particularly effective due to the fact films such as anuvahood and kidulthood share the same conventions and therefore it would be foolish to ignore due to there success in doing so. This combined with the fact that our plot needed this particular location of where someone would stereotypically be assaulted led to this decision. Therefore the setting also allows the audience to interpret a teen drama due to the fact that urban locations are stereotypically associated with teen characters.

Costumes and props

Also inspired by the fore mentioned films was costume and props. However this time we believed that we would adopt it accordingly towards our plot. We specifically done this by incorporating the dark and natural colours a teenager would normally wear by selected a navy blue t shirt and navy blue jeans along with black plimsolls. The use of a t-shirt was fundamental in the understanding of the character being exposed to the natural environment as he is seen shivering and using a worn old blanket which is also taken from a navy bag. Also make up in red cheeks and white dry lips portrays the characters danger as he may be leading into hyperthermia. Which the make up shows clear symptoms of. All of this helps in the construction of the genre teen drama.

Camerawork and editing

As far as camera work was concerned we identified that it played a vital role in portraying the genre in two parts. This was a low angle long shot of the sky at the beginning to portray the area that the scene was established in and at another point where the white male is assaulted a close up of his face portrayed the genre and the seriousity through a high angle close up of his blooded and bruised face. The darkened area and dull, stone-built building portray the streets teenagers roam about and the dark sky portrays the time of night in which teenagers stereotypically are outside. Then we see later on in the scene how the teen has been badly bruised and status has dropped down immensely as the high angle shot portrays he is on the floor and the extravagant make up of his bloodied face further enforce the fore mentioned point.

In our opening sequence we used a variety of editing but we felt our most reliant piece of editing was jump cut. We did further on of course use cross cutting but we believe it was essential in our narrative to begin with jump cut. This was as we had to engage our audience through a combination of editing and camera work. As you can see above the camera a close up of the male portrays a disturbed face and quickly cuts to him walking into unknown territory evincing him attempting to discover what is happening in the narrative.

Genre and how the opening suggests/establishes it

The genre of teen drama commonly has a teen in it which is played by me. I incorporate the conventions of a teen through my use of costume and make up in particular referring to my

spiky hair and dark casual clothes. In relation to the story I have been bruised heavily and this is portrayed through the make up on my face which is shown through an extreme close up. The make up consisted of a dark rouge colour which was spread across my face accordingly.

Furthermore my lips are coloured in light transparent white powder to portray the rough challenges of a teenager’s life in the streets. In addition it also portrays a teenagers life as

being heavily violent and also additionally heavily aggressive. Furthermore the intimate scene also portrays how a teenagers instability in life is proven as the still sleep with drug dealers etc

without caring for their own safety. A combination of these factors hence effectively portray the genre of a teen character in a teen drama.

Title font and style

The use of white text and especially the white coloured font is key in highlighting whatever title there is whether it was the title of the director or actors etc. This was also incorporated in the title sequence of the film where we have red text to portray stereotypical love and blood of love which is in an italic esque form. This is to portray the seriousity of the issues in the story but it is surrounded by an urban setting common for teenagers. We inserted various text in our movie to portray the titles of the film. This was done successfully as it incorporated the use of white text over a dark background to make the text clear to the audience. This was also inspired from kidulthood however we changed our font to create a sense of higher professionalism and to show the seriousity of the film. Furthermore the dark colours also represents the seriousity of the teen drama hence also portraying the genre quite effectively also representing these type of issues are actually occurring in real life.

Narrative and how the opening establishes it

The narrative consists of a teenage boy trying to discover the reason for the constant disappearance of his girlfriend and the confrontation of him and her boss. She works apparently as a local prostitute and drug dealer whilst at the same time having an intimate relationship with the male who is attempting to save her. The opening of confusion desperation and depression is combined with a voice over and various camera angles, such as POV to portray the dismay of the male as he appears to be in trouble in which we see when he gets beaten up later in the scene. We also see an intimate scene where the girl appears to be stroking the male after spending the night together. Furthermore, we can then understand how close the two are and track back to how the teenager is brutally assaulted and what led to the confusion which is shown in the beginning.

How characters are introduced/established

I am introduced through a close up of me running out of the station then combined with a medium close up when I am resting then a POV of me whilst running away from the station after my rest. The other character Oshin Anderson is slowly introduced into the scene later on with a close up of her hand sliding down my one to portray love and affection which juxtaposed with her walking out creates drama for the audience through conflicting objectives.

Special effects that you have used.

Slow motion in this particular case in order to portray a detailed picture of the character Oshin Anderson (pictured above) highlighting how she thinks she is superior according to her actions where she appears to be cheating on her partner. The use of slow motion is used in various music videos by artist who want to portray, beauty, power or wealth. In the first scene where we see the male get assaulted we had a slight issue with the lighting as it was not a public alleyway but a mere footpath leading to an estate, hence there was very poor lighting and extreme low brightness. We combated this issue by using special effects and added a lightening filter as well as a combination of increasing the brightness slightly. This was to ensure that the audience can fully view what was happening in the scene as well as making the shots realistic to the audience as well.