9 Frame Film Analysis2/10/2021 What are the conventions found in these film openings?
The conventions found in this film opening are that it opens with a narration that gives exposition to set up the world the movie is taking place in. As well, the narration is omniscient and isn’t coming from an actual character in the story speaking. Also, as the narration is taking place the convention of the past being shown in black and white is present as for the entirety of the narration scene all the events shown are in black and white whereas the actual events of the movie, in the present, are in color. The exposition also follows the convention of giving us our 2 rival sides that the whole conflict of the movie will revolves around; that being The Sect and The Wolf Brigade. It does also paint the conventional picture of the militaristic police force being evil while the rebellious force is good and righteous. Although importantly it strays from convention in how it leads the audience to believe that it is only the militaristic police force that is being brutal and is attacking and suppressing the people without harm; even though in frames 6 and 7 of the collage it is very clearly shown that the protestors are the only ones fighting and hurting the government forces, whereas government forces are merely bystanders that are upholding the peace and defending themselves with shields. Most importantly of all they not fighting back or brutally assaulting the protestors like we were led to believe they would be very capable of doing back in the black and white narration. What do the elements in the opening represent? For starters the first frame in the collage of 9 frames, represents the catalyst for how the story comes into being as the nuclear bombing of Japan is the first event in a chain of event that led to the alternate history setting the movie takes place in. Also, more figuratively, the first image of the mushroom cloud produced by the atomic bomb dropped over Nagasaki could represent the capacity for violence that humanity has and how ultimately destructive we are to each other as we are always in some kind of conflict. Then in frame 2 of the collage that image of the people standing there with guns presents the resistance toward the totalitarian oppression that the Japanese government is acting out through The Wolf Brigade. And in frame 3 the element of people being shot dead on the street while The Wolf Brigade is in the background furthers the image of absolute power and brutality that the government acts out through their new elite paramilitary group. This imagine of The Wolf Brigade as being something the government uses to instill fear and crush resistance within the people is further compounded in frame 4 where it is from the point of view of a photographer who was just taking pictures of The Wolf Brigade executing an unarmed civilian, and then he takes one final picture at a dutch angle as he has been spotted and is now running away. The shaky and slanted angle of the frame along with the glowing eyes from The Wolf Brigade member’s helmet is really used to just further the image that these are the bad guys in the story, and they are just scary and should be feared. Frame 5 is one of my personal favorites as it really drives home the symbolism between The Wolf Brigade, that the main character is a part of, and actual wolves; since it is very reminiscent to the image of a wolf howling at the moon on top of a hill or cliff that many of us can imagine in our heads. Plus, it serves as foreshadowing for who the main character of the story will be as up until now that really hasn’t been established and if anything, the audience would not expect one of the members of the evil force that kills civilians, established in the narration, could actually be the main character, since typically main characters are established as morally correct and heroic in the story. Then from there frame 9 in the collage is the last one I picked that represents something in the story as it is where the actual main personal conflict of the story is put into motion. It is also where one of the main symbolic references in made in the story as the man is handing a satchel bomb to a girl in a red coat. And when he does this he says,” Package for grannie.”, this subtly establishes that the girl is little red riding hood, since she is wearing red. And overall, the myth of little red riding hood is actually a central part of the theme of the movie, as the main character is a part of The Wolf Brigade and so obviously could be thought of as the wolf, so when he sees this little red riding hood girl detonate the satchel bomb before his very eyes, it is where the movie begins the main journey of the main character. How is the credits part integrated with moving images? The credits part is integrated somewhat haphazardly with moving images as it’s nothing really special. In frame 8 you can see how it is just white text being slapped onto a part of the image that isn’t directly overlapping with what should be the focus of the audience in a shot. It’s unintrusive but is not integrated into the world of the movie itself or even the motion in the shows themselves. Who is the audience for this film opening? The audience for this film is quite mature as it first opens with just a whole lot of talking and exposition in black and white about political goings on, but then it cuts to immediate destructive and realistic violence which less mature audiences may not be able to handle. As well, the audience could be considered people who don’t mind slow pacing and mystery, as through the transitions in the lengthy opening scene from the protestors to then an aerial helicopter view to then girl in the red coat, there is not much explanation and things aren’t being immediately revealed to you. What genre is the film in? How is this shown? The genre the film is in is of course first and foremost anime, as it is an animated movie with a realistic style but that was made in Japan and is voiced completely in Japanese. Besides the obvious however, it establishes itself as an action political drama thriller by first showing a great amount of violence through the protests immediately as the movie transitions from the title card. But also, in the black and white narration there is a lot of focus on how political movements, and such, changed and influenced how the government in the movie reacted. As well, with the character of the girl in the red coat and just focusing on her walking while being inter cut with more scenes of violence from the protest, it establishes a certain level of importance to this certain character and all subsequent interactions she has. So, with such a focus on character driven plot it is only natural that It can be placed into the drama category. And finally, with the fact that things start out in immediate conflict in the movie and the fact that we don’t know where things will go or turn out can establish this as a thriller, since the audience is kept on the edge of their seats in wanting to know what’s going on and where it will end up. What features of the film opening will you use/not use in your own? The features of the film opening I will use is a strong title card with powerful music playing over it. I will also use how the audience is being dropped into a story in the middle of the action in my film opening. That sense of thriller and mystery as to what is really going on will also be used in my film opening. However, I won’t be using credits in my film opening as I feel they are better put at the end of a film since it can really draw you out of those crucial few minutes of being immersed in watching a new film. As well, given how many people are actually involved in my films and the fact that I take up a majority of the roles it’s honestly unnecessary since it would just be my name credited over and over again. Finally, the opening narration is not something I will use in my film opening as I feel the scope of my stories never really needs a moment of just raw exposition explaining how the world or characters got to where they are now, instead I’d prefer to relay that information to the audience naturally but non-chronologically throughout the course of the story so that way they can piece together the background on their own.
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