Font Analysis

The Font of the name of the film, or the font used for the title sequence plays a big part in the overall representation of the film as it tries to not only relate to the film as a whole, but also relate to its target audience and it tries to capture all that in just the font.

Over all there are 2 types of fonts:

Serif Fonts – These are the formal and traditional fonts such as Times and Courier, and are usually used in newspapers or books. (The serif is the little stroke at the end of each letter as shown bellow in red)

 Sans serif fonts – these are fonts such as Arial and Comic Sans, and are usually less formal, and seen as more “friendly” because of their appearance because unlike serifs they are not as sharp but rather bold and soft. Sans serif fonts are generally used in magazines, comics etc.

Font Analysis of Pearl Harbor

The title Pearl Harbor is written in a font called Palatino which is a classic Serif font and a perfect example of how important the font you choose for your title is because the connotations of the way the title in Pearl Harbor is written relate exactly to the film itself. The fact that it’s all in capital serif font letters relate to the plot of the film and with the soldiers in the main picture. From the picture itself we can see officers high up in the army because of the meddles they are wearing, and the title relate perfectly well with this idea because the letters are all lines up next to each other and are all in capital therefore creating this illusion of order and everyone being equal and in line, just like in the army. Similarly the connotations of using a classic serif font suggest formality and create respect in a way, which is what this film tries to achieve, this also relates to the target audience who are most likely educated middle aged people, because if the font is trying to reach out to them then the only people familiar with this particular font would be those who usually come across it in newspapers and such. And so just through the use of serif letters and them all being in capital we have an idea of who the film is aimed at and also it manages to relate to the film as a whole.

Font Analysis of Rocky

The font used for the title of Rocky is Franklin Gothic Heavy and is a Sans Serif font therefore its aimed to be much less formal than that of Pearl Harbor. This idea is also re enforced through the placements of the letters as they almost seem as though they will jump out the frame as they are too big to fit in. This is done so that they relate to the character of rocky who himself is “bigger than life”, and so the title must portray this idea also. That’s why the letters are once again all in capital. However with Rocky, even thought the letters are all in capital and that could suggest power and toughness, the fact that its in sans serif softens their appears a bit and that is done with the purpose to try and relate to the character of Rocky once again who on the poster as we can see although has the appearance of being tough and bold just like the letters of the title, by holding the woman’s hand shows a softer side of him and that side is portrayed through the Sand Serif font.

Both these examples show us that the font you use is highly important as it sends out a message to the audience which lets them know if the film they are about to see is indeed aimed at them. The font sets up the mood because when you see big bold serif letters being used you would most likely expect the target audience to be male ready for action, and if a romantic comedy then appears it doesn’t relate to the film at all, and so looses its effect on the audience.

Prelim - Filming

During the filming of our preliminary we had problems with using the camera, because we were not able to successfully put the camera on the tripod, but we got there eventually. We were also experimenting with different shot angles to see what worked best for that scene.

Openings

Openings

For opening we watched a few openings and we had to analyse them in our groups. In our group we went over the opening of ‘What Lies Beneath’ the opening for this movie is long and slow. The background is of misty water, which creates the eerie effect of the movie. The opening starts by showing the distribution company, then the production company and lastly the title ‘What Lies Beneath’ finds its way through the water. After showing the opening credits, although for a short period we see a dead face in the misty water and then the face comes alive, and the water is clear, as there is a woman in the bath tub who comes up gasping for air.

Camera/Bag Swap

Camera.

In this lesson we learned how to use the cameras we will need for filming and filmed our own short movie of a bag swap. We learned how to switch on the cameras, insert the memory cards, set up the tripods and what kinds of settings we will need.

For our first practice film we filmed our own bag swap, inspired by the bag swap in Collateral (Intertextuality). After we filmed it we started editing and we realised that we made a lot of mistakes which we took note of so that we don’t make them when filming our thriller (mistakes like filming the same scenes in two different ways but the actor was not in the exact same place, when he needed to be).

The actual bag swap!

Title Sequence

Title Sequence

A title sequence that inspires me is the title sequence of ‘The Shining’. I like this because we can see the family driving up the hill and it is like a bird is watching them, following its prey. It also connotes the idea that the family are going in the wrong direction, a decision they may regret. The deserted land shows how powerless and insignificant the car/family are.

The camera has a high angle ariel shot  from behind, making the family feel vulnerable because they look so small, and the fact that the camera is behind implies that whatever is going to happen in this movie is unexpected.

The sound in this opening is also very sinister which re-enforces the idea that this is a very eerie movie. I like that the opening of the movie doesn't beat around the bush, but it goes straight in to the creepiness that is sustained throughout the movie.

Intertextuality

Intertextuality

Intertextuality is when one movie borrows or uses the idea of another movie. Intertextuality in a film interests me because it makes reference to another movie. A common scene of idea used in a movie is the shower scene from the movie ‘Pyscho’.

The original shower scene:



A video that uses some of the ideas in the Pyscho shower scene:

Collateral

Suspense is used throughout the movie Collateral because it is a high action thriller. One scene that is very suspenseful is the famous ‘Bag swap’ scene where Tom Cruises character bumps into a man and they both drop their bags. When they go to pick up their bags they pick up the bag the other person was carrying. This scene has a lot of suspense because it happens in a loud public area (airport).

Another suspenseful scene in the movie is when Tom Cruises character is quizzing the jazz musician. This is suspenseful because he says to the jazz musician that if he gets an answer wrong he will kill him, so as the audience we know that he is going to get an answer wrong but we don’t know when and how he will be killed. So when he is killed it is still a bit of a shock to us (the audience).

A suspenseful part of the movie towards the end when the lawyer is hiding in her office from the assassin that is played by Tom Cruise. I find this the most suspenseful part of the movie because of the eerie silence and that we can barely see what is going on because the whole floor is blacked out.