plan

Title/working title
Plot/outline summary	The film is based upon a book which someone has “cursed” ensuring that any person who reads it only has 40 days to live. The number 40 always appears on their left arm after opening the book. The protagonist in the film is going to object the curse and manages to be rid of it.
Opening sequence outline/summary	The scene opens with someone writing continuously the words “40 days” in a dark room with only a candle flickering.  It also flicks to the newton’s cradle (which could be used as background noise, with someone counting down from number 40 and ending at 0 when the book snaps shut as the end take). Pages get turned revealing “40 days” on every single page. Possibly consider 40 days being written on a wall or a drawing circle being drawn. It then flashes to a guy walking holding the book with another guy not far behind, it then builds up to a sprint as the first guy turns the corner and the second follows closely behind. (hedgelands forest and field before) 50 years later or so many years later another character is looking in there loft in the pitch black with just a torch and ends up coming across the book, they start to stumble and drop to their knees, then blanks out and drops book. The man from the chase falls to his knees (dead) It then zooms to their arm as you see the number 40 slowly appear. Woman snaps book shut on the number 0. (if it snows do it at night – footprints) (cuts foot with knife, use red paint to create footprints)
Characters (consider genre, role, image etc)	4 characters – two for chase scene -          One for the 40 days writing and newton cradle -          One for the loft scene -
Mise en scene Setting: Locations: Costumes: Props: Lighting (what mood are you trying to create? etc)	Loft (Emily's house) At night time or in the snow for (footprints) Lights out. House candle and writing book Hedgeland for chase scene. Loft (Emily's house) Everyday clothing for loft character. Chase scene characters wearing everyday clothing. Candle, torch, book, pen, newton’s cradle, paper (for circle). Dark lighting to add suspense.

Evaluation of titles in opening scene (Lord of War)

Fonts

The font for the actors and producers are bold and stand out more than the label of occupation in the making of the movie this is to draw attention to the name so people notice it. The font is quite a simple used font, also the names in bold give us a sense that the film will be about action.

Colours

The colours used are a simple white which stands out and gives a sense of juxtaposition as white represents heaven, purity and honesty and its in the same shot as bullets and war which is bad and unethical.

The way they appear 

The titles fade in and out to start with and then after the bullets are in transportation every time the bullets move around or switch position because of a bump in the road for example, then the titles show up also when the soldier loads the gun and inside the gun the producers name appears.

Where they are postitioned

They're in the middle of the screen to start with to show everyone the most important actors and interest people and they move to the side a little bit so people can see what is going on in the opening scene.

Message about the film

The message given is that it is an action film, they way the letters arrive and stand boldly suggests a sense of power which is semantically linked to action films.

Order

The order used is that they have put the most important (main character) first ans then included then they have put the most important people to do with making the film last, in between is a mixture of actors and executive producers and editors etc

Titles ( Lord of the war)

BBFC

big company in comparison to a small company

Twentieth Century Pictures was created in 1932 by Joseph Schenck (the former president of United Artists) and Darryl F. Zanuck from Warner Brothers. Financial backing came from Schenck's younger brother Nicholas Schenck, president of Loew's, the theater chain that owned M-G-M, and Louis B. Mayer of M-G-M, who wanted a position for his son-in-law, William Goetz. The company product was distributed by United Artists (UA), and leased space at Samuel Goldwyn Studios. 20th century fox started as a small film production at first but with a bit of success and financial backing it was able to prevail to be internationally successful business  
Robert Murdock who owns 20Th century is very wealthy and owns a lot of internationally successful companies for example the newspaper;the sun and sky. This gives him a massive advantage if he is trying to promote a movie that 20Th century fox are bringing out they would put it out on sky and the sun which is massive advertisement because these are boss huge cooperation's so a lot of people will see them therefore more people will see the advertisement. 20Th century fox make films for an international audience, their target audience is difference to small British companies so ultimately that effects the way the film is written, what's in the film and what actors are used. 

company pictures has made a lot of programmes and films that the British audience have loved and been very popular in this country for example skins, shameless and moon fleet. These are all popular in the UK but not internationally because of the advertisement  campaign isn't a big as the other huge international companies because of the financial status and the connections. Company pictures works with channel 4 to produce programmes and movies, skins and shameless were made by company pictures but they feature on the channel 4. This is similar to Robert Murdock in the sense of working together with companies but these companies are much smaller and are not all over the world. Another problem is that American media don't enjoy/get british humour where as british media enjoy/get american humour that is another element of why the american film productions are bigger.

codes and conventions used in film openings ( Lord of War)

Conventions of a film opening	Codes used to convey this convention (e.g. technical, symbolic, written)
The Hook!	Right at the very  start they use a technical code , using the camera there is a close up of the floor which has loads of bullets on it which is also a symbolic code and shows us that the film is going to be about guns and war as that’s what we relate to them objects. Then another technical code is used when the camera angle head to toe is used to establish where abouts the actor is, in the back ground we can see a burnt/still on fire village this hooks us in as you know that there will be action in the movie, then another technical code is used when the actor speaks to us and tells us about gun crime and gun use, which for the audience is very hooking as you want to learn more and gun crime is usually a very popular genre.
Set the scene (time? Setting?)	The scene is set in as it looks a poverty struck, African country. We can tell this by the establishing shot when the village behind is on fire and when they use the technical code and symbolic code  that shows point of view of the bullet it comes from a factory all the way to a very sandy and hot place with make shift houses, that’s how the scene is set. Using the technical codes we can tell its set in the present because when the actor is talking he gives relevant facts which are correct at that point in time and by the back ground and the weapons they’re modern all portrayed by the use of technical codes.
Introduce characters	Were introduced to the main character at the start when he talks to the audience in the establishing shot, we can tell this is the main character because usually the main character is the first person/people we see, we are presented the main character by the use of  technical code again with the head to toe camera shot of the character then a close up to show characters expressions.  The symbolic code of what the main character is wearing shows us that he’s a business man and he’s probably quite wealthy.
Introduce the genre	The genre is introduced straight away when we see  the bullets on the floor and the burning objects in the establishing shot through the use of technical codes and symbolic code to show the audience genre. we can tell it’s going to be about action as guns , fire and bullets are in the semantic field of action. Then when we follow the typical life of a bullet using a technical code again,  the point of view camera angle shows us that it’s going to be about guns and then we see the gun being fired and someone being killed, confirms the genre of action.
Credits	When the camera is following the life of the bullet we see the written code of the main actors name pop up onto the screen to start off, then we see the name of the movie pop up in a different font from then on we continue to see the actors names, the directors and producers names pop up onto the screen.
Narrative	The narrative used is when the main character talks to the audience about the guns ( which also sets the scene) the written and audio code is only brief then we hear a few words from the characters when they shift the boxes of bullets it adds a lot of affect that the only real audio code used is the main character talking.

Main exercise

Main exercise: 
the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of 2 minutes.

Codes and Conventions in Media

Codes:Media students identify three categories of codes that may be used toconvey meanings in media messages:TECHNICAL CODES, which include camera techniques, framing, depth of field, Mise en scene, editing,  lighting and sound;
SYMBOLIC CODES, which refer to objects, setting, body language, clothing and colour.WRITTEN CODES in the form of headlines, captions, speech bubbles and language style.Conventions:Conventions are the generally accepted ways of doing something, and in the case of media texts, they are generally accepted patterns of code that communicate a particular message.

There are general conventions in any medium, such as the use of quotes in a print article, but conventions are also genre specific. For example, in Westerns fights scenes are generally shot from a low angle, the setting is usually dusty and desolate, and even the sounds used within the scene are conventional, such as castanets, or some sort of whistle. 

Film openings: T h e p u r p o s e a n d c o n v e n t i o n s .

      •The purpose: The purpose of a film opening is to show action and begin the viewers interest so they get immediately hooked into the film. The film opening will also clearly state the genre of the film, you will also most likely see either the protagonist or antagonist.

• Antagonist, 

Timing conventions: Most film openings are around 2 minutes long. However major blockbusters may be up to 5 minutes.•Set the scene (year of setting, location etc.)•Introduce the key characters: Protagonist,sidekick etc.

•Introduce pre plot or beginning of the narrative. Establishes platform/ scene.

•Key credits such as production company, logos and director.•Usually starts with equilibrium. A key event will occur.