Tuesday 21 January 2014

Film Pitch.










Barthes Enigma Code.


Barthes' enigma code is a theory that suggests a media text portrays a mystery to draw an audience in. It also poses questions and makes the audience become intrigued in the piece. For instance, a murder mystery will often not reveal the identity of the murderer until the end of the story which poses the question, 'who is the murderer?'

Barthes' theory of the 5 codes is a way of grouping signifiers according to the role they play in the text.
These are categorised as:

  1.  The Hermeneutic Code- The voice of truth, This is an element in a story that is not explained, & therefore exists as an enigmas for the reader, raising questions. 
  2.  The Proairetic Code- The voice of empirics.
  3.  The Semantic Code- The voice of the person.
  4.  The Symbolic Code- The voice of the symbol.
  5.  The Cultural Code- The voice of knowledge. 

Friday 17 January 2014

Saul Bass Notes.

Notes on Saul Bass: 


  • Born 1920 - 1996
  • He was an American graphic designer based in New York.
  • Saul Bass became famous for his film work and classic logo design.
  • He uses simple geometric shapes and their symbolism.

Examples of his works:
  • North by Northwest
  • The man with the golden arm
  • Vertigo
  • Psycho
Today we looked up designers of title sequences mine was Karin Fong she designs film, TV, Advertisements and even the cinematics for Sony's Playstation game 'God of War III. We prepared a presentation and decided on roles within the group ready for next lesson.

Conventions of a title sequence.

A title sequence is the method by which a film credits production and cast members utilising visuals and sound. The opening credits list usually displays a list of the most important members of production. They are either on a black screen or over an action. There may be musical accompaniment. The aim of an opening sequence is to establish characters, settings, genre and sometimes even the narrative.

Usually a title sequence will contain:


  • Details of the cast and crew
  • The films title
  • An introduction to the characters or character type
  • Indication of place
  • Indication of historical period
  • Information regarding mood & tone
  • Introduction to signature theme tune
  • Information about genre
  • Questions that the viewer finds intriguing (sets up enigmas)
  • Patterns & types of editing that will be echoed in the remainder of the film
  • Mise en scene & cinematography that will be echoed or elaborated upon later in the film.

Common credits in a title sequence in the correct order:


  • Name of production companies 
  • Producer 
  • Name of title
  • Director 
  • Other key crew
  • Executive producer 
  • Top billing actors

S.T.I.N.C.S.

Setting: Where & when is this film set?
Theme: What is the mood of the film?
                   What is the film really about?
Iconography: Costumes, Makeup, Props, etc, relevant to the genre.
Narrative: What is the story about?
Characters: Who are they?
                         What are they like? How do they dress?
Style: Cinematography, sound, editing.
               What will the film look & feel like?

Thursday 16 January 2014

Plan for Film.

Today in our group, Esther, Chloe and i thought of things we could do with the genre horror / thriller.  We brain stormed 3 possible ideas and locations for filming and some ideas we could use. these locations were; a graveyard; damson park and someones home. We decided that it may not only be difficult to shoot but also disrespectful if we did a zombie theme in a graveyard so we scrapped that idea. That is when we chose to use the danson park idea but change it a little bit.

The new idea was a scary looking man whispering in a girls ear from behind as she is walking in the park but when she turns around no one is there. then she sees a man who looks old and he falls over she rushes to help him and he grabs her hand and transports her to an alternate universe. in the alternate universe she has to complete a series of tasks before she can get back to the normal world. the challenges test every skill and emotion she has but will she survive?

by the end of the lesson we had a plan for the title sequence, a title a 'pitch' presentation and even a plan/schedule for shooting the title sequence.