Lamb Storyboard film from Bethany Neave on Vimeo.
I did this video as a practice of when i will be storyboarding my own peice of work and to get an idea of what sort of shots will be good to use for the start of a film. I also did this so that i could get in idea of how long and how many shots I can get into 2 mins of film.
By doing this exercise i have learnt about all the different shots that are in an opening sequence of a film and how many there are. This will help me in my own film making as i can aim to get something as of good quailty as the film Lamb.
2nd Textual Analysis:
Textual Analysis – Love Actually
The film that I have chosen to analyse is Love Actually, which I think is one of the most iconic and best romantic comedy’s that has been made in my lifetime. The general background story of the film is that there are 10 different stories but with some more important than others. There are about 3 Stories that are seen as the most important and are focused on the most. There is the prime minster (Hugh Grant) and his story, Jamie (Colin Flirth) and his romance with the Italian girl on his holidays and finally there is the story of the dysfunctional rock star (Bill nighty) and his friendship with him manger. In addition the general thing for all the 10 story’s is that of ‘Love’ Hench the name and the stories all end up with things working out and everyone is quite happy, with all the couples that were focused on together. All of the separate stories that are seen at the film cross over at some point in the movie as they all ether meet one or a lot of the other characters.
In the first to minutes for the film there are many things that suggest to the audience where the film is set and in what time in history. The setting is made clear as there are many mid shots and close ups of Gatwick airport and this is re-enforced why the dialogue of Hugh Grant talking about the arrival gate at Gatwick. The shots and editing is quite slow pace as the shots last up to 5-6 seconds and some of the shots are even in slow motion to emphasize the emotion that the people on screen are feeling and to look at the love that is all around us. As well as this, it is very clear to the audience that it is set in present day times as there are many things to indicate this such as, the clothes worn by the characters are quite normal and modern. It is also made clear that the film is set around the build up to Christmas day, as the studio scene in which bill nighty’s character is introduced and they are singing about Christmas and there is text that comes up on the screen in front of a shot of a massive Christmas tree that says ‘5 weeks till Christmas’ And finally it is set in London as there are many shots of London e.g. big ben, the London eye and times square and Gatwick airport.
The main characters are introduced, Bill nighty and Colin firth are actually on screen and are introduced to the audience and are doing something. To go along with this Hugh grant is the first character that is introduced but it is only audio/his voice that you can here as he is explaining about love. This is the narrative voice and makes clear that the build-up of plot is all about Love, in all its forms. In the studio scene where Bill Nighty character is introduced the shots used are mainly close ups and mediums but there are some long shots where you get the feeling of the setting and how many people are there in the scene.
The Story is made clear as there narrative voice says about Love and then there are lots of indications that they from is about Love (it is even in the title). The audio/ music of half of the first to mins is of a gentle pretty piano song to go along with the dialogue and which makes the Romantic side of the film clear and then there is the strong comedy sense of the film as Bill’s characters swears and they music played is a mick take of a classic song.
In conclusion, the main elements of the opening sequence that I found effective are the slow shots at the beginning of people in love hugging. I think the editing has really done the scene justice and has made the genre clear to the audience. Also, I found the setting shots very effective as they may have been short but they really made it clear to the audience where the film is set and what time of year that it is. I am defiantly going to try the idea of the setting shots to help the audience understand the setting. Finally the thing that I am going to do differently to Love Actually is I am going to make it more obvious to the audience who the main characters are as I am only going to introduce 2 and they are both going to be on their own making it very clear that they are the only main characters because in Love Actually there are many and it is quite hard to distinguish.
