For more information
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0870111/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frost/Nixon_%28film%29

Written by: Peter Morgan
Directed by: Ron Howard
Casting: Frank Langella, Michael Sheen and Kevin Bacon


The genre and seriousness of a movie can instantly judged from its opening sequence, indeed, the opening sequence sets the overruling tone for the rest of the movie itself. Whether you're watching a comedy, horror, action or biopic, the first 5 minutes or so are sufficient enough to judge it. The case is no different in Frost/Nixon, a reenactment of the Watergate scandal of the 70's.

Starting from the opening credits, which are shown in a plain, almost bitter white font, the mood of the movie has been set to one of utmost seriousness. The stark white on black also pertains itself to being strikingly simple, yet unforgettable in our new-fangled days of crazy fonts and the such. Another scene setting move is the movie starting off in black and white, and an almost nostalgic, static interrupted news reporter talking about the Watergate scandal, immediately telling us three things: what the movie is about, when it's set, and it's genre.

Fittingly, the background music is rather sober, strangely mimicking a funeral march. Perhaps this is purposely done though, seeing as Nixon's term as President was about to draw to a close. The score pays tribute to a raining day in my opinion, and is excellently merged and entwined within the movie.

Another thing which hammers the 70's environment into our minds is the overall ambiance of the scenes. From the way the characters are dressed, to their hairstyles and mannerisms, everything thing just screams out the 70's, and we are easily and almost instantly transported back in time, completely absorbed in the movie at once. Not many movies these days can achieve that. A rather sublime message also given by the director by his emphasize on the anchors and media is that the movie will not just be about politics, but rather how the dirty politics, and rampaging media of that time entwined together to become what was to be remembered as one of the largest scandals to involve a US President.

The movie follows with a anti climax at the beginning: the resignation of the US President Nixon, this allows the director considerable leeway in telling the story for the rest of the movie, since it is no longer bound by a linear timeline. As such, many different story telling techniques can be applied throughout the movie thanks to this subtle change at the beginning.

After the resignation, an atmosphere of what some people might refer to as anarchy is established, and the main characters are introduced in a very profound way: giving interviews and their comments on the resignation of Nixon. Among these characters there is a heavy leaning on the press. Only a few of the characters introduced in the opening sequence are politicians, also giving a hint that most of the movie will be shown through the eyes of the media, albeit from both stances.

However, the most important character is introduced at the end, a typical way of building up a small climax. Nixon, one of the namesakes of the movie had already appeared, now it was time for Frost to come on screen. After the interviews, we cut to the backstage of a television show where a man shrouded in shadows appears. Suddenly, an announcer calls out "And now, the host of Frost over Australia, Mr. David Frost!", and with that, the man, now identified as Frost, comes onto the stage.

Picking apart this fantastic example of an opening sequence, we find that nearly all the elements that are essential to a movie have been done and dealt with in the first 5 minutes or so: suspense, mystery, euphoria, terror... everything that will become critical to the plot of the rest of the movie.

The Frost/Nixon opening sequence has over time become one of the most widely celebrated in the history of cinema, and in my opinion, rightly so. From the get go, you are transported to another time, as an observer of history, even with such an serious issue (considered tedious by some) the opening sequence has no problems at all getting our hearts pumping and adrenaline running... and you can tell that the rest of the movie is going to be a utter roller coaster.
   





  










Stranger than fiction














Reference:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDwTQ57YyzI
 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0420223/


Directed by:  Marc Foster
Written by: Zach Helm
Cast: Will Ferrell, Maggie Gyleenhaal, Dustin Hoffman


Opening Analysis

The movie starts with the name of the production house “The Colombia” and the “Mandate pictures” which appears on the screen with their respective trademark animation and a unique music which represents their production house. However like all other movies this one does not begins with the introduction or names of the characters.

The next scene starts with an extreme wide shot through the city into a room showing a watch on the table with a close up. This close up brings the audience to the point telling them that the watch plays a very significant role in the movie: this is further confirmed when the narrator says that “his wrist watch delighted in the crisp wind against its face.” This reflects that the wristwatch is just not an ordinary watch used as a prop in the movie it has thoughts feelings and emotions.

When the character wakes up, there is a voice in the background of the narrator which connects us with the main character “Harold Crick”. This is shown with an ariel shot giving the audience a feeling as if the narrator is watching the entire life of Harold. While explaining the character of Harold, the narrator says that “Harold is a man of infinite numbers with endless calculations and remarkably few words.” These few words are enough to convey to the audience that what kind of a character Harold maybe i.e. he rarely speaks which makes him less gregarious with few or no friends and all the time he is calculating things, i.e. steps, time etc or maybe he is really good at math.

Harold appears out to be a man of perfection and punctuality as he has had his every move timed and calculated, i.e. he cleans his teeth 76 times 38 stroked up and down and 38 strokes left and right each day. The director has edited this scene by using window editing technique and infographics are used to make the scene interesting and show his calculations and perfection. The text and the instruction about how to knot the tie in the next scene helps the audience to understand what is going inside Harold’s mind. “His watch thinks that the single knot makes his neck look fat,” this suggests that Harold’s watch is just like his friend, the only thing from which his day starts and ends.


Even in the office his colleagues usually don’t speak to him unless there is a calculation which is needed to be solved immediately as Harold is good at numbers. Everything was going just fine and perfect in his life, all planned and calculated until one day he starts hearing the voice of the narrator which is describing his daily routine. Harold gets confused and asks the narrator how she knows so much about his daily routine i.e. counting of strokes, knot of the tie, steps taken to the bus stop etc. As a result Harold gets annoyed and confused i.e. he forgets his strokes, steps and even gets late to work because he missed the bus.





                                       


Directed By: John Fortenberry, Amy Heckerling
Written by: Steve Koren, Will Ferell, Chris Kattan
Cast:  Will Ferrell, Chris Kattan, Racquel Gardner 


For more information:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120770/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Night_at_the_Roxbury

Opening Analysis

Few movies depart from a essentials of a traditional opening sequence, A Night at Roxbury being just one of them. Ditching the much more well known soft type of music during the opening credits, the movie immediately begins with an upbeat party song. This has a lasting impact in our minds: that this is an easy going popcorn eating movie. Nothing too serious, nothing too intellectual, just easy entertainment.


The screen then cuts to an eagle view of a city, what seems to be a party city at that. With flashing lights and neon's reminiscent of the city that never sleeps. In fact, the city high view makes us instantly think of New York or Las Vegas, coupled with the upbeat, trendy music that is hammering into our ears, and we a perfect setting already. All that's left is too introduce the characters. And introduced they are, with as much style and flair as one could imagine of.


Zeroing in on the front bonnet of a car, the number plate fills up the screen: California plates, and a personalized number "Sweet". The camera cuts to a wider shot and two men get out of the car, wearing flashy clothes, giving the impact of high fliers, they dance their way towards what seems to be a club. We are once again jarred by the camera cutting to a shot of people dancing, with neons and strobe lights abound. Hardly being given any time to get used to a shot before our eyes get bombarded with another; much like the make up of a music video, the director uses a clever technique to grab our attention.


The camera zooms in as the crowd parts, showing us the two excessively dressed young men, mimicking each others dance steps, by now we, the audience, are completely convinced that these two are the main characters of the movie, and also seem to be rather close friends. A subtler under-text is also found here, for those who care to read between the lines: these men aren't polished enough to be used to money, it seems as though it might have been a recent windfall that they've encountered.


As we can see, even without the use of any dialogue, the opening sequence has unfolded in a such a way that we already know quite a bit about our two heroes in the movie: recently wealthy, childish personalities, and cringe worthy lameness that defined the 80s.


The next few scenes consist of the pair dancing horribly, trying to make moves on the plenty abound females in the club, and being rebuked by all of them. It is interesting to note what seems to be their sub conscious determination: they don't even bat an eyelid after being turned down and go on as if everything was perfectly fine. Their shenanigans continue until the club itself is disturbed and they are kicked out by a bouncer.


There is so much detail in this opening sequence it is truly a task to analyse it all, with minimal dialogue and in a very short time span the director as already instilled in our minds the personalities of the main characters, the time setting, the genre of the movie (which is undeniably humor at this point). We can also instantly see that it's a buddy movie, the two almost brothers, who look nothing alike but get along famously.


While not as thought provoking or memorable as some other epics such as Legends of the Fall for example, the opening sequence in A Night at Roxbury is a rather cleverly thought out plan. Witty, charming and humorous, it appeals to the sub conscious part of our minds, and even divulges some pinpoint facts about the characters for those who are willing to pay al little attention and read between the lines, so to speak.

Production House Intro

Posted by Royale FilmWorks comments (0)

After alot of hardwork and efforts this is the final intro made for our production house.


Made our Intro on Adobe After Effects. One of the hardest task to work on but I guess it's worth it!











                                         
                                           TV Drama : A Touch Of Frost.
                                         
 CAST AND CREW
Series Directed by
Roger Bamford
(9 episodes, 1994-2008)
Paul Harrison
(7 episodes, 2003-2010)
Don Leaver
(4 episodes, 1992-1996)
Roy Battersby
(4 episodes, 1994-2006)
David Reynolds
(3 episodes, 1992-1999)
Adrian Shergold
(3 episodes, 1996-1999)
Sandy Johnson
(2 episodes, 1997-1999)
Robert Knights
(2 episodes, 1999-2000

Series Directed by
Roger Bamford
(9 episodes, 1994-2008)
Paul Harrison
(7 episodes, 2003-2010)
Don Leaver
(4 episodes, 1992-1996)
Roy Battersby
(4 episodes, 1994-2006)
David Reynolds
(3 episodes, 1992-1999)
Adrian Shergold
(3 episodes, 1996-1999)
Sandy Johnson
(2 episodes, 1997-1999)
Robert Knights
(2 episodes, 1999-2000

Main Actors

David Jason...DI Frost / ... (42 episodes, 1992-2010)

Bruce Alexander...Supt. Mullett / ... (42 episodes, 1992-2010)

John Lyons...D.S. Toolan / ... (39 episodes, 1992-2010)

Arthur White...Ernie Trigg / ... (27 episodes, 1994-2010)

James McKenna...Sgt. Brady / ... (25 episodes, 1995-2010)

David McKail...Dr. McKenzie / ... (20 episodes, 1992-2008)

David Gooderson...Pathologist / ... (18 episodes, 1992-2006)

Paul Moriarty...Sgt Wells / ... (15 episodes, 1992-1997)

George Thompson...P.C. Simms / ... (12 episodes, 1992-1996)

Caroline Harker...WPC Hazel Wallace / ... (11 episodes, 1992-2003)

    Representation of Physical Disability
                                Textual Analysis

This video clip is taken from the TV Drama "A Touch Of Frost" . The scene opens with a mid shot of two characters two characters standing and are having a conversation . The next scene is jump cut in the woods. This is a wide shot showing a young boy in his late teens coming out of the woods.This shot makes us familiar with the surrounding and the location but the main focus was on the character. As he stands up he cleans up his knee as to get rid of the dirt.He walks in an unusual way : with his mouth open cracking his jaw.As he glances at the bunch of policemen he got frightened (eyes got wide open) and he starts running without any reason.As the policemen caught him he mourns a loud cry saying "I dint do anything" and starts crying. This scene is further made a depressing or a sad scene with the help of digetic sound in the background and low : key lighting.Up till now we have a clue that there is something wrong with this boy he is not perfectly normal.
     Common stereo types of disability includes : the pitiable or pathetic stereotype .The disabled as the object  of violence, the :super cripple"  who is able to counteract their disability with some increasingly good skills  etc. There are many clues in the clip which tells us that the character is suffering from some kind of disability.

                                   
     In terms of lighting as a part of mise-en- scene the representation of disability is very much apparent. For eg : at the start of the extract, the young boy with the disability is seen poorly lit as compared to the other characters in that scene, perhaps suggesting him as a character of lower importance and significance.Adding to this when the police men shout at him he is seen running eagerly on his own. This shows his individualism amongst everyone else due to the fact that he had an disability.He is seen weak and vulnerable as compared to the other men (officers) in the dark with clothing and bright lights.
                                         
   Frost is given more importance then Billy purely because of his disability.As looking through the mis-en-scene : when Billy is at the house wearing his coat and seems very reluctant to stay.As the officer too tells his father that in this case he is being considered subnormal and he would need a man in the room with him in case he breaks any laws.We can see that he was replying to the officers questions in a real hurry and desperately wants the interview to get over as soon as possible. this portrays a feeling in audiences mind and which can also be seen through / from our daily lives that disable people are less talkative and less social.
          In terms of the camera shots at  the beginning of the extract billy is seen by using a high angle shot with billy having to stare up to the camera.This portrays him as disabled in some way and weak / inferior  to others. When the officer was in the house having a conversation with Billy he has to explain question to him clearly and eagerly and had to tell him how eager they are in order to get correct answers from him.And in order to get answers they had to wait a lot and had to be patient.We can see that the boy cannot speak properly and was using a lot of unwanted expressions and lingered on, and speaks up stretching a word and use to speak it out loud.He easily got frightened as he police men entered the room, and defended himself by saying "I dint do anything.I am innocent"
      People with disabilities are portrayed as less cunning , less intelligent and simple.This is further confirmed through the way the way the boy speaks and by looking at him facial expressions .While interviewing Billy Frost, the police men uses simple words and speaks in a child like manner.He also asks him simple questions like do you know what police were doing there?! ,as to know how much knowledge does he has and  to what extent his answers can be trusted.
After looking at this clip we can clearly see / say that this kid is mentally disabled thus is not perfectly normal.



                                                              
                   TV Drama : Blackadder Goes Forth
                  
                   CREW
                   Writer : Ben Elton / Richard Curtis
                   Director : Richard Boden
                   Producer : John Lloyd

                   CAST
                   Private Baldrick : Tony Robinson
                   Lieutenant George St Barleigh :Hugh Laurie
                   Captain Blackadder : Rowan Atkinson
                   General Melchett : Stephe Fry
                   Captain Darling : Tim McInnerny

Representation of class

This clip is taken from the tv drama "Blackadder goes forth" directed by Richard Boden.
This clip constructs the representation of class and seperates different classes very easily.
                       The scene starts with a master shot of the whole room establishing the surrounding and making us aware with the set up. As the scene starts we can see that there are 3 men standing behind the table wth one person in front wearing an army uniform with a tie , a bagde on hi coat , telling us that he is an senior army officer (upper class).Behind him are standing 2 men, too in army uniform but without a tie ,a badge on their coat and wearing army hats telling us that they were on a lower rank then captain blackadder ( the senior officer ). On the other had another man is sitting ona table under the judges table wrtting on the files telling us tha e was a low class officer : whic is further proven by captain Blackadder when he tells his lawyer that " he is just the clerk of the court.

             The lawyer of captain Blackadder entres the room in lawyers typical black coat wearing a typical white lawyers hat showing his seniority and nobelity. At the same time another man entres the court room ( the opposition lawyer) wearing an army uniform : tie, with medals on the coat, a belt accros the chest which could not be seen in the uniform of two men wo were standing behind the captain and the clerk of the court again telling us tha the other lawyer too was a high rank offcer.

                               

                                    
            As the judge entres the court there are two men behind hm (telling they were juniors and lowclass) which is again supported whenthey get seated on the table , and those tw men sit on both sides of the judge wearing those white has which they later placeon te table througout  the whole hearing. The judge speaks and decides while the other two men remained seated quietly in discipline listening quitely , proving that they were juniors.Only he judges table was decorated with a beautiful cloth with atract art ,spread on the able which not on the clerk table and captains table : proving that the judge was the most senior person and the head of every one present in the courtroom.
             As the case moves on the lawyer of Captain Blackadder calls a witness : "Private Buldrick". As he enters the room we can see that he is an old man approximately in his late fourties (40's) : wearing dirty clothes and a dirty muffler around his neck , carrying a backpack which gives us an idea that he is a poor man may be homeless ( as hes carrying a backpack ). When Captain blackadder asks Buldrick to "Deny everything" Buldrick even denies his own name in the witness box and even denies to admit that he is Captains batman. This shows us his low sense of humor and sense of understanding.  These evidences : dirty clothes, backpack, unshaved beard ad being captains batmn proves that he is a poor man  (low class)

                                                  
         George ( Captain blackadders lawyer) can also be considered as a junior (low class) man ,as he responded to the captain by saying "yes sir" and did everything according to Captain instructions.In the background as we can see there are expensiv paintings hanging on the wall of the court room with big and expensive frames revealing to u the class of the judge as a nble and a high class person.All the men in the courtroom were wearing long black shoes ( usually worn by high rank officers / and for showing their discpline too. But when bouldrick entres the room he is wearing small/ ordinary  dirty shoes telling us that he was a lower class men . On the other hand all the other officers were clean shaved with tidy hair , wearing an army uniform.
        There can be seen vrious other evidence which can be used to sgregate the 2 classes ( high clss and low class ) apart. ie: There were 2 doors in the court room seperate for the Judge and other peopleFrom this we can see that nly the upperclass (judge) had the authority  to use that door and the other one was used by the ordinary ( lawyers) and lower class (army officers standing in behing and the lawyers).

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