Research - Production Logos

Production logos are often used as a brand, to market the quality of a movie, what genre it represents as well as signifying to the viewer who funded the film. These are used by a wide range of entertainment media companies, TV studios, film makers, studio theatres and animators. Production Logos are often seen at the beginning opening credits of a movie, if not always, and they play an important part in marketing what theme the movie will be about. For example, Walt Disney movies, are generally U certificate, PG or 12, it’s almost a natural order of film making that this company will not make or produce something with a 15 or 18 cert, which may follow more mature themes. The type of movie they market will be suitable for a young audience or for families, therefore, when an audience see’s their brand at the opening of the movie, they are comforted in the knowledge that the movie can be viewed almost universally by all ages.

 

Although, production logos are not just used for the consumer alone, companies require the opening of the movie as advertising space for themselves, and if the slot at the opening of films or at the end were not available to place the logo. It would reduce the marketing and advertising advantage for the entertainment business, therefore it is a necessity. However, most movies usually show a production logo at the beginning rather than the end.

 

There are many production logos that are established and represent that the director or the filmmakers have had money put into the making of their movie, these are the likes of MGM, 20th Century Fox, Warner Brothers, Walt Disney pictures, Universal, and many more. These are all successful and longstanding giants above the likes of Pathe, Ealing studios or the BFI. Initially the graphics for a Production Logo would be represented by a cinematic theme, e.g. 20th Century Fox have searchlights which sweep, as would be the characteristic of a Hollywood red carpet party. On the other hand, with MGM, although the lion does seem random, it is representative of when viewing entertainment were Circuses where lions were a main attraction; beneath the lion the image is a theatre mask again referring back to visual entertainment. These images refer back to examples of visual and theatrical entertainment, and therefore the graphics are not random but make references to what the branding is about. However the trend is different today, production logos are more about the company, rather than what they represent, Pathe on the other hand has a rooster which is the graphic for the logo brand. DreamWorks although successful and established, is a young studio company founded in 1998 in comparison to the likes of MGM and Fox Light. The graphic of the boy with a fishing rod sitting on a moon crescent in the sky, this may seem as if this does not represent TV or film entertainment, however the use of this was to follow the current trend into CGI, many movies were beginning to use computer generated images for movie making. The founders of DreamWorks therefore wanted to characterise this. Hence the name and the logo do fit, although it may seem initially that the usage could seem random.

Furthermore, pre 1990’s production logos were often ‘still’ images, however, as filmmaking advances, production companies are under pressure to keep up with viewing habits. 20th Century Fox now have moving searchlights, Pathe now have an animated logo, where the name ‘Pathe’ is on a string, and as it turns the shadow is that of a rooster. However, Pathe when founded in 1908, was a production logo used not for entertainment, but for broadcasting news. However in current years, has made the move to producing and funding films, particularly less mainstream quality movies. It is now a strongly advocated company in regards to film making and has earned its position amongst the ranks of more Hollywood and LA based film studios.

As you can see with the MGM logo, the competition, year on year increases for movie makers, and for studios, they have continuously evolved their logo’s to keep up with trends and cinematic technology. As you can see below, MGM, which had a ‘moving’ production logo of a lion roaring, has become over time colourful, as filming moved forward from black and white motion pictures to colour, and now today from standard filming to computer generated images. Here you can see how their logo has evolved, and will continue to as technology in filming continues to evolve too.

Research - Horror Film Openings

Horror Film Openings

In order to understand the horror genre for my film opening, I took time to watch various horror movies, from classic pieces such as Nosferatu, to more recent titles such as The Ring, 28 Days Later, Saw, and many more. This gave me a perspective of what types of techniques were used, how the directors wanted the characters and protagonists to act physically and mentally. Further more I took time to watch and take note of the directors cut version available on DVD’S, the commentary that the director and the producer had for each of the scenes in the movie. This dissected understanding directly from the makers, gave a real insight into what was used to make a particular scene memorable. For example in 28 days later, how the shot of Central London, had been achieved to seem barren and portraying as non-existent of life. As well as what mistakes may have occurred and how they managed to edit out these mistakes.

I watched around about 22 to 25 horror movies, I took notes on how the movies start and how and what method the director may have used to keep the audience interested. I took into consideration the music used, how the camera was used, what setting and scenery were appropriate for the movie, and if the title of the film was suitable. For my opening sequence of my film to work I thought about these methods very carefully and how I will be able to use them to fit in with my film.

Here are some of the notes I took for 4 of the movies I watched, I chose these movies because it’s around the same type of supernatural story that I want to work around basing my film opening on.

The Omen 2006 - Director John Moore

This movie is very well known as it was a successful horror movie released in 1976, it has grossed over $60 million to date.

· The film starts off with showing the 666 circling to make the title ‘The Omen’ with the title you have intense music to make you feel uncomfortable. The font for the title is a mix between old English and Times New Roman to give it a biblical feel.

· The background is black with a bloody red outline of a building.

· The camera angle used is a low angle shot, the observer is looking up.

· The opening shot is of the Vatican observatory where we see the shutters open to the sky and a priest astronomer about to do his evenings work.

· The scene sets up events to give meaning to the movies title, the priest makes a worrying observation and then goes on to do a feverish study.

· There are sequences that show old texts with illustrations of a satanic nature.

· Finally the priest is shown going to his superiors to report his findings on THE OMEN.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2010 – Director Samuel Bayer

This movie for me is another classic and which has also been recently remade and again was also successful in 1984 grossing over $25 million

· The film starts off with the title sequence of the names of the actors and actresses with a black background which then keeps doing cut shots of kids playing, their toys as well as showing school photos followed by intense and creepy music.

· The opening shot is a long shot of a diner, it’s raining, the camera is slowly moving towards the diner. The diner lights flicker due to the rain.

· The next shot is taken inside the diner and it’s a close up of a clock hung on a wall, the diner looks quite dim and quite.

· Then it’s a fast cut shot towards a man sitting down, the camera slowly moves closer to the back of his head, the music at this point gives a sensation of wonder and ponder.

· While the camera was moving closer, a waitress was walking towards the camera and ignored the customer where he asked for a refill at this point the camera changes to show the rest of the diner

The Sixth Sense 1999 – Director Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan

This movie is the first psychological thriller I have seen so far, I like the way the movie opens with a trick which is carried on throughout the whole movie until the end. When the truth is out.

· The opening of the movie starts off with scary music and then a black background. The opening titles flash very quickly accompanied by chilling chords that make your skin crawl.

· The movie uses most of the first three minutes to simply show simple titles with accompanying scary music. Just as the three minutes are up, a slowly brightening filament bulb is shown with a very black background.

Thir13en Ghosts 2001 - Director Steve Beck

This was an interesting movie, with plot twists and lots of background on all the ghosts in the movie. The film grossed over $110 million at the box office.

· Dark, moonlit low angle exterior shots of a junk yard accompanied by eerie music.

· The titles are in a Times New Roman style with fiery red outlines

· Dramatic entrance of a convoy of heavy vehicles, these turn out to be ghost hunters who seem to act with military precision.

· Entrance of the group’s leader and his assistant, it is clear they have a discordant relationship.

         

Research - Horror Genre

The Horror Genre

 

After my film genre research I decided to use the horror genre for my 2 minute film opening, for me to appreciate the concept of this genre, my research involved me understanding how such films convey there opening scene. Furthermore how they have influenced popular culture and how they have changed over the years. I also looked at how the genre has adapted to various special effects and technology that is available today, and how current horror cinema compares to the older horror movies. Comparing for example, how they were able to portray horror without the use of sophisticated technology. This helped me to recognise what is required for horror films, as well as understanding how I want my audience to react and the emotions that I want them to feel.

I had looked into the first notable horror movie called Nosferatu (a silent movie) which was directed by a German called F.W. Monroe. Nosferatu, titled as a symphony of horror was the first unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stokers Count Dracula. Monroe had introduced a few alternative ideas to that of Bram Stokers story; for example the counts name became Orlok, as well as introducing the idea that sunlight is a hostile element to vampires. This is a concept that has been repeated in many vampire movies since Nosferatu. At the end of the movie the count dies due to sunlight exposure.

Another aspect of the horror genre is often the ending may involve a twist, either a positive or negative outcome. However the effects in Nosferatu are quite tacky and bordering on ‘cheesy’, but the director made good use of the effects available at the time. For example he used negative exposure, stop motion animation effects and he also sped up the film reel for a comical effect. For a 1922 film these effects can be considered as inventive.

In comparison I chose to study a current movie title called ‘Drag me to Hell’. This was directed by Sam Raimi. The narrative involves a young woman called Christina Brown working as a bank loan officer; it seems almost cliché that she is young, pretty and blonde. And this seems to be an aspect that Sam Raimi intends to play with; he intends to give the impression that she is the one that will be the threatened victim. The story also contains a moral edge, the girls fate lies on herself; does she choose her own gain over another? Thus the introduction of Sylvia Ganush, an unassuming old woman, who is made to appear feeble, is refused a bank loan by Christina Brown. The old woman is desperate and clearly her fate of requiring an extension on her mortgage rests completely on Christina; who refuses Sylvia, even though she feels that her consciousness tells her to give the old lady the extension, and yet she takes the decision not to as she fears that her career is at stake otherwise. Sylvia Ganush after feeling that she has been publicly humiliated by Christina suddenly turns on her. Here the momentum of the movie changes; although the movie is a post 2000 movie, a time in which horror cinema had taken on a more subtle and less gory facet, in terms of reaching out to audiences. Instead here Raimi applies a much used technique often utilized in older movies, where there is a calm in the atmosphere and then suddenly Sylvia leaps at Christina her face twisted and clearly the use of CGI, has been used to create the effect of demonic sharper teeth and claw like hands. This jarring shift, used to shock and unsettle the audience goes back to popular horror B-Movie stylization, from the seventies and eighties. Such as ‘Evil Dead’, ‘Amityville Horror’ and ‘An American Werewolf in Paris’. The story then continues to Brown being cursed by an ancient spell that will take her to hell in 3 days unless she breaks the curse. There are many classic elements of horror in ‘Drag me to Hell’, the portrayal of an ominous demonic presence throughout the film, when the demon appears it is beyond anyone’s ability for Brown to escape it, and other such elements of a build-up of tension, close-up shots of gore. In comparison to older horror movies, although there are many classic and almost cliché elements used, the film was still refreshing and highly effective in conveying itself as a horror. As well as the sense that there were parts in which the scenes almost took on a comedic effect, the dark humor is common particularly when Christine must offer a sacrifice to the demon. A scene in which she is cautiously wielding a knife and searching for her much loved kitten, or another notable scene in which the old gypsy witch Ganush, attacks Brown in her car. She tries to bite Brown; however her false teeth have fallen out and is gnawing on Browns chin with her gums. In comparison to classic titles such as Nosferatu, Hitchcock’s Psycho and the Fly. ‘Drag me to hell’ does have better special effects, the image resolution appears to be clearer, the storyline is easier to follow, and although it is not as notable as Nosferatu, I believe it is certainly a modern classic in its own right. Both movies have been stark contrasts in how horror can be expressed to an audience, and have given me a sense of what to use in my filming approach for the opening scene of my movie.

Western

The Good, The Bad And The Ugly BBFC (1966)

Directed By
 Sergio Leone

Produced By
 Alberto Grimaldi

Screenplay By
 Age & Scarpelli

Sergio Leone

Luciano Vincenzoni

Story By
Sergio Leone

Luciano Vincenzoni

Starring
 Clint Eastwood

Lee Van Cleef

Eli Wallach

Music By
 Ennio Morricone

Cinematography By
 Tonino Delli Colli

Editing By
 Eugenio Alabiso

Nino Baragli

Distributed By
 United Artists

Release Date
 December 15, 1966

Running Time
 177 minutes

Budget
 $1,300,000

Gross Revenue
 $25,100,000

$158,759,909

Narrative

The narrative is about 3 bounty hunters who are looking for gold.

The Opening



The opening starts off with the opening titles showing us the faces of each character, the next scene shows us desert scenery and then a man’s face which then cuts a shot to an isolated town. The next frame goes back to the man’s face, we see that he’s looking at two men approaching on their horses, the camera shows us close-up of their faces.



Narrative Enigma

The narrative enigma is which one will find the gold?

Diegetic

The diegetic sounds are of the horses.

Non Diegetic

The non diegetic music is at the beginning.

War

Green Zone BBFC 15 (2010)

Directed By

Paul Greengrass

Produced By

Tim Bevan

Eric Fellner

Lloyd Levin

Paul Greengrass

Written By

Brian Helgeland

Based On

Imperial Life in the Emerald City by Rajiv Chandrasekaran

Starring

Matt Damon

Greg Kinnear

Brendan Gleeson

Amy Ryan

Khalid Abdalla

Jason Isaacs

Music By

John Powell

Cinematography

Barry Ackroyd

Editing By

Christopher Rouse

Studios

StudioCanal Relativity Media Working Title Films

Distributed By

Universal Pictures

Release Date

March 12, 2010

Running Time
115 minutes

Budget

$100 million

Gross Revenue

$94,862,344



Narrative

The narrative is about Roy miller in Baghdad searching for weapons of mass destruction. However each time Intel gives him a place to raid, he never finds any WMD’s so he gets suspicious.

The Opening

The opening starts off with a text setting a date of March 19th 2003 we can hear an explosion and a man rushing to get his safe open, people are screaming and rushing to get out. The camera has started to follow a man who starts shouting hurry we must leave, and then it pans to a room where there is a General. He asks the General Al Rawi to hurry so they can leave, but he is writing something, they start to walk out of the building with the General.

Narrative Enigma

The narrative enigma is who is General Al Rawi?

Diegetic

The diegetic sounds are of the people screaming.

Non Diegetic

The non diegetic music is in the beginning.

Sport

Mean Machine BBFC 15 (2001)

Directed By
 Barry Skolnick

Produced By
 Matthew Vaughn

Written By
 Tracy Keenan Wynn

Charlie Fletcher

Chris Baker

Andrew Day

Albert S. Ruddy (novel)

Starring
 Vinnie Jones

David Kelly

David Hemmings

Ralph Brown

Vas Blackwood

Robbie Gee

Geoff Bell

John Forgeham

Sally Phillips

Jason Flemyng

Danny Dyer

Jason Statham

Music By
 John Murphy

Cinematography
 Alex Barber

Editing By
 Eddie Hamilton

Dayn Williams

Studios
 SKA Films

Distributed By
 Paramount Pictures

Release Date
 26 December, 2001

Running Time

 99 minutes

Gross Revenue
 $7,310,206

Narrative

The narrative is about an ex-football player who cheated in big games and lets his team mates down, he gets arrested for assaulting police officers and driving while drunk. He gets a second chance when he’s inside to teach ‘footie’ to the convicts in order to beat the guards in a match.

The Opening

The opening begins with showing an advertisement for Umbro with Danny Meehan, the advertisement is gimmicky in using the James bond movie theme. Then the advertisement gets paused and the camera moves slowly around to Danny Meehan slouching on his sofa chair. The next scene is where he gets out of his house into his car drives very fast in his red Mercedes. The camera is taking fast cut shots while he’s driving, he stops at a bar and goes inside and orders a drink.

Narrative Enigma

The narrative enigma is will he cheat his prison team mates, as he did when playing for the league?

Diegetic

The diegetic sounds are of his car racing down the roads.

Non Diegetic

The non diegetic sounds are of the upbeat music following the speed of the car.

Sci Fi

A.rtificial I.ntelligence BBFC PG (2001)

Directed By

Steven Spielberg

Produced By

Steven Spielberg

Stanley Kubrick

Jan Harlan

Kathleen Kennedy

Walter F. Parkes

Bonnie Curtis

Screenplay By

Steven Spielberg

Story By

Ian Watson

Based On

"Super-Toys Last All Summer Long" by Brian Aldiss

Narrated By

Ben Kingsley

Starring

Haley Joel Osment

Frances O'Connor

Jude Law

Sam Robards

Jake Thomas

William Hurt

Music By

John Williams

Cinematography

Janusz Kamiński

Editing By

Michael Kahn

Studios

Amblin Entertainment

Distributed By

DreamWorks Warner Bros.

Release Date

June 29, 2001

Running Time

146 minutes

Budget

$100 million

Gross Revenue

$235,926,552







Narrative

The narrative is about a robot called David that looks like a boy. His desire is for one thing only, to become a real boy so his mother will truly love him. This story is clever, in how it questions what it means to be human, and it makes clear references to the fairytale story of Pinocchio.

The Opening

The opening of the film starts off showing us the sea crashing and making waves while a man is narrating a story of what has happened in order to set the scene. There is a close up shot of the sea showing its movements and the roughness.

Diegetic

The diegetic sounds are of the sea crashing.

Non Diegetic

The non diegetic sounds are of the piano playing when David is following his mother around the house.