Charlotte's textual analysis

As part of the research for our coursework piece each person in our group had to look at 3 films and analyse the key features of the film. As there were 4 of us in our group we each decided to look a different film genre. We each looked at and analysed 2 films from our chosen film genre and then for the remaining film we each analysed a gangster film as this was the genre we wanted to re create in our own movie.
The genre that I chose to look at is the romance genre. The 2 films I looked at were"PS I Love You" and "10 things I hate about you". The other gangster film that I analysed was "Snatch".
We had to analyse the opening 2 minutes for the 2 romance films, as thats what we had to create the opening 2 minutes to a film. However as we had chosen to make a film in the gangster genre we had to look at the whole of the chosen gangster film.

PS I Love You
This has a certificate of 12 and is a romance film, based around a woman who is widowed when her husband dies of a brain tumor and hopes to pull at your heart strings!
The opening 2 minutes of this film are very important in creating the sense of the film. To start with is the opening credits which show the institution that the film belongs to which is "summitt" and also names some of the actors in the film. The name of the production company etc comes up in white writing on a black background to make them stand out and to catch the eye of the viewer, for example "A Wendy Fisherman production". There is also a track playing which is very soft and gentle. With a acousitc feel at the beggining perhaps to make it feel more personal. The lyrics are also vital again in creating the feel for the film, in particular "I'll love you till the end". This already after the first 20 seconds giving the audience a insight into the sort of film it it.
The black background that the information about the production company etc is on turns out very cleverly to be the night sky. This is seen as the camera tilt's down from the sky onto the city street. It then tracks down and follows the 2 main characters as they walk out of the subway and along the street. The woman character (Hilary Swank) is marching off in front leading the male character (Gerrad Butler). She has a strong prescence and a angry look on her face, where as he is almotst tagging along behind her struggling to keep up. This shows that the woman has the control and power in this relationship and that the man has obviously done something wrong and is either struggling to work out what it is or is trying hard to make up for it.
The music continues playing as the 2 characters cross the road with a establishing shot being used to give us a clue as to what might happen in this location. Then as the woman marches through the door along the corridor again with the male following, a long shot is used to show the whole of the person and to emphasize the situation. The 2 walk into the camera and the first piece of dialogue is used. It is important to notice that the frist piece of dialogue is by the man who we have seen tagging behind the woman for the first 90 seconds, it is also ironic that he says "I know I should know this darling but are you mad at me?". This emphasizes what we have aleady seen and whilst he was saying this the woman walked up stairs. A two shot is then used to show the reaction on the womans face in a close up. It then switches back to a high angle shot of the male character showing his vulnerbility in this situation as he is in the wrong. He continues to talk to himself and ask questions which the woman is not answering instead she just looks at him and from these looks he automatically knows that the answer to the question is either yes or no. This shows the bond between this couple, and that is obvious to see even though they are in argument the chemistry is undeniable.


10 Things I hate about you
This film has the certificate 12 which I think is suitable as it does have some parts to it. The whole film in general in my opinion is for around 15/16 year olds. It is a romantic comedy which makes you laugh and cry all in one!
Much like the previous film I looked at this film opens with the name of the institution, which in this case it "Touchstone". This on a black screen, and music is playing straight from the start. Unlike the music in "PS I Love You" it is not slow and calm, but is now much more uptempo and has a much faster beat too it. Whereas in the last film the music had a slightly acoustic feel to it, you now seem to hear more of a electronic guitar automatically making the opening 10 seconds fast, and youthful and alot more energetic and racy then "PS I Love You". You can also hear a man, perhaps a member of the band count them in by banging its drum sticks together, again this gives a youthful and even exciting twist to the film.
The names of the production company is then repeated again on a black background however this time in a text which looks like it has been scribbled on instead of the normal boring clip that they have. Colours such as bright blue and green are used here to stand out. A sketching of a town then appears, and turns into a real life shot which is very effective and fits in with the scribbled writing, thus keeping the theme going. This is a establishing shot showing the area in which the film and the action is going to be taking place in. The title of the film then comes up over the shot in the same scribbled writing again in green to stand out. The music still continues to play.
This shot then starts to pan around the town and the sea, as names as the actors and actresses start to appear on the screen for example "Julia Stiles" is in orange to stand out and "Heath Ledger" in yellow. The camera still continues to pan further round showing all of the surroundings and the full enviroment. Eventually panning back and focusing on a normal street with passers by, cars parked and normal day to day events taking place.
The pan then stops as a car comes forward into the scene with 4 girls in and a dolly is used to follow the car forward as if we as the audience are infront of the driving car. This helps to make us feel involved. The 4 girls are your stereotypical girls all laughing having fun dancing togther in the car. The car the comes to a stop at traffic lights and whilst the same music is still playing it gets over ridden by another track which we can at first hear but we dont know where it is coming from. The camera then pan's to a car next to the one with the 4 girls in and we can see 1 girl on her own which is obviously where this music is coming from. Whereas the other girls were in a nice neat little car, this girls is now in a much older, beaten up version, although she does not seem to care and this shows the difference in priorities between these 2 groups.
We then see the 2 cars exchange looks and there is a close up of the 4 girls and then the girl on her own in the car to show both of their expressions, and perhaps opinions of eachother
A high angle shot it then used of the traffic lights to show pedestrians crossing the road and then the cars pulling away, the girl in the older car pulls away hurridley again showing the differnece between the 2 groups.
A tilt is used again now, from the floor of boys playing hockey, all the way up high over the heads of pupils at the school showing how busy it is and the setting in which events will take place in the future. This is also used to give the audience a insight into the everyday lives of the characters and allows us to feel more familiar. Names of actors and actresses are still coming up in flourescent colours, to stand out and to show youth.
A over the shoulder dolly is then used to follow the female character on her journey throughout the school tearing down posters on her way much to the dismay of another girl putting them up. This shows the ruthlessness of the character, and gives us some idea as to what lays ahead.


Snatch
For the gangster film that I had to analyse I chose to look at "Snatch". This has the rating of 18 which I do feel is appropriate as it does have alot of violence and swearing in it. This film is intended to entertain.
Instead of just analysing the first 2 minutes of the film, I am going to analyse the film as a whole in general. The film starts out with the institution logo in this case of columbia and the theme music that goes with this clip. There is then a black screen where again as in both cases before the name of the production company comes up in white writing to stand out. The shot then turns into a close up of the back of one of the characters heads, with credits still coming up in white writing. A tilt is then used upwards over the head of this character and a voiceover comes in explain the name and giving information on one of the characters in the scene, "Im Turkish...".
A two shot is then used as 2 men are sitting on chairs next to each other in a dark room. Although the characters are next to eachother, they are not touching in anyway, which could possibly show the that their relationship is purely business. They are both dressed similarly in blue shirts with long smart beige jackets. Almost mirroring eachothers image however one of them looks just that little bit smarter which may indicate that he is the more superior of the 2. Perhaps he is the "boss".
There is then a close up on both of the 2 characters faces, the first of the "boss" like character. He looks very serious and not amused in the slightest. However when the shot then goes to the other character he is then pulling a slightly funny face and pokes his tongue out licking his lips, showing that he is maybe more of the joker character out of the 2. The voice over continues describing events, and discussing the 2 characters and the history of them and the relationship between the 2.
Throughout the film, its seems that it was intended to have features of a typical conventional american gangster film however set in modern day times, and in my opinion this worked well.
Although, the problems in the film were also not that of a typical gangster film, for example murders left, right and centre. Instead there was more up to date issues that needed to be resolved, for example that of diamonds, and more up to date ways of solving these issues. For example a boxing match in the case of "Snatch".
Camera angles are also extremely important in this film. A establishing shot is used to give us a clue as to what might happen in the location. Close up's are used to focus the audience's attention on something or someone, and also draws you into the moment. Long shots are used so that we can see the whole of a person and to empahsize the situation. High angle shots show vulnerbility and low angle does the opposite. A over the shoulder shot and point of view shot both show the audience what the character is seeing as they see it.
Finally the characters obviously are extremely important in any film, but they are without a doubt important here, so the casting process I expect would have been fairly long. It would have been important to cast actors who fit the roles, personality and looks wise i.e. both physically and mentally. For example; Jason Statham who plays Turkish has that deepish voice, ideal for the voiceover at the begining and is also tall and of a stocky build fitting the typical, stereotyped gangter image.

Charlotte