Research into disability...

I just found this article and felt it was appropriate to one of the story lines I am thinking about for my opening sequence. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/8263027.stm 

Research into divorce...

I have just found this article which I think fits with one of my possible ideas of a farther killing his children because he reacted badly to he divorce his wife asked for. This is not the original news story I had thought about however this is very similar.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7650163.stm

Research into social class bullying and gang culture...

I have just found another article which I think is appropriate to my second idea. This is the news story of the radio interview I had previously heard and where my idea came from.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/7316601.stm

Horror, social realism, horror, social realism, horror, social realism?!?!?

I originally felt that I wanted to use the horror genre for my opening sequence because I thought that it would be easier to a find location etc however after looking at the opening sequences of horror movies I remembered how much I hate horror films! I also noticed that they were all very similar to each other and so I think that it would be hard to get across originality. 
So, I have made a decision to go with a social realist opening sequence. 
I am still not sure on my final storyline however I have had a few ideas. 


I was trying to think of some issues in today's society which I could focus my opening sequence around. I tried to remember issues I had heard on the news and this is what I remember. 
I recall hearing of mothers who take their own lives and their disabled child's life because of severe bullying in their neighbourhood. I thought this would be a really good issue to focus on because it hasn't been focused on before but also because it's something, I think, people need to be more aware of. I don't think many people understand how the mother is feeling and how low she must have got in order for her to take her own child's life and so these are some of the feelings I would like to get across if I decide to use this idea. 






My next idea came to me whilst I was listening to the radio. A mother was talking a few years after the death of her child. Her daughter was killed by a group of 5 youths as she walked home with her boyfriend. She was killed because she was a goth. I think that this would be a good issue to focus on because many people will see gang culture crimes and social class bullying happen every day in different extremities. 

As I was speaking to my mum about this earlier she gave me another idea. Divorce and it's effects. We thought about that man who jumped off of a balcony with his children because his wife had filed for divorce. We think that this would be a good issue for a social realist opening sequence because it is also something that people experience all of the time but also because It's something that doesn't have to become very clear within the first few minutes.






All of these ideas, I think, are suitable for an opening sequence under the genre of social realism. 

Pros and cons of the social realist genre...

As I have done the pro's and con's of the horror genre I also need to look at them for the social realist genre in order to help me make my final decision.

The pro's

• Lighting doesn't matter so much in this genre and so you do not need to worry about the time of day or the weather.
• The conventions are clear but you can also play on them to make your opening sequence more original. 
• Can be achieved on a low budget.

The con's

• Bury St Edmunds is quite a wealthy town and so the location of a social realist film could be hard to find.
• This could be a tricky genre to use as some of the issues you may choose to focus on may be quite sensitive to some people. 
• Dialogue is a big part of social realist films and so confident actors and actors of a certain standard would be needed. 

Pros and cons of the horror genre...

Before I make my final decision of which genre I would like to use for my own opening sequence. 


The pro's

• The location for a horror film, I think would be easier to find. As you could use a very typical location, e.g. a forest.
• Something as simple as lighting can make your opening sequence very effective as it's such a big convention in a horror film.
• You can achieve the desired effect on a low budget.

The con's

• Although the location would be easy to find it would be very typical and therefore slightly more boring and less original. 
• The lighting may be effective however it is more than likely to look different on the camera and the computer. 
• It would also be quite easy to fall into the trap of making your opening sequence look like a trailer. 

A Room for Romeo Brass (1999)

Director:

Shane Meadows

Writers:

Paul Fraser, Shane Meadows

Storyline

A Room for Romeo Brass is also a social realist film. There are two twelve-year-old boys, Romeo and Gavin.Their friendship is tested when a dangerous stranger comes between them.  Morell befriends with the two boys and later asks them to help him pursue Romeo's elder sister. He gradually becomes more and more violent as she doesn't feel the same and turns him down.

Enigma codes

In the opening sequence for A Room for Romeo Brass very few questions are raised. At the very beginning, the boys are walking through a field. The viewer may find themselves asking why are the boys are walking around in the middle of nowhere on their own?

Mise-en-scene

We are almost immediately introduced to quite a run down area, this looks as though it is the local shops and so we can tell that the boys homes are likely to also be in this run down area. We can see that they are run down as we can see that some of the shops are boarded up and it just generally doesn't look like the nicest place to be!

This establishing shot of the shops allows the audience to see where the boys are and what kind of place that they are at. 

Lighting

The lighting throughout A Room for Romeo Brass is quite dull and grey. This doesn't give much away to the audience however it does set the mood for the film. The grey lighting gives the audience the impression that it isn't a very nice day. This could be confused in the opening sequence by the boys emotions because they seem to be happy and not too worried however as the film progresses the audience can then understand why the lighting is so dull. The use of such dull lighting also makes the location of these boys seem worse. The shops look even more dull and run down and there is a gloomy atmosphere. 

Characters

During the opening sequence we only meet three characters. It becomes immediately clear who the two, main characters are. They are the first people we see and the camera follows their movement all the way through the opening sequence. The characters I'm talking about are Romeo and Gavin. Whilst the boys are on the open field we don't learn much about their personality's. Gavin says to Romeo that he "would like to build a house out here". This gives me the impression that he is quite an ambitious boy whereas Romeo seems far more 'down to earth'. 

The next and last character we meet during the opening sequence is the man from the chippy! I don't think that this man is of any importance in terms of the story however he does bring out more personality from the two boys. Romeo appears to be quite greedy and harsh towards Gavin. Gavin comes across as quite hard done by and we get the impression that his parents are quite strict as he is dressed more smartly and he appears to have no money on him. I also get the impression that Romeo is more confident than Gavin and it also appears to me that he calls the shots. Gavin is always walking behind Romeo which shows their role in the friendship quite clearly to the audience.



Shot types



During the opening sequence there are lots of long shots and establishing shots. This is a really good technique to use as it lets the audience see where the characters are growing up and 'hanging' around. It also allows us to see other things such as what they are wearing and how they are together.

There are also some medium close-ups which allow the audience to see the emotion on the characters faces but it also allows us to see both the characters faces at the same time which lets us see how they react to one another. High angled shots are also used. These allow us to see where the boys are and also makes them look quite vulnerable and innocent which is what they are. 




Editing
During this opening sequence a lot of straight cuts are used. This is effective as it lets the action flow very smoothly. The edits are quite slow which is also effective as it lets you see lots of the action and lets you engage what is happening. The camera tends to follow the action rather than use match-on-action. I think this suits the opening sequence well as the action doesn't move quickly and so the edits don't need to. 


Sound
For the first minute or so the sound is diegetic sound. There is only dialogue to start with. This makes the music more effective when it starts. The music is non diegetic sound and is quite up beat. This fits with the dialogue as the boys are having a laugh and a joke with one another and so the mood is quite good. The volume of the music is lowered when the actors begin to speak. This doesn't drown out what they are saying but you can still hear the music in the background. 






This is the opening sequence to A Room for Romeo Brass. 
In my opinion the opening sequence finishes at 5:35 seconds in when the music finishes and Romeo enters the house.