Production Log 9

This week we explored the use of shooting script in the production stages of a film. 

All the scenes and shots of a shooting script are numbered and each scene and shot are broken down into all the component pieces required to film it. The production assistants and director can then arrange the order in which the scenes will be shot for the most efficient use of stage, cast, and location resources. The shooting script includes both dialogue, and key instructions: sound fx, cues, character actions and camera movements.

A good example of a Shooting Script.

A good shooting script will include:

• A shot number to clearly identify each shot, to help film crew keep on track.
• Shot Type. e.g. Mid Shot, Establishing Shot, ect.
• Camera Angle. e.g. High, Straight On, Low, Canted.
• Lighting. e.g. high/low key, artificial/natural.
• Shot Movement. e.g. pan, tilt.
• Shot Duration in seconds.
• Location where the scene will take place.
• A list of Actors present in the specified shot.
• Stage Directions/Actions carried out in the shot.
• Dialogue spoken in the shot.
• A list of props needed in the shot.
• Music/Sound FX. e.g. Sountrack,
• Voiceover ect.

Shooting Scripts are easy to read, and good for all the different film crew that will be using them. But some drawbacks are that sometimes they have unrealistic durations for each shot, as the makers of the script don't have a realistic sense of time, as they are not filming the shot, ect. The script is a shared vision, which is hard to bring together, as everyone has different ideas per shot, so it is hard to bring one vision together. 

We had a go at following a shooting script made by a previous AS group a few years back and this was the outcome:

Strengths of our work: 

• There was a good variety of shot types to use, which focused on each shot and gave it a different meaning, which created a good sequence in the end.
• The setting was easy to create, and the simplicity of the location was easy to re-enact. 

Weakness of our work:

• WE BROKE THE 180 RULE MULTIPLE TIMES. Our lack of continuity was ridicuous, and it was hard to remember to be continuous. 
• The durations over ran for each shot, which caused our shots to be longer than they had planned to be.
• Technical difficulties regarding zooming the wrong way and not being able to turn the camera off after filming the scene. *INSERT EMBARASSMENT GIF*

Another thing we did this week was think about audience research into our idea for our opening sequence. We have decided to use Vox Pops to undertake our research, as it gives opinionated people to voice their opinions on our idea. An example of Vox Pops is:

 

We will use these vox pops to find out:

• What BSR films they know and like.
• Why they like BSR - including Uses and Gratifications to explain their points.
• What they think of our ideas.
• Ideas they have for a BSR film.

McKee's Narrative for our BSR Opening Sequence

Ideas For Opening Sequence

Narrative:

Brief Synopsis: The film follows the lives of two friends living in a racist run down area, who are segregated by issues of race and discrimination.

Opening Sequence Synopsis: The first scene is group of white boys omitting racist comments and  intolerance to a Muslim boy of the same age, who lives in the local area we then  go on to establish that one of the white boys begins to change his racist ways, which differs from his friends, and starts a close friendship with the Muslim boy, and he learns that the boy is genuinely nice and the white boy reforms his ways.

The film will use a omniscient narrative and have a it from the perspective of different characters but the main character will be the white boy trying to change his ways. It will also follows the perspective of the muslim boy and the group of white boys more specifically the leader. There will be no narrator as it is not a typical convnetion for most BSR films as it takes away from the realism of it and will affect the verisimilitudinous of the piece. It will follow a linear structure as most BSR films do.

Our film will use many opening sequence conventions and will introduce characters, themes, setting and narrative. It will have engaging music and be a smash mouth opening to keep the audience interested and make them want to watch the rest.

Conventions:

We want to recreate the colour pallete used in fish tank

The conventions that we will use are: themes of violence, racism, discrimination, friendship and childhood, which will be subtly hinted throughout to go along with the typical BSR conventions. We will use Super Imposed Graphics to show actors names, production companies and film crew, which are a typical opening sequence convention and are found in every film. Also in this sequence we will use natural lighting to further establish and reinforce the themes which connote realism, so natural low key lighting establishes violence as dark li
ghting connotes danger, which is a key aspect to uncover in our opening sequence. Also in this sequence we will use a blue colour pallet, which connotes the realism and harsh nature of the film, like the pallet in Fish Tank.

Title: 

We are currently working  on a title to grab the audiences attention, and fit the film. The title will be typical of the BSR, genre, as it will be 1 or 2 simple words, and be powerful, giving subtle hints to the narrative.

Target Audience: 

Age- 16-24

Gender - Male

Interests -  Violent films, Political and Racial issues.

Location - East London // Hackney // Stratford & surrounding areas.

Ethnicity- White and Asian backgrounds

The target audience's other media consumption will include; TV, Social Media and The News.

Our film will appeal to them as it includes issues of race and hate crime which are found in everyday situations and be seen on the news and are political issues. The main characters in the films are aged between 16-18 so the target audience will be interested in watching the film as the characters are a similar age to them. This film will appeal to a male audience as most of the characters are male, and typically, males have an increased interest in violent topics. We have said most of our target audience would live around East London, as they would have a specific interest in the film if it was set in a place they are familiar with, and live near. Like, Gone Too Far, was set in Peckham, South East London, which appealed to teenagers who live in Peckham, and the surrounding areas because they recognize the locations used. 

The films that we'd say the Target Audience would watch include Ill Manors, Green Street,  Bullet Boy, The Football Factory, which are all films set in London, and include violence, hate crime, and racism. Also short films set in East London such as Tight Jeans and  Music that the target audience would listen to include London based rappers such as Giggs, Kano, Skepta & Sneakbo, which are typical Grime artists, which London based teens like. The film's uses and gratifications help the audience 'personally identitfy' as the target audience may identify with some of the characters in the sequence, connoting a successful sequence, drawing in the audience's attention.

Instiution:

The production company for our film will be Film 4 this means our film will have to conform to the usual conventions of Film 4 films and stick to their ethos. We are lucky to be backed by such a commissioner who are passionate about films, and helping young film makers kick-start their film making journeys, providing us with support. By having this production company on board, this means our film is going to be played at independent cinemas like the Picturehouse cinemas in Hackney, Greenwich, Stratford and Clapham, who exhibit other British Social Realist films like Gone Too Far. Our film would be shown on the Film 4 Channel and based on it's popularity and box office earnings, and may be shown on sister channel, Channel 4. Possible exhibition/premiering of the film at a London film festival, would open the film up to a new audience, attracting many other members of the public. Using new media technology and the fast growing online streaming services, I will show it on Netflix as many other BSR productions are shown on there like the This is England 86 series, Bullet Boy, Shifty and Sweet Sixteen. Possibly, an event held premiering the film, at the film festival could include local musicians and artists helping promote the film by making a special appearance. This could help promote the film, and also be a marketing technique that is inexpensive, as the budget is small.

The range of current British films on the UK & Ireland's Netflix accounts available to all users.

Style and Iconography:

We will use lots of wide and long shots to establish the derelict, run down setting of the film and accompany this with an establishing shot to further imply the idea of the deprived setting, in which the narrative takes place. This is a good use of these shots as the audience get to explore the setting through certain shot types. For the editing of the sequence, we will use straight cuts which will add to the sense of realism created by the film as transitions like fades could take away from the realism we will create. Also using fades in an opening sequence can connote that time has passed and as we will be using a linear narrative, so we don't want to mislead the audience into thinking time has passed, or there has been a significant change in setting/ location.We will use costumes as a visual signifier in this film to help connote to the audience the various ethnicity's and religious insights of the people explored this film for example, the Muslim character in this film when we see him for the first time he will be wearing the jubba/thobes as he is on his way to the mosque. This enforces the convention of the exploration of characters, and connotes he is a main character in the film. We will use music to help convey the tone of the film, such as a song with lyrics that link in with the storyline. Possibly a song on par with I Need Church by Professor Green, as he is a London based rapper, in which this songs lyrics are: ''And I'm tryna figure out who I favour, who, Made me do the things you made me do?'' - which could relate to our storyline as the the white boy who is with his friends is peer pressured into being racist to the Muslim boy. We will use the natural sound created during filming and not use any Foley sound as Foley sound takes away the realism, and we are trying to make the film as real and genuine for the audience as possible, as the situation our film entails is a common one, so it is only fair to reflect the reality of the situation through the filming and sound caught on camera whilst filming. The music we will use in our opening will be non-diegetic and be only audible by the audience as diegetic music is not a typical convention of British social realism. The typography we will be using will have to relate to the British social realism genre and our particular film, as our film is set in a run down deprived area we thought that we should use typography that has a similar style to some graffiti that you would see in those areas here is an example of one we had in mind.

Representation:

The key characters in this film are the Muslim boy and the white boy who decides to reform his ways and abandon the group of white friends who are not tolerant of the friendship. The protagonist of this film will be the white boy who decides to change his ways as it will be from his perspective as he tries to become a better person and stop the racism in the scene. The audience will be able to root for this character as they can see a good side to him and be on his side when begins to reform himself to an unprejudiced character. The antagonists of the film will be his former group of friends and more specifically the leader of this clique, who is the main person in the group who doesn't accept the Muslim boy, and who pushes his racist views on the remaining members, and the rest of the group conform to the peer pressure. I will be able to follow Propp's character types as there is a prominent villain character in this film who attempts to stop the protagonist. The helper could be the Muslim friend who helps the protagonist become a better person, who educates the reforming boy, to the ideology that Muslims are not bad people. Our film will challenge the stereotypical representation branded upon Muslims in Britain and show them for how they really are, in every day situations and British culture. I will also challenge those people in Britain who feel Britain should be a purely white country and to deport all of those who are not white and represent them to be closed minded. 

Technology:

The technology used in our production will be predominatly used in the filming and post-production stage of creating the opening sequence. We will use the cameras and tripods from our media department to film all of our footage we need. The quality of the cameras could be better, but my having a low quality and grainy picture, can connote the realism we are trying to capture. We will use iMovie on the iMacs to edit our footage and create the opening sequence, which enables us to add music, our chosen colour pallet, and add super imposed graphics, and other conventional BSR opening sequence conventions. If it was possible and unrealistic, we think that a helicopter with a camera on it, filming a birds eye, area view of the whole of London, and then zooming in to focus on the street where the film is first set, would be good to establish locations and make it a realistic opening sequence. Also in the production we will use real phones and gadgets to create realism, and real text messages being sent.

Production Log 7

this week our main focus was to be creative.

creative task one: 

step one: we were asked to go on to wikipedia and asked to click the random page button. and the page we were given, was our band name

step two: then we were asked to go to a random quotes page and asked to go to the last quote on the page which was our album title.

step three: we were then asked to go on to flickr and use a random picture, the last on the second row, and that was to be our album cover.

step four: use any photo editor of our choice to make the album cover, with a time limit of only five minutes.

aim of the task: to be creative and work with what you have. 

the finished product:

creative task two: 

we were told to go on to http://now-here-this.timeout.com/tag/overheard-in-london
and find some of our favourite things overheard in london. these are good ideas which a film could stem from, or be inspired by. also these phrases could be used as dialogue for a character, and simple conversational comments. 

creative task three:

we were then asked to go to postsecret.com
and choose 2/3 postcards and create a bsr story out of them.

 









story one:
there are two friends. one is a prostitute who falls pregnant, the other, can't get pregnant no matter how hard she tries. the two friends drift apart. once the baby is a toddler, the reformed-prostitute asks the best friend to babysit,and then the friend smothers the baby and walks out. the mother then falls back into her old ways and becomes a drug addict & dependant on alcohol.

story two: 
there is an 18 year old who has moved to london, he's been here for six months. he left his home country because he was abused as a child, so he wanted to get away. he's been in london for 6 months, he's homeless, has no friends. he plans to jump in front of a london underground tube, and kill himself.

i felt this week, this lesson helped me think outside the box a lot more and opened my eyes up to a lot of different ways to get ideas from, for my british social realist film. i feel i have created a lot of good ideas, and the secrets on postsecret.com can be applied to a whole range of different films, and situations  for characters can be easily applied.

What's In The News?

STORY ONE
LINK TO THIS STORY
This story is about a 21 year old boy who was beaten by homophobic thugs wearing pink tutus outside a YMCA building at 1 in the morning. If I based my BSR on this story, the possible themes would be sexuality combined with coming out, and discovery, which aren't really themes that I have discovered in BSR films I have previously watched or analyzed, so my film would be a niche film. I could set this film on a council estate, which is a location where people are very judgemental, and lots of rough people live. The boy would be younger than Robbie, about 16 or 17 and he a topic of conversation for lots of families in the estate, and everybody would know if he publically came out, or a rumour was spread about him. The protaganist for this film would be his best friend, of the same age, who fought back against the bullies, and took him to a LGBT youth group for support and help. But this does not stop people bullying him, as the boy gets suicidal thoughts and self injures. This could be a very real idea, as it does happen to *LGBTQAIP* teens, and in Britain, homophobia is still rife. 

 *Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transexual/Transgender Queer/Questioning Asexual Intersexual Pansexual*


 

Story Two
LINK TO THIS STORY
This story is about a 35 year old, married teacher who had sex with a 16 year old student in her car, 3 times. The boy had agreed to keep the relationship a secret but had then gone and told his friends. I think this could be a good idea for a British Social Realist film as it is a story that has been in the news many times in Britain, and has yet to be made into a BSR film exploring a teacher/student relationship. Themes I could explore in this film include Sex and Corruption of Youth. The relationship between them would be intimate, and the student around 16/17 could grow up to have some mental health issues because of the relationship, and grow up to develop severe depression. The film could have a non-linear start, and start with an older 21/22 year old male, who had the relationship when he was younger, then he has severe depressive thoughts, and then the film goes back in time to discover why the man is feeling that way. Possible protagonists could be the boy's friend who knows something is wrong, and the boy who is in the relationship is starting to realize that the relationship is a bad idea. The friend then tells him to confess, and finish the relationship, and he tries to but the teacher doesn't let him end it, and ends up sexually abusing him. Which ends up coming out and she is arrested and sent to jail. This is a very realistic story which does happen behind closed doors in the UK.

Story Three
LINK TO THIS STORY
This story is about a group of teenagers die in a car crash, they were aged from 16-18, one of the girls was named Prom Queen at her school prom. I could use this story as a BSR film idea, as there is a car crash on a prom night, in which 3 friends who have been friends since they were babies, and they are traveling in a taxi to prom together, and there is a collision between the taxi and another car. Two of the girls are seriously injured and die in hospital, and the other girl is left on her own. The film could be about the struggle the girl faces to overcome the death of her two best friends, and she results to drugs to help her forget the pain of that night, losing her two best friends. Themes could include death and drug abuse/drug experimentation. The film could be set anywhere in Britain, as the film applies to all cultures and all locations. The protagonist in this film could be a therapist the girl sees as she is trying to get clean, and go through drug rehab, and the therapist makes her see sense.

Production Log 6

Opening sequences are a key introduction to any film, and there are 16 key conventions in an opening sequence to any film genre, not just BSR films.

Brian Grazer, producer of 8 Mile.

• Super Imposed Graphics: These graphics are overlayed on the scenes/shots in an opening sequence. And almost always contain film crew, actors names and production companies.
• Production Company: This tells the audience who made the film, and who supplied the cameras, sets, runners and general things needed to fully make a film. The production company is usually  a super imposed graphic at the very start of an opening sequence, as they need to be credited just as much as the distributor logo.
• Producers: The producers of the film control the budget, so how much the production companies aim to spend, and still make a profitable film. 
• Director: A director is the join most creative person in film making, they work constantly aside the writer to create what the writer has visioned on paper, and their passion helps the film to become visual. Directors usually get the most credit for a a film.
• Actors: The main actors are introduced by name, usually on a scene where there charachter is being explored. This gives them credit for persuing their charachter role.
• Engaging Music: This draws the audience in to the film, and usually reflects the themes explored in the film. 
• Minimal Dialogue: This is used to explore the setting, and charachters in an opening sequence, by not having any dialogue, this helps the audience piece together the storyline with visuals rather than sound.
• Introduce Themes & Ideology: There should be minimal and subtle hints in an opening sequence to explore the film. For example an empty bottle of alcohol is one shot, then the next is a close up of a person, this could explore alcoholism and addiction as themes.
• Introduce Characters: An opening sequence should only establish the main charachters by focusing purely on them and their relationship with each other, whether they are family or in a romantic relationship, or just enemies.
• Introduce Setting: An introduction to setting includes the location, area, and era that the film is set in. This should include establishing shots, and for the era, a colour pallete that illustrates the era, that the audience will notice.
• Introduce Narrative: This introduces the storyline subtly.
• Non-Linear Start: The opening sequence may begin with something that happens later in the film and then is gone back to as the film progresses.
• Smash Mouth Beginning: This is a brutal, rough, and aggressive opening to a film, usually with a loud, quick song, to reinforce the harshness.
• Intrigue/Enigma: Gets the audience's mind to tick by creating questions and they are instantly sucked into the film world.
• Montage: Different scenes cut together to create an interesting opening. 
• Establishing Shots: Used to establish key locations and settings in the film 

Famous Directors // Left to Right:

Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather), Tim Burton (Edward Scissorhands), John Landis (Oscar)

George Lucas (Star Wars), George A Romero (Day Of The Dead, Stephen Spielberg (E.T.)

Spike Lee (25th Hour), Peter Jackson (Lord Of The Rings), Hayo Miyazaki (My Neighbour Totoro)

My production will include the majority of the conventions i have spoken about, as i do not want to give too much away in the opening sequence to my film, but i want to create as much of an established narrative as i can without giving too much away. I will possibly use a Non-Linear start as i believe this helps create a big impact as it will start with a scene later in the film, and the audience will want to carry on watching the film to see why the film started with that scene as its opening sequence, and what is the back story behind the scene. I also am considering having a smash mouth opening, which will pull the audience in, in the first few seconds, which is the make or break of an opening. A loud, brash song will alert the audience, and engage their attention fully.

Analysis of Camera & Editing in British Social Realism

The film I will be analysing is Ae Fond Kiss which is set in Glasgow. The Pakistani parents of Casim have decided he is going to marry his cousin. Casim has fallen in love with his younger sister's music teacher, Roisin, who is an Irish Catholic. The film is directed by Ken Loach. I will be analysing the first half an hour of this film.

Camera

7:00 - 7:09

In this scene, the camera movement is jagged, showing the audience this is a hand held camera shot, which is common in many British Social Realist films. The movement of the camera creates a sense that Casim watching in through the classroom window, connoting that he is in love with Roisin, as he is staying outside for a while after he said goodbye. This shot establishes, the juxtaposition between Roisin and Jacqueline, shows the respectful attitude towards a teacher, and the line between teacher and student is not crossed, connoting the respectful barrier between them. This establishes location for a BSR film as this part of the film is set in a school, which one of the main character's workplace is, further exploring role of Roisin as a teacher. The themes that are explored through this shot are the culture clash, as Roisin and Jacqueline are both white British characters who are the predominant race in Scotland, and Casim and Tahara are British Asian, which connotes there will be culture clash between the two as the film progresses.


13:51 - 13:59
 
In this shot, there is a close up of Roisin's piano and her hands playing the it. This represents Roisin's character as the 'downtrodden woman' type, as she has just recently got divorced, and the fact that she plays piano, and loves music is the only escape she has. There are no close ups in this scene of her face, which means shows that the love of music Roisin has flows through her hands, telling the audience that playing her piano is the way Roisin escapes the daily grind of her life. This connotes Roisin as a very passionate woman, and the fact she plays so beautifully, connotes she has worked hard to be at a level of high talent. The fact that she owns a grand piano connotes she is of wealth, therefore enforcing a theme of social class clash, as Casim comes from a working class family. Another theme explored in this scene is aspiration, as this scene could represent Roisin would like to be a professional musician and not just teach music in the local Glaswegian high school.

14:54 - 15:28 

The camera shot in this scene is a tracking pan, as Casim leaves Roisin's appartment.  This pan explores the neighbourhood where Roisin lives, connoting the wealthy part of Glasgow she lives in, reinforcing her wealth. At 15:10, the scene's focus is Casim listening, and the rest of this shot is blurry, showing that Casim is paying close attention the the girl he's fallen deeply in love with's music. This scene allows the audience to explore Casim's facial expressions and body movement / reactions to the music Roisin is creating, which is the first real scene in the film that allows the audience to have one on one interaction in a way with him. The themes establishes in this scene are love, which is shown as Casim is leaning on his car looking up at Roisin's window and smiling, showing he has affection for her and that she makes him very happy, and she is a distraction from the family life he has to endure at home.

Editing 

6:57 - 7:40

As the scene switches from the school to and establishing shot of Casim and Tahara's household, the music that's playing is Jacqueline singing Ae Fond Kiss which is a poem by Robert Burns, a famous Scottish poet. The lyrics '' Ae fond kiss, and then we sever; Ae fareweel, alas, for ever! Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee, Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee'' are sung diegetic-ally, and then as the scene cuts to the establishing shot of house, the sound becomes non-diegetic. The song fills the silence between scenes, and helps establish the setting of the film, as it's set in Glasgow, and the poem is written by a Scottish poet, helping to reinforce setting. The singing fades out slowly as the gardeners in the shot begin to have a conversation which the audience hears. This re-inforces the theme of aspiration, as Roisin says to Jacqueline that they have a competition to win. The cut in the middle of the scene shows that time has passed in the scene, and the location of the film has changed.

21:21 - 22:00

This part of the film is based in the house. There are guests over, and from this part of the scene, there is a long take of 39 seconds, with no cuts or reaction shots. This long take which is also a pan is effective for the home to be established. The typical Asian household with lots of gold in the room. This also helps to establish the parents of the children in the household, such as the mother who when Tahara says she wants to be a journalist, her mother says 'you're going to be a doctor' connoting the aspiration she has for her own children. This comes into themes, as the culture clash between Casim and Roisin, is very versatile as Roisin lives in a free-er world than Casim, connoting the cultures they are influenced by are at different ends of the social scale. The long take helps the audience to focus on certain characters, and also helps the scenes agenda unfold.

 25:51 - 27:39

In this scene, Casim and Roisin are kissing and taking there relationship to the next 'level'. The music begins to increase in volume, as the two become more intimate. The music enhances the scene, as it sounds like a forbidden type of song, which reflects their relstionship. The editing in this scene is minimal, and it is mostly the camera panning that is used, so there is not really any edits. The music fades out at 27:49, when Casim is in bed looking at his watch, which tells the audience that the sexual encounter has come to an end. This scene explores the illicit relationship, and sex is a key theme. The mininal editing creates a flowing atmosphere, which relfects the relationship of the two.

Sound Analysis of British Social Realism

Conventions of an Opening Sequence

The clips i have used for this piece of work are at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ic98U2ElLA

Dirty Dancing is a film about a girl called Frances (Baby) Houseman who goes to Kellerman's summer camp with her family. At this summer camp she meets Johnny Castle, a dancer, and they fall in love, despite Baby's family disapproving.

0:00:30 - 0:00:40 

The opening sequence of Dirty Dancing is a montage of various clips of people dancing in the club where Baby and Johnny first meet, which establishes locations which are key in the film. This opening to the film is non-linear as these black and white montage scenes come up later in the film, and is where Baby and Johnny meet. These two people dancing intimately connote that the upcoming relationship in the film will be intimate, with both of the characters being passionately in love with each other. Also, this scene foreshadows scenes which will come up in the film, creating the audience to remember back to the opening sequence, as they remember what they've already seen and established. The themes in this film which are established through the dancers, which are Dance, Love, Sex and Aspiration. The audience expect a relationship in the film, even though they have not been introduced directly to the characters that will pursue the relationship yet, but the enigmatic nature of the opening sequence, leads the audience asking questions like 'Who will the main characters be?' and 'Why are they dancing so intimately?'. In this sequence there are various camera shots including lots of close ups of actions, not just faces, helping the audience to see the nature of the relationships between the people in the film. Every aspect of this black and white montage fades in to one another, and the editing techniques of dissolves connote the relationships are easy going and free. Which is ironic, as Baby and Johnny's relationship is not as easy as these 'dirty dancer's. The song is 'Be My Baby' by The Ronnettes. The whole song is about love, and relationships further establishing the themes established in this film. The fact that there is no dialogue in the montage connotes how 'love drunk' the couples are, and their partners know how in love they are, they are lost for words. 

0:01:52 - 0:02:00

The first actual film footage you see after the opening montage is the car in which Baby travels in, and this shows the audience that the car is going to the location of where the films is set. The era is also established, by the make of the car being a typical 60's film, when cars were big and only rich people had cars, establishing also the class of the characters, and that Baby is a middle/upper class woman, raised in a wealthy family. The song playing as the scene is going revealing is 'Big Girls Don't Cry' by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons in which the lyrics to the song are about how 'big girls don't cry' insinuating that Baby is a 'big girl' despite her nickname being Baby. The sound is diegetic and then goes to non-diegetic as the voice over of Baby kicks in. This song was popular in the sixties with the rock'n'roll music having it's day. This song also hints to the audience that Penny, the 'rockette' connoting she is a 'bad girl' who enjoys listening to rock & roll. Also in the 60's 'rocket/rockette' was slang for a drug user and people involved in drug culture, so further developing characters without even seeing him them yet. Penny's relationship with Johnny is distinct, as they are not in a romantic relationship, it is more of a 'back up', safety net friendship for the pair. This is the first view of Baby, and this is significant because she is the main character in the film, so it establishes key characters in the film. This proves Baby is one of the key characters in the film, as she is the first to be seen in the shot. The close up of her reading a book connotes a smart, independent woman, who is intelligent and knows what she wants in life. This can also signify and reinforce the era that the film is set in, as her clothing are typical of this period in history, being flouncy and free. Baby's clothing also connotes innocence and her being a typical daddy's girl, in which she dresses modestly, which is ironic as she goes on to become almost a grown up woman, as she dances sexually, and goes to the staff club, where she meets Johnny, in which the club is established in the opening sequence i have analysed above. The audience's first perception of Baby is young and innocent, which is twisted later in the film as she falls in love with Johnny. The voice over of Baby comes in at 0:02:00, in which she introduces herself, she says in this video that she wants to become a member of the peace corps, which establishes Baby as a selfless character, as she wants to help others, and travel the world helping others, so she is a caring and selfless character. The enigmatic questions are asked by the audience, asking 'Who is this girl?' and 'What is going to happen to her?', in which the story unfolds as she arrives at Kellerman's mountain resort. The themes in the scene are a culture clash, as Baby is established as a middle / upper class woman, and Johnny is working class. Also, aspiration is a theme, as it is explored through the voice over and how Baby talks about how successful she hopes her future to be.

0:02:35 - 0:02:43

This shot is an establishing shot of Kellerman's mountain resort, which establishes the first real setting and location where the film is going to be situated. This scene also relates back to the opening montage, telling the audience that the first location where the montage was held, was in Kellerman's resort, so by just 2 minutes 35, the audience have put all the clues and narrative together to define where the film will be located and what settings will be key to the film. The location of Kellerman's is seen to be a massive resort, which looks very much for rich and wealthy people to go to on vacation to which reinforces the class of Baby and her family. In the voice over, Baby says 'That was the summer we went to Kellerman's and then is silence, which creates an affect, which lets the audience see the resort for themselves and make their own judgement into what will happen in the next scene and the forthcoming film. The hand held camera movements could connote that Baby is filming the scene herself, as a type of memory video recorder, for family holiday video tape, or this shot could be purely Baby's vision of what she sees as she looks out of the car window. The setting is established on a summer day, in which the themes of Summer romance could come into it, as Baby and Johnny are together for a whole summer, and that is where the film ends, so by Baby saying in her voice over ''That was the summer we went to Kellerman's'', which sounds like a backtrack, and she is thinking back to one of the best summers she ever had as she is very informal as she speaks, so she is putting herself back into her 17 year old girl role, even though she would be older when she is speaking this voice over. The sound at this part of the film is continued to play as the 60's era car pulls up, reestablishing era, and the sound then becomes diegetic again and the Houseman family in the car can all hear it, as it is being played through the car radio. 

0:04:13 - 0:04:25

This scene introduces the owner of the summer resort, Max Kellerman. Who is the patient of Dr. Jake Houseman, Baby's father. This doctoral role reinforces the wealth and upper class nature of the Houseman family already established. Max's line of 'There's a merengue class in the gazebo in the next few minutes, The greatest teacher. Used to be a Rockette.' This line further establishes the dancing aspect of the film, and reassures the Houseman family that people can change, which then presumably foreshadows Johnny's relationship with Baby, and that 'bad boy' personas can then change into more respectable ones, and that they should not be too quick to judge their daughter's lifestyle choices and who she chooses to affiliate herself with. This scene is powerful in exploring other characters such as Max and briefly Penny, connoting these two are strong characters as they are explored in an insignificant detail which is ironic. By Penny being described as a former 'rockette' this connotes the tension between Johnny and Penny's relationship as they are not formally in a romantic relationship. By Max being the first on site member of staff greeting the Houseman family, this shoes he is a very rich and respectable man in the hospitality industry, as he has invited the family to his resort for the first time. Max's views are cast on the working class American citizens, as he frowns upon Penny's lifestyle habits before she became a dancer at the resort, which then the theme of Aspiration is re-enforced, as Penny's dream was to be a dancer since she was a child. The close up of each characters faces are reaction shots with establish emotion within the scene, as this is the Houseman's first family vacation in a long time, reinforcing the theme of hard work and success of Jake.  

0:05:19 - 00:05:29

This scene explores the atmosphere of Kellerman's and the atmosphere the people at the summer camp have to dancing and how Baby feels very anxious and self conscious. The themes shown are innocence, as when Penny says, ''Okay now, ladies, when i say 'stop'... you're gonna find the man of your dreams...STOP!'' Baby goes to dance with her dad, showing how innocent Baby is, and she is a daddy's girl. Baby also says something like this in her voice over when she said ''...and I thought I'd never find a guy as great as my dad'', recapitulating that Baby is very close to her dad, and they have a close father and daughter bond. Even though Baby is a daddy's girl, and her daddy will protect her, deep down, Baby is shy and she has a sense of an uncomfortable state as she dances, connoting she is a shy and anxious character who keeps her self to herself, and when she meets Johnny, Baby changes in to woman and no longer a shy teenager. The long shots cover the whole of the dancing scene, which establish the setting, on the gazebo which plays an important location in the upcoming scenes. These long shots are also used as a way for the audience to spot Baby and Dr. Houseman during the scene, as they are the only characters we have visually been introduced to. Close ups of the feet of the holidaymakers as they are in Penny's dance class is an interesting shot, as we then see Baby step on someone elses feet, and get tangled up which connotes she  is a bad dancer, which asks enigmatic questions  to the audience such as 'why is the film situated around this character if she can't dance?'. Penny's introduction to the audience is very a very flirty and fiery character, in which the film goes on to explore her back story and how she struggles to cope with discovering she is an expectant mother. Penny covers up with a brave face, this is shown she is most likely a down trodden woman, who has had a hard life, and not the best start to life at all. The music in this scene is diegetic, so the characters within the story line can hear it, the piece of music is typical of the 60's, when dancing was a particular hobby for upper class people, and families that could afford to take lessons. 

00:06:38 - 00:06:48

The dark balcony that Baby is walking on has natural, low key lighting symbolizin

g it is night time at the summer camp. The fact that the balcony is dark connotes danger. The contrast between Baby walking on the balcony and Max Kellerman having a gathering with the waiting staff of the resort in the high key, artificial lighting, connotes the contradiction in the film, as innocent Baby is on the dark balcony, and the important staff are in the bright room where the conversation which doesn't sound very nice is currently undertaken. Max's personality is then contrasted as he is very bossy towards the staff and not very polite. This shows the audience that first impressions aren't everything in this film. The lighting for this scene plays a key contrast in the story line, that the visitors to the resort are kept in the dark, that the wait staff and the majority of the staff are under strict orders by Max to make sure they have the best time possible, and that the service they recieve is forced. I analyse this because Johnny and Baby's relationship is very natural, and not forced, which also breaks Max's rule of 'keep your hands off'. Risk is a theme explored in this film, as Johnny puts his career on the line as he develops his relationship with Baby. At 00:06:59, Johnny Castle enters for the first time, which completely changes the attitude and atmosphere of the scene. The costume Johnny is wearing is a tight fitting t shirt, a leather jacket over his shoulder and dark sunglasses, connoting he is a real bad boy, by the way he walks and the way he's dressed. Max gets frustrated that Johnny is walking late into the staff meeting and discusses dancing with Johnny in a raised tone of voice. This reinforces dancing as a theme, and this is also the first time that Baby finds out that Johnny is a dancer. This scene creates a real enigmatic vibe as the love at first sight aspect kicks in and questions are thrown to the audience, which include 'are they going to get together?' and the audience make judgments and assumptions into what's going to happen later in the film. 

00:07:56 - 00:08:03

This scene is of the Houseman's first family dinner at Kellerman's, which is set in the dining hall,  establishing another key setting of events in the film. This scene is particularly important as it establishes the class of the Houseman family and who Kellerman's caters for as its summer residents. The wait staff pull out the chairs for the guests connoting high class service, which connotes that the family are very well off. The props in this scene include a very well 'dressed' table with clean linen and posh decorations within the room, connoting classiness. In this scene baby is very distracted by the thoughts of Johnny who she saw in the last scene we can tell this because she is leaning back in her chair and she is very occupied with her  thoughts by staring off into space and not participating in the conversation being held by her fellow family members. Also in this scene we are introduced to Robbie who later in the film Lisa falls in love with, he is dressed in a smart shirt and tie as all of the wait staff at Kelllerman's are. Max mentions in this scene that Robbie is from Harvard university which is prestigious and he is of an upper social class fitting in with with his surroundings at Kellerman's. This scene also shows the audience that the Housemann family are tight knit and they are a very family holiday type family. So ethene of this film is family and relationships between father and daughter and a family in general. The first shot in this scene is a long shot which helps the audience to see the whole table and surrounding tables establishing class and setting amongst the whole scene and other characters staying at the resort. 

00:08:33 - 00:08:46

This scene is also sat in the Kellerman's resort dining room, and is a follow on from the scene analysed above. This scene introduces another new character, Neil, who is Max's grandson. Themes established in this scene are love and jealousy, as Neil is particularly interested in persuing a relationship with Baby. Social class also plays a big role in this scene, as Neil is looking to go to a top university, just as Baby wants to study in Mount Holy Oak connoting both of these characters are very smart and in control of their lives. Aspiration is a key theme, and I personally think the writers of this film have included this scene is to throw the audience off, by insinuating and hinting that Baby may be lots in her thoughts with Johnny but she is still possibly interested in Neil. Consequently leading the audience to question what will happen with Neil and Baby's relationship. One shot in the scene where there is a close up of Neil smiling at Baby and rasing his eyebrow, connotes he is a flirt, which at that point there is a cut to Baby's reaction of her smiling back.

00:18:24 - 00:18:34

In this scene, this is where Johnny and Baby have their first interaction in the film. The first shot is a midshot of the three characters, which sets up the conversation. As Johnny says the line, "Yo, Cuz, what's she doing here?", he looks at baby, and then back at his cousin. This connotes there is tension between the two, as Baby should not be in the club. This tension is established through the juxtaposition of the couple, which is to be much closer in the up coming scenes as Johnny changes his mind on his thoughts towards Baby. Baby is very innocent in this scene as the first thing she said to Johnny is 'I carried a watermelon', connoting she has never really had much experience in talking to men. The lighting in the club is very dim, which is natural, low key lighting connoting the mood and the reality of the dancing that is going on amongst the sexy dancers. Johnny's shirt is unbuttoned, creating the raunchy appeal of the dancing to the younger guests and staff members staying and working on the resort. Johnny is very strong, and he shows this when he beckons Baby over with his finger, telling her to come here. This also establishes the hold he has over her, which is a strong part of their relationship as it develops, and Johnny is a very dominating character, and Baby is innocent and shy. As Johnny teaches her to dance, Baby realises that this is her first true love, and possibly her first sexual experience, meaning that another theme in this film is sex. The song playing in this part of the film is Love Man by Otis Redding, which I'm assuming is put in to establish Johnny and how good he can be at loving women.