Evaluation

Below is the link to my evaluation. There are two pages for question seven, as I could not it it all in one page.

My Evaluation

Neo-Noir OTS: The Final Product

Below is the final cut of my opening title sequence for 'shift.' I will be uploading posts soon about the age rating and feedback I have received for it. The OTS will play with better quality if you click on the 'HD' icon in the bottom right hand corner, before selecting '720p'. 


shift - (opening title sequence) from Freya Rudd on Vimeo.

Continuity Task: The Final Product

Here is the final product! Please ignore the two minutes of black screen at the end, that was an editing fault. 

Sweded Film: The Final Product

After finishing this assignment, I've come to really appreciate sweded films. Even though they're not of  highest quality, the best acting, music, sound lighting etc., it really comes down to people having a lot of fun and not taking themselves too seriously, whilst re-creating their favourite scenes from films and having a good time. I'm happy this was my first project, as I've had zero experience in being a part of any film making process before, and hopefully I will only get better!

Below is the official teaser trailer for 'Insidious: Chapter 3'.

And finally, here is our sweded version. Enjoy!

Neo-Noir Opening Title Sequence Process

Everything below are all the blog posts on the process of making my Opening Title Sequence, until stated otherwise. 

Distribution and Exhibition

In terms of distribution I decided my film, if it was in the public eye, would have to have many different production companies and studios to fund it as well as possibly an Arts Council, or the National Lottery which also provides funding.

In terms of exhibition, it would either be on Vimeo/YouTube as a short film to reach a wider audience. It would more likely be Vimeo as it provides a lot of resources for fairly unknown film-makers/creators. Or I would showcase it at a Picturehouse Cinema e.g. Cinema City, which screens lots of independent films alongside mainstream films. A screening at a film festival to obtain more attention and knowledge of the film would also be interesting, as many films receive more acknowledgement, and a creator's film can be submitted online, obviously alongside following certain rules and regulations. Top gatherings such as Sundance Film Festival and Venice Film Festival 

My target audience is, to be honest, anybody, but, in terms of generic groups: regular 'movie-goers,' and film buffs; an audience that is willing to watch something fairly niche. In terms of gender, I don't have target audience, and in some of my feedback, somebody commented that there didn't seem to be a pander to a certain gender, which I was happy about. 

Age wise, I would rate the film a 15 or possibly 18, as there would be violence and strong language, however I'm not sure if the violence would be on or off camera, possibly a bit of both. If my OTS had an age certification, it would probably be 12/15. 

Below is a link to the BBFC website on age ratings for film - 15 and 18.

BBFC 15 certification

BBFC 18 certification

Sundance Film Festival Rules and Regulations

Audience Feedback

After uploading my film, I created a questionnaire on 'SurveyMonkey,' allowing my peers to watch my OTS and give feedback. Below are screenshots of the questions in the survey.

I wanted to keep the questions fairly straight-forward, informal and have a humorous tone as I enjoy writing like that, but also that the audience understood that I knew things I could improve on next time and was willing to take on criticism, as well as being a pressure-free questionnaire to fill out.

A summary of the feedback I received for each question was:

Question 1: 8/10 was the average score for how much viewers enjoyed the OTS

Questions 2: The answer was yes, and the blood on the protagonist's hands intrigued viewers, as well as the 'ominous music'.

Question 3:  The most enjoyable part of my OTS according to the survey was 'music' and 'narrative/plot,' as well as 'other' which was specified as 'camera angles.'

Question 4: Below is a list of what a few people said about the OTS, in terms of what was good, bad and could use improvement.

Good: camera angles, music, intriguing plot and acting. 

Bad: Lighting, possibly anti-climactic and one person thought the colour of the credits didn't fit the feel and atmosphere of the OTS.

Improve: Lighting, clearer sense of direction in terms of plot, colour of credits.

Below is some feedback I was given during the editing process, there are some images of feedback by one person, as well as some I will write about what my teachers thought about my OTS.

In terms of the props in the bathroom, I decided not to change this as I wanted there to be clutter in shot, and I felt the brands did not make too much of a difference, and did not pull focus too much.

In terms of the first image, in the dislikes section, I was quite pleased with the fact that the credits and lighting made the film look 80s/90s, as I wanted the OTS to look and feel like this, and one of my inspirations in terms of genre was Pulp, which I have written a blog post on.

Some feedback that I was given by teachers was that it was very dark, visually. Unbelievably, the shots in the bedroom were even darker than they are currently, however I didn't have time to re-film, and also, I quite like it being very dark and ominous. 

I also received some feedback stating that the very last shot was interesting and a cliffhanger of sorts.

Pulp

After showing my film to a few people, I received comments that my OTS had an 80s/90s feel to it, which is what I was going for. I was also told that my film fit quite well into the 'pulp' genre. I had a vague understanding of what it was, but not much. Therefore, I did some research on pulp films and realised that I was inspired by this genre without completely realising it, and traditional elements of pulp films were evident in my  OTS. 

I noted that the setting is often 'seedy,' 'trashy,' as well as the plot involving a lot of crime and characters lacking a balanced moral compass. I feel I was subconsciously influenced by Pulp Fiction in terms of the character, as even though it's not shown at all in my OTS, the main characters would be partners with a male character, working together. However, as I also wanted to have a science fiction element in my film, I wanted there to be two different versions of the same character (but from parallel universes), somehow meeting in the same universe, and the same house, which would become more apparent as the film went on. 

At first, I was slightly worried about the graininess/quality on my OTS, but actually wanted to keep this in as whenever I watch films that have low quality I feel that, it makes the film look intimate in a way, but creating a barrier because it looks old or unreachable, which is something that I would like my film to do, as well as the story being quite far removed. 

Film Noir Conventions and Representation

As I'm creating a neo-noir OTS and not completely traditional film noir, I thought I should talk about the features and conventions from classic noir films that I have decided to use, and what I have adapted.

Smoking

At the beginning of the OTS, the main character is seen smoking for a short while. As smoking is a big feature in classic film noirs (see below for examples), I wanted to include this as it does give off an element of mystery, as smoke can hide/distort things from view. As well as this, I wanted the protagonist in pyjamas to seem very calm and quiet throughout the opening title sequence, I felt that her smoking at the beginning, but without a cigarette in her hand, immediately gave off a cool presence, as well as something odd about the fact she's smoking without a cigarette.

Shadow

Shadows are also something I tried to incorporate a little. The most prominent shadow in my OTS is in one shot (below).

One of the protagonists is looking at her hands, however, the shadow of her hands come up to her neck, almost making it look like she is being strangled by it. I wanted to use this as it could foreshadow what would happen later on in the film, if I created it. 

Narrative

In terms of a conventional narrative, I wanted to use flashbacks in the OTS, but project them differently to how they are in traditional film noirs. Usually, flashbacks in film noir create the entire bulk of the piece, told usually from the 'every-man's' perspective, reflecting on what has happened, and how it brought him to his current situation. In my OTS, I use very quick flashbacks, one of which does suggest the protagonist is thinking about what has happened. However, the main bulk of the film, if I did make it, would be in the character's present day, not necessarily ours, but it would not be all about the character's memories.

I have now decided to cut the small flashback shot as I felt it didn't fit with the OTS once I'd made some other changes.

Adding onto this, instead of having a voiceover, I have a small amount of speaking from an unknown source at the beginning of the OTS, when the radio is turned off. This is part of one of the pieces of music I use, and is a different take on the traditional narration/voiceover in film noir, as usually the main character narrates the events that happened and this audience is aware of whose voice it is.

Characters

In terms of character, I wanted to make sure the female characters were not seen as someone who was always 'made-up' and looking as if they were 'ready' to be on camera. I'm completely for wearing whatever you want, but I think in film, when people, more predominantly with women, have a full face of make-up and a beautiful outfit, when the situation they're in doesn't call for it, and isn't used to project some sort of message, is a pedestal I wanted to avoid. 

Neo-Noir OTS: Music

Music is a very important part of my OTS, and as with any film, can create a completely different atmosphere and tone compared to watching the same scene without it.

Creating my own music was one option, but honestly, I wasn't sure if I'd have the time, and I'm not particular skilled, so I may have not found and created the exact piece of music I wanted. It may have also not been very good quality and I would not have the correct equipment at hand to be able to record the piece, which would have been frustrating. Instead, I decided to find some music online, which was copyright free. I found a great website, called Free Music Archive, which has a vast selection of great recordings, which are free to purchase, but not royalty free, they come with licences. The two pieces of music I decided to use  which comply with what I want to do, so I do not have to change the direction I wanted to go in with my film.

I decided to use two pieces of music by 'The Fucked Up Beat,' who creates trip-hop music. I decided to use two pieces of music by them, one being 'hope!' and the other 'paranoiaXXVI'. I edited them both together, using the spoken beginning of 'hope!' with most of 'paranoiaXXVI'. I then edited snippets of the beginning of 'hope!' into the end of the track, to add a distorted, almost nostalgic feeling into the music, as if the audience had heard it before, but it had been changed slightly. This mirrors the opening titles, and basis for the story.

I wanted the music for my OTS to be very prominent and be in sync with the titles and clips of the opening title sequence. This is because I feel it is satisfying in a way for the audience and also to push me a little in terms of editing, as this is my first time editing a film, and see if I could achieve what I wanted.

Unfortunately I cannot include the audio file in this blog post, as Blogger does not support it, however, I have created a Prezi which does allow me to use the audio file and within the presentation I talk about the details of the licences and how they co-inside with my OTS. The music is fairly dark, and could be a little distracting so if you would like to mute the track while reading the presentation, there is a mute button in the bottom left hand corner.

Costume

For the protagonist that is revealed first in the OTS, I wanted her to be dressed in pyjamas, with her hands covered in blood.

I decided to have this character dressed in pyjamas because it's very understated and contrasts with the blood on her hands. As pyjamas are usually seen as comfortable and un-threatening, but with the amount of blood on the character's hands, it could give the audience a feeling that this character is dangerous and deceitful. However, another reason I wanted the character to wear pyjamas and have fake blood on her hands is because, if I did create the entire film, I wanted to have fleshed-out three dimensional characters, that accurately represented traits of real people, and that there is not just one side to somebody. The juxtaposition of pyjamas and blood, I personally wanted to represent that someone can be quiet and laid back (hence, the pyjamas) as well as be powerful and un-predictable (hence, the blood). 

I also applied this to the other central character, who sports a tight black dress, red lipstick, and a cardigan. This costume was chosen to challenge the convention of how female characters were portrayed in 1940s/50s noir films. I wanted this character (who, if I hypothetically created the film would be the character with 'better' morals), would be sexual and confident, and would not seem dangerous or scary, much like how female characters would be, quite blatantly, used for in traditional film noir, to warn audiences that female sexuality was dangerous and traditional gender roles should be put back in place, which is something I definitely wanted to steer clear of. The reason why this character is wearing a cardigan in the OTS is because, a lot of the time, female characters are heavily made up and dressed in traditionally 'sexy' clothing, just to appeal to a certain audience, so I wanted to have the dress and cardigan together showing that she's dressing for herself and can wear both types of clothing, it doesn't have to be one or the other.

Neo-Noir OTS: Mise-en-scene

Below is a Prezi I created talking about mise-en-scene in my OTS. I will go into further detail about costume in another blog post, and more in depth on the topic in general in my evaluation.

Neo-Noir OTS: Titles

At first I wasn't sure what to do in terms of titles, but then decided I would project the credits onto different surfaces, the titles appearing as shadows. Unfortunately, during filming I tried this, ending up sticking the credits (cut out from paper) onto different surfaces, which would be in the same shots as the central character, however, when watching the footage back, I decided against it, as it didn't look great, and didn't give the effect I wanted. 

I have now decided to create the titles on Final Cut Pro X, and have decided to use the font below. I experimented with colours, and instead of darker, more 'fitting' colours, like in the image below, I have decided to go with brightly coloured titles. 

I have decided to use this font, layered and lower-case because I feel it contrasts well with the OTS, as well as complimenting it. I think the fact that I've decided to make them brightly coloured, as well as lower-case is almost friendly, contrasting with the film itself, and its dark (?) tone. However, I feel that my choice of titles were inspired by 80s films, specifically pulp, which I will make a separate blog post about.

During creating my titles I had the idea to make some of the credits to do something on screen. instead of staying in one spot. So, I decided to try and make the first set of credits flick very quickly between different fonts before returning to an image on the screen. I wasn't sure how to gp about doing this but then starting exploring different options and ended up copying the first title screen and making a few copies of this, making each title screen a different font, and then changing the duration of these clips to one or two milliseconds. Below are some images exhibiting the process.

I also want the colour of the titles to get darker and a little more foreboding as the OTS goes on, as it's getting closer to the main body of the film. I have also decided to make the final titles, giving credit for directing in bright red, with a very dark layer behind, contrasting with the rest of the titles which are mainly pinks and greens. I have decided to do this as it's the last image the audience will see on screen as well as

Neo Noir OTS: Editing

As this is the first time I will be editing anything, film-wise, I wanted to make sure I had most things filmed before the Christmas holidays had come to an end, as I will spend a lot of time figuring out the different features of the editing software (which is Final Cut Pro in this instance), and I'm still trying to figure out how exactly I want my titles to look as well as what's available on Final Cut.

Almost as soon as I had finished filming, I had made the decision to cut out the entire second part of the OTS, which entailed similar shots of a different version of the character from the first part, carrying out the same actions, for example, brushing teeth, making tea etc. only with different lighting and the way the tasks were completed would be slightly different, including costume and make-up. I decided to cut this part down as the shots seemed quite messy, as we did not have much time to film this half. I may cut a few clips down and add them in as snippets to contrast with the first part, creating a comparison, adding to the enigma, and also giving the audience a bit more information in terms of character and plot, but still leaving them wondering what's going on. 

During editing, I have decided to make most if not all of the shots  and cuts co-inside with the music, as I think makes it interesting for the audience to watch, as well as the fact that this is my first time editing a film, so I would like to push myself a little bit.

I have actually decided to place the last shot of the original OTS (above) at the very beginning, instead of at the end, to making it seem as if the character is running off just as the 'radio' is explaining what type of story this is, and just before the titles start rolling.

I also wanted the first shot to be strong and poignant and to make sure the audience knew what the central character looks likes from the beginning.

Neo-Noir OTS: Filming

Location

In terms of location, I wanted to film in my house, and keep a lot of objects and which were already in my house within shot, as I wanted the house the character was in to seem realistic, but also that the protagonist seems very calm, juxtaposing with a lot of the clutter surrounding her. 


We filmed over the Christmas holidays, and only really one full day to film, with the house empty and   noise free.

Filming

On the day of filming, a lot of things were changed. Firstly, the idea I originally had planned for the titles were scrapped. My original idea was to have the credits projected somehow onto different surfaces, so they would appear in the form of shadows. However, we ended up sticking the credits to different surfaces, which, looked very far from how I wanted it to look, so I also scrapped that.


In terms of shots, I kept a lot of the ones I had originally planned and that were originally in the story board but am now editing, and am likely to either get rid of some clips altogether, purely because they do not work in sequence, and some I will use but change how I edit them into the film. For example, originally there was going to be a long-take of the protagonist making a cup of tea, but now I have added music and fitted other parts of the OTS in, I'm probably going to cut it down to a few seconds, if that.

UPDATE (25th January 2016): I have now decided to create titles on Final Cut Pro, which I will talk more about about in a separate blog post. 

Neo-Noir OTS: Plot

It took a while for me to come up with an entire plot for the film, as at the beginning I wasn't really sure what kind of story I wanted to tell. In the end I decided on a neo-noir, science-fiction thriller/drama. As I want to use the forking path narrative, there will probably be two different parts of the story. Below is a storyboard of the film.



UPDATE: I have changed the structure of the OTS in some places, using a lot of the same shots, but in a different order. As I have almost finished editing, I will create another storyboard with screenshots from the OTS, a lot of which are reflected in the presentation above, just in a different order.

UPDATE: Here is the final storyboard (which includes screenshots from the OTS as well as drawings from the first storyboard which are being used in the final cut. 

I have also decided to change the way I created the actual titles, which I have spoken more about in another blog post, titled: Neo-Noir OTS: Titles.



Rough/Brief Plot of Entire Film

Two different versions of the same people, a male and female duo, four characters altogether, but from different parallel universes, bringing in a sci-fi element. I was inspired by the film, 'Sliding Doors,' which follows the same person, but in two different timelines, and how small details of her life can make a huge difference. However, for my OTS I want the foursome to end up in the same universe, on the same planet, in the same house, and there is then confusion, conflict and violence ensues.

In terms of characters, I want one of the duo to be a little more villainous than the other, not completely hero/villain, as this is something I want to avoid, but use this to create conflict or a bond.

Plot of OTS

The plot of the opening title sequence I have planned to involve one of the protagonists waking up, drinking some water, going to brush her teeth, and making a cup of tea, before sitting down and turning on the radio, where the music will kick in and the other narrative will unfold, of the same character, but from another universe, with different more un-naturalistic lighting. 

Neo-Noir OTS: Narrative Codes

Narrative Codes and Conventions

After being introduced to a few of the many different narrative structures and the people who invented them (below is a SlideShare which I found this information on, from Ms Humpleby's blog):

Media narrative codes update 2015 from Elaine Humpleby



I have decided to use the Enigma Code, as I want to make the audience think and work out what exactly is going on. As well as this, I want the length of most shots to be fairly slow-paced and the music to compliment that, going down a thriller, science-fiction neo-noir route, so I feel that projecting a mystery to the audience will work alongside the features I want in the OTS as well.

The other narrative code I've decided to try and use is Allan Cameron's Modular Narrative theory, in particular, the forking path, as the idea I have for my film would work with this quite well. I will create another post about the narrative, and what I want to try and achieve.

It helped to choose which narrative codes I did not want to use, and the one I definetley didn't want to use was Levi Strauss' Binary Oppositions. The reason I didn't want to use this was because I don't feel that a character can be purely Hero or Villain, Good or Bad, Light or Dark, as I personally don't think that represents a person truly. I feel I would use this to try and project a message, maybe in a satirical way, and this narrative code can be used well, but in the context of my OTS, I didn't feel it was the right one.

Continuity Task Process

Below are blog posts containing the process of creating and evaluating our Continuty Task.

Evaluating Cinderella Continuity Task

Below is a video of Emily, Chloe and I speaking briefly about our film, before showing it to an audience.







After showing the film, we spoke to the class about what we could improve on, such as sound, and narrative structure. We also discussed the process and issues with timing during filming as well as receiving feedback from the audience.

'Cinderella' Cast, Crew and Stills

During the planning process of our Film Noir, we decided to create some stills of each scene we wanted in the film, like a storyboard to refer to. We didn't manage to include one of the more important scenes as we ran out of time and couldn't actually find everything we needed to film the scene. Here is a Prezi of the stills, the cast and crew involved in the making of the film. I may add some music behind this presentation soon. Enjoy!





When creating and taking the stills, we decided to place a lot of them in the photography studio, as the lighting was easier to handle than the shots we took outside. Thankfully, the days we decided to film outside was cloudy, which gave a nice natural effect to those particular photos. It also helped as there wasn't much sunshine or lack thereof to deal with. 

The photos were edited by Chloe, who enchanced eye colour to represent different characters as well as bringing a strong contrast to the photos, and drawing the audience to their eyes as most other things in the photo are either black or white. For example, Cinderella has blue eyes, which is quite a bright, happy colour, but can also represent sadness. The Prince's eyes are red, which is often used to show love, evil, blood, lust and passion. The Fairy Godmother's eyes are a yellow-ish colour. Yellow is often used to represent caution and false hope. This could refer to her warning Cinderella to not meddle with her's and the Prince's relationship, as well as being false hope for the Prince as he wanted to kill her for her money, but ended up being murdered by Cinderella because of it. The fact that in Beth's photo her eyes are the least prominent could show that she does not play a very important role to the other characters but is actually the only one who lives and doesn't get into any trouble with the others.

The shadows and colours were much more enhanced in the editing process, especially in this photo:

In some photos were inspired by Sin City, as red is a prominent colour throughout the film, whilst everything else is in black and white, with a graphic novel feel. We didn't use the graphic novel style in out stills but made sure the red (in the tie for example), stood out, as well as the use of light and dark.

Film Noir Continuity Task: Stills Update

I'm currently in the process creating a Prezi of the stills we created as part of planning our Film Noir, so that should be up soon. I will also be uploading a post on the different roles within our group and the way we changed the narrative of 'Cinderella'  to suit the Film Noir genre within the next few days.

Film Noir Continuity Task: Planning

Over the past few weeks, we were given an assignment to create a Film Noir short, combining the elements we looked studied beforehand and a well-known fairy tale. Our group decided to use the story from Cinderella. We had to plan the characters, how we would change them, as well as the narrative to make it more suitable to the Film Noir genre. The outcome of the task is to create a film including a scene of a character walking through a door, crossing a room, sitting down and having a conversation with someone. Below were the requirements:

• Shot reverse shot
• Match on action
• 180 degree rule
• Set action: a person opens a door, walks through and across a room, sits, and exchanges dialogue with another person

We wanted to make Cinderella the 'every-woman,' more commonly seen as the 'every-man' in classic Film Noirs, as she works hard and as she cleans in the original, we used this has her 'every-day' kind of job. The role of 'femme-fatale' is the Prince, and the villain is the fairy-godmother. We decided to do this as so often in classic Film Noirs, the women are portrayed as bad, and scary and their sexuality is seen as a bad thing, so we wanted to show that women can have good morals and be sexual, instead of having to choose between the two. The villain is the fairy-godmother, although all her motives are reasonable. 

Below is a rough plan of the first ideas we had:

Script 

The script was written predominantly by Chloe, it was rough, so we could work around it if the lines and stage directions didn't feel right or didn't work with where we were filming. I edited the script and re-wrote a few lines that I didn't think felt right or suited the story line. As we had little time to perfect the script, not everything sounds completely serious, and in my opinion occasionally takes away from the darkness of the film. Below are some images of the script. 

Chloe re-drafted the final scene, as we had to come back and make some changes as it was too long to fit into the final film. Here is an image of that:

I will be posting more about the process of making our film soon. 

Analysing Audience

We were given an assignment to analyse audience, including demographics used by film industries, what draws people into visiting the cinema as well as film classifications and some films studied in class.

Analysing the Codes Conventions and Narrative of an Opening Title Sequence: Analysing a Freeze Frame

We were given a task to find one still from an opening sequence to a film and answer some questions on it. I decided to use the opening sequence from 'Goodfellas,' as I felt the lighting, setting and amount of characters in the scene contained a lot to write about. Below is the still I chose and the question I answered.

What can you see in the 'frozen image'?

Three men, dressed in suits, facing the boot of a car. The red brake lights are projecting onto them, and it looks like whatever's happening in the scene is at night.

How are the elements of the image positioned in the frame?

Only the rear of the car is in shot, on the right-hand side, with the three men standing behind it, looking down at the boot, showing that they have more power than it, or whatever's inside. The three men are standing next to each other, with the character farthest from the camera standing a little closer to the car than the other characters. He is also distanced from the other two men in the shot.

How does colour and lighting effect what you see?

The lighting is predominantly red, coming from the brake lights on the back of the car. As this scene seems to be set at night, the audience's focus is pulled to the three men. The fact that the red light is shining on them, could symbolize that they're evil, cunning, possibly loving. The colour red also symbolizes blood and the fact that they're brake lights shows that they have stopped, to handle whatever's going on in the scene.

What is the distance between camera and subject?

The subjects (actors, car) are fairly close to the camera. The shot is not close-up at all nor are they extremely far away. This could be used to show some distance and divide between the audience and the situation going on in the scene.

Why is the shot composed like this?

The audience is able to see what the characters are looking at, and you can see the character closest to the camera is holding some sort of weapon, implying that they could be dangerous. The fact that they are all standing together shows some sort of bond and togetherness, as if they are group working together. If the shot was composed differently, for example, with the characters standing in completely different positions around the car, this wouldn't seem as predatory as they would not be forming a group, and the apparent bond would seem more empty.

Where do you think the camera is?

The camera is to the right of the subjects, achieving an almost profile view.

Why is the camera positioned like this?

Like I said, I think the camera is in this position so everything can be seen by the audience, and we can see that whatever they're looking at, is weaker than them as it's lower. 

What can you tell about time/place/setting?

I can tell it's night time, and it's unknown where the characters are, as it's very concealed, with trees. 

How does the setting contribute to the atmosphere/meaning of the shot?

The fact that it's night-time and in an unknown, concealed area, with red being the predominant colour, gives the audience the feeling that something is not right, and that something's going to happen that could be illegal, something that needs to be hidden.

How are the characters positioned?

They are standing in a line, the character furthest from the camera is standing closer to the car, and slightly away from the other two men. This could show his eagerness, his attitude is different from the other two, and there may be a divide between him and the others.

How is your attention drawn to the characters?

It's very dark, and the only lighting is bright red, shining on them, and them alone.

What can you tell about the characters from how they are dressed?

They are dressed in suits, a little shirts being a little scruffy/un-tucked, which shows that they have authority, but the reason they have authority may be corrupt.

What impression is given of the characters by their body language?

They seem fairly tense, slightly relaxed and all focusing on the boot of the car. Even though they seem to be unsure of what's inside the boot, they are not too fazed, and can keep calm, and possibly aggressive (signaled by the weapon in hand) when under pressure. This could also show that they deal well with intense situations, and are often the ones in power.

Who is the focus in the scene and how can you tell?

The focus, to me, are the three men, as the brake lights are shining onto. I could also see how the boot of the car could be the focal point as all three characters are looking at it.

Is the frame pivotal to the narrative?

I think this shot sets up the relationship between the characters and gives the audience an insight into how they behave, and certain traits each character has.

Analysing the Codes, Conventions and Narrative of an Opening Title Sequence: Synopsis for Goodfellas

We were asked to create a synopsis to the film, as if we were writing for a website/newspaper/magazine etc. Here is what I came up with, for the film Goodfellas. 

From Martin Scorsese, a film following the lives of gangsters living in 1970s New York. Starring Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta and Joe Pesci, doing things that definitely earn them the title of anything other than 'good'.