Review of the Children's film

"world of lego" was created by naomi, hayley, emma and charlotte.
We believe that the elements that made our film effective were the fact it was stop motion, colourful and contained moments of slap stick comedy. The bit of the sequence we are happiest with is when the twins are fighting as it was done very smoothly, therefore looked effective.
When using stop motion we used a variety of camera angles which also added a feel of reality.

World Of Lego - Peer Feedback

- Conventions of an opening sequence:
credits 
- good. clever way of introducing credits. 
- a little too fast so couldn't read all of them but was a                             good idea

- Specific genre conventions: 

- Fantasy; use of dream

- Comedy; use of slap stick

- Variety and quality of camera work:

- Gave scene good effect. Could be more stable in some places for us

- to understand better what's going on.

- Use of special effects/ animation :

- Lego gave good effect - clever

- Intro was very good and effective

- Sound Quality and effect:

- Music good

- Used appropriate sound effects.

- Use of mise en scene:

Setting and props: Good

- Editing

-Fast Forward + rewind was effective

- Best Features:

- Credits

- Lego animation and camera work

Studio Logo

Emnahach stands for the first two letters of our names, Emma, Naomi, Hayley and Charlotte and the lightbulb in the background represents our bright ideas as a unit.

Preliminary Task - Emma, Naomi, Hayley, Charlotte.

Fantasy

Never-Ending Story: Directed by Wolfgang Peterson

Never-Ending Story is about a young boy called Bastian who is being tormented by some other kids in his class and this one time he decides to head for cover in an old book shop where he notices a really interesting book. he runs to school and hides in a room and dives straight in to the fantasy world of Fantasia we see creatures from racing snails to a flying dragon and we follow a boy named Atreyu and his trusty horse Artex who are trying to save the moon child-child like empress from death then by the end Bastian realises he is the only one who can save them. this film also has sub genres like adventure this film is good for children as it has a nice storyline for children to understand and has some nice characters. 

Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope:Directed by George Lucas

Star wars is about two sides the rebel alliance (good) and the empire (bad) who are fighting each other and have been fighting 19 years scene the begining of the empire which is under the reign of Darth Sidious an evil sith lord but we dont know about him until episode 5 the film starts with the tavine v (rebel alliance) being attacked by a star destroyer (empire) one of the main characters princess leia organa who is on the ship and she decides to hide the plans to the death star in a droid and send them down to the planet below which makes us ask questions then we get introduced to another main character the evil sith lord Darth Vader who is trying to get the plans to the death star back where they belong he kills people where ever he goes on the ship asking about the plans then someone notices one of the escape pods has been relised then you see the droids and they are with a young man called luke skywalker who is also a main character he lives with his aunt and uncle as he belives his father was killed and his mum is dead he has always wished to run away and fight for the rebel aliance but cant as his uncle needs him at home one of the droids runs away as he wants his former master an obi-wan kenobi who fort in the clone wars luke goes of with c3po to find r2d2 they find him but get attacked by tuskan radiers but then they are saved by a misterious figure obi-wan kenobi whi asks luke to join him on helping the pricess but he says he cant the goes home to find his family are dead and decieds to go with kenobi to alderan there they need a piolot and they find chewbaca and han solo the flight the famous milleniun falcon they find that alderan has be blowen up and see a space station they find where the princess is and go to save here whitles obi-wan goes to disable the tractor beam and relises he must do something else they find the pricess and save her then luke sees obi-wan and obi-wan is fightting his old appretice Darth Vader. Vader strikes him down and luke screams they filght away to the rebel base and vader has put a tracking device on the ship and they now know where the base is they both plan to attack each other but the rebles win.    
-Naomi

Sci-Fi sub-genre - Monsters Vs Aliens

When California girl Susan Murphy is unexpectedly clobbered by a meteor full of outer space gunk, she mysteriously grows to 49-feet-11-inches tall and is instantly labeled a "monster" named Ginormica. The military jumps into action, and she is captured and held in a secret government compound. As a last resort, under the guidance of General W.R. Monger (on a desperate order from The President), the motley crew of Monsters is called into action to combat the aliens and save the world from imminent destruction.
>Story Type
Fits the classic five stage structure: exposition, development,complication, climax and resolution. 
>Sound
Lots of non-diegetic adventure music, technological beeps. 
>Editing
Montage editing with quick invisible cuts linked theme of characters and vague plot.
>Camera Work
Lots of tracking, tilting and panning shots following action and aiding comedic sequences.
>Location and Sets
Houses and sets look very realistic, although things like faces and bodies conform to the plump shapes that are used the plump animated plasticine characters. Located in idillic village, shown by houses and countryside. Set in an inventors house, shown by use of contraptions e.g. giant hammer/ cogs and pipes.
>Themes
Happy smiley, active trailer, use of short comedic sequences set the common children's conventional use of humour.
>Props
The set has many pops used for comedic and plot use, e.g. giant hammer/ cogs and pipes, there is also use of cars and other inventions, the giant puppet lady-rabbit which also aids this.

Mystery sub-genre - Wallace and Gromit and the Curse of the Wererabbit

Wallace and his loyal dog, Gromit, set out to discover the mystery behind the garden sabotage that plagues their village and threatens the annual giant vegetable growing contest.
Conventions
>Character Types
Characters show an extreme sense of friendship and loyalty.
>Story Type
Fits the classic five stage structure: exposition, development,complication, climax and resolution. 
>Sound
Non-diegetic and diegetic sounds enhance comedic sequences in fast paced cut transitions. 
>Editing
Montage editing with quick invisible cuts linked theme of characters and vague plot.
>Camera Work
Lots of tracking, tilting and panning shots following action and aiding comedic sequences.
>Location and Sets
Houses and sets look very realistic, although things like faces and bodies conform to the plump shapes that are used the plump animated plasticine characters. Located in idillic village, shown by houses and countryside. Set in an inventors house, shown by use of contraptions e.g. giant hammer/ cogs and pipes.
>Themes
Happy smiley, active trailer, use of short comedic sequences set the common children's conventional use of humour.
>Props
The set has many pops used for comedic and plot use, e.g. giant hammer/ cogs and pipes, there is also use of cars and other inventions, the giant puppet lady-rabbit which also aids this.

Childrens Film Classificaiton

There are many different classifications that you can classify a film with depending on the content of the film. In Britain, the classifications for Childrens Film range from Uc to 12A.


Uc - Where a film has been specifically made for under 5 year olds.


U - Universal - anyone of any age over 4 years old can watch the film


PG - Any age can see the film as long as they have a parent with them but some scenes may be inappropiate for some young children


12 - This catagory is mainly used for buying DVD's etc. 


12A - Film is for 12 and overs but younger people can view if with a parent. Not recommended for under 12 year olds

The 12/12A catagory is a contriversial classifiction as 12A didnt exist until 2002 after film makers of Spiderman were told that the classification was going to be 12 but due to the age group attraction to the comic book hero there were many talks to try and change this but then the BBFA (British Board of Film Classification) came up with a compromise - the 12A classification. This meant that parents were given the decision to decide if they wanted to take their child to see the film.

Childrens Film Analysis - Whole Film Analysis - The Goonies (Richard Donner 1985)

Narrative Structure 

1. Exposition - In the first part of the film we find out what/who the Goonies are. 4 younger boys plus one of the younger boys older brother. Also two girls who are friends with the older brother. Furthermore we find out a bit of the backstory which is that if they dont find this treasure that their house will be repossessed and turned into a further extension of a local golf club

2. Development - As the story goes on we see that they find the map in the collection of historical items in the attic and this starts the adventure to find the treasure. To do this they have to run from the older brother who then eventually follows

3. Complication - After finding the place from the map they go in and find where they need to go they are stopped by the Fratellis who are known criminals and after finding the entrance to caves/ underground tunnel one of them, Chunk, gets captured by them. Also as they progress through the tunnels underground they run into trouble with booby traps.

4. Climax - When they come to the end of all the booby traps they find a huge cave containing a pirate ship which has gold treasures and jewels inside. A huge fight between the Fratellis and the Goonies evolves and after the Goonies run away the Fratellis get caught in a final booby trap set by the captain of the pirate ship, One Eyed Willy.

5. Solution/Resolution - The Goonies managed to get out of the cave and run and are found by police who have been looking for them. The Fratellis follow but get arrested by the police who have been looking for them during the duration of the film. A maid who was hired by the mother of Mikey, one of the Goonies, finds jewels missed by the Fratellis and therefore marks the end of the owners of the local golf club trying to buy off the houses.

Genre

The Goonies is a mainly Adventure film but it includes many sub-genres such as Action and Comedy. It could be classed as a Hybrid of Adventure-Comedy.

Characterisation

Mikey - He is the leader of the Goonies but is also a bit soft and easily persuaded.

Chunk - Joker of the group who definately loves food. Stereotypical funny character in the film.

Data - Technical Geek/Inventor of the group. Has comedic value due to his failure inventions but also helps the plot move forward due to saving himself and the Goonies from close shaves.

Mouth - Typical "cool" guy of the group. Very obsessed with appearance but is the key character to the plot as he translates the map.

Brand - Mikey's older brother. At the beginning we are introduced to him and a "jock" figure but towards the end he becomes half of the token love couple. Also pretends not to care about Mikey but in the end he seems to care a lot about him. Makes sure he is safe.

Andy - The other half of the token love couple, Andy isnt introduced until later on in the film but we see that she is the typical girly girl of the movie - scared of little things etc.

Stef - Friend of Andy, Stef is almost the same as Andy being a girly girl but they also include a sort of geeky side to her demeanor by adding that she has glasses

Technical Features
Key Features of Camerawork

- During the Underground Tunnel scenes there is a lot of Close Ups and Extreme Close Ups to show emotion and create atmosphere for the film
- When the Goonies are searching for the place where the treasure is, using the Map and the piece of ancient metal with the clue, there are establishing shots of the location of the old restaurant.
- There are mostly panning shots throughout the film but during the car chase scene there are tracking shots following the cars.

Mise-En-Scene

Props - There were a range of props used in the Goonies but they were all related to the story line for example the instruments they used to locate the underground tunnels.

Setting/Location/Scenery - Set in suburbs in North America in a typical cul-de-sac of homes.

Hair And Makeup - Fitting to the time period, the hair and makeup was typical of the 80's.

Costumes - The costume worn in the Goonies is very fitting to the time period it was filmed in for example theres a lot of denim and Brand the "jock" figure is wearing the 80's style "jock" costume with the shorts and wife beater.

Lighting - There isnt really a lot of lighting used in the film due to it being mainly natural lighting but inside the underground tunnels they have used some lighting obviously to light the tunnel up.

Decor - Inside the underground tunnels they had designed it as if it was the time when the riddle was made and the traps set.

Editing


The editing in the Goonies was mainly Fade in's and Fade out's but they also included Fade to black. We believe that there isnt much editing due to the film being made in the 1980's and the technology wouldnt have been as advanced as today.


Sound


In the film, during the car chase scene/Mikey's house scene they had background music in the film which is tecnically called diegetic due to the fact that its not put on the film in the editing process but its naturally in the background. Most of the film, however, had music or sound effects added which is called non diegetic. This was put in during the editing process.


What Information Is Relayed In The OPENING SEQUENCE?

In the opening sequence of The Goonies we are introduced to the main characters of the film and the meaning of the title. We are also shown the location/setting of the film and the story line of the film begins with a slight backstory about the Fratellis and also about why the Walsh's (Mikey's family) house is under threat.

-Emma

Opening Sequence Analysis

              Up (2009) 

 In the first few minutes of Up we see the main character evolve and also we see the back story to the film which also sets the scene and is visually engaging and gives us questions that need to be answered. Furthermore we are introduced to the genre which we find is a hybrid because it is a range of genres : Adventure, Action, Fantasy and has slight humour involved. Finally we see a possible build up of events which gives us hints on what would happen later in the film and the location/time period is set or hinted.

                    Nanny McPhee (2005)

We are first introduced to the film by a narrator giving a back story which also set the time period and had credits. It also showed the location of the film and gave us an idea of the characters involved. The genre was also set with it being humerous so you presume it would be in the Comedy genre but it also could have sub genres eg. Adventure or Action.

                     Stardust (2007)

Immediately as we start the film the narrator introduces the time period but also the setting and gives us a back story which introduces characters and starts the storyline. Furthermore we are introduced to the genre, Fantasy/Adventure, leaving us questioning the further scenes in the film and it was also very engaging.

The Little Mermaid (1989)

In the opening minutes to the little mermaid you see the location of the sea and time which is is set which is in the pst and you also see the boat with the prince which is one of the main characters. You also see the back story of King Triton the you go into the ocean which is all colourful and makes it visually engaging for children of all ages. Then in the Golden Castle you see King Triton and Sebastian, two of the main characters, which leads you straight into the story. Later introduced is Flouder and Ariel. Ariel is a main character and Flounder is a side kick who is there for comedy value.-Naomi