Titanic

Titanic is an american romantic drama which portrays the love between people from two extreme social classes on board the tragic ship on its doomed journey across the Atlantic Ocean. The movie uses past time continuity and the story is presented as something the viewer knows has happened and that the end will be a tragedy. We know the idea for the titanic is based on the historical ship, but the love story is fictional. Therefore although the viewers know the general ending and events which will take place, they're attention is kept as they are unsure on how the love story will play out. A major challenge for Cameron and his team when making this film was manufacture the reality of the titanic. Cameras would have had to be used carefully in order to capture important events on the ship. As the setting of this film was mainly supposed to be in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, lighting would have had to be carefully used in order to again create this sense of realism - brighter light used outside, to show the idea of the sun shining upon the ship, and dimmer light used inside as it was only artificial light that would have been present inside the ship.

The costume used throughout the film is traditional to era(1900's) and representative of the class society. This is evident through the 2 main characters, Rose and Jack. Rose is often dressed in luxurious gowns and hats, and also by her posture we see that she is brought up in a wealthier certainly better established background to Jack. Jack is dressed in brown, cheap looking trousers and blazers with a loose fitting shirt, obviously depicting the poor background from which he comes, and also highlights the gap between the classes of Rose and Jack. This rule is generally adhered to throughout the film except when Jack joins Rose and her wealthy family and friends for dinner and borrows a suit, and when it switches to present day where the now old Rose is dressed relatively normal - suggesting a lack of distinction amongst classes today. There are a variety of shots used, one important one is at the beginning of the film when the ship reaches its necessary speed and Jack and the italian immigrant run around on the ships bow. The camera moves in an usual way - arcing around them and then moving back into a long shot, past parts of the ship. This is obviously highlighting that this excitement Jack and his friend are experiencing are due to this ship as we get to view it in all its glory. Another excellent shot is the extended dolly shot toward the closing of the film, when it looks as though the wreck of the Titanic on the seabed is coming toward us. This is excellent as it builds up anticipation for the emotional scene following where we see those who lost there lives on the titanic. Along with these, a number of close up shots are used which help create the intimacy needed to make this love story believable. It doesn't need to be said that the editing in this film was excellent, in fact it could be said some of the best that has been seen in filming. However, it is obvious too, that there is a strong need for editing in this film because of the scenario with the ship breaking and ultimately sinking.

In conclusion, i think that with all this taken into account there are definite ideas we could take such as camera angles and costume, although there is not as big an emphasis on editing with us, as we are not attempting to recreate a blockbuster on the same level of James Cameron's emotional rollercoaster that is Titanic.

The Notebook

The Notebook is a 2 level story - one is the present day when Allie and Noah have grown old and live in a home; the other is the story Noah reads from the notebook in which he tells how he and Allie met, fell in love, lost each other, and then found each other again. The end of their love story is tragically altered by Allie’s Alzheimer’s, but even that has no power over their love. At the beginning of this movie the viewer is presented with a closeup of the character Duke. This shot allows the viewer to establish his character along with mise en scene in the form of the props used and dress - glasses and a wheelchair, which would often be commonly associated with the older generation. When he gets up to leave the room that he starts the scene in, he lifts a book from the bedside table, which looks quite like a notebook, this could possibly suggest to the audience that this is what contains the story about the unravel, as the title of the film is The Notebook. By the colours and types of props around the man, blue colours, light blankets, beds with rails on them, it could be suggested that this is some sort of care building, as it has some aspects of a hospital.

After he leaves, in the next thing, a pan of the building confirms this is a care home. Immediately after there is a long shot of Duke in another room interacting with other older characters, therefore showing this is an elderly people home - nursing home. Within the dialogue there is light humour, which possibly reassures the audience. By creating this scene of a nursing home, the emotions of the audience may begin to get involved here, because for me i genuinely wouldn't associate a nursing home as a place of happiness. Shortly after, we see Duke in a queue waiting to get pills (suggesting an illness?) and he says the the nurse 'Big day today', to which the nurse replies 'you say that everyday!'. This could intrigue the audience, or confuse them, either way it will maintain the interest. This 'big event' Duke speaks of will intrigue the audience, as this could be the basis of the story, however with the nurses comment it is suggested that he says this regularly and that it therefore isn't a big deal, it's simply an event which he has fabricated to become a big deal. The scene then immediately switches to closeup of a woman this time, who is dressed and looks very elegant, suggesting an upbringing of in high class. We see smaller props such as diamond rings, earrings and necklaces, adding to the wealthy aura of this elderly woman. The costume is modern therefore, showing that this scene is a modern day time, compared to the costume of Duke earlier, he is in typically old fashioned trousers and shirt, where the woman is in a blouse, trousers and cardigan. We then see a nurse come into the background who then begins to interact with the woman asking her to go outside. The woman's body language suggests that she is very nervous or tense at this idea. This is interesting and could lead the audience to think, is there something wrong with this woman that she can't handle such a simple task? The shot then switches to a wide shot of the whole room in which Duke walks into, he seems to be very optimistic in how he enters, although there is an overall solemn feeling in this room which would seep into the cinema room. The nurse then informs Duke that this isn't a 'good' day for the woman, this further heightens the sense that this woman suffers from something, however what it is hasn't been disclosed yet, holding the audience in anticipation. Through the tone of the woman's voice when she says 'hello', she sounds as though she is in the presence of a stranger, however through Duke it seems though he knows her. This is emotional because it gives the idea that he knows her and she doesn't know him, making the audience question if there is an illness here clouding the mind of one of the 2 people. Then Duke begins to read to the woman, this sets up the narrative and thus begins the story. This helps to also set up the genre of the film because it is obvious this man has some sort of love for this woman, yet it seems its rejected or not realised, therefore making us feel for the woman.

Romantic Drama

I have a fair idea of what a romantic drama is. But it is defined as 'Romantic Drama film is a genre that explores the complex side of love. The plot usually centers around an obstacle that is preventing love between two people.' That is as taken from http://thescriptlab.com/screenplay/genre/romance. This does show however that Romantic Drama is not a genre, but rather a subgenre within the largers genres of Drama and Romance. I think this is possibly good for us, because it allows us to be more specific in what we want to do. I think overall, that the general target audience of this genre would be teenage girls or women. Often so well known as 'chick-flicks'. I think this goes back to the suggestion that women are the more emotional beings. This idea goes back as far as elizabethan times when it was believed that women would require constant reassurance. I'm not saying that this genre is specifically designated to them, you get emotional men ofcourse! However, i think that ultimately when it comes to marketing, it would be more feminised. I would generally think that Romantic Drama's would be a successful area, especially when looking at a film like Titanic. It is rated as number 2 in the all time greatest films, grossing world wide $2,185,372,302. It was nominated for 14 oscars, and won 11 of them. This is indeed a relatively standard film to choose, but it shows the success thata good romantic drama can have. Above is the opening credits for titanic. I really like the simplicity of these credits. I also think it is very clever how James Cameron worked into it original clips. This i think helps maintain audience's attention. I think the music choice, was very clever also in this instance. This music has become world wide representative of the titanic brand. For me the music could be seen to represent the freedom, or calmness of the sea. It is calm, but it also quite emotional, and therefore could also represent the emotional scenario that was titanic. I took the below table from http://boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=romanticdrama.htm I think this could be useful in research because it shows the top 20 Romantic Drama's of all time. The original on the website shows the top 200 but i think it best we focus on the top 20.

As can be seen from this table, Romantic Drama's overall have grossed quite well, showing too that there is always room in the market for a romantic drama. The reason for this research into Romantic Drama is simply to give me an idea of how successful this type of movie is, and what type of plot has worked best.

Ideas

i love the idea of using an older character telling the story of something from the past. This has been used in some major films, such as The Notebook and Titanic. I think this has a really dramatic effect on the audience and grabs their attention from the first instance. I think this could be a good way to go with the film. My granny even offered to take part in our film!