Paragraphs

Below is a series of extracts from different stories, letters, blogs I have read online which would tie in with our story. I've just took these to help with our ideas in our final monologue - a lot of these come from real people - making the actual clip more emotional, as it is a real story? 

The only way to be somewhat prepared for death is to paradoxically have experienced death, I suspect. It is a unique and transformative experience that leaves one with an understanding of their world that could not be attained academically, without the experience. The issue for you, it would seem, is your relationship with/understanding of death. It is inevitable for us all, so 'dreading it' is an utter waste. The winter sure is cold, but you don't spend the summer dwelling on it, do you? Limiting attachments will ease the immediate sting of loss, but with the concurrent result of you missing out on the reason we are alive in the first place - Kind of a steep price to pay. (I know whereof I speak, and must claim the right of 'Do as I say, not as I do' on this issue). So, to answer your question: To prepare yourself for death, make connections freely, love fiercely, and 'cry your eyes out when someone you love dies' - There are far worse fates than grief, my friend...
 - My Dead Girlfriend Blog

I like the above extract because it explains the idea of grief in a very astute and intelligent way. I think this would  be useful to put in because it makes it seem more realistic that this boy - is dead, he isn't grief stricken, he has had to come to terms with what has happened - this is interesting as this blog was initially set up to be dark humour however I do believe that the above explanation is very good in conveying the experience of grief - without having the experience it.

Below is a story about a person's loss of their best friend - I really like this story as it helps convey some of the true emotion that this person feels. I'm not sure that this is necessarily applicable to our story however I think in order for us to create an effective piece we need to look into the different areas of grief.

My best friend died at the age of twenty-seven. She rushed back into her burning house to save her pets and succumbed to smoke inhalation. She was beautiful, brilliant, and fearless, and she was loved by many – the funeral home could not accommodate the hundreds of mourners that attended her memorial. I was disconsolate.

In the days and months that followed, I was showered with sympathy, condolences, and commiseration. Friends and family brought casseroles, acquaintances and coworkers offered empathy, and everyone made a concerted effort to cheer me up. The most prevalent statement of encouragement was, “Life goes on.”

People have been saying “life goes on” as long as life has been going on. It is a universal mantra used to deal with loss and bereavement, clung to not for reassurance so much as pacification of one’s misery until enough time has passed to have its anesthetic effect. It is a necessary and natural reaction to loss, but as a statement of support, it is misleading and destructive. When you lose someone you love, life does not go on.

The loss of a loved one is a monumental event, one that can change the entire landscape of one’s life. A significant loss permanently changes the way you see your existence and how you experience it. Simply put, life as it was defined when your loved one was alive does not go on. Trying to live as if it does is both inappropriate and impossible, and ultimately self-destructive. By setting the unattainable goal of going on with life as before, you risk miring yourself in a cycle of denial and despair.

When I heard, “Life goes on”, it challenged me to move on. Though well intentioned, this was the worst advice I could be given. In order to carry on, I needed to allow myself the time to process this new reality and fully understand the ramifications of my loss. Until I did, I knew I would be living a former life that was now incomplete, rather than living life as it had become – different.

Months have passed since I lost my friend, and the transition to this new life has not been easy. I still miss her desperately, and I think of her every day. I still mourn my life with my friend, but I am not still trying to live it. I have begun a new life, one in which the memory of my best friend is not painful, but part of who I am. This has given me the strength to go on with living, even if life with my friend did not go on.

I found a blog that contains a series of letters that people have written to loved ones who have died - I think this would be worth while. Going to share this on the group blog because I feel we could get a lot of ideas from this blog because it contains many different types of story. 

Letters to the Dead Blog

Reference

Thought this would be a nice place to reference because it tells the true story of a family dealing of heartache and also shows some really personal photos - I just think this would be a nice place to have as a reference because it is a true story.
Our Life With Alex - Blog

Bridget Jones' Diary

This is the story in the diary of the 30 something Bridget Jones and her quests with family, friends and men. A romantic dramatic comedy this film contains all aspects of each genre. The film begins with a narrative opening where Bridget Jones' herself is explaining her story. We automatically get an insight into the film and the character as she talks about what she does around Christmas time - often considered a more private, family time of the year. The music playing in the background is All By Myself - Mariah Carey. This incidental music is placed well, as it is at a time were she is telling the relatively bland story of the christmas period and how she spends it, it therefore provokes feelings of empathy from the viewer for Bridget therefore making the audience feel more involved. The non-diegetic sounds change when Bridget enters her mothers house, from this relatively emotional music, to an upbeat, almost silly music. This signifies a change in atmosphere, however this change may not be seen in Bridget who goes on telling her story of woe. We see the costume style of Bridget who already is dressed in several different outfits in the beginning, she smokes and drinks and wears relatively normal clothes and pyjamas, signifying she is your typical working class middle aged woman. When we are introduced to her mother you get a completely different impression as through her accent and behaviour we could interpret a certain snobiness, especially after we are introduced to her father who seems to fit into the same category as Bridget. The target audience as specified by IMDB is overall a woman/teen girl film, I can understand this is as it is written from the point of view of a woman, therefore making it more understandable and relatable for a woman. While there are so comedic moments throughout which may appeal to the males, overall the storyline is more tailored for a more feminine person, and i think that the film does very well to keep their feminine target audience interested. The titles are done in a style of handwriting, this is understandable because the film is called Bridget Jones' Diary and a diary is used to write in - this link between the title and title sequence is good as it keeps all relevance between the story and filming. The location used is also good as it is a relatively normal setting, a snow covered area, around christmas, in England. This therefore makes the scene that more reliable and believable. The use of 2 establishing shots can be scene at the start of the film, once when Bridget exits the car - this helps to set the scene and give the overall sense of normality and allow the viewer to associate with the character. The second is when she enters her mothers house, establishing this second change in scenery and also conveying the sense of normality. Overall i believe that the opening scenes do well to set the viewer up for a good film without revealing the plot.

Atonement

http://youtu.be/nqjEXD0T5Lo Atonement tells the story of a 13 year old aspiring writer who misinterprets her sister and brothers love and causes a roll of events which have repercussions on the rest of her life. When the film first opens, the credits appear. They appear in the form of a typewriting font. The sound of a typewriter typing can be heard in the background. This could signify that this is a story being told, and not events as they happen. It also highlights that its in a different era, as it isn't being typed on a computer which is the device we would use today.

This shot then cuts to one of a doll house, by the design and style of this house we can automatically assume that it comes from a wealthier person. It could also signify for the audience childhood, or innocence as we know that a doll house is a child, normally a girls possession. From the doll house the camera then tracks through a series of toys and dolls. This therefore confirms to the audience that this scene involves a child. The sound of typing can still be heard in the background, thus suggesting, that because the child isn't playing with his/her toy, we could note here the idea of loss of childhood. The camera then begins to tilt, showing the rest of the bedroom, and confirming the presumption of wealth as we can tell by miss en scene that anyone who inhabits this room comes from considerable wealth. The shot then completely changes to a close up on a characters face, we see her very blue eyes, we could associate this with the earlier idea of innocence - this shot highlights the girls childhood. She then gets up and walks, runs throughout the house, we see through her dress that she is obviously from the past - presumably 1900's. The sounds of the typing in the previous scene begins to blend in with the piano of the next, therefore linking the scene. The camera then comes to a different position passing the girl in the bedroom, we see she isn't in the room alone and there is someone dressed like a maid. This highlights that this girl is from some sort of middle/upper class family, and therefore is highlighting the gaps in social groups right from the beginning of the film.

The girl then continues through different halls and rooms of the house, we can see by the setting too that this is a uniquely designed and wealthy house, therefore highlighting the gap in social groups compared to the maids washing in the other room. The light used in these scenes is very low-key, highlighting the different areas of shadow and light, would it be too bold a remark to say that these shadows represent secrets? It then switches to a long shot of the girl walking toward the camera, however she suddenly looks off camera to the left, we can hear diegetic sounds of birds, suggesting that what she is looking toward is outside. We then get an eyeline match of the girl seeing what she was looking at. We see a young man dressed in scruffy clothing, however when we hear is voice, he sounds more upperclass, therefore we could draw a contrast here. Also, audience interest will be maintained here, as it will make the viewer question what significance does this man hold to the young girl? A tracking shot is then used when the girl returns to the house, we can hear the music begin louder, more prominent. We could suggest then that the conversation the girl just had with man holds some prominence within her. To end the opening scene the camera zooms in on the girl closing doors, this too could represent some form of secret, therefore maintaining viewers interest about the relationship or prominence of the scenes which just unfolded. The target generation for atonement is the older generation. There are different aspects to it which could interest male and female viewers alike. This is unusual as we would most often associate romantic dramas with female viewers. Overall i think the opening of atonement is very good in the sense that it keeps the audience interest maintained without giving away information which will be crucial to the storyline. It would be one of the top films of this genre for me.

Dirty Dancing

Dirty Dancing - a 1987 film which has become renowned worldwide amongst dancers and old romantics like. It tells the story of a prim and proper who falls in love with a dancer from a summer camp.
 The opening of the film begins with an upward wipe, followed by credits. This includes non-diegetic sound and scenes of dancers. This is all done in black and white, this could be to reflect the era of the film, or it also could be to do with the idea that every person is the same. This is relevant to the film because the film highlights a divide between Baby and Johnny, and this helps to show that there is no actual difference. Also because of the dancing, it reinforces the idea that dance will be central to the story as also seen in the title.
 We see the style of the costume of the dancers, we could associate this style with the 60's, this is useful as it means from the very beginning before we even know the story the era of the story is made clear. We notice how they dance, we often could associate dance with passion, possibly suggesting some sort of love is involved when dance is central theme? When the credits begin the music from the previous sequence is linked to the next song, being played as if it is on the radio, this is useful as it connects both scenes in a natural way.

Superimposed on the screen, the titles then come up, this is in the form of pink italic writing which has become the world renowned logo of the Dirty Dancing Franchise. The writing comes to the middle of the screen, attracting the attention of the audience to titles, however not distracting from the dancing in the background therefore showing that dancing will play a big part in this story. The pink colour of the titles could also help to suggest to the audience the romantic side to the storyline. In the music which is used at the beginning, of this, the word baby is used several times, this could be used to emphasise that the main characters name is Baby, which we find out shortly after, this is also useful because it connects the character to the music being used and therefore is relevant.

The mise-en-scene of the characters and setting in this first scene suggest that they are quite wealthy or atleast come from some money. The characters are accompanied by the voice over of Baby, I personally like this touch, I think it is similar to the soliloquy in drama - we can take what she is saying as the absolute truth as she is not speaking to anyone, instead what she says are her thoughts, it makes it therefore a more believable story. When they arrive at the countryside setting of the summer camp, we could describe the surroundings as very green, full of vitality and life, we could also suggest that the camp therefore is for quite wealthy occupants. As the car gets closer to the camp, the colour of the titles change to red/purple shades, we could associate this with passion/love/romance, giving the audience an idea that the summer camp is associated with some sort of love story. A variety of shots is used in the opening sequence, including closeups to highlight the intimacy between dancers, and long shots to help set the scene. There is also a use of two shot, to position Baby and another girl - known to be her sister later, sitting in the back of the moving car. This again heightens the sense of reality. At the beginning with the dancers, slow motion is used, this is key to help heighten this sense of passion and romance. By slowing down this scene it adds intimacy and shows every tiny detail which helps with the overall storyline. Overall, I believe that the opening scenes helps the target audience to gain a valuable insight into how this film is to proceed, and sticks to many of the conventions set out by romantic dramas and therefore is an excellent example of a romantic drama in the 1980s period.