Main Task Film Research

As I Have Chosen the Genre of Musical Dance for my Final Piece, I Need to analyse some is existing movies which are from the same genre. I have chosen to analyse “Step Up” and “Honey” as these are both massive hits within the genre.

Film 1 – Honey (2003 )
The Opening image is a black plain image however the audience can hear the opening of the soundtrack music which is of an Urban/Hip hop genre and has a very strong beat very similar to Step Up. The Universal Logo spirals onto the black background. With the music still playing the logo fades away to black.

The Next scene is shot in Birds Eye view Shot over a city which I am lead to believe is a city like New York or Manthaten. The view of the city is in Blue to Black tones i believe this is done to show the audience that it is at night and the film is set in the downtown / Ghetto side of this bright and glamous town. The camera then seems to zoom really fast as if it is tracking where the action is . I believe this is done to allow the audience to see where the subject and action of the film is set in this massive city.

The Camera Enters a packed Nightclub in which the colour is the same as the sky line (blue, black and purple tones) to highlight that the film starts at a nightclub in the ghetto of this large city. This is when the title of the film enters . The title flys down from the top of the frame and lands at the bottom of the screen, the text is a lightblue colour and flashes like a spotlight is being flashed at the text. The Text exits after 2 seconds by spilting in half and exiting both left and right sides. The Camera Then moves down the bar smoothly to the main subject of the film ‘honey’ she is wearing dark colouring and well turned out apperance. The Lighting on her face and body is turned to a more bright blue and purple compared to the Lighting on the cityscape. Another Title appears in the same manner as the movie title at the bottom left of the frame.

The Girl is see to be working at the club as a bar Lady she is moving to the lound club music which is the same as the opening seconds however the beat has become alot stronger then before
The next scene is shot min Bird eye view. The subject of the shot is the drinks Honey has made. They match the colour and tone of Honeys Face and yet another title appears in the same way as before. The rest of the opening minutes are filled with scenes of dancing from within the club. The scenes are shot on most smooth tracking shots and mostly from bird eye view. I believe this is done to show how packed the club is. However packed it is there are still small circles in which people are having danced off. This shows the audience that whatever type of area you live in there is always ways to express yourself.


Mise-en-Scene
The Clubbers – Urban wear such as combats and jeans however all of earthy tones such as green and red, However no bright colours. The girls of the club are also wearing clothes with show a large amount of flesh
Honey and other bar staff – The bar staff are wearing dark uniform clothing, however their hair is lose and done well. Normal everyday Make up.




Step Up (2006)

When Step Up begins there is a blank image with no images however the audience can hear echoes of people talking and the sound of feet against a gym floor, which we later learn is Digenetic sound to the scene.

After 2 seconds the image of Ballerinas in a dance hall fades in the camera is shooting the images on a Long shot. The image has a brown tone to it. This could symbolise the age of the hall they are in and how ballet is an ancient art form. At this point there is still no music just the chatting and feet rubbing sounds. The words “Summit Entertainment Presents” fade in the same speed as the image did. The text is of a classic style and white.

After the text fades the next scene fades in faster than the first scene into view. The scene looks to be set in a boat yard or queue as the audience can see some kind of source of water in the background. The image is a lot darker the first scene and is almost a purple tone and once again on a long shot. There is still no music at this time all you can hear is the subjects in the scene yelling and greeting each other. The Subjects are wearing dark clothing and most of them have their hoods up. Portraying the stereotypical portrait of youths living in cities and built up areas. This is a huge contrast to the ballerinas in the first scene. More titles fade in within this scene.
The imagery then once again fades back to the ballerinas; however the camera is now a slighter close up however still a Long Shot with the ballerina Head to Knees within the frames. The audience can still only hear Digenetic sound of chatting. I believe this is done so the audience can forces upon the huge difference in people within the two scenes and how different the two groups are.

This scene is a lot shorter than the two pervious and now flashes back to ‘The Streets’ the imagery is still of a dark purple tone. Into the same slightly zoomed in Long shot.
This is when the title music final begins. At this point the subject starts dancing. The opening of music is a set of string based instruments with a strong beat. The Film Title ‘Step UP’ appears and the letters individual twists much like a dance movement. The scene then fades back to the ballet scene with the title ‘Step Up’ still in the middle of the scene.

The music suddenly gets stronger and the dance moves of the subjects also get stronger and faster. Though out the next part the scene flick between the Ballet and Street scene both in the same original colour as the images start. The camera movement include Long Shots, Slightly zoomed in Long Shots and the camera also tracks the movement of dancers. Creating a smooth movement following the Subject. I believe this is done to really entersize the beauty and movement of the dancing.

Within this group of scenes the first name of the actor appears in the Bottom right hand corner of the frames in the same style text as all the other titles. Within the stronger Dance scenes they are also lots of close ups of the dancers feet.

An important factor of the opening of Step Up is that the lighting allows the audience to not be able to see the subject’s faces. I believe this is done to the dancers are also an army of their dance form. For example to audience can relate to either group.

Miser-en-scene
Ballerinas – Light cream tones leotard and silk warm up skirts. Most of them have Pointe Shoes on, all of them have they hair tied up in a smooth bun
Street Dancers – Lots of heavy clothing, which include lots of layers. Many have hoods up or baseball caps on. The females of the group have their hair down and free