Close Reading Assignment- Film terminology- Transitions

The transitions in the grease are really excellent especially in helping to set the setting and get us to know the characters. As this movie was set in the 50s the audience really somehow had to know this. during the grease opening transitions of famous 50s things were used to show it.

 They used some famous 50 symbols to not only show us the setting but actually tell us a bit about the characters. For example there is a flash of an image of a two guys in a car mooning a classic thing for not only the era but out characters.  Another subtle way in which to help us get to know the characters. For example there was a image of guys mooning in the car which was not only a common thing of the 50s but a very common thing throughout the movie and to do with our characters. For another transition there was a picture of a man on a motorbike with a swat sticker  in front demonstrating the gang rebellion in the 50s, there was an image of a ford thunder bird a famous car in the 50s and was actually used as the main car in the movie (well it was supposed to be), there was some images to do with President Eisenhower and to do with the cold war, playboy magazines, Marilyn Monroe diners- just a lot of classic things that people of that time and even of this day associate with the 50s.

The pace of the transitions in the movies is generally fast paced and instead of getting long looks at differents transitions we get quick flashes. The quick flashes help us to work out the setting and also allow for more then one transition  to be played in a smaller period of time. for example about 5 different transitions were played in between Danny's character and Sandy's character being introduced.

A very important transition and the only one that wasn't a quick flash was the transition at the end from the animation to reality by the use of the fade. At the same time as this happens, the music is coming to an end, the characters have all been introduced etc... showing us that it is time to start the movie. The music is beginning to fade out so the use of the fading transition really goes along with everything else. The fade also helps us to ease into the movie and the clever use of animation to reality shows the ending of the animation and the beginning of the movie while contrasting the 2.

Overall the transitions in the grease opening really helped us to a learn a lot about the movie, the characters, the setting and was a good way to get us ready for the movie while still enjoying ourselves and learning a bit about the movie.

Close reading Assignment- Film terminology- Animation

The animation in the opening of grease is one of the most important parts of the opening of grease. As it is only the opening credits sequence that is animated, animation is clearly an important part of the opening credits and is there for a reason. Not only is the animation itself important but the way it is done is too. In the animation there is some things that are very realistic for example there are posters on the walls, radios,  socks thrown everywhere etc but in other parts of the animation there are things happening that are impossible for example grease has a face, Rizzo's neck when she is trying to put on her sweater gets impossibly long, and surrounding Sandy when she wakes up and gets out of bed are cute little animals (birds, bunnies, deer etc...) So there is a mix of the impossible and the purely possible. The cartoon form and the quirkiness of it helps us to get into that happy mood that the film wants us to be in. 

The animation in the opening credits also really helps us to keep watching and be entertained and as stupid and as obvious as that sounds in a lot of other movies you don't watch the credits therefore people like the executive producers name goes unnoticed. Whereas because the animation in grease keeps you drawn to the television the creators have got you recognising the names of the people that you normally wouldn't. The entertainment sounds obvious a lot of movies don't think about it in regards to opening credits.

The animation also helps with introducing the characters by the use of symbols etc... for example Sandy being surrounded by birds, bunnies and deer show us that she is a very kind, good girl as we can make references to other movies that these "woodland" creatures have been in e.g. snow white and can see the similarities in the characters. Another example is the items of clothes they are wearing for example the t birds all the wearing the leather jackets that say t birds on the back. The leather jackets give us the impression of rebellion and the names show us that they are a group. The animation helps to give us clues of not only the characters and the tone of the movie but also the storyline of it. For example the use of the car for the title of grease is symbolic because that is not the last time we see that car.

The animation in grease is generally made the people look very similar to their characters so that we can recognise them but in some cases they have also made them amusing and a little bit funny looking to try and not only keep our interest but start to like the characters because grease is very much based on the fact that you like some people and you don't like others and generally they have given the main characters kind looking faces but they amuse you because of the animation.

During the opening credits most of the time we are seeing animation but a couple of times to show us real people instead of animating it they have shown us a real picture of them for example during the transition between Sandy and Rizzo a Marilyn Monroe picture is flashed past us showing us the contrast between the real and the animated.

The animation also helps us to realise that this isn't a part of the movie and to help keep/ gain our interest. It is a quirky and more entertaining way of getting the things they want us to know out there. The animation helps to get some things to do with the 50s that they couldn't really pull off using real people/ props and it also helps give a positive and upbeat connotation to everything that is going on.

The animation helps to show messages that if animation was not used we as the audience perhaps wouldn't have understood or really thought about, it is a good contrast to the rest of the movie and it helps give the unrealistic and impossible views on some of the things showing to make the audience/ viewer entertained. The opening credits quirky and feel good cartoons keep us watching.

The opening of grease link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXGcPYD-R-Y

Close Reasing Assignment- Genre/ atmosphere

The tone/ mood of the grease opening scene is a generally happy and up beat one. The opening credits gives us as the audience the feeling of fun, hapiness and draws us in by the 'feel good' mood of the scene. I think that grease has a lot of serious points in the movie as well as the light hearted feel good things that the opening scene portrays but we as the audience when watching the opening scene don't really feel that. The tone/ mood. The feeling of hapiness, fun etc is generally consistent through out the whole of the opening scene.

The song playing through the opening scene is 'grease is the word' by the beegees and is an up beat song about (well in my interpretation) being a teenager
"This is the life of illusion
Right trouble laced with confusion
What are we doing?"- The confusion of being a teenager etc... this song already gives us a clear indication of the age group of the characters in the movie also showing a target audience.
"We take the pressure and we throw away
Conventionalitly belongs to yesterday
There is a chance that we can make it so far
We start believing now but we can be who we are"- These lines talking about living for you and not being constricted to being conventinal which I guess you could say is one of the themes of grease.
Along with the upbeat song with a clear message and meaning there is also the images (animation) to go with it that sets the mood/ tone of the opening scene.
The song stays constant throughout the whole of the opening credits so generally the mood is the same. I would say that the mood is mainly created by the up beat music and you get that feeling of happiness, energy. The up beat music also helps to tell us the fact that the movie is a musical by the typ of song played.

The animation also helps to set the tone/ mood of the movie just by the fact it is animation! Because the opening is animation we automatically think that it can't be to serious. Cartoons are generally something watched by kids and so are a little bit of fun to start the movie with. I don't know to many cartoons that try to set serious or even depressing tones and the way that the animation is done in grease I think proves my point even more. The faces though similar to the characters I would say almost add a little bit of humour to the opening as they are a little wacky (For ecample Danny Zuko has very pursed lips and at one point Rizzo has an impossibly long neck) As well as setting the humour the animation slso sets the theme of normaility of the normal teenager getting up and getting ready for the first day back at school. There are different moods set for every character because of the contrasting of images. The imagery also helps set the tone and the moods of the characters. You see Sandy surrounded by bunnies, deer and birds and this gives us the impression that she is a happy person full of excitement and energy and we get the feeling that when we are with her we to will feel happy and energetic, whilst Danny at the start of the scene as a messy room, hair covering his face etc... which sets the mood for his character.

The speed/ pace of the opening credits also helps set the mood of the movie. Generally grease is quite a fast paced movie as a lot of different things happen throughout the movie. The opening credits are reasonably mid- fast paced. The transitions especially are very quick which in my opinion makes you take a closer look at the screen and definitely helps add interest. 

As a general statement the opening credits for this film really helps to emphasize the direction that the rest of the movie is taking especially in terms of the mood and the tone.

Close Reading assingnment- Reason for selection

For my close reading assignment I decided to do the opening sequence of one of the most famous movies of all time- Grease!

"First day of school don't be a slob, don't get a job, go back to class you can pass" The very first thing we hear of the opening credits straight away telling us it's the first day of school. 

I chose the opening sequence for Grease because I love the way this movie introduces the characters and the setting to you. I think it is very well done. Their use of symbolism to show the characters (i.e. When introducing Sandy they put a deer in with her to symbolize innocence, and purity etc.) and the time that the movie is set in (the symbolisms of Marilyn Monroe, the cars that are shown, the microphones etc) is very cleverly put forward so that we already know a bit about the movie before it's begun. Also I thought it was interesting that they put the characters name along with the actors name. I thought that this was a very good idea as it meant that the lengthy and unnecessary introductions were not needed and the movie could begin straight away. I also thought that it has a lot of symbolism for the rest of the movie. Another reason I chose to do grease was because of one of the most famous songs of the movie happens to be in the opening sequence. This was an obviously effective choose of song because it is still extremely famous even to this day! I also chose this movie because it was a movie that had it's opening credits in cartoon and that I think is a very effective and enjoyable way of having the opening credits. I also love how effective these opening credits are even today considering that grease was filmed in 1978. I think that the grease opening credits are definitely memorable.

The opening of grease starts with a radio speaking and then changes to the song "grease is the word" with relates not only to the movie but to the title of the movie. Then we are introduced to Danny Zuko- bad boy and the protaganist of the movie played be John Travolta. He is introduced first as he wakes up for school he is scruffy and you do not see his face as his hair is covering it. He then walks into the bathroom where he puts "grease" into his hair. Then as a mirror appears we see his face and the name- Danny Zuko by John Travolta. We then move next to the other protaganist- Sandy Olsson played by Olivia Newton-John. Sandy is also introduced as she is waking up for school but in complete contrast. He face is visible and around her are animals such as birds( they put her dressing gown on for her) as well as deer and bunnies. Her face is also seen in a mirror and then Sandy Olsson by Olivia Newton-John is written. We then come to a sweat shirt trying to be pulled over a head. Once it is pulled over her neck is stretched and she to is getting ready for school. We then see the t-birds and they are standing in a line and clicking along with the music. They then drive to school and as they drive we pass billboards with their names( character and real) announced on the billboards. We then finally get to school and the animated school fades from animation to reality. Throughout this whole scen there has been flashes of things to do with the fifties such as Marilyn Monroe etc to make sure that we know that this movie is based in the fifties.

The opening fits really well with the whole film as it introduces the characters- So that we can get straight into it instead of learning characters, setting etc...
It also not only introduces the characters to us but it also gives us a good idea of what the characters are like eg with Sandy she is surrounded by birds, deer and bunny rabbits we are then given the idea that she is wholesome, nice etc.

This is also relating to the movie because it is the beginning of the movie. Everyone is getting up and getting ready for school but in different ways that shows characters, setting and gives us the start of the unfolding plot line.