This document summarizes conventions from several films and compares them to the filmmakers' own work. It discusses conventions for openings such as: using ident cards and music to transition between scenes; using title sequences to introduce the film, characters, and tone; and using the first shot to set the scene and provide exposition through details. It also summarizes conventions for the central protagonist, how the narrative is disrupted in the opening to propel the story, and how films typically transition from the opening to the main feature.

1. The conventions applied

2. Conventions 1 – Idents, companies, production
context
Journeyman
• audio bridge over final ident
• overlaps with first shot
• a soft violin background music
• numbers of idents: 3
• Low budget and government
agency funding

3. Ours
• audio bridge over final ident
• overlaps with first shot
• Non-diegetic acoustic guitar music
starts when Cathy picks up photo
• numbers of idents: 3
• Micro budget, would hope
for government agency funding

4. Titles
Tyrannosaur, Withnail and I, Journeyman
• 10-20 titles
• Serif font, white
• Simple fade in/out animation
• About 1 minute long
• Capitalization and size change for
names
• Most said "introducing", "starring "or
"with" or actors

5. Ours
• 11 titles
• White serif font
• Simple fade in/out animation
• 1 minute long
• Includes "introducing" and "with"
etc.

6. Sound, Genre Signification
Tyrannosaur, Journeyman
• Incidental acoustic music – sets
sombre tone, in Tyrannosaur begins
when he kicks his dog – emotional
scene
• Sound begins over last ident
• Ambient sound (cars going past, home
video sound)
Ours
• Incidental acoustic guitar music begins
when she looks at photo - emotional
scene. Slow, long drawn out notes
• Sound begins over final ident
• Ambient sound (cars going past, dog
barking, hospital sounds)

7. 1st Shot
My Beautiful Laundrette, This is England, Withnail and I
• Master shot of a room, focus in set dressing,
decaying walls to denote poverty
• Posters on walls to show the kind of character the
protagonist is
• Photo on bedside table, narrative enigma and
exposition
• Mess left in the room
• MBL had a slight dutch angle to signify that
something is wrong
• Home videos showing boxing prize (Journeyman)
• Panning shots of messy rooms and set dressing

8. Ours
• Photos – narrative enigma
• Messy female beauty products
• Tennis equipment and trophy
• Dutch angle – shows something is
awry
• Focus push to show what is on table
• For verisimilitude and exposition
• Did not want to denote poverty as
the protagonist is a successful
professional tennis player

9. Central protagonist and narrative
Journeyman
• Central protagonist is a
professional boxer, successful,
large house
• Older man (25+) - older males
will identify/aspire
• Suffers brain injury after a big
boxing tournament, and his wife
helps him rebuild himself

10. Tyrannosaur
• Central protagonist is
an unemployed old man, starts
by kicking his dog to death and
swearing
• Not allow for much
identification, but the music
allows for sympathy
• Befriends a charity shop
owner and gradually changes
his extreme impulsive violence
(helps her out with her
abusive boyfreind)

11. Ours
• Central protagonist is a professional tennis
player, successful, what you see of
his house is nice, trophy
• BUT – is abusive towards his girlfriend, she
is leaving him in the opening scene
• Allows for older audience identification
(18+)
• Suffers brain damage while preparing for a
tournament (is hit by . car) and will have to
rebuild himself with the help of his
girlfriend and team

12. Transition to Main Film
Todorov's narrative theory
•Establishment of equilibrium
•Disruption of equilibrium
•Acknowledgement of disruption
•Attempt to repair
•New equilibrium
• A film opening usually ends with the disruption or the recognition

13. This is England
•Film opening ends when
Shaun meets the
Skinheads, and his
equilibrium of being
bullied for being poor is
disrupted
•This is because the
skinheads value pride in
their status

14. Journeyman
• Disruption and
recognition – the
protagonist suffers brain
damage after his fight,
and collapses in the living
room of his house

15. Ours
• Film opening ends with the
recognition of the disruption of the
equilibrium
• The partner is leaving him (part of
the initial equilibrium) and then he
suffers brain damage in a car
accident
• The opening ends when his coach,
training partner and girlfriend are
made aware of this

16. Other points
• Initially we wanted our protagonist to be in a homosexual relationship (taking influence from My Beautiful
Laundrette), but due to casting issues this was cahnged
• To be clear, we did not intend to "straightwash" our initial idea, and we want to maintain the integrity of the social
realist genre by exploring controversial themes in gritty, realist light, but now this will not include non-
heteronormative representation (due to casting issues)
• Although when My beautiful Laundrette "came out"... there was inherent shock value with it being not only a
same-sex relationship, but also a mixed race one, a film with central queer representation would be far less
radical today, though still controversial
• a good demonstration of this is 2017's Call Me By Your Name, distributed by Sony and WB (2 of the Big Six), set in the 80's with the plot
flowing the romantic relationship between a 17 year old boy and and the visiting 24 year old graduate-student assistant, Oliver.
• This film won 12 awards in total - a critical and financial succes
• The other protagonist of My Beautiful Laundrette (Omar, an young, enterprising anglo-pakistani) is not seen in the
opening, but the casting of a '"model minority" in the lead marked a positive change in the representation of non-
caucasians in film. Though the majority of representation is still caucasian and heterosexual, and this film was
a low-budget indie production, it shows the importance of government funding (grants and the BFI) for more
controversial films and the need for more diverse representation (also shown by the critical success of the film).
• Although Omar is not shown in the opening, this maybe an attempt to initially make an audience more inclined to continue watching
(through identification, but also the narrative enigma created in the first scene)