Her opening sequence

At the beginning, there is a blank screen and what sounds like a siren. During this the title of the film fades onto screen, the font of the text looks handwritten. after this it fades into a shot of the main characters face. He starts talking, and it seems like he is talking to someone. after a couple of lines key details make the audience realise he isn't confessing his love for someone, but writing a letter for someone to give to their significant other. This is shown when it cuts to the computer screen. On the screen it shows what he is saying on screen in a different handwriting. After this shot it cuts to another where we see the man again but also a woman sitting at another desk doing the same as him, writing a letter for someone.
Once in the elevator he puts an ear piece and starts to talk to it. This indicates to the audience that the film is set in the near future. The genre is sci-fi romance, this is shown by the technology used in the opening sequence (the hologram game he plays) and the colours that appear to be more prominent (pinks and reds, which connote love and passion). His character is also a convention of the romance genre, the man who was fun and happy who is now lonely and sad. another convention of the romance genre is the protagonist 'moping around' whilstsad music is playing, this is in this opening sequence to solidify that this is a romance film.
During this opening sequence the audience are shown two different sides to the character. One side is quite feminine, his work is done mostly by women. The second side is quite masculine, he is shown to look at sexually provocative photos of a celebrity on his phone on the train. After this it cuts to him walking into his apartment, which lights up as he walks in, this solidifies to the audience that it is a near future sci-fi film. It cuts to him playing a hologram game which is mimicking what he is doing to get up a hill. This supports my previous point.

Drive opening textual analysis

In the opening sequence of "Drive" it is black and has the driver talking about what he does on the phone. As this is happening, it starts to fade into the scene and pan across the room giving the audience some information about the driver. the first object that is seen is a map with some drawings on, showing that he has planned where to be and the getaway in advance. as it starts to pan across the room we see the driver looking out the window on the phone, there is a red blinking light that can be seen being projected onto his arm. this could be giving the audience an incite into what is coming in the film as red connotes danger. As it pans further past him the audience are shown the tv, which has the basketball on, this is later played on the radio whilst he is waiting for the two men. the last thing that is shown in the room is a large duffel bag, throughout the sequence the contents of the bag are not shown. Throughout this scene, the driver is still on the phone until the bag is shown, then he hangs up and throws the phone next to the bag, he then takes the bag and leaves.

It then cuts to an over the shoulder shot, of the driver in the a car, the shot contains the the windshield and and the drivers arm holding the steering wheel, the camera is positioned this way to make it seem like the audience is like an accomplice, sitting in the back seats. It the cuts to a shot from the footwell of the passenger side, this is done to give the driver power and to show he is the protagonist. throughout this there has been a non diegetic pulsing sound which could be representational of the driver as the beat is steady. Like many film noir films, a lot of the film happens at night. This is no exception as when the driver is driving to the garage it is night and the low key lighting hides part of his face to keep him hidden.

Once he gets to the garage, another character, Shannon, is waiting for him leaning on a car. He gets up, comments on how the driver is looking unwell and asks him if hunts anything, listing prescribed drugs and nicotine. As they are walking down towards the car, they pass a few 'vintage' cars to get to the Chevy impala (the most popular car in California), this could represent the driver, plain and can blend in with crowds of people. Throughout the sequence, the techno heartbeat stays steady which tells the audience that the driver is experienced in this line of work and stays calm. Throughout the scene the beat does get louder and carry's on after this scene and into the next couple of shots. After this short scene it cuts to an establishing shot of the city where sirens can be heard.

Once the driver gets to where he is supposed to be, there is a panning, tracking shot from inside the car, in the passenger seat, following the two criminals that have hired him. in this scene the audience is shown the driver in his full costume; his scorpion jacket, tooth pick, leather gloves and the low key lighting acts as a mask covering his face slightly. Having the driver have a 'costume' conforms to the superhero genre making this film a hybrid between Film noir and superhero. during the scene he attaches his watch to the steering wheel and after this there is the exaggerated sound of the second hand ticking.

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Anna Hillen

Lead Singer, Super Villain

Exclusive interview with Anna Hillen from

Runaway Grooms

Escape with me, the fourth album from Runaway Grooms. Vocalist/guitarist Anna Hillen, finally agreed to an exclusive interview with us about their new album and so much more.

Anna Hillen (left), the lead singer of Runaway Grooms, who have just

released their new highly anticipated album ‘Escape with me’. Its taken over a year to produce but my god its worth it . All four of them are from

Coventry, where they met at school, Blue coat c of e music and sixth form college. they started to play during their lunchtimes and after school. They continued to practice

throughout college. They were ‘found’ when they were playing a gig at the Griff and Coton pub in

Nuneaton where one audience member filmed them and put it on Facebook. Within days they hit internet fame. They are made up of, Anna Hillen lead singer and guitarist, Ken temple who plays the drums, Frankie James who is the bass guitarist, and Jamie Allen who is the

pianist. She was part of the primary school band, secondary school band  and has done 14 years at stagecoach, A musical theatre school.

 Q. One thing about you guys is there aren’t many pictures of all of you, how come?

 A. Well, before we were an actual band we didn’t really take pictures, the only one I can think of is one of the guys. Now whenever we take one, one of us, most of the time its me, looks like a right jackass.

 Q. So, we know where, but how did you meet the rest of Runaway Grooms?

 A. Well, in year seven, the entire year had to do a production of the

musical ‘Joseph’ and I auditioned to be in it. I got the part of Joseph, my hair pinned back so I looked like a boy, and the other guys were doing the music for the performance so we were thrown together then. After that we all became good mates so we decided to practice together and before we knew it we were writing songs together.

 Q. At Stage coach what shows did you do?

 A. Loads. My favorite ones were Billy Elliot, Oliver, Little Shop Of

Horrors.

 Q. When is the next album out?

 A. The 15th of April 2017. We haven’t come up with a name for it yet though. It’s got all of our other songs that were not on this album on and some brand new ones as well.

 Q. Where the hell is this tour you guys promised us?

 A. Its all planned. It starts in

Edinburgh on the 21st of March, and we’re going south not only playing at big arenas but bars and pubs also. We finish the tour in Birmingham. During the tour we are going to some schools, primary and secondary, to talk to some students. Tickets will go on sale on the 20th of December. After the tour we are going back to Blue Coat as

students for a week, which is going be fun. On the Friday we are going to

perform for them and during the week we are going to help the kids with their fund raising ideas. It’s going to be really weird being back there.

 Q.  Have you fallen out with any of the others?

 A. I haven't. But once, it was over a girl in college. Ken and Frankie both ‘saw her first’. So it was like a contest to see who could win her over, Frankie being the smooth guy he is did and Ken was really sour with him. Which he says now he really regrets doing. They’ve made up now, obviously.

 Q.  Who is your favorite band/

musician at the moment?

 A. I like Scouting for girls. They

produce such great songs . I really enjoy listening to them when I’m

traveling. 

 Q. How did you guys come up with your band name?

 A. He’s going to kill me for telling you. Ken was supposed to get married about two days before our gig at the Griff and Coton, and he realized that he didn’t love her. She wasn’t the

nicest person in the world either so he didn’t go to his wedding and broke it off.

 Q. Which instruments can you play?

 A. We’ve all taught each other how to play each other’s instruments so I can play guitar, obviously, bass guitar, drums and piano/ keyboard. We did this so if one of us is ill during the tour we can do the shows. I’m not going to lie, it was fun to learn from the guys.

That was all the questions that I was given to ask, so I had plenty of time to ask some of the questions that you guys sent in during the week. Enjoy!

 Q. If you were not part of Runaway Grooms, what would you do?

 A. Well, I really liked to swim, I went 5 days a week for lessons. I did 

competitions and I was actually good at swimming. I stopped because I was out with my friends and I managed to tear my calf so I couldn’t go swimming for a while. When I could go back, wasn’t as good and I felt like I wouldn’t be able to achieve anything in swimming again, so I stopped going.

 Q. What is your favorite film?

 A. Labyrinth. It used to scare me when I was a kid but I watched it again a couple of months ago and I loved it.

 Q. What was the first song you learned on the guitar?

 A. The ballad of Davey crocket. Its really simple and easy to learn.

 Q. What got you into singing?

 A. My Mum Payed for me to go to Stagecoach in Sutton Colfield. Stagecoach was a musical theatre school. I went on Friday nights for 14 years.

 Q. What super power would you have and why?

 A. Super speed to rob banks. I’d be a super-villain!

Thank you for reading this exclusive 

interview with  James Hillen from 

Runaway Grooms. Don’t forget to send in your questions for our next 

interview with The End Of Days. Send your questions in via the website.