Certification can create a big impact on the film industry because films that contain certain content may be restricted to certain age groups which decreases the size of the audience and therefore the size of the income. Institutions need to be aware of who their target audience is and what content they will involve in their films because if their target audience is aimed at people younger than the certification, then it is likely that the film won't be successful as people who would want to watch the film aren't allowed to watch it.
The Woman in Black (2011) is a horror film that experienced a problem towards certification. They wanted to release the film as a 12A so therefore the film would be open to a wider range of people so there would be a bigger audience and a bigger income. However there was a debate about whether the film should've been released as a 15 because of the many scenes that contained supernatural horror and threat towards the main character and others. Yet the film managed to release as a 12A which was beneficial for the films institutions and was very successful.
By doing this work it has helped me to understand more about how important it is to consider the age of the target audience for your film and the content you will involve because certification can cause a great impact towards removing part of the audience who want to watch your film which then decreases the amount of income you will get.
Certification is an important aspect to look at when choosing a target audience for a film. This is considered because if a film was made that was targeted at an audience of 15 year olds and the certification is 18 years and above, then you may not get a big audience as the whole age group the film is targeted at is cut off, and therefore there is not a lot of income. In order to lower the certification, companies need to consider what will be involved in their films so it's appropriate for certain ages to watch as the higher the certification, the smaller your audience will be. Certification exists because certain films contain certain content that may cause effect on people depending on their age. For example, a film containing violence would not be appropriate for a young child to watch. This is here to warn people what sort of content is involved and who the film is suitable for. The British Board of Film Classification (bbfc) regulate the certification for films in the UK to keep younger people safe from seeing inappropriate content.
Types of audience certification:
U - Universal - may contain mild bad language, brief fight scenes, positive messages and have a happy ending.
PG - Parental guidance - suitable for all ages but may contain mild bad language and moderate violence.
12A - Accompanied - suitable for people aged 12 but must be accompanied by someone older than 18.
12 - 12 years old and above - may contain mature themes, discrimination, moderate language and moderate violence.
15 - 15 years old and above - may contain adult themes, drugs, strong language, violence and sex references.
18 - 18 years old and above - contains strong/gory violence, hard drugs, and no limitation for strong language.
R18 - Restricted 18 - no content restrictions as long as it's within the law.
By doing this task I have learnt about the different certifications in the film industry so I now briefly understand what content is not allowed for certain age groups.
Overall by doing this work it has helped me to understand what sort of order films put in the titles as I have learnt that they mainly begin with the names of institutions, then cast, then crew and finish with the title of the film. So now I have an idea on how to order my film opening when it comes to making it.
For this task I am going to analyse a student film so I can see what sort of things people have done who are in my position to get some inspiration. I chose a student film called Redemption because I think it was created very well and I want to see what sort of ideas they came up with when having a sort time frame and a small budget.
Genre
The genre is action and you can tell because of content such as; the non-diegetic music is quite subtle and mysterious making the situation seem suspense, the setting is located in London and the lighting is natural but dull, the costumes the character wear and their props as the men wear suits and have guns & cars. As the genre of action is very obvious, this shows that it is a mainstream film.
Narrative
This film opening focuses on a young male who is planning on stealing a brief case from a man who looks to be high up and quite powerful. It is quite a brief story which is good because it doesn't give much away about the plot of what the whole film would be. However I think it is slightly too brief because as a viewer, I am confused with what the situation is as I don't know who the characters are meant to be and why the boy is trying to get the suit case. Also at the end I think they should've finished it when the boy left with the case instead of adding the part where the man caught him because it didn't look right as in a more realistic point of view, wouldn't the boy be running away from the scene and making sure no one was following him instead of standing on a open road waiting to be caught? Yet I do think they introduced the film well by stating the location and building up to the action.
Character
There were only 4 main characters involved in this film opening which was the young male who stole the case, a man who owned the case and seemed of high class, and his guards. I liked how they began with showing the young male before showing the scene where he met the man because it introduced him and what he was doing which makes the audience take his side of the story. I think he looked slightly too young compared to the man he was dealing with. Also the guards seemed quite young too and not very threatening.
Atmosphere
The atmosphere is quite dull and natural making it look like a realistic situation. The weather is cloudy which you can see in every shot so they didn't make any mistakes with sudden changes of weather. The man who the younger man is dealing with looks quite threatening but doesn't seem it as he doesn't appear to be a confident character which he should be. To me the younger boy looks more threatening. There are a wide variety of shots involved which allows the audience to see the situation from different perspectives.
Themes
The theme of this film opening is quite suspense and fast paced which suits the narrative of the film opening as it's an action film. It builds up tension by introducing the young male then introducing the older man showing that they are going to come together and something is going to happen. It is fast paced once the boy takes the case because the guards are chasing him and trying to shoot him.
Setting
The location is set in London. In the first few shots of the young male he is overlooking London from on top of 20 Fenchurch Street (sky garden) and then we see him leaving the building. We then see another location which says to be 'south London' which is filmed in a multi-storey car park. These locations work well for the film opening because it's realistic and suitable for action.
Sound
Throughout most of the clip from the beginning, there is suspense non-diegetic music which builds up the to the fight scene as it brings tension and warns the audience that something is going to happen. When the fighting scene does happen the music is a lot faster and more dramatic matching with the situation. There is a small amount of dialogue which is subtle because it allows more action to take place instead of telling the story as the audience don't know what's going on and will want to watch more to find out. However, I think the guards or the man should've said something when the younger male took the gun. There are also non-diegetic sound effects added for gun shots to make it more obvious when they were meant to be shooting.
Titles
The titles are very basic and neutral which suits the theme of the film. However, I feel that they are too basic, and you don't really realise they are there throughout the sequence. Once the dialogue starts, there are no more titles shown until the end which is good because a lot happens during that time but I still think there should have been some added in because the action goes on for quite a while in the overall film opening. I also think the title of the film came in at the wrong time and should have been shown at the end because nothing dramatic happened before hand making the film opening seem like it stops there and it doesn't emphasise the film as a whole. However, I like the animation for the title as it suits the theme and genre of the film.
Overall, by doing an analysis on a student film it has allowed me to look more in-depth towards what someone else has made and how they made something successful in a small time frame with a low budget. I have learnt about what works and what doesn't when looking at the ideas they had and I can compare them to mine to see whether my ideas are any better and improve on them. This task has helped my understand how important it is to make sure the narrative makes sense otherwise you leave your audience confused with the situation so they won't be interested in watch anymore.
For this task, I am going to look at what students have included in their film openings that makes them good so I can get some more ideas and see what sort of things they were able to do with a small budget.
1) Beginning with and establishing shot
I have noticed in a few student film openings as well as mainstream film openings that they begin with an establishing shot of the location. This gives the viewer an idea of where this moment of the film is located, the time of day, what the weathers like and the overall setting in general. I could use this idea in my own film opening by finding somewhere high up to film from in the sort of location I choose to set it in. It also shows the genre of the film as it sets the mood and the situation.
2) Non diegetic background music
I think including background music in the opening is a good way to set the mood for the film and introduce its theme. Without music it would sound very plain and make the opening more boring. The opening sequence for 'Drive' included non-diegetic music throughout the whole piece.
3) Small amount of dialogue
You don't want to give the whole story away within the first two minutes and by having less dialogue you make the viewer want to watch more as they don't know what's happening. It is often better to introduce a film by showing what's going on rather than describe it. Also if there is too much talking, the audience may find it hard to listen to watch they are saying as well as read the credits. In this student film opening, there is only a small amount of dialogue near the end which is a good amount because it doesn't give the story away and is relevant.
4) Begin with close ups
Instead of beginning with an establishing shot of the location, another way to make a film opening good is to begin with close ups and slowly reveal what's going on to build up suspense or to try and figure out the situation before you see it. This is used in this student film opening as it begins with close ups of the victim so you don't know where he is or whether he is alone. Close ups are also used in the Deadpool film opening as it slowly reveals the situation.
5) Don't give away the story
As this is meant to only be the beginning of the film, you don't want to give away the story. Instead it is better to focus of introducing the story by referencing the genres and showing the characters or a main character in the film. Also it makes the film opening less intriguing for the audience because they have nothing to look forward to for the rest of the film so they wouldn't want to continue watching it. A good way to introduce a film is by beginning with a flash-forward so that the viewer can see an important part of the story and then they will want to know why it happens and then what happens after it. I believe this could have been done for this student film opening as it seems like they give away a main part of the story at the beginning but then the rest of the film could be about what caused this situation and we could learn who the characters are.
6) Make the titles suit the theme of the film
I think this is an important aspect towards making a good film opening because by having the titles suit the theme of the film and the colour scheme of the opening, it makes it look for professional. This is an example of a student film opening where the text looks like blue fire which I don't really think suits the colour scheme of the shots as it looks orange a green, not bright blue. However, in this film opening for Dawn of the Dead the titles are red and have wiping animations which turns them into blood and this really suits the film as it matches the theme of gore and zombies.
7) Leave the opening on a cliff hanger
By leaving the film opening on a cliff hanger, as long as the story shown in the film opening is intriguing, this will make the audience want to continue watching the film which is a good aspect to have otherwise the film opening wasn't interesting enough. In the Deadpool film opening, I felt like I wanted to continue watching the film to find out how the car ended up like that, what happens to the characters and what is actually going on in the scene.
8) Make sure the costumes suit the role of the character
The costume a character wears says a lot about who they are and what their status is. If you have a man in a suit, it tells the audience he is possibly quite high up and has a lot of power where as if you have someone in a tracksuit then it tells the audience that he could be lower down and causes trouble or that he is up to something. When it comes to costume, I have noticed that in a lot of student film openings, people have used random masks to hide the face of the villain. I don't think this approach looks good if you don't show it in the correct way as it can look cheap and unrealistic. The first student opening shows a way of how a mask was used badly and the second shows how a mask was used well.
9) Use a wide variety of shots and camera movements
Having a variety of shots allows the audience to view a situation from different perspectives which makes a film opening more interesting. In this student film opening I like how they created a close up shot that is focused of a flower, then as the person runs, his foot presses on it killing it. This may foreshadow the death later in the film opening.
I also like the idea of placing the camera on someone's head so it looks like you're seeing from their eyes so you get their perspective. It almost makes it feel like you as the viewer is that particular character whilst this shot is played which draws the viewer in the universe of the film more and causes more emotion. For example, in the first screen shot from a student film opening where the camera looks down at some ones hand holding a gun it makes the viewer feel more worried because they are put in the perspective of that character who has to make the choice of killing someone.
10) Don't show direct footage to make it look more mysterious
I watched a couple student films where the filmed an important shot for the film opening but not directly, and they did this by filming the action in the reflection of water. I liked how this was done because it makes the scene much more interesting and mysterious. I could also do this by filming in the reflection of a mirror or a window.
11) Consider lighting & add a filter when editing
In this student film opening I noticed that the lighting was low key when we saw the man sitting on the chair, and when we saw the flashbacks of him before he was kidnapped, the lighting was high key. Filters were also added as in the low key lighting there is a green/blue tint to the look of the shot making it seem cold and spooky, and in the flashback shots, the colour of the shot was warm and the colours were almost faded like we are looking back at vivid memories. I like how they exaggerated the look of the shots because they set the mood better and really compare the situation he is in now compared to before.
To conclude, by doing this task I have learn a lot about what's good and bad that students like me have done in their film openings which has helped me visually see what works and what doesn't before I make a similar mistake. This has helped me collect some ideas towards types of shots to include, what sound to include, the storyline, and generally what to look out for when creating my film opening.
For this task I am going to analyse transitions used in the Fast and Furious 7 opening sequence. I am specifically going to look at the transitions between shots and titles to see what is used and how it suits the film. I chose to look at transitions because I haven't done any research towards this, so I think it will help me when it comes to editing the titles in my own film opening to make them more interesting. I chose to look at Fast and Furious 7 because its an action film which is one of the genres I may choose for my film.
Transitions between shots
In this film opening, I noticed that the whole first 4 minutes was done in one take so most of the sequence doesn't contain shot transitions. However, a very interesting/well done transition is used where the camera tilts up at the sky and keeps rotating to a shot of a car driving in the desert. As the camera tilts back up it follows the car which I think gives a really good effect as I focuses on the car and makes it look faster. This transition is only used once throughout the sequence which is good because it makes it more unique and if it happened too many times, it might make the viewer dizzy. I think they did it by doing a shot of titling the camera upwards so that you could only see the blue sky of the first shot, then doing another shot of the camera flipping in a full circle while the car drives underneath it, and then when editing, blended the sky of each shot together so that they would fade into one other to make it look smooth so that the viewer wouldn't notice the shots changing. This is the only transition used between shots in this sequence. As its switching between a shot from London to a shot in the desert, the transition could indicate something like the earth spinning or we are flipping over to another story as it highlights that they are two shots completely different from each other location wise.
Title transitions
There are a lot of transitions for when the titles appear and disappear throughout the sequence. It begins with the normal animations of the institutions behind the film. The first few titles use a transition where the letters spin as they appear and disappear. The idea of involving movement on the letters links to the theme of the film which is fast paced and involves a lot of motion therefore the titles portray it slightly too. I like them because they aren't too fast paced otherwise you wouldn't get to see the transition properly. Also they are basic but work well with the situation because at the beginning, not a lot of motion is going on. This transition is used frequently throughout the sequence. On the first shot, the text 'London, England' appears in the corner using a wipe transition. This isn't necessarily a title that has anything to do with the credits so using a different transition draws your attention towards it and indicates that it's something else. It then wipes back to disappear. The next few titles that appear have transitions that fly in from the side and fly towards the bottom of the frame. In this part of the sequence there is more action going on so they suit the situation. Also they are moving fast like a car, matching the theme of the film. I like the exit transition of 'Michelle Rodriguez' because it moves in the direction of the elevator doors as they open which I think works well. During this part of the sequence, as the titles exit the frame, the letters almost fall apart which matches the theme of action because it reminds me of debris flying from an explosion. When an explosion happens at 3:38, the title moves with the debris towards the edge of the frame, keeping a flow of motion. Another transition I like is at 3:50 whereas the section of the building falls, it wipes away the text. This happens a few times afterwards as well when the car moves towards the text which wipes it away. Then finally at the end when the film title appears, the wiping transition is used as well as the spinning of the individual letters which I like how a car is used to move across the road which the letters appear on to as it really emphasises the theme of the film and the title.
By doing this task I have learnt about the sort of transitions used for titles in the film opening for Fast and Furious 7 and how they portray the themes of the film. This has helped me understand that I could create a similar sort of thing depending on what the theme of my film opening is, instead of them just appearing and disappearing in the corner to make them more interesting and recognisable for the viewer.
In this task I am going to do an in depth analysis on the film opening sequence of Deadpool to learn more about what's involved in a film opening and gather more ideas on what I could do when it comes to creating my own film opening. I chose to look at Deadpool as I think the opening sequence is quite intriguing and I like the ideas put into it. Its also a different type of sequence compared to the Skyfall opening I looked at previously so it gives me more of a variety of what's involved in successful films opening sequences.
Genre
As this is a mainstream film, you can immediately tell what the genre of it is during the film opening sequence. You can tell that it is an action film because of the mise en scene involved - there is blood, guns, sheds of glass, fire, and the lighting is quite dull / dark. Also at the end you can see the overall state of the situation where the car is in the air and looks like its about to explode, which also shows evidence of an action film. You can also tell its a comedy film because of the music which has quite a joyful tune and doesn't suit the situation (like its making fun of the situation). Also the titles have a sense of comedy because they make fun of the cast and crew as they don't day their real names but things like 'directed by an overpaid tool' which is quoted at the end of the sequence. Finally, during the sequence, mise en scene is also used to make the genre of comedy evident within the props involved as we see things like a People magazine of Ryan Reynolds as himself rather than the character he plays, a playing card of Green Lantern and a hello kitty children's lip gloss. As it is a mainstream film, the genres involved need to be obvious because that is one of the main properties people look for in films so this is a way of drawing in their target audience. Independent films don't normally have a specific genre as the target audience focuses on a niche audience so they look at different elements to grow an audience rather than the genre.
Narrative
The narrative of this film opening reminds me of a journey because of how the way it's been done which is that the viewer is taken on a journey throughout a frozen moment of time to see different aspects of the situation. The opening draws the audience into the film as it begins with lots of close ups so not a lot of the surroundings is revealed making it hard for the viewer to work out what's going on. Therefore, as the camera starts to zoom out and reveal more, we can start to figure out the situation so during the sequence, as there is so much going on and there is a lot to look out for, the opening immediately intrigues the audience. This is a very clever way to introduce the film because of the content involved and the way it's been done which makes the viewer immediately become a part of the universe of the film.
Character
During this sequence, it is made evident that the characters introduced don't have a big role in the story (excluding Deadpool) because of the situation shown as its likely they are going to be killed so we won't see them throughout the rest of the film. It is made clear on who the characters are because Deadpool is attacking them so they are random bad guys who work for someone who has conflict with Deadpool. And by the name of the film and all the marketing involved, people should have an idea of who Deadpool is and what he looks like so when we see him in the sequence, we have an idea of what's going on. The opening is partially being used to introduce the genre and to introduce Deadpool as a character by showing his courage to take on these people and the sort of situations he gets into.
Atmosphere
The atmosphere is quite dramatic and calm at the same time because in real life the situation going on would be a very big deal as people could get severely injured or killed. However, the non-diegetic background music is quite calming and doesn't emphasise what's going on. The setting is quite gloomy and dull as the weather is cloudy and a lot of dark/shaded colours seen which emphasises the idea of it being a deadly situation and also once we zoom out from the car, we see that the location is on the outskirts of a city which makes the genre of action more evident.
Themes
The theme of the opening mainly consists of low key lighting and action which suits the film opening as the genre is action and therefore it makes sense towards the narrative. It is quite terrifying as no one would want to be in that sort of situation but it is quite funny as we see the expression on the man's face at the beginning and we see Deadpool giving a man a wedgie who is flying out of the car commencing that sense of comedy towards the story.
Setting
The viewer doesn't see the location until the camera zooms away from the car as not a lot of the surroundings are revealed. Most of the film opening is set within a car that is in the air and is about to crash and then as the camera exits the car we see that the location is on the outskirts of a city on a motorway that looks like a bridge. The setting suits the genre of action because it is set in a city which is often were a lot of action films are shot because they are often capital cities which are well known in the real world and you can get a lot of good shots of the sky scrapers and famous land marks within the action scenes. The setting isn't completely introduced as it is revealed slowly throughout the sequence so as an audience we don't pay much attention to it but pay more attention to the car they are in (e.g. it doesn't begin with an establishing shot of the cityscape like in the opening from 'The Drive'). Therefore, the location isn't considered as important.
Sound
Throughout the whole film opening, the only sound we hear is the non-diegetic music. The impact this music gives on the film opening is a sense of comedy as it's got quite a joyful tune so it doesn't suit the situation. It is quite calming for such a dramatic scene but it works well because the situation is not taken seriously. I think the sort of music chosen for the sequence is perfect for the situation because it's a comedy as well as an action, so having quite a serious or dramatic tune wouldn't fit well the comedy aspect of the film. Also as the scene is a freeze frame, involving sound effects wouldn't work well as nothing is moving so there is nothing the make the noise.
Titles
As the film is a comedy, the titles quote funny ways to describe the cast and crew rather than say their real names which I think was a good idea as it doesn't take things seriously and makes the film slightly more funny. It begins with the institutions involved, then the cast, then the producer, writer and director, and then the name of the film. I noticed during the film opening that the placing of the title for Ryan Reynolds which quotes 'starring god's perfect idiot' is placed just before the People magazine showing a picture of him which works well as even though it doesn't say his name, it introduces him from the picture. The transitions used make the titles seem as if they are actually in the film and not edited in because they move with the objects in the shot as when the camera turns to a different angle, the text will stay where it's been positioned and then will disappear when something in the foreground moves in front of it or if the camera turns away from it so it moves out of the shot. I like how this has been done because it draws the viewers attention more towards the titles as they are a part of the shot and are moving across the screen and not kept in one corner, but they are also frozen with the surroundings in the shot like the titles are objects frozen in this scene too. The font is quite square-looking, the titles are written in capitals, the colour of them seem like an off-white colour so they are quite neutral and suit the action theme. The sizing of the font varies as they may begin bigger but as the camera moves away they get smaller.
Conclusion
To conclude, by doing this task I have learnt may aspects towards the film opening of Deadpool in a lot of depth to help me understand what's involved in the sort of film opening used in a recent mainstream film. This has helped give me some ideas of what I could use in my own film opening and how much a mainstream film can emphasise the genre in just 2 minutes. I also learned how music can impact the mood of the film opening no matter what's going on visually. Now I want to look at the aspects of an independent film opening to look at the differences and learn more about what they consist of. I could also look at a film opening made by students as well to see what they came up with and how it turned out as they wouldn't be working for an institution so they wouldn't have a big budget to work with.
In this film opening from Skyfall
(2012) the genre of this film is quite explicit because of the many references
involved. You can tell that it is an action film because it involves guns and
daggers and James Bond shooting with a gun. There are also a lot of references
to death as a couple shots zoom in through the bullet hole on the James Bond
target and there’s a lot of blood, skulls and graves.
Narrative
In terms of narrative, at the
very beginning a low angle shot is used on the protagonist in the water
suggesting that there is a problem and something bad is happening. Following
this, a huge hand of a woman pulls him down which connotes that women cause him
issues and bring him down. The whole opening mainly focuses on his weaknesses
and develops a sense of emotion and despair.
Characters
Not a lot of characters are
involved in this opening. We see James Bond, women, and a shadow of someone.
James Bond is represented as weak in this opening as there are many references of
him being killed for example him drowning at the beginning or the bullet holes
in the targets. The targets represent him as a target towards others – like
other people a coming for him. It shows a lot of emotion towards him and it almost
looks like its referring to James Bonds fears. Women are also presented in this
opening but there is one in particular that stands out at the beginning and in
the middle as you see her face and she is holding a gun so she may be a
character we come across in the film. The women are represented as another one
of James Bonds weaknesses as they bring him down and trick him. Near the middle
of the clip we see James Bond shooting his own shadows. This could refer to the
fact that he chooses to put himself in situations that would risk him getting
him killed. This could also represent the unknown identity of who the criminal
is and if it could even be himself. The opening also refers to this when he
shoots his reflection in the mirrors near the end of the clip.
Atmosphere
The atmosphere of the Skyfall
opening is very emotional and intense and it gives you an insight of what the
rest of the film is going to be like. It produces quite depressing and
thrilling atmosphere as it’s all about death.
Themes
In terms of themes, the film
opening involves themes of death, thriller and animation. When looking at the
colours, a lot of red, blue and black is used. Red represents the love and
danger within the film, blue represents the sadness and emotion, and black
represents the dark/negative story behind it. Animation has been used for some
of the parts of the opening like the guns and daggers floating down into the
grave yard.
Setting
There isn’t a specific location
involved in this film opening but a lot of it involves either underwater, in a
grave yard or in a room with brick walls. The setting makes you as a viewer
feel quite isolated especially in the room with the brick walls as it looks a
bit like a maze that you need to get out of. The room is also very open, and as
James Bond is the target, anyone can appear from any direction so it’s hard to
hide from them. The shots underwater are quite daunting as it is a very dark,
cold open space and somewhere you wouldn’t want to be. Also the idea of
drowning and being pulled down into water is quite terrifying towards people.
Also the idea of using a grave yard connotes that death is a main feature of
the film and shows quite a personal perspective as well because the reason you
would be at a grave yard is to visit someone who has died.
Sound
During most of the film opening,
we hear non diegetic music which is ‘Skyfall’ by Adele which is the theme song
made for this movie. It is quite a dramatic piece and suits the opening well as
it sets quite an emotional mood. At the beginning we also get non diegetic
sound effects of him falling into the water to make the scene feel more
realistic which therefore makes it seem more scary and isolated. It then fades
to black as he sinks down.
Titles
The first title that appears is
‘Albert R Broccoli’s Eon Productions LTD Presents’ at 0.16sec in, which is the
company who produced the film. It begins with this film as they are the
creators presenting it to the audience and they are the most important. Then at
0.20 ‘Daniel Craig’ appears who plays the main character in the film so as he
is the main star, he comes next. It then says ‘as Ian Fleming’s James Bond 007
in’ at 0.24 and then ‘Skyfall’ at 0.30. So it introduces that Daniel Craig is
playing James Bond in this film and then the title appears. I like how the
titles lead on to one another rather than just being names appearing on the
screen. It then goes on to naming the cast and crew and right at the end it
mentions the director stating ‘directed by Sam Mendes’.
By analysing the ‘Skyfall’ film
opening it has helped me to get some ideas of what I can do for my own and I
have learnt how important it is than you set the mood and drew in your audience
while not giving away the story at the beginning. I have also learnt that a
film opening needs its own story to make it intriguing and to introduce the
type of film the viewer will be watching and will want to continue watching it.
For this task I will be looking at the similarities and differences in film openings so I can get an idea of what's involved in film openings. This will give me a general overview of what film openings consist of.
Opening Sequence Watched
Length
Genre
Editing
Titles
Setting
Narrative
Colours
Characters
Sound
Drive
2.34
Thriller, Crime
Fade to shot transitions,
slow paced, continuous, pink hand written font
Main Actor at 0.06, Title
at 0.16, Director at 2.26
In a car driving through a
city and in an apartment
Not much of the story is given
away as the main character is just driving most of the time and in the middle
of the sequence he drops his bag off in his apartment but the audience doesn’t
know what’s going on
Dark – Low key lighting –
night time
We only see two characters
throughout the opening -Ryan Gosling as the main character and a girl walking
out a lift
There is no diegetic sound
or sound effects included. However, it includes music the whole way through
and within it, it contains dialogue.
The Shinning
2.59
Thriller
Slow paced, continuous,
bright blue font in capitals
Institution at beginning,
Director at 1.21, Main Actor at 1.26, Title at 1.36
Open spaced mountain area
The camera just follows a
car so not much of the story is given away so the audience don’t know what’s
going on
Quite light – day time – natural
light & colours
We don’t see the characters
during the opening
It includes non-diegetic
spooky/daunting music throughout the whole opening which makes the view feel
quite intimidated
Dawn of The Dead
2.34
Horror
Transitions of TV fuzzing
& flashes to black, fast paced, discontinuous, red capital font that
smears away as blood, old fashioned overlays and low quality to make it look
like random footage found
Institution at beginning,
Title at 0.10, Main Actor at 0.16, Director at 2.29
Public places where the is
disruption and conferences
The opening shows the
devastation that the situation has caused and shots of zombies, people
shooting and speeches as conferences and news reports
Dark colours – red &
black – flashes of light
Lots of people & no
specific main characters - the public,
zombies, news reporters and the military
Upbeat music is used for
most of the opening which says about being scared of something coming around.
Diegetic sounds of people screaming and people speaking about what’s
happening are used at the beginning, and throughout there are sound effects
of people taking pictures, gun shots, and a TV fuzz sound.
Drive
The Shinning
Dawn of The Dead
By doing this work it has helped
me get an insight of what different films include in their opening sequences to
introduce the type of film it is to the audience. I have learnt that there isn’t
an exact, specific way of making a film opening as they all appear very
different to each other in terms of narrative, setting and editing. Yet they
almost all involve these features so I must include them in some way when it
comes to creating my film opening.
