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.
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.
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.
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