An Analysis of a Film Opening in my Chosen Genre

For this task, I am going to analyse an action film as that is my chosen genre, so I go look into the aspects of an action film to see what content is included and how it draws in an audience. I have chosen to look at the film opening for Divergent because its a good action film with an in-depth storyline which draws me in as a viewer, and I want to see how I can put this in my own film opening.

Genre

This film is an action film so therefore its a mainstream film. There are many ways that this film opening introduces the genre to the audience. First of all, the location is set in a well-known location (Chicago) as we see an establishing shot of the city. Also the surroundings of the city are full of emptiness, telling the audience that there was a war that has devastated the land and left Chicago still standing but in ruin. The music sets the mood of mystery and sounds quite emotional, connoting that there is an in-depth story which is quite dramatic. Overall, the general point is that in the film opening the genre of the film and the type of film its going to be is made clear to the audience.

Narrative

In this film opening, I like how it begins with showing establishing shots of the area because I feel that it really introduces the audience to the story by letting them imagine what's going on before they are told. After the audience get to visually see what's happened to the world, non-diegetic dialogue is used from the main character over the top of these establishing shots half way through the film opening to then give e brief overview of what happened to the world and how it runs now. I think sing this narration really intrigues the viewer as it allows them to understand what has happened to avoid confusion and to help introduce the background of the story that won't be shown. Doing this puts the viewer in the perspective of the main character as she is telling you everything she knows, therefore the audience know as much as she does. It also lets the audience know that this film is going to have a complex storyline because telling a brief overview of the past represents just the beginning of the story.

Character

A lot of the characters we see in this film opening are representing their position rather than themselves to represent the community, so therefore many of them aren't specific characters. A couple of characters are introduced but they aren't main characters. Also we aren't completely introduced to the main character as we don't really know who she is but she explains about her views and what life is like for her. Seeing the clips of her when she was younger suggests that all these shots represent either a montage or a flash back.

Atmosphere

The atmosphere seems quite dull and sad because of the setting, non-diegetic background music, and the colours aren't bright but very grey and neutral. The only time we see bright colours is when we see the sunrise which may represent the good in the bad. Also because it looks so empty and that just viewing the first shots gives the viewer and idea of what's happened and that its bad. However it also seems quite happy further in the film opening as we get to see that the people are living well and living a unique but peaceful lifestyle.  

Themes

The theme of this film opening comes across as quite peaceful as everyone is living in harmony and although at the beginning the film comes across as sad, as it goes on we see a more happier approach to the story. We see themes of courage and justice because of how they are all managing to continue living after the devastation of the world. Though, the main theme that stood out to me was loneliness from the first few shots in the film opening because of how empty the world looks. It begins showing the landscape of the world and it then turns to Chicago, comparing how much of the world there used to be and how much is left.

Setting

The location is set in Chicago but  its Chicago in ruin which makes it a much more interesting location as it is a real place that you wouldn't get to experience seeing in this state. This suits the genre of action because it is located in a well-known city. The lighting is very warm at the beginning suggesting sadness but peacefulness. Further in the film opening the lighting becomes more natural, reflecting the natural lifestyle they now live in. In my film opening I will consider using a lot of natural lighting to make the situation more realistic.

Sound

Throughout the whole film opening there is non-diegetic background music. At the beginning of the film opening it is has quite slow violin and piano making it sound quite sad and emotional. This matches with the shots focused on the devastation of the world. As the film opening progresses the tune stays the same but it becomes more dramatic when we first see civilisation and when we are introduced to the faction 'Dauntless' which could be highlighted as foreshadowing the faction she chooses later on in the story. They seem happier and free so the music gets faster and happier to represent how they feel even though the world is in a bad state. Once we are introduced to the civilisation, a non-diegetic voice over from the main character is used to briefly describe the situation whilst showing a montage of shots. I like how this has been done because it puts the audience into the perspective of the main character whilst introducing the baseline of the story to draw the audience into the universe of the film. I feel that my ideas don't evolve around such a complex storyline so there's not much of a story to talk about if I used this concept, therefore I probably won't use it. However I would like to consider using it as I really like the idea, I am just not sure how I could include it. Behind all this we also get some diegetic sounds as well to bring more life into the shots of the film opening.

Titles

As there is a lot of narration, from midway through the film opening, there isn't any titles. All of the titles are shown from the beginning before the main character starts to speak. The sort of titles we see are of cast, crew, location and institutions. It begins with the institutions as they are the ones who are presenting the film. We then get the title of the film, main cast and then crew. However during the titles of the crew when an establishing shot is used on the city, the title 'Chicago' is used to clarify the location as people may be unaware as it is in a different setting. It is also highlighting the location because this is where the whole film takes place so its an important aspect to the story. The director's name is the last title to be shown. The style of the font matches the technological theme of the film as it looks a bit like electricity and it looks futuristic. I like the transitions they use on the first few titles as the lines on the letters join together to form the letter which matches well with the theme.

Conclusion

By doing this task I learnt a lot about the aspect of a complex storyline towards an action film. I know that it isn't completely necessary to use for an action film opening but I do like how it is shown because I find it very intriguing as a viewer and I would like to get that feedback from people who watch my film opening. This task has helped me gather more ideas as I have looked at a different type of action film compared to what I have previously looked at because none of them have had as much of a complex storyline.

Divergent film opening:

Our Chosen Genre and Research

For this task we need to decide on what genre we are going to base our film opening on. Our three narrowed down options are comedy, thriller and action so we need to decide which one to choose. In order to choose we need the gather the ideas we have to see what we can make of them and see what genre they fit into best.

Questionnaire

I created a questionnaire to see what people expect to see when watching a thriller film, comedy or action film so I have an idea of what people like about them and what is possible for me to create for that genre. I found out that the most popular genre people liked was comedy so we were highly considering to choose this genre. Most of the participants said in action films they would expect to see a realistic situation, in comedy films they would expect to see characters with a sense of humour and in thrillers they would expect to see tension. Finding out this information has allowed me to understand what is necessary to include for my film opening, depending on which genre I choose, as most people would expect to see it. In the last question about what they expect to see in successful films, the most votes was 'A list actors' which is understandable but I can't make that possible for my film opening. However other options like well-known locations, technology and a complex storyline had some votes too which I can learn from and adapt into my film opening.

Our genre

The genre we have chosen to do for our piece is action because I know a lot about the genre now as I have done most of my research on it and I have lots of good ideas that have improved and developed whilst I have been researching. Some of the film openings that have influenced us is the student film opening 'Redemption', Deadpool and Fast & Furious 7. We really liked the concept of Deadpool, and it had the most votes in the questionnaire, so we have also considered to include some comedy to our piece as well. The ideas I have are along the lines of having someone meeting another person to deal with something but it doesn't go to plan.

Research

In action film openings, I have noticed a lot of things that various films have in common. For example capital letters in titles, fast transitions for the titles, neutral/dull colours, natural lighting, non-diegetic music, little dialogue, etc. I will be sure to try and add these aspects into my film opening to outstand the genre and to make my film match the theme of action films. Since 1995, the genre 'action' is ranked 3rd towards its market share compared with every other genre. It has made a total box office of around $36 and with around 816. In my questionnaire I found out that in action films people expect to see content like big stunts, fight scenes, a chase of some sort, explosions and to be located in a big city. Some of these however we wouldn't be able to perform for example explosions as we are not qualified to do that sort of thing. We could edit it in after filming, but this may look unrealistic making the film opening look a bit cheap. However in the Godzilla film opening there was an explosion which was probably edited in so it is possible, its just got to be done correctly.

Conclusion

I am happy with the genre we have chosen as I have lots of good ideas for our film opening. We chose to go with action because we want to challenge ourselves and make our film opening interesting and intriguing, and by just going with comedy I don't think we would achieve that as well. Therefore by embedding them together I think will make our film opening open to a wider audience whilst being interesting. Action is probably my favourite film as enjoy the complex storylines behind them and they make me feel a part of the story as they help me learn about the world and what it would be like if these sort of situations happened. Now I need to start gathering my ideas together and research on what our institution will be.

Our Opening Re-Make

For this task, I am going to re-create a film opening from a previous film to experience the process of creating a film opening so I know what is to come when making my own. We have chosen to re-make the film opening from 'Se7en' because we have good ideas that will help us create a really similar piece which they will almost look the same. Also there's a lot of editing involved so we can learn a lot from it from this aspect. I believe this will help me out a lot by learning how to use the software's and how to film in the right way. Also as we are re-making a successful film, it shows what we can achieve in relation to it as we aren't a big institution with the technology, time and equipment that they have.

Se7en film opening:

Our re-make:

 

To conclude, I found it quite easy to do when filming and editing this piece because of the planning we did for it as that really helped us organise what shots we needed and how long they were. We also managed to gather all the props we needed and we found a room that was suitable to shoot in because of the lighting. I would say editing was the hardest part because of how long it took to complete and how much we actually had to do. This has allowed me to practice things like filming and editing to a similar degree of what it took to create the Se7en film opening in so now I know what to expect when I create my own film opening and I know how I am going to plan and create it.

Differences Between Mainstream and Independent Films

For this task I am going to look into the differences between mainstream and independent films as I have mainly looked at mainstream films so I want to research into independent in-case we decide to base our film opening on an independent film.

Independent Films

• In independent films, an important aspect about them is that the genre isn't specific and it's often quite hard to tell what genre it is. For example in the film 'American Honey' it contains so many aspects from different genres that it is difficult to label what genre it actually is. They do this to not specifically be categorised otherwise they may lose some audience.

• Smaller institutions make independent films because otherwise they will be competing with the big six, and its suitable as they only have a small budget where as they have much bigger. They save money by doing things like advertising on social media and using less technology, but they have to pay distribution companies to distribute their films whereas the big six have their own distribution companies.
• Independent films usually contain limited well-known actors as the institutions generally can't afford to have big stars. In the independent film 'Fish Tank', Michael Fassbender plays a role in the cast yet he is quite a big celebrity, however when the film was created back in 2009 he wasn't as big as he is now. 

• Independent films attract niche audiences because they aren't mainstream and therefore attract an audience who would be specifically interested in the film. It is stereotypical that independent films often attract an older audience whereas main stream attract a younger audience.
• Independent companies are very limited to distribution because they have to pay distribution companies to do so whereas mainstream films often have their own distribution companies. This is a problem because of the small budget independent companies have so they can't afford to get their films out to lots of cinemas which is why we rarely see them out at cinemas. Therefore as they tend to have limited release, independent films are often put straight onto DVD or online through services like Netflix.

• Independent films generally have lower production values because of their low budget so they don't often contain content like explosions, big stunts, special effects, etc.
• They are mainly produced outside major film studios compared to mainstream films which are produced in places like Hollywood. Therefore the public won't be very aware of who is behind the film.
• Independent films are rarely filmed in well-known locations for example big cities because they can't afford to as it's too expensive to travel to these places. This can cut down the size of the audience because if it is filmed somewhere local for example like the film 'A field in England' this wouldn't attract people from all over the world.
• Independent films are rarely shown at multiplex cinemas because of their lack of distribution.
• Their marketing campaigns often rely on social media and word of mouth because that is free. For example for the film 'Ex Machina' they used Tinder to help advertise the film.

Mainstream Films

• Mainstream films attract a mass audience because they can afford to have a huge marketing campaign to help their films get herd of by the public.
• Mainstream companies make more money from their films compared to independent because they have a bigger budget to begin with to put towards producing the film. Therefore they have higher production values e.g. better technology.

• They are shown at multiplex cinemas and are easier to access than independent films.
• They are often filmed in 3D and IMAX or converted into it so people have a choice on how they wish to watch the film and can generally attract a bigger audience and make it better.
• Mainstream films attract a worldwide audience as they attract a mass audience and are shown worldwide.
• They have more specific genres compared to independent who have safe genres.
• The big six (Disney, Universal, Paramount, Fox Studios, Sony, Warner Bros) are the top, major institutions of the film industry who are behind most of the best mainstream films. Recent films made by:
• Disney - Beauty and the Beast, Cars 3, Rouge One: A Star Wars Story, Moana
• Universal - Get Out, Fifty Sides Darker, The Great Wall, Split, The Fate Of The Furious
• Paramount - Baywatch, Arrival, Silence, Fences, Transformers: The Last Knight
• Fox - Assassins Creed, Logan, Hidden Figures, A Cure For Wellness, The Boss Baby
• Sony - Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, Don't Breathe, Life, Magnificent Seven
• Warner Bros - Fantastic Beasts, Annabelle 2, Kong: Skull Island, Everything Everything

• Mainstream films will generally be filmed in expensive locations that are well known as they have a big enough budget to travel. This ranges from capital cities and famous landmarks all over the world.
• A lot of recent mainstream films consist of a franchise of either old films (beauty and the beast), a series of films (The Fate of Furious from Fast and Furious), and a best-selling novel (Fifty Shades Darker). This helps to draw in a bigger audience because the people who have read the books or seen previous films of the franchise know of what the film is going to be like and maybe interested to watch it.

• Mainstream companies advertise using trailers, tv ads, internet, magazines, posters/bill boards, radio, and social media because they have a high budget and can afford too where as independent films can't so they have to spend as least as possible when it comes to marketing.

Conclusion

By doing this task I now have a much better understanding of what the differences and similarities of mainstream and independent films are. I learnt that a lot of what makes these categories so different is the budget because independent companies are trying to compete with mainstream whilst having a much lower budget. This has helped me more towards deciding on whether I want our production company for our film opening to be mainstream or independent as I now know what consists of them both and what I would need to produce for them. I think being a mainstream company would provide more of a challenge of trying to reach the standards of a mainstream film opening whilst being in a lower position than an independent company.

Film Openings and Audiences

For this task, I am going to look at how films attract audiences by finding out specifically what's involved in their film openings that draws the viewer into the film and by finding out what they would expect to see in an opening of a film. I am hoping this task will help me think of ideas for what I can include in my own film opening that will draw in the viewer and want to watch more.

How film openings draw in audiences

The main concept of a film opening is to introduce a film to the audience so they have an idea of what sort of film it is going to be and what to expect. They draw the audience into the universe of the film as it clears their minds so they forget everything and only notice what the film is showing and telling them. I think that a good way to draw in an audience is to introduce a baseline of the story without giving it away as it opens up lots of unanswered questions making the audience what to carry on watching to find out the answers. By putting the audience in this perspective it makes them more interested and intrigued, therefore they enjoy the film more. A good example of a opening that draws me into a film is the Divergent film opening. The titles match the theme of the film really well and it begins with a shot of the sunrise which represents the beginning of the film as well as the day. It shows many establishing shots of the landscape to make the audience have some understanding with what's happening without having any idea of what the film is about i.e. it shows that something destroyed the world but there is a city that is still standing where the survivors live. The main character then does some narration talking about how they live. I find that this immediately draws me into the film because I know what's going on but I want to know why its going on and what actually happened to the world so it makes me want to carry on watching.

Divergent film opening:

Audience Theory

There is a audience theory known as the 'Hypodermic Needle Theory' which is quite commonly used in the film industry to trigger engagement between the film and the audience. This theory involves making the audience so drawn into the film that they almost feel like they are a part of the film and that they are in the universe of it. The films give people ideas and change their mid-sets which influences them to do something in reality that has influenced them to from the film. This is partially why films have certification - to protect younger children from seeing things they may not understand yet and influencing them to do it. An example of this is an incident that happened in 1993 with the James Bulger case where two 10 year old boys watched chucky and it influenced them to horrifically murder and 2 year old child. Obviously, films aren't trying to influence people to do things like this as people of the certification would be older so they shouldn't be influenced - the children were too young and weren't meant to be watching the film. I believe that people enjoy a film more if they are more draw into the story rather than just watching it which is why I want to try as use this theory within my film opening.

Conclusion

To conclude, by during this work I have analysed the aspects and techniques used in film openings that draw in an audience as well as myself. Therefore I now know what sort of things I can include in my own film opening to help make my audience intrigued and taken into the universe of the film. I have also looked at an audience theory to learn how it effects an audience and how I could make use of it in a good way.

Making a Film Opening With Jelly Babies

 This is the main character of this film opening being taken to the airport for a business trip.

 He has now been dropped off and is waving good bye to the person who dropped him off.

 He has gone to the check-in desk to weigh his suit case and have his pass port checked.

 He is getting onto the plane as the captain welcomes him.

 He is seated on the plane and is getting ready for the flight.

 Everyone is seated and the cabin crew are doing the safety presentation.

 The plane takes off.

 The cabin crew are giving out refreshments and take is passing by as normal.

 Turbulence starts occurring and the passenger spills his drink. The cabin crew advise everyone to sit in their seats and put on their seat belts.

 We see that there is thunder and lightning surrounding the plane as they get closer to the Bermuda Triangle.

After a lot of turbulence the plane sits still and then we see a bright light appear which is so bright that you can't see beyond it. Then it goes to black and shows the name of the film. This leaves the opening on a cliff hanger as we don't understand what happened to them therefore the audience will be intrigued and want to carry on watching.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By doing this task it has helped to teach me how to come up with a good storyline in a short amount of time. It has allowed me to practice creating storyboards on the spot and developing ideas for when I create my own film opening. It has also allowed me to consider placement of titles and learn more about what's the best order to put them in that is suited for the type of film opening it is.

Generic Conventions in Film Openings

For this task, I am going to research into the genres involved in the film industry to fully understand what each of them are and what sort of audiences they attract. I am hoping this task will give me a good overview of the genres so I have a better understanding of them and I have more of an idea of what genre my own film opening could be.

Adventure

The genre 'adventure' is a category in which films contain content like travelling to a destination to get something or save someone, a disaster of some-sort that is causing a big problem, exploration in exotic locations, historic references or unrealistic/exaggerated situations. They tend to have an exciting story that isn't possible to happen in the 'real world'. I do like a lot of films from this genre and I would say it's one of my favourites because you get to see the world from a different perspective and I makes you wonder of the possibilities of what our world could be like if something like what occurs in a film happened or whether it's happening somewhere beyond us. Since 1995, 'adventure' has been ranked the most popular genre by a share of 22.49% compared to the other film genres. It's made a total box office of about $45bn with 708 films. An example of a recent popular film that is of the genre adventure is 'Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children' which is based in the real world, but contains elements that are unrealistic and can't happen. I believe that adventure films target audience range so drastically because they often draw in all types of people from different ages and genders which is why I think it is one of the most popular genres. I am interested in using this genre for my film opening as I really like it and have many ideas for it. However I believe it will be quite difficult to make a good adventure film without out it looking to basic because we don't have a big budget to spend, so we can't travel to an exotic location or buy the equipment to create CGI.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children trailer:

Comedy

The genre 'comedy' is a category in which films contain content like an exaggerated situation that is however realistic, a sense of humour towards characters and their relationships, a funny storyline with generally a happy ending, content that possibly should be taken seriously but isn't, and people doing things that consider them as ignorant which amuses the audience. I enjoy most comedy films but I don't often watch them as I am not entirely keen on them because I would prefer to watch something with an in-depth/interesting storyline. Comedy is ranked 2nd on the most popular genres watched since 1955 with a share of 21.39% and made a total box office of around $43bn, yet it has had around 2302 films released so a lot more money has been put towards these films compared to adventure films. An example of a popular comedy film is 'Mean Girls' which bases of a realistic but exaggerated storyline where content isn't taken seriously so its enjoyable and funny to watch. The target audience for a comedy film can range from all ages but it depends mainly on the storyline of the film and what its about. For example 'Mean Girls' would probably attract teenage girls because its based on the life of teenage girls at school where as the film 'The Hangover' would probably attract men aged in their 20s because of the age of the characters and that its based in Las Vegas, yet they are both comedy films. I am interested in using this genre in my own film opening because I think it will be easier to create something based on comedy as most comedy films don't need advanced technology in order for it to suit the genre.

Mean Girls trailer:

Action

The genre 'action' is a category in which films contain content such as stunts, chases, fighting scenes, explosions, non-stop motion, good guys battling bad guys, guns, natural disasters and a realistic/well-known location. Action is probably my favourite genre because I feel that they often draw me into the universe of the film well and they have a meaningful/in-depth storyline. Action is ranked 3rd in the most popular genres since 1955 with a share of 18.22% making a total box office $36bn with 816. So generally this genre has worked out better than comedy but as action films contain a lot of stunts, they need a big enough budget to get the equipment to perform it. A popular & recent action film is 'Deadpool' which contains things like stunts and fighting scenes, and bases off a storyline with a 'superhero' defeating the villain. Action is mainly targeted towards males aged from around 12 and up because the characters in these films such as the hero and the villain tend to be male as stereotypically, things like fights, explosions and chases tend to be considered as masculine. I am interested in using this genre in my film opening as even though we don't have a big budget and don't have access to a lot of equipment involved for stunts, you don't necessarily need to include it within the first few minutes of a film while still keeping some qualities of an action film.
Deadpool trailer:

Drama
The genre 'drama' is a category in which films contain content such as a serious but in-depth plot line, realistic characters, settings & situations, and can emphasise other genres such as comedy and action. I have not seen many films that are specifically of this genre but judging with what I have seen alongside TV programmes, I find this genre quite intriguing because it reminds me of a horror movie but in a real life situation as a lot of tension and dramatic irony is used to draw in the audience as it makes you want to understand the story. They can often be based on real stories that have actually happened which helps you to learn more about our world and things that you are unaware of that are happening or could happen. Since 1995, the genre of 'drama' has been made into around 4442 movies which is the most movies made for one genre. I believe it is so popular because often a lot of films that are action, adventure, comedy etc can also contain drama so they are categorised as that as well. However it is ranked 4th with a share of 16.64% and has made approximately $33bn. An example of a specific drama film is 'Deepwater Horizon' which I haven't seen but by looking at the trailer I can tell that it has a serious, in-depth storyline and is based off of a true story. Drama films generally target an older audience because of the mature plots they have however it ranges drastically on who watches them depending on what the story is and who the characters are. I like the idea of using this genre for my own film opening but I would combine it with another genre because I don't have many ideas towards introducing an in-depth storyline at the beginning without it looking too basic so I would include possibly action so there will be action going on as well.
Deepwater Horizon trailer:

Thriller
The genre 'thriller' is a category in which films contain content such as jump scares, constant build ups of tension, draws the viewer into the universe of the film and puts you in the perspective of the main character, and performs an unrealistic but possible storyline. I like thriller films because when your put in the perspective of the main character and tension is being built up, it brings up a lot of emotion and makes you worry or feel the same way as the characters. This draws the audience into the film while taking them out of their comfort zone. This genre has been ranked 5th compared to the other genres with a market share of 8.50% with a total box office of $17bn. Around 895 films have been made of this genre since 1995 which quite a small amount compared to how many drama films have been made. Like drama, thriller is the sort of genre that is often combined with other genres and isn't specifically titled for a film. An example of a thriller film is 'Jaws' with contains and unrealistic storyline but elements of possibility as its about a shark attacking people which can and has happened. I am not so interested on including thriller within my film opening because I feel that you need to get to know the characters in order to put the viewer in their perspective otherwise it isn't as emotional.
Jaws trailer:

Genre Statistics

By doing this task, I have a much better understanding of what the definition of these 5 genres are, how popular they are, what sort of content an audience expects to see within a specific genre and what sort of audience is targeted for them. I looked at these 5 genres in particular because I definitely knew I wanted to base my film opening on one of these and know that I have researched them, it has helped me what sort of genre is best to do and has brought me more ideas. I have narrowed my options down to action, comedy and thriller but I am considering combining them as I have some good ideas for them all. This has helped me a lot with choosing them and now I need to start bringing my ideas together to begin creating my film opening.

Sources:
http://www.filmsite.org/genres.html
http://the-numbers.com/market/genres