Supernatural Horror Openings - The Strangers (Characters & Situations) // Research

Characters

No key characters are shown in this clip. However, at 1:40 we hear the voice of a woman who is in trouble and corresponding shots are shown to what she is saying and describing. As the woman is in trouble you would assume she is one of the key characters and is probably the protagonist as it is likely some unknown being (the antagonist) is harassing her during the phone call. From the woman's voice we can see how she is a woman who is likely to be in her late 20s/early 30s.

Stock characters shown through a smashed windscreen

There are not that many stock characters evident in this opening. The only ones are the two boys that are shown from 1:41 to 2:00. They are introduced when in the foreground we see a smashed front windscreen, the camera pans to the left to reveal the boys in the background through the hole in the smashed windscreen. These boys are staring at the car and both have bicycles. This suggests they are typical stock characters as they seem to be just normal school boys who were probably cycling home and then came across the smashed windscreen. As usual stock characters tend to get involved in the action to make the situation more interesting and the audience worry about them as they could be putting themselves in danger. These boys are curious and we see them walk slowly through the front door of the house. This is shown with a long shot and the camera is slightly moving up and down giving the impression that someone or something is watching them. As I said before this enforces the idea that the audience may feel as though the stock characters are in danger and may feel scared for them. This is a good technique to use, especially having young school boys as it means the audience with either sons or younger brothers subconsciously think of the stock characters as the son or brother they know making them feel even more for the character.

Situations

The opening of this movie is a pretty typical stock situation. It leaves the audience wanting more and wanting to know what has happened and why this woman (the protagonist) is in this situation. As well as this the audience can infer from the shots nearer to the end of the clip how the film is likely to be a happy situation that has gone wrong (a typical stock situation). I can see this as at 2:04 there is a slightly high angle, long shot of an engagement ring box with a couple of petals scattered around it. This implies that there was a couple involved who were having a romantic night and the woman was proposed to. However the next shot a 2:08 shows another long shot but of a bloody knife, with one rose petal in the background. The fact that the amount of rose petals in the composition of the shot has gone down to one (compared to around 7 in the shot before) mirrors how the romance reduced/disappeared when the situation happened. As well as this the shaky movement of the camera on these shots could emphasise how shaken up this woman is about the situation. In addition to this typically at the end of a horror stock situation the final girl (in this case woman) survives, and this opening appears to follow this typical narrative.


One rose petal by a bloody knife



Rose petals surrounding an engagement ring box





Supernatural Horror Openings - The Strangers (Background Information & Narrative) // Research

Background Information:

The Strangers (2008)
Director: Bryan Bertino
Studio: Vertigo Entertainment, Mandate Pictures
Success?
 -Box Office: $82,344,798
 -Awards:
    - Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA, Nominated, Best Horror Film (2009)
    - Empire Awards, UK, Nominated, Best Horror (2009)
        and more..

Narrative:

The opening starts with incidental music fading in and playing as the titles appear. Followed by this is a voice over with titles telling us how the film that will follow is 'inspired by true events'. Various shots are shown of suburban houses and some in more rural areas. As the final shot fades out a recording of a  911 emergency call is heard, from this the audience establishes how a woman called Jordan is in danger. While this is being played shots of what we assume is the crime scene later on is shown with kids in the background looking at and walking around it.

Historical Origins of Supernatural Horror

The genre of horror originates from religious traditions and folklore. It would focus on various themes like death, the good, the bad, the evil/demonic and many more. These themes are still evident today. Back then stories would be predominantly about werewolves, ghosts, etc.

As with most genres it started by people writing novels. 'The Castle of Otranto' was published in 1764 and was the first novel which had elements of the supernatural instead of focusing on things that were real. This is just some of the gothic horror that occurred in the 18th century.

Throughout the 19th and 20th century the horror genre grew and expanded and today is a very strong genre with a large audience.

If you would like to read more into the historical origins of supernatural horror then feel free to visit this website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_fiction

My Genre - Supernatural Horror

In our group Wilhelmina, Indya and I all collectively decided we wanted to do a horror as our genre because we are all very interested in the genre and are keen to create an effective horror opening.

We then had to choose a sub genre. At first we were unsure between psychological or supernatural however we knew if we chose psychological then we would definitely want to have supernatural elements to it. After discussion we realised it would be simpler to do a supernatural horror as having supernatural elements is the thing we are all most enthusiastic about.

In addition to this straight away we understood how doing a supernatural horror would be much easier than doing an action adventure as we do not have access to things like explosions etc to make an action adventure believable. We do however have access to good locations for horrors and are able to get good props which will make our opening much more believable (the logistics are much easier for us for a supernatural horror). As well as this we have a range of ideas to create an effective opening and they all apply to the genre of supernatural horror.

Genre Hybrids

A hybrid is when two elements are combined to create a mixture of the two. They can either be the mixture of two different genres or the mixture of sub genres within a genre.

For example, a romantic and a comedy film is called a rom-com which is a hybrid.

As well as this having a supernatural horror film which also has psychological elements makes it a hybrid.

For our film opening we could decide to do a genre hybrid. However, we are fully aware that this could complicate matters for the aim and atmosphere of our film opening which we will be trying to create. Therefore it may be simpler to stick to one genre/sub genre.

Introduction To Genre // Research

To produce an effective film opening I will have to decide on a genre. Therefore it will be appropriate at first to understand what the term genre means and why it is so important.

The word genre is used to describe the expectations of a film by having certain elements applied to a certain situation which makes a suitable, typical narrative. All of these elements build a picture of what a film of that genre would typically have.

Some different genres include horror, romantic, western, thrillers, animation, science fiction and many more.

For example..

The stock elements of a romance film are;

- A narrative where a girl and boy meet and fall in love, have to overcome a hurdle of not being able to be together and end up either happy or sad.
- The protagonists are the happy couple who are usually teenagers or young adults.
- The antagonists are the people or person (e.g a parent) who tries to stop them being together, which moves the narrative onwards.
- The stock characters will generally be friends who are quite stereotypical.

The stock elements of a horror film are;

- A narrative in which an unknown being threatens a person or group of people. People tend to die one after the other.
- The protagonist is the person who survives at the end.
- The antagonist is the unknown being or thing that moves the narrative forward.
- The stock characters are the family or friends of the protagonist.

Genres are very important for audiences as it allows them to look at a film's genre and then subconsciously expect elements from a film. Genre also helps audiences to decide whether they would want to see the film or not as people usually prefer some genres to others.

In addition to this genres are important for institutions as it allows them to categorise their film so they can aim it at a specific target audience who are most likely to enjoy the film. This makes the marketing process more smooth as typical icons and visual motifs can be used to communicate the genre of the film to the audience.

Conventions of Film Openings : Conclusion

Conventions of Film Openings - Conclusion from katyfilmmaker

Film Openings - Harry Potter and The Order Of The Phoenix (Technical Timescale Analysis) // Research

Here is a timeline of the technical elements used in the opening of Harry Potter and The Order Of The Phoenix. I drew this timeline out and then scanned it into my computer. From this timeline I can see how there are moments when editing is very quick and many shots are cut between each other while there are also less busy moments where clips last for longer.

Key:
XLS = Extra Long Shot
LS = Long Shot
MS = Medium Shot
MCU = Medium Close Up
CU = Close Up

(Click on the picture to enlarge and read it.)

Film Openings - Harry Potter and The Order Of The Phoenix (Media Language) // Research

The opening scene fades into an extra long shot of the Warner Bros. Pictures ident approaching the camera. This is slowly followed by the title of the film coming towards the camera in the same way. At 0:37 an extra long shot of a moon is shown and by 0:39 graphic match is used and the moon becomes the sun. This gradually tilts down to reveal an extra long, high angle shot of a large area of houses. This continues to tilt down and becomes a birds eye view shot of a park in a field by 0:58.This already gives the audience a feel as if someone higher up or from a different place is watching the people in the park.

After this a medium, camera angle shot of a field is shown which partly tracks people in the background walking along. This is followed by a dissolve transition which shows a medium shot of a shadow from someone sitting down. This tells the audience how someone is generally sitting down and probably thinking about lots of things in general. The medium close up at 1:20 reveals the character sitting down (Harry Potter) to us and from the serious look on his face you can see how he is thinking. Having a medium close up is the best shot for this as it isn't too close but it's close enough for the audience to see his facial expression clearly.

Various shots including close ups, long shots, point of view shots are used. As well as this shot reverse shot is used. A detailed account of these shots and when they come in can be seen on the edit timeline I drew in a slightly later post. Having a variety of all these shots is good as it makes the opening seem more interesting and gives the audience a variety of different things to focus on to reveal a narrative.

The opening scene ends with a medium shots that tracks the unusual being getting away quickly at the end of the scene. By quickly tracking this being it shows where it is going and is effective as it makes the audience feel as though they are more in the action of the shot and feel more involved, therefore being more engaged.

Film Openings - Harry Potter and The Order Of The Phoenix (Titles) // Research

Grey Warner Bros. Ident

The titles that are shown includes the Warner Bros. Pictures ident and the title of the film. The Warner Bros. Pictures ident looks generally how the ident usually looks however it has been changed to a grey, more sinister colour to fit in with the dark clouds around it. It appears on the screen by appearing from the centre in the background and slowly coming towards the camera and then going past (it almost feels like it's going through) the camera. This ident is on the screen for 18 seconds which is quite a long time but it makes sure the audience is familiar with the ident and it builds up atmosphere as it takes a long time for the film to actually start. The music begins to come in as the ident leaves the framing. The next title we can see is at 0:23. It appears in the same way and is the title of the film; 'Harry Potter and The Order Of The Phoenix'. The typography of this writing is the iconic font that is always used in Harry Potter films and the colour of it is grey like the ident shown before. It is on the screen for 14 seconds. In the background when it is being shown there are lots of grey clouds and incidental music is being played while the title is shown.




Harry Potter iconic font

Film Openings - Harry Potter and The Order Of The Phoenix (Representation) // Research

Characters/Social Groups

Harry wearing regular clothes

The first main character properly shown is a medium close up at 1:18 where a boy (Harry Potter) is sitting on a swing. He is wearing a casual, plain t-shirt which shows he is not portraying any feminine traits of wearing pretty clothes. He also has a fairly tidy hair cut and glasses (as he probably needs them) which enforces the archetypal male as he is practical. The fact that he is wearing regular clothes and glasses would make the audience see him as just a normal kid who is on a swing thinking about various things. The audience may even feel sorry for him as he is at a park but does not appear to be with any friends. He doesn't wear any make up that is obvious or makes him look girly however he is likely to be wearing film make up that is used in higher budget films like this.

At 1:13 other passing characters are shown in the park who are wearing regular clothes and have a normal English accent. This shows that other people were in the park but in the shot they leave so they didn't stay there for long. It is a stereotypical situation as the mother tells the kid how it's 'time to go home' and the kid responds with 'do we have to?'. This tells the audience that this park is a fun place to go to and people enjoy spending their time there.

At 1:30 a group of youths are shown wearing baggy, casual 'gangster' clothing. Their body language enforces how they are a gang as they all tend to fidget about and they stay together. As with Harry, it doesn't look like they are wearing make up but they are probably wearing film make up. The accent of the main gangster has an English accent but his speech is a bit slower and it sounds a bit like he has some sort of lisp. This makes him seem as though he's a bit slower than the other characters. The rest of the gang don't really speak up much themselves and tend to just all agree with the leader (Dudley). This enforces the idea in the audience's mind how Dudley may be a bit of a trouble maker and he always has a gang around him to back him up as he may not be able to stand up for himself so much.

Settings/Locations

There are 3 main locations in this opening scene. The first being in the sky when the titles are shown. This is very dark and simply has lots of grey clouds around as the titles are shown.



Worn out round-a-bout and slide in park

The second main location is the park that is located on the outskirts of a town (or maybe large village). The place with all the housing that can be seen in the establishing shot at 0:47 seems very urban however as the camera tilts down you can see quite a few rural fields in which the park is situated. The weather is very pleasant and sunny but rather windy and the park at first appears to be a little busy but soon becomes quite empty. The swing set, slide and roundabout in the park appear to look a little old and worn which gives quite a creepy effect as if the park has been there for a long time. However, the park does look quite tidy as there is no rubbish chucked about anywhere. At 2:21 the weather of the setting changes and turns more windy and less sunny, from an audience's point of view it would seem like a storm is approaching. As this has happened after Harry got his wand out and pointed it to Dudley the audience would assume Harry made the weather change and they may view him as someone who fights their own battles and is strong. This engages the audience because they become curious as to whether Harry made the weather change or not.

The third main location is the subway that is shown at 3:01. This is very urban and is empty when they first arrive. There are several lights along the subway and it looks quite damp and there's graffiti on the walls showing it's a place where gangsters may hang out and vandalise.

Sound

The sound at the beginning of the opening is non diegetic incidental music which would be part of the soundtrack of the movie and really starts the film off with a good, haunting atmosphere. As well as this the link to this theme being the 'Harry Potter' film theme tune really lets the audience know what to expect and look forward to what Harry Potter will get up to in this film. At 0:53 diegetic radio sound comes in which tells the audience how hot it is at the moment and how it is expected to get even hotter. This fades out at 1:09. At various points dialogue is exchanged and throughout most of the opening there is incidental music which really sets the scene and tells the audience how something is going to happen. For example when the diegetic radio sound is playing there is non diegetic incidental music in the background that is quite eerie and foreshadows a possibly eerie event that will occur. Various diegetic, ambient sounds can be heard throughout and this makes the whole scene seem more real and provides audio continuity between shots.

Creating Mood/Atmosphere

I doubt any artificial lighting is used in this scene as it is all outside and natural light is available. There are however use of filters as from 0:41 to 2:20 the scene looks very sunny and this could have been mainly because it was actually sunny but this would have been greatly enhanced by adding a bright filter over the top to make the scene seem very sunny. You can see this great contrast in filters at 2:21 when the filters dissolve into each other and change from the bright filter to a much darker, blue filter. This gives of a creepy, spine-chilling atmosphere. On the left the contrast in filters can be seen.

As well as this the incidental music played a lot throughout creates a creepy mood as it accompanies the unusual events that happen in the scene. The diegetic ambient sounds (e.g the wind) create an intense mood as when they are running it's like the wind is chasing them and they have to go really fast or else something bad will happen. This really engages the audience as it puts them on the edge of their seat to see what will happen to the characters.




Film Openings - Harry Potter and The Order Of The Phoenix (Background Information & Narrative) // Research

Background Information:

Harry Potter and The Order Of The Phoenix (2007)
Director: David Yates
Studio: Heyday Films
Success?
 -Box Office: $939,885,929
 -Awards:
    -European Film Awards, Won, Best Film (2008)
    -BAFTA Awards, Nominated, Best Production Design (2008)
         and many more..

Narrative:

The opening scene starts with the 'Warner Bros. Pictures' ident and then the Harry Potter title. Accompanying this is the iconic Harry Potter music. A high angle establishing shot is shown of a mainly urban (but slightly rural as fields are in the distance) area. We are then brought to a park where a close up of a boy (Harry Potter) is sitting on a swing. He then talks to another boy who is with a group of friends. The mood of the scene quickly changes from quite bright to suddenly dark and creepy as the boy winds up Harry Potter. The boy's group of friends soon run away as they are scared leaving Harry Potter and the boy to run and try and escape the unusual change of weather. They then enter a subway where they are found by unusual creatures that try and attack them. The scene ends with Harry saving both him and the boy by using magic and the unusual creature flying away.

Film Openings - Once (Media Language) // Research

Woman standing on left hand side in foreground

The opening scene starts with a completely black screen and the diegetic music of the man busking comes straight in. At 0:02 the words 'Glen Hansard' fade in in the bottom left corner of the screen. This stays for around 4 seconds then as it fades out the words 'Marketa Irglova' fade in on the right hand side of the screen. They also stay for around 4 seconds and then fade out leaving the screen black. At 0:13 it cuts to an extra long shot of the man busking on the street. The camera taking this shot appears to be handheld as the shot is a little shaky. This is probably done on purpose as the film is independent and they want to make it seem more real. At 0:17 we can see the 'c' for the word 'once' slides down from the centre of the top of the screen going towards the middle. At 0:20 the letters 'o' and 'e' slide from the left and right hand side going towards the centre. At 0:22 the 'n' appears, sliding up from the bottom of the screen. By 0:23 these letters have come together to make the word 'once'. This word fades out at 0:26 as the busker begins to sing. The man continues singing and the shot stays the same. At 1:16 the camera begins to move forward getting closer to the main subject of the shot (the man busking). By 1:29 this shot has become a long shot as the camera has got a lot closer. The camera continues to go closer in and is a medium shot at 1:40. By now we are close enough to the man to see what he looks like. At 1:46 the shot has gone in even closer and is a medium close up. This starts to zoom out by 2:22 and becomes a medium shot. As he finishes the song the camera zooms out even more and by 2:31 the back of a woman is revealed on the left hand side in the foreground. At 2:33 she claps showing that she enjoyed the performance. The scene ends with the man nodding at the woman showing he appreciates her clapping. This makes the audience wonder what will happen next and whether dialogue will be exchanged between these two people.



Film Openings - Once (Titles) // Research

A few simple titles are shown in this film opening. The information shown is the names of the actors/actresses of the two main characters and then the title of the film which is 'Once'. The typography of the writing is simple and the colour is white. This particularly stands out at the start in front of a black background. The actors/actresses names appear by fading in then fading out. The 'Once' title comes in by each letter of the word coming from a different side of the shot (top, bottom, left and right) and then the whole word coming together to spell 'Once.' The font of the word once is slightly different to the font used before. This is probably done to make it stand out more to the viewers. When this is happening the main is in the background busking. There is the diegetic sound of the man busking when these titles appear.

The 'once' title.

Film Openings - Once (Representation) // Research

Characters/Social Groups

The character shown in this opening scene is a male wearing a coat and scarf which gives annotations of practicality making him agree with the archetypal masculine role as he would rather be warm and practical then wear really smart clothes that aren't warm. In a film you would usually expect a woman character to agree with the archetypal feminine role whereas in this case the woman shown at the end doesn't. She is also wearing (by the looks of it) a warm coat which makes her subvert the archetypally feminine role as she values being warm over wearing pretty clothes. No make up can be seen in this shot and the accent cannot completely be relied upon as the man is singing and people often change their accents when they sing. This man is shown on a large, empty street busking and the fact that it is empty for most of the scene maybe shows how he is a lost soul and hasn't found where he belongs as he is performing in a place with no one around to appreciate his music.

Settings/Locations



A man busking by two shops and a bin

The only location shown is an urban, empty street in a city somewhere (the exact location is not obvious in the opening). On the street two shops are either side of the frame in the background and these shops look like cheap clothing, high street shops which implies that the man is busking in a not so great area of wherever he is. In addition to this there is a couple of bins in front of the shop on the left and as he is very close to these bins it's almost like he is like garbage as the only place he can busk is by the bins. However the street doesn't appear to have any rubbish on it (probably because there are massive bins so close by) so he does get to busk in quite a clean area. The props used are the guitar and the man's guitar case. The guitar is an icon of musicality and the guitar case open in front of him shows how the man would like money from passers by as he's playing music. This suggests to the audience that the man could be quite poor and have to busk for a bit of extra cash.

Sound

The only sound heard throughout is the diegetic sound of the man busking; singing one song. This creates quite a chilled out atmosphere and the audience can see that he is quite an emotional character as his feelings are expressed in a song which the audience would assume is an original as it is not recognisable.

Creating Mood/Atmosphere

No artificial lighting is used in this scene. There is lighting probably from the street and also from the shops by the man. I do not think any filters are used either as the colours look very realistic and it is an independent film so they would most likely want it to have a social-realism style and seem realistic. The mood it establishes as I said before is quite chilled out but it also provokes thought to the audience as they wonder who this man is and what he does.

Film Openings - Once (Background Information & Narrative) // Research

Background Information:

Once (2006)
Director: John Carney
Studio:
 -Samson Films
Success?
 -Box Office: $20,710,513
 -Awards:
    -Central Ohio Film Critics Association, Won, Best Score (2008)
    -British Independent Film Awards, Nominated, Best Foreign Independent Film (2007)
     and more..

Narrative:

The opening scene starts with a guitar being played coming in, some titles appearing on the screen and then it cuts to an extra long shot of a man playing a guitar (which is the guitar sound the audience could hear from the start) and singing. What I like about this opening is how it's so simple and doesn't establish much of a storyline at all at the beginning. The only information it feeds to the audience is how one of the main characters is a man who busks on the street and is singing a song about some sort of relationship/emotions he is feeling. The opening scene ends with one woman clapping as he's finished the song and this leaves the audience wondering who this woman is and what will happen between the two of them.

Film Openings - Manhattan (Media Language) // Research

The opening scene begins with an establishing shot of part of the Manhattan skyline. Various similar shots follow this showing the different, but similar architecture. This shows the extent of buildings in Manhattan and establishes to the audience that this film is based in a city.



Manhattan: empty and still

Later on long shots and extra long shots of the inner parts of the city are shown showing people and events going on giving the city more of a character and life. These shots vary from being very busy to very still. This mirrors Manhattan in the sense that some places are full of life while others are just there, still.




Manhattan: crowded and full of life

From 1:58 to 2:14 lots of extra long shots are used which really shows the extent of how big and magnificent Manhattan is. Followed by this are more long and extra long shots of Manhattan now in the dark giving the audience an impression of what it is like in the evenings/night. The camera is held completely still in all shots with one exception at 2:37 where the camera is moving with a car to make the audience feel as if they are in the car experiencing Manhattan from a person's point of view. The fact that this shot is tilting up and down continuously emphasises the feeling of the audience being in a car as the road may be quite bumpy.

From 2:55 onwards extra long shots of fireworks as shown which really portrays the beauty of Manhattan as the light that fills the shots are just the fireworks and the small lights coming from each individual window of the various buildings/skyscrapers. The opening ends with the final firework being shot and the music finishing.

Film Openings - Manhattan (Titles) // Research

No clear titles are shown in this opening. The only one I can point out is at 0:19 when a vertical  (what appears to be white) sign of 'Manhattan' is being shown in the centre of the shot and is slowly flashing. This writing is all in capital letters which makes it stand out more and it appears on the screen for 6 seconds. The lights of the sign are on for about 3 of those seconds. Around this title is the side of the building the sign is attached to on the left and some more architecture on the right. There is a sign to the left of it that is very similar but instead it says 'Parking'. This reminds the audience how Manhattan is an ordinary, real place with normal things for everyday people like parking. The non-diegetic sound that is heard throughout the whole opening and is playing while this title is being shown. Just after this shot of the sign finishes being shown the voice over comes in which heavily implies that it is meant to be a title of the movie and not just a random sign. However, I don't think this sign was purposefully built for this film and it was more likely that the director had seen that sign and wanted to film it to show the title of the film instead of using some titles on the screen that aren't so directly connected to Manhattan.

Manhattan sign/title

Film Openings - Manhattan (Representation) // Research

Characters/Social Groups

Scruffy workers staring at the professional woman

Throughout the opening scene no specific main characters are shown. Instead, various long and medium shots of regular people walking in the street are shown. The costumes of these people go from one extreme to another. Some people are construction workers wearing scruffy, old, worn clothes whereas others look like they are from a higher class and are wearing expensive clothes. The scruffy clothes show how those extras in the scene are not very wealthy while the higher class woman wearing expensive clothes shows connotations of power which subverts the archetypal image of women who are usually powerless and passive.  This contrast can easily be seen in the picture here. From this still we can also see the workers are staring at the woman passing by which shows their fascination for this powerful and attractive woman. The fact that they are staring also could show how they are inferior to her and look up to her which emphasises the contrast between the two social classes.

No obvious make up can be seen looking at the characters from this far away as the video isn't in great quality and mainly long and medium shots are used so you don't really see people's faces that clearly.

The only voice heard in the opening scene is a voice over. This voice over has a New York accent which is typical as Manhattan is in New York. The way the voice over talks makes it sound like what he's saying is his train of thought (stream of consciousness) and the words he uses are cleverly put together and really create an idea of the person the voice over is talking about. This stream of consciousness gives the audience the impression that the voice over is pretty relaxed as he happily stumbles over his words and strives to say things in a better way. This really engages the audience as it makes them curious to hear what he's thinking. As well as this as he says 'Chapter 1' at the start and each time he decides to start what he's saying again which strongly suggests to the audience that he may be writing some kind of book or is simply setting off the story that will be the film the audience will see. However, I think he is more likely to be writing a book as it wouldn't make sense for him to stumble over his words for a film that was already made and is about to be played (after the opening scene).

The location that is shown as the voice over is played is the name of the film; Manhattan. This suburb of New York is shown in an interesting way as again, with characters, contrasts in the city are shown. From a busy street to large skyscrapers, this really gives the audience a perspective of the different parts of the location.

Settings/Locations



Grand architecture

A montage of shots from Manhattan is shown, this is an urban area with busy and empty parts. As so many views and shots of it are shown for a short amount of time the viewer doesn't get the chance to look at the smaller details giving the impression that the director didn't think they are very important for the opening of the film. The mise en scene of the shots throughout show mainly a tidy, but sometimes expensive and sometimes cheap looking Manhattan. The expensive areas are shown in the grand architecture and the extent of it. While the 'cheaper' looking Manhattan is when markets/shops are shown that look quite busy and compact (not luxurious).


Busy market

Sound

The opening has a non diegetic piece playing almost entirely throughout. On top of this is a voice over which comes in at 0:22. As I've said before this voice over is like a steam of consciousness. The piece of music playing is called 'Rhapsody in Blue' and is by George Gershwin, an America composer who is mentioned in the voice over. Having this music by George Gershwin really sets in the audience's minds how the instrumental music can really portray Manhattan in a good way. At 1:58 the music suddenly builds in dynamics and has a much stronger sound. At this point the voice over has finished and various extra long shots of the Manhattan skyline are shown. Some have the sun in the background peeking through the buildings which really adds a nice touch to the framing as it makes the place seem more magnificent. The dynamics increasing in the music really impacts greatly on the mood given off as the audience can only be stunned by what they are hearing and listening. It sets them on their way to only know that it is very likely the storyline will be set in Manhattan and is about someone who lives in Manhattan.

Creating Mood/Atmosphere

No lighting is used in this opening as the shots are simply a montage of locations in Manhattan so they don't need any artificial lighting. The whole opening is in black and white which makes the city seem more old fashioned, in a good way and romanticises the whole area. I think having black and white really gives off a feeling of nostalgia and how the 'good old days' were better. As well as this I think some shots look nicer in black and white instead of having all the colours that would be seen. This feeling of nostalgia is enhanced by the non diegetic music played throughout.

Film Openings - Manhattan (Background Information & Narrative) // Research

Background Information:

Manhattan (1979)
Director: Woody Allen
Studio:
 - N/A
Success?
 -Box Office: $39,946,780
 -Awards:
    -British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Won, Best Screenplay
    -Academy Awards, Nominated, Best Original Screenplay
    and more..

Narrative:

The opening scene starts with an establishing shot of part of the Manhattan skyline. Briefly after this music begins to come in and as it continues various iconic shots of Manhattan are shown. A voice over is played over the montage of videos of Manhattan and the music. This voice over is describing a person in great detail, but the voice of the voice over is also stumbling over their words and rethinking them to say them in the best possible way he can. It establishes the beginning of a storyline of a man in Manhattan. I can easily see this from the montage of shots and the voice over speaking so passionately about different aspects of Manhattan and how this person being spoken about is connected to Manhattan. The voice over finishes as the music builds and shows more shots of Manhattan.

Film Openings - The Shining (Media Language) // Research

The opening scene begins with the Warner Bros. Pictures ident fading in from a black screen at 0:02, this lasts for 9 seconds and then fades out leaving a black screen.



Canted (oblique) framing used

This is almost immediately followed by an establishing, long shot of a lake with mountains either side of it. This shot moves forward tracking a small part of land in the middle of the lake. Canted framing is then used as the shot moves past the island, this creates an effect as if someone or something is flying over the scene.
 At 0:30 this shot dissolves into the next shot which is a long, aerial shot showing a winding road surrounded by tall trees. The lake is still shown on the left which tells the audience how we are still in the same surroundings as the shot before. In this shot you can see a car driving along the road establishing to the audience that it is likely one of the main characters is driving this car. The fact that the road is winding and the camera tracks the car makes the journey the car is taking even longer and drawn out.

There are many similar shots of the car on it's journey driving further and further along the road. These shots are particularly long and not edited together in a very fast way. When two shots fade into each other the fade is particularly slow possibly to emphasise time going by as if you look carefully you can see that continuity editing is not used as the car is suddenly in a different place. This again emphasises the long journey and how the person in the car is getting further and further away from people, adding an element of tension and worry to the audience as he is likely to be put in a difficult situation and not be able to be helped.

At 2:34 an extra long shot is shown, with the road directly in the middle. From this shot you can see that snow is on the mountain and this makes the audience realise how this person is driving higher up which again emphasises the situation of isolation this character is putting them self in.

At 2:44 it ends on a long shot of a building (possibly a hotel) which suggests to the audience that the film will be set here. The camera moves in slightly closer to the building to slower give the audience a better view of it and see how large and creepy it looks which again adds to the level of suspense as if it's that creepy from the outside it must be even worse on the inside.

Film Openings - The Shining (Titles) // Research

At the start the Warner Bros. Pictures ident appears for about 8 seconds. The titles (in this case credits) don't follow on from this until the point 1:18 where the words 'A Stanley Kubrick Film' scroll up across the middle of the screen. Other information that is shown in the titles include actors/actresses from the film, as well as what the film is called.

The writing is quite a bright, vibrant, light blue colour and is all in capital letters. The font looks quite old fashioned and fairly standard (probably because the film is over 30 years old and there wasn't the range of fonts we have today).

Each part of the titles scroll up in the middle of the screen one after the other and take about 5 seconds to scroll from the bottom of the screen up to past the top of the screen. In the background when they appear there are long shots of various parts of a location being shown and some shots following the car that appears in the opening.

The titles begin to appear when the sound is already playing so the sound playing when the titles appear is the incidental music that can be heard throughout.

'The Shining' - an example of one of the titles shown

Film Openings - The Shining (Representation) // Research

Characters/Social Groups

No characters are shown in this film opening so costume, make up, accents cannot be commented on. A moving car is shown therefore it is likely for a main character to be driving it however as I said this character is not shown at all. As the character appears to be driving on a long, empty road in quite a scenic place you could assume this character is on holiday or is going somewhere for a purpose although these things may not be true.

Settings/Locations

The location shown appears to be a rural, empty, mountainous place with lots of trees (it could be somewhere like Canada), so it's stereotypically where a horror film may be set as those kind of locations can rely on things like mysterious events happening in the woods, etc. as they are so remote which makes the events seem more sinister as not so many people are around to help or save anyone.



A car driving along a dangerous road

The car driving throughout appears to be a Volkswagen Beetle which at the time wasn't a very expensive car. From this I can infer that the character driving it may be poor so is more likely to be driving somewhere for a purpose, possibly a job as he may need more money.

The road the car is driving along at times adds a dangerous feeling as the road has steep drops to the side at points and this adds uncertainty and worry for the audience as it would be easy to crash and fall.



A slightly camouflaged building

The opening scene ends with a long shot of a big house which is a very similar colour to the rest of the mountain. This makes it seem almost camouflaged which could emphasise the idea that if you live here you're very hard to find or send help to. Just from the size of this building you would assume it would be a hotel or some sort of public building.


Sound

The only sound heard throughout is a non diegetic, soundtrack which also acts as incidental music. The atmosphere created is very eerie and spine-chilling. It creates an air of uncertainty as unusual sounds are included that almost sound like someone screaming or animals making noises. The sound revolves around a theme that is heard and played a couple of times. This makes the audience more familiar with the music but also more scared as the melody is sinister. The variety in dynamics and texture create an even bigger atmosphere as at points the music gets louder and more instruments/sounds can be heard. This is almost mirroring the fear in the audience growing as the music does this.

Creating Mood/Atmosphere

I doubt any lighting is used in the opening as it is simply shots of scenery. As well as this as the film is over 30 years old so I doubt any filters were used. In my opinion I don't think not having any filters ruins the creepy mood being portrayed. If anything I believe it adds to it as it makes the location seem more real and normal which could make the audience feel like whatever is going to happen in the film could happen to them. As I mentioned before the incidental music is definitely the key element to creating a haunting effect. The sound effects of people (or maybe animals) screaming and making noises really adds to this as it foreshadows events that could happen in the film again adding tension for the audience as they know they will have to watch these terrifying moments.

From all this I can see that this opening engages the audience in a subtle way as it makes them wonder who is driving the car and what will happen to them.

Film Openings - The Shining (Background Information & Narrative) // Research

Background Information:

The Shining (1980)
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Studio:
 -Peregrine Productions
  -Producers Circle
Success?
 -Box Office: $44,017,374
 -Awards:
    -Saturn Award, Nominated, Best Horror Film
    -Saturn Award, Scatman Crothers, Won, Best Supporting Actor
    and more..

Narrative:

The opening scene starts with an long, establishing shot revealing to the audience a lake with mountains either side of it. This shot is tracking along the scenery moving forward. Various other shots of scenery are shown. Accompanied by this is eerie music which gives a creepy effect. As well as this one of the shots is a birds eye view that appears to be following a car which in turn emphasises the creepy aspect as someone is being followed. This continues for the rest of the opening with various shots of the scenery and the car being followed, the music builds up near the end and a long shot of an almost camouflaged house is shown at the bottom of a mountain. This shot establishes where the film may be located and shows a creepy, large house which again intensifies the creepy aspect. No key storyline is established immediately however a clear scene for the film has been set.

Film Openings - Hot Fuzz (Media Language) // Research

The first shot is an establishing, extra long shot of an empty police station with a man, the protagonist, walking towards the camera. After around 30 seconds this shot becomes a close up as he has walked closer to the camera. Following this is a montage of medium shots, close ups, extreme close ups, and long shots. These are all made more interesting by camera movements such as panning and tracking. For example at 0:33 there is a close up of the main characters feet walking, followed by medium shot of him still walking along which shows his uniform and the forceful way in which he walks makes the audience realise the power he has with that uniform. These two shots also show match on action.

The speed of the editing is very fast making it too much to give a detailed account of every single shot used. However, some quite interesting editing is used as at 0:47-0:48 for less than a second two clips from the same shot are laid over each other making the shot seem busier than it really is and giving the audience this impression of how there is so much going on in the main characters life.


Overlapping shots

The same thing happens at 1:42 when extreme close ups of him putting hand cuffs on people are shown. This makes him seem very powerful and successful as he's caught many criminals.

The opening ends on a close up of a Father Christmas stabbing a knife into the main character's hand. At 1:52 the action shot of the wound is stopped, by freeze-framing the video so it becomes a still image and then the image fades out. The way they've edited it to make the video stop just as he was being wounded and then stay on that picture for a bit makes the audience again see how much of a good police man he is and how he is very brave and will do anything for his job.

Film Openings - Hot Fuzz (Titles) // Research

The titles begin to appear at 0:10 where is says 'Universal Pictures Presents'. The other titles displayed are 'In Association with Studio Canal', 'A Working Title Production' and 'In Association with Big Talk Productions.' All titles fade in and out and stay there for around 3 seconds one after the other. The style of writing is quite bold and it is a font where, or they have decided to make, all the letters capitals. This makes the titles stand out more in front of the background of the inside of the empty police station with the man walking towards the camera. The colour of the font is white with a black shadow effect around the edge of each letter. There is no sound when the titles appear. Usually at the start of a film idents would be shown but in this case they have just used a simple font and made the titles quite subtle probably since it is a Working Title Production which is an independent film company and they therefore don't need to make a bit thing out of where/who the film has been made by.

An example of one of the titles shown

Film Openings - Hot Fuzz (Representation) // Research

Characters/Social Groups

Throughout the opening scene the main character is shown wearing various uniforms (mostly police uniforms but also training uniforms, cycling gear, and other plain clothes for activities like chess and running).




Nicholas Angel wearing police gear

His police uniform appears most throughout and varies as props like protective shields and headgear are added when he is shown doing dangerous activities. This often appearance of the police uniform emphasises his power and represents him to be a stereotypically strong, confident and ideal policeman to have at a police station near you. The extras throughout the opening are never properly focused on but you can see they are wearing the same things as the main character, Nicholas Angel. This shows Nicholas surrounds himself with people who have the same aspirations as him but as he is the main focus throughout he must be much better than all the other people. As well as this some citizens are shown wearing normal, everyday clothes showing that Nicholas talks to regular people and cares about looking after all citizens. The contrast of the police uniform next to the citizens regular clothes also emphasises his power as you can see how more important he looks.

Nicholas Angel does not wear any obvious make up throughout the opening scene which gives an image of an archetypal male as he does not enhance his looks and instead focuses on more practical, physical things to make him more dominant and powerful. His hair is also short and practical which would be expected for a policeman.

The only voice heard throughout is the main character's (Nicholas Angel's). His accent is British but not in an obvious, stereotypical way and more of a realistic, social-realism way (as the actor, Simon Pegg, is actually British so he does not need to put on an accent).

Nicholas is shown in many locations all associated with the police training and work he is doing. This makes the audience see how he spends a lot of his time in places doing things for his job which as I said before makes him seem like an ideal policeman. The locations themselves are pretty typical and don't look like sets which enforces how it has more of a realistic style as the opening doesn't make things out to look better than they are.

Settings/Locations




A conveniently quiet road

Nicholas Angel is shown in many settings throughout the opening scene including offices, training academies, classrooms, and many more. However, the scenes are rarely notable or important as the main focus the entire time is Nicholas Angel. The locations vary from busy training centres to a fairly quiet road near a car park to conveniently film him showing his 'advanced driving' and 'advanced cycling'. All these locations appear to be urban as he is in offices a lot and when he is on a race track running (at 1:24 in the video clip) you can see blocks of flats and other buildings in the background which suggest he lives in an urban area.







Location: A police station

It's hard to pin point certain details in the shots in this opening as they are all so fast moving and change quickly from one location to another. The audience doesn't really get a chance to micro analyse many scenes and see what is in them. By micro analysing the shots myself I can see that they are fairly basic locations with not much smaller details added to the composition. This reinforces the audience to see Nicholas Angel as the important, powerful protagonist that will almost definitely be the main character in this film. There are exceptions as when he's in a police station you can see office desks and things on the desks in the background but they are blurred and Nicholas Angel is focused on. The mise en scene of this location looks quite expensive and tidy implying that Nicholas Angel has a high up job where appearance of the workplace matters. Although in this scene I don't think it reinforces any reading into the shot (the same goes for all the other shots) as they change so fast and as I've said before the focus is on Nicholas Angel and not the locations themselves.

Sound

At the start of the opening a police siren is heard which I assume is non-diegetic as it immediately fades out. This acts as a sound bridge as it comes at the start of the scene and gives the impression that the police will somehow be involved in this film. After this you hear the diegetic sound of the doors sliding open, this sound slightly echoes which makes the audience realise the location is pretty big and not much else is going on. Diegetic footsteps are heard as the character comes closer and these sound strong and forceful which gives the impression that the character himself will be strong and forceful. To establish the narrative the most dominant sound overall is the non-diegetic, voice over which is the voice of the main character and explains the main character (who he is, where he's from, what he's done, etc.). Non-diegetic, incidental music is played under this voice over and during this time diegetic sounds of what's going on in the scenes can be heard which makes the scenes seem more real and believable. The shots quickly go from one to another very fast and as some of the shots change sound effects are used which tend to be a 'swooping' sound. Very little dialogue is heard and diegetic sounds are used throughout but tend to be exaggerated. For example at 0:55 when Nicholas Angel is ticking the correct answers on a question paper you can very easily hear the sound of the pen on the paper. Usually this sound wouldn't be that loud especially over all the other sounds going on but in this case it is as it emphasises his power and how easily he can get the correct answers.

Creating Mood/Atmosphere

At first quite low key lighting is used and it gives an impression of back lighting as the character walking towards the camera is almost a silhouette. However, this effect fades as he gets closer and we can see him more clearly. To me it doesn't look like any lighting is used in the rest of the opening however it is very likely that some high key lighting is used just to improve the general lighting of the various shots. No obvious filters are used whereas a grey filter could have been used in places to make the shots seem more British and real. The incidental music gives an up beat mood to the character implying he is likely to be the protagonist in the film. At the beginning the use of silence (except for the footsteps) makes the atmosphere tense as you do not know who's walking towards you and why. Overall I think all these things establish quite a light-hearted, jolly feel to a police officers life so far with the added humour in the voice over and dialogue to make the audience like the character or even slightly warm to him.

Film Openings - Hot Fuzz (Background Information & Narrative) // Research

Background Information:

Hot Fuzz (2007)
Director: Edgar Wright
Studio:
 -Studio Canal
 -Working Title Films
 -Big Talk Productions
Success?
 -Box Office: $80,736,657
 -Awards:
     -Empire Awards, UK (2008) Won, Best Comedy
     -National Movie Awards, UK (2007) Won, Best Comedy
    and more..

Narrative:

The opening scene starts with a long shot that establishes the scene showing a man, the protagonist, walking towards the camera. The way this man walks with meaning and in a strong way suggests he has power and is an important character. This man walks so close that the composition becomes a close up and the man reveals his identity by showing his police badge and a voice over coming in introducing himself. This voice over explains who he is, where he comes from and what he's done. A montage of shots show him mainly doing the corresponding things the voice over is saying. Close ups of his uniform emphasises his connotations of power. As well as this the large mixture of shots show how he must be the best, most important police officer as he has done so many things. The serious, but confident expression on his face shows he is aware of this. It ends with him getting wounded by Father Christmas making a negative situation slightly comedic but also showing how he is fearless and will do anything for his job.

Research

An important part of going through the media production process is researching. I am going to research into 5 film opening scenes. I will do detailed analyses of each film opening including background information on the film, the narrative of the opening scene, and thoroughly analysing the representation, sound and titles in the opening.

This will give me a better understanding of how film openings are made and what things I'll need to include or even avoid for the opening of my film.

As a Team or Individually?

From looking at the advantages and disadvantages of working in a group and individually, I have come to the conclusion that I will work in a team with Wilhelmina and Indya. For me I feel this is the best decision as I will be more motivated to do work to a high standard as other people are relying on me and not just myself. As well as this we have ideas that complement each other for the opening of a movie and I am sure we will work great as a team.

Let the research begin!

The Advantages & Disadvantages of Working Individually

I have also decided to think about the advantages and disadvantages of working individually as that is also an option for me.

Advantages:

-You can do things at your own pace in the order you choose to.
-There is no conflict between ideas as you get to decide what you want to do.
-You don't have to rely on other people to get things done in time.
-There are fewer distractions meaning more work will get done.

Disadvantages:

-Larger individual work load.
-Possibly less ideas as haven't got people to brainstorm with.
-You can't rely on anyone's support in your team as you are alone.
-It could be easier to put yourself off doing work as there is no one there to encourage you.

The Advantages & Disadvantages of Working in a Group

For my main production task I have the choice of working individually or in a group. This is a big decision and to help me decide I am going to think of advantages and disadvantages of working in a group.

Advantages:

-You can bounce ideas off each other for the main production video.
-You can rely on others for support and encouragement to do media work.
-The work load is shared as a group of people are making 1 opening to a movie.
-People can contribute more to things they are best at ensuring the final product is of the highest standard.
-You can share your experience of producing a movie opening with others.

Disadvantages:

-People may fall behind meaning you cannot go further until they've caught up.
-People may rely too heavily on others in the group and not feel the need to get work done if others are doing it.
-Roles may be spread unfairly leaving someone out, someone taking over the whole group or in general people not contributing fairly and evenly.
-It may be harder to prove you've done enough work and show the journey in making the video if other people are contributing to it.
-You may disagree on things creating a bad work environment.

The Do's and Don'ts of the Main Production Task

Here is a list of the do's and don'ts I will follow during my main production task.

Do's:
-Work with people who I will get on with.
-Do lots of research into other thriller openings.
-Come up with plently of creative ideas.
-Plan ahead actors, script, setting etc. (mise en scene) before filming.
-Be a perfectionist (to a certain extent), do things to the best of my ability.
-Do all planning needed (e.g storyboard) so filming is smooth and we know what kind of shots (e.g MCU) we want.
-Record all my progress and post regularly on my blog.
-Frame all shots properly (think about the rule of thirds).
-Follow and use the 180 degree rule, match on action and other good filming/editing techniques.
-Be aware of lighting and how it changes the effect of a scene.
-Use a tripod and a high quality camera when filming (unless we decide to have a
shakey shot or poor quality at points for effect).

Don'ts:
-Leave things to the last minute.
-Cast bad or time wasting actors/actresses.
-Rush into production without enough planning.
-Rely on others in the group to get things done.
-Film in an area where you do not have permission.
-Film people/objects who are not meant to be in the shot (e.g don't film yourself filming through something reflective unless it is intentional).
-Don't shoot more than is needed as it then becomes more time consuming when editing.

Evaluation of the Preliminary Task

Here is my evaluation of the 'Introducing Jimmy' preliminary task I completed, enjoy and why not watch in HD!

p.s I say logic pro quite a few times instead of final cut express sorry I got confused and said the wrong software!

Digging Deeper Day - Continuity Task (Introducing Jimmy) - With Music & Titles/Credits // Preliminary Task Complete

To improve our video even more we decided to add titles and credits to it. We chose to do both as we believe both are as important as each other. To do this we opened LiveType and created the suitable text through that, saved it and then imported it into Final Cut Express and put it on our video.
For the colour of the text we chose white as it is a simple colour that does not clash with anything in the shot and for the title we chose quite a quirky font as the character Jimmy is meant to be quite silly. We decided to scroll the credits as it is quicker than showing each name separately and we believe it suited our video more.
This is the final, completed version of our preliminary task and I believe it has really helped us work as a team to produce a short clip and follow basic rules (match-on action, etc.).

Digging Deeper Day - Continuity Task (Introducing Jimmy) - With Music // Preliminary Task

As the first draft of our preliminary video was quite bare we decided it was right to include things put in the post production stage of the film process. To start with we added music.  We began by going on YouTube and finding music that we thought fitted the video. We put the music at the start of the clip to set a mood and create an atmosphere, it then faded out, dialogue was exchanged and the music fades back in as Jimmy is about to reveal his name. I think having music improves our movie as it fills the time where there is no sound and as I said before it creates tension and a good atmosphere.