Ihave gone on YouTube and watched a few examples of opening sequences from films in the same genre as we have decided to do. http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=opening+scene&aq=f&gl=US&hl=uk
The first film opening I watched was Sucker Punch, a drama. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gl2I5exFfM
This opening starts with a voice over as it shows a stage set up to look like a bedroom with a girl with her back to the camera on the bed. As the voice over ends music that fits the mood comes in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDPn4d651zM, there is no dialog in the opening which adds to the atmosphere. The only sounds we hear as an audience are the faded and echoed sound of the girl running and being thrown to the ground or dropping to the ground. When she is running and collapses at the end of the bed is shown it is slow motion creating an upsetting, tense effect. The sounds the audience can hear are diegetic sounds that are amplified by the lack of dialog such as the banging in the door, the gun shot and the light bulb smashing.
There is a large use of pathetic fallacy in the opening for example the rain and lightning or the fire exploding as a bottle of alcohol is thrown in. another example of this is when we see her eye through the locked keyhole, showing she is trapped and helpless. Foreshadowing is also used with the button falling on the flaw either symbolic of the girls life or signifying her being thrown to the ground or what the film is about.
The audience also learn about the characters in the opening sequence through the use of music, it changes when we see the man, presumably the stepdad, suggesting that he is an evil character in the film. The music also changes to suit what is happening in the action part when she is climbing down the side of the house.
The lighting and colours used in the opening sequence are dark and bland. The only visible light sources are fires, dim daylight and a single light bulb. The only colours used are the clothing of the main girl and the lights on the emergency vehicles the rest is faded.
The way the title of the film is shown is very effective with the rain on the window and also reflects the mood of the film and fits the style of the opening. The opening ends with a voice over by the same person as at the start, showing it’s the end of the opening.
Another film I looked at was Blade Runner, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaR5wVL9x2I.
This starts with faint sirens while the audience can’t see anything, there is then background information about the film and the story line. This is shown as credits going up the page, while this is happening music is started. The music used is simple and quiet but gives the effect of mystery.
The month, year and place are shown, still on a black screen, as the film is set in the future.
The audience then see a city lit dimly with thousands of lights, like lights in buildings which seems normal but fire is then blasted into the sky giving the audience the first indication it is set in a different time, apart from being told at the beginning, to show that it is the future we see a couple of flying cars. Up until we see them all the audience have to go on is the background information and a city at night.
The first sign of a character the audience see is the reflection of an explosion in an eye, this shot works well as we can tell they are watching the sky or the cars.
There is the constant image of the city with shots of a silhouette of a man in a room looking out, lasting about 3 seconds. This keeps the identity of the mas secret.
The opening altogether doesn’t tell the audience much except for the information we are given at the very start.
From watching these two opening sequences and some others in lessons I have fond that all opening sequences vary depending on the genre, theme of the film or the director. All of the openings fit their genre because of the music, typography and camera shots. I think that introducing the main character is quite important as it help to inform the audience what the theme of the rest of the film is by their clothing and general appearance.
I also looked on his YouTube link http://www.youtube.com/results?aq=1&search_query=saul+bass+title+sequence&search_type=&hl=uk&gl=US&oq=saul+bass for film openings by Saul Bass.
All of the videos I looked at had quite an interesting choice of music to fit in each film. They each also used animated or drawn pictures instead of for example a human. They used quite clever ways of interpreting the titles and names of the crew. For example they fitted it into the pictures. They are all quite cleverly done as the images all relate to the individual film. These opening sequences are completely different from the other ones we have studied and looked at, for example Blade Runner was mainly the opening location, and the information at the start. Whereas these opening sequences were more upbeat, the music was more acoustic and the whole sequence was animated which I think would draw an audience more.
I also looked at some opening sequences made by previous year 12 groups from other schools.
The opening I watched http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBoSZfiQ5fk is called ‘Private and Confidential’.
I think this opening worked well as they used music the whole way through and didn’t have and other sound. The music they used was a good choice as it fitted in with the genre of the film and what was happening, this made it easy for the audience to work out what was going on even without speech.
They also used good locations, for example the park and the woods. They gave a good feel for what the rest of the film may be like. The way their titles and crew names came up worked well as well and the typography and colours worked well together and also fitted the genre of the film.
They also used good locations, for example the park and the woods. They gave a good feel for what the rest of the film may be like. The way their titles and crew names came up worked well as well and the typography and colours worked well together and also fitted the genre of the film.
They have used lots of different shots but they are quite long and so don’t get all the angles they could have. They have obviously thought about their lighting and the use of pathetic fallacy as they have blurred the lights, but I’m not sure if it was on purpose, and used the evening to film to create the sense of mystery and fright. This mystery is also projected by the fact the audience don’t see the boy’s face until he is attacking her, it makes the audience wonder who he is and what will happen.
They have also been clever with the use of make-up as the blood that is shown is not over the top but looks realistic.
They have also made a continuity mistake with the letter in her pocket as it isn’t there the entire time and only appears when he takes it.
From watching this video from previous years, it has helped me to see what could go wrong, and what could work well. I will ensure we are careful when planning things like our music and camera shots, as we want them to work well and effectively. We want to use a range of camera shots, but also make sure that they fit in with what we are trying to show to the audience.
