Film Opening Extra Work - Black Swan

In the opening scene of Black Swan, it starts of with the credits like any other opening scene. However with the credits they were not the Logos, it was just the name or the Production and Distribution companies. It then shows the title of the film, Black Swan. Straight after the title it introduces the main character and from then on the film starts. The opening scene is not a typical opening of a film, it does not have the credits of the main characters

  The first print screen shows the name of production and distribution which is Fox Searchlight Pictures, it then shows other companies that also helped which is in the first print screen and the second.

 After the Production and Distribution logos the title of the film appeared.

After the title of the film, the film introduces its main character Nina Sayers played by Natalie Portman. The opening scene does not show any credit to the actors who play the main characters unlike other film openings.

Film Opening Extra Work - Jeepers Creepers 2

SS1

SS2

In Jeepers Creepers the opening seqsuence shows three logo's for company's. The third logo is owned by MGM produciton company. All of these titles are edited to fade through to one another. (shown opposite in screen shots: SS1, SS2, SS3)


This then goes straight into the opening sequence without any credits shown yet. The first screen shown is plain black with plain, bold, white writing in the center of the screen.

SS3

                                                     The writing here reads 'Ever 23rd Spring', 'For 23 Days', 'It Gets 

SS4

To Eat'. This writig is shown as plain, bold, white and in hte center of a black screen, this clearly shows the spectator the importance of these opening words. No opening credits have been shown yet which was quite unexpected. From the creepy words 'It Gets To Eat' the background from black, fades into a high saturated picture showing a corn field.



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This setting is intentianally very dull coloured and edited to a very high saturated level. All of these opening parts are done almost to extremes.

















After the opening reveals the logo's and the text, the film then shows the first picture. This picture is edited to look very saturated with intense colour. It shows a cornfield. This holds for a few seconds before panning around the whole field as it comes to a stop, words appear in the same bold plain white writing 'Day 22'. The first character then comes into the frame, bringing the opening to life.

Research On Film Openings

The Dark Knight (2008)

I chose to research the opening sequence to this film because although it is not a thriller, it has many of the conventions of a good opening.

Although the audience are not shown the title of the film until later, the familiar 'batman' logo is created out of an explosion at the beginning as an introduction. This follows usual the appropriate production and distribution labels.

One of the ways that  draws in the audience is that it opens with an establishing shot to immediately set the scene of New York and the the time of day. It slow zooms in after it does this, but meanwhile sound also plays an important factor because the noise of a clock ticking creates the intended sense of urgency within the audience.

The main supporting character of the joker is shown to the audience through a long shot of his backwhich slowly zooms in to his mask, but the mystery is kept when all of the bank robbers have masks on. It creates a sense of intrigue as they all discuss who they think "The Joker" is and keeps the audience on the tips of their toes.

EXTRA RESEARCH ON FILM OPENINGS

THE TOWN (2010)

The reason i chose to look into the opening of The Town is because it is one of my favourite films. Although it's an action film and not a thriller it still shares some similar opening conventions e.g.
   

Production/Distribution Logos



• Name of the film

• Extra graphics

• Action that hooks the audience

The killers scene

When filming The Killers opening shot by shot

Story Board for The Killers

New Year's Eve Opening Scene

The opening scene of New Year's is very similar to a classic opening however instead of getting a wide angle shot of the city scape then having cuts gradually closer. It started of with shots of the city, so buildings and roads. So the city through a person eye's (point of view shots.) It then has a narrator telling the basic story of the film, which is new years eve day when everyone gets together to watch the ball drop. After the narrator finishes talking the title of the film appears.

My short review on New Years Eve.

New Years Eve is a romance/comdey, however there were not many laughs to the film. Also with the love story it was easily predictable. There were also many stars in this film that it felt like a Hollywood casting office. This film was a jumble of story lines that somehow crashes together in the end. 

Shot Practice

LONG SHOT 

We used the camera to show a long shot of someone walking. We made sure to get in a full body to show that this is a long shot.

WIDE ANGLE SHOT

We chose to do this frame to show a wide angle shot. 

POINT OF VIEW

These two shots were used to create a point of view shot for the viewer. We used two shots for this as we wanted to get the person looking down and then a shot of what they were seeing. 

MEDIUM CLOSE UP

EXTREME CLOSE UP

TWO SHOT

LOW ANGLE SHOT 

SHOT REVERSE SHOT

Health and Safety Tutorial

Before any practical work we had to figure out how to use the professional cameras. As a class we had a health and safety tutorial. In the tutorial we were introduced to the camera, tripod, battery and memory card. We learnt  the functions of the camera how to insert the battery and memory card as well as take out. We also learnt how to secure the camera onto the tripod without damaging it and different settings (auto or manual)

In the tutorial we also learnt the rule of thirds this is so we know how the spacing of the frame should be. So the subject should not be to far left or right, above or below.

Important notices

• The camcorder have to be taken care of and used safely. The whole group is responsible for all the equipment.
•  Return all equipment on time so other groups may use the equipment.

Conventions of film openings.

In the opening of films they will consist of:

• Name of the film
• Name of the cast and director 
• Productions and distribution logos.
• Graphics
• Music/Soundtrack
• Action that hooks the audience

For example we viewed the opening of Psycho. The opening scene starts of with the Logo of the production and distribution which is Paramount.

It then moves on to the name of the Director which Alfred Hitchcock which is shown using graphics to create a sense of the genre for the spectator. It does this by using black and white, capital letters and bold font. 

In the same way the title of the film is also shown. The text is also bang in the middle which also keeps the audience attention. After the name of the film there are credits of the cast and crew with the same sort of graphics.

Soon after all the credits, the film begins with a establishing shot which shows where the film take place. In Psycho it also tells the date and time of the film which is Friday 11th December 2:43 pm.

After the establishing shot that pans across the city, the camera then cuts to a shot of buildings, to the window then to the two characters. This is where the movie begins to hook the audience.

This is a classic opening for a film as it tells the audience the location of the film and the main characters and what they do.

What are the conventions of film openings?

These are the necessities to make a good film opening:

Introduction of the film name

usually with effective and relevant font and graphics.

Establishing shot

these immediately bring the audience into the scene by setting the time and place. These can also set the atmosphere of the film straight away. An example of this is in the beginning of The Shining where we are immediately shown the mountains where the story takes place.

Credits/names and production/distribution company

These are used to credit the actors/directors/producers  and other most important members in the production of the film, as well as the companies that funded the creation of it. (The others are usually stated in the ending credits.) Usually, like the title, in effective font or graphics.

Introduction of main characters

through a shot that immediately allows the audience to become familiar with him/her. An example of this is in The Shining where a steadicam follows the little boy innocently riding his tricycle down the corridors. Just throw this shot the audience can see that he is just a normal, naive little boy.

Acting that hooks the audience

The opening sequence in a film must immediately draw in the audience otherwise they will lose interest in the story before it has even fully began. For example, in Psycho, the story begins with an affair between a woman and a married man. During the 60s, when this film was released, this would have been seen as very scandalous and would have straight away shocked the audience.

Conventions Of Film Openings

• Names of the cast & director
• Name of film
• Production/distribution logos
• Graphics
• Music/Soundtrack
• Action that hooks the audience  

Examples

Psycho (1960) 

How Psycho demonstrates the production/distribution logo in a classic way through the opening.

How Psycho shows the title in the opening; a simple yet bold and eye catching title (colour contrast in background and font).

This is the first insight of action in Psycho that hooks the audiences attention (the time helps set the scene and the man and woman in the hotel bedroom automatically jumps int o the action).

Conventions of Film Openings.

In horror movies, the opening title varies. Many films use the opening title to give an idea to the spectator of what the film is about. For example, in opening titles in films such as psycho;

This screen grab shows how the title of the film is shown. They used this technique and graphics to show the type of film. When put together with opening soundtrack, the spectator knows instantly the genre of film. Also, as the font and colour of the title is bold, in capitals and black and white, you get the idea that this film is a simple storyline with a thriller element to it. The graphics work well with the editing, sound and credits that are introduced in the beginning.

Another example we viewed was a film named Pelham 123. This was a good example which also uses graphics to show the film introducing the main characters as well as showing the opening credits and logo for producers etc. The establishing shots shown in the beginning here, are used well to show the urban side of this movie, it give a good feel to the spectator of where it is set. Editing works well with sound here to show this urban side. In the screen grabs i chose, it shows the urban side they were trying to get across.

In these screen grab it shows the city where it is set and the main character. There is a close up used to show importance of this character.

The screenshot opposite is the one showing the urban side to the film.


Overall, the main conventions for openings of a thriller are:

•  To introduce the main character
• Have credits show up through the opening
• The name of the film needs to be presented
• Logo's for the production company need to be shown
• There needs to be a hook to keep the viewer interested in what is happening.
• The music needs to fit with the genre and fit in with the editing as well.

Extension Exercise - ‘Watching’ Documentary on Film Openings

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS.

1) What does Thomas Sutcliffe mean when he says  “Films need to seduce their audience into long term commitment. While there are many types of seduction, the temptation to go for instant arousal is almost irresistible”?

He means that films need to ease the audience in to the long lasting but spread out action whilst keeping them engaged,  although there are many ways to do this and it can be done at different stages, the temptation to place the action right at the beginning is hard to overcome.

2) According to Director Jean Jacques Beineix, what are the risks of ‘instant arousal’?

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classic opening. establishing shot of new york city (from the east) etc..


UNFINISHED