first round panning

First round planning

in today’s media studies lesson we started to plan our thriller films, there were many ideas that came to play in our group discussions for example the title that we choose, which is called “LUCID”, we choose this name to be our title because the word is obviously known for being a clear perception and understanding of something which links to our plot as it is very deceptive. The plot is about a man who reads numbers off a device and they indicate who he is supposed to kill. In the opening the audience will establish a house, prop which is the device and the characters. He is pleasant to his family, until the device goes off, at which the point he leaves promptly, taking a knife from the kitchen and kills a young innocent girl.

The genre we decided our opening to be is an action thriller, as it has something to do with death and secrete works; hence the sub genre is action. There are many sounds that will be employed within the thriller such as a Foley (sounds done by editing) such as the sounds of knives and the sound of doors screeching, we will also have a sound track which will be the main base of sound as it would probably be used throughout the action thriller. We will also use environmental sounds, such as sounds of the garden. Of course there would also be a dialogue which is very important (conversation between two or more actors).

There are many things that inspired us as a group to have a plot that is so dramatic, most of this came from the box and the day of the jackai. Our schedule is going to be in Thursday’s lesson.

The locations vary as we have the exterior which is the garden as it is outside and the inferior which is the house/kitchen and bedroom). The props that we are going to use in our film is a knife, device, fake blood and regular clothing that emphasises suspiciousness and raise questions to the viewer.

Storyboard Final Product "LUCID"

this is the story board that we are going to employ
within our action thriller.

This final storyboard can have come changes in the future; in case that the lighting changes or any other inconveniences during the filming.

Ideas

I have being thinking about what kinf of sub-genre we should do for our opening, and after though about it I came with a conlusion which is that the best choices for us to make our opening are the phycological and action sub-genres.

For the phycological I have thought in a sequence that starts with a character looking at a mirror, deeply searching  his eye, while he has some knifes and dangerous props close to him. As the sense of sight its something that everyone is scared of loose this will create tension in the audience as the dangerous staff is near to the character.

For the action sub-genre I was thinking in a sequence that stars with 3 or 4 characters, running in different locations, they are looking good and healthy and then they have a deep breath and they drop on the floor. The sequence will be extremely effective to create suspense as the audience will want to know what have happened to them.

These are my thoughts until now.

Soundtrack Pro

To create the soundtrack for our final product we will use "Soundtrack Pro"

 We had a introduction to the program which its main purpose its to create sound for films, including enviromental music, background music and the foly sound effects. In order to create the soundtrack for the opening we need to get the enviromental music first to used it as a base for other sounds. This has to be carefuly choosen, depending in the location where the sequence was filmed. For instance if we filmed in a park we need some birds instead of people shouting which will be something needed for a sequence in a shopping centre. After we have choosen our enviromental music, we continue choosing our music; for the opening the music has to be continues as the opening is short  a change of music will be too distracting for the audience making them think that the opening has finish and the main sequence has started.

After we have finish with our enviromental music and our music, and  if we are not adding any dialogue or foley sound effects we continue dragging in our sequence to "Soundtrack pro" to watch it with sound.

(Before we drag in the sequence we have to convert the sequence to "Soundtrack Pro" file) 

The video has already been dragged to "Soundtrack Pro" and it appears at the top left hand.

After we are happy with our sound we have to convert the sound to a "final cut pro" file and then we just drag in the sound to our sequence.

The process of editing

To edit our opening we had a couple of training lessons using  "Final Cut pro"

This is the program that we will be using to edit our final project. To see our footage and finally edit it we have to follow some steps. First we have to import the shots from the memory card to the video drive through final cut pro then we choose our favourites shots from the video drive and we drag them into the timeline of final cut.

Time line

Importing files

After we having our shots in the timeline this would be call "sequence 1". We can manipulate sequence 1 as we want, cutting shots and adding some effects to make look the sequence nicer.

As we are getting familiar with the program and the tools we can add titles as well looking forward for a more professional final cut. 

Adding titles

 To add tittles we look for a big "A" below the screen were the shots are being projected, then we choose the "text" option and then we write what we want; we can change the font the size and the colours.

The text will going to be in the timeline on the shot that we want it to appear. To drag the titles into the timeline we have to be careful and be aware of the arrow direction, if the arrow is pointing to the right it will move the whole sequence so we want the arrow pointing down to make the tittles appear on the shot that we want.

time line sequence

De ja vu (2006) employs many things at the beginning (title sequence) of the film for example it starts off with the production companies name, and other companies that work with it, they are the following, “touchstone pictures “and  “jerry Bruckheimer”. From this we are then introduced into the producer’s name that made the film tony scot. At the same time there is the use of fast paste editing, to get the audience excited and energetic. Straight after the producers name features the cast, but notice how Denzel Washington name appeared first as he is a well known actor and I also emphasises that he is the main character. The name of the film is then introduced in white bold writing, as white emphasises purity, truth and light which could be highlighting the events to come in de ja vu. The music designer and director of photography are then next. While all this is happening there are people boarding a ship and having a great time before disaster struck. the editing is known as being stylised as it uses a range of camera shots and dramatic music emphasising suspiciousness and suspense within the movie deja vu.

To some this all up into a time line sequence it would look like this

1.       Production companies name

2.       Producers name

3.       Cast

4.       Name of the film

5.       Music director and photographers  names

      6.       Regular technicians introduced

preliminary exercise

On the 23 rd of January 2012 our media studies teacher Daniel Lowe introduced us into what was called a preliminary exercise, within this lesson we had to film a sequence about “ a character opens a door, walks into a room, sits down opposite another character and they share a few lines of dialogue”, at the same time while filming this sequence we were given rules:

1.       Make sure you use at least one match cut, which makes the action appear more seamless, time is meant to be continues.

2.       An example of a reverse shot, cuts from one person speaking to another, this is very useful in our sequence as it consist of a dialogue.

3.       Show your understanding of the 180 degree rule,

What is the 180 degree rule?

One of the first things we need to cover in making a movie is orientating the viewer, once you establish the scene, you have technically established the 180 degree rule for example if there are two people sitting opposite each other talking, then the viewer can easily establish were the man is sitting either on the left or the right and were the women is sitting, so anytime the camera shows these two people the man should be on the side he supposed to be ( left or right)  and also were the women is positioned( left or right). When the camera is place above their heads the placement of the camera can only go on the line that should be straight with both ends opposite each other meaning 180 degrees.

Within the task that we were set to do we had to figure what type of style our thriller should be and we were given options, it was either psychological, supernatural or action , and my group decided to choose supernatural  to emphasise unearthly, weird and the miraculous events to come. To plan our prelim film, we had to use story boards of our sequence then make it into a short “dramatic storyboard”, this was a bit difficult as group 6 are all terrible drawers but we got there in the end. Once the storyboard was out of the way then starting filming, we had to film quiet a number of times because I found it difficult to stop laughing.

The plot

Well our thriller is called paranoia and stars(Gustavo, mark and amber) and is about a young man who is paranoid , he hears “voices “ in his head and feel like someone is “ chasing him” and tries to seek help, form a professional before things start to escalate.

Prelim Storyboard

Here is the animatic storyboard that we have created for our prelim entitled "Paranoia". The shots in here are similar to that of the shots that we actually took whilst filming. For example, the first shot in the storyboard is of a stick man which is supposed to be Mark, walking up the corridor. In our actual filming we reproduced this planned shot as Mark had to walk directly up the corridor away from the camera. Some of the other drawings in the storyboard are unfortunately not that clear or understandable so it may be hard for someone who has not seen the final version to understand what will happen. This is something that we will take into consideration when creating our storyboard for our final film opening as it is very important to make the storyboard clear. Despite this setback we see Mark enter the room and sit at a desk opposite a woman (Me) and they begin to share some dialogue. This is what happens in our actual footage too. Overall we have learnt that the storyboard is a very important thing when planning what you are going to film because it helps you to decide shot by shot what you want to film. Therefore I hope that when we come to creating the actual storyboard for our opening that we will be able to make it clear and understandable so that we can clearly use it to help us shot by shot what we are going to film. 

Prelim Final Product

Screen shots of the editing of the prelim

Above one can see numerous screen shots taken from whilst we were editing our final prelim sequence on Final Cut Pro. The first screen shot is of all the thumbnails of the footage that we have taken. There are quite a few there as we decided to film a lot of footage so that when it comes to the editing we have a range of different shots to choose from. This was very helpful for us as we were now able to choose the best bits of footage and use them in our editing.

Here we can see the introduction of the main characters, this is an important part of a film opening/sequence so that the audience can relate to the characters and begin to understand from who's perspective the film is going to revolve around.

In this screen shot you can see us using Soundtrack Pro in order to compose our own music so play over our prelim. Composing our own music is good and very important so that it can be unique and original and something personal because we made it on our own. 

This screen shot is of the corridor in which Mark walks down, it is used here as an establishing shot so that the audience can be clear of where the sequence is set and in this case it is in college and the mise-en-scene of the students artwork on the walls help suggest that this is a college. 

These two screen shots are of us editing the footage of when Mark walks down the corridor. The first shot we just see him walking while looking speciously around but in the second shot you  can see we have put credits over the footage. The word "Paranoia" in written over the footage here. It is written in a clear legible font which is very important so that all viewers will be able to read it with ease. 

Genre and Sub-Genre

 The genre refers to the method based on similarities in the narrative elements from which films are constructed those elements can be the plot, the mood, the setting..Basically it is the type of the film. To determinate the genre (type) of the film you have to try find the conventions of the genre for example  for a horror film, blood will be a convention that has to be in the film. It is very useful to know the film genre because the film-maker can start to thinking in the target audience and the marketing. The genre affects the target audience and the marketing because a thriller cannot be sold of the same way that comedy film is.

The sub-genre is a genre inside the genre. A thriller film besides the classic conventions of this genre the film can have conventions of another genre for example guns and shooting, so as the film is on the base a thriller, these others conventions transform the way of how the audience perceive the plot so instead of being a purely thriller film it becomes an action thriller film because it has conventions of both genres but the thriller's conventions are dominant.

Both posters are from the thriller genre but the have different sub-genres so the mood of the poster is different.

"The others" is a pshycological thriller so the colours are more intruiguin on the other hand "Fair Game" as is an action thriller the poster is serious but has clues that are telling us what to expect as the CIA stamp.

These posters show how important is to have clear the genre and the sub-genre of the film beacuse it affect the way of how it will be presented.



Analysing previous students' works

I was watching the previous works and liked two "The list" and "Authority". They are appealing a different sub genre as I believe "The list" is trying to create an opening for a horror thriller and "Authority" is trying to create and opening for an action thriller. As they are appealing to different sub-genres the conventions are different but music and the rule of thirds. In "Authority" the camera-work is good they used different shots and  they experimented with the location as the are using the threes to create better shots, the editing is continues and in fast pace making the opening more effective. The sound is not that good. As "Authority" an action thriller the soundtrack has to created a mood of expectation and excitement in the audience with no pauses at least that something radical happen, the soundtrack of "Authority" has a couple of pauses that can let fall the opening down because the music stops for moments and starts again this can let the audience's attention flies out of the opening.

The music of "The list" is good specially the folly sounds, the knife sounds and the kitchen sounds are very good synchronise with the movement. The soundtrack achieved the suspense that needs to be create for horror thriller. The music guide the audience to the shocking ending which is its main purpose. The out focus is well use in the opening to keep the audience in suspense.

The importance of sound

The sound is extremely important in order to create suspense. This feature is used to set the mood of the scene and also to add a realistic atmosphere. To create a realistic atmosphere the opening of a film or the film in general need to have the sound of footsteps, the rustle of clothes ,doors opening, etc; as these sounds are very subtle when they are recorded as a diegetic sound, they have to be added during post-production.This technique  is called the Foley Sound Effects.

These sounds have to be created with extreme precaution to making them heard real and be able to synchronize them with the movement. In many cases the foley sound is not made it with the same object as appears on the screen or in case of footsteps can be made on a different kind floor. This is because the sound has to look real and in many cases the real sound does not hear real. For instance if a man is walking on a ceramic floor, to improve the sound the sound technician will step on a special wood to make it better.

genre and sub genre

Genre and sub genre

Genre is defined as any category of literature, now in films it would be either a thriller, horror, science fiction, comedy, action or more.  A sub genre in a way tells us that there is more to a particular genre for example a detective mystery, they are usually considered as being a sub-type or sub-genre of gangster films or suspense or thriller . This sort of films focus on the unsolved crime (usually the murder or disappearance of one or more of the characters, or a theft). Another good example of a sub genre would be romance this category shares some features with romantic dramas , romantic comedies, and sexual and erotic films. These are love stories, or affairs of the heart that center on passion, emotion, and the romantic engagement between the main characters.

TOWER HEIST

The sub genre of this film would be action

age rate: 12

genre: comedy

There are many elements that are used on the poster of tower heist that give it that wow factor for example the use of mise en scene which is the expression used to describe the design aspects of theatre production and film production. The use of setting was very dramatic as there were seven people standing on top of a building looking almost down at the city as if they are the ones who own it from top to bottom within that particular city. The use of naturalistic colours made it seem very realistic to the viewer as the brightness emphasise the fact that they are on top of the building and they are more closer to the sky were the sun can reflect. The clothing that these people were wearing was black, black is seen as a being the   colour of authority, power, and in some cases crime again emphasising and reinforcing the fact that are the sheriffs of the city. The body language and the position of the characters tell us who is in charged within the group as Eddie Murphy and Ben stiller are standing  next to each other as if they are the leaders of the group due to them being both well known actors it only makes sense if they get the main roles. The use of props emphasised that there is going to be action in the film as Eddie Murphy is holding a pole and has this aggressive facial expression. This could emphasise that the pole is the main weapon within the moviefor eddie Murphy.

target audience

Target audience

It is important that we know who our audience is, whether they’re young teenagers or adults. Every movie has an age group and I feel that although this is not really important as we are only doing the beginning of a thriller movie. It is best that we have an intended audience in our mind therefore allowing our production to run smoothly and not be disturbed. As Jayne one of the members in group 6 wanted to start the thriller movie with blood and death (I agree now), therefore the film "LUCID" would be aimed at teenagers roughly (about 14 to 15) due to the blood and death and of course destructive weoponary.

The audience should straight away know what age the film should be appropriate for, if we look at the animated movie Shrek we would know that it is for little kids as it not only animated but fictional as it has ogres and fairies that make it seem magical to kids. Whereas if you look at the movie saw it has allot of violence, death and blood therefore we would clearly see this movie as being rated around 18 and above. But let’s not get to ahead of ourselves as we haven’t even started shooting the title sequence

random ideas

Random ideas

Another idea that if am thinking that we should employ as a group in the thriller opening is that it should relate to real life situations such as hate, love, death, betrayal. Something that we can all relate to as individuals for example having watched a range of thriller movies over the last week I have notice that many movies have become more and more successful from the beginning to end due to them exploiting real life situation. If we take a look at will smith (actor/director) you will notice that most of his films relate to real life situations. I know that we are only making the beginning of the movie but it would be ideal and great if we are able to engage the audience by doing this.

The movie must appeal to a wide range of audiences; this could be achieved if we tell a narrative a narrative is a speech that describes a sequence of events, now this could be very good as we are told that we are only doing an opening of a thriller, and maybe within that thriller opening it should have a narrative that highlights that foreshadowing events to come. By having a narrative in the movie it creates a pattern of suspense therefore engaging the viewers more and more instead of it just being fake and plain. Narratives tell the story with characters and plots, so we can as a group make a real life event into a narrative. It has been said by many staffs within the media studies department that we have to use a range of sound, i.e. a hybrid of dietetic (sounds on set) and non dietetic (sounds added by editing). We can also use Foley sounds therefore making the examiner aware that we are capable of using a range of sounds and not just sticking with one.

Environmental sounds

Environmental sounds are sounds of the environment around us such as buses going buy birds chirping etc. By us using at least two types of these sounds it gives off a more naturally look and sound towards the audience and makes it more realistic. This also interlinks with dietetic as this would be the sounds on set that would give off this environmental impression of sound to the audience.in jaynes garden i was thinking that we could employ the sound of the trees waving and maybe rain accompanied with dramtic music as this is the death scene of "LUCID".

foley

Sounds done by editing, this is also the same as non dietetic because with this we are able to hear things that we don’t tend to hear when you’re out on the street day to day, for example on a snowy day, a man walking on the snow il at ease (awkward), you as the audience want to hear the sound of snow crushing rebelliously and clinging onto this man’s shoe, therefore emphasising the way he is walking towards the audience and the events to come later within the scene(possibly he trips).

Here is a short clip of a man demonstrating the use of Foley sounds at a studio

notice the use of different props to create sounds that almost sound that they are not even being edited, at the same time it is giving us advice on how to make different sounds as some sounds are difficult to make. in our thriller movie we will be emnploying many foleys to give it that boost, for example  when the man takes the knife and uses on the women, we were thing of uses a  foley to emphasise the anger that this man is going through when he afflict pain on the women.

Arlington Road - Adding Foley noises

Today we learned how to add Foley noises to our Arlington Road video using Final Cut pro. Unfortunately, the last video that we had got deleted, so this one has sound, but no titles!

Looking at previous students work

I have decided to look at some previous student work, "Authority" is an example of a Traditional film opening. The opening shows the conventions of this type of structure in a number of ways.

Firstly, above we can see a screen shot taken form this opening. They have used an establishing shot here which is of is of trees in a woods so we can get the feel of the film. This is what a standard traditional opening would do as the establishing shot allows the audience to be clear in their minds what type of film this can be and thats what "Authority" does perfectly here.

Next, we are introduced to the main characters, we see a young boy running through the woods holding an object of which we can't be sure yet. This is what would happen in the Traditional film opening as now the setting has ben established the main character should in introduced. This opening has done it perfectly as the transition between the establishing shot and this one was clear a precise giving it an upbeat feel. 

I think that looking at previous students work is a good thing to do as I can see how they have recreated the particular style that they have chosen. This will help me realise how to do this myself and I can pick up on the conventions they have used. It can also be very inspirational as i hope to produce work as good as theres that portray the conventions of the chosen opening structure that they have chosen. 

Structure of film openings

There are for different types of film openings, the names of which are a Discrete Title Sequence, a Traditional opening, Credits over a blank screen and Stylised editing. A film should follow a conventional structure in the way it chooses to incorporate the title credits and give information on the films plot. The film opening will usually be structured in one of the four types of openings mentioned above.

1 - A Discrete Title Sequence:

This type of opening will show a number of different images and show from the film which can foreshadow what is going to happen later on in the film. This may confuse the audience as the shots can be displayed quite randomly and quickly which may lead them to have a number of questions about how all these images and shots are going to connect. This gives the film a good bases as it can answer all the audiences questions that they might have. This can also help introduce characters and the setting and can help build the mood and tone of the film. 

An example of a film that uses a Discrete Title Sequence is "Enemy of the State" we can see in this screen shot one of the random images that flicks across the screen causing confusion for the audience. We can also see here the credits over the screen that appear in a clear legible font. 

2 - Traditional film opening with titles rolling through out: 

The second type of opening is the Traditional film opening. I believe that it is given its name because many great films have used this method as their opening. This opening can perfectly introduce everything required for the audience to know. This type usually starts with an establishing shot which will set the scene and allow the audience to get an idea of the location. We will then be swiftly introduced to the main characters which could be done in a number of different ways depending on the film. This is a simple standardised way to start a film as it allows the audience to understand completely what kind of film it is going to be. The titles will roll over these shots. 

a film that uses s traditional film opening would be "The Shining" above is a screen shot taken from this film of the establishing shot which is commonly used in this type of film opening.

3 - Credits over a blank screen: The third opening type is Credits over a blank screen and its name simply reflects what it is. This is possibly the most simple type as the credits are shown over a blank background (usually black) and the credits will be written in a clear legible font. They don't always necessarily have to appear on the screen in a boring way, sometimes they can enter and leave the screen in a number of different unique ways but as long as they appear over a blank screen then  it will fall under the category. Afterwards they will usually fade out into the opening shots to introduce characters, setting ect.

a film that uses credits over a blank screen is "Psycho" the screen shot above is take from this and we can see that the titles are not just boring being appeared on the screen the are entering and leaving in a number of different interesting ways. For example here we can see loads of lines coming in a chopping up the words that appeared. This can also be used to foreshadow that events that may occur later on.

4 - Stylised editing: The final type is stylised editing, this is arguably not classified a type however i believe  that it is as it normally uses the methods and conventions of a Discrete or Traditional opening but it is heavily edited so make it different from those types. It usually is aesthetically pleasing for the audience as it gives a stylish unique look. It doesn't follow the standardised rules of the other categories however still follows some key conventions that are vital to any opening. This is contemporary and unique  as it can be made your own and it doesn't have to follow any strict rules.

A film that uses stylised editing is "Mezrine" here there is a split screen and it both parts we see the same woman but of her in different angles. This is stylised as it is not using one of the other standard ways.

My thoughts: 

The type of film opening structure that I like best is the Stylised editing. This is because I feel that by using this one, your opening can be made more personal and unique so it won't be like anyone else's because it doesn't have to follow any rules as such. I think that this type of opening may be good for my group to consider using as we could edit our opening in various ways to give it a unique contemporary feel. However i also liked the Discrete film opening as I feel that this is a good way to entice your audience to want to watch more. I believe this because it will arouse the audiences interests as them seeing random different images and shots will make them question how they could be connected. This could mean that the audience will be keen to watch on so their questions can be answered, therefore I feel that it is excellent at making the audience want to stay on and watch more. In a Discrete film opening, it is also usually good at setting the mood of the film which I believe is essential in a thriller film as one needs to give off the correct vibes of fear and anxiousness and suspense ect. and therefore it would be silly for it to give off happy vibes when it is going to be a thriller film.

Analysing different types of film opening structures has really helped me to understand that there are clear difference between each one. Choosing what type you want t use can give a good starting point to work from. I feel that this will help my self and my group because we will now be able to decide together what type of film opening we like best. As I have analysed all the different types I think that this will help me understand the correct methods and conventions to use and that need to be added into out film opening in order to create the desired effect. 

Intertextuality

Intertextuality is defined as borrowing and using the ideas from an existing film. I have recently watched the shower scene from Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film "Psycho". This scene shows a young woman taking a shower, she is completely oblivious to what is going to happen to her so she happily goes about her business. We see a number of different shots of her showing from various angles, the shots flow smoothly together which reflects how clam the woman is as she expects her shower to go smoothly and normally. However we then see a shot of a figure approaching the shower, we can not see this clearly as the audience see the silhouette through the shower curtain which is from the woman's perspective. 

As the figure pulls back the shower curtain everything seems to pick up pace from here. This includes the editing, as we see fast cuts back and forth from the woman's expression to the murderer. Also a non-digetic soundtrack is introduced here which was no heard perviously in this scene. The music comes in suddenly and dramatically as does the murderer when they burst through the curtain. In this scene the miss-en-scene is key as its sets the scene for the audiences as without the props used we wouldn't be clear that it is a shower scene. The important props here are the shower, the shower curtain and the knife. "Psycho" is a very famous film and this very shower scene has had a huge impact on the way some scenes in newer films are made today. Countless films have 'borrowed' parts of "Psycho". One may recognise certain camera angles, aspects of mise-en-scene, snippets of sounds or methods of editing in newer films that have borrowed these features. 

For example, a newer film entitled "What Lies Beneath" a 2000 American super-natural thriller film directed by Robert Zemeckis has borrowed a number of features from "Psycho." The first similarly that we see in this film is in the section where the man is carrying the woman up the stairs, although this may not have an exact relation to "Psycho" the ideology here is somewhat the same as we can see that in both films the men are in complete control of the women. This is a stereotype of men as we are seen to live in a patriarchal society where men dominate women which is reflected here are the women in both films are completely helpless as the men are in control of them. Below is a screen shot from "What Lies Beneath."

Another connection between "Psycho" and "What Lies Beneath" is the mise-en-scene which has been borrowed. The setting in "What Lies Beneath" is also in a bath room which is the predominant feature in "Psycho" and a number of propers are also borrowed like the bath and the way the water falls from the shower head above onto the innocent woman in both cases. Like in "Psycho" we get shot reverse shots here to show emotion from both characters involved. However the clear difference between the sections from the films is that they have a different mood or vibe to them. In "Psycho" when the man bursts in, the mood becomes tense as everything becomes fast pace. In contrast, the mood in "What Lies Beneath" remains constant through out and doesn't change, the vibe is calm and relaxed and things move slowly. 

I have learnt that intertextuality can be used to help inspire a movie maker in a variety of ways. Ideas can be borrowed from other films which is perfectly ok to do but ideas do not have to be identical as they can be adapted and recreated in your own unique way. I think that this will help me when planning for our thriller film opening as I am now aware that it is fine to get inspiration from other films which may help my group and give us a starting point to work from. 

Arlington Road - Adding titles

Today we added titles to the opening sequence of the movie "Arlington road". We did this by using Final Cut `pro. We learned how to edit things such as postition, effects, colour, font etc.

The opening that I prefer

My favourite opening is the opening of "Mezrine" (2008). This opening after present the producers' company logos starts with a classic blank screen tittle sequence with no music until the stylised editing begins presenting the characters and the location with different perspectives all at once with the split screen.

The black screen gives that sense of mystery that is expected in a opening sequence as the audience wants to know how the film will start follow it by the split screen that gives a total different atmosphere,faster and aggressive that the blank screen creating a very nice contrast in the opening. This combination for a thriller opening can be really effective to create suspense as the black screen with an appropriate music can increase the level of expectation in the audience follow it by a stylised editing to give them what they expect.

Types of openings

There are 4 different types of openings which are discrete, traditional film opening, blank screen and stylized editing.


Discrete: This uses the different images from the film quite randomly with the tittles over the top of the image. This kind of opening is a good way of setting the tone and mood of the film.

An example of a discrete tittle sequence is the opening of "Arlington Drive" (1999)
These pictures are from the "Arlington Drive" opening where we can see how is presenting us the mood of the film and also giving us an idea about where the film will set.

Traditional film opening: Often begins with a establishing shot, that introduce us to the location or setting of the film. The tittles roll over the top of this with both the tittles and the sequence stopping as the action of the film begins.

An example of a traditional film opening is the opening from "Panic Room" (2002). We can see how the opening is establishing the city as the location of the film and how the lettering is emphasis in the fact of the high building in the city.

Credits over a blank screen: The credits appear first and roll over a blank screen. As tittle finish, we then fade into the image of opening sequence, which either introduces location or character.

An example of a blank screen opening is the opening of "Dead Calm" (1989)
In this opening we can see clearly who is involved in the film, presenting their names in a striking way, at the end the main character is presented.In this opening the music play a very important role as there is not image on the screen the music is the technical element that is leading the audience into the film's world preparing them to what they are going to watch.

Stylized Editing: This type of opening has been heavily edited in post-production and is often very visually stylish as a result.
An example of this type of opening is the opening of "Mezrine" (2008)
The split screen represents a hard work in editing making more interesting to see as is giving us more information about the character because has two perspectives to see the character. The opening presents the characters and also is giving a city as location.

The opening that I am going to analyse for "Discrete type" is "Enemy of the state" (1998)
The conventions of this type of opening are clear, the "Enemy of the state" opening is giving us from random pictures the location and setting the mood for the rest of the film. There is not a character presented but as the opening is giving us the sense that they are looking out for the character we expected to see him after on. 

The opening I am going to analyse for "blank screen" is "Donnie Darko" (2001)
The tittle sequence in this opening is shorter that usually is for this type of opening. It starts with the blank screen as is expected but after 2 or 3 names a image begins establishing the location and the main character.

The opening that I am going to analyse for "traditional film opening" is "The shining" (1980)
This opening is really successful to introduce the location as the camera moves far away from the subject is. The conventions are clearly visible the names appears while the image is rolling and the opening is presenting the people that have worked in the film while is introducing the location.

The opening that I am going to analyse for "Stylised editing" is "The taking of Pelham 123" (2009)

This opening is based on the visual spectacular, the lettering emphasis in the idea of the trains and the underground whiles is presenting the main characters. Something unusual for this opening is that present the villain and the hero but to differentiate them the music stops when the good guy talks and starts again when the opening continues. The audience start watching the film already knowing who is the good guy, who is the bad guy and what problem is going to be.