Research
Analysing Film Openings:
To help us decide on what my group and I were going to do, we had watched previous film openings that students from Lampton had done before. We also had to analyse 3 film openings made professionally in the film industry. This helped our group get an insight on how a film opening is made and the work that needs to be done in order to make it the best we can.
Veronica-
This Action themed film opening was filmed really well. The mise-en-scene really portrayed the theme as they were dressed up as spies, with the black glasses, red lipstick and blacked out clothes for all characters. This automatically states their genre and what kind of film it is. The glasses were a good prop to use as it connotes a hidden character/identity. They had simple props such as a scarf and brief case. Another aspect that stood out to me was the camera shots. They has used amazing camera shots which really helped tell the story too. The storyline and theme was clear and easy to understand. I thought that the camera shots to the right would fit right into our film opening as we are going to use a lift, containing two characters.The mid shot of the two characters standing in the lift is effective as it shows the doors slowly closing on them. This creates mystery and tension. One other camera shot that stood out for me was when Veronica killed the man in the car park and the camera was under the car, this camera shot was well thought of and it was good and fitted the scene perfectly. The parking lot location was a very good choice, as it connotes isolation.
Surge-
Another well thought out film opening was Surge. In the beginning of the opening, the well thought establishing shots of London made me the film opening feel more professional. It also set the scene instantly as we know it is in London. The sound effects fit in perfectly with the action. The punches and kicks had made it sound very realistic and was on time with the fighting. On the other hand, the use of the green screen with the explosion and the news reports made it look extremely fake and that was the only down side to the film opening. It bought the quality of the opening down. The group had thought of the narrative very clearly, and it was clear to us what the genre was and what the story was about.
Among the dead-
Among the dead was my favorite of all the past AS film openings. This was because the narrative was brilliantly thought of. The lighting, location, and the costume and make up was well done. It fit the genre well. When the Zombies were chasing the man, the sound effects of the zombies howling was very realistic and it sounded very scary too. This genre is horror/survival horror. As he is trying to survive a zombie apocalypse. It is clear that this group was inspired by the walking dead. The handheld and POV shots were amazingly done.
In order for our film to be successful, we must establish our genre and then we will need to plan how we will make the genre easily noticable within our film opening.
FILM GENRES
Horror:
Horror is a film genre seeking to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's primal fears. There are many different sub genre's of horror including slasher, psychological, and action horror. An example of a horror film is 'The Exorcist' which is an American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin. Horror films are considered to be complex, there are many sub genres which fit in with these genre. Such as thriller, mystery etc. Many horror films are set in small and tight locations, or big cities with the theme of darkness. All horror films will connote isolation within the characters. Micro elements of this film genre will include a variety of camera work such as extreme close ups to portray their fear and show their facial expression. Other angles such as high and low will show dominance within the film.
Action:
Action film is a film genre in which one or more heroes are thrust into a series of challenges that typically include physical feats, extended fight scenes, violence, and frantic chases. Action films tend to feature a resourceful character struggling against incredible odds, which include life-threatening situations, a villain, or a pursuit which generally concludes in victory for the hero. An example of an action film is 'Raiders of the lost Ark' which was directed by Steven Spielberg. Films such as The Dark Knight is action/adventure. Generally these films contain fast paced action sequences, with a linear story line. Binary oppositions are also common, because in this genre there is also a villain and a hero. These films are commonly based in capital cities. Key elements of this genre are that is included fast paced well edited scenes, a variety of camera angles for example an establishing shot.
Comedy:
Comedy is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humor. These films are designed to entertain the audience through amusement, and most often work by exaggerating characteristics of real life for humorous effect. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (the black comedy being an exception). An example of a comedy film is 'Shaun of the Dead' directed by Edgar Wright. Comedy films are usually more light hearted and life relatable. The common conventions of comedy films are that it is set in cities, has a variety of different characters and each character have something different about them. Unlike any other film genre, comedy films are quite cheap to make, therefore they would not need a big institution to be distributed.
Science-Fiction:
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginative content such as futuristic settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, time travel, faster than light travel, parallel universes and extraterrestrial life. An example of a Sci-fi film is 'Alien' directed by Ridley Scott. Many elements from action/adventure films can be found in this genre. However, they have much of a complex storyline than most other films, such as films like Interstellar and inception, which requires the audience to think about the storyline rather than it being so obvious. Some conventions of sci fi films contain references to space, species such as aliens and futuristic based films. The micro elements found in this type of genre is similar to action/adventure. Includes fast paced scenes, a large amount of editing, the location is very unique and the costumer and make up can be more complex than other films.
Drama:
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas and racial prejudice. An example of a drama film is 'The Departed' directed by Martin Scorsese.
The lighting used in this shot is very well done. The low key lighting around the man shows what kind of a man he is just by the use of lighting around him. It shows that he has a dark personality and he is a dark and mysterious person. This would be a good camera shot to use combined with the low key lighting as it could have the same impact on my character, which is a mysterious and dark character. to start with, our scene would involve low key lighting, and the change to high key, to show contrast.
This is an establishing shot of the burning forest in true detective, the low key lighting shows the danger and darkness that had just previously occurred. This is an idea that our group will definitely take on. We will have an establishing shot of a church, and we will make sure that it will be in the dark to show the danger we are going to enter. This will determine the mood of the scene and what could come up. As low key lighting could convey danger and a sense of thrill.
This shot had me inspired. The fact that there is a camera being placed in the shot really gives the feel of an interrogation scene. It is clever and gives the audience an insight to the setting. This shot is filmed inside a large room, with a small table placed in the middle. This is very intimidating for the one being questioned as the only objects in the room is the table and camera
Suits inspired us because of Mike and Harveys relationship. They go through phases of loving and hating eachother. This is kind of the type of relationship I want our actors to have. With Mike and Harvey, they try to put their issues aside and get along with work, but someting always seems to get in the way and they both get caught up in something. This is something I would change as I would have my two actors act with a dysfunctional relationship. They try to avoid any obsticles which would get in the way of work but always fail to do so.
Warner Bros. is an American media company that produces Film, Television and Music Entertainment, This means that Warner Bros. is a monopolies company which means a single company or group owns most of the market made by the different media types. I think Warner Bros. is a good company to produce our film as it is a dominating company. It has produced films that have grossed over 500 million dollars.
Warner Bros has produced the following films which has been really successful in the past and will most certainly carry on, For example, American Sniper, which is a very recent film and has turned out to be successful and had grossed just over $331,304,919 overall. The Dark Knight, Inception and ofcourse the Harry Potter series. Warner Bros. is also an ideal company to distribute my groups film opening is because the most popular films were produced and distributed, which in reality would attract more viewers as people know that Warner Bros. would produce a quality film.
Paramount Pictures is a TV Production Comapny, Motion Picture distributor and a film studio. It is considered one of the 'Big Six' of Hollywood. Paramount Pictures have distributed a variety of successful films such as Mission Impossible, Indiana Jones and Paranormal Activity. These three films are all different genres whicih suggests that Paramount is capable of prouducing different a different variety of films, yet still making them successful. In 1970, Paramount Pictures paired up with Universal Studios to form a new company names 'Cinema International Corporation'. This would be a company that would distribute films outside of the United States.
Warner Bros has produced the following films which has been really successful in the past and will most certainly carry on, For example, American Sniper, which is a very recent film and has turned out to be successful and had grossed just over $331,304,919 overall. The Dark Knight, Inception and ofcourse the Harry Potter series. Warner Bros. is also an ideal company to distribute my groups film opening is because the most popular films were produced and distributed, which in reality would attract more viewers as people know that Warner Bros. would produce a quality film.
Paramount Pictures is a TV Production Comapny, Motion Picture distributor and a film studio. It is considered one of the 'Big Six' of Hollywood. Paramount Pictures have distributed a variety of successful films such as Mission Impossible, Indiana Jones and Paranormal Activity. These three films are all different genres whicih suggests that Paramount is capable of prouducing different a different variety of films, yet still making them successful. In 1970, Paramount Pictures paired up with Universal Studios to form a new company names 'Cinema International Corporation'. This would be a company that would distribute films outside of the United States.
Planning:
Daisy had made a survey with a variety of questions, asking what sort of things my classmates prefer when watching movies, these are the answers that helped us figure out what we would do for our opening scene.
1. What gender would you prefer your hero to be? - Male - Female When I had asked my classmates this question, the majority said Male. I think this is because a stereotypical gender of heroes are Male, For example in superhero films, the heroes are all Male including Batman, Superman, Spider man and Iron man. This answer was perfect as our group consisted of two male characters, who could both act as the 'heroes' in our opening. 2. What is your favourite genre? - Action - Horror - Thriller - Crime - Romance - Adventure My class liked Thriller and Crime the most. Therefore my group and I had decided to create a Crime/Thriller opening, which would contain weapons, crime and searches. 3. Would you prefer a film that builds suspense or straight to the point? - Suspense - To the point The answers levelled up to suspense. We knew exactly from this answer what our ending would be, we had all decided that we wanted a cliff hanger at the end to leave the audience wondering and wanting to see more. 4. Would you you prefer a film to be set in the present, past or future? - Future - Present - Past This answer varied between the present and the future. In this case we decided to use flashbacks to the past from the present Script : Lucy: Sooo.. Tell me about Detective Freeman what was your relationship. Frost: Well, what can I say ay? My partner.. he was pessimistic.. It's like he never cared about life. About anything actually if I must say. *JUMP CUT* Freeman: He's a regular-everyday man, Does what he needs to, Especially for his family. You know.. I don't really analyse what he does, he was just someone I worked with. Lucy: It seems as if you dont really care for eachother. Partners? how was that working out for you both? Were there any cases that had you thinking he was really someone that you could start caring for? Frost: Not really.. Wellll...* sigh* there was this case back in 02... *JUMP CUT* Freeman: He was great, so in to his job but always dragged me everywhere.. there was this one case back in 02 where... FLASHBACK, 2002 - BOTH DETECTIVE FREEMAN AND FROST SITTING IN AN OFFICE, SILENT. *PHONE RINGS* Frost: Hello, detective Freeman, how can I help? Receptionist Woman: We need help, I work at the HH Hotel. Weve had a large amount of complaints of a rotting smell coming from one of our rooms. Thie person whos checked into room 101 has not left for 3 days and was meant to check out earlier this morning, would you be able to come and check things out for us? Frost: No problem madam, we're on our way. - To Frost "Lets go, pack your things" Freeman: What now?! Where?! I have too much things to write up, sorry Frost: No, your my partner and we have to work together now get your things. We're going. *Pulls up in car* Freeman: Why we here man, waste of my goddamn time. Frost: C'mon Frost, they called for our help, we're just doing our jobs. ENTERS HOTEL: *Shows badges* Frost: Hi there madam, Detective Frost and Freeman here, could you escort us to the room? Receptionist: Ofcourse, room 101. *ENTERS ELEVATOR* Freeman: *Makes noise with mouth* Frost: I hate it when you do that man, you need to act more prof Freeman: *leaves elevator* sticks middle finger at him. Frost: Its this room. Freeman *opens door* |
Jack Frost:
Jack Frost, also known as Detective Frost is well looked after and smart looking. He is passionate about his job in being a detective and is always finding ways to help people out. During the present time, he wears a grey suit, hair still slicked back and looks healthy, even though he is a tad older than before. During the flashbacks and scenes in the past, he wears a smart black suit. You can tell that Detective Frost always cared about his appearance as much as he cared about his job. He had a passion for Detective Freeman, although he was lazy and didn't really care about anything but lazing about and wasting time.
Lamar Freeman:
Lamar Freeman, also known as Detective Lamar was a lousy Detective. During the interview he wore an old patterned jumper and an old tatty hat, this pretty much portrayed his personality as he was still the same man than he was back in 2002. During the flashbacks he also wore a black suit, looked like a suited and booted detective, though his personality and attitude stank, This caused problems for both detectives, they had a very dysfunctional partnership.
The make-up will be done by Daisy. She will be using make-up and face paint to add to the effect of Lamar's burn mark.
Jack Frost, also known as Detective Frost is well looked after and smart looking. He is passionate about his job in being a detective and is always finding ways to help people out. During the present time, he wears a grey suit, hair still slicked back and looks healthy, even though he is a tad older than before. During the flashbacks and scenes in the past, he wears a smart black suit. You can tell that Detective Frost always cared about his appearance as much as he cared about his job. He had a passion for Detective Freeman, although he was lazy and didn't really care about anything but lazing about and wasting time.
Lamar Freeman:
Lamar Freeman, also known as Detective Lamar was a lousy Detective. During the interview he wore an old patterned jumper and an old tatty hat, this pretty much portrayed his personality as he was still the same man than he was back in 2002. During the flashbacks he also wore a black suit, looked like a suited and booted detective, though his personality and attitude stank, This caused problems for both detectives, they had a very dysfunctional partnership.
The make-up will be done by Daisy. She will be using make-up and face paint to add to the effect of Lamar's burn mark.
This is a rough sketch of what the detectives will be wearing during the present interview.
Rough Storyboard
Costume/Props/Setting |
Detective Freeman and Frost were partners. As dysfunctional as their relationship was, they had to work together. One day, Detective Frost gets a call from the receptionist at a hotel. Theres a problem, someone had overstayed their welcome and had been reports of a horrid smell coming from there. This was the detectives chance to prove what theyve got. As usual, Detective Freeman Both of the detectives in True Detective Contrast by the looks of their costume. In our opening, we are going to have two men that were partners around 10 years ago. In the present time we interview each one of them to check on how their lives had changed from being on missions, to what they are doing now and how their relationship is with eachother. The setting around them informs the audience of how they are living now. For example, they both have office jobs but the man on the left looks more presentable and educated rather than the man on the right, as he looks scruffy and old.
As we had changed our idea, we had to make a new storyboard. The first drawing is the same as the first storyboard as we thought it was a great shot and would challenge us as we had not seen this done before in the previous film openings. We used a variety of different shots from mid shots, as you can see in the second frame, to long shots and close ups in the second page. In True Detective, which is what our opening scene is mostly based on, the shots at the beginning is what we will be using. We will be recording an interview from a different camera, whilst having a seperate camera in the shot. This will make that particular scene more interesting as it would seem as if we are watching the interview from our own eyes instead of from a screen. The shot of the word 'REC' would make this seem more realistic as if we are behind the camera, recording the interview itself. I think the shot of the camera lense trying to focus is effective because it's as if we are the ones looking directlty into the lense, trying to focus it ourselvses. The way that the shot cuts straight to the past, the subject that they are discussing is a good idea as flashbacks are an effective way to present a back story. The close up of behind the mans legs is effective because we do not see his face, we notice that he is holding some sort of bag but the dark lighting symbolizes somethinbg eerie and ominous. Our costumes are specifically designed to make our characters to look like detectives. Farhad wears a black tie with braces, black trousers, white shirt with black shoes. Hand cuffs are clipped onto his belt, as well as his gun with the holster tucked into the top of his trousers. This is effective because in America, police officers and detectives war the handcuffs clipped onto their belt. His hair is gelled and curled, this is to make him seem a lot younger than the interviewing scenes. I had spray painted the guns black to make them look like real police guns.In the interview scene, Farhad wears an old tatty coat, a cap which looks like an old mans hat, a plain white tshirt to portray his dull, moany personality. Samir on the other hand, also wears a smart suit. As he is all about his job, he looks smart at all times, in the past and present. Ofcourse in the intwerview scene I had tried to make them seem a bit older by the use of makeup. Samir wears a black blazer, black shoes and trousers with a patterned tie. In the interviewing scene, he still looks smart. Samirs costume is pretty much the same throughout. Though in the beginning of the opening, he wears makeup to make him seem older. I had completed a series of techniques to create eye bags under his eyes to make him look warn out. He wears suits during both time eras, this portrays the way he lives his lives his lifestyle, he cares about his appearance and wants to look presentable, not just inside of work but outside too. Samir had his hair gelled too, in the flashbacks to enhance his young and handsome features, whereas in the interviewing scenes he had his hair more scruffy, making him again, seem a bit older. |
At first, we decided as a group to film in a hotel, but as the weeks went on we couldnt get permission from the hotel so we decided to film in an estate. We thought that this location was good as it will give the audience an idea that it will be a dangerous place to go into. This location was also near school so we could film during lesson time and after school, so we wouldnt have to do far travelling. It was also a public place to we could film there any time we wanted to, which gave our group a good amount of time to schedule when we are all free as we didnt have to ask anyone to film there because we'd already be allowed.
The props that were used connoted a typical crime/thriller genre.This conrtibuted to who the characters were as carrying a gun an and hand cuffs tells the audience that they are some sort of detectives. I had spray painted the guns and holster black so they would look more realistic. The hand cuffs were props from school and the gun bad been bought by Farhad from Toys R us.