Opening Sequence Analysis

Before doing opening sequence research, I have decided to do a brief analysis of a film opening to explore the functions and explain how it is effective. An opening sequence must establish characterisation, narrative and setting to define the genre of the film. This can be emphasised by the use of camera shots, music, soundtrack which has an effect on representation, ideology, mise-en scene and genre.

The Genre helps set a theme of a certain time period combined with the actions of certain characters which represent stereotypes from around this era, props and costumes reinforce this idea. Genre is used so the audience understands who these characters are as well as giving the audience an insight into what is happening. The audience may have preconceptions of a certain genre and the aim of the producers and directors is to meet these expectations.

I have written a selection of film opening analysis' including; Edward Scissorhands and Dirty Harry, but I have decided to focus on the Usual Suspects. As the opening is centralised around action, which I am hoping to incorporate in my opening sequence. Here are are 3 extracts taken from my essay:

" The opening shot is cleverly constructed due to the use of lighting to create reflections off the water. This is accompanied by the the classical music which creates a sophisticated introduction. This also creates a feeling of uncertainty and mystery as the sea can be perceived as a desolate place. From which the audience can gather information of the setting before the characters have been introduced. In the following shot we see a collection of matches being struck, this shows the contrast of environment in a matter of seconds, from being quiet and tranquil to dangerous and destructive. The close-up shot of the matches is almost a mini explosion itself, implying something will happen evidently towards the end of the scene.

an extreme close-up creates intricate detail.

The dark shadowed figure makes his way down to the lower deck, where a brief conversation is developing between the two characters. This now shows the audience that there is a relationship between them both. The concealed character is wearing a trench coat and it appears that he is also wearing a gold watch. This demonstrates that he is a man of authority due to the impression of his wealth and power. Also the way the two characters are positioned shows the transition of power between them, as the the villain is standing in a commanding manner compared to the victim. The is a lot of tension between the couple, but the smoke from the cigarette cuts it, until the gun is pulled out. The soundtrack and music plays a key role in this sequence as it does create tension as well as a sense of the unknown, especially when the villain appears. This furthermore shows that this is a crime thriller by the use of gun and props etc alongside the representation of characters. The audience can also quite clearly identify a victim and a villain.

Characterisation and setting is established.

The opening scene of the 'Usual Suspects' is effective as the theme is nautical and mysterious, but also chaotic and destructive. The range of close-up shots mainly come into focus, noticeably in front of and around the fire as it is the boat which explodes in the end, building towards a climax. The opening can almost be seen as a 'fuse', due to the way it slowly builds up and causes destruction at the end of the scene. But I believe that it is the non-chronological order of the opening that makes it effective, due to the immediate importance of the explosion which then afterwards leads to a flashback and sets a different time period."

mise-en-scene helps establish the genre

with these certain shots.

New York Trip

On February 3rd our Media Studies group had the privilege of going to New York. I've always longed to travel to New York as the iconic status of this city has always appealed to me due to its famous landmarks and vibrant lifestyle. The whole point of the trip was to explore the city as a media phenomenon, looking at social and cultural aspects as well as the advanced world of modern filming. I was quite intrigued to view the famous filming locations as New York is renowned for this, I was fascinated by the vast amount of film locations and the numerous films, such as; Cloverfield, I am Legend, Ghostbusters and Spiderman that have been involved around these landmarks.

This gave us an insight into how everything is over exaggerated due to editing to help emphasise the presence of its surroundings compared to real life, especially when viewing the 'Friends' apartment. On top of witnissing these famous filming locations we had the chance to attend a 4 hour filming masterclass, where we learnt about: filming,editing and acting. From attending this class i learnt about the various lighting postions to help emphasise shadowing around characters and setting to help create a mood or an atmosphere to produce a certain affect on the audience.

I also learnt that editing can be reletively simple when shown the correct method. A brief tour of NBC Studios also came in useful as the layout of a television set clearly demonstrated the various angles from where the shots are taken and established.

Overall I throughly enjoyed my time in New York as it was an amazing experience and I have taken lots of inspiration which will hopefully encourage and develop certain ideas of filming.

Preliminary Task Evaluation

Setting
The walkway to the office was quiet therefore there were no distractions and interferences which made the setting perfect for filming. The setting also had adequate lighting which was suitable for the filming around the corridors which helped the viewers acknowledge the features of the unknown character.As the tables and chairs were stacked in the room, Josh and I organised them into a formal position which would be perfect for a confrontation to occur. It also helped us emphasise the 180 degree rule perfectly, as a majority of filming will be shot around the table, when the unknown character enters the office. I was pleased that there was enough space as it allowed Josh to move around efficiently without any problems.



shots of the confrontation and the approach to the office door

Filming
For the preliminary task, Josh was filming and I was acting alongside our fellow colleague Sam Pepper. Due to the limitations of working as just partners we needed Sam to act the part of 'Steve', who is the main focus of the confrontation with the unknown character in the office. For the filming, Josh used a tripod to make sure the recording was steady and precise which was preferred to the use of a hand held camera. This means that more interesting and focused shots could be created without losing the quality of filming due to a shaky hand. Josh was very happy with the variety of shots he constructed showing a creative flair at the times which created unique shots with minute detail, such as the extreme close up shot of the door handle for example. This will be beneficial for our opening sequence as we both need to remain open minded on intriguing shots which will engage the viewer, and how we could possibly develop them to improve the range shots for our opening.



extreme close up of the door handle

Editing
After Josh had finished the filming, we had to edit the shots to piece our preliminary task together. To do this we had to connect the the digital camera onto a computer via a USB cable and upload the shots onto a program called 'Sony Vegas Movie Studio 9.0'. After uploading, we cropped (split) these shots and edited them together so that the sequence would flow. Finally all we had to do was to upload the video onto blogger, this is where our problems occurred. We tried rendering the opening sequence into various formats, but through this we lost some quality as the video was compressed too small (apology's for the blurriness) after trying these formats. Josh and I then discovered that there was an error in the schools system, preventing us from uploading the video at school, therefore we tried uploading the video at home, which was successful using the 'Windows Media Audio/Video Format'. We have learnt that uploading our opening sequence at home will be better as there will be less technical difficulties.


print screen of the windows media player file

Evaluation
I personally believe that our preliminary task was quite a success, despite a couple of technical difficulties that Josh and I have learnt from, which will most certainly help us when we take the opening sequence into consideration. In my opinion there was a range of fantastic shots that we could use for our opening scene. The over the shoulder shot which is firstly shown creates mystery and suspision i think this will be effective in the opening sequence as it keeps the audience intrigued in the unknown character. Afterwards there is a high angled tilted shot which shows the characters features and makes the character feel intimidated. The minute details and close up shots (door handle for example) create a new insight into looking at things from a new perspective, which should definately be included in our opening sequence, as it grips the viewer. During the filming of the preliminary task, mine and sams voice appears to be slighty muffled as the filming was from a distance, and the microphone on the camera lacks in quality, but this could have been due to the compressing of the file. This means that we have to either film closely during the opening sequence to avoid interuptions which could becaused by the wind or the surrounding environment around us or record a voiceover. Also during the sequence Sam appears to look at the camera, so when we are taking the opening sequence into consideration we need to think about how self confident our actors/actresses are within the filming environment. Apart from these issues, there are many positive things we can take from this preliminary task as it gives us more of a clue about filming and editing and what it entails.

Preliminary Task Video

Preliminary Task Location

For our preliminary task we obviously needed a location/setting to film our sequence. From basing the storyboard around the school's surroundings it was relatively easy to find a small adaquete office to do our filming. In the end my partner and I decided to go to the abandoned science block where there would be little noise and no distractions. When observing the room I took the thought of lighting and camera postioning into consideration to see if the shots from the storyboard could be reconstructed in the best way. There was a wide window which let a vast amount of light into the room which was beneficial for us as the light could be absorbed if necessary. There were also minor distractions as we would be filming at the far end of the science block. The corridors approaching the office also let in a light but created shadowed areas which could look effective due to the skylight windows. The room was small but there was the required amount of space to film in. Also there was a selection of objects that we could use as props, if we possibly wanted to adjust the setting i.e. tables, chairs, cabinets etc.

Here is a picture of the chosen location:

180 Degree Rule

The 180 degree rule is vital in film making as it helps identify 2 characters (or other subjects) in the same scene and should always have a left or right relationship with each other.If the camera passes over this imaginary 180 degree axis that is linking the two subjects, it confuses the audience as the subject has swapped positions, this is unnatural to the human eye due to the organised positioning of the characters in earlier shots . This is called crossing the line. The shot that is now created from the opposite side is called the reverse angle. The crossing of the line can easily be corrected with the buffer shot of the subject head on or from behind, so that the flowing movement of the camera appears to be more subtle and goes unnoticed. Sometimes the crossing of the line can be deliberate to cause this disorientation "The Shining" by Stanley Kubrick is an example of this.

Here is a simplistic diagram of the 180 degree rule taken from Wikipedia:


when the characters are transferred
from the red arc to the green arc, it switches their
positions on the screen.

here is also a video to explain the 180 degree rule further:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBPw9C57TuU