consists of titles, logos, actors/producers names and clips
contains taglines and film's title
shows sections of the film that will grab audiences attention (encourage them to watch the film).
A film opening:
gives details of the cast, crew and institution producing the film (in a certain order)
contains film's title
introduces the audience to main character/character type
gives an indication of place and historical period
gives information on mood and tone
gives an indication of genre
introduces audience to signature theme tune
sets the film up
shows things viewers may find intriguing (makes them question).
Although both things give an indication to what the fiolm is to be like, there are some major differences. The film trailer contains information about the film as a whole, without giving important details away. A film opening contains information about, maybe, the main characters and the scene and genre, but that is all. Another important difference is the orders the titles run in. In a film trailer, the film's title is usually displayed at the very end, before the premiere date. In a film opening, the film title is placed roughly 30 seconds into the opening, followed by more titles, before the film plays on after the director's name (which is always the last title). Both the film trailer and opening want to intrigue the audience, however the film trailers always seem to be more fast-paced and contain more action than the same film's opening in comparison.
The Pink Panther (2006) trailer and opening
Within the trailer to The Pink Panther (2006) the clips that have been used are most probably the funniest and action-based ones in the film. This captures people's attention and intrigues them into watching the film. This trailer does also tell people quite a bit of background information on the film and what could happen in the storyline, however it cleverly does not show the reactions of some of the actions and therefore, does not give away too much.
In comparison, the opening is very vague. It isn't a conventional film opening; where it sets the scene, or introduces the main character, however it is a very effective way of getting all the opening titles into the film whilst keeping the audiences attention. It does hint at the comedy genre of the film and gives away small clues as to what the storyline could be.
To increase my knowledge of film openings, and to gain an understanding of what order the titles appear in, I analysed and created timelines for some film openings. Firstly, I analysed the opening of 'Forrest Gump' and identified what order the titles came in. It begins with the production company (or companies') logos with no music playing, only the company logo's theme music. The film title of Forrest Gump, and many other films, is not the first title, but the sixth title and appears not right at the beginning, as you would unknowledgably expect, but 30 seconds into the opening. Many title placings, like where the film title is placed, surprised me once I had learnt how far in to the opening it was. Until I had created this timeline, like many other people, without even thinking about it I would have expected the film title to be the first thing that appeared. I was also surprised at the sheer amount of titles there were in a fairly short amount of time, and how this short (but important and necessary) time space can be cleverly used to hook and engage the audience.
Juno also starts with the production company logo right at the beginning of the opening. The title, similarly to Forrest Gump, appears 29 seconds into the opening, after introducing the producers and director, and always seems to be in a slightly different font, or made bigger and bolder, than the rest of the titles to ensure it stands out and the audience knows this is the film's title. The openings always end with the director's name before the film plays on. From the clips I have analysed this usually happens roughly 2 minutes into the openings. There isn't a designated time space for music overlay however, and this can begin from the very start over the production companies, or at any point throughout the opening. There may be a complete withdrawal of sound altogether (as seen in The Fall). I have also learnt that there can be more than one name on the screen at one time, but the names have to remain in the order as shown on the timelines.
I noticed, after attempting to analyse these four film openings that, strangely, these higher-grossing, mainstream films with top actors, didn't include any titles other than the production companies; the majority of them didn't even include the film title - with Twilight being the exception. I also found this was the case in the Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkahban opening that I analysed. One arguement for this suggests that films of this sort want to fully submerge their audiences in the film, and by adding opening titles this detracts away from the realism of the film. The Dark Knight also uses this method of minimal titles - it is only at the end of the whole film that the title appears as well as the cast list.
Film openings give the audience a starting point to help establish:
genre
narrative
character
atmosphere
themes
setting
sound
titles.
The Fall (2006) (Adventure/Drama/Fantasy) Opening Analysis
The Fall is a multi-generic film produced by Googly Films. From the opening, the audience may deduce that the film is to be of a Western genre due to the cowboy hats and horses. It also suggests that there is to be conflict - because of the bow-struck armour - or maybe war within the film; connoting an action genre.
There is not much of a narrative that the audience can establish from this opening. The storyline is left very open; with elements not interlinking with each other or making logical sense. This has connotations of discontinuous editing, suggesting confusion and unpredictability in the film. However, this helps to draw the audience into the film as they are left with many unanswered questions of which they want the answer to.
As for the characters, the audience are introduced to many - however they seem to not have a revelence to each other; or look as if they are from different time periods or setups and wouldn't normally be working together. This also suggests the film is not based on a realism theme, but maybe one of dreams and make-believe; of fantasy genre. From the characters' costumes, however, the audience can deduce that the film is set in older, more historical times - coupled with the fact the opening has been shot in black and white. This monochrome theme runs throughout the opening, again giving the film a sense of history and earlier setting. Overall, the opening does not focus upon any main characters and definitely does not, unlike other film openings, follow the route of introducing the main protagonist and antagonist - the audience are unaware of who the people are, why they are there, what the story is and who will be the main focus of the story.
The film opening introduces us, ironically, through the relatively slow pace to the utter panic that is going on. The use of slow-motion shows clearly the expressions of the characters, which suggest a sense of urgency and a desperate need for something. A hectic, hustle-bustle theme has been created from the point of view of a seemingly-dazed (due to the slow-motion) onlooker; of whom we do not know.
We can see the film might be set in a more rural - than urban - area, from the river and surrounding open space; countryside and hills. We do not hear any voices, and therefore no accents, so we cannot deduce what country the film is to be specifically set in.
The lack of sound at the very beginning builds tension and gives a dramatic, intense feel to the opening. It suggests this is the beginning of a build up towards an epic finale of action. The non-diegetic music overlay, however, that kicks in after the silence, does not fit the action. It makes the situation seem comedic, unlike the panicked expressions we see on the people's faces. It is not until the end of the opening when the audience realise they were all trying to save a horse from the water that we realise the music does fit due to the stange - almost comedic - situation.
The first title follows the monochrome, embossed white text on a black background (or vice versa) that were used in the 1920s - again, giving the film an olden feel. The fonts used are rather plain and do not give away any details (of genre, of theme) to the audience. This also means the titles do not detract away from the action of the characters in the opening; to help the audience follow the storyline, or lack of it at the moment. Other titles have been cleverly integrated into the action so as also not to attract attention.
I think this film opening works very well to create an eerie, yet confusing atmosphere which hooks the audience right from the start. It gradually get more strange as it goes on; changing the audiences perceptions of what the film might be about. I really like the fact that everything in it is very vague, yet it captures the attention and imagination of the audience which works well as a hook; with the audience wanting to watch on to find out more.
Casino Royale is a Bond film produced by Columbia Pictures. This animated opening clearly displays, from the start, the film's crime/action/adventure genre due to the prescence of guns, wounds fighting and energetic nature of the graphics.
The audience do not get much of an idea of the narrative of the film from the opening, apart from that there will most probably be fight scenes in it and that it could involve gambling; obviously due to the film title, playing cards and references to the four sets throughout the opening.
The audience assumes, due to the renowned nature of Bond films, that the figure within the circle at the beginning of the clip is 007 - James Bond, however we are never formally introduced to him as this character at all throughout the opening. Due to this assumption, we follow the darkened figures as they fight to the death, the outcome always being, we believe - due to the films' natures, with Bond being alive. From this we conclude that Bond is a brave, lethal and skillful well-trained fighter. We also know it's not a war-based film where Bond is a soldier, but that he is most probably an undercover agent; being in a suit, trying to blend in and be inconspicuous.
This opening is very effective and impactful, I believe. It is quite light-hearted considering the film's genre, but very well-done and well put-together. It gives the effect of a dream or a carefully-scripted dance, but like it all comes easily to Bond - he could do it in his sleep. The opening also creates a very disorientating atmosphere, which reminds me of a fun-house; lots of places to hide, hinting an ongoing theme of the Bond films. Obviously, an ongoing theme in this opening is the reference to the playing cards and gambling.
There is no diegetic sound (apart from, maybe, the gunshots) within the opening, however there is a non-deiegetic beaty, up-tempo dramatic song overlayed on the animation for impact. Lyrically, the song hints towards the genre and storyline of the film; giving clues, as well as the impact it creates as the song gradually builds up to an epic melodic conclusion. The ear-piercing screech at the beginning of the opening has connotations of fear - sounding scream-like.
I think this film opening is brilliant. I love the clever intertwining of the animations throughout it. I especially think that the part at the beginning - where there are different twisted trails - is particularly interesting as they are suggesting the many possible trails Bond can follow in order to get what and where he wants; whether he takes the right path to get there, only he can figure out; it is like a maze and he needs to find the clues - linking back to the action genre, suggesting possible deductive/undercover/spy themes. I also thinks this opening conveys a strong message: that gambling and money can be unhealthy.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) (Crime/Drama/Mystery)Opening Analysis
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is another Columbia Pictures production. It is of crime/drama/mystery genre where mystery is conveyed extremely well to the audience in this film opening. There is no storyline, from what we see, at this stage and the plot hasn't been given away. The use of the colour black and shadows also connote, not only mystery, but horror and death. However, the storyline still remains unknown and guarded. The fast-paced cross-cutting of extreme close-ups helps to intrigue the audience but also confuses them; connoting the essence of mystery as they cannot follow the discontinuous editing of the seemingly unrelated and irrelevent clips, apart from the fact that they are all dark in colour and context.
The audience can gather that the narrative might be one surrounding technology due to the computer keyboard and cables, however there are no other hints as to what the film is to be about - apart from the ongoing dark undertones throughout the opening - the colour black, use of fire, insects, clenched fist and violence, connoting the crime element of the film.
There are no characters introduced to the audience in the opening. We do not know who the main characters are and what their personalities are like, however we can assume some are to be evil, very dark-natured villains.
The opening creates a very haunting atmosphere. This is due to the fact the audience cannot fully follow - or understand - what is going on, but they know it is something out of the ordinary and so is, naturally, transcribed by their instincts into a possible threat or danger. The use of a crow in the opening has conntoations to death and horror, as crows are reknowned for negatively symbolising the death and the after-life and are considered as creatures of vermin. The fact the crow is surrounded by fire creates an image of the mythical bird, Phoenix, who is also considered to symbolise the after-life and spirits, however it is seen in a good light - oppositely of the crow - connoting freedom and peace. This could suggest there are two conflicting sides being portrayed in the film and what humans believe are 'good' and 'bad' sides, like Heaven and Hell, for example. The two opposite intensities of light - the cold, shadowed, introverted darkness and the bright, warm flourishing fire - also convey this sense of opposition and confliction. Personally, the opening makes me question mortality and what is 'right' and what is 'wrong'. Morally, human's have lots of opinions on what is 'right' and what is not, but one person's beliefs can differ from another's and who knows what is the 'right' opinion. The mythical images in this opening help to convey this sense of not-knowing.
It seems that, in the shots, everything has had the colour taken out of it, connoting death. A destructive theme is also ongoing throughout the opening and increases towards the end; the fire creating a bomb-like explosion. The titling is very discrete and doesn't distract away from the clips, being only slightly lighter than the black backgrounds they are upon.
The high-pitched, non-diegetic, scream-like music overlay has connotations, to the audience, of the horror genre as screams are a notifier of terror. The music is very fast-paced and increases in substance (where different layers of sound plastered on top of one another increases) also, which builds tension as it creates an atmosphere of doom; where the music connotes a heavy-beated death march.
I think this opening is very effective - it draws the viewer in - but it is very vague. It does not set a comprehensible scene or introduce us to any characters or storyline, however this works well because of the mystery genre of this film; intriguing the audience as to how, and if, the opening will become comprehensible through watching the film.
Our short film demonstates continuity well through the use of techniques such as: match-on-action, 180 degree rule and shot-reverse-shot. These techniques allow for the film to be understandable and coherent; thereby the audience can follow what is going on.
The match-on-action - where the mummy opens and walks through the door - has been edited so that, in each of the 3 shots of the mummy opening the door, its hand is always on the handle in the same place as it was in the last shot - so that it makes the opening of the door, which was filmed in 3 shots from different angles, look as if it flowed smoothly and could have happened in one shot, continuously.
We also made sure the characters were in the same position as they were at the end of the last shot before filming the next shot (e.g the cowboy was always sitting in the same place in each shot, whilst on his phone, on the same side of the table) to ensure the continuity of the film, unless there was to be a jump cut (e.g the mummy walking through the door and then cutting to beside the table). Also, once the cowboy had removed his eyepiece, we made sure that in every shot after that he was not wearing it and that it was around his neck instead. By doing these things, the audience knew the shots were in a coherent order which told the story and made sense to them.
You can also see from the above images, that we stuck to the 180 degree rule throughout. This is very important as if it was not used, the film wouldn't have made much sense and the audience would be very confused as to what is happening. The 180 degree rule helps to keep a sense of order in a person's mind and makes things flow better. We demonstrated shot-reverse-shot when the characters were exchanging some dialogue, where we also obeyed the 180 degree rule. By using shot-reverse-shot, the audience can clearly see who is speaking, as well as the reactions to whatever has been said; and the 180 degree rule enhances that.
I feel that our group worked together fairly well. As we were a group of 4, we used our time efficiently by splitting into twos to film separate shots, before rejoining again to share and discuss our shots. This saved alot of time and the whole piece was completed in and hour and 10 minutes. However, at first, we were a bit slow to begin - having dressed our actors but also - because it was the first time we'd had to direct and film, we were a bit nervous as to how to do that and use the equipment to the best we possibly could, as we knew exactly what we wanted to do in our heads but were a bit worried as to how it might turn out. After filming our first shots though, our initial worries were forgotten.
The only worry we had now was the amount of time we had to film. Originally, we would have liked for more people to have been actors involved in our production, but, because it had to be filmed at school during school hours, we couldn't find many people who were willing to contribute and had free periods. This wasn't too much of an issue, however, as we only had two main characters - but I feel it isn't as effective and realistic as it could have been with more actors (e.g the 'party' scene when the cowboy is dancing at the beginning of the film isn't really much of a party - he's dancing by himself). We had an hour and a half with the actors before they had a lesson, so we were keep to try and get all the shots finished in this time. We tried to do it so each of our group had a chance to film each shot once, if not more times and have their say on it and we found this worked well.
If we were to film this piece again, I would try and correct the lighting, as anything white looked very bright when we filmed it. We tried to tone the brightness down, and make it more dull by reducing the constrast, during the editing - and added an 'olden effect' to the film throughout - but it hasn't helped overly.
When we were planning, we thought alot about the storyline, but not so much about where it was set, the costumes or the actors. To make it more realistic, we could have decorated the room with Halloween decorations and had more actors dressed up as other Halloween creatures. From the audience's perspective it just looks like a random cowboy dancing around in a school classroom - not a Halloween party, which is what it's supposed to be.
To make our piece look more professional, we added a fading-in from black effect to the beginning shot and a fading-out to black effect on the last shot. Other than these we didn't use any transitions as we didn't wanted the piece to be continuous and by adding obvious transitions you could easily devastate the continuity. Therefore, we decided against them. Also, our film didn't change time periods (into a new day, for example, or even just an hour or so later), where a transition would aid this well - it was all continuous and would have happened one-thing-after-another. Adding a transition would give the illusion of it being a different time of day or scene and we didn't want that.
By doing this preliminary task, I have learnt how to use the editing software - I'd never used it before. It gave me the chance to try everything out and experiment; to see what effects worked and what didn't and how to use all the different options before doing the final piece of coursework. I learnt how to add sound-effects (e.g the gun shot) and overlay music. When we were editing our short film, we used slow-mo for some shots to make them more intense (e.g when the cowboy is drawing his gun on the mummy) or more comical (e.g the last shot of the mummy walking towards the door).
This is the final edit of our 'Cowboys & Mummies' short production. It includes match-on-action, shot-reverse-shot, 180 degree rule, someone sitting down and the exchange of dialogue. I contributed to the idea of the film, the filming and the editing of it. Enjoy!
I thought the filming went very well. We managed to get the whole production filmed in just over an hour as we split the workload between our group of four; with one pair filming one scene, whilst the other pair filmed another, as we had two video cameras.
These were the cameras we used:
They were both identical and we used the same two cameras throughout; on the same settings, to ensure the film was the same quality all the way through.
We didn't use a dolly at all whilst filming, as we found the result wasn't as smooth as when we controlled the camera manually - although, even then, some shots weren't as smooth as, ideally, we would have liked (e.g when we were tracking the mummy from behind down the hallway). However, for the over-the-shoulder shots between the characters, the close ups, the overhead shot of the characters at the table we used a tripod. This ensured the camera stayed perfectly still throughout the shot, meaning the result looked very professional. Using the tripod meant we could easily get matching eyeline shots, as we just kept the tripod at the same height. We also used the tripod for some tilts and pans as the tripod kept the camera at the same level as the action which meant you would always have the characters in the shot - you just had to move the tripod arm in one direction or the other. Although, sometimes, the shots were jolted as the person controlling the camera begun to move the arm of the tripod.
A difficulty we faced whilst filming, was getting the correct lighting. Onscreen, the light areas were enhanced and looked too bright. We couldn't do anything about this, physically, as we couldn't dim the room's light. Looking back, we shouldn't have filmed some shots (e.g the cowboy rejoicing at 'killing' the mummy) right beneath a light, which made the shot distorted and look very bright.
Our group worked well together. We were either working in pairs, or altogether as a group; and on each shot we all had a go of filming it, until one of us got a good shot that we all agreed on - which we would then film a few times. Filming was a bit slow to get started, as I think everyone was slightly wary of the cameras and the prospect of having to order around actors - knowing exactly what we wanted to do and how it would look in our heads, but not quite sure how to make everything work - we didn't want it to turn out seeming completely crazy and over-the-top. However, once we'd gotten over the initial shock of actually having to film something and we'd started on the first shot, everything moved along fairly quickly and we were surprised to have all the shots we needed finished in just over an hour.
I enjoyed the feeling of making something happen: the fact that we thought of the idea in our heads which we then put on paper and it has finally come before our eyes; a sense of achievement and knowing it was all our own.
