The genre we have selected are Thriller and Mystery, we have chosen these two genres for several reasons. The first reason is our preliminary exercise followed the genres of thriller and mystery and it turned out really well, and because we are sticking to the same genre we know exactly where we can improve and what to do differently. Although these are the two main genres we will be following, there are sub genres that we will be taking into consideration which are Drama and Disaster Thriller. Disaster thriller is where we create a mystery resolved around a disaster which doesn’t get explained until the end, similar to Cloverfield where we do not actually see the monster until the end. Drama thriller is all about creating plot twists in the movie; it will be hard to implant this genre in our opening sequence as we have two minutes, so it will be hard to implant a plot twist into it.
We are going to aim this opening sequence at a target audience of 16 – 30 mostly because we are in that age bracket so we will be able to decide whether potential viewers will like something or not. Our main character will be a young male adult, we have chosen a young adult so that the audience can relate and can picture themselves in the opening sequence.
• Man wakes up on street and slowly rises
• Stands up and slowly stumbles (drunk effect)
• Limps to a nearby car with hazard lights on
• Sees dead body on the steering wheel
• Close up of dead person, eye weird and blood dripping from it
• Character gagging and stumbles away in shock
• Gets phone out, no battery
• Then walking around trying to get phone working
• Sees dead person on floor, goes closer and flips him over
• Person gasping and open eyes (jumpy moment)
• Dialogue begins “did you see it” stumbling talking
• Person starts to choke and dyes and eyes change
• Person then backs of, steps on paper
• Picks it up, zoom in date
• Flash back of 3 days ago everything normal,
• Returns to present back to same shot
• Camera in house window, person looking around
• Looks up to camera and camera shudders away (person)
Thursday, 30 April 2009
Inspiration
After the research we conducted, we focused on watching two films that follow the genres we are intending to use for inspiration for our opening sequence. The two films we decided to choose to look at and gain ideas from were Saw 3 and I Am Legend. Saw 3 was directed by Darren Lynn Bousman and the film released in cinemas in 2006, so it is a fairly new film while I Am Legend was released in 2007 and is directed by Francis Lawrence. We believe that these were good choices for many reasons, what are explained below.
Saw 3 is the third sequel to the popular first movie Saw, it follows the techniques used in the following two to create once again a mystifying film. Saw 3 was a film which has a plot what is different to what we are aiming it to achieve but we chose this film as the director has used similar effects in the opening sequence what we would like to achieve, it is also a film our target audience enjoys which ranges from 16 – 30 year olds, so if we get inspirations from Saw, our movie will have that extra quality to it to be enjoyed by our target audience more. The similarities between Saw 3 and our idea is that we wanted to make the audience ask questions on what was happening and left them to unravel later during the storyline to keep the audience interested. In the opening sequence of the movie, we as an audience were thrown into the action straight away, where many of questions were asked. This is a technique that we would like to implant in our movie, to get the audience involved straight away, another technique used by the director which we will try to implant in our opening sequence is an extreme high shot, this will provide the audience a clearer view of the setting and where they actually are. When a mystery is not revealed until the end it is quite a generic feature used in mystery and thriller films. While watching Saw 3 we concluded we really liked the editing used to create a scene scarier then it actual was if left untouched, and that was to flash the same scene from different camera angles to emphasize the fact, that whatever has just happened is quite important to the storytelling later on. Editing also leads on to sound and sound manipulation. In one particular scene where Non- diegetic sound is being played, by editing the sound is increased at certain moments when something shocking has happened which is quite frequent in this particular genre. This idea of editing the sound is something we will have to look into so we can build up the tension in certain areas in our opening sequence. Throughout the scenes synchronous non-diegetic sounds are played to enhance the atmosphere and create more tension for the audience.
I Am Legend was a good film to study for us because it was a similar genre, in which we aim to have in our project. The genre is a mystery/thriller and has the idea that there is one man left and the viewer is not certain why everybody has died, we employed this idea as we believed it was a good idea to base our story around. We also liked the synchronous music that I Am Legend involved in it. It was fitting to the mood and the scene, it was mysterious, and the viewer will feel the same mood if timed correctly. This music was added at the start of the movie when the viewer does not understand where everyone is and what is going on and this music will build tension. We intend to use the similar music in our piece the whole way through because we believe it will create tension and have the same effect on the viewer which is providing build ups of tension and moments where the volume is increased to show it is important. Another factor in inspirations is camera angles, this was used a few times in the opening sequence, and for example it uses a slow zoom in on the television when it shows someone has a cure for cancer, this is used to build up tension while the scene unfolds. Also a high angle shot is used when following the car driving through the city, this was an effective technique as it shows the city is deserted and gets the audience thinking about what has happened, this complements the genre of the film well.
Mise en scene was creatively used during the film effectively and we intend to try and achieve similar outcomes. During the opening scene, the mise en scene was expressed a lot through various ways, for example the overgrowing weed over buildings and wild deer running around in the city, this shows that the city is deserted and has been for a while, and this is a good technique used. We liked this effect of deserted area and will try to achieve a similar effect as it will suit our story line perfectly. This creates the effect that something has happened and is quite devastating that is why no one is to be seen around in the streets and wild life is loose.
Saw 3 is the third sequel to the popular first movie Saw, it follows the techniques used in the following two to create once again a mystifying film. Saw 3 was a film which has a plot what is different to what we are aiming it to achieve but we chose this film as the director has used similar effects in the opening sequence what we would like to achieve, it is also a film our target audience enjoys which ranges from 16 – 30 year olds, so if we get inspirations from Saw, our movie will have that extra quality to it to be enjoyed by our target audience more. The similarities between Saw 3 and our idea is that we wanted to make the audience ask questions on what was happening and left them to unravel later during the storyline to keep the audience interested. In the opening sequence of the movie, we as an audience were thrown into the action straight away, where many of questions were asked. This is a technique that we would like to implant in our movie, to get the audience involved straight away, another technique used by the director which we will try to implant in our opening sequence is an extreme high shot, this will provide the audience a clearer view of the setting and where they actually are. When a mystery is not revealed until the end it is quite a generic feature used in mystery and thriller films. While watching Saw 3 we concluded we really liked the editing used to create a scene scarier then it actual was if left untouched, and that was to flash the same scene from different camera angles to emphasize the fact, that whatever has just happened is quite important to the storytelling later on. Editing also leads on to sound and sound manipulation. In one particular scene where Non- diegetic sound is being played, by editing the sound is increased at certain moments when something shocking has happened which is quite frequent in this particular genre. This idea of editing the sound is something we will have to look into so we can build up the tension in certain areas in our opening sequence. Throughout the scenes synchronous non-diegetic sounds are played to enhance the atmosphere and create more tension for the audience.
I Am Legend was a good film to study for us because it was a similar genre, in which we aim to have in our project. The genre is a mystery/thriller and has the idea that there is one man left and the viewer is not certain why everybody has died, we employed this idea as we believed it was a good idea to base our story around. We also liked the synchronous music that I Am Legend involved in it. It was fitting to the mood and the scene, it was mysterious, and the viewer will feel the same mood if timed correctly. This music was added at the start of the movie when the viewer does not understand where everyone is and what is going on and this music will build tension. We intend to use the similar music in our piece the whole way through because we believe it will create tension and have the same effect on the viewer which is providing build ups of tension and moments where the volume is increased to show it is important. Another factor in inspirations is camera angles, this was used a few times in the opening sequence, and for example it uses a slow zoom in on the television when it shows someone has a cure for cancer, this is used to build up tension while the scene unfolds. Also a high angle shot is used when following the car driving through the city, this was an effective technique as it shows the city is deserted and gets the audience thinking about what has happened, this complements the genre of the film well.
Mise en scene was creatively used during the film effectively and we intend to try and achieve similar outcomes. During the opening scene, the mise en scene was expressed a lot through various ways, for example the overgrowing weed over buildings and wild deer running around in the city, this shows that the city is deserted and has been for a while, and this is a good technique used. We liked this effect of deserted area and will try to achieve a similar effect as it will suit our story line perfectly. This creates the effect that something has happened and is quite devastating that is why no one is to be seen around in the streets and wild life is loose.
Research
In order to create a successful opening sequence, we decided as a group to research different genres of films to enhance our knowledge. After combining a couple of simple ideas together, we needed to expand the ideas we already have to make it more complex and to produce a piece at the best of our abilities. We decided to do a lot of research on two particular genres: thriller and mystery; this was because we thoroughly enjoyed creating our preliminary exercise which also followed mystery and thriller. To start our research, we decided to search the most successful thriller and mystery genre films to date. When searching we came across a list of the top 50 movies for our specific genres. A film near the top was The Dark Knight, a quite recent film.
The Dark Knight was directed by Christopher Nolan who has also directed The Prestige which again follows the genre we are looking at. After seeing the dark knight as one of the most popular mystery/thrillers we decided to watch the opening scene. After seeing the production company’s logo and the main title for the film, we are introduced by a long shot a city. Gradually the camera gets closer to a building where you can hear synchronous sound gradually getting louder until you reach the building where the sound becomes immediately louder when the action begins. The scene then cuts into a frame on ground level in the city where we are provided with a mid shot of a clown mask which gradually zooms in. Again the sound is gradually increased to provide tension on what is about to happen. We are shown it is a very populated city, by many people in the background in their suits walking past. Editing has been used in a very creative way, by showing the audience the little scenes of the two different groups working together; this fastens the pace and makes it more exciting as a viewer. This research will later on provide inspirations for our film.
When researching movies of the mystery and thriller genre we found that there are many generic features throughout both genres, for example, the way that sound is used to build up tension when something important or scary is about to happen. Although we were going to produce an opening sequence using present day techniques, we also did research on early mystery/thriller films. This meant we could see how techniques in the genre have changed over years and also if we could get any ideas to use in our own piece. One particular film which was directed by the famous Alfred Hitchcock was The Birds.
Compared to the more recent film The Dark Knight, The Birds starts off as a normal film where an establishing shot shows us a woman, walking through San Francisco town; this establishes the scene as to where we are, provided by mise en scene. When the protagonist gets to the front door of a pet shop, we get to see a generic feature in most mystery/thriller films which is where the character looks at something, in this case a flock of birds in the sky, and the camera switches to a close up of the characters face to see the emotion and reaction of something. We believe this will be a technique which we will have to incorporate in our piece. Sound was used creatively during birds, for example Alfred Hitchcock used a lot of ambient and diegetic sounds to make this opening sequence more natural and realistic. He did incidentally make one of the first scenes in a pet shop where we can hear birds tweet, giving us another clue following the shock reaction of the flock of birds in the sky, that the story later on will be about birds. These are subtle clues used effectively to tell us what expect later on.From this we have gained knowledge that even present day films take techniques from old dated movies.
After watching the opening sequence to this film, it led us on to researching directors. Alfred Hitchcock was the first one we researched because he was one if not the best director of mystery/thriller genres of his era. Directing many films including The Birds and Psycho, he is a well known director and very influential. The director was alive for over 80 years, providing the film industry with many moving films which are still watched today. He used to have certain trademarks in his films what you can notice throughout most of them, for example, he liked to have scenes in bathrooms, as he believed it was a good place for romance or to hide from someone or something. Although our research was purely for films, we did seem to end up with a couple of directors who do most of their work with TV shows. We decided to research on a TV director to provide more examples of opening sequences. The director for TV we mostly researched was director J.J Abrams. He directs many popular shows following the mystery/thriller genre including Alias and Fringe. He has directed a few movies as well, for example Cloverfield and also the upcoming Star Trek film. One of our favourite points what J.J Abrams does in nearly all his directed pieces is start the mystery straight away by putting the character into action and making the audience question the mystery until later when it unfolds. This is a clever feature which we should implant in our piece as it is very effective and is quite a generic feature in the mystery and thriller genres.
Television shows and films were quite alike when it came to the genre of Mystery and Thriller, the only major differences were that television shows either revealed the mystery that episode or at a later date in the season. While generally films only had a certain time period to reveal the mystery unless creating a sequel. Other than that, they were generally the same with the same techniques used, so for example, to create tension the volume of the music increased while the speed was increased to get us as an audience ready for something big to happen or a shocking revelation. From the researching we collected, this will lead us on to taking notes on a couple of movies to gather inspirations from them while still looking back at research to gather more information to form a strong idea for an opening sequence.
The Dark Knight was directed by Christopher Nolan who has also directed The Prestige which again follows the genre we are looking at. After seeing the dark knight as one of the most popular mystery/thrillers we decided to watch the opening scene. After seeing the production company’s logo and the main title for the film, we are introduced by a long shot a city. Gradually the camera gets closer to a building where you can hear synchronous sound gradually getting louder until you reach the building where the sound becomes immediately louder when the action begins. The scene then cuts into a frame on ground level in the city where we are provided with a mid shot of a clown mask which gradually zooms in. Again the sound is gradually increased to provide tension on what is about to happen. We are shown it is a very populated city, by many people in the background in their suits walking past. Editing has been used in a very creative way, by showing the audience the little scenes of the two different groups working together; this fastens the pace and makes it more exciting as a viewer. This research will later on provide inspirations for our film.
When researching movies of the mystery and thriller genre we found that there are many generic features throughout both genres, for example, the way that sound is used to build up tension when something important or scary is about to happen. Although we were going to produce an opening sequence using present day techniques, we also did research on early mystery/thriller films. This meant we could see how techniques in the genre have changed over years and also if we could get any ideas to use in our own piece. One particular film which was directed by the famous Alfred Hitchcock was The Birds.
Compared to the more recent film The Dark Knight, The Birds starts off as a normal film where an establishing shot shows us a woman, walking through San Francisco town; this establishes the scene as to where we are, provided by mise en scene. When the protagonist gets to the front door of a pet shop, we get to see a generic feature in most mystery/thriller films which is where the character looks at something, in this case a flock of birds in the sky, and the camera switches to a close up of the characters face to see the emotion and reaction of something. We believe this will be a technique which we will have to incorporate in our piece. Sound was used creatively during birds, for example Alfred Hitchcock used a lot of ambient and diegetic sounds to make this opening sequence more natural and realistic. He did incidentally make one of the first scenes in a pet shop where we can hear birds tweet, giving us another clue following the shock reaction of the flock of birds in the sky, that the story later on will be about birds. These are subtle clues used effectively to tell us what expect later on.From this we have gained knowledge that even present day films take techniques from old dated movies.
After watching the opening sequence to this film, it led us on to researching directors. Alfred Hitchcock was the first one we researched because he was one if not the best director of mystery/thriller genres of his era. Directing many films including The Birds and Psycho, he is a well known director and very influential. The director was alive for over 80 years, providing the film industry with many moving films which are still watched today. He used to have certain trademarks in his films what you can notice throughout most of them, for example, he liked to have scenes in bathrooms, as he believed it was a good place for romance or to hide from someone or something. Although our research was purely for films, we did seem to end up with a couple of directors who do most of their work with TV shows. We decided to research on a TV director to provide more examples of opening sequences. The director for TV we mostly researched was director J.J Abrams. He directs many popular shows following the mystery/thriller genre including Alias and Fringe. He has directed a few movies as well, for example Cloverfield and also the upcoming Star Trek film. One of our favourite points what J.J Abrams does in nearly all his directed pieces is start the mystery straight away by putting the character into action and making the audience question the mystery until later when it unfolds. This is a clever feature which we should implant in our piece as it is very effective and is quite a generic feature in the mystery and thriller genres.
Television shows and films were quite alike when it came to the genre of Mystery and Thriller, the only major differences were that television shows either revealed the mystery that episode or at a later date in the season. While generally films only had a certain time period to reveal the mystery unless creating a sequel. Other than that, they were generally the same with the same techniques used, so for example, to create tension the volume of the music increased while the speed was increased to get us as an audience ready for something big to happen or a shocking revelation. From the researching we collected, this will lead us on to taking notes on a couple of movies to gather inspirations from them while still looking back at research to gather more information to form a strong idea for an opening sequence.
Brief
We were asked to create an opening sequence of a new fictional film. In this 2 minute extract we were asked to create, we had to establish the plot of the story and by doing this, it allowed us to implant our main character into the story. . With this opening sequence we needed to engage the audience into the story to keep them entertained and make them want to carry on watching the rest of the film if it was created. As it is the opening titles we needed to have the main cast and directors names appear on screen in these 2 minutes. The choices were either to have the titles shown on just a black screen or over the footage. We have chosen over the footage so the audience will not get distracted by black screens from the story itself.
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