Film Openings

 Film Openings

An opening action sequence is meant to grab you.

Key Elements to a film opening:

Plot

Setting

Characterization

Structure

Theme

How to start a movie in 6 different ways:

Technique 1: Enter the villain - Commonly used in action

Technique 2: Enter the hero - Commonly used in action

This type of opening raises the stakes, introduces characters, and key plot points while making sure the audience is in for the ride.

Technique 3: Establish relationships - Mainly used on dramas

Tells the audience about the characters.

Technique 4: Plot catalyst

Technique 5: Follow genre

The plot and things happening in the movie is what helps us follow the genre.

Technique 6: Flip genre

Film Opening Analysis

 Film Opening Analysis

Luca(2021)

The film Luca is about a curious sea creature named Luca who wants to see the surface, but is afraid knowing he'd get in trouble and be berated. Luca finds some "human objects" and hides them in his room. Luca while watching the fish went to look at some shining objects, but meets a sea creature like him named Alberto. They then go to the surface where humans live. Luca and Alberto build a moped and bond through trial and error. They see a town and want to visit. They arrive in the town of Portorosso where they meet a human friend named Giulia(Julia). Together they compete in the Portorosso cup which is a race involving swimming, eating, then a bike race. First to pass the finish line wins the Portorsso cup. Alberto bails as he reveals his identity as a sea creature and Luca betrays him. Luca and Giulia compete in the Portorosso cup by themselves as they have no third teammate. Luca nd Giulia finish the swimming and eating portion, but still have the bike race to finish. Towards the end of the bike race Luca finds himself in a pickle as it starts to rain. Alberto comes running to Luca with an umbrella, but is tripped by the film's bully and his identity is revealed to the entire town. Luca goes to save Alberto and the bully tries to kill him. They race to the finish line avoiding the bully's killing blows. Luca and Alberto pass the finish line and win the race. The town accepts them as they are and are now welcome any time. Later after Luca goes to school with Giulia and Alberto stays with Giulia's dad. Alberto and Luca part ways at the end and Luca rides a train to Giulia's mom house.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3SCG8IXQ_g

The opening scene of Luca starts off with an establishing shot focusing on a boat passing. They then ride the boat to catch some fish, but found the sea creature they thought was fake. They then tried to drive away, but the sea creature had gotten tangled in the net. Once it escaped one of the fishermen threw a spear, but missed.

The opening scene connects to the original film as it introduces the main fear of the citizens of Portorosso the sea creatures. It shows that these sea creatures are greatly feared and are hunted.

The purpose of the opening scene is to show what the people in the movie are most afraid of and how the thing they fear looks.

The Greatest Showman(2017)

    The Greatest Showman is a film about a boy who went from the bottom to the top wanting to become a circus owner. At the age of 12 he was selling lottery tickets and realized he had a natural talent for promotion and publicity. He went and applied for multiple businesses and rose from nothing to creating the Barnum & Bailey Circus. Featuring catchy musicals, exotic performers, and daring acrobatic feats. Through all this the circus quickly became the best show in the world.

https://youtu.be/cH0YWPF13WI

The Greatest Showman's opening scene starts off with a bit of credits that included the company the filmmaker worked with. It then goes from credits to a man with a cane and a hat. He then starts walking at a fast pace towards a circus stage. The lighting when he's walking is lowkey and hides his back in one shot and then his face in another. The man then starts to sing as he shows off his acrobats and exotic performers. It then goes from bright and slowly gets dimmer till the acrobats and the performers aren't visible besides the man.

The opening scene links to the movie as it introduces one of the main characters of the film. The creator of the Barnum & Bailey Circus. It basically puts the summarization of the movie in graphic form as it shows the exotic performers and daring acrobats.

The purpose of this opening scene is to show the dreams a young boy who wishes to follow his dreams and do what he does best.

Annabelle Comes Home(2019)

    Ed and Lorraine determined to keep Annabelle from wreaking more havoc. They lock her up in the artifacts room in their house. But the doll awakens as one of the friends of Ed and Lorraine's babysitter opened the box and didn't completely shut it. It quickly becomes an unholy night of terror Ed and Lorraine's 10 year old daughter, her friends, and their young baby sitter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntaBxVbNUyk

The opening scene for Annabelle Comes home is a title sequence that introduces the actors and contributors to the film. It starts of with the showing of Annabelle on the right of the screen as the company is shown on the left. This continues, but the actors are shown with different colors and the names appear in different locations of the screen. They also include the music producer. producers, and executive producers.

The opening scene ahs very lowkey lighting as most of the images of the characters are hidden halfway and look traumatized. I also noticed that all of the characters that appeared in the credits are in the film itself and shows that their going to be involved in the plot someway/somehow. The look the character face and the dark color shades signifies this movie is horror and emphasizes the scary aspect even more.

The purpose of this opening scene is to give the viewers an idea of who they'll see in the movie. It gives a scary vibe to the credits which gives the meaning that the film is likely to be a horror film. It also introduces the actors and contributors to the film.

Cinematography

 

Mis-en-Scene

 Mis-en-Scene Research

Mis-en-Scene is a French phrase and means staging or putting on an action or scene. In film the term Mis-en-Scene basically means the overall look and feel of a movie.

    Mis-en-Scene has two major visual components which are design and composition. Design being the look of the setting, props, lighting, and actors and composition being the organization, distribution, balance, and the general relationship of actors and objects. Mis-en-Scene in a movie affects how we think of the characters and the story. Another thing is that every object is placed within the frame for a reason but every object does not have a meaning but rather the combination of objects creates the elements that create the meaning. The Mis-en-Scene is what the filmmaker wants us to pay attention to the most as it helps the viewers understand their themes and concepts. The Mis-en-Scene also allows the viewer to experience a certain place and time and is important for how it makes the viewers feel. The Mis-en-Scene is also meant to complement the story as too much Mis-en-Scene can be distracting. One more thing that can completely change the Mis-en-Scene is the genre as every genre has their own common shot types, lighting, props, etc. and it all varies when you're trying to make it match the sort of theme of the movie to make it more either spooky or maybe all love and romance, things like that are what makes Mis-en-Scene very unique in its own way.

    In the end I learned that things like lighting and props in movies aren't there just to be there, but rather used to convey meaning. I also learned that Mis-en-Scene can allow the viewer to experience a certain time and place. This means that the props, colors of the furniture and clothing, and the costuming gives the viewer a sense of different time period. Ex: A woman wearing clothing that looks similar to the one Egyptians wore. This is giving the viewer the sense that we are in a different time period.

Sources:

file:///C:/Users/jerem/Downloads/Mise%20en%20Scene%20PowerPoint%20presentation%20PDF.pdf 

Types of Movies/ Movie Genres

GENRE RESEARCH

The word genre originated from France and means kind or type. Genre is a category used to describe and analyze films. Genres may structure the way people view the world. Ex: "Patton Oswalt reports that his high school friends categorized themselves along the genre lines: They were zombies (fans of Goth culture and metal rock).

    Mixing genres is a change that has happened throughout the history of films. There are things called sub-genres which are genre's but with their own little twists such as distinct conventions of their own and perhaps appeals to different viewers. Genre categories help out a lot when it comes to deciding what films to make. Ex: Horror films are what the audience are waiting for so the directors will lean towards the horror side of films to attract majority of the audience. We largely agree on the conventions of the genre not noticing the conventions the movie is implementing. Ex: Recurring elements in romantic comedies. Lovers meet, they slowly get closer, a conflict interferes, they drift apart, they see each other again, go out again, and fall in love and live happily together. For filmmakers the conventions are what they have to work with where as the viewer, conventions shape our expectations about what were likely to see and hear. This means that when a filmmaker is creating a movie their not going to have a whole bunch of resources for any conventions they like, but rather they use what they have.

I learned after a lot of research and plenty of application I learned that there are differences in genre itself and genres. Two is that ever genre has their own convention. The second is that every genre has their own unique qualities like romance comedies will always consist of this process. The people meet, fall in love, conflict intervenes, they split up, they see each other again, get together, and live happily together. The other genres don't have conventions like that and that's what makes them what they are.

Sources:

My Group Genre Project

file:///C:/Users/jerem/Downloads/Film%20Art%20-%20Chapter%209%20-%20Genres%20(2).pdf