Final Sequence

Evaluation

Sarah G (7120) -- Sophie P (7246) -- Vicky B (7198)
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Legally Blonde - Opening

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WejK9NeyOzk
The film begins as a  out-of-focus close-up on what appears to be blonde hair. this straight away creates a link in the audiences' minds to the title of the film. 

the credits shown over the images are in a fluorescent pink with a very swirly font, giving a very "girly" appeal.

as the credits appear the shots reveal a lot about the people involved in the film and where it is set.

when the camera is focused on the blonde hair we see that it is perfect, and brushed with a set of hands that have a perfect manicure and wearing a tiffany silver bracelet also suggests that not only is the character very feminine and "perfect" she also appears to be wealthy. the same message is perceived with a close up of the girl putting on a tiffany necklace with perfect skin and hair etc.

as the camera cuts to the bike basket the name "Elle" is written on a card envelope, giving a name to a main character. as the shots cut from the bicycle ride with a variation of long, mid and close up shots which establish the setting as a girly place with perfectly mowed lawns, fountains etc, that suggest money and wealth as well as 'perfection'. the shots cut from those establshing shots to close up shots of the girl in her environment and show viewers that she is a perfect girl who takes care of her self in a very stereotypical way, from the shaving her legs to painting her nails to brushing her hair. all these shots are done as close ups so not to reveal her full character, creating enigmas in viewers' minds.

the lighting used indicates a happy, sunny day and the bright colours suggest this also. the main colour common in a vast majority of the shots is pink, a very feminine colour and suggests to audiences that this is a girly film or a "chick flick"

the use of slow motion in parts create a soft effect and suggests a gentle feel, almost saying these girls are dainty. the slow motion next to a whip pan shows a change in location and subject and draws the eye to the screen if you are distracted as a sudden move.

the music that is ongoing in the background is upbeat and sung by a woman. the lyrics "perfect day"again suggest the idea of perfection in audience's minds.

Halloween - Opening Sequence

The film begins with the famous, fact-paced piano music played while the credits appear. the credits appear on screen as a red/orange on a black background, two colours you immediately associate with the Halloween holiday, also, while the credits are shown we are in view of a carved pumpkin. again, another symbol of Halloween. as the credits draw on the pumpkin is zoomed in on very slowly until you are focused of the eye of the pumpkin. this sets up the mood for the whole film as a scary movie.
as the credits fade to blackout, the sound of children's chanting is heard, they sing about Halloween, which again suggests that it is Halloween night. this is a deceiving aspect as this could be considered an innocent thing as its children, but it could also be seen to be freaky and spooky, creating a number of enigmas. the sound then fades and you are only left the sound of a quiet street at night.  
setting and time etc are established through many things, the pumpkins and colouring suggest that it is Halloween, the title stated where and when the shot is set "Haddonfield Illionis 1963"
the film's first shot is a long shot so the viewers are in full view of a "normal" suburban house at night. the only sounds to be heard are faint noises such as an owl's "hoot" and birds chirping. its not until the camera begins to move with hand-held quality that we realise this is a point of view shot, though we don't know who's view point we are seeing, creating a number of enigmas, e.g. "who's eyes are we seeing out of?" "why are we going up to that house?" "what is the relationship between the character and that house?" etc.
as the lights upstairs turn off the high pitched violin is played, this is an uncomfortable noise and next to the silence is very unsettling and would make audiences jump, suggesting that something bad is/will be approaching.
the lighting used throughout the opening scene appears to have not made use of artificial light, only street lamps for outside ans indoor lighting for inside the house.
as we enter the house the high pitch stays but extra music is added to pace it and bring suspense and tension to the picture.
the only clear dialogue throughout the opening is "Michael" which is directed at the killer, humanising him and giving him a gender/name.
When the mask is placed on the killer it obscures the audience's vision as it would the character so we feel as oblivious to him as what we see and what he sees/learns are exactly the same as what he does.
as the killer moves up the stairs, the lighting becomes darker, suggesting that we are walking into the unknown s we cant make anything clear.
as the killer walks up the stairs the sound of a  grandfather clock is heard, the steady pace and deep tone create great, uncomfortable suspense.
the clothes on the floor and the mess of the bed shown as the killer looks around establish what the couple were up to before he left.
the sound of the stabbing is quite vicious and creates an obvious image in the mind of the girl being stabbed though the knife is never seen making contact with her.
once the mask is removed, it is the first time we view the killer and it shocks audiences as it is a young, innocent looking boy, dressed up for Halloween, creating the idea in viewers' minds "looks can be deceiving". 

Filming 3

Our final filming day we wanted to get the car shots done. our friend with the car turned up and we got straight into it, we filmed the car from various angles and got most of it done before it got too dark.
the only big problem we came across was to try and not get our friend in the shots as its meant to be Luke driving the car, we managed this with shadowing and the close up shots had Luke in the drivers seat. my favourite shot of the car had the trees in the reflection of the windscreen and bonnet, i thought it gave it  mysterious feel and established the fact that the car was alongside the forest where the girl was walking.
all in all, a good filming day.

Filming 2

On our second day of filming we wanted to get the scenes in the house done. as a group we were well organised with all the correct equipment and storyboards etc. most of the filming went smoothly, the only issues we came across were those including lighting. as we we had no artificial lighting and were only accessible to main house lighting and a few torches we found it hard to shoot one part where a character ha to be highlighted in a different way from the rest of the house, we definitely were challenged with it but after some experiments and disagreements we made it work. though it didn't turn out exactly as we planned i think it was still quite a successful shoot.

Filming 1

The first filming day we did was going to be the shots of the girl walking in the forest and the car driving by, however we were relying on a friend of ours to turn up with a car for us to film but he couldn't make it. So instead we shot all the planned shots from the story board for the girl walking in the forest, then we had some time before it got too dark so we experimented with some more creative shots and worked with the surroundings, for example we did a shot from in the bushes and another from up the tree to get a wider variety in choice for our final edit.

even though the filming didn't go as planned it went well as we used the time we had effectively and still got a lot of work done.

Harry Brown Film Opening

Harry Brown
Released: 2009
Directed by: Daniel Barber
Starring: Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, David Bradley
Harry Brown is a dark, dreary film about an ex marine trying to get revenge on a gang in his neighborhood who killed his only friend.
The opening sets up the film and prepares the audience for the violence and terror that is to come throughout the film. it does this through beginning the sequence with simple white credits on a black background, simple and clean which in ways seems to contradict with the film as it is messy and violent. voices are then heard in poor quality suggesting too the audience that it has been filmed on a mobile phone. the shot is then discovered to be a gang of teens doing drugs, the wall behind them is covered in graffiti which shows that its not a well respected area. as well as the language being used it is easily established to be a modern film as it is clearly filmed on a mobile phone camera. the dark, grey colouring used sets up the setting as a dirty and and almost evil, depressing place. the sound of the voices and accents used also establish the setting as south-east London. the violence and harsh language and graphic images straight away suggests that the film is going to be violent and gory.
there is no music used in the background of this opening sequence, i think this is because it sets up the film to be very realistic and it is very similar to real life so the audience can live it with the characters.

Opening Sequence - Children of Men

How effectively does the opening sequence from ‘Children of Men’ (2006) use the forms and conventions of film openings? What is your personal response as a member of the audience?

‘Children of Men’ is a futuristic thriller directed by Alfonso Cuarón, starring Clive Owen and Julianne Moore. The film’s opening sequence says a lot about the film through the use of forms and conventions and creates a number of enigmas the audience will be questioning until it is revealed in the rest of the film.

Before any characters are introduced or anyone is seen, the audience automatically gets the feel that they will witness a dramatic film when the credits appear in bold black and white, suggesting that the film is serious. The film also insists on being viewed as a drama/thriller when the explosion occurs and a woman appears from the smoke holding her blown-off arm, giving the sense of a horror film, as well as the loud, dramatic screams.

Then the voices of British news reporters are heard, suggesting clearly that this film is set in England. The use of the blank screen makes the audience know that what is being said in the background is important and then will listen carefully. The news that is heard creates many enigmas for an audience such as “why is the youngest person in the world 18?” “Who is listening to this?” therefore creating a sudden interest in the film. When a picture finally does appear, we are in a coffee shop where everything is dull and everyone is wearing grey or dark colours, suggesting the unhappiness of the public at this time.

The idea that the film is set in London 2027 is very obvious to the audience due to the use of a title stating just that, as well as the news reports. When the camera shows outside, the large red busses, buildings, policemen and so on establish that the film is in London. However, a futuristic element is shown through the use of moving adverts on the red busses, the different look of the policemen’s uniforms and many other conventions. It is also suggested to the audience when shown outside that London is under heavy pollution that it is the future and what we are all afraid of happening now.

The film uses different camera conventions throughout the opening to evoke different things. The use of camera movement when following the lead character out of the shop and down the street using a handheld camera makes it seem like we are following him and brings the audience into the film. Also the rotate of the camera around the character establishes more and more of the new, futuristic city of London, with its grey, dull, dusty complexion creating a miserable, dying city of London.

The use of sound throughout the sequence is very effective in creating enigmas, establishing the setting, and putting forward the genres of horror, thriller and drama. The news at the beginning is non-digetic, off screen sound that gives the audience the most information straight away, from the death of the youngest person on the planet to the condition of the planet and also about the deportations, homeland security and other aspects of the dying future. Suggesting to the audience that the world has changed and creating a number of enigmas. The street noise that is heard also shows the audience that they are in a big city, with the use of cars, horns, large crowds etc. that are very common and well known noises that are easily associated with being in a city as large and busy as London.

When the news report is on, talking about ‘The Death of Baby Diego’, sad music is heard to show how loved Baby Diego was and that this d3eath has affected the world with such dramatic music. Also, the sound of women from the coffee shop crying hammers home the importance of a celebrity in this futuristic time.

When we are outside, the street noise gets very busy and loud for a while, until it gets slightly quieter and then the large sound of the explosion becomes more shocking and unexpected. It also creates the feeling of “the calm before the storm.” Making an audience jump.

You are then left with the sounds of screams, shouting, crying, car alarms and many other disturbing noises the explosion has created. These distressing sounds are then played in the background of the title of the film, stated in capitals, white text on the black background, similar to the other edits, creating the sense of seriousness in the film.

The character of Theo Faron is the only character introduced in the film. He barely talks and looks alone. Walking into the coffee shop you can tell he is different, as he doesn’t appear swayed by the shocking news that has affected the rest of the world. Dressed in dark clothing, he doesn’t stand out amongst the rest of the crowd, and the long coat suggests that he could be hiding something and is a mysterious character. He takes a flask of alcohol out of his jacket pocket and pours it into is coffee, making the audience question why he is doing this, stress? Loneliness? Boredom? Depression?

As an audience watching the opening, I personally really enjoyed the opening of the film. I thought it created a brilliant feel for the film to come and made me ask a large number of enigmas. I thought the first time watching it that I really wanted to watch the rest of the film. The explosion created the largest enigma for me as I wanted to know why it exploded, who did it, who was injured, what was the main character going to do about it, and how was he involved.

I found the camera work very effective in creating a dramatic opening, from the opening shot of everyone in the coffee shop, so you can see everyone’s reactions and establish how Theo differs from the rest straight away. I also like the way the camera establishes the busy city of London. By only seeing a small bit of it you can see instantly how everything has changed. You know that the world is heavily polluted due to the grey, dull colouring and the cloudy skies. The short shot also establishes how things have changed, from hi-tech adverts to rickshaws with motorbikes instead of pushbikes, showing that the future is different but not too dramatically. I personally liked the use of sound and felt that it was most important within the sequence as it gets the most important aspects across; the news report changing from non-digetic to digetic is a clever transition that delivers an important message to the audience that they don’t know is majorly important but they still pay attention to it subconsciously as it’s the only thing happening on the screen at that moment. In relation to sound also, I thought that the unanticipated explosion and the sounds of terrified screams and disruption create a great effect in pushing the idea of the unexpected and strange happenings that may occur in the film.