The Edge Opening Analysis

The opening sequence ‘The Edge’ is a student film which starts with an establishing shot of outside a car park with a teenage boy wearing casual clothes and roller skates. This sets the scene for the film. It shows the audience the location and surrounds the characters will be in which gives them a hint as to what events may take place in the next couple of minutes. The first titles we see are edited so it looks like they are on top of the building, they have been made to blend in with the main image/action. Non-diegetic music is played straight away from the beginning and at first sounds quite eerie and dark but however doesn’t fit the scene being shown as it’s bright and doesn’t fit the horror expectations. So the music and what is being shown doesn’t contrast well to begin with and may confuse the audience.

The pace of the music starts to pick up when the boy is in an elevator which is a confined space so it creates the idea of panic and tension rising. There is a close up of a hand holding what looks to be a bomb. This is obviously an object of significance in the film which suggests the genre may be action and a dramatic event is about to happen. This then changes to a side shot of two men in suits walking towards a door. As the audience has already worked out this is most likely to be an action film, the fact that the men are dressed smart in dark sunglasses is very cliché. The main titles now appear over the shot of the two men walking towards the door, however, the font makes it quite hard to read and it doesn’t match with the rest of the titles. The sequence would look better if the font of the titles matched. The music then quickens and becomes more obvious as the two new characters are introduced which highlights their importance later in the film.

For the titles used in this opening sequence the editor has tried to use colours that match the rest of the scene which fits the genre and looks slick, this mostly works and looks good throughout however sometimes it doesn’t work and looks unprofessional. For example at 2.32 minutes in the colours of the titles don’t match the environment in the shot so it makes them look out of place compared to the rest of the sequence.  The music is very intense and again fits with the theme of the film as it immediately quickens as the chase starts. Even though it’s a chase scene the shots aren’t very fast paced which is what you expect to build the tension, if this was thought about more then the sequence would be more intense.

Overall the low budget is obvious. This needn't be the case, to improve the titles, I suggest they faded in and out instead of just appearing.

Finding A Location

At the weekend Millie and I went out and found a car park we felt was suitable for our opening sequence. We went up and down the lifts trying to find a floor that was dark enough and empty enough and finally decided on the top level.

Thriller Clichés

1. Main character has an intense relationship with alcohol – Include main character that doesn’t like alcohol or drugs (She, Non-stop)
2. Uptight female character – Uptight male character, Female character who doesn’t show personality (Closer, Devil wears Prada)
3. Sherlock-type figure – Don’t involve police or investigators (Taken)
4. Face of villain isn’t uncovered until the end – Have the villain look like a normal person (Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone)
5. Authorities are useless and a random citizen saves the day – Have authorities knowing all along, working with the villain (The Purge)

Chosen Genre: Thriller

Thriller: A broad genre of literature, film and television, usually having numerous overlapping subgenres. Thrillers heavily stimulate the viewer's moods, giving them a high level of suspense, excitement, anxiety and hopefulness. It needs to hook the audience and keep them on edge, building tension and suspense. It needs to hide identities or information from the audience to include constant shocks and unexpected events, like in the film Now You See Me.

The most popular films of the thriller genre:

·         No Escape (2015)

-Director: John Erick Dowdle

-Budget: $5,000,000

·         Casino Royale (2006)

-Director: Martin Campbell

-Budget: $150,000,000

·         Memento (2000)

-Director: Christopher Nolan

-Budget: $9,000,000

·         Reservoir Dogs (1992)

-Director: Quentin Tarantino

-Budget: $1,200,000

·         Zodiac (2007)

-Director: David Fincher

-Budget: $65,000,000

Over the past 30 years the thriller genre has changed dramatically, this may be because of the technological advances and special effects that have been made apparent. The older thriller movies were based on people’s actual fears which made them realistic and connected the audience to the films. Thrillers now have many sub-genres and consist of more than one genre put together.

Choosing a Genre

Genre 1: Action

Pros:

• Action achieved through pace
• Easy – can do a chase scene
• Access to a lot of potential cast
• Narrative doesn’t necessarily need depth
• Can be easily created through music
• Easy target audience

Cons:

• Chase scene is very generic and overused
• Need access to expensive props if not doing a chase scene
• How will we achieve birds eye establishing shots, conventions of the genre
• Needs a large budget for sfx software (not available to shoot in school)

Ideas for opening:

• Title – Gone

-Woman walks into an office block and enters a lift, gets out on a floor and meets another person

-Look very modern and clean, the people are sophisticated and fit in with the surroundings

• Title – Maximum Glory

-Chase scene, man runs down an ally then gets pulled into a car

-Busy streets, casual clothes,

Genre 2: Thriller

Pros:

• Easy to think of a narrative
• Basic editing skills required
• Easy to film
• Genre easily created through music
• Could be generic on purpose/ a past cliché of previous thrillers
• If we choose to use props they would be relatively cheap

Cons:

• Difficult to distinguish between horror and thriller
• If the lighting isn’t right in the location there’s not too much we can do to change it ( we will have to choose our filming times and if we miss it shooting will be delayed)
• Harder to focus on a target audience

Ideas for opening:

• Title – Thrown Off

-An after death shot of someone in a car park/abandoned building

-Dirty and deserted,

• Title – Last End

-Set at a train station man standing by himself gets a flash back

-Raining, man dressed well, not many people about

Film Opening Analysis Table

Name/Link/Genre	Brief Summary of events	Locations used	Characters introduced	Use of sound	Range of shots	Action and enigma codes	Use of titles
Little Mermaid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6UUpvSRYV4 Fantasy/Drama (Animation)	Group of sailors in a ship on the sea, talking about King Trident not being real, fish gets thrown overboard and swims to the concert,	The boat, under the sea	Prince Eric The crew Grimsby	Diegetic music, sound effects of the sea life, non-diegetic music is played which is constantly repeated throughout the film	Pan shot High angle Side shot Close up Wide shot Low angle Zoom out Zoom In Two shot Tilt Canted angle	Who are the main characters, what does the prince have to do with what’s happening under the sea, what’s the story line going to be,	Disney title screen, credits at the bottom of the screen whilst images of mermaids and fish are being shown
Now you see me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_diRgwPCS8 Thriller	The first character (Daniel Atlas) is introduced and produces a magic act for the audience and makes a card appear on the building behind. The second character (Merritt McKinney) is introduced as a scheming devious person, he has fooled a man into giving him money. The next character (Jack Wilder) robs a man after having the man expose his magic trick then escapes. The final character (Henley Reeves) performs a trick where she makes the audience	The city, looks like they’re in a café, in a boat on the sea, a showroom/stadium,	Introduces all four main magicians in the film individually; Daniel Atlas, Merritt McKinney, Henley Reeves, Jack Wilder.	Non-diegetic sound – Music playing underneath the dialogue to create mystery. Same music used throughout the film	Close up Over the Shoulder shot Slight low angle Extreme close up Reverse shot Zoom out Tilt Arc movement Two shot Side shot Long shot Tracking shot Mid shot Wide shot Master shot Low angle shot	Cuts quickly between characters, unsure whether characters are good or evil. Doesn’t explain backstory so the audience doesn’t know why they’re doing why they’re doing.	Contrast well against background plain colours, plain font.
Willy Wonka https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrhBZwmEK8I	No narrative told just setting the scene using images of chocolate being made with different camera shots and angles.	Chocolate factory?	None	Happy (orchestra) non-diegetic music playing behind the images.	High angle Close up Low angle Extreme close up Tilt	Who are the characters? What’s the storyline?	Big bright writing in a recognisable font. Over images.
Halloween Horror https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELF1DCf1ChA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_tGvktfjjk	Point of view of a person looking into a house to see a girl and a boy, they then continue to walk into the house and walk around until they come across a naked girl who he then murders with a knife. The killer then walks outside to get unmasked and revealed as a small child.	A house.	Michael Myers	The film first starts with ambient sounds setting the scene – its night outside in the garden. There’s dialogue between the male and female in the living room and they’re hinting at the fact they know the person looking in on them. Non-diegetic sound is introduced with the opening credits setting the atmosphere of dark and eerie. The sounds of children singing are heard when the location and date is shown.	Point of view Mid shot Zoom out	Unsure what the relation between the killer and murderer is, doesn’t explain killers motive.	The titles are orange which relates to the use of pumpkins on Halloween, stands out well against the black background, a pumpkin then appears next to the titles, half way through the pumpkin increases in size and then disappears. New titles appear giving the film some backstory, letting the audience know the date and location the film is set.

The Emperor's New Groove Opening Analysis

The film first starts with a blue screen and the iconic Disney logo appears which makes the audience already aware of the type of film they are watching. There is non-diegetic music playing behind the opening titles which carries on through the first frames, it’s quite dramatic which suggests some kind of mystery or journey for the characters to go on. The first title screen isn't very impressive, it’s a black screen with text written in white that helps with the storyline. It doesn't particularly fit with the theme of the film, this gives the impression that the film is cheap and badly edited. The first shot that we can see is a pan shot of the rainforest, which is introducing the setting, the camera then stops as a character is now in the shot. The camera then zooms to a long shot, this allows the audience to view the whole setting and the surrounding of the character so they know it’s a gloomy start to the opening. This creates uncertainty with the genre of the film as it slightly suggests it might be a comedy, however you can’t be sure just with the opening. 

The Pupose of an Opening

The purpose of an opening scene is to establish the mood and introduce characters. It gives you a first impression of the film and gives you a decision whether you want to carry on and watch or turn the film off all together. If an opening makes a big impact on the viewer, you tend to remember it, even if the rest of the film fails to measure up. There are different types of openings such as:

• Cold Open; the audience is presented with a short scene before the credits start to roll - used to encourage the viewer into watching the rest of the film but not showing enough to ruin the plot. For example:

• Animated opening; animated opening for live action instead of using actual actors - creates mystery whilst hinting at the plot. For example:

• Montage; lots of scenes put together, not necessarily showing a story (maybe a pre story that won't be shown) - Keeps the audience interested as the scenes are constantly dissolving and  showing something different. For example:

• Titles sequence; shown at the very beginning - informs the audience of who is starring in the film and big names they might want to notice. For example:

Final Preliminary task

This is our final preliminary task that we created, was set in a classroom and this did not fit with the theme of the project. If we were to make a successful clip then we should have thought about the location more, it didn't look very dark or suspicious which was the atmosphere we was going for. We also had problems filming in this location as once we got there and started filming another member of staff told that we were unable to use the room due to safety regulations, we then had to change the day of filming to book another classroom. Also the camera is very shaky throughout the clip apart from where we used the tripod, if we were to recreate some of the shots we would think about how to hold the camera so that it doesn't shake as much. Another thing we need to work on was the shot reverse shot we tried to use, the characters don't look like they're looking at each other so we needed to change the position of the camera and the way the actors are looking so that it works. One of the strengths of our preliminary task was that we used a variation of shot which shows that we know what shots to use to help create the tense atmosphere. We failed to add music to our final product which would have increased the tension, however we know to add this to our main task to improve the quality of our work.

Sound and Shot Tests

This is the first shot that will be seen in the video, we think that this will be the easiest shot to film and should take the least amount of time. However because the person filming has to walk along with the character two pairs of footsteps can be heard. This means that we will have to edit the video and add the footsteps in at a later stage. This is the only shot that will be filmed in this location.

This is the Sound and Lighting test for the dark room entry, however this room was not the exact room we hope to use for filming therefore the shade of lighting and possible sound may differ, however prior to filming we will check the availability of the room in order to achieve the most out of our time in the room. However we believe that the difference is slim between rooms as we took the necessary measure such as using the same time of day (for the test shots) in order to make sure that the actual film will be as similar as possible. Despite this, the sound of the door opening was evidently picked up by the camera, and also sounded as if it was amplified due to the silence of the room. Also the lighting was not ideal as this room offered more in terms of brightness and this prevented us from achieving a tense tone in and amongst the room, therefore this further adds to the reason for ensuring that the particular room we want is available upon recording.

Whilst filming the test shots for the park, we needed to consider; the current weather conditions, future weather conditions. These aspects will prove vital ,as during this clip we see that the weather is slightly overcast, we then decided that this is the ideal weather conditions, as it will reflect and create a tense and dramatic tone due to its dull and eerie atmosphere. However during this clip there is limited background sound, this was because we identified popular times of the day and the effect that this would have on the sound, evidently it was clear that by filming later on in the afternoon, not only would there be a darker tone of weather but also the background sound would be significantly reduced due to the few amount of people around at the time. Also because of the time of day no people will be evident amongst the background, this is important because should there be people present this will take away from the dramatic and mysterious affect we are trying to create.

Location Recce

This is our first location in a Corridor:

Location to be used: Date of when location is needed: Time of when location is needed:	>Science corridor going along the classroom S21 >08/10/2015 >08/10/2015	>If the corridor is busy, record in periods where lower years are in classes or after school.
Do you need permission to record/photograph in this location? Who will you need to contact?	>No permission was needed	>N/A
Will the levels of noise cause a problem? If so, how will you overcome this?	>Yes	> Try to avoid the corridors being busy during school hours so work in periods where lower years are in lessons or after school hours.
Is the level of lighting suitable?	>Yes	>If we don’t think the natural lighting from the corridor fits the recording, we can bring our own source to brighten it up.
If inside, are the Emergency exits clearly visible and available? Is Emergency equipment provided?	Hgththhhhh>>Yes, there are two main doors to exit from.	>N/A
Is there public transport easily available to you?	>Transport is not needed	>N/A

Our second location is in a classroom:

Location to be used: Date of when location is needed: Time of when location is needed:	>Science classroom >Thursday 8th October >2:50 onwards	>Choose another empty classroom nearby or choose to shot the next day.
Do you need permission to record/photograph in this location? Who will you need to contact?	>Yes we need to talk to Miss Suthakaran who has already agreed to let us use her room	>If she wasn’t in school for us to access the room we would ask another teacher to use their room instead.
Will the levels of noise cause a problem? If so, how will you overcome this?	>We have chosen to shoot this scene after school so there will not be many people around, this will reduce the noise levels.	>If there were any extra sound in the background for the locations, we can edit over them and try to cancel out as much sound as possible.
Is the level of lighting suitable?	>Yes this location has the right lighting needed for our shots.	>For the classroom, if the lighting wasn’t as dark as we needed it to be we can use black card around the window to darken it out more.
If inside, are the Emergency exits clearly visible and available? Is Emergency equipment provided?	hgththhhhh>Yes in this location, there is an easy accessible door to leave in case of emergency	>If the classroom door was somehow locked, there is a technician’s room to exit out of
Is there public transport easily available to you?	>We don’t need public transport to get to this location	>N/A

Our Third location is at a park:

Location to be used: Date of when location is needed: Time of when location is needed:	>Park >8th October >3:50 onwards	>Go to a different park nearby. >If we can’t do it on that day we can choose a different day.
Do you need permission to record/photograph in this location? Who will you need to contact?	>No we don’t need permission	>N/A
Will the levels of noise cause a problem? If so, how will you overcome this?	>There might be high levels of noise since our location is next to a children’s play area.	>If the noise does seem to be a problem, we will edit over the sound.
Is the level of lighting suitable?	>Yes	>N/A
If inside, are the Emergency exits clearly visible and available? Is Emergency equipment provided?	hgththhhhh>We don’t have emergency exists as we are outside.	>N/A
Is there public transport easily available to you?	>We don’t need public transport to get to this location it’s within walking distance.	>N/A