Similarities and differences in film openings

I chose the openings of The Kingsman, Lord of war, and Inception. Out of the three i noticed that Inception was the most different of the three, with Kingsman and LOW having most of the same key features. This will help me as it shows me common things shown in film openings, as well as different ways in which some films do certain things (such as showing the time and place).

Film Name/Opening Sequence watched	Similarities	Differences
Kingsman	- Song - Fade in/from blacks - Credits - Dramatic situation presented - Little dialogue at end - CGI	- Time and place stated on screen
Lord of War	- Song - Fade in/from blacks - Credits - Little dialogue at beginning -direct to camera, breaks 4th wall - Dramatic situation presented - CGI
Inception	- Fade in/from blacks - Dramatic situation presented -Dialogue	- No Song - Much more dialogue than others - No CGI (although this is not as noteworthy as the lack of this is not uncommon) - No credits

Differences between film openings and trailers

Trailer

• Shows most exciting parts of the film
• Shows off big stunts
• aim is to get the audience excited -create tension
• Doesn't give the plotline away (if it's a good one), yet gives you theh general gist
• often have cliffhangers
• progression of time and narrative
• Information (release date etc)
• institution logos
• Tag line
• Title of film at the END

Opening

• Titles (cast, crew etc)
• sets the scene
• Introduces key characters
• Film title at the very BEGINNING
• Implications of:
• Place
• historical period (timeframe)
• mood
• tone
• theme tune
• Genre
• poses questions that the viewer will find intriguing and try to answer as they watch the film
• patterns of editing, mise etc which will be echoed throughout the film

This will help me as it highlights the key things that differentiate a film opening (which I will be creating), and a film trailer. This should prevent me from making my film opening look more like a trailer and help point me in the right direction for what I should and shouldn't be including.

Preliminary Task Evaluation

I believe that our film demonstrates excellent continuity.  We ensured that our actors were wearing the same clothing in every shot by filming everything at the same time (this also made sure that their hairstyles etc were the same). In the interrogation scene at the end of our film we shot all of the clips of the interrogator talking first in one go and then we shot all of the clips of the suspect afterwards; we did this as it ensured that our actors were sitting in the same positions, were talking in a fluent tone etc to retain good continuity.

Our film demonstrates match on action in two places,  firstly when the interrogator opens and walks through a door and later on when he goes up some stairs. In these shots we have used match on action when he pushed down on the door handle and started to go through the door and then when he turned a corner going up some stairs. In the interrogation scene we also used shot reverse shot to show the reaction and responses of the suspect to what the interrogator said, enhancing the feeling of fear to the audience. During this scene we used POV (Point of view) shots to make the audience have a closer and more personal connection with the characters.

For the most part our group worked alright together, one of the other members and myself took on more authorative roles which ended up working well as it ensured that we stayed on schedule. However we found one of our members had a worryingly relaxed approach to the work and the deadlines we set as a group; although this was a pain we managed to complete everything on time and I feel that it was actually beneficial in a way personally as it forced me to adapt to the situation and take on unforeseen roles.

If I were to film the piece again I would have taken more time in selecting locations (we had an issue whilst filming the interrogation scene with other people getting into shot), as well as thinking more about what equipment to use (a dolly would have been extremely useful at one stage, as I had to crouch-walk along tracking the interrogator's feet, with the camera just off of the floor). I would also have tried to ensure that our actors were calm and focused beforehand as well, as one had a tendency to burst into laughter abruptly.

I feel that we planned our film rather well, we all knew what shots needed to be filmed, who was involved and where. this is because we also had many brief group discussions on the shots we needed to film, allowing us to make small changes at the time if needs be to improve them (such as how high the camera angle should be, how long a clip should be etc).

Our film fades out to and in from black during the title sequence, and some shots fade into the next, however the majority simply use a cut. We chose the fading into and from black in the title sequence to show a smooth transition from the film itself and contextual information which is not necessary to be known to understand the plotline (the title) this helps to show a difference between what is in the film and announcing the start and name of the film. We chose to use crossfades early on as the clips shown were from drastically different locations, and so it showed a passing of time, whilst others were cut as they were in the same location and so no progression of time was necessary to be shown.

Through this piece I have learnt the basics of the software and I now feel relatively comfortable with using it. I have not yet delved into more advanced aspects of it, however I hope that I can use my new knowledge in understanding what I have yet to learn.

Unfortunately, due to having past experience in photography as well as technology in general I don't feel that I have learnt anything new about the technologies we used (such as the cameras, Blogger, file formats etc) specifically.

Preliminary task film

Preliminary task filming

During filming we managed to get all of the shots in our list filmed within around one and a half hours, as we had some spare time left in which we could use our locations as well as the camera and actors, we shot a couple of extra clips (such as the one of the interrogator walking up the stairs) impromptu so that we had a few more options during editing.

Unfortunately, we had to re-shoot some clips as we had issues with things such as the actors laughing or people walking into shot. Although this lengthened both the filming and editing processes it allowed us to refine the shots somewhat, tweaking things such as how an actor walks etc.

Preliminary task shotlist

Shot number	Shot type	Camera movement	Length	Int/ext	Props	Equipment
1	Establishing	Tilt (downwards)	5-6 secs	Interior		Tripod
2	Full shot		6-7 secs	Interior	Winter clothing	Tripod
3	Over-the-shoulder shot	Tracking	6-7 secs	Interior
4	Medium Match on action		2-3 secs	Interior		Tripod
5	Close up	Tracking	6-7 secs	Interior		Dolly
6	POV shot		4-5 secs	Interior		Tripod
7	-Shot 6 repeated from 2 angles with 180 degree rule- Length: ~20 seconds

This is the initial shot list for our shoot. We will use this while shooting to make sure that all of the clips we film match what we planned in the storyboard. This will also help us plan our shoot, helping us to be as effective and efficient as possible.

Preliminary task script

Script for the interrogation

Interrogator: (calmly) So, where are they?

Suspect: …………………

Interrogator: (more firmly) Where are they?

Suspect: (trembling) I … I can’t t-tell you…

Interrogator: (commanding voice) Tell me where they are

Suspect: (more fear) I c-c-c-can’t …

Interrogator: If you don’t tell me where they are, you will regret it

[fade to black]


Our video will feature an interrogation scene near the end; the script for this can be seen above. During this scene the interrogator will raise his voice slightly, with the suspect also becoming more fearful as the scene progresses. This will serve as the climax for our piece, showing the audience who the interrogator is and the purpose for his movements in the first section of the piece.