Tuesday 18 September 2012

The Dark Knight Opening

- WARNER BROS eye dent - clear that it's a high budget movie
- blue bellowing smoke
- city scape zoom in to one of the small windows of a tall block - office building?
- almost silence interrupted by sound of shot through glass
- man with joker mask - mid shot with gun in hand
- cut to zoom slowly into another joker mask in separate man's hand with back to the camera, head down, looking suspicious
- car arrives, man swiftly gets in
- camera swoops down to look at vast distance between window and floor, as the men in joker masks take the zip wire across
- cut to car - dialogue, talking about joker - who is he?
- more dialogue about the joker
- quick camera movement which creates exciting mood



Children of men opening

- UNIVERSAL PICTURES eyedent
- news reporter's voice over black with white bold credits - no other sounds, makes audience focus on what is being said, makes it sound important
- shot of crowd looking focussed and stunned/shocked
- grey dullish colours
- typical urban scene, in coffee shop
- not any real movement of camera for a while
- shows television screen
- follows man out of shop
- sound of city gradually creeps in, and people crying
- see noisy city, pollution and loud sound of cars/transport
- camera zooms in on man and follows him round
- bomb very suddenly goes off, makes viewer jump as sudden white smoke blows up and takes up a lot of the screen - contrast to dull city colours around it

Taxi driver opening

- Columbia Pictures eyedent
- bold red credits 'ROBERT DI NERO'
- smokey car reveals 'TAXI DRIVER' title
- retro look (film made in 1976)
- music loud at first then fades into jazz quieter
- extreme close up of main character (DE NERO)'s eyes
- blurred city shot
- vivid bright colours, looks as if character could be drunk, maybe a point of view shot
- normal night city sights but have had effects put on them to make them look more colourful/exciting
- main character's eyes looking shifty from one place to another
- mid shot of main character walking into bar
- dialogue 'I can't sleep nights' only shows main character
- learn about character: wants to work long hours, so honest?, cheeky smile, non expensive looking clothes, says he's twenty six, perhaps not very well educated, was in marines
- character instantly likeable and easy to relate to


Drive opening

- UNIVERSAL STUDIOS and FILMDISTRICT eyedent - clearly not a low budget movie
- immediate loud, pumping, feel good music, sounds like an action film
- beautiful city crane shot over lit up city with eighties bright pink scrawling credits across
- 'Ryan Gosling' famous name
- low angle shot of main character then freeze frame of him - makes him seem powerful
- dark mysterious shot of driving through city, almost P.O.V shot
- light on Gosling's face harsh and makes him look threatening
- combination of girly music and credits create almost an eighties chick-flick mood
- Carrie Mulligan introduced modestly
- see back of Gosling's jacket
- silhouette
- No dialogue
- Gosling puts bag down and leaves straight away
- high angle and crane shots of busy city
- another point of view shot of Gosling driving through city at night, light flickering

Notes and camera editing

- close up
- zoom out and follow character
- mid shot
- close up of phone and hand
- camera moves around characters
- out of focus men in background in focus, putting spotlight on them
- shakey camera during fight - close up of face on floor
- strange close ups during fights
-long shot of security guard
- guards out of focus prisoners in focus
- pov shot from Gordon
- man who took phone looks shifty, shot panning from side to side
- shot through window of Gordkn
- high speed editing when fight is going on

Opening to fight club

The opening to fight club is another one of my favorite openings. The close up and CGI of the brain chemistry introduces the film perfectly, and is exciting to watch making the viewer not want to look away. Also, the way the main character's voice is over the pictures creates a psychedelic and brain washing feel to the movie which is just right for the plot

Wednesday 12 September 2012

'Fishtank' opening notes

- BBC films, national lottery funded
- enhanced breathing with background sounds
- sound of phone
- south london urban voice
- point of view shot over town/city
- looks angry walking in tracksuit
- estate
- aggressive man/main character ask aggressive
- laughter and singing of children in background even when they are not shown on camera
- shaky camera work
- didn't use non-diagetic sounds
- gives lower budget, not Hollywood film sense
- lighting more flat than Collateral

'Collateral' opening notes

- hollywood, big budget, eye dent
- sound of wind - dreamworld - airplane *soundbridge used*
- main characters through blurred crowd
- sunglasses, sound of boots on floor
- first sentence simple, easy to understand
- exciting music combined with sound of work tools
- hollywood 'gloss'
- car shut and outside noise quiet
- can see silhouette of taxi driver - mysterious
- sound used to tell story - suitcase dropping
- get cab driver's state of mind without even hearing him speak

Tuesday 11 September 2012

Opening scene to 'se7en'

The opening to 'se7en'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k2gsEI34CE

This is one of my favorite opening scenes. It is largely a series of extreme close-up shots. There are very high definition clips of a person's thumb, which looks gruesome and makes my skin crawl. The credits are in white scrawled writing which looks rough and scary and suggests a typical thriller theme. Also the close ups make the person seem mysterious and as if they have something to hide.

Thursday 6 September 2012

Thriller Opening Scene

My all time favourite series of films has got to be Harry Potter. I particularly love the fourth in the series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
The opening scene is particularly effective in provoking fear in the audience. Although it is mainstream and immodest, the dark, mysterious and gothic setting of the ancient looking stone skull carvings and sinister graveyard and following of an evil looking snake give an automatic sense of excitement combined with dread, and leaves the audience wanting to continue watching to find out where this strange creature is leading them.
The familiar Harry Potter theme music is playing in the background and changed volume a few times throughout the scene. It gives it a dramatic and somewhat triumphant/great feeling and makes me think 'Bring on this film!'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU9g0_5vlSc
what I like to watch:
- Homeland (channel 4)
- Desperate Housewives (channel 4)
- Friends (originally E4 but now Comedy Central)
films:
- Trainspotting
- The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
- Clueless
- Zoolander
- Monsters inc
- Bridesmaids
- 10 Things I Hate About You