RESEARCH - Analyse Film Opening (Coraline 2009)

CORALINE (2009) 

The opening type of this film is quite confusing, it doesn't use and stick to only one style of film opening...

The titles start of being shown on a blank screen, however the screen is not typically black or white, it is quite stylized in the sense that the background is themed as well as the font style and artwork to relate to the themes of the film. The frames fade from one to the next as they are shown, connoting mystery as to what will  happen in the film. strange echoing music is played alongside a nursery rhyme and the sound of somebody humming, this non-diagetic sound creates a sinister

                                                     atmosphere automatically showing the viewer that this is a Thriller.

The style then moves in to a discrete title sequence and the effect of the previous sound and mis-en-scene etc is confirmed as we see a rag doll being dismantled. A number of extreme closeup shots of this action are used, this shows us exactly what is happening and also hints that what is happening now will have a strong relation to the story line.    

                                              

The entire opening is a cut-in of the character who is altering the doll's hands. This creates suspicion about who they are, what they are doing and why we are not allowed to see them. Editing from perspective is used, it is shot as if we are seeing from the character altering the doll's point of view.

Dim lighting is used throughout the opening, this adds to the suspicion and suspense, creating a dark atmosphere and reinforcing the connotations of fear and sinister feelings that are already being created by the mis-en-sce,e, camera and sound.

RESEARCH - Analysis of previous student film opening (Inside)

INSIDE

 Overall I was very impressed with this particular opening, it contained quite a bit of stylized editing as well as many effective media techniques to successfully create a tense atmosphere. This group used a discrete title sequence style opening, they used this to their advantage as it shows the city and gives the viewer a sense of the setting and fast paced nature the film will probably include. This was portrayed through the contrasting slow and fast motion effects used on the city scene, creating the idea that something eerie is going on.

During the opening, cut aways were used, this added to the suspense because it creates a sense of danger and lets the viewer know that these cut aways have something to with the events that will unfold, e.g a man walking in to a phone box and a wide shot of the view of an alley way as if it is an eyeline match and somebody is watching.

                                      

The camera work is used to create confusion and make the viewer wonder what is going on and who the character in the suit is, this is started with the cut in's of the texts on the phones...

And followed by close up shots of the male's clothing, without revealing his face...

The jumpy editing and filming from the girl's perspective connotes a sense of her fear when she is in the phone box. She is looking around unsteadily, giving the impression that she is afraid or looking for something.

We are shown a low angle shot of some of the buildings in the city as the mysterious man is walking, this could infer that the city is big and dangerous and the business they are about to deal with is crucial but also intimidating.

The non digetic sound that is used is eerie, slow paced mysterious music, I think it is effective as it works well to create a tense atmosphere alongside the dim lighting which is used to show danger and darkness.

Although i found the opening to 'Inside' well done, one fault was the mis-en-scene shown through the characters. They are meant to be business people so i think that older actors should have been used to make this point more evident.

 

RESEARCH - Film Audiences

All films are composed carefully to suit a specific demographic of people of whom the producers of the film are mainly trying to make the film appeal to.

For example, most animated films are aimed at an audience of children, this is portrayed through:

- The mis-en-scene (bright colours, props, setting)

- The themes e.g Monsters Inc - story line is based on a child seeing Monsters in her wardrobe which is a common thing children may experience, therefore more children can relate to the film and are interested in watching it.

- Characters that the audience can relate to - In Monsters Inc there is the child Boo who young children can relate to. There are also the Monsters, children may not relate to them but will be interested n their characters and appearence due to the topics of conversation they hold etc.

The film may also be created to include aspects that will attract an audience of older people - parents need to accompany their young children to watch the film and film makers are very aware of this. Moreover they may include some humor that adults will find funny but children will not understand.

Monsters Inc Trailer:

Other film genres are aimed at different audiences, e.g Romantic comedies are aimed at young women viewers, sci-fi films aimed at males etc.

In my opinion Thriller films can be understood and appreciated by a wide range of audiences, however they are made specifically for a thinking audience. They are for people who want to completely engage in the twists and turns of the film. This may include people from many ages and both genders who share this interest.

RESEARCH - The Structure Of FIlm Openings

There are three prominent types of film openings, most films, including Thrillers will follow one of these three basic structures to introduce the film.

Narrative Opening

When the opening of a film includes titles super imposed or inter-cut in to the scene as if they are a part of the scene. The font style, size, positioning in the frame and the way it is edited in plays a part in creating a certain mood, along side the mise-en-scene of the opening and the sound used.

PANIC ROOM

Discrete Title Sequence

Sequences that are separately edited so that they stand apart from the story line and action of the film. They may bear some relation to the setting or atmosphere of the entire film, and contain elements from the film which are indicators to the plot, however do not contribute to the story line. 

SEVEN

Credits over a blank screen

Credits are simply places over a blank screen, they bear no relation to the story line or characters, they are just included to inform us. The narrative opening will then follow.

Stylized editing

The editing is very sophisticated an uses many different media techniques to create a startling opening that will definitely be memorable. It takes a lot of time and effort to create an effectively stylized opening. 

THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123

RESEARCH - Intertextuality

The term intertextuality is used to describe similar aspects and properties that films may share with one and other. For example one film may borrow a specific technique of filming that is traceable to another film, or certain camera angles, editing styles etc.

The worldwide success 'Jaws' is so well known and respected for it's effectiveness as a thriller film that noticeable aspects of the film have been used in other films over the past 40 years!

It is safe to say that the soundtrack to 'Jaws' is iconic and has an effect of suspense that could not be replaces by any other tension building music.

                                  Piranha

The 2010 film 'Piranha' is a classic example of the use of intertextuality. It mirrors many aspects used in 'Jaws', most obviously, the idea of a sea creature attacking humans who are going about their normal lives having fun at the beach and are suddenly hit by the attack of the predator.

It also uses similar camera angles to those used in 'Jaws', the underwater shots, fast paced editing when the action occurs and cross cutting between two scenes - what is going on on the beach and the attack.

                                                                       Jaws

                                

The very famous horror thriller 'Psycho' from 1960 has become an extremely popular Thriller film which many other films and just like 'Jaws' it has set trends for many other films that have been made. 

                                                       Psycho

Many other films such as 'What Lies Beneath', 'Fatal Attraction', 'The Stepfather' and 'Succubus'. The film that stood out the most for me was 'The Stepfather' as it mirrored the aspects of a person dying after being stabbed in the bath tub, it has similar mis-en-scene regarding the dull lighting and high paced, fast tension building music. Finally, similarly to in 'Psycho' a close up of the persons face after they are stabbed is used.

The Killers - My Experience

We've finally finished our remake of the killers, it took us a total of 4h30m to have the finished product uploaded on our blog. As mine and the groups first attempt at working together using different media products and software, i believe we have made a good first attempt of having compiled a decent video.

In my experience in this remake i have learnt a few things.

1. It gets very dark very quickly during December - Film as fast as you can to avoid a dark scene which may contrast with a very bright scene

2. The addition of light revitalizes the whole shot, its essential to get the lighting correct as this can make or break the shot.

3. Saying Action / Cut is VITAL, when it comes to editing you wish you said this to give yourself sufficient time to edit it and make it look as natural as possible. Doing this helps eliminate a robotic feel from the shot and that also adds to the general experience or watching it while trying to remake it to look like the original film.


Furthermore i found that taking random shots while filming is beneficial as you can add these clips into the timeline to give it a better feel while transitioning from one scene to another, particularly establishment shots.

Lastly, we was not able to get a hold of the original Killers soundtrack so we added our own by Jason Mraz - Lucky, I believe this song fits perfectly in with the flirting/socialising going on within the scene at the beginning while they have a chat.

Research: Genre & Sub Genre

Thriller comedies inspires me out of all the other sub genres mainly because both of these generes are almost on opposite ends of the spectrum

Thriller Comedies such as Limitless target such a large audience because of its like-ability factor, funny and mysterious.

Limitless is a great example of a thriller comedy which has caught my particular interest. Predominantly because that there is many twists within this film and the thriller aspect is always present, the fast editing and transitioning within the clips contributes to the thriller genre and with the comedy side of the film accompanying the thriller side, led by Bradley Cooper makes this film a must see because of its sheer brilliance.

The thriller aspect of the film ensures that i watch the whole thing because of constant twist & turns and red herrings, whereas the comedy side makes sure i do not get bored of the constant presence of the thriller.

Shot by shot remake of 'Killers' - My experience

I had a great time filming and editing our remake video, it gave me the opportunity to drastically improve my filming and editing skills by doing practical work which I have never had the chance to practice before. Overall I was pleased with the work of my group and I and feel that our joint efforts resulted in an impressive  first attempt outcome.

I felt that we created replicas of all the shot types precisely, for example our over the shoulder shots were positioned well and looked very similar to those in the original film. I feel that the mis-en-scene created in our remake got the storyline across, creating a similar atmosphere to that in the film. However, our final product is not without it's faults, I have picked up on many aspects that need to be improved and practiced before we produce our final Thriller opening.

The main issue that we had was with the lighting, as we were filming at around 4 pm it started to gradually get darker during the filming. We were not filming the shots in chronological order and therefore the lighting does not comply with the events in the final clip. To compensate for the daylight, when it got darker we used a flash light, however this did not create the same effect as having natural daylight.

 When watching the original film opening and creating our storyboard, we didn't take notes that were detailed enough to know exactly what should be going on in each shot. This caused some confusion and as a result we were not able to get every single shot we should have and piece them together with ease. Next time we are going to make much more detailed notes, including the characters facial expressions and actions etc.

We had a few other minor faults; we did not always say 'action' and 'cut' and when we did they may not have been correctly timed, this resulted in some talking over the action going on in the scene. Because of this we had to mute our clip which made it slightly less effective at points although other points were meant to be muted. We were so busy preparing everything else that we forgot it's the small details that count! For example, we should have used a tour guide of France as the book left on the bench but the best I could find without preparing was a French language book... which looks a bit silly to be honest. I also noticed that the clip is meant to be in France however there were London buses driving past in the background!

We couldn't access the original soundtrack of Killers so we tried our best to imitate the music used ourselves by using a love song at first followed by tension building music as the action starts to unfold. On a whole I think that our final product has turned out to be effective despite it's faults. The experience was surely useful and I have learned a lot of skills that I will apply next time we make a clip and to pour final Thriller opening.

RESEARCH - Shot by Shot Remake (group)

We have finally and successfully completed our remake of the opening to "Killers"! We tried our best to imitate every shot type and all the editing by paying attention to small but important details, however as you might expect not everything went according to plan. The mistakes we made this time will help us in the long run because we will know not to make the same mistakes for our final Thriller opening.

We managed to get permission to film in the local cafe luckily and the location was ideal to recreate the opening scene, we found a bench nearby which was perfect as it was in the correct positioning for Can and Aytac's characters to create the sense that they are looking at each other.

 

The original "Killers" opening...

Some shots we think we immitated well:

 

Finally... Our remake!

                         

RESEARCH - REMAKE OF 'THE KILLERS'

Remake of 'The Killers'

We are going to be remaking the film 'The Killers' as part of our practice for making our final Thriller film. We chose this film because it includes a gripping opening that complies with the conventions of Thriller openings:

The first thing we did was storyboard the opening clip of Killers so that when we remake it we will know exactly what shot types and camera angles to use.

                                  Work in progress.... Paying attention to important details.



 We noted down all the shot types, camera angles and

mis-en-scene.

                                                             The finished storyboard...

                                      

 Our Thriller

Cast: Can Arslan - Spencer Aimes, Leila Khatouri - Jen Kornfeld, Aytac Sozen - Mr Kornfeld

          Marjana Begum - EXTRA

Location: Cafe near college because the setting is similar to that in the film. This is a convenient location for us as it is near to college. Since we only have 1hour and 45 minutes to film we will not be able to travel far from the area. It is also convenient to shoot near college because we won't have to travel far with the equiptment.

We have clearly taken in to consideration that our clip is short and therefore every aspect of it must be taken in to account. for example the stairs that the Mr. Kornfeldt walks down are essantial to include as they are part of a vital section of the clip. The location that we have chose is close to the original setting of the clip, so each fragment of our clip will be presented through the location.

Props: We are going to get a replica of the book used in the film, a tour guide of France. This is so that our viewers are aware that the location is France as they would if they were watching the original film. There is a substantial amount of time in the clip spent on the book itself, this is obviously done to create an eerie atmosphere.

Leila will dress similarly to the woman in the clip (Jen Kornfeldt) this is to make apparent that she is the character and that she is playing that specific role. Can will do the same thing for the same reason. it will indicate that he is playing the part of Spencer Aimes. Overall each member of the group will dress the same ways that the actors and actresses in the clip, this will emphasise our goal which is to recreate the 58 seconds that we have been given. 

Filming: When a group member is not in the scene they are going to be filming the scene. For example, when Leila is eating she will be filmed by Aytac, when Can is being filmed Leila will be filming him this will continue throughout the entire clip. 

RESEARCH: Thriller Opening

The movie I chose to analyse was ‘The Da Vinci Code’, which features Tom Hanks. There are various reasons for my choice, one being the rather drastic and dramatic use of effects, editing and music. I believe The Da Vinci Code is one of the best examples to show how thriller openings are used to create and maintain suspense as well as revealing the genre of the film.

As soon as the movie begins we are introduced to the thriller with the film production company. As the titles proceed, the music played and the editing gives a hint of not only the genre of the movie, but also the story line. The way the titles are edited makes it seems as if UV lighting is shining on the paintings. The dark background along with the UV lighting not only creates a mysterious and tense feeling but it also puts forward the significance of paintings in the movie.

As the titles become more intense so do the music and also the pace of the opening. Quick shots of paintings and fast movement of actors suggest tension and intensity.

Mise-en-scene and camera work, works together in the opening. Quick shots of rather theatrical paintings and the fast movement of the actor goes hand in hand with the camera work, as long shots and wide shots are used to give us the feeling of total isolation. Vivid orchestral music is played in the background at this point too, to maintain the thrill.

As the actor is chased through a art gallery, long shots are used to show the shadow of a man behind him. Until both men meet, the fast movement and tense music does not change, this sustains the panic.

In the opening of ‘The Da Vinci Code’ you can see certain elements, which are very similar to the openings of other thrillers. The fast editing, dark music and special effects are rather similar. The four key technical areas; Sound, mise-en-scene, camera work and editing are all used to create and maintain a particular feeling and also reveal the general genre of the movie. I believe that the opening of this particular movie is brilliant at combining these key technical areas and producing a genuine ‘thrill.’ 

RESEARCH: Film openings; Limitless.

Conventions of thriller openings.

I will be talking about the opening scene of Limitless, which features Bradley Cooper.

As soon as the story begins, we hear Bradley Cooper Narrating things, this is seen in some thriller films as they narrate what is happening in the current scene, the opening scene is usually an extract from later on in the film to which you get back to.

- You see someone brutally attacking a front door, this leaves the audience wondering why?
- You then hear heavy machinery, followed by more narrating, Bradley cooper mysteriously states "why is it that the moment the moment your lief exceeds your wildest dreams a knife appears at your back", this quote is then followed by two men left to dead on the floor, which is another convention of some thriller openings, random deaths to which you wonder how it happend. doing what thrillers do best, leaving you wondering.

- The camera tracks all the way to the top of the building, to where we see Bradley Cooper standing on the ledge ready to jump off, a high pitched noise follows which helps build more tension to whether or not he will jump, leaving the audience thinking, whats brought him to this point?