Our Final Film

Our Final Film.

Evaluation Question 7

Q.7 looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

When we have a look back at our preliminary task you can see that our understanding on how to make a film opening has changed a great deal – and you can see that from the quality of our piece. The first main thing that we have improved on is the research that we had to undertake to make sure that we were creating a justified film opening. From this we found lots of facts and figures on what to do and what not to do which has led to the improvement of our piece. We also learnt how to effectively use a camera. You can see that the quality of our piece has increased a great deal and you are also able to notice a great deal of better and more efficient camera angles. This has led to the look of our piece becoming more professional. Also when you compare our preliminary task to our final piece you can see that our editing looks a lot better. in the preliminary task we decided that we would edit on the schools editing software - IMovie. This was good because it meant that we could do all the editing in school. We found that this software was fast to edit and is also good to upload the video's. We found that it would be inadequate however for our final piece. This meant that we had to do a little looking around. We finally came to the derision that we would use Sony Vegas 14 pro which is industry professional editing software. This helped us a lot as it meant that we had a lot of features to use to finish our film.

Evaluation Question 6

Here is my evaluation question 6.

Evaluation Question 5

We addressed our target audience, couples, by including a young couple as the main characters. This will attract our target audience of couples 16 to mid-20s as both genders will have a character in which they will be able to relate with. By doing this it will have a positive effect as the audience will be more likely to connect and feel for a character which will make them engaged in our film.

To attract our female viewers, we have deeply considered the generic conventions of a romance film. Boy meets girl, then fall in love which the viewers will be able to relate to, to some extent. As well as this we have efficiently use camera angles, for example, the close up and mid shot of the couple holding hands. From doing some research we have found that women consider themselves to be emotional so while watching romantic films they especially love to get engaged when something romantic happens between the two leads, this is the 'Uses and Gratifications' theory where people go to watch films to feel emotions, which is why we have included things like the characters touching hands. We will also attract the female viewers with the music we have incorporated. During the film opening we had a soft, laid back piece of music. This was to convince the viewers that the two protagonist had a normal loving relationship like every usual couple therefor relating back to 'Uses and Gratifications' theory.

 Males will be attracted by our film opening through the use of our camera angles, an example of this is at the beginning of the film opening, which is shown through a close up. In the close up the male protagonist, Hugo, accidentally draws blood while shaving. This creates a sense of tension and danger in the scene which puts the viewers on the edge of their seat. These are common generic conventions for an action film which appeals to our male audience as males enjoy the references to danger and violence. 

Evaluation Question 4

Question 4
Our main target audience would be couples aged from 16 to late 20’s because 51.1 of people aged 16 and over in England and Wales are in relationships. There are many Rom/Com films out there in the media industry, however there aren't many Rom/Com action films which is why we believe that joining these three genres together we could attract a wider mainstream audience. Rom/Coms are already a very popular with females and couples, however sometimes males don't really get into the genre, which is why we hope we can capture that side of the market and hopefully try to get mailes to watch the film. 

We will be giving our film a certification of 15 because when we were looking at the BBFC (British Board of certification) we can include Nudity in a sexual context but without strong detail and Sexual activities but without strong detail. We are also able to use strong references to violence; however, it cannot have strong gore or violence that dwells on the infliction of pain or injury. As well as this the bbfc permits that we are allowed to use strong language which we will use mainly during the fight scenes between the couple later on in the film. However very strong language may be permitted, depending on the manner in which it is used. So due to this we will not use any strong language as we don’t want to take the risk of our certification going up.

An example of a film which are is similar to ours is This means war. It combines the genres Action/Romance and has a sub-genre of comedy. It appeals to a wide audience the same as us, both genders aged 16-20’s +. The action attracts male by the genres generic conventions such as, violence and destruction. The Romance attracts female viewers as they usually can relate or imagine the romantic scenario and they get attracted to the genres generic conventions, love, happy ever after and boy meets girl.

Evaluation question 3

My evaluation question 3.

Evaluation Question 2

Evaluation question 1

My evaluation question 1:

My Own Institutional Logo For Our Production Company

Research On Institutional Logos

Institutional logo's have a huge part on how you can differentiate institutional from mainstream and independent.
Mainstream
When we have a look at mainstream logo's you can see that they would normally be high quality, well animated logo's. Great examples of this is Disney and Warner Bro's pictures. These would have taken quite a lot of time to do and would also have cost a lot of money.

Independent
This is completely different to independent film companies however because they wont have a well animated logo such as the big six production companies. A good example of this is Walking Wolf Productions. This logo starts off as a picture of a wolf's eyes zooming in closer until it changes to a wolf on a rock. When you compare this to logo's from the big six you can see that it isn't as bold and iconic. You can tell that it didn't cost as much to create. Nothing is really animated on the opening apart from the picture moving closer. When you compare this to Disney with multiple moving parts to the opening you can see that it cost a lot more money and is a lot more bold and iconic - something a mainstream film opening should be.

Our Production Company

As a group we decided that are going to be a mainstream film. The reason for this is that the genre we went with probably wouldn't be as popular if we were an independent film company. To successfully pull off the genre that we are going for we need to have high production values and that we use well known characters that would sure the part well. People would really only come to see the genre that we are doing because of the actors. This is why it is essential that we listen to the market research that we collected on the genre that we done and implement that correctly, as that is the only way that we can make the film big and successful.

This will change how we shoot and produce our film as we will have to make it look like a mainstream film. This means that we have to make an animated logo for the beginning and really pull of the titles correctly to make the whole film look professional and correct.

Films that have Influenced Me.

As I go to the cinema a lot to watch a whole variety of films that have influenced me and have really entertained me. These are some of those films and why they are so good.

Hacksaw Ridge
Hacksaw Ridge only released a few weeks ago however it has already made such a big impression on me and the way that I want to experience and watch films. What makes a film good for me is one having a great story line. Hacksaw ridge probably has one of the best stories I have ever seen in a film, and the fact that it was all based on a true story made the whole film a whole lot better to watch. I think that they really done the story justice and the way that it was filmed was perfect. The beginning was great and the way that they set the story up made the whole film a whole lot more enjoyable and really set the mood for the rest of the film. The way that they portrayed the characters in the film also helped make the mood a lot more sympathetic, which would come in handy at the end of the film. Overall this had one of the best stories I have ever seen in a film and it would be great to see more films like this!

Forrest Gump
The second film and has to be one of my all time favourites is Forrest Gump. Just like hacksaw Ridge Forrest Gump has such a great story behind it. During the course of the film you feel so many emotions to the story. Some parts it really makes you happy, and other parts leave you feeling really empathetic and sad for the main character. The way that this film makes you fell is the reason i love this film so much. Most films you see nowadays you don't really feel any emotions towards, you just sit there and watch whats happening - Forrest Gump is one of the few films that will actually grip you and make you feel what the character is feeling. The way that it was shot and the way that they had made the main character act really does leave you thinking after the film and will change the way you look at things. This is why Forrest Gump is so good!

Avatar
Now compared to the other two films avatar isn't as gripping. However Avatar still has a great story to it and the quality that they were able to shoot the film - especially in 3D - really does make the viewer enjoy the experience while watching the film. The thing like about Avatar is that you wont get bored while you watch it. The film still does sort of grip you like the other two - something that most large action films dont do. This is what makes films like this so good and enjoyable for the viewer.

Overall from looking at the films that have really see what we should to to make our film just as gripping - by making sure the story is really gripping and motivating.

Extra Research on my Genre and Audience

Just like any production company, it is important that you do research into the genre of film that you are thinking of conducting. The two main films that came into our genre were Passengers and Mr and Mrs Smith. When we have a close look at our story for our film it really fits with Mr and Mrs Smith, which is why it is important for me to have a look at the positives and negatives as well as how much it made during box office. When we have a look at some of the reviews for Mr and Mrs Smith we can see that the audience thinks that it was over-actionated meaning that there was to much action. From looking at this it means that we shouldn't have as much action in, to improve on the mistakes that they had made. When we have a look at other reviews you can see that it got an average of 3 our of 4 and 4 out of 5. It also got a rating of 59% on Rotten Tomatoes.

According to Rotten Tomatoes Mr and Mrs Smith cost around $120,000,000 and made in box office $186,336,103. It was around the same again for Passengers however it grossed 20 million dollars more. This suggests to us that we can make the same amount of money for a little cheaper.

Overall when we have a look at facts and figures on our genre we can improve on what people didn't like.

A Timeline of Titles From a Film in My Chosen Genre

The film that I have decided to look at is Mr and Mrs Smith - a film we tried to copy the way the opening works to fit it with our film.
This will help us create our own film opening because it means that we know the order that our titles should be and when they should be shown.

An analysis of a film opening in my chosen genre

The film that I have decided to analyse is 'Mr and Mrs Smith'. the reason That I have chosen to do this is because this film is similar to the one we are re-making. This means that we can take the good and negative points of this film and use it to help make ours.

Genre:
The genre of Mr and Mrs Smith is action and romance. The film is about a couple that are secret agents that work together to take out people. As they are a couple and that there are a few scenes that show the romance side to things, however you can also see the action predominantly throughout the film with the use of a lot of killing.

Narrative:
when we have a look at the narrative of the film its about a couple who don't know their true jobs. This is when they both get sent to kill each other. The rest of the film is about the couple trying to kill each other however in the end they both team up and work together. This is what we have sort of why we have based our film on the story line of Mr and Mrs Smith - so it would help us create the opening of our film. You can see that the company that made the opening wanted to use the same idea as they did on the James Bond film Casino Royal as it is the same sort of design and shape.

Character:
The characters in the film are quite a variate - however they have the same sort of roles as they would in our film, you obviously have the two main characters played by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and you also have the bosses of each of them. You can see this in the film opening as you have the main characters however they are the sort of shadows making them more anonymous.

Atmosphere:
The atmosphere that is created from this film opening makes you want to really watch the film. The way that they were able to use the music in the piece and to make the animation fit great for the genre. This creates the feeling of awesomeness and it makes people want to continue to watch the film.

Setting: 
The setting for the opener really changes throughout the piece. it pretty much runs through the film in pictures - just like a storyboard. That's what i like about the opening and it gives you an idea of what you are about to watch. i think it was cleverly done so that it doesn't give much away however you know that it is showing the general gist of the film.

Music:
I think that they managed to use music really well in the piece. the music starts off slow and helps build tension until more action starts to show up in the opening. This then leads to the music to pick up and becomes a lot faster. The music in the piece really does get the viewer in the mood to watch the rest of the film - like a good film should!

Our Chosen Genre and Research

As a group we decided decided in the end to go for quite a strange genre. In the end we decided to go with a hybrid genre meaning that we are going to go for two major genre's, which are Romance and Action - quite a strange pair.The overview for our film is that we have a married couple that are both secretly spies, and that they both don't each other's true jobs. They both work for competing agency's that order them both to assassinate each other. So throughout the film the both of them are trying to kill each other in funny ways which never seem to succeed.The reason that we decided to do this was that we as a group couldn't decide on a single genre - one team member wanted to do action and the me and another team member wanted to do romance. This is when we decided to combine both genre's so we are all happy and we are happy with how it turned out in the end.To get some insight into the kind of films that are currently out there with these two genre's we came across Passenger (2016). This was mainly focused on action however it did have a romantic side to it which is what we are looking for.When we go in and have a look at some figures to the genre we can see that it has actually done quite well for itself in the box office. it was estimated that Passengers cost around $110,000,000 to make and overall it made $270,657,489 (Worldwide) in the month it was in the cinema for. when we use these statistics for our own purpose we can really get an idea that the genre we have chosen is quite popular and that it should get attention. Everything that you would need in a film. 

Researching into Passengers has really helped us create our own film as we can get an idea of the sort of shots that should be shown in the film. This means that we will have quite a few shots establishing the moment and the rest will be actually getting into the film. 

When we have a look at the generic conventions that this film has used we can see that it fits both the action and romance genre's. They really used the location, mise and props well in this film. The CGi that was used to create a realistic looking space as well as having thought about the colours that they should use to make a good looking colours to make the whole film a lot better. You can see when they were showing the romantic side to the film they were in a nice bar, lots of red as well as the two characters dressed in nice, smart clothing - with the red having connotations of love and romance. This is what we wanted to take from this film and combine it into ours - we want some red in the scene to show love and romance. 

Our Opening Re-make

For our film re-make our group decided to re-make Drive. The reason we decided to pick this out of any of the other films was that we wanted to test some of the equipment that we are going to use for our real film opening. We would be able to re-create this using a real car and for the areal shots a drone. For our real film we are intending on using the same equipment as we all own it, so things like drone's, Go-pro's and shoulder mounted camera's are available for our final product. Using this we decided to put some of the equipment to work and to play around with the functions on the camera's and drone to see what we can use for our final product (things like filters, white balance and settings in the camera's itself). This would be effective as it then means that it will take less time to get the shots we need because we would already know the settings that we should have the camera's on to achieve the look we need. This then means that it reduces the time spent on location (in a restaurant) and we can spend more time editing. Using this re-make would also help us in making titles and adding them into the opening. For the opening of our film to look professional we need the titles to look good and be in the correct order. Doing this re-make should help us do just that.

The Difference Between Mainstream and Independent Films

There is one main difference between mainstream and independent films and that is the title's at the very beginning. whenever you look at large, mainstream films, they always have a lot of titles at the beginning. This differs from independent films because there aren't as many people working on the film. This means that when you are viewing an independent film the title sequences at the beginning are a lot less.

Another way that you would be able to tell an independent film from a mainstream film is the production companies logo's at the beginning. Nearly all big, mainstream companies would have moving, animated logo's, making them stand out. A good example of this is the Universal logo, it would have cost a lot of money to animate the planet spinning as the camera is panning round to show the logo. This is completely different for independent films because they cant afford to create these. Instead you would normally see a still image on the screen as their logo.

This will help us when we create our own film as we can then create our logo specifically for what type of institution we are. As we are a mainstream company we are going to have an animated logo. This will help us when it comes to making our own films because it means that we can make our own logo look professional. This means that then our overall piece would look a little more professional which hopefully would make our piece stand out.

Generic Conventions In Film Openings

When we have a look at generic conventions in film we can see that depending on the genre that you are going to make/watch then there are specific things that you expect to see.
when we compare a load of genre's together we get an understanding of what should be shown in that genre and what should be avoided.
Horror:

When we have a look at generic conventions in a horror film opening you would normally wouldn't get any action at the very beginning. you would normally see that it builds the film up. Unfortunately i couldn't find the film opening on YouTube however i could find the trailer and you can get an idea of how the opening should be. At the beginning everything is OK  and that there is nothing going on, as you can tell by the trailer they were all happy and that they had moved to their grandparents for a bit. This is what you expect to see in a horror film as it then means that you can start to create the tension and start to change the mood of the film from there. When you have a look at mise the film, you normally expect a horror to be set in some sort of location that has connotations of horror. Good examples of this could be in a grave yard, old hospital or in some sort of house. The setting has to be effective, if no the film wont create the tension that is required for a good horror film which means that the film wont have the same effect that it should. The generic props that you would normally see in a horror would be that they are wearing ripped, old clothing and would often be covered in blood - giving all the connotations that they are stressed and in danger - building the suspense and tension that is required.
Comedy 

When we have a look at the generic conventions that you would expect to see in a comedy, normally it would be setting up the scene for what is about to happen. This would normally start with an establishing shot to then going into some back story to make the whole thing a lot more understandable. A good example we can use here is the film Central Intelligence. In the opening of the film, the generic mise that you would expect to see in a comedy is things like explosions with extravagant sound effects, or something that just looks funny. This would create the right atmosphere that is required for a comedy. When you have a look at the location of comedies it is very random. It all depends on the kind of story line that the film has, normally if its a mickytake of an action you would normally see small, dirty houses as well as large, expensive towers. Again it all depends on the story line.

Action

When we have a look at the generic conventions in an action film you expect to see a lot of money spent on mise at the beginning to set the film to set the mood. When we have a look at the opening of the film Spectre you can see that it starts with a huge action scene right at the beginning of the film. Just like most mainstream you would expect to either see that money has been spent or mise or some sort of action scene. The generic conventions of mise that you would normally see in an action is men in smart outfits - normally with weapons. This then sets up the atmosphere required for an action film. The location that you commonly seen is exotic, luxury locations that are normally not seen by common people.

The Impact of Classification

Classification has a big part on how films can be viewed and how a production company decides on what they are going to make and who they are going to try to sell it to. Before any film is made the initial crew including the writers and the director would have to get an idea of who they are going to try to sell their film to, then decide what can and cant be shown in it. This means that they cant go and have scenes with people taking drugs and try to put it in for a 12 as it wont get classified as that. This means that they have to take into consideration what they are going to show in the film as well as the language that would be used.

The film 'The Hunger Games 2012' had originally been put as a 15 due to the violence shown in one of the scenes. As you could tell by this it really limited their target audience and meant that half the people that they wanted to see the film couldn't because they were too young. This meant that the production company had to remove several seconds of footage so that they were able to be classified as a 12.

With things like classification it really can limit a films target audience if they don't have a good understanding of what can be shown in that age bracket. If a film was going to try to be shown as a 12 like 'The Hunger Games 2012' but gets shown as a 15 instead it means that they have pretty much half'd the amount of people that can go to the cinema and watch it which overall means that less profit will be made on the opening weekend. This is why production companies have to make sure that they get it right before they make a mistake to great which could impact the amount of people that are aloud to see it.

This is why it is essential that our group understands what our film genre is going to be so that we can sensibly plan what can be shown and how we can plan to sell our film meaning that we wont run the risk of missing out on some of our target audience.

Certification in Films

Certification in films is a big part of how you are going to target, make and sell your film. You need to make sure that you understand what sort of certification you are trying to aim for before going to make your own film. Companies like the BBFC (British Board Of Film Classification) watch films day in and day out giving them appropriate age ratings. When a film is planning to be produced the production company would think about what their target audience is and what certificate they think they will get. This then means that they are able to gauge what sort of humour that they are going to have in as well as the scenes they are aloud to show, they cant have someone swearing and having sex in a 12A, however they can show that in a 15.

Currently there are 5 age ratings that can be put onto a film. Each have different levels of materials that they are able to show. these are:


U: Films with a U rating should be pleasant and not upset and children from the ages of 4 and above.

PG: This age genre should be aimed at children from the ages of 8 and up, younger children should be accompanied with an adult. This may contain scenes that could upset younger children.

12/12A: 12 and 12A are not suitable for children under the age of 12 and if are taken to the cinema to see it, they must be with an adult at the age of 18.

15: The 15 age rating would contain material that is not appropriate for anyone under 15, this would contain bad language, violence and sexual scenes.

18: Pretty much anything can be shown in an 18 and its not suitable for anyone younger to view it.

Film Timelines

 Movie Opening Timeline's
So for the three movie's i had to do, i chose Transformers, Hot Fuzz and Forrest Gump. And by the different types of genre you can really see the difference in the amount of title's shown in the opening scene.

To start off with and the top timeline was Transformers. from the beginning there were only a few titles that appeared. these were the production companies and to the end of the first scene the title appeared. In my opinion I think that they done this because of the type of genre the film is and the type of people who are watching it are different. As Transformers is a big Hollywood blockbuster the people watching the film don't really want to see all of the titles at the beginning, they want to see all of the violence and damage. this is why i think that they limited the amount of titles as they were trying to let the viewer get right into the action. we can see that this is different with the second film I chose.

 The second film I chose to do was Hot Fuzz. This film's genre is more comedy however does show a few signs of action in. The opening to this film had a lot more titles in however. From the beginning you had the classic Universal into play, then it had all of the production companies slowly played before the character got to the screen. this is when a montage started to play. this i think was done because they wanted the slow intro and to have more production companies titles shown at the beginning, however this is nothing compared to the last film i chose.


The last film i chose to do was Forrest Gump and this had a lot of titles in! from the very beginning it had the production companies names shown, then to the producers, then the director, followed by the cast. After that they had some of the main people who made the film possible like the music producer, editor and director of photography. lastly followed by the director and the producers. I think that this was done because they wanted to put all of the main workers name's in at the beginning to show them off instead of the end because most people don't stick around for the credits. So if they played the main workers names at the beginning like the editor it would mean that more people are able to see their names. I think that they put the titles in the order of most importance. So first you would have the production company which would have had the funding and all of the equipment, then the producers that would have produced the script and everything else they needed, followed by the director and actors who played in the film. Lastly followed by people behind the scenes like the editor and music producer. This meant that more people could see the names of the people before the film was to end.

Overall this will help me when it comes to making my final film as it will show us what titles we should have on them, as well as what order they should be in and how long they should be up there for. Forrest Gump also sort of fits in the genre that i have picked so i can copy the order in which they come up from there.

Student Film Opening Detailed Analysis

The film that i have chosen to do a film analysis on is called 'Outlaw' and was created by Patchwork pictures.
Genre
When we have a look at this clip you can get a pretty good idea of what genre that this film is. If we have a look at the mise in the first few seconds you can get a clear idea that there will be violence involved due to there being a gun. This means that the genre would defiantly have to be action and adventure. You also get an idea of the genre from the music. The non-diegetic music is slow however it has a lot of bangs and other action - based sounds in.

Editing
This film opening has some brilliant editing on it, you can tell that they had spent a lot of time putting in the special effects and putting all of the clips together. They have put all of the clips in chronological order which meant that all the way through you understood what was happening. I like the way at the beginning that all of the shots were slow and that they all built up to the last few action shots. These were fast paced and that they all built up tension for the end.

Sound
When we have a look at sound in the clip they use a lot of non-diegetic music throughout the opening. This is think is really good at building up the tension that is needed in this kind of genre and clip. I think that the song that they had chosen went very well with the way that they had edited the fight scene at the end. The music in the clip seemed to build up to the very end which i though worked very well as the fight was then and the faster music worked with the punches and the violence.

Camera Angles
When we have a look at camera angles in the clip you can see that they have used a wide range of camera angles. which keeps the viewer entertained, you can also see that they have used quite nice transitions between each clip, they have't just stuck a load of clips together and hope for the best. this really does go and improve the quality of final product and does make it look a lot more professional. they have managed to use the camera quite well when trying to fade at the end of the first few clips however you could tell that they didn't know which way to turn the focus wheel. this lead to it going out of focus however only for a little way. They had to focus it and turn it the other way to fade it properly, which had the sort of opposite effect on what they wanted to happen. They used quite good shots during the fighting scene as well, however you could see that they didn't keep the main characters in focus, which didn't work too well. Apart from that it was shot very well.

Mise
I think that the mise worked quite well with the opening and what the character had weapon wise made sense, I think that they used the costumes quite well and that it worked with what they were going for. One problem with the mask that they used however is that it is based off a game, which could be a problem when it comes to copyright. I think that the location worked well, and the way that they were able to capture the scenery in the clip again was very nice. I think that they should have used a little more light when it came to shooting in the dark, this is what reduces the quality of the camera.

Titles
I think that the titles worked very well and were put in the correct order. It started off with the main production company, followed by another. Then it went to the name of the film followed by people who worked on the film. From my own experience with working on titles and putting them in films it did seem that they put them in the correct order, which made the piece look very good. My only criticism for the clip is that it didn't have an institution logo at the beginning, which most films would start with. I would recommend making one and sticking that at the very beginning.
Characters
Now characters are the biggest problem in this opening in my opinion. There isn't really isn't any backstory behind the characters and that it didn't seem to clear about who they are and what they are doing. This could lead to confusion and put some people off. You don't know why that solider is going into an abandoned house, and who he is fighting, so they should have tried to make that a little clearer.

Overall analysing this clip would help us create our film opening as we can learn from their mistakes and that we can hopefully make less mistakes on our own.

What Makes A Good Student Film

10 points on what makes a good student film.

• It has to flow - For it to be a good film opening it has to have a good story to it and that it has to flow, it cant be confusing for the audience.
• It cant have everything shown in the first two minutes - its only the first two minutes of the film, there shouldn't be all the action. 
• It has to be directed well - people should know what they are doing and that it should be clear that everything was directed well.
• They should have focused on mise - it should look like an actual film, not something that they have thrown together in 10 minutes at home. If they are creating a restaurant scene it should be at a restaurant, not at home!
• It should have a variety of camera shots - it shouldn't all look the same, it should look like an actual and using a different variety of shots, not just long shot or close up.
• They should make sure that the audio is of good quality - you shouldn't hear the wind in the microphone if it is outside.
• Use a camera stabiliser or tripod - this will make the film opening look more professional and will make it stand out compared to shaky footage that just wont look as good.
• Make sure that you use titles correctly - using titles correctly and in the right order will make the whole film opening look more professional and like a real film.
• Make sure that the genre is clear in the beginning - the genre should be clear to the audience from the beginning of the film, not confusing.
• Don't re-invent the wheel - don't go and try to make a new opening as it wont look good, get inspiration from a real film and try to incorporate it in your opening.

Making sure that we all follow this in our group we can make sure that our film will look bad and not professional - it should help our film stand out, look interesting and overall help us achieve a better grade. 

Independent Research On Film Openings

For my independent film opening research I am going to look at how production companies logo's and how they have been used at the beginning of films. Being a mainstream film you want your logo to stand out and be recognisable for people when they watch a film. This means that it has to be big, eye catching and impressive. The example I am going to use is Warner Bros intro. As you can see by the video it clearly stands out and is recognisable for viewers when they hear the music start to play and the big gold rings spinning around the screen to form the logo. This would have cost a lot of money to create as the animation wouldn't have been cheep, and getting someone to produce the music would also have cost a lot of money, however being a mainstream company they can afford to do things like this. As Warner bros owns some of the biggest and most popular films they can afford to do specialised logo's for specific films. A good example of this is the logo that they had created for the Harry Potter films and they changed each time a film was created. As you can see by the video below you can see 

that they had changed the music and the colour of the logo to fit the film. Again as they are a mainstream film they can afford to do this. This will help us when it comes to making our film because as we are a mainstream production company it means that we are able to re-create our self one and make our company look more professional. This would involve us animating a logo to play at the beginning of our film.

Forrest Gump Film Analysis (1994)

From what we can see in the opening of the film, you can tell that it is a comedy/drama. You cant really tell from the intro that it is a comedy. This is because there is only one continuous follow shot following a feather, including sad, non-diegetic music. When we have a look at the way that the titles we can see that they use a bold, white font to show all of the characters, directors and producers. This follows most of the general comedy films as they normally have this sort of title. It also follows the general rule of when the titles come up.
At the beginning you get the first title: Paramount Pictures. This is then followed by the producers, then the director. After the director it was then followed by the main actors, then back to the producers and the director. This follows the general rule of thumb of titles as most films with long intro's you will see a lot of titles in this order.

when we have a look at the narrative of the film we can see that on this one long intro we can see that they use one, long continuous shot with the titles appearing. I feel that this was done because they wanted to show all of the titles of a slow video so that the viewers attention would be brought to the titles and not to the background. This means that people would see the directors and producers name instead of them not being recognised at the end when everyone is leaving.

when we have a look at the setting/ mise en scene of the clip we can see that that they wanted to have an establishing shot of the town/city that they were in and how it really fit the time period that they were in in 1994. One of the most creative things i thought about about was when you first see Forrest's shoes at the beginning and how dirty they are. This was done because they wanted to show how much he has been through in his life and all of things that he has achieved. This goes well with how smart the rest of his cloths are, smart, clean and tidy. Again they used mise really well when they showed his bag. Again this had everything that he had done in his life e.g. the football, ping pong paddle and badge. It sort of sums up how much that the main character has achieved in his life and everything that he has done. Finally the last thing we see before the diegetic speech comes in of just him on the bench. This was done because they wanted to use the bench to represent his popularity. at the beginning of the film there was no-one. Just like during his flashbacks of him being at home by himself, then when he got on the bus and at first he had no-one to talk to. Then one person came along and he started to talk about how he had a friend, and as more and more people started to sit on the bench the more his life progressed and the more popular he was in his flashbacks. This is then backed up because at the end when his only friend Jenny died and he took his son to the bus, it was just him sitting alone on the tree stump. They used him sitting places to represent his life and popularity and i thought that this was used very well.
When we have a look at the feather and what that is meant to represent, you can tell that when the feather is flying down it is representing his life and age, and that he has done everything he wants to in life. This is then backed up because at the end when the feather falls out of his sons book you can see that the feather flying back up into the air representing his life just beginning. this was a really smart way to represent his life and everything he has done in it.
When we have a look at the music that was played in the film, there was a lot of sad non-diegetic music playing at the beginning. Again this was done because they wanted to draw the attention of the viewer to the beginning and the credits as well as the feather (as it would be used again later on in the film) and it just eases the audience into the film, better than if they were to have played some heavy music. It gives the audience a general feel of what the film is going to be like.
From this we can see what made this opening successful and what we should try to copy when it comes to us re-creating an opening. From this opening i think i would like to copy the amount and style of the titles and when they appear. I think that it was efficient when it comes the style of genre.

Skyfall (2012) Film Analysis

Skyfall (2012) Film Opening Title Sequence

From what we can see from the film opening we can see that the film is a mix of action and adventure. We can see this because of the following things: daggers were falling out of the sky, there were guns shown and multiple hints of death throughout the clip. A great example of this is when James Bond was in the water, and you could see a skull forming in the water. This was done because they wanted to hint the general way that the film was going and what was probably going to happen. This is a big giveaway to what the genre is.

When we have a look at the narrative of the film opening we can see that they use camera angles very well to tell their story. So the first great shot that we see them use is a long shot of the main character in the water. this creates the effect that the main character is drowning and is close to death. This is backed up by the hand pulling him down. This is effective in showing the films genre as it signifies death and that is the main factor in an action film. A second thing that was done in the intro was to make James Bond falling through the sand into a skull. Again this is a real big hint into a large skull in the sand. Again this connotes death, literally.

When we have a look at the the main character himself we can see that he is wearing all black. The director probably wanted this because black represents death, and as he is wearing it, it shows that he is dead. Also you would wear a black, smart suit if you were attending a funeral. This followed by him being dragged into a skull really shows the representation of death. We can link death to themes as well. As death is a theme and it has been shown multiple times throughout the short intro it really does show death. When we have a look at setting we can see that at the beginning nearly all of the shots are under water. This 

could have been done because they want to represent the coldness and darkness that deep water has, and then use it to represent the agent himself. This is effective because it really does give us an idea of that the agent is like and what his emotions are like. however when we look to the end of the sequence it changes from the traditional underwater scene, and then has effects like graves, and knifes falling out of the sky. Again this was done to connote that someone big is going to die in the film. This was then followed by a few final scenes of blood coming out from above the water. When we have a look at the music that they are playing we can see that at the beginning it starts off slow and steady. However as the intro progresses it starts to get loader, faster and has a lot more bass in. This was done because they want to show how the film is going to progress, start off slow then get a lot more violent until the end when someone dies.
Overall this will help us when creating our own film opening because we know what made this successful and the things we should incorporate into our own opening.

Similarities and Differences in Film Openings

Film one: Shaun Of The Dead
Similarities:

So when we have a look at the intro to Shaun Of The Dead compared to other into's we have seen we can see that it has the production companies names first. They were Universal Studio's, Studiocanal and Working Title Studio's.

It also had the name of the film at the end of the credits during the film introduction. This is the same as most of the films.

Differences:
It doesn't have the director's name on the title at the beginning, when we compare this to a film like Forrest Gump which does.

Film two: Back To The Future 1985
Similarities:
When we have a look at Back To The Future we can see that it has a lot of titles at the beginning of the film such as the director, the film name and the main actor.

Differences:
The differences of this film is that it has the title of the film at the beginning after the director and the production companies.

Film three: Fast And Furious 7
Similarities:
At the begining it has the name of the production companies and then after a little bit of dialogue the actors and some other names appeared as titles in the scene.

Differences:
The difference between this scene is the long wait for the rest of the titles from when the film started.

The difference between Film trailers and Film openings

Trailer
Trailers are short clips to entice people to come and see the film. these are normally two or so minuets long and you can get a good idea of what the film is about and what is going to happen in it. A film trailer doesn't run in chronological order as well. this means that the clips are all from different parts of the film, this is because they are showing you the best bits of the film to try to get you to go and see it. A great example of this is the Pirates of the Caribbean film On Stranger Tides. You can see the clips jumping around and not making much sense.

Film opening
Film openings are the beginning of a film. these again are the first two minuets that are used to help draw the audience to watch the film. You would see some titles at the beginning of the film as well. a great example of this is Forrest Gump. As you can see from the video below multiple titles appear including the production company names, the director and the name of the film. this is one great way to tell the difference between the two.