Genre

There are many different genres of film which include horror, science fiction, comedy, romance, teen, action and crime.

Horror films are made to cause the audience to feel frightened and scared and to evoke their hidden worst fears. These films are meant to be captivating and entertaining while still creating suspense and dread. They often have a character(s) which cause all of the mysterious happenings to occur and are the reason that bad things happen in the movie. These films are often targeted for teenagers and older people as they contain images that are disturbing for younger children. They are also created to purposely frighten people which teenagers and older people generally find entertaining. 

One example of a horror film is Insidious. In the opening scene the first thing you see is a pink light shade which comes on the screen with some credits appearing over the top of this. These titles and credits appear in a striking blood red colour which most horror films generally seem to do as well as using different fonts and effects to give the audience an idea of what type of film this will be in the first few seconds of the opening. This colour is also used as a warning as most people associate the colour red with danger and so know from the very beginning that this is going to be a horror. The camera angle then change so the light shade is seen as the right way up an not upside down. You then see the rest of the room as the camera angle changes so it is now looking down which is where you see a young boy sleeping in a bed in a plain room with a bed side table to the left of him with a nightlight on and a few other things around it. The camera is at a high angle here which shows how vulnerable and powerless the little boy is in his room. You can tell he is going to be the main protagonist for the film as he is the first character shown on screen. The camera then moves down before panning away from the young child where you see a little more of his room before it goes into a different room which is when a sinister soundtrack suddenly starts playing. Playing creepy music is another generic thing that horror films tend to do as it sets the right atmosphere for the audience that this is a horror and establishes the genera to them. In a window that is directly opposite the viewer you see the shadow of a person which suddenly moves away with the camera to another room which is where you see the face of a mysterious woman illuminated by a candle light. This shot is done at eye level so the audience are face to face with the woman and that makes it seem like she is directly at you. Horror films often give you an idea of who the supernatural or possessed person will be in the movie. This then gives them an idea of who will be causing the terror in the film and an insight of how they might act. The camera moves closer and closer to the woman until there is not much distance between you and her which is when the screen goes black and quiet when suddenly in big red letters the title comes up with sinister music to accompany it. The use of having no dialogue in the opening makes the film seem more sinister and creepy as all you can here is the soundtrack which is playing in the background, this is deliberately creepy to give of a sinister atmosphere in the opening. Also the use of different angles like the high angle shows how helpless the young boy is to all the supernatural things going on in the house and shows how later on in the film he will be powerless against these things. Seeing the woman towards the end of the opening gives the audience a sense of who the supernatural being is that will be causing all the trouble to this little boy and his family and gives a sense of what the film will be like.        

Science fiction films are designed with fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science for example extra-terrestrial life forms, alien worlds and time travel. These types of film tend to interest a wide range of audiences as it is aimed towards both genders and a varied age range.

An example of a science fiction film is Gravity. At the beginning of the opening you see the company logo come up before some text comes up on the screen. In science fiction films it is often hard to tell what is going on as the equipment used is meant to be things from the future which we as the audience wont recognise, so the use of text of dialogue helps us get a sense of what is happening. Dramatic music is played along with the text before the title appears on the screen. The music then goes as you see a long shot of the earth, this is typical of a science fiction film is the use of a long shot to create an establishment of where the film is talking place. In this case you see it used to show Earth the audience know that this film is taking place in space and not on a planet. You can also see from the use of this shot a space ship which tells the audience that the film will be to do with astronauts. When the spaceship comes into view you hear dialogue which helps the audience to understand what is going on. Another shot that is often used in science fiction films is the close up. This is used so the audience can see all the different bits of technology that aren't recognisable to them but help them to understand the different futuristic pieces of equipment. In the opening to Gravity you see a close up of one of the astronauts which gives a sense of the sought of technology is in this film. You also a little later on see a close up of the space ship which again gives the audience a sense that this is a science fiction film and that the technology is from the future.    

Comedy films are created to make people laugh and feel happy and the main emphasis in this sort of film is humour. This is done by making the audience laugh through amusement and they often exaggerates the characters for humorous effect. These types of films are often directed towards families and teenagers as they are amusing and cause people to laugh. Younger children tend to love these films as they find them entertaining and families often do as well.

An example of a comedy film is Run Fatboy Run. In the opening you see him dressed up smartly in a room looking very panicked which is when another man comes in to try and settle his nervous but only makes it worse. He leaves Dennis for a few minuets and when he returns Dennis is gone and he is seen running away down the street. You then see his family and his pregnant fiancée on the street calling after him to come back but he doesn't listen and just keeps running. This is an example of a comical situation which is something comedies tend to use a lot in film openings. The fact that it is him running away out of nerves and not his fiancee is seen as funny as it is often the woman who is seen having cold feet and not the man. The way it is filmed as well with the light cheerful music in the background and the expression on his face also heightens the sense that this is a comedy to the audience. This then transitions into a shot of his feet running and the title appears on the screen. The camera then moves up and you realise that this is him 5 years later and he is a security guard chasing down a woman that has stolen from the shop that he works at. Another convection of a comedy film is using bright public spaces for filming. This is so if something occurs to a character it is seen as more embarrassing to them which causes the incident to be funny to the audience than if it had happened at home where no one else would have witnessed it. You then see him tackle the woman down to the floor and retrieve the items the woman has stolen before returning back to the shop. Another aspect of comedy films is that they are filmed in a naturalistic way so no character is seen as more important that another. You see this when he is tackling the woman, although he is a security guard and is more important than the woman they are both filmed at the same angle so neither looks more important than the other. While Denis is chasing the woman down you can hear in the background up beat music being played. This is often used in comedies especially where something comical is occurring as it emphasises the humour of the scene to the audience and makes it more funny to watch.         

Romance films are about two people that want to be/are in a relationship. These types of films tend to focus on passion and emotion and the romantic involvement of the main characters. It tends to show their journey to find true love and how their love is strong and pure. These types of films are generally aimed at girls aged 13 upwards as they tend to find these types of films captivating and sweet, while guys tend to find them boring and mushy. 

An example of a romance film is The fault in our stars. At the beginning of the film you first see a young girl laughing in a dimly lit room which then cuts to a shot of her dancing in the street with a young man who you presume is her boyfriend/lover. This is a key example of one convention of a romance film as often in the opening scene you are introduced to the main characters, which in this film are the boy and girl. You also see different shots of them kissing which shows the romance and relationship in this film which helps portray the fact this is a romance to the audience. A close up of her face is then shown before the title appears on the screen. After this you see the young girl sitting on a doctors bed which is where you are then introduced to her mum who is talking to the doctor. You can see that she is actually very ill as she has an oxygen tank with her and this invokes a serge of emotion from the audience as they see this young girl is dying. Over the top of this there is light music playing but also the narration from the young girl. This is very common in romance films as it tells the audience a little about the characters which helps them to connect with them more. 

Action films are films in which the protagonist ends up in a series of challenges that often involve violence, combat and frantic chases. These films are often aimed at older people as young children often find them disturbing with all the violence involved in them. Teenage boys especially like these films as they include violence and are exciting which is what draws them too the film.

An example of an action film is Pirates of the Caribbean-Dead Man's Chest. At the beginning of the film you have a shot of some calm water with helps to indicate to the audience that this film is going to mainly be at sea. The title then appears over the top in golden letters before the screen goes black and you see a close shot of some crockery getting soaked in the rain. You see various close shots of things getting soaked by the rain like the sheet music on the music stand before you see a young girl kneeling down in the rain holding a bouquet of flowers. She is obviously wearing a wedding dress and the way all of these shots are calmly down it gives the audience a suspense that something major is about to occur. This scene then cuts to one with many soldiers on boats sailing towards shore and you can hear fast paced music playing in the background. The music used in these films are often fast paced as it tells the audience that something exciting is happening which gets them anxious for the action. You then see a long shot which shows all the boats sailing in and gives an idea to the audience where this film is taking place. As the soldiers brake shore you see them rapidly getting out of the boats and running across the beach. This is demonstrated in fast paced shots with a lot of movement going on which is another typical feature of an action film. It shows all the action going on and shows the audience the chaos which is occurring on screen. You then see all the soldiers matching in uniform towards the girl and being lined up on shore. You then cut to seeing them searching through houses before one bring out some shackles. You finally return to the girl who you see run towards the chained up man before she asks 'Why is this happening?'.

Some of the things film companies tend to do to attract audience to watch a film is the through the use of film trailers. These are created to give people an idea of what the film will be about and give them enough footage to captivate them and make them want to go and see the film without giving to much of the plot away. These also help make awareness to people about what films are coming and give them the opportunity to go and see them. Another thing they tend to do is create posters which you often find advertised on busses, billboards and other places around cities to attract peoples attention and show to them what films are coming out soon. These advertisements often appear on social media and across the Internet as well considering the vast majority of people they are aimed at will see them there.  

Camera shots and angles

Camera shots

A camera shot is the amount of space that is seen in one frame or shot. They are used to show different features of a film including setting, characters and themes.

Extreme long shot

This is often taken from a far distance and is used as a scene setting establishing shot. It is often used to show the exterior, for example the outside of a building and is used to show scenes of thrilling action.

Long (wide) shot

This is a shot which typically shows the entire object or human figure and is usually intended to place it in some relation to its surroundings. It generally shows the image as approximately life size in corresponding it to the real distance between the audience and the screen.

Medium shot

This normally contains a figure from the knees or waste up and is often used for dialogue scenes or to show detail of action. There tends to be minimal background in this shot as it has normally been established earlier in the scene and so the audience instead want to focus on dialogue and character interaction.

Extreme wide shot 

Theses shots are taken far from the subject so they may not even be seen at all in the shot. The emphasis is more on setting the scene and showing the location rather than establishing who the character is, so the audience get an idea of where the film is taking place.

Close up

The close up is a shot which tightly frames a person or object. They often show very little background and tend to focus on the face or a specific part of mise-en-scene. It magnifies an object to show the importance of things, for example words written on paper. A film maker may use this shot to make us feel comfortable or uncomfortable about a character.

Extreme close up

This shot is so tight that only a detail of a subject, for example the eye on a person’s face. This shot often shows no background detail and is often used for dramatic effect.

Camera angles

Camera angles are used to show the audience and help them understand the different relationships between characters 

The bird's-eye view

It is an elevated view of an object from above, with the perspective as if the viewer was a bird. The shot puts the audience in a god like position looking down on the action that is happening below them. This shot can make people look insignificant and also like they are part of a bigger scheme.

High angle

This is when you have the camera looking down on the subject from a high angle and the point of focus often get swallowed up. This shot makes the subject feel vulnerable when applied with the correct mood. It makes objects look less significant and seem smaller than they actually are.

Eye level

This is a shot done at the subject’s height so they don't need to look up or down to look directly at the lens. This shot is done so it looks like there is actually a human observing the scene.

Low angle
It is a shot taken anywhere below the eye line and looking up. This shot makes the person look strong and powerful to the audience, while making then feel powerless.

Camera movement

Camera movements are used to shape meaning into films to make them seem more emotional or dramatic depending on what type of film it is.

Pans

Panning is the rotation or pivoting of the camera horizontally from a fixed position. This is often used to follow a moving object that is often kept in the middle of the frame.

Tilts

A movement where the camera stays on a fixed position but moves up and down in a vertical plane. It gives the effect of someone raising and lowering their head to look at someone.

Dolly shots

This is where the camera moves alongside the action and generally follows a moving figure or object. This camera movement is a good way of portraying movement and showing a characters journey.

Hand held shots

This is where the camera isn't mounted on a tripod or anything and is instead held in the camera operator’s hand. This type of shot gives a rough and ragged effect.

Crane shots

It is a shot taken from a crane or jib and it is used to view the actors from above and is often used at the end of a film.

Zoom lenses

This can change the position of the audience without moving the camera. Although the zoom lens does tend to be jerky and distorts the image unless used slowly which makes objects appear closer together than they actually are.

The aerial shots

This shot is often taken from a helicopter and is often used at the beginning of a film to establish the setting and movement.

Shorter length shots create dramatic tension, by cutting quickly between different shots, or different locations it creates the characters frame of mind for the audience to experience. It shows the audience how they are jump, tense and their mind is quick moving.

Longer length shots make a scene seem more relaxed and slower paced. This type of shot often gives the impression that something is about to occur. These types of shots are also very good at exposing emotion by focusing on a character for a long period of time, showing raw emotion as it is often not edited.

When filming it is key to have a range of different shot and angles to make a scene unique and to express the different thoughts and feeling a character is experiencing at that time. Each shot and angle has a different purpose which helps to make the meaning of a scene clear to the audience. An example of this is the low shot which portrays a character to be powerful and strong to the audience, or an eye level shot which makes the audience feel as if they are directly in front of the character and have a more personal connection with them.

Here is an example of a film opening using an extreme wide shot. They use this to show where this film is taking place, which is the whole of earth, and also in space. The use of the extreme wide shots helps us to understand that something has happened to the planet earth and because of this there is a little robot building massive structures across the planet for a reason we are yet to discover. Without the use of all the extreme wide shots we as the audience would be very confused as to what was going on and we would have no understanding as to why earth was the way it is in the opening scene.

Here is an example of a film opening that uses quiet a lot of different camera shots and angles. We see the main character from a low angle shot which gives the impression he is powerful and important. You also see the main character from a medium shot which then zooms into a close shot. This is to show the audience that this character is very important and helps us to get to know him and establish who he is. There is also a long shot which revels to us that this pirate isn't sailing a typical pirate ship which you would be expecting him to be on giving a comical effect to the audience.

Here is an example of a film opening that again uses various different camera shots and angles. The first shot shown in this opening is an extreme close up which only shows the eye and a little of the pale white skin on the character. This is to show the audience that this character is a zombie and is actually dead, which you can see from his off colour skin and drained eyes. Another shot used in this opening is a long shot which is used to establish the setting for this scene which happens to be an airport. This shot helps us as the audience to understand that obviously a vast majority of the population have become zombies. Many medium shots are used in this opening to make us feel a connection with certain characters and to helps us to understand who they are, for example when we see the caretaker zombie and we hear the narration over the top it makes us as the audience feel like we understand the character better. 

Two minute mise-en-scene opening

What was the task?

The aim of the task was to create an opening to a film using mise-en-scene. Mise-en-scene is the arrangement of everything that appears in framing like actors, lighting, costume etc. We had to incorporate all of these aspects into the first two minuets of our film, including the ones that had all ready been provided for us by our teacher.

What elements of mise-en-scene were we given?

For the opening of our film we had to incorporate five different aspects of mise-en-scene that had been provided for us by our teacher. These included, a forty year old woman, fish and chips, a uniform, the roller coaster at Great Yarmouth and a sunrise on Saturday/Sunday morning. These were the things that definitely had to be in our film opening but everything else was up to use. Although these are the final five aspects of mise-en-scene we had to use, we were originally given a cup of tea to use instead of fish and chips. Fortunately though we were aloud to swap one element with another group so we swapped having a cup of tea with fish and chips instead. This was more convenient with our opening as ours was to be set at the beach and you associate chips with the beach more than a cup of tea.

Initial plot ideas

For our short opening we came up with three main ideas. Our first was that there would be an old woman going back to the beach after many years to revisit it. She would be exploring all the places she use to go to when she was younger, like the fish and chip shop and the arcade. She would eventually came across the old roller coaster where she would look at it for a while. Here she would then have a flashback to when she was younger and you would see her younger self at the beach. You would then see a young girl and boy at the beach having fun and playing about on their first date.

Our second idea was that there was an old woman at the beach on holiday just relaxing. She would have been just walking around and enjoying the scenery on her trip. She would be walking home after having some fish and chips on the seafront when a man stops her by the old roller coaster. The guy will then persistently try and take her purse and rob her of her possessions. When she started to fight back against him and resist him he would then pull out a knife and stab her to death before taking her possessions and running away. You would then see her laying there in a pool of her own blood at the end in front of the roller coaster with a crowed gathering around her body.

Our final idea was that a woman would be going to the beach to meet with her secret lover. She would be lying to her husband and saying she was going to her parents when in fact she was going to meet with her secret lover at the beach. The lover would then go and meet her from the train and you would see them having a romantic date on the beach. When he goes to drop her back off at the station they walk past the old roller coaster where the hug and say goodbye and he proposes.

Casting ideas

For our short film opening we thought that we would cast Tasmin's mum to play the forty year old woman as Tasmin is in our group so it'll be easier to get her to get her mum to come along and do the acting. It'd also be harder to get anyone else because none of us really know anyone else that is close to that age range. We were also going to have her sister and one of there friends be in the film as they would be perfect to play the young couple on the date. They also knew Tasmin is in our group and the rest of us didn't know anyone who would be free to play the rolls. Unfortunately they ended up cancelling at the last minuet and so we had to get someone else to play the roles instead.

Location ideas/research

Our first idea for a location was Great Yarmouth as we had to film the old roller coaster there for our mise-en-scene and so it would just be easier to film most of our opening there anyway. It also would make it easier as we all had to get a train there anyway to film the roller coaster so we might as well just film the whole of the opening there anyway. We did also think of filming some of it in Wymondham as well, we needed to film a sun rise as part of the mise-en-scene and it would be hard for us to get to Great Yarmouth early enough to film one there. This is why we decided to film it instead in Wymondham as most of us lived in/around Wymondham so it would be easier to get the sunrise there. Filming in Wymondham also help for the filming of the older woman who had to be in our opening as she couldn't make it to the beach on the day we needed her so we can just film what we need of her in Wymondham.

Prop ideas/research

Some of the props that we decided to use in our film opening included an old film camera that we gave for Emily and Matt so they could pretend they were getting a photo taken from it that would be used in a photo album that the older woman would be looking at. We also had fish and chips as a prop which we had them both eating while looking out at the sea on a wall. Our final prop was the photo album that Tazmin's mum would be looking through when she would discover the photo of her when she was a teenager at the beach with her date.  

Costume ideas/research

For our opening we originally thought that we could have our cast wear old cloths that people would have worn forty years ago so it would show that the flash back was from a while ago and not last week. This would include things like having the girl wear a plain dress and the guy dressing up smart casual. There would be nothing that looked too modern because they wouldn't have had that forty years ago.

Lighting ideas/research

Our initial idea was to use the natural lighting of the sun for all the filing done at the beach as we wont really need anything else. We also would film a sunrise which we would use in the film as it was part of our mise-en-scene and we have to include it.

Filming plan/ schedule

We all agreed to film on the last Friday of half term as that was when we were all free to go to Great Yarmouth and was also the easiest day for our actors to get there. We had organised a group chat that we used to see who was free when and then decided that Friday would be the best day to film on. We thought it would be better to go to Great Yarmouth early so then we could get the filming done when there would hopefully be less people around. We arranged to meet at half nine at the station and get all the filming done by around two. 

Final idea

Our final idea was to have a forty year old woman looking at an old photo album and she gets to a page with a picture of her when she was younger with a guy next to her and they would be smiling at each other. She would then get a flash back to when she was that young girl at the beach and you see her and a young boy having a fun and romantic date at the beach. There would then be clips them walking along the beach, having chips, dancing and finally going the pleasure beach and having there photo talking.

Final characters and casting

Our final idea's for the characters was to have a young girl who would be the forty year old woman when she was a teenager. She would be played by Emily because Tazmin's friend cancelled at the last minute and Emily was the only person we could get on such short notice. Then to have the young boy who will be the person going on the date with the younger version of the forty year old woman. He was played by Matt who was one of Tazmin's friends as the person she was originally going to have cancelled and so we had Matt come in last minute to do the role. The final character was the forty year old woman who was essential in the film opening. She was played by Tazmin's mum as she was the only person we know who was around the age of forty.

Final location

Our final location was Great Yarmouth because that was where to old roller coaster was that we needed to incorporate in the opening and so it was just easier to film the rest of the opening there. We filmed on the beach where Emily and Matt danced together and played by the water and just did general romantic things together. We also filmed by the pier which is where they shared and ate their chips and again just acted so romantic. Finally we filmed by pleasure beach as that is where the old roller coaster we needed to incorporate was located. We also filmed a small section in Wymondham because Tazmin's mum couldn't make it to the beach and so instead we decided to film her looking at the photo album at her home instead.

Prop list

The final props we included in the film were fish and chips, the photo album and the old film camera. The old film camera was used as the camera that the couple would film their date to the beach on and was also used for when a photo was taken of the couple together, which was the photo that was put into the photo album. The fish and chips were part of the mise-en-scene and we had to include them into the film opening. We decided to have Emily and Matt eat them on the sea font as a romantic action. Finally the last prop we used was the photo album with the picture from the beach in it. This would be used when the forty year old woman was looking in it and she would come across the photo album and find the photo of herself at the beach and have a flashback to that day she was at the beach.  

Costumes

For the costumes, because we had to change the people playing our roles we weren't able to get them to wear any sort of costume so they just wore their causal cloths. This consisted of jeans, trainers, hoodies and coats which is just what Emily and Matt were wearing when they got to the station and so that was their costume for the filming. 

Final lighting plans

The final lighting plans were to use the natural light from the sun at the beach as our lighting as we didn't need an artificial lighting. We also needed to incorporate a sunrise as part of our mise-en-scene and so we used this in our film opening as part of the lighting. 

Dimond 9

A film opening should in my opinion...

I think that the most important feature for a film opening is for it to be creative. Without the creativity the film opening wont be unique and captivating which means people will be less engaged to watch the rest of the film. A creative film opening also individualises it and makes it stand out from other more generic and ordinary film openings that don't tend to captivate audiences. The feature which I think is least important in a film opening is for it to start at the beginning. Many great film openings didn't start at the beginning and the use of it starting else where in the film makes it seem more interesting to the audience and gives them a sense of what is to come in the film.    
Based on the mark scheme a film opening should...

According to the mark scheme the most important thing in a film opening is for it to be creative. This is what I thought was the most important thing because if the opening wasn't creative then it wouldn't be very captivating and you might not wait to watch the whole film. The next thing that was most important according to the mark scheme was the use of titles/credits. I personally thought that after creativity the next most important thing for a film opening was the introduction of setting. I chose this because in many film openings you are normally first introduced to the setting before anything else. Although you do often see titles/credits appear in the first two minutes of a film, I don't think that it is necessary for it to happen then as there are many films that don't introduce and titles until a little further in. The least important factor according to the mark scheme is the introduction of genre. I personally put this as fifth as I thought it was quiet important but not essential. I thought that having the genre obvious in the opening was important so people knew what kind of film they were watching but thinking about it now it isn't actually that important and it wont gain me any extra marks by making it my priority.

What do we expect to see in the opening two minutes of a feature film

Opening two minutes of a feature film 

Woman in black

In the opening two minutes of woman in black you see three children playing with dolls and having a tea party. You don't hear any audio from the characters and only the sound of quiet creepy music can be heard. You see the three girls having lots of fun just playing around and smiling when the music suddenly gets louder and all three girls look towards the corner with blank expressions. They then look towards the window before they all stand up together and walk towards it, crushing their dolls and tea sets as they go. You then see all three girls open the windows and jump out at the same time before you hear a woman's scream at the end. The camera then shows a wide shot of the whole room where by the corner you see the back of the head of a woman who was in the room.

From this opening you don't really get a sense of what the plot is, you don't know why the girls jumped or who the woman in the background was but it gives you enough to make you want to continue watching to find out. You also aren't introduced to any key characters, you get a glimpse of the woman in black but you don't actually find out who she is until later on in the film. There isn't much dialogue in the film either except for at the end after the girls have jumped and you hear a woman shout 'my babies' who you presume is their mother but you never find out. This is okay though as the creepy music in the background gives the opening a more mysterious and sinister feel to it that would probably be destroyed by any other dialogue. In the opening you see no titles or credits on the screen as they come on after this scene; you also don't see any other location in it apart from the attic that the children were playing in.

Bridge to Terabithia

In the opening to bridge to Terabithia you see a man come out of a house and enters the car parked out on the front. It then zooms into the window of one of the top floors where you see a young boy looking through the window, watching the car leave before getting out of bed. You see him running out the front door and across some fields. You see him drawing on a sketch pad and these mix in with footage of him from later on in the film along with the credits rolling over the top.

From this opening you don't really get a sense of what the plot is as you are only introduced to two characters and not much else. You are introduced to a key character which is the young boy and also the man who must be his father but there are other important characters introduced later on in the film that you don't see in the opening scene. There is no dialogue in the opening as only soft music plays over the top of the action going on. There are also titles in the opening which come along at the beginning and also during the whole two minuet sequence. You also see many locations in the opening compared to the other films. At the beginning of the film you see the boys home and the area around it, you then also see various fields and farm land that the boy runs across during the opening.

Harry Potter and the philosophers stone

In the opening to Harry Potter and the philosopher’s stone you see first a shot of a road sign with an owl perched on top of it. You then see an old man walk out of the woods towards the street and brings a small device out of his pocket and holds it up before taking the light from all the street lamps. After this you then see him looking at a cat before talking to it and seeing it actually turn into a woman. They begin to converse in conversation talking about a boy and a tragic event before bringing up the name of someone who is bringing the boy to them. Out in the sky you then see a light which turns out to be a flying motorbike with a man riding it down to the older man and woman. You then see this guy give the others a child which he had tied to his chest and they place him on the door step from one of the houses with a letter before turning away.

From the opening you do get a sense of what's going on, but you understand more about the child and his potential later on in the film. In the beginning you understand that a tragic event has occurred where a man has had to take a young baby from its home and place it on the door steps of the only family they have left. You understand that according to the people this is safer for the child but you also see concern from the woman when she talks about how these people are horrible and how they shouldn't keep him here. From the two minuets you see a few of the major characters from the film. You are introduced to the main character which is the little boy, though you do not realise this until later on and also three other equally important characters as well. Compared to the other two film openings this contains a lot of dialogue with characters having conversations and not just single lines like in the opening to the woman in black. There is only one location shown in this film opening though which is the street in which the child gets left at and the titles only occur at the end of the scene when you see the title of the film come up on the screen.

Opening two minutes of an as media film

Hemlock

In the opening to Hemlock you see a shot of moving water with the title of the film coming up over the top of it. You then see the shot of someone's feet moving and pushing a wheel barrow where you also can see someone else's feet resting over the edge with the rest of their body covered by a thin blanket. As the wheel barrow moves you see the shoes of the person occasionally getting caught on the ground and getting dragged across it. You see a wide shot of the man pushing the wheel barrow which is when you discover that the person inside it is probably dead and that there is a shovel on top which implies he is finding a place to bury them. Towards the end of the clip you see the guy holt the wheel barrow and lift the blanket off the girl before lifting her up and placing her in a hole before beginning to bury her.

In the film opening you are not introduced to too much of the plot but you are given enough to kind of understand what is going on in it. You understand that a girl has been probably been killed and is going to be buried by this random guy but you don't know who they are or why she was killed. You hear no dialogue as only the soft music plays over the top with a few of the sounds from the filming like the noise of the wheel barrow and the sound of him burying her in the ground. At the beginning you are introduced to two main characters, the boy who is burying the girls who may or may not have killed her and the girl who had been killed and is being buried by the boy. You only see two locations in this opening, the path by the woods that you see him pushing the wheel barrow by and then the field in which he buries the girl in. You also see a lot of credits and the title in the opening. The title appears right at the beginning of the clip with various credits popping up during the opening scene.

Captive

In the opening to Captive you see a guy tied to a chair with blood all over him and on the floor as well. You see that he is tied in a deserted house/area which has been vandalised with graffiti and is covered in dirt and leaves. You then see a clip of the security cameras in the place which show all the rooms in this abandoned building including where the guy is being held hostage. It then cuts back to the guy where you see all the injury's he has sustained by possibly being tortured. You then see him start to wake up and take in his surroundings and realise that he is being held captive and can't escape. The image then cuts back to the security cameras where you see a girl dressed all in white with long white hair covering her face come up on the screen before the camera goes static. You then again see the creepy girl walk past the window where the guy is being held hostage and he starts to scream for help. As he does this you get a sort of flash back where you see him when he was free taking photos at this abandoned place of a doll in some water. This is when you see the creepy girl with another doll and she is walking up towards the guy and you see her take him through the reflection in the water. It then goes back to him tied up and you see him scream for help one last time before it cuts to the title of the film.

In the film opening you get a good sense of what the plot is as you see in the flash back that the guy has gone to the place just to take some photos when he got kidnapped by a crazy girl and was obviously tortured by the state that you see him in. You are also introduced to two of the main characters which are the guy who is the one being held captive and tortured and the crazy girl who is doing all of this to him. In the scene you see two locations, you see the room/building that the guy is being held captive in and also in the flash back you see this area outside the building where he was taking photos before he got taken. Throughout the beginning of the scene you hear no dialogue as only the sound of the characters movements and the creepy sinister music can be heard, then towards the end of the clip you hear and see the guy screaming out "help me" multiple times. At the beginning of the opening you see quite a few credits and they continue through the first few seconds of the scene, then right at the end the screen goes black and you see the title appear on the screen.

Redemption

In the film opening you see the city with some of the credits come up. It then zooms out and you see that there is a young guy looking out towards the city. You see he gets a text from an unknown number that tells him a location and a time before you see him walking away from the building he was on before heading to the destination that he had been told to go to which is a parking lot. In here you see a black car arrive followed by a whit car and three people get out with it, two dressed completely in black with black shades on and one in a business suit. You see that the guy in the suit then go to the back of the car where he reaches in a grabs the briefcase and a gun. The clip then jumps to outside the parking lot where you see the guy from earlier arrive and head towards the three other people. The guy in the suit checks his watch before stating to walk towards the door with the briefcase with the two security guys following either side of him. Both men meet in the middle with a fair distance between them. They exchange little dialogue before one of the security guards goes and checks that the other man doesn't have any weapons on him. They exchange a little more dialogue before the man with the briefcase aims his gun at the other man getting ready to kill him. The other guy looks at the briefcase for a split second before taking the gun from the man and holding him hostage while pointing the gun at the security guards. He then hurriedly backs away to the door with the briefcase and gun in hand before pushing the hostage away and making a run for it. You see the two security guards chase after him trying to retrieve the briefcase but they both end up getting shot. The guy then walks out of the building with the briefcase when a black car pulls up behind him and the guy in the suit from earlier gets out and gets the guy to get in the car.   

In the film opening you get a sense of what the plot is. You see that there is something in the briefcase that a guy wants but the man with the briefcase won’t give it over without the money so the other guy try's to take it by force. You are also introduced to two of the main characters who are the guy who tries to steal briefcase and the guy who had it at the beginning of the scene. In the opening you see quite a few different settings, the first is the building where there is a guy looking out at the city, then the parking lot where you see the other character arrive and then finally the area around the parking lot outside where you see the characters leaving. Throughout the opening of the scene you only hear a little dialogue which is when the characters meet and they exchange small talk. Finally you see titles and credits throughout the beginning of the opening with the title appearing quite big on the screen not long into the opening.

Stand by me

Stand by me

The film stand by me is about four twelve year old boys who are good friends. They learn about a boy who has gone missing for many days and head out to find his body. On there journey they learn more about themselves and there friendship.


The main characters in the film are Gordie, Chris, Teddy and Vern who are very close friends but they are all very different. Gordie is from a family that have never hurt him in any way but after the loss of his older brother Danny they start to block him out. They ignore his existence and the mum,  especially acts as if Gordie isn't even around. This has in turn caused Gordie some damage. He tries to give up on his dreams of being a writer because his dad thought it was stupid, 'Fuck writing, I don't want to be a writer. It's stupid. It's a stupid waste of time... I'm no good. My dad said it. I'm no good ' You see later on just how much he likes to write and make up stories when he is around the camp fire with his friends and is telling them a story about a fat kid named Davie. You can see how he really gets into the telling of this story and how he likes watching his friends grip on his every word. You can also see how his closest friend Chris can see how much his family has messed Gordie up, 'I know how your dad feels about you. He doesn't give a shit about you. Denny was the one. He cared about and don't try to tell me different. You're just a kid, Gordie.' Chris can see that Gordie's parents just don't care about him and were always only ever interested in Danny. You also see this on a flash back that Gordie has of a meal that his happening around the table with the family and Gordie's dad is only interested about Danny's football game. Although Danny tries to tell his parents about a story Gordie has written, they just dismiss him and go back to talking about Danny's big game. This shows us just how important it was for Gordie to find the body. He wanted to find it so he had a feeling of accomplishment and wasn't just the failure that his family thought he was. He wanted to do something that would amaze his parents and actually get them to notice him for once and move on from the death of his brother.


Chris also has issues that he thinks finding this body would over come. He had been accused of stealing the milk money, which he had done but nobody would listen to his side of the story, they just all thought he was a thieve and that's how they decided to label him, 'Yeah, I took it! I mean, you knew I took it. Teddy knew I took it. Everyone knew I took it. Even Vern knew it, I think. But maybe I was sorry and I tried to give it back.' You can see here that although he took it, he was sorry about it and he did feel guilty. He even tried to return it but people still labelled as a thieve. 'Yeah. So let's just say that I stole the milk money, but Old Lady Simmons stole it back from me. Just say that I told this story. Me, Chris Chambers. Kid brother to Eyeball Chambers. Do you think that anyone would've believed it?' Because he is the brother of Eyeball (a menace in society) everyone just presumes he will turn out the same so even though he tried to return the money, people still saw him as a menace and a thieve. This shows why he wants to be part of the group that finds the body, he wants to be known for something else other than stealing the milk money. You can tell that he hopes that by finding the kids body people will forget about the fact he is a thieve and that they will remember his name for something else instead, something better than a thieve.

Teddy is the next character that also has a bit of a messed up family. You see from the film that his dad is a little messed up in the head and often took things out on his son, 'I know who you are. You're Teddy Duchamp. Your dad's a looney. A looney up in the nuthouse in Togus. He took your ear and he put it to a stove and burnt it off.' You learn that Teddy's dad is no longer around with him but despite this he still cares deeply for his dad and tries to defend his honour, 'My father stormed the beach at Normandy...You call my dad a looney again, I'll kill you.' This shows that even though his dad has physically and probably emotionally hurt him, he still defends him in front of others. You can also see how proud he is of his dad by the number of times he mentions the fact he 'stormed the beach at Normandy' during the movie. He brings this up a lot as a way to remind others that he was a good, brave and honourable man once and that people need to remember this and not just the fact that he is now in an asylum because he is a little looney. I think he wants to find the body so people stop thinking that he will turn insane like his dad. Many people think he will end up like his dad, 'No wonder you're acting the way you are with a looney for a father.' and maybe he feels finding the body will make people stop thinking these things. Maybe he feels that finding the body will make him seem like a hero and not just the looney mans son.

Finally the character Vern also has a reason to find the body, but his motive isn't as strong as the others. Through out the film you see that he is the one that gets messed about by the other boys, they always pick on him in a joking manner, '(after dropping his hamburger in the campfire by accident) This isn't funny! What am I supposed to eat? You could cook your dick'. You see here that they are only messing about with him because he is there friend, but through out the whole movie they seem to pick on him a little more than the others. 'Ha-ha! You flinched! Two for flinching! Two for flinching! (Teddy punches him twice in the arm) ...B-but... you flinched'. This could be because out of all of them he is seen as the most vulnerable and the easiest target. Seeing this though it does make you wonder if because he is such an easy target for his friends, maybe he is an easy target at school too and maybe he gets bullied there. This could explain why he wants to find the body because maybe he feels that if he does people may respect him more and not pick and tease him as much. The other thing you see in the film about Vern is that although he is friends with Gordie, Chris and Teddy he doesn't seem to fit in with them that much. He's kind of like the out caste in there friendship group. 'Shut up, Vern...There's one thing I didn't understand. Did Lardass have to pay to get in the contest? (Chris and Teddy sighs) No, Vern. They just let him in.' This show how he doesn't understand things easily and because of this the others pick on him, but despite all this all the boys support each other and stand up for one another. Like at the end of the film where you see them all standing up to Ace and the other older boys.

Preliminary film opening

Plot

For our plot we decided to have two individual girls in there late teenage years meeting. Both of them would be struggling to cope with life, with both of them having self harmed and one of them trying to kill themselves towards the beginning of the clip. One of the girls would be trying to stop the over from killing herself and trying to get her to come with her to get help from the local doctors, which is the location we were given to film at for a minimum of 20 seconds. In the clip neither of the two girls would have met before this first encounter with one of them trying to kill themselves but after that they both start to open up about there life and why they do the things they do (like self harm). This is then where we leave the clip with both the girls walking into the doctors surgery.

Filming schedule

We will film our short clip on Friday 30th September during periods 4 and 5 because that is a double lesson which makes it easier for us as that it is when both our actors are free. It's also the most convenient because it is a double which means if we don't finish filming it all in the first hour, we will still have another hour left to do it in.

We will film the scene where one of the girls tries to kill herself on a none busy road so none of us are in any danger of actually getting hit by a car and also so there is less noise about which means the audio wont be too loud from traffic. We will also use this road to film the two girls walking towards the medical centre because again it will be less noisy and just easier than walking to another location. The next part of the clip will be filmed at the actual medical centre in Wymondham. We will film the two girls outside of it saying there lines because he medical centre was the location we had been given and we needed to incorporate it in our clip somewhere. The final part of the clip where the girls walk into the medical centre will be filmed outside the sixth form area by the door as we would not be aloud to film inside the actual medical centre and this was our best option.

Location

For our location we had been told that we needed to include a hospital or doctors surgery into our short opening, so we decided to use Wymondham medical centre as our location. It is pretty close to the school which meant it was easy for us to go down there during our lessons to film, rather than having to organise meeting at a weekend and filming somewhere else. One issue with this location though was if they would let us film inside. We presumed that they would deny us, but we would probable still be aloud to film outside of it, so that is what we will do and then just film the rest in a different location like the sixth form area.

The other location we used to film our short clip was down a quite road in Wymondham. We needed a road where not many cars would go down so we could film there safely as one of our caste stepped into the road and pretend to try and get hit by a moving vehicle. We also needed it to be safe for us as while filming this shot as we would need to be standing in the middle of the road so we could get the right angles.

Casting

For our short film opening we were going to get Erin and Fiona to play the role of our characters, but Fiona turned out not to be free when we needed her and Erin wasn't available for the first of the two hours we needed her. Due to this we had to reconsider our actors and get people who would be available at the times we needed them instead. so instead of them we decided to get Milly and Megan to play the role of our characters. Milly was free during both lessons we wanted to film which meant it'd be easier casting her to be one of our characters rather than having someone who was only free form one lesson. Megan was also free during the times that we need her which made her perfect to play the role as one of our characters. Megan is also very talented doing make up and created the bruising and scars on the face and wrists of Milly and herself which meant it was easier for her to just do make up on herself and then be in the short film.

Both of the characters have sad and depressing background so we needed to cast people that would be able to portray this when playing there role, hence why we chose these two people to play the roles for us. They both have some knowledge in drama and in acting which make them the best people to be in our short clip. They also would be able to portray the different emotions into the characters which we would need like sadness and aggression.

Props

For our short opening clip we will use things like make up on our cast members to make it look like they are going through a rough time. This will be used to create bruises on there skin and faint lines on there arms to represent scars to show how they sufferer from depression and self harm.
Our cast will also have different cloths to wear to make the film look more realistic than if we just filmed them in their sixth form uniform. This will consist of hoodie's, jeans, trainers and just generally everyday casual clothing. We will also have a suicide note as one of our characters will be trying to commit suicide at the beginning of the clip and we will use one of there phones to act as a weight on the phone so it doesn't blow away and to also illustrate that she is going to kill herself.

The make up used in the short opening will be provided by Megan and she will apply it to herself and Milly to make them look more depressed and as if she has been beaten. The clothing warn by the actors will be brought in by them so they have something to change into to make them look more casual, though I'll bring in a hoodie in case someone forgets to bring a change of cloths. I will also create the suicide note at home on an A5 piece of paper and just bring it in when we start filming.

Here