The Bourne Ultimatum Inspiration: Particular Shot

As the Bourne trilogy is one of the main inspirations for our opening sequence we watched a few clips for inspiration. One shot that stuck in my mind was the high angle ECU of the running tap at 1:12. I liked the uneasy effect this created and since we needed to give the idea that the man in the opening was not a good guy I thought we could use shots like this to create unease in our sequence. From here we started to develop our ideas of close-up's of drugs, money, whiskey etc for the opening.

Casino Royale beginning-Inspiration

When the idea of assassins first came up in our ideas brainstorm this opening was what immeadiately came to my mind. I had analysed this opening earlier in the year and it is definately one of my favourite opening scenes. What I especially liked and what will probably influence our final idea is the tense dialogue and powerplay between the two individuals, as well as the stylisitc black and white mise-en-scene. I also like the way the scene cross cuts between full on action and tense conversation cementing it's genre of action thriller. As we are aiming to produce an action thriller opening hopefully we can use tense and snappy dialogue between the assasin and the victim as well as some sort of action sequence.

Casino Royale Opening Genre Analysis

Thriller/Spy:

After some discussion in class,many of my classmates (that I am likely to be grouped with,) seem keen to produce an opening sequence for an action/thriller film.

I think this is an interesting idea and so did some genre research into this. As well as looking specifically into this genre, it has helped me understand how an opening sequence can give an idea of genre.

The genre is clear from the dialogue at the beggining with talk of "working for the other side" and "00 status." The black and white also highlights the thriller aspect of the genre. The fights, guns, foreign location and suits are also typical iconography of the genre.

Audience expectations for the genre of this clip are met due to the suave and sophisticated entrance of James Bond and the difference between the calm collected version of him and the international assasin version. The audience want to see killings and fights, which they get two of in this opening scene. They also want to see cool cars and gadgets; no gadgets are seen yet but the car that pulls up at the beggining and the interesting location satisfies the audience.

The main characters are James and the traitor spy. Straight away we are suspicious of the traitor from the lingering low angle shot at the beggining. James's entrance is cool, calm and collected and both characters remain calm all the way through the conversation despite the circumstances. However when it comes down to it James outsmarts the traitor by swapping the guns. This is something the audience hads been waiting for so is another audience pleasure. James is always in control and is the typical spy with his witty one liners and impressive fighting skills.

The narrative cross cuts between two scenes. It is obvious one scene has happened before because the characters talk about it in the past tense. There are binary opposites driving the narrative such as Good spy vs Bad Spy, Working Gun vs Fake Gun, Calm Office Talk vs Loud Toilet Fight, Calmness of characters Vs situation.

Bathes five codes are also identifiable

Semiotic Code: Public Toilets connote danger/dodginess, Black and White connote thriller, Guns connote Death, Shadows connote danger

Symbolic Code: Steely interior symbolizes coldness, numbers counting up symbolizes something bad about to happen

Cultural Code: Spies are suave, suited, in control, RP accents,gentelmanly but deadly

Enigma Code: Now Bond is a 00 what will he do next? What will his new mission be?

Action Code: Scene 1 builds to either character dying. Scene 2 builds to death of victim. Last action of Bond shooting screen leads to the rest of the film.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Continuity Analysis

Following our recent learning about continuity techniques, and our recent attempt at a continious sequence I have conducted some more research into continuity by researching the continuity of this clip from Harry Potter 7 Part 2.
Continuity:

• The first shot is a close up of Voldemort to show his evilness and maliciousness up close. There is then an establishing shot to show the forest. This is also the master shot. From there several close ups are used of Voldemort and Harry to convey emotions as well as extreme long shots to show Harry’s aloneness in the forest and midshots to display Hagrid tied up and Bellatrix with Voldemort. The master shot is also used several more times to show the confrontation space between Harry and Voldemort and there is an over the shoulder shot of sorts with Voldemorts view of Harry but it is lower than normal to focus on the wand being raised.
• There is camera movement in the form of a zoom in onto Harry’s face which connotes impending doom as well as a track of Nagini the snake as it slithers along, so that the audience can see where it’s going without zooming out which would disengage the audience and also makes Nagini seem more powerful and important.
• There are no uncomfortable jumps. The audience are generally gets closer and closer into the action as it goes on, due to the ever tighter shots with a few exceptions to the rule such as the master shot and shots of Hagrid and Nagini.
• All of the transitions are cuts which keeps the action moving.
• The sequence is quite interesting as it doesn’t actually stick to the 180 degree rule (if I’m right.) Admittedly there is not much dialogue but much of the shots are on the line i.e. straight on Harry’s/Voldemort’s face and some are on the other side of the line. This is to give a disorientating feel but also maybe because the characters are not having a casual conversation and are quite far apart.

Art Of The Title

I have done some research into the forms and functions of opening sequences:

Functions of an Opening Sequence:

• Create enigma
• Introduce Characters
• Introduce setting
• Give an idea of genre
• Stars of the movie

Conventions of an Opening Sequence:

• Graphics
• Titles
• Theme Music
• Introduction of characters
• Establishing Shot

Zombieland, The Walking Dead, and Dawn Of The Dead are all very different opening sequences in the zombie genre.

• They are all very gory and have the emphasison blood with blood splats across the screen etc.
• All of the titles of the films are in red text=blood.
• The title of the film is at the beggining for Dawn Of The Dead and The Walking Dead are at the beggining whereas Zombieland's is in the middle
• Both Zombieland and Dawn Of The Dead use a montage at the beggining to show the effect of the zombies on earth. Zombieland's is a lot more detailed while Dawn Of The Dead uses quick flashing images of fires, zombies, news reports and cells dividing to name a few.
• All of the opening sequences use disorientating or strange effects to achive a disconcerting feel, such as slow-motion, panning 3-D cartoons, or scary and gory images flashing up on the screen. Both Zombieland and The Walking Dead use slow motion but Zombieland does a lot more extensiely.
• Zombieland and The Waking Dead are a lot lighter than Dawn Of The Dead due to the cartoon effect of TWD and the comedy narration of ZL. The zoom out and tilt of the zombie Earth in Zombieland is also quite cartoonish
• The husky voiced and creepy songs used in Dawn Of The Dead and The Waking Dead give an eeiry atmosphere while Zombieland's use of Metallica is more chaotic and gives the sequence an action-packed feel.
• All of the sequences use graphics to introduce the stars, directors, producers etc.

I feel I am now gaining a clearer idea into the forms and functions of opening sequences and what they must include. This will prove useful research when it comes to making our own sequences.

Poster Analysis

Johnny English Reborn Poster analysis:
Genre Conventions: Comedy/Spy Parody

Comedy: Comedy Actor, Confused expression, tagline uses the word "laugh"
Spy: Flames, Explosions,Smoking Gun, Suave Suit
Turns expected conventions of spy genre on their head with main actor. This is what makes it clear it is a parody.

Denoatations/Connotations:
The fire connotes action and danger
The confused facial expression connotes fish out of water type comedy
Broken glass connotes breaking of ordinary
Gun connotes fights/action
Suave suit connotes spy

Audience Pleasures:
An elaborate mistake made by the main character leading to awkward and funny situations
An over the top villian
A competent sidekick compared to the incompetent main spy

As I want to create either an action or a comedy opening sequence, this poster is useful to identify the common denotations and connatations found in this genre.

The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (Part 1) Opening Sequence Theory Research

This is the opening sequence to the Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy . Barthes five narrative codes and Levi-Strauss's binary opposites theories both apply to this sequence.

Barthes five narrative codes:

Enigma Code:

• We want immeadiately to know why the dolphins are singing
• After this the question becomes what are they singing about.
• When we have worked this out there are yet more questions. How is the world going to be destroyed? What dies it have to do with singing dolphins? And why are they flying to space?
• The sudden change from the singing dolphins to Arthur Dent’s house leaves us pondering what the sudden scene change is for and what this country house has to do with the end of the world?
• Our next question is why is Arthur’s house being bulldozed and how will he stop them?
• Finally the arrival of Arthur’s friend prompts many questions not least when Stephen Fry reveals he is in fact not from this planet. Who is he and what does he need to tell Arthur? Why is Arthur significant?

Semiotic Code:

• Rabbits, birds ,fields, birdsong, sunrise all connote countryside.
• Deserted house, caravan outside on dirt track-seems quite lonely, isolated, a bit run down
• Long flapping coat, shopping trolley full of beer and peanuts connotes Arthur's friend as strange and unusual.
• Arthur wearing dressing gown-connotes run down, tired

Symbolic Code:

• Large moon reflecting on river ominously and silently means something big or serious about to happen, big event, danger.

• Flying dolphins-extraterrestrial activities.
• Cup of tea knocked over when bulldozers arrive-end of normality?

Cultural Code:

• Signs of the countryside.
• Builders like beer and peanuts
• People with shopping trolly's are crazy.
• Councils are unreliable with planning permissions etc
• People watching dolphin shows at the zoo-common thing to do
• Drinking tea in the morning-typical English country activity
• Based on the book by Douglas Adams

Action Code:

• Dolphins singing and forecasting end of the world
• Dolphins flying to space
• Builders trying to knock down house
• Arthur trying to stop them
• Intervention of Arthur's friend, stopping the building

Levi-Staruss Binary Opposites:

• Clever dolphins vs Ignorant Humans
• Ocean vs Countryside
• Arthur vs Builders
• Arthur vs Bulldozers
• Arthur ignorance vs Ford's knowledge
• Builders vs Ford
• Peace and tranquility vs Noise and Panic
• Nature vs Machines

When creating our opening sequences, we will draw on these theories to appeal to audiences and create a gripping narrative structure.

Genre Research

To get a clearer idea of what genre is and how to create it, we were given cameras to try and capture "genre shots." This image is depicting the genre of high school comedy.

The shot is a medium long shot which means that the characters stance is clear but also the blue sky and streak of sunlight is obvious behind her.
This creates a positive mise-en-scene which is important for a comedy, as the aim of the image is not to be scary or claustrophic or intense but upbeat, cheery and quirky. The natural light from the bottom left hand side puts the character slightly in shadow which adds to the shadiness of the characters intentions but also  streaks across the screen  and lights the image up which again gives the poster a bubbly and sunny feel.
The model has a confident expression on her face as she stares almost cockily into the camera. Her body language connotes someone sure of themeselves, or someone who has (or at least thinks they have) swagger with the crossed arms and the direct address to the camera.
The character would be the bully character in the film. The low angle makes her character seem dominant and in control and the quirky angle also suits the style of the shot as a comedy genre shot.
The shot is also a very crisp shot which again is straightforward and unchallenging. This is because with comedy images audiences don't want to have to think too hard to work out what the image means or is depicting.

I noticed the blue sky and bright sunlight outside in the quad and wanted to use the benches out there to do something. I decided someone standing on the bench from a low angle against the sky with strong light coming in from the right would be quite a striking image. At first I was going for a superhero type shot but the shot worked much better as a comedy shot especially with the characters pose and expression.

If I could improve this image or do it again I would cut the two buildings from the side and just have plain blue sky and maybey have the character leaning menacingly towards the camera a bit more. I would have tried to achieve these effects but we were quite tight timewise so I only had time for one shot.

This could be useful for our final film as I would quite like to do either an action or a comedy opening.