Serendipity Opening Sequence Analysis

Serendipity is a 2001 romantic comedy starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale. This was mainly popular amongst adults due to its' intensity of romance. Also the romance element was between 2 adults which makes this less relatable for youngsters and teenagers.
It immediately begins with a jumpy, happy song whilst the credits are occurring and the setting is being introduced. The music is very classical which allows it to be aimed at the targeted audience - adults. The opening sequence seems to last for 4 minutes and 19 seconds which is longer than what I have seen so far compared to others. Since it is longer than usual, it comes back to the genre - romantic comedy. This is because, longer opening sequences allow the extract to move at a gradual pace, decreasing the tension level. A number of basic, simple camera shots are used. This is because, in movies with similar genre to this, it is mainly about what you see in the screen in order to know what is happening. Everything in the frame is essential. Whereas, in horrors, they have many shots where it is oblivious to who and what is in the frame. This happens to enhance on the suspense. As the credits finish and it starts immediately in a shop, the 2 main characters are obviously shown as them 2 bump into each other wanting to buy the same item. The viewers instantaneously know that the love affair will be with these 2 later on in the film. As the opening sequence comes to an end, a restaurant called 'Serendipity' is shown. This answers the question to the viewers of why the movie is called this - it is obviously related to this shop. Viewers will now want to watch on to find out why the restaurant is crucial.

Crane Shot

A crane shot is a shot taken using a camera on a crane. A crane is large, heavy piece of equipment which allows the camera to move up, down, left, right, diving in on action or moving diagonally away from it. The common ways of using crane shots are to view the actors from above, to move up and away from them or a subject - a popular way to end a movie. Most cranes work automatically for the camera and the operator but some can be manual which operate by remote control. These are usually seen in enthralling and emotional scenes.

Panning Shot

This is an example of a panning/pan shot. Panning shot can be done as still photography as well as a video. In video, it is to scan a subject horizontally using the camera.
In photography, panning is used to insinuate fast motion, and highlight the subject from other elements in the frame.

Feedback from Class

When getting feedback from the class, we handed out an audience feedback sheet for them to fill out whilst watching the extract. There were a few questions on there which they answered and helped us to see their point of view. Many of the sheets we reviewed showed a pattern - there was a trend between the answers. We evaluated all the answers and gathered the results into the most common answers:

1) What was good about the film?
* There was good camerawork from different angles and perspectives.
* Good plot development through the character - easily understandable.
* The protagonist acted well and genuinely looked lost when needed - she portrayed her character well.

2) Who do you think the target audience is?
* Some thought it was aimed at teenagers whereas others thought it was aimed for adults.However, the most common one they all agreed on was young adults.
* Aimed at people who enjoy horror which meant that they all grasped the genre.

3) Did you notice any serious issues such as continuity errors, strange edits - Did anything not make sense to you?
* It was predictable.
* Not enough shots of the protagonists' reaction.
* Did not make sense at times - when the girl is walking into the forest, there is a shot of her walking into the deep forest, however the next shot involves her walking on a pathway. This was due to the various continuity errors towards the end of the extract. Shaky at parts.
* No suspense built - lack of editing at this point; sound needed for enhancement.
* Needs a lot of editing and re-ordering of shots.

Feedback from Mrs Thrasher and Miss Kasam - Showcase

We had a showcase in which we had to present our opening sequence to the class and our teachers. This helped us to improve on things we may not have noticed ourselves. They watched it, evaluated it and then told us constructive criticisms in which we would benefit from.
Mrs Thrasher and Miss Kasam both thoroughly enjoyed the wide range of shots we used in our opening sequence. One of Mrs Thrasher's favourite shots was when the protagonist jumps over the water puddle. She said it was shot very well. She also enjoyed the heavy breathing of the killer as his face was not visible, generating a more mysterious atmosphere. It was diegetic sound which related back to the genre.

The criticisms she claimed were that it dragged on towards the end when there was allegedly supposed to be a chase between the protagonist and the killer. It made it into a whole story rather than just an opening sequence. Opening sequences are intentionally supposed to end on a cliffhanger. As a result, the viewers want to watch the rest of the film. However, ours did not end on a question. Therefore, we edited it and cut off the ending and redone some of the ending to make it more understandable. Also, when we presented it, there was no music in there which made it boring at times to watch. She said that it is crucial to have music in there to make it more effectively frightening.

Secrets and Lies Presentation

Tracking Shot

A tracking shot smoothly follows the action being represented. This usually happens with the camera running on a track. In this example, the camera is following the 2 bicyclists as they cycle on the road.
Tracking shots are useful to emphasise on the movement, or even emphasise on the location.

Establishing Shot

An establishing shot in TV/films, sets up the core context of the scene to emphasise its' importance. In this example, it is establishing the fast moving sky and the rocky mountains.

Horror Shot

Denotation:
Long black hair, backcombed: This gives a very dark and mysterious look to emphasise on the character's personality. Having the hair slightly messy at the top gives a psychotic look.
Red lips with fake blood coming down the lip on the left: This enhances on the evilness. This almost creates a story behind it - the signs of blood shows she has obviously done something demeaning and the red lips emphasise on this aswell.
Face and body edited extra white: This gives the character a more ghostly, surreal and an immortal look.
Overdone black on eyes: Making her look malicious. The overdone of black make-up on the eyes helps to accentuate them so they become the key thing in the picture.
The black shirt: This is worn to emphasise on the black and white theme.
No facial expression, simply just looking straight into the camera with beaming eyes: This makes it seem as if she is a psychopath, as she casually has blood coming out her mouth.
It is slightly tilted: This makes it seem more blunt and 'in your face' because in order to tilt it, it cropped off some of the top and bottom making the character more obvious.

There were no problems in taking this photo as it was taken from a computer, thus I did not need to hold the camera. This would have wasted time as I would have had to adjust and hold the camera correctly in position. I did not want to go too overboard in the way I take the picture. I thought it would be better if I took a simple photo and edited it to make it look scary. This was so I didn't end up making it look typically predictable and 'cheesy.' I also thought this would help to make it more effective.

Initially I wanted everything to be black and white except the lips. I wanted the lips and the fake blood coming out the mouth to stay red. However, I could not get this to work due to the lack of equipment. I was going to make the edges blurred and maybe crop half of my body and face off, but when I done it, it did not look as good as I expected. Therefore, I kept it like this.

I believe my image is effective for its' aim - horror. This is through the colour of the photo, the hair & make-up, the slightly lowered face which made the eyes more prominent and the blood coming out the mouth (which is not as visible unfortunately).

The Grudge 2 Opening Sequence Analysis

The Grudge 2 was released in North America on October 13th 2006 as a sequel to the 2004 American horror film - The Grudge. The Grudge was a remake of a famous film called Ju-on, however, the sequel is not. It was pushed forward a week from the original October 20th release date. The film was released in the UK on October 20th and in Australia on October 26, 2006.
I will be analysing the opening sequence which is the first 2 minutes and 19 seconds. As it starts and they are showing who the creators are (columbia and ghost house pictures), there is daunting music in the background. This immediately gives the film a head start to its' genre. What I found most interesting, and wanted to do something like that for our opening sequence, was the way they edited 'columbia's' credits. They made the woman turn into the evil character in the film. They also turned the word 'columbia' into 'the grudge 2' changing the font to make it more spookier. They used a range of edits to enhance on the visibility of the genre, for example the flickering of the lights as the woman transforms into the grudge.
Once the film has begun, it starts off with a few slides, each saying something different. As it fades into the next slide, a word is kept at the end and turns red to emphasise on it, e.g curse.
The low angle shot of the flats, which showed bare tree's and all you could hear were crows. This made it have a very suspense and cautious atmosphere. The main character does not have any dialect - this helps to keep her character in suspense and make the audience want to watch on. The opening sequence ends with her casually drinking tea while her husband is suffering on the floor. This makes her seem quite psychotic, adding another element to which the audience would expect to see more of throughout the film

My Inspiration For Our Opening Sequence

Before we started to film, we got together as a group and discussed all the possible ideas we could do. As we came to a conclusion to do a horror opening sequence, I went through a brainstorm on my own over the horror films I had seen. These included movies like; Paranormal Activity, The Grudge, The Exorcist and Obsessed (which is not a horror film, it is a thriller but I got ideas from there. The idea I retrieved from there was the concept of a woman being obsessed over another individuals partner). We all had an input until we came to a final conclusion and we made sure that it was not completely copying any other film - only ideas.
We didn't want to go too over-board with the filming otherwise it would end up looking 'cheesy.' Therefore, we decided we will enhance on the opening sequence with all the editing.

Death At A Funeral Opening Sequence Analysis

Death At A Funeral is an American comedy film released on April 16th 2010. Just by the title, one can easily say that it is a comedy due to the way they have shown the irony. This was very popularly appreciated by young adults and families due to its' comic elements. This film is a remake of a British film, made in 2007, with the same name.
The background music starts 25 seconds into the credits. The music seems to be quite cheerful and comic which is one of the ways the genre is conveyed. The credits and music goes on for 2 minutes and 57 seconds. This is quite long seeing as, most opening sequences last about this long. Whereas, the movie does not officially begin, making the opening sequence quite longer than average. This gives the film a relax feel - this emphasises the genre. If, for example, it were a horror, the opening sequence would be very fast paced and much more would have happened within these 2 and a half minutes.
During this time, while the credits are showing, a coffin is shown to be going somewhere. The way it is shown, looks like a navigation system but instead of a car it is a coffin. While it is finding its' destination, it forgets its' route and reverses back. This shows another element of comedy. As soon as the credits finish,immediately the scene fades into a man in a house watching and waiting for the coffin to come in. Showing the element of death instantaneously implies to the viewer that this theme will be seen more throughout the film. The mise en scene represents the situation that is occuring at the time by the costumes and props - black clothing and a coffin which illustrates the event taking place(funeral).

Update

Using all the critiques and improvement methods, we successfully finished our opening sequence with all the editing and sound done. We got told that our film opening was going on for too long and it ruined the suspense and thrill. Therefore, we cut down a vast amount and we changed the original idea of the sequences' ending. This was beneficial for us as it ended being more attention-grabbing than our initial idea. We cut it down from 7 minutes to about 2 and a half minutes which clearly showed us that we done some unnecessary shooting.

Never Back Down Opening Sequence Analysis

Never Back Down was released on March 14th 2008 starring Sean Faris, Amber Heard, Eddie Hannush, Cam Gigandet and Dijmon Hounsou. It is an American action film - thus, even before watching the film, I already have assumptions of the typical conventions that I would expect
to be seeing in the opening sequence. This includes things like; fighting, dark colours, fast pace, etc. This movie was substantially popular with teenagers and young adults. The fact that the storyline is to do with achieving your goals, this appeals to this audience most as they can all relate to it.
Although this is 10 minutes long, I will only be analysing the first 2 minutes and 23 seconds. It starts off with a fast tempo, tensed piece of soundtrack in the background - this starts to occur just before the credits. This immediately gets the audience weary (emphasising on the genre). The weather conditions are rainy, which created the mood for the audience. Rain is very commonly used in movies when a negative scene is being shown. The rain made the atmosphere very intense which enhanced the concentration of the rugby match for the audience. The fact that it started with this game (battle), made it highly conventional. All the main characters are students, making it relatable for the targeted audience - young adults/teenagers. The main 2 characters were evidently portrayed within the first 2 minutes as the commentator mentioned their names repetitively (Jake Tyler and Ryan McCarthy). These 2 characters were consistently being the centre of attention in the camera shots. There was a wide variety and a high quantity of camera angles/shots used (close-ups, extreme wide shot, over-the-shoulder shot, etc.), each lasting for a very short amount of time making it difficult to capture each one. This kept the pace moving fast - another factor which set the mood.

Update

The feedback we got about the improvements were very useful to hear as it informed us of what the audience would like to see. It was as if we got to see our sequence from the audiences perspective. Thus, if it was really going to be the opening sequence of a real film, everything consisting in there would be what the audience wants - meaning that they would be more likely to have a will of wanting to watch the rest of it. This would be achieving the main aim which lets us know what we done was correct.

Update

Due to the late start and finish, we ended up falling behind than other groups. We are now still slightly behind but we are working as a group and distributing work fairly so we can catch up. We are editing the filming at the moment, finishing & updating our group blogs and working on evaluation. We have managed not to fall too behind in order to be capabale to finish completely by the deadline. We also done a showcase which required us to present our opening sequence (as much as we had done so far) to the class and retrieve feedback for improvements and to tell us what we had done well. This allowed us to see what the audiences' perception was of the opening sequence. Also it allowed us to see if their response to the sequence was linked to our genre and to see if the response was appropriate for what we wanted/expected to get.