Film Opening Research
Star Wars Episode 1:The Phantom Menace - 1999
Director: George Lucas
Genre: Sci-Fi
At the beginning of the film, a very
large, bold text appears with the
name of the film franchise. This is
effective at captivating the
audience and informing them of the
film, not only this but its appealing
to the eye and is a recognisable
font meaning more people will be
attract towards it. Additionally the
title appears suddenly with a
prominent piece of music produced
by an orchestra that helps make the start of the film stand out and intrigue the viewers.
Shortly after we see an establishing
shot of space, in which we can see a
planet surrounded by smaller ships.
This is effective at showing the
sheer size of the planet by
comparing it to the ant-like
spaceships that surround it.
Additionally to this we also see a
technique used to highlight the ship
that we as an audience need to
focus on, which is the ship with its thrusters on causing it to stand out with an orange glow of
the engines. The way the planet is shown makes the scene look more ominous and
suspicious, because of how half the planet is dark (facing away from the sun) and the other
side is light - the face the other ships are nearly masked by the darkness makes the
audience feel like there is maybe a danger yet to come.
In this scene we see an over the
shoulder shot which emphasises the
hidden identity of the silhouetted
figure on the right of the shot, this
technique doesnt give much
information away as to whom the
figure is and why he wants to be
there however it therefore gives the
viewer reason to keep on watching
to find out. This means that the
audience will feel more connected and will be intrigued to know more about it and carry on
watching.
In this clip it shows a very large
spaceship that stands out and even
catches the eye of some emotionless
droids, which just underlines how
impressive this ship as also could
connote that even the robotic soldiers
are curious to whom will be coming out
of the ship just as much as the
audience. Additionally it begins to
show the viewers how high-tech the
universe is and how far in the future
this is set. Using diegetic sound to portray it we get an opportunity to hear the stereotypical
noises from airlock doors and the sounds of engines which brings attention to how busy this
hanger is. However non-diegetic sound is used throughout the start of the film an orchestral
song is played in the background softly however gives the scene an eerie feeling perhaps
suggesting to the audience that not all is well.
In this scene we can see the use of
mise en scene, the two Jedis are
wearing bland brown robes to help
them hide their identity which helps the
viewer understand that they are
stealthy and perhaps important people
who take caution in what they do. The
fact the apprentices robes are a lighter
shade of brown could connote his
innocence and maybe even his
naivety, which leaves us with the mentor who looks more ages and wiser than his student
this shows the audience a sense of leadership and hierarchy.
Pace of editing increases dramatically
when the 2 Jedis jump out of the gas
and attack the droids. The slow tense
build up, accompanied by the eerie
orchestral music and the lack of much
happening on scene ends and a fast
paced fight scene ensues in which
match on action is used to display the
power of the Jedis as the apprentice
force pushes a group of droids across the corridor disabling them, this is achieved by
showing the Jedi push his hand out towards them and then cuts to the droids being flung like
ragdolls across the frame.
Personal Opinion:
I think the use of bright yellow text is a good technique as its in space, and yellow is seen as
the colour of stars which highlights the genre of the film and what will entail. I also believe
that the use of making the scene mysterious and eerie is good at intriguing the audience
because it makes the viewer want to see what will happen.
The Shawshank Redemption - 1995
Director: Frank Darabont
G
enre: Drama film/Thriller
The film begins with large font, that is
white with a black background. This is
effective at making the name of the film
stand out since black and white are
contrasting colours.
Additionally the font is quite different to
the standard ariel. This means its more
appealing to the audience and may bring
more attention to the name of the film and
actors.
Bring attention the actors names is
important as the film contains big movie
stars such as Morgan Freeman whos
massive celebrity status will bring in more
viewers.
The use of the over the shoulder shot in
this scene is effective at introducing us
the character and situation, but does not
leave to much information as to tell the
audience what is going on and what they
can be certain on. This over the shoulder
shot connotes that the dark figure
appears ominous and perhaps evil or
guilty as he seems to be hiding in the
darkness. The fact there is minimal
lighting makes it effective at creating an uneasy and spooky setting.
This close up shot of Andy pulling out a
gun is used well to connote that he is evil
and about to do something really bad,
this effectively puts the audience on the
edge of their seat at the anticipation of
what will happen next. As well as this, the
handkerchief seems to have been used
to just roll the gun up with some loose
bullets connoting that whatever he is
doing he didnt really plan it out that well
and could appear to be a rash decision.
The mise en scene can be commented
on here as we see Andy drinking a bottle
of spirit, which tells the viewers that he is
drunk and not thinking straight which
makes them think about what issues he
is going through, as well as that his
clothing is scrappy. His tie is not done up
to the top and his hair is in a sweaty
mess which denotes his nerves and
deteriorating state of a straight forward
thinking mind.
Since he got the gun out of the glove
compartment the diegetic sound has
changed and we can hear an ominous
suspicious bass like gong. This effectively
creates tension in the scene and builds
up the atmosphere.
The whole first scene was just backstory
to the cutaway. The use of editing here is
effective and giving the director a good
way at telling the story past and present
at the same time. The scene cuts to
present day where we see the same man
in the car in court, dressed presentably;
looking smart with slick hair. The contrast
of the two scenes shows the two different
states this man was in and clearly shows
a difference in person.
The scene in the court is kept realistic by the use of non-diegetic sound; or shall i say the
non use of it. The fact that we only hear the occasional cough is good at creating realism
and tension since it shows that the court room is in silence like it would be and that everyone
is listening to the story. Additionally we can tell with the facial and body language of the man
in the frame, that he is being very serious and that this moment in time is very important.
Personal Opinion:
In my opinion the titles work well with the opening scene since it has a black background and
white font, which looks diverse and different which can attract the audience. The contrasting
colours are effective at making the text stand out and also help keep the dark mood that we
see at the start with the man in the car.
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues - 2013
Comedy
Director: Adam McKay
G
enre:
At the beginning of the film the titles
showing actors and directors are in
typical blocky large font from the 80s
when the film was set. This name being
in a larger size makes it stand out more
and the colour of a faded blue stands out
from the black making it more eye
catching.
The start of the film is underwater which
is rather unusual, this straight away will
intrigue the viewer so that they will
continue watching to find out. Additionally
there is a good use of a narrator as the
diegetic sound. The narrator allows the
audience to feel less inclined like they
have to pay loads of attention to film to
decipher what is happening which is
good when youre watching a comedy as
you just want to laugh and not think most of the time.
Suddenly you can see the main character
Ron Burgundy being attacked by a shark
underwater. The flailing panic of Ron and
the extreme situation, in a film where its
obvious that he wont die creates
comedic effect instead of an edge of seat nail biting atmosphere.
The dramatic diegetic music creates a
false sense of tension with heavy drum
hits etc. Suddenly the screen freezes and
shot the may make the audience laugh
and the music too stops essentially
disregarding the situation and the
narrator dismisses this scene and refers
to call back on it, before cutting away, to
the past. This is effective since its funny
and as well as that is makes the viewer
want to continue watching since they would want to know how Ron ended up in that
situation.
The use of editing here to cutaway from
the perilous danger in the sea to a
establishing shot of the New York City
skyline is effective and leaving the
audience hanging and showing a great
change in scenery with two very
contrasting first two scenes.
In this busy long shot of street in New
York, mise en scene is used to help
make Ron and his wife stand out like a
sore thumb in a crowd of busy people, by
dressing them in extraordinarily
obnoxious clothing very relative to the
era. This is good at showing comparison
to that and him drowning a few seconds
ago and also shows Rons status and
denotes his wealth and success.
The film tries to make the film still seem
very realistic even though its a ridiculous
comedy. However this a great technique
because the fact the people think the film
has more realism than intended when
funny dialog or actions happen it seems
to appear funnier since people cannot
comprehend that happening in real life yet thats whats happened on screen. Not only this
but the mise en scene clearly shows the audience the time frame this was set since the
clothing of most people are suits and ties and the camera equipment etc. now seems to look
outdated.
This frame too is good at portraying a
realistic vibe as you have employees
running in front of the actual shot, as if to
say the camera was in the middle of the
busy behind set of a news show. As well
as this the use of the camera being
placed behind the camera crew makes
the scene more believable and shows
that the the two characters we saw in the
street are the top dogs at a big news
company.
Personal Opinion:
Before we see the title sequence we see the first 5 minutes of the film starting with a
comedic shark attack and in my opinion it works really well at drawing in the audience and
making the opening of the film really interesting to watch. So by the time the title comes up
the audience are very involved in the film and will see the the title and remember it, as its
bold and appealing.
