Analysis of Opening Sequences - Casino Royale

Action, Crime and Thriller 
Armed with a license to kill, Secret Agent James Bond sets out on his first mission as 007 and must defeat a weapons dealer in a high stakes game of poker at Casino Royale, but things are not what they seem.

The pre-credit of the sequence gives the audience a rough idea of what the storyline is about.  It starts with Bond's trademark gun barrel with James Bond character as the central figure and that connotes it is a action, crime genre film. Also, Bond is the only character introduced in the whole sequence to show his importance in the film. 

The usage of white and black in the sequence suggests the contrast between the relationship of the good and bad. The red used signifies the passion and possibly the love for his girls. The use of the aces, clovers, hearts, diamonds relate back to the theme of the title - casino and card playing. As the animation pan on scene, it is like showing his story and the role in his job(spy) with the guns and fighting; which also represents the dangers and how it may be life-threatening. The soundtrack is face paced and tense which emphasise the chasing and fighting, which also builds up tension and have a right mindset for the film. 

Analysis of Opening Sequence - Fast & Furious 6

Action, Crime and Thriller
Hobbs has Dom and Brian reassemble their crew in order to take down a mastermind who commands an organization of mercenary drivers across 12 countries. Payment? Full pardons for them all.

They have started the film with a recap from the previous 5 Fast & Furious. "Let's go for a little ride" suggests "let's have a recap" and as the audience recall things from past, it helps them relate to the story more quickly. 

A montage of close-up shots of the interior design in a car at a fast pace which connotes the idea of fast cars and racing. The protagonists were introduced at the very beginning without any mystery because audience already know who they are and what they do from the previous Fast & Furious films. The flash back of the crashing, chasing, explosions suggests the danger and fun of the game/mission. 

The soundtrack is specifically recorded for this film's title sequence and they have matched some of the wording in the song with the visual from the film. For example: 'in the dark' and it shows a picture of Vin Diesel lighting up from the dark. 

The order of characters introduced is the order of their role's importance in the film. They have also layout the titles in the same way, firstly the production companies; Universal Pictures then the main actors' names; Vin Diesel, Paul Walker then director, costume designer and so on. 

Analysis of Opening Sequence - Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Action, Adventure and Crime
Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick Dr. Watson join forces to outwit and bring down their fiercest adversary, Professor Moriarty.

The use of vintage items such as the typewriter suggests the time period is set in the pass. For the production company logos, they have sketched it to fit in with the old, aged idea and makes the audience feel like it is part of the movie. The clothing also suggests it is not set in present time as the characters wore corsets dresses and old-fashioned classic suits. 

The protagonist is introduced through the narration (sound bridged) which shows it is 'his' story. There was a few over head shots and close up shots on grabbing beans/rice to establish the setting. To build the tension, a bomb scene was included and it didn't show what happened afterwards which makes audience want to know. The interesting use of track, mid shot framing of the women (no face, just body) creates a sense of mystery and makes audience question who she is. 

There is no music at the very beginning and then slowly/quietly fades in which gets attention and builds mood. The background music they use is fast and up-beat which suggest this is an action movie. It is also very subtle in the background to allow mood building up but at the same time not over powering the diegetic sound. 

However the plot is unclear which makes the audience wonder and want to watch on. 

Institution

Institutions that might distribute our film: 

1) Revolver Entertainment - This is one of the UK leading 'All Rights' independents, multi-award winning film distributor and production company that continues to shake up the industry with a unique, innovative approach to managing releases. It was founded in 1997, the company has operations in both London and Los Angeles. In the past 10 years Revolver's independent spirit and flair has been awarded with 18 of the industry's top awards for marketing excellence. 

I have chosen this institution as one of our potential distribution company because it has produced lots of successful low budget films such as kidulthood and Ill Manors. Revolver's films are available through a multitude of platforms in addition to physical DVDs and the company has deals in place with Apple's iTunes, X-Box, Netflix and Amazon. The company also strives to ensure it maximises TV rights to all of its films through its strong relationships with numerous broadcast networks. This means that our film can appeal to people who would rather stay at home to watch and it is also a very effective method to increase our profit. 

By using social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and others; it also provide a 'free' marketing service for our film. This can target our ideal audience (15-25) directly as most of them spend most of their time on social networking sites nowadays. 

2) Warner Bros - An American producer of film, television, and music entertainment. It is one of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank, California (NY). Warner Bros is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). They have distributed a lot of famous films and is one of the well known high budget film distributor. For example, Harry Potter, Hobbit, Batman, Man of Steel and many more. 

They would be a great distributor because the company itself is well known and having them to distributing the film will make the film popular and seem high budget to audience although it may not necessarily be a high budget film. Therefore it will also increase our profit/box office hugely. However since we are low budget producers, there isn't much chance of them distributing our film so it is best sticking with an UK distributor. 

Genre Research

Preliminary Sequence Evaluation

What you thought went well?
I thought the shots and editing went quite well. The shots were clear and the range of different shots used made it look interesting and fascinating to audience. The cuts was just on point, for example the match on action was correctly done. We have also made sure we didn't break the 180° rule while filming over shoulder shots and others. The lighting was also good because we used natural lighting therefore everything in the shot that's meant to be seen was seen very clearly seen since it is bright. 


Criticisms
Some of the criticisms from our classmate is that the the sequence need to have continuity  since we have filmed the first part on a normal, sunny day and the second part on a rainy and dull day. Another criticism is that the tracking shot of Katie walking is too long and could be cut shorter or use effects like fading to help make it shorter. 


Do you agree with the criticisms or not?
I totally agree with the criticisms we got back from them because those were the things we noticed was done wrong while editing but we didn't have time to re-film and fix it. I think this is something that we need to focus on when doing our actual opening sequence and make sure they are done to the highest standard. 


Organisation - time keeping, planning etc. 
I thought our organisation for this pre-lim sequence went quite well since we only had less than 1 hour to finish the storyboard and script. We did not finish everything during that one hour planning. What we did was while filming, we were planning on the spot for the sequence, the shots we are going to use, and how to improve some of the shots we already shot. For example, at the very beginning we used skateboard to track the shot of Lucy's feet walking but we realised the background sound from the skateboard was too loud and it is very shaky therefore we thought of using other props like a box lid and strings instead to improve it.   


How to Improve? 
I think we could improve by making sure we have the continuity of the sequence - the clothes the actors were wearing, the weather, the lighting, the way they have their and others. We could also use a external microphone to block off all the unwanted sounds like the sound of the wind, etc. We could also use a higher quality camera to improve the quality and colours of the film. 

Preliminary Sequence

After getting into our groups, we were told to film a short video of a conversation including certain shots. For example: 2 close ups, 1 tracking shot, 2 mid shots. The purpose of this activity is to prepare us for our proper opening sequence later on. This allow us to have a rough idea how long it will take, what type of shots looks good, how often do you have to include a different shot, the lighting we are going to use, how to cut/edit and others.

Ranking Opening Sequences

1) The Deception (12E8) - I have ranked this first because I liked the title animation idea they did at the beginning. The shot reverse shot used is very well edited and the use of montage creates tension and that is good for an opening sequence because it can hook the audience into watching more. The music they used match the actions quite well and changed accordingly. I also thought the idea of using the ripples of the water to represent the sound of the door bell very clever. 

2) The Slayer (12E10) - There are a lot of different shots used and that makes it interesting. The story line was very clear and the details in the office helped hugely for audience to understand who the characters are. However, I think the music could be improved. 

3) Abduction (12C6) - They have used good camera shots/framing. I thought the idea of the CCTV was quite clever and nicely edited but it was a bit long. The titles wasn't very good either.  

4)  Snakes and Ladders (12B2) - The graphic match was beautifully edited and filmed and the titles at the beginning was good but not during the middle. There was too many close up shots and the storyline wasn't clear. It is also edited in way that's more like a TV show. 

5) Graves (12C7) - They have used interesting camera shots and the panning was satisfying. Both the storyline and voice over was clear and easy to understand. However, the camera was a bit shaky.

6) Bacterium (12B1) - I like the titles and the shot reverse shot was edited nicely but a bit long. The storyline was not very clear and they need to cut down on the walking and focus more on what they are doing (storyline). I didn't like the music because I feel like it doesn't fit well.

7) Rundown (12E7) - I thought the titles was interesting and fits genre. A lot of action shots was included and some of them was very good, for example the over head shot and when he steps in the puddle. However, the start and end was terribly but together and didn't make sense at all. 

8) It Swings in Roundabouts (12C7) - Good effects, interesting flash-back shots and music matched the genre, which helps create tension. The sounds effects need to be improved and the acting was quite bad. 

9) Chroniker (12A2) - The idea of split screens they used was clever but it went on for too long and got boring. The story and ending didn't really make sense. The music was quite bad and annoying, and the sound bridge at the beginning was too long.   

10) The Resistance (12B6) - They have use interesting POV shot. The shot reverse shot was badly filmed because they are looking directly at the camera which doesn't feels like a conversation. The camera was often shaky and the acting needs improvement. 

11) 1962 (12E9) - Terrible framing, storyline wasn't clear. The music got annoying and the screaming was very irritating. 

Secrets and Lies Annotations

In class, we used the annotation function on Youtube to Analise the extracts from Secret and Lies.

Swede Research

As part of our swede research of our opening sequence of our film, we were asked to survey a small group of people from 16- 18 years old about the preferences. The survey showed:

 

 

How often do you go to the cinema to watch a movie?

- The answers were once a month and twice a month. We have once a month being the most of 80%.

 

What Genre do you like?
 - We had a range from Comedy, Drama, Action, Adventure and Action and the percentage of people of each genre was about the same.

 

How much do you roughly spend on watching movies?

- We had 100% saying they roughly spend about £7 per movie.

 

Do you stream movies online?

- We had 100% saying they stream (or have streamed) movies on online.

 

Thoughts about streaming movies online?

- There was 60% people saying they don't care and it is nothing to them. There was 20% of people saying they don't care and 20% saying they are good.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Frames/ Camera Shots

Big Close Up Shot - This is full head height and the head takes up the entire screen. It contains little or no background. This shows the detail of the character’s face.

Extreme Close Up Shot -This is a very close shot showing the detail of an object or the physical features of a person. It make the viewer aware of some specific detail in the film. It can be used to heighten tension.

Close Up Shot - This shot tightly frames a person or an object. Close-ups are one of the standard shots used regularly with medium shots and long shots (cinematic techniques). Close-ups display the most detail, but they do not include the broader scene. Moving in to a close-up or away from a close-up is a common type of zooming. This is used to introduce a character and allows the character to show emotions. It can be used to heighten tension.

Extreme Long Shot - This shows the landscape of the film or a barely visible character in the distance of a background. This also gives information to the viewer about where the action is to take place. It often sets the atmosphere of a film.

Mid Long Shot - This shows the whole person as well as some of the background. The purpose is to place the person in context.

Point Of View Shot - A sequence that is shot as if the viewer were looking through the eyes of a specific character. The shot is a common trick of the horror film: that is, we are placed in the position of the killer who is slowly sneaking up on a victim. 

Mid Shot - This shows half of the body. The shot is taken from above the head to just below the waist. This allows you to get to know the character more closely by viewing their facial expressions and body language.

Worm's Eye View Shot - This shot shows the camera is looking up from the floor creating a status effect meaning that because the camera is lower than the subject it is looking at, it seems inferior and less important. This is also a good shot to show someone with power or someone with fear.

Bird's Eye View Shot - This shot refers to a shot looking directly down on the subject. The perspective is very foreshortened, making the subject appear short and squat. This shot can be used to give an overall establishing shot of a scene, or to emphasise the smallness or insignificance of the subjects. These shots are normally used for battle scenes or establishing where the character is. It is shot by lifting the camera up by hands or by hanging it off something strong enough to support it.

Aerial Shot - Aerial Shots are usually done with a crane or with a camera attached to a special helicopter to view large landscapes. This sort of shot would be restricted to exterior locations. A good area to do this shot would be a scene that takes place on a building. If the aerial shot is of a character it can make them seem insignificant. Circular shots are also possible.

Crane Shot - This is a shot taken by a camera on a crane or jib. The most obvious uses are to view the actors from above or to move up and away from them, a common way of ending a movie. Camera cranes go back to the dawn of movie-making, and were frequently used in silent films to enhance the epic nature of large sets and massive crowds.

High Angle Shot - This is usually when the camera angle is located above the eyeline. With this type of angle, the camera looks down on the subject and the point of focus often get "swallowed up" by the setting. High angle shots also make the figure or object seem vulnerable or powerless. High angle shots are usually used in film to make the moment more dramatic or if there is someone at a high level that the character below is talking to.

Low Angle Shot - This is a shot from a camera angle positioned low on the vertical axis, anywhere below the eyeline, looking up. The trunk shot is a specialized type of low-angle shot.

Camera Movements

Pan - Moving the camera horizontally to one side or another, while its base is fixated on a certain point. You are not moving the position of the camera itself, just the direction it faces. These types of shots are great for establishing a sense of location within your story.

Track - The term tracking shot may refer to any shot in which the camera follows a subject within the frame, such as a moving actor or a moving vehicle. When using the term tracking shot in this sense, the camera may be moved in ways not involving a camera dolly.

Tilt - Tilting is when you move the camera vertically, up to down or down to up, while its base is fixated to a certain point. Again, like panning, this move typically involves the use of a tripod where the camera is stationary but you move the angle it points to. These shots are popular when introducing a character, especially one of grandeur, in a movie.

Aerial - This is usually done with a crane or with a camera attached to a special helicopter to view large landscapes. This sort of shot would be restricted to exterior locations. A good area to do this shot would be a scene that takes place on a building. If the aerial shot is of a character it can make them seem insignificant. Circular shots are also possible.

Zooming - This is the most used (also the most overused) camera movement there is. It is often used as a clutch when the director is not sure what else to do to add interest to a shot. Zoom in or out from an unexpected, yet important, object or person in your shot. Use a quick zoom to add energy to a fast-paced piece.

Handheld - Sometimes the action is moving too quickly or too unpredictably for the camera to be on a tripod. This calls for making the camera more mobile and able to follow the action of a scene. Most times the camera will simply be held by the operator, who will then employ a number of basic camera moves by moving the feet - trucking in and out, dollying in one direction or another, tilting, panning, zooming - and combinations of all of these.

Dolly - A dolly is when you move the entire camera forwards and backwards, typically on some sort of track or motorized vehicle. This type of movement can create beautiful, flowing effects when done correctly. If you want to attempt a dolly, make sure your track is stable and will allow for fluid movement.

Steadicam - It is a brand of camera stabilizing mount for motion picture cameras that mechanically isolates it from the operator's movement. It allows for a smooth shot, even when moving quickly over an uneven surface. A Steadicam essentially combines the stabilized steady footage of a conventional tripod mount with the fluid motion of a dolly shot and the flexibility of hand-held camera work. While smoothly following the operator's broad movements, the Steadicam's armature absorbs jerks, bumps, and shakes.

• The camera could be mounted on a camera dolly, a wheeled mount that rolls on tracks or leveled boards. This is time consuming to set up, and impractical in many situations.
• The camera operator could hold the camera in his hands. This allows greater speed and flexibility, but even the most skilled operator cannot entirely prevent the camera from shaking. Hand-held footage has traditionally been considered suitable mostly for documentaries, news, reportage work, live action, unrehearsable footage, or to evoke an atmosphere of authentic immediacy or cinéma vérité during dramatic sequences.

Pull Focus - This shot refers to the act of changing the lens’s focus distance setting in correspondence to a moving subject’s physical distance from the focal plane. For example, if an actor moves from 8m away from the focal plane to 3m away from the focal plane within a shot, the focus puller will change the distance setting on the lens during the take in precise correspondence to the changing position of the actor. Additionally, the focus puller may shift focus from one subject to another within the frame, as dictated by the specific requirements of the shot (cinematic techniques).

Crane -  A crane can be used to lift a camera from low to high shooting positions. Less expensive jibs can support the weight of a camera and lift it several feet off of the ground. Sometimes called a boom, but the boom term usually applies to the device that holds a microphone aloft.