Movie Opener Brainstorming

 In this blog, our class had the opportunity to look at 8 different movie openers and brainstorm what ideas to use in our creation. I will be giving a brief explanation of the openings and ideas I have drawn from them.

#1 - Rise

This film is probably one of my favourites that we reviewed due to the different camera angles that are used. Along with the audio use as the boy filmed wears headphones and each time he takes them off the music fades out and fades back in when he places them back on. The film starts with a boy grabbing his soccer gear and heading to a field to practice. Another boy is shown, increasing tension between the two as they lock eyes, this gives the impression that the boys may be on rival teams. The quick jumps and cuts between high and low angle shots help add and make the film more engaging than just filming a random soccer practice. I would like to try the audio fades with my film to match the scenes and tension.

#2 - Dear Lover

This film has a light opening, with bright lighting that sets a loving mood. A flashback is characterized through a camera filter to ensure the present and past are easy to detect by the audience. This film was a lot softer than the other films viewed, personally it was a bit dull for my taste but I liked the use of camera filters and voiceovers.

#3 - Dare to Thrill

This film starts off with a lot of energy right away, with some pop music in the background and a group of people who appear to be having fun. Most of the film shows quick jump cuts and low angles to the car ride as they speed along on the roads and the parking lot. The film comes to an end as the group runs right over a speed bump without slowing down and slams the breaks as they become suspicious of their surroundings. The end is a shock as the characters go to open the trunk and the clip ends. I like the abrupt ending and angles used in to film and would like to utilize those certain parts in my film.

#4 -Always Watching

This film begins with eerie music as chills are brought right up. The characters build with the tension of the soundtrack, I would like to use this correlation in my film as it assists and helps the audience follow the storyline. With plenty medium shots and cross curing used to showcase the relationship between the two characters.

#5- The Blue Bore

This film starts off with a nice music score, by far my favourite tracks of the films we reviewed. With well-designed costumes, high-key lighting, and multiple switches in angles used to move with the characters. I like the use of closeups to create tension and emphasize the importance of certain dialogue.

#6 - White Coat

This film has a lab design, with eeriness surrounding the scene as the lowkey lighting and empty spaces fill the camera. Following the title, a man in a white coat is seen conducting some sort of an experiment with a man and a mixture. The intensity followed through the film well as the music escalates with the scene. But with little to no dialogue, the film felt empty and confusing as no emotion could be conveyed.

#7 - Stalker

This film follows a stalker as the title is, with a young girl being followed at school and home, through the windows and photos being taken as the shutter of a camera clicks. The scenes all tied together well along with the costumes in the environment. The person being followed is able to convey that they are feeling confused and paranoid as they continue to look around not finding what they hear behind them. One thing is the camera seemed to be a bit too shaky, causing some shots to be blurred. 

#8 - Nostalgia

This film was quite confusing, starting off with paintings as some sort of setting to be established. An older lady is seen with a sad expression painted across her face, the one thing I was able to convey was that the old lady may be having flashbacks to when she was younger and is sad about the time. With no dialogue conveying this was only to be seen from the expression on the lady. Many of the clips seemed to be dragged on and the title scene was quite long.

Brainstorming ideas: After watching these films I was able to gather some inspiration all around, from the overall genre and storyline of the film, angles, lighting, cuts, and editing. My group plans on doing something with a stalker following a man out of his workplace, we want to add some sort of surprise element at the end and be sure to use lowkey lighting to build up to that surprise. Also utilizing background music and foley stages will be important to experiment with. My biggest worry is making sure all of our clips are smoothly transitioned and meet our time limit of two minutes.

Till next post,

Sofia