Example of an opening sequence

In this preview you see flash backs which you see during the actual film and in our opening sequence. Dead mans shoes is the inspiration for our opening sequence as this film is about revenge killings which is the theme of our opening sequence, it is also a low-budget British film which fits in with our film.

Beth

Dead Mans Shoes Analysis

The film dead man's shoes is a low budget British film with similar genres and techniques to our opening sequence. 

The film dead man's shoes focuses on realism through out the film, portraying the grittiness of lower class British society. This is done using mainly realistic mise en scene where nothing looks out of place, for example all the clothing fits the characters, the boiler suit and gasmask creates a sense of tension and fear within the audience while still being convincing, unlike many hollywood costumes. The housing, cars etc also are all convincingly realistic, the messy surroundings fit both the characters and the scenario.

Another technique that fits with our style and creates realism is the films invisible editing. Due to the low budget the film makers cannot/did not use over the top editing styles as many big budget hollywood films use. The film also uses varying transitions such as fade in fade out (invisible), the other transition is the white flashes, these create tension and adrenaline. The editing style creates realism and helps  'direct' the audience through the scene.  

Blake

Analysis of "Dead Mans Shoes"

"Dead Mans Shoes" is the film that fits into the type of genre our opening sequence is to portray. The media language that the low budget british film creates has the essentials that will be needed in our project.
The simple but effective cinematography that has been manipulated in "Dead Mans Shoes" makes the film look realistic and believable which shadows our aim for the opening sequence. "Dead Mans Shoes" had been filmed using a hand held steady-camera because it is a low budget film. It uses a variety of long shots, medium shots and close ups which gives the film some different scenes making and keeping it interesting.
The mise-en-scene that has been filmed in Dead Mans Shoes is a fine example of how our opening sequence will be constructed. The scenes shown in our video clip of Dead Mans Shoes consist of a very messy and typical home, a usual yard/back garden and a winding countryside pathway. The costumes worn by the characters is of a casual day to day dress wear which again keeps the film believable and realistic.
The invisible editing that the film has is very effective, especially the flashing fade in/out, which we will also use in our opening sequence.
Another elemant which is the result of the low budget british film is the lighting which is natural throughout the whole film. This again will be part of our opening sequence.
The sound in Deads Man Shoes is kept natural and only consists of special sound effects and background music to create the atmosphere that is needed to produce different emotions within the audience.
All the five elements of the media language in Dead Mans Shoes are appropriate for our opening sequence therefore we beleive that this is the film that is representative of what we expect as an outcome even though our plot and story line differs from this.

Nushy

Analysis of dead mans shoes

The film we have chosen that is "dead mans shoes" a low budget British film that has the same genre as our opening sequence.

In dead mans shoes they use natural high key lighting that makes the film look realistic. Most of the film is shot using an steady-cam as its low budget the editing is invisible. The sound is realistic and what you would expect that makes the film more believable. The mise en scene used is also realistic as everything used in the scene fits in they are at one point in an abandoned house in the country side and in the house there's no floors the walls are bare and there is no door the only things in the house is some crates and a few pieces of scrap. The cinematography used is all different camera angles such as high angles that make people look weak and low angles that make people look strong. 

Putting all these different media techniques in makes the film look realistic and as though it is actually happening which makes the audience become attached to the characters which makes them want to watch the film to find out what happens.

Beth

Preliminary Task

Our group decided that we would base our preliminary task on an assassin receiving a new assignment. 

If we were to remake our project again we would plan the scenes individually, so that when it came to filming our process it would be more efficient, so then when it came to editing we would be able to put the scenes together more effectively. 

The sound was also a problem when it came to editing as it occasionally jumped when the scenes changed for example the exchanging of the envelope. the sound in some cases were that bad we had to edit in audio from separate clips.

Overall we were happy with the outcome of our preliminary task, as the good points out weighed the negative points.

Beth, Nushy, Blake

target audience

Our opening sequence has to get people to watch and enjoy it for them to be able to watch the rest of the film we looked into our target audience and looked at the statistics.

We found that the regular cinema goers of the age of 15-34 have the largest percentage than other age groups. so we are going to make our opening sequence for the age group of 15-34 and any gender so that if our film was ever made it would meet the target audience.

Beth

example of an opening sequence

For us to be able to get a good mark we need to do research into other films that have been made that link in to our genre and ideas.

We believe the film 28 days later fits in with our construction of the film as the low-key lighting and grittiness of the opening sequence.

blake

initial ideas

For us to be able to create an opening sequence we have to define what an opening sequence is and its functions- there are 7 functions to an opening sequence  

1. to establish place and time.
2. introduces any themes and motifs linked to the ideologies in the film.
3. to set up the initial equilibrium that will be disrupted later.
4. to reassure the audience by demonstrating the conventions of the chosen genre.
5. setting up audience expectations e.g. in plot, style/media language.
6. introducing and establishing characters, usually the main character/protagonist.
7. usually sets up many enigmas.

the two main functions we are gong to use are 6 and 7 as these link in with the ideas we have.

Beth