Movie Opener Brainstorming and Research
Hello! Today I will be viewing and commenting on some previous Cambridge students films and what are somethings from their films that I do or do not want to include in our project. Before we get started I just want to say I know it is difficult to make a film or even just an opening sequence. Hopefully these films will give me some ideas or inspiration for our film.
Rise: Primarily, out of the 8 opening scenes that I am viewing today, this is probably one of my favorite ones. Overall, the story is about a kid going to practice soccer, who seems to want to make it big in that sport. We see him practicing at the park, but then we see someone else arrive at the park and watch him. At the end he is waiting for the kid to finish practice and meet eyes, seeming that there is some sort of drama or resentment between the two. This creates a great opening sequence as it leaves you interested in wanting to know what is going on between the two characters. It has several features that I truly like. Do I know if all these features are going to be included in our opening scene? I don't know, but hopefully some aspects will be. Some features that I like about this film are the music and sound quality, the filter, the several different angles, and the type of cuts. For instance, the music is really good and fits the energy I believe that the director wants the audience to film. It provides the vibe of rising and becoming the best you can be. Moreover, I really liked how the music played all throughout, but when it was the kid practicing to play soccer the music became louder since he had his headphones in. Furthermore, the filter that the film had was great. It was a great idea to film during the golden hours since that time has some gorgeous colors, but I also like that they added a filter to the film. I believe that these filters make it truly look like a film and not something filmed on your iPhone. In addition, the use of angles was great. Whether it be close up, mid shot, overhead, etc., the shots were all essential to the story. For instance, by having several shots of not only the boy practicing, but the soccer ball and his gear, it helps add more details to the story. There was also a part where he is practicing and they use jump cuts, which made his practicing seem more intense and fast paced. All in all, I really liked this opening scene and you can see that effort was put into it.
Dear Lover: This film was also pretty good. I liked that there were good parts and some not so good parts, because it shows that we can always get better. To summarize the film it is about an older woman that seems to be in a therapy session explaining that she had to run away from her house when she was 18 due to her parents disapproving that she had a girlfriend. The opening sequence gives us a sneak peak of how that love was and how they would write letters to each other starting with “Dear Lover” (clever!). Let's start with some of the aspects of the film that could be worked on. Primarily, the camera had some parts where it was unstable, which I understand, but it can truly affect a shot. Moreover, The font and color of the title was a little bit difficult to see. Some of the parts would clash with the background. Lastly, some shots were too long, almost creating this awkward moment, when that is not the feeling that you want to be creating. On the other hand, there were several positive features of this film. I liked that in the beginning they did multiple shots of different angles, to show you the setting of the forest. Another feature I liked was the voiceover aspect. I feel that it was executed well. Moreover, as I said for the last film I liked that they put a gray filter for when the past shots of her girlfriend . I feel that the filter is very important to also signal to the audience that this is a different time. Lastly, another feature that I liked was the costumes and makeup. As you can see she was a teenager and a runaway her clothes were simple and dull, she also had no makeup. This helps emphasize her character and her scenario. On the contrary, her girlfriend had a skirt and light color clothing, which can emphasize the fact that she was perfect in the main character's eyes. Plus when the main characters is older they make her wear a blouse and heavy makeup, to make her look older and that she had finally gotten her life together. Although it may need some improvements, I believe it had really good aspects.
Dare to Thrill: This is also another one of the films that I really liked. I feel that I would actually watch the movie if I saw this opening sequence. It is a film about these groups of teenagers receiving a dare from an app or someone to go find some car keys. They find these car keys and get in the car. They're driving around , blasting music and having fun until they hear a thud in the trunk. They step out of the car and open the truck to find something disturbing. This film also had several aspects that I liked. One of them being the font. I liked that their font looked like a game and was very techy to contribute to the fact that they probably received the dares from an app or game. Moreover, I really like the design of the production logo. It felt very professional. The music for this was also very important to creating the elmst of an adrenaline and fun opening.I like how the music would get loud in certain parts that were more important and would then lower it scene like them talking or when things got serious. I also liked the close ups they used to show the luxury of the car and to emphasize the fact that random teenagers are going to drive this nice car. Moreover, I liked that the camera was stable the entire time even if they were running or going up the stairs, which in my opinion really helps the film seem professional. Overall, I really enjoy this opening acne and would love to actually watch the rest of the film.
Always Watching: This opening scene is very creepy and weird, but it has some good aspects to it. The film is about a boy that is talking to his therapist about his ex best friend that he stalks and how he treats him. Primarily, I want to talk about soen of the features that need improving. For instance, sometimes the shots would move leaving the character out of the shot. I also believe that during the therapy session there could have been more different angles to intensify the scene and its emotion. Lastly, the ending I feel was cut off horribly. There was no real impact or dramatic effect as it was cut off in a manner that was not impactful. However, there were some positive aspects that I liked about the film. I liked the use of close ups to emphasize the craziness of the character. Moreover, the use of graphic match with the character switching in the mirror was gr4eat as it was dramatic and emphasizing the character and how he believes he could be his friend. Lastly, two other features that I like were the music and the filter that was used. These aspects I’ve seen have been used through almost all the films so far and I believe it is because of how important these two features are essential to tying up the story. Overall, this film could have been even more crazy and creepy, but it did have some great shots in it.
The Blue Boar: I like that this one had a completely different take than the last 4 films. You can tell that their actress really liked acting and enjoyed it. Honestly, I am not 100 percent sure what is going on but I can tell that it is a young girl from an older time getting scolded by her mother and then exploring, foraging and letting go. First of all, I really enjoyed the efforts made with the costumes. They had a lot of detail in that aspect of the film, which is very important. Moreover, the voice over was good as it creates this j-cut sound and has a brief introduction of what may be going on. One issue I did have was that the voiceover was still going and the music came in but was way too loud, that you can barely hear what the character is saying. And it is way more important to hear the character than the music. Another thing with the audio was the syncing of her song and her lips. It is good to add her singing in the post production part, however, sometimes her lip syncing was kind of off, but most of the time it was fine. Moreover, I liked the closeups they did of the girls' faces, the women talking , and the flowers. These closeups felt impactful and meaningful to the story. Lastly, I liked the graphic match of the twigs to the title. I thought it was a great transition. Overall, I thought this opening scene was great and it had a completely different outtake.
White Coat: This film was great and was one of my favorites. Essentially this opening scene is about a mad scientist or doctor preparing something for what seems like a kidnapped patient. We see the kidnapped patient become loose of his restraints and he starts to investigate until he finds something strange at the very end. This film had great aspects. One of them being the production design. The amount of details such as the test tubes, the tools, the mask, the pictures of the patient, the box, and the white coat were all necessary to truly make you feel that you were in a mad scientist's lab. The filter was also great however, sometimes it did make it difficult to view the characters and details. Plus the music had a perfect feeling for this eerie scene. Moreover, I loved the sound effects of the water drops and how they were really emphasized to add onto the creepy feeling. Something else that I really enjoyed was the contrast of colors. The medicine or poison the scientist was making was the only real color we saw. The red in the tube would contrast with the bland and dark background. I also like the cliffhanger at the end, which makes the audience interested in watching the film. Overall, I believe this was one of the best ones and especially props to them for the production they did.
Stalker: I believe that this film had potential however, the effort wasn't truly put into the project. This film is about a teenage girl getting stalked at her house and at school. One of the things that I realized that this film lacked that all the others had was a filter. As I said before, I believe the filter really ties the film together and makes it look more professional. Without it I feel that it looks like a regular video shot on your iPhone. Moreover, the music for me was an issue. It didn't play throughout, which sure could have been to add an eerie and awkward feeling, however, I believe it would have gone perfect with this film. The sudden outburst of creepy music was good but they sounded way too cartoony or artificial. Same with the sound of the cameras shuttering. One thing I did like was the “costume.” She was dressed accordingly for where she was. She was in her pajamas and her hair was a mess when she got out of bed and had a regular but put together outfit for school. Lastly, the title sequence in my opinion was way too long and especially for such a short title. It felt kind of awkward. Overall, I didn't really enjoy this film and I believe it could make some improvements.
Nostalgia: This film also had a lot of potential, but I believe it wasn't executed as well as it could have been. This opening scene was about an old lady who seems to be remembering the past and going through the feeling and stages of nostalgia. Initially, the production logo design was great and seemed really professional. Another thing I liked about this film was the music and the weird and dramatic turns it took. Some negative things hoover, were factors such as the camera shaking quite a lot. I feel that this really ruins the smoothness of the film and especially since the audience is viewing a painting half the time. When the title popped up the previous shot was like almost replayed causing again this bump on the smoothness and shameless transitions the film should have. Lastly, another thing that could have been approved was the length of the shots. Most of the shots were too long making it boring and creating an awkward feeling that I believe that was not intended. Overall, this story had some great colors and could have a great meaning, if it had some improvements.
Brainstorm Ideas: After viewing all 8 opening scenes, my group and I have talked about several aspects we would like to include in our film. One of the most prominent factors we decided we want to include is a filter. I believe the filter will be a perfect touch to our film and create an aesthetic. Moreover, we slightly discussed the audio aspect. We definitely know that some music will be included but whether it be diegetic or non-diegetic is still unknown. Moreover, we believe that including some jump cuts in a scene we have in mind could be good as it can emphasize the panic the character will be having. Although we are still trying to figure out how to place the credits, at the moment the idea is to do it throughout the scene. I also believe that we are going to have the title be the last thing you see so it can create a lasting effect on the audience. We haven't thoroughly discussed what exact shots we want, but I can tell you now we do have some ideas. For instance, there will possibly be mid shots, over the shoulder, and close ups. We were discussing doing close ups on items that can provide more details for the story such as solo cups, phones, radio, etc. These are some of the features right now that we are almost certain we want to include in our opening scene.
After watching all the videos, I definitely have some ideas of what to do and some things to avoid. They have provided me with inspiration and will hopefully help my group and I make our project even better. Thank you for reading and see you next time!
-Love, Lucy <3
Quote of the Day: "The Choice Is Always Yours. Whatever Society May Claim, It Can't Control You."-Sherlock Holmes
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