Analysing an opening sequence: Sexy Beast

Sexy Beast

This opening sequence is entirely different to The Shinning, but is very effective in putting its mood and tone across. 

MISE EN SCENE:

We are introduced to three characters in this opening sequence. The main focus is on Ray Winstone, as it is his voice and opinions we hear. His East-End accent and his attire suggest a slightly dodgy character and the rough way he treats his pool boy also adds to his unkempt manner. The woman in the car is not fully established, as we don't see her face, so adds an ambiguous edge as the audience begins to question who she is. The villa looks expensive, as it has a pool and is quite secluded in the hills. This contrasts heavily with the character of Ray Winstone, so the audience begins to question where he got the money to buy the place. 

USE OF SOUND:

The voice over of Ray Winstone firstly establishes his character and allows the audience to get inside the characters head, making the face scene of him very intimate. The music in the background, creates a happy upbeat atmosphere and as it talks of summer, it relates to the scene. When the rock crashes into the pool there is a pause in the music, which heightens the comedy aspect. 

USE OF CAMERA:

At the beginning there is only a shot of the sun, which makes it hard to get any clues of the films setting, apart from that it is in a hot country. It then cuts to a high angled wide shot to establish Ray Winstone. The high angled shot allows the audience to get a full on look of him, and the props next to him. (beer, sun cream and cigarettes which sums up the character we have met so far. After this, it switches to a wide shot so that the audience can take in more of the surroundings, and establishes that he is in a villa. Close ups are used in the conversation between Ray and the pool boy to portray their emotions. A point of view shot is used to show the woman in the car, so creates an ambiguity around her as the audience don't see her face. A wide shot of the villa in the hills creates the idea of its seclusion, while again highlighting that it is in a very hot country. When the rock rolls down the slope the audience is meant to feel as if they are inside the rock as the camera goes round 360. A wide shot of the rock rolling then clarifies to the audience that it is going to land in the pool. Also it showcases that Ray is completely unaware of its looming approach, boosting the comedy aspect. 

USE OF EDITING:  

The bright pink credits are readable and easier to see, but are small enough so that they don't distract from the action. 

This freeze on the title creates humour while also showing what kind of humour the film is going to create. It also allows the audience to engage in the name of the film for longer. 

Analysing an opening sequence: The Shining

The Shining

To analyse an opening sequence you need to look at four main aspects of the scene and how they contribute meaning:

1. MISE EN SCENE

2. CAMERA

3. EDITING

4. SOUND  

The Shining, by Stanley Kubrick, uses its opening sequence to create the creepy sinister tone that is carried on through out. 

MISE EN SCENE:

This opening sequence purely focuses on the car, and on establishing the location, the hotel. However, it does not introduce any characters or any plot lines. This makes the whole scene ambiguous which adds to the ominous atmosphere. 

USE OF SOUND:

The music solely adds the sinister tone to this opening sequence, because without the music it is just a car driving along a road. The electronic music creates the menacing atmosphere and conveys the idea that something disturbing is about to happen. Without the music, this idea would not be put across so is key to this opening sequence. 

USE OF CAMERA: 

The camera in this sequence follows the road, while showcasing to the audience that the car is completely in the middle of no where by using high angle and wide shots, again adding to the foreboding atmosphere. There are no close up shots to introduce characters, which adds to the mystery of the scene

USE OF EDITING: 

Stanley Kubrick, has used a bright blue font on the credits which makes it stand out and easy to read.However, the font is not big enough to side track the audience from focusing on the car. Also, by having the credits at the beginning the audience are told what actors are in the film and who directed it, leading them to make some assumption on the quality of the film. 

I think this opening sequence is very effective, as it creates the intended mood without giving away the plot, thus heightening the tension and foreboding atmosphere. 

Editing Lesson

Editing Lesson:

After shooting our prelim task we then began to edit our footage. We used the software Final Cut Pro in order to cut together our footage.

We started by creating a "Rush Bin" which we put all our un cut footage in. This means that we can always return to the original footage if we want to start again.

Following this we created the "Log Bin" in which we put the film we wanted to cut and then began to cut and edit this footage.


















Above is a snapshot of Final Cut Pro. The screen on the left is where you can view your footage and cut it. By pressing I and then O you can choose the section of film you want to cut. Then by dragging this into the bottom section of the screen you can place it in the time sequence you want. The right screen then shows your cut footage and you can review and alter it, by simply rearranging where you cut the film on the left screen.

 The picture above shows how to cut the film. The two arrows on the left screen indicate what part of the footage you are taking, and the bottom part of the screen shows where this cut footage has been placed.


Once we had learnt how to cut our footage we began to piece together our prelim task film. We started with our wide shot, to establish the scene. We then cut to a close up shot to introduce the character further and after this we cut smoothly into another close up of the other character. It took us a while to decide what order to place our shots and on what lines or gestures we should cut to other shots. We learnt that if we cut half way through a movement then it looked more natural and realistic than cutting before a movement as sometimes the movements were out of sync with each other.

I really enjoyed the beginning of cutting our footage as it allowed us to see how we could piece together the variations of shots we had taken and begin to create a succinct film.

 

Media notting hill from hurtwoodhousemedia5

Prelim Task

Prelim Task

In our prelim task, we were giving a story board with a short ambiguous dialogue and a set number of shots that we should use. As the text was vague we were able to be creative and think of our own idea to fit the dialogue and shots.

In our scene we used a boy and a girl and had them act out the script in a serious manner. However we didn't show what it was the two actors were talking about until the last shot, which showcased the girl trying to reach the button on the projector screen, high above her head.

We used three types of shots in our scene. We used 4 wide shots, 4 over the shoulder shots and 4 close ups. All these shots had a specific purpose and added to the meaning of the scene. We started with a wide shot, that established the setting (a classroom) and introduced the 2 characters. The over the shoulder the shots helped to distinguish the characters even more and created a dynamic between them. Similarly, the close ups allowed us to see the emotions on the characters face and make the scene more personal and intimate. Before we started filming, we set up the camera and marked out where the characters would walk on and stand so that they would fit fully in the frame. We also ensured that nothing else was in the frame apart from what we wanted, so we removed all the tables and chairs from the classroom so we had a wide open space.

To start with, we filmed the whole thing in wide just to ensure that we had all the scene on camera, just in case we had problems later on it meant we could always cut back to a wide shot. We then filmed 3 over the shoulders shots from over the girls shoulder, and 1 from over the boys. We repeated these shots a few times just to ensure we had the right frame and could see a good amount of both characters. The close up shots were the last we filmed and we ensured that we had sharp crisp images by re-focusing the camera before we filmed each shot. To add to the scene, we had a close up of the girls finger struggling to reach the projectors on button, as this added comedy and really focused the audience in on a specific part of the girl.

Our group worked really well together, and we were efficient in coming up with the idea quickly and shared what shots to film so everyone had a turn manning the camera. As we worked well together, we were able to bounce ideas of each other which ultimately helped us to come up with more creative ideas and shots.



First Filming Exercise

First Filming Exercise 

Today we had our first go at filming a short sequence. We first started by getting to know the on set language. Stand by is an important phrase and this is said by the director and then confirmed by all the crew. It is usually heard multiple times, it is said by the camera man to cue rolling, the sound man to ensure the boom microphone is read and the other crew to ensure their department is ready for shooting. We also use‘Roll Camera’ and this is the cameramen’s cue of when to start recording and consequently causes the codes to begin running.‘Cut’ again is used and is only the directors right to say. It is the instruction to stop recording. It is very important to only stop sound or recording after the director has said so. For if you were to cut the camera rolling before the scene has fully ended, you could miss vital footage.

After setting up our tripod and camera we then bubbled our camera. We did not want any slanting shots so to achieve an equal shot we made sure the bubble was inside the centre circle.  After this, we thought of a simple idea we could use in order to practice the different shots we had learnt. Our group came up with the idea of having a boy trying to win over a girl, beginning with the girl on a sofa and the boy entering and ending with the boy on the sofa and the girl leaving the scene.  

To begin filming we focused our camera. We did this by zooming in on both our actors faces then turned the dial until the picture was sharp. Once we focused the shot, we zoomed out to our establishing shot with a focused camera. We then took a couple of takes on our establishing shot to ensure that we could see both actors exits and entrances. Following this, we did extreme close up shots on each actor in their beginning places and then at certain moments during the sequence in order to convey the exact emotion the actor was feeling. After this, we did some mid shots so that you could see more of the actor,and the movements they were doing. We also moved the camera to a different angle, so that we could really capture the look the male actor gave the girl. We repeated this shot many times, first in a mid shot and then in an extreme close up. 

As my first experience of using the camera in a short sequence it was very exciting and helped me get a feel on what filming was like. 

Dead Man's Shoes Analysis

Dean Man's Shoes Analysis

MISE EN SCENE:

• The green jacket and bag suggest that the character is part of the military. This leads to the audience wondering why he has left the military or whether it has left a psychological mark on him. 
• As the second boy is wearing a tracksuit it implies that he is the younger of the two. 
• The use of family films shows the link between the two boys. It also highlights that they had a strong bond even when they were very young. Again this leads the audience to question why the boys do not speak or acknowledge each other during the whole of the opening sequence if they had such a strong relationship as children. 
• The footage in the family films shows not only a tight relationship between the brothers but the whole family. By showing scenes from Christmas and at Church then it shows just how tight the family was as a whole. This contrasts with the present images of the boys alone without any family around. 
• The scenery shown as the boys walk highlights their isolation and that they are in a rural area with hardly any civilisation. Also the purpose with what the older brother is walking with suggests that he has walked here before, even though he is following no path. This implies that he is comfortable with the route he is taking, but the audience question why he is walking so far and why he knows the way so clearly. 

CAMERA:

• The over the shoulder shots give the idea that the audience is following the boys on their walk and shows the distance they still have to travel ahead. 
• The idea of home videos is created by jerky camera movements as it implies that it was filmed on a basic camera and by many different people. 
• The smooth movement of the camera following the boys again implies that the boy know the route well and have walked it before. 
• The high angle and establishing shots show the isolation of the boys and how rural the place is. 

EDITING: 

• By making the images of the home videos grainy it gives an authentic old feel which shows that these  videos were filmed a while ago and that time has changed.
• By merging the past and present scenes together it links the boys as adults to them as children to make clear to the audience that these are the same boys.

SOUND:

• The song used in the opening sequence is Vessel in Vain by Smog
• It creates a melancholy feel which suggests that something sad has happened in the past that is still haunting their present. 
• Two of the main lyrics "I can't be held responsible for the things I say" and "My ideals have got me on the run" suggest that these men have caused something dreadful to happen that they are trying to escape from. 
• The music gets louder through out the piece which implies that as the boys get nearer their destination the sadness the song is hinting at is getting greater.