Film Opening

Here is a YouTube link to the film opening that Alfie an I created.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZxHnQhgC8k

Film Opening Evaluation

Our initial storyboard shows that we intended to have a lot more of an extravagant plot, with a victim being thrown into a makeshift grave by one or more antagonists, we also planned to use a shot where we would place the camera into the grave (a POV of the victim) and to shovel the dirt back into the grave (and on to the camera). However due to the lack of space we could work with as well as there only just being two of us it was soon found out that this would be very difficult to do. Therefore we aimed for it to be simple yet effective with hardly any acting in it at all, most of it would be composed of the car driving and some shots of random objects that will make the place seem very eerie.

The music that Will and I have decided to use is copy write free as the task has asked for. The music goes along well and fits in with the horror/thriller theme of the opening. The track also has many sound stings which allowed us to use these to our advantage by changing clips quickly and in time with the sound stings. We used he site Epidemic sound to download and use the sound track, this site is 100% copy write free and we have also named the author of the music piece in our opening titles to show credit where it is needed.

The props and costume that we used in the opening of our film required a lot of thought, this was due to the fact that we needed props and costumes that fit into the genre and that we could also wear/use easily. Our first thoughts were that we needed a shovel in order to dig a hole to throw the victim into, however we decided against this as we would need to get a shovel and also dig a hole into our local forest which would most likely be frowned upon by the community and also could cause a safety hazard for people using the forest. We decided to use the car for most of the shots during the opening as this allowed the audience to pay less attention towards what was happening with the props but instead pay attention to the mise-en scene and also the location and setting. The costumes on the characters needed to look casual this is due to the fact that in the films theory this would cause less suspicion among the characters and this also backs up the point that people do not need to be dressed in common criminal attire to commit crimes in film.

We took a lot of influence form the hit TV series The Walking Dead, this is due to the fact that we have a lot of cut away shots and sound stings among the opening to show credits and other parts of the setting that would not be visible in the main shots of the opening.  An example of this would be the barbed wire that ha s a close up in the opening to show danger. This also helps to keep the audience engaged with the opening and therefore they would be more likely to watch the film in its entirety. The shots are placed so that when the music hots a sting as such then the clip from the establishing shot of the car changes to one of the random shots of the scenery, therefore adding effect to the shots. We also took influence from the film Drive and other A level students work. This is due to having minimal dialogue and more mise-en scene to tell the story. We also used drive to work out how to take shots of the car in the story effectively.

The health and safety risk assessment we had to do was that we checked to make sure no sharp objects where on the road whilst the driving was taking place and that also whilst Alfie was driving the car he was not paying attention to anything other than the road and what was in front of him. The road that we were driving on was also very uneven and steep so therefore we had to make sure that the seat belts in the car where being worn at all times. We could not do any shots of the hostage whilst we were driving due to the fact that if the car were to crash then the 'hostage' would not have a belt on and consequently could have been injured. We also filmed the scene during the dusk hours this is due to the fact that we were filming in a forest and therefore there could have been wildlife later on in the evening that would be scared of the car or maybe could have attacked us eg a fox.

What we think went well - We thought we managed to get some good and effective shots in our film opening such as the POV shot and long shots. We also feel that we utilised the editing very well, as we were able to do things such as saturate out some of the colour so it looks a lot more dull. Parts of our opening were inspired to that of TV show The Walking Dead, where parts of random objects that had little to nothing to do with the actual film were put in to emphasise how isolated and abandoned the setting we used was. We aimed to have our titles presented as quite eerie and much like any other horror thriller title credits opening, we believed we have succeeded in this aspect especially with the use of the font. We also feel the setting we used was very effective, we managed to make it seem isolated and quite a creepy location.

What we could have improved - Although we though our filming location was very good for our opening, it was sometimes difficult to make an effective shot with much of the ground being uneven. We had to scrap a few ideas of shots because of the factor that filming it with the tripod was difficult as it was a challenge to get the camera perfectly straight. Although we couldn't effectively execute what was on our storyboard in the first place, we still managed to change it around to make it much easier to do. We also filmed among two days this proved to be an issue due to the fact that the sun was brighter on the second day, this meant that the camera was picking up more light which made the shots much brighter in tone. This meant that Will and I had to select the clips that were similar in tones and also the clips which we needed to include had to be changed in tone if they were different.

Editing Diary

When it came to editing, we had a very basic knowledge of how to use iMovie (because of our preliminary) however we were going to have to use a lot more editing techniques in our film opening, so the majority of what we edited is fairly new to us. We started by just adding all the clips together in temporal sequence and making sure they all cut and flow into the next shot. Afterwards we then started to experiment with transitions, we were aware that most transitions tend to negatively effect the verisimilitude of a film, but we tried anyway just in case if we could make a shot look more effective. Another aspect that was new to us was the actual opening credits. We had an idea of what they would look like, we aimed for the font to be quite creepy and more informal (such as the text font in the opening credits of Se7en) we were happy with the outcome of this. After the basic outline of the editing was done, we moved on to editing certain shots for example, we made every shot have less colour saturation so it looks dull and the forest looks a lot more lifeless. We also slowed down a couple of shots (the ones where the camera focuses on random objects in the woods) so it gave us enough time to put more credits over it, we aimed to not use too many slow motion edits as that could have an impact on the verisimilitude. Once we were happy with the overall edits we made, we took it to our teachers to see if they had any input, to which they had a few ideas on how to improve it and we tweaked it accordingly (for example we changed the type of effect the credits had as well as trying to make the cuts more in time with the music).

Filming diary

1st day of filming -10th of April 2017

The first day was all about getting the shots of the car going down the road. We took multiple shots from multiple angles of the car going throughout the forest and seeing what would work best. We also gathered some other misc shots in between (such as the shots of the dog, barbed wire and piled logs). This took a day on its own because to set the car up and have a continuous shot where there were no other pedestrians in between took an extended amount of time. All in all we managed to gain excessive footage of the car driving, this gave us plenty of room to work with when editing.

2nd day of filming - 11th of April 2017

The next day was all about finishing it off, We picked up from where the car pulled up in the road (which is when the actor was introduced). It took some time to get some of the shots as setting up the tripod on the road was very difficult as it was very uneven. Most of the footage was of the supposed antagonist going to the boot of the car and hitting the victim. We had some additional footage of the victim but decided not to use it in our final piece as it didn't fit in with the rest of the opening. We also felt that making the victim anonymous was effective in its own right. Fortunately, the location we are filming in is surrounded by trees, so the weather is less of a problem if it changes between the days.

Pitch For Film Opening

The film opening will and I are producing is following the story line that one character has taken another character as hostage. The characters identity is to be kept secret throughout the opening until the end of the scene, this is due to the fact that then the audience will be paying more attention to the setting, location and also the titles and music/sound. Will and I have been influenced by the hot TV series The Walking Dead this is due to us implementing sound stings along with cuts to random objects/actions around the scenery. This is used so that the audience does not lose concentration during the opening. To stop any confusion among the audience we have decided to use an establishing shot throughout the scene so that the audience can tell where the location and therefore setting is held.

Textual Analysis Will, Alfie

1)The conventions of a horror-thriller film includes: Not much light, darkness can often obscure things for the audience this can also create an enigma. The colours used tend to be very limited, often the colours used are black, white and grey which makes the scene look dull and has connotations to death. This opening has a green hue over most of it, which can also be connoted to illness and ultimately death as well.

2) These images were taken from the opening sequence of Se7en the thriller in 1995. This opening portrays the film to be very sinister and scary for the audience. This due to the mise-en-scene showing disfigured body parts among the opening and also a green filter which can be associated with the connotation of dark green being related to illness and consequently death. The titles that are showing the titles for the film are shown in an edgy text and appear to be shaking on the screen, this could be representing the characters personality that the film is about as someone that does these things shown in the opening to people on real life most likely has psychotic tendency's and therefore could have a non stable personality.

3) The music plays on common fears, hey have a strong relation with unhealthiness and death. This includes things like heavy machinery, hospitals and asylums. This is due to the mechanic sound that is present during the opening, the thought of heavy machinery often bring some kind of harm or damage to a person, as it is very dangerous. The hospital and asylums are shown to be quite eerie, as you can quietly hear screams and pain of people throughout the opening. This creates a sense of uneasiness and enigma to the audience, which fits in well with the visuals of the opening. The music has a constant beat in the background, this can be some kind of relation to a heartbeat and again fits in with the idea of the hospital. The beat slowly increases throughout the opening credits, this creates tension.

4) The font looks as thought it has been scratched into the screen it also has the animation of it moving and also reversing during the opening. The font is also very informal. The text animation is used to make the audience feel on edge as the text moves in a very uneasy fashion.

5) Detective Somerset is represented in this extract as more of an experienced detective. He has aged more than detective Mills and is therefore depicted as wise and thoughtful. When he is at his house, he has items around the house such as a chess board, this shows he is quite a logical man, and is a rational thinker. He also has a wooden statue of an elephant which can make him seem like a man of culture. He also tends to read a lot which can give off the impression that he is intelligent. He lays his clothes out for himself for the morning which shows he tends to plan ahead and is very organised. He also uses a metronome when going to sleep, this can give the impression he is quite thoughtful and can also connote that he is quite patient and possibly wont be irrational.
Detective Mills on the other hand is portrayed as more of a rookie detective. He isn't as experienced or wise as Somerset but he does have the confidence of someone who wants to prove themselves as a good detective. He is shown to be new to the job due to his messy lifestyle and constant rushing. When walking down the street with Somerset he occasionally bumps into people whereas Detective Somerset walks past perfectly fine, this shows that Mills is not used to the new environment around him and therefore is a rookie to the city. He tends to ask a lot of questions to Somerset, showing he is interested and possibly looks up to him as a role model. It is shown Detective Mills has a wife, and when woken up by the phone he tries to answer it quickly so not to wake her up, this shows that he is a caring person, especially for his wife.
Not a lot is shown who's hands are in the opening credits, but they make the audience feel uncomfortable by doing disturbing actions like slicing off his fingerprints and sewing while the camera focuses on the needle. This is hinted that this is the antagonist in the film, but he remains a mystery when being shown in the title credits. His motives are still yet unknown to the audience.

6) The narrative is hardly given in the opening, all the audience is shown is that there are a couple of forensic detective. the setting established in an urban area. There has been a murder, but it is made fairly insignificant to the audience.

7) The mise-en scene used has created the feeling of the genre very well. The lighting used is very dim and doesn't create many colours at all. There tends to be a lot of black/white and green colours. This has connotations of death and illness which fits in to the whole theme of the genre of the horror-thriller. The dull lighting and colours means that if any colour is shown at all that is outside fo the colour scheme used then the audience automatically draw their attention to it. The dull colours also foreshadows the dull mise-en scene throughout the film.

8) The impact it has on the audience is that it creates an enigma. We are shown someone doing strange and disturbing things like cutting of their own fingerprints on their hands, and sewing together pieces of paper, using tweezers and pens to alter what seems to be pictures and text. This gives off a creepy and disturbing feel to the audience and it is also assumed the person doing these things in the opening credits is most likely the antagonist in the film. Although we are seeing him do things that could be vital to the plot of the rest of the film, it is still unclear as to why he is doing the things that we are shown.

Textual analysis

1)Conventions

The warriors is a film from the 1970's which follows a lot of the conventions that are in film openings today. It does this 

very effectively as it manages to set the film up and the problems that the main cast will come across along the way. The 

film opening is 6:43 minutes long which goes over the 5 minute convention for a film opening but this is necessary in order 

to get as much information into the opening for the audience to understand what is happening later on in the film. The 

main characters are talking to each other a lot about where they are going in the opening which allows the audience 

to understand the scene they are going to and also why they are going, this is one of the conventions of film openings and 

in my opinion the warriors uses this very effectively. The characters are shown to the audience in the way that they stand 

in the 'gang', this is due to one of the characters always being questioned and knowing the answers also this same 

character proving dominance as the others look up to him and do not want to displease him. The opening credit titles are 

shown in a graffiti form of style this suits the era and style the film is set in. This is due to the film being about gangs and 

therefore them being associated with graffiti. 

2)How is tone/genre established?

The genres that The Warriors fits into would be action, adventure, drama, crime and 

thriller. These genres are portrayed through the opening sequence in many different ways. 

The action part of the film is shown through the quick transitions between clips which 

shows fast paced action and therefore making the audience feel like the film is very fast

paced and action packed. Adventure is shown through the main cast asking so many 

questions about where they are going and what they are doing there, this shows lack of

understanding about what they are doing therefore implying that the cast are going on an 

'adventure'. The drama part of the film is shown through the characters asking so many 

questions about the man they are going to see and also where they are going to meet this 

man, some of these questions are left unanswered or answered vaguely to maintain a 

sense of mystery and drama among the audience. Crime is shown due to the characters 

discussing the act that the place they are going to is filled with gangs and that they are 

going in 'like everyone else, nine guys and no weapons'. However one of the characters 

insists on fighting other gangs which is obviously a crime. this is also backed up by the 

titles being in graffiti which is a crime in itself. The thriller aspect in the film is not really 

played on in the opening as all that can be commented on in the opening regarding 

thriller is the characters building suspense through their dialogue by leaving a lot of 

questions unanswered.

3)Music

The music at the start of the opening is high pitched but with long tones, 

this is to build a sense of mystery among the audience as they are 

watching the train enter the platform. This makes the audience question 

what the significance of this train is and why it is relevant. The music when 

the 'the warriors' title appears goes into a sound sting, this is to get the 

audiences attention in order for them to read the title. When one of the 

cast members is telling the rest of the cast where they are going the music 

stops so that the audience can listen to what he is saying, the music is 

replaced with soundscape of the carnival they are at, this is mechanics and 

trains. When the cast enters the train the music picks up again but with a 

faster pace to build tension among the audience as they are now watching 

their journey to the location which the opening is focused on. whilst the 

journey is happening the camera cuts to a lot of different groups that are 

implied to be attending the same place as the cast, the music is played at a 

constant rate but however starts to pick up the pace whilst the cast are 

getting closer to their location. Once they reach their destination the music 

stops for an ambient silence, this is used so that the audience can pay more 

attention on taking as much information about the scene as possible.

4)Text/font

The text is in the font of graffiti, this fits the cast of the film and the setting of the film very well as the film is mainly about 

gangs -which are associated with vandalism and graffiti. The text also helps set the scene as in the area that the film is set 

there is a lot of graffiti and vandalism.  The red font could signify blood or danger among the cast which portrays the casts 

future in the film among the audience. The title of 'The Warriors' is the only text that is large among the title sequence, this 

is due to the fact that the director does not want this t go unnoticed, the members of the cast who helped produce the film 

are in a smaller font as the director does not want to cover any of the mise-en-scene with text that is not as important as 

the title. The negative space that has been used to contain the text is effective as when it is covered up by the words it 

does not cover any of the information that could be taken in by the audience on screen. 

5)Main characters

The main characters of the film are shown in the opening, the audience 

can identify that they are the main characters as they appear the most and 

also have dialogue among the opening sequence. One of the main 

characters appears to be the 'leader' of the cast, this is due to the other 

members asking him lots of questions during the clip and him having the 

knowledge to answer back. As well as, this character is the one telling the 

rest of the cast where they are going to which also proves leadership 

among them. Some of the casts characters are shown in the opening and 

their characteristics are shown in a short clip. This helps the audience 

understand what each character is like and therefore gain a further 

understanding of the story and characters. 

6)Technical codes

The opening starts with an establishing shot of the train coming into the station, this is effective as it sets the 

scene for the audience by showing them where the film is starting and it also allows them to be able to get a 

picture in their head about the economy of this certain area. the next shot is a close up of the main 

characters of the opening with a fair ground ride behind him, the depth of field is shown to have him in the 

foreground and the focus on him therefore the ride being very blurry behind him so the audience can only 

see the colours of the ride. The ride is shown to be very symbolic as it is already shown twice in the opening 

scene in a short period of time. It is also shown along with the title of the film at the start of the opening. An 

over the shoulder shot is used several times in order to show conversation between two characters, the 180 

degree rule is used several times in order to show the audience they are talking and to also stop confusion 

among the audience. 

7)Mise en scene

The main characters in the opening are all dressed in similar attire, this is due to the 

film reflecting that this group are a 'gang' in the city that the film is set. The gang lifestyle is 

reflected through the number of crimes and harassment that is present throughout the film. 

An example of crimes in the opening would be the amount of graffiti on the train and around 

the surrounding areas. Lots of the clips in the opening involve other gangs around the city, 

this is shown through the way that they act and also that they are all also in similar attire to 

one another. The whole opening is set during the night, this gives it a dull tone and therefore 

gives it a more impacting start due to the audience not focusing on the background as they 

cannot see it but rather on the characters and surrounding

8)Impact on audience

The overall impact on the audience changes throughout the audience, this is due to the tense music at the start further 

developing into a fast paced and action based piece. The characters actions also change the way the audience feels as 

when they are seriously talking about their journey the audience would be feeling tense but however once they get onto 

the train and start messing around the audience would feel more at ease with the situation. This opening is effective at 

setting up the story for the audience overall due to the minimal dialogue which doesn't make the audience stop listening 

and also does not include any unneeded dialogue to set the story.