Looking at Opening Scenes For Ideas : Se7en

This is the opening scene from Se7en, have a look at this and see if you agree with me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=689ieBn4t2U&feature=fvst

Mise En Scene:

There is eerie music in the background (Nine Inch Nails) . This is full of screeching noises which almost sound like screaming, as the opening goes on, the music picks up speed and increases the tension of the piece.

What we can see is a man creating a book. Many of these images are extremely disturbing for example a photograph of what appears to be a man with a thin metal pole through his skull. There are many other photographs of people crying, screaming or in pain. All these shots are in close up, which makes the audience is there or almost like they intruding or like that of a voyeur. This then makes them feel very uncomfortable.

We can only see this man's hands, which makes us instantly want to know more about the character, which draws us in. As we never see his face, he almost doesn't appear human or to have human sympathy or any other emotions.

The entire piece is filmed in a grey/blue/grungy tint which makes it feel more edgy and tense. These aren't natural colours which makes it very scary as we are not used to this colour scheme in everyday life.

He seems evil or criminal as he cuts off his finger pads with a razor. This image is very shocking and makes us believe that if it is easy for him to cause such pain to himself, that it could be just as easy to cause pain or misery to other people. And also shows that he does not want to be recognised. 

The overall opening is very effective as, though it is not enjoyable, it is very luring.
Do you agree?

I learnt from this that we do not need dialogue or lots of characters to draw people into a film and to interest. Because there are so many questions we feel we want to ask, this causes us to be engaged into the film.

The Style for My Film Introduction

Beginners

My style that I shall use in my film is similar to that which is used in 'Beginners'.  This is a really enjoyable film although did not seem to be a big hit at the box office.

Take a look at this trailer on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1DU_W9y-kI&feature=fvwp&NR=1

Ewan McGregor plays Oliver who meets a girl friend just after his father dies.
The whole film is "an uplifting comedy about how uplifting and transformative life can be" to quote the DVD cover.

He is struggling to come to terms with his father's death throughout the film. The film is shot partly in flash back, but this is inter-cut with the present day, and Oliver and his girl friend's developing relationship.

Oliver's father, played by Christopher Plummer, after being married for many years, and on the death of his wife, announces that he is gay. This Oliver is finding it difficult to come to terms with during the last few year's of his father's life. The final year's with his father is shown in flash back.
I particularly liked this film because I found the way it dealt with grief and the emotion of really missing someone you loved was very engaging.
It used flash back scenes, where present day scenes were inter cut with scenes of Oliver and his father. It also used montage and and relationship editing where associations of ideas were made about grief and joy.

They cleverly used still images inter-cut with action and some montage scenes to develop  an emotional response in the audience. As the website movies.nytimes.com states in its review: " the beautiful soft palette that seems to caress the characters, occasionally interrupting the moving images with illustrations and still photographs that jump off the screen like pop-ups"

I want to use some of these techniques in my film.

A Glossary of Technical Terms: Editing

Editing:

Continuity Editing is editing most commonly used in films, a series of shots which gives a sense of time chronologically.
I will use this in my film to build the story.
Cross-cut - this is where shots from two or more scenes are inter cut with each other so the the viewer's attention is grabbed by seeing fragments of each scene alternately.
I will use this in my film to grab the viwers' attention in a way that will make them think more deeply about the character.

Jump cut - This is where a cut is made that breaks the continuity of time by jumping forward in time from one part of an action to another. This is often used to build suspense as the viewer want to know what is happening, and looks for explanations in the coming storyline.
I will use this as an opening scene in my film as the character is reflecting on what has happened in the past, and the viewer will be curious to find out why the main character is behaving in this way.

Montage - This is where a number of seemingly unrelated shots or scenes are shown in quick succession which when combined, give meaning to the viewer.
I will use this in my film as a series of static shots to establish an emotional response in the audience.

A Glossary Of Technical Terms: Camera Angles

Glossary of technical terms

Camera angles:

Here are some examples of camera shots and angles.




Very wide angle shot: This shot is a distance shot and very often used to establish a scene or atmosphere.
I will use this to open one of my scenes.

Mid shot: This shows some detail of the character, but also gives the impression of the whole character.
I will use this to focus in on the main character's at the opening of the film.









Close up: This is where the main character or subject takes up the entire frame.
I will use this to help the audience identify with the main character and her feelings.






Camera Angles:
High angled Shot, this makes the person look vulnerable or small.
I may not use this as i do not want to create this emotion.

Low Angle Shot, gives the feeling power from the person...
I will use a variation on this shot in my film, not to show power but so show respect for the character's feelings.






Editing:

Continuity Editing is editing most commonly used in films, a series of shots which gives a sense of time chronologically.
I will use this in my film to build the story.

Cross-cut - this is where shots from two or more scenes are inter cut with each other so the the viewer's attention is grabbed by seeing fragments of each scene alternately.
I will use this in my film to grab the viwers' attention in a way that will make them think more deeply about the character.

Jump cut - This is where a cut is made that breaks the continuity of time by jumping forward in time from one part of an action to another. This is often used to build suspense as the viewer want to know what is happening, and looks for explanations in the coming storyline.
I will use this as an opening scene in my film as the character is reflecting on what has happened in the past, and the viewer will be curious to find out why the main character is behaving in this way.

Montage - This is where a number of seemingly unrelated shots or scenes are shown in quick succession which when combined, give meaning to the viewer.
I will use this in my film as a series of static shots to establish an emotional response in the audience.

Developing My Idea

Here is another idea for my project.


Below is the exercise we carried out in class that assembled my thoughts.
The exercise began with an opening about a character called Ross, and his age, and we were given an opening sentence and then we all started a story as to where Ross was.

Then we passed it to the next person in the class who added the dialogue, and then onto to another person who added in an object.


The next person added another character, then lastly it was finished off by the final pupil.

Here is a copy of the exercise:


This helped us all generate ideas for a film opening.

In my case I used the theme of having a single colour running though the film. I decided here that i could use a red balloon though the film to signify hope.

This also reminded me a Schindler's List where Spielberg used black and white photography throughout the film, but a girl was depicted in red, and the audience were drawn to her as a thread throughout the film. She is seem hiding from the Nazis in the ghettos but later is seen on a pile of bodies in a concentration camp.

This was a very powerful image, and made a big impact on me.

This started me thinking about the red theme throughout the opening sequence.

Initial thoughts

My initial thoughts are to create a psychological horror genre piece.I have watched The Shining and Donnie Darko and i found them interesting storylines, and the set for The Shining was very good.


Another thought is to create a drama piece similar to The Usual Suspects. This I thought was a great film, but the beginning would be difficult to re-create. The scene involves darkness a varied range of shots and camera angles, someone getting shot, this would all be difficult to do for a school AS project.


I dismissed a comedy genre, this would be fun to make, but it would be hard to create something that others find funny. I may have an unusual sense of humour! The Inbetweeners was a good TV series, the men who made it used material that they found funny at school and used this to develop the script. To do a comedy around a school would be very challenging, and it has been done before.

The Brief

Our final piece is a two minute long film opening of a genre and theme of our choice.


I have chosen to show a  series of scenes concerning a girl who has lost someone (though this is not completely apparent in the opening scene).

I am interested in this because it is a sensitive and emotional issue that everyday people may have to face and i wanted to film this because i am interested in peoples' inner feelings and this can be shown in the media of a film. This will give me the chance to use the camera shots and angles to help create empathy with the girl. Also i can practise with a range of editing techniques to help establish this emotional response from the audience.

I do not want to create an all action or a violent piece because this i personally do not watch and am not interested in this film genre.