Researching Openings

Today our group have been researching openings. We have been looking at other genres too because we have not decided what genres we want to do for our opening, we will look at the opening and base our decisions on what we see because we all have different ideas of what genres we would like to do.
Jessica likes the idea of horror and gore, she believes it is a much more interesting genre as the opening is tense and gets straight into the middle of it, although it varies in target audience it is a much more universal genre, however, Laura likes the idea of a genre in a rom com opening, it is much happier then horror and the music is much more interesting then the ones used in horror.
We have decided to look at the following opening:
- Hitch (Romantic Comedy)
- The Butterfly Effect (Psychological Thriller)
- Paranormal Activity (Horror)
- Tangled (Animation)
We look at each of these films and different genre and compared them but also looked at the contrast of both films. We looked at the institutions each film has used and the relevance of them. After we checked how the film had opened, the type of music they had used, how they bought the names of the stars up (not using starring) the types of shots they had used. Although their shots are longer, it is still interesting and we have to do the same in the space of 2 minutes.
We also checked what fonts they had used, we realised how careful they were with the colour font, so it is not the same as the background colour, the size of the fonts they used, not too big and not too small. The type of font they use in the genre had to be relevant, for example, in a horror movie the font in the title will not be small and bubbly because it would look out of place.
I had then realised that the shots they used were mostly establishing shots unless it started with a conversation. When a character is talking they do not often put the names of the stars up, this is because it is a close up and what the main character or the character is saying in the opening is very important. However there is elements of establishing shot, which is mainly used when the title is coming up, this is because they want a simple background of a landscape, not someone having a conversation to distract them from the title. Other movies use clip art and animation, shots and pictures combined together, not just moving clips. This is simple but very effective. All the openings are different, some of the people in the group preferred the way other genres used the opening and the other half of the group did not.
After watching the opening we will discuss which genre we will pick for our opening. The institutions we will use for the particular opening, the font, shots and plan everything out. The film openings have made us realise which part we have to focus on in order to keep the opening look professional and suitable for our chosen target market.

Styles of shots

'Over the shoulder shot'

This style of shot is known as 'over the shoulder shot' this is mostly used in a movies when 2 or more people are having a conversation. The smaller the group is the more effective this style of shot is because it will be clear. The camera shooting is done over the opposite shoulder of the person who is talking, this results into a clear view of the person who is talking but the back of the head of the person they are talking too. It focuses on the person who is talking which makes the viewer understand that what they are saying is important. This shot is suitable in all movies as it is a universal shots.

'Mise-en- Scene'

Mise- en- Scene is a shot in the scene were everything in the scene is correct. All the costume is correct for the theme of this scene and all the objects are in the right place. A simple way of describing this shot is 'nothing is out of place'. For example: In this mean girl scene, the girls have attended a halloween party, the costume they are wearing has to be relevant and suitable for the shot so the audience is aware that they are having a halloween party, the scene they are taking this shot has to be in the right place, in a house, woods etc. They would not do it in an old persons house because that is not suitable and it does not make any sense. The objects used in this scene, such as the alcohol, ping-pong, stereos is relevant for this shot, no objects in there should be used for something else.

Genres

In our group we have chosen the following genres to study:

Horror 

'the uninvited'

                       

Horror films is a genre that had the elements of terrifying, shocking twist that captures the audiences attention and keeps them engaged throughout the movie and captivate them. There is a wide range of styles when editing scenes from a Horror film. They use distorted effects most often so it lets the audience interpret what is going to happen but it also keeps them in suspense because they cannot see clearly and will have a vivid imagination of what it is going to happen. In the opening it shows us a horror scene and just before it shows us the key part of what is happening it changed to a establishing shot so it does not give the idea away, it takes the suspension away so when the horror scenes come afterwards it is unexpected. The audiance usually used in a horror movie is above 15, this could be because of the language or the sexual references that are usually in a horror movie. Horror movie is often combined with science fiction or a event that does not happen in real life this is what makes a horror movie terrifying because of the elements of surprise or the unexpected that you do not come across in real life.  The music used in a horror movie is a eery type of low humming, or a high pitch orchestrated to raise the tension. It is not often silent as it can be unappealing but silence is also used to raise the tension so when the unexpected happens we can also be scared by the music.

Comedy

'Step Brothers'
A comedy Genre often have a light hearted plot and has deliberate elements of different styles of humour to engage the  audience and make them laugh. There are many establishing shot in comedy and close ups in order for us to understand who the main characters are. The audience in comedy films depend on what the theme of comedy and age is. It is not unrestricted like Horror film because children can still watch comedy films however films such as step brothers will have a age certificate because of the use of humour used in the movie that may not be appropriate for young children.

The music used in comedy will be cheerful and known music that is relatable to comedy or that interests the audience to sing along too it, not out loud but in their head as it is not a musical. A comedy will have different scenes that will make you laugh and although there maybe serious elements in order to make the movie interesting, but the comedy will be in the majority of times.
The type of comedies in a comedic film will have involved slapstick, screwball, spoofs and parodies, romantic comedies and black comedy. Other shots that are used in a comedy are eye level so we can see the characters expression. The costumes used in a comedy are normal everyday clothes however it can change if the clothes is dependant to make the audience to laugh.

Psychological Action/ Thriller

'Sucker Punch'

A

A psychological action/thriller makes the audience unaware of what is happening in a movie. A psychological thriller does not have to be as scary in a higher level but there are unexpected elements of shock and scare in the movie to keep the audience engaged. There is usually a unexpected twist at the end to shock the audience and leave them thinking at the end. The costumes used in  movies depends on the scene there are acting in, for example, during the action scenes in sucker punch they have weapons on them and leather costumes to make them agile and when it switches to them dancing they are wearing clothes that are relatable to dancing. The angles they use can differ at times it can be off point so the audience is unaware of what is happening in the film or close ups in order to see the scars or a specific part of an object to make us aware of it. The music used in psychological action/thriller are usually high tempo and quick but when it is on the thriller part of the movie then it is often quite and eery but with a quick pace to it to keep the audience agitated.

Concentrating on the opening