Planning - Film Opening Shot Test

This is a short clip explaining the opening shot in our film opening and how we will go about doing it. The camera will be moved to focus on the character in the back of the car, who will be one of the antagonists in our opening. In order to improve the quality of this particular shot, we will use adequate lighting and good camera work through a medium of a quality camera. To summarise, we learnt a lot about what we can improve in this shot at the start of our film opening and that it was a successful test shot. 

Storyboard & Script Pitch

Representation Conventions

When planning our film opening, it is important to consider the representation of it through the costume, setting, lighting, camerawork and mise-en-scene.

Costumes

The dealers of the package will wear dark suits to suggest that they are professional and know what they are doing. However, the dark colour of the suits will suggest that they are shady characters.

The protagonist will wear a white hoodie which will create enigma around the character and make the audience want to know what their true identity is. In addition, the colour white will suggest that they are innocent and a good character.

Setting

The main location of our film is going to be a car park building in Banbury town centre and the area surrounding it. We consider this to be the best setting as most of our target audience will relate to it. This is because most of our audience probably live in towns and use their town centre regularly. Therefore, this will make our audience think that our film opening could happen in a real-life situation as they can relate to our setting because they probably live in towns.

The exchange is going to happen in a car park because it creates an element of privacy and ensures that the public and authorities won't see it happen. Furthermore, the exchange is going to be hijacked so it will result in a car chase. Therefore, it makes sense to have the exchange set in a car park building.

Lighting

In our film opening, we will use high-level lighting for parts of our opening scene that are not inside the car park building. This is because we want the lighting in our film to seem as realistic as possible and we want the audience to see lighting that is realistic. However, if we get all the filming done in a single day, we can just use natural lighting for the parts of our film opening as the lighting won't change drastically. If it isn't possible to do this, we will definitely use high-level lighting to ensure that the lighting for the outside parts of our opening scene is consistent. This is because we want our audience to know that our opening was professionally made.

For the parts of our opening that are in the car park building, we will use some low-key lighting. This because we want to create a shady effect around the dealers in order to create enigma and mystery surrounding them. In addition, we want the audience to suspect the dealers as possibly shady characters and keep them intrigued in our film opening as they would want to find out more about them and what dodgy business or crimes they are going to commit.

Camerawork

In our film opening, we will mostly use tracking shots, especially during the car chase. This is because we want our audience to be able to keep up with the fast-paced parts of our film opening and be entertained at the same time. We will also use match-on-action during the car chase in order to maintain continuity in our film opening. This will also make it easier for our audience to understand that the car chase is quite lengthy and fast-paced as the cars won't be in frame for that long. Furthermore, we also use an establishing shot to display the outside of the car park and then we will pan the camera upwards towards the part of the building in which the exchange. This will make our audience understand that that is were the exchange is taking place.

We also use low-angle shots of the dealers to make them seem more powerful than the recipient of the package. In addition, a lot of close-ups will be used to effectively capture the tension happening in our film opening. Some of the close ups will be of the characters changing gears, applying brakes and pressing accelerator pedals and clutches to truly capture the high tension and emotion of our opening scene.

Mise-en-scene

Firstly, we will have an expensive sedan car (like a BMW or Mercedes) which will be used by the dealers. This is because we want the audience to know that it is a relatively fast car, therefore, it will be suitable for a fast-paced car chase. It will also suggest that the dealers are relatively rich and infer that they have done previous deals which they received good money for doing.

The dealers will also have guns to show that they are capable of killing other people and that they seem more in power and control over people that do not have firearms. The protagonist in our film will wear casual clothing because we want him to represent an average teenager. We also feel that this will empower teenagers watching our film to do something that seems impossible but can be done.

Casting Callouts

Within our film opening, there are 4 roles that need to played by different actors. In order to appeal to actors to star in our film opening, we produced casting callouts to find the best possible and hopefully ideal actors that fit in all the different roles within our narrative and best fit in with what we are looking for.

Protaganist:

We are currently casting for a male protagonist aged between 15 and 18 to act in our film. You will need to be between the height of 5ft 10" and 6ft 1". The characteristics you will need is to be quite dominant and at audition improvise a short scene of a chase between two characters. For this role you will need to have strong athletic ability with limited disabilities and can be of any ethnicity.

Antagonist:

We are currently casting for a male antagonist who is middle aged and of a height around 6ft 2' being any ethnicity. The audition for this role would involve improvising an exchange of a briefcase between two shady characters. You must be dominant and be able to assert authority well through the use of body language. The costume for this role would involve wearing a dark suit.

Others:

We are currently casting for two male henchmen to play a minor acting role in our film. The actors must be around middle aged and be of a height above six foot, as well as be able to drive. You can be of any ethnicity and have limited disabilities. In audition, you will need to improvise a dominant walk with a briefcase as well as a small car scene.

Casting Conventions

In our group, we brainstormed what our ideal protagonist and antagonist would be for our film opening. This then helped us produce call-outs to find actors that best suited the roles within our film opening. 

Location Recce

Our main location for our film opening will be the Castle Quay car park building in Banbury because this is where the exchange of a briefcase will be happening in our film opening. We will film this part in the dark as we want to create a feeling of tension during the exchange of the briefcase because we want to conform to some of the conventions of thriller which are low-lighting and high-tension.

It will roughly take us about 10-20 minutes to arrive at our location as we will most likely travel by car and because all of us live near Banbury. We will probably be filming on location for about 2 hours as we also want to include a time lapse from day to night as a transition within our film opening. In order to film our time lapse, we will have to place our camera on top of a tripod and ensure that it stays in position until it the time lapse is complete. The main reason for filming this part of the film opening at night is that we want to have low-key lighting in the scene to create tension during the exchange and to emphasise that it is a key part of our film opening.

Main Task Planner - Film Opening

• Logline (25 word summary): Two opposing gangs exchange a mysterious briefcase in a sketchy setting, however, a stand alone hero thinks otherwise
• Synopsis/Narrative: Two opposing characters meet to do an exchange of a package unaware of a third adversary who is ready to steal it. Once the exchange is complete, the interceptor chases the dealer for the package and the opening ends with him catching him
• Audience: 15 years of age because of the conventions of our chosen genre, action-thriller
• Representation: Dark clothing to surround the characters with mystery and not inform the audience of their true identities 
• Sound: Dramatic music (non-diegetic sound) starting from when the interceptor receives the text message, building up tension. Little dialogue apart from at the beginning when travelling to the location of the exchange
• Mise-en-scene: We will choose the appropriate props and arrange the scene in the best way we can in order to match the descriptions of each scene
• Setting/Costume and Props: Our film opening will be based in the setting of a multi-storey car park and the surrounding area. The costume used will be dark clothing and suits to make the film opening seem as realistic as possible
• Acting: We will acquire the best possible actors to play the roles in our film opening. We will consider different actors and the positives and negatives of their ability to act in our film opening
• Lighting: We will use low-key lighting in our film opening because we want to conform with the conventions of action-thriller, our chosen genre. This may take time to set up correctly in order to make it look as best as possible
• Editing: During post-production, we will use continuity editing so that the narrative of our film opening is clear and easy to understand for our target audience

Narrative Structure

Narrative structure- The way in which a film is structured, either chronologically or with jump cuts or flashbacks. If a film is in time order, this would make it a linear narrative structure. However, if the film cuts between multiple narratives happening simultaneously or has flashbacks, this would make it a non-linear narrative structure.

Our film opening is going to have a linear narrative so it easy for our target audience to understand our storyline and so that they can feel the tension created in our opening. We think that using flashbacks isn't going to be effective as we want our film opening to be fast-paced and to keep the audience intrigued as what is going to happen next in our opening. Therefore, our film opening will flow continuously and keep our audience interested in it until the end.

Mise-en-scene Key Terms

Camera shots and angles

Match on action - a character/vehicle leaves the frame on the left, then enters the next shot on the right to maintain continuity

Aerial shot - a shot directly above the scene to show a clear view, often used to emphasise a spectacle.

Close up (and variations) - close ups (extreme, big and medium) are used to draw the audience closer to the scene and involve with what is going on. They are mainly used  to observe reactions and emotions, like happiness, elation and tension

Crab shot - a camera shot inside of a confined space

Crane shot- a shot in which the camera is positioned onto a specially-manufactured crane that can be lowered or raised

Establishing shot- a shot that is normally used at the start of a film/TV show or a new scene in a film to constitute the relationship between the set and the characters in that scene

Head on shot- a shot were the action goes directly towards the camera (mainly used in action/war films to increase tension

High angle- a shot were the camera is positioned above the subject(s), often used to make them seem vulnerable or powerless

Long shot- a shot were the camera is positioned in the distance from the subjects being filmed

Low-angle shot- a shot were the camera is placed below eye-level of the subject(s) being filmed

POV- a camera shot from the perspective of the character used to create realism and involve the audience in the scene

Reaction shot- created for an interview between 2 people, commonly used to display an interviewer reacting to their respondent's answers

Subjective shot- a shot where the camera is positioned as if it looking through the subjects eyes

Tracking shot- a shot where the camera moves along rails to follow the subject/character

Two shot- shot of 2 people, normally a medium close up/medium shot. It shows the spatial relationship of 2 people, who often are in a conversation. Commonly used in TV soaps.

Wide shot- can be used as an establishing shot of a set/location or of a large crowd.

Transitions/Editing

Crosscut- a moving image edit involving a number of cutaways and also cuts back from a sequence of narrative action to another one taking place at the same time

Cutaway- a short shot that briefly interrupts the primary action of the film by displaying a related action, thing or character, not necessarily part of the current scene

Jump cut- a sudden, disorientating transition in the middle of a continuos shot in which the action the is obviously advanced in time and/or cut between 2 similar shots, normally done to create discontinuity for artistic effect

Dissolve- a type of transition when one image dissolves into another image

Match on action- emphasises continuity of time and space by matching the action of the previous shot with continuation of the action

Visual effects- the enhancement or removal of certain elements within a scene

Parallel editing- when two locations are cut together to imply a connection between the two sets of events

Montage editing- several images juxtaposed together to create meaning

Graphic match- an effect in which two different objects of the same shape are dissolved into one another

Juxtaposition- placement of two, often opposed, images on either side of an edit to create an effect

Continuity editing- type of editing that aims to create a sense of reality and time moving forward. Also nicknamed invisible editing referring to how the technique does not draw attention to the editing process

Eyeline match- type of editing that maintains eyeline on level when cutting from a character to see what the character sees

Flashback- scene or movement in a film in which the audience is shown an event that happened earlier in the film

Slow motion- indicates intensity or importance of an action scene

Credits- information at the beginning or end of a film giving details of cast and crew etc.

Linear narrative- style of storytelling in which events happen chronologically

Lighting/Sound

High key lighting- lighting that appears to be natural (but infrequently is). A three point system is used to decrease shadows and be flattering to the character

Low key lighting- lighting system which intensifies shadows and gives a moody or scary effect

Back lighting- when a character is lit from behind, thus silhouetting them

Diegetic sound- sound that can be heard by the characters within a scene/ sound part of the imaginary world

Non diegetic sound- sound that cannot be heard by the characters and is not part of the storyworld in the film. Can be musical soundtrack or voiceover

Score- Musical component of a film's soundtrack, usually composed specifically for a scene

Sound effects- sounds that are added to a film during the post-production stage

Sound motif- sound effect or combination of sound effects that are affiliated with a certain character, setting, situation or idea

Sound bridge- can lead in or out of the scene. Can occur at beginning of scene when the sound from the previous one carries over briefly before the sound from the new scene begins

Dialogue- words spoken between characters

Incidental music- non-diegetic sounds which add atmosphere to an action or revelation

Ambient sound- background sounds that are present in a scene or location. It provides audio continuity between shots, reinventing an unnatural silence when no others sounds are present and establishes or reinforcing the mood of a scene

Sound perspectives- sense of a sound's position in space, yielded by volume and pitch. Used to create a more realistic sense of space, with events happening closer or further away

Voiceover- when a voice (often of a character in a film) is heard while we see an image of space and time in which that character is not speaking. It is often used to give a sense of a character's subjectivity or to narrate an event told in flashback

General terms

Mise-en-scene- everything that is a scene e.g. costume, props, lighting etc.

Location- place where the scene is being shot

Set design- the decoration of a set that expresses certain characteristics

Costume- clothing of the characters connotes different things about them

Iconography- visual style of a film/TV show

Props- things used by characters in particular scenes

Proxemics- physical distance between characters

Physicality- physical presence of a character and what they bring to the role

Gesture/posture- physical movements of characters and what it says about them

Planning - Script

This is the script that we produced in our group for our film opening. In our film opening, an exchange of a mysterious package takes places at a sketchy setting, only to be hijacked by an unknown perpetrator.

INT. CAR - DAY (1)

                                                 

                     Driver of the car adjusts front mirror to align with subjects face in the  

                                  back seat, as he travels towards the exchange. 

                                                               DRIVER 

      

                                                         Where you off to? 

                                                                DEALER 

                                                Just another business meeting. 

                                                   EXT. STREET - DAY (2) 

                            

                          Low angled camera shot of the cars passing through the street. 

                                  No characters are shown. 1-2 second shot. 

                                                EXT. UNKNOWN LOCATION - DAY (3)

                          Extreme close up of a phone showing a time and location. You 

                             don't know who is receiving this text or who its came from. 

                                                                                         Fade out: Blackout to:

                                                TITLE SCREEN: THE EXCHANGE 

                    Black screen as the title of the film appears suddenly in bold, jumping 

                                                out towards the camera. (5 seconds) 

       

                                                                                       Dramatic music fades in:

                                                                                                                     

                                                                                                      Dissolve to:

                                                EXT. IN THE TOWN - DAY (4)

               

                      Tracking shot of the interceptors feet as he walks towards the 

                      location he's just received. Extras in the background as he walks 

                      through the street. Dramatic music becomes added to create tension 

                      and add anticipation to the audience. 

                                                

                                                INT. CAR PARK - DAY (5) 

                                                 

                Close up of a car pulling into the undercover car park to complete the 

                exchange. The music gets higher in tension and opening credits appear 

                on the side of the screen over time, gradually introducing everyone 

                involved in the film.

                Camera cuts to establishing shot of the car park with two cars facing 

                each other ready to do the exchange. The camera then zooms in onto
                the cars gradually.

                Camera cuts to a shot of the subject in a low angled shot, showing their
                feet as the step out of the car. The music begins to increase in tension
                as the audience see the briefcase for the first time. Tracking shot of the
                subjects feet as he begins to walk towards the deal.

                 As the receiver of the briefcase and the giver meet there is a over the
                 shoulder shot as the character passes the briefcase over, the camera
                 doesn't show who receives the briefcase during the exchange.
                                             
                                                EXT. STREET - DAY (6)

               High angled long shot of the subject walking away from the deal,
               music still continuing, camera slowly zooms into the subject and begins
               to track him, as if someone is stalking him.

               Cut to mid shot of the subject walking away with the briefcase. The
               subject walks past the camera and then the camera focuses on a person
               following him in a suspicious way, the subject is unaware of this.

               Cut to side shot of the characters as the subject becomes aware of the
               follower and he begins to up the pace to try and get away from him.
               Camera doesn't move, the characters pass by it.

                                               EXT. ALLEY - DAY (7)

              Close up of the subject's face with the briefcase held up to it, he's hid
              behind the wall trying to lose his follower and get away with the
              briefcase. Shows the emotions of the character.

              The camera remains in a close up of the subjects face, the interceptor/
              follower grabs the subjects face and covers their mouth.

                                                               DEALER

                                                              (Screams)

Cut out to blackout.

Planning - Storyboard

Planning - Initial Ideas

These are both sides of a mind map showcasing our initial thoughts and ideas for what genre to do for our film opening and also the possible actors and locations that will be involved in our film opening.

Planning - Choosing an Idea

In our group we discussed many different ideas for our film opening such as horror and action thriller. By looking at previous film openings as examples, we gained some inspiration from them in terms of choosing a genre for our film openings. In our group, we finally settled on making our film opening an action thriller because we felt that this was the best genre for us to conform to the codes and conventions of it.

Our research into similar movies such Dark Knight and Heat benefited us because it provided us with inspiration for possible storylines for our film opening. This helped us settle on a linear narrative storyline with inspiration from the film Heat, which involves a similar plot line to our film opening.

Action Thriller Conventions

The action thriller genre is present in films such as Casino Royale (2006) and The Dark Knight (2008). The aim of this genre is to intrigue the audience and to keep them interested in the film with the use of violence and fast-paced action scenes.

General conventions

• An action thriller film usually has a male protagonist that has to prevent an antagonist, who is usually a terrorist or psychopathic criminal mastermind, from causing mass destruction or death in a metropolitan setting.
• Films with this genre usually have a plot twist to surprise the audience 
• Low-key lighting 
• Fast-paced music
• Jump-cuts
• Cross-cutting
• A love interest of one of the protagonists is usually captured, threatened or killed by the main antagonist
• The film is usually based on a real-life event or a scenario that could happen in the real world

Character and Setting conventions

• The protagonist is usually a male working for a secret service or police force. However, in more recent films such as The Dark Knight Rises (2012), the protagonist can also be a vigilante that wants to bring a criminal to justice.
• The antagonist is usually a criminal mastermind or the head of a terrorist organisation with intentions of causing mass destruction or death for their own personal gains.
• The film will usually take place in a setting that resembles a metropolitan city in the USA to make the story seem more realistic and broaden the appeal for the audience watching the film.
• The antagonist will usually be from a foreign country to the USA, for example, in most Hollywood films, the main villain would have a British accent.

Camerawork conventions

• Establishing shots of the metropolitan setting may be used at the start of the film so the audience knows that the majority of the action will take place across different parts of the city.
• Tracking shots would be used when filming car chase scenes to track the movement of the protagonist's vehicle
• Low angle shots with low-level lighting could be used to restrict the identity of the antagonist in order to create mystery and enigma surrounding the character

Editing conventions

• Cross-cutting would be used to show two different narratives of the protagonist and antagonist happening at the same time but in different settings. This would end in a conflict between the antagonist and the protagonist meeting at the same setting.
• Jump cuts in certain scenes would be used, for example, flashbacks that give us a background story on a certain character. However, they could also be used to unsettle the audience watching the film
• A graphic match would be used to show a confrontation between the antagonist and the protagonist

Music and Sound conventions

• The soundtrack of the film usually speeds up to create tension or during important/key scenes 
• Most of the diegetic sound in action-thriller films is dialogue between the characters, gun shots and car noises such as the engine revving and the burning of rubber against tarmac when characters perform handbrake turns during car chases

Peer Feedback on 60 Second Pitch

Time Planning Charts

Mood Board

This is a mood board showing the conventions of the chosen genre for our film, which is action-thriller.

Dark Knight Genre Specific Opening Scene Analysis

The Dark Knight (2008) is an action-thriller movie produced by Warner Bros. It follows the story of Batman protecting Gotham City from organized crime and criminals, especially the Joker. I decided to research and analyse this film opening because it is specific to our genre of action thriller and it will give us inspiration for producing our film opening based around the same genre. 

Camera

The first significant shot in this scene is a contra zoom shot of a window breaking in a glass building block. This infers that shot a grappling hook to get over to the opposite building, suggesting that an organized crime such as a bank robbery is going to happen. This follows the conventions of action thriller because it keeps the audience intrigued.

The next shot that is also significant is the mid shot of the Joker with his back turned and facing the street while the camera zooms in onto the clown mask that he is holding. Because the camera zoomed in on to the clown mask, it suggests that it will become important later on in the scene. It also suggests that he wishes to conceal his identity before performing a bank robbery along with some of his henchmen.

This two shot of a henchman with a clown mask stood behind another is quite significant. It suggests that the person behind is going to kill or stab him in the back in order to suggest that he wants to bigger cut. Therefore, he kills him once his job is done in the hope that he himself can take a larger section of pay from the bank robbery. 

The final significant shot in this opening is this contra zoom mid shot of the Joker looking down on the bank manager that he just shot. It suggests that he asserted dominance over the bank manager by nearly killing him with his sub machine gun. This creates an archetypal villain by showing him look down on the manager, a position of power, with higher superiority and probably disgust at him. 

Editing

The effective use of editing really makes the narrative in this film opening very clear. This scene doesn't have any flashbacks but does have some cuts and makes good use of parallel editing throughout the scene. Therefore, it makes the story line extremely clear.

Parallel editing is used throughout this scene to show different narratives happening simultaneously. For example, this is first clear when the part with two henchmen disabling the bank alarm cuts to a part when the Joker enters a car with two other different henchmen. Once the Joker and his other henchmen enter the bank, it cross cuts back to the two henchmen on the roof. It then shows that henchman killing the one disarming the alarm. Once that happens, that henchman runs down into the bank and starts drilling a hole in the safe. It then cuts back to the Joker and his main henchman performing crowd control until they are confronted by the bank manager, who shoots the other henchman performing crowd control with a shot gun. 

Once the Joker finishes confronting the bank manager, the camera cuts back to the first shown henchman trying to open the safe. This time, Joker's main henchman comes to assist him but once the other henchman finishes opening the safe, the main henchman kills him and starts stealing all the money in the safe by spilling it into multiple duffel bags. It then cuts back to the Joker standing with the main henchman that just brought over the duffel bags filled with money. A confrontation between the Joker and his main henchman then occurs but it then ends by the main henchman getting run over by a bus. Another henchman then comes out of the bus and starts putting all the money filled duffel bags into the back of the bus. Once he finishes doing that, the Joker shoots him dead as he is of no use to him anymore. This further reinforces the Joker as a powerful villain because it shows he can dispose of any henchman he wants to at any given time.

Sound

The sound used in this film opening is extremely effective in helping create a very important and captivating opening. It ranges from music and various different parts of dialogue to help shape a truly intriguing and great way to open a movie.

First of all, the atmospheric and fast paced music at the start slowly speeds up and creates tension right before important parts of the scene happen. This helps the audience feel the tension of the opening as it is a delicate operation of a bank robbery right at the start of the movie. The tense music conveys the tension felt by each of the henchmen in order to perform their jobs well and efficiently to ensure that the bank robbery is a successful operation. 

The first piece of dialogue is between two main henchman at the front of the car debating the cut each person gets while also talking about who they think the Joker is. The next dialogue starts when it cut to two other henchman on a roof, one of them asks the other why the person they are working for is called the Joker. The other responds by saying the Joker wears make up or war paint to scare people. This is significant because all of this is happening while each of the henchmen perform their designated tasks. 

The next piece of diegetic noise is when Joker's two main henchmen start shooting the roof of the bank to alert the tellers and crowd that they are going to be robbed. He tells them not to put their hands in the air and instead gives them all grenades to hold on to and them telling them that their lives are in their own hands. 

After that, it cuts back to the two henchmen on the roof disabling the alarm. The one disabling the alarm says :"That's funny, it didn't dial 911 it dialed a private number. The henchman behind him responds by saying "Is that a problem?" and the other henchman says "No I'm done here" before the one behind him shoots him in the back. 

The music then becomes deeper with sudden thudding noises suggesting that the tension is building up during the course of the robbery and that it is going lead to a dramatic climax. This keeps the audience engaged and informs them that something is going to happen. 

The next significant diegetic noise is when the bank manager shoots one of the henchmen on crowd control in the back with a shot gun. This becomes relevant because it scares the Joker and the other main henchman into hiding from the bank manager so that they don't get shot as well. 

The next significant dialogue is when the main henchman comes over to the guy opening the safe. The henchman opening the safe says "The Joker said when the guy was done I can take him out". The main henchman then replies by saying "Funny, he told me something similar" before shooting the other henchman dead. 

The penultimate peice of dialogue is between the Joker and the main henchman. The main henchman says "I bet the Joker told you to kill me once I finished loading the cash. The Joker says "No no I killed the bus driver". The henchman then says "Bus Driver?" before getting run over by a bus crashing through the bank.

Mise-en-scene

The use of mise-en-scene is extremely effective in this opening scene. The fact that the setting is a bank and probably a real bank shows that the directors tried to make the film opening as realistic as it could possibly be. It is also filmed in a metropolitan setting giving the impression that a similar bank robbery could happen in a real life setting. 

The use of clown masks for the Joker and the henchmen to conceal their identity shows the juxtaposition of a comical clown with a tough group of thugs robbing a bank. However, the clown masks are also used to be intimidating to the crowd as some people do have a pshycological fear of clowns and the fact that they are performing a bank robbery makes it even worse for those people. 

Scream Non-Genre Opening Scene Analysis

Camera

The first shot of the opening scene is a close up of a phone ringing. This is really significant because it is foreshadowing that the phone will become important later on in the scene. Furthemore, it suggests that there will be a conversation on the phone between two characters that are important in the film.

The next significant shot is a crane shot moving down from focusing on a tree branch all the way down to a swing attached to it. This shot suggests that the tree and the swing will become more significant later on in the opening scene, possibly inferring that someone or something will be hung from the tree branch.

Another shot that becomes significant is a mid shot of the girl next to knives in a kitchen. This is again foreshadowing that one of the knives will be used to kill someone or that the killer on the phone will use them to kill her or somebody else.

The most significant shot after that is when the camera contra-zooms from a mid shot to the girl's face after the guy she is talking to on the phone says :"I want to know who I'm looking at." This is significant because it captures the emotion of fear and confusion on her face at the moment in the film opening. It also shows the sudden realization that she is being watched by the person that she is talking to.

Editing

The editing in this opening scene from scream is quite effective because the lack of transitions used allows the film opening to flow and the narrative is easier to understand as it is linear without the use of flashbacks.

It does have a slight cut from the woman being in the house to a shot of a tree outside the house. The other significant editing in this opening is the graphic match between the woman staring out of the window and a quick pan shot of the outside of the house. This is important because it gives the impression that she is looking around the area for the killer that she is on the phone to. It also suggests that something important will happen later on outside of the house.

Sound

This opening scene from Scream uses sound very effectively to build tension straight away. For example, the non-diegetic sound of a person screaming before the start of the scene instantly suggests that the film is of horror genre and that there will probably be many killings during the course of the film.

The next significant use of sound the diegetic noise of the phone ringing at the start of the opening scene. This infers that someone is trying to get hold of the girl in the house and engage in a conversation with her over the phone. It also infers that the phone is key to the effectiveness of this opening scene.

The most significant use of sound in this opening scene is the dialogue between the woman and the killer over the phone because most of the diegetic sound in this scene is on the phone through a conversation. The most intriguing piece of dialogue is when the killer says "You never told me your name" and then the woman responds by saying "Why do you want to know my name?". After that the killer replies by saying "because I want to know who I'm looking at". This possibly the most significant part of this conversation because it becomes clear that the person the woman is talking to is outside her house.

A further effective use of sound is when the swing on the tree is creaking. This suggests that a hanging may happen from a tree branch later on in the scene and that it may be the girl or somebody else that is killed and then hung up on the branch.

Mise-en-scene

The use of mise-en-scene is also key in keeping with the codes and conventions of the horror genre during the course of this opening scene from Scream. For example, the foreshadowing of the image of the knives in the kitchen suggests that something significant in will happen later on in the scene that will involve the knives.

The next significant use of mise-en-scene in this film opening is when the girl's boyfriend is revealed strapped to a chair with duct tape around his mouth. In addition, he also has some blood on his clothes. All of this conforms to the conventions of horror because some one's loved one is trapped and nothing can be done and also the significance of the blood on the boy's clothes suggests that he will be killed the man with the scream mask.

Force Awakens Non-Genre Opening Scene Analysis

                                                                                                                                                               

Camera Shots

The first camera angle that is used the long shot. This used to show the vast size of the star destroyer and also suggest the grandeur of the first order and space behind it. After that, a tracking shot is used to focus on a smaller space ship that just flew out of the large star destroyer. This suggests that it is foreshadowing that the ship will become important later on in the scene. The next camera angle that is used is a close up of a stormtrooper's helmet which suggests that that stormtrooper will become more important later on in the scene. After that a long shot is used to show all of the stormtroopers in a small single spaceship which shows the power of the Empire as they have many more troops. The camera shot used next is the establishing shot; it firstly focuses on a dark sky to suggest it is nighttime and then the camera moves downwards to show that the scene is in a desert. Consequently, the shot used straight after is another establishing shot to show that it is set in a small village on desert terrain.

The next shot that is used is an extreme close up of a man's hand placing a small pouch into another person's hand which suggests that what is in the bag could be the main focus of the film. In the next part of the scene, a close up of an old man's is used to suggest that he is a character of some importance and is also the donor that sends one of the protagonists on their journey. The next shot that is used is a dirty shot because the camera is focusing on the old man's face; however, it is obstructed by the protagonist's head. Following that shot, a two shot is used to display the 2 characters having a conversation inside a hut. An over-the-shoulder shot is used following the previous one to focus on the protagonist's face suggesting they are an important character in the film.

The following shot that is used is a dolly zoom close up shot to show that the droid is of importance. The next shot is also a close up zoom but of the protagonist. After that, a wide shot is used to show the protagonist running out of the hut. Consequently, the next shot used is a POV shot through the binoculars of the character which then focuses onto a small ship. Following that, a two shot is used to show the two characters that were previously having a conversation. The camera shot that is consequently used is a wide shot to display a ship landing. It immediately switches to a fast pan to show the amount of ships that have landed. A wide shot is then used to focus on one of the small ships opening and stormtroopers coming out of it. An arc shot is consequently used to show the amount of troops invading the village. After that a birds eye view shot is used to show the extent of the army of stormtroopers. A wide shot then focuses on the stormtroopers coming out of a small space ship that was earlier focused on in the scene. A series of low shots is consequently used to show people trying to fight off the troops getting shot. Another low shot is used to show more stormtroopers coming out of  a ship. Consequently, a wide shot is used to show the protagonist running from the village; this quickly switches to a tracking shot as it is focusing on the movement of the character. The next shot that is used is a close up of Poe's head inside his X-wing, followed by an extreme close up of the controls inside his ship. The next shot used is a dutch tilt which quickly steadies into a close up of the cockpit of the ship. Following that, two close ups are used: one of the BB-8 droid and one of Poe inside ship. In consequence, a close up shot shows the gun at the bottom of his ship but this quickly switches to an arc shot to show the perspective of the gun.

A wide shot is then used to show 2 stormtroopers coming from a distance, which is quickly followed by a close up of Poe's face and then a close up of the gun firing a laser. After that, a two change shot is used to show 2 different perspectives of the troopers dying. A tracking shot is then used to show Poe jumping out of his ship. A mid shot then focuses on the old man Poe was talking to. An extreme close up is used to show Poe's hand removing a device from a pouch. After that, an over-the-shoulder shot is used to show Poe giving the device to his droid. A close up shot of the droid is used after that. A low shot is used to show Poe talking to his droid. Consequently, a match-on-action close up is used to show Poe leaning against a boulder with his boulder. The next shot that is used is a close up of a dying stormtrooper. An over-the-shoulder shot is used to show the dying stormtrooper wiping blood onto another trooper's helmet. This shows that he is different to everybody else as he now has a blood stain on his helmet. The camera then focuses onto the trooper suggesting that he is an important character. A series of close up and mid shots then focus onto that trooper. The next shot is a wide tracking shot showing another starship landing while also focusing on the storm troopers capturing villagers.

Another wide shot is used to show troops moving villagers but then the camera pans onto two troopers and what appears to be a stormtrooper commander walking with the trooper with the blood stained helmet. The camera again focuses onto that trooper with a medium shot. A wide shot is used after that to show two troopers capturing the old man.  The camera again focuses onto that trooper with another medium shot. An establishing shot is consequently used to show the top of a ship while then moving downwards to focus on the doors of it opening. It then focuses onto Kylo Ren once he walks out of it. An over-the-shoulder shot is used to focus on the old man with Kylo Ren obstructing the camera. Another over-the-shoulder shot is used, this time focusing on Kylo Ren. A low angle two shot is then used to display Kylo Ren and the old man conversing. Another over-the-shoulder shot is used, again focusing on Kylo Ren. An arc shot is then used to focus on Kylo Ren walking away. After that, a two change shot is used to show the different perspectives of Kylo Ren removing his lightsaber. Another two change shot is used straight after to show Kylo Ren striking the old man down with his lightsaber. A medium shot is then used to show Poe aiming his blaster. This is then followed by a close up of Kylo Ren using the force to block Poe's blaster laser. A mid shot of Poe is consequently used. A wide shot then shows Poe struggling against the force. A tracking shot is then used to show Poe getting captured by two stormtroopers. An over-the-shoulder shot is consequently used to show Kylo Ren talking to Poe. A dirty shot is then used to focus on Poe's face.

This is followed by a mid shot of Poe being held up by two stormtroopers and then another dirty shot but of Kylo Ren. A tracking shot is used to follow the guards escorting Poe to the ship. The camera then pans onto a silver storm troopers suggesting they are of high importance. It then switches to a wide shot of 3 stormtroopers but the camera slowly zooms in on the middle one which is the one the one with the blood stained helmet seen earlier in the scene. This is significant because he is the only trooper that is not shooting which suggest he doesn't want to kill innocent people for the first order. A tracking shot is used to show Kylo Ren walking but it then shows him turning around and looking at the stormtrooper that didn't shoot anyone. A two change shot is then used to show Kylo Ren and the trooper looking at each other suggesting that they will meet later on in the movie. A close up of BB-8 is then used while showing the reflection of explosions in his camera eye. A wide shot is used to show BB-8 looking at the explosion. The camera then focuses close up of BB-8 looking upset suggesting that he thinks his master is in danger. A low angle shot is then used to show BB-8 moving into the distance, however, another droid with red eyes turns pops out of the sand suggesting that he is a droid being used by the First Order to look for BB-8. The droid also makes a strange noise suggesting that he is possibly communicating to someone about BB-8.

Editing

The editing in this scene was quite effective but some parts of the scene were cut as the person that uploaded the video wanted to make the scene fit into a 5 minute video whereas the actual scene in the film was considerably longer than that. I feel like this slightly ruined the flow of the scene as it felt quite jumpy. Apart from that, the way the camera angles combine to create different perspectives on a part from the scene; for example, when Kylo Ren kills the old man with his lightsaber, different camera angles are used to provide different perspectives on that part of the scene. Despite all of this, it is still clear that the death of the old man is a major part of the scene. Moreover, this emphasises the bloodshed that Ren wishes to cause until he finds the details of the map to Luke Skywalker.

The lack of basic transitions in this scene allows it to flow continuously without the interruption of commonly used ones such as fades and wipes. Therefore, it is clear to recognise that the scene looks professionally edited in order to allow the audience to understand the narrative of the entire film (forces of good and evil battling to find Luke Skywalker).

On the other hand, the use of parallel editing clearly illustrates the narrative of the film, especially through the use of cross-cutting at the beginning of the scene.  In this part of the scene, the stormtroopers are inside a small ship; the use of low-level lighting inside it suggests that they are working for an evil force.

  This juxtaposes the other part of the scene when Poe receives the map from the old man through the use of warmer colours and lighting in comparison to the part of the scene happening simultaneously in which the use of dark colour portrays the characters in it as evil. In this part of the scene, the old man and Poe are inside a small hut which seems more peaceful than the regimentation of the stormtroopers inside a small space ship. Therefore, it is clear that these groups of characters are in opposition with each other due to the juxtaposition of colours and typical conventions of good and evil in these different scenes.

The two parts of the scene collide once BB-8 rushes in to the hut to alert Poe about the impending threat of the stormtroopers arriving. Poe then rushes out of the hut, and looks through his high-tech binoculars to see multiple land-ships of stormtroopers advancing towards the village. As soon as all of the stormtroopers exit the landships and open fire onto the village, Poe rushes to his X-wing and enters it. He then uses the blasters on his ship to defend the village from the stormtroopers. This clearly shows parallel editing as the two parts of the scene culminate in a conflict at the exact same location; that location obviously being the village.

Sound

At the start of the scene, when the landships from the superstar destroyer fly out, orchestral music is used which then speeds up when a series of camera shots focuses on the inside of a stormtrooper landship. Furthermore, the increased speed of the music suggests that the landships are closer to approaching the planet despite the audience only seeing shots of the stormtroopers inside of a landship. This also foreshadows that a disruption in the equilibrium of a peaceful village on a desert planet is about happen.

Much more peaceful and softer music is used when Poe is talking to the old man which further emphasises that it is a mutual and peaceful encounter between the two characters. However, the music increases in speed and becomes more dramatic when BB-8 tells Poe that the First Order are about to attack the village. This also heightens and emphasises the tension within the audience so that they know for certain that the disruption of an equilibrium, which was created through the slower and softer music, is about to happen.

When the stormtroopers do attack the village, the soundtrack becomes more dramatic to mirror the conflict and bloodshed that they are causing. This also makes it easier for the audience to understand that this a tense moment in the film and to emphasise that the majority of the action will be battles between forces of good and evil.

The majority of the diegetic sound that is used in the opening scene is dialogue between the old man and Poe Dameron. However, this conversation is cut short by BB-8 communicating through a whirring noise to Poe that an attack on the village is imminent. After that, only simple lines of dialogue are exchanged: Poe says:"You need to hide" and then the old man says "You need to leave". Moreover, this emphasises that Poe is in a hurry to leave the village in order to avoid being captured by the First Order.

The rest of the diegetic sound that is used is when Finn starts to breath heavily after a dying stormtrooper rubs blood onto his helmet. This suggests that Finn is panicking and is unsure what to do after losing a fellow comrade. Furthermore, the use of heavy breathing makes the audience feel that they are in the same situation as Finn and that they can feel sympathy for what he is going through at that particular moment in the film. Therefore, this makes the opening scene much more effective thanks to the use of particular diegetic sounds at that point in the scene.

Mise-en-scene


In this part of the scene, it is clear that the character is a stormtrooper as he is wearing white body armour and helmet with a black visor. However, the blood stain on his helmet suggests that he is different from the rest of his fellow troopers. In this part of the scene, he is the only stormtrooper leaning down trying to save a fellow trooper which suggests he doesn't feel like he can be part of the First Order.