Research into a drama film

 I am researching the opening scene for Titanic. This is released in 1997, the director for the film is James Cameron.

The most famous actors in it are Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. It is made by 20^th Century Fox. Although the opening scene is quiet short, it still tells us some important informations.

From the non-diegetic soundtrack of the music through the opening scene, the tone might be sad. The first scene has an old and yellowed filter which suggests that it happened in the old time.

Many people waved at people on the shore on a large cruise ship, which hinted that they were leaving. The costumes show that they might be noble or very rich people at that time. I supposed that the film must link with this ship and the sea as the whole opening is set in the sea. Then the shot use cross fade to transform to a dark sea. This scene connotes the timeline has changed. In the next scene, we can see several submarines.

It used the way of raising the lens to show that the submarine was diving in deep water. The timeline changed but the setting doesn’t change. From those scenes, I think the target audience might be adults and older people because it might be historical. 

As the opening scene is short, it doesn’t introduce any characters and storyline. However, even it is lack of dialogue, we can guess a few informations it hints us. Clearly, there are two separate scenes that been connected by the sound bridge.

The only people are appeared in the first scene. Because we know that the timeline has passed, some of these people may have died. The setting here is on the large ship. However, he submarines in the end might hint that the large ship has sunk, so they searched the hull in the deep sea. So for the following storyline, they may continue to explore the story of the year and the truth about the sinking of the ship. The film might be adventure and drama.

I think it is a quiet successful opening scene. First, it tells us the main setting is in the sea. And also, it use the yellowish filter to suggest the different timeline which make us imagine the connection between the two scenes.

Although it doesn’t introduce any characters and storyline, it still engaged me a lot by the soft and slow soundtrack. The music is really important, it gives a lot of emotions and attracts people’s attention. And the big title appeared  in the middle makes people to remember the name of the film.

Research into a war film

 I will be looking at the opening video clip of 1917 which is released in 2019. The director of it is Sam Mendes, and the top casting are George MacKay, Dean-Charles Chapman and Mark Strong. It is produced by DreamWorks Pictures Reliance and distributed by Universal Pictures. It has a budget of $95 million. The opening is in a linear narrative. 

The opening starts with a very special extreme long shot and a non-diegetic soundtrack. The beginning scenes seems peace and calm. The long tracking shot contains lots of informations in the background.

And it includes a perspective shift shot. We can clearly know the setting is in the battlefield. Also, the costume shows the timeline is during a war and they are all soldiers. This establish the genre of the film which is war. As they walked, many soldiers were walking too.

This reflects that they are very busy, and it also implies that something is going to happen. Their action are simple but the dialogue tells lots of informations. Next, the scene change to a dim place where the general is there.

The dark yellow lighting and the serious facial expressions gives a emergency feeling. It connotes a sign of the important mission. The soundtrack also change to a deep tone. The general said to them that “Down to get henna or up to the throne, he travels the fastest is to travel alone.” This quote conveys that they can only rely on themselves for the future road ahead, and it hints the hardships that may encounter in the future. In the last part, the soundtrack suddenly change to a up beating rhythm which connotes the hurry and emergence of the situation. Besides, I supposed the target audience for this film are adults especially men, because it is about war and also historical.

 

Base on the screen time, the two young soldiers are the main characters: one is Black and one is Schofield. In addition, the status has been showed in the scene. At the start, we can know the man is a sergeant from their dialogue and the two main characters have lower status than the sergeant. And then later, the general appeared and obviously he is the leader that has the most discourse and decision-making power. The representation of the status is obvious here, and it also reflects the importance of status in the barracks.

From their dialogue and actions, it shows their different characteristics. Black is more simple and more caring, but he is impulsive. However, Schofield is more calm and strategic. The audience can easily understand that they are friends in the barrack.

In the end, when they got the mission and Black realised that his brother is in danger, The dialogue can shows their personalities. “You just need to think about it”, “I have nothing to think about, it’s my big brother”, “We should at least wait till it’s dark”, “You would say that because that is not your brother is it.”. Black had been completely dazzled by worried, he just wanted to act regardless. In contrast, Schofield was more sensible, and he kept reminding Black that rash actions would lead to consequences. But Black didn't necessarily listen to his warning. The characters of the two protagonists are complementary.

 

So the beginning ends when both of them got a mission which is to send important information to the 2nd Battalion of Devonshire Regiment because the field telephone was cut off. This will involve the lives of 1,600 people. I think the next story line will be about what happened to them along the way to send information. As analysed from the beginning, they should all be young recruits, so there will be many unexpected incidents along the way. It might contain the adventure and actions too.

 

I think this beginning is very appropriate. The most surprising thing is the long shot, which contains many details.

It can make the audience feel like they are walking through the battlefield with the soldiers. Furthermore, the beginning and the end of this are very suspenseful, making the audience particularly curious that is their final task successfully completed or not and did they survived at last.

Research into a Western film

 The opening scene for western film I choose is 3 10 to Yuma. It is a 2007 film with the director – James Mangold. The main casts are Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Peter Fonda. In addition, it is produced by Relativity Media by a budget of $48-55 million. The opening scene tells the story in linear narrative.

 

The opening scene tells us the setting and genre straight away. The view and the houses suggests that they are in a farm. The gun, the horse, and the farm shows the genre of Western film. The quiet environment at the beginning with the nervous and aware facial expression of the man hints there will be some bad things happen soon. There are two non-diegetic soundtrack in the video clip. One is the up-beating music plays when the people fired the house.

This is a parallel sound which supports what us going on and emphasise the nervous mood. Following this, the soundtrack change to a slow and soft music, the atmosphere changed to a sad and helpless feeling. We can realised that their life is difficult and tough.

 

There is a obvious opposite relationship in the beginning. The scene introduces quiet a lot of characters: Dan, the women, Willian and the man on the horse. Dan should be the owner of this farm. It can be seen from the beginning that his emotions have always been nervous and guarded, and he has been holding a gun in his hand.

From the lighting, the time should be late at night. Immediately through the eyeline match shot, we found that someone was burning the farm. Through a long handheld tracking of Dan, it connotes that Dan is annoyed and anxious. He runs to the man and wants to stop it. We know that he has a disability on his leg by the close up shot.

This hints that he might experienced wars or fights before. The man on the horse obviously threatened or warned Dan by setting fire. From the dialogue, we know that the family might owe them something, “You have a week, then we will burn the house”. Compared with the man on the horse, Dan and his family is weak and powerless. Willian is Dan’s son, he helps his father to save things in the barn. At the end, he used a shot reverse shot during their conversation. From the dialogue,“I will take care of this” “No, you won’t”. It connotes that William might be dissatisfied with the current situation and his father's cowardly and incompetent performance.

It can be seen from his motion that he raises the gun that he has the mind and courage to take revenge. Unlike the men, the woman was incompetent and confused, and she did not do anything to help. This also reflects the stereotype that women were not able to do things independently in that time.

 

By seeing the opening scene, I was quiet interested of the rest of film. At the beginning, their home was burned and the group of people said they would come back, so I think the following story may be about how the family would protect their home or what changes they will make to prevent them from living in fear. I want to know whether their life of fear and poverty will be improved.

Importantly, it sets the main ideas of the characters and their situation. Overall, this is a good opening as I am quiet engaged by the fast speed and tense atmosphere with very suitable music. These make my mood be nervous with them together. 

 

Research into an action film

 I will be looking at the opening scene of James Bond Spectre. It has been release in 2015, the director is Same Mendes. The main casting are Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux. It is produced by Columbia Pictures, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing.

 

There is one very long shot throughout the whole opening. At the start, there is a diegetic music from the festival. The tone is very lively and joyous.

From the establishing shot, we can know the setting is on the street of Mexico City. The man in white suit is contracts with the man in black suit which connotes they have a opposite relationship. Then the camera follows the black suit man to go into a hotel. As he has longer screen time, I supposed that he is the main character. While the scene changed to inside, there is also a sound-bridge which transform from the diegetic festival music to non-diegetic soundtrack.

Moreover, the soundtrack add a low based music later which convey a stimulating and tense feeling. Towards the end, it uses a flipped lens and a high angle shot. This shows the situation and place he is. The actions and then gun on James Bond suggests this is a crime and action film. Based on the gun and may be fight scene afterwards, I think the targeted audience might be the adults and older teenagers.

 

From the close up shot, it shows James Bond’s facial expression. His eyes under the mask kept looking left and right when he walked. This shows that he has a mission and may be looking for people.

The actions tells us he is a vigilant man. He and the woman next to him are walking in the opposite direction from the others. It connotes the they may have special things, and it also highlights the difference between them and others. Furthermore, from James Bond and the woman’s actions, it tells that they have a close relationship. Suddenly the music paused.

From the eyeline match shot, we can find that the man suddenly changed his clothes. Here is a surprise on the plot, which can make the audience attracted and curious about the next action. From his proficient evasion and gun-holding posture and very calm and orderly actions, we can guess that his profession should be an agent or a killer.

The man in the white suit should be his target this time. They should be in a state of opposition.

I think this introduces a lot of interesting information at the beginning. It also accurately expresses the genre of action. I guess the latter story is related to the man in the white suit. James Bond may have to confront that man’s organisation.

Research into a science fiction film

I chose the beginning scene of ‘The Martian’ as an extract for analysis. The director is Ridley Scott and the top casts are Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig. It was released in 2015. It is produced by Scott Free Productions and distributed by 20^th Century Fox. This is a science fiction movie which has $108 million budget. 

The opening start with a long establishing shot that shows the setting- Mars, Acidalia Planitia straight away.

A non-diegetic soundtrack music played. It is very soothing and calming, but also has a sense of future. From the establishing shot, we can see the landscape of the Mars. This might used CGI to create. The atmosphere at the beginning is calm, casual and relax. They are chatting together, it used a shot reverse shot to show the conversation. 

However, there is a warming of the storm suddenly. The atmosphere changed by the warning sound and the red light. These connotes a very dangerous situation for them. Then there is a close up shot on the storm is coming which uses CGI to create. The lighting and the sky changed to dark and chaos, this hints the storm might cause a serious consequence. 

The genre is science-fiction which tells from the special setting and the costumes. I think it is very suitable for teenagers and adults.

Through dialogue, it tells their relationship is very good. But then the danger came, and they obviously started to panic but still took care of each other. There are several point of view shots which take the audience to feel they are also in the film.

The opening scene introduce a team which includes a few people.

They are investigating things on Mars. At first, they were very relaxed. It can be seen that they are all very professional and everyone is busy with their own affairs.

The pleonastic ambient sound of the wind creates a more scary atmosphere. Unfortunately, in the last part, a member Mark was hit and he disappeared. A tracking shot was used here to clearly show that he was smashed so far until he disappeared.

I would say the opening scene is really successful as it engaged people and make they want to see the whole film. The exquisite CGI with the soundtrack creates a very good visual experience. I think it is a cinema experience film.

The opening ends with lots of suspense. I think the following story may tell whether Mark is survived. Or it is also possible that this unexpectedly suspended experiment will restart. I suppose that there should be new challenges and explorations later in the film.