Juno Title Timing and Sequences

Above is a table showing the title sequences of the film 'Juno'. The video sequence that I looked at was different from some other people's and so it may be missing one or two titles from the original sequence. This was very uselful for me as for our task me have to make an opening to a film that is 2 mintues long, which is the approximate length of the opening of 'Juno'. I learnt from looking at the opening the times which titles should appear and it showed me the importance that titles can have at the beginning of a film. Also, I learnt from looking at the opening sequence that titles are often spaced out and each title is often shown for a similar amount of time which adds to the fluency of the opening.

Research - Influences for my opening

STAR WARS IV: A NEW HOPE

Although this film is not the kind of genre that I would like to do for my task, it did give me useful ideas for shots that I could possibly use. In the intro, Darth Vader enters in a way that it is clear that he is an important character and will have a part to play in the film's story/outcome. It is the shots used which allow for this to happen.

Some of the shots that were used were:

Mid-shot - It shows the height of Darth Vader in comparison to the other individuals. Everyone else looks like a minority in comparison to him. He is in the middle of the shot which shows that he is the focal point.

A low angle shot - This is used after the Mid-shot to emphasize the height and dominance of the character.

These shots work together to create a very clear and important first impression of the character to the audience. I think that this is a very vital aspect of a film and it's introduction. It is especially essential in the case of films like my main task and Star Wars IV:A New Hope, as they introduce characters that are unknown to the audience, such as Darth Vader, and so the foundation that the character has can often be built from the first shots that the audience see of them.

Below is the video that I used for my research:




THE MATRIX 

I also looked at the opening scene to the movie -'The Matrix'. I looked at this opening scene of this movie in particular as it appealed to me ever since I saw it when I was a kid. This was mainly down to the fact that the genre and plot, and therefore opening, of 'The Matrix' is something that is very different to your average Sci-fi or Action film.

I thought that the movie would be interesting to look at as it encapsulates elements of many different genres, as it most likely a hybrid genre of Sci-fi/Action and so this movie will be helpful to look as it will give me key ideas about an opening to a film, regardless of the genre that I choose for my final task.

I think that what makes this intro intriguing is it's build-up of suspense, particularly through the use of camera shots and music as it adds uncertainty into the viewer's mind about the setting, plot and the characters, as this is the first film of a trilogy.  I was unable to find the opening sequence on the internet, so here is the trailer for the film, which shows examples of the types of shots used and gives an idea of the feel of the film.  




THE LIFE OF DAVID GALE

With regards to this film opening,  I wanted to look at a film that was very different to the previous two that I had researched, so that i could get a comparison of the mixture of each of the genres. With the film opening in this modern thriller, typically of the genre it raises questions. In particular, I thought that the shots used where the car is driving from far away and the camera is zoomed out as not only did it focus me more on the car but it also showed the surroundings of he area and emphasized the sense of isolation. 

With these type of shots being used, it made me think a lot about the opening shots I could use in my film opening and taught me how an important effect can given off to the audience just through the first two or three shots as they are the first parts of the film they see. It made me realize that an opening shot can create a feeling or emotion with the audience that can then be effected by the next shot and so and so on. The importance of sequences has been highlighted to me through these films that I have looked at so far.


As I was unable to obtain the opening sequence, here is the trailer for the film, which shows examples of the types of shots used.

Prelimary Task

Date - 28/9/10

I filmed the preliminary task which was filming someone entering somewhere through a door and then having a conversation with someone else. I filmed this task task with Seb Baudains, Sam Sawtell and Xiangyu Ge. We filmed the task outside D6, our media room and in/near the entrance of a toilet.

Below is a step-by-step list of the shots that were used, with the mentioning of the effects of the shots and what I learned from the task:

Firstly, Xiangyu was filmed walking up to a door and opening/closing it with a still shot so that he stayed in frame and mantained his position in the centre. I had not previously realized that he camera had to be fully still for this part and I learnt this when filming.

We also filmed a couple of seconds after the door closed so that it was easier to edit this part in the future, which is also something that I did not know about before we started filming the task.

A Match on action shot was used on Xiangyu's hand when he was opening the door in order to add suspense. Also, we used this shot so that the hand opening the door was the focus as any other part of the body would have been irrelevant to show. We also made sure by doing this that his hand was in the centre of the frame so that the door handle was in frame as well.

We also then used a still shot from the other side of the door to show Xiangyu closing the door so that the rest of the area form which Xiangyu was entering was visible.

We then filmed Xiangyu opening a door of cubicle from behind him with a still shot again so that his head did not take up most of the frame and so that it added the idea of posibilty as to what was behind the door.

A shot reverse shot filmed the part where me, Eric, and Jack had our short conversation so that you saw the conversation from both points of view so that me and Xiangyu always took up equal parts of the frame. This is the effect the shot reverse shot had on our task.

Following our conversation, a panning shot was used when Xiangyu was running out of the toilet so that a clear view that he was shown and so it was obvious that he was in distress.

We did an extreme long-shot with the camera placed at the top of the corridor with Xiangyu running from far away so that it suggested that something was going to happen with the space ahead (it gives the sense of antipaction). In this shot, Xiangyu falls on his knees as his is deeply upset.

We did a low angle shot so that Xiangyu did not take up all the frame even when he was on his knees. This shot from low down also allowed us to get a good view of his emotions.