Opening sequence 3

I have analysed the opening sequence of the film 'Dark Knight Rises' as it is also an action film.

Lighting:
The lighting is mostly naturalistic, even in the scene with the aeroplane. The lighting motly comes from the sun and only very small percentage is generated from light bulbs. This gives the impression of very naturalistic opening sequence even though it is about a superhero.

Setting:
There were 3 settings in the sequence. The first was a memorial in a mansion. The setting was rather naturalistic with a lot of pictures of the dead person and flowers. The second setting was an airport which only appeared for a very short amount of time but was also very naturalistic. The airport was presumably private as there was only one plane and only one lane for landing and taking off. The last and the major setting was inside the aeroplane. The setting was also naturalistic, looking exactly as a real plane. There were many seats and small windows as well as a door opend using a big handle. This setting was the most expensive out of the three as it required a lot of money to hire and fly the plane enough times to film a perfect sequence.

Props:
The props used int the opening sequence were: briefcase, handgun and a big assault rifle. The props suggested many thing to the audience. The briefcase suggested the audience that either money was involved or some bacterium, stating that if it was money, the assasins were very materialistic. The assault rifle suggested to the audience that the killers were very agressive and dangerous, creating tension in the audience wether ther is going to be blood from the beginning. The hand gun suggested to the audience that even the main man had a weapon to protect himself or attack but not as heavy as the lower ranked killers, therefore it stated that he is the main organiser of crime.

Make-up:
The make-up was very light and limited as no female characters appeared in the sequence. This meant that the characters appearing on screen needed to look as realistic as possible limiting the amount of make-up used in order for them to look manly.

Costume:
The costume differed for most of the characters. The main man was dressed formally but not too formal so he was wearing shirt and trousers and a jacket and this made him standout from the lower rank killers as they were dressed in army costume. The man that was performing his speach at the memorial was dressed very formally in suit and tie, to keep the memorial as realistic as possible. Then the captured prisoner had a mask on which gave him the image of evil person and also was wearing a long sleeved, black shirt as black is also associated with evil.

Music:
The music was very limited in the opening sequence but sound effects of the man talking gave the impression of the man even more evil than he was. It made the man look stronger and more powerful than he was, as well as gave him enigma and some kind of mystery that is then solved as the film progresses.

Opening sequence 2

I have analysed the opening sequence of the film 'The bourne legacy'.

Lighting:
Most of the lighting in the first 2 mintes is naturalistic, as the settings are mountains, however the sequence filmed underwater was filmed using artificial lighting. The use of both lightings (naturalistic and artificial) gave the impression of real mountains but also that the man uses rather newer technology in the film.

Costume:
The character in the opening sequence at first only wore thermal leggins which were ideal for the setting and activities he was doing. As the man got out of the water he put on a piece of thermal material whcih kept heat inside it allowing the man to warm up after diving in the cold water. This suggested to the audience that the man was techniclly advanced and also that he was a trained perhaps marine training in the mountains. The costume perhaps suggested that the man is very disciplined and that he can survive even with just a pair of leggins in ice cold water.

Props:
There was only one prop used in the whole sequence which was a thin and long plastic/metal container which the man ised for training purposes. This told us that he had professional equipment for the training and that he is a professional marine or trained agent. The prop was shown as a target which the man has to reach, this suggest that he is very disiplined due to the fact he could just leave the container in the water rather than diving afte it, but yet he does it.

Make-up
There was very little make up used in the sequence as big part of it was filmed underwater, where the mans face was not shown. The make-up used in the scenes on land was just to matte his skin to prevent it from reflecting light, especially when wet.

Music:
The music built tension through out the whole sequence, sound effects were loud to break the sound of calm music and build even more excitment and tension in the audience. The naturalistic sounds of waterfall and fire burning gave the impression of this being a real event rather than a hollywood film.

Editing

--> The editing and film recording are the two most important things in film. Without editing films would not make any sense to the audience Editing is also known as the 'invisible art' as it is a process of putting together shots in film/ TV making in such a way, that it is invisible for the audience. It is a combination of film sequences, which are being modelled in order to create a story, which makes sense and has some meaning.

 Sometimes the invisibility of this art is deliberately distorted to convey a meaning to the audience for example when the cut is not on time to suggest perhaps there is a film in a film, when there is a fancy edit (not naturalistic), when the editing does not make sense perhaps to show that the situation the main character is in is very confusing or even when everything is taken away like on the set of ‘Dogville’ and the actors perform on a big green screen.

There are some conventions of editing like for example master shots. In most films there is a master shot to establish the location as this helps the audience to understand the enigma. The editing must also stick to a narrative in order for it to make sense and tick to the plot written or invented by the director, as well as tell the story by keeping the outline of chronological events.

In a trailer it is perticularly hard to close the narrative of the story in such a short extract but at the same time, keep the enigma. Here are some examples of editing in trailers:

Audience

--> The target audience for mainstream films are 15-24 as these age groups are most likely to appear in the cinemas. The difference between the minimum age and maximum age is 9 years therefore the film makers have a really challenging job to do, in order for the same film to appeal equally to the youngers as well as to those with bigger life experience.

In order to reach the target audience, distributors need manage the whole of advertisement in such a way, that everyone will see some sort of advert and will be interested in seeing the film.

To reach the target audience film distributors use 3 main advertisment ways;

1. posters

2. Merchandise

3.Trailers

Soundtrack for film

I have researched soundtrack for a action/thriller film genre in order for it to be used in our film. I have researched many sites across the web to find the best soundtrack. I have found a sountrack which is very conventional for a thriller and action film. It has a fast tempo, a lot of low drums and a bass drum as well as bells. As well as that, it has a breakdown at points to give the film more tension.

Update

Today we have finally finished our film and are now preparing for the evaluation !