What We Want to Achieve in our Opening

In our opening, our main objective is to draw in the audience, and create an enigma, that will later be resolved, in order keep the audience engaged with the plot. We will achieve this by:

• Beginning after the inciting incident has happened, going against Todorovs theory, and then as the film progresses, the events leading up to the beginning.
• The initial sequence will be a number of different shots of places that would normally be busy/ have people there, but are empty. This will create a very early enigma of where are all the people?
• Sound effects: Our Non- Diagetic sound is going to start before the Visuals do, so this will draw in the audiences attention.

Opening Two Minutes of A Film:Book Of Eli

As our film will now be set in a post apocalyptic setting, I decided to look at the opening two minutes of a few different movies set after the "end of the world".




What I think is Successful in this opening:

• Audio starts before the visuals
• The blurring effect at the beginning
• The slow panning
• The first object that came into the frame was a gun- negative connotations
• Slow revelation of the body
• The use of a domestic animal in a wild setting
• Slow revelation of the lead character. Portrays the survival
• The focus on the weapon he is using
• The use of dark colours/ night time setting

Overall, I believe that this is a very successful opening 2 minutes of a film. It creates a very early enigma, and leaves the audience wondering who is the man dead on the floor? Does he have any importance? How did he get there/ die? and who is the other man? Why is he hunting for cats? why are they both in the middle of a forrest? These questions draw in the audience due to the enigma that they create and capture their focus and attention, making this sequence a very successful opening.
How We Could take Inspiration from this:
In the opening 2 minutes of our film, we want to create enigma in order to capture the audiences attention. Ways we could use this clip as inspiration is by:

• The audio starting before the visuals is very effective, and a technique we could use.
• Slow panning around our location.
• The use of props in our mise en scene.
• Slow revelation of our lead characters.

Analysis of a film in the same genre: Day of The Triffids

Although this is a T.V film, it is still a feature length film, and so should follow the conventions of a typical film. The film was produced by the BBC in 2008, and distributed by them in 2009. I decided to look to this film for inspiration, as it is a British-made film, in comparison to other films I have looked at, which are large hollywood made films . As the film is a British made film, it will help, as it will demonstrate some of the conventions of British made films, which will help, as that is what we are aiming to portray in our film. The film was produced by the BBC, a very typically English Institution, and so would be very likely that it is more likely that the film would be classed as a British film on the BFI's criteria, as it features a Mainly British cast, was directed by a British Director, was filmed in Britain and was based on the book of the same name, which was written by a British author

The film is also classed under the genre of Science fiction, which is one of the elements to our genre, so we would be able to see how they portrayed technology/ the genre in this film. The film is also, like the other I have looked at, a survival film, which means that we will also be able to see how they represent their characters, and compare this to the representation in the American movies.

[need to find clip of film and embed on here]

Opening Two Minutes of a Film: I Am Legend

The film I am Legend, although it does feature zombies (which we are not including in our plot), is the tale of a lone survivor after the apocalypse, and so would be useful to study and take inspiration from. The film opens with a news report of a story that is very topical; cancer treatment. This is obviously an insight into the cause of the events to come.




What I thought was Effective in this Opening:

• The audio that started before the visuals did, really captured the audiences attention and created an enigma about what was happening from the onset. 
• It is very realistic in how it has been set up, like you are actually watching a T.V news report, as it is not in HD, and so gives a very real-life feel to the opening.

How could we use this as inspiration:

• Begin the audio before the visuals start. Creating enigma.
• Try to create a realistic-as-possible cinematic world, so as to convince the audience that it is real whilst they are watching it.

Opening Two Minutes of The Walking Dead

Although this is a T.V show, it is a very good example of how to portray a post-apocalyptic world, and So I decided to take inspiration from it. Again, like I Am Legend, this features Zombies, but it portrays post-apocalyptic conditions very well.

What I thought made this opening Successful:

• The lack of sound gave  a very eerie effect, setting the mood for the offset. 
• Natural colours, which made the starting cinematic world feel much more real, and so convincing to the audience, which will give it a more dramatic effect; shock factor.
• The single character comes into shot. Themes of isolation and loneliness.

How we could take inspiration from this:

• The use of sound and SFX to create our mood and for effect.
• Lighting and colour inspiration
• The idea of loneliness, again, playing on humans' primal fears, and so makes the film more dramatic.

Opening Two Minutes of a Film: Twelve Monkeys

This film, as ours plans to, starts after the apocalypse has happened, and shows how the world has come to be how it is. The apocalypse is the result of a deadly virus that has wiped out the majority of the human race. This film also features a representation of technology, as the lead travels back and forth between the past and present, so will help give us an idea of how technology is represented.


What I thought was Successful in this Film:

• Like our plan, this film does not follow Todorovs theory, rather zig zags back and forth between two different times, as time travel is an included element in this film.
• The way in which the lead character (Bruce Willis) is introduced and portrayed. He is shown as being a prisoner, as he is in handcuffs, and is being guarded, but he is also represented as being the protagonist due to the close up shots and P.O.V shots used, as this is making the audience feel closer to and connected with him.
• They used a variety of different shots to expand time and build a little tension in this clip (where he is getting into the chair)

How we could take inspiration from this:

• The very explicit representation of technology
• The breaking of conventions of characters.
• A variety of different shots to expand time and build tension.

M Night Shyamalan's Style

M Night Shyamalan.

M Night Shyamalan's Style is very clear when watching his films. He uses colours a lot in his frames to represent his characters feelings and to create atmosphere. He takes advantage of the connotations that audiences will have with colour, E.g. the use of red as a colour representing danger; see below. He also uses the colour blue a lot to create an almost spooky mood, as it is a very cold colour.

This still shows the use of the colour red to depict that the boy is in danger.

This still from Unbreakable shows the use of blue to create a cold mood.

The use of the white dress gives the impression of innocence of the girl in the foreground.

Another key aspect to M Night Shyamalans style is his signature plot twist at the end of the film. These plot twist are a very typical aspect of his films, adding tension and interest to the film. His films often feature supernatural themes, e.g. ghosts, aliens, monsters and superpowers to name a few. However, they are not considered horror movies explicitly, as they tend not to feature scenes of gore, rather they focus on the human relationships in the films. This family style horror/thriller genre that he tends to stick to has earned him comparisons to the Critically Acclaimed director Alfred Hitchcock. This comparison to the legendary director is mirrored in Shyamalans use of plot twists and his own cameo appearances in his films, much like Hitchcock did.

One of the directors many cameo appearances