Foundation Portfolio

Foundation Portfolio

Creative Critical Reflection - Foundational Portfolio

CCR - Foundation Portfolio:

Question 1:




Question 2:



Question 4:

Representation Essay - Downtown Abbey (Status and Class)

This clip follows the introduction of the Period drama, Downtown Abbey. In this clip, it uses the 4 key elements, Camera, Editing, Mise-En-Scene and Sound to showcase and present to us as the viewers the gap and contrast of the representation class and status that is present in the face of the Crawley family and their servants, a contrast that is a main focal point for the series. 

The clip uses editing in the aspect of the pace of its cuts between each scene to highlight to us the contrast of the class and status of the Crawley household. When we are introduced to the lower class, in this case, the servants of the Crawley household, the editing of the cuts follows that of a faster pace as we see multiple actions of the different servants compiles together in quick succession. This highlights to us as the audience, just how hectic the life of the lower class in the Crawley household really is and it really involves the audience as we feel that fast-paced tempo as the servants rush to finish their breakfast, and finalise the preparations for the Crawley's breakfast. This stands in comparison to the editing of the Crawley family, which follows a significantly slower pace. This highlights the simplistic and relaxed lifestyle of the Crawley family, almost giving off the feeling that they are separated almost from the rest of the world and when placed into the context that just below them, their servants are living such a hectic and rushed lifestyle it really does paint us a picture of just how different both classes really are, almost giving off the feeling that there are two completely different worlds both fitting in the interiors of Downtown Abbey.

The use of camera work in this clip helps to highlight the representation of the contrast between the status and class of the people living in Downtown Abbie. At the start of the clip, we see the camera slowly pan away from the newspaper boy in order to fit in, the sheer size of Downtown Abbie into frame. This highlights to the audience just how insignificant and small the boy is compared to the people living in Downtown Abbie, even as he is depicted to be coming out of the shadow cast by that of a tree, it symbolises that he is leaving behind a dark and lower social and into the embrace of the bright and shadow-free society that is the upper class. This starting of the clip heavily not only signifies the large gap in the bridge that connects the two different classes but it also signifies that this theme is going to be present throughout and will probably be one of the main focal points of this drama. Shortly after this, we are introduced to one of the Ladyships of the Crawley households, and straightaway we see her peer over the newspaper boy through the window. This symbolises and reaffirms the previous symbol of the dominance the upper class has over the lower class, as the ladyship is depicted as looking above that of the lower class and thus could be interpreted as her looking down on him may be due to pity, or it just being due to a general sense of intrigue due to it being a break from her upper-class lifestyle. When we are introduced to the servants of the Crawley household, the camera movements for example panning, is rather fast-paced. This could be the director trying to mimic the quick lifestyle as along with editing, we are constantly either swaying or cutting to a different character, this paired with the almost congested feel we get due to the camera constantly shaking and the characters being so close to frame or in general, crowding the whole shot, the claustrophobic feel we get highlights how little space the servants have to work in and the sheer amount of them. This put in comparison with the camera's movements when it comes to the Crawleys, which is rather slow compared to its movements with the servants and thus gives us a feeling of peace and calm. An example of this would be when the Lord enters, we are introduced to him with the camera filming his back and we follow his rather slow but grand pace. This tells the viewers that the Lord is supposed to be above us as all we see of him at the start is his back this compiled with us and the camera has to follow his pace simulates us almost being his follower. This along with the wide shot that almost pans and tracks through the arch pillars insinuate to us as the viewers, that his life we are entering is very grand and almost royal like. The wide and spacious feel we get due to him always being in centre frame giving us more peripheral views of his surroundings, ultimately give us something we can use to compare and contrast against the tight and confined areas that are inhabited by the servants which by comparison leaves the servants working and no doubt living quarters rather meek and almost disgusting. The camera is used to highlight the significance the Crawly family has. In the scene where Lord Crawly sits down to have breakfast, the camera pans down to him despite it Mr. Carson being taller than him in frame. In this shot, we see that whilst the camera is essentially fully focused on Lord Crawly, due to him being in center frame and the camera had panned down to match his height sitting down, Mr Carson seems almost confined to the wall as though his presence is just as significant as the paintings and wallpaper plastered on the walls. 

The mise-en-scene used in this clip helps to covey the gap between the upper and lower class mostly on the basis of their clothing and the overall setting they are centered around. When we are first introduced to the first ladyship, the first thing that most of us as the audience would notice is the white gown she is wearing. This white gown could represent purity and could be a hint towards the upper class being deemed almost angelic compared to that of the clothes we see the servants wear9ng which are bland and basic, with colours like dark green and black, it almost seems like an attempt on the directors end to almost make us as the audience want to avoid looking at their clothing and thus removing a significant amount of importance from their roles in the show. 

Sound in this clip is an effective technical element to portray the separation of class but it is also significant in creating a bridge between the classes. When we witness the lower class, the music that is played is digetic with things like hectic spoon clashing, shouting forming the background sounds. This instantly gives the audience the feeling that the lower class life just revolves around work and is rather hectic, however when compared to the music that is played when we are introduced to the upper class is that of non-diegetic music, consisting mainly of the piano. This gives off the feeling of grandeur and peace which is the complete opposite of what was being played for the lower class. However as mentioned before, sound actually plays the role of bridging the two classes together. The same background music is played in the midst of both the upper and lower class, for the lower class it is played constantly in the background however for the upper class, it is only played when we are first introduced to the ladyship and even then it is when she peers down onto the newspaper boy.  The next time we hear it in the presence of the upper class is when the Crawleys find out that their two heirs had sunk with the Titanic. This signifies that tragedy no matter the class hits and has the same effect regardless thus bringing the two classes closer together.

Logo Investigation

Disney logo:

The Disney logo is undisputedly the or at least one of the most instantly recognisable logos in the world. The iconic font and instantly recognisable castle in the background is a staple in the film industry, its presence as one of the media giants. However, this media giant has never fully strayed from its original roots.

Apart from the 2nd rendition of the logo, the castle and font are always present. The original logo was introduced in the film,  The Black Cauldron in 1985. 

Its castle design in the background, a homage to the iconic Cinderellas castle, one of the landmarks in Disney's "The Magic Kingdom". This castle would later through the ages be done in CGI into what we today in modern media.

Over the many films in Disney's iconic lineup, we have seen many renditions to reflect the movie that is being played.

The following is a clip of the modern day logo being played in its full 32-second duration.

The things that stand out to make the Disney logo as recognisable as it is now, are the iconic castle, font and the sparkle that forms an arc above the castle. The castle as explained previously is a homage to the film "Cinderella" and its castle. This could be argued to have been placed there due to just how recognisable it is, its presence seen by all who have been to the parks. This immediately helps the logo to stand out to the audience due to the logo's close relation to the company, arguably one of its most prominent faces. The font that is used, has been used by the company since the studio's first original logo in 1923.

This font has been associated with the studios ever since it was founded. Its prestigious and retrospective importance and stance for not just the company but for the audience is potentially one of the reasons it is used. The history it carries helps contribute to the logo being instantly recognisable. The spark/flare that can be seen creating an arc could possibly symbolise a rainbow or as some sources claim, a shooting star. The effect that is created from this is the sense of wonder and arguably, a sense of childlike awe and happiness.

Warner Bros. :

The Warner Bros. logo throughout its history has not changed significantly. The company originally founded by brothers, the initials WB has been the company's face since its creation. This could have been done in order to show the family roots of this company or that the company was that since the company was just simply founded by brothers, the initials would have represented the brothers as a whole, which to this day has still been recognised as we see the WB initials present in all, of the logos.

We, however, have seen a stray off the traditional shield and initials in the 1972-84 period.

Although it was a favourite of many, evidenced by its use even in mainstream media today in the films Argo and magic mike, this stray of the path is probably the only time the company has done something like this. Similar to Disney, the return to the original symbol may have been done in order to give the logo a  more recognisable face that many audiences would have gotten accustomed to over the years.

The most recent logo has been the staple since 1998. It had gone through a recent CGI overhaul in 2011 for exclusively New line cinema films where the logo would be broken up into parts. However, one thing that has remained is the company encouraging producers to make their own edits to the logo. 

The basic outline, in the form of the shield and font, remains but editors can make changes to the colour or even add special features to make it unique to the film.


Paramount Pictures:
The original logo for paramount pictures presented a mountain with 24 stars, which represented the company originally

. 
The mountain had represented the Ben Lomond Mountain and the 24 stars had represented the 24 original casts that had signed on to act for the company's movies.

As time progressed, the logo went through little changes. It had gone through a change in 1952, however, where now the logo was painted and the focus was now fully pon the peek of the mountain. The word "pictures" was also removed from the title and now remained as Paramount. This was done in order to put the focus of the audience entirely on the word "Paramount" on its own.

The final rendition which has gone through slight changes to follow the times is what the mainstream audience views before any of the companies movies. One of the significant changes of this logo was the transition over to CGI however, the mountain peek focus still remaining and so has the word "Paramount" still being the only word.

DreamWorks:

The brainchild of Steven Spielberg, Jeffery Katzenberg and David Geffen, the companies logo had gone through little changes throughout its lifespan. The logo, originally going to be a man, presents a boy fishing on the moon with the child actually being modelled after the son of the logos artist Robert hunt. This may have been prefered over the man as it portrays the genre of children's movies that this company mainly produces. It portrays a child fishing up in the moon almost being a dream or fantasy. The 3 founding members initials are listed in the form of "SKG" at the bottom of the logo. Like many of the logos in mainstream media these days, the logo has also been remade through CGI, however, the original hand-painted logo is still one of the most recognisable logos in mainstream media history.

MGM:

MGM or Metro Goldwyn Mayer's logo is easily one of the most instantly recognisable logos in modern or past media. The logo itself has not changed much from the original logo as presented above. However, one of the most prominent changes has to arguably be the lion in the logo, the mascot of MGM. In the first logo, the lion used was slats. The inspiration to use a lion was through the director Howard Deitz wanting to pay a homage to his university, Columbia University, whose athletic team had the nickname The Lions. In the original logo, Slats the lion did not actually roar, the iconic roar was only recorded and added in 1928, for the movie White Shadows in the South Sea.

The next lion used was called Jackie. His new logo was used for the first talking movies made by MGM. He also made cameos in many of the studio's movies. After many transitions of different lions, the last lion used was Leo. But in an attempt to keep up with the times, MGM decided to pursue a new modern logo, created by Lippincott.

This modern logo was used up to 1968 where the logo with Leo was reinstated. Throughout the history of the studio, both logos were used. 

Plan for Foundational Portfolio

Foundation Portfolio - Concept:



Title: PTSD

* this name was chosen due to us not wanting to over complicate things and use a name that clearly states what's wrong with the character and thus gives the audience straight away a basic understanding of what wrong with Christian. This name is called a disorder increases the impact and meaning of not just the name but for the title itself. 





Target Audience: Teens 16 -21

* This is due to the impactful nature of the disorder of PTSD having a strong mature standing and thus would potentially and most likely be appreciated ununderstood by those with a more mature understand and level of maturity. The dark and almost violent themes would also be inappropriate for younger audiences due to us and potentially their parents having a hard time to predict how they would perceive and understand the film.



Character(s):



Christian: * He suffers from PTSD due to traumatic incidents from his past. Due to this, he suffers from visions that make out the worst in people despite them not doing anything. He has voices in his head that he battles with and he has also started to see his reflection taking its own embodiment and is now pulling him apart and tearing him down. In truth, he is slowly driving himself insane.


Symbolisms of character:

Mirrors & reflections
Conflicting thoughts
PTSD
Pills 
Pessimism & negativity
Tainted perfection
Defragmented mind
Conformation to the traditional conventions:

Seems like a geek/nerd but in truth is perfect at almost everything
Anti-social
Violent tendencies -> lashing out etc
Mentally unstable -> slowly breaking up
Setting/time:

School: highlights his defragmentation and his slow but sure progress of losing his mental stability, shows its progress. An interesting location to be used to showcase a characters mental battles and deterioration. This is usually shown at home in a more private setting but we felt that if we had decided to use a public setting where most of the surrounding extras were people of his age, this would increase the impact of his breakdown and thus cast a stronger emotional feel over the audience and the impact would also be increased dramatically as well.
Day: Shows the contrasts and fights the convention that bad things happen at night. His slow deterioration is happening despite the time. In daytimes, we do not usually expect to see dark themes like a reflection sprouting its own personality or a mental breakdown, however, we felt like choosing a day setting would highlight that such problems do not wait for a certain time but actually progress throughout the whole day, respective to day or night. This also highlights the power the reflection and the voices have over Christian as he is unable to fight it off even in the presence of light which may cause the audience to think how he fares of at night or even in sleep, or is he even able to go to sleep.
Props/costumes:
Mirror: The use of a mirror, hold many possible themes and symbolism. Firstly, the reflection it creates becomes conscious and this is what really starts to torment Christian. The impact the reflection has is symbolised when he breaks the mirror at the end. The defragmentation of the mirror probably holds the most symbolism for the prop as it shows us as the audience how defragmented his mind and personality is, and that his reflection still being present in the mirror and as he smiles, its confirmed to the audience that he has taken over.

Plot:

Christian is a student that excels academically. However due to circumstances form his childhood, he is plagued with PTSD which causes him to see things that are not there. We follow his downward spiral into a mental breakdown, as his "visions" start to get worse. When his reflection starts to take a mind of its own, he gets haunted by it and it starts to plague him to the point where he smashes the mirror but the reflection only smiles as it now knows it has taken over Christian.

Film Inspirations:

BLACK SWAN

In Black Swan, we see a character that is slowly losing their mental state due to the pressure of her needing to be the best in order to gain two parts, the "White Swan" and the 'Black Swan". We see her slow mental deterioration when her reflection in the mirror starts to move on its own, even causing the light to go out in one of the scenes, sacring our main character. I used this as inspiration for the morro scene that we are going to use to emphasise our characters mental deterioration.

SPIDERMAN 1

In this film, the protagonist Osborn suffers from the torment of his reflection taking up the alter ego of the Green Goblin. He is seen in this scene to be arguing with his reflection, and we intend to implement it in our bathroom scene where our main character Christian, fights with the reflection that is tormenting him slowly, insulting him.

THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER.

In this film, the main character Charlie suffers from PTSD. We see it come up at random times in this film but it is fully expressed near the end where his friends leave him. I feel like this representation of PTSD is the most realistic presentation of the disorder on film that I have seen. We tend to use this example and try to portray our character in the way Charlie acts.

Our basic plan went through 2 renditions:

Rendition 1:

BASIC PLAN

PTSD:

Characters:

Christian - Addison

- excels at everything

-has PTSD from early childhood experiences

- Has a voice in his head

Gets an A* in his test and looks up to see his teacher tormenting him, however, he is not really but is actually praising him for his good work. he turned to his right and left and where his peers are admiring him, he sees in place them ridiculing him, and making fun of him.

Leaves class and in hallway voices start going on in his head he fights with them and he turns to his left where he sees his reflection (evil) talking down to him

Enters locker room a peer is making fun of him, talks about something sensitive he lashes out and punches him. 

looks up and everyone is shocked 

cut to him sitting on the edge of his bed, hears in background parents arguing about him

-talking about his PTSD what they did to deserve this etc, cut to parents actually talking about how precious he is and how to help him. 

Walks to his bathroom washes face looks up reflection returns and start bickering, sink waster turns in to blood and the reflection pulls out a gun Christian screams and punches mirror breaking it

 zoom into him hand covered in blood clenching into a fist.

location:

School

max's house

Rendition 2:

BASIC PLAN ver.2

PTSD:

Characters:

Christian - Addison

- excels at everything

-has PTSD from early childhood experiences

- Has a voice in his head

Gets his report card with all A's and looks up to see his teacher tormenting him, however, he is not really but is actually praising him for his good work. he turned to his right and left and where his peers are admiring him, he sees in place them ridiculing him, and making fun of him.

Leaves class and in hallway voices start going on in his head he fights with them and he turns to his left where he sees his reflection (evil) talking down to him. reflection explains everything of his past etc (backstory)

Enters locker room a peer is making fun of him, talks about something sensitive he lashes out and punches him. 

looks up and everyone is shocked 

cut to him running to the bathroom. fumbles pills and when he's about to take one notices in the mirror his reflection. torment him so much hears in the hallway teacher explaining to someone about his predicament reflection uses that so extreme, he punches mirror.

in the fragmented mirror, his reflection smiles  

location:

School

Teacher and Peers= people staying back on Wednesday

Script (Vernnon):

Storyboard:

For our storyboard for our FP, we watched a tutorial beforehand that explained how and why we should put in more effort to create more detailed drawings in order to make it generally easier for us to interpret our drawings in its reflection to the actual physical shots. The addition of the idea of arrows allows us to get a stronger understanding of the characters movements and the camera's movements throughout the shot.

These detailed illustrations would allow us as the directors to waste less time trying it to interpret stickman drawing like we had used previously and the added detail would allow us to direct our cast more efficiently.

Shot List:

For our shot list, we adapted it to suit the extras as due to their huge yet minimalistic input into this film, we decided that we would put all the scenes involving extras first as not only did it follow chronological order(would allow us to have that fresh in our mind to decrease risks of continuity mistakes), but it would allow the cast to come early and finish early, leaving us with just Christians actor to film, not only allowing us more focus to get the harder mirror shots done but the smaller cast size would help boost efficiency in general.

Prop List:

Fake Blood:

This is used to replace the water in a sink when Christian hallucinates, this adds an additional layer to the complexity of his disorder and creates a more sinister view of his deteriorating mind. We found out that it was easy to create ourselves due to a discovery of an easy recipe online, and thus chose to do that to save time and money. 

Prop Report Card:

 This was done in order to add an additional layer to the realism of our portrayal of the character being a student and is also an efficient way to highlight his intelligence. The report card is important as we as the audience get to see that he is a straight a student, and thus adds a layer of complexity to his character, almost being the perfect student but with one outstanding flaw.

Pill bottle and Label:

This adds once again to the realism of our film up to the point where I photo-shopped the name of the actual medication a person suffering from PTSD takes. The pill bottle also adds onto tension on the mirror scene when we see him attempt to take it to calm down but rejects it in anger, lashing the bottle out at his reflection.

Pill Bottle:

With fake medication in the form of candy, we are going to use this mainly for realism but also for storytelling practicality. It highlights his illness and that it needs medication. It heightens tension when he decides not to take the pills but instead smashing it into the mirror with his reflection, ultimately showcasing the reflection having had won. the pill bottle also implies the situation of his illness, being so dire that he requires to constantly take pills to suppress his illness and deteriorating mental state.

Informal Attire:
At first, we were going to use our school uniforms due to the accessibility and how easily it would have told us it was a school. However, due to practical reasons such as actors having different uniforms, we decided that a mufti attire would be worn. This is useful as it allows our main character a more "breathable" and comfortable attire to wear throughout the shoot which is important when he has to portray Christian in the bathroom breaking down.



Logo and Rational:

For the logo, I decided to keep it simple but packed with symbols that represent us as a group.

For the final product, I took the sketched renditions and I trace them in Photoshop, add the stylised underline and add the film reel symbol. Once I was happy with my trace, I imported it over to After Effects, adding a shattered effect to it.

The signatures represent me and Max and also adds a layer of professionalism to our group. Our names first letters also being used in the name of our company, MV Films, this creates a personal touch to it, rather then if I had chosen to use an impersonal word to represent our group. The symbol of the film reel signifies that we are a film company and adds a descriptive element to our logo. The shattered effect symbolises the title and theme of our film and I took inspiration from Warner Bros. who allowed developers to take the Warner Bros. logo and adapt it to the themes of their film. Taking this in mind, I not only added the shattered effect but I also changed the colour of the mirror background to a tinted red version, symbolising blood and thus reminding us of the thriller theme the clip is based on.

First Rendition:

Originally, I decided to go with a theme of flowers, for they represented death and life. The separation would have highlighted one of the major themes in a thriller, with that being Deaf and life, the separation shows that our company would and have explored both spectrums, implementing them in our films.

2nd rendition:

In my second edit, I decided that I would go for a more recognisable symbol rather than roses. The depiction of a girl next to a skull makes a clearer and bolder statement about the themes of life and death. The addition of 2018 at the bottom was to add a feeling of professionalism as it highlighted the date our group/company was founded.

3rd rendition:

In my third rendition, I decided to completely remove the symbol of life and death and was going to put up once again, a ladies face that was split in half but this time, one half would have been behind a shattered mirror, going with one of our major themes in the film being shattered mirrors and reflections. However, due to time constraints, I returned to photoshop and decided to use this as a template and work and create the logo of there, using after effects later to cause the logo to shatter like a mirror.

How to Get Away with Murder - Representation Essay

Camera shots are used in this clip in various ways, their effects reflecting the different types being used. Right in the beginning of the clip, we get an establishing shot of the venue the scene is going to be held at. This gives us as the audience a basic understanding of what is about to unfold. The location is not confirmed and thus the only conclusion that the audience can pull from it is that it's of a place of importance and higher status due to its complex and almost ancient architecture. Throughout the court scene, we get many close-ups and waist shots. The close-ups are used to allow us as the audience to get a closer look at the characters emotions. This not only allows us to get a deeper understanding of the situation but we also form a bond with the character, we get to see their emotions throughout the scene whether it be due to the result of a win or triumph. This closeness increases the audience's engagement to the clip, due to us feeling like we are there, present at the scene witnessing the court case first hand. The waist shots, allow us as the audience to witness the characters movements whether it be the wide wave of the hand in protest or the fumbling of fingers in nervousness or when the male attorney's eyes start moving side to side in nervousness as he realises that he has lost and is now potentially in trouble. This in addition to all the other shots, really make the clip engaging as we as the audience get to feel like we are there first hand. 

Then sound and music used in this clip fulfil its purpose in serving as a notifier tot eh audience about a  big reveal; or a conclusion. When the clip first starts out, there is no background music being played this could be a method to make sure the audience have their full attention paid towards the opening of the lawyers argument, however, when the revelation comes out that the female lawyer had found the person in hiding, an electronic Bassey background music starts playing. This could potentially be a way for the director to instil anticipation into the audience and could also be viewed as mimicking the pace of the debate in court, evidenced by its pace picking up as the argument heats up. This is most noticeable when the female lawyer starts going on a tangent. The bong/cymbal clash at the end highlights to us that the argument has come to a resolution and that the lady has won. This could also symbolize a dramatic end to a to a rather similarly styled climax. After the court scene, when we see the male attorney confront the female lawyer, we get a new background track in the form of piano music. This once again highlights the lady's triumph and the conclusion to the debate. It could also be seen as a description of the lady's calm demeanour in the face of the man's nervous threats.

The editing in this clip is rather simple. The director uses varying lengths of scenes but he has quick cuts between each one. This is the only transition that we see in this clip and this could be interpreted in many ways. We could see it as a representation of the pace the argument is following, that being quick and we could also see it as mimicking the argument always moving and never stopping for a break. The quick cuts could also represent the quick movement of time and thus the sequence could be seen as being quick but also efficient, highlighting the lady lawyers skill it could also be a technique the director could be using in order for us to be able to see the emotions of all the characters that are important in this scene. We see this being implemented when the policeman is talking but we cut to the shot of a man and two females whilst his dialogue is still going this could be a highlight of the importance of the character in this situation as their presence is important enough to cut that of the speaker.

Mise-en-scene plays an important part in this clip, as it highlights the conformation or challenges to the representations present in this film but it is also important due to the lighting choices of the clip.

The lighting used in this clip is predominantly back-lighting. This could have been done in order to create shadows along with the fact that the lighting is rather dim, this may be an emphasis that everyone here could potentially all be antagonists due to the context of the show itself. It could also be used to highlight that gaze of the audience that is watching the argument take place.

Race/ethnicity is a representation that is challenged in this clip but in some cases, it also conforms to it. The lady lawyer is black whilst the male attorney is white. This case challenges the representation as in the end, the black lady wins the case while the white male loses. This challenges the representation as the black character is usually portrayed as the one that loses whilst the white character is usually the one that is triumphant. A case where the clip conforms to the representation is in the form of Mr Hortua. His character seems Hispanic in nature and when he admits his reason for his actions, he states that it is due to the promise of a green card. This paints him as an immigrant who is here to work and only did what he did due to the promise of citizenship to him and his wife. Another way this character conforms to representation is due to coloured characters usually being the "criminals" in films and television shows.

Gender plays a similar role to race in the fact that the courtroom from the start of the clip already has the feel of it being dominated by the female lawyer. This is explored furthermore when she is clearly dominating in her tangent as the male attorney's rebuttals are portrayed as weak and when she wins and the crowd cheers for her, showing once again her dominance to the point where it seems like the entire crowd had rooted for her from the start. This challenges the representation of gender roles as men are portrayed as dominant over female characters. In this clip, we see a dominant female character and a weak male character up to the point where even when the male attorney threatens the female lawyer with murder charges, she remains calm whilst we can obviously see that despite him making the threats and trying to still seem dominant and unfazed, he is completely nervous and crushed from the defeat.

Opening Sequences analysis - Part 2

Opening Sequences:

Vertigo:

This could arguably be one of the most iconic opening sequences in movies history. it uses a wide range of technical elements to create a highly engaging sequence. When it first starts, the audience gets thrown straight into action. This really keeps the audience on the edge of their seats as this move is completely shocking for most. In the first shot itself, we see an empty bar that after a slight close up has a hand grasp onto it.This has a shock factor attached to it and seems to be intended to give the audience almost a jolt and prepares them for the rest of the sequence which is rather fast-paced action.

Following this scene and the scene after where we see a criminal, policeman and a character we find out later to be Johnny or John (lead), we get a wide shot of the chase scene, establishing for us as the audience that this is taking place well above street level, a slight foreshadowing almost if combined with the title's meaning thus engrossing those who had made the deduction even more now. We also get gunfire in this scene. This really highlights the intended intensity of this scene and combined with the high-pitched brass and wind instruments, usually associated with danger,  this really creates an engaging scene for the audience.

As the chase scene continues, the character behind the policeman (John), falls down a roof and is hanging from a gutter. This is where we get to witness the infamous "Trombone Shot". or in proper terms, a "Dolly zoom". This particular shot is meant to hone in on the effect of vertigo, the zoom in and out is almost cartoonish in nature and it highlights the shocking effect created by the height. This really creates an engaging shot as the viewers too would have felt what the character was feeling at that point in time.

These 2 are screenshots of the last 2 ending shots of the opening sequence. In the first shot, we get to see the characters POV how tall the building really is and this along with the ending shot of his frightened expression, really sell too the audience how traumatising this situation would have probably been. This, in conclusion, creates an engaging sequence as we not only get launched straight into a chase scene but the dark theme of death is present in the first minute and half of the movie, really highlights to us as the audience where this movie would probably be heading, and death would be common. The music along with the camera shots like a close-up shot of the characters facial expression and his pov shots (inclusive of the dolly zoom) being mostly in the dark, really engages the audience and sets them up for the rest of the movie, setting up the atmosphere straight away in order to really engage the audience not just for this scene but for the whole movie.

This opening sequence conforms to the usual conventions of a thriller in many ways. First of all, we get dark lighting that is usually associated with the thriller genre due to its shrouding ability and the way it gives the tone of danger/evil. In this opening sequence, the background music is that of high-pitched brass and wind instruments. This, its fast pace and the occasional cymbal crash really sells away the thriller theme. We get close up shots of the characters, and this is related tot he thriller theme as we get to see a close up of the characters distressed face. The afraid expressions we get inflict the audience to relate and to almost feel the same emotions as the character is feeling. This along with the "dolly zoom" and the wide shots of the alley at street level, portrays to us as the audience the traumatic experience the character is going through at that moment of high tension.

Inception:

This opening sequence despite its short length, uses multiple technical elements to portray to the audience an engaging sequence that sets up the audience to be intrgued for the rest of the movies plot.

In the first shot of the movie, we get a rather compelling image of waves crashing, accompanied by its thundering noise. This almost acts as a transition for the audience as they get rolled and crashed straight into meeting the films main character. The thundering noise of the waves crashing, acts almost like a wake-up call, probably intended to jolt the audience into focus due to this movie requiring a large amount of focus and attention for it to be properly understood and appreciated. These opening shots of the waves may also have an effect of foreshadowing to us as the audience this films overtaking that of what we interpret of dreams, and that it's not just serene and tranquil much like the waves we see on television or pictures but violent as represented by the opening shots.

After the films rather violent like beginning, we immediately get introduced to our main character which we do not know at this point in time, however, he gets introduced barely conscious and injured. This close-up right after the wave scene could be seen as an example of that foreshadowing of violence. It is at this point in time where the background music starts becoming prominent as its volume starts rising slowly, maybe highlighting a sense of tension or danger due to its low and monotone like nature. This engages the audience as they will start questioning who this character is, how did he end up stranded on a beach,  where did he get his injuries from and why does he seem so weak and barely conscious. 

As we cut away from the man, we get a scene with a young boy probably from the characters point of view. This scene gets added meaning due to the introduction of the piano in the background music. This gives the boy an added importance to the audience as they connect him to the sudden addition to the background music.

This short scene gets cut to a shot of the character in the beach waking up only for it to cut to another scene with the boy but this time we get introduced to a girl. This quick introduction to multiple characters causes a shock to the audience as they get more and more characters to keep track of in a short period of time, thus increasing the engagement of the audience as they would want answers to even more questions like who are these children and how are they connected to the man stranded on the shore. 

Finally, we end with the man stranded on the shore falling unconscious which is accompanied by a gush. This gush could possibly mean a transition of time, an ending to a flashback or even potentially at this moment, his death. Overall, this opening sequence is engaging due to the uncertainty and lack of answers. This sequence creates a paradox as the audience would now have to wait for the film to release answers at its own time, meaning that the audience would have to remain engaged in order to get their questions answered.

This sequence has some traditional conventions like close-ups of characters and monotone music, which gives the effect of danger and tension which is key for any thriller.


Casino Royale:

In this opening sequence, the directors combine multiple conventions in order to create an engaging opening sequence.

Throughout the whole opening sequence, the film is greyscaled. This in itself creates an engaging experience as it removes the colour of the scene, potentially as a way to cater the audience's attention to what the film wants them to focus on, the removal of colour is a way for them to remove a distraction. This greyscaling is also an effective convention due to the lack of colour maybe symbolising death which does occur later on in the film. In the bottom left-hand corner, "PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC", is written in full caps and is also the only white object on the screen. This puts emphasis on it and is a way to direct the audience's attention to what it says. Its font being very formal ould suggest where ever this location is, its a location of high status and importance. All this in the first few opening sequences is why this opening sequence is so engaging, allowing the audience to receive so much information about the film and what going on.

In this shot, we get a close up of a character. The angle of the camera, in particular, gives off an effect of the man having some sort of high status due to use having to look up to him. This is the first character we see and thus our focus as the audience is now fully centred on him. The lack of colour on him due to the greyscale may be said to be a prediction of his death which does happen later on in the opening sequence. It could also be proposed that due to the greyscale, his character may be evil.

The monotone electronic background music highlights a possible hidden threat looming around the corner.

In this shot, the camera sways behind the chair highlighting to us that someone is sitting down. This could also be seen as an effect where since the camera sways away from the man to behind the chair, it may be the director trying to cause the audience to feel security form the figure as he shields us or that we can trust him to cover us. The music doesn't change, however, possibly showing that he may be the hidden threat and is just waiting for his opportunity to strike. 

The music does change, however, when the man realises that his safe is open and that someone is in his office. This could just be a confirmation for us as the audience that the figure on the chair was the hidden threat and that he is about to or has already stricken.

When the character turns around and faces the figure, the figures speech breaks the monotone nature of the sequence at that point, and thus what he says will have the audiences full attention as his voice dominates the only sound we've heard so far.

The revealing of the gun in this scene does three things. First of all, it confirms to us that danger and death that the greyscaling provides. Secondly, the presence of the gun is a form of pathetic fallacy as we now know that the figure on the chair is in danger but he does not know. Thirdly, the presence of the gun heightens the audience's attention as it signifies that tension has reached its peak, and we are about to witness and action scene but since we don't know when it's going to occur we are left on the edge of our seats anticipating for the moment to happen.

The man from the beginning starts talking and mentions "Bond". This dialogue is engaging as it gives confirmation to the audience that the figure sitting in the chair was actually James Bond, the main character.

The dark scene then jumps straight into a bright scene of violence after murder is mentioned. This sudden change of colour spectrums should have come to a shock to the audience not to mention the sudden leap into action. The background music also changes to that of brass and wind instruments, signifying heighten tension and action. This may potentially be the violence that the greyscaling and gun had foreshadowed.

Lastly, when the man gets shot by Bond, the music reaches a high pitch and could possibly signify the climax of that scene. The camera also does a violent sway, mimicking the violence and pain that the man must as felt as he flies off his chair. This creates an engaging scene as the violent motion causes the audience to feel that jolt that man must have felt, increasing the involvement the audience have in feeling the film.

This film uses many traditional techniques like a dark tone, however, this is taken to the extreme in this sequence in the form of a greyscale. The presence of a gun is a convention of a thriller and so is death and violence. The background music, whether it was a monotone electronic sound to that of loud bass and wind instruments, are all essentials in the making of a thriller.