Initial Research

To start my coursework i am going to watch six film openings. While watching them i will write notes about what i like about them, the mis-en-scene, the shots used and the lighting and music used. Watching the first two minutes of six films will help me to see a range of different shots being used along with types of music and lighting, which i may then be able to take ideas from to include in my own film.

Slum dog Millionaire;

Slum dog Millionaire is a British film, produced by Danny Boyle. This is a very successful film winning a total of four golden globes, seven Baftas and eight Oscars.

This film has a very interesting opening as it keeps flicking between shots of who wants to be a millionaire and random flashing images that mean nothing to the viewers before they have seen the film. Also, throughout the opening sequence of shots there is a question in the top right hand corner which makes the viewers start thinking about 'how he won the 20 million rupees'.

I like the different shots that are used to create a sense of tension. The sound which is used in the opening a clock counting down for the viewers to answer the question. I like the chose of sound as it fits in with the story but also helps to create a tense atmosphere and wonder throughout the viewers. The fact that the use of dim lighting has been used also helps to create the sense of wonder as you are only able to see certain parts of each shot making you wonder what is going on around him.

The things that i would take from this would be the quick change of shots, which work really well together to keep the viewers guessing what is going on and what is about to happen.

Train Spotting;

Another film that i watched was Train Spotting, there were certain elements from this film that i liked and thought may work well in my own film production.

The part of Train Spotting that stood out the most to me was the fact that a prologue was used throughout the film opening. This helps to set the scene of the film and without even thinking about it the viewers automatically feel like they are in the shoes of the character who is speaking. I also like the fact that the film jumps straight into the action with music that fits in well with the speed of the characters running through a busy area.

Lost;

To add to the research that i had already done, i watched the TV series 'Lost'. Lost follows the lives of plane crash survivors on a mysterious tropical island, after a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles crashes somewhere in the South Pacific.

The reason that i chose to watch this TV series was that the opening (which is what i was focusing on) was different from any of the other films i had already studied.

The opening sequence to lost is of a man who is very disorientated walking and running through a wooded area. This wants the viewers to keep watching to find out what happens next and how he ended up there. As a good we analysed the good and bad points about the opening and decided that we could use a few different things and incorporate them into our production. This included things such as the opening shot of the eye opening, we thought that this shot would work well in our production. Also, we liked the choice of music that was used. It was very appropriate for the scene and situation it was used in. This made us realise that we would need to choose music that fitted with the genre of our production.