Titanic opens with Short video clips of women, men and children waving goodbye to their friends and families as they aboard the ship.The director( James Cameron) filmed real footage from the time of 1912 to make the film appear more realistic. We can also see this as the effect of the camera is in "sepia" suggesting that at that time of film, colour was not invented. Along with this, the costumes the actors are wearing are old, 1920's typed clothes, such as top hats, long dresses, suits and gloves on their hands. This gives the connotations of Power and wealth, as wearing a suit is considered smart and respectable.This conforms to our natural stereotype of rich people as suits are often considered expensive indicating the people on the boat are wealthy. This conforms to our natural stereotype of rich people as suits are often considered expensive indicating the people on the boat are wealthy. This significantly highlights that by what the actors are wearing can already indicate what kind of people are on the boat, without any dialogue being said. The opening image is a medium shot the boat and people waving to the passengers.
The medium shot is effective because it gives an immediate insight to what the film is about, and draws us in as there is many people there, suggesting the boat is very significant. In addition, there is a clip of a man videoing the departure of the boat, therefore implying that it is also important.
An effective technique, that i think the director used is that there is no dialogue said in the opening scene, only humming like music. I think this is effective as it makes the audience curious as to what is going on. It also captivates us, as it brings tension to the film discreetly, making us wonder what is going to happen next. The music gets progressively louder when we see the waves on screen. Near the end of the opening scene, we see a submarine lowering down into the ocean. The camera is at a high angle, and is panning downwards along with the submarine. This makes us feel that we are part of the action, as we follow the submarine down to the ocean, giving a daunting effect. It also looks like a lighting is being used behind the camera, to make the submarine stand out more. The camera then shows a image of the ocean, which surrounds the cameras view, and then "TITANIC" is written in bold, white writing, drawing attention to the boat and the film.
2) For my next chosen opening scene, i chose is 21 jump street.
The film begins with loud, powerful music playing with
the introduction to the film makers. The music continues playing, until a black
screen appears and the music stops. Along with this, bold writing appears on
the screen saying "THE YEAR 2005" and then begins playing the Eminem song “slim shady. The build up to
the Eminem song is effective, as it’s unexpected. The audience
Would expect the film to flow into an establishing
shot, but instead, the song changes making us feel that it is comical.
The first
shot that we see is a high angled shot of a yellow, American school bus, with
students departing it. The camera then pans into the bus as the students
proceed to leave the bus. This makes the audience initially think that the film
is about young, high school students. This in turn, changes when we see the
credits are presented on the screen and the title written in bold. This is
because, we hear police sirens being played, and the text flashes up like
police lights. Making the audience feel that it is a thriller/comedy typed
film. We meet our first character here named Schmidt. He however looks very
similar to the rapper Eminem and is nicknamed “slim shady”. The director linked
his image with the song in which the music changes into. Schmidt is wearing a
white t-shirt, gold chains, rucksack and baggy-like denim jeans. This conforms
to the natural stereotype of an “un-cool” like guy in high school. From other
films I have gathered that, schools have different sub cultured groups such as:
chavs, nerds, cool group etc. By Schmidt’s clothing and how no one notices him
in the corridor, we instantly know that he is not considered a popular and
likeable guy in his school. The camera
angle follows Schmidt’s movement through the corridor which makes us feel like
we are part of him and that we are on that characters side. The camera then
quickly switches onto a medium shot of the poster saying “PROM” on it. The
lighting also becomes brighter; this suggests that prom is an important factor
to consider in this part of the film. A girl walks past and he begins nervously
asking her out, while the other group of boys begin to laugh and snigger. This
makes the audience feel sympathy for Schmidt as he is portrayed as an innocent,
and likeable character, so out emotion immediately sides with him.
The
setting where the film is set is in an American high school. This suggests that
the audience is made for a younger age group. We can see that it is a big and
overpowering school with many students in it, making the film seem more
realistic.
Later on,
we see a two shot of the two main characters, divided by a post with them on
either side. One guy is considered “popular” and the other considered “weird”
The camera angle is zoomed out so that we can see the full body of each the
characters. The divide by the wall is effective as it also could be seen
metaphorically by their divide in their high school society.
Maleficent is a Disney animated movie casting Angelina Jolie as the main character. The story is the pre sleeping beauty story line in which we see maleficent for what she really is. The opening scene begins with an establishing shot of the fantasy world in which maleficent and her friends live. The shot shows a vast amount of greenery and high mountains in the distance. We see the sun rising in the background also, suggesting its the morning. This shot is effective, as it immediately makes the audience know that the film is fiction and animated. We can see this, as the scenery does not look realistic. This makes the target audience much younger, as its unlikely that adults would want to watch a Disney, animated film. The camera then zooms into the the scenery towards the overpowering mountains in the distance. The director has made the "zoom" happen slowly, making the audience precautions of what lies over the mountains. It makes us feel curious, and yet excited to see what lies beyond them. It also makes us feel tension as the mountains are so overwhelming. The use of sound in the opening clip is also effective. We here a voice over of a women explaining the 2 kingdoms in which the people live. (One with a nasty king, and the other filed with fairies and mystical creatures.) There is a slower, more relaxing music in the background of the voice, conveying a calm, and nonviolent atmosphere in the lands. In the next part of the clip, we are introduced to our main character. ( maleficent) we see a medium shot of her soaring through the trees and land. The camera follows her flying, and she flies right up to the camera giving a 3D effect. This is effective, as it makes the audience feel like we are involved with all the action, and makes us feel part of the film. It also makes us feel closer to the character, making us side with her personality.
I wanted to focus on the mise- en- scene of maleficent, our main character. I was mainly interested in her costume. Maleficent is a fairy, so we already know that what she is wearing is not going to be the average, normal outfits, that we would wear. We she is flying, we see her wearing a long, brown frock with no shoes on. This subverts to the natural stereotype of a "fairy". We would expect bright, colourful and vibrant colours, as fairies are associated with magic and positivey. However, we are presented with dull colours. This suggests that she is unique, and different to other fairies, and makes the film more captivating, as she is not your average fairy you would expect. The fact that she is wearing no shoes, suggests that she is close to earth and nature, which would seem un - stereotypical of a young girl.
Next, i looked a the proxemics of the Maleficent . When she is flying, she is fairly close the characters, and also says " hello" and "good morning". The way the director, made her "swish" closely to the characters, suggests that she is a well liked and well known person in their community. This communicates with the audience, as it makes us think she is a lovable character, as she "swishes" past the screen ( close up) suggesting that she would like us aswell. Link to Maleficent opening scene
4th) for my fourth film opening i chose about time
About time is a romantic comedy about a guy named Tim that can time travel. He experiments with this, and ends up meeting the love of his life along the way. The opening scene begins with our main character Tim introducing all his family members. Before any picture is shown, we here soft, gentle music playing, suggesting a calm atmosphere, which makes the audience think that there is a peaceful setting to where the film is set. Tim speaks about all his family members and mentions he had a "good childhood" The first shot we see, is a long shot of Tim. This is effective, as we can see the whole of Tim's body/height etc.So this gives us a full interpretation or Tim's character. We see him walking down the house corridor eating a piece of toast. This is significant, because it makes the film seem more realistic, as "eating toast" is a relatable and normal thing that people do. So it conveys a sense of normality and homeliness which makes the audience more comfortable and makes us relate with Tim. The camera stands still while he turns around the corner instead of panning to the right of where Tim goes. I think this is effective as it makes Tim seem unimportant or less significant, as the camera doesnt move with him. Making him seem innocent and a lovebale character. The next scene we see, is a medium shot of Tim's mum. She is arranging flowers in a greenhouse. I think the director has done this, to show the mother as nurturing and graceful. Arranging flowers is seen as a elegant thing to do as you care about nature and the earth. So the audience feel compassionate towards Tim's mother. Tim's clothing i feel reflects his character well. He is wearing a blue and white striped top with brown cheno typed trousers. I think the striped top looks like a pajama clothing, suggesting that Tim is lazy and relaxed. It makes his character seem careless and sympathetic, as he does not seem to take pride in what hes wearing. Tim also has ginger hair. Which as the audience we sympathize with, as stereotypical, gingers are usually made fun of. Due to his lack of seeming to care, we as the audience are made to like him. The film is set in Cornwall, England and as the characters are being introduced, we see a background of the sea. This makes the audience feel relaxed and de-stressed. It also makes the characters seem relaxed as at one point all of the characters are on the beach together, and we can hear slight sounds of laughter. They all live in a old, capital looking house, ( also by the sea) making the family seem close together.
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