Film Opening Test

Film Opening Test:

Big Screen Co-operations presents
A Green Field production

'Midnight'

Jessica Dawson
Keir Jenkins
Grace Cambridge
with Josh Manley
and Luke Sams

Casting By
William Hegarty
and Sarah Young

Co-Producer
Suzanne Binns

Music Supervisor
Lucy Reed

Music By
Charlotte Petty

Costume Designer
Ashley Burton

Produced By
Dylan Mann-Hazell

Directed By
Tony Wilks

Based on the novel by Liberty Caster

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Titles

Lionsgate presents
A Color Force/Lionsgate production
Jennifer Lawrence
Josh Hutcherson
Liam Hemsworth
Woody Harrelson
 Elizabeth Banks
 Lenny Kravitz
 Philip Seymour Hoffman
 Jeffery Wright
 with Stanley Tucci
and Donald Sutherland,

Casting By
Debra Zane

Music Supervisor
Alexandra Patsavas

Music By James Newton Howard

Costume Designer
Trish Summerville

Edited By
Alan Edward, ace

Production Designer
Belle Philip Messina

Director of Photography
Ajo Wilems

Executive Producers
Suzanne Collins
Louise Losner-Meyer
Joe Drake
Allison Shearmur

Produced By
Nina Jacobson
John Kilk

Based on the Novel By
Suzanne Collins

Screenplay by
Simon Beaufoy
Michael DeBuryn

Directed By
Francis Lawrence


This film opening is very much linked to the overall plot of the film, Catching Fire. The music allows the audience to see that this film is quite dark, and the text used is quite plain. The text fades in and out, evidently quite a popular choice for opening credits, and in the background there are many things significant to the film the audience are about to watch, such as an arrow, or a clock. I think the opening credits for Catching Fire were very clever and well made for this particular film. Also, yet again, the cast members appear first, and they lead the music to a more dramatic stage.

Skyfall Opening Titles

Skyfall:

Albert R. Broccoli's Eon Productions LTD presents

 Daniel Craig as Ian Fleming's James Bond 007 in
 SKYFALL
 starring Javier Bardem
 Ralph Fiennes
 Naomie Harris
 Berenice Lim Marlohn
 Ben Whishaw
 Rory Kinnear
 Ola Rapace
 with Albert Finnley
 and Judi Dench as M

 Co-Producers Andrew Noakes and David Pope

 Script Supervisor
 Jayne-Ann Tenggren

 Sound Recordist
 Stuart Wilson

 Electrical Supervisor
 John Higgins

 Second Unit Assistant Supervisor
 Terry Madden

Make up Designer
Naomi Donne

Hair Designer
Zoe Tahir

 Mr Craig's Make up Artist
 Donald Mowat

Wardrobe Supervisor
Gordon Harmer

Publicity and Marketing
Stephanie Wenborn

Promotions
Keith Snelgrove

Supervising Art Director
Chris Lowe

Set Director
Anna Pinnock

Property Master
Jamie Wilkinson

Construction Manager
Stephan Bohan

Still Photographer
Francois Duhamel

Visual Effects Producer
 Leslie Lerman

 Production Supervisor
 Janine Modder

 Location Production Managers
 Chris Brock,
Angus More Gordon
and Anthony Waye

Second Unit Production Manager
Terry Bamber

 Post Production Supervisor
Michael Solinger

Visual Effects and Miniature Supervisor

Steven Begg

Associate Producer
Gregg Wilson

Unit Production Managers
Callum McDougall
 Jeremy Johns

First Assistant Director
Michael Lerman

Casting
Debbie McWilliams

Main Titles designed by
Daniel Kleinman

Special Effects and Miniature Effects Supervisor
Chris Corbould

Stunt Co-ordinator
Gary Powell

Second Unit Director
Alexander Witt

Costume Designer
Jany Temime

Editors
Stuart Baird ACE, Kate Baird

Director of Photography
Rodger Deakins A.S.C, B.S.C

Production Designer
 Dennis Gassner

Music by Thomas Newman

"SKYFALL"

Performed by Adele

Written by Adele
and Paul Epworth

Produced by Paul Epworth

Executive Producer
Callum McDougall

Written by
Neal Purvis,
Robert Wade
and John Logan

Produced by
Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli

 Directed by
Sam Mendes


Skyfall has a very typical James Bond-esque opening. Adele begins singing as soon as the cast members begin to be credited. Fade-in and fade-out effects are used on this text, and the text is sky blue coloured to match the ocean or the name of the movie, of which has the word sky in it. Behind the text, a series of events is occurring, however, none of them are related to the story line of the film. Due to the fact that it was the 50th anniversary of James Bond, I believe the opening credits designer wanted to make the credits very typically James Bond.

Divergent Opening Titles

Divergent Opening Credits:

SUMMIT ENTERTAINMENT - A LIONSGATE COMPANY

RED WAGON ENTERTAINMENT

SUMMIT ENTERTAINMENT PRESENTS

A RED WAGON ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCTION

A NEIL BURGER FILM

DIVERGENT

Shailene Woodley
Theo James
Ashley Judd
Jai Courtney
Ray Stevenson
Zoe Kravitz
Miles Teller
Tony Goldwyn
Ansel Elgort
Maggie Q
Mekhi Phifer
And Kate Winslet

Ben Lloyed-Huges,
Christian Madsen,
Amy Newbold

Casting By Mary Vernieu, CSA
And Venus Kanani, CSA

Co producer
Veronica Roth

Senior Visual Effects Supervisor
Jim Berney

CHICAGO

Music Supervisor
Randall Poster

Music By
Junkie XL

Executive Score Producer
Hans Zimmer

Costume Designer
Carlo Poggioli

Editors
Richard Francis-Bruce, ACE
Nancy Richardson, ACE

Production Designer:
Andy Nicholson

Director of Photography
Alwin Kuchler, BSC

Executive Producers
John J.Kelly
Rachel Shane

Produced By
Douglas Wick, PGA
Lucy Fisher, PGA

Produced By
Pouya Shahbazian

BASED ON THE NOVEL BY VERONICA ROTH

Screenplay By
Evan Daugherty
and Vanessa Taylor

Directed By
Neil Burger

The style of font used in the opening credits for 'Divergent' very much reflects the style of the film itself, so within the first thirty seconds, where no establishing shot has been made, and it is just a dark screen, we can figure out what kind of film it is already. The font is very computer-like, and slightly futuristic, due to the laser-like effects that surround the font. Also, the way the name of the film 'Divergent' appears on screen, fitting together like the pieces of a puzzle, reflects the 'perfect' society that is portrayed in the story of the film, so I think that is a very nice touch. At first, the names of the companies appear from off screen in blackness, with lasers accompanying them. Then a first establishing shot is made as the credits then continue, blocking the sun somewhat. As the camera pans onto the city that the film is set in, Chicago, the names of the main actors are portrayed, followed by the post-production team. Towards the end of the credits, as the city is still being shown from many different angles, the producers, director and author of the book are credited.

Preliminary Task

Evaluation:

In this task, I was instructed to create a short film that included a conversation, the opening of a door and walking down some stairs. In this evaluation, I will be writing about what went well during the production and post-production of the short film, and what I feel could have done with a few improvements.

The short film begins with the title 'Dylan's Preliminary Task'. A shot is then shown of Grace walking down the stairs, with energetic music. I filmed this from 3 angles: A long shot, a mid shot and a close up of her shoes going down the stairs. I think this part of the video was successful because it ran smoothly during the editing, and there were no shots that needed re-shooting.

Grace then opens a door. Again, I filmed this with 3 shots. The first being a mid shot, the second being a close up of the handle being turned, and the third being another mid shot, from the other side of the door as she enters. I thought this part of the short film ran quite smoothly as well, and as a result, I was happy with the outcome.

There is then a high angle shot of Josh looking up as Grace enters the room and sits down. The music fades out and the conversation begins. They both greet each other and Grace informs Josh that she has been looking for him. His surprise is noticeable, and he asks her why she has been searching for him. Grace responds, informing him that his mother has a message for him that he has left his lunch at home. Josh's disappointment is evident through the means of a close up shot. After Grace tells Josh to phone his mum, he thanks her and then leaves. The music fades back in again, and a mid shot of Grace's head turning to follow Josh's departure is shown. The credits are then shown.

If there was one thing that I was unhappy with, with my resultant video, it is that I cut Josh and Grace off too soon during many of the shots. and it looks like they are about to say more. If given the chance to reshoot my short film, this is what I would change. However, other than that fault, I found my video to be reasonably successful, and was content with the outcome.

Film Opening Evaluation

Film openings are extremely important because it allows the audience to see, most of the time, what mood the film is going to start off with. The sound effects, music and camera angles all take part in the mood setting.

   

1) Divergent:

This teen film follows the story of a young girl in a post-apocalyptic world. When creating the opening credits for the film, the editors had to take great care in introducing the environment the film will be set in, for it is not a usual environment. I think they did this quite well, for many establishing shots of the environment, (a post apocalyptic version of Chicago), were used. Also, the audience can immediately judge that the film will involve forms of technology, due to the computer-like text used at the beginning, to introduce the actors, directors and producers, and the the title of the movie. Also, the music used throughout the majority of the opening credits is quite somber, for the effects of war and disaster are being shown in Chicago, yet the music lightens up immediately when the camera pans down to hundreds of people walking around, evidently healthy and happy. Overall, I found the film opening very suitable for the rest of the film.

 

2) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

This film opening is effective because it evokes emotions in the audience within the first few minutes, making it likely that they'll want to continue watching. The music, which is both tense and sad, also adds to the overall effect that the film gives. The very beginning opens with a close up shot of the Minister's eyes as he's giving a speech. This is a very dramatic opening, which throws us (the audience) immediately into the story of the film. Aside from the speech at the very beginning, there is not much dialogue in the opening, suggesting that the editors wanted the music to set the mood more so than the characters. At the end of the scene, an establishing shot of the empty street Hermione is walking on is shown, perhaps to portray that she is leaving home all on her own.

3) The Hunger Games

I think this film opening is effective, informative and a very good way of setting the mood of the film. The writing at the beginning is used to inform the audience of what the Hunger Games are, so that the characters don't have to conveniently explain it in the plot. Also, we get to see views from the Capitol, who are wearing  smart costumes in huge studios, and in the Districts where they were ripped clothing in small cabins. This creates an immediate comparison for the audience to make, and opinions are made almost straight away of the characters before we even know their names.

The Door

In this session we were asked to make a realistic video of someone walking through a door from various angles. What went well was that the video ran almost smoothly throughout, and I thought the music choice was quite suiting. However, after posting it, I noticed that there is a small error when the door is closing, and the clip is repeated slightly. To improve this video, I should remove such an error.

My First Film

Evaluation:

In my short film "The Awakening", there are many aspects that could have been improved, given time. However, there are some parts of the video that I managed to successfully edit in certain ways.

One example of an improvement that could have been made is that I could have made the storyline more clear for the audience. The overall idea of Danielle waking up after taking a nap outside, and her friend, Charlotte meeting up with her could have been portrayed in a much more clear way. Also, the Long Shot within the film is not extremely noticeable, due to the fact that I zoomed out slightly as the shot took place. Having considered these possible improvements, I know how to make my next video better.

However, when editing, I found an effect called the "Dream Effect", which I found to be quite relevant to my video. This effect made the outer layers of the video slightly blurry, as if the close up shot was the point of view of someone waking up themselves. Also, I managed to add music to make the short film more interesting for the viewer, and faded it out at the end so the sound didn't abruptly stop. Knowing this, I can conclude that the effects used in my video were successful.

Overall, in the post-production of my video, I managed to use effects and edit my video quite well, yet in the production of the film, there were some errors that could have been rectified. I now understand where I went wrong, and where I succeeded.