Our storyboard for our group Opening

James Bond Opening Analysis

James Bond Opening Sequence

The main colour used in this opening sequence is red. Which holds connotations of death and blood, or on the other hand is could show love and passion. But in this case we know that it is blood because the man in the background is holding a gun. The barrel of a gun is a graphic match of the letter O, in DR NO.

Narrative functions

The character is introduced at the start of the opening sequence by a panning shot of him walking into the camera. It is a long shot. Also the music is very upbeat for when he walks into the opening shot. The only way the narrative structure is shown through is the genre, and also we can tell that this is a very old film because of the music and how they introduce the first character.
The characters are introduced first by their names and not seeing their faces. This is done also by using colourful dots and in the credits. Also this will make the credits look less boring, as you have got something else on the screen, not just the writing. This will also captivate the audience’s attention because the music in the background is very upbeat and catchy, and will the colourful dots making patterns makes it interesting.
We establish that the key themes are lively and bright with a black background.
Because there have been many James Bond Movies they know that the character who plays James Bond is going to be well known star. This will make the audience want to watch the film more because they know who he is. In this particular James Bond movie the main character is Sean Connery and he is very well known.
At the start of the opening sequence the audience will establish that the genre is action because he holds a gun at the start of it and also we see blood running down the screen, so it may also be a thriller involving death.

Narrative conventions

The mood from the sound track gives a thrilling feeling to the audience. As I have mentioned the titles and credits signify action because of the fast pace of the dots moving. When we see the gun shot it puts questions into our head about what is going to happen next, who is going to get shot?

Lighting is very black and white with a bit of colour red, which are connotations of death.

Costume his costume is very smart which shows that he is a normal man the works, but we don't know that he is very different from what we expect.

The editing and camera movements are fast because the film is an action movie, so this relates to it.

Finally there is no dialogue at the start so we haven't a clue what is going on or what is going to happen.

My personal response to the plans we have made

As I am a character in the opening I don't have a role of shooting as I am mostly in it. But because we are shooting at my house I have organised the times in which everyone will come round, and also i will set up the setting to make it suitable for the filming.
We have put a lot of information on our storyboard so we know exactly what we are doing. We may need to make some changes to this because some things might not look good on camera in this case would would have to change our original plans. Another thing is that our storyboard may be a bit short so we are going to have to drag it out but this won't be a problem because there may be things that we have missed.
I have a feeling that the filming will go really well this is because we have planned exactly what our plan of action is for over the weekend. It may not go as well as we have planned but I am feeling quite confident about it.

Planning Our Opening Sequences

We have planned to start filming our opening sequence this weekend, and we aim to get the whole of the filming done so we can start the editing next week. We have decided what costumes we are going to wear, and we are going to be shooting our opening sequence at my house. He have chosen to use the bedroom where is has a mirror. The garage to make the atmosphere look scary and the living room back doors for walking in and out. Also we are going to need to go to the train station which is 10 minutes away from my house so this wouldn't put us out too much.

We have discussions about our plans for the weekend which will be Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th of January. Also what times we will meet up and traveling etc. 

Comparing Pillow Talk and Fringe Essay

Media Essay - Comparing Pillow Talk and Fringe

In this essay I’m going to compared Fringe and Pillow Talk. Fringe is an American science fiction television series created by J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. The series follows a Federal Bureau of Investigation "Fringe Division" team based in Boston, Massachusetts under the supervision of Homeland Security. The team uses unorthodox "fringe" science and FBI investigative techniques to investigate a series of unexplained, often ghastly occurrences, which are related to mysteries surrounding a parallel universe. On the other hand Pillow talk is a 1959 romantic comedy film directed by Michael Gordon. It features Rock Hudson, Doris Day, Tony Randall, Thelma Ritter and Nick Adams. The film was written by Russell Rouse, Maurice Richlin, Stanley Shapiro and Clarence Greene.

The pace in Fringe is faster than in Pillow Talk. For example in Fringe there are faster cuts in between the different scenes. Also there are many straight cuts from one person to another also this is called over the shoulder shots. But in Pillow Talk they show then two characters in the same shot which is called a two shot. Also I have counted how many cuts there are in 20 seconds of Fringe and there are 7 but then in Pillow Talk there are 0. So there is just one long scene that last for 20 seconds without any cuts.

The style of the editing in Pillow Talk is very different to Fringe. In Fringe there is a split screen and different cuts for example dissolve and a wipe. But in Fringe there are none of these and most of the cuts is straight cuts. This may be because Pillow Talk is quite an old film whereas Fringe is quite a new episode which means they have better technology and are able to make the sharp camera shots. Also in Fringe there are more close ups of people faces so you can see only the person talking in the shot.  But in Pillow Talk most of the shots are mid shots of the people so you can see their conversation without the camera changing.

 There are quite a few similarities throughout Fringe and Pillow Talk for example. There both use mid-shots to show the characters but in Pillow talk this it’s the main shot that they use where as in Fringe the shot that is used the most is a close up. This could be because they don’t want any background in it and only need to see their face, but this is different in Pillow talk because the background in it is quite important. This is because the Mise-on-sceen in Pillow Talk makes us know that is an old film.  For example their clothing and make-up are quite old fashion. But in Fringe this is very different because we only see their faces as they are close ups but we can still tall that this is a more up to date series. But this could also mean that are similar because most of the shots are the same in both clips.

Looking at Fringe and Pillow Talk as a whole they are very different from each other and the audience responses would also be very different. This is because I think Fringe in more Sci-fi and Pillow Talk I find as quite a romantic film so this would have a different effect of the watchers and audience. In Fringe the audience would find it hard to keep focused on the screen because there are so many cuts and changes in the camera angles it’s hard to keep focused, and that’s like most film and series these days. Where the audience would follow what’s going on more in Pillow Talk because there are not as many cuts and the scenes follow into other. For example when the lady is standing at the sink and the camera does a pan and follows her to the phone so you can see where she is walking. If this was to happen in Fringe then they would use a cut to film the scene answering the phone.

In Pillow Talk when there are two characters in the scene the camera would get them both into the shot which is called a two shot whereas in Fringe if there are two character speaking to each other then they would use a cut from one person talking then to the next. So from this again you can tell that the technology was not as good then as it is now. Finally altogether Fringe has a lot more cuts uses more close up’s than mid shots to show an up to date series and Pillow Talk has less cuts and more mid-shots to get the background information in to show to the audience that this is an old film.

Children Of Men Essay

How effectively does the opening sequence from 'Children of Men' (2006) use the forms and conventions of film openings? What is your personal response as a member of the audience?"

In the film Children of Men the director uses key forms and conventions to captivate the audience and grab their attention. This is done by using key methods and techniques that keep the audience attached to the screen. Children of Men is a 2006 American dystopian science fiction film co-written and directed by Alfonso Cuarón. It is set in the United Kingdom of 2027.

We know that the plot of the film is in 2027 and no children have been born anywhere in the world for 18 years. The youngest child in the world is Baby Diageo, and because he is the youngest person alive he has become famous for this. We are informed this by the news report on the television at the start of the opening sequence, but because it is an opening sequence they don’t give too much away. It also informs us that Baby Diageo has been stabbed by one of his fans for not signing an autograph. We see moving billboards and adverts on the side of buses to show the difference in time and how the country has changed.

An opening sequence aims to give a short snippet into what the film is going to be about. From just watching a couple of seconds of the opening sequence we see that London looks very gloomy and grey. Although it is a future film the place looks very similar to what it looks like now. You would think that there would be very advanced technology because of the film being set in the future, but apart from moving billboards we don’t see any of this in the opening sequence of this movie. There are typical conventions that are used in an Opening Sequence for example narrative functions, audience expectations, generic tropes and the characters. I will look into these to see how well they are used.  

Firstly I will begin to look at the narrative functions that are used to captivate the audience’s attention. Were the scene is set and the colour normally catches the audience’s attention first, and in this case the film is set in London which we know very well. We see double decker red buses driving up and down the streets. This is how we recognise that it is set in London. Also the colours are very grey and gloomy because of all the smoke from the buses, that it almost looks like the opening is in black and white but really it is all in colour. This could show connotations of how London is becoming untidy and dirty as all this drama is happening. The colour of the buses are also very dull and not bright, even though they are red and red is a bright colour. This makes it clear to the audience that the film is set in 2027 because you would expect things to get more congested in a place like London.

The characters in the coffee shop all very different to each other. They were props to help us understand who they are and their different interests. For example at the beginning we see a fairly old lady hold her dog in her arms. This helps us understand that there are still animals living even though a child hasn't been born in 18 years. Another character is a policeman but he is not recongnised as he is standing at the back of the shop, but we can establish his hat, and it also helps us establish that the film is set in London. When the camera then goes outside when we follow the man, we see bikes that we get in London now days with engines on the back; his is also giving of smokey which contrast with the dull colours of the roads. Finally we then see the main character. We can tell that he is the main character because throughout the opening the camera is following him through the coffee shop and the outside again. He just looks like a normal London Office worker because he is in a suit and just coming into the shop to get a coffee when he spots the news on the television. We then see him putting some of extra liquid into his coffee, which we think is alcohol. This then makes s ask questions about why he is doing that? Are there reasons for him drinking? It also helps us to establish what the main character is like, and also what we expect in the rest of the film. All of this gives us a good impression of how the film is going to be like, because if the opening is not very good the audience will expect the film to be the same.

Generic conventions establish the audience's expectation about the film. It also helps the audience discover the genre of the film. We know that the film will be action because of the explosion at the end of the opening sequence when we see the lady that we have previously seen drinking her coffee in the shop walking out with her arm in her hand, and it is also very clear that the move is going to be futuristic because of the difference in time. At the very start of the opening were we here important news but only see the credits on screen. This makes the audience pay more attention to what is being said rather than what is on screen. There is non-diegetic when the explosion is going off and this is another way of how the audience will establish this film as an action film. 

Throughout the opening sequence props and costumes and other mise-on-scene play an important part of establishing the different characters and the expectations of them. As we can tell because of the main character poor alcohol into his drink we immediately think that he is an alcoholic.

Textual analysis for example framing and camera movement play a big part in understanding the film. In this opening the camera is mostly hand-held. This is very effective because it looks like someone is following him from behind. Also is can signify that the world has become unsteady that's why the camera is unsteady. Another angle we see is a high angle shot in the coffee shop, which gets everyone in the frame and makes the characters look small like they're not important.

I think the opening sequence of 'Children of Men' works well as it catches the attention of the audience and has drawn them in, making them want to watch the rest of the film to find out what has happened; that is the whole purpose of a film opening. It sets the scene very well and introduces the audience to the main character and the setting - London 2027. This allows the viewer to get familiar with the surroundings before giving them too much information about the plot because they may then confuse them causing them to turn the film off and give negative reviews.