Age certificate

The certificate we have decided to use for our film opening is a '15'. This is because our film would contain imitable behaviour which could be dangerous for younger viewers to witness. Also, some of the scenes may be quite disturbing and as the psychological aspect is a clear theme throughout it wouldn't be appropriate for a younger audience.

We didn't make it a 12 due to the fact that the plot incorporates violence and different states of mind. However, we didn't make it an 18 as there are no reoccurring sexual or criminal themes. It also does not contain any strong language. Also, as our target audience is teenagers/young adults this certificate seems most appropriate.

BFI [British Film Institute] study trip

On the 11th November we attended a study day at the BFI on the Southbank. For the first half, a media teacher called Tom Woodcock gave us tips and more information on our film opening coursework. He covered many areas including lighting, editing, incorporating titles etc.
He taught us about Macro conventions which include genre, narrative, character, themes and atmosphere. He also taught us about Micro conventions which include colour, lighting, props, font, framing and setting.

We watched some film openings including Napoleon Dynamite, Casino Royale and The wedding singer. We had to think about the macro and micro elements. This gave us some inspiration and an insight into what we had to include and think about when creating our film openings.

After Tom Woodcock finished his presentation on conventions of film openings, he introduced us to Dexter Fletcher who is an actor who has appeared in both film and television and is now a successful director. First, he spoke about his experiences and struggles he had to overcome in filming and Tom Woodcock interviewed him then he showed us openings of some of his films; this included 'Eddie the Eagle' and 'Wild bill' He then did a live question and answer session where we could ask him for some tips and advice for our coursework.

Art of the titles

Using artofthetitle.com i found the following movie openings. This is good research for what we are going to produce as a group as it provides us with some inspiration. There are many openings on this site so i have included the ones that stood out to me and a brief explanation of why that was.

Cargo - innocence lost
As a group we have decided to focus on this opening. This is because it falls within the same genre that our film opening is going to fall under. We found the shaky use of the camera very clever as it portrays how the woman is feeling. Something that we took from this clip specifically is the idea of huffing and puffing which can be seen in the Cargo clip at 2:20. We are gong to take this idea and use it in our own way.


The widowmaker:
I like how the opening involves a lot of close ups of objects that add a mystery atmosphere. This includes needles, a close up of a face, pills etc. We are thinking of including close ups of tablets in our opening so this is quite related. However, in general i like how they incorporated a lot of close ups to give hints for the film.

Silent hill:
The use of handwriting shows us that the film could be quite mysterious and different as normally the titles are very well structured. This is something i liked as it isn't typical for a film like this, it breaks out of what is expected. The lack of colour also gives us an edgy and dark atmosphere for the film as everything blends together as it is all black and white.This lets us suspect that the film is going to be a horror and have quite a gloomy atmosphere.

11.22.63
This film opening uses a strong presence of audio to build up the atmosphere. A few hints are given through the images as it explores the location and a man who will probably be the main character. There are sharp cuts to the next item that is being shown each time but the audio helps everything link together which shows the strength of incorporating relevant audio to aid the titles.

Les bleus de ramville
This title sequence stands out from the rest for me as the titles are fitting with the images moving behind them. The colour and position of the titles suit with the background each time in order to incorporate the titles with the sequence starting to build up. This is to make sure there isn't a harsh division between the titles and the film starting. This may seem simple and easy to achieve however it has a great impact on the title sequence.

Camera shots and angles

Camera shots:

• Establishing

An establishing shot is usually the first shot of the scene as it is able to show the audience the location through a wide shot.

• Long shot

 A long shot is quite similar to an establishing shot. It is able to show an entire person/object whilst also giving a glimpse of the surrounding.

• Full shot

A full shot is a type of long shot. It is able to show the whole person's body in full, with the head near to the top of the frame and the feet near the bottom.

• Midshot

 A midshot can also be referred to as am medium shot. It is a relatively close shot and generally includes the body from the knees or waist up.

• Close up

A close up is a detail view of a person or an object focusing on a small proportion of a person or object and therefore provides no context as minimal background or setting will be seen.

• Extreme close up

 This is an extremely intimate shot and reveals a lot of detail but on a small portion of a person/object.

Camera angles:

• Eye level

An eye level shot is simply a shot in which the camera is positioned directly at the same level as the person in shot's eyes. It is how we see in real life so it is therefore the most common angle as it reflects a natural viewpoint. 

• Low angle

A low angled shot is when the camera is below eye level and is looking up to the person/scene. This is commonly used to portray the viewpoint of a hidden character. 

                                               

• High angle

A high agled shot is when the camera is positioned above eye level and is therefore looking down to the person/scene. This is commonly used to show another point of view or a hidden camera.
                                  

• Overhead shot

 An overhead shot provides a birds eye point of view and look directly down on the characters/scene.
                                     

• Under shot

An under shot provides a view from directly below the character/object. This could be used to view a scene unfolding in the sky from the ground eg an airplane as pictured below.