This is our edit of the opening to Arlington Road, including the soundtrack that we put together in Soundtrack Pro. We decided to use a combination of SFX and music to create what we consider a good thriller opening soundtrack.
It is with this project that we were first introduced Soundtrack Pro, and we learnt about how to create an effective soundtrack to match a piece of footage. There is a built in library of various SFX and music loops, which can be put together in order to create a soundtrack.
Different films have different film opening depending on what the film is about and how they want the audience to feel in order to get them intruigued early on, for them to carry on watching the film.
Audiences will change over time in accordance with cultural tastes and trends.
The audience for thrillers are usually 15+, this is due to the fact that they normally have violence, blood or sex will could be unsuitable for younger viewers however exciting for the older viewers
The audiences for rom-coms are usually females 13+ due to the fact that they are more light hearted.
The target audience for political films will be adults age 25+ who are interested in those subjects and are entertained by it.
For example this thriller includes disturbing scenes which is why it will be deemed unsutible for a younger audience.
During our lesson we were taught how to utilise the equipment effectively and safely:
we were taught how to turun this camera on/off, how to record, put on auto focus and all the basic you need to know. And how to hold it in order for it not to drop.
We were also taught how to open up the tri pod and how to put the camera into it. And how to ensure our fingers dont get caught when we close it.
This camera is given to us to make storyboards ot to take pictures of behind the scenes. and we had to make sure we didnt drop it due how fragile it is.
we are also given memory cards, hard drive and card readers which we were all taught how to use safely and appropiately.
This is the intro to 'Taking of pelham 123' i find this intro very appealing because it uses the conventions very effectively and makes it entertaining at the same time.
This film opener uses the song '99 problems' by jayz. this song is perfect because it gives the film an urban feel and helps the audience determine the genre which is action thriller, due to the song being street. it also helps set the mood and tone
This music links to the imagery of the streets of new york:
This opener also helps establish the charectars.
The titles also come out in a certain order of:producers first and then the distrubutor. Then comes then stars however that depends on how big the film is.
During my research, I watched a BBC documentary on title sequences on films ; 'Watching'. It has inspired me and gave me ideas on my own thriller opening. Below , are the notes and responses to the questions ;
1. Thomas Sutcliffe says " Films need to seduce their audience into long term commitment. While there are many types of seduction, the temptation to go for instant arousal is almost irresistable'
By using this quote, Sutcliffe has explained the importance of film openings. Even though merchandise, publicity and promotion gives us the taster of a film long before we get inside the cinema and watch it, it is the beginning of the movie that is the main point on what we judge the movie by. He has given an example of a famous thriller 'Psycho' , and he has noticed that 'it's the beginning of the film that has made the shower scene so shocking' , it'd be fundamentally different if we don't see the beginning.
This has influenced me a lot on how the opening of my thriller should be ; Full of excitement , very engaging and intriguing towards the audiences in the first few 20 minutes. A film opening that follows this criteria is 'Taking of Pelham 123' , the paces constantly changes during the opening, depending on whats's on show. I think the excitement and suspense is kept throughout etc.
2.Jean Jacques Beinex ; 'Instant arousal ' . According to him, the risk of 'instant arousal' is that they don't wait or rear your anticipation to wait for the point of the film . He also has said that nurturing your desire is not only in reality, but is in movies too.
3. The reason " A good beginning must make the audience feel that it doesn't know nearly enough yet, and at the same time make sure that it doesn't know too little" is so that there is a balance of what the audience know just from the beginning of the film. If they know too little, this could lose their attention as the audience would feel as if there's no 'connection' there, as well as would lose engagement. However, if they know too much, there will be nothing to look forward to. Therefore by watching the beginning of the film, the audience needs to adjust and establish many things before making the decision to watch it further.
4.Stanley Kauffman is a critic, who described the classic opening as ' establishing shot of NY City ( usually from the east), then a close up of a building, the camera then moving up the window to the window. Then the camera goes inside the window, past the receptionist desk into a private office, where Carrie Grant is sitting''
Classic openings usually tells the audience Where the setting of the film is ? What the occupation of the hero is ? and an introduction to at least of the main characters of the film. An example of a 'classic opening ' is a thriller 'Psycho'. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xji5kKR8pIw
5.Kyle Cooper's title sequence to the film ' Seven' is effective because it wakes up the audience, tells the story, introduces us to the obsessive nature of the films main character, and foreshadows a lot of aspects of the film. 'The psychotic energy of the titles were more influential than the film itself.
6. Orson has intended to exclude the the credits or title music from the film ' A touch of evil'. He wanted to plunge the audience into the story without giving them time to prepare for themselves. He also wanted to make the audiences forget that they're watching a film , and watch it as if it's happening as reality. However Universal Studios were far more cautious about it , and added in the credits underneath the opening in the final cut.
Orson's idea of this type of opening has influenced many film makers For example the movie 'Casino' ; The 'BANG' opening .
7. 'A favourite trick of Film Noir' can be defined as the beginning of the film being more like an ending, not a beginning. It is not clear the first time that the audiences watch it , but it get clearer and clearer the more they watch it, if it's a good opening. 'Casino' is a good example of this.
8. The opening of the film ''The shinning' creates suspense by using an easy uplift of a helicopter shot, and then the helicopter pursuing the care like a predator; we know that something is about to happen because of the music; 'games gaming themselves' , and hidden connections ; 'the more we see good beginnings the more the power grows'
We discussed the location within everyone in our group, and thought that it'd be best if we filmed the scene at the sofas; in the canteen. Because it'd be the most suitable location for our story line. The only props that we used for it is an invitation to a party, since our story line is quite basic.
Structures of Film Openings Narrative Opening - The first part of the film is seen with titles either superimposed or inter-cut. The titles are layered over the film and it goes straight into the film / story . 'Panic Room' is an example of this ;
Discrete Title Sequence- Shots or images / short scenes that stand apart from the film (indicators to the plot) but not part of the narrative. This is an example of one ;
Stand alone Titles- Title sequence entirely made up of titles (usually on a black background) which then leads into a film. 'Donnie Darko' is an example of this ;
Stylised Editing-This is a made up type of title sequence, which is amazingly stylised. An example of this , is in ' The Taking of Pelham 123' ;
This is our edited version of the opening of the movie "Arlington Road", which we added titles to. We used Final Cut Pro, and decided to go with a simple but effective sequence.
This is the distribution company, "Paramount", and appears at the beginning of the film (00:01). They fund the movie and therefore insist to appear at the very start so it is the first thing that the audience see, to gain recognition. It is a convention for production and distribution company titles to appear at the start of a film.
These are the producers of the film, who are vital elements in making the film as successful as it can be. The producers appear after the distribution company (00:19), and sometimes can appear more than once in an opening sequence.
This is the director, and his name appears just after the producers (00:22) and also again, towards the end of the film opening titles (02:17). This is because the director is always a vital part of the filming and production process, and so it is important they are credited. This is generally a convention, and some film opening titles even have the director credited three times!
The actors are credited one by one, and unless there are big names (like in the example above), they are generally after the film title. This specific film goes against the convention (00:45), as the actors are quite famous. From there, the names go in order of how much screen time each actor has, so the first name is almost always the protagonist.
The film title often appears towards the middle of the opening sequence (01:05), after the production/distribution companies and director (and sometimes actors). More often that not, the film title style and font varies from the rest of the titles to draw attention to it, but in this example it follows the same format as everything else.
If the 'big' actors appear before the film title, the co-stars appear after (01:25), which are actors that have very little screen time. This is not really part of a convention, as it only really appears, as aforementioned, if the bigger actors appear before the film title.
Following everything else, a few more people from the filming and production crew are credited, such as the director of photography (01:46), the production designer (01:35) and the associate producer (01:40), etc. This follows a convention, as they generally always appear towards the end of the opening titles. Anyone who isn't mentioned here, and everyone who is also, is featured at the end of film.
Genre is a sort, kind ,type of a media text which could include music, film, play etc. An example of genre of a film could consist of Comedy, Romance, Thriller, horror, science-fiction and many more.
Thriller Genre uses a large amount of suspense, deep tension and lots of excitement. The reason why thrillers are used in films is to keep the audience alert and keep them at the edge of their seats throughout. In a thriller movie the protagonists usually have to face a problem, mystery, escape or a mission.The majority of thriller films are aimed at adults or teenagers since it can be scary, upsetting or disturbing to younger audiences.
Sub Genre
Sub genre is a subcategory within a genre,which in the case of thriller, could include the following ; Action, Mystery, Romance, Political, Psychological, Supernatural etc. No matter what sub genre a thriller falls into, it will always ephasize the dangers that the protagonists face. Examples of sub-genres;
- Action Thrillers e.g. Fast Five, The expendables etc. Those are the type of thrillers that keep your heart thumping and excitement flowing throughout.
-Psychological Thrillers e.g. Black Swan, The silence of the lambs etcc ; Those type of thirllers usually focus on the psychological dimensions of the characters and usually the protagonist engages not only psychologically, but mental battles in the film.
The thrillers that influence me the most are Action thrillers, because they're exciting, and always keep me engaged. It 's usually full of surprises and jumppy parts, so i never get bored. I think this would influence my thriller film opening because it'd encourage the audience to watch it more, as well as enjoy it.
Genre and sub genre: genres are categories in which films are put into depending on what it is about and what features are included in the film.
Such as: Action, adventure, comedy, horror, thriller, etc.
Sub genres are genres within a genre such as a romantic comedy or action and thriller. This means that aspects from both genres are included in the film.
This can be exhibited by putting maybe fighting and guns in together with highlights of love and intimacy Making the genre action and the sub genre romance.
For example in this film 'the dark knight rises you can see by the background there are police officers with guns, smashed vehicles and a lot of damage, suggesting that the genre is action. However the batman dressed in dark clothing with an angry facial expression along with dark colours in the background creates excitement and tension therefore you can say the sub genre is 'thriller by the the film is portrayed in the cover.
