Analysis of Film openings

Memoirs of a Geisha – Rob Marshall (mainstream)

Target Audience:

• Quite a predictable opening – for example when the sisters were kidnapped, as the audience we could tell where the story would lead to.
• Bad weather and dark setting attracts the audience’s attention, for example, the audience would want to know what is happening in such a mysterious place. It gives an enigmatic feel to the audience.

Shots/Storyline/Dialogue/Sound:

• Japanese dialogue without subtitles confuses audience which keeps the audience watching
• Sound of thunder ( diegetic sound) attracts audience’s attention
• Low key lighting on antagonists
• Storyline about two sisters sold off by family to live in a Geisha house in Japan.
• Establishing shot used for example to show the sea and where the family lives.
• Close ups used to show facial expressions

Characters/Setting:

• Innocent victims – sisters
• Sad opening
• Dark setting- low lighting- night time

Water – Deepak Metha (independent)

Target audience:

• Started with information about the village.
• Very quiet opening – no sound
• Starts off happy, ends sad

Shots/Storyline/Dialogue/Sound:

· Starts off with non- diegetic music- sitar

· Diegetic sound used – cart

· Sad dialogue- mother dies

· Story prediction: about a girl who grows up in a village

· Establishment shot to show the village

Characters/Setting:

• Mischievous girl- innocent
• Set in an Indian Village
• Peaceful setting – nice environment

White Chicks – Keenan Ivory Wayans

Genre- comedy

Camera:

· Necessary to have the production companies names in the opening

· Very effective because soundtrack keeps you watching and has a fast beat

· It is mainstream because the title and camera shots used are very advanced. For example, the high angle shot of the city.

· Establishment shot of city and stores.

Sound:

· Non- diegetic music and diegetic sound, for example soundtrack is non diegetic and the sound of cars is diegetic

· Comical dialogue keeps you watching

· Soundtrack is effective as it suits the environment shown.

· Some comical soundtrack used in the fighting scene which takes the seriousness away. Very light hearted salsa music used.

Editing:

· Shots speed up during the fighting scene which makes it more interesting to watch

· Still shot reverse shots are used in conversation- medium pace.

Mise-en-scene:

· Unusual/comical

· Set in a small gangster town in America - Large Spanish community.

· Unusual costume made to look funny attracts audience’s attention

· Hair and make up is realistic to characters

· Main characters are the Wayans Brothers.

Pan’s Labyrinth – Guillermo Del Toro

Camera:

· Starts off with information about the story

· Advanced animation movie

· Released by a company called Optimum

· Spanish film

· Effective because it has a serious opening – keeps audience engaged

· Mainstream because of high technology (animation) and more money has been spent on it – more marketing

Sound:

• Spanish dialogue – narrator – speaking as in someone is telling a fairy tale
• Diegetic sound of car
• Non – diegetic sound used as a soundtrack

Editing:

• Different transitions on some shots – girl dying, camera angle twists
• Animation of fantasy world added in

Mise-en-scene:

• Low key lighting
• Character introduced straight away
• We see the girl dying in first shot – blood makes it realistic and effective
• We see fantasy world then real world

What differences are there between an Independent film opening and a Mainstream film opening?

Crash – Paul Haggis (mainstream)

Genre- Thriller

Opening:

• Credits
• Serious non – diegetic music
• Images of moving lights (cars) in a dark environment
• Character narrates
• Dialogue and facial expressions add to serious mood which engages audience
• Credits carry on after every shot transition
• We hear characters speech and then fades onto the characters which add a mysterious effect
• Close up shot used to sow facial expressions and OTTS shown in conversation
• Outdoor/night/artificial high key lighting used on characters
• Dialogue is mysterious and confusing to audience
• Accident and a crime scene
• Film title is introduced last on the right side of the screen in small blue letters.
• From dialogue we can tell this film is about racism

Little Miss Sunshine – Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (independent)

Genre- Comedy

Opening:

• Starts off with non diegetic music and a blank screen – engages audience
• Close up of a girl watching TV – diegetic sound of the TV (soundtrack continues)
• The opening shows each character in the family’s life in some way and tells us about their personalities. For example, the shots of the girl watching TV is watching Miss America which is her dream as she mimics the reactions on TV.
• No credits are introduced in the beginning
• Sound track is used all the way through the opening.
• Predicted storyline: there is going to be a change in each characters life later in the film.

Similarities:

· Both movies start off with a soundtrack

· Title introduced towards the end of the opening

· Both have engaging openings, for example in Crash we want to know what the character is talking about, where as in Little Miss Sunshine we want to know what the girl is watching.

Differences:

· Credits are shown in the opening of Crash

· More transitions used between shots in Crash

· Little Miss Sunshine doesn’t use any special effects

· Crash is a serious genre than Little Miss Sunshine which is comedy

What differences are there between an Independent film opening and a Mainstream film opening?

There are many differences between an Independent film opening and a Mainstream film opening. This is because many mainstream films have a high budget to spend on their production where as Independent films have a low budget. For example, in a mainstream film opening, there could be many special effects added in which can engage the audience. Where as in an Independent film opening, the opening may not have such a dramatic feel as in a mainstream film. For example, in the opening of “Crash”, the character narrating left the audience confused about what has happened and what will happen next. This is because what the character's dialogue was quite confusing for the audience to understand straight away. This is what the audience need to feel in order to make the film a success. But in “Little Miss Sunshine” the opening did attract the audience’s attention as we saw a close up the girl’s eyes in the first shot. As the audience it makes us curious to know what she is watching and why she finds it so interesting. Although this did not have a great dramatic feel, it still engaged the audience in its different way.

Institutions of large production companies also help in the marketing of films. With mainstream films, as they have a high budget they can distribute the film to many companies and make it international. Where as Independent films don’t really have that advantage and are known only nation wide. However, some independent movies can become mainstream such as “Slumdog Millionaire” by Danny Boyle. Although this movie also had a low budget and advanced technology wasn’t used, the intuitions that came across this film promoted it to a larger market. This is how this film became a huge success, especially with the public. Production companies that usually back mainstream films are 20^th Century Fox and Columbia. Monogram and Republic support Independent films.

Cinematography also has an important role when making films, as people judge the overall look of a film. For example, in the mainstream film “Pans Labyrinth” it uses animation to show a fantasy world, which shows that a lot of money has been spent on it. Where as in “Little Miss Sunshine” there are no special effects and it is a very simple movie as advanced technology has not been used. Therefore mainstream films are always more advanced in their cinematography, budget and institutions than independent films.