Research for opening two minutes of my film

After sitting and watching several openings of films from other films, it has given me a insight into want and dont want my opening to be like. The common themes that kept occuring were horror, gangs and abduction. Therefore i have decided that i want my openign to be more light hearted, happy and not of these genres. I have also learnt that the actors are important and need to be realistic and give a good and convincing performance. As i attend out of school drama classes locally, i will proberly use some actors from there or another option would be actors from drama in school. Also most of the opening i watched used sixth form students as all of the charcacters, which i found did not work, as they were playing successful adults with families but were actually aged 16, therefore i want to use appropriate and if possible varied age ranges. The location is also a key feature and has to be appropriate to what is happening e.g having a shooting outside your house , is not very effective and to look at what is happening in the background, e.g not having people in the background.

 I also looked at well known films such as Ferris Buellers day off and Waynes world, to look at examples of breaking the fourth wall, Breaking the Fourth wall was also another technique used in films such as Wayne's world, where the actor talks down the camera to the audience. Although in some examples i watched it worked i feel it is a tricky technique that has to be used in the right way for it to be successful and work. In my film i dont believe it is appropriate and would not work.With this people can also easily get confused and not understand or it can totally not work and decredits the film. 

I also looked at narration and thought it was an interesting and different way to open a film and can work very well as long as the voice is right. Such as Don Luffontene the voice over of many horror films. I really liked the use of narration and voice over and am very keen to use this in my opening as i feel it works well and gives a completly different feel to what you watch. Also i think that when narration is used the audience is drew in more to the film as they have to listen and follow what it happening to understand. 

The credits were also another main point i picked up on, i think it is neccessary to have them at the beggining to make it look less like a trailor and more an opening, also not to use the same name, as it looks unproffessional and repetitive. This is the main point that occurred with my watching that most of them tended to be trailers than opening's, so i want to make sure this doesnt happen. This picture is a good use of credits for the introduction of a film.

Narrative was also used in films such as the Hangover, where the film may begin at the ending or at the middle, this can work really well as it makes the audience ask questions and want to watch the rest of the film,although on the other hand it can confuse the audience and they maynot be able to follow the film, I like this technique as long as it is used correctly and made clear where it fits into the film. Flashbacks can also be used to change the narrative, this can also work well, in the same way, As i keeps the audience interested and keeps them taking notice of the film as to what is happening and what relevence it has to the film as a whole. Mean Girls is an example of using Flashbacks to her as a child living in africa.

Soundtracks and music can also be vital and 'make' a fil;m, such as music from films such as Jaws, A team or Fame, the soundtracks have become iconic and make people remember the film. This doesn't only work with film, television programmes such as x-factor or Eastenders can be recognised for there soundtracks / theme tunes. Therefore i music is a very effective and interesting thing to use. Although i cannot use this in my film as it will drown the narration out.

In conclusion i want my opening to be better than the ones i have watched today by improving the points i have mentioned. :)

After looking at several  films of different genres and at other pupils works i have seen the genre's that occur often (as stated above) i want my film to be completly different and of a different genre so my idea is not 'typical' or expected. Therefore i have chosen to use a drana genre as it is completly different and an interesting genre with wide guidelines to fit this genre. Two drama films that i really liked and feel i could base my ideas around are Love actually and My Sisters Keeper. I Like the opening of Love actually as i feel is a really iconic opening that sticks in people's minds. I think it works as it pulls on the heart strings and sets you up with the basis of what the film is about to doesn't reveal too much to the audience. I think its very good at portraying the emotion and that is how i want my opening to be. Another film that has inspired me is my sisters keeper, i love the openign with the voice over talking, although it is from a different persons point of view and in mine i am using the man himself.