3 Movie Opening Scenes Analysis

    After deciding to change my focus in genre for this portfolio project from romance or sports to a peace focused on a blend of the genres mystery and action, I started diving into the wide range of movie openings that match this new path. Out of all the openings I watched, 3 stood out to me, which is what I will be talking about today in this blog. First, the 2008 film "The Dark Knight". This movie opens with a bank robbery that originally seems all over the place and destined to fail, but at the end proves to be a shockingly well planned one. This is used to show jokers intelligence and sheer unpredictability. The scene matches the genre I am going for because it combines the fast paced editing of action movies, with the unpredictable nature that comes with mystery centered pieces. The suspenseful and mysterious nature of this movie is also found in the 2006 "Casino Royale" movie. The opening scene begins with a man who appears to be the antagonist in the scene. The entire scene is filmed in black and white, these colors naturally evoke a mysterious nature. The scene has fast cuts between a conversation between James Bond and the antagonist, and a scene of James Bond fighting another character. The fight is violent yet controlled signaling a dark setting from the beginning of the movie. The unexpected and unpredictable nature of this opening adds to the mysterious genre.

    On top of these other 2 examples, the 2010 film "Inception" is another incredible example of an opening scene that can very effectively blends the likes of the action and mysterious genre. The opening scene starts with the famous actor Leonardo DiCaprio on the ground of a beach, well dressed, but completely wet and covered in sand. The way the movie abruptly begins in this state confuses the viewer. He looks weak and in a holistic state, further bringing a mysterious atmosphere to the scene. Unlike the others that almost immediately bring the viewer into intense action, "Inception" focused of building mystery and curiosity on the viewer. In fact, little to no action is shown in the opening scene, it is only introduced later in the film. The way this movie builds tension and intrigue in the audience is what makes its mystery aspect so well executed, and I will definitely be considering some of the decisions made in this movie as inspiration for my final project.

Links to the opening scenes mentioned:

The Dark Knight (2008)

Casino Royale (2006)

Inception (2010)

A change in genre

      This sudden change is important to mention to keep my blogs easy to understand, sudden changes can cause confusion and hinder how my overall process looks. I will this week analyze opening scenes and credit sequences for this new genre. While the initial swap in genre and research is going to be potentially a little bit tedious, it is going to be worth it in the long run to effectively achieve my goal of making a final project that accurately represents my full potential and capabilities.

      As I go through the process of drafting out an idea of what I want to do for my project, changes are almost destined to occur. Last week, I wrote about my interest of pursuing either the romance of sport genre for my final project. However, upon deeper thinking; I realized I am interested in chasing a project that is partially mystery and partially action focused. Inspired by movies such as “Mission Impossible - The Final Reckoning”, I want to make an opening scene on a fictional movie focused on a cyberattack threat on a government.

(This is the movie that was my primary inspiration for changing my genre)

Portfolio Project Timeline

Timeline For Portfolio Project

  Making a clear and concise timeline is crucial to my success in this final project. Bellow I will provide a detailed timeline of how I plan to move forward with this project. Because of the vitality of this in the foundations of my project, I decided this is the best thing to do is to start this week doing my timeline first.

                                         

Week 1:

- Start blog transition into the portfolio project

- Start initial research on generes that interest me

This is a great time for early trial and error to see which genre or sub-genre is most appealing to me, although it is subject to change

Week 2:

- Analyze openings of real movies centered around the genre I am most interested in. Ideally by this time I will have a concrete idea of what I what to do for my project.

- Analyze credit sequences in openings of movies

- Make a detailed research post about what my genre will finally end up being for this project.

This is a crucial moment because it is building the first permanent blocks needed to proceed in the rest of the project

Week 3:

By this week I hope to have a detailed idea of what I want to do and with a plan on how to do it successfully. My other objectives are to.

- Write on reflection of how things are going so far, the strengths, where I can improve.

- Research a media theory that I want to incorporate into my final product.

- Make a post revolving around the general idea of my project idea and major inspiration.

- A post of the storyboard for my project.

Week 4:

As a student who likes to work ahead, the weekend before and after this week, I plan to start the filming of my project. Not in its entirety, but some key elements. At the end, I hope to finish with a minimum of half a week, ideally an entire week of spare time in case of any issues that arise. Because production is expected to start here it is important to make the following postings.

- Writing about character development and purpose.

- 2 post going in depth on the mise-en-scene elements that will be incorporated into my project

- Start to consider how I will incorporate audio into my project effectively and meaningfully 

Week 5:

Ideally, on top of the things mentioned bellow, I will have completed the filming of my project by the Sunday of this week. 

- Continue to make the agreed upon blog post

- Make a rough edit of how I want the project to come out

- Get 3rd party opinions such as friends and family on the project.

- Talk about production process

- Design a fictional company logo

Week 6:

This week I want to focus exclusively on editing the project and further adding to my stream of blog posts. By the end of the week I would ideally have.

- Completed a majority of the editing for my project.

- Successfully finished blog posts

Week 7:

The video will be completed by now ideally by the first half of the week, the second half will be focused on completing my CCR's.

Week: 8

This is the breather room week, if any extra time is needed to be dedicated to.

Portfolio Project Genre #2

Genre 2: Sports

    Sports, while being a completely different idea to romance, it can work as a great second option in case my original idea does not work. This genre usually appeals to teenagers and adults that consider themselves sports fans. This genre is undoubtedly dominated by males normally. However, just like romance, it can vary depending on the specific piece. These types of pieces can also catch the attention of people who are naturally drawn by topics of competition, motivation, and teamwork. While it is commonly understood that sports oriented pieces are primarily focused on athletic related achievements and conflicts, it is typically undermined the fact that a majority of the time, these movies focus deeply on character development and growth. Media that uses this genre is a majority of the time using a form of climax, building up the viewer till the end.

    Allot of the marketing for these pieces revolve around motivation and making the main character appear powerful, important, or victorious. It is rare to see these genre be used and the story line to not be based at least partially on true events. Although, like in all genres, there are of course exceptions. The fact that I will need to use some inspiration to properly execute then genre while still keeping is entirely original is a key determining factor that might sway me away from this being my first choice. Upon deeper analysis of these genre I have decided that while it is not completely out of the question as of now, this newly discovered information has made it less likely for me to seriously consider using it in my final project.

Two examples of sports oriented films are "Creed" and "Grand Turismo":

    

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Portfolio Project Genre #1

 Genre: Romance

    As I begin to formulate in my head what I want the story line to be for my portfolio project, I am enticed by the idea of using the genre romance. This genre is typically most attractive to female audiences, but does also catch a respectable amount of male consumers occasionally depending on the peace. The typical audience is also a majority teenagers and young adults. People who like emotional stories with a strong emphasis on character development specifically are typically the most drawn into the romance genre. In my project I envision a story of a guy who is down on his luck till he runs into a girl that changes his life. This aligns with a key aspect of this genre which is that the character faces challenges and experiences growth. Also, allot of pieces what use this genre have themes of sacrifice and destiny, something that might complement well with what I am picturing for my project.

    Typically, romance tailored pieces use allot of soft lighting, invoking lightness and happiness. They also are known to use slow pacing throughout the piece as well as a heavy use of mise-en-scene resulting in many symbolic elements in the content. The romance genre is one that is known to make the experience the most personal with the audience than other big genres. This key factor will likely be the most difficult thing to do successfully if I were to use this genre. In terms of marketing, these pieces are typically released around early February or near valentines day to match with the vibe of the piece. Lastly, these movies are typically inspired by or derived from either books of real life events.

2 popular examples of movies that are centered around this genre are "Titanic" and the 2008 film "Mamma Mia!" 

Transition into portfolio project

     From this point forward, all blogposts will be centered around my Cambridge portfolio project. After walking through the intricacies of this project I can already roughly envision how I want this project to go. These blogs will be an affective way to slowly build up my thoughts into what will hopefully be a successful and quality driven final project. I hope to over time be able to add to the baseline idea I have in my head or completely rethink it to end up with a product that I am genuinely satisfied with. Using the knowledge gained from a semester of being in this course,  I have decided that I want to make a peace that builds the main character through primarily mise-en-scene or interactions, with a bit of focus on dialogue regardless; similar to how they used these elements on Harold Crick in the 2006 movie, "Stranger than Fiction". 

(Harold Crick in 2006 movie "Stranger than Fiction")

    I am drown in into the idea of using mise-en-scene because it is potentially a very good way to express allot about the character in a creative and unique way. On the other hand, interactions can also be a very effective way to build the character since its a great way to specifically grasp personality, while mise-en-scene is good for capturing the other all idea of the character. Considering this. I believe that instead of choosing one or the other, I will be incorporating a bit of both in order to create a peace that truly immerses the viewer with the main character, which is the goal of what I have planned for this project as of now. I plan to focus on the people in the peace more than outside elements. In other words, I plan to make a peace that focuses on building a emotional connection between the viewer and the characters.

Music Marketing Project BTS