Here is the preliminary research for component 1.
Preliminary Research ˚˖𓍢ִ໋❀
1. Enter the villain - introducing the villain early on, usually using big action scenes or sneaky crimes will hook the audiences as it jumps straight into what the protagonist will fight against. This will hook audiences and make the villain more memorable.
2. Enter the hero - introducing the hero with action scenes can give context to the audience on their character. Including the hero fighting against bad early on, or even failing at the start serves as a good attention grabber for the audience.
3. Establish relationships - introducing relationships early on in the openings gives the audience lots of information and context about the characters, and who they are. These also allows for more emotional scenes and adds depth to a story later on.
4. Plot catalyst - this catalyst introduces a problem or event that forces the protagonist to make a choice or enter the main conflict. We skip character introduction this way.
5. Follow genre - this is when a opening conforms to the genre conventions in narratives and technical elements. Conventions are what the genre is known for traditionally.
6. Flip genre - this is when an opening subverts the genre conventions to create a more memorable and interesting opening.
I wanted a few film opening in a few genres to look at the conventions and how these genres usually start their films. After, I’ll discuss with my group mates on what genre we want to use for our movie opening.
|
Film |
Genre/Genre Conventions |
How did this scene introduce characters, settings and create intrigue? |
What did you like/dislike about the intro? |
|
Extraction 2 (2023) |
Action Fight, explosion, loud bangs, violence, weapons, face-paced editing, blood, sound effects to enhance the actions, etc |
This opening scene focused primarily on who was presumably the hero or main character of this movie. The instant gunshots, blood and the war setting really made it obvious it was an action movie. It followed the main character and his journey with his injury, and made me curious if he was going to live (he has plot armour, of course he's gonna live). Overall it was attention grabbing and very violent and gore-y. |
I didn't like it all that much. The graphic injury may be appealing to some audiences but for me, it was just off putting. It grabbed my attention at first, but I quickly lost interest. The man was being transported to multiple places, having stuff done to him and it became repetitive and boring quite quickly. Maybe this is just personal preference about this genre itself. |
|
Pamali: Dusun Pocong (2023) |
Horror Ghosts, dark costumes, blood, screams, running/chase scene, low-key lighting, jumpscares, eerie non-diegetic sounds, etc |
This opening scene included a man digging a hole to put a tied up corpse in, however after he whistled, suddenly he was completely surrounded by corpses. This created a sense of mystery and will definitely grab the audience's attention and keep them curious. There was no dialogue in the film, so we relied on the visuals to give us context. However, just by the mise-en-scene alone we can tell this is a horror movie. |
I liked the no dialogue part actually, because it kept the scene mysterious. Since the man was alone, and doing strange things, it made me ask many questions like “is this man doing something that could get him in trouble?” and “why are there so many corpses around him?”. I think this is a good effect to have in a horror film. |
|
Uglies (2024) |
Sci Fi Robots, tech, space, AI, machinery, mad scientists, robots vs humans, etc |
This opening scene included a narration about the world’s past events, which heavily helped give us context on what the plot is really about. Primarily, It told us about how the world in this movie works like. |
I didn’t really like this opening scene. I can understand subverting from genre conventions to spice up a movie, but I couldn’t even tell it was sci-fi at first. I don’t think the plot is really amazing either based on what the scene showed us, and I wasn’t really interested in watching more, which is (in my opinion) what an opening scene shouldn’t do. |
|
500 days of Summer (2009) |
Romance Couples, roses, love letters, miscommunication, close up shots of intimate moments, etc |
It included the backstories and gave us context on the characters. For example, it showed us the two characters first met each other at (presumably) work, and it told us that the girl’s parents are divorced. It included a montage of the two characters' younger selves, with wholesome emotional music over it. It shows the audience a bit of the characters' lives, and shows us what they like. There was a narration, and it told us this story isn’t a love story, despite the themes around the movie being presumably about romance. |
The montage of the baby videos and the emotional piano music over it was a nice touch, as it immersed me in the characters. It also gave us time to reflect on their relationship and the characters themselves, which is important for an emotional romance. |
|
Johnny English (2003) |
Comedy Jokes, family or close group of friends, Silence when revealing a joke, funny dialogue, etc |
This opening scene included the main character constantly getting humbled again and again, from all the agents in England dying under his protection, to him getting caught dreaming about kissing a woman (???). It's laughable how this man never wins. With all these mishaps being painted in a comedic light and happening at calculated comedic times, we can tell its a comedy film. It also introduced us to the setting, and the main character. We can tell from this opening scene that its not only a comedy movie, but also a action movie. |
While this was a comedy and old film, I felt as if it wasn’t that entirely funny, and that may be because of outdated humour. However, it used classic jokes anyone could appreciate. I liked the perfectly timed comedic pauses that made the impacts of the jokes greater. |
|
Don’t Worry Darling (2022) |
Thriller Suspense, tension, surprise, low-key lighting, dark settings, dutch angles, fade to black, etc |
In the opening scene, we see a neat and almost perfect town. The main character wakes up and gets ready for the day. She makes breakfast and seems very happy with her life, especially with her husband, who is also part of this perfect world. The setting looks ideal, with clean streets, bright houses, and friendly neighbours. However, everything looks so perfect that it starts to feel a little strange.The scene creates intrigue by showing everything in a very idealised way, which makes you start questioning if something isn’t right. The people around the main characters seem a bit too happy, almost like they’re acting. The perfect town and perfect routine feel a little too good to be true, and this makes you wonder what’s really going on behind the scenes. |
I liked how the opening made everything seem perfect at first, which built up a sense of mystery. It made me curious about why everything seemed so flawless but also a little off. The setting and the mood created an unsettling feeling, which made me want to know more. What I didn’t like was that the scene felt a bit slow at times. Not much happens in the beginning, so it felt like it took a while to build up the tension or excitement. It was good for setting the mood, but it could have been a little quicker. |
Personal Reflection:
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