Research: SCOOPIT! Film Openings

I created my own Scoop.it account so I could find my own film openings, I did this to help myself come up with different and creative ideas for my own project. This will help make my film inventive.

Research: Art of the title 'The last of us'

For my research I have chosen to write about the movie ‘The last of us’. This movie is about 20 years after an infection disease took over most of the world’s population. Joel (the main character) finds himself travelling through what is left of the US with a girl who may just have the answer to bringing mankind back to life. The only problem is they aren’t the only one trying to survive through these desperate times. After all this time civilisation is over. What you were- your life, your plans, your future- it’s all gone.

This opening sequence of this movie is effective as it betrays a sense of decay and ruin. At the beginning of the sequence ‘The last of us’ title fades onto the screen in a bold text, this could be symbolic signal to how life is slowly diminishing. Throughout the sequence there is mainly text and credits, as it goes on a clear beginning to the film is soon established. 

Firstly, we are presented with a range of shots of bacteria multiplying out through the screen, this is shown using extreme close ups. This is repeated throughout the sequence, this conveys that the virus continued to develop. There are established hard cuts purposely placed after every shot to show the staggering significance of speed created by each bacterium. Extreme close ups exemplify the worrying nature of how something so small can result in such tragic effects. Using black and white shots reflects the dull, dark and depressing topic and also mirrors the structure of a scientific document. The main theme is also supported through the camera angle, the shot is a bird’s eye view, as if you are looking through a microscope to see the development of the shot.  

The opening title sequence begins with a singular guitar cord strumming, the peacefulness combined with the panic context communicates a sense of demoralised implication with the music. Nevertheless, it is soon interrupted by a narrative voice. There are at least four different voices of authority within the opening, each outlining the statistics related to the death caused by the virus. The hard cuts between the audio provide the effect of immense amounts of information, this highlights the sense of importance of the topic. The development of bacterial growth is reflected within the tone of the narrative dialogue, as the topic discussion increases in pace, so does the uncontrollable spread of this unknown diseases cause a virus. 

The last of us conveys a sense of decaying and ruined civilisation through the use of visual and audial codes, we are provided with an unsettling curiosity as to what could cause such mass destruction in such a small period of time. 

RESEARCH: TITLES

Gone Girl (Mystery):

Production Company: Twentieth Century Fox and Regency Enterprises 

Actor 1: Ben Affleck 

Actor 2: Rosamund Pike

Title: Gone girl 

Actor 3: Neil Patrick Harris 
Actor 4: Tyler Perry

Actor 5: Carrie coon
Actor 6 & 7: Kim Dickens & Patrick Fugit 

Actor 8 & 9: David Clennon & Lisa Banes

Casting: Laray Mayfield 

Sound Design: Ren Kylce 

Music: Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross 

Costume design: Trish Summerville 

Film Editor: Kirk Baxter

Production Designer: Donald Graham Burt

Director of Photography: Jeff Cronenweth 

Executive Producers: Leslie Dixon & Bruna Papandrea 

Producers: Arnon Milchan & Reese Witherspoon 

Producers: Cean Chaffin & Joshua Donen
Based on the Novel: Gillan Flynn

Screenplay: Gillan Flynn 
Director: David Fincher 

Get out (thriller): 

Production company1: Universal pictures
Production company 2: Blumhouse/ QC entertainment 
Associate production: associate production: Monkey Paw production 
Film by: Jordan Peele 
Title: Get out 
Actor 1: Daniel Kaluuya
Actor 2: Allison Williams 
Actor 3: Bradley Whitford 
Actor 4: Caleb Landry Jones
Actor 5: Stephen Root
Actor 6: Lakeith Stanfield 
Actor 7: Catherine Keener 
Actor 8: Lil Rel Howery 
Actor 9: Erika Alexander 
Actor 10: Marcus Henderson 
Actor 11: Betty Gabriel 
Actor 12: Richard Herd
Casting by: Terri Taylor 
Music Supervisor: Christopher Mollere 
Music by: Michael Abels
Costume Designer: Nadine Haders
Edited by: Gregory Plotkin 
Production designer: Rusty Smith 
Director of photography: Toby Oliver ACS
Co-Producer 1: Beatriz Sequeira
Co-Producer 2: Marcei A. Brown 
Co-Producer 3: Gerard DiNardi
Executive producer 1:Raymond Mansfield 
Executive producer 2: Couper Samuelson 
Executive producer 3: Shaun Redick 
Executive producer 4:Jeanette Volturno 
Producer 1: Sean McKittrick 
Producer 2: Jason Blum 
Producer 3: Edward H. Hamm Jr
Producer 4: Jordan Peele 
Writer/ Director: Jordan Peele 

Research Art Of The Title '11.22.63'

For my title sequence research, I decided to look at the movie 11.22.63. In this title sequence It launches a series of visual codes all taken from the world of police investigations and the process through which detectives, investigate, record and display their evidence in a criminal investigation.

The sequence is an innovative and fascinating mix of different types of film work, taking in models, newspaper cutting, photographs and live action shots. It begins with a model recreation of the JFK assassination that took place in the Parkland Memorial Hospital, Dallas, Texas, United states on the 22^nd November 1963. This is one of the most well-known unsolved murdered case in history. This them moves through a series of different shot types and mis-en-scene. The progression and fast pace are provided by one significant visual code that becomes a central unifying factor: the audiences eye travels rapidly along a red string that comes from the model car and links all the pieces of evidence to the police board. This is all framed through a stereotypical detective magnifying glass. this visual code signals that someone is investigating the case. 

Certain shots such as the low angle shot from the car of a window are point of view shots, where the red string leads from the car to the window in a building. The effect of this is to get the audience obsessed with the murdered as it shows the thought process of the detective working the case. The manner of the opening sequence does an impressive job at sucking the audience into the action and engaging their curiosity. This is one of the main functions of the opening sequence. 

The editing in the opening sequence is rapid and compelling, occasionally achieved by hard cuts and sometimes by rostrum shots as the camera travels speeded up across the board, like an eye scanning the information and making connections between each piece of evidence found. The visual treatment represents the way that an obsessed, intrigued mind is starting to make deductions about the identity of the assassin. 

There are multiple periods of detail to create a historical quality: revealing a cluster of newspaper articles in close-up establishes this film is about the JKF assassination as the headline that is revealed is ‘KENNEDY KILLED’ with the date. The shot of the sixties diner and the old-fashioned record player is a visual code to the audience which hints at the time period in which it was set. Tension begins to build up as the title sequence unfolds, the audience seems to be following in the footsteps of the assassin as we see his preparations leading up to the kill: an open case lying on the bed lit with a spotlight, his clothes, letters, pens and inevitably, his gun. The theme of guns is continued in the title sequence as an old-fashion barrel of a sniper is pulled in. these visual codes allow the audience to understand that this is going to be an action/thriller movie. 

The title sequence follows all the genre conventions such as featuring th names of the actors, producers, executive producers, directions, novelist, all the creatives and those responsible for bringing the film to the public such as the writer of the teleplay. The soundtrack is gripping and drives the action forward. The rhythmic sound of a xylophone creates a puzzling atmosphere. The music sharpens with more percussion instruments coming into play. Tension is built when a shot of the clock triggers a ticking sound which gets lounder as the mid-shot of the clock transitions into a close up as if the opening sequence had reached the exact moment of the assassination. Finally, the extreme close up of the sign of the rifle triggers leads to a reveal of the title of the film, 11.22.63, typed in a old-fashioned typewriter font. Sustainably, the final dot separating the last two figures is red blood red, like the point of the entry bullet. 

RESEARCH: DISTRIBUTION COLLAGE

I watched Kezia Williams head of theatrical distribution at Pathe talk about how distributors work can create a successful marketing campaign for each film. I investigated the different aspects of a marketing campaign for a specific recent film such as:  

• Film website 
• Film posters 
• Facebook 
• Instagram 
• Twitter 
• Cross promotion/ product tie-ins (Like Heineken and James Bond in Skyfall and Spectre, Toyota and Star Wars
• News articles, interviews, award ceremonies

Kezia Williams explains that, in a congested marketplace, a distributors aim was to position a film in a way that it stood out for it target audience. Chris Resseling offered me a series of insight in to how distributors market a film's USP (unique selling point) such as its star cast, its Provence (such as its literary adaption or biopic credentials), its awards and good reviews. 

Matt Smith of the FDA tells us that spend on digital has increased enormously. For instance, trailers are not cut for portrait viewing on smartphones. Digital includes all social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc) that work as a synergetic whole in promoting a product. Matt Smith also refers to paid-for marketing as distinct from free publicity. Social media can generate viral marketing- free publicity. 

For this research I have decided to research the film 'Get out', this is a thriller and involves a man going to meet his girlfriends parents, he is nervous as they don't know he's black but still goes with her. When he arrives things start to become eerie, he notices that both the maid and the gardener are black. After finding out that a range of black people have gone missing from the area he wants to leave, as he tries to leave with rose (his girlfriend) he's hypnotised. 

Poster

For this movie they have used a range of marketing techniques such as posters, trailers, online and social (instagram, facebook, twitter, website home page). The poster for this movie is used to create a sense of mystery and disorientation. It uses the look of a shattered piece of glass, with different parts of the story presented in each fragment. At the bottom of the movie there is a quote from the movie which says "Just because you're invited in, doesn't mean you're welcome" which gives the reader hints about the movie. 

Trailer

Before the movie trailer was released there was no notice about the movie coming out, when it appeared it took everyone by surprise. At the beginning of the trailer it starts with rose and Chris getting ready for their journey to their weekend away. Once they arrive things already take a turn as the entire scene appears to be creepy and dangerous as Chris seems to be exposed to extreme psychological torture throughout the stay. This makes the trailer effective as it gives the viewers hints of what Chris was put through. Rose's parents (Whitford and Keener) give a broad minded vibes that have educational conversations about race but are still able to attack people of their own. 

Social media

The front page of the official website features clips from the trailer. The first content section in the top menu bar is "about" and is where you'll be bale to read a paragraph about the movie, fundamentally and spoiler. on the next content section there is a 'get tickets' link, the first section is the trailer which encourages people to watch the trailer making them want to buy tickets to watch the movie. The next section is the 'art gallery' this has a range of original art pieces that were inspired by the movie. They also have an instagram, twitter and facebook which consist of quotes from the movie, when the movie was out and scenes from the movie.