Value of Initial Research

What I learned from my research and how will I use it to benefit my film introduction

My research into film openings taught me that:

·         Nothing really happens in the first couple of minutes, the basic premise of the storyline is created, enabling the audience to get an idea of what the film will be about, without actually giving too much away. This has helped me in my planning as I now know how much needs to be included. For example in Hot Fuzz the opening sequence explains what kind of guy the main character is and Twilight showed a chase scene and someone getting a plane.

·         Main characters are often established early on so the audience can establish a relationships with them early on so, this knowledge has helped me so I will use close ups and dialogue to help the audience to know who is who. For example, close ups of the three children in the Harry Potter film, close ups and a brief introduction to Nicholas in Hot Fuzz and close ups of the woman in Twilight after the chase scene.

·         Voice overs are an effective way of setting the scene and establishing the plot. There was a voice over in the opening two minutes of both Twilight and Hot Fuzz, which aided the visuals to tell the story and set the scene. I may use a short voice over in mine to help the audience establish a relationship with the character and help the film run along quicker without having to have a clip to explain everything going on.

·         Having close ups on objects is a good way of letting the audience know what is going on without having to explain it. An example of this is the close up of the newspaper in the Harry Potter Film, which helped to add to the dark and miserable theme of the story, as well as letting the audience know that there are dangerous people around. This will help me as I may decide to do a close up of an item in my opening, to help set the scene.

·         Establishing shots are the most effective way of letting the audience know where they are.  They are used multiple times within the Harry Potter film, to show the audience that they’ve changed location as well as to let the audience know what is going on in their surroundings. This has made me want to use an establishing shot to set the scene as it helps to get a feel of where they are.