My Film Opening ideas #2

Since my previous mind map, my ideas have developed further concepts and ideas. I have decided to go down a route of a powerful object; this being a book.

The girl will be the main character in a book she is reading and she soon realises this as the character in the books life is scarily similar to her own. I have many ideas for where the girl may find this book and how she will come into contact with it, for example her grandma may have left it to her or she finds it in the attic at her home. I have also come up with what it is the girl reads or finds out in the book and how she realises that it is her; they own the same thing or as she turns a page she guesses the rest of the sentence and is correct. The natural reaction to this would be that she is shocked and doesn't know what to do and that the curiosity takes over.

Some things I thought the girl could have found out were that her friends weren't her actual friends, or the reason she didn't get into music school was because of her parents. Other pieces of information could be about her future, that her dad wins the lottery and becomes unfaithful to her mother or that the boy she likes already has a girlfriend or even that she does eventually get into music school. These future truths would change the way she acts and could almost break her family.

Up until now I have two ideas for delivering this story, either by this girl telling a story about her past - for example like rose in Titanic, or that she tells it in the present. I am more towards the girl telling a story about her past but in a less obvious way - like the opening for twilight where there is a monologue, however I would only like the monologue to last a few seconds.

Finally, two concepts I have for the book is that either the stories only come true as she reads them because its an evil book, or that the book was written by an older version of herself warning her about life so that she can get it right the first time.

Below is the mind map I made including all of the above.

Film Opening Ideas

Below you can see a mind-map I have made with all my ideas scattered into categories. The main genres I am interested in are Fantasy, Romance, Teen Film, Drama and Musical.

I am interested in these genres because these are the type of films I watch most often and enjoy and I feel like these are good genres to go forward with when making a film aimed at teenagers - which is what I plan to do. Even though this isn't on the mind map, I would like certain elements of a thriller to be present in the film, for example the fact at times the audience may be on edge and that some kind of discovery or secret would be revealed causing an upset - like in most thriller films (e.g. in Abduction the boy realises his parents are fake and are actually spies, and this sets off disaster for the rest of the storyline)

I want the fantasy/drama/teen genres to be the main parts of this film, especially fantasy because many people seem to enjoy watching concepts that can never be real in this day and age-or even at all, but are also dramatic films, for example the incredibly popular films; The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Frozen and twilight.

I have come up with two main concepts to be the 'backbone' of the story line, that the main character has a power or is given something powerful and finds out a secret through it. For example, the girl can read minds and through this finds out someone is after her or that her father is having an affair, or that the girl has visions of a secret she is unaware of and she later watches them unfold in her real life. Another concept was that the girl would be given a powerful object and this would reveal secrets to her, such as that she is adopted and the people she thought were her parents actually aren't.

The reason I like these concepts and therefore came up with them is because the secret aspect to it is 100% realistic in anyones life, even though chances of it happening could be small, it is not impossible-which makes the audience sympathise with the victim of these secrets or for the main character who is affected by them. On the other side, the power is 100% unrealistic and unnatural, its purely made up from fantasy and fiction, therefore the film as a whole doesn't distress the audience too much because they know they are safe and nothing in it could ever happen - its just enjoyable to watch. Here is a post about how this fantasy element changes the entire film and the way the audience feel about it due to just one element being taken away making the film seem a lot more realistic and real, click here to see it.

My idea for the main character was that she would be a teenage girl who was definitely not a villain, this was set in stone because my aim is to make the audience sympathise with her and emotionally connect to the story. The reason I made her a girl is because usually, boys are more afraid to show emotion and often appear less effected by something than they are, I incorporated this fact into the film opening because if the film opening was going to be made into a film I would want it to be an 'emotional rollercoaster' and show vulnerability, sadness and distress.

You can see I brain-stormed ideas of how this girl may have got this power or powerful object including that she was given it as a child, found it or that the power is passed through generations.

The locations the film would be set it was also brainstormed as well as how I wanted the film to make the audience feel if my idea was for an entire film; On edge, tense, intrigued, emotional and I would make the ending happy and relieving. The reasons I brainstormed those locations was because they are places teenagers would typically go, except for the attic, the attic was put down in case the powerful object was found there.

The props included a Piano, in case I decide to add a musical element to the film, a box of memories and a diary, in case I wanted to use flashbacks looking at the girls memories in the opening and other object that could have the potential to be powerful, a book or locket. I want a symbol in my film opening that relates to the magic, for example in the hunger games Katniss has a mocking-jay that symbolises rebellion. At this stage I am thinking that if I incorporate this into my opening I want it to be something hereditary, like a piece of jewellery or a keep sake.

The characters involved in the entire film for this opening are also written above, I have the typical love interest and 'ex' for the romantic element and more or less Propp's characters from his narrative theory. I have written that if an object or person has passed this power on, one character could be them (the source of power) either being a man on a street or grandparents, as my ideas develop I may think of an even better source.

At an estimate I think the type of people that would most likely watch this kind of film would be young and mostly females with some males too, this is due to the romantic element and emotionality of the film. The age range would mainly be 13/21.

As I know what genres I would like to make my film opening in, I will focus on them, do more research and slowly start narrowing all of my ideas down into one.

My Film Opening Ideas - What I dont want

From my research and previous blog posts I have decided on genres I would definitely not be interested in making a film in as well as genres I would like to and am indifferent in them. I will not do any more research into the genres I am not interested in as it will become entirely irrelevant to my film unless I want to incorporate an atmosphere such as 'tense' into my opening and would therefore slightly look into how films portray this message.

I have decided to definitely not do a horror, this is because in general this genre does not appeal to me, I don't personally believe they have much depth to them either unless they were combined into a thriller where they would then become more interesting.

Comedy is also a genre I am not particularly keen on for my film opening because I am more into the dramatic side of acting and the aspects of delivering stories that the audience can take seriously and connect to. Comedy is also a difficult genre as many people find different things funny, it can be controversial in jokes used and views put across and is therefore hard to please people with, even if they're people who usually like comedy.

Another two genres I have decided to avoid are the Doc+Mock-umentary genres this is because, personally, I enjoy and feel like the majority of the younger public would much rather watch an enticing film to relax over just been given information, as if they are in a lesson. I believe its much more enjoyable, in terms of film, to watch something dramatic or tense and perhaps less realistic - something that would either never happen (for example most films in the fantasy genre) or had 1% chance of happening because films are one of the few forms of media that can do so. Soap operas have to be realistic, although intense and dramatic at sometimes, nothing is impossible and I think that is why it causes distress to some people whilst watching it. Due to all of this I would rather steer away from these genres. Another reason for swaying against the mock-umentary genre is similar to the reasons for my disinterest in in wanting to make a film opening in a comedy genre, everyone finds different things funny, some aspects could cause offence and I would much prefer to make a dramatic and serious film opening than one that is just done to make people laugh.   

The Sci-Fi genre could be difficult to do justice as in order for it to be good you need good hi-tech/scientific looking equipment and usually a higher budget that as students, we don't have access to. Aside from this I find these films complicated and often hard for the viewer to grasp it's concepts. I want to make a film that makes the viewers ask and wonder many things however I don't want the concept to be that hard to grasp because people could get quite bored - particularly if they don't understand it. Even though I find films in this genre interesting and enticing such as The Matrix, Avatar and ET, it's not something I am interested in making. This also applies for the 'spy/mystery' genre.

Even though I know I want some conventions and elements of  thriller in my film, I don't want the entire film to be based around a thriller. I want the film opening to make the audience feel captivated and on edge about what is going to happen next, I also want a 'villain' and 'hero' in my film but that is  as far as I am concerned with making a thriller.

In terms of how the film will be made I have 3 main options: Animation on computer, Stop motion animation or filming regularly with people and a camera. I have ruled out animation on a computer simply because it would take up too much time and the software for it isn't available to me. That leaves me with stop motion animation or filming people with a camera (regular filming). Out of these two I have decided to go with the regular way of filming, so filming people rather than using stop motion animation. This is because for stop motion animation I would need to make characters out of play-doh or an alike modelling compound and I don't feel like the audience would be able to relate to the story or feel compassion for the characters if they weren't real life humans.

Looking into Comedy #1

 The comedy film I have decided to analyse is 'Step Brothers'. This is, as you can gather from the title, about two step brothers and having watched the whole film I know that they form an unlikely friendship towards the end after many many scenes of showing hatred to one another.

The opening starts with a George Bush quote about family, with them showing the author as "an actual George Bush quote". This is comedic due to George Bush's character and how it contradicts this quote. The credits all shown against a black screen in a doodle form text. This shows fun and lets us know its a lighthearted kind of film as it isn't as 'adult'.

Whilst these credits are running we hear a crunching/ruffling sound which we soon see to be a grown man overfilling a plate of tortilla crisps and cheese - finger/childrens food - again a theme of slight immaturity running with the greed. Fun music then begins to play with the man grabbing even more food than what he already has. I think the fun music is a pro in all of this at it helps set the lighthearted and comedic atmosphere.

We then see a scene with a mum leaving the house giving this man who we realise to be her son information about her whereabouts and when she will be back, another sign of adolescence.

A pattern emerges when we see another grown man acting like a child playing a guitar on a game depending on his father for food as he goes out.

This is all 'funny' because its not a social norm for fully grown men to act in the way the two males are shown in the opening, the things they are saying and doing also consist of 'adult' humour which is also something the audience would find entertaining.

After the two very similar men from different families are introduced we see their parents meet and form a connection with their similarities and attraction to each other - which is also very humorous, eventually we see the couple get married and their two children joined together.

Both of the children end up throwing some form of a tantrum in the reception at the idea of being in each others families and living together and it is at this point where the opening ends.

Like I said, I like that right at the start of the film we were given a feel for the atmosphere and story with the fun font and music. I also like the idea of a quote to set it all off as it immediately tells the audience what the theme of the film will be - family.

I think a con would be how the scene jumped from the parents first meeting to their wedding day, I believe an improvement would have been to film a short montage of the two getting to know and love each other rather than just jumping from lust straight to love. Apart from this however I believe the opening revealed and set the base for the plot very well in the amount of time it had, we saw the situation of both men and families and saw them join together with a little bit of 'step-sibling rivalry' which is enough for the audience to decide if its their kind of film.

Another thing I like about this film is that its genre is almost 100% focused on one thing; comedy. The romantic part is over and done with within the opening and the marriage scene, and the producers are more concerned in showing us the growing relationship in the two brothers.

A brief plot synopsis idea for a film in this genre
Andy is a 13 year old boy trying to find himself and fit in with all of the people at his school, when his now single and 'nothing to live for' 22 year old brother, Alex, moves in for the summer everything seems to come together. With his careless and Andy's tactfulness, they join forces in their journey of having fun, getting to know each other and climbing the high school ladder Andys desperately been wishing for.

Looking into Thriller #1

The film i've chosen to look into for the thriller genre is 'Abduction' starring Taylor Lautner and Lily Collins. 

At the opening we are given many impressions about the characters shown's life. We immediately hear strong 'screamo' rock music blaring from the car radio (which is diagetic sound) with a teenage boy sitting and leaning on the windscreen on the outside of the car as it travels at high speed.

The 3 boys all seem to be having fun, with Taylor's character shouting at the driver to 'go faster' as he shows his excitement by screaming and 'woo'ing. As the driver is shouted at to go faster we are shown close up shots of him putting his foot down on the accelerator and the speed meter getting closer and closer to the highest number. All of this tells us a lot about the characters, particularly Nathan (Taylor), who is sat in the most dangerous position of all. It tells us that he is daring and possibly careless about his life, not valuing it enough in order to be as reckless as that which suggests something could be occurring in his life that he would like to escape from.

We see they are arriving at a party and as they arrive Nathan's friends tell him he is crazy, to which he responds with 'yes I am'.

This film opening fits with the genre as a thriller usually involves lots of excitement which can almost be negative and dangerous. I think the way the film has been put together is fitting with the genre as particularly the way it opens, isn't hugely intense - it just sets the scene with the overhead shot looking down at the car and the loud music blaring, showing regular teenagers, however as the opening unravels and we see a little glimpse of Nathan's discomfort we see there will be more to the film than we think.

I think opening with music that fits with the scene is also a clever idea as people connect to music and can immediately know what the overall feel may be, for example if slow and sad music played, the audience would immediately know the overall theme for the film could be heartbreak.

In this opening I liked the music being the first thing the audience heard, I also liked that the dialogue fits with the opening atmosphere of danger and craziness. One thing I wasn't 100% keen on was that i don't feel enough of the plot was revealed, in the opening all we really see is 3 wild teenage boys and a party, there doesn't seem to be much of a deeper meaning and the opening is the most important few minutes to engage the audience and I don't think this particular opening was entirely engaging. It also goes to show how important the movie title is, because if I didn't know the film would be as intense as an abduction I most likely would have turned it off. I do, however, like the excitement behind it and the element of danger and that something could go wrong, because films that aren't entirely a thriller based genre can include them to an extent and I think this can be used to enhance emotions to make a film more dramatic.

A brief plot synopsis idea for a film in this genre

Alex, a 37 year old divorced spy, is a father of 2 and when he sees that his ex wife's fiancé is on the run and planning to bring the entire family down with him, there is nothing he will not do to ensure he restores his loved ones safety. Lies and truths will out, danger looms however love will conquer.

Looking into Romance #1

Looking into the Romantic genre, I have chosen to do a brief analysis of the opening for 'The Vow'. I have chosen this because I think it is a very powerful opening and the entire film was outstanding.

The producers open this film very well with calm slow and happy music being played as an overhead zooming in shot is used to show a couple coming out of a theatre as it is snowing, as they're linking arms we can tell they have a romantic relationship, and the falling snow adds a magical and romantic effect to it.

There is then a pan shown of the setting around them, one big blanket of snow as they are talking about how beautiful it is. The music is taken down a notch to a gentle and magical almost christmassy feel with slight jingling sounds and a piano playing high notes and he is shown kissing her head as they almost cuddle up. This tells us these two are very much in love and the beautiful setting could be a metaphore for their relationship.

As they enter the car we have a back seat view of the two which I think makes the viewers feel a part of it more as though we were in the car with them.

Emphasising the romance further, Leo, turns on the radio singing along to 'I would do anything for love' and as they're laughing and having a good time Paige says 'I'm married to a cheeser'. This shows us that they aren't just a fling, their relationship is serious and real, they're at one of, if not the biggest step in a relationship which shows the audience its depth. The fact we are shown a close up clip of the radio being turned on shows us its diagetic sound - the characters can hear it too.

As the car stops, the music does too and the fun atmosphere has almost disappeared as we can only hear the running engine and wind wipers in the background.

Paige then starts talking and begins the sentence with 'I have a theory", its still a light hearted atmosphere as she goes on to say "a girl will get pregnant if she does it in a car". The two characters begin to get intimate with each other and we see a close up of Paige releasing her belt.

Suddenly the story line gets dark, the noise is turned to a tense sound slowly getting louder as we see headlights of another car in the back mirror of theirs. Then a voiceover comes on of a present day Leo as we see that the sound isn't diagetic, he says he has a theory too. This is powerful as we can tell from the tone of his voice that this is serious, the reason we feel something bad is about to happen is because of a theory his wife had so hearing he has one with a deeper meaning as we see the two cars getting closer together builds tension and emotion in the opening.

As he tells us his theory is about "moments of impact" just after the last word the cars collide, we see the impact the collision had as the glass windows instantly smash as sad music plays in the background and as the only other thing we can hear is the smash of the front windscreen as Paige fly's through it - again because of the impact.

This all happens in slow motion and after Paige has gone through the windscreen, time speeds up, the glass falls and there is no more noise except for the intense instrumental sounds being played in the background as another overhead shot is used this time zooming out as the snow falls.

Not only is the performance and direction very good for the opening in this film, but also the techniques used and opposites, for example Barthes code of binary oppositions, the very begining of the opening shows an overhead shot zooming in with the snow with beautiful scenery and happiness, however the end of the opening is an overhead shot zooming out with the snow, but this time not so beautiful scenery, and a devastating accident. This is 100% a pro to this example of a romantic opening.

I also like how we were given an exactly perfect amount of information just in the few minutes, the intensity of their relationship (they were trying for a baby) and that something was about to change due to a fatal accident, which is inciting because we don't know what that will be or the effect it will have.

I really liked the voiceover, as from that point on, it managed to change the mood and direction of the entire opening from just the tone of the voice in the first sentence. I think voiceovers are very powerful, especially when it is done in such a way that it is a present day character referring to something that happened in their past - it shows growth. I would take inspiration from this in particular if i was to make an opening in this, or any genre.

There's nothing from this particular opening that I didn't like, one con if I had to pick at it would be that the voiceover did not carry on in the opening, it didn't come to a final sentence for closure expanding his theory on impact, however this can be seen as a good thing as after the opening the voice over may continue throughout the film - it can be a reason to keep watching, so it is bittersweet in that sense.

A brief plot synopsis idea for a film in this genre
Rosie is 25 wanting to settle down and wondering why every relationship she has been in has never worked out, she takes a trip down memory lane visiting lovers from her past only to realise exactly why she has ended up this way. An unexpected twist occurs for Rosie when someone from her past shed never even met could be the one to change her life forever...

Silent Films

A silent film has no recorded sound synchronised with the performance of characters within the story. There is no spoken dialogue in it although diagetic sound can be used. The only type of diagetic sound there may be in these films are screams or breathing. Silent films will often use the non diagetic sound of music just to portray and set the atmosphere, fun jumpy music may be used for example to reflect a happy mood, or slow and scary music may be used to reflect an situation where tension is built.

Dialogue in silent films is shown through gestures and mime. This also usually meant body language and facial expression were sometimes exaggerated in these films because it was one of the only ways to show the audience how the character was feeling, or the relationship between two characters.

I believe silent films are good for the comedy genre because you don't necessarily need dialogue to be funny, actions speak louder than words in that sense. My film is a much more serious and dramatic one, I feel like I need some form of dialogue to help my audience understand the situation as its much more complicated than a general 'funny film', due to this I don't feel like filming my opening idea in the style of a silent film is very fitting or suitable, I also don't personally enjoy silent films as I like for a film to have dialogue and therefore, I will not be using it.