Keeva Holders 'Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World' Opening Sequence Analysis
Learning Comment:
Through doing this I have learnt how the narrative can be subtly shown in a variety of different ways in an opening sequence, this ensures it is engaging and piques the audiences interest by hinting at what is to come. This insight can be found in anything from the mise en scene ( for example the low key lighting foreshadowing dark events later on in the film), to certain camera angles, specific colours, the music etc. From analysing in detail these features and more, I discovered a lot about the film and the way it was heading context wise. I feel it is very important for an opening sequence to portray this as it is (usually) the first part shown of a film and should represent the hole thing in a way that casts it in a positive light. Therefore, I will try and implement these techniques in my own opening sequence so it is effective and reflective of what I would want my whole film to be like if made.
Through this task I have gained a greater knowledge of both the major and minor film producers and distributors that dominate the media scene. I now know important information related to them such as their founders, where they're based and their most popular/famous films they've produced. By knowing this, I can recognise the common characteristics associated with each one and could identify the producer simply by watching the film. For example, Dreamworks Studio mostly creates fun and family friendly films with a seeming emphasis on adapting children books. Whereas a distributor such as Vertigo has a much more indie and unique style which I prefer and thus would want to have distributing and producing my own production. Furthermore, a production company such as Columbia Pictures would creating larger and more block buster films due to it's large budget and so it's style would be quite extravagant and dramatic. I have learnt that a producers style should be evident even within the opening sequence and that the logo for each producer/distributor should be instantly recognisable. I will try and apply this to my opening sequence and if I have to choose an already existing one then I have the information available to me to make an informed choice of which will be most suitable and beneficial for my own film.
For this task, I researched and compiled together information regarding one of the most well-known directors when it comes to coming of age films:
John Hughes has made some of the best films that we would typically class as 'coming-of-age classics' including The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Ferris Buellers Day Off, Weird Science, Pretty in Pink and Home Alone. All of them are comedy's while also reflecting the more serious and real side of teenagers nowadays. In an interview with Roger Ebert for the upcoming release of 'The Breakfast Club' and 'Sixteen Candles', Hughes said " Teenage audiences are ready for movies that take teenagers seriously.....Kids are smart enough to know that most teenage movies are just exploiting them." He also said he thought that, "They'll respond to a film about teenagers as people. Both of these movies are about the beauty of just growing up." This is shown in the majority of Hughes films that are funny but don't exaggerate stereotypes or show a negative side to teenagers, this may be why his films were such a success. Hughes films have a distinctive theme that could be termed his 'style' (coming of age films) and he also set a lot of his films in Chicago or Illinois as that was where he lived. He also refused to make any films in Hollywood as he detested it due to the pretentiousness and feeling that "everybody is trying to shoot you down." However as far as editing techniques and mise-en-scene goes Hughes didn't really have a go-to style. However, he did quite often break the 'fourth wall' where he had the characters talk directly to or acknowledge the audience. This was particularly affective in his film 'Ferris Buellers Day Off ' where the use of this got across the protagonists' character and his need for attention/being in the spotlight. He also used a form of it in 'The Breakfast Club' where he used narration/voice over where the characters explained what was happening to the audience in the beginning. Also, due to producing a lot of comedy's, most of Hughes films feature high-key lighting and upbeat, light-hearted music to convey the genre and atmosphere. Some less known facts about Hughes is that he was an extremely quick writer, he actually wrote 'The Breakfast Club' in only two days, while also letting the characters of that film ( while telling each other why they're in detention) have free reign and improvise. He was also notoriously hard to work with, once he fired the prop supervisor because they ran out of pizza in a scene in 'Curley Sue', possibly because he'd become so fixed on his vision for a film. Hughes attended school and university before dropping out and selling jokes to well-established performers such as Joan Rivers and Rodney Dangerfield. Awhile later he wrote his first screenplay 'Class Reunion' which was a failure before creating 'Sixteen Candles' which launched his career. He stopped producing major films in the late 90s and became a recluse, refusing any photos or interviews, before dying on August 6th, 2009.
Below is a mashup of clips from all of Hughes most famous films:
These are two examples of John Hughes most famous film opening sequences:
This is a particularly insightful two part interview between John Hughes and Corey Brunish:
Learning Comment:
Through this research I have learnt that a good coming of age film doesn't have to be cheesy, over the top and exaggerating the typical stereotypes related to teenagers and high schools. Often the opposite is more affective as it portrays a realistic view of teenagers as the young adults and growing people they are. A comedy can be created while the characters still maintaining their maturity( such as John Hughes as demonstrated in many of his films). I'm not sure if i'm such a fan of breaking the fourth wall but I do like the idea of a narrative voice-over as I feel that it can give you insight into a character that you may have not obtained otherwise. Even in opening sequences I think voice-over can be effective so I may try and in-corporate this into my own opening sequence.
On the website 'Time Toast' I recorded and briefly explained 18 different coming-of-age films, all famous within their own rights, throughout the years from 1955 to 2015:
Learning Comment:
Through this task I have gained a greater understanding of coming of age films and also a greater appreciation of them from their origins in the early 1950s to the equally great ones created now. Through researching the history of them, I can now identify the significant movies created and thus how people's opinion on coming of age films has been shaped. I have also noticed the differences between some of the older ones and the more recent. There are the general differences that are to be expected in films from varying generations such as the differences in clothing, hair styles, the way they talk etc. However, there are more subtle differences I feel in the narrative. In the slightly older films, the protagonist was generally a 'rebel', someone who misbehaved and was mis-understood. The more recent films though seem to centre around the 'under dog', the 'wall-flower' who has hidden depths and breaks out of their shell. This development in the story-line may have come from changing social norms where it's not considered as 'cool' to mess around and get in trouble with the law.
I watched 10 different film opening sequences from all different genres and analysed them to find the common codes and conventions and what made them so effective, below are my findings:
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Learning Comment:
In this task I have observed and learnt the various codes and conventions commonly found in film opening sequences. This includes certain fonts connoting the genre, music that fits with the feel and narrative of the overall film, institutional information being shown; particularly with the director at the end and so on so forth.
The typography is crucial in an opening sequence as it gives the audience insight into the kind of film it will be and also the specific audience it was intended for. The music is just as important as it can also reveal parts of the narrative and adds to the idea the audience is getting of the film from the rest of the opening.
Most of all, I feel that all of the effective opening sequences I saw were done in an creative and original manner that captured what the film was about but also drew me in as an audience by offering something I'd never seen before.
This was particularly prominent in one of my favourite opening sequences 'Se7en'. It told you what the film was going to be about but also straight-away put me on edge and excited to see what would happen next. Furthermore, in openings such as 'Footloose' the music was upbeat and contagious, thus making you want to join in and continue watching the film.
