Divergent

The film 'Divergent' is another film with the same genre of Thriller. However, this movie has more of a Sci-Fi/ Futuristic approach to it. I've decided to analysis this film opening as it is very different to the last opening I looked at.

As the film begins, the first thing we see are the film production companies. 'Summit Entertainment. A Lions Gate Company' and 'Red wagon entertainment' throughout the spinning production names there is a background sound of relaxing winds blowing and chime like noises. As the chimes begin to become louder the title of the film 'Divergent' is placed on screen accompanied by a choir singing in a calm manor. The title of the film appears from the letters being broken up to them forming together, the way the are formed together gives the impression that it maybe a code for something later on in the movie. As the letters appear on screen you can see a clear contrast between the yellows and browns making the word 'Divergent' stand out even more.
the first shot of the film footage is an establishing shot of what seems to be a field in the countryside. As the footage includes a summers morning sunrise and a clear blue sky with relaxing music playing in the background it tricks us by making us think that the genre of the film would be something along the lines of a Romance and in fact not a Thriller!

When the camera begins the pan up through the grass everything seems normal until the camera transitions into panning left where you get a glimpse of an abandoned ship which makes you question why it is there?and who has left it there? creating enigma!
A tracking shot is then used to look over the abandoned city, as we are looking over the abandoned city, it makes the audience also question who once lived there? and does anybody still live there? whilst a tracking shot is being used a piano is playing the same keys making us feel empathy and sad for the reason why the city has become abandoned. Different tracking shots are used of different locations of the city to prove that nobody lives there.
To much surprise the next scene is a low angle shot of people walking on the streets the expressions in there faces are smiling showing us that they're happy however there is a clear divide between people through the colours of there outfits which we assume they are fit into different levels for quality of life.

The Stepfather

Within the first 10 seconds music which we would refer to being almost 'Sci-Fi' related begins to play among a black screen with the film production label 'Screen Gems'. The sounds starts to become more recognizable as the black screen fades into an establishing shot of a car on a road. A tracking shot is used to follow the car, the shot gradually spins around it until the shot switches to a point of view of somebody throwing a newspaper. We don't know who the person is but the jerkiness of the camera suggests he's in a rush.
Whilst the camera is panning the white houses along the street the opening credits fade into different sections of the screen lasting about 4 seconds each, the writing has been moved into the section of the screen which has most white in creating a contrast between colours black and white. You can clearly tell a cool tone filter has been added creating a a depressing tone to the movie which suggests something serious is about to take place.
We then move onto a close up shot of a piece of paper where the focal point is the word 'canceled' as its the only bit of writing on the sheet which has been highlighting, this has created enigma as the audience will now be curious to who has cancelled the order and why.
There is a sudden change of scenery where the camera pans left across a very overly organised shelf of men's grooming tools (razor, electric razor, scissors etc.) as the shelf is so tidy it gives the viewer the impression that maybe the man is a sufferer from OCD or another disorder.

This shot then moves onto a low angle shot which is positioned to be looking at the mirror, at the beginning of the shot the screen is blurry which then fades to a clearer shot of the main who we guess is the main character. as the shot fades the title appears in the left hand side of the screen, we assume the reason behind the writing being so small is because the director has wanted our attention to be focused on the man as he must have a lot of importance to the movie.

Real Media Artefact
When researching Agoraphobia me and my partner came across a video on YouTube about a man suffering the same condition. The short film demonstrated a great example of the beginning ideas me and my partner started to create between us on what we could include in our future film opening.

Agoraphobia- A short student film

Within the first few seconds we are introduced to the clip through an establishing shot, the purpose behind the establishing shot is to make it clear that he is suffering from Agoraphobia and doesn't want to leave the comfort of his own home. It then quickly changes to a wide shot of a light build on the ceiling from the main characters perspective, this shot is held for four seconds long which suggests that he is bored of his condition as he's staring into space'.

Throughout the short film the director has used a voice over of the main character talking, The voice over has been used to create an idea that he is trapped within his thoughts as his condition is a mental illness which would occur in the brain. The voice over is at a slow paste which is harmonizing with the backing instrument of a piano, This adds to the dullness of the video which overall illustrates a sense of boredom/repetition of his daily routine.

What really interested me about this film and has inspired me to adapt to it in my film opening  is the sense of enigma which has been created. When watching the clip their are so many questions that run through my mind, such as, What triggered this condition? Will he ever conquer his fear? Why doesn't he just leave his house? etc. what plays a main part in creating the enigma is the fear of the unknown. We can only presume what triggered this mental illness. 

Response to Gone Girl  Nick and Amy fight scene

Gone Girl is a 2014 American psychological thriller film directed by David Fincher. This film unearths the secrets at the heart of a modern marriage. From watching the clip, the representation of the film is gender in which the overpowering of male dominance between the two has been shown through both violent, physical and verbal actions towards his wife. The clip has been made clear that the contents of the film would be aimed at ages 18 and above from the sexual and violent scenes. Personally I think viewing would side towards and attract more females due to the sympathy and relationships towards Amy who is the main character of the film.

We are introduced to the clip through an over the shoulder shot of Nick rapping Amy which gradually fades into a panning shot. From us being introduced to Nick first out of the two it highlights that he has more power. The power Nick holds within the relationship is also expressed through the different camera angles and his actions towards Amy telling us that he plays the dominant role in the relationship.
Shortly after the panning shot a voice over of a women’s calm husky voice begins in whom we assume is Amy’s.  The story of their relationship is starting to be told through Amy’s thoughts and emotions. While Amy speaks her trapped thoughts instruments which we would associate in having a depressing outlook such as violins and string instruments begin to play which defines the mood and genre being a psychological Thriller. The lighting of the scenes is made up with warm tone household lighting. As the house looks rather big and specious and the costumes of the couple are dark it shows that their relationship is unfulfilled and unsteady as we associate dark colours to be the colour of depression/death.
The most powerful moment is the fighting scene. As we follow Amy down the stairs who is following her husband, as soon as she reaches the last step there is a sudden change to a mid-shot of the two. Amy is the first one to make the move out of the two where she hits Nick. However, as Nick is the stronger and more dominant one. As we would expect he pushes Amy to the floor. Short black outs accompanied by change of camera happen every black out which is showing us how panicky she is. The most powerful sentence which gets said throughout the first scene is when Amy says the words ‘what scared me was how much he wanted to hurt me more’ The whole of this fight scene foreshadows what is going to happen further on in the film as we expect Amy to be put in more danger.

I decided to deconstruct this film scene from Gone Girl as it is very similar to what I am planning on looking at as it explores psychological thrillers, and the different impacts it can have on the mind and how we act upon it.

Response And Deconstruction Of Sky Fall Fighting Scene

From watching the opening scene of 'Skyfall' you can immediately tell the film is action from the upbeat drums within the first few seconds of the clip. The representation of the film is the stereotypical view on gender as we can see a typical man doing a hard physical job of fighting on a train. From watching the clip you can tell the film is aimed at older teenagers on wards, most being male from the film clip involving more males than females and it itself being an action film.

The colours and lighting used throughout the film are bright greens/browns this leads you to think the purpose behind the setting being bright and the fight happening within daytime makes us feel that it wasn’t planned. If the fight happened at night we would have a whole different perspective on it as we wouldn’t be able to change the light from light to dark as easily making it less tense. The narrative is being told through the men fighting and their onward actions.

Within the first few seconds of the clip we are introduced to a male in a suit, from a medium shot angle he is the focal point of that shot making the wound to the left of his shirt stand out to us, the wound is foreshadowing the danger which may happen further on in the scene. The blood on the shirt also maintains the stereotype, so for him to then carry on and act like it’s not bothering him means he is very tough and doesn’t care to what lengths he has to go for his job.  Also when he is in the train carriage there’s a flickering of the light which creates tension for the viewers.

Of the upcoming fight between the two men another long shot camera angle has been used allowing us to see the location of the scene, which looks like a fairly arid mountainous place. The other man which we are introduced to is also wearing another suit, which links backs to the representation of the film as they are both fighting each other. From them wearing suits allows us to think they have a high end jobs, which they take seriously and respond to spontaneous drastic orders. When they begin to fight with each other the music goes from a drum beat sound to a sudden change of instruments, including a violin and other string and horn instruments, from the high pitch instruments it creates tension between the characters showing us that they are on opposing teams. A close up shot is used when one man begins the strangle another, the reason behind them using a close-up  shot is that we pick up on what he is strangling him with, which is an I.D tag letting us know that the person being strangled is the typical villain.

We are introduced to another character through a rising shot, informing us that she has power and is in charge, even from her appearance she exudes control and confidence, which the audience sees as power and dominance through others. There has been a use of juxtaposition as a women has the power whereas we would normally think a male would be held responsible for making orders for fighting and shooting to happen.

The role of gender and the representation of the film is reminded again when the curly brown haired women brings out a gun to shoot. In the fighting scene between the two men no man made weapons are used only chains and them fighting with their own hands whereas she has use a gun and even hesitates to shoot proving she’s weak and indecisive however if this was a man he wouldn’t think twice about pulling the trigger.  The change of scene begins to increase with the pace of the clip making the tension rise.

To conclude, the ending of the clip as the bullet fires from the gun the music stops, the only sound which happens is the echoing of Bond falling into the river. The way he falls and the low angle shot shows lack of power and gives us the impression he is dead. When he falls the lighting is daytime making us think he’s dead whereas if it was dark we would question it. Throughout the clip genderization is used a lot to prove that fighting is a man’s job, if the role was changed it wouldn’t be as effective on the audience because it would seem abnormal and unrealistic, and I think that what the clip wanted us to make us feel.