Throughout this lesson, we individually analysed three famous film openings from different genres including horror, action and romantic comedy. The media texts we examined were;
- Halloween, 1978
- Amelie, 2001
- Trainspotting, 1996
We considered how the use of different lighting and sound affected tension as well as the audience response to character introductions and genre justification.
Individual Work
We also all went on to find our own film openings individually:
After viewing the opening for Halloween, I learnt that directors of horror films choose to use sudden, non-diegetic sound to emphasise an oncoming danger or event. In this example, John Carpenter, the director of Halloween, uses a high pitch, sharp strings to infer a warning to the audience and also to assume the genre.
All films within the genre of horror use similar techniques in mise-en-scene such as, a clown costume or the knife held by the boy. As well as this, the detached house adds to the sense of vulnerability, seen in many horror films.
Amelie (2001)
After analysis of the sound and tension tracker for Amelie, I noticed that the genre of romance/drama can easily be depicted via the intense shots and both diegetic and non-diegetic sounds of the wine glass and the vibrations when Amelie's hands are around her ears.
This direct way of portraying genre can be done within the mise-en-scene of the opening using both the props and voiceover, giving a clear french vibe to the film which also emphasises the setting.
Trainspotting (1996)
After analysis of the trainspotting film opening from 1996, I noticed that the social realism genre was represented through the use of sound and cinematography.
The sound used was an upbeat, youthful track (Lust for Life by Iggy Pop) that represented the young adults and the fast pace of the scene. The camera angles were all very close up and it featured some over the shoulder shots from a front angle, making the shot more personal and stereotypical of the age group shown.
Woman in Black (2012)
During my individual work, I chose to analyse the opening of Woman in Black and noticed that similarly to Halloween it had minimal sound other than the occasional chimes. The tension also seemed to rise as the opening went on which is shown through techniques in the cinematography as the director used extreme close ups and slow motion when one of the young girls steps on the head of a doll, which is part of the mise-en-scene.
After choosing and viewing this film also for my individual work, I noticed that the comedy drama genre is very easy to depict from just the tension in the opening scenes.
The mise-en-scene used gives an immediate sense of character and story line within the first few minutes, creating a strong sense of character that can be continued throughout the film.
- Woman In Black, 2012
- Little Miss Sunshine, 2006
For these two, I recorded trackers and commented on the tension/content and sound.
Halloween (1978)
After viewing the opening for Halloween, I learnt that directors of horror films choose to use sudden, non-diegetic sound to emphasise an oncoming danger or event. In this example, John Carpenter, the director of Halloween, uses a high pitch, sharp strings to infer a warning to the audience and also to assume the genre.
All films within the genre of horror use similar techniques in mise-en-scene such as, a clown costume or the knife held by the boy. As well as this, the detached house adds to the sense of vulnerability, seen in many horror films.
After analysis of the sound and tension tracker for Amelie, I noticed that the genre of romance/drama can easily be depicted via the intense shots and both diegetic and non-diegetic sounds of the wine glass and the vibrations when Amelie's hands are around her ears.
This direct way of portraying genre can be done within the mise-en-scene of the opening using both the props and voiceover, giving a clear french vibe to the film which also emphasises the setting.
Trainspotting (1996)
The sound used was an upbeat, youthful track (Lust for Life by Iggy Pop) that represented the young adults and the fast pace of the scene. The camera angles were all very close up and it featured some over the shoulder shots from a front angle, making the shot more personal and stereotypical of the age group shown.Woman in Black (2012)
During my individual work, I chose to analyse the opening of Woman in Black and noticed that similarly to Halloween it had minimal sound other than the occasional chimes. The tension also seemed to rise as the opening went on which is shown through techniques in the cinematography as the director used extreme close ups and slow motion when one of the young girls steps on the head of a doll, which is part of the mise-en-scene.
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
After choosing and viewing this film also for my individual work, I noticed that the comedy drama genre is very easy to depict from just the tension in the opening scenes.
The mise-en-scene used gives an immediate sense of character and story line within the first few minutes, creating a strong sense of character that can be continued throughout the film.
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