Black Swan opening

  

I looked at the opening of the Black Swan as I am looking at the thriller/horror genre and specifically the idea of multiple personalities.

The opening scene is of the main character dancing, the room is extremely dark and so nothing can be seen, however a spotlight turns on to reveal the main character dressed as a swan performing a dance. The music is, of course, perfectly in time with the dance and is very light and delicate to match the mise en scene-the costume is very simple and elegant and the dancer contrasts with her dark surroundings. This series of opening shots are used to introduce the main character and her profession and link to the title of the film as the protagonist is dressed as a swan. The tempo and tone of the music changes as another character is introduced, a darker, more melancholic figure who joins the dance and shows a struggle between the two. By including this in the opening, it perhaps forebodes that the dancer could have trouble and battles with a darker version of herself. The music with these pieces of action is much more fast paced with a whole orchestra participating, making the music build tension and suspense for the viewer, this matches with the shots and so makes it more effective as the music builds and gets louder when more energetic and dramatic things are happening in the shots.


This opening addresses its target audience, which is perhaps young women through the particular casting of someone of similar age to the audience, but also, although not everyone may be interested in ballet, the opening makes the action accessible to the audience and so they can pay more attention and engage in the opening.

I liked this opening, as it did not obviously give away the entire plot, nor did it give the audience a lot of information on the characters; however, through subtle hints in the dance, it sets the tone and atmosphere for the film. Therefore, I could emulate this in my opening by perhaps using an enigma narrative to build mystery and tension around both the characters and the storyline. Also I could use very atmospheric music to match the shots that I will use to complement them and make them more effective in setting the tone and story.

From looking at this film opening, I can already see that films in the thriller/horror genre tend to be quite visually dark with lots of contrasting to make it more appealing, but also that music is key in building tension and excitement for the audience.

  

Continuity Exercise

In class I did a continuity exercise to practice using the camera, tripod and obeying filming rules such as the 180° rule. I filmed a short interaction between two people, focusing on their positions, the camera position and the specific shots I need to create a smooth, continuous piece of action. Whilst editing, I had to ensure that the shots were exactly the correct length to make the movement between shots seem unnoticeable and so the viewer can follow the action without noticing the changes in shots.

Reflection on film titles research

Skyfall has 49 titles, this is because it is a bigger budget film and so more people are involved in the film, 21 Jump Street has 21 titles, this is probably just including the main personalities involved in the making of the film. Also the titles were probably quite short as the title sequence was made up of simple clips of action that linked to the action/teenage theme of the film, and so it would be boring if the titles went on too long. Twilight had 36 titles-the most out of all three films I looked at, many of these titles were actors and it also included some visual effects titles.

Twilight had the largest number of actors in the titles - 26, this is because the film has many central characters and is more of an ensemble cast. Skyfall had 10 actors featured in the titles as the film is generally centred around one actor however there are some important supporting actors that are also central to the film and so they are also included in the first set of titles. 21 Jump Street had 13 actors introduced in the titles also to introduce the main characters that are featured throughout the film, also the actor titles are of some very well known actors which will make the target audience more inclined to watch the film as there are famous actors in the film.

The roles that appear in all three are the director, the producers, the co-producers and executive producers, the actors are obviously shown in all three and main people in the visual department are also included in the opening titles. Costume and makeup are also included in all three title sequences, in addition, casting and music.

There are some roles that are not featured in all three, for example, publicity and marketing are featured in Skyfall and not in the other films, also stunt coordination and miniature effects are also featured in Skyfall and not the other two films who’s titles are more simple and straightforward.

Finally, the link between the titles in Skyfall are that the titles made in and out like smoke in front of computer generated graphics that take place underwater, the titles are placed to the left side of all of the shots as this is where they are more visible. 21 Jump Street has the titles in the middle of the frame and they take up most of the shot. They are also in a very big, bold font and the transitions are very blunt and quick. The titles of Twilight fade in and out softly to match the music and change colour depending on the background they are placed on top of.