First class of Media. I started late, in November. Quite a bit to catch up on.
Right off the bat we're told to create a film opening as our final product. So a bit of research and planning went into that.
I say a bit it was more like countless sleepless nights.
At first I was being ambitious. Really ambitious. I had in my head just so many different things that could be done and thought it can't be that hard, can it?
I don't think I've been more wrong about anything in my entire life.
Well maybe that one time comes close when I thought for basically all my life that decade meant 12 years instead of 10 (when I learnt of the word I had thought of dozen so I guess it just stuck in my head). But still. The point stands.
I began to look into what makes a film opening. The science behind it. It was, much more than I had originally anticipated.
To start off, I used YouTube. A resource I've probably learnt more from than school itself. (In regards to daily life matters and trying new things like video editing and Blender and art. Not actual school curriculum! Ok well YouTube did teach me plenty of the school curriculum but that's beside the point!). Immediately typing in the key words "How to begin a movie" I'm bombarded with a number of search results. The one that caught my eye since it was less than 4 minutes long was from a channel called Kane Midge. The video titled How To Open A Movie. This being the link to that video
The 3 key things to take away from that video were
1) Set Up Character. Characters who we'll see later. Their personality. How they play a role.
2) Establish Tone. Is it action packed, comedic, horrific, basically reveal the genre and your take on it.
3) Hook in the Audience. Leave a question in the audience's mind. Like a cliffhanger.
Then I looked into more videos. And saw one by a channel called Filmento called The Dark Knight - How to begin a movie | Film Perfection
It was a much longer video than the one above but it explained in great detail about a particular concept called A Day in the Life
It reminded me quite a bit of Todorov's Narrative Structure Theory, as it went on to explain with examples films that broke that theory's sequence and why the narrative flow didn't do so well, then compare it with that of The Dark Knight, a film which executed this theory with perfection and created a flow.
A Day in the Life basically referring to the Equilibrium. The Opening first has to show the situation before something happens. What went wrong in a normal daily life routine.
The actual part of solving that Equilibrium is what the rest of the film is responsible for but since this is just the opening all we have to do is show this routine and events that follow causing disruption to it.
The last major one that I watched. I did watch others though I can't quite recall memory of it. This one did leave a mark though. And a big one at that.
This video by the channel Browntable on an opening from a film called American Animals. The video itself titled American Animals - How to start a movie
This was probably the most important video for me to watch because it went against the previous video on A Day in the Life sequence as the rest of the film is the Equilibrium that lead to the actual opening yet still it was executed in a way which seemed almost perfectly done. It again emphasized on the establishing of characters and setting up character, but above all, the audience was hooked in because of how much was revealed and how much more was not.
It was from this video that I originally had the idea to transition a clock into my opening and I wanted to create something similar to it. Something new and different.
But I had to work with what I had and I used a few elements such as the clock and attempting to make an opening that left a question in the audience's mind. And I'd say I...basically consistently hit the wrong mark with the way my own opening came out.
But I'm comparing my first ever project filmed on a phone by (at the time when learning. I'm still young ok...I hope time doesn't pass too quickly since I won't get to relive these moments) a 16 year old who did this as a hobby, to an almost perfect execution. So I guess I'll keep my chin up and improve for the future.
But if I'm ever able to achieve something of that level or even greater. I'll always remember where I started from.
To look back at it all. And be proud of what you've done.
Hey. If you're reading this as yourself but in the future and you were able to accomplish something big, then just know I'm proud. And satisfied.
You've come quite far.
Not bad, kid.
Suddenly got quite dramatic didn't it?