Film Openings : Existing AS Students...

To anable us to create the best foundation project, we must as well as analysing professional work, review past existing AS level projects. We reviewed four different two minute opening clips (Broken, Basis and Foundation, The Abudction and Last Chance), who were in the same situation as we shall be (around the same budget and equimpent). We looked for the pluses and minuses, therefore gathering ideas of what worked and what didnt. Unfortuently in my own opionion I found alot more minuses than pluses, and more gatered ideas of what not to do. However like all films there are always small areas which show protential, even if the majority does not. We looked at five different aspects to judge the clips on (orginality, creativity, perfromances, professionalism and intrique). Here are two of the example AS courseworks, with the positives and negaitives to each film (unfortuantly the negative very much out way the positives).

Broken - Tom Goodwin

For the first 40 seconds of this opening I think works quite well. The character being hunched over and in darkness, allowed the audience to build a profile of an unhappy character. The tears, and picture uses forshadowing, allowing the audience to ask questions of what happened to the girl? why did it happen? However after the frist 40 seconds, the promising if a a little obvious story starts to grately diterate. Firstly the character at 2:15 seconds is said to be a husband with children and a wife, however the actually character looks about 16.  The middle is just a typical fight, where the audience gets the impression that the group just wanted to try some stage combat, rather than wanting to create an opening. All the aspects which are trying to build the suspence in the first 40 seconds, is ruined as we are told pretty much the whole story in the opening, which stops the audience wanting to watch on to answe their questions as they have already be answered. The use, or more like lack of use of the tri-pod for the camera, means that rather than creating the action packed chase the audienced is just thinking that the filming is very terriable and shakey (espeically at 1:20 seconds). My overall review of this film, is that even though it does have areas of promise, the use of bad camera work, and lack of suspence creates a rather cheap looking typical gangstar teenage replicar film.

The Abduction - Andrew Fisher

To start with this film opening is very professional, bringing excitment as a promising opening. I espeically loved the shot of the river, as its using a different location (especially compared to Basis and Foundation and Broken which just used their houses). The off black and white colour scheme adds another level of drama. There is a range of angles used on the camera which works well. The use of the older man for the police officer, is another promising aspect, however from there the characters are very much a disappointed, as the mass of press are more just 5 teenagers bunking off school with their little cameras. Out of all the examples coursework, this was the most promising, and the fact it had more than just one positive was always a good sign! From this I took the idea of how much better it looks using different age characters, and a different location (they used a city location) can be very effective.