Researching on other opening to Films

I have started by researching and watching opening to different action/thriller films. I have assessed the first two minutes of each film to understand how they have opened their film. Some of the films that i was looked at are: The Bourne Legacy, The Italian Job, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Knight and Day and The Hurt Locker.

The Bourne Legacy

What I like about this opening sequence: I really liked the first shot of Jason Bourne (main character) because for a couple of seconds he looked dead and he wasn't identifiable, so the audience had no idea who he was and if he was alive, this dramatic start really engages the audience from the very start.

What I didn't like about this opening sequence: Although I really like this opening I found that there wasn't any credits which in my view isn't the best, I understand that they want to keep it naturalistic but at least the producer and main actor.



The Italian Job 

What I like about this opening sequence: I think that the quick shots of the city are very good in helping the audience understand where the film is set. These shots are effective because they aren't exposing everything so the audience has to keep watching to get more and more information to understand where its actually set and what's about to follow in the film.

What I didn't like about this opening sequence: The shots of the map, this dragged on too far and personally bored me, I was relieved when a shot of the city appeared. I think it is important to sometimes start slowly (editing wise) to make the audience want to watch more and see what's to happen but the speed and length of this opening in my opinion is too long and bores the audience.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

What I like about this opening sequence: I liked the first aerial shots of Budapest, this really helps to audience to understand exactly where they/the plot is set and what the city is like. Although this may not engage a audience as much as non-exposing shots that only shots small parts of a city and the audience have to work out where it is and what is happening, but because Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is so action packed they have very quickly identified the location and gone straight into a intense action scene, so the audience as then engaged by the action anyway. I also liked the camera movements at two particular moments: at 1:36 to 1:45 the camera was used in one continuous shot, firstly focusing on a file in his bag, then his face (mid shot) and a clever turn to show that the character was turning around; this was very effective in helping to tell the story. Having a variation in shot length gave the audience time to understand what was going on, before this shot was a lot of fast short clips.

What I didn't like about this opening sequence: On the whole I thought that this opening was extremely engaging and had a good mix between aerial/landscape shots and action shots. The only thing that I would do differently is open the film with some less exposing shots of Budapest and then the last shot before the action scene would be the aerial to finally show the audience the location.

  

Knight and Day

What I like about this opening sequence: The very first shot of Tom Cruise's head I really liked, the use of focal length is quite effective in making Tom Cruise's head being the centre of attention when he walks in front of the camera, then the second he started to walk the music kicks in. This close up of Cruise's head was really exciting when the music began because the audience isn't sure on what is to follow. I also like it because it showed a few credits but in a very subtle way and there is still something happening for the audience to be engaged with (Cruise looking a toy figures).

What I didn't like about this opening sequence: I felt that the credits weren't very clear and noticeable, I liked the way there was actions going on at the same time but only after watching the opening a couple of times I noticed the credits. So for my film I want to try and show the credits in a more obvious way but make sure that they didn't drag on.

The Hurt Locker

What I like about this opening sequence: I thought that the use of the remote controlled machine was very good because to machine makes you sense that something is about to be found because of the arm on the machine. I also like the way that it starts with the POV of the remote controlled machine, with some 'glitch' effects. This is very immersive because you can see the shadow of remote controlled machine but the audience don't really know what the POV is of until the shot of the remote controlled machine from the side, I think this use of prop and POV is very effective and I think that, if it's suitable, to use it in my own opening sequence film.

What I didn't like about this opening sequence: One feature which I didn't much like was the background sounds of the Mosque, this sound I think was used to make the audience think/hint a sort of bombing or terrorist attach, possibly, is about to happen. This could be called stereotypical but I think that the media is a very powerful influence in how people think and judge things, think lovely sound that Mosques produce are now reflected as a 'negative' sound which I do not believe is right. Other than that I that that the overall structure and camera work, mise en scene  and editing is very good, its brings lots of tension and suspense in this brilliant realistic thriller/action film.

Firstly I have noticed that all the openings of these films start with the production companies 'introduction' video saying who made the film, Paramount, 20th century fox for example. Another feature I noticed in the beginning of all these films is that there's slow but dramatic music to start it off. I really liked the start of the The Bourne Legacy with the still shot of the main character being completely still, making him look dead, this was a dramatic start for the audience who had no idea what was going on. This effect engaged the audience from the very first seconds of the film, this is a feature that I defiantly want to use.. Lastly I noticed that many of the films I looked at used aerial footage to give the audience a understanding of where 'they' the characters are, so I have decided that if it fits my opening video I will use aerial shots.

There were also some, in my opinion, bad features which I won't be using in my opening video. One feature is the opening to The Italian Job because I think that the idea of just showing a map with all the titles can get very tedious after about 20 different names (2 minutes), I understand the convention of it, making suspense for the audience but personally I think that it goes on for too long and it got boring. So for my video I will make sure that I only show two or three titles and don't make it too tedious.