Week 2 - Film Notes

RISE - Lots of close up shots in this opening. - There is no dialogue throughout the opening - Music is somewhat upbeat, suitable for a training montage such as that in this video (David Dallas - Runnin’) - Music stops at the staredown scene in the end, which creates a darker, more serious air OFFLINE - The studio title and director names are ‘typed’ onto the screen as an implication of the premise of the movie - Lowkey lighting is used to provide an eerie, dreadful atmosphere - The rest of the opening cycles between well-lit shots of a girl on her phone to dimly-lit shots of another girl tied up in a cage. DEAR LOVER - Peaceful music (Wayne Jones - A Quiet Thought) - Close up shots of the main girl writing the letter - Also has close ups of the two girls conversing - Generally quiet and introspective feel DARE TO THRILL - Dim lighting, nighttime atmosphere - The camera is off of the mysterious object in the trunk that causes the students to recoil, creating mystery - Shaky camera for a realistic, genuine feel to the opening ALWAYS WATCHING - The camera alternates between shots of two people conversing and shots of the main boy in various locales - The scenes get progressively darker as the opening continues - The directors describe it as ‘a relationship between two best friends that has taken a deadly turn’ - The talking scenes have high-key lighting, while the others have low-key lighting THE BLUE BOAR - The music is originally composed by the director herself - The main girl wears an old-fashioned dress and bonnet - maybe it takes place in the historic past? - She makes a boar glyph in the grass using picked shrubs, presumably the focal point of the film WHITE COAT - From the very beginning and the title one can immediately discern the medical theme - The lighting is very low-key to create eerie atmosphere - In close shots the main doctor performs an experiment on a tied up young man - the nature of this experiment is left vague STALKER - The video has a slightly lower quality than others - intentional? - The stalker’s presence is made clear but you can never see them on screen - Has a vintage horror movie feel to its camera work and quality - reminds me of Hitchcock’s Psycho NOSTALGIA - The movie centers on an old woman and her assorted memorabilia - It begins with a pan shot of a picture of an Italian(?) countryside - At the end, the woman seems to change back into a little girl in the same clothes LOST & FOUND - The opening begins with a flipbook animation of two people dancing - The rest of it I see that the common denominator here is camerawork. Each opening’s camera angles and filming style sets it apart from the rest, and through those things one can really get a sense of who the director is. I plan to use ‘found footage’ style shots in my opening, so as to differentiate from these openings (not to say that those openings are not good!). Stalker’s opening especially caught my eye, as it appeals to my penchant for the classic horror movies. The horror genre seems to be prevalent in this project, and the bar is set high; I hope that with my own film opening I can make a positive mark.