Preliminary Research: The Openings of Films

Our task is to film the first two minutes of what would be a full-length film. For the film I made previously, I had to condense a beginning, middle, and ending into a 1-minute timeframe which meant the intro was no longer than a couple of seconds. I didn't really know what I should include in the opening of this fil even after having tons of movies in my life. I never focused on the beginning exclusively as it felt like a small part of a bigger whole but now, that "small part" would have to be my main focus. 

To have a better understanding of what should be in those two minutes and how it should look like and play out, I decided to watch some film intros. We decided that our film would be a part of the crime genre, so I wanted the source I studied to best represent that. I decided to watch the intro to Zodiac, a 2007 crime/thriller film, directed by David Fincher.

Opening 5 minutes to Zodiac (2007)

The opening to the film puts a very strong focus on mise en scene in order to establish key details about the film such as its world and setting, as well as the lack of bright lighting to establish a mood. For starter, the opening begins with an establishing shot of the city at night with fireworks going off in the background. The opening 30 seconds alone is able to grab your attention through the use of bright fireworks against the darkness of the city. It also sets up a timeline for the film with fireworks being correlated with celebrating the Fourth of July or New Year's and the film later confirms in the opening that it is the Fourth of July. This darkness continues throughout the entire opening to put audiences on edge as in crime films, bad things usually happen in quiet dark areas which is where the characters end up. The lack of light makes it hard to see any potential dangers and increases the tension that is felt. 

This time period is further explored through mise en scene as the characters and their surroundings are indicative of older times. If the fashion of the characters doesn't give it away, it can be seen in the structures like the food place the pair go to as well as the vehicles the characters are driving. We have no specific plan for a specific era in time, but my core understanding is that the film is expressing major story elements to the audience such as, in this case, when it takes place within the opening. 

Shot of the crowded burger place that helps indicate the film is set sometime in the past

Sound plays a key role in making it apparent to the audience that they are watching a thriller. Music starts off soothing which is opposed by the end with a more rock-like track playing right before the first kill of the film. Show that things are going to be calm until something intense and tragic happens. The loud sounds of fireworks are meant to scare and shake viewers as they come suddenly and also lower their guard as they believe the worst of it is over for now. It sets up for the actual high-tension moment of the killer coming later and makes the audience aware of what to expect throughout the film. Moments of low tension followed by moments of high tension that is commonly found in thrillers. A suppressed gunshot reveals details about the killer like they are careful not to get caught and plants from the start the idea that this killer is meticulous and going to provide a challenge for detectives. 

Lastly, the cinematography and editing go hand in hand in this opening to create effects of calmness followed by extreme tension. The beginning portion has very little editing until cuts happen as the characters talk from to ends of the car. This continues as the characters go from location to location and have a conversation. it only slightly differs when a cut is made cars that would cause the characters trouble that was followed by quick cuts between the two characters until that trouble is made. the cut foreshadowed the significance of the next car coming up as another form of danger through its rhythmic style. The shots are also slowed down to emphasize the destruction caused by the killer as it can be seen more clearly. Cuts are once again very quickly made to not let the audience focus as it would be hard for the characters in that situation. Shots are kept simple in the beginning with things coming off as normal and mundane until the pair is finally all alone. When the killer is there, things are more clearly seen with a higher zoom and more light to once again show the brutality of the killer. However, even with the light being emitted, the killer is made sure to be kept hidden in shadows with close-ups of only his limbs.

Zodiac Killer surrounded by darkness after opening kill

The main things I learned were the main purpose of film openings and the basic elements that make them up. The opening doesn't have to get into your film's core ideas or big plot elements just yet but should instead grab the audience's attention and create and establish the tone and setting of your film using mise en scene, cinematography, sound, narrative, and most importantly to me, editing. There should be a stronger focus on broad ideas like where your story is taking place and the basic traits of your main character such as the zodiac killer in the clip above being someone that is hard to track down. It also doesn't reveal who they are signifying a mystery element to the film and how it most likely isn't from his perspective. You should have the basic ideas that go with your film's genre like in this case, a crime/thriller film would include moments of suspense and mystery elements that are prevalent within just the first 5 minutes through an early murder scene and dark/mysterious atmosphere. Finally, you should make sure to keep things simple, you can include those high-suspense moments but shoot them in a way that doesn't distract or take away from the film, especially the editing. Scenes were separated by simple straight cuts as we go from location to location with the most cuts occurring during the murder sequence that was mainly there to create tension for a short while. Otherwise, there is no need to go overboard with the editing as it can take away more than it adds and ruin the flow of the events that are new for the viewer. You can let scenes play out through a minimal use of cuts so that a calmer mood is created and when the editing style shifts to have more cuts happening rapidly, it would build suspense and tension for the audience.

Reflection on Past Work

I previously created a one-minute short film centered around chess that I am fairly proud of. However, I believe there is nothing you can learn more from than your own mistakes. I remember some aspects of the process that I wasn't entirely happy with or proud of but couldn't find workarounds. 

What I Could've Done Better:

After rewatching the film, one thing that stood out to me was the type of cuts I was using in the film. I saw that I used a lot of fades to go from scene to scene that felt unneeded and just cluttered up what was happening on screen. I think that most of these could have just been easily replaced with a straight cut to jump straight into the next portion. There are at times when the fade transition fit but it was used more than it should have been and distracted from the finished product. Not only that but it lessened the effect it had later on in the film when the main character has a transition of skill level and appearance but since I used it a couple of times before then, it looked like just any other part of the film and didn't hold as much significance. 

Opening shot with the fade transition

Opening shot without the fade transition

In order to fit the one-minute time constraint, I sped up some of the scenes so that the actions that occurred took up less time and thought it looked normal at first, upon rewatch however, I saw that it was more obvious than I initially thought. Even slightly increasing the speed by 25% made the actions being done seem not human and obviously edited. It may have worked well if that was the intended effect, but it was not so instead, actions just seemed way shorter than they should have, such as a tussle over chess pieces. Even in some parts where shots were slowed down for comedic effect, it looked awkward. It didn't enhance the impact of the chess piece bust instead just made the shot drag on for too long.

Shots that were sped up to save time but looked unnatural and too fast

Finally, I didn't do any retouching to the color of the film as I didn't think it needed any as it was all shot in the same spot within a short time span. I thought the film visually looked consistent. However, the film had bigger differences than I thought. Some parts of the film were very Vibrant while others were dull and flat and as the editor, I could have messed around with the color to get them to match better. If I made some of the shots more saturated it would have played better into the funny tone of the film and looked visually interesting and appealing throughout. 

Dark, less vibrant image of the chess board and table from the film

Bright and more saturated image of the chess board and table from the film

What I Did Well:

Overall, I think that the style in which I edited things matched the feel of the film pretty well. Being a comedy and being limited to one minute, I needed events to go by very fast so the editing had to be very tight, and shots couldn't run on for too long. I cut down all the clips significantly so that it was the main part of the clip where lots is happening, and time isn't used up by pointless movements or lingering after an idea is already perceived by the audience. All of the shots ran by very quickly with the punchline being obvious so that I could move on to the next scene without it feeling like any time was wasted. 

I also believe that the timeline I established for the was done well. I had lots of footage to work with but couldn't possibly fit it all.  I had to not use some and cobble-together shots so that the film still made sense even with not everything that happened being displayed. The film had a clear beginning, middle, and end, with a clear buildup and climax of events occurring. The beginning makes it obvious who has the advantage and who is losing through the sequence the clips were put in. A specific player would take pieces and the other got angry. Then there is a change in the middle that switches who begins winning through a "power up" shot. Then the reaction shots used make it obvious that the other player who was winning previously is now losing. It told a basic story from its very start to its finish. 

Final Thoughts: 

This exercise helped me figure out what my faults were in the editing process. I now know that it's the little details that I didn't really catch or didn't have an interest in that have a stronger impact on the whole of a film than I thought. Simple things just like the type of transition used alter the way it can be used again later on and change the way a viewer might interpret a scene. Maybe time passed but the viewer couldn't pick up on it or events are happening right away, but the viewer believes there was a break in between. I believe I am able to compile the clips I need in an order that makes sense narratively without much issue, but it's how I alter these clips that I need to focus on. Making sure the film is visually similar so that a difference in tone is accidentally interpreted or a lack of polish is recognized is one way I can fix this issue. Another is being more specific with decision making as I should think more about how viewers might interpret something I did. I can't leave any room for misinterpretation as it can off-put the tone and ideas that the film is trying to express in a given scene. Speeding up clips to fit a time constraint led to those scenes looking out of place and awkward in the grand scheme of the film and might leave people wondering why it was done without the knowledge of a strict time constraint. 

Foundation Portfolio: The Beginning

Hello! My Name is J. Bot and I am about to start my foundation portfolio for the AICE Media Studies exam.

The goal is to film the first two minutes of a full length film. I knew I couldn't face this alone so I entered a group of four people. I believes being in a group will ease the pressure of putting a project like this together. it makes it easier to come up with ideas for the film as well as distribute the work load. We had all worked on 1-minute short films earlier in the school year so we have some experience with four main roles in film-making. We have a director, editor, sound designer, and cinematographer.  My editing experience on the previous film made me want to do it again in order to see the progress I have made and the utilize the knowledge I have about film editing.  

I am looking forward to see the ideas we can come up with for our film and how I can use my abilities to bring them to life. These past experiences have made me more prepared for a more serious project like this and I can't wait to start.