Title Research

Learning Comments

From watching these opening scenes closely I have found some similarity's and differences. Ferris Buellers Day Off is a 1986 film and the text that was shown is the traditional order, production company then distributors etc. However the newer films Easy A, it doesn't follow the traditional listing and only names a small amount or only names the actors in this case. However not all new films don't follow this traditional order as shown with Juno.

From this information i have decided that I will use the more traditional method of showing text, also the style of the text must link to the genre of the film. I will also follow the same style of positioning of text as these productions (placed at the bottom of the shot or at the top).

Key Information 

All opening scenes had hints to the narrative.

The style and colour of the text shown sometimes reflects the genre of the film.

Some newer productions show less text.

Older productions show more text.

The text will always be placed accordingly for example at the bottom so its not in the way.

Producers and Distributors

Learning Comments

From my research of these production and distribution studios, i have found that they all have wide ranges of productions and distributions. Also there are many different genres of films that the studios distribute and produce i have found this is because they want to make sure their audience is more open.

Also from looking at the smaller sized distribution studios i have found that they produce and distribute small film productions, this will help me decide which production company and which distribution company i will choose. 

Conventions of an Opening Sequence

Boyhood Opening Scene

Stand By Me Opening Scene

Learning Comments

From closely analysing these opening scenes both films introduced their main characters early on in the films, this is something that i will look to do i my opening sequence.

 I have also noticed that the both opening scenes only show text of the production and distribution companies i think this is something i want to use as it makes the shot have less going on and the viewer can concentrate on whats going on.

Director Case Study

John Hughes

John Hughes is a successful film director, producer and screenwriter. Born February 18, 1950, Died August 6, 2009 (aged 59). 

John Hughes was known for his teen based film productions for example Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and The Breakfast Club. He also helped kick-start some actor’s careers: Michael Keaton, Bill Paxton, Matthew Broderick and Macaulay Culkin (Famous for Home alone.).


John Hughes started his career selling jokes to well established comedians. John then got himself a job working as an advertising copywriter in Chicago. John’s first film production involvement was a film called Class Reunion, however this film was unsuccessful and then John went onto writing two other films National Lampoons Vacation, this film was a huge success and help John gain a contract with Universal Studios. 

John Hughes then directed his first ever film, Sixteen Candles a coming of age comedy production. John then went onto directing and producing two very successful films, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and The Breakfast Club. John then branched out from making just teen comedy productions with Planes, Trains and Automotives starring Steve Martin who is an actor that had a good relationship with John as he then used Steve for 2 of the 3 Home Alone films. Home Alone being the most profitable film production of the 90s. John then retired from film production in 1994 because of the sudden death of John Candy.  
  John Hughes most famous films being: The Breakfast Club, Ferris Buellers Day Off, Home Alone, Home Alone 2, 101 Dalmatians and Home Alone 3.

John Hughes had certain styles in his productions. John was a fan of the Beatles and liked to use their music in 4 of his film productions. Sometimes the actors in John’s productions would directly address the audience by talking to the camera.

It was uncommon for John to reuse actors from previous productions, however Home Alone 2 for example had the same actors from the first Home Alone. But Home Alone 3 had completely different actors. 

Here is some of John Hughes work:

Learning Comments

From this I have found out about some of the techniques that John Hughes used that I may use in m opening scene for example John used the actors to sometimes address the audience directly to have an effect, I like this technique very much and I will consider using this for my opening scene.

History of Coming of Age Films

This is a timeline that shows the most popular and most successful 'Coming of Age' film productions.

These 'Coming of Age' films where mostly aimed at younger audience this is showed by the casting of the productions as they use younger actors this appeals more to the younger audience. 

Something these films do which appeals more to the target audience (Teenagers), they will make it so that the target audience can relate to what is happening in the film, this makes it more entertaining and more appealing.

Learning Comments

From making this time line of the best and most successful 'Coming of Age' films i have learn't that most 'Coming of Age' films were comedy's. This is because comedy is what appeals most to the target market of the films. 

Also most of these films would involve lots of drama as this also is what appeals to the target market of the film. 

Famous Opening Sequences

Rush (2013)

Django Unchained

Dawn Of the Dead

https://youtu.be/7G2YAtFeVOM

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Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Alien (1979)

Tron Legacy

Hot Fuzz

Superbad

Batman (1989)

Learning Comment

By watching and analysing these opening scenes i have noticed some similarity's and differences.

• Most of the opening scenes all listed the roles in a similar order: Institution, director, main actor, title of film, secondary actors, job roles (producers, editors etc..)
• Almost Every single opening scene i have analysed the institution logo/text would always come first.
• Most of these opening scenes use lots of sound to create an atmosphere, for example Tron when the title was show the music became louder and created an atmosphere. 
• One of the differences i found was that some of the more modern films don't name as much of the people involved as some of the older films. For example Tron (2010) names almost none while Alien (1979) names several.