Today, I did some research on our film opening genre, Science Fiction. Why did we pick Sci-Fi? Some of the genre conventions match our vision for our film opening. For example, Sci-Fi tends to focus on making either a political or societal statement, our film's setting is in two futuristic universes, and our film compares a controlled society vs a chaotic society, just to mention a couple.
I took some notes on 3 different slide shows and a wikipedia page about some genre convention and information I need to know about the genre.
I took some notes on 3 different slide shows and a wikipedia page about some genre convention and information I need to know about the genre.
Also, Ive conducted some case study material on two of the examples listed in my notes.
Case Study #1: Inception
Inception is a fun piece. Personally, I love how it always keeps you on the edge of your seat and how its not a movie that you don't think in. Those two aspects of Inception are something that i want to reflect on my group's piece.
The film opening of Inception gets the audience interested. The film opening is primarily alluding to conflict and creating mystery to entice the viewer, which I want to do in our film opening. The protagonist is shown washed up on shore, with a close up of his face, and I can't help to think "what is he doing on shore like that?". The close up is a genre convention of sci-fi films. There is an eye line match that shows children playing in the sand and I think to myself "what are they doing there?". An officer of some sort uses a gun to pull up the protagonist's jacket, sees a gun, and shouts to another person on shore in a foreign language. The scene cuts to a room with low key lighting that adds to the suspense of the scene. The dialogue also adds to the suspense, the antagonist is talking in a foreign language about the protagonist on shore. Two objects are introduced: a gun and a spinner. The gun is a gun very much like the guns in the modern world which goes against the genre conventions on futuristic technologies and timelines. As a viewer, I ask myself "what is the spinner for?". Again the dialogue adds to the suspense. A flashback to another time period, has viewers with confused about what is going on. Again, the scene is set in a low key lit room and what seems to be the same or a similar room to the one in the scene before. The scene yet again shifts with a close up of a watch, maybe indicating that time is prevalent in the film, to a more chaotic scene where bombs are going off and people are running. Then you can see the protagonist looking at the ground, it shifts to a man checking on people which makes a viewer wonder what is going on. Lots of stings are used to add to the suspense of the scene.
I enjoy this film opening. The stings, close ups, and dialogue work perfectly together to keep the viewer interested in the film. This opening generates a lot of questions for the viewer, that will be answered later on in the film. I intend to create mystery in our film opening, just like this opening did.
Case Study #2: Avatar
Why did I choose Avatar as a case study, you may ask. I felt like it is important to compare different types of movies with in the same genre. I feel like choosing something different will optimize my knowledge on the genre.
The opening starts with an interesting establishing shot that make the audience feel like their flying over a jungle. A voice over is used to narrate what is going on. Then, there is an extreme close up of the protagonist's eyes opening; this a genre convention. The protagonist is seen in a crowd of people in a city that is futuristic; alternate time period, another genre convention! The protagonist is in a wheel chair. He is in his apartment watching television while getting ready for bed. The apartment is sort of run down or dirty. The protagonist's legs a spear to be very skinny, I'm supposing CGI was used to make the actor appear like his is disabled. The voice over is narrating what is going on still. The scene switches to a bar, where the protagonist is balancing a shot on his head and everyone is cheering his name. Then the scene cuts to him watching a big screen at the same bar, he looks over and he sees a couple fighting and the man slaps the woman. The protagonist goes over and starts fighting the man. Then the protagonist gets kicked out of the bar and the opening scene ends.
I didn't enjoy this film opening as much as I did Inception. I did like the voice over and I may consider using it for my own film opening, although sometimes it goes off as cheesy.
I did lots of good research that has been helpful.
Until next time,
Isa
Citations
Christimothy12 . "Sci-Fi film." SlideShare. , 05 Dec. 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2017. https://www.slideshare.net/christimothy12/the-sci-fi-genre
Nikky Bain, "Science Fiction Conventions." SlideShare. , 01 Dec. 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2017.
SGurung-MediaStudies . "The Generic Conventions of Sci-fi Films." SlideShare. , 23 Sept. 2015. Web. 18 Mar. 2017. https://www.slideshare.net/SGurung-MediaStudies/the-generic-conventions-of-scifi-films
"Science Fiction Film." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Feb. 2017. Web. 18 Mar. 2017.
"Inception (2010)." IMDb. IMDb.com, Web. 19 Mar. 2017.
"Inception Opening Sequence Analysis AS Media Studies." YouTube. , 21 Oct. 2013. Web. 19 Mar. 2017.
"Avatar (2009)." IMDb. IMDb.com, 18 Mar. 2017.
Avatar Opening Scene." YouTube. 07 Mar. 2017. 18 Mar. 2017.
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