Film Opening Analysis: Wild Child

Wild Child is about a rebellious Malibu girl, Poppy Moore(Emma Roberts), who gets shipped off to strict English Boarding School by her father. A classic teen film for girls of all ages.

Title: Wild Child
Director: Nick Moore
Production Company: Studio Canal, Working Title
Distributor: Universal
Budget: $20,000,000
Box Office: $21,972,336
Date Released: 15 August 2008
Genre: Teen Comedy


First thing the audience sees is the Universal and Working Title idents

Opening scene is an establishing shot of the sea to help set the scene, so maybe near a beach since the main protagonists from Malibu. In addition the establishing shot does highlight the light blue colour in the water and the sky and we normally associated that colour with the beach or sunny places.

Then slowly we get a  fade transition ( this would been done in the editing process) of two shots, the establishing shot of the sea and Poppy's bedroom. This is a gradual transition so the audience can understand the calmness that the scene is portraying and how this calmness could reflect Poppy's personality. This calmness is also highlighted by the sun sounds of a piano, the waves crashing and the birds singing. 

The colours between the two shots both have blue tones within them, making the transitions much more smoother. Also this shows that light blue could be the colour to show the theme of America/Malibu. In addition for this shot we get to see more into Poppy's personality as there is lots of bright colours such as pinks and blues which could suggest she has a sense of style as those were the colours for a teenage girl back in 2008. 

Now the transition has fully finished, we get a medium shot of our main protagonist as she fast asleep. This is the first clear shot of Poppy's room and from the large room, big bed, electric alarm clock and other fancy furniture which denote to the audience that her parents are extremely rich.

This medium shot continues as the shot slowly zooms/pans towards her face, to see her wake up. But it could suggest some big reaction is going to occur by how close the shot is to her face 

As the peaceful music continues, we see Poppy slowly awaken in a peaceful manner to imply how peaceful Malibu/California is. Then a second later we get a reaction of pure shock, like a something bad is about to happen. 

By getting this medium close up of her face, signify to the audience that this 'bad' thing that's happening today is something that Poppy doesn't want to happen or she's regretting this day. This bad thing is also highlighted as she swear "shit" loudly like she's forgotten its the day or again she's doesn't want it happening. When Poppy swears implies she's a very rebellious girl by her choice of language as it contrast her innocent persona which we see first see her asleep. Also it adds a bit of humour to the opening as it goes against this calm and peaceful atmosphere of Malibu and signify the teen comedy genre. 

Furthermore when Poppy swears, instantly the peaceful music cuts off and switches to a rock track which gives off the comedy side while showing Poppy's rebellious side. 

Then we cut to a wide shot of Poppy's bedroom as she partially jumps out of bed, as the title swipes into shot on the 1/3 of the screen. This composition allows to see Poppy running around her bed as she gets her cardigan. This wide shot also allows the audience to get to understand Poppy's personality more by her bedroom. We see a lot more colour decor and furniture and how her window can get sea view. This links to the idea of the first estblashing shot of the sea to highlight that she lying by the coast or beach in Malibu. 

The title text shows more into Poppy as it's a very blingy text, signify that she's rich and the jews also suggest her home in America and how some parts of America can be very rich. Then as she moves around the frame and gets to the text, the text breaks. This could denote how much anger Poppy has in her and could foreshadow her world falling apart or breaking when in England.

 Vlog about the film opening.

Film Opening Analysis: Fast Five

Fast Five is part of the Fast and Furious fanchase and I think this film has one of the best openings of all 7 films. The budget was $125,000,000, it was directed by Justin Lin and produced by One Race Films and Original Film.

Title: Fast Five
Director: Justin Lin
Production Company: Original film and One Race Films
Distributed by: Universal
Budget: $125,000,000
Box Office: $626.1 million
Date Released: 29th April 2011
Genre: Action, Adventure

Firstly we get our recognisable idents from Universal and Original Film.

Then at the start of the opening scene it shows a black screen that fades into a close up shot of Dom (main character) standing in orange prison clothing. The first 5 shots of the opening help the audience remember what happened in the 4th film ending through flashback scenes, as it looks like Dom is looking back at the recent past events as he goes to prison of the bus by having a shot zooming onto Dom

 In the background you can hear the words "you are here by sentenced to serve 20 years to life". This is an voice over of the judge speaking, so the audience get the feel that this first part of the flashback is placed in court and has been convicted of something the happened in the 4th film. The camera then fades to close up shot of what appears to be his friends/family is actually his sister Mia and his best friend/brother Brian (other main characters).This close up shot of the two of them shows their emotions clearly, so the audience can understand their personalities more.

This then fades to a medium long shot of Dom and other prisoners being guided onto a bus that take them to the prison. This shot is kind of ironic has it’s a low shot show it shows that they have power but they have been sentenced to prison so they are now less powerful.

 The last shot is an establishing shot of the bus being driven through the country side/desert. Throughout the whole journey there is a soft music being played to create sympathetic atmosphere. This sets the mood, as heart beats are being played every time the scene cuts implying something is going to happen and builds up the tension to a climax. 

The scene then cuts to an establishing shot to show the bus driving away. The suddenly you can hear the sounds of engines and can see a mid-shot of 3 black cars entering the scene. Before the cars enter the focus was on the bus but when the sound and image of the cars were present the focus quickly snapped to them. 

The scene then cuts to another establishing shot of the side of bus with the cars behind it. The fast paced editing is used to represent the genre which is action as it builds up tension and adrenaline. A close up shot of Dom’s face sitting on the bus with a serious face of him wearing his uniform is shown. His facial expression doesn’t resemble the expectation someone who’s brutal and strong.

Zoomed shot onto Dom's face, suggesting that he's rethinking his recent past events,
plus his facial expression doesn't show a strong man anymore

It then cuts to a long shot of the cars approaching the bus which then cuts sequentially to close ups of Mia and Brian's faces showing them smiling, this suggests they are up to something and creates narrative enigma as to their intentions behind following the prison bus.

 Then you can hear the sound of engines and screeching tires leading to a fast tempo music which creates tension and emphasises the atmosphere on what’s about to happen. This also foreshadows the breakout of Dom through the reckless driving and fast paced music.

 It then cuts to a low angle shot of Mia in her car showing her pull the handbrake which then cuts to another low angle shot on the outside showing her car spin around in a U-turn creating a graphic match, this creates tension and is slowly building up to a climax.

 Then there are constant cuts between the Mia’s car driving towards the bus and the bus itself. This still builds up the tension because the audience are worried as to what is going to happen next and anxious to find out. Then it cuts to a close up of the Brian’s foot inside his car stamping on the brake hard.

 As he does this it cuts to a close up to the front of his car and tire screech sounds can be heard, this then cuts to a medium shot from the Brain’s back window as the bus comes crashing into, it which then cuts to a long shot of the bus crashing and tipping over the car.

 As this happens slow motions is in progress and long shots from different camera angles are shown to emphasis the impact of the crash and the built tension, to reveal the climax. Also there is a couple of aerial shots, which was probably filmed via a helicopter to show the space within the scene and the  impact of the crash as well. 

Then it cuts to a black screen showing the movie title ‘Fast Five’. As the black screen appears you can hear a car engine to once again to emphasise the crash of the bus whilst also highlight the action genre. The title then disappears as if it is a computer malfunction but this helps lead the audience into the film because the next scene is a shot of the audience looking through a blurry CCTV camera. The transition of the title text is done in the editing process as computer malfunction is an technology aspect then physically making and filming. The title text emphasises the action genre and the fast pace of the film by the text angle is on a slight diagonal, which does add a 3D element to the text, adding a boldness to the title.   

Throughout the opening the audience gets a lot of Narrative Enigma such as we never know what Dom is being convicted for (only if they haven’t since the 4th film) who is the 3rd character in the 3rd  black car, if everyone in the bus crash is alive including Dom and if Brian and Mia get away with the crash/crime. 

Here is my video were I talked in more detail about the opening scene. 

The Brief

Your mission is to carry out the following brief:

Preliminary exercise: Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.

Main task: the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes.

All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source.

The coursework is worth 50% of the AS (same at A2) and the marking (detailed later) is divided into 3 sections:

1         RESEARCH AND PLANNING: 20%

2         PRODUCTION: 60%

3          EVALUATION: 20%

Your work is marked partially on my observations of your approach and level of organisation, but fundamentally its a DVD and your blog that are marked.

My favourite film:

Suicide Squad

Suicide Squad is about a group of dangerous supervillains, go under the name of Task Force X created by U.S. intelligence operative Amanda Waller, who fight a meta human, Enchantress in order to save the Midway City.


Budget: $175 million
Box Office: $700 million
Release Date: 5th August 2016
Director: David Aye
Production company: DC entertainment
Distributed by: Warner Bros Pictures
Cinematography: Roman Vasyanov
Edited by: John Gilroy
Stars: Will Smith (Deadshot), Margot Robbie (Harely Quinn/Dr Harleen Quinzel), Jared Leto (Joker), Joel Kinnaman (Rickflag), Viola Davis (Amanda Waller), Cara Delevingne (Dr June Moon/Enchantress), Jai Courtney (Captian Boomerang/George "Digger" Harkness), Jay Hernandez (El Diablo/Chato Santana), Karen Fukuhara (Tatsu Yasmshiro/Katana), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Killer Croc)

Suicide Squad is one of my favourite films because I'm a big fan of the DC Batman franchise and Harley Quinn in general, so I was interested in how Jared Leto's Joker and Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn would be shown on the big screen together. And when I saw the film I loved the chemistry that Jared and Margot had the screen, it electric even. Honestly they were made for the roles. Also the little cameos from Batman and The Flash did make me squeal inside.

Another thing that made so excited for the movie were the trailers that were made leading up to the film. The trailers were edited perfectly so that the soundtrack would fit perfectly to add humour, tension and excitement. For example in the official trailer only released at the start of 2016 and the main soundtrack of the trailer was Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. So there is a part of the song which says "Well will not let you go" and the heavy beat of the song is emphasised by the gun shots from the helicopter and that is some brilliant editing and I applaud DC for making such a captivating trailer.

Probably one of my favourite shots from the film is when Will Smith's character Deadshot is shutting some weird supernatural/alien like creatures, the shot of the disused bullets falling on the floor is shot perfectly as the bullets are in focus and what matters the shot better is that when edited they have slowed down the speed of the dropping bullets so the bullets looking even more crisp and sharper.



via GIPHY

All together I do think the film was directed, shot and edited perfectly to show the film at its finest and really help portray the main plot of the film really well. In addition I do think the cast really help bring the comic characters alive as Jared Leto went really deep in the method acting for his role for the Joker and remain in character throughout shooting the film so it shows that cast were really dedicated to this film.

Overall, I will I stop obsessing over this film? No. Will I ever get another favourite film and replace this one? Umm maybe but no. Will I continue loving this film? 100% YES!

This is al for now, until next time.

Bye for now,
Ellie

Welcome to Popping Productions

Hello and welcome to my IGS media blog where I shall be writing about my process with the AS course with the journey of making a film opening, analysing some films and much more.

My name is Ellie and I do have a interest in media as I do love watching movies (as I do spend quite a lot at the cinema, oops), I do like writing and reading blogs; as I have a blog myself about fashion and lifestyle and media does link quite well with my interest for photography.


So this first is the beginning of my journey and I hope you're excited as I am about my future work.

Bye for now,
Ellie