Survey

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/K9LKKQG

Today I sent out a survey so i can gain more understanding of what an audience really appreciates in a movie. So far me and my group have established the genre of our 2 minute opening sequence that we'll be creating as 'RomCom'. In general this genre appeals to most people as comedy and romance are 2 genres appreciated by most people and romantic comedies bring these two audiences together.
I've only included basic questions at the moment to test whether or not my group have decided on the right genre. Through separate research i've also noticed that music has a huge influence over the genre of a movie and romantic comedies definitely have elements of fast pace music to keep up with the humour and happiness, but music such as slow piano music is also used to create the gentle romantic moods throughout. Films such as the one below are the perfect example of romantic comedys with varying music to highlight the parts of the movie with comedy and the parts that are more concentrated on the romance.

Rom Com Movies

Romantic comedy's are the best genre of movie as although it has a serious element with the romance its kept light hearted and entertaining with the element of comedy. Although some end badly they all tend to end well although they usually have lots of ups and downs throughout their plot, but also the music tends to be cheerful and light to fit in with the romantic setting and funny sections. Good examples of romantic comedys are films such as 'Hitch' and '13 going on 30'

2 minute opening sequence ideas

Me, Taylor and Louis have come up with an idea for our 2 minute opening sequence. Slightly similar to the plot of the film 'This Means War' i act as a girl who is seeing two different boys at once (Taylor and Louis), but what I don't know is that they're both friends. They then both accidentally bump into eachother when I arrange to meet them both on them same day. It will then be left on a cliffhanger as they both meet me at the same time by accident. This is just a basic starting idea, alot more research and development is needed yet.

Colours

Colouring has a huge influence over different film types and their genre. Horror films always tend to have a darker colour and the settings are quite often isolated to build tension in certain films. For example in 'The Conjuring' its filmed in a cold, eery winter setting. Most of the film is placed in an old isolated house which is also darkened and faded with age. All the mise-en-scene is also quite classic and dull, with dim-lit rooms and dark-coloured clothing.

Although then in contrast in films such as 'Up' created as a childrens and family film, there is alot of bright colouring. Although it is animated the setting, mood and props are usually quite happy and bright. Even negative parts of the story-line are kept light-hearted and bright with the film of the movie. The colouring of the mise-en-scene and shooting of the movie can have a direct influence over the genre it will be placed in and the mood it creates.

Different Film Opening Types

Narrative Structure

Film openings with an narrative style are designed to guide us through the course of a film. The narrator would usually introduce elements of the film such as the characters or gradually introduce certain situations with in the film. Narrative opening scenes can be effective as they then add more importance to characters when they are eventually seen for the first time in the opening. Narrative structured film openings still have effective credits as this gives the audience something to visualise both in front of them and in their mind as they interpret what the narrator is talking about. For example all the institutions involved will be still listed in the opening minutes, so the importance of the companies behind the film are not taking away just because of the different approach they have taken.

Discrete title sequence

Discrete title sequences  give away very little to do with the story line or the location in which the film is set. The opening clip does the simple elements that most openings have such as credits of the companies behind the film. This type of opening sequence can be effective because it may make the audience more intrigued to what the film as they do not know what is going to happen.

A stylised edited opening

This type opening incorporates a lot of editing and transitions used to help give the audience an insight in to the film but without giving away the whole plot of the film. This type of opening may give out a number of clues that relate to the ending of the plot but this will be unclear to the audience as they have not watch the film yet. These type of openings can be found in a lot of action films as they have a lot of energetic scenes.

Titles over a blank screen

This type of opening sequence can be very limited as it does not give the audience any anticipation show they can not make any judgment on what they are going to watch. This opening consist of having a plain background and incorporates credits listing everyone involved in producing the film , which overall makes it bland and boring for the viewer. No other camera shots or images are shown which add to the limitations of this type of opening sequence.

2 minute opening scene to 'Stepbrothers'

The beginning of the film starts with a black screen and written in white writing is the quote 'Family is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream' this funny quote said by mistake already hints towards the idea that 'Stepbrothers' is a comedy and it is mocking the idea of family values. The quote always hints towards the film being about family and possibly how family life is not as perfect as it seems and this is reinforced by the misspelt quote. All the titles are written in varying sizes just like a child's writing also implying it could be about children and obviously stepbrothers from the title. The scene then opens up at around 19 seconds on Hollywood actor Will Ferrel as he puts cheese on nachos. He is dressed in pyjamas like a child which is comical in itself although his face is not at first revealed showing how the producers want the audience to be in shock when they realise he is infact a grown man and not a child. He is also placing cheese on a nachos, but being dressed in pyjamas it is obviously breakfast and this is also unusual and possible humorous to some audiences as its not something you would eat for breakfast, but it also highlights how is unhealthy and possibly quite lazy. It then moves on to another man taking underwear from a laundry basket and sniffing it reinforcing the humorous laziness that these two main characters obviously possess.
Will Ferrell then appears again carrying lots of food showing his childish greediness and unawareness of health and he is watching television as a woman walks past she says good bye to Will Ferrell as she leaves for work and he says good bye to his mother while he watches television he then makes a sexual implication as he puts his hands down his trousers as she leaves. This shows possibly boredom and his laziness implies he doesn't have anywhere to go for the day and that he possibly doesn't have a job. The well dressed woman who appears to be Will Ferrell's mother is obviously of quite a high profession which is very juxtaposing to Will Ferrell and it is evidence that she obviously supports the family. It then goes on to the other man who is playing guitar hero which is well recognized game normally played by young people or children in their spare time, and his father, also well dressed comes to speak to him. He tells his son how he has left him money to order pizza and John Reilly argues back childishly and selfishly asking for more money for 'wings' this is entertaining to the audience as he becomes angered by childish matters which is unusual, it also implies that he, like Will Ferrrell, is unemployed in the film making the idea of his childishness seem even more realistic.
The opening sequence then moves on to The father making a presentation in a very rich and sophisticated looking hall where he is distracted by Will Ferrell's mother as he says 'put your face between those breasts' mid-way through his presentation which also connects to the idea of how real life and foreshadows the unprofessionalism of the characters throughout the movie. It is also engaging and entertaining for the audience. It then quickly switches to a sexual scene where the mother and father are meeting for the first time and getting intimate in a hotel room where they suddenly both admit to having a 40 and 39 year old son still living at home. This brings the whole opening scene to together as the audience is shocked by the sudden realization of how old the two sons really are. This attracts the  audience to watch the rest of the film as they want to find out why these two middle aged men are still living at home like children. The music is quite young and cheerful although the mise-en-scene is quite profesional all apart from the two sons who appear very childish in their pyjamas and in the way they act with the food they eat and playing games which makes them even more obvious as the two main characters.

2 minute opening sequence to 'Wall-e'

Wall-e is a disney film aimed at an audience of all ages although mostly at younger children. It begins with a happy song as it follows different areas of space that people can recognise as they see planets. and written in a sci-fi font is the film name and a couple of other titles implying that the film is of a sci-fi genre. Although the music quickly changes at the camerazooms in on and earth and the audience can recognise New York covered in rubbish and completely deserted. This is used to engage the viewer as they suddenly wonder whats really going on and when you realise that the old song is being payed from a robot you realise that this film is possibly based in the future and that earth was abandoned many years ago as the song played is old-fashioned. The camera zooms in on the robot and its name 'wall-e' can be seen written upon it allowing the audience to realise that this robot is the main character. To enage the audience an element of comedy is added as Wall-e attempts to chase a cockroach clumsily and this encourages younger viewers to keep watching.

2 minute opening scene to 'The Notebook'

The opening scene to 'The Notebook' is set in a warm and calm sunset setting. A man can be seen slowly rowing around a slow flowing river and calmness and the warm glow of red allows the audience to feel relaxed as they watch the fading white titles. The whole setting, mise-en-scene and music implies that the film is romantic as well as the red glow linking to passion forecasting the story of the film. Then a woman staring out of her window at the rower comes into view and you can see that she is reminising something possibly related to the rower. A group of birds is also seen to fly towards the oman and then past her symbolising her passing memories and also how she is an important character as they fly towards her and she is the first character to come into full view in the opening scene.

2 minute opening scene of 'Insidious'

Insidious was a horror film made in 2010. Its opening sequence is slow, dark and intense. It contains a building music that increases in pitch as an evil looking character is zoomed in on by the camera signifying its importance. The titles are in red font and fade into the darkened backgrounds and the film name towards the end of the 2 minute opening sequence suddenly appears in large bold writing with sudden high pitched music to provoke a surprise and frightened reaction from the audience. Also calm fading titles make the film name appear all the more shocking as it suddenly appears on screen with a glowing red and orange background, linking to hell and further emphasising how Insidious is a horror film.The opening sequence shows a scared child in bed and the house that the film is based in implying that the film is based on dreams and possibly nightmares that a child in the film suffers from.