Trip to the BFI
On the 11th November 2016 we were fortunate enough to go and visit the, BFI south bank, in London. On our trip we attended the BFI's 'Making Film Openings' AS Media Study day. Where we studied the macro and micro conventions of film openings before having a Q&A with Dexter Fletcher (director of Wild Bill, Sunshine on Leith and Eddie the Eagle).
Macro-Conventions in Film Openings
In order to look at the macro conventions of film openings we watched the opening scenes of three films; Napoleon Dynamite (2004), The Wedding Singer (1998) and Casino Royale (2006). Looking at these openings as a group it became clear that film openings tend to prioritize elements like themes and atmosphere over narrative. We made a table ranking the films in percentages for the categories; genre convention, narrative, character, themes and atmosphere; across the three openings I rated the importance of Genre at an average of 23.3%, narrative at 3.3%, character at 18.3%, themes at 30% and atmosphere at 26.6%.
The Napoleon Dynamic opening had a heavy emphasis on the genre and themes of the film, revealing very little about the films narrative. The opening sequence of Napoleon Dynamite featured a lot of colour which, accompanied by upbeat music, set a happy tone for the film. The sequences mise-en-scene was also indicative of the themes and character of the film, documenting high school ID cards, a series of plates of easily made family food and drawings of cartoon heroines, suggesting the films location, in suburban america, and it's protagonist, an nerdy teenage boy who is deemed to be a 'loser'.
The opening title sequence of The Wedding Singer immediately established that it was a romcom. The sequence opens at a wedding where cheesy diegetic music can be heard playing in the background. You are also introduced to a lot of different characters who provide comedy for the scene with their drunken behavior. This opening sequence does nothing to establish the narrative of the film other than revealing its genre and wedding singer protagonist but it does create a clear upbeat tone for the film.
Casino Royale's opening title sequence again established the films themes, through use of semiotics with guns, cards and blood being seen throughout the sequence. This establishes a sense of danger within the film and alludes to the films themes of death and gambling. The mise-en-scene also makes it obvious to the audience that this is an action film with the use of colours such as red and black adding to tension to the sequence. The opening sequence of Casino Royale works to establish a sense of character, it shows a man in a tuxedo shooting and fighting other people. Subverting the audiences normal views on murderers and having it appear like a respectable profession for the protagonist.
During the afternoon at the BFI there was a Q&A with Dexter Fletcher, the director of Wild Bill, Sunshine on Leith and Eddie the Eagle. During the Q&A we watched the opening sequences of all three of his films and then he talked to us a bit about each one. Fletcher told us how when he makes films he doesn't prioritise titles over narrative as we had seen earlier on in the day, but rather seeks to clearly establish the characters and story to the audience. His first film Wild Bill was made like a western set in south east London and this was clear from the start, preparing the audience for the conflict of the film. His second film, Sunshine on Leith, was a musical set in Scotland about army veterans returning from war. Fletcher opened this film with the characters singing in an army tank clearly notifying the audience to the films musical nature and establishing a backstory for when the characters return home. Fletcher's final film, Eddie the Eagle, opens with a sequence of a young boy with polio growing up determined to become an Olympic champion, this opening sequence was particularly concerned with establishing Eddie's character showcasing to the audience his unwavering determination. Fletcher said that with each of these sequences just as he did the rest of the film, going back later on to find negative space within his shots in which to place his opening credits.
The opening title sequence of The Wedding Singer immediately established that it was a romcom. The sequence opens at a wedding where cheesy diegetic music can be heard playing in the background. You are also introduced to a lot of different characters who provide comedy for the scene with their drunken behavior. This opening sequence does nothing to establish the narrative of the film other than revealing its genre and wedding singer protagonist but it does create a clear upbeat tone for the film.
Casino Royale's opening title sequence again established the films themes, through use of semiotics with guns, cards and blood being seen throughout the sequence. This establishes a sense of danger within the film and alludes to the films themes of death and gambling. The mise-en-scene also makes it obvious to the audience that this is an action film with the use of colours such as red and black adding to tension to the sequence. The opening sequence of Casino Royale works to establish a sense of character, it shows a man in a tuxedo shooting and fighting other people. Subverting the audiences normal views on murderers and having it appear like a respectable profession for the protagonist.Micro-Conventions in Film Openings
To look into the micro-conventions for film openings we looked at the opening title sequences of four more films; Seven (1995), Raging Bull (1980), Oceans Eleven (1960) and My Best Friends Wedding (1997). Continuity was a key feature of all of these with each observing a strict colour scheme and most using predominantly the same font. In Raging bull continuity is so important that the entire sequence is of the same shot and My Best Friend's Wedding and oceans Eleven maintain the same colour background throughout. Whilst some opening sequences like that of Oceans Eleven solely host the titles others, like seven, create negative space within their shots and put the titles there. Negative space allows for more of the films narrative and character to be revealed however, with micro-conventions, like macro, these are noth the sequences most important features..
Dexter Fletcher
During the afternoon at the BFI there was a Q&A with Dexter Fletcher, the director of Wild Bill, Sunshine on Leith and Eddie the Eagle. During the Q&A we watched the opening sequences of all three of his films and then he talked to us a bit about each one. Fletcher told us how when he makes films he doesn't prioritise titles over narrative as we had seen earlier on in the day, but rather seeks to clearly establish the characters and story to the audience. His first film Wild Bill was made like a western set in south east London and this was clear from the start, preparing the audience for the conflict of the film. His second film, Sunshine on Leith, was a musical set in Scotland about army veterans returning from war. Fletcher opened this film with the characters singing in an army tank clearly notifying the audience to the films musical nature and establishing a backstory for when the characters return home. Fletcher's final film, Eddie the Eagle, opens with a sequence of a young boy with polio growing up determined to become an Olympic champion, this opening sequence was particularly concerned with establishing Eddie's character showcasing to the audience his unwavering determination. Fletcher said that with each of these sequences just as he did the rest of the film, going back later on to find negative space within his shots in which to place his opening credits.
No comments:
Post a Comment