Analysis of 'Devil' opening

In class Miss Foster showed us this film opening of 'Devil'. The opening is based upon a peculiar upside down shot of the city skyline, I found this was really effective as whilst you are watching you are left wondering how this relates to the film, a thought I had was as it is upside down and the film is called 'Devil' this could represent hell. Although I thought the shot was effective I thought it took away the attention from the actual credits, which should have been focused on more, as the audience are too focused on the shot.
I also liked the shot of the elevator which presents danger as the camera shot follows it down, presenting it as intimidating and showing something significant is about to happen. The next shot was of the floor and panned along, this was effective as it presented the more important credits and also was a smooth transition to the man waxing the floor. The ending actually terrified me as it was so out of the blue, a person flying out of mid air onto a truck. This was a really effective film opening as it leaves the audience gripped and wonder what will happen next.

The opening titles of the film really inspired me in thinking about what titles we will use for our films. It also showed how we could make our own titles, from looking at this simple title it allowed me to see how easy it would be to do something similar by simply filming our hands.

Overall, I really liked this film opening and drew inspiration from it for my own film.

Derailed

Out of boredom in the holidays I watched the film Derailed, an american thriller. When the film first started I wondered why it was a thriller, as the first half hour of the film seemed like a Rom-Com with two charcters, Charlie and Lucinda falling for eachother after meeting on a train and planning to have an affair. I was truly shocked when the two characters went to a hotel to have their long awaited affair but were interrupted by a gun man who raped Lucinda. Charlie was beaten up and made to feel guilty, he since was blackmailed by the gun man LaRoche who called Charlie and appeared at his house blackmailing him to be given $20,000 and later in the film $100,000. Charlie is forced to give over the money as Lucinda is repeatedly threatened and Charlies good friend is shot by LaRoche,  the result of this was Charlie having to clear his life savings that were meant to be saved in order to cure his sick daughter suffering from diabetes. After the money is handed over Charlie is finally able to get on with his life, he soon goes to Lucindas work to find her but to his suprise Lucinda is not who she claimed she was with her real name being Jane. Charlie follows her and learns she is with LaRoche and scams men just like Charlie every day.This was a massive twist in the film that really shocked me. The film grew into an action film as well as a thriller when Charlie follows Jane and an unsuspecting man like he once was to the same hotel. He knocks LaRoche out and confronts Jane but LaRoche wakes and there is a shooting match in the hotel room. Everybody ends up dead in the hotel room and Charlie makes a quick escape. The film ends on Charlie teaching a prison English class and to his horror finds a book written by LaRoche about the story of Charlie. Charlie finds LaRoche alive and finally kills him, the burden finally being dealt with.

I thorougly enjoyed this film as it had a massive twist that shocked the audience. The film was effective as the beginning of the film did not leave me thinking something bad was going to happen. I genuinally thought Lucinda was a genuine character and the fact she was in the scam with LaRoche was a big suprise. Charlie who was played by Clive Owen was a likeable character and the audience were rooting for him although he did  alot of wrong doing in the film. Overall, I would definitely reccomend this film to anyone who likes thrillers.

Saw 2 Camera angles

The opening shot is a close up of a flickering light bulb,different lighting experiences have been used. Then swift camera movements are made showing different parts of the room from a low angle. These shots are points of view camera movements. Then a shot of a mirror is shown and the characters face is shown, this is also their point of view as they are looking in the mirror. The camera then zooms out and shows a long shot of the character trapped and then an overhead shot is used, a zoom is then used to show different close up shots and also the shots are then zoomed out. The next shot is manual focus, the shot is of the man but suddenly the shot changes to the tv screen. A close up shot is.used for the tv and regularly changes to a mid shot of the man. Over the shoulder shots are then used to show the mans point of view watching the tv. Shots keep changing between the man and the tv using transition shots , then an echo is used as shots of the mans actions are used in three very fast transitions. Transitions are made and shots are shown of parts of the room, showing the mans point of view, e.g looking at the clock. A long shot is used to show the man struggling to escape and transitions are used and parts of his face are zoomed. A part is fast forwarded to show him running in frustration, then extreme close up shots are shown of his eye.Fast forward is used again as well as pan to show several moving shots.

The Wedding Singer opening

I find The Wedding Singer a very effective film opening as as soon as the film starts you are immediately drawn in. The film is set in the 80s which the audience immediately knows as along with the 80s outfits the 80s classic You Spin Me Round is the music in the background and  this introduces the film as an exciting 80s inspired film. The title credits also represent the era of the film as blue old fashioned style font is used. The film is obviously a comedy as Adam sandler conveys along with other likable characters including a typical funny bunch of people at a wedding including a table full of fat people. The Wedding Singer opening is both funny, exciting and immediately introduces the audience to the era of the 80s within the first three minutes of the film.

Se7en opening credits

The opening credits to Se7en are very effective as the audience immediately sees just what genre of film it is, a crime/thriller. The credits of the film open to spooky music setting the feel of the film, to add to the effect roughly written black and white credits are used to perhaps show nervousness or anticipation. Imagery is also used to show the audience what the film may be about as images flicker on the screen allowing them to be intrigued by the images shown and for them to question what they may mean. Overall, I get the impression that the film is a thriller and from seeing the flickering images Se7en intrigues me into what the film is actually about.