Film openings: research. Kayleigh Beecroft

Warner Brothers pictures. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVHh_ldUF2U In this example of the warner bros. opening, it appears very mysterious and eerie. This is to match the film that it is producing and to link the producers directly to the film. This is done frequently by the company, to fit the theme of the film. The most recognisable feature of warner bros. I think, would be the fact that it is in a sky set background. I think that this really sets it apart from other production logos. In this particular example, there is a short montage showing harry and other characters which comes briefly before the ‘harry potter’ famous logo is shown.

Warner bros. and Harry Potter. With harry potter, warner brothers have a very close partnership with the films. This is demonstrated within the opening scenes how their logo and the harry potter logo are shown immediately after one another in an attempt to show the close association between the two. Also, the fact that they do not use their usual piano based backing track, they use the harry potter one instead to show their commitment to the films and show that they are willing to make sacrifices for them.

In the opening scene of this movie, there is a montage of clips accompanied with sad, orchestral music. This sets the mise en scene for the rest of the film and also links it back to the previous film as it relates to events that happened in the film before. This is an attempt to build a sort of relationship with the viewer and ‘tug on their heart strings’.

The colour within the opening montage is very minimalistic, using tones of blue, black and grey. This portrays negative connotations long with the fact that the editing is done in a way that makes the images shown look blurry as if the viewer is teary eyed, suggesting that it is a sad time in the film for the characters and the director would have wanted the viewer to feel this emotion also. There is also ‘camera flashes’ edited in too the clips which gives the effect that the viewer is seeing in from the cameras view and only scratching the service of what the rest of the film will entail.

Voices are also edited over the top of the montage saying things such as ‘I killed Sirius Black’ and ‘he's back’. This is, again to link the film to its plot and to also darken the mood and give it a more sinister feel, gripping the viewer from the outset. Also, it shows Dumbledore gripping harry round the shoulder, as if to suggest that he is supporting him through a hard time. This also shows the strong relationship between the two characters which builds the audience up for the events to come later in the film.

Disney Pixar. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgoiKLFBA3Q Here, the Disney logo is very apparent in the first clip of the opening. The clip shows the Disney castle accompanied by the familiar music that gives a magical feel from the outset of the film, encouraging the viewer to believe that toys actually could come to life. The colours are also very calming (blue, purple) giving connotations that the film will be relaxing and enjoyable for the viewer. I think this s important as it is a children's film and establishing the purpose of the film is an important feature.

The next thing I noticed with the Pixar logo is that the ‘I’ in Pixar is a lamp that also appears to be alive, similar to how the toys will be in the rest of the film. Although this is done in many of Pixar's films, I think it is specifically relevant in this film as it directly links the film to its producer. It also gives the film a playful feel as if Pixar don’t take things too seriously, this theme is continued throughout as the Pixar logo fades out into Andy's room where he is playing with his toys. I think because this film is a family film, Disney Pixar have made an attempt to make the parents as involved as possible also by making them feel more childish themselves.

All of these factors add to creating a childish mise en scene for the viewer. This will help people engage with the film better if, for the duration of the film, they believe that in the magical idea that toys do come to life.

The fact that the film fades in to the starting scene, suggests that we are stepping away from reality for the duration of the film, this would have been edited in this way so that it feels as though we are actually in the film with the characters. It fades in to a the scene where Andy is playing loudly with his toys, this takes the viewer back (and is almost anecdotal) to how we as a child used to play with our toys, again making that strong connection with them.

The fact that Andy uses different voices while he is playing with the toys to introduce the characters shows the naivety of the film and again, shows that it is aimed at children and directly links to the children themselves.

20th Century Fox. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_Q7yEfCbvQ This film starts off on a very serious tone. It begins with the usual 20th century fox logo, but it is not shown with the usual music that we would usually associate with this production. Instead, it plays a quite neutral music and skips straight into the beginning of the film.

The fact that the 20th century fox logo is only shown briefly, suggests that they might not have as much involvement in the film, this means there could be more than one company involved.

This immediately sets the film off with a very serious tone This immediately sets the film off with a very serious tone. This is probably to set the scene for the rest of the film, as watching the rest of the film, you will realise that this is appropriate.

They begin to talk about their relationship, as if it was a past experience not a previous, making the plot foggy from the outset. This is all done over a montage of videos and images that all give off a mysterious vibe for the viewer that immediately makes them question what is going on. The montage includes things like houses and trees and usual every day things that would seem usual, but may be un usual or relevant to the film later on. The colours are also very dark which also makes it eerie and mysterious. This adds to the feel of uncertainty that we have towards the film already.

The mise en scene is immediately set by all of these edited features that make the wife of the relationship seem evil from the outset, this is done purposely to make an impression on the reader.