MAIN Post 3a: Further look at opening sequences

As a group we decided to look at a few opening scenes from famous films. we decided that we was going to look at more action/thriller based scenes as that is what we think at this time we want to do. Here is the link to some of the results we got. http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=opening+scene&aq=f&gl=US&hl=uk

This is the first scene we watched: casino royal.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJubOZLpp4A&feature=fvst

We chose to watch this film’s opening scene because it is the same genre as our chosen genre. There are two different opening scenes to this film depending on which way you look at it. The first one is a very heavily animated one with all the titles and directs etc... There is a custom sound trick that is made for the film which plays in the background. The sound track is perfectly in time with the animation, it is not very fast but at a steady pace.
The second opening scene is actual film footage of a Parkour Chase. This scene is very different to the first opening scene. It is a lot faster passed with a lot of different camera angles and shots. The average shot length in this scene is about 2-5 seconds further increasing the pace of the scene. The scene begins with an establishing high angle shot which sets the scene. There is a lot of fighting and breath taking moments which leave you in suspense as the chase continues.

we also looked at forest gump's opening scene. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7voy1vit6Y 

We chose to look at this opening scene because it is completely different to the casino royal opening scene. It does not rely on explosions or rock music, it uses a more gentle and subtle approach. The scene is very slow passed and has a relaxing feel to it that represents what is yet to come in the rest of the film. it is a very simple idea but works very well. as the feather fly’s through the sky, the rest of the shot is made of establishing shots of the different view points of the city which is unusual in opening scenes as there is no introduction to any of the main characters or story line but in a film like this, the element of surprise is way more effective in this case. While all these different shots are playing in the background, the titles are playing over top; varying in which corner they are positioned. They are in a white text which makes them stand out but not to much as to were they become a announce. Overall, this is one of my favorite opening scenes, it may not be a thriller genre film, but there is still a lot that can be learned from this scene, mainly in the use of the titles in which they are perfectly positioned while not distracting from the rest of the film.