Sexy Beast has fantastic music in the opening title sequence. It is
slightly comedic and up beat which works well with Ray Winstons voice
over. The shots also introduce us the one main charecter, one smaller
and one pool worker.
We are given ideas to who this main character
is. We get a gangster vibe from him. Cockney, gold chain, deep and
heavy tan, leathery skin. The house is in the middle of no where. Is he
lying low? Hiding maybe?
We see a wide shot of our main
character sunbathing and of a heart design on the pools bottom. This
does not fit our charecters setting, but then the use of cross cutting
shows us a women driving. We therefore assume that the women is coming
to him.
An opening title sequence should set the audience up for the rest of the film. For Example, it should show you the genre, the tone or mood which is usually done through music. It will also aim to entice you into the film, give the audience the production information, maybe show you the main charecter/s. The camera shots will also establish a setting and ideally it will leave the audience with the question of, 'What is going to happen next?'
'The Shining'
The opening title sequence in The Shining feautures music with a heavy bass with a sound that is not disimiliar to wailing which sets a sinister tone. The music is superbly done, as when put together with shots of the beautiful scenery is suddenly turns the scenery into something incredibly creepy- it makes it seem isolated and changes everyones perception.
The very start of the sequence is a still of the Warner Brothers logo, which in this day and age stands out as we are used to a moving, shattering or eye capturing image from the word 'GO'.
The fact that we can see someone driving, and the fact that the camera is following them suggests that it is someone of importance. This draws the question of, 'Who's in the car?'. This proves that you are engaged and that the production team has caught your attention.
Genre- is it a horror or a thriller? This is set up by the music?
There is establishing setting which shows us that we are some mountanous area, somewhere islolated. Canada maybe? Alaska or the rockys?
The reason that I like this opening title sequence is because it is different and the after effects added to it make it something visually interesting. For example the time lapse used on plants becoming frost bitten, the red hue added on top of the landscape shots. The colors especially add a dark, mysterious and pleasant feel to it.
On the 18th September, we had a lesson, of which the sole purpose was to educate us on how to set up, use and put away a Sony NX 5. We began by taking out the tripod and setting it up in order to give us the correct height for us to film with. Secondly, we were instructed on how to place the camera onto the tripod, this enabled us to prevent the weight of the camera from dragging the lens down and smashing it against the tripods front. We were also taught, at the same time how to tighten the camera onto the tripod, how to bubble it and how to open the lens cap. Next, came all of those confusing buttons and knobs that littered the camera. We became familiar with the knobs to turn and the buttons to press for brightness, focus, white balance and zoom. The next useful step was to learn how to tilt the camera up and down to view shots at an awkward angle for the rigid camera and tripod.
These seemingly simple skills were obtained of the course of 60 minutes and they gave us the ability to find a shot and to get the lighting, white balance and focus just right in order to film to a required standard. The shot that we used was of my friends Bertie and Tyler standing in the distance. Bertie was holding a reflector and Tyler...well to be blunt, Tyler was just being weird. The positioning of the two boys was sublime as they were outside the double doors of the green room which gave as a lovely balance of natural light to work with.
Hi, my name is Ollie and this is my AS level Media Studies blog, in which I will update and fill you in on my progress over the following year. I was born in Singapore, where I lived for 5 years before returning to England for the next 5 years. When I was ten years old I moved to Bangkok, Thailand until last September. I was educated at Rugby School from September 2011 until May 2014. I chose Media Studies because in my spare time I enjoy to watch and appreciate good Television and film and I felt drawn to the idea of the subject and of the entire course. My hobbies include Rugby, Hockey, Football and Wakeboarding. The first three sports are all available to me at Hurtwood House. In terms of Television I very much enjoy the Inbetweeners, Misfits, Game of Thrones and Orange is the new black. In terms of film I love Notting Hill, World War Z and the three Lord of the Rings films. As you can see my taste is of a very wide range of media, and I hope that this will help me to present healthy and interesting ideas throughout the course.
Sexy Beast
