Analyzing and comparing three opening sequences.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is one of my all time favorite films, the opening sequence is bold and comical, enticing the viewer to watch more.

       Johnny Depp plays Hunter S. Thompson, a journalist who's work and lifestyle are tainted by  hallucinogens and intoxicants.  Such a character makes for interesting viewing. 

   The film starts with a quote by Dr. Johnson on a totally black screen, "He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man." This is a powerful quote and instantly seizes the audience's attention. Then comes Thompson and his trusted attorney Dr. Gonzo racing across the Nevada desert in an exquisite 1960's esq convertible. The bright red color of the car is attractive and interesting, against the bright, clear blue sky, the scene is picturesque. Dust plumes off the back of the car, exaggerating the speed of the vehicle. Prior to the car coming into shot, Johnny Depp's voice comes in, he says "We were somewhere near Barstow when the drugs began to take hold." It is at that point when the car comes screaming past the camera which is positioned on the ground facing up towards the car. The camera pans as the car drives past and roars into the distance.

The director then employs a long mid shot to capture both characters. The camera faces through the dust-covered windscreen and shakes violently to exaggerate the panic and danger of the situation, but in a "they're both very high and are most likely going to have a comical traffic accident" kind of way. The camera pans to a view of both men from the driver's side of the car, again the camera is shaky and involves the audience in the scene, also the camera is canted, making the moment irregular and strange. Thompson starts to hallucinate and is being traumatized by imaginary bats, the camera snaps to an extreme close up of his eyes to exaggerate the fear and to hep the audience understand his emotions.

        Dr. Gonzo finally turns his random grunts into words in question to his colleagues strange behavior, the an upward shot is used to make him look odd and not normal.

   When Thompson exits the vehicle to check on his drugs, we watch from two different angles:  point of view of Thompson and upward from the box's perspective, as if we were with him.          Throughout the clip the camera moves around the car and the two characters in a hectic fashion, constantly reminding the viewer of the mental state of the two men.

Donnie Darko

                                                                             

                
Donnie Darko is also one of my favorite films, Jake Gyllenhaal stars at sixteen years old....he is my favorite actor.

    The scene starts with a shaky zoom in on Donnie, who is lying down on the road. The camera is shaky to make it seem as if we are walking towards him, we feel part of the moment. The setting is beautiful and peaceful, gentle piano music begins to play as we get closer to Donnie, the camera pans around him until we see his confused face, again the camera is unsteady and it is as if we were walking around the side of him to check if he's alright. There is then a point of view shot from Donnie's perspective, the camera pans, giving us a view of the intense scenery. Donnie stands up and turns around in the still mid shot.

Donnie smiles as he is amused by the fact that he's sleep walked so far from home, and to such a beautiful place. He walks out of the shot and the title appears above the mountains.

The screen goes white, and then quickly fades into a shot of Donnie riding his bike, we face him front on, the camera tracks backwards so that Donnie stays in the shot the whole time, despite moving quickly.
"The killing moon-Echo and the Bunnymen" plays in the background as Donnie rides his bike home from the unknown place. As the music changes key the camera moves around to a different                                                      angle:

The scene gets lighter as Donnie gets closer to his destination, gradually taking him out of his state of confusion and unknowing (darkness) and bringing him into a place where he's comfortable.

 After Donnie makes it home on his bike, there is a shot of each of the family members. Donnie rides past his father, the camera pans and focuses on him, Donnie's sister walks into the shot and the two characters interact, showcasing the relationship between the two.

There is then a craning shot of Donnie's younger sister, she is jumping on a trampoline, again we the audience get another view of the family dynamic.

The mother is on a deckchair reading a book, but she looks up and watches Donnie enter the house, we can see that she is concerned about the fact that Donnie has been missing over night.

To end the scene Donnie enters his kitchen and opens his refrigerator, on the fridge is a sign saying "Where is Donnie?" this is important as it is a trend throughout the film due to Donnie's weird tendency to sleepwalk without his parents knowing where he is, this plays a crucial part in the story.

Pain and Gain

Pain and gain is a good film, it has a variety of well-known actors and is well directed. There is an abundance of camera angles and movements to write about and analyze which is why I chose it as one of my three choices.

To start there is an extreme long shot of the main character, Daniel lugo, doing sit ups on a wall rail, this tells us his immediate surroundings and who else is with him. The camera zooms in on him slowly as the music starts to fade in.

We then get a close up of his face, the camera tilts with him as he does his sit ups, this is an interesting shot and makes us feel as if we’re exercising with him. There is a point of view shot from Lugo’s perspective, the camera tilts and pans as his head would to face the hoard of police cars and military vehicles approaching him. We are afraid with him. The camera zooms out to a long shot as Lugo jumps down from the bars, so we can see how desperate he is to get away.

 

We are then dragged bag into the action by the use of a very shaky point of view shot, this makes us feel as if we are him running away. It is especially effective when he runs through laundry hanging up on a wire. When the camera changes view to an upshot of Lugo running the camera shakes violently, again dramatizing the scene. This becomes a trend as we follow Lugo from an upshot ange just behind him, making the small man seem intimidating and notorious as he is running from such a large fleet of police cars. There are interludes of shots of the army pursuing him, dramatically darting between police officer, making the mood more intense and dangerous.

One particular thing I like about this opening sequence is the slow motion in time to music. There are shots of police officers jumping out of a van in slow motion and also a shot of Lugo screaming and running in slow motion, capturing the emotions of fear and anger on two different sides, making the scene more intense, also there is an awesome shot of Lugo being hit by a police car in slow motion but the shot speeds up when he hits the windscreen.

The opening sequence is a flash-forward to the end, we know that Daniel Lugo gets arrested and we know that the crime he has committed was serious due to the extensive force of the law after him, however we don’t know what he’s done so we want to watch the film to find out. An excellent opening sequence in my opinion.

Fear and loathing in Las Vegas' opening sequence is more successful than Donnie Darko's opening as it is more exciting and invites you to watch the rest of the film e.g the bright red convertible zooming erratically across the desert and the two drunken men behind the wheel is different and dangerous, the bright red colour of the car against the bright blue sky is also visually nice to look at. However Pain and Gain's opening sequence is in my opinion more successful than Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' opening sequence as the camera angles make the scene more interesting, also the choice of movement and nature of the scene is more exciting and unique, like i said, we want to find out why this man is running from the police..and why there are so many police after him..did he kill someone? Steal something? We don't know, and we're not going to stop watching until we find out. Although Donnie Darko's opening scene isnt as successful as the other two's, it is still successful. Like Pain and Gain we are intrigued as to why this boy has ended up way out in the wilderness by himself asleep on the road...and why he's so casual about it and simply bikes home, where again his family act casually about the situation. This is odd and we want to watch on.

           

Using a semi-professional Sony NX-5.

A tripod

"The bubble"

Today I was introduced to the different functions of the Sony NXCAM video recorder, At first I set up a tripod with extendible legs, once the tripod was positioned to the desired height, I had to "bubble" the tripod, this effectively straightens the camera on attached to the tripod and prevents the camera from creating a wonky picture. Once bubbled, i proceeded to attach the camera to the tripod by sliding "the shoe" into the top of the tripod. I had to press down on a button on the side in order to allow the camera to fit onto the top, on the other side of the tripod head i twisted a handle to again allow the camera to fit into place. Once in place, I released the button, tightened the handle and made sure the camera was secure before moving on.

Various wheel functions: (left to right) Focus, zoom, exposure.

                                                                                              Next I got used to the different functions of the camera, I fully zoomed into my colleagues face and manually adjusted the focus until the image was clear, then I adjusted the exposure slightly to perfect the image. There are various other zoom functions in the camera in the form of switches, but i didn't experiment as much with these. I looked through the eyepiece and used the small screen to see what I was aiming at, both methods were equally effective.


After getting the hang of the controls, I focused the camera on a totally white background, adjusted the exposure, then pressed the small white balance button near the bottom of the camera. This adjusts various colours and lighting in an environment and generally makes the image look better...depending on your opinion..

I would say that I now have a greater understanding and knowledge of video recorders and how they should be used in the most effective way.

Favourite film

DJANGO UNCHAINED



Django Unchained will go down in history as an all-time great. Here’s why:

Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained has the classic Tarantino style of beautiful cinematography, extravagant gore, exquisite soundtrack and an outstanding storyline. Due to the fact that Django Unchained was created recently (2012), the special effects and camera quality make the film hard to compete with in that respect. However it’s not just the fact that the technology used is advanced, the varying scenes  of vast western countryside accompanied by the soundtrack which is packed with a selection of western classics and modern interpretations makes the film a piece of art.

Writer/Director: Quentin Tarantino

          Jamie Foxx stars as Django, the notorious freed slave who acts as a grim reaper alongside Dr Scholtz (Christopher Waltz), picking off criminal after criminal to claim bounties. There are many moments in the film that not only am I immersed in the beauty of the scenery and cinematography but am also left in stitches from the witty banter between characters and the smooth one liners delivered exquisitely in various shoot out scenes. A flawless script. Tarantiono is a genius. A notable Tarantino film would be True Romance, Tarantino wrote the film, however he did not have enough money or notoriety to create it with the actors he wished, so he sold the film to Tony Scott who directed it, Tarantino becomes recognisable after this and starts making films like Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and Natural Born killers.

  

      From the very beginning of the film where there are various clips of a chain-gang marching across a barren desert in the sweltering heat to hobbling through the freezing cold woods to the song “Django” to the closing scene of the rich and infamous Mr Candie the slave master’s mansion being blown to shreds whilst Jamie Foxx marches confidently away from the explosion, we the audience are captivated. I myself have watch the 2 hours and 48 minute feature 5 or 6 times in the past year and still have not gotten bored of it. That’s what it takes to make a great, to be able to relentlessly watch a film in total awe over and over again.

     My favourite scene would have to be when Django hears news of slaves being beaten unjustly on a plantation by an old slave master who used to oppress him. At this point Django is dress in a bright blue velvet outfit, with a white frilly bow. He marches powerfully through the plantation, brushing aside willow branches with a severe look of rage on his face, creating a wonderful contrast between his comical outfit and his enraged mood. All the while La Corsa is building in the background as Django get closer and closer to the slave master, and as the song hits a beautiful rise, the camera pans out on Django, who stands in a power pose, facing the oppressor who wields a large whip.
(La Corsa - Django Unchained )
The look of shock and fear on the slave master’s face is incredibly satisfying as Django points his revolver at him. (previously Django had a flashback of when he was under the slave masters power some years back, Django was begging for his life, to which the slave master replies “I like the way you beg, boy”) Django pauses, then utters the words “I like the way you die, boy” in a hushed tone….This is both marvellously cheesy but absolutely empowering. A spectacular film through and through that I’ll remember for a very long time.

Tension inside thriller

The thriller I'm analyzing is called "Submerged" and specifically I'm analyzing tension in the opening sequence. The clip is below.
           

Submerged

At the very start of the clip (0-10 seconds) the scene is very dark, as an audience we are automatically intrigued, as we are curious to see what it is in the dark. The scene is potentially frightening as we do not know what is coming. An eerie blue light comes into shot and drifts slowly across the screen, the object behind the light is blurred and unclear, this creates tension as the viewer is eager to see what the object is and intently watches to find out. Also the music used to accompany the mysterious object is “creepy” and unnatural creating tension by adding a further sense of irregularity. The music is slow, pulsating, high pitched and alien. It creates a hostile and unsafe mood.

    


Inside the submarine it is a small space. The camera is therefore close to the crew members and we the audience are made to feel in the moment. The small size of the submarine cabin is also effective as it alerts us as to how closed off they are from the rest of the world, and if something were to go wrong they would be in danger, this adds tension to the scene. The camera cuts back to the drifting submarine, once again showing the eerie blue light with the intense audio, another reminder of their isolation. Back in the cabin one of the crew members spots an object on one of the monitors. It is unclear what the object is so we concentrate hard on the screen, inquisitive as to what’s been spotted, creating tension. The crew spot a sunken ship, this creates tension as it is foreshadowing of worse to come. We are focusing on the ship when an unknown presence bashes against the camera, the fact that we don’t know what it is again creates tension as we are intrigued as to what it might be.

One of the crew says “the electronics are down, nobody is going to hear us, everything is dead”” this creates panic and excitement as we know how far from help they are, and how dangerous their situation is, this creates more tension. The words “everything is dead is crucial as it could be more foreshadowing that the crew members are going to die..

The scene cuts to darkness and a high pitched groaning noise resonates, again the noise is alien and hostile which creates a sense of fear and unknown.