G321- Analysing student film

In our media lesson we watched three student film openings and analysed them in order to avoid making errors in our own film openings and to look at different strengths that we could adapt to use in our own openings.

Opening 1


Some strengths that can be identified from this opening are that they have created some interesting ideas for the narrative, which has been illustrated in this opening that are quite differentt to the stereotypical horror. It is clear for the audience to understand what genre the film is. The long panning shot at the beginning sets the scene and shows isolation and loneliness which creates a scary atmosphere. The non-diegetic background music used throughout the opening is eerie and complements the genre of horror.The titles follow the same theme which makes the opening look more organised and professional. The institution logo is very creative and looks very professional.

Some weaknesses identified from the opening are that a character dies at the very beginning and it can be interpreted that the film can't continue further and develop. This can lead it to be considered as a closed narrative. The name of the film is the same as the name of the institution which can be confusing for the audience. The editing of the opening is similar to how a trailer would be edited with quick transitions between scenes.It shows a lot of the narrative and could be more linear and not give away as much of the plot.
Opening 2



Some strengths identified from this opening are that the non diegetic background music fits with the genre of horror as it is eerie and scary. The narrative idea is very creative and it can come across  as a very professional opening. The sepia effect that they have used on a character at the beginning adds a real sense of mystery and spookiness. The camerawork is very good and the camera has been held steady throughout.

Some weaknesses identified from the opening are that nearing the end of the opening a lot of the narrative was given away and the audience could tell that the the female character was going to be killed by the stalking male character.  The editing starts off well but then ends up being similar to a trailer as they have used fast transitions and show people dead. Also, the fonts did not follow the same theme and can make the opening not look as professional as it could.

Opening 3


Some strengths identified from this opening are that the non diegetic background music fitted with the genre of horror. The camerawork was good and it was held steady which helped give the opening a professional finish. The ending of the opening can leave the audience in suspense as to whats going to happen next.

Some weaknesses identified from the opening are that the One bad apple productions institution logo doesn't really fit with the horror genre and made it seem comical taking away the scary atmosphere. The character was smiling even though they were meant to be dead which takes away from the horror genre of the opening. The narrative was rather confusing and as two characters had already died it makes the audience wonder if anything else can actually happen in the narrative. Also, there was a few continuity issues like the windscreen wipers change position and the persons arm moves.

It is good that we have watched these openings as we have gained extra knowledge about film openings that we can apply to our own openings. The openings tended to be more like trailers than openings so, we have learnt what we need to include in order to make our openings more effective. We need to ensure that the opening we create is an open narrative that could become a storyline.