Additional Film Research

 

Hey everyone! After my previous post about character development, I’ve decided to begin making a second version of my film opening script. The original plan was to make the new script today, but I wanted to do additional film opening research beforehand. I have some film techniques I want to use, but I thought that looking at a selection of three drama movie openings would help give me some additional ideas!

 

1.    Whiplash (2014)

Whiplash is an award-winning psychological drama that tells the story of an abusive music teacher named Fletcher, and an aspiring drum player who attempts to win Fletcher over named Andrew Neiman. In just three minutes, this opening already sets up the overarching conflict of Neiman attempting to get into Fletcher’s band despite his abuse, and the two named characters. The main things that I want to call attention to in this opening are the lighting and sound design. I already partially discussed the lighting idea in my last post, but the “antagonist” or Fletcher is off to the shadows, while Neiman, the “hero” is bathed in light. This immediately sets up the dynamic between these characters without having much dialogue. I will be using this trope (in particular, hiding a character in darkness) to show that they have a “negative” tone, or in my film’s case, a depressed tone.

 

2.    Twelve Angry Men (1957)

Twelve Angry Men is a rather unique drama film, as nearly all of its runtime takes place in a singular courtroom. The plot is that twelve jurors are summoned to make a unanimous vote regarding the case of one teenage boy, who is accused of stabbing his abusive father. One of the twelve jurors refuses to vote guilty, and he then proceeds to argue his point, and the movie continues from there. The main thing I want to call attention to in this opening is the way setting is developed in the opening. The very first shot is an upward tilt of the courthouse, immediately cementing how important the area is. The film then uses various tracking shots as each juror walks through the room. This tracking shot makes it feel as though the viewer is right in the courtroom with the jurors, adding to the realistic feel of this film. It is because of this opening that I want to use a tracking shot in my film opening to establish the main setting (the main character’s house) as well!                           

 

3.    Children of Men (2006)

Children of Men is a dystopian piece about a modern society that has led to a hopeless world where every human is infertile, and war is frequent. I believe that this is the best film opening of the three I have shown, as this opening covers every single piece of information that is needed for the opening. Judging by the cold colors the civilians are wearing and the dreary sky, the audience knows that this society is unwell. The conflict is set up through the TV broadcast, and the main character is identified as he is seemingly unphased by the death of the youngest child. This opening quality is something that I aspire to reach with my opening, and I’ve already begun looking into costume design as a result of watching this film.

 

The viewing of these openings has given me plenty of ideas for my new script! With this, I can now work on storyboards and further filming plans!