Reverse Storyboards

Wayne's World reverse storyboard done by me
 Juno reverse storyboard done by Freya Vincent
Ferris Buellers Day Off By Ella Henley
Sixteen Candles By Megan Bennett

Learning Comment
From this task I have learnt that opening sequences have specific codes and conventions that they use but this depends on the movie genre. I have also learnt that different directors use different codes and conventions this makes their opening sequence unique. The dialogue used in the opening scene was effective this is because after the first few minutes of the film the audience may know what the narrative about and genre of the film. This will help them to decide whether they will find the film interesting and will want to watch it. The mise en scene used in these opening sequences are subtle but are useful and effective. The mise en scene is effective because it help the audience identify the type of films it will be and the narrative of the film.

Director Case Study: Jason Reitman

                                                                                                                

Jason Reitman

Jason Reitman is a 37 year old film director; he was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1977. Before he became a film director it was Reitman as studying for a pre – med degree at the University of New York He is the son of famous director and producer Ivan Reitman. Ivan is famous for producing the Ghostbusters movie and directing Ghostbusters 2. Reitman earned Academy Award nominations for Juno (starring Ellen Page), and Up in the Air, (starring George Clooney). Jason has been around film sets due to his father being a director. Due to the fact he has grown up on a film seethe was surrounded by famous comedy actors such as Bill Murray, Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd. Occasionally, Jason has even worked as an extra on his father’s film.  When he was younger he spent time in the editing room of his father films sets and learned the directing process.

He started out making short films whilst he was at the University of Southern California. Instead of taking offers for commercial feature films he started making his own short films and commercials instead. Reitman was asked to direct the film ‘Dude, Where’s May Car?’ twice, he declined both times. His first feature film was called ‘Thank You for Smoking’ and it was made in 2006. Thank You for Smoking was originally a book written by Christopher Buckley, and then it was made into a screenplay then into a film by Jason Reitman. The film was a huge success a made $39 million worldwide.  The film was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards.  During an interview Reitman said due to the success of TYFS, he would be making another adaption of a book. This book was called ‘’White Collar Satire”.

After working on “Thank You for Smoking”, Reitman worked on the film Juno. After Juno premiered at the 2007 Toronto Film Festival it created a lot of buzz in the media Juno was then released in December 2007. Juno is one of the most talked about coming of age films on the web. Reitman received Oscar nominations for Juno. The awards were for best picture, Diablo Cody’s screenplay, Ellen page’s performance as the main protagonist and Reitman was nominated for best director.

From looking at the opening scenes to a few of Reitmans films it is clear that the narratives are similar. This is because most of them start off with the main character being in trouble or getting into trouble. The story is about the character trying to get out trouble. This doesn’t always work which gives the film an unpredictable ending. This makes his films seem interesting because it makes you wonder how the problem will be solved and if it does ever get solved. The music used in the opening scenes are often upbeat. The music used in Juno is a song ‘’All I Want Is You’’ by Barry Polisar. The song fits well with the camera angles and shots used. Reitman almost never adds extra sounds in his opening scenes but occasionally he will add a few diegetic sounds if they are needed.

Reitman has a certain style when it comes to opening scenes, the camera almost always pans across the screen during the opening titles. The pan is slow which allows you to see the typography on screen and the picture or scene. The panning usually follows the protagonist’s movement for example in Juno the pan follows her walking down the street. In the opening scenes of Juno Reitman uses close ups, he used this camera angle as it shows the facial expressions on the characters face. We know this is a coming of age film due to the fact the close up and long shot camera angles show a teenage girl. Through the use of mise en scene Reitman tells us a bit about the narrative of the film, it shows us the film is a happy film this is because we see the protagonist smiling during the opening scenes.  

Learning Comment:

From this piece of research I have learnt a lot of information about Jason Reitman and the different techniques he uses in his opening scenes. I have learnt that using a pan or tracking shot is effective as it makes the opening smooth and flow from one scene to the next.  I have learnt although the problem is solved it doesn’t always get solved in the predictable way which makes the narrative interesting. When I make my opening scene the narrative will be unpredictable but the problem will still be solved by the end of the film. I will use this idea because it original and not many directors use it. I will make sure that the film links with the coming of age theme

History of Coming of Age Films Timeline

Learning Comment

In this task I have learnt that coming of age films use opening sequences to engage the target audience or demographic audience for the film. Most coming of age films have a target audience of teenagers aged 13-18. This is because the films are about teenagers and they may feel they can relate to the film. Another reason the target audience is teenagers is because the phrase coming of age means your transformation from your teenage years to adult life. This means that the demographic audience is E because it's for students and teenagers. In the opening scenes i looked at it was clear to tell they are coming of age films. This is due to the fact that the protagonist is a teenager. As my opening scene is for a coming of age film i will use a teenager to play the main character. When i make an opening scene for my film the main protagonist will star a lot, this is so that you know he / she is the main protagonist. I will give subtle hints to the narrative and genre by the colours, typography and sound I will use. 

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Rock 'n' Roll High School Opening Scene

Rock n roll high school Opening Scene

Institution - A new world picture 

first person you see isn't the main character but appears throughout the film for a few minutes at a time

SOUND

Diegetic and non diegetic are used

Starts off with non diegetic sound - music that is not in the scene

Then the diegetic sound comes in - people talking, school bell general background noise

More diegetic sound is added as the main character is shown as she puts a vinyl on the turntable and it plays ''Sheena Is A Punk Rocker by The Ramones''

TEXT

Red text connotes love and danger 

All of the text in the opening scene is big, bold and red

makes it easy to read 

The opening scene tells us:

The actors names

Who's co-starring in it

Who the director of photography is  

Editors

Executive producer 

Screenplay by 

Story by

Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery Opening Scene

Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery

The target audience for Austin Powers is teens and adults 

institution - New Line Cinema 

SOUND

Non diegetic sound  -soul boss nova has been added in 
Diegetic sound  -people screaming about Austin powers, suggests he is famous in the film 

people talking

TEXT

The text is in different colours e.g pink, red, green the title is bold and is multicoloured

the text used is bubble writing which is old fashioned, 70's style which suggests the film is set in the 70's

the title has four flowers on each corner the text being in different colours shows the film will be a fun film as these are fun colours 

costume designer

casting by 

music by 

editor

The text, colours, title and music all link well together as they have a 70's vibe.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Opening Scene

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom 
The target audience for this film will be people who like action movies
 Institution Lucasfilm
all the writing is in orange text - connotes hapiness and the title is big and covers most of the screen

SOUND 
The sound is diegetic as it's a group of people singing ''anything goes from the musical ''Anything Goes'' the sound gives us the impression  that the movie may be a musical as there is lots of singing

TEXT
associate producer 
costume designer
proudction designer
photography director
editor music by
executive producers
screen play by..
story by..
produced by
directed by steven speilberg

Guardians Of The Galaxy Opening Scenes

Guardians of the galaxy

Marvel studios

Director names

Casting

Music supervisor

Music

Visual effects supervisor

Visual effects producer

Costume designer

Edited by

Production design

Director of photography

Co-producers

Executive producers

Produced by

Written by

A James Gunn film

Actors names and who they are playing

The opening sound is diegetic – as you hear him walking around and the noise from the scene.

Then music starts to play so the sound becomes non diegetic.

The first character you see is the protagonists.

The target audience is for teens who like sci-fi movies.

The colours link well with the sci-fi theme (dark red, gold and black)

The title is big and bold covers the whole screen, the gold title connotes success and is linked to masculine energy. This is good because the protagonist in the film is a male character.

The character angles used are long shots, close ups and tracking / panning shots.

The long shots show the scenery and the area surrounding the protagonists.

The close up shot is used to show the emotion and the facial expressions on the characters.

The tracking and panning shots are where the camera follows the character to show them running, moving or dancing. In this case it shows the main protagonist dancing around in space.  

(the youtube clip wouldn't let me embed the clip but it can be found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNlnQwHWSYw)

Forrest Gump Opening Scene

Forrest Gump

Institution – paramount

Adaption of a book story may be different

Lots of different camera angles are used for effect.

E.g a tracking shot is used to show location.

The target audience for this film is families with young children.

The protagonist isn’t shown till the end of the scene.

Text

Director name(s)

Actor name(s)

Text location – centre of the screen

Typography the text is all the same size

Sound

Non diegetic piano is playing

Creating a happy and relaxing atmosphere

The piano shows the narrative of the film will be happy and light hearted.

The scene and sound link well together as the music is soft and gentile and the scene is a feather floating in the sky. 

Hairspray Opening Scene

Hairspray (1988)

Institution – new line cinema

 The target audience for this film is anyone but mainly teenage girls or women.

A newer version of this film has been made.

TEXT

Robert Shave production

John Waters film

Choreographer

Casting director

Art director

Costume and make up design

Hair design

Line producer

Edited by

Director of photography

Co-Producers

Executive producers

Producer

Written and directed by

Featuring..

Special Appearances from..

Actors names and title in bold pink writing

Pink connotes it is a girly film

As the colour pink is associated with girls

The colour pink connotes love which means the film plot may also be about love.

SOUND

Non diegetic – the sound is music that isn’t in the shot

The non diegetic sound tells us about the narrative

The music in the background features the name of the film ‘’hairspray’’

The sound fits well with the theme of the film which is a musical.

The sound also fits well with the picture and scene due to the fact they are singing and dancing.

Learning comment 

In this task I have learnt about how opening scenes structured.  I have learnt that the sound used in film intro's is non - diegetic this is usually adding music over the top or the use of sound effects. The sound effects and music can give away small part of the narrative this could be letting you know what the film is about. However, opening scenes use music, sound effects and text to give away small parts of the narrative they don't give too much away so it spoils the film.I have learnt that the text used of the screen is important because the colour or font you use can connote what may happen in the film or hat the film is about. I have also learnt that the text on the screen usually fits well with the theme of the film, this could be by using colour or the style that is used.

Mad Max Fury Road

Mad Max Fury Road

Kennedy Miller Mitchell production

George Miller film

The actors names are in a rusty colour link well with the film

The people they play are in a red colour which connotes danger and love, which could link with the narrative of the film.

The first character you see in the protagonist but you see him from the back.

The first shot is an establishing shot.The camera angles used are long shots, close ups and mid shots. The close up shot was used to show the main protagonist eating a bug. 

The Mad Max title is bold and big it’s in a silver and shiny colour.

The Fury Road title is in an orangey red colour which looks like hot coal.

There is no other text in the opening theme apart from the title and actors names.

The sound used is diegetic e.g cars, explosions and people talking 

School Of Rock Opening Scene

School of Rock

Institution – Paramount Pictures

Scott Rudin production

Richard Linklater film

Casting

Music score

Music supervisor

Costume designer

Edited by

Production designer

Director of photography

Executive producers

Produced by

Actors names alternate between bottom left / top right of screen.

The actor’s names are in a white colour.

The sound is diegetic sound this is because they are playing instruments. (guitars, bass, drums)

The music they are playing links well with the film as they are playing rock music.

This gives away that the narrative of the film is about a rock band or the lead guitarist of the rock band.

The first person you see in the opening scene isn’t the protagonist; he doesn’t appear till 1 minute 15 seconds in.

Title

Big red title in the middle of the screen

Zooms in on the title so it covers the whole screen

Camera pans to the left 

Top Gun Opening Scene

Top gun

Paramount – institution

Don Simpson / Jerry Bruckheimer production

Tony scott film - director

Co-starring

Casting

Associate producer

Music score

Edited by

Production designer

Director of photography

Executive producer

Written by

Actors name stay in the middle of the screen throughout the intro.

Plain white title, big and bold fill ups half of the screen.

White actors name move to the top of the screen so you can see what happening.

You can see jets and silhouettes of naval fighters.

This suggests the narrative of the film is a war film about pilots.

The silhouettes show that they are mysterious, which means the film could be mysterious.

The sounds are diegetic as you can hear people talking then hear people.

Half way through you hear music start ‘’Danger zone by Kenny Loggins'' plays which suggest there is some danger in the film.  

Back To The Future Opening Scene

Back To The Future

Institution – Universal

Edited by

Casting by

Production design by

Director of photography

Produced by

Directed by

The sound used are diegetic for example clocks, TV and people talking. There is also no music added or in the background.

There is more diegetic sound added as Marty the protagonist picks up a guitar and plays it.  

Title

Colours

-          Orange

-          Black

-          Purple

The colour orange connotes determination and happiness.

The colour black connotes mysteriousness but usually has a negative connotation.

The colour purple connotes power and ambition.  

The colours used in the title are bright and fun colours which show it’s suitable for kids / teens.  The title is big and bold and takes up most of the screen, this makes it easier to see.