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FILM OPENINGS
For this film opening of mine we're going with the sports/drama genre so I've decided to implement 3 of my 3 favorite movies to look for inspiration.
First up is Mid 90s - created by Jonah Hill. The opening scene of this film features the abuse the main character - Stevie - experienes from his older brother. The scene is raw and full of diegetic sound design. It effectively sets the theme of self love and exploration that is discussed throughout the film. This opening scene symbolises Stevie's beginning arc of his own worth being dictated by the people around him. The people who he himself loves, and thinks they do also. This scene also shows us Stevie's initial motivator for the practice of skating. When Stevie finds a group of friends who skate, he immediately looks to be part of this group. This is effectively conveyed by the harsh contrast of Stevie's abusive home life, compared to his more emotionally healthy social life through a sport that is often times (more so in the mid 1990s when the film is set) misinterpreted as disrespectful and harming to the outside. I could go on and on about the symbolism and metaphor behind this opening scene, but what we're really looking to take from this scene is two things. The sound design, and the scene progression.
The sound design in this scene, as stated earlier, is heavily diegetic. There is no added music or sound effects, emphasizing the raw nature of the film and setting the standard for future emotionally impacting scenes. I want to implement this into our film opening by putting into practice the absence of music and non-diegetic sound mixing. The scene progression here is also something I would want to take some influence from, maybe not as much as the sound design. The scene progression is heavy and jarring going from a calm place to a striking and jarring view of abuse. This will come into play in my film by starting at the enjoyable hard work the character does to keep in shape for his sport, transforming into obsessive and harmful behavior that ultimately does more harm than good.
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| Mid 90s - Dir. Jonah Hill |
The next film I would like to explore is Waves - created by Trey Edward Shults. This film is a bit long with its opening sequence, but further into the opening there is a traning montage of the main character, Tyler, practicing wrestling. This opening is very dynamic and fluid, and so I would want to do the complete opposite. For me this opening serves as a what NOT to do. This openings movement gives a fast and montage-ey feel to the opening, making the viewer engaged in what's happening on screen rather than the internal feeling of the character. This of course is done on purpose with the intent of exploring it deeper as the film progresses, however for me I would want to start right into it.
The main takeaway from this film is not falling into the dynamic cinematography and instead utilize static shots that emphasize the focus and determination of the character this film explores. Progressively the shots and cuts in the film would get faster and faster, hence the static cinematography, but that is a discussion for a seperate blog post.
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| Waves - Dir. Trey Edward Shults |
The last film I want to explore and draw inspiration from is Rocky - written by Sylvester Stallone. The opening scene of Rocky is an iconic boxing match that has shaped the precedent of future films of its kind. I want to draw the raw, unaltered energy of this film, into mine. The beauty of this opening is not fancy lighting or shots or anything of the sort, it's showing the reality of the sport and what it really takes for someone to make it in that world. This is a feeling that I would love to implement into this film opening, and one that I hope to recreate. This film serves more as a mood board addition rather than a direct inspiration.
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| Rocky - Dir. John G. Avildsen |
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