Film Research- Studying Opening Sequences

 PROCESS

For my research today, I will be analyzing two different coming of age film openings to see more of an idea of what an average film from this genre looks like. I will also be jotting important features I notice and how it tells the beginning of the story. I am making this step in my portfolio because it is really important to see a lot of example of film openings so I completely understand how to make mine.

For my first film opening I will be pulling an extract from a very popular, and high-rated coming of age film:

The Fabelmans

In the first 20 seconds of "The Fabelmans" the title slate was shown, along with the location and date when the movie takes place. This is really important to the audience because it introduces the timeline and setting for them to get used to. Shortly afterwards, we see a small boy communicating how he is scared to go into the theater, explaining the background with all the people in line. We then see two adult figures trying to talk him into it, hinting they are his parents. Given the context of the dialogue, we can tell its the son's first time going to the movie theater and his parents are persuasive on having him go in. 

We hear diegetic sounds like a car passing, people talking in the back, and music coming from a distance. At first, we don't see the adults face, only a tall figure hovering over the young boy and a soft female voice. But then the "father" leans down to explain to his son how the theater actually works and how the movie is actually thousands of pictures, creating picture motion. After revealing his face, his excitement comes off as fascination towards the subject.

Within the first 2 minutes of the film we are able to piece together a lot of information about the movie and can form an idea of what it's about. This is a very important because it makes the audience invested in the story and can be analyzed  like how i'm doing so.

The next extract is of course another coming of age movie, but also a musical:

Dear Evan Hansen

In this opening, the first thing shown is a computer with the title of the movie typed out. On top of the text we hear  a voice over and a slow music beat. They show a sequence of shots, his face, his hesitant hands, medication on his dresser, and his eyes. The more he began to type, the more the audience can understand how he talks, overflowing with words, indecisive, and anxious. After a few seconds, the camera pans to a calendar reminder, it is his first day at school,  probably the reason for his nervousness.

The audience can notice by the medication bottle, that his name is Evan Hansen, so he is writing the document to himself. It can be taken as him trying to motivate himself for school, saying to be himself and be confident. Based on what he is writing, the parts like "be approachable"and "be interesting" can indicate, he probably doesn't have many friends and wants to be more liked this year. During the voiceover, he reveals or rather gaslights himself that he isn't anxious or depressed and admits to having no friends. This makes it very clear to the audience what kind of person he is.

Evan then shuts his computer in frustration and begins to sing. The first song, "Waving Through a Window" seems to be about how he feels like he tries to connect with others but his efforts go unseen, as if he is talking through a soundproof "window".

REFLECTION

 I feel like this post was really helpful for my understanding of my brief. I haven't changed my original idea, only strengthening my confidence in my ability to make it. For my next post, I am planning on centering my focus on the target audience of my film.