2. American Sniper
Film Genre: Action
Directed by Clint Eastwood
The film beginning began with an establishing shot of a tank with
the war-infested landscape in the background. This introduces to the
viewer to where they are, and for what purpose they are there. There
are many shots of soldiers working alongside the tanks, moving from
house to house, clearing the inside of any terrorist or civilians.
There is no music in this beginning section, only the ambient sounds
of tanks and mechanical warfare. This is to show that it is a
serious environment and the viewers’ attention needs to be on the
movement and dialogue. The first shot we see of the ‘American
Sniper’, Chris Kyle is of his rifle, which then pans to the actual
person. This could infer that he is not seen as a person but for his
talents with a sniper, how many people he can terminate with it. The
first dialogue in the film is off Chris Kyle and a marine talking
about the negatives of the country they are in which is followed by
some banter between the two, trying to make light of a negative
situation. After this, there is a sighting of a “military aged male”
who is on a cell phone on the rooftops. There is a shot through the
sight of the Sniper rifle with his cross hair on the body of the man
whilst he is trying to distinguish whether he is a threat or not,
this is important as it suggests the men are under constant threat
from locals and need to take precautions to whether or not he is a
terrorist. This is emphasised by the dialogue from the marine “
maybe he’s calling his wife”, which shows how paranoid the men are
forced to be when dealing with civilians as they constantly keep
them in the sights of their rifles. The transition between taking a
shot at the young boy with the bomb, and the deer in the forest is
really good as it transitions between a really intense scenario and
a more relaxed one. This hunting scene gives reason to Chris Kyle’s
upbringing and his father’s tuff parenting attitude.
Editing
The shots used in the introduction are quite long lasting and then
the transitions are very quick between them. This is good as it
symbolises the theme of war as it suggests it is long and slow but
it is very quick finish with death.
I would like to use the lack of music in my film, and the ambient
sounds as it makes the viewer seem like they are here too, creating
a connection with the main character
4. Fast & Furious 7
Film Genre: Action
Directed by James Wan
The introduction begins with Jason Statham by the side of his
brother’s hospital bed, talking to his injured and unresponsive
brother about their childhood together and how he knew that he would
end up like this. This is done with intense background music. The
music is there as it shows that their childhood was not one of a
normal child but it was dark and dangerous. The gun is an example of
their dangerous attitude and when it is handed to his brother, you
could infer from this that someone is trying to kill him and he
needs to protect himself even when he is in hospital. As he is
leaving, he threatens the nurses who are looking after his brother
without even looking at them in the face, this shows how he thinks
he is better than everyone (as he doesn’t believe he should have to
look at people as he speaks to them), which is constant in the rest
of the film and is the reason for his downfall in the ending. The
juxtaposition in the music between the sad hospital bed scene and
the rest of the intro exaggerates the destruction he can achieve
which is a main aspect of the entire film. The destruction is
exaggerated for only one man to achieve; this shows the audience
that this man is not the normal criminal but a well-trained and very
dangerous person. In the elevator, Jason Statham’s character starts
to clean his glasses wearing a clean, smart suit and this costume
contrasts the surroundings showing how skilled he is to not even get
a mark on his suit. At the end of the intro, his killer-like
character is shown as he attaches a live grenade to a SWAT member
and doesn’t react at all when it blows up, this is the classic “Cool
guys don’t look at explosions” characteristic. As if it wasn’t
already noticeable to where he is and how much destruction he
brought, at the end the camera pans into an establishing shot of a
hospital completely destroyed, on fire and debris falling.
Camera Work
This entire introduction is one shot which reinforces the sense of
anarchy in the hospital and that these events occur on a daily basis
in sequence in Jason Statham’s characters life. It could also infer
that his life will be prolonged and he will be hard to kill during
the rest of the film. The camera is nearly always moving, which
gives the impression that the character will also be always on the
move and will be an extremely hard person to catch or to find.
6. Mad Max: Fury Road
Film Genre: Action
Directed by George Miller
The beginning of Mad Max starts with a blank, black screen with the main
actor narrating over it, describing his life as what it used to be. Th e
blank screen is done to keep the audience focussed on what he is saying and
not distracting them with any visual effects. When the landscape is
eventually shown, it is a desert, empty and deadly. At the same time it
also explains to the viewer’s why the world is like this, as there is a
news report on how important the ‘Gusaline’is and that people are killing
to get it. We don’t see the mains characters face until later on in the
opening scenes, as we are introduced to the back of his head. This gives
the persona of a very secretive character and one who doesn’t want to give
any personal information away as it might be used against him. From this
quiet and still scene, it takes a sudden turn as he then enters his car
extremely quickly and drives of with some speed. The camera shots in this
scene are very fast and are quickly transitioned between them to keep up
the intensity it started at. The change in scenes creates a contrasting
effect that emphasise the atmosphere that the characters live in now. From
a tranquil environment to a sudden chase scene in a split seconds notice.
When ‘Max’ gets caught by the ‘War boys’, they are more interested in the
‘Gusaline’ in the car than the actual rider, showing how deformed the
lifestyle is at this time. There is a shot of the place that all the ‘War
boys’ live and then the squad of the chasers who caught Mad Max drive into
shot which shows they are going home, with Mad Max being dragged behind.
All of this gives vital information on what the film will be about and
reasons for their actions. The War boys are all painted white with black
eye sockets to de-humanise them and portray them as a ‘thing’, painted as
skeletons. In capture, Mad Max begins the de-humanising stage too, by
cutting his hair, tattooing his body as a ‘Universal Donor’ and Branding
him with a hot iron. The tattoos on his back are informational, stating his
blood type and other important factors; this is because he has become a
donor for the war boys, so they can transfuse blood loss and regenerate
their health. The scene is done in a black dark room but with a light
source from the fire on his face. The fire that is used for the light
source as well as the furnace to heat the branding iron shows the situation
he is in is deadly and will bring a lot of pain and suffering. This
introduction ends with another failed attempt at escaping due to his
visions of the deceased victims he failed to save, further emphasising his
‘Madness’. The shots were again very fast, quick and followed the action
vigorously which worked really well along with the subtle intense music in
the background.
Camera Work:
This opening scene consisted of many shots at a very fast pace. This was
done to emphasise the speed of the actions occurring and to make sure the
viewer does not get bored with the many chase scenes. I would like to use
this fast paced type of shots in my Opening scene as well as using the
camera shot from the characters back when introducing to give him a
secretive persona.
8. Avengers: Age of Ultron
Film Genre: Action
Directed by Josh Whedon
The Introduction to this film begins with the ‘Avengers’ taking on a
small army of soldiers defending a strong hold. The introduction is
one long camera shot without any transitions but lots of panning,
this gives the impression that the ‘Avengers’ are used to this
action and that it happens on a daily basis in a particular order.
It also shows how the team work effectively together as their
actions flow seamlessly with each other, working as a great team.
The laser FX from the guns shows how advanced the enemies have
become and is more of a challenge to the team than previous films.
This gives vital information about the work ethic of the ‘Avengers’
and the disorganised enemy they are facing. Obviously the CGI in
this opening scene is far beyond anything that can be achieved in my
film introduction, but the shots and actions they use can be re-
enacted by actors. The one camera shot used to film this
introduction scene moves from one person to another, following the
action, which keeps the audience on the edge of their seat
constantly. The fast paced action comes to a slow motion shot (still
without transitions) when the entire team jump over a barricade
together. This emphasises the team’s efficiency as they are in sync
with each other. The longshot comes to a finish when Iron Man flies
into a force field and the camera goes to a new shot inside Iron
Mans suit where the first lines of the film are said. After the long
lasting shot finishes, the director used a more average approach
cutting shots after dialogue etc. This is good as it gives a break
from all the action so the viewers can understand more of what is
happening. Jarvis, an AI created by Iron man is watching the entire
action packed scene from above as a satellite helping the team to
defeat the enemy and the overlay used in the scanning of the force
field shows how advanced there technology is. This is good and I
would like to include some of this more futuristic editing in my
final piece. The final shot is of the ‘Hydra’ base with text in the
bottom right “Hydra Research Base, Sokivia, Eastern Europe”. This
editing gives an insight into what is happening in the base and
where exactly they are, giving the action some content which is also
a good editing aspect I would like to include.
