Video Contextual Research

Film has been a popular medium with audiences for around 100 years and is continually improving despite the challenges that new technologies bring; from the initial naive attempts of early silent films through to slick professional contemporary films, ‘movies’ have captured the emotions and heart of millions of cinema enthusiasts. For this part of the coursework, I need to research the film industry and learn the basic features of the openings of films and how they have changed through time.

  Films are split into three parts: the set up, the conflict and the resolution. The opening of a film is called the set up and it is a very important aspect of a film. A good opening title sequence sets the tone of a film and serves to establish rhythm and pacing. In order to draw attention to the audience films need to introduce many things. From the opening of a film we are able to identify the genre, particularly from the music. Different genres use sound in different ways; thrillers use ambient music to reflect the mysterious atmosphere and the suspense that it is trying to emphasise. However, in a romantic comedy, music would be used to reflect the upbeat and happy atmosphere to draw attention to the audience.

   The openings of films also aim to inform the reader about the main characters. Films generally aim to provide important information about the main character by using shots such as close ups to introduce us to the character. Some films also provide a narrator to tell a story. For example in No Country For Old Men, it uses a number of establishing shots of the settings to show where the film is located whilst the shots are shown there is a running voice over which tells a story. Another example is Breakfast At Tiffany’s, the opening scene is set in New York and we are able to tell this because it starts with the camera situated in the middle of new york city where we are shown the yellow taxi’s and a view of the empire state building.

No country for old men is a 2007 American crime thriller directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen. The film opens with the titles, which are presented on a black background with white writing allowing the writing to stand out; the font reflects the gloomy and dark genre of the film. The titles also use the same format for the title of the film ‘No Country For Old Men’. After six seconds, an establishing shot fades in whilst a voice over runs. A new establishing shot is shown every eight seconds, as each shot is shown they become brighter. It uses long establishing shots to allow us to get a clear view of the surroundings. The first thing that we hear is ‘I was a sheriff of this county when I was 25 years old’. This tells us about the character and the way that he is an important feature of the film. We know from this that he is telling us about his past because he says ‘I was’. We also know that he is older from the old and deep style of his voice. The film has a unique style, which uses no music. There is a non-existence of music throughout the duration of the film. This represents mystery and suspense. Although there is no music, the film uses a slight wind sound to reflect an uneasy feeling and a present a naturalistic approach.

The camera then cranes to the right on a mid shot, which gradually leads our eyes to a police car. This shot shows two characters, the shot is a wide angle, long shot allowing us to see the figures but only slightly. The use of wide angle, allows us to see more of the scenery of the deep south of North America. We also see a sheriff, which presumably is the main character, which is also the voice over. This also tells us that the opening of the film could be about his past rather than the present, which he has been informing us about through the dialogue.  Overall, the opening of No Country For Old Men creates a naturalistic and atmospheric feeling. It does this through the slow paced editing and the use of the thirteen establishing shots, which show the picturesque scenery and informs us about the setting of the film.

Marnie is a 1964 psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The Coen brothers (directors of No Country For Old Men) said that Hitchcock is the master of thriller films. Marnie opens with two minutes of opening credits. Up until the 1970’s films required the opening credits to contain most of the details, leaving the closing details with minimum detail and sometimes simply ‘The End’. In recent years, opening credits have decreased, meaning that the details of the cast are left for the closing credits. Generally, films now just display the title of the film, the name of the director and often some of the principal actors in the opening credits. The opening credits of Marnie were in the format of a book with the page turning transitions. The music that is used in the first 40 seconds doesn’t fit with the genre of the film. The music used is almost fairy-tale like. However after 46 seconds the pace of the music suddenly changes into a more thrilling piece.

The first shot we see is of a yellow bag in the arms of a mysterious woman. Gradually, as she walks away from the camera, more is revealed about her although we still are unaware of her facial features or expressions. This makes her seem more mysterious, because we are unable to see her face, as well as her dark hair and dark clothing. The film then uses a cut away to move to the next scene. This scene uses a mid shot of an older man looking directly into the camera saying ‘robbed’.

The use of long pause inbetween each word he says, gives the audience the impression that the crime is very important. The openings of most thrillers have crime either at the beginning of the film. Marnie uses this convention well and follows what a normal thriller film would contain.