Good Film Opening (Star Trek)

The scene begins with a wide establishing shot of the U.S.S Kelvin approaching a disturbance in space beside a sun, the camera angles and movements give a disorientated feel as it pans across the ship without giving a clear indication of up or down. In this establishing shot there are very few sound effects as this is set in space but there are beeping signals and voices over a radio. There is no uncertainty of who the baddies are in this story. The first introduction to them is a huge frightening looking ship coming through the storm, it’s a dark metallic colour and seems to be made of jagged spikes and blades and light does not reflect or shine off it while the Kelvin does. Inside it is dark and smoky everything about this Romulan ship screams “evil!” The Romulan villains invite the captain of the Kelvin to their ship after a brief but devastating attack on the Kelvin then kill him on board after interrogating him, leaving Kirk in charge, we are momentarily fooled into thinking this is our main hero James T Kirk but it’s in fact his father George Kirk. The Romulan ship attacks using spiky missiles and one particularly effective shot shows the scene from the missile’s point of view, from the Romulan ship through space and exploding on the hull of the Kelvin, accentuating the destruction. George must stay on the bridge to protect the evacuating crew and plot a collision course into the Romulan ship. Meanwhile his wife is giving birth to his son in an evacuation shuttle, there is an emotional exchange as George explains to his wife in labour that “he can’t be there” and for about 30 seconds there are sounds except for a few muted explosions and a stirring sound track. A lot of enigmas are created in this opening sequence what and who are the aggressive aliens, why are they looking for Ambassador Spock and why were they so upset when the captain of the Kelvin tell them the year? In the end it gives the audience an emotional start to the rest of the movie and there is a sense of emotional ambivalence as the audience is distraught that Kirk’s father dies but elation as baby Jim and his mother escape.

The villains of the movie are the alien Romulans, they are darkly dressed, have tattoos on their faces, no hair and sinister voices and there seems to be no females. This representation of the Romulan characters is not complicated, the producers and directors want to make it obvious that these are the baddies and their space ship is just as bold, it’s huge and threatening next to the Kelvin, it looks dirty and it arrives through a lightning storm in space and storms and lightning are often associated with doom and danger. George Kirk is a typical Hollywood hero, he is young hansom and strong looking and clearly very brave to go down with the ship to protect his crew mates, he sits in captain’s chair all alone on a burning ship, facing death and lives for just long enough to name his baby boy

The contrast in the villain’s and the human language is very apparent although both sides are speaking English, the Romulans are cool and calm while the suffering crew of the Kelvin are shown giving panicked orders and tearful goodbyes. Throughout the scene the camera jostles and shakes as if it’s reacting to the scene like a news reporter and light from the explosions and nearby sun flares in the camera lenses.

Good Noir Film Opening

Amazingly simplistic and plain but powerfully atmospheric. It’s a very short opening, barely 2 minutes long and containing only two cuts. Element of mese-en-scene suggest that there has been some kind of violence, an explosion maybe and the actresses costume shows she is a bride. The black and white picture is a style of filming rarely used in modern film but it’s used in this case to give the audience a sense of nostalgia. The sound is realistic and completely diagetic, bill’s footsteps, cocking and firing his gun and the woman’s breathing all add to a realistic viewing experience.

Brick (2005) A Neo-Noir

In a modern-day Southern California neighbourhood and high school student Brendan Frye's ex girlfriend is missing, he becomes consumed with finding her. He enlists the aid of his only true peer, the Brain. Brendan's single-minded unearthing of students' leads him to rich-girl sophisticate Laura, intimidating Tugg, substance-abusing Dode, seductive Kara, jock Brad and the Pin. Only by gaining acceptance into the Pin's closely guarded inner circle of crime Brendan uncovers the truth about Emily and his classmates and their terrible secrets.
This movie is a great example of modern or Neo-Noir, not only the dark plotline and shady characters but the execution of action, deliverance of dialogue and classic cinamatic teckniques. The snappy dialogue and exchanges keep you an you toes just like the noirs of old. Brendan’s an anti-hero like Sam Spade (the postman always rings twice), aggresivly inteligent and ruthless in his convictions, an outsider and loner with few friends, a model of noir-ness. The Fem Fetal of the picture is played by a pretty doe eyed Laura is just like phyllis dietrich in double indemnity; playing innocent and victimised but truly a dangerous player in the underworld. Low key lighting is used in the more dangerous and suspenseful scenes like when Brendan is taken to meet the Pin, deep shadows are employed in other scenes like Brendan finding Emily’s body in the creek. Long tracking shots and still images of locations create senses of claustrophobia and lonlyness just like noir movies like the maltese falcon.

Preliminary Exercise Evaluation

The purpose of the preliminary exercise was to familiarise ourselves with filming equipment editing software and sound equipment. Overall the sequences were relatively smooth and the action was easy to follow, there was good continuality, the sound was clear, the 180 degree line was not crossed and all action was laid out well on the camera grid lines. There were a few things needed to be improved though. There was no clear establishing shot of the corridor because we focused too much on the feet of the actor and due to rushed filming handles were forgotten to be incorporated, this led to difficulties during the editing process and clipped dialogue.

Preliminary Exercise

This exercise was our first attempt at filming, we were required to show someone making an entrance and starting a conversation with another actor while keeping to the rule of thirds, maintain continuity and use as many shot types as possible