During the half term, I got together with two good friends of mine (who also do media) and we had an intense movie day/night/day to expand our cultural knowledge of films and look at different openings. We watched 8 films! Walk The Line, The Magdelene Sisters, The Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, Mulholland Drive, The Object Of My Affection, Kill Bill vol 1 & vol 2, The Shining. The next day I watched Moulin Rouge with a different friend. So that was 9 movies in 2 days!! (We only slept for 4 hours and ate LOADS of popcorn...)
This is the opening clip from The Magdelene Sisters (2002) directed by Peter Mullan.
This is the opening clip from The Magdelene Sisters (2002) directed by Peter Mullan.
Since we had a variety of genres, the openings were all very different. With The Magdelene Sisters, it had white credits on a black background, and then went into a scene of a wedding in Ireland, where one of the main girls was to be introduced. The music playing is diegetic sound because it is coming from the movie world as there is live music at the wedding. The titles are simple, like the time (Ireland in 1964), and there is no music while the credits are fading in and out, which I think creates the tone of the film. It makes it more serious because of the silence and the conventional black and white. Only at the end of the credits when it sets the scene (County Dublin, Ireland 1964) does the music come on, which is part of the first scene. The first 2 minutes (which is how long our openings have to be) the man singing and playing the drum is still going, and the camera is showing various bits of the wedding inbetween shots of the musician.
The first shot slowly fades up from black (the background of the credits) and shows a CU of some drawings, which, as the man hits it with the drum stick, you realise is a drum. The camera then tilts down to show more of the drum. It shows his hand drumming for a few seconds, and then cuts to a shot behind the shoulder of someone, showing him drumming from the other side. The camera then tilts up to reveal the musician's face, and we see he has a dog collar on, so we now know he is a priest/vicar who is conducting the ceremony. He is very into his music and you can see that it means a lot to him. At 01:19 we see the first shot of the bride. It is a CU of a pretty woman in her 20s with brown hair, wearing a veil, and looking intently just to the right of the camera (presumably at the musician). She is positioned slightly to the left of the frame, and on the right of the frame is dark and blurred background. The next shot shows her hand in her husband's hand, which is positioned to the left of the frame, so that we can see the big white bow on her wedding dress and part of his suit. Then again, the camera shows a CU of the man drumming, but this time we know who he is and why he's drumming, so we can focus more on the music and lyrics. "If you be a man of noble esteem, you'll tell to me what happened to them" is the lyric at this point, which is very fitting to what is about to happen in the next minute or so.
Then the camera goes to a two shot of two girls, around age 15, who are dressed smartly, one has a flower garland in her hair, which tells us that they are part of the wedding party. There is a man blurred in the background. One of these girls, the one on the left, is one of the main characters, and she is introduced shortly with her own scene. The next few shots are just of other wedding guests all looking at the vicar/priest to create the atmosphere of a wedding in Ireland. At 01:55 the girl on the left of that two shot is now shown again, this time on the right of the frame, with a man next to her and a man behind her. The camera then shows the musician again to reinforce what all the guests have been looking at. At 02:15 (which is further than what I will have to do for my opening) the man whispers something to the girl, who smiles, and then the camera goes to the vicar/priest and the other musician who are now both only drumming. The girl then whispers to the blonde girl what the man has whispered to her, all the while the drumming is getting more fast paced and urgent sounding, as if it is building to a climax. At 02:45 the drumming finishes, with the musicians very sweaty from being so into the music. The camera shows the whole wedding party applauding them (including the bride and groom at the front) and then goes back to the man and girl, where the man tells her something and leads her away. As the camera follows them walking out, it passes the bride and groom having their first kiss as a married couple. This is symbolic because of what is about to follow. That scene ends with a CU of the musician, satisfied at his performance. It fades to black, and then the title "MARGARET" comes on screen, in white text with a black background (same as the opening credits) introducing the first character. We realise that the girl who the camera has been showing is Margaret, and the man is Kevin, her cousin, who in that scene rapes her. While she is resisting him and it is very quite while she says "what would your father say?" there is quiet pipe/violin music in the background, coming from the party downstairs. This is contrapuntal sound because it is jolly music that doesn't match the action (rape). While she is being raped, the camera cuts to a little boy blocking his ears while other people are dancing to this jolly music and it shows a guitar being played. General merriment is shown in this cross cutting, and then we see Kevin emerge from the back, and walk through the crowds of people dancing.
This is a very effective opening sequence and although it is much longer than the one I need to produce, it is still useful because of the things that make it so effective, such as the use of music, and showing CUs of things that the audience don't know what they are until the camera zooms out or tilts.
The first 30 seconds are credits showing the boards that helped make it possible, the directer, the film company (Miramax) and who it is in association with. In this clip, after 2 minutes not much has happened except establishing the scene, whereas in the next two minutes, a lot happens.
This is a clever opening and introduces the culture of Ireland by showing a wedding. This opening scene definitely sets the tone for the rest of the film; there is joy, but lots of sorrow and hardship along the way.
The first shot slowly fades up from black (the background of the credits) and shows a CU of some drawings, which, as the man hits it with the drum stick, you realise is a drum. The camera then tilts down to show more of the drum. It shows his hand drumming for a few seconds, and then cuts to a shot behind the shoulder of someone, showing him drumming from the other side. The camera then tilts up to reveal the musician's face, and we see he has a dog collar on, so we now know he is a priest/vicar who is conducting the ceremony. He is very into his music and you can see that it means a lot to him. At 01:19 we see the first shot of the bride. It is a CU of a pretty woman in her 20s with brown hair, wearing a veil, and looking intently just to the right of the camera (presumably at the musician). She is positioned slightly to the left of the frame, and on the right of the frame is dark and blurred background. The next shot shows her hand in her husband's hand, which is positioned to the left of the frame, so that we can see the big white bow on her wedding dress and part of his suit. Then again, the camera shows a CU of the man drumming, but this time we know who he is and why he's drumming, so we can focus more on the music and lyrics. "If you be a man of noble esteem, you'll tell to me what happened to them" is the lyric at this point, which is very fitting to what is about to happen in the next minute or so.
Then the camera goes to a two shot of two girls, around age 15, who are dressed smartly, one has a flower garland in her hair, which tells us that they are part of the wedding party. There is a man blurred in the background. One of these girls, the one on the left, is one of the main characters, and she is introduced shortly with her own scene. The next few shots are just of other wedding guests all looking at the vicar/priest to create the atmosphere of a wedding in Ireland. At 01:55 the girl on the left of that two shot is now shown again, this time on the right of the frame, with a man next to her and a man behind her. The camera then shows the musician again to reinforce what all the guests have been looking at. At 02:15 (which is further than what I will have to do for my opening) the man whispers something to the girl, who smiles, and then the camera goes to the vicar/priest and the other musician who are now both only drumming. The girl then whispers to the blonde girl what the man has whispered to her, all the while the drumming is getting more fast paced and urgent sounding, as if it is building to a climax. At 02:45 the drumming finishes, with the musicians very sweaty from being so into the music. The camera shows the whole wedding party applauding them (including the bride and groom at the front) and then goes back to the man and girl, where the man tells her something and leads her away. As the camera follows them walking out, it passes the bride and groom having their first kiss as a married couple. This is symbolic because of what is about to follow. That scene ends with a CU of the musician, satisfied at his performance. It fades to black, and then the title "MARGARET" comes on screen, in white text with a black background (same as the opening credits) introducing the first character. We realise that the girl who the camera has been showing is Margaret, and the man is Kevin, her cousin, who in that scene rapes her. While she is resisting him and it is very quite while she says "what would your father say?" there is quiet pipe/violin music in the background, coming from the party downstairs. This is contrapuntal sound because it is jolly music that doesn't match the action (rape). While she is being raped, the camera cuts to a little boy blocking his ears while other people are dancing to this jolly music and it shows a guitar being played. General merriment is shown in this cross cutting, and then we see Kevin emerge from the back, and walk through the crowds of people dancing.
This is a very effective opening sequence and although it is much longer than the one I need to produce, it is still useful because of the things that make it so effective, such as the use of music, and showing CUs of things that the audience don't know what they are until the camera zooms out or tilts.
The first 30 seconds are credits showing the boards that helped make it possible, the directer, the film company (Miramax) and who it is in association with. In this clip, after 2 minutes not much has happened except establishing the scene, whereas in the next two minutes, a lot happens.
This is a clever opening and introduces the culture of Ireland by showing a wedding. This opening scene definitely sets the tone for the rest of the film; there is joy, but lots of sorrow and hardship along the way.
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