Opening 2 minutes of Film

Opening 2 minutes

Right in the beginning, the music starts (Metallica – Enter Sandman). It fades in to ‘Danny’, the protagonist, playing this song on his guitar in his room. There is several shots of him playing, his feet moving to the beat and different angles of the guitar. The camera tracks his wall which shows plenty photos of his idols and some family portraits with his dad cut out of them. This is a visual code for the audience to let them know he doesn’t have a father anymore. While playing his guitar he writes music/lyrics and the title sequence will begin (he writes down the names of who I will mention in the title credits). There is a piece of paper behind the paper he is writing on which shows a letter from the University, telling the audience that this character wants to go there and has a key role in the story. During this scene it will cut to the different shots, for example, there will be a shot of him tapping his feet for a few seconds, then the camera tracking the wall for a few seconds, and then cutting to an shot of his hand when he plays, then back to the wall, etc. He continues to play guitar and gets angry because he cannot think of anything to write down so he throws his pen down furiously. The song that he plays continues in the background as he gets up and looks at the photos of his idols. An eye line match will be used of him looking at his wall, and then a shot of the photos in which he is looking at. He grabs his backpack and walks out of his room and puts his backpack on, and the music stops suddenly in this movement, to signify that he is on his way to something important. It ends with him walking out of the house, and the only sound this audience hears will be diegetic sound of the movements he makes. This will make the audience want to know what is going to happen next.

Possible Synopsis' and Final Synopsis

Possible Synopsis’

1. MUSIC DRAMA COMEDY
A male wannabe rock star, in his teens. On an average school day, he gets ready and tries his best to look like his idol. He goes to school and kids laugh at him because he is different. He has a music class that one man hears and on the way home from school the same night he meets this man, who is a producer. The producer wants to make a record with him, and the protagonist becomes famous quickly and is living his dream of being a rock star. The drugs and alcohol take his passion for music downhill and becomes obsessed with the life of a rock star rather than the music, and becomes a nobody.

 2. MUSIC DRAMA
A boy who is talented in playing guitar is starting at a music academy, and has an audition but he gets turned down because he plays heavy metal. He meets a producer who hears him play at the audition and wants to help him practise so he gets into the industry. They form a bond together and become good friends. He manages to get to go to the academy and gets in. They have to say goodbye to each other but the producer misses the boy. He secretly through all of the practise tries to get a job at the academy and in the end he gets the job and they are both reunited.

 3. PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER
A suicidal man is on his way to kill himself when something bad happens next to him on the road, a car crash. Someone around him gets him to help and he becomes the only witness that can solve the case of what happened. He goes on this mission to find out what happens and solves it in the end and writes a book about his story and becomes successful.

 Final Synopsis – MUSIC DRAMA

A guy in his late teens is talented at playing guitar and wants to get into a University of Music. He has an audition, which he then gets rejected from because of the heavy metal and rock music he plays. He leaves the audition and meets a man who heard him play in the audition, and this man wants to help him practise to get into the University by getting through the audition phase. This man and the teen from a close friendship together, and in the end the protagonist gets into the University and has to say goodbye to his friend who has become a father figure.

Pretty Woman Opening Analysis - Character and Characterisation

Before anything is shown on the screen (before the fade in), there is piece of dialogue: "no matter what they say, it's all about the money." This already gives the audience the plot of the film, and about how money has a key role in the film. It then fades in to a group of hands, with somebody doing a magic trick with pennies. This is foreshadowing events that will happen, where a lot of money is in one hand, and another hand penniless. This could represent the different characters that will be introduced and how different people's situations can link together. The man performing the magic trick then says "penny for the ear, how much for the rest?" This then sets up the plot again as he is intending that he would buy a woman, which if you watch the whole movie is actually what happens, but is presented in a more romantic way, therefore this action is setting up the plot for the audience. 

Everybody in the party is talking about someone named 'Edward', but without him being shown to the audience. This shows that he is very important character. This is then confirmed as it cuts to a man, so the audience knows that this is whom everybody has been talking about. He is upstairs and not in the party atmosphere, and is on the phone to his girlfriend, which shows that he can easily get into a relationship, however he splits up with her over the phone and seems unemotional about it. This scene is important as it tells the audience that he is now free and single, which shows that a new relationship may blossom in this film. There is then a shot of him looking down at everyone in the party. This shows that he is the most important person there and is perhaps the leader of the party and the reason everybody is here. 

He then goes downstairs and has a conversation with a woman, and she says that she got married but she couldn't wait for him, showing that even though she is married, she would still go for him. This tells the audience that he is an attractive person and can easily get into a relationship. This is important for the audience to know, as he is obviously a love interest. 

He leaves the party and takes someone else's car, even though the man who owns the car is telling him not to and to be careful with it. This shows that he doesn't listen to anyone and can take any car he wants, because he is rich and important. He is seen struggling to drive, which shows that he is not used to it and probably has someone to drive for him. This again shows how wealthy his character is. 

The opening continues and there are lots of shots of Edward travelling to Downtown LA, showing that he is moving away from his wealthy life. In the streets, there is shot of another group of hands, dealing drugs. This is a mirror shot of the shot used for the magic trick. This exaggerates the differences between each culture and the audience wonders how they will be linked. The song played over the top in the soundtrack while he is driving says the lyrics “over you”. This emphasises to the audience that he is single and any new relationship won’t be seen as him cheating on his girlfriend, which is important because the audience need to be on his side. Sirens are also heard which shows that this is a dangerous area to be in.

It cuts to a shot of a hotel, but some of the letters are not lit up, which shows that this is a rough area and not where wealthy people live. The letters ‘HO’ are lit up however, which is a visual joke as it represents the person who is about to be shown and that it is her job.

An alarm clock goes off, which is unusual at nighttime, which shows that she works off hours, again telling the audience of her job. The camera pans in her room and some photos are shown where some faces are ripped off. This suggests that her relationships have not been successful and that perhaps she has been heartbroken. This tells the audience that this is probably how she ended up on the streets and the situation she is in. The song that plays over the top of this scene has the lyrics “wild one” which shows that she is wild and different to the man previously shown at the beginning of the film. She is seen colouring her boots in black where fabric has faded, which shows that she is poor and cannot afford a new pair.

However horrible a prostitute is and is represented, this character is also shown as honest. This is because she is looking for her money to pay the rent, which shows that she cares about paying it, even though the money has gone. She is also seen as respectable because she disapproves her friend using drugs, who spent the rent money on them instead of the rent. This shows how much she cares about rent, which puts the audience on her side. A woman on the street says “she’s new” which shows that she is not used to the life of a prostitute and that there is still time or her so be rescued from this life. This sets up the plot of the film and how the two different lives that have been shown will link together in some way to create a romantic story. 

From writing this I learnt about how visual codes and how characters are represented in a romantic comedy. This could help with my own opening of a movie if I choose this genre or a similar one. 

Preliminary

It begins with a fade in to a scene with the boss and his personal assistant. A match-on action is used of the sound of the knocking, to make it clear that both clips go together. Another match-on action is used when she opens the door, to make the clips continuous. A fade out is then used when she walks to her chair, to show that a little time has passed. A shot-reverse-shot is then used to make the conversation flow, using the 180 degree rule. It ends with the boss direct addressing the audience with a smirk and then a fade out to show the end of the clip.