Opening Credits Analysis: The Ghost Writer (2010)

In contrast to both of the previous opening credits analysis's I have recently posted, this design is very plain and quick paced. Unusually, it starts with the title, before any big name stars or production companies, but is closely followed by Roman Polanski Productions which most people would recognise. This is then followed by three or four big name actors such as Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan. There are not many 'slides' that have just one name on, so when only one person's name comes up you know they are important, like the editor and the composer of the music. This film is a British political thriller which is a similar concept to our idea, and therefore we can take inspiration from this.

Editing our Opening Title Sequence

Editing Target: One

Recently, my group and  I have started editing and I can honestly say it's more difficult (but more fun) than you think it would be. Our sequence at the moment is approximately two minutes long which is just right for  the exam board requirements.

At first, I had to refresh my brain on how to edit, as it had been so long since the first preliminary task but once this was achieved it has been pretty smooth sailing. We have experimented with many different shots and what order they should go in and have therefore made many renewed drafts, attempting to make our sequence even better.

Our sequence as it stands at the moment starts with an establishing shot of the location where we filmed, in order to show the viewer the overall picture and setting of the sequence. We tried starting with various other shots such as Adam sleeping, to establish his character, and even shots of the alarm clock, which is a significant device at the beginning and especially the end of our piece. As we tried out many different shots, we feel we have thoroughly picked the best one by taking time and care over what looks best and where it fits in.

We continue to edit throughout these next few weeks and no doubt our sequence will change drastically as the next step is to add music and inevitably, the titles.

Folder Content for our Opening Title Sequence

Character List: -

 Victim- Medium height and weight, dark short hair. He is not seen very much as he is in bed throughout the sequence.

Killer-  Tall, broad/built. Dark hair and dark clothes (a suit). Mid-twenties/ thirties and has some stubble.

Cast List:-

Victim-  Adam Grant.

Killer- Ben Cutler, Hendrick, Theo, Jimmy, Jack Flamminger.

Props List:-

Shot No. 1- Alarm clock, digital. A bedside table. A lamp, maybe a book, some papers etc.

Shot No 2- Window with curtains.

Shot No 3- A bigger table, papers/documents and pens.

Shot No 4- A bed and duvet.

 

Shot No 5- Pillow,, bed, duvet.

Shot No 6- Analogue clock, round and white.

Shot No 7- A house.

Shot No 8- A door and gloves.

Shot No 9- A sink, things to dress the sink i.e. kitchen utensils, unwashed plates/cups, washing up liquid etc.

Shot No 10- Same analogue clock again.

 

Shot No 11- A kitchen scene, a fridge, sink again etc.

Shot No 12- A corridor, three lights that turn on one by one.

Shot No 13- Clothes for the killer, a suit, maybe a coat.

Shot No 14- A different door to the bedroom.

Shot No 15- A bed, bedside table, lamp, an alarm clock, a bigger table, a rug, slippers by the side of the bed, a wardrobe, chest of drawers, bedroom things.

Shot No 16- A full length mirror, bedroom things etc.

S



















hot No 17- Alarm clock digital, a lamp, book etc.

Shot No 18- Same as 17.

 

Narrative Action of Our Opening Title Sequence

                                        
Working Title: Target

• Close up shot of an alarm clock, the minute ticking over from 6:56 to 6:57.
• Mid-shot of an open window, curtains blowing and wind sound effect.
• Wide shot of a table with many documents to do with money, maybe police, and secret papers. A pan around the table to a zoom in on ‘Top Secret’ on one bit of paper.
• Close-up of feet sticking out the end of a bed, feet are then pulled into the covers. Pan upwards to hover over the man in the bed who is sleeping and then rolls over.
• The outside of the house, an establishing shot to show location. The killer walks up to the house and we have a POV shot looking up at the same window used in the second shot.
• The killer walks around the house and ‘peeks’ through a downstairs window, then attempts to open the back door and succeeds.
• An establishing shot of the kitchen, followed by a close up of a clock and then  of a dripping tap, a fridge with ‘childrens’ magnets and photos on, and then a wide shot of the kitchen and the killer sweeps past the camera.
• A shot of a hand on a stair rail and cuts straight to feet walking up some stairs, this is the killer.
• When the killer reaches the top of the landing, he opens a door to a nursery, and then swiftly closes the door.
• An over the shoulder shot of the killer looking down a corridor at a door, hinting that this is his ‘target’. He then walks down towards the door and opens it.
• A POV shot of him peeping around the corner and finding the victim asleep in bed. We then see a shot of his feet beside the bed hinting that he is looking down on the victim.
• Focus on the alarm clock, the minute ticks over and the alarm goes off. There is one hand fumbling to turn it off sleepily and the killer turns it off with one finger. Cut to black.

 

Opening Credits Analysis: Scandal Sheet (1952)

This opening title sequence is very different to the one I posted previously as it is a dated, old-fashioned American movie. It starts with the production company and then the names of three big name actors and then the title. However, they move very quickly from name to name, and afterwards, bunch together roles like art director, assistant director and makeup designer on one page. This is a more old-fashioned film and therefore follows the old fashioned way of rolling the credits. 'Jean Louis' is mentioned as designing the 'gowns' which shows she must have been a big fashion designer in those days. The final credits are the producer and director which is a very similar style to what we use nowadays.

Opening credits analysis: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011)

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy Opening Credits from Mikhael Tarigan on Vimeo.


There are many names included in this opening title sequence. This is useful because it shows me what sort of titles we should use for our Thriller Opening Sequence. Normally, the most important names are shown first and in this case this is true. It starts off with the names of three big name production companies and is then followed by the big name actor Gary Oldman. Straight after this is the title of the film, suggesting that all of the important names have been revealed. From then on, fifteen actors names are mention in quick succession, hinting that the film is one with many complex characters. These are followed by casting director, music supervisor, who wrote the music, hair and makeup designer, the editor, costume designer etc. These were not big name artists and therefore were at the end of the sequence. However the name at the end of the sequence was the directors, showing he is most important.

Our Shoot Day

Target: Shoot Day

Firstly, I would like to say how much I enjoyed our shoot day, and not just because there was lots of chocolate at Adam's house, where we filmed most of our shots.

The day before our shoot, we made sure we knew what we were doing by looking through our storyboard and making sure we had exactly the right costumes and props to make our sequence the best it could be. At first, I was nervous to start filming when the day dawned, but as it edged closer and closer to when we were going to film, excitement crept in.

We made sure we everything with us, including the fake documents needed to convey who our character was, and when we got to the location (Adam's house) we made sure to look around everywhere and take away certain pieces of furniture and toys to fit in with our concept. At first, our location looked quite messy (sorry Adam) so we had to tidy up bits and pieces from all areas like the bedroom, kitchen and living room. I feel this aided us in showing the viewer what type of guy our character is.

Then it got to the filming stage (insert photo of me with a camera):

In this particular case, we were trying to create the type of morning light our sequence required, the solution was umbrellas. Lots and lots of umbrellas. I spent most of the morning being the cameraman, and then handed over the role to Luke and Vlada in the afternoon while I directed. During my brief encounter as a cameraman, I felt one shot I did particularly well was a pan from Adam's feet (who is now our actor) onto his face. It required a steady hand and I think I achieved this shot well. Here is Adam, who has been lying in bed all day. Oh the struggles of an actor:

I think all the shots we did in the bedroom were most successful as we managed to achieve both quality and quantity, which is crucial when editing. However, when we went to film outside, it had started raining, causing an inevitable want to go back inside and therefore quite a speedy filming session with less care and time taken over it.

The part of the shoot I enjoyed most was when I was cameraman, as I felt like I was wholly creating the shots by myself. My team and I get along very well, as we are all quite mellow people, causing no arguments or friction of ideas throughout the day which was a good thing. I am looking forward to editing all of the bedroom scenes as we have so much to choose from, I think we can make it look really effective.  

In order to create a better sequence next time, I think we should think more about time constraints and lack of daylight as if these were perfect, we would spend less time editing the brightness and contrast of each individual clip. But overall, I had a lot of fun filming my first sequence and am very excited to start editing.

Shooting Schedule

Our Shoot Day Plans

• 9:40am- meet at lower car park
• 10:00am- leave to Peaslake.
• 10:10am- arrive at Peaslake.
• 10:10-10:20- set up for outside shots.
• 10:20-10:50- shoot outside scenes.

Storyboard number: 8,9,10,11.

• 10:50-11:00- living room scene.

Storyboard number: 12.

• 11:10- 11:40- kitchen shots

Storyboard number: 13,14,15,16.

• 11:40-11:50- set up for staircase shots.
• 11:50- 12:10- stairs shots.

Storyboard number: 17,18,19.

• 12:10-12:20- set up for corridor shot.
• 12:20- 12:25- corridor shot

Storyboard number: 20.

• 12:25-12:30- set up for nursery shot.
• 12:30-12:45- child’s room shot

Storyboard number: 21.

• 12:45-1:15- Lunch
• 1:15- 1:25- set up for corridor shot.
• 1:25- 1:35- over the shoulder shot.

Storyboard number: 22.

• 1:35-1:40- set up for opening door and opening shots.
• 1:40-2:25- finish the rest of the shots.

Storyboard number: 23,24,25,26,27

                                       1,2,3,4,5,6,7.

• 2:30-2:45- end shoot and pack up.
• 2:45- leave Peaslake.
• 3:00- arrive at Hurtwood.

 

Breaking and Entering

Is breaking and entering counted as burglary?

I discovered an American video defining breaking and entering and burglary. In our thriller opening sequence, we decided that our 'killer' would break into the house through the window. We had yet to decide whether the 'killer' would steal some paperwork or not, and this clip helped us define roughly what breaking and entering and burglary meant.

I also did some research into the film Breaking and Entering (2006) starring Jude Law. It is the story of a successful architect/businessman who's home is constantly burgled of important paperwork and expensive goods. I thought this film related to our opening title sequence as both films include a successful businessman being victimised by someone who's against him. Here is the trailer:

Gathering Inspiration

Oil Spills and Environmentalists

My group and I have been refining some details on the concept of our thriller. We decided to have the 'victim' be a major oil company owner, who has had a recent spillage into the sea, causing uproar amongst environmentalists. We gathered inspiration for this from this clip I found on YouTube. I chose this because although it is shocking, it creates a big impact on the development of character and hereby aiding the filming team to understand exactly what the piece is about.

As we further investigated this, we decided having some documents to do with oil spills to be in one of the over the shoulder shots we created. We made a company name which was Chevon and even made a logo which is here:

 

 

My group and I developed this logo using photoshop, we wanted something that looked very realistic so we used the blue colour to show cleanliness and a drop of water instead of the 'O' to show purity. This logo is overall appealing to the eye, which most companies would look for in their logo.