Camera License Test
With the Experimental feature as shown above, we have three different shooting modes, Shutter/Aperture Priority and Manual, and experimenting with the camera settings allows you to alter the picture through Shutter Speed, Aperture, and ISO.
First starting off with the Shutter Speed options, The settings I used for the first picture made the background blurry while making the subject very clear. This is due to it being a faster shutter speed, which creates a shorter exposure to the photo, whereas a slower one does the opposite.
Seeing as I provided a basic example of how shutter speed changes how a photo looks, I decided to completely change the settings in order to see what would happen to the photo if I put in random settings. The end result was putting the Shutter Speed at 1/30 while putting both the Aperture and ISO settings to the max, this resulted in the photo having a lot of white noise to it, almost looking grainy and half identifiable.
Feeling as if I was done with the Shutter mode, I moved onto the Aperture Priority mode, which takes full advantage of the Aperture feature but restricts the Shutter Speed setting (which the Aperture is also restricted on that version).
As with the previous one, I messed around with the settings to see what the photo would look like. The result was the photo looked similar to my previous experiment, with the only difference being less white noise. This is due to the Aperture changing the photo on how blurry or clear the photo can be, with the grain being due to the ISO being more sensitive.
For the second experiment with the Aperture mode, I decided to change the settings to the other side to see what it looks like on the other side of the spectrum, which resulted in the subject being clear and the background being blurry, almost like macro photography and one that was identical to the first experimental image.
I then moved on to the final shooting mode for the experiment, which was the Manual mode. This allowed me to mess around with all the other settings instead of just two, which meant the photo could have more variations than the other two modes.
With more creative freedom, I adjusted the Shutter Speed to the max while the Aperture and ISO settings to the middle, which caused the photo to look darker because the Shutter Speed being faster caused it to have less light brought in compared to if it was slower.
The last experimental image I took was one where the Shutter speed was set to the middle while the Aperture and ISO were set to the max, having the image closely resembling the third experimental image, only that the white noise in this one is slightly less apparent.
Mise en scene
Science Fiction films may be set in space, usually on a planet not found in the Solar System. At times, it can be set in a city under totalitarianism, usually controlled by the antagonists who are portrayed as ominous and mysterious, usually to make the audience uncomfortable.
Props you may find in Science Fiction films are meant to look futuristic, such as melee, guns, costumes, and even buildings at times.
With Romantic Films, the setting can be in a big city, usually one that is well known and one audience will immediately recognise.
Props that may be present are gifts that are given to one of the main characters, like flowers, clothes, or something that the other one thinks will impress their companion.
Horror films are usually set in both small neighbourhoods or in abandoned/deserted locations, this provides a more creepy atmosphere where you know something may not be right or something is waiting beneath the dark.
Props used in Horror films are weapons the antagonist may have to kill his/her victims, such as a knife, chainsaw, or a machine they created used to torture their victims. The protagonist may carry a flashlight if it's dark and they hear something odd to see what was the noise.
In this scene, we see Spider-Man/Peter Parker and Mary-Jane sharing a kiss with each other in a rainy alleyway. This scene shows some sort of new bond between the two since Peter does have a crush on Mary-Jane, and unbeknownst to her, this is the first kiss they share, which might give Peter more motivation to protect her from danger.
This shot shows a woman smiling while wearing a fancy dress. Shots like these evoke a sense of happiness or light-heartedness tone, as she doesn't seem to be in trouble, distressed, or shown to be emotionally broken, just more admiring the environment around her and showing that through her emotions.
In this shot, we see two characters sitting opposite one another on a couch. The positioning of the characters on one screen implies that the woman doesn't want to be on speaking terms with the man, hence them sitting far away, while the man has an expression that implies he can't help but look at her in hopes she does something that breaks their silence. Another detail in the shot is bedding is seen to be on the table, which is very unusual for a normal human being, further giving information on their relationship with each other.
This shot is a shot of a character in the foreground looking off into the distance while we see another character in the background holding a lasso while twirling it around. This shot implies that the character in the foreground is disinterested with the character in the background judging by his facial expressions looking slightly angry or annoyed.
This low-angle shot shows us two characters holding futuristic guns while they are expressionless. This scene is meant to show you how cool and awesome the characters are, as they look ready for action and fearless about what they might be taking on. It could also get the audience ready for some action, like getting the blood pumping for something mega and major.
This poster shows us the main character at the center, with him looking down which obscures half of his face to where we can only see his left goggles. He is also shown to be surrounded by what looks like knights that have rusty armour. The background also shows things that are common in sci-fi films like planets, spaceships, and futuristic machines. The positioning of the main character being in the center is a way to tell you that he is the main character because it would be the first thing a general consumer sees when looking at a poster, where the first thing they'll is the center of it. The background also reminds you that this is a science fiction film and one that does not take place on Earth, but instead on a planet that doesn't exist.
The first shot shot uses Low Key lighting as the lamp seen on the left side of the character is the only light source that is visible in the shot. The framing of the shot suggests to us that the character has just come home and possibly got into a fight since we can see that his face has some bruises. The usage of lighting can imply that he is using it alongside the mirror to better see his reflection and to make cleaning up the bruises easier.
The second shot uses low-key lighting. As we can see in this shot, it seems to be raining heavily while a character is outside of his car looking into the distance. This scene could intend to evoke some unease and fright, as the only source of light is shown in the background, which means part of the shot is barely visible. We can also see that the character's expression shows a sense of dread and confusion. His positioning also seems to hint he's standing outside to see something that is unidentifiable to him, waiting to see what or who it is.
The third shot uses High Key lighting, as we can see most of the image clearly and gives us enough to make out what is going on. In this shot, we see two characters presumably having a conversation about something inside a room. The lighting suggests that this is taking place around night-time or in a very dark area, judging by the darkness of the background. Another detail to note is that we see newspapers on a roll-up board behind the character positioned to the right side, this could mean that this is some sort of investigation going on, with the newspaper being used as sources to back up what could possibly be connected to a primary suspect. Another thing to note is that judging by the character on the left, the way his mouth is open while the other one's is closed, could mean the investigation was conducted by the left character who could be explaining to the right character the whole thing.
The fourth and final shot uses Low Key Lighting.
This shot shows us three characters, one female and two male outside in a building where they are presumably in a back area of a building that leads to an alleyway. the lighting comes from the inside of the building where the female character is positioned, this could mean that the female character was inside the building and the two male characters opposite her could be wanting to see her about something or that she is the person who decides whether a person should enter or not.
Original Design
This poster was created around 1978 around his time as a voice for the two movements. This poster was to convince people to stop supporting the National Front, a political party that was popular in the mid-70s and infamous for its fascist views and discrimination against immigrants. The poster compares the group to Nazis, as seen by the poster comparing the logo to the Swastika and the arrow pointing to the Nazi in between the phrase "Stop the National Front!"
In this shot, we see a man carrying a small child on his back, both looking into the distance. This could mean that they escaped from somewhere or ran away from something, as their expression could signify them trying to process what just happened. The background also shows what seems to be an exploding building, which could mean that they were escaping an exploding building.
This shot shows a man sitting on a large camping chair on his laptop outside. We can see that this shot is set at night, using the day-for-night filter, as we can see only see darkness in the background, while everything looks clear and half-bright. The man is seen looking upward with a confused expression, which could mean he's heard something that doesn't sound normal.
This shot shows two characters kneeling their foreheads on one another as one is shown in the water while the other is on a platform. Both are shown to be extremely cold as seen by their frosted hair and pale-like skin. Another thing of note is that their kneeling their foreheads of one another is meant to signify a form of bonding through love, as one is about to die, the female character wants to have one last moment with him before he dies.
This shot shows the main characters at the end point of the boat, where the female character has her arms open while the male character is touching her by the waist. This is meant to show the relationship between the two characters, specifically in the love aspect of the relationship, with this shot showing them living in a moment and as a happy pair.
This shot shows us a family consisting of a father, mother, and daughter. They are seen eating dinner in a dimly lit room (as the candles and lights are the only light sources inside). Judging by the character's expressions, this is a scene where the parents have a talk with the daughter, either due to her strange behaviour or something she did that the parents aren't pleased with. The positioning of the characters supports this as the parents being on both ends while the daughter is in the middle, allows them to have a clear back-and-forth conversation with the daughter.
Ideas for Area of Investigation
The main subject for the magazine will be based around art, and I intend to use the pictures taken from the National Gallery Museum Trip back in October, with the main headline touting a review of a trip to that museum and the magazine publishing date being around the time of the trip.
The main cover for the magazine will feature a painting that I believe would be perfect to showcase if it was actually sold in stores, the painting would serve as a way to entice people into buying it and reading more about it.
Masthead Names Ideas
Art Weekly, The Style Times, Style Art, Art Alive.
Masthead Type Styles
Copperplate Bold.
Magazine Design
Original Design
Final Designs
Evaluation
I created the posters by basing it off of the trip that we went on back in October to the National Gallery Museum in Trafalgar Square, London. This was that the subject I chose for this specific course was Art, which was one of the four options alongside Commerce, Community, and Business. Art was the one I chose mainly because of how much it appealed to me compared to the other three since I knew I had a creative imagination and wanted to apply that to my works.
This project was sort of a challenge to me in some ways, with the biggest being that this was my first time using InDesign, so I of course didn’t know the basics and had to rely on the tutorials given to know which one does which and what could be used that would help me progress. The next one was coming up with the title of the magazine, this proved to be a challenge because coming up with titles for a project first-hand can be very challenging, usually because you want to title to both appeal to you and the teacher, so hitting that fine line between appeal and catchiness takes longer than you may think.
Speaking of the title, ‘The Style Times’ was the final one I picked because it was one I felt had a sort of appeal to me, since it combined essentially two things together, the first being a standard newspaper title (‘The Times’), and the second being related to art, the subject I chose for this project (‘Style’). I settled on Copperplate Gothic Bold as the font, mainly due to the distinctive look of the font that I felt made it blend in naturally for my magazine design.
But by far the biggest roadblock that I ever faced making this magazine was the design process it. For making this magazine, I wanted to incorporate a bunch of the pictures I took from the trip to make it somewhat authentic, and also had in mind creating a simplistic type design, but one that appeals to mostly everyone due to being both able to read it and to appreciate the design of it. When you take this style of approach, you have to take into account how this may affect readability, this is because a great design can sometimes make text unreadable, which turns away readers from reading the contents, so it’s important to take into account both readability and design choices into account when making a magazine spread. So how I managed to overcome this is by extensively looking at the size of the photos and determining whether they’d fit or not, that way, I can make a separate area which is there to incorporate the image without fumbling over the words, and maybe if you have an astute eyesight, you may be able to decipher where the box positioning was.
To reflect on my final designs, I would say that I feel proud of my design on the final spread design compared to the WIP version. This mainly has to do with learning how to integrate photos into the spread, which definitely paid off in the final design, as one of my main goals in creating the spread was to use images to make it authentic, almost like an actual magazine spread. But other than that, I’m not really the happiest for it, granted, it was my first time doing this type, so I could use this as a sort of way of potentially improving my magazine art and what I could do next to fix issues present, but one big notion I have that makes me dissatisfied is the final look of the spreads. When working on the spread, there were different types of grids and scalers present while making it, and there were a whole bunch of them on the screen, so it sorta tricked me into thinking there was enough content that didn’t need further extending or filling until I finished it and looked at the final version, and that’s when I realised I sort of messed up. The biggest issue I have is that the pages feel so empty in design, so devoid of soul, that it’s immediately obvious that it is a beginner’s first time making a magazine spread, almost to an embarrassing degree, so for next time, I’ll try spacing it out more to fill up enough room for the page to fully utilise every spot on the page to make it somewhat lively instead of soulless.
Typographic Rules for Magazine Design
1. Have clear entry points, such as headings, titles, drop caps, and pool codes. This helps to draw the reader’s attention to the content of the magazine.
2. Avoid using idents in the first paragraph.
3. Keep each of the likes at a minimum of 45 and a maximum of 90, this improves the readability of the page.
4. Be careful when using justification, as using it improperly can cause ‘rivers’ on the text, which hinders its readability.
5. To prevent rivers, use justification at a line length higher than 60, and to enable hyphenation.
6. You can pair two different fonts up, but only if it has the same x-space. If it doesn’t, then it will create a messy contrast between the two.
The appeal of the magazine covers I've shown comes from the main subject of a picture, those in question being Leonardo DiCaprio and Rihanna. These people on the cover help grab the attention of someone because that someone would have heard of the person in question.
Another thing that draws their eyes aside from the famous subject is the additional text on the cover which is touted as the main story for the magazine, like in the Vogue magazine which is supposed about "The Rise of Rihanna" or in the Empire one which advertises Inception, which Leonardo is the main character of, these additional texts would want to interest a reader into buying the magazine to see what it says because they may want to learn more about the person in question, whether that be new or old.
Moreover, on the additional text on the cover, magazines also have other advertised features that are also included in but aren't the main subject, such as the Empire magazine, which also advertises movies that were both coming out or in development and the Vogue magazine which advertises an interview with Quentin Tarantino with the main focus being on Margot Robbie. The main purpose of these is to entice the people into reading about it more, which serves as a secondary selling point compared to the main story, as it gets people to read them to see the secondary additional stories advertised on the cover.
For magazine spreads, the appeal is almost the same as for a magazine cover in both text and design, the only difference is that this spreads across 2 pages instead of 1, and the main thing to consider is that they have to convince readers to read the contents inside instead of enticing them to check out the magazine, where the designer of the magazine has to consider a design that both appeals and entices readers, and one that is readable.
Starting off with the header for the spread, this serves as the main title for the page on what the page is about. This is the first thing a reader would want to see on a page, as it may interest them in reading the contents of the page if the title is interesting enough. Good titles are also a way of convincing them to read, as a terrible one or one that doesn't fit at all would lead them to turn over to the next page disinterested in what that may say. Titles can be sort of first impressions on media, including magazines, so it is important to pick a title that you know would entice readers.
But a great magazine spread isn't just about the title and contents inside, it is also about its design it (which could be the most important key to making an enticing spread depending on who you ask). Since the magazine designer wants the reader to actually read the contents, they may want to get creative with the design of the spread, whether that be through manipulating features to make it more bizarre or creating an object comprised of either text or pictures. While this is a way to show off the designer's creativity skills, they need to balance between a line of creativity and readability, specifically in terms of having one that entices the viewers to the page while also being clear enough to read, as if the design is pleasing enough, the read may want to read more, and if he/she can't read it properly or can't understand it, that would lead to them skipping over the page. This is why readability is just as important as creativity in magazine spreads, as both an interesting and enticing design with readable content can entice readers more than the designer may think.
Magazine Designer Research
David King was a British graphic, design historian, and writer. Born in Isleworth in 1943, he first studied graphic design at the London School of Printing and Graphic Arts from 1960 to 1963, then after he graduated, he worked at Queen magazine until 1965 where he took the job as an editor for The Sunday Times Magazine for 10 years.
King was most known for his collection of over 250,000 Soviet-era and Russian Revolution souvenirs, which was inspired by his interest in Soviet visual history, which was kickstarted during his stint at The Sunday Times, where he was sent to Russia to bring back images of Leon Trotsky, who was known for being the most prominent figure in the Russian Revolution in 1917, and also directed the Russian Military from 1918-1924 until he lost power from Joseph Stalin. However, King was unable to find any information about him, which was the catalyst to encompassing decades' worth of Soviet-era and Russian Revolution souvenirs over four decades.
Before all this though, King was also known for his political posters from the 70s and 80s, which were in support of groups like the Anti-Apartheid Movement and the Anti-Nazi League, the reason for his involvement in the Anti-Apartheid was due to his frustration over the treatment of black people under the South African system of apartheid, which similarly carried over to his involvement in the Anti-Nazi League.
What I like about the design of this poster is that it's very simple and meticulous, where the simplicity allows you to get the message of what the poster trying to say to you, such as how the NF abbreviation is reserved for the logos, where the National Front is the 'Nazi Front', while the actual Nazi Front is considered the National Front, which the poster does it directly instead of being contrived.
Storyboard
Soundscape Planning
Dialogue Instructional Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oF8J1qFV8ho
Different Sounds
Diegetic Sound: Sound that belongs in the world of the story, this can include dialogue, sound mades by objects, and music being played in the story world (stereo, radio, live band etc.)
Non-Diegetic Sound: Sound that is added to the story that does not exist in the world of the story, this can include a narrator, voice over, or score or soundtrack (where the source is not in the story).
Contrapuntal Sound: Sound that has an opposite emotional tone than the visuals. This can be used to make the audiences feel uncomfortable, create a new message or emphasise the emotions of the visuals.
Automated Dialogue Replacement (ADR): The process of rerecording the dialogue of an actor in a controlled environment after the final scene has been edited. This is used to have a clearer more manageable recording of dialogue and will cover any of the issues presented by on location recording.
Foley Sound Recording: A type of sound recording where a group of artists work as a team to re-perform and re-record diegetic sounds such as walking noises generated by props or noises from the environment. This is so that each sound can be more easily manipulated and the sound can be designed to place focus in a scene correctly.
Soundtrack: A piece of music that accompanies a scene in a film/TV Show in order to make a scene more impactful.
Soundscape: A work of art or performance that combines in order to create a particular effect.
Binary Opposites
Auteur Theory
The auteur theory is a theory that suggests a movie director has a distinctive approach and vision to a movie that can almost classify them as the author of the project more than the screenwriters. This type of theory is best used with directors who have distinctive visual styles that they like to use for translating a screenplay into a movie they are directing.
The term auteur dates back to the mid-1940s from French film analyst André Bazin, who coined both the term and the concept called auteurism based off of films embargoed during WWII, he noted how the directors used different perspectives to tell their own respective stories, whether that through lighting, camerawork, staging, editing, and the story.
Some examples of filmmakers who are considered auteurs include Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, Paul Thomas Anderson, Wes Anderson, and Edgar Wright.
Exposition/Characterisation
Thor Ragnarok is a 2017 superhero film in which Thor must return to his home before it gets destroyed by Hela and the impending Ragnarok. The opening scene shows Thor imprisoned inside the underworld by a ruler named Surtur, who tells Thor about his plan to rule over Asgard when his crown is reunited with the Eternal Flame, which will restore his power to rule over Asgard.
The exposition is delivered through Thor being already put in a situation of life or death, as we open with him already being imprisoned by Suthur. This is where he tells us about how he got here in the first place, with him saying he went looking for Infinity Stones, which led to a path of death and destruction, and to where he is now, imprisoned in the cage. One thing that viewers can recognise is that the exposition is delivered in a comedic manner, where it does it own take on the “You’re probably wondering how I got into this situation”, as referenced in Thor’s first piece of dialogue where he breaks the fourth wall about the audience being surprised of Thor being imprisoned and wondering how he got here in the first place. When he talks about how he got here next, we can tell that he is mostly chill throughout all of it, never once showing a sign of fear. This sets up a small part of the narrative by introducing us to Thor and what his personality is like, mostly a jokes type of person but one that is brave and shows almost no sign of fear.
The exposition after Thor is dropped down and comes face to face with Suthur comes in the form of the villain’s plan and one the hero needs to stop. As mentioned above, Suthur intends to destroy Asgard to reunite his crown with the Eternal Flame, which will make him stronger and be able to re-enact Ragnarok, a prophecy Thor mentions to him. He also mentions how Odin is not in Asgard, making it defenseless since Thor is currently imprisoned. The screenwriters convey the exposition by mostly having Thor and Suthur having differing personalities, with Thor being comedic and not serious, while Suthur being the opposite. This allows the scene to strike a fine line between the comedic and the dark moments together. One example would be about Ragnarok, where Thor mentions it as a vision he has, but seems to not care about it, but with Suthur, he does care about it as that is his plan to do which makes him the big threat to the story.
Fellowship of the Ring is a 2001 epic medieval fantasy film that tells the story of Frodo Baggins, who comes across a ring that had been lost for centuries and one that the fate of the world is dependent on when he embarks on a journey to the place it was forged in and destroy it for good. The opening scene tells us about the history of the rings in the second-ago of Middle Earth, and how the One Ring forged by Dark Lord Sauron led to domination, a war, and corruption, but most importantly, changing the world for good or for worse.
The screenwriters make the exposition work by essentially having it play out like a story, where we are first given the history of the rings, where we are told that the Great rings were given to each race including elves, dwarves, and kings, which acted as a way to govern each race, so the ring is a symbol of power and authority. However, after this, we get introduced to the villain of the story, Dark Lord Sauron, who forges a ring that is filled with his power, which leads to him using it to dominate all of Middle Earth, which is where we get the major conflict that the ring controls everyone in its radius, leading Sauron to develop an army of those affected, which leads to a resistance group created by survivors which is to defeat Sauron and restore order, which Sauron is eventually defeated, but the ring’s influence eventually corrupts a character named Isildur, who takes it for himself, which eventually leads to his death since the ring had betrayed him to his death and became lost under the river.
This type of narrative approach the screenwriters take to construct this opening scene works as it integrates history/context, major conflicts, and key people in the narrative all into one to give you a backstory on the film itself, and it works because, for a film like The Lord of the Rings, it is key to keep you interested as to why something like the rings is so important for the fictional land within the movie, so the story type approach does its job at convincing you to both keep you invested into it and to also given you a reason to care about the film as a whole.
Opening Scene Idea Generator
Opening Scene Analysis
Cube is a 1997 science fiction horror film in which six strangers wake up in a cube-shaped labyrinth filled with deadly traps and try to find the exit while avoiding these traps.
The opening scene follows a three-act structure type opening, in which we are introduced to a character named Alderson waking up in one of the cube rooms, he is completely unaware of his surroundings alongside not know how he got here, which is an important factor for this film, as the later main characters also wake up unaware of how they got here. The second act then follows him opening the doors inside the room he is in, which leads to different colored rooms exactly like the one he woke up, The third and final act shows him opening one of the doors and going into it, which leads him to an orange room that at first seems normal until he takes a few steps and is suddenly sliced into bits by a thin wire mesh, killing him in the process and the trap moving to its original position. The use of the three-act structure helps the movie explain to the audience the danger of the labyrinth and how the rooms almost trick you into thinking they’re safe, when they have a hidden trap that is only activated once someone enters that specific room, what’s more helped by this is that the loud ambiance that is present in this scene and how there is no dialogue spoken by Alderson, only loud breathing, which these provoke a sense of unease to the audience, as this gives us a feeling that something can happen to him unexpectedly and we wouldn’t be ready for it, which does happen at the end when he gets sliced into bits.
The only type of iconography shown in this scene is the clothes that the character is shown to be wearing which only consist of a grey jumpsuit with his name (Alderson) imprinted on the right side of his chest. This is later shown in the movie to be the only way the characters can identify each other without them telling someone, this type of approach helps the opening scene in particular since as we know nothing about Alderson, we’re left with a sense of ambiguity about who he is as a person and how would he approach this without anyone and nothing on him.
As mentioned above, Alderson is a mysterious character, in we are never told about his type of personality or what kind of stereotype he would fit into, he also never speaks once in the scene aside from heavy breathing, where his actions are shown on screen are all we have of his character. This helps drive the ominous tone of the opening scene since it would want you the viewer to learn about his character, whether that be how he acts or what he was before he was put into the labyrinth, and his death only cements that as there would be more questions than answers.
The location in the opening scene is the cube-like labyrinth Alderson is put inside, though we never where exactly in the world this labyrinth is. From what we are shown, all of the rooms look the exact same, with the difference being that some rooms are a different colour than others, as shown in the scene in which he opens the doors that reveal blue, red, and orange respectively. As were shown that the rooms look mostly identical, this helps explain to us that the labyrinth is more dangerous than we think, as the traps are hidden in plain sight and are shown to be activated when someone enters that room (as shown by the ending of the scene with Alderson in the orange room as mentioned above).
The exposition given in Cube’s opening scene is through character occupation, where it is mostly through the actions of Alderson that give us more context as to what the labyrinth is like and how dangerous it is. The writer constructs this by him being the only character who is present inside the room and finds no one else. This works because since he has no one else to help him inform him where he is or what to do, he’s mostly left to find out what else lies beneath the room he’s isolated in.
Dark City is a 1998 science fiction neo-noir film that follows a man named John Murdoch, who wakes up in a hotel with a lost memory and learns that he is convicted for a series of murders, so he attempts to both find his true identity and clear his name while also running from the police and an entity known as the ‘Strangers’, who he discovers a dark secret about.
The narrative of the opening scene in this movie is act one convention. We are first introduced to John waking up in a hotel room bath, clearly having no memory of how he got here, which is setting up the character. The dramatic part comes into effect when John receives a call from an unhinged doctor who tells him that he has lost his memory due to ‘an experiment going wrong’ which supposedly erased his memory. John is obviously confused by all of this, but the main highlight of the dramatic situation comes when the doctor informs him that a ‘group of people’ are out to get him, John immediately walks away from the phone and enters a room with an almost naked dead woman with unusual cuts around her body, which John accidentally bumps into the bloodied knife. This is where we are shown that John supposedly killed his innocent woman, which is why the ‘group of people’ are after him. The final act conversion used is the call to adventure, where John runs away from the hotel room and this is where we see the ‘group of people’ the doctor was talking about, who are shown to be tall-looking men with black robes and a hat with white skin. Act one conversions help set the story in motion while also providing details about the protagonist and his situation, in which he is charged with a crime he has not committed while also having lost his memory so he has no idea about the person he has murdered. Another setup in this scene is the mysterious men that are after John, usually with murders, the police are involved in catching the person who did it, but this time, it is these men who look nothing like police officers and look more like a criminal than John, which we can infer are the main villains of the story and one which John has to avoid.
The iconography present includes John wearing two
trench coats (one thicker and one slightly thin), alongside a plain white shirt and black trousers. The doctor is seen wearing a thick trench coat almost identical to John’s, a fedora that matches the coat, and glasses, and at the end of his scene, if you look closer, he seems to be holding a briefcase of something. The final costumes shown are the unknown men who wear long black trench coats and hats, though not much is shown with them. Other pieces of iconography shown are the knife shown when John discovers the dead body, which sets up the main gist of the story as mentioned above, and also a brief shot of a bizarre-looking syringe, which in the shot where he looks at the mirror, he sees a bit of blood on his forehead which he wipes off. The syringe could be a way to foreshadow the future events of the movie on why John woke up in the bathtub with blood on his forehead.
The characters that are shown include John Murdoch, who as we know, has lost his memory and now is being framed for crimes he does not know about, in this opening scene, John is seen to be confused by everything, which is highlighted with his phone call from the Doctor, where he is visibly panicking on why he is here and what is happening to him, clearly being unaware of everything unfolding. The Doctor's character is portrayed as mysterious yet helpful, as he informs John about what happened to him and that a group of people are out to get him, which he tells him to leave immediately and not let them find him. The group of people who are shown to be after John are briefly shown walking to the hotel room John left, but from their movements and looks, we can infer that they are ominous villains, as they are potentially the ones behind the set-up for John’s supposed murder and his awakening in a hotel bath.
The location in this opening scene is set in a dark and gloomy hotel with minimal lighting, when he leaves the hotel the ending scene, is shown to be taking place at around 12’ o clock (though never specified if it is noon or midnight, which plays along the title ‘Dark City’). The rest of the town from what we know appears to be drab and almost like a run-down apocalyptic type city.
The exposition in the opening scene is delivered through a mix of character occupation and intense action. The character occupation is from John Murdoch as he’s walking around the hotel, clearly confused about what’s going on, alongside him walking around, we are given a few clues that would later become important in the movie, such as the syringe and also the Shell Beach postcard, which he has a vivid vision of this supposed beach when he was a child, which gives us a little bit about his childhood. The intense action comes around the end when John is leaving the hotel room, where he sees the lobby full of asleep people, even the hotel clerk, which is unusual for him to be the only one who is awake during all of this. The writer constructs this type of exposition by having almost no dialogue in this scene, bar the conversation between the doctor and John, and the hotel clerk telling John to retrieve his wallet since he has supposedly paid for 3 weeks and his time was up 10 minutes ago. The use of actions from John becoming aware of his surroundings helps the movie set up a bunch of things that would later become important to the movie as the story goes on, whether that be through visions, or brief shots about this specific thing.
Terminator 2: Judgement Day is a 1991 sci-fi action film that is a sequel to The Terminator in 1984, in which a machine is sent back to 1995 to kill a child that will become a future leader in a resistance against a forthcoming war against the machines and humans, to which the resistance sends out a re-programmed machine to protect John from the machine that was sent to kill John.
The opening scene is in the same vein as the first film, depicting the war against machines and humans set in Los Angeles in 2029 AD. But a huge difference is that it expands upon the war against machines and humans. For example, in the original film, we open with the ongoing war, where we see the robots attacking through vehicles like spaceships and huge droids, with us shown only one person being attacked, with it ending with text that provides both background information and a brief overview of the film, with tells us that the final battle would be fought in the real world’s present, which references the first film’s plot about the Terminator being sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor.
The sequel takes the approach of the first film and widens its scope a lot, by having the first scene shown being an average day in Los Angeles, with people walking by and children playing happily at the park, and then showing the aftermaths of the nuclear explosion where we are told through a voice-over by Sarah Connor that it happened on August 25th, 1997, where 3 billion lives were lost. This helps expand upon how devastating the aftermath of both the nuclear explosion and the machines were for human society, where everyone is fighting for their lives trying to take down the machines, which are proven to be stronger than the humans, and also how humanity may never return back to its original self and only be stuck fighting for war and life itself as if they all die, the human race is officially extinct.
As mentioned above, the original film does show a bunch of scenes where the machines are at war, though we only see one human who is in danger mostly due to the limited budget for the first film. But since the second film carried a more hefty budget, this allowed the director to expand upon the fight against machines and humans by showing a lot more action-packed scenes showing the conflict between the two parties, which helps drive the importance of the war into the main story, where it follows the company who made the machines, Skynet, sending a machine out to kill the people that will be important figures to the war, with the first one being Sarah, and in the sequel it is John Connor, her son, which is shown to be the resistance’s leader around the end of the opening scene.
Moving onto the other aspects of the opening scene, the iconography present includes military suits worn by the soldiers and the machines which are shown to be robotic skeletons that resemble a human. The weapons shown include laser guns helmed by both parties as this takes place in a distant future. The transport includes a sighting of a Dodge truck or ram pickup mounted with a turret on the back, which a military soldier is seen using to fire against the machines, and the other vehicles the machines have include a spaceship and a huge mechs machine that uses wheels similar to a tank, which is a reference to the first Terminator that featured these types of vehicles.
The exposition is delivered through a voice-over by Sarah Connor, who was the protagonist in the first film. In this voice-over, she discusses the day of the nuclear blast called ‘Judgement Day’ and its survivors being thrown into war with the machines. This is where we are shown the rest through the intense action of the machines and humans, with us seeing some soldiers dying on-screen from the machines, as the machines are known to be stronger than the humans. The voiceover continues around the end where Sarah tells us about Skynet, the company that makes the machines, sends a Terminator back to when John was a kid to kill him when he was a kid, just like the last time with Sarah, the resistance sends out a machine that is to protect John, which ends up being the original Terminator that tried to kill Sarah.
The writer constructs the exposition by having the tone be dark and ominous to make you more invested in the story and why the war is an important factor in the story. The writer accomplishes it by having the Sarah Connor voice-over be chilling in a sense that makes you listen to what she’s saying while making you feel a little bit uncomfortable, which is relevant considering how the war has broken out after a nuclear blast, which is usually something dark for the human race, as it either means extinction or victory, so the voice over blends well within the context and also the tone of the opening scene. The intense action shown through the conflict of the humans and machines is another way the movie shows you how serious this is, since as we see humans being killed and possibly no end in sight, you probably wonder how it got to this, and what will happen next that could potentially stop this, which gets you invested into what happens in the actual movie, which is the point of an opening scene, to get you invested into the story of it.
Best Opening Scenes
Location Recce
Risk Assessment
Call Sheet
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Shot List
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Opening Scene Evaluation
The opening scene that I made is about a bunch of people where one is thinking of doing something today, but the people around him make the plans obsolete, which causes the main character to get angry and leave the room. The influence behind the opening scene came from one of my pre-existing script ideas for when I go out into the film industry. I picked this one because it was easier to film and knew that I could link to the topic I chose, this being Art.
The script went through a few revisions before I started filming, where the second one cut out an angry monologue that I thought would be unsayable, and another one was changing scene descriptions. I revised the script many times until it was what I considered perfect, when you write a script, you never get the idea you made a perfect script, you're always changing it for better or for worse because you always have that feeling of wanting to make a good film.
The opening scene was filmed with a Nikon Z6 with a microphone attached to it. I was originally going to borrow a camera from the college, but after doing a project with one of the friends and seeing his camera, I felt that instead i would hire my friends and use his camera to record it. This basically eliminated the camera audio and mic audio being separately, meaning it was much a quicker process than to search for the mic audio and sync it with the video.
What went well with the opening scene was the camera angles. I hired all my friends for this project, and one of them was the camera operator, some of the shots he did looked wonderful, almost better than what I had in mind. Another factor that went well was that on set, it was really fun, as the friends I hired are very much into film, so there was clear communication between people and not once was there an argument between people.
On the topic of communicating my ideas well, I'd say, with what I had, I did it well almost, as you get the basic scenario of what's happening. It's almost like a comedy where the humour doesn't come from the jokes, but from the atmosphere and absurdity of it. It's exaggerated to a degree that makes you almost want more of it.
However, what went less well with the opening scene was that the end project had a few flaws I'm not too proud of. The first one is my acting, especially when I am angry, where I can't seem to wipe a smile off my face, eliminating any possible stakes all at once, though, for the most part, I'm ok with it, even though I'm not perfect with face emotions. Another flaw that is present is that during the production, almost everyone had their own idea of it, and while it made for a more collaborative endeavour, some of the ideas left in the final cut are a bit iffy compared to what I had in mind. I wouldn't call them bad, and some may have been better depending on what you think, but to me, some of the ideas left sort of hamper the final film.
If I were to remake this opening scene, I would definitely try making the dialogue tighter in my opinion, and definitely try to improve the acting in it. the reason is obviously that these factors are almost below my standards, so improving on them would not only help the scene better but also improve my filmmaking skills. Filmmaking is all about improvements, as that's how you improve your craft and talents, which leads to a better project. A few other ones would be to get a boom mic to make the audio clearer, as some moments are a little hard to hear. But other than that, I think there's not much needing to improve.
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