Opening Scene Analysis:

Opening Scene Analysis:

(opening two minutes)

(Iron Man)



 

During the opening scene of Iron Man the audience are faced with the opening extreme long shot, a view of a desert and complete silence, with only the diegetic sound of the wind. In the distance three trucks are driving along the road and straight away we are given enigma's as to why the scene is set here.The next shot displayed is a long shot of the trucks driving towards the camera with a background music which is very manly and can be seen as a convention of an action film. As the scene goes on we discover that the trucks are army trucks and the audience can question whether they are completing a mission, as at the top of the truck is a soldier, handling with a gun and on the look out for any of the opposition. The range of shots of the trucks make the audience excited and they are immediately drawn in as the scene looks dangerous, but still questioning why they are here.The next shot is inside one of the trucks, and we get a glimpse of some of the soldiers inside the car. The audience are shown a close up of a glass of alcohol being held by someone, which is unusual as it doesn't fit with the rest of the scene, and in the background, coming into focus, we are shown a medium shot of a soldier who also looks as confused as the audience as to why the character is drinking alcohol, but he can also be seen as intimidated by the character, who we have not yet been introduced to. Straight away the next close up is of the protagonist, Tony Stark, wearing very formal clothes which makes him stand out from the rest, the glass of alcohol can connote that he has a lot of power as he is doing things that you usually wouldn't think a person would be able to do during the conditions of the scene.
 

The protagonist talks with a lot of dry humour which helps the audience connect with him allowing the character to become more personal to the audience instead of referring him to just the protagonist, even though we are not given him name. Just as we get used to the humour in the scene, a soldier asks to take a picture with the main character, connoting he is a celebrity. Just as the picture is about to be taken, the audience are shocked with a sudden explosion of the truck in front, which they see through an over the shoulder shot of the soldier in the front seat. The sudden explosion creates another enigma as to who is attacking them and why. The characters start shouting and we hear loud gun noises in the background which keep the audience in their seats waiting to see what happens next. One by one the soldiers are killed leaving only the protagonist to fend for himself.

The camera becomes out of control, which helps the audience to feel how chaotic the situation is, the camera does not stay still on the protagonist, which can connote that he doesn't know how to react and doesn't know whats going on. The audience watch as the protagonist runs and panics, trying to find a point of safety. While trying to call for help, we are shown a range of close up angles of the main character and the repeating gun shots keep the audience of the edge of their seats. Suddenly a bomb falls right next to the main character and shows an extreme close up of the maker of the weapon called 'Stark Industries' and before he can get away he is hit with the bomb and the ending shot is a close up of him lying on the floor bleeding and unable to move. The picture blurs as well as the sound suggesting that he is dying or becoming unconscious.The opening scene is very intense and exciting which can be compared to the convention of an action film, faced with a lot of enigmas, audience will be wanting to keep watching to find out what happens throughout the film.

Favourite Genre:

Favourite Genre

My favourite Genre is Action because it is very good at drawing the audience in and always surprising them.
Action film is a genre in which one or more heroes are forced into a series of challenges that typically include physical stunts, extended fight scenes, violence, and frantic chases. Action films tend to feature a resourceful character struggling against incredible odds, which include life-threatening situations, a villain which generally concludes in victory for the hero. Usually involved in action films there is Heroes and Villains, Fights, Explosions and crashes, Anger, Big cities which are usually modern (e.g. New York), Massive Destruction.



The film i really enjoy which links to action is 'The Dark Knight' i believe this story line is very different to others and it links with horror with the clown trying to take over.

The trailer for the dark knight uses loud explosions, gun shots, the main characters talking, screaming and laughter from the joker. These things would make the audience be drawn in by the noises made which would suggest that the film is saying the joker always gets his way.



Opening Two Minutes Analysis:



Opening Two Minutes Analysis:

(opening two minutes)

(Iron Man)

 

The film 'Captain America' begins by making the film look and sound dramatic and mysterious. This is done by having the scene dark and foggy then having a plane fly through quite fast but all you can really see is the headlights with suggests that anybody could be driving the car and it would make the audience wonder who and draw them in. This only takes around 3 seconds.

When seeing Captain America the audience would also be able tell that this is an action genre film because what he is wearing you can tell he is the hero and he is going to compete with someone else. Also the way he is talking  suggests he has all the power as he is telling people what to do and making a plan. He is very sarcastic whilst talking to the other people which could suggest that no one messes with him and that he is too clever for them.

The opening camera shot is a tracking shot of the plane zooming through. This would draw the audience in because it is so fast that you can't really see what it is but by the zooming noise and the speed of the plane you can tell what it is.

The way he jumps off the plane without anything attached to him, only a mask to protect his appearance. This suggests he is brave and nothing can defeat him without a fight. Again this shows the power in him and his ability to fight.

After he jumps out of the plane the men that are with him look at eachother as if to say he is amazing and he can not be beaten but then they do not seem surpirised when he did it which shows he does it a lot and he doesnt have any fears.

As he is falling from the sky the music get intense and draws the audience in because he is falling onto a town in the dark. You get a birds eye view from where he is falling which gives the audience a feel of what he is seeing and he draws caution to the film. He then dives into the water and within 2 seconds he is out and on a ship which you get a whole view of before he gets onto it which is lighten up and looks incredable. By this time the audience is wondering who this ship belongs to because it could be a friend of his or an enemy who is going to compete with. Again the music is still very intense which makes you worried for him but because of the way he jumped  out of the plane the way he did and jumps into the freezing cold water suggests that he isn't afraid.

The scene then goes straight onto the ship and attacks all the enemies on the ship on his own. This suggests he is talented with what he does.

Favourite Director:

Nick Cassavetes

Nick Cassavetes who is a director but also an actor is none for his films 'My Sisters Keeper' and also 'The Notebook'. His latest film is 'The other Women' which was released in 2014 and was a big success. He has always been involved in films even from when he was younger, as a child he appeared in two of his fathers films. He is the son of actress Gena Rowlands and film Director John Cassavetes who was also very successful. He has appeared in the films Face Off, The Wraith, Life, Class of 1999 II.

From the films i have seen in which he directs shows his style is mostly romance which is one of my favourtie genres, this is why i like him as a directer.

One of his main achievements is that he won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children/Youth/Family Special award which he said made his career.

What influenced him to do this is because he father was a directer which meant as he was growing up he was always with other people who knew things about films, which took him down the path of directing film. Although his dad was a directer and had amazing ideas he didn't ever go to his dad for help and always made up his own ideas.

Analysing genres:

Genre Table:

Genre:	Conventions	Film titles
Action	Heroes and Villains, Fights, Explosions and crashes, Anger, Big cities (modern), Massive destruction.	Skyfall, Transformers, Superman.
Drama	Happy endings, Structured with climaxes, Audience get emotionally attached, Doesn’t have to be a complete drama.	Titanic, Forrest Gump, The wolf of wall street, The fault in our stars.
Adventure	Exciting stories, Set in jungles or deserts, Disasters, Can express horror.	Indiana jones, Wizard of oz, Jaws.
Horror	Set in dark streets, lakes, roads, woods, Camera work is very expressive and not natural, Dramatic, Anger, Regrets, Explosions, Villains, Deaths.	Saw, The Conjuring , Would you rather, Insidious,
Comedy	Light hearted plots, Set in bright places in towns, Set out to make people laugh, Camera is very natural, Hero, Villain,	Step brothers,  The hangover