My team has now officially begun the portfolio project!
Our first step of the whole process is planning out our entire trajectory from now until March 12th. So, my team and I hunkered down for a class period on Monday) and planned out the project. Here is our schedule!
\/ Me after we finish this opening \/
MGM Pictures
WEEK 2
Jan. 26th: Project + CCR Schedule Post
Jan. 27th: Research Post (Cinematography)
Jan. 28th: Film Opening Research Post
Jan. 29th: Opening Credit Sequence Research Post
WEEK 3
Feb. 2nd (In Class): Group Meeting #1
Feb. 2nd: Call w/ Team to Review Blueprint
Feb. 3rd: Group Meeting #1 Post
Feb. 6th: Media Theory Integration Post
Feb. 7th: Script/Storyboard(?) Post
Feb. 8th: Project Idea + Inspiration Post
WEEK 4
Feb. 9th: Audio Planning
Feb. 9th Call w/ Team to Review Project Status
Feb. 10th: Character Development Post
Feb. 11th: Mise-en-Scene Post 1 (Lighting + Set Design)
Feb. 12th: Mise-en-Scene Post 2 (Costuming + Props)
WEEK 5
Feb. 16th: Company Logo Creation Post (🎉)
FILMING (We are calling the film location very soon as we need permission to film)
WEEKS 6-7
Production + Post Production
WEEKS 7-8
CCR Planning and Production
Super excited to work on the CCR as I get to document my process, have a post project reflection AND make another video.
This time, I'm looking at some of my favorite title sequences in films that'll help fuel my creativity for the portfolio project. Some of the main things I will be studying will include how the openings work to establish the feel of each project through the motion, fonts, visuals and audio, and how the opening is structured (when specific names or titles appear on screen, when different visuals appear with said names, etc.)
The first example I'll be looking into is.....
JAMES BOND: SKYFALL (2012)
Source: MGM Pictures
The intro to Skyfall is one of, if not, the most iconic James Bond openings from the Daniel Craig era. The visuals are all striking and at some times even psychedelic. The sequence includes imagery of a woman holding a gun or dragging Bond down into the water and from this we get an idea that some female character will be an antagonist stopping Bond from completing his mission. There's also an amazing graphic shot where a skeleton grows on screen and the teeth are unveiled to be a row of tombstones scattered across a valley. I could go on all day about the amazing things this almost 4-minute opener does, but I only have 2 minutes to show my entire filmed sequence AND my production company graphics AND my title graphics. So I'll focus on what I can actually take from it. The music is something essential to this opening. Adele's Skyfall sets a great tone for the rest of the film, including a descending chord progression which alludes to the name of the film and the song includes plenty of Bond vibes that are present through the rest of the soundtrack. I'm going to take the same principle of representation in the music that I compose, but I'm going to make it a lot less dark as we are going for the Spy/Comedy genre (similar to Naked Gun). While I can't do the same level of graphics and visuals as this intro, due to the runtime for the project, I can try to implement some similar eye catching effects with how the title comes in.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: VOL. 2
Source: Walt Disney Pictures
Guardians 2 is one of my favorite films for its equal parts comedy, drama, and action and is definitely a vibe which I want to take inspiration from for our project. This is also one of my favorite openings as it focuses on a silly Baby Groot (the character in the screen grab above) having a fun time listening to the diegetic, Mr. Blue Sky by the Electric Light Orchestra. While he is in his own world, dancing and running around the platform, the rest of the Guardians are fighting an extraterrestrial threat and are having a hard time holding up. The juxtaposition is what makes the comedy work so well. Most of the titles and names show up as graphics that are overlayed against the "filmed" footage, but the main title graphic, as seen in the screen grab, pops up as though it is "real", staying locked on the ground as the camera moves away and having the light from the "VOL. 2" reflect on the ground and on Baby Groot. This may be an interesting idea to incorporate to some of the graphics I will end up putting into the film.
SEVERANCE
Source: Apple TV
Severance's opening is phenomenal. It is a masterpiece of symbolism filled with trippy 3D visuals of the main character going through scenes that represent the locations and themes that will be explored in this show. Now, this intro is used for a show and, often times, show title sequences vary from film sequences because of the difference in mediums. Severance's opening is about 1 minute and 23 seconds while the other examples I've used were 3 and a half minutes or more. A TV show title sequence is going to be repeated every single episode and audiences will see it numerous times, so having a long intro can be boring and unnecessary. For short episode shows, intros can range from 30-45 seconds but for longer episodes, I have found that intros often last about 60-90 seconds. However, this doesn't necessarily change the content. The Severance title sequence is such a visually striking sequence that it can be compared with many title sequences and stand as a strong competitor. As for what we can take from this for our intro...? I think the most we can use is the symbolism that the intro has. We could potentially put some kind of symbolism relating to the fate of each character into their name graphics and into the title drop.
As my media class starts our next project, creating a 2 minute film opening with a title sequence, I've been tasked with doing my own research on film openings for various pictures and how they build the world and characters for what is to come in the rest of the film. My team and I have decided to create a sick spy crime fiction opener so I'll be analyzing some films within that genre such as....
JAMES BOND: Casino Royale (2006)
Source: MGM Pictures
This opening begins the story of the newest version of James Bond, played by Daniel Craig. It is an homage to the original Casino Royale film, calling back to the old days of noir films with its cinematography (static and framing characters using their surroundings), the sharp low key lighting which highlights the characters and gives them a dramatic look, and most importantly the black and white coloring. We are considering having a meeting between the main villain and main character of our story be our opener, so there's a lot of things we can learn from this scene.
Source: MGM Pictures
The angular cinematography and framing of the characters establishes a feeling of suspense and focuses your eyes instantly to the character on screen while giving context to the setting. There's not a lot of moving parts in each shot which gives the cinematographer the ability to set up each one its own individual art piece. There are also a few tracking shots which are smooth (as opposed to handheld) to not break the sinister mood present. The lighting as well is very focused and sharp, consistently leaving faces half lit as to make the characters feel untrustworthy and mysterious. These two techniques will definitely help define our film as a modern noir and bring the same mysterious vibes as this scene from Casino Royale.
Source: MGM Pictures
There is also a fight scene which veers from the noir style of the interrogation sequence. It serves as a flashback to Bond killing a contact who works for the man whom he is meeting with. The camera work leans more towards a modern action film with lots of handheld motion following the two characters fighting in a bathroom. The lighting is much different from the previous scene as well, including the fluorescent overhead lights featured in the public bathroom.
Overall, even though this opener is in black and white, the lighting and cinematography techniques at play will help us greatly with our project.
BULLET TRAIN (2022)
Source: Sony Pictures
The opening for Bullet Train is significantly different than the one from James Bond yet still falls under the umbrella of spy crime fiction. The extra element at play here is the comedy. The banter between some of the characters and situational humor is something that we are definitely going to incorporate into our project. The cinematography and lighting in this film is much different from the James Bond film as it takes place in urban Japan where multicolored neon lights line the street and the train. Most of the shots are on a dolly or handheld, tracking characters as they walk through the train which follows the norms of an action film.
This film's comedy will be a great inspiration for us when writing our script and we may even utilize similar graphics used in the film that introduce the main players of the story.
JAMES BOND: Spectre
Source: MGM Pictures
Spectre's opening sequence is so iconic as the entire four minute scene is a oner, tracking Bond as he goes from a Day of the Dead festival on the ground all the way through a hotel to the rooftops where he then prepares to take down an enemy who he sees through the window of a neighboring building. This sequence is so elaborate and well planned as it is able to introduce us to the setting properly then show Bond's process of how he sneaks into the building to get to where he needs to be. It is very interesting, however, as the camera is, at different points, 20 feet in the air, eye level on the ground with Bond, inside, following him into an elevator, then goes through a window to follow Bond again, before moving to an overhead shot and lowering to follow Bond in an over the shoulder shot. This is such an impressive opening and sets a very adventurous tone for the film.
One thing I will also be borrowing from the Bond films is the big band jazz that makes up the score. I want to either find (through my school's subscription to Epidemic Sound) or create (on the digital audio workspace Logic Pro) a track that embodies the same high class and mysterious vibes that is often associated with James Bond or any spy film of a similar caliber.
