Film opening that I want to represent (portfolio project)

 Part of my research for my film opening project is to understand how I want my film opening to be and how it should be. These scenes are supposed to introduce the movie in small aspects without giving the entire movie away, but to reel the audience into watching it. I have chosen The Princess Bride, The Bodyguard, and 500 Days of Summer to analyze and discuss how the directors introduce their production and how they explain their storyline.

The Princess Bride-                                                                         

The opening starts off with a baseball video game being played by a young boy. Who is home sick in his bed? His mother walks in, checking in on his illness. Also, to inform the boy that his grandfather is visiting him. The boy tells his mother that he is not happy that his grandfather is here. This creates a distance between the two characters, not so much conflict. The grandfather gives a gift to the boy, a book, which the grandfather then explains how this book was given to him by his father and how this book has action, romance tortue revenge, etc. As the grandfather settles in to read " The Princess Bride", the camera fades to another scenery which is in complete contrast to the original scene of the bedroom. As we are introducing two new characters, Wesley and Buttercup, the audience observes the tone of the film as seen from the lighting and background music. This movie is now created as a sub-romance movie. The lighting being in warm hues and the soundtrack having a calm, soothing note, the audience can view this as a movie in the love category.

500 Days of Summer-

The opening shows 2 characters, male and female. There is a narrator talking to the audience about the story of the boy. The narrator goes through the boy's life, saying the boy would never be happy until he meets the one. The girl was not showing the same belief. This shows an early contrast between the two characters before they have even met. The narrator shows bothcharacters lives as children and shows the audience how their completely different beliefs and personalities are. The narrator ends off by saying this is a story of how a boy meets a girl, but this is not a love story. Meaning the characters will not be together in the end. Foreshadowing the ending to the viewers.

The Bodyguard-

The Bodyguard opens with a gunshot and a character with a gun aiming off in the distance behind the camera. The character is seen as the protector of this film, ' The Bodyguard', because he is protecting someone who is hiding under him, and the title is being edited in front of this character. As the camera pans out to see a dead body on the ground, there is a shift in scenes to a nightcap between the two men from the previous scene. The man hiding was the protector boss, who apparently hired the protector as a bodyguard. The projector then lives to go back to his home, which barely has any lights on while he eating dinner . The scene then cuts to paparazzi and fans holding out pens, pads, and dolls for what seems to be signed by a celebrity. The doll from the fans is brought to the celebrity dressing room, and then it explodes. Interrupted by a radio in the protector's backyard as he is being lectured by a manager of the celebrity. The manager begging for the protector to help the celebrity creates a distance between their two worlds, the protector and the celebrity. The manager pleaded how they wanted the best fir the celebrity, and how he wanted to show the manager how good he is at his job, the protector gets throwing knives and aims to hit a wooden pole. At 2 missung attemp,t the protector then makes three in a row. Showing that the two missed previously were just him joking off to the manager.

my sources-

Creative85. (n.d.). The Bodyguard – Intro [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOAXOzoUStA

YouTube. (n.d.). The Princess Bride – Intro clip [Video]. YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiyZRtqi_8w

500 Days of Summer. Directed by Marc Webb, performances by Joseph Gordon‑Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2009.