This blog post is going to be about my props and costuming. In my previous post, I talked about my locations and costuming. However, this post will be about how my characters will come to life with the costuming and props coming together. The idea for my male protagonist in the climax of the film opening is to have warm hues in his wardrobe. So with my outfit already inspired, as mentioned in my previous post I have done more research. Men in the 1970s wore bellbottom jeans with bottoms ups top downs. Many mismatched outfits showed others how you liked to be dressed. For my male character, I want a statement piece collar with light blue bellbottoms and his hair combed over to the side, as most men wore it in the 70s.
For my props, my female character will be having a type of bag that has trickets, particularly falling out of it. I want flowers, cds, and tickets, based on the storyline, to be in her bag but for the audience to see. This will create an interest in my male protagonist and show the audience why he has a liking for her. Research shows that props, particularly in romances, are supposed to symbolize emotion and the atmosphere of the scene within the film. Which shows that the props that I want for my woman lead will be perfect, as they are subtle for the opening and will be effective for the storyline to come.
This is from the famous movie Titanic. The necklace shown in this image is a significant part of this film connects the beginning of this film to the end when the credits roll.
This blog post is to show which media theory my film opening represents. My film opening is represented through the Binary Opposition Theory. As this film is to show a loss in a family, the film is to show the two main characters' lives together before one of them passes. The theory explains the experiences of life through the concepts of opposites, so my film will show this by showing the two main characters experiences with each other and showing how their relationship is built on their interactions.
Movies that have used this theory are Harry Potter and Twilight. In Harry Potter, there is a clear separation between "pure-blood", which are wizards with wizard parents, and ''muggle-born'', which are wizards with normal parents. This dynamic is between characters such as Hermione and Draco, which creates tension between the two. In Twilight, there is a clear dynamic between vampires and werewolves, for the two characters, Edward and Jacob.
This blog post is about my costuming and location setting for my film opening. Costuming will be an obstacle for this project due to my flashback taking place in the 1970s. With this flashback, my characters will be dressed in '70s attire, and I will go to thrift stores such as Goodwill to find outfits. I have found outfits on oxknit.com for my male protagonist. For my woman protagnist I am still deciding how to dress her. I want to dress her in a light color scheme as she is the "light'' of the male protagnist life.
My flashback will be in front of La Olas, which is a boulevard of restaurants and stores, and I believe it is a good place for the two main characters to meet. I want this meeting to be quick but also have a big impact on the opening as it is the entire point of this film, the woman walking into the male protagnist life. This scene is to build up to the rest of their interactions together, having the audience wanting to find out more about the two lovers' story.
my sources-
OxKnit. (n.d.). Men’s 70s brown retro knit polo. https://www.oxknit.com/it/products/men-70s-brown-retro-knit-polo
Google. (n.d.). Search results for “las olas”. https://www.google.com/search?q=las+olas
This post is to show how I want my film to be presented, visually. The storyboard is to help me outline how I see the film in my head. This storyboard that I have created has multiple scenes that are merged into montages so I am able to fit the 2-minute time duration and complete my plotline. I will be using my family for the majority of this opening. I will be going to my grandfather's house to film the first half, while in the next few weeks, I will film the second half.
The link to the storyboard is here. Three pages make up my entire scene, and I hopefully won't have to get rid of any or add any new ones. But still, this is just the outline and my vision for my opening. The name of this film is " As She Walked By". As I have mentioned in some of my posts, my inspirations are The Notebook, Forrest Gump, and Titanic. These films all gave me the idea and grasp of this project genre, and I hope you enjoy it.
My plotline starts with a family gathering after my
grandmother died, and we all visit my grandfather. I, ( his granddaughter), will have
a drink with him and ask about grandma. He’ll refer to her as the color of his
life, my Evangeline. Then transition to a strip mall. People walking around, and
while my grandfather is voicing over the frame. It will end when he starts
talking about seeing her, and then the opening ends with Evangeline's face in the
frame.
Inspiration would be forest gump and The Notebook. For
forest gump, the voiceover of Forrest telling the people on the bench his life
while the audience is visually seeing it. The notebook, the flashbacks of Noah
and Alison's life before she gets Alzheimer’s. The impact both these movies have on their
target audience was the reason I picked romance as my genre.
Romance is the type of genre to live their target audience in
tears. That’s how I want the opening to be. Of course, I would have to not
show the entire film, but I will have the heart-warming tone that these movies
brought me.
Credit seuqences in the beginning of a film production are extremely important in giving credit to the people who have worked on the movie. The following films are romance films that I have chosen to analyze closely to figure out why their credit openings are the way they are.
Moonstruck-
We start with MGM's famous logo, a lion growling at the center of their trademark. MGM is then shown, without the abbreviation, as the company that is presenting this film. Patrick Palmer and Norman Jewison Productions were two collaborators of Palmer, the producer, and Jewison, the director. The two main actors, Cher and Nicolas Cage, are inserted into the screen. While this is happening, there are various types of scenery in New York, which show the audience where the movie will take place. MOONSTRUCK is then illstrated benath the view of the city underneath the moonlight. Connecting back to the title of the film. The credits are now listing their starring actors while in the background show settings from places in future scenes. is now a character the camera is tracking, which hints to the auidence this character has an importance to the plotline. The actors are still being listed while this takes place. The rest of the people listed in the credit opening, such as the cast director, writer, and music composer names, are being inserted on the screen while many clues of the opera are being placed within the actual scene. From the beginning of this scene opening a song, "That's Amore", has been playing. When our first character starts their dialogue, the music comes to an end. This shows the audience is ready to begin the plot of the movie.
Notting Hill-
Notting Hill starts off witha female character having paparazzi surrounding her, she is portrayed to the audience as a celebrity. The production company, Duncan Kenworthy, is then inserted below her face as viewed through a camera. Roger Michell, a director, is not much later inserted below the woman's face. The celebrity is going through a montage of photos, magazines, and red carpets. The main actors, Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant are then inserted, however, we do not see Grant's actual character. Only seeing Roberts. This creates a dominant role for this character in the film. After the title of the film, Notting Hill is illustrated still beneath the charatcer face. The featured actors are then inserted for the rest of the montage of the woman celebrity.
Dirty Dancing-
During this black and white-toned opening is red color font of the text shows Veston Pictures, which is always associated with Great American Film. The Linda Gottliel Production is then followed by the title of the film, Dirty Dancing. All of these credits are in cursive, which connects to the background scene of people dancing with happy emotions on their faces. The starring actors Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swaynze with other featured actors, follow the montage of dancing. Directors of costuming, casting, music, and more are then centered on the scene to show the contrast of the red with the black and white montage. The montage then ends with a car on the highway, with a character introduced, Baby. The producers are the last mentioned in the opening credits. This shows that the movie is officially beginning.
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.
