Opening3: Now You See Me

Now You See Me

Louis Leterrier, 2007 (Comedy/Action, 15)

Produced by: Summit Entertainment

Distributed by: Entertainment One

Budget: $75M

Box Office: $17M

Trailer, Wikipedia

Rotten Tomatoes: Scored 50%

Opening Shot:

The opening shot shows the main character practising a card trick, this card trick looks flamboyant and complicated. This has been designed to show his prowess and skill at magic. The shots used in this scene are sweeping, the camera moves swiftly, generally in a circle around the actor.

eyes closed

relics

enigma

sweeping shots

Opening2: The Truman Show

The Truman Show

Peter Wier, 1998 (Sci-Fi/Drama, PG)

Produced by: Paramount Pictures

Distributed by: United International Pictures

Budget: $60M

Box Office:$240M (worldwide) £9M (UK)

Trailer, Wikipedia

Rotten Tomatoes: Scored 94%

Opening Length: Approx. 5 mins

Opening Shot:

The fake credits

The opening shot shows the creator of the Truman show, christof, in an interview. It is solely him on screen. This shot is very basic, designed to set up the movie as a documentary of sorts. The next shot is of Truman talking to himself, this shot has been edited to appear as though it is on a TV. The shot has clutter, such as perfume and other toiletries, along the bottom of the shot. This is atypical to the types of shots often found in reality shows and has been made to show the way in which the camera's are placed on the show. We then see some fake opening credits, they introduce the characters and the character's characters. Clearly this has been set up like this so that the people watching the movie feel like their watching the TV show instead. 

The cluttered shot

Later Shots:

The slight high angle

When the light falls the camera is at a slight high angle, this shows truman's worry and powerlessness over the situation. As he goes to examine the light the angle moves to ground level, showing that Truman has now realised the light poses no threat. The next shot is of truman in his car, this shot has been edited to show numbers infront, highlighting the hidden camera style of the show. The shot is now low angle, this shows that truman is calm and seems to be back in control. By gradually changing the camera shot (going from high to middle to low) it demonstrates that truman isn't instantly in control but is instead slowly regaining control, in a tentative manner. 

Opening1: Hot Fuzz

Hot Fuzz

Edgar Wright, 2007 (Comedy/Action, 15)

Produced by: Universal Pictures

Distributed by: Universal Pictures

Budget: $8M

Box Office: £20M

Trailer, Wikipedia

Rotten Tomatoes: Scored 91%

Opening Length: Approx. 5 mins

Idents and Titles:

The Idents are linked together by an audio bridge of some sirens and a jail door, these both link to police and so prepare the audience for the setting

Opening Shot:

Opening Shot.

The opening shot shows the main character walking towards a desk. It is an extreme long shot. The yellow light connotes an action film or a sci-fi. The light is polysemic, as we do not have any Anchorage, we can see on the desk files and other office items. From this Mise en scene we know that this is a busy office as, opposed to having just a few files, there are many files, one of which is open and there is also a paper tray filled with paper. This indicates that the office is actually in use, even though we do not see any receptionist.

Note the people in the background.

Later Shots:
The next shot is cut up by clips from a montage. This was done in order to make the scene feel busy and well populated. This is also shown by having people cross in front and behind of the character. All of the people on screen for this shot are facing the opposite way to the main character, this emphasizes the mission that he is on and also reinforces the busy feeling of the scene. 

Screenshot 3

The character is also shown, throughout the montage as being brave and a good policeman however, (particularly in screenshot 3) he is also shown to be looking stupid. this highlights both the action genre and the comedy genre. There are other shots within the montages, such as a shot where the camera is seemingly running towards the door, that presents the busy nature of the main character's life.

We then cut to an almost complete contrast of this to a meeting between the Sargent and the protagonist. The scene has been slowed down completely. The background music has stopped and been replaced with standard office sounds (ie telephones, typing and paper). This scene shows a dialouge between two characters about nicholas' (the main character's) transfer. This scene sticks to the 180° rule. The camera always stays on the right of nicholas and the left of the Sargent, even during a track shot.