Guardians of the galaxy vol. 2- Opening scene

 

In the opening sequence, there is a battle going on in the background, while the camera is focused at all times mainly at the small wooden character Grut. He doesn't pay any attention to what is going on around him, doesn't really care so he keeps doing his own thing. 

The camera shots are wide (landscape style), the main focus is always on Grut tho. He acts like a small human child, that need constant care and constant attention. He is very care free, not paying any notice to the violence around him. Still happy and youthful. The camera movement is very smooth, at times it moves slow or sometimes faster, but the movement is still very consistant. The howl sequence is a single camera shot. (but the camera is moving)

The camera captures individuals members of the Guardians with the focus still on Grut, the members are always just in the background. 

There is a lot of special effects/C.G.I. going on in the sequence. (weapons, monster, background, staging, props, costumes) 

The music in this sequence is very cheerful/happy/catchy. This type of music distracts us from what is really happening in the sequence. The battle between the guardians and the monster. The violence is overshadowed with humour and comedy. The music encourages Gruts childish/happy/care free behaviour.  

The sequence has a lot of fantasy and Sci/fi elements and is happening somewhere in Space

Opening title sequence analysis- Sexy beast

 

Today in my Media studies we watch the opening sequence of Sexy beast. 

The scene is located in an isolated vila. (perhaps somewhere in Spain) The main character is a ex stereotypical gangster/mobster. He is lying by his pool on a beach chair. The camera is shooting in a bird eye view angle. A boy that works for him is scrubbing the pool floor. We can see that they know ache other quite well. They exchange a few light cheeky sentences between ache other. 

The mans' tan indicates that he has been there for a while and the isolations tells us, that he doesn't want to be found. (he is in hiding). The camera takes a lot of close ups of the man, landscape (wide) shots off the vila. Even though it's a action film the director put a little bit of comedy in to the first scene. For example when showing the title of the film, the camera zooms in and freezes on the mobsters' crutch. 

The music makes the sequence a bit lighter, so it's not intense. The music is very repetitive and makes the scene more funny. It's a catchy tune in general. 

Then the camera shows a scene of a women driving a car. She is driving very fast, also she is wearing gold, chunky jewellery (like the man) what indicates that they know ache other and that she might be driving to the villa. We still can't see her face in the opening sequence, which makes us interested in, who she might be. 

The mobster is care free, he doesn't seem worried that someone could find him. He's drinking his drink, walking around the pool taking in the sunshine. Then the scene switches into a point of view angle from a rock rolling down the hill. The rock flies past the mobsters head and falls into the pool and sprays water all over the mobster. The noise that the rock is making is diegetic. (the music in the sequence is not) 

Opening title sequence analysis- The shining

 

Today we watched the opening sequence of the Shining.

The scene has an unusual structure, it makes the person watching it feel uneasy. It has a scary, unsettleing  effect as well. The scene doesn't include any characters, only a small yellow car. The car is driving through the countryside. (beautiful setting) 

We can see that this scene indicates complete isolation from the world. And in someway it shows that the person driving the car does not want to be around people in general. He seems like someone who would be a loner. 

The camera shots are very shaky, looks like they are taken in hand. (hand held shots) The camera always takes extreme wide shots. to get the countryside in as well as the car. And that the audience can see where the car is heading. (isolated) Some camera shots are taken from a helicopter. The type of camera shots have an uneasy effect on the audience. 

We can see juxtaposition in the opening scenes. The beautiful countryside vs creepy almost scary music, plus shaky camera shots. The music is very dark and weird through out the whole scene. 

Also it looks like the editing is meant to turn our concentration to the credits, because of the continues long sequence.

About me.

 Hi, 

I'm Alexandra Mills, I'm 17 years old and I'm half Czech and half British and I moved to the Uk from the Czech Republic, to study at Hurtwood House. I'm taking Media, Theatre and Photography as my A levels here. At my old high school in the Czech Republic I did not take as creative subjects as I am now at Hurtwood. It was more academic. For example economics, maths and sports psychology. I am more of a creative person so I am very happy with the subjects I chose. Also my life revolves mainly around music and sports. I am an ex-professional boxer, swimmer, softball player. But I had to give up doing these sports professionally, to be able to come to the Uk and go to this school. Also I am a singer/songwriter and I produce my own music myself. 

In my free time or while doing my prep/school work I do watch movies, series and on some occasion even tv shows. My all time favourite film whould have to be 'Clueless'. I just think it's a classic and it's my go to film if I'm not having a good day and want to bring my mood up. I'd say that my film taste has changed over the years so much. At the moment I like watching comedies and romantic movies more than any other genres. But I do sometimes enjoy a good action film, if I'm in a mood for it.

 

I have and still sometimes do bing watch a lot of series (mostly on Netflix). My absolute favourite series is 'Jane the virgin'. It is funny, very emotional, real/fictional at the same time. It has reminds me of a modern telenovela. The howl series is exciting and makes you want to watch more and more every time. Then a classic that I watch with my family a lot is 'Friend'. I must have seen every episode at least 4-5 times to be honest. Also I like series that have a good story line and have unexpected turns, for example Ozark. I really loved that series, it was very different to what I normally watch it was more dark, deep, realistic.

One of my hobbies are also documentaries. I find myself enjoying crime, life on the streets, substance use mostly. For purely understanding and seeing other sides of every day life in the world. For instance substance use documentaries help me understand how bad drugs, smoking, alcohol actually are. how it affects our body, emotions and life in general. It has made me stay clear of drugs and educate my other friends and spread awareness. because I found out that nota lot of people realise what they are doing to their bodies and that they are hurting themselves... and then they could hurt someone else as well.

Other then films/series/documentaries I enjoy Music. Music is in my every day life. I always have my headphones in or I'm listening to music out loud whenever I get the chance. I listen to almost all genres, but my favourite type of music is R&B and soul. My favourite artists are Sinead Harnett (she isn't that famous though), then Nik Tendo (who is a Czech artist) and also Sabrina Claudio.