The student film i'll be analysing: Albatross
Why i chose to analyse it over everything else:
I chose this mainly because the consideration of mise within this opening is some of the best i'd seen from the production i had to choose from. The consideration of mise will be extremely important for our film opening as my group an i plan on creating a Noir film. As there will be no colour, and little hint to the story beforehand, mise-en-scene will be extremely useful when we want to portray our films backstory without revealing too much information through subtle hints. I'm not saying some of the devices from this film opening can be transferred in to use for our own film opening, as it wouldn't fit with our chosen genre, but if i begin to think about why the group here decided to feature the items on screen, perhaps their method can be transferred instead, and that would be extremely useful
13 seconds in to the opening, the credits begin to appear. The font used in this case fits with the genre that this group were trying to present, which i'm guessing is horror and / or thriller, as it presents one of the main generic conventions shown within that sort of genre, and that would be the atypical chalk writing, usually presented on walls. The setting is also dark, or presented to be as dark on the camera, as it has the holes in the roof of this "abandoned building" sort of setting to present the light of the outside world, and how it contrasts with the inside of this building. The reason i'm getting the "abandoned" feeling from just this beginning scene is because of the design of the set, hanging moss from the walls, holes in the roof (which also help contrast the light levels of the outside of the building, compared to the inside) and the old, cobweb filed wooden pillar that takes up at least a third of the screen composition, which really helps put emphasis on the derelict building that this is being captured in.
The next scene puts emphasis on the contrast on light levels by showing a close up shot of the three holes that shine light through on to the adjacent walls of the building, but also reveal more of the state and what could have happened within this building. some questions which may be asked by the audience now are "why are those holes there? what are their significance? they look small enough to be bullet holes, but are they?" etc. Dependent on the scenes which happen within the full film, this may have been giving insight as to what has happened in this building before the main story even begins. However, i can't help but feel the scene was shot a bit too low and i think it may be due to the composition. i want to know what the other source of light is, but it's not visible in the shot, only the light shining from this hole, on to the wall. This scene is good though, as it shows and emphasises the run down state of the room by zooming in from the previous shot on to the cracks, moss, cobwebs and holes in the wall.
In this scene also, a shot appears on screen for a split second of a fireplace. Could this be hinting at the fact that someone still inhabits this rundown household / warehouse. Or were they burning something important to the story? perhaps the appearance of the scene was too quick, but i managed to get a glimpse of what the scene was trying to represent, especially as the colours with the scene in the background contrasted so much.
The next scene shows a close up of a stack of books, taking up at least two thirds of the screen. Perhaps the director of the film wanted to put emphasis on the books in the frame, but i can't read what they say. All i know is that their cover and spine design look old, almost like they're from the 1900s, and this may be why they're intentionally put there.
It then cuts to a sot of the wall, but the wall has the shadow of the figure that keeps twisting her hands. This may be to show that this person whose shadow is being portrayed on the wall is crazy or is going crazy. This appears for about two seconds
It then cuts again to another shot of a roof, but this time, the colours are heavily contrasted and it's easy to see the difference between the lights and darks. it's easy to see that the roof is made of very crude materials such as metal sheets and wood, and some overgrowth is creeping in through the hole. this again just emphasises how old and run down this set is, and i would consider this to be a generic convention i these sort of films.
The scene then cuts back to the books, but from the other side where the pages are shown. blood starts pouring out from the pages. this could lead the audience to believe that whatever information held within the pages of these books are cursed, because it's not everyday that you see blood coming from books.
The names of the film is then revealed to the audience, but just before that, it is revealed to the audience where the shadow is coming from, and shows a medium shot of the woman hand twisting, which suggests something sinister, especially as the scene cuts to black. As the name appears just after the scene fades to black, the audience is left up to interpretation, and may think that the name of this sinister being is Augury.
After this fade to black it shows the books again, but with more blood than before, suggesting that something inside that book is bleeding, or it is in context of this film, cursed.
It then cuts to a scene of another setting, and then to some feet. Judging by the way they're shown, this person is on the ground, but why are they on the ground? because it's a thriller, i highly doubt it's because they are asleep. This person may be dead, but judging by the feet still twitching, unless that's due to the camera movements making this seem like it, but the persons feet are actually still, in this case, it could be the person who died in this place, and is now haunting the place that she died, possibly murdered in. Or perhaps they were knocked out because they trespassed on this haunted ground.
The person is then seen dropping the book after this and then it cuts to an establishing shot of the location which the house and scenes are set. The darkness (probably applied in post production editing) and the fog suggests the generic conventions of the set in horror films, which reminds me of some scenes shown in popular horror films such as "The Woman in Black", where the setting is always foggy and gloomy, hinting and using dramatic devices such as pathetic fallacy to show that the weather is foreshadowing the mood of the upcoming films in this scene, which contrasts with how the opening comes to an end
There are some notable scenes after this, such as the shot of the window from the outside of the house. The shrubbery and vines hanging off the building, covering most of the outside of the building really helps to emphasise that this building is abandoned and out of sight, and in that case, out of mind and forgotten about.
Another notable scene would be the swinging noose, even though it is only shown for a couple of seconds. This suggests that a person who once lived here hung themselves. If the noose was outside, it would be a different matter, as that could suggest that a person here died by public execution, but that isn't the case. The person who died from this may be the one haunting the house, and the noose is usually seen in horror movies, so it could be considered a generic convention.
Conclusion
A lot of the scenes become repeated after the scene, like some more hand twisting is shown, more blood in books and more shots of the holes in the roof
However, i wouldn't consider this a downfall of the opening, as all of these scenes use mise en scene and generic conventions of their chosen genre well enough to pull it off. Analysing this opening made me realise that using generic conventions is not a bad thing. If a film is generic in the sense that it uses the same devices as other movies from it's genre to portray a different story, that's okay, and this is presented here. It also made me realise the important of mise en scene and how it can improve the scene a lot, just by adding a few items or effects that improve the visuals of the scene on screen that also have a hidden meaning regarding the films story.
The next scene shows a close up of a stack of books, taking up at least two thirds of the screen. Perhaps the director of the film wanted to put emphasis on the books in the frame, but i can't read what they say. All i know is that their cover and spine design look old, almost like they're from the 1900s, and this may be why they're intentionally put there.
It then cuts to a sot of the wall, but the wall has the shadow of the figure that keeps twisting her hands. This may be to show that this person whose shadow is being portrayed on the wall is crazy or is going crazy. This appears for about two seconds
It then cuts again to another shot of a roof, but this time, the colours are heavily contrasted and it's easy to see the difference between the lights and darks. it's easy to see that the roof is made of very crude materials such as metal sheets and wood, and some overgrowth is creeping in through the hole. this again just emphasises how old and run down this set is, and i would consider this to be a generic convention i these sort of films.
The scene then cuts back to the books, but from the other side where the pages are shown. blood starts pouring out from the pages. this could lead the audience to believe that whatever information held within the pages of these books are cursed, because it's not everyday that you see blood coming from books.
The names of the film is then revealed to the audience, but just before that, it is revealed to the audience where the shadow is coming from, and shows a medium shot of the woman hand twisting, which suggests something sinister, especially as the scene cuts to black. As the name appears just after the scene fades to black, the audience is left up to interpretation, and may think that the name of this sinister being is Augury.
After this fade to black it shows the books again, but with more blood than before, suggesting that something inside that book is bleeding, or it is in context of this film, cursed.
It then cuts to a scene of another setting, and then to some feet. Judging by the way they're shown, this person is on the ground, but why are they on the ground? because it's a thriller, i highly doubt it's because they are asleep. This person may be dead, but judging by the feet still twitching, unless that's due to the camera movements making this seem like it, but the persons feet are actually still, in this case, it could be the person who died in this place, and is now haunting the place that she died, possibly murdered in. Or perhaps they were knocked out because they trespassed on this haunted ground.
The person is then seen dropping the book after this and then it cuts to an establishing shot of the location which the house and scenes are set. The darkness (probably applied in post production editing) and the fog suggests the generic conventions of the set in horror films, which reminds me of some scenes shown in popular horror films such as "The Woman in Black", where the setting is always foggy and gloomy, hinting and using dramatic devices such as pathetic fallacy to show that the weather is foreshadowing the mood of the upcoming films in this scene, which contrasts with how the opening comes to an end
There are some notable scenes after this, such as the shot of the window from the outside of the house. The shrubbery and vines hanging off the building, covering most of the outside of the building really helps to emphasise that this building is abandoned and out of sight, and in that case, out of mind and forgotten about.
Another notable scene would be the swinging noose, even though it is only shown for a couple of seconds. This suggests that a person who once lived here hung themselves. If the noose was outside, it would be a different matter, as that could suggest that a person here died by public execution, but that isn't the case. The person who died from this may be the one haunting the house, and the noose is usually seen in horror movies, so it could be considered a generic convention.
Conclusion
A lot of the scenes become repeated after the scene, like some more hand twisting is shown, more blood in books and more shots of the holes in the roof
However, i wouldn't consider this a downfall of the opening, as all of these scenes use mise en scene and generic conventions of their chosen genre well enough to pull it off. Analysing this opening made me realise that using generic conventions is not a bad thing. If a film is generic in the sense that it uses the same devices as other movies from it's genre to portray a different story, that's okay, and this is presented here. It also made me realise the important of mise en scene and how it can improve the scene a lot, just by adding a few items or effects that improve the visuals of the scene on screen that also have a hidden meaning regarding the films story.
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