STUDENT FILM OPENING

ANALYSIS By Hadley Stones

THE EDGE

The Student film opening I chose to Analyse was Rory Campbell's

Film "The Edge" which was about a boy who was pictured in an

abandoned tower block car park with something he shouldn't have and 2 men in suits are sent to go and get it back anyway

they can or have to.

EDITING

TITLES

The titles used in the film opening are relevant to the

film genre from what is seems as well as where they're

placed in the shots they are placed in very neat and

relevant places and suit the scenes well.

ELLIPSIS

There was a good few uses of ellipsis in this film opening

with allowed it to look very disoriented and very

distressed as the main character was panicking also it

allowed us to think that he has no way of escaping that

they was at his every turn.

VISUAL EFFECTS

The used of slow motion at the end which follows a flash back

scene shows his past events flash before his eyes and he is that

scared that time slows down and he is motionless as a result of fear as he has a gun drawn on him.

FILTERS

The filter used in the shot below shows an over layered filter on

the shot which portrays the sense of disturbed but a calm feel to

the clip. Also this technique is used to set a mood for the scene

before things get hectic. The filter then breaks from a distraught

scene to full colour when he is outside which sort of symbolises

reality but when he's in the tower block it represents fear and

containment.

FLASH BACK SCENE

There is a use of a flashback scene in the clip to give the

impression of the chase and the adrenaline fuelled chase that

has just happened and sort of gives of the saying of your life

“flashing before your eyes” and this gives of the feelings of panic and fear that the main character is feeling as a gun is drawn on

him

FOCUS PULL

There is a focus pull in he opening where he is on the roof and is

facing away from the door and then the camera focuses to the

background and shows the two men coming onto the roof and

blurs out the character in front of the camera and this then shows that we can see them he cant for a split second before he

turns around.

SOUND

The sound used was very minimal in terms of diegetic dialogue

which wasn’t needed because the way in which the scenes ran

told the story itself without needing speech. There was a use of non diegetic music which gave an enigmatic feel to the piece.

CAMERA

P.O.V SHOT

The point of view shots used in The Edge are to show you what

the main character sees and from his perspective and can be

seen to show what is in his eye line coupled with a mid shot to

see what the rest of us can see what he cant for example in the

second shot we can see what's in front of him but we can then see the person chasing behind him. This shot also gives of the

sense of fear as we don’t know where the other man is when we

only see the boys perspective.

CLOSE UP SHOTS

The use of close ups shots show details of important things and points

throughout the film opening and they make it clear what we should

be focusing on in the film such as what he has in his hand in the first

elevator scene shows that its and important thing he has in his hands

and then its clear after, that its what the men in the suits chasing him

mare after. Also the close ups show us who the main character is

such as in the elevator scene after the cut away to the two men

entering the building.

There are two opposite sets of filming when the chase scene

begins, it is very erratic filming when the man chasing the boy is

being the filmed and very shaken chase scenes but with the

other man who simply walks to the elevator all calm and the

camera work is very calm and steady which is a good use of

contrast in the opening and shows how both men choose to deal with the situation and sort of brings the feeling of the tortoise

and the hare and the one who takes his time catches the boy at

the end.

MISE EN SCENE

COSTUME

The costume used in the film opening matches the

stereotypes of the characters they play such as with the

two men sent to get back or get the boy would be

classed as “Hench men” which traditionally wear suits

and if they had wore other things they might have been

able to get with things such as leather jackets or

something but the lad is seen wearing a hoody and

casual trousers which is stereotypical of what teenagers

of his age would wear.

LIGHTING

The lighting used in the film opening is very low key at points such

as when the boy is in the tower block and when he runs back into

it but there is high key lighting being shown when he goes outside

to the roof which sort of shows an escape to the real world and away from the panic before he goes back into the low key

lighting.

High key

Low key

ACTORS

The use of actors in this opening make the film

opening better because if they had chosen a younger

actors to play the men in suits then it would ruin the

feeling of the feeling of the film as it would just seem

like 2 lads chasing another lad round a parking lot and

look stupid but they chose the right ages for the roles they played such as the kid was the right age and

shows that when kids get into trouble they don’t

posses the knowledge to get themselves out the

situation they know just to ruin and it will be alright,

PROPS

The props used in this opening are slightly limited but all the ones

used are important because things such as what he has in the

elevator which may appear to be a bomb or something

important. Also the use of a gun which actually looks like a gun

adds to the realism of the opening rather than it be an easy to see fake which would ruin the suspense of the film. As well as the

use of the roller skates which is used by the boy and a

stereotypical things that a boy would use to outrun people.

MAKE-UP

There was not a big use of make up needed in this film opening

as there was nothing significant needed that I could find.

SETTING

The setting that was used in this opening was good to match the

themes and feelings for the film as it was very enclosed and gave

the idea of no escape no matter where he goes and eventually

he will get caught also its quite a weird and abandoned setting

which gives of many enigmatic questions such as why is he there ? Why is nobody there ? I think they picked a good choice of

setting and used a good use of camera shots to match the

setting.

CONCLUSION

Overall I feel that was a very good and strong media film

opening it used many key technical elements that its chosen

genre which I presume was action and a bit of mystery in it

needed. The use of sets, props, actors, titles, music and editing

made the film opening easy to read but made us wanting more. I think this film would meet its target audience as it invites viewers

in because it was done to such a good standard. The only gripe I

have with it is the actual title itself I think when it pops up on the

screen it’s a bit cheesy.