In a motion picture, television program or video game, the opening sequences are shown at the very beginning and list the most important members of the production. They are now usually shown as text superimposed on a blank screen or static pictures, or sometimes on top of action in the show. Opening sequences try not to reveal the plot of the movie, however they set tone, introduce a theme and even undercover some characters.

Dark Knight Rises Opening Sequence Analysis.
By Philipp Gazmanov. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRCM0jWEQjQ

At the start of the film, there are no opening credits, or any information about the film included, for example to actors names and the name of the producer. However this has been done because the Batman series is well established this is because the same the actors are in the movie, this then meant the titles weren't needed.

 

Fade in has been used at the start of the opening sequence, you see this when the Batman symbol starts to crack into the screen, and it fades to black to then go into the funeral, the effect this has is that it follows the sound bridge that came before.

Cross cutting is the used when the plane gets attacked, from this you are shown different action shots, for example the pilots loosing control.

By the camera flashing back and forth the action set ups that have been put back together have started to create tension because you as a viewer doesn't know what’s about to happen, this also makes the film more exciting as you want to find out.

You first see an aerial shot of the plane flying over the mountains; this shows the plane in the air. You see the plane over the mountains twice and each time it shows you in different areas. You also see an aerial shot of two planes, this is when a bigger plane comes and flies over the CIA plane. As well as this you see an aerial shot of Gotham City. This is very effective, because it shows the audience how high it actually is, so it will very frightening to see people almost falling down.

 

Zoom is also included in the film, you see this when the camera zooms in on the close shot, this shows the character in more detail and expresses his emotions.

The camera then zooms in on Bane when his face is being discovered; this then means you are seeing who this person is for the first time. You also hear his voice for the first time, which differs and makes you uncomfortable.

 

The music is also very intense and dramatic, which creates the effect of combat. In fact, the music suggest that in this case the evil is winning.

 

The most significant moment of the opening sequence.  Bane unmasked.

Seven Opening Sequence Analysis.

The opening sequence shows some unknown character planning or investigating something. The camera is wisely placed, so we can only see the hands of the mysterious person. This close shot enables to observe the little details on the table, and witness what work the person is doing with his hands.
Camerawork is greatly used to portray the thriller conventions. There is shot of someone shaving his fingertips, these are disturbing images which convey pain and self harm. This use of camerawork creates suspense and scares the audience. The camera angles also control the vision of the audience. For instance, extreme close ups hide a lot of the location, which leaves the audience in uncertainty.
There are also many shots of a book with its pages turning, this conveys the time that goes by, and suggests that it is taking them a long time.
The way the opening sequence was edited gives the fast and monotonous pace, which creates excitement and tension. Different flashes of light and camera shakes disorientate the audience.

Narrative: The opening sequence shows some unknown character planning or investigating something. We see a pair of hands cutting newspaper articles, books, and writing into a journal.

Camera angles: The camera is wisely placed, so we can only see the hands of the mysterious person. This creates a sense of curiosity, and the audience wants to know more about what is happening, and why?

Sound: The backing track contains sound effects such as screeching, animal noises, and a heartbeat. The volume gets louder, and the beat increases in pace; this automatically causes the audience to start feeling more panicked and tense.

Colour: The colour palette used was quite dark; with lots of dull grey, black, brown and reds. This made an otherwise normal scene (of someone scrapbooking), look quite scary and intense.

Hello, my dear readers.

Yesterday I had another practical lesson, where we were taught how to use camera and film sequences. It was very productive and exiting. Along with new filming skills we learnt how to locate the camera in a desirable position and which shots work best with particular events. The camera expert told us when to zoom in and focus, and then to zoom out.



Shooting a Sequence. This week we were introduced a simple method of shooting sequences on a single camera. The entire scene is first filmed in a wide shot, then played out again I a few mid shots and finally whatever close-ups that would help tell the story and to be used as cut always. With the camera still running the hole scene was, even if most of it is out of shot. The technique ensures that he action flows together nicely in the edit, will not have any story gaps, has good continuity and also gives the editors more options.

Preliminary Task Shoot. We worked in groups of three, for this task,


I am very looking forward for another practical lesson.

All the best.
Phil

Camera Lesson.

Last Friday afternoon, we spent a lesson observing and studying cameras. It was very entertaining, mostly because I never had a chance to use a professional camera until this moment.
To begin with, we have been taught how to locate the camera and stabilize, so it does not move, and is balanced enough not to fall down.
We also learned how to zoom, and find focus. I found those skills very significant to our course, because we will be doing lots of filming, through out the year.
We also found out, that in order to change light from room-made to natural, you need to find the white area on the background, zoom it, and press the small button on the camera and the light intensity changes.

The cameras we used were SONY NX 5, which are very modern and are used in professional filming.

In conclusion, I can add that it was a great lesson, and I really enjoyed learning new skills.

Phil.
In the first lesson we started with setting up the tripod. This instruction covers changing the tripod height with the locking nuts on the leg, adjusting the pan and tilt lock to hold the camera in position; and bubbling the tripod by unscrewing the tripod head and then rebalancing it so that the spirit level found on the base of the tripod head is level. The students also learned how to attach the camera to the tripod making sure that it is securely locked in place.

We then learn the basics of how to use the camera. First learning how to focus the camera by zooming all the way in on the subject, adjusting the focus ring until the  picture is sharp and then zooming back out to your shot. We also covered exposing the shot correctly and white balance, touching on the difference between indoor and outdoor light temperatures.