2/5 Film Openings: The Babadook & Shes the Man
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The Babadook
Initial release: 2014 (Australia)
Director: Jennifer Kent
Running Time: 1h 35m
Screenplay: Jennifer Kent
Initial DVD release: April 24, 2015 (USA)
Amelia, who lost her husband in a car crash on the way to give birth to Samuel, their only child. Struggles to cope with her fate as a single mum. Samuel's constant fear of monsters and violent reaction to overcome the fear doesn't help her cope with the struggles, which causes her friends to become distant. When things can not get any worse, they read a strange book about the 'Babadook' monster that hides in the dark areas of their house. Even Amelia seems to feel the effect of the Babadook and desperately tries to destroy the book. The nightmarish experiences the two encounter from the rest of the story are both terrifying and heart wrenching.
Shots
At the beginning of the film opening there is an established close up shot, showing the character in pain, making us feel sympathy. The shots flash in and out creating the atmosphere of pain and shock. We can make out the expressions on the face of the character therefore meaning this could me a Reaction shot. Throughout the opening scene there is a constant close up of the female character as she is moving about in what seems to be a car.
There is then a short pause in which a Two shot takes place between the female and male character, this is then when the scene flashes out and shows an Aerial shot of the female character floating back down onto her bed. From this we can conclude that the beginning is something that the character has already witnessed.
Editing
The editing in the opening sequence is quite simple. The moment we start to see the reaction of the car being hit, we are in slow motion with the character as she is thrown about, this creates a atmosphere of intensity.
Then comes a Eye-line match when we come to the still moment, and the women turns to look, we are then shown the second character in the scene,
there is then a sudden cutaway which then takes us to the female character floating slowly down to her bed, again using slow motion. From this we can come to the conclusion that at the beginning editing was used to create the feeling of a Flashback, as we saw what the character had seen, and been through before.
Sound
The sound at the beginning of the sequence is very quiet and still, due to the slow motion the sounds of the happenings in the scene are quite slow, which creates the intensity of the atmosphere, this could be known as Sound Motif. As the sequence progresses the sound gets louder creating a more intense feel. When the female character is moving slowly back to her bed, we can hear the faint voice of a young boy calling 'mummy' this could be Diegetic sound. Just before the video cuts out we can hear the little child shouting more clearly which creates an atmosphere of urgency and intensity.
She's the Man
Initial release: March 17, 2006 (USA)
Director: Andy Fickman
Running time 1h 45m
Adapted from: Twelfth Night
Screenplay: Kirsten Smith, Karen McCullah, Ewan Leslie
When Viola's brother decides to ditch for a couple weeks to go play with his band in London, Viola heads over to his elite boarding school, to be able to play soccer, disguising herself as him, and proceeds to fall for on of her soccer teammates, Duke. Little does she realise she's not the only one with romantic troubles, as she, and as her brother Sebastian, gets in the middle of a series of intermingled love affairs.
Shots
At the beginning of the sequence there are some Establishing shots of a jet skier in the water, we see a couple shots of him doing a turn in the water, then we are taken onto what seems like a football match on a beach. There is then an Aerial shot establishing the setting of the beach. This creates a relaxed and happy mood. We are then back onto the beach and are 'involved' in the football game that is taking place. At the end of the sequence there is a high angled shot as the female character shots the football through the hoop.
Editing
Throughout the film opening there is quite a lot of editing taking place. At the beginning straight away there are freeze frames as the jet skier turns in the water, exaggerating his moves which is shortly followed by the beginning of running credits. Then as we get onto the beach there is the interweaving of the original filming and an almost cartoon selection of freeze frame pictures of the action and celebration that is going on at the beach, this is used to emphasize the fun and competitiveness of the characters. This can be called Cross Cutting. This carries on throughout the opening sequence, until the very end when the female character shots the football through the hoop as a celebration.
Sound
Throughout the course of the opening there is a soundtrack that is upbeat and fun, which helps to set the atmosphere as well as joining up the feeling of happiness of a sunny day at a beach. This could be Incidental music. As well as the Incidental music you can hear the sound of the characters on the beach, screaming, talking, laughing, and celebrating, this could be Diegetic sound. The Incidental music and Diegetic sound carries on until the end of the short sequence.
Mise-en-scene
The main character is shown to be a teenage girl called Viola Hastings whose name we find out later into the film. At the beginning, Viola is happily playing soccer at a beach with the company assumed to be classmates. Voila carries on the scene by competitively playing soccer with her friends showing her amazing skills to the audience. The use of the life guard ring and the football going through it shows that she has perfected her soccer skills to a good quality to be able to shoot it where possible. Furthermore it shows Viola as more of masculine girl because females are not shown to be great at sports however in this case it looks perfectly normal because other girls are involved as well.As the opening scene progresses, Voila is on her way to soccer practice on the schools field only to realize her girls soccer team has been cut, the look on her face is blank as she breaks inside since soccer is the only thing she truly loved. A soccer ball is used in both the first scene and second scene, this could be contrasting the scenes because at first she is happy, excited and full of life however in the scene later on she uses the football to take out her stress and anger out on Justin.
Afterwards Viola is on the way to her front door, whilst walking om the path in her front garden the lightening to shown to be darker than usual and this could be pathetic fallacy showing the audience Voila's foul mood. Also her tatty hat, baggy hoodie and jeans could reflect her masculinity in the film as she looks less feminine and that she is trying to hide away from the world. In the scene she is also confused for her twin brother Sebastian which reinforces the masculinity even more.
Overall the mise-en-scene in the opening scenes makes the main character of Viola Hastings seem really confident within herself and her abilities of soccer however it takes a cruel turn as she ends up feeling distraught as her favorite sport is cut from her life.
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