First two minutes or Insidious - Horror

The first thing that lets you know that the genre of this movie is a horror, are the different sounds added in just before the opening titles and then continue to play as the different names are shown on the screen. The sound played is like the same noise that is created when you circle a glass with your finger. This is the only thing thats being played for the first 5 - 10 seconds until the sound of a piano being badly played comes in, adding effect to the opening titles. The piano is randomly being played so we don't know when it will come in and how loud it will be, this creates more tension for the audience. 

The main colours used throughout the whole of the first 2 minutes of this film are red, black and some white. The colour black and red mainly indicate fear, blood or even anger. This is also another sign that the movie genre is a horror and add to the tension. They have used block writing for the opening credits. This makes you feel more fearful about what the movie will be like as the way it has been edited to overlap and fade in and out makes it seem unpredictable. 

The surroundings then change to a light, ending the opening credits, the camera scans a child's bedroom at night, which means the lighting is very dark. In the background is a violin being fiercely played, the lighting and music adds a lot of suspense because you have no idea what could happen next or if anything will suddenly make you jump.

The girls bedroom helps you find out a little about the family this film is based around as it looks like a regular middle class home. This can appeal to a bigger audience as most families today are middle class. This could also add fear for the audience because they could feel like the events that will happen in this film seem more personal because of the realistic surroundings.

When the camera finishes scanning the bedroom, we see the light of a candle and a haunting face of an old woman holding onto it, the music build up more as the camera begins to zoom in from a medium shot. The violins fade out quickly and the picture fades to black, leaving an enigma because we don't know the old lady was and why she was there. 

The screen stays black for a number of seconds until the main title almost's screams at you, filling the entire screen with the same violins and bold red writing we saw at the beginning of the clip. This would be enough to make the audience jump and build fear for the rest of the movie. From these first two minutes it is clear to see that this movie is a horror.

I like the way they have begun this movie because it builds up a lot of suspense for the rest of the film and includes enigmas to confuse the audience and make them want to watch it till the end. The use of colours and fonts is also good as adds seriousness to the plot even though we still don't know what could happen.

First two minutes of Pitch Perfect - Comedy

They have begun this film with an interesting opening with the use of sound and music because they used a sound bridge - When we can hear it in the clip before we see it. This is a good use of sound as it will link us straight into what movie is all about without an explanation on without having to explain the concept of the competition that the film based around. 

Once the sound bridged has finished, another song gets sung on the stage but done completely acapella which includes beat boxing as the instruments, they used a recent R and B song which would appeal more to the teenage audience. The music they created was up beat which would leave the audience wanting to keep watching because of the feel good vibe. 

You find out this movie is a comedy is when it changes from an extreme long shot of the stage into a two shot when we get shown the commentators making jokes about how good the performers are. Asynchronous sound is used as the commentators continue to talk about the performance but the camera shot changes when it scans the audience. 

The use of lights and clothing are very bright and colourful, making the film appear to be more laid back than serious, this suggests that these groups of people performing could be a glee club as movies and programmes that involve glee clubs are usually giving the idea that they are fun and entertaining. This can also be a hint that this is most likely a comedy. 

The surroundings change as we are now looking at a girl panicking and running down a hallway, this is a small clip lasting about 4 seconds but it creates an enigma because we don't know why she is panicking.

The camera goes back onto the performance again, almost as if they are using the song to create tension for the other team, which includes the girl that we saw seconds ago running down the hall.

By changing the shots of the two teams makes the beginning of the movie exciting as the fast clip changes adds a dramatic effect on what the characters feel like as we can imagine them to be feeling nervous and pressured to do well.

We then get focussed on the side of the stage to the other team, talking before their performance, seeming nervous because they have a tough competition. The way they have filmed and shown the characters in this way makes the audience want to see why they are worrying so much about how it will go.

One of the girls in the group isn't being civil to the other girls, making us feel like she will be the enemy of this movie and wont have a good ending. The two girls then look at each other when the enemy mentions that the singing group is being passed on to the girls that she is talking to, this could indicate that they will be a big part of this movie and could possibly be the main characters.

This is a good way to begin this film as they have included a lot of the characters and have shown their personalities, included humour and have even built up some tension making you want to carry on watching. The use of music and sounds was also good as it adds to the tension and would appeal to a big audience.

First two minutes of Taken - Action/spy

The first thing we see when the movie begins is writing saying "Twentieth Century Fox presents", this has been written in a silver font, overlaying a black background. This title is only on screen for around 3 seconds until it fades to the first clip. This gives us the feeling that we are about to watch a spy/action movie from the styled font, choice of colours and also the transition.

The first clip of the movie has been made to look like an old family video from a girls 5th birthday. The writing continues to fade in and out of the clip in the same writing and colours, while that is going on the music and sounds that have been played in this first scene sounds as though something has happened to the girl from the family video; almost haunting. On top of the slow music, there are the sounds of voices laughing and talking in the background with a slight echo after every word or sentence. This styled music and the effect of the echo's is a good way to present a first clip like this, especially as we now know it is a spy/action film. It creates a sense of mystery and curiosity because we don't know if anything has or will happen to the people we are watching in the old video, this makes us want to carry on watching so we can hopefully find out.

The old family video then changes to a different clip of a dark room, a lamp then gets switched on for us to see a man sitting there as though he has been watching this old video with us. This creates an enigma as nothing was instantly found out about who was in that first clip, making us suspect it has some relation to the man. 

A wide shot has been used to let you see more of the surroundings, maybe so we can get an idea of how this man lives as it shows old take away boxes on the table in front of him and the room he is in looks very dull and uninviting. The audience could get this idea because of the use of lighting, they have made it quite dark which connotes misery and darkness.

As the clip continues we are able to see a clearer shot of the mans face when he picks up a framed photograph, as he puts it down the camera stays focused on the photo even when the man gets up and leaves the shot. We get a chance to see the photograph that the man was looking at, we see that it looks like the same girl that was in the family video leaving us feeling more intrigued about what the film will be about. The framed photo is made to seem like a bigger deal than we would believe it to be because of the way they have put the main title of the movie next to it in capital letters - Taken. 

The clip changes as the location and camera shot also change, we are now looking at a busy street on a very wide shot as a car pulls over to park, the state of the car is clean and very rich, hinting that the person who owns it could be wealthy and important. The same man we saw in the previous clip comes out, seeing the car he owns can change the way the audience would view him, making it seem that there is a lot more to him than we first thought. This also makes it obvious that this man is the main character by the way the camera is following him but we still don't know much about him or the young girl.

Now we appear to be in an electrical shop when the shop keeper says to the man "Mr Mills, how may I help you?", by him saying this it indicates that the main character is an important person because the shop keeping addressed him as 'Mr Mills' and not by his first name. This could be a way of trying to keep the plot a secret to make you want to carry on watching to find out more about what is going on. The camera is also looking down to the shop keeper, making us feel as though Mr Mills is stronger and has a lot more importance.

I feel as though this is a very good way to begin this movie as they have slowly fed us information about the characters and who they are, but still giving clues along the way so the audience would want to carry on watching. The camera angles and lighting have also made this a good beginning because we first see the main character sitting in darkness on his on, but then we next see him with confidence in daylight, this makes it feel as though this man actually is depressed about something but he tries not to show it.



Opening two minutes of Confessions of a Shapaholic - Chick flick

It is clear to see that the genre of this movie is a chic flick without watching the trailer or first two minutes of the film, but the first two minutes gives us an introduction of the main character as she is narrating the first clip. We don't actually see her present self in the first clip but instead we see her as a child, shopping with her mum. This is a good way of beginning this movie as it explains why the character is how they are when it comes to shopping and money; because she was brought up without being able to decide what she wanted, we see this in the clip. It is also a good way to begin this film because it helps us relate to the main character more and find out what she is like, and also her parents.

The music played in the first clip is very gentle but then changes into something louder when the settings change and we see her as an adult. Changing the music and surroundings to something more bold adds effect to the characters personality as it makes her seem confident. Beginning the clip with a gentle tune goes with the style of this movie because it is overall up lifting and positive.

We can also tell this movie is a chic flick because there is a lot of things that stereotypically are associated with a movie like this, such as the base of the whole film which is shopping, clothes and the location - New York City. Also the main character is a girl which makes the female audience feel like the can relate to this characters experiences and wishes throughout the film.

Opening two minutes of Scream - Horror

Before the scene begins the title is shown (scream), if the audience couldn’t tell by the title that this film is a horror, the writing is shown in bold red writing overlaying a black background. Because the colours red and black connote danger, fear or even death, it makes it a lot more obvious to what genre the film is.

The scene begins when the phone rings’, knowing this is a horror movie the suspense begins to build up when the girl answers it to a stranger. Dramatic music and different sounds begins to play adding to the tension and fear. In the scene the girl is making popcorn, this also adds an effect as the popcorn cooks more and more, but the girl is distracted by the peculiar phone calls, which is making the popcorn heat up too much that it seems as if it’s about to burst. This is a more discreet way of letting you know something is about to happen.

This film would mainly appeal to young male adults as most horrors genuinely do, but not being stereotypical a lot of women would be intrigued by the whole idea of the horror. Because the first scene the actress is playing the role as a young girl, this could attract the female audience as well as the male because they would feel as if they can imagine being in the role of the woman in the first scene.

The girl in this opening two minutes is meant to be playing the typical dipsy, blonde girl that is vulnerable; this makes her the perfect victim for the antagonist to vitimise. Choosing the girl to be blonde and wear pink makes her a stereotypical character for a horror movie as the pink jumper and blonde hair connotes innocence.

 

From the first scene we find out about the antagonist by the phone calls the girl is getting, but they didn’t give too much away of who the antagonist is because we don’t see him; only hear him. I feel this is a good way of beginning the movie and introducing the antagonist because we are drawn in by the way we don’t know much about any of the characters or story line, making you want to continue watching.  I also think this is a good beginning of the film as it builds a lot of tension, preparing the audience for what the rest of the film will be like.