Evaluating Past Students' Work

"Drained"

Drained used a variety of different shots as you can see from the screen-shots that made the opening sequence very effective. Overall the camera work was good, the camera was handled well and kept steady. The lighting was good in the opening sequence and the shots were clear. I didn't think the dialogue or acting was very realistic, as the 'boss' character isn't old enough.


The establishing shots (0:11-0:15) which is a common convention among opening sequences is effective as it allows the audience to see the location and set the scene. However I feel the pan of this street should last longer as it is quite short and does not last long. 

These two shots are effective as they both clearly show the male character as much more intimidating. The first gives the audience a low angle shot and makes the audience view the character as quite powerful and a figure of authority. However, this shot is let down by the facial expression of this character, as it does not tell the audience that he is angry. This second shot is a two shot, where we see very clearly the authority this character has over her. This shot could still be improved as we should be able to see the girl's reaction to this.

This opening sequence uses super-imposed graphics which is good as it is much more interesting for the audience than a black screen. The typography has slight movement which again makes it more interesting, through the shots of her getting ready. 



The continuity editing from (0:35-0:40) has been done really well, making the cuts as invisible as possible, making the shots flow easily into one and other. This amount of varied shots make an opening sequence that is quite slow-moving much more interesting and gives it some pace. 

 
This opening sequence also has a good amount of credits, showing  many different roles. It also shows the logos of production companies and follows a good order of job roles. 

The shot at 0:45, I found is really effective as it is a good way of changing location, as the clock fades into the washing machine and the title credit "Drained" appears. The opening sequence also shows many pans of the launderette showing where this film is set. This tells the audience it will be a key location in the film and plays a role in the story. The opening sequence also establishes characters, as it is made clear that we are in a place of work, and that the male character has more authority over the female. At the very end of the opening sequence we see him strangle her, which hints at the theme of abuse or violence in the film.
 

"Bridges"

I think Bridges could be improved by using a more interesting story-line and making it much clearer to the audience what that story-line is. There could also be a bigger variety of shots used in the opening sequence. As you can see in some of my screen-shots, the 180-degree rule is broken. However, the camera work in this opening sequence was smooth and steady and they filmed in a real shop with normal customers in there which must have been difficult.

The opening sequence starts off with the production companies logos and a clean pan of the location which sets the scene for the audience. We have quite an upbeat song in the background, which engages the audience. However this song choice isn't exactly matching the scenes being presented to us or hinting at any themes that may arise in the film. Therefore the sound is not relevant to this story-line. Also where they have filmed in a real life location with normal people in the shop, we hear a lot of background chatter making the character's dialogue very unclear.

This opening sequence also does not include enough credits and the credits are not given enough screen time. They are shown so fast the audience would not be able to read them. By watching this opening sequence I got the feeling that credits was something that was forgotten about and left to the end, the credit with the title of the film cuts to a black screen, which is boring for the audience and also the credits seem to be placed randomly throughout the sequence. This can be improved by focusing more on how to make credits interesting for an audience, the order they are presented in and in researching the amount of credits showing many different job roles are presented in the opening of a film.