Drama Film Opening Research (in progress)

Hi readers! Today's post I will focus on the general image of film openings and how they are typically made. The films I will discuss are Whiplash, La La Land, and The Butterfly Effect,

1. Whiplash

In the film Whiplash, the main elements of the movie are all crammed into the opening, introducing the viewer into the plot straight away. It establishes the setting, two main characters, the situation presented where there is a music student and a teacher, and straight away starts developing his character showing by bringing the viewer closer to him after introducing him from a far distance away to make him look small. This tracking shot is made to seem like the viewer is going to follow along with his journey, which automatically connects to them to Andrew (the student)

I would like to incorporate this similar technique into my movie by showing all the elements that can help develop the plot. This would include the girls family life by showing that her parents are careless and allow the girl to get a surgery 

2. La La Land

La La Land's opening scene includes an eye catching song sequence of "Another Day of Sun" as the two main characters are introduced at first. The small humming to music on the radio during a traffic jam, quickly led to a whole dance party with people dressed in vivid colors on the middle of the highway.

Fun fact: this shot blocked actual traffic on Los Angeles, California's Interstate 105 as it connect to Interstate 110, which is a very frequently used highway.

This scene was made to seem as a big boom to immediately tell the viewers that the film would revolve around music and dancing, yet it still tied it back to the main characters (Mia and Sebastian), as it begun with them two arguing in their cars.

I liked the idea of incorporating important aspects of the overall film in a creative way onto the opening, however something big like this definitely takes a lot of budget, which I unfortunately do not have as a regular high school student without a job or sponsor.

3. The Butterfly Effect

In the Butterfly Effect, the opening scene is very confusing to first-time viewers as it essentially starts off at the end of the movie. It shows one of the very last scenes as the main character tries to travel back in time once more in a way he had never done before. Obviously, the viewer doesn't know this at first, so the whole scene leaves them with questions, with no clue as to what was going on. 

The rush as the boy runs and hides to write a note about "saving her" leaves the viewer thinking, since no girl has yet been introduced in the movie and it starts formulating questions, just about a minute into the film.

This approach at the movie is something that partially inspired my idea for my film opening, which ultimately helped me develop my plot in its beginning stages. When I watched the Butterfly Effect, I noticed I was a lot more into the movie because the beginning left me wondering how this situation even happened. Without that scene used as the opener, I genuinely don't think I would have been as interested in watching the movie as I truly was.