Inception:
After watching the beginning opening 2 minutes of this film, I gathered lots of information about the genre and topic of the movie as straight away it sends a message to its audience that something has happened to the main character in the scene. This is done through the use of sound effects of the water, showing the man has been washed up on the beach, and the use of a hand held camera enabling the audience to connect with whats happening. With the soldier being armed with large gun in one of the main shots of the opening scene, it tells the viewer that this could potentially be a follow on from a previous event. The actor at the begininng of this film shows a large sense of confusion when being washed up on the beach, telling the audience that he seems uneasy in the area he is in and questions himself to what he is doing. The psychological genre is illustrated well right from the opening scene through the use of Mise-En-Scene and the actor. I came to the conclusion that the film was action packed right from the first 2 minutes of watching it. Later on in my blog I will refer back to inception, creating a more detailed post on the film including camera shots, Mise-En-Scene and editing to relate the film in more depth to our 2 minute opening, as this is the film we are trying to base ours around.
Batman - The Dark Knight:
When watching the opening scene to Batman, I could tell straight away that the film was going to be action packed with both violence and chaos due to the camera shots and acting being quick and precise. At the beginning, the characters are breaking out of a tall building using guns, and high technology, as well as having their faces covered with an unusual looking mask. The use of all of these props shows the audience that the film is going to be actin packed and alarmed due to the characters being quite distinctive. As 'The Dark Knight' continues, theres parallel action showing the viewer that two things are happening at the same time, a group are robbing a bank, and the other members of the team are disabling security systems. The intense non-diegetic music running in the background of the action throughout the build up to the bank robbery creates suspense for the audience as they want to know whats going to happen next, leaving them with questions that need to be answered at this point of the film. When the two characters are disabling the security systems, one of them shoots the other, telling the audience that now something is going to happen in the film as they were meant to be working together, this adds to the psychological thriller genre as this wasn't expected. Possibly one of the most interesting parts of the opening 5 minutes was when the bank robbery gets turned around onto the robbers as the manager of the bank shoots one of them with his shotgun. The audience at this point in time would be stunned by the way the manager has the ability to start ruling the main action of the film, as there is only one of him and a gang of robbers. As the opening proceeds, the robbers one by one are slowly getting shot by each other, as it seems for the audience that they all want the money by themselves, throughout each scene to the point where the bus arrives another member of the robbing gang is killed, leaving the audience wanting to know why this is the case. The point where one of the well known - main characters of the filmed is unmasked (The Joker) reveals that the plot is clearly understandable for the first 5 minutes to the audience as they know he is the enemy in the film. The first 5 minutes show the audience Batman is going to be based around action and crime, giving them a clear insight into what it is still to come in the rest of the film. The dialogue clearly outlined what the storyline is at the time of action through the use of mise-en-scene and location.
I found the first 2 minutes of Avatar very different to the other 2 films I have looked at. Avatar went for a different approach and had a narrator running all the way throughout the beginning, telling the story of the main characters past as he has just been released from a scientific hospital in space, this has been used for Avatar to get the audience interested straight away with the storyline and relate them to how the character is feeling at this moment. Psychological thrillers need to get the audience involved and produce unanswered questions throughout the film to allow the audience to stay alert and attentive all the way through. The storyline is being told to the audience to engage them with the film, however, the genre is clearly identified through the use of location, sound effects and different camera shots to represent it as a Sci-Fi Action Film. The way the characters are floating around the space hospital produces questions that the audience need aswered.. Where are they? What are they doing? and Why are they there? this all relates to how we want to aim the beginning of our film. The director of the Avatar uses a flashback on the main characters life to where his brother died, allowing us to find out more about why he is in hospital and what exactly they are doing. The narrator in the opening two minutes allows the camera to back up the dialogue and relate to what he is saying, making it easy to understand and follow whats happening, this could be used within 'Black Out' for people to understand a bit more about whats going on and keep action flowing constantly. As the film continues more of the story starts to unwind as we now know he accepted the offer of taking over his dead brothers contract and joining the army, as the camera cuts to him inside a travelling system with all of the other army colleagues, sending the audience a message that he's prepared to take risks as it is a dangerous job. This film relates to the others by it being involved with action right from the beginning, as it is reflecting back on the past allowing the viewer to have a clear idea into whats going to happen next.
Summary:
Overall all three films follow the same pattern of making their audience involved with action and the storyline right from the beginning. In all of the films, the viewer has something to think about, and is given the opportunity to understand the characters and what is happening. All of the films show parts of the story line in the opening scene, grabbing the attention of the viewer and leading on to the rest of the film. Inception, Batman and Avatar are all based around new technology and action, making them enjoyable films to watch.
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