PRACTICE FILM OPENING

the brief (tabletop shoot; live action shoot; soundtrack of Emily Barker Nostalgia; titles)

Brief: Our task was to choose our props from a selection of items including: old alcohol bottles, blueprints, clothes, brief cases, jewellery storage etc. We chose Nostalgia by Emily Baker as we believed the song tells multiple stories, displaying multiple images all at once allowing for us to replicate a lifestyle sung about to create suspicion and curiosity from the viewer. 

Inspiration: We were initially inspired to create an original title sequence in groups (with props) due to the opening title sequence of the 1991 movie - Delicassen. 

We chose some fake bloody aprons and surgeon masks to demonstrate death and violence within the short film opening. We also found some fake money and placed it all over the black cloth to display the person as wealthy. Passports are also displayed to represent travel is this particular persons lifetime, this is then followed by photos and postcards along with a picture of a female with a necklace on the picture to represent what she left behind. 

VIDEO

What went right: My partner and I decided to create several themes which go together well when filming. For example, we decided on three main themes. Travel, illness, and jewellery/wealth. Travel was presented with photocopied passports and cash lying on the table along with a postcard. These images were laying on top of a bloody apron which brought in the link of illness. This was a direct link to blood/gore/hospitals. Throughout the tabletop shoot, we had notes lying around to represent the wealth on the focused person. There was also a nasal tube which further represented illness. All our themes fit together well as they were diverse but also closely linked when considering an older persons lifestyle and what could be occuring. 

What went wrong; solutions: Initially, it was difficult selecting the props. We had a clear idea about what we wanted to be shown on the table when filming, however, other groups had props we were looking to use, so we decided to improvise. We found originality with what we were left with. There were several aprons which looked undesriable when filming this opening. However, i decided to use the apron as an undercoat for the whole set. This meant all the props were sitting on top of a bloodstained apron. This had a positive effect on our opening as there was a subtle hint of gore which would allow for any viewer to question upcoming scenes. We also had trouble placing our objects as we wanted them spaced out but enough to make our opening last a respectable amount of time. We countered this problem by zooming into our props in more detail. This overall meant that every detail was shown and our opening was a reasonable amount of time and we had staged everything as we chose.