Cast

Name: Usman Sadiq
Gender: Male
Age: 17
Height: 5,7"
Nationality: Pakistani
Occupation: Student
Role: He is sided with the convoy, playing the role of the heavy gunner when his team begins to get raided by the scouts. He obtains a grenade launcher from the buggy and uses it against one of his enemies. After a few successful shots, he executes the scout, but this victory does not last for long. To be exact, around 4 seconds after his succession he is shot and killed by the lead scout, who at this stage is positioned on a sand dune (the location where the scouts were initially stationed.

Name: Leonid Leschenko
Gender: Male
Age: 17
Height: 5,11"
Nationality: Ukrainian
Occupation: Student
Role: This character acts on behalf of the convoy. Although he is meant to be on a lookout position, watching out for possible threats from the back of the dune buggy using a pair of binoculars, he is shot seconds after we first get a look at him by the leading scout with a sniper rifle. However, his assassination is what initiates all the upcoming action and thrill, acting as a driving force for the films intro.

Name: Dominic Miles
Gender: Male
Age: 17
Height: 6,2"
Nationality: British
Occupation: Student
Role: This character is part of the recon scouting team. He neutralizes the katana-weilding convoy guard, and is then executed by the grenade-launcher wielding gunner. This scout, along with his partner (not the leader) can relate more to madness than any of the other characters, and are both thrilled about the idea of speed, action, and most of all, killing.




Name: Pablo Ibanez
Gender: Male
Age: 17
Height: 5,11"
Nationality: Spanish
Occupation: Student
Role: The leader of the convoy. He spends most of the time speeding with his buggy, doing

everything possible to get away from the attackers. He attempts to remain calm throughout the chase, and showcases authority by commanding his troops. The film intro ends with him about to fire his weapon at his last remaining opponent-the scout leader. The convoys intentions cannot be justified, however one thing can be said for sure, their arsenal and numbers didn't exactly portray them as the usual traders.

Character Name: Nikita zadorozhnyy
Gender: Male
Age: 17
Height: 7"
Nationality: Ukrainian 
Occupation: Student
Role: The leader of the scouts. He wields a large sniper-rifle and operates from a distant sand-dune for most of the intro. This character executes the lookout of the convoy at the start, and eliminates the heavy gunner of the convoy near the end. Authority and leadership must be presented through this characters actions, as him and his vital opponent are the only survivors of the battle, ending the film with their weapons ready to be set off at each other. The scouts team intentions are clear - capture and secure the convoys loot at all costs. They are scavengers who kill for a living, however the leaders tactical knowledge can give the audience hints at a possible military background.

Production Schedule

Created by Mariam

Shot list

Title Analysis

This will be the film title that we will use in our film opening. We choose to use the yellow color scheme to match the color of the desert. The letters themselves have these subtle strike marks of a darker shade of yellow which represent the tire tracks from the cars which will be portrayed in our film opening.

BBFC ratings

Costumes and props

Costumes and props created by Nikita

Location planing

Production company logo

Create by Jack

Production logo development

Logos created by Jack

Moodboard

Storyboard - Animated

Created by Nikita

Audience profile

Focus group video

With the feedback we obtained from this interview, as well as the questionnaire we formed in google forms, we concluded on what people might want to see and we can use this information to implement into our film opening. For example we learnt that people do enjoy special effects but at the right amount, not too much. We also learned that in a post-apocalyptic film, the gender of the main character does not really matter however it seems the audience can relate to more if it was a male character as it fits with the genre. Other things we learnt was that people do prefer the action aspect however it needs to have a story to back it up. We also have decided on how are ending is going to be, we choose to use a special weapon. In terms of music, people seem to prefer dubstep thanks to its upbeat style. We also learnt that people want comedy as well as adventure within the film, and we think this would fit in nicely with our film opening. And finally we have concluded on our film title which is going to be "Quicksand". Overall this interview really helped us with some of the critical decisions in our project.

Statistics created by Mariam, Focus group video by me and Nikita

Gender analysis

Males

Females

Editing Analysis

Narrative analysis

Soundtrack analysis

The Book of eli

Opening title sequence analysis

I Mad Max: Fury Road, there are various captions and titles used to show the main actors names, production company, as well as the movie title.

The title art used for the main title is quite unique. The main words "Mad Max"are designed using a chrome look and texture which relates to later parts in the movie where "chrome"is like gold in the mad max universe. The words "fury road"however have a different style, in this case they represent hot iron, which relates to the symbol that they were going to imprint on Max during the intro. The fire also relates to the burning of petrol and the heat of the desert.

The title art used to represent the production company is made up of a really rusty background, which represents the rusty rundown cars depicted in the movie. While the writing represents the bumpy body of the cars, showing this scrap sort of metal.

The writing for the main actors, as well as the director use the same style font and title art. The letters have this wasteland style colour and pattern. The font itself has these jagged edges and the letters themselves are not aligned, representing this rundown, post-apocalyptic feel. For the names of teh actors, under them in red writing shows the names of the characters in the movie. The red represents blood and death, and the font itself is similar to the ones used in horror movies, which suggest that there is some thriller in the movie.

Conventions in film openings

From the movies that I have reviewed, and the genre that we have chosen for our movie, there are some specific film conventions that are apparent in most of these films. Some of these conventions are: top down/ Arial shots of dystopian location, Slow pan at start, main characters  introduced, rapid change of pace, element of mystery which keeps the audience on their toes.

Textual analysis- World War Z

In world war Z, at the very start of the movie we have opening credits accompanied by a series of clips, and then the main intro starts with the introduction of the main characters.

   Genre:

World War Z is an apocalyptic action horror film. The intro of world war z is typical to most zombie/virus outbreak movie, were it starts with many realistic shots of news reports and videos that show the outbreak. It also uses lots of shots of nature, and how we are connected to nature. After the opening credits are done, the mise en scene of the movie changes, and we are now introduced to the main characters of the movie. And like in most apocalyptic movies today, the movie starts on a normal day were a happy family is having a nice day, however about 5 minutes into the movie, everything breaks into havoc, going from a peaceful day into eventually what we know as the apocalypse.

Narrative:

The intro has a non-linear narration, were different shots of news reports about the outbreak are used, giving the viewer an idea of what the movie is about. After the opening credits however, the characters are firstly introduced, and then the story follows this linear pattern were it starts of as a pleasant morning but then it end into an apocalypse, following a chain of events.

Location:

The location of were the film is set is not revealed in the opening credits, on the other hand the news reports are from various parts of the world, revealing how the outbreak isn't centered in one location. After the opening credits, we are introduced to the exact location as a small caption on the bottom right corner states "Philadelphia, PA", introducing the viewer to the geographical location the film is set in. Location is also important in this movie as the characters travel to different locations, therefore details of the story are connected to the location.

Characters:

The characters are introduced after the opening credits. In this case the characters are made up of a family consisting of a couple and their two daughters. The characters are represented as a happy family having a pleasant morning, this is usually done in apocalyptic movies as it then escalates from a pleasant morning, into this mayhem driven apocalypse, which the audience wasn't expecting.

Pacing:

The opening credits have a medium pace, the different shots of the news reports and videos cycle through in a regular pattern, the pace then increases at the end ending on the title "world war Z". After the opening credits, the characters are introduced and are found stuck in traffic. at this moment the pace is relatively slow. Then following a chain of events it gradually starts increasing. More accidents start happening on the roads, and the explosions start to appear in the distance. Then the family starts to run away from this mayhem, this is when the pace really starts to pick up. Shots of people running, accidents, and violent fights cause a fast pace. We are slowly given a glimpse of the zombies. The scene then ends with this panoramic shot of the apocalyptic city, at this point the pace slows down again.

On-screen captions:

In the intro there are lots of captions used. At the very start they show the different production companies involved in the movie, then between the shots they show the names of the actors involved in the movie, then at the very end the title of the movie appears. The style of the captions used for the production companies and actors mimics the style of writing in documents used in labs. This relates to the movies theme were they need to find a cure for the virus. The title of the movie at the end showed different shots of nature through the letters, and the "Z" was in color red, which represents blood. After the opening credits, the scene starts with a caption revealing the location in which its set, in this case Philadelphia. The font used is relatively small so it doesn't cover up the shot, and it is revealed like at the start of a military movie were the location is being typed, relating to the characters military background.

Editing and post production: 

For the intro there are a few special effects added, in this case the shots shown use different focus forming triangles, adding an abstract feel to the movie. After the opening credits however, there are various effects used for the environment. For example effects are used to simulate these huge explosions within the city which cannot be done in real life. The opening scene also uses a lot of fast cuts, specially during the high paced action scenes were there is alot happening at one, thus lots of shots at different angles are used to show all this havoc and increase the tempo if the movie. There is also background music with a high tempo which goes well with the fast paced shots and helps drive these fast cuts.

Music/sound effects:

Both the opening credits and the opening scene use a soundtrack however they do not use any music. The role of the soundtrack, specially in the opening scene is used to drive the tempo of the scenes. The tempo of the song decreases and increases depending on the pace of the shots and whats happening on the screen.

Camerawork: 
In the opening scene there are many parts where a "shaky" camera is used. This is used to mimic a more realistic perspective from the characters view, as well as blending in well with all the action. Lots of panoramic shots that pan as  well as tilt are used, in this case they are used to give the viewer a different perspective of the mayhem.

Textual analysis - I am legend

Genre:

I am legend is a post-apocalyptic science fiction horror film, set in a dystopian new york city. The intro scene has the typical look of a apocalyptic movie, were there is an arial shot of the rundown city, giving a view of the world the characters are in. It also then zooms into the characters, in this case the dog and Dr. Robert, introducing them to the audience. 

Narrative:
There is no narrative in the intro.

Location:
From the intro you can tell that the movie is set in a rundown new york city, due to the famous landmarks such as times square and the yellow cabs.

Characters:
The people portrayed in the opening are Dr Robert and his dog. This duo fits in well with the post-apocalyptic survival setting were there is a lone survivor who is accompanied by his trusty dog.

Pacing:
The pacing of the movie is relatively slow throughout the intro, however it does speed up during the chase scene were Dr Robert tries too hunt the flock of deer. The slow pace of the intro is used to give that sense of mystery, as will is a lone survivor. It also gives a tour of the abandoned NYC, therefore there is not a lot of action happening.

On screen graphics/captions:
At the very end of the intro, the title of the movie is shown, using a white "times" font, with the three letter "I" "am" Legend", each a bit bigger than the other, emphasizing on the word "legend".

Editing and post production:
Lots of CGI is used in the making of this movie, for example the rundown post-apocalyptic NYC has some CGI to achieve that look and feel. The flock of deer seen in the intro are all also done using CGI, since it would be near impossible to film and direct using real deer. The type of editing in this intro is mainly made up of fast cuts, specially during the chase scene, were the shots change many times during one action.

Music/sound effects:
No music was used for the intro, but there were some sound effects used for the deer and tigers.

Camerawork:
There are many shots wich focus on Roberst face, capturing the characters facial expressions. The Arial/top down shot of the city at the very start really emphasizes the height of the skyscrapers and conveys some mystery on what city its set in.