Film Opening - Blog Post #6

Taking Some Inspiration

        Now that we have a better idea about what genre our film opening is going to partake in and what conventions lie within the post-apocalyptic genre, I thought it would be a great idea to look at some films (both feature films and short films) to not only get inspired, but also to see how others have successfully done what my group wishes to do with this film opening. Let's look at some videos!

"A Quiet Place"

        Though there are many post-apocalyptic feature films out there, this motion picture is by far one of my favorites. Not only is it extremely captivating and engaging, but it is once of the few movies that heavily relies on silence rather than fear-inducing soundtracks. This film follows the story of a family in a world where blind monsters hunt living things using their keen sense of hearing. In the opening, one can see the family gathering supplies at an abandoned grocery store, all while being as quiet as possible (which can be shown through their use of sand to silently walk through the forest, the parents' refusal to their son getting a loud toy and the mother's careful movements when looking for medicine). Though our film opening is not about monsters or the need for silence for survival, my group can definitely take some inspiration from the mise-en-scene in this piece (the clothing, filming locations, set design, etc.) We plan on replicating the old, worn-out look in the grocery store (to the best of our abilities of course, since we don't have a budget) and using similar filming techniques as the ones used in the scene where they are walking home. 

The film's opening:

Some useful commentary on the film:

Above is a video discussing the movie as well as some effective techniques used to 

create the film's sense of danger and isolation.

"Alone"

        Another piece that I looked at as a part of my research was the short film titled "Alone." I had watched this short months prior to this project and after rewatching it, I have realized that it has an extremely similar (if not identical) plot to our project. This film is about a man who is completely alone in the world and has to scavenge for food in order to survive. As he does this, a voice over plays, explaining the character's situation in a way that is cohesive and easy to understand, supporting the visuals that are being shown on screen. Though my team has agreed that we do not want to rely on a voice over to relay information to our audience, there were still a couple things that could be useful for us when completing our project. First of all, we had agreed that we wanted our character to be surprised at the end once they find out that they are, contrary to what they once thought, not alone. Interestingly, the subject in this short film experiences this as well (right at the very end). Because of this, I will definitely be showing this film to my group in order to analyze what we could do to not only replicate this, but execute it better (if possible). Furthermore, there are moments in the film where the main character is shown to be human, not just a character on a screen. This is done when the man plays an old voice message from a loved one, showing that despite his ability to survive, he feels alone and longs for the people he once loved. Once again, I will be showing this to my group to see what they think and possibly brainstorm some other creative ways to give our subject more character.

Conclusion

        Though it is important to learn about genre conventions, it is still incredibly valuable to watch other successful pieces of media and analyze what the creators did well, what my group could do better and get inspiration for our own project. Can't wait to see where this project goes!