Inspiration:

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower (2012)




One thing I really liked about the film the Perks of Being A Wallflower was the title font they used at the beginning of the film. The white typewriter font (courier) on the black background looks simple and classic and creates a sense of nostalgia which I think would reflect well in my own film.

Another section of this film that inspired me for my opening was the

scene with Charlie's mental breakdown. This subtly plays memories from Charlie's past which have resulted in the deterioration of his mental health. An example of one of these was the car crash which killed his aunt. This short flashback is what inspired the shot flashes of memories throughout the opening. It links to past to the present for the viewer and makes it clear that the mental breakdown is a result of all his memories flooding back at once. These flashes back and fourth between the present and past display Charlie's fragile state of
mind. There are also subtle actions throughout the shot of Charlie walking down the street, for example him pulling at his tie, therefore suggesting he is struggling to breath. These hint at whats happening without outright telling the audience.

Another element of this clip which I thought was good to add into my own opening was the minimal dialogue followed up by the phone call to his sister. This tells the audience that the flashbacks are inside Charlie's head. The phone call with Charlie not being on screen suggests to the audience that Charlie is very far away from reality. Followed by the shot of his empty room makes the audience think something has happened to him. The editing of this is what really inspired me, the way the shots are fitted together to create an emotional impact is very successful. There isn't any extreme flashes or transitions to suggest its a memory it just displays the clip which makes it more powerful as these memories are very prominent in the characters mind as this is what sends him over the edge.

Teen Wolf - TV Show 



In this television show one of the character called Stiles, becomes possessed and faces a mental battle between the good side which is Stiles's character vs the darker spirit that has possessed him. He becomes very aggressive and troubled as he slips further away. This gave me inspiration as Stiles went from a normal, happy relatable teenager into a trouble, unrecognisable and frightening character, this is similar to the main character in our opening. We want to create a similar tone in our opening like the tone on Teen wolf of lost happiness, emptiness and loss of hope.
The makeup of this character also inspired me as it really emphasises a lack of sleep of the character with the red around the eyes. It signifies restless nights and a unsettled mind which is what we want our main character to come across as. It also creates a large impact on the audience as its disturbing. The cold toned filter and low key lighting also create an eery tone and emphasise the darkness of the character. This is something we will use for our own opening.

Up (2009)

The film Up opens with a 5 minute montage of Carl and Ellie's love story. The montage starts with happy memories from the beginning of their relationship and some of their first happy memories together. However throughout the montage these scenes get sadder first with the news of the couple not being able to have children and secondly Ellie's death which ultimately leaves Carl alone.
The music is one element of this that really inspired me. In the beginning during the first few happy memories the music is happy and cheerful. However once the memories become sadder, the music changes tone and becomes sadder with it. The music is noticeably the same tune but slower and sadder. This really pulls the whole montage together making it extremely emotional to the audience. I think the music is what makes this montage successful and we thought we could use a similar process for our montage opening.
Another element which I liked was the lack of dialogue. This makes it more believable as a memory. This also leaves room for the music to capture the emotions and the tone. Less dialogue works well with montage and this is something we will consider when creating our opening.



500 Days of Summer (2009):



I got inspiration from these two clips as they show both the same sequence of events, one clip on a good day and one clip on a bad day. They show the same scenes with the same people in the same location but the events on the different days reflect the different mood he is in. This is something we will include in our own opening as it reflects the change within the character. This film 500 Days of Summer also inspired me through its non-linear narrative as you see flashbacks out of order. This makes the film really interesting as when Tom (the main character) tells people (usually his sister) about his memories with Summer they are exaggerated and perfect, this leads the audience to think his relationship with Summer was perfect. However later in the film we see the same flashbacks without the distortion of seeing it through Toms eyes. This shows that the memories weren't that perfect. This tells the audience how delusional Tom was and that he was more in love with the idea of being with Summer than Summer herself.
This use of a non-linear narrative would work well as we are trying to tell a story in a short space of time. We also want to be able to create a clear change of tone even in the same locations. This will show the clear emotional shift in the character.