What makes a

good film

opening ?

By Sharon Uyinmwen

What makes a good film openig?

Case study

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahIDrr7y_v4&feature=PlayList&p=AB4547CF26945DF9&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=36 3mins 30secs

The film I chose to study was Love and Basketball I feel it has a clever yet intriguing opening. There is a use of clever shots and it leaves you wanting to know what happens next.

All basketball games are divided into four quarters and cleverly the film is divided into four quarters to resemble a basketball game, so at the start you are introduced to a clip that say First quarter.

You have an extreme long shots to show where the film is set.

Another long shot showing a van being unpacked which makes it clear to the audience that a character is moving.

I think this is a clever extreme long shot because the angle of the camera is placed to give the impression that the three boys are being watched, which, initially they are but the viewer is not aware of this until the character approaches them ….

I think it is clever the way the character comes out from behind the grass walking up hill .

Studying Mis-en-scene in this case costume , I feel that the character being dressed in a tom boyish way is relevant to the scene as it is key to how the other characters react to her, and when it comes to creating a good film having mis-en-scene relevant to the film is vital.

ACTION REACTION!!!!!

When the character takes off her hat it becomes apparent that she is a girl and we have a good action reaction shot of another characters reaction.

ACTION REACTION!!!!!

We constantly have shots of the basket as the ball goes in the hoop.

At the end of the opening sequence we have a close up of a character hurt on the grass