Deception:
The Cellar:
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| deception ident |
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| the cellar ident |
Idents
Deceptions one and only ident at the start of their opening is very simple yet gets the message of the company across. It shows a plain black background with white writing. On the other hand The Cellar has a much more noticeable ident and an image behind it which helps to bring your attention to the centre of the screen where the company name is written. Both openings have quite dramatic non-diegetic music from the start of the idents which instantly creates tension and makes the film genre a lot more obvious without even seeing the first shot.
Deceptions one and only ident at the start of their opening is very simple yet gets the message of the company across. It shows a plain black background with white writing. On the other hand The Cellar has a much more noticeable ident and an image behind it which helps to bring your attention to the centre of the screen where the company name is written. Both openings have quite dramatic non-diegetic music from the start of the idents which instantly creates tension and makes the film genre a lot more obvious without even seeing the first shot.
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| the cellar opening shot |
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| deception opening shot |
Opening Shots
In Deception every title and credit goes back to the black screen with the white writing in the same place. In the Cellar they put white bold writing over the shots so it is still visible but isn't as noticable as the Cellar. The opening shot in The Cellar is a dutch angle of a door with some light coming through it. This is a very good way of starting the opening as the dutch angle shows there is something not quite right and the lack of light is creating narrative enigma as the audience are unsure of the setting or anything the plot is about. The opening shot in deception is a tracking shot of a girl walking down a woodland path. The camera is set up behind a tree and the branches make it unclear to see who the character is walking along, this also creates narrative enigma. The camera being behind the tree might also be a point of view shot to make it seem like someone is watching her.
In Deception every title and credit goes back to the black screen with the white writing in the same place. In the Cellar they put white bold writing over the shots so it is still visible but isn't as noticable as the Cellar. The opening shot in The Cellar is a dutch angle of a door with some light coming through it. This is a very good way of starting the opening as the dutch angle shows there is something not quite right and the lack of light is creating narrative enigma as the audience are unsure of the setting or anything the plot is about. The opening shot in deception is a tracking shot of a girl walking down a woodland path. The camera is set up behind a tree and the branches make it unclear to see who the character is walking along, this also creates narrative enigma. The camera being behind the tree might also be a point of view shot to make it seem like someone is watching her.
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| the cellar |
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| deception good frame |
Good Qualities
Both openings include a lot of good shot variety and the plot is easy to follow because of this, and it makes the genre and theme more effective. A good example of this in Deception is at 1.16 where they use the tree to frame the shot and make it look balanced. In deception they also include a good example of a point of view shot when the boy is running you see his point of view of surroundings and reactions, this makes the audience connect with the character a lot more. A good example of shot variety in The cellar is towards the beginning when it cuts from the girl being tied up in the cellar and the house she must be in. These quick cuts make it very dramatic and will keep the audience on edge and it builds tension for something to happen.
Both openings include a lot of good shot variety and the plot is easy to follow because of this, and it makes the genre and theme more effective. A good example of this in Deception is at 1.16 where they use the tree to frame the shot and make it look balanced. In deception they also include a good example of a point of view shot when the boy is running you see his point of view of surroundings and reactions, this makes the audience connect with the character a lot more. A good example of shot variety in The cellar is towards the beginning when it cuts from the girl being tied up in the cellar and the house she must be in. These quick cuts make it very dramatic and will keep the audience on edge and it builds tension for something to happen.
Bad Qualities
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| decption cut off head |
A criticism I have of Deception is that at times and in particular at 1.23 they do not frame the character quite right in shot and the top of his head is cut off. You can see that here they are aiming for a close up to show the emotions on his face and make the audience connect but by cutting off the top of his head it slightly ruins that. I found it hard to find criticisms in The Cellar as it is such a good opening. The only thing I can think of to mention is in the cellar they only used candle light which was very effective but some of the footage was so dark it was a little unclear to see what was happening. But this might be down to them creating narrative enigma or the quality of youtube when i was watching it.
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| the cellar dark |
Both are very good examples of film openings but I would say the Cellar was the better out of the two as it has practically no flaws to it.
Excellent post: good detail + well illustrated. The only thing I'd change is adding sub-headings, or putting the assessment criteria referred to in bold/different colour. As you go, its useful to bold/colour any tech terms used to show you're using these.
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