Some Inspo

"FILM OPENING! FILM OPENING! FILM OPENING!" 

That is all that has been on my mind for the past couple of weeks. In my opinion, watching different film openings is one of the best ways to research because you can get so many useful ideas.

I haven't had a lot of time this week to watch different Drama/Coming-of-Age films, but I did rewatch a the beginning portion of From Prada to Nada. I focused a lot on the film opening to see if there were elements we could use and it really did help. I tried to screenshot parts of the film opening to show you parts I really liked and why, but iTunes blocks screenshots of their rented films. I was so excited to show you guys! Bummer. Luckily, I found a blogspot that includes pictures of the film opening though.

Ok so, here we go...

The opening from From Prada to Nada focuses mainly on establishing the setting. 

One of the many mansions shown to help establish setting. 

The song "California Gurls" plays in the background as medium shots of palms trees and a close-up of the Beverly Hills sign is shown.  Several long shots of fancy mansions and people playing tennis to indicate the story will begin to take place in the wealthy area of Beverly Hills, California. Then we see one of the two sisters, Mary, walking down Rodeo Drive wearing very nice clothing and high heels while carrying various store bags.

Mary walking down Rodeo Drive, shows her socio-economic status.  

Here we start to get to see of one of the main characters and the lifestyle they live. It made sense to first establish the setting, so the audience can get a glimpse into the life these sisters have. Then, they show Nora wearing glasses and causal clothing indicating that she is a college student as she studies at the library. Here we get an idea of the socio-economic status that these two sisters have that they are able to go into higher education and shop all they want at expensive stores. 

Nora and Mary, when they realize they forgot their dad's birthday. 

From watching the film opening, the way they established the setting to introduce the main characters socio-economic status appealed to me. As well as, how they edited it by pausing it at specific scenes depicting money and wealthy while showing the names of the actors and producers. The graphics worked well too since they're in bold, yellow simple letters enhancing the audiences concentration and demonstrating that the film is playful. 

Now on to more research... Bye!

A. (2011, May 30 ). From Prada to Nada (or From Riches to Rags). Retrieved March 16, 2017, from https://austenised.blogspot.com/2011/05/from-prada-to-nada-or-from-riches-to.html