Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2
Duration: 3 minutes
Summary: A superhero action film. "After saving Xander from Ronan's wrath, the Guardians are now recognized as heroes. Now the team must help their leader Star-lord uncover the truth behind his true heritage. Along the way, old foes turn to allies and betrayal is blooming, and the Guardian finds that they are p against a devastating new menace who is out to rule the galaxy." (imdb)
In the opening scene is one of the main characters dancing along to music while a fight against an alien is happening in the background. He is in his own world instead of helping. The music is very upbeat and cheery. His friends are protecting him from harm and watching him all while battling. This relates back to the plot by it shows how much the characters look out for each other. The cheery music also gives insight into the film. The upbeat music playing during a dangerous situation could help to add to the comedy effect of the movie or show that music and songs have significance to the plot.
The representation of the film is superheroes. You can tell this by them battling this giant alien not to save themselves but others. The sound effect of the guns and destruction over the music adds to the action genre. The music in the film is very upbeat. The older cheerful song singing about a happy day, while they are battling monsters, could mean this is just like any other day for them. A good day even. The characters' roles are likely to be a group of superheroes since it multiple people watching out the one dancing. The one dancing is also very small so he is probably the baby of the group. The mise-en-scene of the sequence is very colorful and brightening. It definitely looks like an outer space planet. The opening is not a very typical opening method for science fiction films. It does fit into the science fiction convections by the different looking planet, the monster alien and the rats, and especially the characters' costume and makeup. The cinematography of the scene is made up of a low-angle shot to follow along with the tiny character. The camera tracks his movements. There are no cuts in the sequence at all.
Dreamgirls
Duration: 3 minutes
summary: A musical. "A trio of black female soul singer cross over to the top pop charts in the early 1960s, facing their own personal struggles along the way" (imdb)
In the opening scene, a singing group gets ready to go on stage together. They then make their way onto the stage and perform a song together. They aren't big famous artists. We can also see two men backstage watching them perform. It connects to the overall plot because they are a group of singers who later on make it big as singers while overcoming many obstacles as a group. This is showing them starting from the bottom and later on in the film, making it big.
The purpose of the opening scene was to establish the genre. They are singing and dancing in what looks like their everyday life just like the typical musical method.
The visual elements are three black girls in afros singing and dancing on stage. The mise-en-scene- make it looks like the time period the '60s by the hair, the stage set up, and even the dance moves. The character placement of them onstage shows that there is the main lead, the girl in the middle. Even though her clothes don't make her stand out from her position it's clear she likes being front and center. The character placement also helps to tell about the character. The shots where we can get a good look at the character's faces like the two men backstage or the three girls on stage tell us they are the main characters. The song doesn't seem to relate back to the plot of the film which tells me it's a backstage musical. The diting in the scene cuts from all different angles like long shots, medium shots, shots from the back, close-ups, dolly ins. There is no pattern. The representation is black singers.
Jurrassic World
Duration: 2 minutes
summary: A science fiction action film. "A new theme park, built on the original site of Jurassic Park, creates a genetically modified hybrid dinosaur, the Indominus Rex, which escapes containment and goes on a killing spree." (imdb)
The film opening connects to the plot by introducing the main characters of the film and giving context. From the opening, we now know the two main leads, the young brothers. They also establish relationships.
The music in the opening is Christmas music. If the snow from the first shot wasn't enough to convey the time of season the music is. Science most of the camera time is on the two boys, it can be interpreted that they are the main characters. There is a family representation. The mise-en-scene in the scene is winter by the snow in the first shot and their clothing. The lighting is also very glowing like with coloring like blue and yellow (not very bright, more like foggy) which gives off the Christmas feel. The camera angle were close-ups, long shots, medium shots, and over the shoulder to name a few. The camera editing wasn't very jarring at all. they used shallow focus a lot.
Sources:
https://www.imdb.com
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