Naked Gun 33 1/3 - Opening Scene

Naked Gun 331/3
The establishing shot at the beginning of the sequence is a Long Shot of a train station with an elderly man in a grey suit the central focus reading a newspaper. The establishing shot introduces us to the setting for the opening sequence. The elderly man is the main character as he is in the central focus.
Later on in the opening sequence we have a Close Up of the main character, the elderly man in the grey suit. He is reading a newspaper which has a joke headline. The close up focusses on the expression of the man, who is anxiously looking at the large clock, as if he is expecting something important to happen. The headline suggests it is a comedy, although the other signifiers suggest it is action.
We then see the clock face moving towards 12 oclock, which suggests that at 12 oclock something is going to happen. The Big Clos Up of the clock builds tension, suggesting the element of action. There is then a woman struggling up the stairs with a pram, and reluctantly the main character goes to help her, which connotes comedy.
The second main character goes to help another woman with two prams up the stairs, which connotes comedy genre. As he is doing so, the camera pans around to 5 men who enter at the top of the stairs. The are all dressed in dark trench coats and hats. The man in the middle is in the darkest coat and hat, showing that he is the main villain.
The main villain then begins to move down the stairs but stops when he sees the main character. The camera moves for a ECU of the eyes of the main villain. At this point the music reaches a dramatic climax and there is a ECU of the main characters' eyes. From this short sequence we can see that there will be some sort of fight between the two characters as the ECU shows his expression to be violent.
Once the shootout begins, the camera cuts to a long shot of the good and bad characters shooting each other. We then get a long shot of the second main character chasing one of the prams down the stairs. He himself is chased by a lawnmower, which adds to the comedy as it rolls along during the shootout. There is also comedy in the fact that the man stops shooting to chase the prams.
During the shootout, the camera cuts to Mid Shot of the main character shooting. He then bends down, whilst shooting, to pick up a coin off the floor. He looks at the coin and continues to shoot at the villain. This backs up the idea that the film is an action spoof as this would not happen in an action film.
Finally, once the shootout seems to be over, the President and the Pope enter from the top of the stairs. They are followed by a terrorist carrying a bomb who the main character shoots. this shot shows the character is being overwhelmed by all types of crime and you begin to get the impression he is a special detective of some sort. The sudden entrance of the President and the Pope is quite comedic, however, as you would not expect it in a train station.
From the entrance of the President and the Pope the camera goes to the entrance of 'disgruntled postal workers' who are all carrying machine guns which they are firing madly. The audience then see a Mid Shot of the main character, who nis firing a large machine gun back at the postal workers, whilst in the background the second main character is catching the babies who have flown out of the prams. As he catches them, he dances in celebration. This adds comedy, as it is an unlikely thing to see in an action film during a shootout.
Suddenly, as the action is building up and overwhelming the main character, it cuts to a MCU of the main character waking up from this bad dream. There is a short dialogue between him and his wife which is comical but explains that he is a retired detective. It then cuts to the title sequence. The fact that it is a dream also backs up the idea that it is a spoof of an action film. The jokey dialogue also backs up the idea that the genre is comedy, not action.

Storyboarding Websites

Useful Storyboarding Websites:

http://accad.osu.edu/womenandtech/Storyboard%20Resource/

This website is very useful as it explains in detail what storyboards are, their purpose and how they can be made. It also breaks the information down and uses pictures to accompany the text, enabling the reader to get a full understanding of storyboards.

http://www.howcast.com/videos/201980-How-To-Make-a-Storyboard

This is a video by 'Howcast'. I find it very useful as it breaks down the storyboarding process into steps which are easy to understand. It also shows a demonstration of each step as the voice over explains it, which helps the viewer to fully understand how to storyboard.

http://multimedia.journalism.berkeley.edu/tutorials/starttofinish/storyboarding/

This website explains all about storyboards; why they are needed, how to draw a rough one etc. I think this is very useful as it explains to the reader everything they need if they are making they're own film and need a storyboard.

Media Homework Storyboarding

Why is storyboarding an essential part of the film making process?

Storyboarding is very important as it is a visual representation of the camera shots in a film sequence. The film sequence itself is broken up into sketches which and, in a similar way to a comic strip, these sketches depict the location, characters, props and settings of each shot.
A storyboard can help a director visualise the flow of camera shots. It is easier to see how the director's ideas will work on screen when the script is broken down into a storyboard. The storyboard also shows how the narrative flows between each shot in the film.
Although it is not necessary to storyboard an entire film, storyboarding some sequences of the film cna help the director and director of photography work out how the shots will be lit, shot and acted.

'P is for Psycho' Storyboard Analysis
What is happening in the opening sequence of the film?

In the opening sequence of the film, we are introduced to the 'psycho' character. The opening establishing shot shows a boys toilet in a school, and the school setting and 'teen slasher' genre is backed up by the title. It then mixes to a low angle, which gradually tilts up to a low angle mid shot of the psychotiv character bandaging his hand at a sink. After a pan shot of some objects on the side, we get a Close Up of the sink. The sink is filled with blood which is being washed away as the psycho character bandages his hand. After bandaging his hand and clenching his fist in an ominous way, the camera tilts up to a Close Up of the character. In the background you hear a door opening and the character turns. A schoolboy enters the toilets, and we cut to a Mid Shot of the psycho tucking a gun into his belt. We then cut to an ECU of the man's eyes. There is one line of dialogue ("Bad move, Kid") from the man before it fades to black and two gunshots are fired. 

How is the narrative flow established?

The narrative flow of the opening sequence is established through the detailed annotations of the individual shots on the storyboard and the arrows linking the shots. The frame connectors show the flow as they show how the shots will flow together and the editing notes show mixes and cuts between shots. The flow is also established by the detailed drawings and camera movements.

If you were directing this sequence, what aspects of the storyboard would you like to change?

If I were directing this sequence I would use more cuts between shots rather than fades and mixes, as cuts make the action more fast paced and jumpy. I would also add in more special effects so that the Thriller genre was more obvious, rather than Horror genre. I would also make the last shot a cut to balck rather than a fade so that the gunshots are more shocking and the cut off is sudden, reflecting the sudden death of the boy who entered the toilets.

Media Homework Film Still Analysis

1. Describe your shot and identify in what way it could be described as representing your chosen genre?
My shot is a BCU of a clenched fist of a young white male in the foreground which is in focus. In the background and out of focus is another young white male lying face down in a field. My chosen genre for this shot is Action/Thriller and I think this is represented as the clenched fist shows danger and the hooded character on the floor gives a sense of the unknown villain in the story.

2. What did you actually do to achieve the effect?

To achieve this effect of danger and threat I made the hand clenched to show violence and I made the character on the floor hooded so that it tied in with the idea that he was the bad guy as you cannot see his face or any of his features. This mystery achieves the effect that the male on the floor is evil and the genre is action.

3. Identify what is successful about your shot

I believe my shot is successful as the clenched fist is in focus, meaning that it is the main focus, which is what I intended to happen. I also think my shot is successful as the hooded figure is on the floor and out of focus which gives the effect he is mysterious, which i also intended to happen.

4. What would you do differently in hindsight?

In hindsight I would probably change the lighting so that it was darker. This would be to also connote the action/thriller genre of my film still. In hindsight I could have also given the clenched fist a glove, but that may have seemed like the good guy was actually a bad guy.