The British Film Institute Trip

 When we were at the British Film Institute, our class gathered a lot of ideas about what makes a great film opening. The lecturer focused on what genres and shots were commonly used by students, what was easy to film and what got students the highest marks. We watched film openings that had animation as well as ones that were commonly filmed because they were easy. When he showed us the clip of ‘Napoleon Dynamite’ where the credits were written in the main character’s food and belongings, it made us realise the sort of ideas that we should be exploring and how we can create something very original on a budget of £0. Big budget film director and actor, Dexter Fletcher, was very helpful in telling us what he wanted to include in his film openings to make them effective for the audience as possible. He said:

• Giving as much information to the audience about the narrative as possible is key so they do not feel disconnected from the film 
• Setting the tone through scenery, characterisation and post production editing
• The weather can be a big issue on shooting days
• And about how precious time and money was and how planning before hand was vital so no time was spent wasted planning whilst on set

From our trip at the BFI, we decided that we should think of some more innovative ways of displaying our credits to intrigue the audience and convey some information about the main character.  Choosing a genre early on in the process and looking at films with the same genre also helps you to gain a better understanding the kind of conventions involved.