This document provides guidance for students on creating effective openings for short fiction films. It outlines a 9-step process for planning, shooting, and evaluating the film opening. The steps include researching different opening techniques, brainstorming original ideas, thorough pre-production planning, executing the shoot, editing the footage, and conducting a self-evaluation. Students are advised to thoroughly plan all aspects of the project, document their process, and avoid cliches that are too similar to popular film openings. Paying close attention to details and learning from other works will help students achieve high marks.

1. making film openings

2. “It’s important to understand the
‘aggregation of marginal gains’. Put
simply….how small improvements in a
number of different aspects of what we do
can have a huge impact to the overall
performance.”
Dave Brailsford, UK Cycling coach

3. lots of small things add up
to get you better marks

4. 9 Steps to best results!

5. Step 1: take stock
• what’s the task?
• what’s the assessment?
• what’s the timeframe?
• what’s the equipment?

6. task and assessment
• Titles and opening of a new fiction film
• up to 2 minutes
• 20 marks Research and Planning
• 60 marks Construction
• 20 marks Evaluation

7. timeframe and equipment
• build your skills
• build up your research
• build up your planning
• give yourselves time to shoot and edit
• keep evidence throughout the whole
process

8. Step 2: set up a blog
• and keep evidence of everything you do!

9. Step 3: build up skills
• sound
• camerawork
• editing

10. foley

11. preliminary task

12. ident

13. Step 4: investigate
• what do film openings actually look like?
• what does other student work look like?
• what do you need to know about titles?
• how are you going to do something that
stands out?

14. Step 5: brainstorm ideas
• possible scenarios for pitches/treatments
• 25 word pitch
• moodboard treatment
• peer and teacher feedback
• realistic expectations- keep it simple

15. Step 6: planning
• experimenting with camera and editing
• recce shots of locations
• examples of shots, costumes, props, etc onto
blog
• post-it storyboard, animatic, moodboard
• logistics planning- including risk assessment

16. Step 7: the shoot
• people, places, props, costumes
• rehearsing, directing
• equipment, jobs on the day
• keeping a record of the process

17. Step 8: edit
• all having a voice/hand in it
• screengrabs of process
• importance of audio and titles
• foley - not just music
• rough cut deadline and peer feedback

18. big picture before fine detail

19. Step 9: evaluation
• seven guiding questions
• 20 of the 100 marks
• need to be creative in execution
• digital depth
• act on teacher advice!

20. six most common student film openings
• Saw: victim tied up in shed
• Scream: hooded stalker follows female victim
• Se7en: killer sticks knife in polaroid photos
• Lock, Stock: gangsters play cards and kill each other
• Waking up: clean teeth, brush hair, leave house
• Flashback or Flash forward:“2 weeks later...”

21. six most common problems
• looks more like a trailer or a short film
• insufficient titles
• poor sound, poor lighting
• poorly directed actors, not costumed
• confusing for the viewer
• uses one of the six common

22. key advice
• plan for everything
• keep all the evidence
• avoid the obvious
• pay attention to detail
• make your blog varied
• learn from other work

23. making film openings