How to Open an Indie Movie

Now that we have an idea of what context we want to open our film with, we need to learn how independent films typically open and look for some inspiration.

I first looked at the opening for Juno, an independent movie from 2007. The director of the film definitely shows a more artistic route, which will later begin a pattern I see in other openings. The director also uses Juno's body language and facial expressions to introduce the character's personality as laid back because she walks very loosely while also having very blank facial expressions.

(watched up to 5:17)

I then looked at the opening for The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012). This opening shows the more quirkier side of independent films. It opens with artistic-like credits like Juno, and introduces the story with narration of the main character, which implies that the movie will be focused on him. The narration also introduces the character's personality by making his voice and dialogue imply that he is socially awkward and is a bystander of the world around him, hence the quirky side of indie films.

The rest of the film openings I explored were through Netflix. I watched "What's Eating Gilbert Grape"(1993), which opens with a long shot to establish the setting that the main character and his family live isolated from other people. The opening is shown through narration of the main character again, giving context to the setting, and describing each character in the family. Narration from the main character is a trend I see to appear in these openings.

Lastly, I watched "Adventureland" (2009). It starts off with the beginning credits saying after all the production titles "this is that production", which I feel gives off the tone that this movie production is laid back and such. The beginning zoom in on the character's face and the close-ups of him and his girlfriend adds to the quirkiness feel of these kind of productions, especially since the context of the scene is him getting dumped. The whole opening shows how Brennan (the main character) is just an awkward and unlucky guy. His friends at the party seem geeky through dialogue, and the opening cuts to Brennan at a lunch with his parents which expresses how unfortunate his life is because they can't pay for his trip to Europe. This series of events introduces the conflict right away that he needs a job. This opening can be used to help my group and I introduce the different issues of each band member in our opening, if we are still choosing to do that.

Works cited:

"JUNO - "All I Want Is You" Video." YouTube. YouTube, 20 Feb. 2008. 9 Mar. 2016.

"The Perks Of Being A Wallflower - 10 Minute Preview." YouTube. YouTube, 21 Feb. 2013. Web. 09 Mar. 2016.

What's Eating Gilbert Grape? Dir. Lasse Hallström. Perf. Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio.           Paramount Pictures, 1993. Netflix.

Adventureland. Dir. Greg Mottola. Perf. Jesse Eisenberg. Miramax Films, 2009. Netflix.