Source of Inspriation - Flashbacks.

Source of Inspiration.

For my source of inspiration I wanted to look at different types of flashbacks and see how we could use these within our scene to give it a basic storyline. I will be looking at the different types of flashbacks from different types of genre's to make sure I have covered a lot of different techniques that each genre has used to make sure that we can make the most of our film opening. 

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)

Genre: Fantasy, Aventure. 

In this little snippit from a scene, Harry is having flashbacks from all of the memories he holds dear to him, which Professor Snape is trying to stop him from having to protect him.

Mise En Scene.

• When Snape is seen within the first few moments, due to Snape wearing all black he blends into the surroundings, and the lighting around him is very minimal, to emphasise the darkness of his personality on the outside. 
• Dumbledore is the complete opposite, as he is surrounded by light, showing the goodness and kindheartedness of his character.

Snape looks merely like a silhouette, and blends into his surroundings.

Mise En Scene Continued

• Within this scene there is a lot of vertical lines, which suggest strength, which could indicate Voldemort's strength over Harry. 
• The spacing between Harry and Snape is a social/ public distance, showing the frayed and broken relationship between the two of them. They are never seen directly close to each other, except from when Snake is dragging Harry down the stairs. 

Lighting.

• The lighting that is shone onto Harry's face is not a pure light, it is a cold blue light which gives a clinical feel to the whole scene, also linked with the bottles of potions in the surrounding areas.
• The lighting is artificial due to the fact that there is no natural light, which gives off a warm and comfortable vibe which would completely compromise this scene. 

Sound.

• Within this scene there is a lot of diegetic sound which is emphasises, such as the bottles clinking, the door creaking open, 
• There is a non digetic soundtrack overhead, in which is quiet, but is an eerie sound we would usually hear in a tension scene within a horror movie, showing to the audience that something bad is going to happen within the future. 
• When the flashbacks are playing, the music changes, into a magical tone, which a dominant beat which gets louder, it sounds almost like it is on repeat of a wind up toy-box.  

Editing

• The flashback editing is incredibly clever within this scene, and i really like it, as there is a sharp distinct sound when the flashbacks start and change to emphasise the fact they are flashbacks. 
• They are all linked together by cutaways of different memories that Harry has experience, which I really like, because I think it is the most effective way of getting this flashback across.

What i liked.

In this flashback scene I really liked the way in which the camera zooms directly into Harry's face to convey to the audience that this is Harry's mind we are going into, and it is almost like we are the spell travelling towards Harry. I also like the use of quick flashbacks, which then show that if one is shown slower than the rest then it has a large significance within the film. 

What could i use in own trailer?

If possible I would like to use the zooming into the face, to emphasise the flashbacks, if it fits in with the scene that we want to create. I also like the use of the slowed down moments within the flashback to emphasise the importance of a fact, a movement, or a piece of dialogue. 

Forrest Gump (1994)

Genre: Romance, Comedy.

In this scene Forrest is reminiscing with Jenny about the places that he had visited and how beautiful they all were. 

Mise En Scene

• The room is filled with soft colours, there is no harsh colours in the room at all making the room seem homely. 
• The white and cream on the walls connotes to the audience the innocent and venerability of Jenny. 
• The soft pink bed sheet could show the femininity of Jenny, but due to it being baby pink it could contrast the artifice that pink usually connotes because of the purity of Jenny at this current moment. 
• Both Forrest and Jenny are wearing the same colour shirt but with different tones, Jenny is wearing a baby blue stripy shirt which is mixed with white which could show her calmness about the situation that he is in, and also with the white it could reinforce her purity which is a contrast to herself earlier in the film. Forrest's shirt is a more masculine blue, which we know does not represent Forrest as such as he has never in the film been completely masculine. 

• Although we see that Jenny is ill, there is no green present within this scene, which I thought was a bit weird because there would need to be some hint of illness. 
• The bed that Jenny is laying on also mimics a hospital bed, showing that she is not completely her usual self, and there is something wrong. 
• The distance between both characters shows a intimate relationship, and that they are both comfortable with each other, and they share a bond of trust and comfort. 
• In all of the flashbacks, we see that Forrest is in a natural background, and the beauty of nature in it's purest forms, which Jenny is wishing to see, in her bed ridden state. 

Both of these images are from the flashbacks that Forrest has when Jenny is asking about how the war was. They are both pieces of beautiful scenery, and show the natural side of the world, linked to Jenny in her natural environment that Forrest thinks is perfect too. 

Lighting. 

• The lighting within this scene is bright and warm when it is on Jenny and Forrest, showing the pureness of their relationship, and that their are no secrets between each other, they love each other for who they are, not for what assets they may have. 

Sound

• There is next to none non diegetic sound in this scene, to emphasise the simplicity and purity of the relationship between Jenny and Forrest. 
• Forests dialogue acts a sound bridge to piece together the flashbacks that he is experiencing.
• There is very little sound within the clips of Forrest's flashbacks to emphasise the beauty of the surroundings. 

Editing

• Due to the simplicity of this scene the editing is minimal, even in the flashbacks, as they flow almost like they were supposed to be the next chronological part of the scene. 
• The transition between the flashbacks are invisible, and smooth, in which people do not notice how smoothly the transition goes through. This is to make sure no attention is drawn to the scene change, but to the characters on the screen and their dialogue.

What I liked

I really like the way in which the editing looks smooth, but within my trailer due to this being a different genre I want to make the contrast between present and a different era look completely rough and not smooth, as they usually are within Horror movies. 

What i could use

Although, i think that i could use a  smooth transition to create tension and anticipation from the audience, because in Horror movies the transitions are not smooth at all, so if we create one which runs smoothly, and draws no attention to it at all, then the viewing audience are more likely to jump and become scared at points in which are scary. Also I like the idea of a sound-bridge between the shots, which could be introduced by maybe a scream.