Research - Snatch

Now I am onto the main task of making my own two minute beginning of a film. Our group has chosen the gangster/thriller genre, and we are now researching the beginnings of other films to see what ours might look like, and ideas we could include.

Snatch
The film begins with the two main characters sat looking nervously at a man/figure sat down facing them, but he is in the shadows and has his back facing us, to make him remain annonymous. Over the top of this camera shot is the narrator Turkish talking about him and his partner Tommy, their names, what their job is, and finally the rhetorical question "What do I know about diamonds?" The camera then fades and then follws a series of security cameras watching four jews entering an elevator and entering a hotel room, without an edit, as the credits come on screen.
During the first few minutes of the film there is only one edit - this is the dissolve after Turkish ironically questions himself "What do I know about diamonds?" and we know this is what the film will be about. The figure of a man being in the shadows and having his back to the camera suggests mystery about him, especially when the two main characters are looking nervous ; and this is mainly due to the camera angle too. We can also tell a lot about the type of film due to the clothes the characters are wearing. Turkish and Tommy are wearing old-fashioned suits fitting in with the time and jobs we know they have, thanks to Turkish's narrating. Turkish's narrating gives us a good indication of their chrarcters, and how he is in charge of their partnership, but hardly ever the situation. Finally, we know what the film is about due to the start of the film actually being towards the end of the story, and we also know the events of the film will take us back to the beginning.



Also to help us in our own film, I made a time-line of the opening credits of Snatch, to see what coes where, and how far into the film:
0.00First couple of credits before film
0.02Mid shot of the two main characters as the camera pans above an unknown man's head
0.05Close up of their faces
0.10Mid shot of both of them, then more close ups of each character looking nervously around with narrating over the top0.15
0.20Fades out as narration states "What do I know about diamonds?"
0.25CCTV footage of three Jews walking through a bank. One contiuous shot of their journey as the camera moves to different screens of CCTV, with calm Jewish music in the background
1.00Establishing shot of inside bank and the bank manager shouting
1.05Mid shot of three Jews
1.11Switches back to mid shot of bank manager
1.16Switches back to Jews and the camera zooms as they reveal their weapons as teh music speeds up
1.20Another zoom into bank managers expression
1.30Various shots of Jews beating security guards and quick cuts, the camera spins once each man is beaten
1.42Quick edits of fighting and more spinning
1.56Freeze frame when the directors name comes up and the music cuts
2.03Close up of expressions
2.10Mid shot of man hit to the floor as one Jew asks "Where is the stone?"
2.25Cuts to inside van of the Jews taking off their disguises as the theme music cuts in
2.37Close up of graphic match of the diamond they stole to the mans eye
2.40Zoom out of diamond then the titles role