Research into Similar Films - Bruce Almighty by Michael Higgins

Bruce Almighty:                                                                          By Michael Higgins

1) The initial frame in my sequence is a tracking shot showing the main character, Bruce (Jim Carrey), walking towards the camera. This sequence has relevance to our opening as our main gets hit by a car and goes to a white room to be told that he is immortal. Using this shot of him walking, we can create the sense of normality as he is walking home from school. In the film Bruce is upset and is walking in the rain and this medium shot and sympathy is created for him as we can see his slow movements and the emotions on his face; we will use this kind of shot to relax the audience and make them think that he is walking home like any other day.

2) In this medium close up shot, Bruce falls to his knees and begs to God that he doesnt want to be God anymore and he has decided that God's choices are best for him, not his own choices. A white light begins to shine on him and he believes that God is taking him in and the viewer believes this aswell as the music swells and the excitement and volume in the actor's performance leads us to belive that he is getting what he wants. This shot is not needed in our opening as we will shoot our sequence differently, keeping the normality as much as we can but hinting that something has happened until he appears in the white room.

3) It then cuts to a close up of the front of the truck speeding towards the camera and we for the firts time get the sense that something is wrong, before the cut we start to hear the truck's horn. This catches the viewer by surprise and can startle the viewer; however, in our opening we won't show a shot of the car that hits our main character but we do hear the sound of tires screeching down the phone indicating that something has happened to the viewer and to the secondary character but does not show the actual collision which can create an enigma as to what has happened and leaves it for the viewer's imagination.

4) While Bruce is laying on the floor there is an aerial close up of his face which then pushes out very quickly into the sky and the screen turns white, Bruce then emerges from within white smoke to ask what happened to him and this setting of all white is something we wish to replicate in our opening. Once our main character is hit, he will appear in a white setting just like this representing the fact that he is dying; he will also ask what has happened in which it will be revealed to him by another, third, character.

5) This next character will emerge from the smoke also, in this sequence it is God and we will also have someone who is meant to be of a higher power. This character tells Bruce what has happened and why it has happened and explains his situation to him. This is something we will replicate as our main character is told that he is immortal and not dying but that this is just an opportunity to tell our main this information.

6) The two characters in the scene are walking towards each other and meet in the middle with a two shot showing the both of them standing next to each other as they continue the conversation while walking towards the camera. Using this shot makes the situation a lot more casual and relaxed despite the situation that Bruce is in seeing as he has just been hit by a truck and is dying, which is why he is in this place. In our film we can use this shot to relax the audience before we released the fact that our main character is immortal to him and the audience. This will build the suspense again and keep the audience on the edge of their seat in order to watch more and immerse themselves into the film.

7) Once Bruce and God have stopped walking towards the camera, the cinematographer stops tracking the actors to that they are framed in a medium shot of the two actors, this shot is also used as the master shot. This used is used in the film in order to continue the relaxation of the audience and making them feel at ease by using one continuous take without cutting, if the shot continuously cut between shots then a lot more suspense would be created in comparison to one long take. We could also use this in order to surprise the audience more when he finally find out about his immortality.

8) The scene starts to use over the shoulder shots in order to show each actors emotions individually while still showing the context that they are in a conversation with one another. Once Bruce starts to prey in order to protect the ex-girlfriend that he is still in love with the shots are pushed in to a close up for both actors in order to intensify the emotions that the actors are portraying in their dialogue and their body movements. In our film we can push in the over the shoulder shots after he has been told about his immortality and this can end the scene just before he fades back into real life.

9) God sends Bruce back into the real world and the camera pushes in quickly in a birds eye view shot of Bruce laying on the ground, the shot starts up in the clouds and pushes all the way into a medium shot of Bruce in order to show the paramedics that are working around him and shows that he is being fibrillated. We may not use this shot and effect in our film as we may end it while the characters are in the white room having the conversation about being immortal and this is how the opening will end as we are hoping that at this point we will be at around the 2 minute mark for our opening.