Week 2: Genre Research Post

MY COMMENTS ON THE

GOOD TIME OPENING (A24)


In the opening of Good Time, the director Josh and Benny Safdie (who is also the star actor) use a variety of elements such as quick cuts in editing, a dark color grade, suspenseful, slow paced acting, and dark ambient music to create a suspenseful thriller. 

The film starts with a 1 second black screen to a hard cut into a close up shot to the main character. This creates a still, awkward feeling for the viewer as they are now quickly introduced to the character, who is in distress. The scene continues between the main character and a therapist/investigator. There are no long or wide shots. There are solely close-ups to show the sensitive relationship between the two men. When the main character's friend comes in the room unannounced, the shot starts as an over-the-shoulder to zoom in on the friend in order to keep the suspenseful, intimate feeling of the small room and serious conversation. The close-up shots switch between the 3 guys until 2 decide to leave. 

The editing cuts are very sharp and quick even though the pace of the movie is slower at the start. This keeps the audience alert and excited for what will happen next. A jumpy feeling almost. The editor also created a darker, blue, vibrant color grade to make the film appear more serious and dark rather than a lighthearted comedy. Also, the film crop is very tense, making the audience focus on the character's facial expressions and their emotions. Now, a connection between the main character and the viewer is being formed. 

The costume design is very colloquial, suggesting that the main character is not of high status in society. As the friend comes in, his slicked back hair along with his work jacket shows they are middle-low class people who got in some trouble as they are now in some sort of institution talking with an investigator. 

The music is very subtle, ambient, and slopes from quiet to loud as the scene gets more tense. Once they leave the room, and the location is addresses, a Saw sounding synth gets louder and the movie cuts to the very colorful "Good Time" title. The credit that appeared once the first opening scene was over was correlated with the music. 

Good Time was distributed by A24, a smaller sized entertainment company that is known for releasing small budget, indie, smaller known directors and their movies to the public. The movie was released in 2017 with a budget of 2 million dollars, which is very cheap compared to a Hollywood movie. The box office grossed #125,000 on the opening weekend and made over $3.5 million worldwide. 

The film's soundtrack done by Oneohtrix Point Never won an award at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival and the movie won an award from Detroit Film Critics Society, Boston Online Film Critics Association, and Online Film Critics Society.






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