2/23/2017 wHat is an opening SEQUENCE?An opening sequence is the start of the film. Actors, directors etc. are listed and shown in the opening sequence. An opening sequence is important because the purpose of an opening sequence is to draw in the audiences attention to the film to make them want to watch the rest of it. An opening sequence establishes the characters and the genre in this film, directors can do this in many ways such as; fonts, flour scheme, lighting, camera angles and more.
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3 In-depth opening sequence analysisThe Woman in Black
The film is about a widow man who gets sent to a village for work to sort out the affairs of a recently deceased eccentric. When arriving his realises the town holds a deadly secret. As the film goes on it unravels the truth about a woman who lost her child years ago and the woman kills children every time someone sees her. The genre is a horror film, i choose this as i want to do a horror for my opening sequence. The opening sequence of The Woman in Black, is introduced by CBS films which is an American film production and distribution company founded in 2007 and is a mini-major studio. CBS films will yearly distribute, develop and produce four to six $50 million budget films. It then goes on to show a train passing in a dark grey colour to set the dark gloomy atmosphere which then comes up with Crosscreek pictures. Crosscreek pictures is also seen as well as Hammer which are companies that helped in the making and distributing of The Woman in Black. In terms of cinematography the opening seems starts off with a close-up shot of little girls playing with vintage glass tea cups accompanied with creepy music which builds up suspense. In terms of Mise-en-scene, you know the film is set in England due to the use of the tea cups and England is well known for their Traditional British tea. Through the use of the old china dolls/the old toy dolls and the victorian rooms with the victorian pram and costumes you an tell what era this film is set in. The music portrays the genre of horror. In terms of sound, the accompaniment is slow, calm but uncomfortable which makes the audience get shivers as well as feeling on edge. It then goes on to a wide shot of the three little girls all sitting round their dolls tea party. They then stop playing with their dolls and stare straight in to the camera as if they was staring at you, which makes the audience have the feeling that someone is standing behind then foreshadowing that this feeling with be with them all through the film. This is built up and highlighted by the music gradually getting louder as if its giving a warning to somethings happening. This also creates the feeling of paranormal activity due to the music and the slow moving of the turning heads as if someone is possessing the young girls. The scene then goes on to the girls turning their head at the same time ghostly like towards the window. The camera then zooms in to the three windows foreshadowing what is about to happen. This creates panicking and uneasiness to the audience as they know what is about to happen. All the girls then stand up and start to walk to the windows, dropping their beloved toys and stepping on them. This is shown through the use of close-ups. This causes a paranormal feeling as the girls seem to not be able to control their actions as they smash their toys. In terms of editing, continuity is seen throughout which makes the opening sequence more paranormal and sets the genre as horror due to to the continuity from the girls walking to the window to having a close up of the girls opening the window to then jumping out as this builds up suspense and an adrenaline rush as the audience knows what is about to happen. Insidious
Insidious is a horror film, from the makers of Saw and Paranormal Activity. It is about a family who have recently moved into their new home. When tragedy strikes their young, beloved son, who begins to experience unexplainable things. Their lives are turned upside down and are forced to seek help. But soon come to a discovery that the house isn't haunted, it is something much worse. In the opening scene, we see a young child sleeping in a bed. We get a tour of the house and see a shadow in the window. The camera moves closer to the shadow in the window which gradually appears to be a ghostly woman. The title then comes up, and another location is shown, the new location shows all the rooms in the unknown house which a ghostly figure appearing in each one. In terms of mise-en-scene in the opening scene, costume is used when the close up of the ghostly woman is shown, you can see she is holding a candle, she looks as if she is wearing a dark veil and dark old-fashioned clothing, suggesting she is evil. Lighting is always used in the opening sequence as low-key lighting is used throughout giving a mysterious atmosphere, also in some shots there is only a certain part of the room highlighted and the rest is black, showing the importance of the certain place also suggesting something is hidden. This links to the convention of the genre horror. In terms of editing, the editing in the opening sequence is quite slow paced, giving the audience a chance to take the location and ghostly figures in and to build suspension.After every shot there is a fade out from one shot and another fade into the next, making it look mysterious, also when we go into the next shot it is unfocused suggesting confusion within the house and the audience. The film opening is in black and white apart from the beginning giving a sense of uneasiness. The connotations of black is evil and secretive. The connotations of white are purity, goodness and innocence giving the idea that in this film there will be a clash between the good and bad. In terms of cinematography in the opening scene, you can see an establishing shot at the new location to set the scene, and to tell the audience where they are. There is an aerial shot looking down the staircase and a shadow at the bottom, also being point of view shot showing something is watching the audience and making the audience feel uncomfortable. In terms of sound in the opening scene, there is non-diegetic music, at the beginning the music is a sort of ringing in your ear echoing sounds. When we first see the shadow we hear a high pitch violin being played fast to build up the suspension. When we get close to the ghostly woman's face it goes quiet then the title shows up with the high pitch music again. This makes the audience jump as it is not expected. Hush
Hush is a horror film that has thriller aspects due to the built up of tension and uneasiness feeling within the audience. The film is about a reclusive author (Kate Siegel) who went deaf as a teenager finds herself hunted by a deranged masked killer inside her isolated home, sending her into a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse in order to survive the night. Mike Flanagan directed this horror thriller, with John Gallagher Jr. co-starring. The opening sequence begins with BH productions logo and Intrepid pictures. Blumhouse Productions is an American film and television production company founded by Jason Blum. This particular production company is know for producing micro and low-budget horror movies. The presentation of ‘BH PRODUCTIONS’ uses low key lighting to present a gloomy atmosphere and threatening image.The title of film is in black capital block letters which makes the audiences focus divert to the title.In terms of cinematography, there is a use of a tracking shot used to emphasis on the array of trees, allowing the audiences to straight away understand that the scene is set within an isolated yet secluded location. The first initial introduction to the main character is through a reflective and close up shot. The focused shot enables the audience to centre their mind-set on this vulnerable woman who in which is oblivious to the events yet to arise. The representation of a female character adds an addition to the vulnerability, as the women are stereotypically known to be ‘weak’ and ‘less superior’ therefore fitting the conventions of a typical horror genre. In terms of sound, in the opening of the film we first meet the lead female, she is cooking and we are able to hear everything then suddenly it begins to fade out and we hear nothing, this was he directors telling the audience that this character is deaf. It would help the audience to relate to scary it would be not being able to hear anything, so hopefully the audience with emphasis with her and see her as the protagonist the main charter is seen using everyday appliances but is unable to hear them, the directors have given us the perspective of the characters and how it must feel not being able to hear the things that we see as everyday things. The use of silence for an emotional impact as the main charter is seen using everyday appliances but is unable to hear them, the directors have given us the perspective of the characters and how it must feel not being able to hear the things that we see as everyday things.In terms of mies-en-scene location is used within the opening scene as the setting is a isolated house in the middle of the forest, which the main character lives in, this suggests that see will be alone in the dramatic encounter, which not only leaves her secluded but weak as she has no one else to defend her. This will also make the audience feel weak. The decor used were normal modern house- hold furniture, which told the audience that the film would be set in modern times, it also gave a more realistic feel, which will make it a more threatening.In terms of editing, the Transitions in the beginning are minimal as we are only seeing her normal life , making dinner, but as she is cleaning up dinner the neighbor appears (11:20) and we see a back and fourth different perspective of the situation, the fast paced movement made it very exciting, which the audience would enjoy. 3 short opeing sequence analysis
Survevy for horror filmI made a survey with 10 questions about what people like most in horror films so that i know what to include in my opening sequence.
survey answer analysis..
OVERALL ANALYSIS/THOUGHTSOverall, this survey has given me a lot of ideas and knowledge on what to include and base my project on. One of the ideas is a storyline which includes a real life event so that it is realistic but contains a plot twist which is believable and unpredictable. Which will also be including dark lighting as many people who answered this survey have a fear of the dark and also the audience believe it will set the mood and location. This idea will be located in an isolated area and will contain murderer/psychopath events as well as it being a documented hand held camera hour opening sequence. I want my horror opening sequence to make my audience feel uneasy, scared and to include jump scares. I did this survey to understand what other people like and want to see as it is easier hearing other peoples thoughts so i can include them and it also makes it easier to come up with an idea as it narrows down options.
YOUGOV.UK ANALYSISThe Woman In Black
Interview with people about their opinion of Woman in Black
Insidious
Interview with people about their opinion on Insidious
Hush
I looked up Hush on yougov.com but it did not come up therefore i had to choose a film very similar to Hush. I looked up on google 'similar films to hush' and it came up with 'Oculus ' is similar to Hush.
Interview with different people about their opinions on Hush and Oculus.
I still wanted to see peoples views on 'Hush' so I interviewed people at my school and also, asked for their opinion on 'Oculus'. HUSH
Oculus
Trailer
Interview
script
LOCATION PICTURES
We chose 2 different locations as we didn't know if we were able to film in Chislehurst Caves so the plan B option would be the Orpington tunnel.
Chislehurst Caves
Chislehurst Caves is a good location as it is an isolated area which was one of the voted option on my survey, it will also set the genre as most horror movies are set in an isolated, lonely area. It is free to use and we are allowed to use it. The only problems that occur are the travelling and limited time we have to film due to school and our actors free time.
Orpington Tunnel
storyboard
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