Audience Research 2

This pie chart is converted from a questionnaire I produced and then gave them out to a number of different people, and this particular question 'what type of location would be most effective in a thriller opening sequence' and as you can see, the most popular responce was in the countryside. The second was joint between the town and city which are pretty similar as it is and then finally, the least favourite was underground. With these results we are going to do it in the city, because the town and city are very similar and together equals more than the countryside.

I will use these final results by setting my film in a busy town, because it seems genuine and how could somewhere like that be scary? So the film will be based in a town.

Audience Research 1

1 - Is an atmosphere crucial to build in the opening sequence?
If yes, state why....................

2 - Do you want it to grab your attention?
Yes/No

3 - Would you prefer a slow-paced or a fast-paced opening sequence?
Slow/Fast

4 - Are main characters good to show in the opening sequence?
Yes/No

5 - What are your main expectations of a thriller?
Please write here.........................

6 - What do you want to get out of a thriller opening sequence?
- A mysterious start
- Scary and frightening
- Slow and a build up
- Other

7 - Should the film have titles before or during the opening sequence?
Yes/No

8 - What sort of music or soundtrack should be used if any?
- Calm
- Energetic
- Spooky
- Other

Location Research

The Chalkboard

This photo I took was of a chalkboard in the middle on a road. Normally kids draw on chalkboards but why is it placed in the middle of nowhere. Also the writing has 'Paul' and a love heart with a name underneath it rubbed out, this is kind of spooky because they could of been in love and she may have vanished somewhere along with her name. When I make my thriller opening I could use this board to write a unwanted message and the camera could pan past it to create that creepy atmosphere. This is one of my favorite pictures, and glad I was able to find something like this.

Alleyway

I took this shot of an alleyway in the middle of the day so there was enough light and it looks normal. But at the end of this alley you can see a primary school, and that is a creepy thing to see at an end of the alley. Also another reason I chose this is because on the left there is a 'beware' sign basically warning people. The idea I got from this picture is that the camera could do a point of view shot down this alley at a darker time, and a ghost of primary school children or child could be playing with a doll at the end, which is used in some thriller movies. It's a typical thriller idea.

Broken Fence

This image is probably the most unusual image because it doesn't look or appear scary. There is a clever reason I chose this because I saw it and started asking myself questions like, why is it broke? Why is it bent? Where's the second half? These are the questions I thought about when took this picture and came up with the idea of, a family having a crash and haunting the area. Also in the story, an investigate will go back to the scene of the death which is this picture, and will start to have random flashbacks of the family crashing.

Cemetery

A picture of a cemetery is a typical thriller image because obviously cemetery's are full of dead bodies, and people tend to think 'they come alive' or 'haunt'. Cemetery's are a naturally spooky and creepy place that people do not like to visit, especially when it's dark. Due to its silence and loads of graves, it is a perfect place to build up tension. I chose this because I would like a scene where an actor is walking through this long narrow path of a cemetery and is having uncertain thoughts.

Dark Area With Two Tree's

Out of all the images I have taken, this one is my favourite one because every time I look at it I get a shiver down my spine. This image is of an abandoned street of shops with leaves scattered everywhere with two tree's lit up from car lights on the left. This would be a perfect runaway scene because to make a spooky thriller, you need some sort of high-paced chase through a gloomy area which the person has never been before. The lighting in this picture is very important because it shows the key features in the image which are tree's and shops. Finally, the dark colours are perfect for a thriller.

Dark Gate

Yet again I chose this shot due to its dark, gloomy and unpleasant atmosphere. This would be a nice scene to open on with someone or a group of people walking through these gates. An idea I brainstormed was someone walking through that gate while there was a child curled up sitting in that dark corner just starring at him/her. I got the idea of a small child sitting there from the film 'The Grudge' which involves a a lot of possessed children.

Scaffolding

I walked past this area with a little bit of scaffolding up and wondered how this shot could be used in my opening thriller sequence. The scaffolding could involve people up there looking down at people entering that building. Being followed is a very eery thing and is the best way to build tension and suspension.

Establishing Shot

Now this shot is one of my best composed shots I have ever taken. The sky was perfect at the time because it was mixed clouds and a shimmer of light bursting through the clouds like it has been trapped by them. The buildings vary in sizes and it's on an island which makes the area remote. The water is very settled and the boat in it is casually cruising past. This makes a nice scenery and I used this for an establishing shot of the area. This could be used for the opening shot to show where the area is going to be filmed.

Conventions Of An Opening Sequence

The Title Of The Film

- The font, style and colour of the writing must be appropriate to the genre of your film, therefore as mine is a thriller my font colour can be blue, red black and maybe green. The font style may be an unusual font to help evoke that it is a thriller. A slower pace of the credits adds to the suspense and suspicious effect giving little away but allowing the audience to view enough tension to keep them in their seats

Rest Of The Sequence

- For the rest of the sequence, the speed of each clip may change depending on what type of film is it. Some shots may be quick and sharp showing that the thriller may be a bit jumpy in some parts. The font style may be the same if some more credits are being shown.

Conventions Of A Thriller

- A thriller normally hits a main character who has a certain skill or very high pad job

- Thriller's normally involves a kidnapping, a murder or some sort of voilence leading to the main character trying to solve it and stop what is happening.

- A thriller normally has less gruesome scenes than in a horror, yet has more of a storyline and plot to it

- Finally a thriller normally has an unusual plot and is normally not unravelled till later on into the film

- My thriller will include all of these conventions because they are key to making a thriller, therefore will produce a final piece which is at a great standard.

My Genre 2 - The Final Destination

Camera Shots/Angles;

The camera shots in this trailer of 'The Final Destination' all appear to be close-ups or mid-shots and because of this it catches the viewers attention straight away which enables them to engage into the trailer. The first clip has a panning shot of the bottom of the ladder to the top of the ladder to show how high this ladder is, and where it is going towards (The Skull). Also the camera appears to use a lot of zoom in and zoom out's which gets the viewer more involved. Another reason they do this is because they want us to have a closer look in detail about what is happening. Similiary, at the gory parts of the trailer the camera goes into slow motion and the director has done this to show more gore and to show us what the film will be about. The final shot I really enjoyed is towards the end when the camera pans round the spine of a human and it turns into a roller-coaster, and this is clever because it is showing the viewers that a roller-coaster will be involved at one point in this movie.

Editing

Some of the editing in this trailer is really impressive because it makes the overall look of the trailer fantastic. One of these impressive editing techniques is the paranormal like colouring throughout the film, because it gives it that creepy effect. Another editing technique is when an explosion goes of and from out of nowhere, this huge puff of red, orange and yellow explosion comes out and takes over the whole scene which may give the viewers a shock if they are fully engaged in the trailer/film. On the other hand, speeding up a clip has came across very effectively when the camera is looking panning around the spine slowly, which then turns into a roller-coaster and this is when it speeds up because people associate roller-coasters with being very fast. So by doing this, they are relating objects to real life situations.

Sound

The sound is a very hardcore tune with a loud bass normally used for rocking out. But the music goes very nicely with the trailer. I know this because the clips of braking bones, explosions, collision can associate with hardcore music. The fact that hardcore heavy metal is a load of loud and outrageous sounds relates to outrages deaths and out of control situations. There is also a sound bridge half way through the trailer where the music seems to settle a little bit while it is establishing a new scenery (Or New Body Part). Also there are non-diagetic sounds like the sound of a bus and a train coming towards us and this reinforces that you can't get lost in the music because there are still everyday objects around you.

Mise-En Scene

The over-all look is important in every film or trailer because it is what the viewers see in there TV or cinema screen. For example if what you saw was not very good, you would be put off and would not want to watch anymore. Luckerly, this trailer has a lot of good overall looks such as the shot where the man's head get cut in half and there is a distribution of blood all over the place with some text on the right-hand side. Most of the pictures are of bones breaking which suggests the film isn't very pleasant and would not but suitable for the light headed.

In conclusion to this trailer, I would defiantly buy a ticket to watch this as the overall appearance seems very exciting and mind-blowing. The gory scenes attract me most which means the Mise-En Scene is well thought of.

My Genre 1 - Panic Room

Camera Shots/Angles

The trailer for 'Panic Room' has a majority of camera shots to make it look as effective as possible. At the start there are two establishing shots which create the scenery straight away because we know what the area is like and where the film is going to be based. This will show whether they are living in a poor or wealthier section and it proves to be a wealthier section. Panning shots come across a lot in this trailer, especially in the household. This could be because it's showing just how big the house is which also reinforces their wealth. The panning shots are effective because it gets the people watching by constantly moving the camera. Finally there are a few good mid shots and close-ups which are being used to show the posture of the women which is unsettled to show she is worried. Also the close-up of her face shows her facial expressions which again shows she is worried. This gets the audience thinking what could be worrying her.

Editing

The editing in the trailer is very limited. They do use a lot of fade outs in-between each scene and this is to get the viewer in suspense and wondering what is going to pop up next, and it also keeps the pace of the trailer going well. There are also flashes in-between a few shots which allows the next shot to come into place easily. Ultimately at the end, it fades out into a black screen and the words 'Panic Room' appear from the central in red which contrasts with the black background.

Sound

The music is very slow in the trailer to build up an atmosphere. They do this to catch the attention of watchers so they are fully concentrated on this and have no other worries in life. While this creepy, suspense music is playing the diagetic sound of the women and man speaking are cross-fading and once she asks a good question, the music drops into a very eary sound which shows the question she has asked leads to something big.

Mise-En Scene

The Mise-En scene of the trailer is really good due to its types of shots, editing and placements of things. Also the costumes of the women and child are very casual which means they are just normal people moving into a house which is being presented a man and women well dressed. The three men that brake in are dressed up in a typical robber outfit, which is totally in black and hats to cover their face. Now the characters have been recognised, you can see where this film is heading, but because it's a trailer you don't get to see hardly any of it.

And because of that reason alone, I would also be interested in watching this film because it is well firmly set and their is already a slight atmosphere from just the trailer.

Wallander

Camera Work/Angle

In wallander, there are a lot of extreme-close ups of items and possessions of the dead man, like his key ring. They do this to show that this man is a normal average man and he has died for no reason what so ever. The first show we see is an amazing tracking and establishing shot of fields miles away and the camera See's two females walking and goes past them and then cuts to a shot at the back of their heads which looked really effective.

Mise-En Scene

Some of the shots in the opening sequence had a really nice view and everything was composed so nicely, so the mise-en scene of it all was really good. For example it's in the countryside and was very windy because it was just of a coast and this made it realistic. The two teenage girls were wearing typical cloths so we think why has she killed someone? Finally the blood all over the two girls looked very gruesome and created a sickening atmosphere.

Editing

Not a lot of editing techniques were used in the opening sequence because there wasn't any need to.I did notice a lot of focus pulls, when the cops arrive to the area. The focus pulls looked really effective because it would focus on one thing which the viewer will look at and this way the director has control on what he wants them to see. Also when the girl drops the knife, the knife turns into a shape to help make the number '4' and then the titles appear which are very well made, and there is a cop that is constantly being shown in the gaps and you can only see half his face. This could mean he is one of those good/bad cops.

Sound

Sound is used pretty efficiently in this opening sequence from right at the start. When the camera is tracking you can hear all the wind and echoes constantly which makes a lot of fear for the viewers. You can hear the sound of the two teenagers crunching on the grass as they walk to make them seem they are powerful. Also when one of them drops the knife, there is a big slice sound to break the tension and to enter the titles and this is when the calming music comes along with a girl singing preciously, which settles the audience.

Kiss Me Deadly

Camera Work/Angles

Kiss me deadly is a fairly old film and as you can see from the screenshots its in black and white. There are a variety of shots in this opening sequence which makes the viewers need to be switched on. The first shot is of a tracking close-up shot of the women's legs from when she is running, and due to the high angle it gives her a low status and we want to know why is she running. There's a long shot of her running towards the audience, so she gets bigger every step. Due to these shots, we know that the film is in a 3rd person perspective because we are watching both characters from an angle and not any point of view shots.

Mise-En Scene

The whole mise-en scene and the composition of each shot is really well set out due to the art director. Each shot looks like a painting you could put up on a wall, so it shows how well thought out they have been. The scenery as you can see above is a deserted road with a lot of small bushes and shrubs to show people don't live around this road. The car this 'heroic' man has is a very old car, but back then it was one of the newest and the car is white, this could be to show heroines or to show he's a wealthy man because he also has nice clothing. The establishing shot proves that this women is running in the middle of no where and is only in a jacket and nothing else, so why?

Editing

Due to the fact that this is an older film, technology wasn't developed as much as it is now, so editing was not a huge part of some films. Although, this film does use a few editing techniques to make it look as effective as possible. First of all, this film is known as a 'filmnoir' which means a investigation genre from the French because they loved these types of movies. So when creating this movie they decided to put it in black and white because it creates that creepy mood. There are no transitions used between a shot they are just straight cuts, used really well. Finally the titles and credits came down from an angle and are backwards, so we think why did they do this? Maybe because its the end of the film and they are making it backwards.

Sound

Sound is used a lot in this opening sequence and has been done very well. At the start there is calm music, but every time it cuts to a shot with the women running down the road, this tense, unsettling music comes on that makes you think she is running away from someone. Also the car skids really loudly out of control and the noise emphasises that he didn't want to stop, he had to. The women is constantly sobbing throughout the opening sequence, even when the titles are being shown, this may be because the director wants the viewers to feel unsettled on why is she sobbing so much.

Double Indemnity

Editing

This is the oldest film I have analysed and due to that, there are not a lot of editing because the technology back then didn't allow them to edit the way we do now. Although the start of the film is pretty clever and is most effectual because while the screen credits are appearing, there is a man in the background from a distance walking hobbling fairly slowly towards the camera. We can only see his shadow which makes it mysterious and almost a bit creepy. There are a few nifty transitions between each shot like a fade in and fade out, which help flow the film together.

Sound

The non-diagetic sounds at the very start of the film starts of faced paced and has a few sound bridges along with it. Then it settles down into a rhythm with a steady paced and as the man walks closer to the screen the music gets a bit louder each time, making it very tensed. Suddenly as the man disappears into the camera, it goes to a scene where a car is going really fast and is braking a number of laws, this is when the fast paced music comes in with a lot of loud beats every other second. Having music like this makes everything rushed and would make viewers have to concentrate.

Camera Angles/Shots

Cameras weren't as advanced as they are now, so directors and film makers could only use basic shots. So in the film there was a lot of panning shots, especially when someone was walking across a room or down a road. Secondly there was a lot of still framed shots because back then, it was effective to do that. The whole continuity editing is really decent because there is no bad cut ups or mistakes. It does flow really well, which makes the camera shots well framed. Finally, there are a few really good angled shots, like a titled shot near the end. These shots do have a big part in films, because they make them stand out and make the overall look more enjoyable to look at.

Mise-En Scene

This film is in black and white because films back then weren't able to develop colour yet, so even though there ain't colours, the mise-en scene in some of the shots were fantastic. When the car was speeding down that hill with the road workers on the left hand side, that was a really good image and there is a shot of this above. The candles on the right and lights on the left brighten up this scene and the buildings in the background are there for a reason because its to show its a built up city. Also the area is revealed due to a sign on the left saying 'Los Angeles' so now we have established where the film is based. Similarly in another shot in the lift, it shows two characters, the main man and the hotel worker standing in there. And the main man has big layers of coats and a hat on to keep him self disguised until he is in his office, this could mean he does not want to be spotted. While the hotel worker is chatting away in a typical hotel outfit and basically slaving for this man to show his importance.

Brick

The Title Of The Film

The titles of this film is called 'brick' and the first picture in my storyboard is showing what it looks like in the film. As you can see the director has chosen a simple black and white contrasting theme because they tend to stand out and give a overall professional look. The font of the title is a 'new roman times' which is a very basic font but is also in the style of a 'brick'. So this could mean the title is a double meaning. Finally the title does not appear until around a minute into the film, this is to get the viewers engaged from the start watching the film and then be revealed to the title.

How The Setting/Location Is Revealed

The setting/location is revealed from a long shot showing the destination with a very unsettling non-diagetic music. The build up to this shot is from a lot of close-ups of items such as shoes, watches and a face. They use close-ups to build up the tension and to not reveal any of the background so when the shot flashes into a long shot, the viewers get the whole screen to look at and observe. It's a mysterious brook with a dark entrance and a dead body next to a gentle river/sewage flow. This looks like a murder. The director has done this to show its a thriller and to disgust the watchers.

Costumes And Props

In shot 3 I screenshoted the cigarette been dropped along with the mans shoes and a long road nearly deserted. This is a very quiet scene because its built up with a lot of mystery. The prop here is the cigarette because the man in the car has dropped this as he was driving past which is meant to hold a 'clue'. The director has used a common object to represent a clue and this can be related to a lot of people, especially smokers because they see cigarettes everyday but don't interpreted them with 'clues'. Also the shoes of the man are very smart and formal, so this suggests he is not prepared for a lot of adventures or clue solving. This could well be the twist in the story.

Interesting Camera Work/Editing

Shot 4 stood out to me as an 'interesting camera work' because it does not reveal this secret character in the story, it just shows her hand inserting a note into the guys locker. Also the background is like a focus pull because the main object which is her hand is focused on, whereas the background is not and appears blurred which is interesting camera work. This is a great effect because makes the viewers focus on what the director wants them to focus on.

Title And Font Style

The title and font style for 'focus features' is different to the title of the film. It's much more modern and creative, because it's not an old company. The font style appears to be a custom made one by themselves because the 'o' from 'focus' is out of focus so this is relating to the main which is very clever and people may take a liking into this. Also the title is in focus while the background is not, due to its blurriness, and this is good because it makes the picture pleasant to look at.

Story - And How The Opening Suggests It

The opening of the story suggests that its going to be revolved around some sort of murder because it shows a dead girl right at the start. The reason they have shown this right at the start is to set a sudden mood of anxiety and to produce the thriller. A lot of films start of very slow and this tends to move the viewers away from watching it, but if you have something to get you hooked in the film, its very effective because its hard to get unhooked from the film.

Genre (Thriller) - And How The Opening Suggests It

Close-ups and extreme close-ups are commonly used in thrillers because they show facial expressions and show how people are feeling, whether it's worried, happy or scared. This extreme close-up shows the man thinking and examining something, and we find out in the next show that he is examining the body, probably wondering how this girl has died, also it could be that he has killer her, we don't know just yet.

How Any Characters Introduced

Although we do see some shots of this character at the start of the film, he appears very mysterious and does not say anything, so the viewers do not know what he is like. We see him here sitting by a phone booth which then rings, so we get to hear his voice which will tell us where he's from (accents) and what this phone call is about. Eventually we will get to know this character very well, and then can relate to him from the beginning and find out why he was observing that dead body.

Any Special Effects (Or A Particular Shot You Really Like)

This last shot of the film is my favourite and really caught my attention. When I was viewing the film i saw this and thought it was different to other shots. This is because the angle of the shot is unusual and is also a close-up. I would like to use a lot of shots like these in my films because it makes them more interesting.

The Sixth Sense

The Title Of The Film

The title of the film is called 'The Sixth Sense' and appears on the screen to the viewers at the start of the film, in the title sequence. The letters are really spaced out and are stretched across the screen so it is big and bold to the viewers. The font colour is a light blue that slowly transfers into a darker blue just before it fades into the black. The black background and blue writing contrasts because the blue is really clear and the director does this to make it stand out more. Also the transitions are really slow and slow paced, which builds an atmosphere when watching the film.

How The Setting/Location Is Revealed

In the start of the film the location is shown in the basement and is very dark, gloomy and creepy. The reason we know it's in the basement is because the women walks down the stairs into a typical basement and the props in there such as wine bottles, old wooden features and spider webs are typical basement features. This basement is in their house and because there are spider webs and dust everywhere suggest they don't go there often, so it's a very lonely atmosphere.

Costumes And Props

In shot 3, the costumes they are wearing suggest they are celebrating something, because they are very formal and typical dress and shirt. Also the man is holding a bottle of wine/champagne which is normally drunk on special occasions or celebrations, so this reinforces that idea. The director puts the actor and actresses in these cloths because they are easy to recognise and relate to 'posh people'. Finally the women is putting on a thin cardigan so she must be cold and the director does this to show the audience she has a 'cold feeling'.

Interesting Camera Work/Editing

The shot I have used for this section is a reflection from a golden plate, which is a special award. The reason I think this is an interesting camera shot is because it's a close-up of a reflective plate titled at and angle, which reflects to the man and women talking and kissing. This also shows the reason why they are celebrating because the man has won an award. The composition of this shot is really effective because the award is distributed on the right hand side, while it still shows the background of a fireplace on the left. This gives a really warm and homey atmosphere.

Title And Font Style

The title's of the film are all in the same font which is a formal calibre styled font, which makes the film look professional and aimed for the alders. It's a big sized font so it stands out and is also bold. This is consistent which makes it look formal.

Story - And How The Opening Suggests It

This shot is a close-up of a few candles presenting pictures and home-made cards behind it. The cards all say 'thank you' and 'congratulations' so this shows the man has done something very good or heroic. Candles in this shot really contrast with the rest of the shot, because the opening is very dark and gloomy whereas this one shows the light part of the house and makes a happy mood. It suggest that's the story is about the man being good at something, or helping people out.

Genre (Thriller) - And How The Opening Suggests It

This shot is a typical thriller shot due to the reactions and facial expressions of both characters. Both of them are huddled close together which shows they are scared and are comforting eachother. The shot is a long shot/mid shot and the way the man is is standing suggests that he was looking away, but something behind him caught his attention and he swiveled his boy around. The facial expressions of the women is key, because it sums the shot up. Why is she pulling a face? What is she looking at? There are a number of questions that can be asked from her expression. Her hands are covering her mouth to show she is scared and shocked.

How Any Characters Introduced

In this opening sequence, a strange and misterious character is revealed. We are introduced to him in a panning shot from toe to head. It starts of at his feet and you can see all his cloths lying on the floor apart from his boxers. Then it slowly pans up to his head showing his whole body and the fact he is wearing no cloths is a bit freaky. This is a good way to be introduced because if you see his cloths are off before you see him, you automatically think there is something wrong or he could have a problem with himself, which in this case he does.

Any Special Effects (Or A Particular Shot You Really Like)

This shot of the old fashioned lightbulb slowly powering up to bring light is one of my favourite shots of the opening sequence. It's on the left side of the image showing the right side of the room when it lightens up, this is all precise composition from the director. I find it hard to start a film with the first shot, and this shot gives me great ideas and ambitions on how to start my thriller opening.

Analysis Of Memento 1 And 2

The Title Of The Film - When And How Does It Appear On The Screen?

The title appears right at the start of the film in big bold letters across the screen presented in a dark blue colour slowly turning into a light blue colour. The background is a solid black to contrast the two colours but the background then changes to a mans hand holding a picture which he shakes from time to time to make the viewer think that he is trying to reveal the picture, but then the picture disappears. Towards the end, the picture slowly fades away which comes across very creepy and mysterious.

When And How Is The Setting/Location Revealed To The Viewer?

In this opening sequence, the viewer does not grasp a setting or location to this film because the start is mainly full of close-ups or mid-shots of the main character, so the viewers can only establish him. The only sense of location shown to the viewers is a small dark and gloomy room which a man is laying dead in which suggests its not a pleasant place to be. Due to the small area/location, this will suffocate the viewers. However, the last shot is an extreme close-up of the man in black and white and he is sitting in his motel room.

Key Props - What Types Of Shots Are Used To Reveal These To The Viewers?

The hots used to show the props in the opening sequence are all close-ups, for example the picture at the start is a close-up and is what is being shown to the audience for the first 1minute 12seconds which can be a bit unsettling for the viewers. The director does this to lead the audience in thinking this man is the bad guy for taking pictures of dead people. Also he shows his camera in a close-up shot which makes the mood a bit scary. There is also a close-up of a gun whether it's his or not, but then possesses it into his hand, and a close-up of a bullet on the floor which clearly shows he has shot a bullet from that gun. Finally, the last close-up of a prop are broken glasses on the floor next to a man, and this shows he has been attacked or murdered and the director does this to yet again show this man is a bad guy.

Title Font, Placement And Style - How Do Actors Names Appear On The Screen. What Are The Connotations Of The Font Choice For The Titles And Credits?

The titles at the start is in big bold letters and each letter is spaced apart and covers the whole screen for a number of seconds. It also is in a blue colour with the background being black, which emphasises the blue so that it can stand out to the viewer. The titles and credits appear to be in the same font and colour as the titles so it stays professional and consistent, but they fade out and in every 3 or 4 seconds of each other to show who creates and stars in this particular film. The connotations of the colour scheme being blue is that blue can be used to represent sadness, depression or relaxed.

Camera Work And Editing

Editing and camera shots are the most important factors of a film, because they are what make the final product. The first camera shots are close-ups of the picture which shows a dead person and suggests this man is a psycho and murderer. Another shot is another close-up of blood dripping from a mans head, and the fact that its a close-up shows it's detailed and also reinforces that the man is the bad guy. The editing used in this is when the clips gets reversed, so it shows what has already happened and the clips at the start are very slow paced, so the viewers engage themselves and concentrate in what is happening. Once they are fully concentrated and are in the mood the clips start to hurry up and explain more about the film.

How Does The Opening Sequence Relate To The Rest Of The Film?

Cleverly the opening sequence is actually the end of the film, but you do not know this until you have actually seen the whole film. The film is shown in reverse which creates that crime solving mood you get when watching detective programmes. This is a great idea because it's unusual and not a lot of films do this, so by doing something different is a great idea. This inspires to do something different, so its unexpected.

What Titles

There are various different people that have jobs on and off the camera. These people make the film how it is, even though these people never get seen , they just have their name appear for a second on two. The main person in control of the whole process of making the film is the Director who is in charge of the actors/actresses and the set that surrounds them. His name usually appears on the screen just before the name of the film is presented to the audience.

A crucial member of the film making team is the Producer who is just under the Director but plays an important part in making the film. The job he has is to overlook the process and coordinates, supervises and controls the major aspects of the project.

There is also the Production Designer, has to design perhaps the props, set and clothing for each of the actors to be involved with.

Along with a lot more names, there are the actors and actresses who people actually watch in the film, therefore have to be advertised the most in posters, adverts and titles. These name will big in the biggest font and size so everyone can see and to show their importance and usually at the very start of the film. For example, Harold, played by Nathan Bedford.

A list of titles we are going to use in the film are;

- Production Team

- Actors/Actresses

- Title Of The Film

- Music Creator

- Editor

- Production Designer

- Director Of Photography

- Executive Producer

- Produced

- Written And Directed

What Does A Title Sequence Look Like?

This contact sheet is from the film 'brick' and is all from the title sequence. As you can see all the shots in this contact sheet have dull colours, there are no bright colours such as yellow. This creates a sad mood which suggests something bad has happened or will happen. Another mood that could be created from this is a lonely mood, because there is always one person in each shot, and the man is constantly looking worried and sad.

There are a range of shots in the title sequence such as an extreme close-up of his eyes that are slightly squinted to show he is trying to figure something out, and is frustrated. The majority of them are close-ups and this is because it emphasises that this film is very detailed and you must concentrate carefully. There is an extreme long shot though, and even though it's revealing more of the scenery, it's still maintaining the lonely mood, because this young man on his own is looking down a road that seems like it never ends.

This title sequence fits with the genre of a thriller because it creates moods straight away, which is effective towards the audience. It is a very detailed structure of the composition of shots and the colours are dull to not give anything away. Ultimately, the fact that the girl at the start is already dead suggests their is a twist, which links nicely into the ideas of my thriller.

Cover Lesson

On 26th November, I had a double cover lesson. This was because Mrs.Ingram was away for the last two periods, but my task was to carry on with 'Understanding the difference between a trailer and a opening sequence'. This task was all on blog, so I had to use the apple Mac's for this lesson. In the lessons, I got a lot of work done and was proud of what I could achieve, at times the room was very quiet which helped my concentration a lot.

Although I done a lot of work in lesson, there was a lot to do, so unfortunately I had to carry this on elsewhere such as at home. Apart from that I did enjoy the lesson and it all went well.

Title Sequence VS Trailer

Movie Trailer

A trailer or preview is an advertisement for a feature film that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema, on whose screen they are shown. The term "trailer" comes from their having originally been shown at the end of a feature film screening. That practice did not last long, because patrons tended to leave the theater after the films ended, but the name has stuck. Trailers are now shown before the film begins.

A trailer almost involve the following;
- An overview of the plot
- Grab the audience attention
- Action 'good parts'
- Who is starring and director
- No giveaways 'spoilers'
- Fast paced editing
- Persuade the viewers

Opening Sequence

In a motion picture, television program, or video game, the opening credits are shown at the very beginning and list the most important members of the production. They are now usually shown as text superimposed on a blank screen or static pictures, or sometimes on top of action in the show. There may or may not be accompanying music. Where opening credits are built into a separate sequence of their own, the correct term is title sequence for example, in the James Bond film with all the title sequence.

An opening sequence must also include;

- Got to hook the viewer in
- Familiarize viewer with setting
- Slower-paced leading you into the narrative
- Introduce characters through shots of them
- Establishing a certain 'mood' or 'tone'
- Must create an atmosphere

In lesson, we looked at the sixth sense trailer for the film. We looked at this one because it was a really popular one in the industry of film. The trailer was built up of a lot of clips called a montage once put together. At the start of the trailer you can hear the boy talking when the camera is panning through the street, this is a diegetic sound. This creates the atmosphere because everyone is listening to what he is saying, and at the end he says something creepy which spooks the viewers. Then the non-diegetic music strikes in straight after which is a perfect timing because the suspension has dropped. From then on, there are a number of clips shown after what are around 10 seconds long each. This is effective because they are quick, therefore over-loading the viewers with loads of different good clips so they don't have time to think about just one, which may lead them to want to go and purchase a ticket for this film. Also there is a non-diegetic sound of a heart-beat slowly getting faster in the background which builds tension. The director does this because the viewer feels as they are being rushed and a lot of things are happening at once.

The Se7en trailer is jam-packed with a load of clips which are commonly known as 'the good bits' because in this trailer, it shows good part but not all of them, so when you do go to watch the film you won't know what happens. Also this engages the viewers due to the amount of different clips. They are mainly all mid-shots so it does not give away to much, and just shows the characters. By doing this it will show who is starring in the film and in this case it shows Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt, who are A-listers and are incredibly famous. Tis will encourage viewers to purchase a ticket and watch this film.

We watched the opening sequence (title sequence) to Se7en in our lesson and we discussed why we thought it was different to other opening sequence's and why we liked it. This particular opening sequence was really good because it came across very creepy and different which made us want to view more of it. At the start it seemed they were making a book and kept showing a lot of close-ups of strange items and imperculiur things such as sewing pieces of paper together? The music during the clip was very creepy and was non-diegetic and played through the whole opening sequence. The music was very sinister which went well with the dark and gloomy pictures which was very criminal like. This was a very good way to produce an opening sequence and has inspired me greatly to use something like this when it comes to making my own horror opening sequence. In my opinion, I would defiantly want to watch this film, from just seeing the first 2 minute of it.

The Da Vinci Code trailer is different to the other trailers that I have seen because it starts at a very slow pace with a diegetic sound on a man narrating the plot of the film. While the man is talking about the background information, it is showing clips relating to what he is talking about such as a mid-shot of a army statue when he is talking about an army. The contrasting between the start and the second half are very different and noticeable, and this is because the music drastically changed like its been injected with adrenaline. The fact that the music is now a fast pace enthusiastic sound suggests that the trailer is about to get much more interesting in which it does, because the camera shots begin to get rushed which gets the viewers excited because they are so hooked in they are trying to gasp as much information as they can. After a dramatic change, the music seems to settle down and then the directors names appear on screen to show you who made and help to made this film.

The start of The Da Vinci Code opening sequence starts of with a settle diagetic sound of the narrator slowly summing up who Leonardo Da Vinci is and what he has conquered in his lifetime such as the famous 'Mona Lisa' painting and a number of battles he has been in. While this narrator is telling us some background information, the clip is showing some mid-shot angles of things that relate to what he is saying such as the Mona Lisa, and army soldiers. After having a slow introduction of this man, it starts to pan into a scenery where the movie starts, and because the viewers piratically feel familiar and relaxed with this character, they are prepared to watch this film and understand what is happening.

My Feedback From My Preliminary Task

WWW - What Went Well

In my task, my peers commented on how well my film went. They liked the way I used shot reverse shot very effectively which makes me feel more confident for when I use it next time. Also a few people said I could use match in action really well which made my film look much better. Finally, the 180 degree rule was perfect and everyone noticed it and complimented me on it, along with the cliffhanger at the end to leave them with suspense. Now I have positive feedback in some of the techniques I used, I will look to use them in my future films.

EBI - Even Better If

The area of improvements I have been given is to make a few shots more stable as it was a bit wobbly which didn't look that good and to make sure my continuity editing is perfect. For example on one shot, I opened the door with one hand, and came through the door with the other hand on the door handle. So by given this feedback I can make sure I re-check my film to ensure everything is accurate and no mistakes.