Start of blog

To start the process of creating our opening I have begun by keeping an eye out for film openings that I find interesting. In our group we have begun to discuss genres and talk about ideas. From looking at previous a level groups work we found that the most common choice of genre is usually a horror theme so we have decided within out group that we definitely wont do horror. We have discussed maybe going for the trickier option of attempting comedy.

Camera shots angles and movements

This is a short film demonstrating the diffrent camera angles and movements.

The others

I chose the others for my opening. The film is a thriller set in 1945 about a family living in an old remote house where strange things seem to happen. The first thing that grabs your attention in this opening is the music. What sounds like a violin is played in a very low key which is quite unpleasant and creates an anxious feeling straight away, this suggests its a scary film from the very start. The opening of this film is simply drawings and images of events that take place throughout the film. This instantly gives an insight in to nature of the film and makes it obvious that the film is a scary one. As the opening progresses the music becomes more harsh and other instruments are added creating more tensions, the tone becomes deeper and the drawings become more horrific for example the hanging of a young boy. The colours used are mainly black brown and white creating a sepia effect, this introduces the date the film is set in making it obvious its not a modern day film. The drawings are very rough and sketchy with lots of dark tones this also adds to the atmosphere of something not being right, the images are very dimly lit by a flickering light and the light only shows part of the drawings in each part. I think this idea of not being able to see the full picture is purposely linked to what happens later on in the film when you find out a key part of the story.

Se7en

We have been asked to evalute the opening of Se7en. I thought that the opening is very effective and fits the genre which is made obvious from even the first clip. The clips used are a main part of what makes the opening a good one. Firstly the subject of the clips are all releveant and relate welll to eacother. For example clips of journals and diarys followed by clips of  cutting articles and sorting papers. Also the quick transition between the images and clips create a fast pace and add to the sharpness. All images and clips fit a certain type of theme that is consistent throughout the opening.The extreme close up camera shots also add the intense feel.
The use of lighting and colour are also a noticable part. The colours are kept dark and dull with no bright colours at all. The lighting is kept very dim and this gives the feel of being in a dark barely lit enclosed room.
These help in setting the theme of the film letting you know straight away the film is serious and possibly scary. Also suggesting the theme of horror is the font used for the credits. The scribbled effect and the way the writing flickers on the screen is cleverly paired with the sounds of scratching and various electronic sounds. The music used is also chosen apprtopriately and the way it slowly builds up starting with single sound effects then gradually creating a beat also creates an intense feel.