This opening sequence would be part of the genre (Thriller/Sci-Fi) it would take place in a science lab where there are 2 'friends' a man and a woman who seem to ha really nice time together but then the woman says she will be back in 1 mi uite she leaves the room but on her way out locks the door and then she presses some buttons which make a poisonous gas disperse into the man's room where he is killed by the toxic gas.
The costuming of the pair will be white lab coats and dark black trousers because of the manner of their job, on display their will be test tubes and vials full of various chemicals.
This sequence will make her appear evil but in fact she has been forced to be a hitman because her family her held captive do the idea of the opening is to mislead the viewer. The rest of the film will follow how she continues to kill people to keep her family alive but then with the emotional struggle she breaks into the base where are families captors are/ her boss and she saves her family form the huge technologically advanced fortress and kills her captor.
The titles will appear throughout the scene in the corner of the screen so to not distract from the unfolding plot.
This opening sequence would be part of the Thriller genre, it would be an opening sequence and titles after and would take place in a hotel at night where a lone teenage girl will stagger down the hall whilst injured, clutching stomach which is bleeding. The lights will then go suddenly go down and stop working which will in turn make her start running along the hallway where she bangs on doors and begs to be let in so she then starts screaming for help but then we hear the sound of stomping coming from behind her but then she falls over due to her wounds and starts to crawl along the floor where she whelps and crawls in a room and locks the door behind her. The footsteps stop where she is relieved but here's another door open and hears a squishy sound of a body being stabbed at followed by an ear piercing scream.
The costume of the girl will be a blood stained white nightgown with mascara that has leaked down her face and disheveled hair. There will be lots of blood and gore effects shown on her stomach. The 'chaser' of the girl will carry a large Meat cleaver which is soaked in blood and be dressed in all black clothes.
The film's plot line would follow how a man escaped from a mental illness home and then follows how him and is poor mental state interact with the world and how he attacks people for such little things such as not saying thankyou and also follow a particular girl in a boarding school of age 18 ish and how she is treated rubbish by everyone but in the climax of the film the man attacks the boarding house and starts to go on killing spree but is ultimately stopped by the girl's quick thinking in some way.
The opening sequence itself would be a scene that would be part of the boarding house attack later on, the film would be Non - Linear.
Throughout the opening scene text will appear at the end with a single shot which has small changes occurring in the background and therefore making an opening sequence and titles, this would create a haunting atmosphere along with dark and atmospheric music which would enhance this.
My opening sequence will be part of the Horror genre and take place in the woods at night time where 2 friends will be goofing around and having fun together then 1 friend will go off screen to go to the toilet behind a bush where the friend will be standing waiting maybe even on their phone but then suddenly a deranged man making howling and grunting sounds will come running at the friend who is waiting but would then attack the friend waiting until they are dead, most likely in a gorey manner pheaps by having their head beat open.
The costumes of the friends will be hoodies and joggers in large fur coats due to the setting being freezing at night time. The 'deranged man' will have blood red contacts in and be wearing all black trousers and jumper carrying a rake as its weapon. The sequence will follow typical Horror conventions through the use of jumps scare teases and real jump scares.
The rest of the films plot line would follow the 'deranged' friend seen in the opening and how they were a child living a fairly luxurious life in a happy household with a loving family but become kidnapped by crazy scientists who conduct experiments on the child carrying out research on inserting animal, specifically wild gorilla DNA into the brain so the course of the film will follow this poor child will grow up but slowly becoming less human and more crazy and like monster until we ultimately reach the opening sequence again but see more of what happens after it. Alongside the child growing up the parents of the child will also be trying to locate him but then by the end of the film come across their child after he killed the friend and ultimately be forced to kill their child to protect themselves.
Throughout the scene text will appear on screen in the corner but in a bold blood red color with a creepy and strange font, at the end of the sequence the name of the film will appear, 'Transformed' which will take up the whole screen.
A Director leads the production and is responsible for the creatives all the way from pre- production to post-production.
A very successful director is James Gunn who directed hit blockbusters such as The Suicide Squad, and The Guardians of the Galaxy films. James Gunn said that the most important part of directing was Designing and Setting up a shot. This is most certainly very useful advice since that composition of the shot needs to perfect in order to convey the narrative and tone of the scene.
Editor
They edit the camera footage and by the end create the final film product, editing is done in post production.
Jeffrey Ford, edited films such as Avengers Endgame, Avengers Infinity War and Public Enemies.
Jeffrey Ford says research is invention and that those two things are interlinked in literature; literature is often how films are born or draw inspiration from.
Camera Operator
They handle the camera during production and are responsible for the physical filming of the film and capturing the action.
Jon Myers was the camera operator for the horror film 'Saw'. This must have been a difficult job because angles and specific shot composition matters significantly in horror films to provoke the right feeling in the audience, especially for low budget films were clever camera tricks are needed to hide for example more homeade sets.
Director of Photography
They create the distinct look and perspective of the film, they need to keep in mind the director's vision and then aim to elevate it.
Jo Willems was the Director of photography for the Hunger Games Catching Fire were he is the one responsible for how the film looked and achieved this by working closely with Francis Lawrence who was the Director.
Producer
They look over film production and plan how production is carried out including being involved in casting, directing and editing.
Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson were the producers on No Time To Die who were very much involved with the entire production but even Barbra admitted to not knowing the way in which James Bond will return so this goes to show the producer may not know everything.
Sound Designer
They are responsible for accessing sound effects for production and also needs to set up sound playback equipment.
Mark Mangini was the sound designer for Dune which relies heavily on a dynamic use of interesting sound effects to build an interesting Sci-fi environment, he even created the sound of a sandworm swallowing a large vehicle by sticking a microphone in the mouth of an editor.
In this blog post i will be analysing the opening title sequences , Grease and American Horror Story Season 1.
Grease (1978)
The genre is conveyed through the use of the high energy non-diegetic soundtrack, it hints at the feeling of an upbeat fun musical experience which can be further looked at by the use of the words 'grease' in the soundtrack, this further suggests that specific songs would have been written for the film.
One key title which stood out to me was the Directors one which seemed to be especially significant because it was last but also at the final destination of the car animation seen in the sequence, this suggests the director is the most important person and was the foundation that the film was built upon.
The tone is set through the cartoonish and playful font which shows the audience that the main cast are still technically children in this film and that they may make some poor decisions but are also fun people.
The leather jackets being the costume for the 'T-Birds' and Marilyn Monroe being featured connotes that the time period for the film is the 50s. This gives the audience an idea of what the characters will be like and what they be interested in such as 50s pop culture.
The fact that Danny and Sandy are introduced on their own with no other character heavily implies that they are not only the lead characters but also are the fundamental path of the story of the musical since they also seem to be very different to each other like Binary opposites.
Speaking of Danny and Sandy, Danny is presented as vein and popular though the fact that when he wakes up he immediately looks at himself in the mirror whilst putting products into his hair and he also is a part of the gang T birds but in the opening sequence he is not with them, this suggests he is different to them in some way, maybe acting as a leader. Sandy is presented as beautiful through the way she looks perfect as she glides out of bed appears and like a princess from a fairytale through the use of fairytale animals being shown interacting with her however this also hints she is naive and wrapped in a magical world which is about to burst when she experiences some grit in the world.
American Horror Story - Season 1
The genre is conveyed through the use of the parallel non-diegetic soundtrack which poses an unsettling feeling which further predicts that the audience are in for a dark and frightening experience. To the audience it barely feels like a soundtrack more just like an assembly of horrific pleonastic sound effects.
The titles use a gothic font which appears to look creepy but also ancient, this suggests that maybe that there will be an ancient historical element to the program. The titles are also surrounded by darkness, showing that the show may not be playing around with its horror and frightening tonality.
The tone is set through horrific images of typically unsettling subjects such as skeletons, fire and pictures of a baby; but one again these only become unsettling when the soundtrack is playing underneath, its is the combination of the two which really drives home the fear factor.
The location is America, hense 'american horror story', this will almost certainly american culture will have a role to play in the narrative as a whole, as will the haunted house which is featured to multiple shots and especially becoming convincingly unnerving in the POV shots with a flashlight.
We are not introduced to any specific characters but we can make a hypothesis that there will be a villain featured that could very well be from the supernatural scope due to the abstract concept of the title sequence. Maybe the child pictured could be? After all he is the only human we see here. Possibly the pictures represent victims of the haunted house? There is also a chance of an innocent female character of a stereotypical victim could be involved due to the horror conventions and the pure white dress we see in a longer duration shot.
Titles provide the institutional and creative names which are actively involved with the making, producing and funding of the film.
These are the titles you would expect to see, in order:
Money Production Directors name film Main star Film title Actor 1 – (end of main section) Actor 2 Actor 3 Actor 4 Actor 5 Casting Costume designer Music Edited Production designer Director of Photography (DOP) Executive Producer Produced by Based upon
Screen play (writer)
and of course, the Director.
Titles can be creatively used within opening sequence through:
-Font/text style
-Colours
-Framing/screen placement
-Pace of credits, transitions and edit
They can establish:
-Tone/location/time
-genre
-narrative hints
-suggestions towards the character/characters
Below is an example of how a tittle sequence can be creative and feeling of the program:
Top Billed Cast: Kang-Ho Song, Sun-Kyun Lee, Yeo-Jeong Cho
The genre of Parasite is Drama, Drama's do not have many obvious convention they have to follow however they do have to be dramatic and be very moving in one form or another; The opening is certainly monumental since we are introduced to a poor family's situation where they live below the street which contains no wifi and do not receive reception for phones and can only receive it it in a very small corner of the house, this is captured in shots with a slow duration which creates a dark and depressing atmosphere which almost guides us to believe all hope is lost for the family. It seems to be set in the present day, based off the fact that the family have modern smartphones and the location in South Korea based on the language.
The tone of the opening scene is starkly realistic, which is presented through the diegetic dialogue of 'stink bugs' by the young man which shows us their dire situation of poverty and unsanitary living space. The sparse non-diegetic soundtrack emphasises the focus on the characters and how they deal with their situation, such as folding pizza bases or making plans. However there is also light heartedness interjected throughout. such as when a drunk man makes his way to outside their home and starts to wee, the family react with phrases such as 'you should have put up a no urinating sign!' which is funny to maybe to us but to them its a reality of something small and silly that needs to be done.
The audience is engaged by that the son having aspirations to help out his family to get a better life, specially when he is given the opportunity by his college friend to tutor a child from a rich family. Shot composition is used very effectively when the son is thinking about whether he should take the job and is talking to his friend but when a bus drives bast in the background of the shot it almost acts as the point at which the son makes up his mind and says that will do the job, it ads dynamism to the scene and makes this moment special and monumental.
The character of the son is presented as the families hope and pathway into a better future since he is the one leading the way into getting a new job to financially support his family, him and sister seem quite close since when they are in the same camera frame together they are usually placed close to one another. The sister seems slightly quieter then the other members of the family but she is also very smart since her and her brother manage to convince a piazza worker to fire a worker so one of them can take their place for slightly less wages but at the end of the day still receiving a new job, this is all symmetrically framed when the brother and sister are standing either side of the pizza worker and persuading her.
I think the narrative will follow the Son's new job and how this will affect the family but also make look into the employers family and how they will treat poor citizens since they are rich themselves, the dynamic between the almost two worlds could be very interesting. It will be interesting to see how the family will viwews the sons new work and how it will make them feel since a child may be bringing in the family's money. i think this opening scene was a very successful scene by not showing us to much information and keeping us wanting more, but they managed to capture the family dynamics well which is very important because it will most likely effect the outcome of the rest of the film.
Horror Opening Sequence Analysis - Fear Street: Part One -1997
Year released: 2021
Director: Leigh Janiak
Studio: Netflix and Chernin entertainment
Top Billed Cast: Kiana Maderia, Olivia Scott Welch, Benjamin Flores Jr
The genre of Fear Street Part One is Horror, this can be clearly identified by ambient diegetic ambient sounds of the shopping mall and the dark lighting used to build suspense, this follows the conventions of a horror film by building up a dark atmosphere and then introducing a killer to a singular character who the killer will pursue, this style of film opening as also used in other popular films such as Scream (1996).
The tone of the opening scene is dark and intense, the intensity can be shown in the way the camera moves very slowly in each shot which further provokes the feeling of tension to the audience. The darkness of the scene is shown literally in terms of the lighting and time of day and the killer who will not stop at any cost to find the girl and try to kill her. The time period seems to be the 1990's due to the lack of a mobile phone but still includes a corded telephone, the title however does indeed confirm this time period.
The audience is engaged when the girl finds it difficult to get past the security shutter so she has to fight off the killer, her struggle is emphasized by the diegetic pleonastic sound effects of the girl kicking the shutter. This once again ups the intensity as we don't know whether she will escape this and the loud sounds add a dramatic feeling to the scene.
The character of the young woman is presented as having an attitude as she handles a rude customer effectively and in a funny way by sticking her middle finger up at her. This makes the audience relate with her and her situation with rude customers however when the time of day turns to night time she almost metamorphosizes into a fearful character who gets scared of small noises. This shows the transformation people undergo when night arrives when they become more wary and worried, and then people can take advantage of this such as the killer.
The character of the killer is presented as almost possessed in the way he continuously attacks the girl without seeming to stop for anything such as pain or discomfort. his black costume conntoes that he is incredibly menacing and his mask however makes him childish at the same time, like children are relentless and you could say sometimes look out for themselves only. The overall effect of the costume could one again be compared to the horror classic Scream (1996) in the ghost face esc style.
This whole opening sequence in fact seems to borrow ideas heavily from Scream in the way it is executed including costume and plot and even character archetypes such as the damsel in distress presented in the character of the young woman. It think the narrative will have something to do with why this killer came after the young woman and why he is so expressions in terms of everything he did when pursuing her. I think this narrative was successful and portraying dark atmosphere with an engaging pursuit however I feel there could have been more to the scene that would hint to the narrative later on.
Studio: Grisbi productions and Waypoint entertainment
Top Billed Cast: Scott Shepard, Rosamund Pike, Ava Cooper
The genre of 'Hostiles' is a Western, this can be seen in the opening sequence of the use of the convention of 'good people' vs 'bad people', this can be seen with the use of high angle shots on the family and low angle shots on the 'invaders', this connotes that the invaders have grasp of power over the family who are helpless who are in an home invasion esc situation.
The tone of the opening scene is helpless because when the family try to get away you can see they have no real chance of completely escaping the invaders, this can be seen especially when the father who has a gun is shot down and killed which implies that the families lifeline has gone since the father having the gun was their only real chance of escaping, The mid shot of the father getting sliced by the knife is almost monumental of the idea that it over especially in the barren landscape where you can be seen easily when running and can easily be picked off by the invaders one by one like its an archery game to them; this further suggests their immense power.
The audience is engaged by the hiding of the mother who hides under a rock in the woods with her baby in order to hide from the invaders, the subtle parallel non-diegetic soundtrack enhances this scene perfectly by projecting the feeling of suspense to the audience who would be gripped to see if the mother can survive the encounter successfully; however the mother does survive the encounter providing some light in this dark scene of despair.
The character of the father is presented as a proud patriarchal figure because he sacrifices his life to protect his family from the invaders, this makes him appear heroic for doing this but what he did only bought the rest of the family a little more time to escape, but it didn't help them that much since the rest of the family were easily presuited by the invaders. The mother is presented as protective and loving ,(both the mother and father adhering to stereotypical nurturing and protective roles respectively), but also shown as smart since she outsmarted the invaders by hiding successfully when the especated narrative route would be just to her be found and killed; all of this creates a sympathetic bond between the audience and mother.
The invaders are presented as evil invaders in the clip in the way they absolutely slaughter most of the family without showing any mercy; and their tribal paint makes them appear further threatening to the audience. However we do not know why they killed the family but there may be a different reason to way they came, they may have been provoked or finalised by people since their costume is 'scary' to western audiences yet they look traditional, possibly even native americans if we follow the trope of the western film convention, but not everything is how it may seem on the surface.
Based on the whole opening sequence I think the narrative will follow the mother and how she will cope with the trauma of witnessing her family be murdered, it may also follow weather she will seek to avenge her family and fight back? Hopefully the narrative will provide the audience with mor backstory on the family and 'invaders' to underlying causes of this event or more events out there possibly like this. I feel this sequence was successful in portraying suspense and gripping the audience attention but lacked some needed depth to who the family is, what they did and any of their individual personalities as opposed to cardboard cutout stereotypes.
