Marking previous work

I marked the following work out of ten based on their Material appropriate to the target audience, whether or not the title were conventional/appropriate, sound/images and technical editing, camera work/framing/mise en scene, editing and overall feel of the title sequence to give me an overall score out of 60.

Captive:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93fH1fUQ-Lw

I felt that captive was a very good title sequence, I felt that the display of the titles were very appropriate as the titles flickered when coming onto to screen, which creates a sense of unease, which is usually what is created in the opening to (what I am assuming to be a) thriller film. This is effective as it might symbolise the flickering of a light for example in a rundown place, which is where a lot of thriller films are set. I also felt that the use of the camera was very effective. This opening displayed a wide range of different shot types, showing different angles shots, and a variety of ranges, ranging from extreme close ups to extreme long shots. The framing was also very good in this opening as the rule of 3rds was consistently being used and was always showing the character from different places, giving the connotations that he is being watched and is definitely in danger. I also felt the editing in this opening was very good having shots jump constantly between each other, and create a sense of disorientation. The sound I felt could have been improved, as I felt the music became too dramatic at the end for what little was going on, therefore marked it down for that. I also marked it down for the fact that I didn’t feel like there was enough going on in the scene. Overall I scored this piece of work 55/60 and felt that this was a very good piece of work, and very good opening title sequence. 

Cape Fear opening analysis

The opening to the film Cape Fear is very interesting as it shows the opening credits in a very unusual and unique way. It has the credits in the middle of the screen, over the top of a shot of some water which we find out and recognise at the end of the opening when a voice tells the audience that Cape Fear is actually a river. 

The opening also shows images of various things that look to be in the reflection of the water. The first thing that the audience see is a bird (possibly a hawk or eagle). This bird looks like a bird of prey and could resemble the character Max Cady who is a character who could be compared to a bird of prey, attacking other people, which is something that this bird looks like it is doing in the scene. It then also shows a reflection of an eye looking around which could also resemble something that this character would tend to do, giving the impression they are being watched. These images are then followed by images of a man’s unidentifiable face in the reflection of the water. All of this together gives the impression that this location isn’t safe and that they are being watched and are vulnerable. His then has importance later on in the film when the characters actually go to this place, and they aren’t safe and do get attacked. 

The water in this scene is also rippling which shows that there has been something that has disturbed it and that they are not alone. It gives the connotations that something is near and that it isn’t Max Cady is near, however there are clues. He is a man who will act natural despite actually wanting to do something worse than what at first is seen at first glance. 

The opening also shows blood dropping into the river. Blood in films will always resemble blood and death. The blood is dropping into the river which could resemble that there will be blood spilt in the river and there will be either somebody dyeing or seriously hurt in the lake. This opening helps set the genre and the tone for the rest of the film, and tells the audience what to expect from the rest of the film. With the showing of blood in the opening sequence and the age rating of an 18, it will tell the audience that this film is defiantly not suitable for young children, and tells the adult audience what type of film they are about to watch. 

The music to the opening to this film very sinister and makes the audience feel on edge with the high pitch music from the very beginning, which makes the audience fearful and uncomfortable from the start if the film. This alongside with the blood drop, eagle, and the face of an unrecognisable character, all makes the audience uncomfortable as soon as the film starts, and sets the tone for the rest of the film. 

Se7en opening analysis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEq-4fua3lM 

The opening to the film Se7en is a very good and successful opening to a thriller film. It shows the antagonist preparing for one of his murders; however the audience do not know this on the first time of watching. On the first time of watching the audience don’t know what they are watching, it is only once they have watched the whole film and find out what John Doe does to prepare for his murders (slicing the ends of his fingers etc.) that the audience realise that they have already been shown him doing this at the very beginning of the film, in the opening credits this is very successful as the audience only know what it is about until they watch it for the second time. 

The first scene in the opening sequence shows John Doe flicking through a book whilst flickering text is being shown. The fact that John is reading a book illustrates that he is very intelligent and may be more intelligent than the people trying to catch him. The book may also display that he is very methodical and isn’t a normal psychopath who kills people randomly without any reason.  This scene is not alone showing John being methodical in his work as there are various other shots of him also doing things that you wouldn’t expect a killer to do, including him writing, picking up and reading more books and binding paper together . All of this together conveys that he is possibly investigating the detectors and knows more about them than they know about him, which is the case of the film. 

The lighting in this title sequence is very dark and looks as if the light source is a single desk lamp. This adds to the atmosphere and as it makes the whole scene a lot more serious as the dark lighting gives connotations of danger and somebody in a dark setting should be scary and untrustworthy.

Other props are also used in this opening sequence are also used however the other props aren’t used to display intelligence or method but to keep the audience on edge by the use of having props such as razor, slicing fingertips, and the character handling with nail etc. The use of these make the audience feel uncomfortable watching, as they are ordinary household objects that the audience will own, however using them in a way that is dangerous and showing he is using them in the wrong and dangerous way. 

The credits shown are in a handwriting font which again looks like John Doe has written out the credits. The credits are also flickering which also makes them look more creepy than they would otherwise look. This could convey insecurity. 

The use of the camera shots is also significant in the opening to this film. The whole opening sequence consists of lots of extreme close ups. This doesn’t allow the audience to take a good look at anything, location, character or anything the character is doing properly. 

Mood boards

Film openings examples

Thriller film openings

In terms of the credits for thriller films there aren't many conventions that are needed to be followed, as directors are always introducing new ways to show the credits, and make them unique from any other. This varies from not showing any credits at the start of the film (like The Dark Knight), having text over the opening scene in Silence of the lambs or the use of font on blank screen (in The Sixth Sense).

However in terms of things such as mise en scene, there are some conventions that appear in the majority of thriller films. The lighting for example is normally fairly dark. There is always some sort of light whether it be natural, and obstructed by trees for example, or artificial light form a lamp or something. As mentioned previously, there is normally some form of weapon in thriller films, and is sometimes shown in the opening scene, to make the audience feel uneasy. The setting of thriller films, are almost always set in a run down isolated place. This may be in an apartment for example. This adds the suspense of the film and makes the audience feel out of place, they aren't comfortable watching it.

Thriller openings also have a convention of including extreme close ups in the title sequence, as shown in Se7en and Momento. This is very effective as means it doesn't show the actual identity of somebody, which creates a sense of mystery. It also shows close ups of objects within the room. This is more visible to the audience, however they still don't know the use of them, for example the razor in Se7en or the glasses in Momento.

The title sequence will sometimes introduce you to a character, this could be the main character, the bad guy, or the victim, different films introduce different characters at different points in the film. This again could be used effectively through the use of a non-chronological film, where the character is introduced at the start of the film, however it is showing them at the end of the story. They will then go back and show how it got to this stage. The introduction to character, is the first 2 minutes is a very good way to introduce the character, as it makes the audience aware of their presence from the very beginning.

A lot of the time openings to thriller films, will straight away make the audience uncomfortable. This may be just a very subtle way or something more obvious. A very discrete way of doing this would be the slow zoom at the very beginning of The Dark Knight. This may make the american audience uneasy as it may give connotations towards the 9/11 terrorist attack. This isn't an obvious case, however, psychologically it does have an impact on the audience. This can be done more obviously, and have a setting such as in the middle of a forest, and isolated from anything else. Both of these have a psychological effect on the audience and will start the film off with a sense of unease. Another way that the opening can make the audience uncomfortable is having a murder at the very beginning of the film. An example of this would be a film like JAWS, where the first thing you see is someone being eaten to the shark. This catches the audience by surprise, and isn't what the audience expect, in the first scene.

However as said previously, in terms of the credits there are various effective ways of showing the opening credits.

Thriller codes and conventions

Thriller films have various codes and conventions, that make them recognisable as a Thriller film. An example of this would be through the use of deep background music. This music will normally build up and create tension amongst the audience. The tension, or suspense, is something that the audience will expect when going to watch a thriller film, as it has become such a recognisable convention of thriller films. The audience will expect to be put in situation where they are watching a main character in danger, for example.

Another convention of thriller films are that they are normally set in an urban area. The fact that they are set in an urban area, shows that more people are in danger and that whoever they are looking for could easily be lost in a crowd. It also gives the sense of terrorism as if there something happens and gets put of control, buildings could easily collapse. This gives the sense of unease as the audience watch, even if the film is unrelated to terrorism.

Weapons are used in almost every thriller film, and are the first thing the audience expect to see when watching the film. As thriller films are made up of a variation of crime, there will always have to be a weapon. The bad guy (who normally has psychological issues) will normally carry something like a knife, and will find a way to torture somebody, whereas, the good guy (normally some sort of police officer) will carry a gun. This will then show that the bad guy is insane and enjoys killing people, whereas the police officer will want to kill instantly with a gun shot, and doesn't enjoy dealing with death, instead won't kill the bad guy immediately, with the aim to interrogate, and then imprison them.

As mentioned previously, there is normally a psychopathic person, with a desire to kill. This is apparent  in the majority of all thriller films. In terms of Todorovs narrative theory, when the psychopath is introduced is where there is the disruption to the equilibrium. The psychopath, will normally kill and disrupt the equilibrium (where everything should be). This is then followed by the recognition and the repair stages, all leading to the restoration, where peace, is normally recovered (or temporarily recovered) back to the equilibrium.

These are just a few conventions of thriller films, along with many more unmentioned. However some thriller films don't just follow the codes and conventions of thriller films, but also show other conventions, of other film types which act as cross genres, and have conventions from other genres included within them, called hybrids or sub-genres. These could be crime-thrillers, comedy-thrillers, action-thriller etc. These can be effective as proven by successful examples including The Sixth Sense which is a supernatural-thriller for example. This will be something I will be looking to do and will hope to include something like this when making my film opening.