Analysis of the opening sequence of Twilight
- Narrative of Film: A young girl has set out to live in the town of Forks with her father, leaving behind her mother and step dad, her narration makes the audience aware of this and her negative feelings towards moving.
- Characters: The main character seems to be a young girl; she is the narrator of the film and is central in the action of the opening scenes.
- Discuss order of appearance: At first we are shown a deer running away in a wood, which could metaphorically indicate upcoming action in the play. The girl who was narrating throughout is then shown, confirming her importance as a character.
- Location: At first the opening of the film is located in a woodland area; we are then shown a small town in Washington, known form the narration as Forks. It seems to be a quiet town where the population is very small, therefore indicating not much happens, setting the perfect location for a story to take place.
- Genre: Potential thriller because of the low key lighting and earth colours such as dark browns, black and greens, it is not very vibrant. The characters also look gaunt, as well as the location itself.
- Characters: The main character seems to be a young girl; she is the narrator of the film and is central in the action of the opening scenes.
- Discuss order of appearance: At first we are shown a deer running away in a wood, which could metaphorically indicate upcoming action in the play. The girl who was narrating throughout is then shown, confirming her importance as a character.
- Location: At first the opening of the film is located in a woodland area; we are then shown a small town in Washington, known form the narration as Forks. It seems to be a quiet town where the population is very small, therefore indicating not much happens, setting the perfect location for a story to take place.
- Genre: Potential thriller because of the low key lighting and earth colours such as dark browns, black and greens, it is not very vibrant. The characters also look gaunt, as well as the location itself.
Analysis of the opening sequence of Vertigo (1958)
- Narrative of Film: We are not completely aware of the films narrative, as the opening is mainly an abstract illusion, however we can assume of murder and crime, because of the colours and images used within the abstract opening.
- Characters: The female character at the beginning is used to start the illusion, the extreme close ups on parts of her face were used as the background for the opening titles. The male characters, seeming to be robbers and the police demonstrate a chase scene; we are unaware at this point what for.
- Characters: The female character at the beginning is used to start the illusion, the extreme close ups on parts of her face were used as the background for the opening titles. The male characters, seeming to be robbers and the police demonstrate a chase scene; we are unaware at this point what for.
- Discuss order of appearance: In regards to the opening credits the names of the two main characters in the film are shown following the title itself, Vertigo. The co stars are then a follow up of that. The order of appearance on screen shows a man running away from the police. The man running could be the main character we are unaware at this point.
- Location: On top of an industrial/city building is where most parts of the police chase take place. This small part gives us indication that the film is based in a city area.
- Genre: Thriller/ crime, this is because of the unusually opening of the extreme close up of a woman, the change of colour to red give the impression of danger. The police chase after the
opening credits could indicate a crime genre.
Relation To My Own Thriller Film :
Over the holidays we was given the task to think of 2 potential narratives for our opening sequence.
Narrative 1 :
A young girl school girl has sneaked into an over 18's club, previously she heard on the news about a stalker who had been hanging around her home town. At the club she bumps into some of her older sisters friends and dances with them, a man comes over to her politely asking for her to dance with him, she dismisses him very rudely, and intends to avoid him the rest of the night. As she leaves to go outside for a cigarette he immediately grabs her from behind and takes her to a near by wood. Where he kills her and leaves her body, a police enquiry for her whereabouts begins.
Although I do like the idea of a serial killer with a fascination for killing, this specific narrative I do believe it is quite horror like rather than being a thriller genre opening.
Narrative 2 :
Opening storyline is based around a man who has awoken in an abandoned house. He believes his family have either gone to work or school and continues with his daily routines such as brushing his teeth and making breakfast for himself. At first this opening does not display any convention of a thriller and simple looks like a man getting ready to go out. The music is crucial for this opening as it changes as soon as he notices a DVD on the table, lighting changes to become lower key. He plays the DVD and it is of his family held captive in an unfamiliar location with a mystery kidnapper demanding money. The conventions of a thriller begin with the scenes taken place in the DVD, the mans facial expressions change as he becomes irrational from his once mellow mood. I think this could be a good opening as it is very polysemic and can be played around with to create a good opening. It has the psychological bases of a thriller film and a kidnapping story is very common.
THE HALFWAY HOUSE
When actually creating our opening sequence and what content we will included i looked at previous media students opening thrillers and got some idea’s of what we could take and apply to ours. In the student thriller opening ‘ The HalfWay House’ i thought the music soundtrack was very subtle and not to overpowering which enabled the audience to focus on the narrative. The digetic on screen scream was very deafening and i found it to overpower the calm suspense. I liked the idea of the tracking of the feet as the male character walked. It created an enigma and incised you to see what happens next, however I did feel the narrative itself dragged on and became very boring. The contestant shift of location and the use of lighting were good.
opening credits could indicate a crime genre.
Relation To My Own Thriller Film :
Over the holidays we was given the task to think of 2 potential narratives for our opening sequence.
Narrative 1 :
A young girl school girl has sneaked into an over 18's club, previously she heard on the news about a stalker who had been hanging around her home town. At the club she bumps into some of her older sisters friends and dances with them, a man comes over to her politely asking for her to dance with him, she dismisses him very rudely, and intends to avoid him the rest of the night. As she leaves to go outside for a cigarette he immediately grabs her from behind and takes her to a near by wood. Where he kills her and leaves her body, a police enquiry for her whereabouts begins.
Although I do like the idea of a serial killer with a fascination for killing, this specific narrative I do believe it is quite horror like rather than being a thriller genre opening.
Narrative 2 :
Opening storyline is based around a man who has awoken in an abandoned house. He believes his family have either gone to work or school and continues with his daily routines such as brushing his teeth and making breakfast for himself. At first this opening does not display any convention of a thriller and simple looks like a man getting ready to go out. The music is crucial for this opening as it changes as soon as he notices a DVD on the table, lighting changes to become lower key. He plays the DVD and it is of his family held captive in an unfamiliar location with a mystery kidnapper demanding money. The conventions of a thriller begin with the scenes taken place in the DVD, the mans facial expressions change as he becomes irrational from his once mellow mood. I think this could be a good opening as it is very polysemic and can be played around with to create a good opening. It has the psychological bases of a thriller film and a kidnapping story is very common.
THE HALFWAY HOUSE
When actually creating our opening sequence and what content we will included i looked at previous media students opening thrillers and got some idea’s of what we could take and apply to ours. In the student thriller opening ‘ The HalfWay House’ i thought the music soundtrack was very subtle and not to overpowering which enabled the audience to focus on the narrative. The digetic on screen scream was very deafening and i found it to overpower the calm suspense. I liked the idea of the tracking of the feet as the male character walked. It created an enigma and incised you to see what happens next, however I did feel the narrative itself dragged on and became very boring. The contestant shift of location and the use of lighting were good.
THE HUNTED
‘The Hunted’, however was based around a chasing scene, the use of colour effects during the editing stage i believe made the opening good, without it there was not really any various camera shots and you could hardly tell what lighting is used, with only one location. I would apply the breathing sound effect onto my own opening; i thought the off screen sound made it seem chilling and created suspense rather than just the use of a soundtrack alone. The non diegetic scream at the end i was expecting and therefore very typical. The titles at the beginning i also thought was very jumbled, i plan to use the same effect and font rather than various ones.
1 comments:
What you have produced is good. However you must elaborate on your understanding by discussing the purpose of the opening sequence and relating your research back to your own production.
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