Research - Further Study of Opening Credits

 Hello readers,
To continue research of opening credits, I studied the opening scene of the 2009 horror film 'Splice'. Again, like the credits of 'Signs', the main focus is the text and soundtrack although there is some live footage in here which directs the audience inside a fluid-filled womb.
Link to watch opening credits:

Splice (2009) — Art of the Title

 Staying typical of a horror film, the opening credits feature a dark colour scheme. As the film is a sci-fi horror, the use of the colour green (connotations of aliens) stays representative of this genre. The credits appear very subtle. The font is almost skeletal like which ties with the beginning of the clip, where animal skeletons are shown to the audience. Having initially decided we want subtle font within our credits, this is interesting to see how other films have done so within their own credits. The font is sans-serif which creates a modernistic visual. This again ties to the genre of sci-fi as it creates a link to the modern culture of space. Despite the fact that we are not making a film opening for a sci-fi horror, the opening credits successfully create a feel of tension and suspense which would be expected of a thriller genre. It effectively does this through mystery; the viewer does not know what they are being shown through the live footage which enhances the feeling of suspense. The dark colour means that the aesthetics are obscured and the audience is unsure what is coming up. Some of the credits are carved into the womb through computer generated visuals. This again adds a subtle feel to the credits.
 The soundtrack again plays a huge part in creating tension. The use of recorded piano creates an eerie touch and the 'whooshing' sounds as the camera moves around the womb suggest movement which adds to the pace and creates suspense through doing so.

 Overall, I feel our team will be influenced by these opening credits when creating our own as we would like to create an eerie soundtrack and subtle credits.

Research - Opening Credits

Hello readers,
 I am evaluating the opening credits from the 2002 production of 'Signs'. This is because it is a thriller film that demonstrates a particularly successful opening scene that, despite not including live footage, creates a strong sense of suspense and tension.
 The opening credits are shown in the following link:
Signs (2002) — Art of the Title

Having already researched successful film openings, I know the ingredients essential for a successful opening sequence. However, having never properly researched into the effect of sound and credits within an opening scene I thought this is something I would explore. As previously shown, we have already chosen our films basic plot, however, it is crucial that we gain further ideas for our credits and soundtrack.
 The opening to 'Signs' features text on a blue background, softened by a black vignette. This enhances the focus on the credits and creates the effect of a torch onto a darkened area; the circle of light shows us the information, almost like a crime investigation spotlight. The information shown is sought by the viewer, just like clues are looked for by detectives. The vignette effect creates a transition between the cuts as it fades the clip into almost darkness and then lighting the following cut. When we are creating our credits it is important to consider what roles to mention. The credits here mention the production companies, the leading roles, the casting director, the music composer, visual effect supervisors, costume designer, editing director, production designer, director of photography, executive producer, producers, the writer and director. These are all roles we could include within our own credits. The colour scheme of both the credits and the background conform to the conventions of a thriller film as the dark colour scheme create mystery and adds a cold atmosphere. The colours also create a level of eeriness expected of a film within this particular genre. The editing of the credits conform to the typical thriller film as the cuts vary, speeding up towards the end as the suspense increases through the music. In some parts, its almost as if the credits jump out at the viewer suggesting jumpy scenes to be expected within the live footage.
 I think the aspect of the opening credits which result in the biggest impact is the score. What starts off as slow at the beginning builds up towards a fast and tense crescendo. The use of string instruments create an eerie screeching sound. There are also trumpets and drums within the soundtrack which create heavy beats, signifying a sense of emergency which adds to the feel of suspense. This captures the audiences attention as they have no idea what to expect of the film, as the credits withhold a sense of mystery that is shown through the tense soundtrack. This shows how important the soundtrack is within the opening scene so we need to make sure we fully explore this aspect and make ours effective.
 Overall, I really like these opening credits. They are very typical of a thriller film with the quick cut editing, the serif font, the colour scheme and the tense score.

Research - Target Audience Questionnare

Hello readers,
 To gather information on our audience demographic, our group created a questionnaire.

 Our team carried out this questionnaire, having previously made decisions revolving around our chosen genre of 'thriller'. As we are creating a film to appeal to teenagers/young adults, we asked ten 16-17 year old's five questions. We chose to ask people of this particular age group as we decided that the most likely age group to have an interest in thriller movies are those who are younger (ranging from between 15-18 years).

 To gain clear results, we colour coded each questioned individual to see who answered with what. Our team also decided to collect the data using a tally chart system as this allows easy collection of answers to gain a better understanding of the standards that our film opening must meet.

From the results of question 1, it is clear to see that the majority of our target audience questioned agreed that the thriller genre was popular. This allowed for reassurance that our film would appeal to the chosen viewers. Again, the answers made by our target audience in relation to question 2 continued to show the team that our audience demographic enjoy thrillers with the majority voting for the answer 'yes' when inquired if thriller films were enjoyable. Question 3 reestablished the interest our target audience had in thriller movies, as the majority voted for the age certificate of this genre to be 15; this showed our team that people of 15-18 years would be interested in seeing a thriller film. The results from this question also allowed our team to consider the age restrictions we would focus on when creating our film and the need to consider suitability  of contents. Question 4 covered the musical aspect of our production and highlighted its importance within producing our film opening, as votes showed that eight people answered 'yes' to sound playing a key role. Therefore, during the production stage, it is vital we focus on creating an intriguing and exciting soundtrack to enhance the audiences viewing. Question 5 dealt with the idea of pace within our film opening; results showed us that 80% of those questioned voted 'yes' to a quick pace being important, and the other 20% decided that it was 'quite' important, thus, making it essential that we create a feeling of a quick pace within the opening credits of our film.

Overall, this questionnaire has been a useful communication tool when considering what our audience desire from a thriller movie.

Planning - Media Pitch

Hello readers,
 This is my groups film opening pitch. As I previously mentioned the film is to be called The Syndrome; the opening features an escape scene as a captive girl tries to escape the domineering captor. We included mood boards to inspire our location choices that will create the particular atmosphere suited to the 'thriller' genre. We believe there to be three locations: forest, prison and tool shed. Each place will have an eerie feel to enhance tension within the opening; essential for the fast-paced escape scene that will hold the audiences attention. We hope to film in dusk as this will create the lighting desired to add to the chosen atmosphere; as we plan to hold the escape scene within a forest location, this will create particular tension and thrill due to the maze like setting. We plan to use a tool shed to add context in relation to the capturer himself; we plan to show a preview of him preparing chains or some sort of weaponry (although his intentions are not to kill) within this location. It could be a desolated building or literally a shed (although if we decided upon a shed we would have to ensure verisimilitude was created by ensuring it looked as if it were deteriorating). We have the idea of the prison being situated within a caravan as this is less cliché then a basement or literal prison.
 We have yet to cast who will play the victim and the captor and still need to consider aspects like costume design. We must also find our decided locations.

Planning - Main AS Task Initial Idea

Hello readers,

 For my main AS task in media which requires the making of a two minute long opening sequence with the inclusion of credits, I will be working with two other people. We have chosen to create an opening sequence within a film that will be of the 'thriller' genre. This is because this enables us to make the most of creating an atmosphere, demonstrating a variety of shot types and exploring utilizing sound and lighting to the best ability.

 Our basic idea is to create an opening scene for a film called 'The Syndrome'; it is about a captive girl suffering from Stockholm Syndrome who consequently is in love with her capturer. The opening sequence will be before this scenario takes place and the girl first finds herself captured; she makes for escape but consequently cannot overpower her captor who takes her hostage again. Therefore, the opening sequence will focus on her escape and her inevitable second capture. I feel this will be a good opening sequence as it will be tense due to her pursuit to escape, and there will be the question of will she make it out, or will her captor pursue her?

 We have been inspired from various sources around this idea of escape and approaches that we may consider taking.
 Firstly, this music video by Written In Waters features a cannibal in pursuit of his 'dinner'. The captor is threatening, not only in his build and aesthetics but also his presence. This could inspire who we decide to cast for our captor. Also, the lighting used is quite atmospheric; a lot of the time making the best out of natural light, and others using artificial light to add effect. The shot types are also really influential and impressionable and editing is smooth and fluent, demonstrating good continuity editing. I feel that the way the captive has been tied up, with his wrist and feet and gagged, will probably be the way we approach tying our captor as she will still be able to make escape in comparison to if she was tied down with chains.

 Our next source of influence is the escape scene of a couple of boys in The Changeling; the boys manage to escape but are pursued by their captor. The lighting is dim and dark; we are thinking of filming ours at a time of day where light will be scarce in order to create atmosphere. This scene may also influence how we choreograph our escape scene, however, instead of the captor going crazy we want him to be calm and confident that he will catch the girl. The shots used in this scene are effective to evoke the feeling of a  quick pace however we plan not to use dialogue in our opening sequence as this will lose the effect of tension and questioning of what will happen.
 Another source which has influenced us in forming our idea is The Blair Witch Project. This is because it is filmed POV and this may be something we include in our shot types by perhaps showing the perspective of the girl once or twice to give the audience an idea of the feelings of fear she is undergoing. Also, location wise we considered the woods as the place for her to be imprisoned as woods can feel like mazes and are normally isolated areas emphasising the idea that there is no hope of escape for her. Woods are also eerie locations that people normally relate to thriller or horror films so this will suit our genre well. Especially when filming in dim light, this location will create the perfect atmosphere that we desire.

 Because we will be including credits we have been influenced by the opening credits in Sleepy Hollow as they are fairly subtle and this is how we desire ours to be so as not to interrupt the tense escape scene that the audience would prefer to follow without disturbance of text over the top.

Brief for Final AS Level Project

Create a two minute long film opening sequence with the inclusion of credits.

Once Upon a Time in The West (1968) Opening Scene Analysis

 Once Upon a Time in The West's opening sequence is renowned as one of the most impressive film beginnings due to the simple effectiveness of it and its demonstration of a variety of shots and it's use of sound throughout.

 In this sequence, we are firstly introduced to three main characters; this helps to create context for the audience. The first is a man with a stern exterior who appears to be not to be bothered about a sticky residue falling from a height onto his boot. The shot to evoke his least fazed expression is a close up onto his face (shown in the picture below) which is dismissive.

  The second character we are introduced to is a sleeping man who is awoken by a fly settled on his face. He is slumped on a chair and blows the fly away proceeding to catch it in the barrel of his gun. This introduces the audience to the characters persona  a cowboy, which seems fitting for the genre of the film. The audience also can infer from the previous character that he also is a cowboy due to his costume. The first credits appear with the action of catching the fly into the gun. This particular character appears a little strange as well, with his lazy eye and his intrigue in listening to the buzzing of the fly in his gun.

The third character we are only briefly introduced to alone, however nearing the end of the sequence we see him in relation to the previous characters as almost a 'gang' of cowboys, all who have status through owning a gun. This particular character is awaiting the arrival of a train, which is significant to the following events in the opening as it brings a foe of there's to invade the local area. 

All the shots to introduce the characters are close up shots which are highly effective because it allows the audience to see the persona reflected in their facial expressions, which increases the audience’s anticipation to see what relation they have to one another and what the following scenes will behold that involve them.

 From the beginning to the end there is continuous sound coming from a simple wind turbine which sets the pace for the scene and adds fluency throughout to show the location is the same and that each scene follows on from one another in a certain space of time; giving a sense of fluency throughout. Other sound effects are also put in place; the buzzing of the fly, dripping from the residue on the ceiling, the train and cocking of the guns. Because there is no dialogue until the end, these particular sounds are emphasised building the atmosphere and tension of what is to come; this tension is also built by the slow pace and the characters waiting for the trains arrival. Because of the slow pace of the sequence, the audiences attention is held as we know something is to come but are unsure when. The cocking of the guns and loading the barrel also indicates that something is to happen, and most likely, a gun showdown. Dialogue is only introduced on the foes arrival, who also introduces music with the playing of a harmonica. This adds an eeriness and represents his confidence and power, as he knows he has time to play the harmonica without defending himself. The playing of the harmonica also draws the audiences attention to him. The power of this particular character is emphasised as he takes the turn of the events in his favour; one of the opposing gang says, 'Looks like we're shy of one horse' with which their lone foe replies, 'You brought two to many'. This signals the start of the gun showdown which has been anticipated by the audience until then. The sounds really makes this sequence so impressionable because it adds tension, emphasis, atmosphere and pace in a simple way that makes it so effective.

 Through the opening sequence, we see a variety of shots used from the close up shots to create context of the characters at the beginning to the low angle shot of the train passing over the tracks. We also see demonstrations of long shots, two/three shots, medium close ups, medium long shots. extreme close ups and more. These variety of shots create interest for the audience as it gives different perspectives and emphasises reaction or expressions of characters and context. These shots are also really interesting and compositional reflecting the exceptional cinematography of the film.

 Examples of shot types:

 Low Angled Shot

 Two/Three shot

Extreme Close Up

Overall, this is worthy of being famous for being one of the most impressionable opening sequences as the pace throughout creates a dramatic build-up which ends with a quick, effective gun showdown which leaves the audience questioning if anyone survived; resulting in the survival of the foe. The audiences attention is held throughout  with the slow pace, the emphasis and tension created by the soundtrack and the impressionable characters who leave the audience wanting to know how they relate and what is their role in the film; ending with their possible deaths in the showdown. The opening also establishes the genre right away, and the shot types used create excitement and interest. 

See the opening sequence here: