An opening sequence is shown at the beginning of a film and is used to grab the audiences attention and give hints and clues about what the rest of the film will entitle.There are a numerous amount of conventions of an opening sequence. It must, establish a mood or theme as it will help the audience understand what the film is going to be about, prompt the audience to ask questions in order to interest and fascinate them, have a soundtrack which is a non digetic piece of music used to create a mood and introduce the theme of the film, have an equilibrium which is the balance and the idea that everything is ok this is used to make the audience believe everything is fine but then something happens to shock them, have production and distribution logos in order to show who has produced the film and to avoid copyright, have titles as they are used to show who contributed, performed in and produced the film, give the audience clues in order for them to question and use an establishing shot so the audience can interpret the characters surroundings. An example of when an equilibrium is used is in the opening sequence of Harry Potter. Harry is portrayed as an 'ordinary' boy living a 'normal' life but then receives an invitation to go to Hogwarts and his life is no longer 'in balance' causing a disequilibrium. An example where an opening sequence results in the audience asking questions is in Woman in black. It show three young girls playing with their dolls and then suddenly getting up and jumping out the window. This immediately makes the audience ask why? An example where an opening sequence has used effective titles is in Bridget Jones Diary. Due to the fact that the titles are in a handwriting font which reinforces the idea of a diary. In our opening sequence, we have used a creepy soundtrack which creates an uncomfortable atmosphere which is what we were aiming for. Additionally, we prompt the audience to ask questions due to the fact that we show quick close ups and mid shots of the character of Susan lying on the floor which makes the audience question is she dead? who has done this to her? where is she?
Our chosen genre for our opening sequence is horror. Conventions of a horror include editing, characters, Mise-en-scene, plot/themes, sound and cinematography. Horrors usually use slow paced-editing to create a more creepy and uncomfortable atmosphere. Sterotypically horrors have an evil character and an innocent character. The 'evil' character usually has a reason for hurting people that can be tracked down to even their childhood and the innocent character usually has characteristics and a personality which makes the audience feel sorry for them or relate to them.
A horror is usually set in an abandoned setting and usually at night to create a more creepy atmosphere. Additionally, an abandoned setting suggests that no one lives there which could make the audience question why? Murder or revenge is usually a main plot in a horror and there is usually a story behind the killer and why hes actually doing it. In addition, knives and guns are used a lot as weapons to create the idea of violence and blood is regularly used to show that someone has been badly hurt.
Creepy soundtracks are usually used in a horror to create an uncomfortable atmosphere. Normally, extreme close ups and close ups are used in horrors to hide other information from the audience in order to add tension and to create an atmosphere.
In Se7en a numerous amount of close ups are used showing a book and sharp objects, these create an idea of the characters personality but hides visual information of them.
In woman in black a large, dark abandoned house is the main setting and immediately creates an uncomfortable atmosphere for the audience. Furthermore, the house looks as if no one has visited it for a long time which could suggest something bad happened there.
In our opening sequence we have used slow paced editing to show the character of Susan going to the abandoned house to create a tense atmosphere and then additionally we have used slow paced editing to show close the cellar showing the surroundings which include nails, the stairs and spider webs. Also, we have used the conventions of characters as we have used 'Frank' as the evil character with an upsetting past and 'Susan' as innocent character who gets hurt. We have also used a creepy soundtrack in order to create an uncomfortable atmosphere.
On the other hand, horrors usually use close ups and extreme close ups whereas we have chose to use a variety of shots including long shots and mid shots to show both a character and their surroundings. For example, the high angled long shot where Susan is lying on the floor and Frank's silhouette is leaning over her. In addition, we have developed the typical equilibrium convention in an opening sequence and used flashbacks so therefore focused on the idea of changing between equilibrium and disequilibrium. We have chosen to develop this convention as the change and contrast between 'balance' and 'unbalance' creates tension for the audience.
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