Film opening research - Sinister (2012)

Sinister (2012)

Sinister is an American mystery horror, originally released on the 12^th of October 2012 in the USA. The film was highly successful with a total box office gross of $18,0007,634 on its opening weekend in the USA alone. In some ways, the low budget of $3,000,00 meant that the film was effective in the fact that it takes place in a normal residence and the film wasn’t over produced. The film was written and produced by Scott Derrickson

With the genre of the film being mystery horror, the target audience of the film will be primarily males aged between 15 (the official age certificate) and 25 due to the horror aspect of the film. The audience must be entertained by horrors due to the extremely high levels of tension throughout the film, with multiple ‘jump’ points that are there to scare the viewer.

The narrative of the opening scene if very basic, however, this is very effective in setting the atmosphere for the rest of the film. We’re presented with four unknown character hooked up to a tree with bags overreach of their heads. Very slowly, the large branch on the right begins to fall, resulting on the four characters being hoisted up into the air by the ropes, while in slow motion they flail their legs around. This sets the atmosphere and mood of the rest of the film being extremely dark and disturbing.

At the very beginning of the opening, were presented with what appears to be the beginning of and old-fashioned film with the diegetic sounds that are herd as the screen flashes. And once the actual scene is presented to us, there is a filter, which gives the impression of the tape being old-fashioned giving a connotation as to the film being set some time in the past.

The film is an effective horror mystery opening, due to the fact it fits in with the codes and conventions by leaving the viewers in the blue as to what is actually happening in the opening scene. For example in this opening, the four characters we’re presented with are dressed in a way that of an ordinary family. I say family die to the range in height of the characters. Also the costumes help to establish this with the viewer due to the fact that the appeared mum and dad in the scene are dressed like stereotypical parents, with the mum wearing a pair of jeans and the dad wearing khakis, both fitted with basic t shirts.

The atmosphere of the film is set in many ways in this opening. Firstly, the location of the opening is in a seemingly abandoned wood, this is stereotypical of the horror genre. The shot type we are presented with is an extreme long shot, which draws our focus from the characters to the background too, establishing the location to the audience. And by having this same fixed shot for the first 28 seconds of the film adds an element of tension, one of the codes and conventions of the genre, with the way that the audience can easily foreshadow what is going to happen with the characters, due to their positions in the scene, but it’s the tense anticipation as to then the event in the scene will occur.

The next successful part of creating the atmosphere in the opening is the sound element. In the first few seconds of the opening, we are presented with appeared diegetic sounds through the use of the, what we get the impression of being, a tape being played. We get the impression of the tape through the lighting being high key, but the contrast being low, showing that is isn’t from a conventional movie camera, but instead it’s some kind of old recording. Also the quality of the scene if low, which is unconventional of a Hollywood film, but gives the audience hints as to the film. The general mise en scene from all the elements of the opening points to it being filmed on an old video camera. But as the opening scene carries on, the sound appears to become non-diegetic with ambient sound, while in the scene; we are presented with the disturbing sight of the family being hanged. The sound being ambient isn’t usually conventional of a horror film, which means that the audience has the connotation that the film isn’t going to be a conventional horror that they’re used to saying day in day out, but something more original and different.

Overall the opening of the film is very effective in the way that is fits some of the codes and conventions of opening of other films of the same genre, but also breaks the conventions at other points, which grips the viewer, making them intrigued as to that is going to happen in the duration of

Film opening research - Legally Blonde (2001)

Legally Blonde (2001)

Legally blonde is an American romantic comedy release on the 13^th July 2001.

The film was produced by MGM and directed by Robert Luketic featuring lead actress Reece Witherspoon. The film received many positive reactions, resulting in a total box office of $95,001,351 as of October 2001. The movie also gained positive reactions from award shows too, taking home a total of 6 awards, three of which were mtv movie awards.

With the genre being romantic comedy, the target audience would most likely be young females aged 12 – 18, however this doesn’t mean that its childish, as it contains some more adult jokes that only older people watching the film would understand, so the film is widely popular for any female over the age advised on the movie.

The narrative that we can see right from the opening is that the storyline is going to be following a popular blonde girl in America. This is a conventional romantic comedy of the time, and the preferred reading for the opening would be that the girl is somewhat ‘dipsy’ due to the emphasis on the colour of her hair, and people stereotype blondes who are obsessed with glamour to be dipsy. And this can be shown through the mise en scene of beauty products.

Right off the first matter of second on the opening of the film, we can see the film fitting the codes and conventions of the genre through the use of the typography. The writing it luminous pink, and like that of a teenage girl, which helps to set the tone for the film as being happy and girly.

The first visual shot that we get to see is around 20 seconds into the opening, and it’s a close up shot of a female brushing her hair. This is the first the audience will see of the character so is setting the first impression, which in this case appears to be trying to represent the stereotypical American teenage girl who will most likely be a daddy’s girl.

The following shots consist of long shots, tracking the character as she rides her bike around the town. This does two things for the view, it helps to establish the main character and the background characters, but it also helps to establish the location as we can see the areas the character is riding the bike. The girly mise en scene is carried on through the use of the character wearing all pink with hultiple pink accessories in the basket on the bike.

As for the sound, the sound is completely non-diegetic, being a up beat cheerful song. This is helping to set the mood for the entire film, and gives the preferred reading that the film is going to be light hearted. This is also fitting in with the codes and conventions of rom coms, as they all appear to begin with a happy song at the beginning with next to no diegetic.

The lighying in the scenes are all high key lighting which helps to add emphasis to the blonde, and carrying on the light hearted mise en scene to continue to give the audience an understanding as to what to expect from the film.

Once the shot has cut between the long shot of the character riding the bike, and the close ups of the character getting ready, we’re presented with a shot of the character on the bike riding past a group of boys. This connotates to the background of the storyline with it being college, as from the opening scene, we are presented with multiple groups of young teenagers, all of the appeared same age.

The opening scene very quickly establishes to the viewer the main characters, as well as the background to the storyline. This is successfully done by the quick succession of shots from the main character riding her bicycle around the town, back to the girl preparing herself for the day, so the audience can use stereotyping to guess what sort of person the main character is likely to be as well as what sort of story line they can expect. Overall the opening scene to this film is very effective as of the way it follows the codes and conventions of film openings, but also gives connotations through the use of mise on scene and props of what sort of film it is going to be, and the audience can expect to see what they were looking to watch, a romantic comedy.

Film opening research - Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows - Part 1 (2010)

Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010)

Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows (Part 1) is the 7^th installment in the movie franchise that’s been adapted by the books written by j. k. Rowling. The Movie was produced by Warner Bros and Hayday Films, and was directed by David Yates. In its opening weekend, the film had a box office of £18,319,721 in the uk alone. The film also won a total of twelve awards from award shoes such as the mtv movie awards, teen choice awards, empire awards and more.

The film appears to be a mixture of multiple genres, with these being Adventure, Family, Fantasy and Mystery. The target audience will be mainly 12 – 20 as the film has mature films. However a secondary target audience will be harry potter fans. This would be because the first film from the series was released in 2001, so over the ten years of the series, the fans of the series would have been growing, and this wouldn’t just be a certain age as the film appears to be suitable for anyone over the age limit on the film.

For the first 12 seconds of the opening, were presented with an extreme close up of someone’s eyes who is talking into the camera. The lighting in the shot is very low key, which fits the codes and conventions of a mystery film; this also is helping to give a preferred reading to the audience for the rest of the film being dark and mysterious. The sound at this point is completely diegetic, with the only sound being what the character we’re presented with is saying. At the 12-second mark, we’re presented with a mid shot of the same character from the same angle, however this time we can begin to see what’s happening in the location. By having the background dark and blurred, this helps with the setting of the mise en scene of the film being dark and mysterious. The lighting in the background is also still low key. Another thing that is notable from the shot is the fact that we can see part of the costume, this gives the mise en scene of the opening a more serious/ dramatic feel due to the fact the character appears to be wearing a dark coloured suit.

 The opening of the film is somewhat unconventional as there is nothing establishing the story line which leaves the viewer intrigues, as were presented with a mysterious character, talking about an unknown scenario to us. There is also the lack of typography to help set the narrative of the film, which is also unconventional of a films opening sequence.

The next notable part of the opening would be at 0:39. At this point in the opening, we’re presented with a different shot which is an extreme long shot. Not only has the shot changed, but the angle also and we are now presented with a high angle shot from behind the character we have just been watching. This shot is helping to establish the location to the audience, which in this case appeared to be some very large underground tunnel. Once the camera shot changed, we were also present with the sound of cameras flashing at a fast rate; this is an abrupt change from the silent sound of the room while the character was speaking, to the echoing sound of flashing cameras. By having an abrupt change in shot like this, it helps to create an atmosphere for the film being tense and continuing with the mysterious feel.

The film doesn’t seen to introduce and establish the characters or the narrative of the movie very fast, as it isn’t until 1:00 that we even get our first glimpse of the main character, harry potter. This is unconventional of film openings, however it does successfully help to create the mysterious undertone for the audience, as at this point, they will not have any idea what is going on.

Unlike the first minute of the trailer, the second minute is a lot better at establishing the set and characters, as in quick succession; we’re introduced to the main characters in the film, as well as a quick look into their background. The atmosphere of mystery and suspense is successfully carried out for the duration of the opening with the high contrasting low-key lighting, as well as the slightly eerie non-diegetic soundtrack being added.

The narrative of the film never really gets fully established due to the lack of typography in the opening, as well as the seemingly quiet opening, with the exception of the beginning speech from a unknown character, non much dialogue is carried out though the rest of the opening. However we do et a fairly good insight into where the film is being set through the use of the extreme long shots of the characters houses, as well as their apparently British accents, showing the film itself s going to be set in the UK

Film opening research - Skyfall (2012)

Skyfall (2012)

Skyfall is the 23^rd installment in a long running franchise of increasingly popular James Bond action films. The film was produced by Eon Productions (Michael G. Wilson & Barbara Broccoli) and distributed by Sony and MGM. The film was released on the 23^rd of October, and on its week of release, the film grossed at £37.2 million in the UK alone surpassing any other film release, and making it the most popular James Bond film in the franchise. By the end of the year, the films total gross made it the 7^th highest grossing film of all time. The target audience of the film would likely be anyone aged 13+ due to the themes of violence, and more particularly, James Bond fans. The franchise began in 1962, so over the years, a fan base has accumulated and James Bond has grown to become an iconic character in action films.

The initial 30 seconds of the 1:37 opening sequence consists of the logos of the producers/ distributors of the film. The other one minute shows the character we can all assume to be James bond walking around a unknown location, wielding a gun, walking past unknown characters dead on the floor. This gives the audience no clue as to what the storyline of the rest of the film may be, however it does give the audience hints as to what cods and conventions to expect throughout the duration of the film with the fact that the main character is walking around a low key lighting room wielding a gun.

By opening the film with the unchanged iconic logos, this shows the audience that the film is highly acclaimed as people can associate those logos with other films that they’ve seen begin with the same logo. It also gives a more professional connotation to the rest of the film as if it’s by a highly acclaimed production company; the film must be up to the standards of the company.

At the 0:32-second mark, we get our first glimpse into the film, which begins with the iconic James Bond opening. This includes a view seemingly through a sniper scope, tracking the character, which the audience can presume to be James Bond, up to the point where the character turns to face the lens, wield a gun, and shoot. This results in a red filter to flow from the top of the screen which the audience can connotate to being blood. The opening is an adapted version of the original, with the only noticeable difference being the character playing James Bond is different. In this case we’re presented with actor Daniel Craig, who the audience can assume is playing James Bond. By hardly adapting the original, this fits the codes and conventions of James Bond movies, which will instantly let the audience recognise the film as the next in the franchise.

The sound at this point in the opening is a mixture of diegetic and non-diegetic. The theme song that James Bond fans will recognise is played at the beginning as it in with every film in the franchise, and the diegetic element in this would be the point in which the character faces the camera from a long shot, points a gun, and we hear a gun shot. This brings an end to the non-diegetic sound track, and the scent transitions into the film. The lighting in this part if contrasted, the area is all white the character is walking in, so the background is high key lighting, but the character himself is somewhat shadowed, meaning he is in low-key lighting.

The remainder of the opening to the film is all in very dim low-key lighting, with not much of a variety of shots. The first shot is from a long shot to a close up as the character walks towards the camera, and as the close up is on, the characters face is emphasized in the light. This is establishing the character to the audience so they know who will be playing the lead role of James Bond in the movie. Following this shot, we’re presented with a tracking shot of the character walking around a seemingly dead building. The preferred reading of this scene would be that there has been some kind of shootout by the representation of guns lied on the floor amongst dead bodies. This is also one of the notable codes and conventions of action films, which would help the viewer, get the correct preferred reading. The sound in the opening continues to become non-diegetic as the character walks around the dead building, while the location is being established through the use of tracing shots following the main character around the building.

I have also completed a time sequence analysis of the opening credits to skyfall which can be seen below:

Film opening research - Scream (1996)

Scream (1996)

Scream was the first movie of an on going franchise of films, totalling at 4 as of 2011. ‘scream’ , the original, was released December 18^th, 1996 being directed by wes craven, produced by Cathy Konrad and Cary Woods. On its week of release, the film had a total box office of $6,354,586. Due to the films growing popularity, it was re-released on April 11^th 1997, and accrued a further $16.2 million.

The 5:16 opening scene begins with a black screen, with the abrupt appearance of the self-title ‘scream’. The colours are flashing red, white, and black, this gives the audience to connotation of the title representing police lights, this right off the top sets the mood for the fest of the film being a dark horror like film as police cars are usually connotative to crime scenes. Another one of the main points that can be drawn from the title will be the sound. As the title pulsates read, there’s the sound of a heartbeat which is growing progressively more regular, up to the point where there’s a loud bang; followed by a scream, and at this point the title becomes all red and still. The audience can use past imagery from similar films to imagine the scene, which is connotative of the genre. This also represent the sub genre in the fact it shows it’s a slasher horror in the way that the mise en scène represents that someone has just been killed.

Following the tense opening scene, we are presented a mid shot of a young woman, seemingly aged around 20, stood in the living room when her phone begins to ring. The lighting in the room is low key with dramatic lighting on various points, which helps to set an eerie tone for the rest of the movie. The sound of the room is diegetic and almost completely silent which helps with the dramatic feel when the phone begins to ring. Upon answering the phone, the conversation is somewhat strange where the person on the other line has a deep croaky voice in which he follows with the line “who is this?” Following this line, he continues asking other questions, and when the main character puts down the phone, the bellowing sound of the phone rings again. This helps the film to set a mysterious tone to the audience, as the audience at this point have no idea who is on the other line, but they know its dangerous in the way the sound is echoing and the main character become understandable worried.

Fitting in with the codes and conventions of the horror film genre, were presented with an extreme long shot from outside the house where the character is in. this connotates to the audience that the person who was on the phone is outside the house watching. This shot also shows the ain character in a more vulnerable state as it shows how easy it is for anyone who is outside to begin an attack.

By having the main character as a female, this creates more of a vulnerable ideology as the stereotype of a female in a horror film is that the commonly have a lack of self-defence and are usually the first to be killed. This makes the audience see the character as more vulnerable, connotating to the genre with the main character appearing helpless while the ‘killer’ stalks the character like a lion hunting a deer, before lunging in to the attack.

After a number of other phone calls from the mystery character, we’re presented with the line “I want to know who I’m looking at” which makes it clear to the audience the mystery character is in fact outside the house like we were able to foreshadow earlier from the extreme long shot from outside the house. As soon as this line is spoken, a non-diegetic sound begins to quietly play in the film, which progresses in volume through out the rest of the opening scene.

The majority of the second part of the opening consists of establishing the location through the use of tracking shots of the main character as she runs from room to room. While the audience is presented with a new frantic mood, the lighting becomes moor low key, while at the same time the non diegetic music becomes more fast pace. This all fits in with the codes and conventions of a slasher horror, and the ideology for the viewer would be that in a matter of minutes that main character comes to be killed.

While the tracking shots are establishing the location, it gives the viewers more of an insight to the background of the character. The character appears to be fairly rich in a large white house. This fits the stereotype people have for slasher horror, being a rich, young, white American who appears helpless with a lack of self defence.

 As the opening comes to an end, the audience can easily foreshadow what is going to happen in the duration of the film with the use of subliminal shots of weapons such as knives. These shots become mid shots as it adds more emphasis to the likely weapon that will be used in the duration of the film.