Film Opening Research- Yasir

SE7EN FILM OPENING

The film starts with a blank screen. Already this simple edit engages audience with suspense, as they are oblivious to what is about to happen.  Just with this image of ‘nothingness’ it suggests the genre of being horror. This is because it creates an ideal dark mood.  I use the word ideal to justify the mood of nothingness. The blank screen is not accompanied with anything. It doesn’t have any dark music or melody to build on the tension. However, it acts as a vortex, absorbing everything, even the attention of the audience. In a sense it creates the perfect form of tension from nothing. The use of the colour black connotes death and mourning which also suggests that the genre is horror. On the other hand, the suspense and the tension of the colour suggest that it is a hybrid of horror and thriller.

Almost suddenly, a dubious mood is created. The screen has formed a bit of colour, however it is not very bright. It is like the dim light of a lantern, which suggests secrecy. I believe this because – as I stated above – the light is not very bright thus indicating that the person has something to hide. It is almost like they are planning something crude – suggested by the music – and they don’t want anyone to find out. The music is very unique and repetitive. This further illustrates my point of the person ‘planning’, as a plan takes very repetitive moves of gathering more and more ideas, and squeezing out a strategy. However, the melody, being unique indicates that the plan is nothing that the audience have seen before. This engages the audience from the beginning to have that urge of finding out what it is.

The book is the subject of this shot, blurring out everything else in the background. This suggests that the person has all his attention only on the book and what the ‘person’ is planning. However, though the book is the subject, it is not as clear as you would expect if it was something that the director would want you to perfectly see. This builds on the idea of secrecy, suggesting that the ‘planner’ doesn't want the audience to fully understand what he is doing, and in a sense is trying to hide it from them. In the blurred background the audience can see a hand turning the pages of the book. The hands are very dark and ghostly. 

Small credits creep into the bottom corner of the screen. The writing isn’t straight, nor are the shades of white evenly matched. This symbolises something like a past memory, creeping back – with parts hiding or being hidden. The cut from this shot to the next is sudden. The use of this edit is a generic convention of horror as a sudden change brings fear and excitement to the audience. This new shot expands on the first of the opening. Again, the background is black; however, there is writing present as well. The writing is white, a contrast to the colour black. The vastness in their difference suggests that the good and the bad will oppose each other in the film. However, since the majority of the background is black, it shows that the film mainly shows dark scenes of fright and terror, further contributing o the idea of it being a horror film.

Again there is a similar edit of a sudden cut from one shot to another. The use of reusing the same shot suggests that there is a lot of repetitiveness within the movie. Also, in a horror film, unlike thriller, the tension does not build up, however, the fright is sudden. This excludes the sub-genre thriller as from the edit, the audience can see that all the shots are sudden rather than a build up of tension. However, what the opening does build is anxiousness. The whole opening is a mystery. The only thing we as the audience see are glimpses. 

Film Opening Research-The Ring: Essay by Afsara Tasnim

The genres of ‘The Ring ’ is horror and in my essay I will analyse & annotate the first two minutes of the opening sequence and explain how the media features help relate to the genre of the film.
The audience is first exposed to a blackout and whilst this 2 second blackout is on, some heavy sounds of rain is played which immediately tells the audience that it is raining. After this blackout, an editing shot is used to fade in to an establishing shot of a big house. In this establishing shot, other features of the mis en scene are included such as the dead trees and also the pathetic fallacy of the weather. This highlights a feature of the genre which is horror as the dead trees indicate a sense of lifeless imagery, and the pathetic fallacy creates a feeling of  panic toward the audience. The camera then slowly zooms in to the house, and also the audience hears the voiceover of a girl. We can't see her face but we are introduced to her voice first, thus foreshadowing the danger this girl may be in later in the film. 


The editing is used to cut from the house to a mid shot of the two girls in a bedroom watching TV. At this shot we can still hear the heavy rain from outside, which creates a sense of thrill as it keeps the audience on grip of what might happen next. In this shot, other props such as the bed, the lamp, and their shoes are visible to the audience to show that the setting is in a bedroom. One girl who is on the bed is wearing a white shirt which connotes that she is innocent and also that shes a high school girl as it may be her uniform too, also her hair is blonde suggesting that the director specifically got a blonde girl playing the role of a victim, following the stereotypes. However, the other girl sitting beside her on the floor is wearing a black cardigan with jet black hair indicating that she's an edgy, goth kind of girl. The camera then starts to slowly zoom into their faces whilst the girl on the bed is speaking but the zoom stops when the other girl speaks. This shot looks like a perspective shot where someone is moving forward to the blonde girls face but stops when the other girl starts to respond illustrating that someone may be after the blonde girl. When the camera holds a steady shot of both of the girls faces in the frame, an eye line match is used to show what they are looking at, which is the television. This is followed by a long shot of the girl sitting on the floor getting up on the bed. This long shot is the first different camera shot used apart from the previous shots of their faces, which indicates a sense of thrill as it alerts the audience to prepare themselves for something scary to happen. As the girl in black gets up, she begins to tell the tale of a mystery video and phone call, the camera gradually begins to zoom into her face in a very slow pace. This highlights a sense of panic and tension which the audience is experiencing as the girl talks in a sinister tone. Her costume and hair color which is black also is significant to her role in this opening as it portrays her as an eerie character.


The genre of "The Ring" is horror and in my essay I have stated many ways in which the media features help relate to the genre of the film. The various camera shots such as the the close up of the face and the zooming in specially creates suspense and fear throughout the audience.

Film Opening Research Afsara Tasnim

 The Ring Two Opening

The genres of ‘The ring two’ is horror and in my essay I will analyse & annotate the first two minutes of the opening sequence and explain how the media features help relate to the genre of the film.

The first camera shot the audience is shown is a high angle shot of the ocean by the shore; it looks like a perspective shot like someone’s looking into the water. The colour of the water is dark and dullish which connotes a sense fear and horror, this relates to the genre of the film, horror. At this moment the music sounds orchestral and it starts off quiet but eventually as the camera starts zooming into the water, the music starts getting louder which builds up the tension as it starts making the audience feel tense. 

The camera starts zooming into the water fast from the high angle shot, this shows how the audience is also falling into the water with the camera too. This foreshadows the events that are about to happen in the film and therefore also relates to the genre of the film.

We are then introduced to our first blackout. The second shot after this blackout is the close up of the river water which seems calmer in atmosphere and colour than the ocean which was intensifying. The music is also much stiller and calm, this contrasts from the first image the audience was shown which signifies on the disequilibrium of the story.

After this image there is another blackout and this takes us to our next image which is again water but the colours are darker we could roughly just see the small tides. The camera shot is high angle but this time, it’s tracking across the ocean and the music is still at its calm rate. The colour of the water here is black and it looks disgusting compared to the other water related images the audience was exposed to... this foretells the events that might take place later on in the film. Here the music is still orchestral and in the same melody it was from the previous image of the river.

The last blackout takes place and the last image we see looks like the depth of an ocean. It’s really dark and only little sparkles of reflection of the moon can be seen. This creates a sense of horror throughout the audience as in the first two minutes of the film only images of water were exposed to them which creates suspense. The music is now louder than before and the camera is still tracking across the river but at a much faster pace. 

The genre of the ‘Ring two’ is horror and in my essay I’ve stated many ways in which the media features help relate to the genre of the film. The images of water in the opening sequence portrays how the film has a significance to water and the way the director has chosen to display these images to create suspension and fear throughout the audience.

The Exorcist - Yasir

The first shot is a blackout. The screen is pitch black and creates a sinister mood. The tension builds up as the darkness leaves an element of surprise. The audience are oblivious to what is about to happen or come onto the screen. The colour black connotes death. It suggests that many lives will be lost throughout the film.

The darkness fades quickly into the production logo of ‘Warner Bros. Pictures’. However, the logo has been altered. It is no longer the happy colours of blue and orange, but a dull and cold grey. The distortion of the logo symbolises loss and imprisonment. It has been striped of it colours – which is its main feature – indicating that the characters will be stripped of their mind, which is the most important for humans.

There is no sound at all. Just complete silence. The absence of both diegetic and non-diegetic sounds also builds on tension. Just like the colour black, it leaves the audience unaware of what will happen next. This is a typical convention of horror. This is because, the idea of horror is to frighten the audience, however, if they already know what is to going to happen the sudden change may not be as frightening as intended.

A dull brown building fades into the screen. It looks old and haunted. There is a light visible from a window, however, it slowly turns of. This may symbolises, life seeping out of a body.

Scratchy and high pitched music is heard. The non-diegetic sound is very intense and abnormal.

The titles are in red. They symbolise danger and blood. These are words symbolise death, which further illustrates the loss of life.       

Film Opening Research- Brian

LORD OF WAR OPENING SCENE ANALYSIS 

Lord of War uses a very effective opening sequence that draws its audience in because of its uniqueness and originality. The opening consists of a 1st person narrative of a bullet. We see how the bullet is manufactured, checked over, packaged, shipped, loaded and used to kill.

The first scene starts with a crane shot/establishing shot coming down overlooking a factory. The factories lighting is very dark. This could possibly be to show how sinister the birth place of a bullet is. This factory creates weapons of death and the dim lighting used corresponds this. It could also be dark to show how the bullet is still in the womb of its process as it gradually gets lighter as it is shipped about until finally the bullet is taken out of its box and spilled onto the floor. Here bright colours are used to show its final birth before it is loaded into the gun. A fantastic view down the barrel of the gun is then used while the gun is aimed about and finally shot. As the bullet leaves the barrel we follow its path until slow motion is used to allow us to look into the face of its victim. Quiet shockingly the victim is a young boy which makes it all the worse when the bullet penetrates his head.

The lighting also shows us how far around the world this bullet has travelled from a dark factory to a pale shipping dock to a rather sunny equatorial region of Africa.
Amazing camera shots such as panning are used when the bullet is dropped and begins to roll. The camera remains in a 1st person shot spinning around and around until it is picked up just before falling over the edge of a dock. When it is picked up a finger and thumb appear each side of the camera making it very realistic as if the camera is really a bullet being picked up. 

The song choice (Buffalo Springfield "Stop Children What’s That Sound")is also an excellent one as it is calm and relaxed and not at all the sort of song you would expect to be played when corresponded with images of bullets, guns and death. However the pace of the song matches the flow of the course the bullet is taking well and also lyrically matches the theme of guns and resistance, "Step out of line the man come and take you away".

Personally this film opening to me was successfully and probably of o the most effective openings I have seen as it kept me trying to read into the message that was the director wanted to pass with it, mainly about the causes as well as the consequences of war and violence.

By Brian

Generic Conventions Of A Horror Film By Afsara Tasnim

Sound

• Diagetic sounds such as footsteps, echoes, screams, heavy breathing
• Creepy sound backing track, often to go with the atmosphere and mood of the actors or actresses

Camera Shots

• Extreme close ups 
• Close ups; often close ups shots of objects or characters expression on the face to show the tension
• Low angle shot
• Shadows
• Shots of characters reflection in one or more mirrors

Props

• Knife
• Fire
• Blood
• Dead trees and leaves

Setting

• Forest/woods
• Castle
• Abandoned building
• New big house

Horror Research - Chloe Lawler

This is our chosen genre which is horror. 

This presentation shows the common acts and events that occur in a horror film