HCT: Opening Sequence Analysis
The Strangers (Bertino,2008)

• Genre: The genre of The Strangers hybrid of a Horror and Thriller as there are conventions of both genres portrayed in the sequence and entire film such as suspense and death. From my research on previous openings I know some common conventions that are used to create elements of this genre.
• The audience’s generic expectations of this sequence are met in many respects. Common traits that this genre contains are formed in the sequence such as police involvement, death, blood, weapons and facts that are used to create a worrying atmosphere.
• However one technique is used that could be seen as challenging the audience’s generic expectation. This is the use of two boys, commonly in the horror genre a small innocent girl is used to create juxtaposition between good and evil however this has not been used in this case.
• Also the titles and main title are written in an orange font, horrors like se7en and Amityville use a common choice for title design in this genre which is black typography on a black background. This sequence conforms to many characteristics of the horror genre. Firstly a voice over is heard with a deep low pitched tone. This 'manly' attribute is commonly used to create seriousness and suspense.

• The use of facts displayed in the titles of 'there are an estimated 1.4 million violent crimes committed in America every year' and 'what you about to see was inspired by true events'. Also dates and names are given of two people. We also learn that 'the brutal events that took place there are still not known.
• The use of facts and is used to create suspense through realism which is a common ingredient in the recipe of an opening. Other characteristics are used such as the use of clever iconography, commonly used in horrors. The use of a gun, a knife covered in blood, blood on walls and destruction shown through the broken door and smashed window these elements are all characteristics of an opening of this genre. 
• Film Language: Mise én scene is used extremely effectively throughout this clip. The main ways it does this through props and setting the scene. The clips of houses shot from a car window getting more rural relate to the story explained in the titles and sets the scene.
• The use of a gun and knife are weapons and alert the audience. The knife is covered in blood telling the audience that the knife has been used to attack somebody creating suspense. This create enigma codes as the audience has no knowledge of why they are there. Camera techniques such as a handicam are used when the shots of the house are shown, this created realism. With simplistic, static shots the audience is focused on the brutality of what might have gone on.

• Sound is used to help anchor the images into the audiences mind. There is a low pitched synth sound that creates an eerie feel, this is well accompanied to the images as the images are fading in and out which fits with the sound. The dialogue is overlaid on the video, the two boys are on the phone to the police and are sounding very rushed and extremely shocked, they are almost making no sense and this is a contrast to the calm scene displayed. This gives an insight into what they have been seeing and we can see how they reacted.
•  Another visual technique that is used by the director is a pan across the bonnet of a car. This lines up with a hole in the windscreen and the two boys can be seen through this hole. This hole is a visual link to the middle of the story line helping the main story to relate to the opening and therefore we know the characters fate.

Analysing the 'Ghost Ship' film opening in the areas of Narrative and Representation & Ideology.

Ghost Ship (Beck, 2002)

• Narrative: The narrative is set up in a way that is represented through mainly mise en scene. In the title sequence we learn that the narrative is, and may be for the rest of the film, set on a cruise liner.
• There are many people dancing and having a good time which is shown through non verbal language. As the small girl is the only visible person alive at the end of the sequence this might be suggesting the narrative follows the girl. The audience are positioned to follow and build relations with the many wealthy people dancing with each other as the scene is very beautiful and happy. The audience is happy to watch this however when all the passengers die the audience is shocked as their position on viewing the narrative has changed dramatically and we then feel much more sympathy for the little girl.

• There are a few themes in this title sequence, one would be the binary opposition of light and dark, the death of many passengers would be the representation of a darker meaning behind the scene and the girl in the white dress would be seen as the character portraying light and also character build up and destruction.  
• Representation of Ideology: There are two main social groups displayed in the text. There is the upper-class passengers of the ship enjoying each others company and socialising and there is the band and waiters.
• These two would be seen as working class; they are serving the upper class and probably earning a living from this job therefore an inequality between classes is created. The upper class are presented and identified by the audience through their elegant vibrant dresses and expensive dinner suits.

• The ideological discourse would be dominant for even the time period that this is set in. There is no strong controversial ideologies being addressed in this clip, there could be the reading that a view of evil overcoming good is trying to be represented. The characteristics of the genre are treated somewhat at a different stance and almost playfully.
• Pink titles and a lively atmosphere are created; this is not very conventional of the genre however this is proved very effective as the mood changes adding juxtaposition from a happy scene to one of death and horror. This creates shock and disrupts the audience’s normal reading of the text

Analysing the 'Limitless' film opening in the areas of Media Audiences and Institutional Context

Limitless (Burger, 2011)

• Media Audiences: The target audience for limitless would be the core horror audience from 15-24 year old, The Rating of the film is 15 therefore reducing the target audience however the concept of the film is very new and contemporary as it involves technology that many audiences will find interesting.
• There are two audience readings of this opening sequence. One could be that the audience sympathises with Eddie, this is because he naturally looks more of a protagonist than an antagonist. Eddie is also the man doing the voice over and relates to the man we see on the screen. As the antagonist rarely gives a voice over in films we can be sure to associate Eddie as the protagonist and favour him.
• Another possible reading could be that we are unsure to why Eddie might be in this situation, this set of enigma codes as he may have committed crime to have people chasing him threatening to kill him. We are unsure of this aspect and could see Eddie is an antagonist. The people at the door might be police and therefore we may be positioned with them.

• However I as a British teenager view the text in the way that represents Eddie as a protagonist, this may be because Eddie is the man giving the voice over, this is an unconscious choice by the audience and not one that is particularly chosen. It is a good technique to relate the audience to a character as the protagonist without spelling it out to them.
• The film looks very modern and is quite an interesting concept therefore many British teenagers such as myself will be very interested in viewing such a cutting edge idea due to our interest in digital technology and viewing films as a social event. 
• Institutional Context: The production values and marketability of the film has had a positive knock on affect from the bankable stars included in the film. Talent such as Bradley Cooper, Anna Friel, Abbie Cornish and Robert DeNiro are used, this will have a large effect on people who like their past work and also it will add publicity for example most films with stars such as Robert DeNiro, are the forefront of media coverage.
•  The main film companies that contributed to the production distribution and release of this film are Rouge, Virgin Produced and Relative Media. These are industrial production companies capable of spending large amounts on the production of such a film. However they are not part of the main Hollywood production companies that have much larger budgets on their film products.

JP: Opening Sequence Analysis


Drag Me To Hell (Raimi, 2009)

No links or screenshots available, viewed in DVD format.

Genre

To which genre does the film belong?

The film is strictly a hybrid horror/thriller, targeted at the core audience for horror films, which is males aged 15-24.
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To what extent are the audience’s generic expectations of the text fulfilled or challenged by the opening sequence?

The opening sequence is very typical of the genre, with an enigma created as to what has happened to Juan for this to happen to him. The audience’s expectations are fulfilled completely because the opening sequence is eventful and scary for some people, with references to religion, curses and demons, all things very conventional of horror/thriller films.
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Does the text conform to the characteristics of the genre, or does it treat them playfully or ironically?

I believe that the opening sequence may be parodying the genre very slightly, as many people who have lots of experience with horror films would find it funny, with cheesy visual and sound effects and camera techniques. However for some it could be found strictly serious and quite scary. The interpretation of the film depends entirely on the audience observing it, in my opinion.

Film Language

How does mise-en-scène convey meaning in this sequence?

The location is a large, slightly creepy looking house, very typical of horror films. The costumes of the characters clearly show them to be Mexican straight away, a country renowned for superstition. The props that the woman in purple waves around are quite common in religious horror films, as they show someone trying to clear the area of evil spirits.
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How does camera shot size, movement and angle also convey meaning?

The establishing shot shows the large, creepy house. Shot reverse shot between the family and the house’s owner shows a difference of understanding. A spinning shot above Juan shows that he is feeling very dizzy and ill. A close up of Juan’s face straight after the door is opened shows his panic and desperation to escape despite his illness. A POV tracking shot is used to show the demonic force following Juan.
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How does sound anchor the images?

The eerie yet calm music at the beginning gives an unnerving feeling to the scene, as if something will inevitably go wrong. The growling sounds made when the demonic force is throwing things around the room gives an animalistic image of the creature in the audience’s minds, making it seem more vicious and barbaric.
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What do we learn about the characters from dialogue and non-verbal language?

We learn that the family are superstitious and that Juan is supposedly ‘cursed’. The woman they go to immediately shows strong knowledge in the subject as she says, “What did he do?” straight away. The non-verbal language shows Juan ot be very ill as he shivers and sweats excessively. The woman is shown to be a professional by the way she waves some props around.
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What other visual techniques does the director use and why?

The special effects used when the floor cracks around Juan show a hellish place beneath him, linking to the title of the film. A visual link is made with the fly that appears when Juan’s parents present the stolen necklace, which appears more later on in the film when cursed items are presented.

Identity (Mangold, 2003)

No links or screenshots available, viewed in DVD format.

Narrative

How is the narrative organised and structured?

Enigmas are created and maintained with the narrative, as a tape recording of a mental patient is played over the top of a series of long takes on newspaper articles telling stories of abuse, neglect and murder. This leads the audience to wonder what this mental patient’s role in the film is and what is going to happen.
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How is the audience positioned in relation to the narrative?

The audience are positioned with the doctor/detective, who is clearly trying to help the mentally disabled man despite what he has done, and prevalence gives him plenty of character exposition, showing him to be very involved and passionate about Malcolm Rivers’ case.
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What techniques of alienation and identification are employed?

In this extract, we are alienated from the patient, Malcolm Rivers, as he is shown to be severely mentally unwell in an uncomfortable, dangerous way, and he is shown to have murdered many people. We identify with the doctor/detective, as he appears to be trying to help the man as well as work out what it is that is wrong with him.
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What are the major themes in the narrative?

The main theme is fear of the unknown, for many people would not understand what is wrong with Malcolm Rivers, and would be afraid of him because of this. He has murdered people and this shows that those who suffer from unknown mental illnesses could be very dangerous.
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How is tension created and maintained?

The music is eerie and builds tension, and all of the newspaper clippings about abuse and murder lead us to wonder what happened to Malcolm Rivers, and we wonder what he is going to do next, as the film is clearly based around him.

Representation & Ideology

What social groups are represented in this sequence and how?

Mentally unwell people are represented negatively in this sequence through the use of newspaper clippings, voice recordings, and criminal photos.
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What values and beliefs / ideological discourse is evident?

There is a residual ideological discourse evident, as the mentally unstable man is shown to be an outcast to society, who was rejected and abused by his parents and then went on to murder people, showing him to be extremely dangerous and not able to live in a normal society.
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How does semiotics as a framework see how the representation is constructed?

The main recognisable semiotic is the tape recorder, playing back clips of Malcolm Rivers speaking, and causing the audience to become alienated from him.

Inception (Nolan, 2010)

Link to opening sequence.

Media Audiences

Who is the target audience?

The film is clearly aimed at the 16-24 age range, and this is evident through the use of some psychological enigma with why he is washed up on the shore and why he sees the two children playing. He is carrying a gun, evidence that there will be plenty of action in the film, very popular amongst people of this age range.
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What are the probable and possible audience readings of the text?

Most people would probably guess the film to be just another action movie, with lots of guns and explosions and poor acting, however it is possible that people could see from the start that the film is a psychological thriller, from the use of enigmas and strange events.
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How do you, as a British teenager, read and evaluate the text? To what extent is your reading and evaluation influenced by your age, gender, and background?

I, as a British teenager, read the film as unique from many others, as the enigma codes created spark lots of questions that many action or thriller films do not create, and therefore I am led to become more intrigued in the film than I would normally be. I don’t really believe that this is affected by my upbringing, age or gender, as it is a unique opening that would cause puzzlement in any audience who watched it.

Institutional Context

Has a star been used in this film? Why is this important?

Leonardo DiCaprio is the bankable star used in the film, and he is also the first character we are introduced to, and character exposition is introduced immediately, showing that he is clearly the protagonist. I believe this is quite important as he is famous for spanning across several genres with his acting, so we do not really know what to expect from his performance in this film.
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Which studio produced this film? Is it an ‘industrial’ film or independent film?

It is produced by Warner Bros, making it an industrial film, which is very useful for the effects required to pull off the movie. The locations used in the opening are clearly very high-budget and thus make the movie feel more genuine rather than cheaply made for the sake of it.
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What strategies were used to market the film?

The viral marketing campaign for Inception included internet games and puzzles, trailers, an official website and ‘Mind Crime’, which is explained here: http://www.nolanfans.com/2009/12/21/inceptions-viral-marketing-begins-with-mind-crime/
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Is the institutional context evident in the production values of the opening?

Yes, there are very high production values in the opening that identify the film as a thriller, and the locations and use of an a-list actor prove that the film must have an ultra-high budget, and is targeted a the audience most likely to go the cinema and see it, which is also the audience most likely to be very critical of films, so the production values were set high and were very successful. 

Group: Preliminary task- Embed exported production

1. Outline brief:
We were set about the task of planning and producing a sequence of a film which would be approximately two minutes in duration, it had to follow certain typical rules of production such as the 180 degree rule and other continuity editing techniques. The video also had to include at least two lines of dialogue and a shot of an opening door.

2.What did you learn about filming? What are your best shots? What difficulties did you encounter?

• Generally we learnt that group cooperation was important, as we felt that we got the best end result by allowing each other to share ideas, and working together to decide which ideas would gives us the best end result. 
• It is a mutual decision that our best shot is the shot of the character who receives the most prevalence exiting the building and showing only his feet, the shot then develops to show the rest of his body and pan around his whole head. Other than that shot though, other mutually praised shots included the one of the non-speaking character, and the zoom towards his head, where the camera then pans around to an over the shoulder shot (all corresponding with the 180 degree rule).
•  The main difficulty was ensuring the environment was the same throughout the entire video, we found the the amount of sun light varied in our two shooting sessions, and as a result, we had to keep waiting for their to be an approximately same amount of sunlight as there was in our shots which we had already shot, another result of the additional sunlight was another building reflecting in the windows, which was another reason for us to wait it out for the amount of sunlight to reduce.

3. What did you learn about editing?

• We learnt a number of key skills, such as the basic use of the software we used ("Adobe premiere elements 9.0), we learnt to cut the footage we didn't need, and cut the footage we did need to more appropriate lengths and speeds.
• As a group, we learnt about how to add and edit audio in our footage, we found a tool which automatically adjusted a lot of the background noise which we didn't want to be quieter, we also all learnt how to add sound effects which proved to be productive.

4.Evaluate production? What are the strengths and weaknesses and what tips would you give yourself for the opening sequence production?

• Generally we were thrilled with the end result of our production, our strengths were our overall continuity editing techniques and effectiveness, our camera techniques and shots were also very successful. 
• However, there were weaknesses, their were flaws in the continuity editing, such as the start of the video, where the antagonist is walking through the first set of double doors, there is a sudden jump to a shot where the character is in a different position, which does not correspond with the goal of maintaining continuity. 
• As a group, we have concluded that ensuring continuity in our final opening sequence is a priority, we have also decided that we should try to shoot all shots in each location or such in the same time period , as the weather could change or the actual environment could change (e.g. there may be less leaves on a tree at one point than there was two weeks earlier).
• We have also decided that to create a sense of realism, we must shoot the shots until we are happy that the actors did what they are needed to, and that they do not show that they are almost laughing or such when they should not be, on our preliminary task, we were working to a small time scale so it was hard to keep to this work ethic, but on the final project there is no such excuse.

CF: Making video booklet: read and answer questions on the blog and full sentences. Page 6-Sound

What type of microphones do camcorders have?
Most camcorders have on-board sound recorders, in most cases, the microphone will be omnidirectional meaning that it captures sound from all directions, however, unlike a human's ears, they cannot filter out what one does not want to hear. They often pick up and amplify even the smallest of the operator's noises.

When filming, what sounds do you need to take most care with?

• Silence; to be achieved properly, even the camera operator must be especially careful as the microphones are often more sensitive than most people may think.
• Finger noise (from the camera operator most commonly), this can result in a nasty muffled noise, it can be avoided by thoroughly learning the location of the camera's controls to avoid making noise near the microphone.
• Breathing; heavy breathing is not only heard through the microphone, but may cause camera shake, gentle and controlled breathing from the camera operator can minimize these effects.
• A Flapping lens cap is common, it is often the answer for an unknown tapping noise on a camera user's footage.
• Wind gusts can ruin the footage's other sounds, it can be avoided by a camera's wind reducer mode, in windy conditions, it will guard against a blustery tinnitus-inducing soundtrack.
• Hums and buzzes; the most common reason for this is the camera picking up on nearby electrical equipment, the simple answer to resolving this is turning the equipment off.

HCT: Making Video booklet: read and answer questions on the blog in full sentences. Page 5-Lighting

• What are the issues with auto exposure?
• To begin shooting at a simple level you should not have to worry too much about adjusting exposure as the camera can do this automatically. For our title sequence we will be using my Canon 550D and therefore i will need to pay close attention to every factor effecting lighting as I will be shooting on manual settings.
• The cameras we used for our preliminary task have auto exposure and therefore the aperture will be constantly changing for the best effect, opening up to achieve a more shallow depth of field and letting more light in, onto the sensor in darker situations and closing up in the lighter locations so get the right balance.
• It is important to try and keep the exposure as similar as possible when shooting a succession of shots of a character to keep good continuity and minimise light adjustment in the editing stags. Its also important now to shoot directly into the light unless you want a silhouette effect.
• What is Back light?
• Only some cameras have a back light setting, this is in effect when shooting directly into the light and your subject is a silhouette. The camera can only deal with a certain dynamic range, this is why when shooting into the sun the sun will be white and the subject almost black as the camera cant find the 'happy medium'.
• The combat this, the camera brings the F value up a stop or so to make the subject perfectly exposed. Although this makes the light source even more bright the subject will be easily viewable.
• How do you adjust the exposure manually?
• You can change the exposure of your camera especially with DSLR's (digital single lens reflex) to achieve the effect you want. You can change the F stop of certain lens's depending on the lens.
• For example a Canon 50mm F/1.4 will open extremely wide giving a very shallow depth of field and also is great for low light situations as lots of light will hit the sensor. For brighter situations you may wish to change down to a very small aperture such as F/22 (common for most DSLR's) to let less light enter the camera.
• However with a very low F stop value and little lighting there can be some 'noise' in the image. Its important to get the right depth of field with the aperture settings so that all of your subject is fully in focus.
• What shutter speed to use?
• When deciding on the shutter speed you must make sure you are choosing the correct setting for the situation you are filming. With a high shutter speed you can capture a lot of information each frame, however when using a high shutter speed there is lot of 'noise' created and also the image will be darker as less light is entering the sensor each frame.
• A low shutter speed is great for slow moving shots that do not require a lot of information to capture. So for a faster shutter speed, additional light is needed to keep the scene from going to dark.
• Selecting the correct frames per second to shoot in is also vital. My camera can shoot in 24 and 25 frames per second at 1080p and 50 frames per second at 720p, So ultimately you have to decide whether you want to achieve a higher quality of video or a higher frame rate for faster paced shots.
• Bearing in mind the human eye views at 60 frames per second therefore 25/24 frames per second may seem slightly blurry if a low shutter speed is used.
                       
  

JP: How have I improved my filming skills? What difficulties have I come across?

• I have learnt how to effectively use the tripod during shots for completely static shots, pans, tilting shots, etc.
• I have learnt how to carry out several of the camera angles and techniques i have studied through watching film openings and analysing them, e.g. over-the-shoulder, low angle, tracking shot, close-up, etc.
• I have been inspired by some of the film openings i have studied and we have used some good techniques in our preliminary task.
• Whilst filming, the main difficulty we came across was lack of continuity during shots, but as we progressed in our filming we learnt to tackle the problem, and all continuity errors were removed perfectly in post-production.
• We also had difficulties with changes in weather over the two days, finding suitable sound effects, and staying in the perfect position for effective continuity, however as we got used to handling the equipment and using it correctly, all of the problems were tackled and the weather changed back to what it was like in the first shots.

Progress Evaluation

• We have filmed all necessary shots for our preliminary task, totaling to approximately two minutes of footage, suitable for a short video.
• We have used Adobe Premier Elements 9.0 for post-production, cutting any unnecessary footage out and making sure continuity was consistent and there were no errors. 
• We also used Premier Elements to edit the sound in our clip, as much of it was out of synch, but we edited it well and made the sound as smooth and consistent as we could.
• We also added some sound effects of an eagle and a lion's roar using Elements.

GROUP:Ideas for the Preliminary Task

• We were told by our teacher that for our preliminary task we needed to meet a few requirements.
• We needed to include continuity editing to create a piece that flowed and was continuous.
• There must be the use of the 180 degree rule is the sequence. This is to make the characters easily identifiable to the audience in sections of dialogue or when two characters are needing to be identified for continuity.
• We must include a door being opened by a character  
• There must be at least two lines of dialogue 
• We were not allowed to film a main road or in the toilets 
• There must be no explicit or offencive language used.

•  We thought that it would be good practise to abide by the rule of thirds as well as fulfilling the various tasks set out by our teacher.
• We sat down and thought of several ideas that we may wish to choose and settled on the idea of some sort of deal between two characters that goes wrong. We thought there could be some kind of phone call to one character and then an exchange of a bag is made. One character then realises there is nothing in the bag and gives chase to the other. This would be good to practise the 180 degree rule and also effects and camera angles.
• We thought of using low camera angles for each character to make them seem of equal status but also of high status and imposing. 
• we also believed that we should make the sequence slightly comical as this would be easy for certain members of the group that we thought would be best for acting
• We then decided we would include a phone call, a close up, extreme close up, establishing shot, shot reverse shot, over the shoulder shot and high angle shot. This would present and array of angles and make our piece interesting.
• As the chase begins the cutting rate should increase as this is what we have seen happens in many opening sequences when there is heightened tension.
• We decided that the best people for certain jobs are as followed
  
  Henry Cramer-Todd: Cinematographer
  Jake Piercy: Actor 1
  Connor Fitzgerald: Actor 2

 

 

GROUP: What have We learnt today?

• Today we had an introduction to using the school cameras  and tripods. We learnt several things that must be considered when using the cameras to film the preliminary task that we will complete.

      We learnt:

• The camera must be stored into the camera bag with the lens facing upwards and the lens protector up.
• The camera must be stored without the battery of memory card in.
• The memory card has to be placed into the plastic case and returned to the box after use.
• All leads used for charging the camera and plugging into the computer must be stored in the front pocket of the camera bag.
• How to secure the camera onto the tripod quick release platform and then onto the tripod itself
• How to use the tripod with pans, tittling and extending/retracting the legs.
• How to store the tripod in the tripod bag properly so that no part breaks.

HCT: What Conventions Are Used In An Opening Sequence?
Using the example film of: Brick (Johnson, 2005)

(viewed on DVD format, no link available on you tube)

• Brick is a Film-Noir that is based upon a young teenager (Brendan) who goes looking for his girlfriend (Emily)
• Right from the start an enigmatic scene of mystery is created. This is done through the use of obscure camera shots and non-verbal language. A handicam is used to create realism. This seems to be a common convention in most of the sequences I and the other members of the group have studied, this technique adds an element of seriousness and is only presents in most thrillers and horrors.
• A panning shot with the handicam is used to make a CU shot of Brendan's legs and feet in a crouching position, this cross dissolves to an ECU of his eyes. The little exposition of the protagonist makes it hard for the audience identify him fully. 
• His non-verbal language shows him transfixed on something and his eyes are almost worrying to the audience creating an enigmatic scene as we do not know what he is focusing on, This also clouds our knowledge of his emotions even though an ECU is meant to give an insight into the characters personal thoughts. 
• This technique of showing only partial sections of a character creates enigma as we cannot identify him/her. It also creates quite an artistic shot. This technique is used  in the openings i have studied and are proven to add good effect (for example in se7en we only see the mans hands.)

• A long shot is used which simulated a number of things. Emily (the girl on the floor) is viewed for the first time. Herself and Brenden are framed on each side line of the rule of thirds. As the camera Angle is notably low, Emily appears as almost a mess on the floor this shows she may have been put here by someone.
• The mise en scene shows her as wearing a white top and who has blond hair, juxtaposing the dirty sewer she lies in and the muted colour and lighting of the scene.
• There is a large tunnel occupying a big proportion of the frame. The darkness of the tunnel also juxtaposes with Emily and creates suspense as the generic audience relates darkness with the unknown. 
• These techniques are often used in film openings. The light contrasting with darkness (in this case the white of Emily's dress, to the darkness of the sewer and tunnel) creates a strong effect in many title sequences. This is often created by the antagonist represented as darkness and protagonist as light. This is also used to create the person reflecting a lighter colour as vunerable and innocent.

• There is a montage edit of Emily on the floor,in several awkward, unnatural positions leading us to believe she is dragged there, setting many unanswered questions off in the audiences mind. The last clip of this montage is of Emily's bangle, - her hand is lifeless and still. It then cuts to a hand reaching out to a locker with the same bangles on the wrist, we identify this person as Emily, this is also reinforced by a shallow depth of field. This symbol helps us identify the character. This is a good method of connecting two characters and having a visual link. 

• The title 'two days previous' is overlayed on top of video footage which is a nice effect that has been used in every sequence i have studied which is a common opening convention. The two days previous is a nice way of introducing a flashback. 
• A note is left for Brendan-this is common in mystery horrors and thrillers commonly from a killer or antagonist, for example in the full film of se7en.
• Heightened tensions are used when Brenden is on the phone to Emily, her voice raises in volume and this is synchronous with the sounds of a car engine getting nearer. these two sounds climax to a very loud point creating excitement. This is a common convention used in quite a lot of sequences. The end is heightened in excitement through different techniques.
• The sound is very odd as it seems to sound like it is played on bottles with sticks, this music is accompanied by a guitar creating almost western music. This is quite a strange technique that is almost a wild track.
• The main title is a solid text which fits well with the word brick and the physical object of a brick.It is white typography on a black background which is quite simple. This is quite a common choice when making a film opening title but this obviously depends on the films genre and what impression the director wants to give off to the audience (audience reading).

CF: Techniques used in "Brick" (Johnson, 2005)

Techniques:

• Firstly an eye line match is used straight away, this allows insight for the audience into the protagonists emotions, this is often used in thriller films as the character's emotion's may be extreme, as thriller movies often contain murder or such, which can lead to extreme anger, sadness etc. By doing this, the audience is immediately shown that the character on screen is being effected by emotions.
• The wide-angle shot shows the man kneeling down and looking at her body, this shows the situation to be similar to a detective type photo of a crime scene or so, this completely corresponds with the theme of the film, which is mainly detective based, this is due to the events that the protagonists take part in are all related to solving the mystery as to the 'mess' that his romantic partner has got herself into.
• There is a slow and slight zoom towards the victims legs when the protagonist is inspecting her corpse (part of his detective duties), it shows her legs to be clean and hairless, thus amplifying her femininity, her clothes which originally were white, sharp and clean, are now wet, dirty and ruined, this shows her to have lost her innocence, the audience may infer that it is someone or a number of people who are to blame for this, it may naturally be conceived by the audience that these beings live or lurk in the darkness that is the center of attention in this scene. 
• The last shot of the scene is a shot that shows her hand in the water, the shot fades to another shot of the same hand (you can tell it is the same by the bangles), this shows that their has been a flashback, as the previous shot showed her to be lifeless, and is now full of life. From the way that costume (the bangles) were used to convey that the next shot in the scene was a flashback or a point in the past, I have learnt that this is a technique that we could use if we decide to incorporate a flashback into our final video.

• Another interesting technique, is that of giving the protagonist's feet a lot of prevalence, this almost emphasizes the persona and attributes of the boy, it shows that he is neither rich, famous or supernatural, it is conventional of thriller or neo-noir movies to do this, as it adds a sense of realism, thus amplifying any sort of suspense that is thrust upon the audience, as it seems to be real rather than just for the movie. 
• It is done a number of times throughout the film to keep reminding the audience of how the protagonist is, and the reason it makes him seem neither rich, famous or supernatural, is that he is not like other teenagers who get caught up by the latest trends, but is more focused on the task in hand, solving the mystery.

JP: Conventions of a Film Opening
Brick (Johnson, 2005)
What Generic Conventions are in this Clip? How does this opening use the conventions of teen noir?

• A handicam panning shot is the first thing used, at a very low angle, very close up so it is unclear what exactly is being filmed. It is then revealed when a pair of shoes come into the picture, with the legs above in an odd position, creating enigma as it is an unnatural position for the legs to be in and it makes the audience wonder why they are like that.
• The music is very slow and rhythmic, it sounds like glasses being blown and there is a slow guitar in the background, creating a strange music with an old feel about it, quite similar to the music used in old film noir, so it is creating a convention of a noir film straight away with the music.
• The shoes focused on create a visual link of the protagonist, which is shown when the shoes are focused on again after the very first scene to show him at school, conveying him to be an average guy, conventional of noir films as the main male character is often portrayed as being just a normal man.
• Dismemberment is used when the camera only uses extreme close ups on his eyes and his shoes, creating another enigma as to what he is feeling. Enigmas are extremely conventional of film noir, as the audience are expected to be drawn into the film by all of the puzzles and questions left unanswered.
• Further enigma is created when an establishing shot shows that the protagonist is crouching near the dead body of a young girl, as it leads the audience to wonder why she is dead and why he is there with her. Murder is a common ingredient in film noir.
• The location of the dark tunnel provides some connotations of the fear of obscurity and the unknown, and the dirtiness of the location juxtaposes with the young girl's blonde hair and white dress. 
• The fact that the opening scene is clearly somewhere near the end of the film is very conventional of film noir.

When on the phone, the characters talk very nervously and the girl mentions a "brick" which clearly has some involvement with criminals. Phone booths and crime-related storylines are very common elements on film noir.

The character above is introduced to the film as a femme fatale, one of the main and most recognisable features of film noir. The dim lighting around her makes her seem like a dark character, and she is meant to lure in the protagonist and then betray him.

The film is presented as teen noir, a modern kind of film noir intended to attract audiences that are young as well as older and more experienced. The school area and the ages of the characters reinforce this idea.

Film noir is a method of making films in a menacing and intriguing way, that was mostly popular in the 1950's and 60's, and common conventions of film noir include dim lighting, femmes fatales and story lines based around crime and mystery.

GROUP: Discussion on thoughts and ideas so far.

• From our research we have discovered many things that are commonly used in the creation of an opening. The opening is normally around 2 minutes in length, so we discussed that our opening sequence should be around this length of time. There is always a title that represents the film in a certain way (typography) and gives off a feel that the director wants to achieve. An enigmatic scene is always created through different techniques. 
• We thought we should include this in our sequence. There could be props that are very unusual such as a Dictaphone or symbolic item, therefore making the audience wonder what significance they might have. 
• There is commonly the use of a dead body or murder/ somebody in a risky situation. We found this is a good way of gripping the audience immediately. 
• In our discussion we talked about how we liked the mystery part of thriller and also some conventions of a horror sequence. 
• We talked about what genre we might choose and a thriller seemed like the best option, with the back up of being able to make a thriller with horror as a sub genre. 
• We have all carried out independent research on several title designers and discussed what techniques we liked. Henry said he liked Kyle Cooper's montage editing techniques he uses with fast paced cuts. This, along with macro shots gives an obscure feel to the clip and creates enigma codes. Jake viewed the video on title design history and commented on my post about Stephen Frankfurt who was the title designer for To Kill A Mocking Bird, he too uses macro shots to create interesting shots which may be usefull in our opening sequence. Connor researched Saul Bass who used block titles and simple fonts in his obscure techniques. This may be usefull when designing our title and text in our opening scene.
• We started to talk about what story lines we like so far and thought we might have the title sequence as the ending of the film. This is a similar style to Memento and film noir and is quite effective. The murder could be of someone innocent such as a small girl, which we found in certain thrillers/horrors such as The Amityville Horror and Face/Off. The murder could be done by some sort of hit man/detective however the audience never sees his full face during the title sequence creating enigma. 
• We are also thinking of including a Kyle Cooper style montage edit, however we have yet to finalise this idea but would love to include some of his effective techniques to add suspense and excitement to our opening.

CF:Conventions of a thriller film "The usual suspects" (Singer, 1995)

Sound:

• Immediately, church bells can be heard in the background, to show the audience that the boat that the scene is set on, is actually in a port, meaning they are not at sea, this would imply, unlike in horror movies, that other people authorities are nearby (police) meaning that they may get caught, this adds a sense of suspense for the audience which is conventional of thriller films.
• During the scene, a sound (of a violin or another similar stringed instrument) is present, it corresponds with the presence of the mysterious man, then when another danger becomes clear (the raging fire) the sound both gets louder and changes pitch. To have music which corresponds with danger and other presences in a scene is also conventional of both thriller and horror movies. At the start of the scene when the match is lit and the fire is large, the music is louder and different, then it dies down along with the fire on the match (only to come back again when the actual fire begins).
• At the very end of the scene, as the image of the burning boat fades, the next shot is a picture of a man in some sort of prison cell or federal facility, at this point, there are distant sirens sounding, which almost implies that he has been caught by the the authorites and has been put to justice.

Camera techniques:

• The first shot of the mytserious man is when he is at the top of a staircase, as he descends the staircase, the camera follows him, always managing to hide his face and therefore indentity is also hidden (from the audience), this is not conventional of thriller movies, but does occur in some.
• The first shot of the spilling oil shows how it is spreading around the boat, thus showing the extent of danger that the characters are in (with audiences naturally seeing explosives as a danger, espeically when characters have sources of ignition with them, cigarettes).
• A number of times throughout this opening scene, there is a slow zoom towards a pile of rope, which clearly has something inside it, as at the end of the shot, the camera shot shows a small gap in this pile where something must be hiding, but the audience is left wondering what it may be, such mystery is not necessarily conventional of thriller movies but does occur in some, but this movie it self is known for it's reucrring theme of mystery.

Editing:

• As the camera zooms towards the 'pile of rope', the shot fades and the next shot is one of the progtagonist in a cell, the way that the shot that creates mystery and has the audience wondering, then fades to another shot, almost tells the audience that the rest of the film after this mysterious shot and scene is going to explain via a number of situations and events, how the situation got to that point. This is not conventional of any one genre or theme of film, but does occur in alot of motion pictures, such as "Limitless" (Burger, 2011) which is actually a thriller film.
• When the camera is on the mysterious man, there are very few cuts, instead, the camera simply follows the actor, which means the shot was completed all in one take (not necessarily the first take though), this creates a focus from the audience's point of view on this character, possibly implying that he is going to be centred of the future events, the audience may hope that the clear fright of the vulnerable man towards the mysterious man is going to be explained.
• There are then a number of long shots (in terms of time, each around 3 seconds), although this is not actually a very long amount of time, but it is the fact that these shots have very little in to look at or to focus on that makes them seem long. This leaves the audience wondering what has happened in this shot (mysterious again), when actually it is clear that the wounded man has been shot, but at least the audience has been given the chance to decide for themselves.

Mise en scene:

• Firstly, the set has been designed to completely describe the persona of both the characters and the events to come in the movie. The set is dark, which is part of concealing the indentity of the mysterious man, this darkness is part of creating the mysterious theme in this scene. Also there a number of barrels of what one can infer to be an explosive substance, due to the corresponding sources of ignition held by the characters (the cigarettes), these barrels are clearly dangerous, thus adding to the already dangerous scene.
• The costume and appearences of the characters also convey the persona of the character themselves, this is conventional in terms of thriller movies. The mysterious man is wearing a long coat to conceal his identity, thus amplifying how mysterious this man really is. Then there is the wounded on the man, who has a similar hair style to the character who is also clearly a criminal in "Cape fear" (Scorses,1991), this leads me to think that certain appearences may be automatically tell the audience of the characters role in the film (e.g. whether he is good, bad, important etc.).

• In contrast to this, the man who has clearly been caught and is being questioned at the end of the opening scene is wearing prison clothes, and has a shorter, cleaner and more simplistic haircut. From this, you could infer that as he is a criminal, he has lost the freedom to choose his personal appearence in terms of hair style and clothing, and instead is chosen by the state, one could also infer that this means he belongs to  the society that he has commited crimes against. Essentially, I am trying to convey that the former actions and current living situations.