Opening Sequence -- Location

The location for filming of my opening sequence will be in two different locations:

1)  East Sheen in South West London

  The location in East Sheen is on a residential road at my house where the characters will be shown getting ready. 

2) Barnes in South West London

I will use 'The Harrodian School' for the opening establishing shot to address the scene. This is because the building is extremely beautiful and grand and shows a sense of wealth which is what is being portrayed by the characters through their dress and props. 

A shot of 'The Harrodian School'

Preparation for my Opening Sequence

Opening Sequence -- Synopsis

My Opening Sequence is about four male characters who are best friends and are getting ready to go out clubbing for the night. The opening sequence will begin by setting the scene and location through an establishing shot of the characters house. Next, one of the characters wakes up in the morning in a good mood and goes downstairs to text a fellow character if they are 'up for tonight'. This is followed by the characters fitting their ties, buttons and putting on their sunglasses.

The themes of class and status will hopefully be shown rather clearly throughout the opening sequence in the form of the characters costume when in their suits, their dress style or the arrogance radiated off them by wearing sunglasses.

A collage picture of all of the characters in my opening sequence. These images are screenshots from footage I decided to not use in my final piece.

Opening Sequence - Proposal Pitch

Opening Sequence -- Proposal of my idea

Opening Sequence -- Mind Map of Ideas

Opening Sequence Analysis - Part 3 - Se7en (1995)

Se7en (1995) - David Fincher

Se7en is an American psychological thriller realized on the 22nd September 1995 and is set in New York City. The film features Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Kevin Spacey and Gwyenth Paltrow which indicates the film's rather high budget. The fact that these actors are all very successful and have an abundance of followers means the film will receive high viewing numbers and therefore high revenue and a good review and reputation.

The opening sequence introduces the killer in the film named "John Doe" played by Kevin Spacey who is a world famous actor. He is introduced by showing typical behaviours of a serial killer such as slicing of the tops of his fingers to avoid being detected prior to a crime he may be poised to commit. The genre of thriller is shown through the typography of the titles in a flashing gothic style. A lot of red is shown which implies blood spilt from murder and crime.

The character is shown dong what he is portrayed to do best. Planning and murdering people in different ways based on the seven deadly sins they commit. The soundtrack is quite dark and intense and compliments the scenes as it fits well with a psychological thriller as the music has an offbeat and is not easy to predict, just like the film.

I would say that the target audience is people who enjoy horror films as well as thrillers because there is a lot of blood and gruesome scene which may not suitable for people under the age of seventeen. The lighting used in the opening sequence to this film adds to the genre and mood of the film as the dark colours match with the dark storyline.

This is the scene showing the killer slicing the skin off the tops of his fingers to avoid detection for the crimes he will commit. 

Click HERE to watch the opening titles to Se7en (1997)

The film is directed by David Fincher who s known for making opening sequences and films with a dark and scary element to it and he defiantly took it another level with this film hence why it was very successful. There were lots of elements of shock throughout the film which are also reflected in the opening sequence which is effectively a prologue for what the film is going to be like.

This screenshot from the opening sequence shows the killer (Kevin Spacey) crossing out victims he has killed as part of his mission to eradicate people based on the sins they commit. The typography in this is in a gothic, edgy and contemporary font in which it fits well with the genre and colours of the film.

Opening Sequence Analysis - Part 2 - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) - David Fincher

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) is an American re-make of the 2009 original Swedish version. This film released on 20th December 2011 and stars Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara and is directed by David Fincher, which suggests that the film had a very large budget considering the names and reputations of the production team and actors, hence the success of the film.

Click HERE to see the opening sequence to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.


This film is a mystery thriller and requires the opening sequence to be as unrevealing as possible whilst also hinting the audience as to what the film is about. The opening sequence establishes genre through the use of very dark colours being mainly black throughout, an unclear message of what is happening between the two characters and how the features on the characters' faces and bodies can't be seen as they are not indented purposley to keep the secrets within the film and encourage the viewer to keep watching.

This particular opening sequence stands out to me in comparison with many other films I have watched because of many unique aspects such as the gripping and intense music, the lack of colours and how dull the picture which is different from most films but also the special effects used to create a supernatural world where almost incredibly strange things happen to people such as being strangled automatically by computer cables. These effects are used to good effect as they may give clues as to what may happen in the film. The constant reference to either one of the characters being held down, struggling to be released may suggest the element of crime is involved in the film contributing to its genre of a mystery thriller.

This is screenshot of one of the characters shedding a tear. It is clear that this tear is not a clear liquid as the colour on the picture contrasts with the lighter coloured skin meaning the tear must of a darker colour signifying the fact that it could possibly be blood. This gives the viewer the impression that the film may contain scenes of violence, drama and action.

I think that the target audience of the film are those who enjoy violence, action, drama and crime thrillers as this is exactly what the film is. Due to this, I would also say that the film is for audiences aged 15 and older.

Finally, the two characters in the opening sequence are being poured on by this dark ink-like substance suggesting that during the film there is a relationship between two characters where one may have tricked or lied to the other and this is shown by the ink covering the eyes of one character to show that he/she has fallen for what may happen.

This screenshot from the opening sequence shows a skull like shape being bunt down in flames implying death of one of the characters. The opening sequence to this film can be perceived to be in the point of view of one of the characters.

Opening Sequence Analysis - Part 1 - Insidious (2011)

The film poster

Insidious - 2011

Insidious is a horror film and was released on April 1st 2011 and is about a normal middle-class American family who have moved house but soon find out that their son Dalton is possessed by the devil. 

Click HERE to see the opening sequence to Insidious.


The opening sequence for this film lasts 3 minutes and 51 seconds which is an adequate amount of time for the audience to work out what the film is about and to get to know the setting but not so much the characters in this case.

The opening sequence does really well to establish genre through many devices. These include the typography of the titles being in a gothic style as well as being coloured red to signify blood, violence and horror. In addition to this, the non-diegetic sound in the form of background music provides an eerie feeling and thriller like atmosphere. Next, only two characters of the many characters are shown in the opening sequence to possibly to keep it simple yet effective but also to emphasise the scare and horror factor involved. The first of the two characters shown is the haunted child 'Dalton Lambert',  played by Ty Simpkins and also the rather scary elderly woman with dark make up holding a candle to make out the bold and obvious lines of her face. This really does create a scary atmosphere and keeps the viewer wanting to watch on.

I would say that the age range for this film is people aged 16 or over because it is of a horrific nature which may clearly me traumatic or too much for somebody younger than sixteen to handle. None the less, the opening is very exciting and keeps the audience filled with anticipation.

Mise-en-scene incorporates many factors such as lighting, props, make up, costumes and setting. The director has evidently done a really good job on this as he has made all of these factors come across in a horror and scary like manner which fulfils the objective of the opening sequence for this film. Firstly, the lighting in the opening sequence gives the audience a feel of fright as it is mainly black and white to emphasise the characters, setting and the resemblance to homes in general. Secondly, the setting is in a large family home and the opening titles are a set of photos of scary sections of the house which have been rotated to look creepy and frightening. For example:

This screenshot highlights the black and white effect and the lighting on an old grandfather clock which can be perceived to be a typical scene within a scary film. However, this scene works very well with this film as later in the film, it is used a multitude of times to refresh the audiences minds as to where that scene had been seen before.

The editing is very impressive. The pace does gradually increase as the music gets louder and faster. The camera work in the form of turning and direction gets quicker as the music gets faster and more intense.




This screenshot shows the lighting using simple objects such as a candle to show one of the characters in a frightening situation.

Opening Sequence Analysis Overview

I have decided to analyse the opening sequence of the following movies:

Insidious (2011) - Directed by James Wan

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) - Directed by David Fincher

Se7en (1995) - Directed by David Fincher

I have picked these films because they all have a really good and gripping opening sequence whereby the audience is always on the edge of their seat wanting to see more of the film. Also, David Fincher is renowned for making incredibly good and complex opening sequences which is why I have chosen to analyse the opening sequence to two of his films. Insidious by James Wan has a very tense atmosphere about it because it is a horror and is done really well which is why I like it.

The History of Opening Sequence's

The Beginning:

In the very early days of cinematic films, the opening sequence was simply made of titles giving the name of the film, director and the production company involved in the film. This was especially in the days of silent film and before. The opening sequence is done to give the audience a hint about what the film is about and what they should expect from the film.

This is a picture of the first film ever made. 'The Horse in Motion' by  Edward James Muggeridge and was made in 1878.

Titling:

Subtitling developed from 1917, during the silent film era, whereas surtitling has been used in the live performing arts since 1983. Film production companies began to hire typecasts whose expertise was to make printed cards. This gradually evolved as animated styles of titling were developed allowing film makers and editors to produce more impressive and complicated opening sequences' which would appeal more to the public.

This picture shows a collection of stills from the opening titles to the 1995 release 'Se7en' where different typography was used in the titles to express the director, producers and actors names. A selection of different camera angles are now used which compares hugely to the silent film era. This is due to a radical change in technology allowing editors to create exceptional opening sequences. With Se7en, the pictures tell us that the film has a scary and gruesome element to it as well as it may be a thriller.  



The Opening Sequence of today:

The opening sequences of modern day films include a longer piece of filming, it can be action filled or can be done to create atmosphere and a tone for the rest of the film. This technique and objective is till done today for the audience to understand the film's meaning and storyline. For example, a modern day film such as 'The Hangover' which is known for its comedy and action filled story-lines use a simple yet effective opening sequence to allow the audience to understand the main themes of the film.

Preliminary Task -- Analysis and Evaluation

 What have you learnt by doing this exercise?

           
During this exercise, I felt that I learnt the difficult nature of film overall. The organisation of props and actors as well as assisting crew is difficult and required me to be as quick and organised as possible. When filming, it is much more difficult than planned because between scenes, everyone makes noise and loses concentration so it was my job to control the noise and get everyone to regain focus.

What skills have you developed?

I believe that I have developed my filming skills more than anything else. I have previously not had much filming experience but when I had filmed, it has been relatively average and simply not good enough. My preliminary task is certainly not anywhere near the level I can produce but I am confident that it is an improvement over previous tasks. I also enhanced and expanded my little knowledge of the different camera angles in media.

I feel that I have improved my organisation skills because the two actors in my preliminary task have extremely busy schedules in their lives so this meant I had to re-adjust the filming date three times as their availability was limited. This required me to be as organised as possible to get everybody in for filming at a specific time on a specific date. This was also achieved by organising the rounding up all of the equipment I needed including: Tripod, Camera and Props. 

What feedback have you received?

The feedback on YouTube has been mostly positive. I have received 8 likes, and 3 dislikes in addition to 14 comments which have been mixed with good and bad reviews. I am really happy with the feedback I got because of the 3 dislikes as this shows there are people who do dislike it  giving me the impression there are aspects to improve on. I am pleased about how 8 people liked it and the comments are mostly positive. 

 

      These are two screenshots of my video on YouTube as well as all of the      comments that were posted on the video.  

       How would you improve your Preliminary Task?

To improve my Preliminary Task I would have used a better camera, used a microphone to enhance the audio and dialogue. Furthermore, I would have used a different location but due to the circummstances of the timings my actors were available for, the house I used worked out as a suitable location. Also, the rain effect I used from Final Cut Pro X was not as realistic as I had hoped for.