Shooting Schedule

The shooting schedule is vital to our opening sequence , it will enable our group to sufficiently organise our groups activities and to prioritise certain shots and what accompanies those shots. Our group will be able to manage time wisely as a result of using a well structured shooting schedule. Members of our group will also know exactly where they have to be and what time they have to be there. This will prevent any confusion and will help us to finish our needed shots accurately and to a good standard as a result of the shooting schedule.

Casting

Casting

Who will be involved in the casting and be in role of the characters involved?

Kevin will be playing the role of the police officer.

James will be playing the role of the Freddie this person, is the antagonist that is focussed on within the opening sequence and stereotyped to be the ‘bad guy’.

Chanel will be the female character who is the innocent character and being chased by ‘Freddie’.

Kevin: Kevin will be performing the role of a police officer. He is a very mysterious and hidden character as he is presented throughout the opening sequence in the dark. This is very useful as is adds a lot of tension within the audience as they wonder and continue to wonder who this man is in the dark and when will he be revealed and why is he hidden. He wears normal formal clothes presenting him as a normal person just with a just to him as he is in the darkness. The police officer will be middle ages, so 30-40 to show that he is powerful and not old and vulnerable. Making the police a male enables him to be clearly more powerful than the girl being interviewed as men are stereotypically presented as the stronger gender. The only part of the his body that is revealed from the darkness is his hands which brings major relevance to the opening sequence.

James: Another unseen character which is mysteriously chasing Chanel leaving the audience in wonder as to why he is chasing her. he is quite an icon as it brings many questions to the audiences head as to why he is chasing her, what is he doing in the area at that time, who is he etc. 

Chanel: Chanel is the main character who is extremely vulnerable throughout the opening sequence. We chose to make the victim a female as females are stereotypically presented as the weaker gender and that males have more power over them and are more dominant as they are physically stronger, this is why the other two characters are males.

Animatic

The animatic helped us visualise the scene, therefore allowing us to improve the opening scene. The animatic allows us to see how long and how the opening scene will be , this will make it easier for our group to shoot the scene as we will have a envisioned preview of what we feel is going to work.The animatic will also help us improve our execution of the scene and will make things easier as we will know exactly which shots to shoot

Script

The ritual opening

Mary Shaw is running through a forest. Wearing dirty black clothing.Mary is on the verge of fainting , it seems as if she's been running for years. It's unknown to the audience what she's running from.A voice is heard over this scene

Police officer

Mary Shaw , 19 years old , Blonde , Caucasian, female. 5ft7. Now then Miss Shaw, tell me exactly what happened.

Mary Shaw

I was just walking...This..man , he came after me.

Mary is visibly upset , she puts her hand towards her mouth and she is mumbling

He wouldn't stop...he was..

POLICE OFFICER

Take your time.Do you remember what he was doing? What did he look like?

MARY SHAW

I couldn't see him , he was hidden in the dark. He was tall..dark clothes.. pure evil

POLICE OFFICER

Did you see his face at all?

MARY SHAW

NO! Please I know he's still out there , he won't stop , everywhere I went he was there!

*Mary starts sobbing uncontrollably *

POLICE OFFICER

You're safe here , please don't be upset.No one is out to get you , you're perfectly safe

*Drinks water*

MARY SHAW

He grabbed me , I ran so far...He wouldn't stop, he was strong , a big man , nearly ripped my arm off!

POLICE OFFICER

So you were  close to him ...yes?

MARY SHAW

Yeah

POLICE OFFICER

When he grabbed you , did you get any sighting of his face , any distinguishable features?Anything at all

MARY SHAW

Mary ponders for a moment


I...
*cries*



POLICE OFFICER

Please..madame. There's nothing to be afraid of understand?

MARY SHAW

*Nods*

POLICE OFFICER

Good. Now then... can you recall anything else?

*At this point the police officer , brings his clasped hands towards MARY and reveals he has the same ring as the attacker*attacker

MARY SHAW

Mary looks terrified , she looks at the ring and lets out a scream

Storyboards

Voxpops

Taking these voxpops has allowed our group to gain some valuable insight in to what will work in our opening sequence as well as what wont. The questions asked gave us a clear understanding of what people want out of a horror film and what they expect , its through these voxpops that our opening sequence will be altered by.

One idea we are going to incorporate are the woods. The woods have connotations of evil and darkness and this will help us to give the audience the full effect of a horror genre film. In the woods you don't know what could be hiding, so we've taken this idea and used it for our benefit .

The darkness will also be used in the opening sequence in the form of low key lighting this will work as many horror films usually have low key lighting and this adds to the wanted effect of spookiness and evil in the film.

2 Opening Sequence Shots

The first shot is of the female protagonist trying to hide from the mysterious figure chasing her , the female is then caught by the figure but manages to escape safely , it is at this point that the figures distinctive ring will be visible , the ring will help make the audience link the mysterious figure with the police officer later in the scene and this will cause some questions to be asked and will add to the narrative . The shot will be a medium shot or close up , the medium shot will let us see the whole body of the female but I believe going with the close up shot will help us interact more with the emotions that the protagonist is feeling and will make it seem more realistic.



The second shot is of the female protagonist and the police officer interviewing her at a police station , the male police officer is completely hidden because of very low key lighting , the female is able to be seen however . This adds to the mystery of the character , the glasses of water are props that will help add realism to the shot , the actual sequence will have shot reverse shots of the female and the male speaking , this shot will then add to the reveal of the police officers distinctive ring



 


The first picture is an establishing shot of the forest and the female protagonist. The establishing shot of the forest would be used to show the environment the female is in and her vulnerability in such an isolated place as anything could be lurking in the forest ready to attack.The trees are essential to the establishing shot as they foreshadow circumstances and show potential obstacles the female will have to run through while being chased by her attacker.To accompany this shot we could used the 'Reapers tale'


The second picture is of the male police officers distinctive ring.The extreme closeup of the shot will identify this character as the same person chasing the female protagonist , so this will have a shock factor. The extreme closeup also prevents any emotion being shown in that shot from either character as  literally only the police officers hands are being shown along with his distinctive ring. To accompany this shot a sting like score could be used , my suggestion is the ' Horrors sound and effects' piece as a sting could be used to emphasise the female protagonists shock.

3 Sounds

Creepy Thoughts




I believe this score entitles 'Creepy Thoughts' would go very well in the opening sequence ,it could be used right at the very beginning while opening titles are still being shown , and we hear a heavy breathing of the female protagonist , this will build tension and add to the narrative of the film



Recovered terror



This score could be used as a sting , this piece will be used in order to startle the audience as the sudden change in pitch and the shrill sound this score has will help create an evil atmosphere in the openign sequence and will build tension.The sound could be used as the female protagonist thinks she's safe from her attacker but is then grabbed by the mysterious person chasing her



This sound entitles Reapers tale could be used when the hidden police officers distinctive ring is shown and the titles and name of the film are shown  ,this will make the audience think and will also add to the narrative of the film. The suddenness of the sound will help add to the scare factor of the film and will leave the audience shocked and wanting to know what happened next

These sounds have a variety of good uses , the piece at the beginning could be used as a sting when the male police officer character is found out to be the attacker. The sudden stop after the sting will be used to emphasise and highlight the horror the female character would be feeling , it will also leave audiences watching asking questions during that split moment where nothing is heard.

List of Props , Costumes ,and Locations

Props

Glass (Filled with water)

Distinctive ring  

Pen

Notepad

Chair

Table

Sticks

Costumes

Dirty jean dungarees

Dark clothing to mask identity

Hoodie

Blue shirt with matching dark blue tie

White shirt , Black tie

 

 

Shoot quick video showing each prop

Make gifs of the locations

Take picture of character wearing costume and annotate on prezi

Film Sypnosis

An unknown woman is frantically running away from a mysterious figure , she is in a isolated forest and is fearing for her life , at the same time we see two people speaking to each other in an police stations' interview room , the same woman running and a police officer hidden in darkness. After some near misses with this mysterious figure ( Including an instance where the figure grabs her and we see a distinctive silver ring) We are shown that the hidden police officer also possesses the same distinctive ring

The film centers around a woman named_____,  this woman fears for her life , she is being stalked like an animal by mysterious people , each one bearing the same distinctive ring , wherever she turns she can't escape these people. This woman is tired of hiding and fearing for her life , she resorts to asking her long time friend for advice , her friend reveals that these anonymous figures are actually all part of a satanic cult and that she was especially chosen for a sacrifice to Satan as she is a descendant of one of the cults original founders.

The woman understands why she is being stalked and attacked , she tries everything to ensure she survives and that she will be safe , but in a world where everyone is out to get her , who can she really trust? Later in the film the woman realises her friend is actually part of the cult and that he used his knowledge on her to track her every move . In shock the woman tires to frantically run away from her friend as she knows she's in danger , She runs through a forest , it's revealed the mysterious figure at the beginning of the film was actually her friend , she manages to escape him after many near misses (She is nearly caught several times through the scene) she escapes him and flees to a police station. The last shot is of the woman entering the police station as ______ smiles sinisterly

Opening sequence ideas

The following is a presentation of my ideas for my groups opening 2 minute sequence

Audience Research

1What gender are you?

   Male         Female

2How old are you?

10-15   16-24    25-34    35-45   46-59   60+

Knowing our target audience will better our results and therefore lead to a film that serves its purpose and appeals to those watching.

3How often do you watch horror films?

Often     Sometimes    Never

Those who watch horrors often will usually know a lot about conventions , those who don’t won’t know what to expect and will therefore be scared more. Sometimes peoples are in-between

4What’s your favourite horror film and why?

Knowing our target audiences favourite horror will help us use ideas from these films to help better our film through similar aspects used.

What do you expect from horror films?

What a person answers in this question will give us an idea of what to put in the film sequence however it can also help us avoid general clichés.

6What are you scared of?

The dark

Clowns

Spiders

Thunder

Ghosts

Blood/gore

Other? Please State ___________________________

Knowing what our target audience is scared of will help us enhance their experience as we will be able to give them a better fright by playing to their fears , this is a typical convention of horrors

7Do you watch British films?

If yes which ones         if no why not

________________________

8 How do you expect the opening titles from the film to be?

Over black

Over moving images

This question will help us decide what to add to the titles, if we want to reveal much information or keep it mysterious.

9 What do you expect from the lead role in a horror film?

This question will help us decide what aspects of good horror lead roles to include while also helping us avoid overused clichés

10How do you watch films

Cinema

Dvd

TV

Download

Rent
Other

If a person watches at the cinema their experience will be enhance and we will know whether to add many jump scenes or use a lot of dark and low key lighting. The way a person watches the film will benefit them and help enhance their experience

These are some examples of questionnaires I had completed by some students.

Student A is female , in the 16-24 age group. She watches horror films Sometimes. Her favourite horror is the film ‘Carrie’. She expects jump scares and death from horror films. She is scared of spiders. She watches British films , her example is Harry potter`. Student A expect opening titles to be over black. She also expects the lead role to have family problems and she watches films on DVD.

Student B is male. In the 16-24 group. He often watches horrors often so he knows what to expect in terms of conventions. This student says they have a lot of favourite horror films including, Evil dead (remake) Texas chainsaw massacre, Wrong turn etc. He expects horrors to give him thrills and scare him. He is scared of big sharks. He does not watch British films because he prefers Hollywood. He expects moving images for a opening title. He expects the lead role to have a backstory and die at the end. He watches films by DVD Cinema and other.

Student C is male. 16-24 age groups. He sometimes watches horror films. His favourite horror film is the grudge. He expects to be scared. He is scared of clowns and spiders. He does watch British films like snatch. He expects the titles to be over black and expects the lead to be strong but also scared of the villain. They watch films through cinema DVD and download

What are you scared of?

We asked out target audience , what they were scared of the majority tended to say the dark. This will help us when making our horror opening sequence as it will let us know to use low key lighting and add dark spooky elements that will convey horror and appeal to our target audience

How do you expect the opening titles to be?

We asked our target audience how they would prefer the titles in the opening sequence to be shown. Over blackness or over moving images?The majority of the people asked tended to say they'd like it to be done over black. This will help us and be more suitable for a horror film as black has connotations of death and despair , this will add to the narrative of the opening sequence and film as a whole. The blackness will also shroud the opening titles in mystery and will not reveal anything to the audience, this will get them involved as it will make them think while watching the film.

Conventions of a Horror

Conventions of a successful Horror film

• Scary 
• Tense Atmosphere
• Mysterious Antagonist 
• Makes audience think
• Withholds information
• Blood/ Gore
• Fast pace
• Short Takes
• Low key lighting
• Props , Weapons , Knives , Hammers 
• Costume , Masks , Dirty clothing

Scary.


What is a horror? Well a horror is a film that's main target is too elicit a negative response from its audience by playing on their primal fears. In other words a horror's job is to scare the audience. A great horror film is usually defined by not only the narrative of the film but also by how well it terrifies the audience. One example of a film that is 'Paranormal Activity'. This film utilises 'jump scare' scenes brilliantly and plays on peoples fear of the supernatural , hence it makes the scenes terrifying to the audience but at the same time makes them want to watch on.


Tense Atmosphere/Suspense

Linking to the idea of horror films being scary , before a jump scene or a memorable scary scene, there is usually a tension in the atmosphere. The tension usually calms down the tone of the film this lures the audience in to a false sense of security and there fore makes the following scare even more dramatic

Mysterious/Menacing  Antagonist


Typically these Horror films have antagonists that play to the audiences fears. Very little is known about them other than they are blood thirsty and will hunt down the protagonist(s) at any cost. Typically extremely hard to kill , gun shots and knife wounds ineffective against them. Usually can only be killed in an extreme, over the top manner. Eg  Decapitation, Explosion.

















Makes the audience think/Withholds information

The horror genre usually withholds information in many scenes of the film in order to heighten the experience of the film and add to dramatic effect.This lack of information makes the audience think and this therefore helps them get more involved in the experience of the film.


Blood/Gore
Classic Horror films can usually be remembered by gruesome and terrifying death scenes. These death scenes usually have an exaggerated amount of blood and gore in order to scare the audience. One example of a director who does this is George Romero,his 'Dead' series is very well known for extremely graphic death scenes. These scenes were typically done with real life elements and methods but as of late most have been done with CGI.













Fast pace/Short takes

Scenes in horror films are usually fast pace. Fast pace actions helps speed the narrative of the film but also increases the tension and atmosphere in the film. This adds to the experience of the film and will help scare the audience even more. Short takes are usually used in order to leave some information ambiguous . These short takes prevent the audience from fully seeing something and this will help make something scarier than it is.

Low key lighting
 Low key lighting helps play on peoples fear of the dark and unknown , and playing on peoples fears is what most horror films are usually known for. Dark setting also helps creates atmosphere and also makes the audience think and expect something scary. The dark setting and low key lighting also helps establish the mood of the film

Props , Weapons , Knives , Hammers , Phones etc

Most horror films implement the use of weapons. A vast amount of classic horror movie villains can be identified by their iconic weapons . Eg Jason Voorhees(Machete) , Leatherface(Chainsaw) , Freddy Krueger(Bladed  glove) Michael Myers(Kitchen Knife). These weapons help create memorable characters and this adds to the narrative , a memorable villain is also a major selling point and can make or break a horror film. Sometimes protagonists in the film also use guns , knives or other forms of protection against the movie villain. In horror films communication is key in survival , phones are often used in these films as a way of informing someone if they're in danger or not . However they can also be used by movie's villain to tease the characters. An example if Ghostface from the Scream series, he usually teases his victims through the use of a phone in order to intimidate them before killing them.

                                                      Costume , Masks , Dirty clothing

The characters costume in the film are also very important. Iconic horror films usually give villains and protagonists memorable clothing in order to distinguish them and to emphasise their importance. Many horror villains have memorable costumes and masks such as Jason Voorhees (Hockey Mask) , Leatherface(Mask made of human skin) Freddy Krueger(Burnt face) Michael Myers(White mask). these masks also help add to the scare factor of the films villain. They help add to the narrative as sometimes their costume has a backstory. The mask is also usually a icnonic emblem for the villains and this helps make film a great horror.

The Da Vinci Code ( Howard , 2006 , US)

The Da Vinci Code starts out with  a mellow and sombre , non diegetic score. The instruments used are string based and are being played a low volume, this makes the audience feel relaxed for the opening. The titles are given a blue tint that mimics a UV light shining on the paintings this relates to the overall narrative in general.

As the titles become more intense so does the originally sombre score. This UV light keeps appearing and this suggests it has something to do with the plot. The last place it shines is the V in the title " The Da Vinci Code' We see very quick shots of a man running through a hall surrounded by paintings. They are low angle shots this has connotations of the man perhaps having power in some way , however this is contradicted with the fact he is running away from something at the same time. It is unknown what the man is running away from at first however a shadow of a hooded figure walking behind him is shown , but the actual person is not. This makes the audience ask questions , such as who is this hooded figure and why is this man running away from them?. As soon as the audience sees the hooded figure , there is a close up of a painting.

The scene alternates from shots of the man panting and running , to close ups of the various paintings situated in the location. There is a lot of low key lighting used in the scene and this adds to the mystery and ambiguity of the scene.The man running lifts a painting and we are then shown the hooded figure holding a gun, this creates suspense and tension, the hooded figure lifts his hood while pointing a gun at the man , we are shown his face however he dark lighting still keeps his identity a mystery. This opening sequence keeps a lot of information hidden and this is very much typical of a thriller genre film

SE7EN( Fincher , 1995 , US)

Se7en 

The Film Se7en uses a variety of different techniques to bring meaning to the opening sequence. The genre of the film is clearly established right from the start of the opening sequence.The sequence is shot with a very eery , creepy filter and most shots are very quick paced which heightens tension and gives the scene a distorted feel. The sequence does not give any real detail , it is quick paced and this makes the audience feel disorientated . As previously mentioned the filter is of a sickly , yellow tone . This could have connotations of death and could foreshadow future events in the film.

 The opening sequence is accompanied by an eerie non diegetic  score. The score has screeching like sounds. These screeching sounds make the audience feel uncomfortable , they’re unpleasant to listen to. The screeching sounds have made the opening sequence have a dark and violent feel to it. The opening sequence is very ambiguous in the way that it doesn't reveal any real information and therefore leaves the audience asking questions. The actual sequence includes extreme closeups of hands and fingers engaging in various tasks such as crossing out words in a book and using razor blades. As mentioned no real context is added to the sequence, so what this person is doing is kept a mystery , however these actions do contain a certain psychotic quality to them and this could convey the personalities of characters introduced later on  in the film.The titles draw the audience in to the narrative and therefore it is hard to look away.

The actual  titles of the film also keep in line with this idea of psychotic behaviour and tendencies. It appears that the titles are scratched , this gives a sense or realism to the sequence also.

(An interesting fact is that to make the opening titles of SE7EN production designer John Sable , took several notebooks with dozens of pages of nonsensical rambling and grotesque imagery, the sequence itself if of Sable taking up the laborious task of filling the notebooks and the actual titles are not super imposed but rather scratched directly on to the film emulsion)

The pace of the opening sequence as well as the score quickens as more violent and grotesque imagery is revealed in the notebooks to the audience. This creates tension and unnerves the audience. There are various images of dead bodies in the notebook, this makes the audience ask questions, they will want to know if the person filling the notebooks had something to do with there deaths

Locations

These locations would be suited for a thriller because they are dark and mysterious . They are well suited to the tone of a thriller film and are typical conventions of thriller films

This first location would work very well . The place is secluded and is very much useful if making a horror film. Secluded , isolated locations are widely used in horror films , this is done as it gives a feeling of vulnerability , the place is so secluded no one will be able to help you if you're being chased by an attacker . Woods have connotations of evil and mystery this has been drilled in to the brains of many people from a young age through stories and such, think Hansel and Gretel. This is why I believe this location would be a successful place to film

This road near my house looks very creepy and spooky at night time , this is why I believe it would be a good place to film as usually you want a good scare factor in a horror film.This could be used when filming a scene of a protagonist walking alone at night as they are being stalked by someone







  

This location is Duppas park , the park looks very menacing at night time and this long road could be used in a horror film. The seemingly never ending footpath would be incredibly scary at night time and audiences would be able to empathise with this as the dark and being alone in the dark is a massive fear of many people

Memento ( Nolan , 2000, USA)

MEMENTO

Memento Sound Sound is used in the opening sequence. One technique is Non diegetic sound of the strings up until the camera flashes This is also an example of a score. The score of the strings builds up over the opening of the scene and creates tension and excitement this is a typical convention of a thriller. The score heightens the emotion of the scene. There are diegetic sounds of the camera noises and the polaroid being shaken , the man saying ‘What’ and the gun. This use of diegetic sound helps creates realism and tension in the opening.

Camerawork Most of the clip is of an extreme closeup of a Polaroid picture. The extreme closeup helps set out the story and hides information from anything else. Information is withheld and therefore the audience wants to know more and will ask questions. The close ups used also help create and intimate feeling to the scene and make the audience seem involved.

Mise En Scene The most important prop in the sequence is the polaroid picture. The camera focuses mainly on the picture for a large chunk of the sequence.The picture is of a dead man lying on the floor, the audience will ask questions such as who is the dead man? Who killed him etc. When it is revealed who the man that died is he is seen to be wearing glasses.Glasses are usually a symbol of weakness and vulnerability, this plays with the audiences emotions and helps them sympathise with a suspected innocent and weak dead man

 Editing:The whole scene is in reverse however the audience does not know this right away. The fact that it’s in reverse helps create a surreal and odd experience for the audience.The Polaroid picture is in shot for a very long time , this suggests to the audience that the Polaroid picture plays an important part in the films narrative and story.

Opening Titles

What are the different conventions of an opening sequence

The Sixth Sense ( Shyamalan , 1999 , US )

The Sixth Sense ( Shyamalan , 1999 , US )

The opening of The Sixth Sense begins with a black background and blue text that fades in and out , each time giving us a new peace of information regarding the cast and crew behind the film. The score that accompanies this part of the opening is an dark, intimidating ,eery and mellow piece that sets the mood for the film. At one point the title of the film fades on to the screen , a sharp , shrill sound is heard as the name of the film is shown, this connotes that the film will be full of suspense and thrilling moments.

The dark black background used in the first part of the film could be a metaphor for the dark tone of the film and the utter blackness of death and the after life. There is a sarri

f blue font used, that fades with each shot.The blue colour used for the font is usually associated with the paranormal and this links with the film and its meaning. The sarrif font is serious , strict and formal looking.

After the dark background sequence , we are shown an extreme close up.The shot starts with a barely visible light growing brighter and brighter, this light is revealed to be a lightbulb , the audience does not know this at first and this has the audience guessing and asking questions from the very beginning of the film. When the lightbulb is dim , the light is barely visible and therefore looks like tiny light orbs, light orbs are associated with the paranormal and ghosts which ties up with the films meaning. Also The lightbulb slowly turning on could represent the beginning of the film or the beginning of something bad.

The next shot is of a dark room  , low key lighting is used, this makes the location seem dangerous and unsafe.The dark room also immediately tells the audience what to expect, it manipulates the audience by building their expectations, they are led to believe that the dark room is not safe.Hyperbolic sound is used as foot steps are heard coming down a set of stairs. The exaggerated sound of the steps helps heighten the sense of loneliness and the eeriness of the scene. We are shown a woman wearing a revealing purple dress , her revealing attire and done up appearance connotes her vulnerability as a character.

We are then introduced to a woman wearing a purple dress has her hair done up and is wearing very little makeup, because she isn’t wearing much makeup this connotes that she  is a character that is naive and vulnerable.

The woman wearing a purple dress carefully walks towards a wine rack . The woman's arms are close to her body as if she is trying to close up, this further suggests that this is a character that keeps to herself and is vulnerable. When the woman picks up a wine bottle she smiles for moment , however upon hearing a strange sound , she stops , turns around and stands for a while with her arms crossed and close to her body, her body language tells us , the audience she is scared as well as that she does not feel safe. We are then shown a shot of the woman , with her shadow in front of her and a dark space beyond her shadow. It is suggested that whatever made the sound is standing in the dark space beyond her shadow, this leaves the audience asking questions. She then starts shivering and can be heard shivering also, this suggests that she feels a presence in the room and again leaves the audience asking questions. The woman then proceeds to quickly run up the stairs, this tells us she did not feel safe in location she was in.

Wallander ( Firewall, 7th december, 2008 ,BBC)

Wallander analysis

This opening sequence starts with a deep dark score . There is an ambient sound that sounds like the wind. The sound of the wind is mysterious and make the audience feel tension, they will want to know whats happening. The audience is shown a shot of the sea , this makes the audience wonder why are they there ? What does the sea have to do with the overall sequence. What part will it play in the scene?.
It is revealed to the audience that the scene is in an isolated remote location. We see a camera tracking in to a car and what appears to be a single person. Information is with held from the audience and the audience wants to know more and this entices the audience in to carry on watching to find out more. This person is hidden and we do not see who they are until the camera tracks right on to them. It is then revealed that in fact it is two females walking away from a car.

We hear a sting sound of a whoosh , this emphasizes that the girls are involved with whatever happened to the car.The high pitched sound also conveys a sense of danger.

More questions would be asked by the audience such as who are these two girls and why are they walking away from the car. We see the two girls from behind. The one on the left is wearing a black coat and has dark coloured hair , the female on the right has a leather jacket on and has green and red highlights in her dark hair. The simple attire of the female on the left suggests to the audience that she is more mellow and calm than her counterpart. The female on the right has a leather jacket and dyed hair , this suggests an rebellious nature in the character , that she is someone that does not follow rules and is more of a stronger character. Red is also the colour of danger which further adds to this idea. The female on the right also seems to be the leader of the two , she is walking with more of a significance and has a stronger stature. Through out this shot we can not see the their faces and therefore emotions , we are given clues as to how they are through clothing and body posture but we are withheld information.

There is hyperbolic sound of foot steps , the wind and breathing. There is no dialogue through out the scene , the two girls are possibly in shock or nervous as they are not talking to eachother.

We are shown a pull focus shot of an id badge inside the abandoned car. We also see a slumped , bloody body on a car steering wheel. The audience immediately links the identity of the id badge to the man slumped injured on the car wheel.There are also stereotypical views of a male being a taxi driver. It is suggested to the audience that the man is killed. This makes us wonder who killed him , could it of been the two females walking away?The audience also wants to know how he died.  The blood splatter on the windshield further suggests the man is dead. He body position is also slumped which further suggests this. The girls are slowly walking away , it is suggested they are involved in the death of this man , it is not an accident. The audience will start to question whether it could of been self defense? these are questions the audience will be asking.

It can also be said the man was recently killed or attacked as the radio is still on , the radio also represents normality. The engine is also still running which further adds to normality and the idea that the attack was recent.

We are then shown a shot of the two females faces. The rebellious character is more in focus which shows to us she is more important and could be more involved. There is blood splatter on her chest which further conveys the idea that they were involved in the mans injuries.
There is hyperbolic sound of the females breathing this shows they have an adrenaline rush as they are not panicking.

We are then shown the mans eyelids flickering which reveals he is not dead just seriously injured. There is blood splatter on the girls faces and all over the car, this coneys the image that the attack was extremely brutal and violent. There is a low rumbling sound also heard which can represent the guilt of the girls building up.
 The camera starts to get closer to them , the girl with dyed hair is more in shot , this reiterates that she is more important and more involved in the attack and therefore more responsible.

The audience feels sympathy for the attacked man as we are shown a picture of him and his son , there is blood on the picture which emphasizes the brutality. There are bright colours on the picture which makes the picture happy this juxtaposes with the dark tone of the scene. There arms are around each other which also shows family love.

We are then shown another shot of the females the camera pans and we are shown the red haired female dropping a bloody knife, we are then in the knowledge of how the man was attacked. The scene ends with a visual motif of what looks like a knife , this graphic match links to the knife dropping and the brutal attack the man experienced.

Brick ( Johnson , 2005 , USA)

Brick

The opening sequence begins with a close up shot of a persons distinctive shoes. The person is standing on some sort of concrete ledge,  this shot creates tension and prompts the audience to ask questions , such as ; Who is this man? Where is he?

We then see a blurred shot of this mans face, his hand is covering most of his face which helps conceal his identity and makes him seem mysterious.

An eerie score accompanies the beginning of the opening sequence. the score is of what sounds like a guitar and bells playing. The bells are louder than the guitar , this is done to create atmosphere and tension within the scene. Bells are also usually associated with death which go along with the meaning of the opening sequence. Ambient sound is also heard in the running of the water , this is done to make the scene seem more realistic and add depth and tension.The music used also adds a sense of tranquility to the scene which then contrasts with the horrific nature of the foreshadowed death.The mellow and tranquil notes could be a musical representation of the male characters feelings in this opening sequence

The first shot is of something ambiguous and unknown , this close up of the ledge and the mans shoes obscures information and makes the audience want to know more. The next shot is of the man in an isolated place looking at what appears to be a body. This again prompts the audience in to asking questions. We are shown a low angle shot of the man looking at the body , which makes the man seem in control and in power. The female is wearing heels and dress , stereotypically this is associated with females and their vulnerability , so the audience feels sympathy as they hold a thought of the female not being able to protect herself as a result of her weakness. The male is wearing casual clothing , he is also wearing glasses , stereotypically glasses are associated with people who are also weak and vulnerable , so the audience will think this man they're staring at couldn't possibly of killed this woman as he was too powerless to do so , if that is the case then who did it? The murder is out in broad day light we see this because of high key lighting , this takes away from the stereotypical thriller feel as most thrillers usually go with low key lighting to add to effect , however the director thought the scene was moving enough with out the use of low key lighting.

The audience are then shown alternating shots of the mans face and the females body. The females body looks a lifeless colour , she is face down in water, and she is not moving , this suggests to the audience she is dead. The females death prompts the audience in to asking more questions such as why is dead? Who killed her? Why are they in that location? A graphic match is used, when the females arm and distinctive looking blue bangles are shown, the next shot is of the same person with their distinctive looking bangles. This links the two scenes together and tells the audience they are the same people. There is heavy usage of shot reverse shot , this could indicate that the male character is so shocked by what he's seen he can't physically bring himself to look away from the body. This leads to audience to ask questions , perhaps the male character knew the female character and this is why he is so shocked. Eyeline match is also used as the male characters eyes are shown then a shot of what the male character is looking at.

A black title screen is shown , the title screen says ‘BRICK’ the name of the film. We are then shown the next part of the opening sequence. ‘TWO DAYS PREVIOUS’ is superimposed on the shot to make the audience understand the time difference between when the two scenes take place. We are shown the distinctive pair of shoes we saw in the opening part of the film, this as done with the bangles helps link the two scenes and the lets the audience know who the person is.

 Through out the whole of the opening sequence we are never shown the mans entire face and we never learn anything about him. He is always blurred out or obscuring his face this helps shroud him in mystery and makes the audience ask questions. We are shown a long shot of this man alone near some lockers and then a close up shot of the note he finds in his locker. The note lacks any real information , this is done to further conceal and withhold  information and shroud the opening scene in mystery.