sound and music

we have decided as a group to include different sound effects and samples from a number of sources. This will make our opening sequence effective. Here are some of the sounds we could use within our sequence.

http://www.freesound.org/people/yewbic/sounds/33796/ - This sound would be good to use as a background noise for when the girl has just woken up and is trying to workout what happened and where she is.

http://www.freesound.org/people/nickrave/sounds/112557/ - This sound could be used either when she starts to panic or when she's running home.

http://www.freesound.org/people/Sea%20Fury/sounds/48662/ - This sound could be used when the girl's looking in the mirror or when the main title of the film comes up.

http://www.freesound.org/people/Benboncan/sounds/108841/ - This sound could be played before the girl wakes up, letting the audience know that she's alive. It could also be played when she finds the dead body.

However, instead of using samples from different websites we could compose our own sounds and music. We could also record some music that we think would be effective playing in the opening sequence.

Audience research 2

I asked 10 people aged 15 - 20 to complete a questionnaire on thriller opening sequences. One question was what type of thriller do you like best out of horror, crime, action, slapstick and Sci-fi. I created a pie chart to show the results.

The results show that the majority of people I asked proffered a horror thriller opening sequence. This is what we're going to base our opening sequence on. Furthermore, the results from the questionnaire also show that most people want to see titles and clues towards what the rest of the film will be about. In addition, a lot of the people I asked would also like the sequence to convey an atmosphere of either, suspense, mystery, action or excitement.

This pie chart shows what people would prefer in an opening sequence. The majority of people said they want an opening sequence to have clues as to what the film's about. A lot of the people I asked also said that they would like to see titles, a variety of different camera shot and angles and music relevant to the genre of film.

This pie chart shows that majority of the people I asked said that they like watching the opening sequence. However, 4 people in total said either that they don't like watching it or they sometimes do. We can base some of our ideas for our opening sequence on this data.

film synopsis

The story
A girl wakes up in the middle of a car park, stands up and stumbles around trying to find out where she is. She tries to remember what happened, she treads on something. She looks down and sees some rosary beads. She realises that there's blood on her hands. The girl tries to wipe it off, turns and sees a dead man in a suit. He's covered in blood. She looks around for anyone. Hearing sirens and realising that she's the only person at the scene with blood on her and no memory of what has happened she knows that she's a prime suspect and flees from the scene. The girl is now scared and runs home, she rushes into her bathroom, washes her hands and looks in the mirror.

initial ideas

We chose to film a thriller film sequence as we thought it would be the most effective genre to do. We decided to base our sequence on a stalking scene. We then based our locations around this idea, therefore they are isolated and enclosed locations. These locations are mainly dark, scary scenes, such as car parks and cemeteries.

This is an example of one of the locations we could use for our sequence.
We are also going to use props and use of costume to further create a tense and scary atmosphere. The costumes will conceal a lot of the stalkers identity. The props we will use will mainly consist of weapons.
we came up with these ideas by watching thriller films to gain inspiration and ideas.

location research

location research on Prezi

Audience research 1

This is a blank example of the questionnaire I'm going to use to gather my information for my research. The questionnaire includes 8 questions concerning information about thriller films. I will ask ten people in total to answer my survey, this will give me enough data to present my results.

conventions of a thriller

The conventions of a thriller include titles, music, fast paced editing, a variety of visual effects and effective location. It also includes a lot of close ups to view people in a mysterious way. For example, in a lot of close ups the characters face is hidden as the camera only shows half of their face, this presents an atmosphere of mystery towards that character. 

Titles state who's done what role within the production of the film. The titles will usually appear in an interesting way, typical to a thriller genre. 'Quantum of Solace' is a great example of this.

 Music will help convey the atmosphere the director wants. Fast paced editing will also convey an atmosphere the director will want depending on the genre of film. Visual effects and effective location will also help to do this. For example, to create a thriller and a tense atmosphere a scary location could be used, such as a cemetery at night.An effective title/opening thriller sequence must have most if not all of these conventions to appeal to the audience and to give them a clue as to what genre of film it is and what the film's about, by seeing a title/opening sequence the audience will be able to distinguish what genre of film it is.

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels title/opening sequence analysis

The opening starts with the distribution company, 'Summit entertainment' appearing on screen. It then cuts to the first shot of a man selling things with a crowd around him. It then cuts to another title, 'the steve tisch company'. Throughout the sequence it cuts from the characters to a black screen with the titles on it in white writing, this combines both a title sequence and opening sequence together. The audience does not yet know what genre of film this is as it hasn't given many clues. However, the majority of the shots have been close ups, a clue to say it's a thriller. The title 'ska films' appears. As each title appears the audience can still hear the main character speaking, this is done to ensure the audience don't lose track of what's going on and to also keep them interested. Music begins to play in the background as another title comes on screen. The music is fast with a heavy rhythm, this is another clue as to what genre of film it is. The next shot is of them running from the police, the audience know from this that the things they're selling are stolen and know the film is a thriller. The music begins to become more dominant as they are running, emphasising the exciting and tense atmosphere, this is typical to a thriller. In the next shot they are running down a set of stairs, it slows down and a voice over begins to play, this is to give some background information about the character. The main title of the film then gradually appears on screen letter by letter.

analysis of quantum of solace title/opening sequence

The title/opening sequence  to quantum of solace starts with the distribution companies appearing on screen. This is a typical feature of a title sequence and happens in every sequence. The distribution company fades out and the the first shot is presented. Loud, exciting music begins to play, giving the audience a clue as to what genre the film is. The audience now know that this film is a thriller and that it's another James Bond film. More companies names appear, they are presenting the film. The lead actors name is shown and the character they are playing. The title of the film is then shown. A list of actors names are shown in order of importance to the film, each one appears on the screen in white writing in a typical military style font. Throughout the title sequence, the audience can see Daniel Craig as James Bond walking around an artificial setting of a dessert. The audience can clearly see that the scene isn't real and that there have been a lot of special effects to create this image. The audeince now know that this sequence is a thriller as there a lot of clues towards it. for example, the music and the use of costume and also props. As actors names stop appearing, job roles within the production of the film are being presented, again the order that they are presented is from least important to most important. However, roles of importance differ from film to film, therefore the order of roles wont be the same for many films. This is because in some films the music is more important than costume or set design, this means the composer will appear before them. These roles include the producer, costume design, set design, executive producer and director. The audience will also notice that as there a lot of jobs within the production, the film is quite a long film with a lot of care and attention added to it. The name of the song playing and who wrote and performed it is shown on screen near the end. A few more titles are presented and then the sequence ends and cuts to the first scene.

conventions of a title sequence

what titles?

Title Sequences

During a title sequence a lot of things are included. these include, different job roles, actors names and logos of companies that support the film. There are many job roles within the production of a film. For example a producer. The producer makes sure that everything is up to a good standard and that they are happy with the outcome of the film to ensure the film makes a profit. Another example of one of the jobs included in film making is the casting agent, this person decides what actors play what roles within the film. Costume design designs the costumes and makes them for every actor, through the use of costumes the audience could will get a lot of clues about each character and the film, just by what they're wearing. The composer for the film creates all the music for the film, this is important as it helps to further emphasise a message or representation of a character or scene. An editor edits all the footage that's been filmed and decides what order the footage is going to go into to make the film run smoothly and effectively. The production designer makes the set for each scene, this could further give clues as to what the film's about and also when the film is supposed to be set. The most important job role is the director. The director decides what everyone has to do in the scene and make sure the filming runs smoothly. Furthermore, the roles are presented on screen in order from least important to most important, this is why the director often comes last. however, not every film has the same ranking of importance for job roles, for example in one film the composer could be one of the most important job roles, where as in other films it could be one of the least.

In addition, the distribution companies appear with the titles on screen, there logo appears as well. They appear at the beginning of the title sequence. A lot of the time there is also music playing in the background, the music used could be written by the composer or be music from one of the distribution companies. An example of a title sequence that includes all of these features is 'Catch me if you can'. This makes this particular title sequence very effective as all the features give clues as to what the films about but it also tells them the key information about the production of the film.

Bridget Jones analysis

Bridget Jones analysis

This mid-shot shows Bridget. The audience are questioning where Bridget is and what's she doing? 

The room looks as if she's at her parents house. The people around her also suggests that shes at her parents house as they are older than her and is probably her parents friends. A voice over then confirms this as she describes herself as being at her parents house eating turkey curry.

This close up suggests that it's around christmas time. The audience know this by the jumper the man is wearing in the background. The shot then fades out as the voice over continues to describe how she wants to see the man in the background again.

The next shot fades in as the camera pans up. The long shot is of the building where Bridget lives.  Music begins to play as the shot is on screen, it's sad music. This could represent the feelings towards Bridget's character. The voice over confirms this as she further describes wanting to be with the man in the christmas jumper from the last scene.

The next shot fades out as the last fades in. Yellow titles appear on the screen, showing the distribution companies. The yellow colour suggests to the audience that it's a romantic comedy and a happy film. As the music continues the audience recognise the song and realise that perhaps Bridget is alone.

This shot also fades in and the camera pans up to view Bridget's window. Another title appears to show who was involved in the production company.

A master shot is established. it shows Bridget lying on her sofa, smoking, drinking and watching T.V. As these things are stimulants, the audience knows that she's slightly depressed. Also, as this shot comes on screen, the music comes to the chorus, the most dramatic part of the song.

This mid-shot shows Bridget checking her phone for messages. This could suggest that shes expecting a call.

As the scene continues, she starts singing along with the song. The audience could represent his as her being historical. The audience can see that she looks as if she's about to cry.

The main titles appear on the screen. The colour is a pale pink, suggesting it's a girly film.

The spiderwick chronicles analysis

wallander opening sequence analysis

wallander opening sequence analysis

The beginning opens with a fade in to the sea. the camera pans across it then tilts up.

As the camera tilts up, the audience is presented with an isolated country scene. The audience can see scattered houses and trees in the background with a faint white blur on one of the tracks.

As the camera continues to pan over the scene, it becomes clear that the faint white blur is actually a car. The audience can now see two black figures walking away from the car. They're briskly walking  away and the audience can tell that the car door is open. The car is also not on a road, it's only on a track, this emphasizes the isolation of the scene.

The camera then cuts to a close up of two girls, both wearing black with their hair tied up. The one on the left, has brown hair, tied up and wearing a black jacket. where as the one on the right, has red streaks in her hair and is wearing a black leather jacket. The audience now thinks that the girl on the right is a more suspicious and the girl on the left is more sensible.

The camera then cuts to a shot where there's blood on the windscreen of the car with someone or something lying in the front seat. A drivers license is also shown, suggesting that this is a taxi and that the figure in the front seat is the driver. The two girls are also shown in the background. The audience does still not know who they are or what's happened.

The camera then cuts to a side view of the girls. The girl in the foreground looks stern and serious, where as the girl in the background looks agitated and scared. 

A close up is then shown of a man that's been beaten up. However, the audience does not yet know for certain that this is the man on the driving license. His eye twitches suggesting he's still alive.

a mid shot of the two girls is then shown to not only show all of their face but also to show that they both have blood on the faces. The audience could interoperate this that he two girls beat the man up. The audience might also think this because of the razor blade the girl on the left has around her neck suggesting she's violent. 

An extreme close up of the mans hand is then shown, it twitches for a moment then stops, another sign the man is still alive.

This photo suggests to the audience that the taxi driver was family orientated. The audience now thinks that the taxi driver wouldn't have done anything to provoke the girls behavior.

A close up is now shown of one of the girls holding a knife with blood  on it. She continues to hold the knife then drops it. The audience can know this is the girl with red streaks in her hair as she had a black leather jacket, red streaks in her hair and a razor blade worn around her neck, all signs of her being violent and aggressive. 

Chris Pattwell - Sixth Sense opening sequence

memento analysis

brick analysis