For the next task of week 2, I plan to review film openings in both the crime and horror genres to see what techniques they employ to set up the story they are going to tell. This will help me when developing the exact events of my film's opening because I can pull techniques I like from the examples into my own opening to make a great result. In this post, I will be going over various film openings I have watched in these genres and I will be noting things I like in them and will be likely thinking of incorporating into my opening.
Crime Genre Sample Openings:
Opening from Knives Out (2019)
There were a lot of things that I liked about this opening. To start off, the slow-mo used at the start of the opening with the dogs and the sober score kinda gives off the feeling like something is wrong paired with the visuals of the house it signifies what is to come. I may not use something like slow-mo but establish the setting with a score that shows something is wrong. The score then picks up in tempo as the scene progresses which adds to the tension of the scene showing many establishing shots of different random items that add to the mystery in the movie. The mise en scene paired with the score adds an element of suspense for the audience since they do not know what to expect. I will likely use a score that adds mystery for my opening but I plan to use a more unassuming mise en scene, unlike this opening to make the reveal more impactful. The use of many different camera angles while establishing the scene makes it feel like they are being watched and fleshes out that setting. I want to try and incorporate various usage of camera angles in my opening as well to add to the suspense rather than to flesh out the setting, however. Finally, the score climaxes with darker notes, and speeding up when the murder is revealed really adds to the weight of the scene and I would like to use my score in a way like this to really make the scene more fleshed out.
Opening from The Batman (2022)
When looking at this opening I was more focused on the part about the riddler's attack on the mayor portion rather than the batman introduction portion of the opening. I plan on making something more akin to a murder scene rather than an introductory scene. The scene starts off with very unassuming and light music which is then juxtaposed with the creepiness and intimacy of a pov shot of someone looking through binoculars into someone's house. I like this because it establishes a mystery about who is the person and makes the audience feel uneasy which is something I want to replicate in my opening. We then see him tilt to look at an opening at the top of the building which uses the show don't tell technique to imply what he will do. I like this and want to incorporate this in some way where I hint in the opening as to the goal of my monster/killer without ever seeing it. The next shot is a darker shot looking down from the opening at a man the darker colors imply something will be happening and the dim lighting in the house supports this, the music also ending further reinforces the idea that something is definitely wrong. I want to utilize music in a similar way to create a sense of uneasiness and lighting my opening in darker shades would help to reinforce the dark tone I want to create. The next and possibly most unnerving shot comes when the phone rings and we see a light shine on a mysterious figure watching the man which establishes the source of the danger and that danger persists as now the light reflecting from the TV is constantly shown in the mask of the figure. I want to make my reveal of the mystery in my opening something like this. I want to show my monster/killer in a similar or the same unnerving fashion. I though do also want to ensure that I still keep the element of mystery by giving it a mask or maybe adding a supernatural element. The shots from then on get tighter to make everything that is about to happen to feel more real to get us more intimate with the characters as a major event will go down. I will keep this technique in mind when planning out the shots for my opening. When the attack finally happens we hear a muffled scream and screeching music which adds to the creepy and scary nature of the scene. I want to utilize sounds like this to make the conflict more impactful for the audience. Finally, the last thing I want to note is how when the killing of the man is happening we do not see the man but instead, we see a pov of him getting attacked which is a great way to show the attack without having to make realistic blood and injury make up.
Horror Genre Sample Openings:
Opening from Jaw (1975)
This opening starts out without any sense of danger with a couple going swimming. It is first alerted that something will go wrong when the sound dissipates as the female goes into the water. The silence is almost eerie when contrasted with the dialogue they were speaking before. I plan to use silence in my opening as well to make scenes more suspenseful and scary. The shot taken from under the female with a deep sound sends a message that something may be down there and something is wrong. Shots taken from angles by unknown figures are something I will like to add to my film openings as well. The menacing and iconic score of jaws right before something goes wrong for the woman is also an amazing part of the opening. It alerts the audience of the horrible events to come. The shots also become closer as the woman is attacked which makes it feel so real to the audience that the screaming and struggle show the pain and suspense perfectly. I will make sure to incorporate this genius use of shots in my opening. Finally, the silence is once again used as the woman is dragged under the water seemingly dead, and has the same unnerving effect as before this time more obvious.
Opening from Scream (1996)
This opening starts off with a girl at home alone answering the phone to someone who has the "wrong number". It starts off very mundane with nothing seemingly wrong about it which is something I want to use in my opening as well. The scene then cranks up in intensity when the person calling says "I want to know who I'm looking at" over the phone with a sound cue occurring indicating that the harmless phone call is anything but and something is very wrong. I want to use this technique of giving hints that something is off in my movie without making it obvious in my opening. From then on a fear of the man on the phone is established in the audience, a fear of the unknown. I want to use the fear of the unknown for my opening as well. The music also gets more suspenseful and darker in tone as the conflict goes on but when she looks out the window when nothing is there it stops. This makes the audience feel somewhat calm since they do not see anything even though they were looking for it but they still are left hanging since they know it is still there. This subversion is something I want to use to play with the audience's emotions and make them stay on the edge of their seats. The shots are also made to be closer up in times of conflict or stress to emphasize it something I will definitely use. Finally, although many of the kills in this opening are shown on screen I will likely do mine more so offscreen to make it easier with the limited budget I have.
Conclusion
From the openings I have seen, I have gotten a pretty good idea of the elements of a film opening to create suspense and mystery. I will incorporate many of the things I have noted into my own opening hopefully and this post will be a great return point when my group and I are developing the actual shots and editing. For the next post I will be doing tomorrow I plan to finalize the genre and the plot so stay tuned for that.
No comments:
Post a Comment