Examples of Sound

Examples of Sound that could be used in The Opening Sequence

This is an example of a piece of music that could be used in our opening sequence. This is a very intense, spooky piece of music which can help build up the tension in the scene. I think this music sounds quite good in the way that it has the high and low notes making some parts more intense than others. This could be used when the shot of the people walking away is on, this is because it highlights how they are breathing deeply and getting worried but because the audience are unable to see their faces a suspicious feeling is created by the music.

Here is another example of music. This could be used in the background of the shots when they are washing the blood off the hands because the music has a continuous beat in it that sounds similar to a hospital machine bleeping. Therefore this highlights how they are thinking about the person they have hurt and are starting to worry about what they have done. This will create a feeling of worry for the audience because it will be when clues are starting to be revealed meaning the music feels as though it is building up and up to the answer.

This is the third example. This I feel is the most intense piece and is possibly another option for when the bullies are walking away. This is because it will increase the pace of the scene and make it more intense and worrying for the audience. The way the beat increases could indicate how scared the bullies are getting at the realisation of what they have done. It will build up the emotions in the scene and make the audience ask themselves what is going to happen next.


The clip below is one of our chosen sounds that we have decided to use in our opening sequence. The reason for this is because it is a very dramatic sound that draws in the audience and expresses how something bad is about to happen. The intensity of the water dripping gives that suspicious feeling. It is a very loud sound that will grasp the attention of the audience

Key Frames

 Key Frames Shots

This is one of the key shots we will use and it displays a close up of the hands with the blood dripping off of it. This shot is very interesting because it makes the audience worried about what has happened and withholds the information so that they begin to ask questions about who it is?, why has this happened? etc. Therefore it will keep the audience engaged by just displaying a clue that someone has been hurt. This shot will be linked in with a range of shots of the body so that the different sections that have been hurt will be revealed to the audience. The reason we choose this shot was to build the tension and created a mysterious atmosphere where nobody knows what's happening.

This is a wide shot of the whole body. This shot will come after the montage of shots of the parts of the body because they will be the clues leading up to this shot which finally reveals the identity of the person. We felt this shot would be good because it conveys how the person has been injured and reveals the approximate age and gender of the character as well as portraying a bit of the location.

This is a close up of when the boy switches off the alarm clock. This is an important shot because it is the last shot the audience will see as it is the shot that ends the opening sequence. Furthermore it rewinds everything that has been seen and highlights how it is going back to the day before everything has happened. It will ring and then be turned off to indicate that it is the start of the day and what's going to come isn't going to be good.

This displays an extreme close up of the blood dripping down the boys face. This shot follows the shots of the parts of the body because it highlights how badly he has been hurt but that there is still a part of him that is working which is his eye. Perhaps the twitching of his eye is suggesting how he is trying to stay strong and get out of the situation. The shot makes the scene more intense because it gives the feeling that he is looking at the audience trying to ask them for help and is communicating with them to get their attention. Additionally the blood makes them panic and want to find out exactly what's happened. It also is providing the audience with a clue to what has happened.

This is an over the shoulder shot of the person washing the blood off their hands. It highlights how they are panicking over what they have done and coming to the realisation that they have done a terrible thing. Additionally it conveys how they are trying to hide the evidence that they have done something. It confuses the audience but makes them ask question about who the person is and why they have blood on their hands. Furthermore it is still withholding information because the persons identity is being hidden as we cant see their face.

This is a close up of a shoe to create suspicion and worry the audience as to whose shoe it is. It could be two meaning; it could be the boy who has been hurt or someone may have lost it when running away therefore it is confusing the audience but making them try to work out the answer. Even though this is close up, we could do a long shot of this to indicate how it is in the middle of no where, where no body will find it.

by 08grimshaws

Plot Synopsis

Plot Synopsis

Vox Pops

VoxPops





In order for our opening sequence to be successful we had to collect a range of feedback from the audience so that we knew exactly what they would want to see and what they would expect to see in a thriller opening sequence. Even though we have previously completed questionnaires by doing Vox pops we could get more in depth answers from the people who would be viewing the film. We decided to ask five questions that would give us appropriate and useful information that would be helpful to know when creating our sequence. To make sure we got a varied sample we asked five people; three of which were males and two who were females so that we could get a perspective from both genders.
  From the feedback we received we discovered that the audience want to view something exciting and want to feel engaged with the film. They want to witness something that will make them jump a little but most importantly something that won't bore them. Therefore from our knowledge and skills we could try to withhold information in our sequence and make the audience ask questions as to what is happening. Additionally we could add clues so that the audience feel that connection with the film and like an investigator.
  We also discovered that they want a thriller to do what is says and 'thrill' them. They want to be entertained but also want something interesting to excite them into what's about to come. One way in which could help do this is by using the characters. The feedback told us that normal everyday characters should be used but should also have the mysterious feel to them. This would be effective in our sequence because we could use normal people and then the audience would be confused as to whether he/she was the protagonist or antagonist and would make them even more likely to want to keep watching.
 Finally the location is important to add tension to the scene and make the audience worried about what's to come. There was quite a range of answers to what they would expect the location to be with some saying somewhere futuristic whereas others saying everyday locations. Therefore this could suggest that any setting would be appropriate as long as you use it in the right way. We have decided to use a park and alleyway because it is quite a normal location but also quite scary because it can create different meanings. This means that we can take a location and make it attract the audience and want to continue watching.

   Now that we have received all the feedback from the people we can put it together and work out what we should do to produce an effective opening sequence to a thriller.

Ideas for opening sequence

 

Ideas for our Opening Sequence

 This is a mind map to highlight some of the ideas I had. I created this so I could discuss with my group what ideas I had for setting, location, type of character, props etc.

 

I then created this mind map with my group to highlight what our initial ideas were and what we had to think about before creating our opening sequence.

Analysis of the results from the questionnaires

Results from my questionnaire

Results from the questionnaires

For this part of our research we had to prepare a questionnaire and then hand it out to ten people. This would then allow us to get a range of results and discover what people think of particular genres of film and what they would expect to see in the opening sequence. We began the questionnaire with quite general questions about films and then began to specialize the questions to do with Thriller films because that is our chosen genre.

Here are three examples of parts of the questionnaires I carried out. Two are females and one is a male. It is interesting to discover what people think and their ideas about the film.

Here are the results from all of my questionnaires put into graphs to make it easier to see the different proportions.

For the question above we also asked the participants to state a reason for their answers and we received the following replies;

• Because I wouldn't watch the film if I had been told it was bad anyway.
• Keeps you interested.
• It reveals later events in the film.
• To draw my attention to the movie.
• Lets me know how good the film will be.
• Always miss it.
• Because this establishes the mood of the film and can make or break films and help me decide if I want to watch on or not.
• Sets the scene.
• Audience is introduced to the characters and setting.
• It tells you what the film is going to be like.

Another question asked was "How do you watch thrillers? E.g. DVD, online, cinema etc." and this received the following replies;

• DVD, online, cinema
• DVD
• On normal channels
• TV (sky movies)
• Cinema, online
• Online
• Online
• Online and Cinema
• Cinema and Online
• Online

The next question asked "What do you expect the main character to look like E.g. Scary?" and the participants gave these answers;

• Not normal (scary)
• Strong and Handsome
• Powerful and demanding
• Hard
• Scary
• Scary
• Mysterious, Dark
• Scary
• Creepy, Mysterious
• Inspector

The final question asked them "What location would you expect in a thriller? E.g. Abandoned Island, haunted house" and the answers given were;

• Natural Environment, Abandoned Island
• Mountains
• Eerie Location
• City
• Futuristic City
• Haunted House
• Abandoned Place
• Haunted House
• Haunted House, Abandoned Building
• Abandoned Areas and Isolated places

Conventions of a Thriller Opening Sequence

Analysis of The Conjuring

Analysis of Inception

Locations

Locations

The aim of this task was to find a mixture of locations that could be used for a particular genre of film. The three genres were Thriller, Romantic Comedy and Action Adventure. Below are some images of the locations I found.

Thriller

I believed these images could be for a thriller film because the settings are very old and look slightly ‘broken’. This could therefore suggest it is quite a scary place and people are worried about what I going to happen there. The first image is in a park and it displays quite a dark pathway through the trees which indicates that there could be something scary beyond. Then the brick work has lots of plants growing on it which highlights how it is not very well kept and nobody really goes there this could therefore create a thrill to know what’s beyond. The second image is also in the park but highlights the steps. The way the tree is in the image suggests that the setting is hiding something. All the brick work is different colours meaning it is very old and worn. Then the final image is probably my favourite location for thriller. I took this photo in Nonsuch park and I feel it is a good setting because it has the benches making it appear quite normal but then to the side there is an old gate door. This gives a sense of worry and anxiety because nobody knows what is behind there.

 

 

Romantic Comedy

Romantic Comedy was an interesting one to find because it needed to display a nice setting but have a meaning behind it. The first image I took at Hampton court. I believe this is a good location because it has the walkway leading up to the fountain and then the trees surrounding.  This looks like a nice location to go for a walk together as a couple which therefore highlights the romantic part. However it could also display comedy if perhaps they had an argument and the woman pushed the man in. This would entertain the audience and make them laugh.

The second image I took at Southampton Harbour. This is a very peaceful setting which is nice for couples to relax and enjoy each others company with the amazing view. Perhaps one of them could drop something into the harbour by accident or maybe a man is taking a girl out on a date and provides her with a lovely location but ends up dropping things and messing it up. This could add humour because he keeps doing things wrong but could also portray sympathy for him. The audience will enjoy watching he mess up but also feel sorry for him at the same time.

 

The final image I took at Nonsuch park. This captures a lovely walkway leading up to the Manson. This is a setting which expresses romance where a couple could walk through the archway and enjoy their time together. Or it could be used to highlight  a couple that haven’t seen each other in ages and have one person running from on end of the walkway and the other person at the other end. Then one of them could fall over portraying that humour.

 Action Adventure

Action Adventure could be a mixture of things from sports activities to the daily challenges in life. One location was this beach. This displays the rough waves which people could surf on. This highlights adventure because are being brave and trying something new. Also it could be a difficult sport and people are challenging themselves.

 

The second image is in London of the London Eye. This portrays a new adventure that people go on to discover London and see all the different parts to it. This could be a scary adventure for some because they may be scared of heights and it is a chance for them to overcome their fear. However others may like the feeling they get when they are right at the top feeling on top of the world.

 

This image was also taken in London and portrays the adventure of travelling around. London is always very busy and it conveys how much traffic there is but also the amount of taxis and the famous red buses. It portrays the hustle and bustle of London and all the action that’s goes on. This setting could be used to highlight a persons journey through London.