Conclusion to opening sequences.

In conclusion to these opening sequences, I think that the most effective sequence is Saving Private Ryan's opening. This is because it's such a harrowing opening is a rollercoaster of emotions for the audience. The least effective scene is the scream opening. I think this because the audience don't get to see what she is afraid of. This is disappointing because it's a horror film and the scariest shot is when the doorbell rings.

All the scenes contain action of some kind which engages the audience and that's what makes it enjoyable for the viewers to watch.

Scream - Opening sequence review

Scream – Opening sequence 

 Released in 1996 and directed by Wes Craven, Scream is possibly one of the most iconic horror movies ever made. The iconic scream mask is a recognised symbol across the globe.  

This opening is largely based off a girl talking to someone on her phone and strolling around her house. The man on the phone repeatedly calls her repeatedly questions her on the horror film she’s about to watch and her “boyfriend”. The age range for this film would be for older teenagers as its scary and there will most definitely be violence in it and probably not suitable for a younger audience. We can tell that this is horror by the way the man on the phone is talking to the young women and how there is an increase in tension in the scene towards the end when she starts to break down and cry with fear. The popcorn pan could also be a metaphor for her nerves. As soon as the pan pops, the man calls again and she starts to become nervous and afraid. 

There are many handheld shots where the cameraman follows the woman around her house. This is so the audience can watch from her perspective and also feel her emotions. It’s a mid-shot so we can see her home but also, we can see through the windows which creates tension because something could suddenly appear and scare the audience. A Dutch angle is used to represent her thoughts because she’s probably disorientated because of the power of the man calling her. There is a few long shots which show her lack of authority that she has, this mysterious caller has her exploited and vulnerable and they haven’t even met. She is always in the centre of the frame because she is our main protagonist.  

For editing, the character has a really long shot duration so we can see her emotions build from relaxed to terrified. There is no ellipses so we see everything. It’s almost like the scene is shot in one because of the length of shots. When she is frantically looking outside, the editor uses eyeline matches which creates suspense as we feel that the mysterious caller is waiting outside. Tension is also created when she walks towards the back door backwards as the audience start to suspect that the caller will appear behind her and scare everyone present.  

The scene starts off with the diegetic sound of the phone ringing and the woman answering. At this point, the audience don’t suspect much. As the scene progresses, the non-diegetic soundtrack starts to become louder. The use of the iconic fast violins build tension for the audience. By the end, everything gets much louder including the voices. The man on the phone is louder and the woman is shouting down the phone and the music Is low and droning. 

I think this is partly successful however I think that they should have shown the mysterious caller. This would have made it more scary and more tense.  

A New Hope - Opening sequence

A New Hope  

Released in 1977 and directed and produced by George Lucas and Lucasfilm. A new hope was the first Star Wars film to be made and introduce possibly the world’s biggest franchise. 

Brief narrative, A small spaceship is being chased by a larger one. Its firing at the smaller one with its laser cannons. The smaller ship is then caught in the tractor beam of the large one and is boarded by the Empire (Bad Guys). They have a small shootout in one of the corridors until the main Villain, Darth Vader, boards as well. We then see the lady in white, Princess Leia hand a message to the two droids, R2-D2 and C-3PO. Finally, the villain takes charge of the Rebel commander and tortures him until capturing the Princess. And the two droids use an escape pod and flee to the nearest planet.  

This film is for people of all ages because the violence is suggested, and the language is perfectly okay. We can tell that this film is Sci-Fi because the first shot is of a spaceship in space, flying over a planet. The uniforms are also very futuristic and not one from earth. A lot of the scene is set on the spaceship. We see futuristic devises and so we know that this is a Sci-fi. 

An establishing shot is used to identify the location and show the audience that the film is largely based in space. The wide shot is used so that we can see the sheer size of the larger imperial spaceship compared to the Rebel ship. The director uses lots of Close-up shots when focusing of the Rebels. This is so we can see the emotion in their eyes. A mid long shot is used so we can see the danger coming towards the audience and we feel empathetic for the smaller ship. There are tracks and pans used to show the Droids running from the battle and the Rebel soldiers running to it. The mid shots of the storm troopers boarding the ship show that they are advancing because they walk past the camera and the Rebels stay put. When Vader enters the shot, the director uses a Long shot which gives us a view of his whole body and shows how tall and powerful he is. They also use a low angle shot to demonstrate is prowess.  

For editing they use many eyeline matches so we can see what the characters are seeing and put us in their view. This builds tension because we can see the Rebels reacting to the door opening but we don’t see that until a few seconds later, the eyeline match takes place. The transitions show us the story of the two droids making their way to an escape pod. They also show the journey of the Empire boarding the Rebel ship. The special effects aren’t bad for something from 1971, they really embed the fact that it’s a Sci-fi film and make it much more entertaining. The bigger imperial spaceship gets a longer screen time because of its size, this is so the audience can see what the Rebels are up against.

At first, we can hear the main, non-diegetic soundtrack which suddenly becomes a low boom. The audience immediately knows that something bad is upon the ship. We start to hear the diegetic sounds of the spaceship and the laser cannons firing off. The audience don’t know what is going to happen to the ship, so they start to feel a sense of dread. Vader talks in a deep voice; this shows that he is the main antagonist. He also wears black which is associated with evilness. His voice is also loud and overpowers everyone because of how loud it is. 

I think this is a good opener for a film, but I think it needs more drama as it’s not as exciting as it could be. 

Raiders of the Lost Ark - Thriller opening sequence review

Raiders of the Lost ark 

Raiders of the Lost Ark was Directed by Steven Spielberg and Produced by George Lucas in 1981. Lucasfilm and Paramount played a part in this film too. 

In this sequence, Indy and his guide have gone to collect this ‘Golden idol’ from what appears to be some sort of cave. After dodging an arrow dart and stepping carefully, Indy, the man with the hat, collects the head but is then chased out of the cave by various closing doors. He throws the head to his guide in return for the whip but, the guide runs off and leaves him for dead. Indy recovers himself and then slides under the door to find the guide dead as he has been stabbed by multiple spikes. A boulder is then released and Indy darts away and reaches the opening where he is met by tribesmen pointing arrows in his direction. He gives up the head to another explorer but runs of to his ride to the safehouse while being chased by the tribesmen. 

The target audience of this film is for young children and upwards. There is suggested violence and a bit of gore when the guide is killed but other than that, nothing could harm anyone. It’s also a thriller. We, the audience can tell this is a thriller because of the excitement shown in this sequence. We can also tell by their costumes, facial expressions and set and location. For instance, Indy, our main character is wearing all brown to blend in with his surroundings which, is a jungle. The tribesmen aren’t wearing much and that is because of their culture. Their facial expressions are a mixture. Happiness at the start as they have found this rare head. In the middle they are scared and nervous because the cave is falling apart. Finally, relief at the end when they escape the cave. Set is a jungle in South America.  

The camera work is very good and really captures the thriller elements in this film. When the arrows start firing. The director uses a tracking shot so that the audience travel at the same speed as the actor himself immersing us in the film. There are lots of close-ups which, shows the emotion in the character’s face. When we first encounter the sound of the boulder, the use of tracking shot gives the feeling of dread to the audience and then, when Indy is being chased by the boulder the director uses a variety of shots, from wide angle to mid long shots as he runs towards the camera creating a feeling of empathy for him and also we can see the threat following him too. The variety means that the audience can view the ellipses of him escaping the cage. The camera pans from left to right as Indy dives out of the cage showing us how far he jumped. It then reveals the tribesmen with close ups so that we can see their faces. Then when the other explorer is taking his weapon and the head, the director uses an over the shoulder high angle shot which, make Indy look weaker than the other explorer.  

The sound is good at emerging us into the film. At the starts we have a low droning non-diegetic soundtrack which alerts the audience about the danger that is upon the characters. There are spooky and mysterious violins in the background which makes us suspicious about this cave. When the Dart is shot, the violins go to a higher pitch and it sounds surprised and shaken. Along with the non-diegetic soundtrack and the sound of the crunchy leaved beneath his feet, tension is built by all the sounds combined as we hear every one of his footsteps as he approaches the head. When Indy grabs the head, the only instrument playing is a violin. This fills the audience with a sense of relief. But, as the stone falls into the rock, we and the characters hear the booming sound of the cave collapsing. The soundtrack becomes fast-paced to replicate the heartbeat of the characters. The sound of the boulder overpowers every other element and suddenly becomes the main point as you can’t focus on anything thing else. All the music stops as Indy jumps from the cave and we are faced with the tribesmen and all we can hear is the diegetic jungle sounds. Finally, as the pane starts to roll down the river and take off, we get to hear the main theme of the franchise which fills the audience with joy. 

For the editing, the transitions are very smooth. We get to see the whole journey from entering the room where the head is stored to when he gets on the plane and flies off. There is no ellipses so we literally see everything that happens which, allows the audience to see the bravery of Indy and the guides. Indy gets a long screen time showing his status and showing that he is the main character. 

I think this is a successful scene as it depicts a journey and sets the story for the rest of the film. It also makes it unpredictable keeping the audience guessing. 

The Dark Knight - Action film opening sequence

The Dark Knight opening sequence 

The Dark Knight (2008) From Warner Bros. and directed by Christopher Nolan. It contains the best acting performance from Heath Ledger. The middle film in the Dark Knight trilogy containing Christian Bale as Batman.

In the first shot, we are greeted by a man carrying a duffel bag and a clown mask, he jumps into an armoured vehicle with blacked out windows. The audience can already tell that something is wrong. The crew proceed to rob a bank in the centre of Gotham city. The gang kill each other off until there is only one-member left. This member is the Joker who, reveals himself at the end to the brave Banker who tried to fight them off. 

The recommended audience for this film would be anyone from a teenager to an adult +. there is suggested violence and you do see people get shot but there is no blood or gore making easier to watch for anyone.  

The camera use is impressive. The first shot is a mid-shot which, introduces us to the first character, the Joker, played by Heath Ledger. We then see two more gang members on the roof of the building next to the bank, the men use the zipline and the director uses an establishing shot to show the height of the building. There is a pan when the robbers depart their car and break into the building. A handheld is used to follow the gang into the building and into the main hall. An over the shoulder shot is used when the robbers on the roof shoots the other, we can see it coming because of the way that they are positioned and how he also reaches for something in his coat so, the one working at the fuse box doesn’t see it coming. The camera then zooms into the drill as the robber attempts to open the safe, this created tension because we, the audience, can tell that something is about to happen. Towards the end when one robber is pointing his gun at the Joker, they use a tracking shot when the Jokers moves to the left. This kind of shows the gun’s perspective as it moves alongside the Joker. Towards the end the camera follows the Joker. The audience start to realise that this Character is going to be important to this story.  

I can tell that this will be an action film because of the mise-en-scene. First, there are wearing similar clothing e.g. suits ties, and they all have clown mask. Everyone has the same facial expressions throughout the film. This makes the characters mysterious as one them is smiling and another has a worried expression. The denotation of this could be all their emotions in the robbery. For instance, they could be excited but also slightly scared or nervous. They use weapons and explosives showing that they don’t play around and that this is a serious job. 

There is a non-diegetic soundtrack which, uses short and fast orchestral stabs which replicates a heartbeat, from the audience and the robbers. We can also hear every single bit of the equipment they use. The characters are twice heard question the Jokers identity meaning that the Joker isn’t as well known yet and that he may or may not be involved practically in this heist. In the bank, we hear the running footsteps of the robbers, then the screams and cries for help amongst the people in the bank. The music is much quieter allowing us to hear the people in the bank. 

The editing makes the story easier to follow. The joker has a long shot duration which, is also the longest out of the other characters in the intro. This implies that he is the new leader of the bunch and a main character throughout the rest of the film. The transition of the robber on the roof to the vault is very clean, we see his passage from the roof to the vault in a matter of seconds, the use of the ellipses makes the story shorter but more exciting. 

I think that this is a successful opening as its filled with action, suspense and drama. It sets it up to be an excellent watch with great acting.