The storyboard gives the basic idea of the opening sequence and the type of shot we would use for each scene. However, the final piece we created was slightly different to the storyboard. For example, we placed opening titles in between the shots instead of at the end.
Our target audience is young adults. We produced an audience questionnaire to establish what sort of movies people our age would prefer for example genre they liked, which was on average, comedy, horror, romantic comedies etc. We also asked things such as how many times they went to the cinema etc, our findings from the questionnaire was that they tend to go at least every month.
Institutions which would produce a film similar to ours could be First Look Studios which specialise in home video releases of TV and film such as; 'Infinity' and 'Paris je t'aime'.
At the beginning of this sequence, there is a shot of the whole city on fire which basically sets up enigmas and the basis for the genre of the film.
The audience then follows the camera through the city as it slowly zooms in towards the location for the first scene. Like our final opening sequence, the crow has a voiceover which sets up more enigmas, as well as the use of props and adds to the genre, which is horror.
throughout this sequence, there is also continuous, cross cuts and fast-paced editing and the whole beginning scene is surrounded by red lighting. This lighting highlights the fact that the film focusses on death and evolves around this.
The opening of this film slowly fades in from black to show a large ship, stranded in the arctic-like scene. from this we see a man slowly walking however, we do not know where he is going which sets up enigmas. This then outlines the main genre as the mystery creates suspense, therefore the audience recognises the genre as horror. The enigmas are continuously raised throughout this opening sequence through lighting, which is natural, editing, such as close ups, cross cuts and extreme long shots.
This sequence then fades out to black to establish a sort of equilibrium but also creates enigmas and sets them up to form a basis for the rest of the film.
This sequence opens with a close up of the eyes of the statue and the opening titles fade in with eerie music surrounding them. Already we have enigmas raised and a genre is established I.E. horror.
Then we are followed by a voiceover as the audience follows the camera through a graveyard, again, setting up enigmas. Suddenly, we have a cut shot and fast paced editing to a band playing and this breaks the flow of the narrative.
The scene ends with a view of him from behind, violin in hand. This creates an equilibrium and allows the rest of the film to follow on from this.
From the sequences Anna and I have analysed, we can take various ideas from these and apply them to our own opening sequence, such as generic conventions.
Our initial ideas are, we have two characters. Maggie who is enigmatic and her boyfriend who is critical. During the opening sequence, there is a missing poster. This is the strongest link to the thriller genre. The theme is mainly isolation, as Maggie isolates herself from the world and her boyfriend. As it is set in only two places, the house and the field, we are focusing on the relationship between the two characters. Maggie is detached from reality whereas her boyfriend is down to earth and analytical. This sets the basis for the rest of the film because despite their contrasting characters, the boyfriend feels alot of love and protectiveness for Maggie which drives him in his role throughout the film to question her actions. The use of the voiceover as a narrative device establishes place and time opposed to using establishing shots-another common theme of a thriller.
