Three Film Openings From my Chosen Genre

I looked into the type of film opening that we would like to create, to do this i looked at openings from horror and phycological thriller films. By doing this i will gain a better understanding of what should be included in the opening of our film.

The Shining (1980)

In the beginning opening scene of “The shinning” (1980) the soundtrack starts off with brass instruments playing quietly whilst getting louder throughout the clip. The pace starts to get faster and faster before the brass instruments just keep a constant sound in the background whilst string instruments start playing and take over with a sound that builds big tension in the background. The sound effects of the soundtrack keep getting faster and faster building up tension which relates to the psychological horror by building the tension of the film up until they just stop and the brass instruments start again until the end of the clip which relates to a psychological horror as we believe that something will happen then nothing happens, the music plays with the audiences minds.

Throughout the clip of “the shinning” the clip uses natural lighting, this added to the mysterious music builds tension to the scene. The fact the car driving in the scene is on its own throughout the clip without any other cars helps trick the audience into believing that something is about to happen, this also helps represent the genre of psychological horror by building up suspense in the opening. The opening creates the mood of a horror by allowing the audience to know something will happen through the music and the setting. The horror isn’t completely obvious so is classed as a psychological horror as it creates horror through the unknown rather than the horror being at the forefront.


American Physco (2000)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvNL_u6IaRM


(embedding disabled by request)

In the opening scene of this film the soundtrack plays a vital role, it straight away shows the time that it is from, it is a song that is famous from the 1980’s. The song chosen is a very eerie song that echoes around the room, it creates a feeling of unease against a backdrop of people dancing and having a good time. This song helps this opening fit in with the theme of a psycho- Horror. The dialogue seems normal until the female is out of ear shot when the man threatens her, this shows the seediness of the bar and its inhabitants through the initial view that all seems normal it shows that the film will not be a straight forward horror.

The genre of the film is of Psycho- Horror. This is shown through different methods, these include the sound and the dialogue, and they go onto other less obvious things. The actors are all shown to be shady characters through the backhand money transitions. The lighting also gives this view as it is low level which creates the sense of danger and unknowing, this coupled with the disco lights creates mystery. The people in the club are shown to be dancing and all happy, but the character at the stereotypical 80’s bar is shown to be a killer or a man to be in fear of. The costumes all points back to the film being set in the 1980’s through the fashion of suites, the makeup which is very extreme and the style of dancing which is “yuppie” dance.

The genre of Psycho- Horror is shown through the way that people are dancing and being happy when a man is threatening to kill a women. This shows that the film would not be an open horror but will be more sneaky and psychological.


Scream (1996)

0.00- 2.50
Narrative: The opening shows a women talking to a stranger on the phone and the events then turn sinister. This shows the audience that the film will follow this pattern as the man calls women and kills/stalks them.


Genre: The genre which is shown from the openingof this film is horror as in the first few seconds you see the color red and a woman screaming,this is only in the titles so the genre is made clear at the start. It also has a very dark atmosphere and makes you feel very tense which makes you wonder what is going to happen next.


Atmosphere: The atmosphere from the beginning is a very dramatic and tense up until 10 seconds as the music is very screechy and then the screaming begins which builds up to a loud ringing which indicates that the phone is the main source of a problem in the film as it is highlighted at the beginning. This is using a technique by using a regular household item and turning it into a weapon of fear. Then after the ringing stops the atmosphere becomes calm again as there is little noise, it seems like nothing is threatening but when the phone rings again you can see that caller will not leave her alone.


Titles: The only title in this sequence is right at the beginning and is 'Scream', this shows this is the title of the film and also the red color of it also signifies death to tie the film into the genre of horror. It also has a very dramatic entrance and grabs the audience's attention, which makes the audience want to watch on.


Sound: It begins with a distant screeching sound and then gradually the volume level increases, the screeching then ends with a loud bang. It is at this point that the title appears. Then the phone starts ringing and so does a scream. All of this creates a tense atmosphere and the volume of each sound changes which has a knock on affect on the audience. The other sounds throughout the opening are the popcorn popping which escalates at the same time as the situation and the crickets outside, swinging of  the tree, all of these help create a realistic environment and make the audience believe that is real. This is done so it is kept as close to verisimilitude as possible.


Characters: The only character we see in the opening 2.50 is a young female who from her white outfit which connotes innocence, you also see an insight into her life which makes the audience feel more close to her. The other character is only a male voice on the other side of the phone and you do not see him at all. Not seeing the male character creates a sense of fear as you do not know where he is and what he is doing.


Theme: The theme of the opening is the phone it goes on for a long time and is the main focus. The other themes are mystery as you do not know what the mans motives or plans are.


Setting: The setting's is the young females large house which we see a lot of as she is constantly moving about. Another setting is the outside of the house and you can see the size of the house that the female is in, also shows that is dark outside which connotes danger and the unknowing.