Research- Alfred Hitchcock Style Inspiration!

http://borgus.com/hitch/openings.htm - This link was a godsend when it came to finding out what the master of thrillers himself used in his opening sequence and gives us an insight into why he includes these things and how I can incorperate these points into my own opening sequence.

Some key points I took out of this page was the use of skylines or headlines. I initially wanted to use the garage and only the garage for my opening but after reading this information, I have found that the use of a daylight or outdoor surrounding accompanied by light hearted music (which in our case is going to be the whistling of oranges and lemons) is an interesting way to open a thriller of any sort as the contrast itself causes suspense.

This is a screenshot image from the opening sequence of the thriller, panic room. It shows an ordinary American city and there is no indication as to what is going to happen or that there is any suspence involved but in the clip below, you will see how music is used to make some suspence and create an atmosphere for the opening of this film.

Another interesting point I came across was the use of written text. I am going to be editing in titles to my opening sequence during the editing process and am going to be using a font simular to the one used in the film 'SE7EN' as is going to be showing mise-en-scene related to the objects around the character including books (leather) and the tools and weapons we are going to be showing.

Camera Shots I May Be Using

Racking focus is the practice of shifting the attention of a audience of a film or video by changing the focus of the lens from a subject in the foreground to a subject in the background, or vice versa. I will be practicing this technique first so that I can perfect the shots I am going to be filming. If I master it to a satisfactory level, I will be using it to show the dirt on the floor in the garage and then changing the focus to the silver bolted door and back again.

Here is an example of a rack focus shot and I think this will be extremely interesting and effective to use as part of my opening sequence as it is mainly about the surrounding and objects around the character who's face is not shown in the sequence.

Health & Safety

Due to the nature of our opening sequence, we had to use threatening tools and weapons to demonstrate danger and suspense. The kind of tools we included in our shots were pliers, hammers and knives, however during the production we had other tools around that were hazardous. To ensure that we were safe and to prevent accidents, we had a briefing about safety regulations we had to follow e.g. any exposed weapons were to be put away straight away or straight after the shots in safe places.
As well as the weapons and tools, we used a ladder and a garage door which could have been potentially dangerous so we again, were careful with these and had people supporting the ladder whilst we shot the scenes.

Background Sound- 'Oranges And Lemons'

For the background sound of our opening sequence, Sarah and I had initially planned to use the humming of a nursery rhyme. This however, didn't sound as effective and 'creepy' as whistling. Therefore, we have decided to use humming of the nursery rhyme 'Oranges And Lemons', only having having the following lyrics being sung at the end to finish the sequence off:

"Here comes a Candle to light you to Bed

Here comes a Chopper to Chop off your Head

Chip chop chip chop - the Last Man's Dead."

These words have an eery meaning behind them for a nursery rhyme, which is a contrast that suits our Genre of film. Nursery rhymes are also conventionally used within psychological thrillers. 

Camera Angles For My Opening Sequence

In my opening sequence, I will be using medium shots, close ups and extreme close ups. I will be using the medium shots to show some detail in the actions, whilst using close ups/extreme close ups to show specific details of mise-en-scene and emphasis on a certain thing. Low angle shots will be used at times to suggest that the character has power over the other characters, a situation, or even the audience. 


Medium Shots

This is a medium shot from the film Scream 2. The actresses facial expression and clothes are able to be seen using this shot and we can sense innocence because of the use of the colour white. Her blonde hair, pale skin and creme top are all similar and white is usually associated with innocence or purity. 

This is a medium-shot from the film, Psycho, and shows how all we can see is a silhouette but we can still see what the character is doing as well as the light that is shining behind them.

This is the same effect I want to create with the use of mid-shots because the characters clothing, some of the surroundings, and his actions will able to be seen. 

Close Ups

This is a close up from silence of the lambs. The mask he has on his face is usually associated with animals, which gives the impression that he is insane whilst the straight jacket he is wearing, which we can only see part of obviously lets an audience know what he is mad. It also has many other connotations such as murder, death, and mystery. This angle lets us see the mans penetrating eyes that look red and sore in this picture. 

The use of this shot shows a lot of emotion and emphasis on something in particular which is what I want to include in my opening sequence. 

Extreme Close-ups

Extreme close-ups of a face, for example, show only the mouth or eye in this example, of someone without any background detail at all. This kind of shot can be used to dramatic effect and means that when filming, you have to be careful with the camera and lighting as one slight movement can be seen easily in this type of shot. In this title, the title is shown on an extreme close up of someones eye.

I want to use extreme close ups to show detail of certain aspects of mise en scene and to create more emphasis and unease from from objects that usually wouldn't be seen in a negative way.

Sound In My Opening Sequence

I will be using a mixture of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds to create a suitable atmosphere of uncertainty and mystery in my opening sequence. The sounds I will be using is a pre-recorded humming done by a male, to the tune of "twinkle twinkle". This is usually associated with children, as are dolls, so it fits into our genre and storyline.  As well as this I will be including the occasional grunt or sounds of feet shuffling that are a part of the filming process to make the scene seem more natural.

We want to use ambient sound (e.g. the sound of traffic outside as the garage is near a road) to emphasise that our character isn't hidden away and is quiet literally on the other side of the door from civilisation.

Production Company

The Production company I have chosen to use is New Line Cinema. I have chosen this because after doing some research on other opening sequences I found that New Line cinema was becoming a trend when it came to Psychological thrillers. The colours used in the logo, being blue, black and white, create are dark and will go with the humming that will start as soon as the humming does.

Click  Here To Find Out Some History On New Line Cinema On A Easy To Use Timeline.

Here is what the logo at the beginning of the film will look like: