Research Opening Sequence

Seven

The opening shot is an extreme close up of what appears to be a book; the picture is not in full focus this helps to create a mysterious first image that immediately engages the audience. The credits of who made what start to appear, first in the right hand corner in front of the book, then from this the image fades out into a black screen and then more names of people who helped to produce the film appear, in a scratchy font. This again helps to add an additional mysterious effect to the film as this font is unusual. Following this there is a picture of two hands that appear the same yet one is darker than the other, as the audience you want to find out more and you do not understand this image, due to this the audience is engaged within the first 8 seconds of the opening.
The next sequence of shots have a fast cut rate this helps to give hints at what is happening but does not tell the audience everything. This fast cut rate keeps the audience interested; the dark shots give an effect of danger and mystery. Another image flashes confusing the audience which again keeps them interested and puzzled so that they want to work out what is happening, extreme close ups are used to show images that again help to give hints and tips as to what is happening. This technique is effective and may be something we want to consider in our piece. The title of the piece is then shown flashing across the scene this helps to create a sense of fear as the audience don't know what is going to happen yet know the genre is thriller. More extreme close ups are used to give the audience more information. A red wash is used over the footage, this hints and danger and blood and therefore creates fear for the audience it also hints at future events that are to come. Along with more names more extreme close ups are used to give more information as to what is going on. Flashing images help to build up tension and therefore to build fear. Photos suggest victims this idea helps to give hints to the audience but yet leads them to want them to watch on to find out what happens, this idea could be something to consider when we make our main piece. Half the screen has a red filter on it and the other half doesn’t this creates a sense of mystery. The shot goes back to the initial opening shot of the book this seems to suggest a cycle, as though this has happened before. The whole thing seems to suggest that the person is adding something into a book (another victim.)
After watching the opening two minutes of this film the things we have felt inspired by are extreme close ups of pictures and shadows, due to this we may use these in our final piece.