Click here to watch the opening sequence.
Overview on "Se7en":
- Distributor: New Line Cinema
- The opening sequence of Se7en gives the audience an insight into the film- it introduces the character of the killer (John Doe, played by Kevin Spacey). It also hints at the storyline.
- The title designer, Kyle Cooper, and director, David Fincher, sets the atmosphere of Se7en, as the disturbing film that it is, through their choice of shot and titles.
- Due to the horror/thriller genre, it is based at an audience of young adults.
- Se7en is a well known psychological thriller with horror elements, and I feel like this opening sequence is a great example for me to use, to create the base of my own physiological horror film. I do however know that in order to meet the marketing criteria, I will need to involve a range of shots and movement within my title sequence.
Genre:
- The introduction of the extreme close-up of hand the dark lighting immediately enforces and horror genre, due to the audience not being able to fully identify the character. This adds mystery and enigma to the opening sequence and makes the audience want to know more about the protagonist.
- The tone is quite sinister, due tot het use of Mise-En-Scene. Examples of this include crossing out children's faces.
- The title of the film also highlights that it is a horror film, by it's disoriented look, giving the impression that the audience is looking through the eyes of a psychopath.
- The opening sequence is edited with jump cuts and sudden movements which shocks the audience, putting them 'on the edge', therefore enforcing the thriller genre.
Themes and Typography:
The colours chosen at the beginning are dark, and dim lit, creating the mood and the atmosphere. The typography, used to display the names, are in a handwritten/graffiti font, to give it a distorted and abstract feel. It then gains a shadow, as it transitions to the next shot. This creates an disturbing and uncomfortable feeling for the audience, however it is not off-putting because the film is aimed at young, thriller-lovers.
Shots:
- The shots of the title sequence are a few seconds frames with quick cutaways, for focusing on one particular area. This makes the audience feel uneasy, as they feel like they are seeing something that they shouldn't be seeing.
- This creates the impression that they are witnessing the preparation of the action, which foreshadows what happens in the film.
- Another main focus is extreme close-ups onto objects. This limits the audience's vision, creating enigma.
Shot types:
The opening sequence is made up of many extreme close ups that work together to create a montage. This is effective at intriguing the audience by providing them with detail and distancing them by not showing any wider shots, that will give them more information about the character. This can be effective at creating a tense atmosphere for an audience by showing minimal full length character shots. This inspires me to vary the amount of shots in my film, as well as using mise-en-scene to create an uncomfortable feel.
Mise-En-Scene:
- The opening sequence is full of unusual and creepy mise-en-scene, such as pictures of victim's faces being rubbed out by black marker pens. Straight away, this makes the audience feel a sense of discomfort.
- The audience is exposed to the word 'God' being cut out of a dollar bill/ This hints that the character believes in God.
Editing & Colour:
The editing that went into the opening sequence lasted five weeks compared to the two days it was shot over. This can be seen because of how advanced the editing is, with the use of dissolving transitions. This makes the audience feel disjointed.
The colour used is a washed-out grey-tone. These dull connotations, combined with flashes of red which appear randomly, give the sense that there is a lot of violence in the film.
Music:
The music chosen and used by Howard Shore is a remix of Nine Inch who are known for their association with dark and gruesome imagery. The music is gritty and reflects the overall disterbing tone of the film. As the msic increases in tempo. the random images begin to flash and pop up more frequently, making them difficult to follow. Ths creates a sense of urgency. The effect of repetition of some images creates a feel of unease and disorganisation. The disturbing sound effects (for instance, the nails scratching on a chalk board) conveys an unnatural atmosphere, which makes the audience feel uncomfortable.
Characters:
There are minimal shots of characters in the opening sequence. In doing this, the audience is alienated, as enigma is created due to the limited shots of character. This is effective because it adds more suspense and tension, which is what a horror/thriller should do.
Credits:
The titles appear distorted and flash onto the screen. This creates the a psychotic feel.
The protagonist's credits (John Doe played by Kevin Spacey) does not appear, which conveys the mystery behind the villain because the audience has limited information.
Friday 19 December 2014
Tuesday 16 December 2014
The Butterfly Effect Opening Sequence
Opening Sequences
Sequence 1: The Butterfly Effect Opening Sequence
How is genre introduced?
The non-diegetic background music, more than anything else, represents the genre. However, the music does conotate with the text, even though the opening sequence is just credits. The text does somehow indicate part of the genre.
0:00 - 0:07; It tells us who the producers of the film are. The text flickers, which gives the sense that the motive isn't clear. As we find out, the flickering is iconic because it gives us an insight of the main character's main problem- He finds it difficult to remember thing, so his thoughts are always flickering about, and therefore aren't clear. Therefore, the opening sequence is representative of the main character.
The music is also very dramatic, and it gets creepy once we get to the notepad part of the credits. The text creates enigma because the first piece of text you see on the notepad is "how do i fix it?!" and "you never lost me." This will make the audience ask questions, which will be answered, eventually, in the film.
0:08 - 0:13; We find out that this is an Ashton Kutcher movie. The music stays the same, giving it the same feel as before.
0:13 - 0:18; The music drastically changes-less dramatic more creepy! The pace of the text accelerates, as well as starting to flicker (which, we said before, is using iconography and representation of the main character's mental state.)
0:19 - 0:23; A new transition is used after we get introduced to "Amy Smart & Melora Walters"- they fizz out. (This is also representative because the main character subconsciously, fizzes out important memories, so he can't remember.) This may imply that she is a victim of what happens in the movie- maybe thanks to his mental well being?
0:24 - 0:28; We see a new piece of text, "do i have the power to heal them?" which creates more enigma. "Power? Power to control who?"
0:28 - 0:30; More enigma is created- "CUT THE ROPE". (Don't forget, the music is still creepy, it hasn't changed)
0:31 - 0:40; "I WILL COME BACK FOR YOU" is repeated, and then faded. This may give the impression that the character writing the credits is almost psycho-like? "took my shirt off' is repeated too- egotistical?
0:41 - End; We get the name of the movie.
The reason why this opening sequence is psychological horror, and not just horror is because the music messes with your head. You think something is going to happen, when really, nothing actually does. This is why the certificate on this film is 15+.
Sequence 1: The Butterfly Effect Opening Sequence
How is genre introduced?
The non-diegetic background music, more than anything else, represents the genre. However, the music does conotate with the text, even though the opening sequence is just credits. The text does somehow indicate part of the genre.
0:00 - 0:07; It tells us who the producers of the film are. The text flickers, which gives the sense that the motive isn't clear. As we find out, the flickering is iconic because it gives us an insight of the main character's main problem- He finds it difficult to remember thing, so his thoughts are always flickering about, and therefore aren't clear. Therefore, the opening sequence is representative of the main character.
The music is also very dramatic, and it gets creepy once we get to the notepad part of the credits. The text creates enigma because the first piece of text you see on the notepad is "how do i fix it?!" and "you never lost me." This will make the audience ask questions, which will be answered, eventually, in the film.
0:08 - 0:13; We find out that this is an Ashton Kutcher movie. The music stays the same, giving it the same feel as before.
0:13 - 0:18; The music drastically changes-less dramatic more creepy! The pace of the text accelerates, as well as starting to flicker (which, we said before, is using iconography and representation of the main character's mental state.)0:19 - 0:23; A new transition is used after we get introduced to "Amy Smart & Melora Walters"- they fizz out. (This is also representative because the main character subconsciously, fizzes out important memories, so he can't remember.) This may imply that she is a victim of what happens in the movie- maybe thanks to his mental well being?
0:24 - 0:28; We see a new piece of text, "do i have the power to heal them?" which creates more enigma. "Power? Power to control who?"
0:28 - 0:30; More enigma is created- "CUT THE ROPE". (Don't forget, the music is still creepy, it hasn't changed)0:31 - 0:40; "I WILL COME BACK FOR YOU" is repeated, and then faded. This may give the impression that the character writing the credits is almost psycho-like? "took my shirt off' is repeated too- egotistical?
0:41 - End; We get the name of the movie.
The reason why this opening sequence is psychological horror, and not just horror is because the music messes with your head. You think something is going to happen, when really, nothing actually does. This is why the certificate on this film is 15+.
Thursday 11 December 2014
Preliminary Squence #1
For my coursework, me and three others produced a preliminary sequence, known as 'Feed The Fish'. We had to test our knowledge and understanding of what we've learnt this term (about camera angles, camera movements and editing) and display them in a production.
What Went Well? (WWW)
I thought that the way we used a range of shots to attempt to create a sense of enigma & tension was good, considering that it was our first production. I also like the way we used music to determine the genre.
Even Better If...? (EBI)
Firstly, I feel like we could have used a tripod to limit the shakiness (and the handheld effect) of some of the footage.
Secondly, I feel like we could have made the quality of the shots better. For example, we could have got down on the floor and filmed the girl walking outside as opposed to just standing and tracking. Laying down would have brought the focus more onto the feet walking, as well as limiting information as to where the girl is. It would've created more enigma.
Thirdly, I feel like we could have shot close ups of her face as she was coming up to the 'room' to create tension.
Fourthly, if we were able to do this again, is that we could have used lighting to create enigma. We could have filtered it on the video editor (Premiere Pro) if we were unable to create the effect when actually shooting it. We could have make the lighting darker to create the sense of thriller.
We could have also emphasised diegetic sound to make it sound realistic, as well as overlapping it with non-diegetic background music. We could have got sound effects.
Also, we could have stuck to a schedule in order to complete the task in a prompt manner, which would have allowed us to gain more time for editing.
What Went Well? (WWW)
I thought that the way we used a range of shots to attempt to create a sense of enigma & tension was good, considering that it was our first production. I also like the way we used music to determine the genre.
Even Better If...? (EBI)
Firstly, I feel like we could have used a tripod to limit the shakiness (and the handheld effect) of some of the footage.
Secondly, I feel like we could have made the quality of the shots better. For example, we could have got down on the floor and filmed the girl walking outside as opposed to just standing and tracking. Laying down would have brought the focus more onto the feet walking, as well as limiting information as to where the girl is. It would've created more enigma.
Thirdly, I feel like we could have shot close ups of her face as she was coming up to the 'room' to create tension.
Fourthly, if we were able to do this again, is that we could have used lighting to create enigma. We could have filtered it on the video editor (Premiere Pro) if we were unable to create the effect when actually shooting it. We could have make the lighting darker to create the sense of thriller.
We could have also emphasised diegetic sound to make it sound realistic, as well as overlapping it with non-diegetic background music. We could have got sound effects.
Also, we could have stuck to a schedule in order to complete the task in a prompt manner, which would have allowed us to gain more time for editing.
Wednesday 10 December 2014
Art Of The Title: Anatomy Of A Murder (1959)
Typography elements:
The music used in the opening of 'Anatomy Of A Murder' suggests that the theme of the film is a crime/thriller one, as the music creates a sense of suspense and mystery. Connotations with 'mystery' is 'crime' and 'detectives', which connotes with fast action. The jazzy sounds not only enhances this view, but it is also used to build tension.
The transition of the shots are also very quick, building suspense. It also creates enigma because it makes the viewer wonder who the body is, adding to the idea that it is a crime/thriller driven movie.
Monday 1 December 2014
Opening Sequence - Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone
- The producers of the film are the Warner Brothers
- The music sets the genre; An epic fantasy adventure.
- Owl = Iconography for later on in the movie series
- Establishing shot to set the scene- a dark place = mystery & tension
- Albus Dumbledore = Stereotypical wizard (Mise-En-Scene) to indicate that this movie is going to be based around witches and wizards. (Also, introduction to our first character = he is very significant = creating enigma "Who is he?")
- Slower cutting of the first look at 'wizardry action' to (1) give the audience the time to take in that he is actually a wizard, rather than just assuming that he is an old man going trick or treating (for example) and (2) to give the sense that the action is taking place slowly.
- Introduction to both significant wizard characters and their status; Professor McGonagall and Albus Dumbledore. From the dialogue, you can see that McGonagall is the follower and Dumbledore is the leader because he knows all the answers to her questions.
- Hagrid: Low angle suggests that he is big in size (not status- his size actually contrasts status- although he is the biggest, he has the lowest status out of all three of them)
- Enigma about Harry
- The music sets the genre; An epic fantasy adventure.
- Owl = Iconography for later on in the movie series
- Establishing shot to set the scene- a dark place = mystery & tension
- Albus Dumbledore = Stereotypical wizard (Mise-En-Scene) to indicate that this movie is going to be based around witches and wizards. (Also, introduction to our first character = he is very significant = creating enigma "Who is he?")
- Slower cutting of the first look at 'wizardry action' to (1) give the audience the time to take in that he is actually a wizard, rather than just assuming that he is an old man going trick or treating (for example) and (2) to give the sense that the action is taking place slowly.
- Introduction to both significant wizard characters and their status; Professor McGonagall and Albus Dumbledore. From the dialogue, you can see that McGonagall is the follower and Dumbledore is the leader because he knows all the answers to her questions.
- Hagrid: Low angle suggests that he is big in size (not status- his size actually contrasts status- although he is the biggest, he has the lowest status out of all three of them)
- Enigma about Harry
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)