WHAT DO DIRECTORS SEEK TO ESTABLISH IN AN OPENING

SEQUENCE?

What was the task?■ My work was given on a A3 sheet of paper. The title on the paper was

‘Analysis of what directors seek to establish in opening sequences.’ With coloured pens I needed to show how thriller films establish theme, character, mood and tone, plot, location and genre.

■ After that, I needed to choose 3 film title sequences from the sheet to analyse and explain how films establish each elements.

I was given an A3 worksheet on Thriller films. I had to look at the openings of 6 thriller films: Double Indemnity, Casino Royale, Outbreak ,Seven, Zodiac and LA Confidential.

Title film sequences ■ In the film Zodiac the title sequence is shown at the beginning of the film. The font is small and

written in white. The font emphasises the genre of the film. When each title appears on screen it then fades out to introduce the next title. In the opening the title first says “4 week later” which tells us that the characters are in the present and we may find out what happened 4 weeks before. Next to this title is says “San Francisco, CA” which tells us the location of the film. The production companies that were involved in the making of the film are Warner brothers and Paramount pictures who are credited in the opening sequence. Another production company that was involved and is credited in the title sequence is Phoenix Pictures who produced the film through Warner Brothers and Paramount pictures who distributed the film. The title sequence also credits the directors, the actors, who did the casting (Laray Mayfield), who designed the costumes (Casey Storm), sound designer (Ren Klyce), music supervisors, editor (Angus Wall), production designer(Donald Graham Burt), director of photography, the producers, the executive producer (Louis Phillips), screenplay and the book that the film is based on; written by Robert Graysmith.

Zodiac- How the film establishes each of the elements■ In Zodiac the theme is established through showing that the character is in a rush and people in the scenes move

quickly which gives us a sense of mystery, this implies that the genre of the film is mystery-thriller. Genre is also established when the main character is driving to work which suggests that he either has an aim or he has something to accomplish. The font also relates to the genre because it indicates that this is no ordinary film and something will happen therefore throughout the title sequence the font of the titles hint the genre of thriller. Tone and mood is established through the busy atmosphere because people are focused on what they’re doing and aim to do what they are doing on time. Also, tone and mood is established through the speed and rhythm of the soundtrack which is fast and loud. Another way that mood is established when most of the workers are in the lift and are all squashed which gives us a sense claustrophobia and an uncomfortable atmosphere. Although the plot is not yet established, the main character is. We first meet the main character when he is in his house brushing his teeth with his son and getting ready to drive him to school.

■ In the opening sequence, meaning is created through camera and mise en scene. In the opening sequence the camera shows a two-shot of the main character driving his son to school which may imply that this is part of his routine everyday and is how he starts his day during the week. We know that the main character has a son because he instructs him on how to brush his teeth, he also makes sure that he gets to school on time and at the beginning of the opening sequence the camera shows that they live alone together which reveals their close relationship. A medium shot of the main character in his car shows him writing something which implies that he is a busy man. A Mise En Scene is shown in the office. This office shows that it is busy because everyone that works there has their own duty. However, we see some of the workers eating, chatting and drinking their coffee which infers that they don’t take their job seriously.

Seven-title film sequence ■ In the film Seven the title sequences is written in white and the writing looks thin. The

writing is not written neatly and as each title appears in the opening sequence they flash frequently which emphasises the genre of thriller. Some of the titles are have a big space in between them which shows that rules are broken. The text is written this way to combine the genre with horror as it creates a sense of crime and murder happening. The text could be a tribute to the characters that die or a sign that someone will be convicted of murder which gives us a hint that there is going to be a case study. The first title that comes up is the film production company’s name: New line cinema. This company distributed the film which means that another film production company named an Arnold Kopelson production produced the film through this company. As we continue to watch the opening sequence a director named David Fincher gets credited. Next we see the names of the actors, then we see the names of the people who did the casting and who did the music/soundtrack. After that the product designer, editor, director of photography, producers, co-producers, executive producers, co-executive producers and writer are credited.

Se7en- How the film establishes each of the elements■ The plot is not established until we see scary images towards the end of the opening sequence. One image that is

shown is of a black felt tip pen being drawn across a boy’s eyes. I think this may be a symbol of a lost identity. After that the felt tip pen covers the whole face which indicates the killing of someone. Another image shows a sharp weapon pierced onto someone’s head which may represent one of the seven deadly sins. Another image show two pictures of the same boy however one covers his face and another covers his eyes which may represent a hidden identity or a mistaken identity. After that I see the words ‘In God We’ I know that the next word will be trust which may suggests that there is a moral in this film. At the beginning of the opening sequence I see a sketching of hand which may be a way of introducing the murderer however the image is ambiguous because we don’t know how the murderer is but we know that there will be a murderer. We also see a big book with sheets of paper that is covered in writing which suggests that there will be an investigation.

■ When we watch the opening sequence the tone, mood and theme is shown throughout by the use of music. The music sounds intense with the use of drums and electric guitar which makes us feel anxious because we want to know what happens in the film but then we also get the feeling that something tragic is going to happen. The music is also accompanied by a scratchy distorted sound which makes us feel uncomfortable because the sound is irritating and patronising. This diegetic sound may emphasise that the torture that the character may face in the film which may cause us to empathies with their torture. The opening sequence doesn’t show the characters and the location is unclear at the beginning as it flashes from one place to another, this highlights that the film has different locations and there isn’t one specific one.

Outbreak-title film sequence■ In the film Outbreak the title sequence is quite different from the two other films I have analysed in terms of the font, how

the titles appear and the order of credits. The titles are big and written in blue. The font of the titles are also bold and they appear on screen with no effect. The titles differ from the other films I have analysed because as each title appears it is either accompanied by nature, explosions or a settled environment. When watching the opening sequence we see that the actors are given credit first. We next see the names of people who did the casting. Credit is also given to the costume designer, the person that did the music for the film (James Newton Howard), the co-producers, editors, production designer, director of photography, the executive producers, writers, producers and the director (Wolfang Petersen).

■ How the film establishes each of the elements: At the first few minutes of the film the audience are notified about the location where the film is set. It directly tells and shows us that the film starts in the United States Army Medical Research of infectious diseases in Maryland, USA. This is where scientists do medical research and develop new medicine. The tone and the mood is shown in the hospital as the scientists seem busy and focused on their jobs. This also implies that the theme of the film may be the development of medicine. This is shown through a mise en scene. The plot is not established yet but the genre is through the pace of the soundtrack. The character is established towards the end of the film. The character is wearing a green suit while the scientists are wearing white lab coats. The first character also says the first sentence. Looking at the first character we can learn that he is a committed scientist based on what he is wearing and his role. We can also learn that he loves dogs because he lives alone with his dogs and at the end of the opening sequence it shows that he is giving two of them a shower. The title sequence links to the story of the film because all the titles have the same font and size which suggests that the scientists may find a cure for a disease that might have an impact on animals or human being. The explosions are shown through wide shots which emphasise the impact and the animals that are shown through a low shot (monkeys) gives us a clue that the medicine can be made for animals or they may represent humans.

Evaluation ■ In this task I became more familiar with where the elements of a

thriller film are established. I can use these techniques to build more tension in my opening sequence and I will know when and where to place these elements.