Credit Sequences

Halloween

The opening of ‘Halloween’ begins with non-diegetic music and it sounds almost like a timer/ticking. At the beginning the music is pretty simple and it is played with a black screen on which creates a tense and eerie atmosphere. They used black because black connotes evil, death and mystery and the music has a mysterious feeling so perhaps it suggests that something bad is going to happen. All of the titles also have 3 different colours, they start in red, then to dark orange, then to light orange and then back to red. The colour red symbolises fire and blood so it is associated with energy, danger and power. Also the colour orange connotes deceit and distrust and it is also seen as a very bright and powerful colour, so because of this the titles are placed in the middle of the screen as it attracts the audience’s attention. The pace of the credits are quite slow and it matches the music with it. The fact the credits are flickering and going slow adds tension and eerie atmosphere and it is almost like we are waiting for something to happen.

 
 












Step up
The opening of 'Step Up' starts with some ballet dancers stretching ready to dance. The colour of this is a beige/brown and the credits are in white/cream. White symbolises innocence, purity and goodness which represents ballet dancers and brown symbolises seriousness, stability and structure, which again these dancers must have. So the colours almost emphasise their personalities. When the dancers are warming up there is no music and it is just silence. This shows their calmness and elegance.











After it goes on to street dancers in which the colours are blue, black and white. Blue connotes power and seriousness. We would see that the street dancers have a lot of power because of their talents and the way they are. Also black connotes power too and elegancy so it is showing us what they enjoy and what they are like. Again they use the colour white to how us innocence, although they are powerful they are still innocent dancers. The sound when these are dancing is sirens and typically noises you'd hear on the streets, so it emphasises they are street dancers because of their surroundings. The credits go quite slow in this as well and this would represent the ballet dancers as they are slow and elegant but the music matches the street dancers as it is up beat and sharp.

Research into the horror genre openings (Research done by partner Tai)

The Conjuring
Colour
The opening scene to this film starts with a black screen with somebody talking to another person. This blackness symbolises death and decay, which foreshadows the rest of the film. Then a dolls face appears, which is grey with faded colours of red and blue. This faded colour shows us that this doll is old and was not looked after well. The doll because of these colours looks evil and scary, which instantly makes the viewers link this doll to the rest of the film. We then see three people sat down wearing dark shirts, from green to red. Red represents anger and blood while green represents safety and harmony. These colours send different signals to the viewers making them focus more on what is happening rather than what these characters are wearing and what they look like. This keeps the viewers focused on the important information being exchanged between these people, so they are able to follow the film. Finally, we are introduced to a dark hallway with very dark, shaded colours and red writing on the walls and ceilings. These dark colours represent death and decay, but also it emphasises the fact that it is late at night and it is unusual for someone to bang on your door. The red writing once again relates to the connotation of pain and anger, which makes the scenes more sinister and seem more scary.

Costume
The costume used in this opening sequence is used to tell the viewers who the antagonists are, who the protagonists are and what year this film is set in. The way the three people sat down on the patterned chair, are all wearing long sleeved, coloured, period clothing tells us that it is set in the past. This gives the viewer some context about the film, about when it was set and they can then know what props to expect from the rest of the film.

Location
Location is very important within a film opening as it tells us the conditions the film will be set in. In this particular instance, the film is set in a warm home, with natural lighting to create a relaxed atmosphere. However, this contrasts to the next scenes where the film is set in a dark, damaged flat, with no light and writing all over the walls. This darkness gives the sense of constriction and the feeling of being trapped. This gives the film an edge, even though it is only minutes into it.

Character
Films are dependent on the viewers recognising which character are protagonists, antagonists, side-kicks etc... This is the same with most films (unless they have unexpected plot twists) which is why we are able to tell straight away the doll is connected to evil, the interviewers are investigating the situation to help and the three people are the victims. This obviousness of character allows us to predict who is going to die first, who will survive, who is the pro/antagonist, and this leads to an effective horror film.
 

Budget for the filming of our sequence (Research done by partner Tai)

We will have a specific budget for our filming as we are only earning minimum wage through our jobs. Therefore we will have around 50-100 pounds of our money to use. However, we will also have school resources to use which will mean we will only have to spend at most, 20 pounds for props and costumes. This will mean we will have everything we need at the lowest price possible without hindering our quality of production.

Research on the music/sound in the horror genre

Use of music and sound in horror from whslaura

Mood board reserach done by partner Tai

Mood boards from whslaura

How the title, lighting, sounds and positioning and movement effect the opening to a film.

Opening to a film from whslaura

Genre Mood Board Research

Mood board from whslaura

Film Openings- Iconography, enigma codes and narrative structure.

Back to the Future



Iconography: All of the clocks in the opening scene represent that the genre of the film is sci-fi and it also relates back to the title of the film because it is about going to the future where 'time' is different.

Enigma Codes: Why is there so many clocks? How come the newspaper is so important and scrap paper? How come there is old photos of an old man on the wall? Why does the camera focus on them? These shots of the newspaper, the clocks, the old man etc.. all have a purpose in the filming of 'Back to the future' and they add these in because it questions us when we are watching it and these attract out attention because the camera makes them seem important. The fact there's clocks it makes us wonder 'are clocks important or time?' and with the old man 'is he involved or is he the one who started off with all these clocks?'.

Narrative Split: The narrative split was fabula because everything was chronological order. At the beginning we see loads of clocks and the clock pans round them all and then we see that the inventor has created some scientific machines to help with going 'back to the future'. At the end of the opening scenes we see Marty come in and attempt to play his guitar and because of all the high power and too much overdrive it then  









Nightmare on Elm Street

Iconography: In 'Nightmare on Elm Street' in the opening scene the camera shows a clear view of a knife which is laid around other tools. Although it gets covered by someone emptying a bag they still make it very clear it is still there, the knife represents that the genre of the film is horror.





Enigma codes: Why is there a knife? Why does the camera focus on it? Why is everything so dirty and covered in muck? How come the man has a knife type glove on? Is he crazy? A murderer? What is the woman running away from? These shots of the knife, woman running and the glove etc all have a purpose in the filming of 'Nightmare on Elm Street' and they add these in because it questions us when we are watching it and these attract out attention because the camera makes them seem important and it builds tension but because we know these are all associated with horror. The fact there's a knife it makes us also wonder 'what is the knife going to be used for? Is the woman running about to get killed by the man wearing the glove?' It all links together and relates back to the conventions of horror.

Narrative Split: The narrative split was fabula because everything was chronological order. At the beginning we see that this old man is making some sort of weapon. Then as the film carries on it shows us that some woman is running away, however we don't know what she running away from. Later on in the opening scene we see some hand with a knife type glove on gash through some material, he then grabs the woman and she then awakens from her 'nightmare'. So the fabula uses syuzhet as we as an audience think that this is happening at the beginning of the story but it turns out to be a dream so it has not yet happened. However it gives us an idea of what is to come in the film.


Strange days
Iconography: In 'Strange days' the opening scene starts with three men in a car and it looks like they're about to go cause some trouble or rob some shop. We get this impression because they have masks on and they have guns on them. We get a clear shot of the gun getting passed to one of the men so it represents the genre of thriller.
Enigma codes: Why do they have masks on? Why is there a gun? How come they're in a rush? How come they've just attacked people in a kitchen? Why after they after the money in the pub? Why are they locking the people in a room?
Narrative split: The narrative split was fabula as everything was in chronological order. At the beginning we see three men in a car and they look as if they're are in a rush to get somewhere. Then the film carries on and we see what these men are doing and they are robbing a pub and threatening to shoot all the workers there if they don't give them some money. Later on we see the three men escaping and running across the roof tops but first they trap these people in to a room so they can't get caught.

Film Openings: Enigma Codes, Iconography and Narrative Split (Research done by partner Tai)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Iconography
This scene represents death and destruction as a person has been melted by fire. This enhances the effect of its genre (thriller) as within these types of movies there is usually death. This allows the viewer to guess the events of the film, just by one picture.

Enigma Codes
This scene of the opening credits shows a phoenix/dragon type creature emerging from this black liquid. Apart from the title of the movie, we have no clue what the relevance of the creature, and why it is important enough to be involved In the opening credits. What relevance does it have? Does it have a deeper meaning? Who is it linked to? Why show us the creature in the opening scenes? All of these questions entice
the viewer to watch the film.

Narrative split
The narrative split of this progression is syuzhet. This means there is no order to the opening scene and it is randomised. This keeps the mystery to the film and makes people want to watch more of the film.


The Shining

Iconography
This scene from the opening credits shows the isolation and terrain the film will be set in. This establishing shot shows that if something were to happen to the people in this house, there would be no chance of help getting to them. It also shows the amount of people gathering at this house which tells the viewers that we will see many people in this movie, both good and bad. This entices the viewer to watch more.

 

Enigma CodesWho is it that we are following? Where are they heading? Why are they so important that we are following them? Are they the main characters? What has led them to drive through mountains?

Narrative Split
The opening credits start with an establishing shot, showing us the scenery and where the film is set. It then proceeds to show us a yellow car, which we follow. Finally it shows us the large, isolated house below an icy mountain. This means the progression of scenes means its fabula, which means it is all in chronological order. This also rises suspicion about the film as we do not know why the house is isolated and why people are gathering there. This rise of suspicion makes the viewer ask more questions which can only be answered by watching more of the film.

Serenity

Iconography
The first setting of this film shows a space ship flying through space. This instantly tells people that the film is a sci-fi as spaceships are rarely used in anything else. This gives the viewer an idea of the type of film they are about to watch. Also, the way the ship seems of a 'low standard' and it looks like its alone, gives us an understanding of the type of people that are aboard the ship. This is because we generally connote rebels or outlanders to this type of ship.

Enigma Codes
Who are these people? What do they do? What year is this? Where are they going? What do they do?

Narrative Split
The opening scene is an establishing shot of where the characters are located. This is of a ship flying through space. Then it shows the ship crashing into a planet, this gives the film action which entices the viewer to watch more. It then goes on to the front of the ship which shows us some of the characters that will be starring in the film. They then go on to talk and the clip ends. This means the progression is fabula as there are no flashbacks. This keeps the story of the film a mystery as all we know is that they are people in a space ship. This gives the viewer the setting of the film yet keeps them watching the film as the plot isn't ruined.

 

Research on opening credits.

Insidious
- At the beginning of 'Insidious' the credits are overlapping. It starts with a light shade which rotates round with the name 'James Wan' in the middle showing he's the producer.
-In the middle of 'Insidious' the credits are separate. The main bits they filmed for the first part on the credits was different shots of the house showing how big and desolate it is.
-This is known as integrated.
-The credits in 'Insidious' have a very slow pace as each piece is on for around 5-6 seconds and the whole duration of the credits is around 3 minutes, so it creates tension with everything happening to slow and it gets you focusing on the images as well to give you an idea of the story and the genre.
-The font in 'Insidious' gives it a ghostly effect because the font isn't straight and formal, its the opposite and it seems as if the soul from the font as dissolved away as it vanishes in to the background, this represents what has happened to the little boy, that something has happened to him because of a ghost controlling his body. Also the fact the font is in red emphasises it is a horror as we associate red with blood, evil and the devil but also love.


The Conjuring
-Throughout the whole opening scene, the opening credits are separate to the filming.
-Although the credits are separate it was still clear the genre was horror because all the darkness the fact there was no colour to it. Also the fading of the credits gave it a ghostly effect.
-The credits in 'The Conjuring' has a very slow pace as each piece of text is 4-5 seconds and the whole sequence is 2minutes 3 seconds, so it gives it more of a tense atmosphere and it wants you to feel fear.