The opening of a film can make or break a production’s success. If the first couple minutes don’t interest audiences as a whole then the film will flop. When thinking about what I want my film opening to look like, I knew I wanted something creepy and unsettling that perfectly set up the rest of my film. I wasn’t sure of the techniques that I would want to use but while doing research on film openings through my 9 Frame Analysis’, my eyes have been opened to new possibilities for my future production.
The three film production openings I looked at in my research were “Monster Hunter”, “Outcast”, and “Glass”. Each of these films have their own unique styles and although nothing is ever perfect, I was able to pick out certain techniques from each that I enjoyed and would use in my own production. In “Monster Hunter” I liked how the filmmakers incorporated the two different locations with a very noticeable contrast in color schemes which help define how the scenes in the different locations will interact both separately and together to tell the story being portrayed. The opening to the film “Outcast” used a lot of fantastic techniques that I would for sure use in my own production. I loved their use of dutch tilts and upside down shots which creates an unsettling feeling in the audience which is exactly how I want my audience to feel when viewing my production. What was great about the opening to “Glass” was the fact that the font of the opening credits matched perfectly with the film and worked really nicely with the dark and creepy tone that is being set up. I really enjoyed the unconventional use of a small scene before the credits begin to create the sense of something not being right and gives off more suspense. The film introduces a character before audience members even know what’s going on and since there isn’t much context people will be left on the edge of their seats which is what a filmmaker like myself wants to accomplish with a horror film. This film opening also has nondiegetic music that gives people the chills as this ticking noise causes discomfort.
From looking at these clips from the films, I think that with my genre being horror, a more unconventional approach would bring something new to the genre and refresh people’s senses of what this genre could have the possibility of being in the future. I want the elements of my film opening to suggest that something isn’t right in the world being shown that would make the audiences want to watch more for answers but also I want certain key information to be more blankly stated so that no one watching gets too confused about what this production is about but also not overpowering the audience with information before the climax of the movie even begins to form. I would keep certain things like the order of the credits more conventional but I think changing up a certain amount of other things involving the credits and film techniques would allow me to further explore this genre and create something for people to get excited for.
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