Evaluation: Question 1

The thriller which we created followed the forms & conventions of film openings, as well as follwing the conventioanl order of a title sequence well. The clip below is a quick talk through of some of the conventions followed.

Before we began to create a thriller opening, we had to do research in the way most film openings are as this would help make our thriller opening more effective and realistic. From my research, I found that most film openings consisted of the following forms and conventions:

·         A title sequence

·         Production & distribution ident

·         Introduction to main character

·         Introduction to setting/location

·         Genre is established through the use of technical work eg music

·         Narrative/plot/storyline is introduced

·         Intertextual elements/references

·         Music/sound used to set the mood and atmosphere

·         Has a classic, narrative, discrete or standalone structure

As part of our research, we also looked at the order of title sequences and found that the titles would always appear in the same order. The order is based on contractual dealings and who is the most important. The titles are placed in the following order:

• Production company ident
• Production company titles
• Distribution company ident
• Distribution company title
• Other production companies
• Cast (main actors/actresses)
• Film title
• Cast
• Casting
• Costume
• Music Supervisor
• Music by
• Editor
• Prod design
• Director of photography
• Writer
• Director

Using this research, we created our thriller opening conventionally. We had used a narrative opening structure which introduced the audience to the plot/outline of the film whilst the titles were superimposed. The two main characters and setting were also shown in the title.

The music which we used in our thriller opening was tense with a laid back element to it. This helped in setting a suspenseful atmosphere as it hints to the audience something will happen. This also helps to establish the genre of the film is a thriller. 

The titles were placed in the correct order; however, we decided to place the title of the film at the end of the thriller opening rather than after the main actors’ names. This was because we found it had more of an impact if the title was shown after the close up of the eyes, as it would cut away from the expression and feelings represented by the character.