Film Openings

2/17 Horror Openings

Horror Openings have many different approaches. They usually start at a location that seems creepy or unsettling like a foggy forest, old mansion, isolated place, etc. In some films, they introduce the threat at the beginning of the film. The threat can be introduced through a glimpse, hints, or mysterious events that foreshadow the horror that will be portrayed. These openings also build up suspense through their eerie music and slow camera movements in order to set the mood. Another important aspect of these film openings is that horror openings incorporate a moment that has a sudden twist or shock to build the stakes of the story early in the film. A jump scare or a moment of violence is an example of setting the tone through an unexpected shock.

Dawn of the Dead 

The opening in the film Dawn of the Dead it shows the main character and her partner in bed sleeping which then shows a little girl approaching their bed. The guy wakes up and then goes to check up on her which then leads to the guy getting bit. Afterward, the guy dies and wakes up from the dead, therefore, it is implied that the threat of the film is zombies. In the rest of the opening, the girl finds out that her neighborhood is in a crisis and she tries to flee. In this film the introduce the threat early. The opening of this movie uses various mise-en-scenes like the makeup on the zombies to make them look dead. They also used costume design on the characters, for example, the main character's outfit is covered in blood. It also uses sound techniques like stings to highlight the jump scares. The sound techniques helped increase the suspense to ultimately increase the adrenaline of the audience. This opening has inspired me to use mise-en-scenes so I will be incorporating some sort of costume design for both the killer clown and the other characters. I will also be incorporating stings in my opening, especially in the jump scares that I will include at the end of the opening.

Silence of the Lambs

In the Silence of the Lambs, the opening shows the main character jogging in a foggy forest alone. This makes the audience feel uneasy since the character seems vulnerable. The reason she is depicted as vulnerable is that she is all by herself in a place where she can be attacked. I will be doing the same in my opening in order to make my audience feel uneasy. I will include this by having the character that will be attacked to be walking in a secluded or deserted area, possibly a street or a forest. 

When researching I found out that the standard order for opening credits are the film title, lead cast, supporting characters, cast director, music composer, costume designer, associate producers, editors, production designer, director of photography, executive producer, producer, writers, director. While watching the silence of the lambs I noticed how the credits were laid out and introduced. I found out that it was not the same as the standard order, they were small changes. For example, the lead casting came before the film title. Another thing that I noticed was that some roles were not mentioned and some were added. For example, they added the novel's writer on which the movie was based. The name of a role that was not mentioned in the opening credits was the associate producer. If I make a change in my credits it will be discrete so that it doesn't change much from the standard.