Establishing shot

Camerawork and editing

This shot in our opening sequence showcases the camerawork and editing skills that were used/developed in the process of producing our project. The shaky movement of the camera was used to enhance the unsettled atmosphere in the clip. The overlaying of the different clips also adds to this unsettled feeling as it creates a sense of chaos as more than one thing is happening at once. This also gives the audience an insight into the mind of the protagonist. Moreover, the shadow shown in the clip creates a dark vibe. The overlaying was produced in Adobe Premiere Elements and was used repeatedly through the latter part of our opening sequence to increase the suspense.

- dramatic change

Character

For the majority of the opening sequence, the only character seen is the protagonist. But in the last seconds other characters are introduced briefly to give the audience a glimpse of the events that had happened previously to the protagonist. This is the peak of the suspense and mystery in our opening sequence and vaguely gives the audience some answers to what is happening and why. This last scene was very effective in terms of the camerawork, editing and sound. The POV shot and the heartbeat in the background tops of the suspense and allows the audience to empathise with the protagonist.

The title of the film

This shot includes the title of the film. We made sure to make it much larger than the rest of the titles

to ensure it stands out from the rest.

Title font and style

This is the first set of titles that appear in the opening sequence. During the process of creating the titles a few were faulty. However, this title was not and well showcased the font, style and effect that was used to create all of the titles.

Special effects

Our opening sequence didn’t include many special effects, but in the end clip a blurry effect was used to mimic a pair of eyes with blurry vision transitioning into clear vision. As well as to add to the suspense that we were trying to build and to add to the ambiguous theme that ran throughout our project. The blurry effect was done during the editing process in Adobe Premiere Elements.

Introducing character

The protagonist’s full face isn’t revealed to the audience at all for the whole duration of our opening sequence to keep the mysterious theme. The first we see of the character are his feet touching the ground. Then him stumbling towards the door with his back facing the audience so his face isn’t shown. This suggests to the audience that something is being hidden – which creates a sense of foreboding and uncertainty. This juxtaposes with the music playing in the background.

Initiating narrative

Even though the theme of our opening sequence has a lot of mystery and ambiguity flowing throughout. In order to create suspense hints of the plot/ narrative had to be included. This was achieved by showing articles to do with missing teenagers, the collage created by the protagonist piecing together the cases and images to do with animal testing. Which gives the audience clues into what the narrative is about.

Genre

Once the music transitions from the diagetic positive upbeat music into the non-diagetic disorted negative music, that was a clear indication of the genre of the film. Moreover, through the collage on the wall a mysterious theme is established as it shows a serious of events that need to be pieced together. Furthermore, the clip inside the lab shows the genre to be a thriller due to shaky blurriness of the shots along with the diagetic heart beat which suggests fear and anxiety that is always associated with thrillers