(I've analysed the clip from 0.00-3.10 minutes)
This opening sequence works well and uses all the conventions of a good opening sequence.
It establishes time and place clearly : Night time/Evening due to the dark sky and this makes it eery as there is a sense of forboding something bad is going to happen. The place is established clearly; at a fairground this is ironic as you expect young children at fairgrounds and wouldn't expect anything bad to happen. This place is clearly established due to the close ups of all different rides, stalls, the mise-en-scene and the pinball machine which the camera follows at the start.
It introduces and establishes characters/protagonists : Four main friends, two boys and two girls. The camera shots/angles are mainly focused on these four characters, but mainly on the main protagonist; the girl with camera who isn't on the ride at first.
It sets up an initial equilibrium which is disrupted : The follow of the pinball which then falls into the 'Death Hole' sets up a story which is going to involve death. Four friends out at a fairground, having a laugh, everything seems normal. Then the female protagonist takes a picture on her camera, which she then looks back at and find something weird has happened; the camera had blanked out the word 'V' in 'DIVE', leaving the word 'DIE'. We then see the girl confused and slightly on edge. This hints to the audience that something is going to die and starts to create a mystery.
It reassures the audience of the typical Genre : The dark/night-time atmosphere which forbodes something bad, the pinball falls into the 'Death Hole' letting the audience know that there will be death involved in this film, there's a shot close to a graphic match from the Death Hole to the top of the ride, its not exact but there's some sort of match, the eery fairground music which creates a tense and uncomfortable atmosphere, the paralellism editing form the pinball to the fairground images.
It sets up enigmas which can be answered later :
Who's going to die?
Why they going to die?
Why has the camera blanked out the 'V'?
Was it the camera that blanked it out?
Why did the pinball fall into the 'Death Hole'?
Why didn't the female protagonist go on the ride?
What will happen next?
From this sequence I have learnt a good way to set up initail enigmas which will leave the audience thinking, also I have looked into more detail the typical codes and conventions that a good Crime/Thriller will need to consist of. All these codes and conventions will hopefully be used in my project.
Lauren
2 comments:
who posted this? It needs to be a little more specific - how does it establish character? what characters are created and how? What exactly creates the disruption? what enigmas drive the audience on? may be worth noting when this film came out, who directed it, what genre it is and why you felt it was worht investigating...Could you post it as a video clip?
Nicely analysed - now try to add at the end what you feel you can learn from this and apply to your own sequence? (Mrs D)
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