The sequence creates interest for the viewer through the dialogue. We hear this when the male narrator says 'When I think of my wife, I picture cracking her lovely skull'. This creates immediate interest as we think that the husband perhaps ahs some sinister plan to kill his wife, and she doesn't know it. This also shows the characteristics of the husband, that he is perhaps violent and aggressive in his nature. This would interests the viewer because they want to see some action and excitement in the film.
The opening sequence establishes the setting by having shots of the beach (which tells us that they are in rural and secluded setting) and the town that the couple live in. This shows where the film is mainly going to take place (at least that is what the viewer would expect when you see a dozen shots of a town in the opening sequence). The characters are introduced through the shot of the wife looking up at her husband. This shows her as perhaps dependant on her husband, shown through her clinging to him. Also, her staring at him might show how she idolises him and is deeply in love with him. The husband is introduced through the shots of him at the end of his drive way, seemingly looking for something/someone. This shows him as quite curious and eccentric.
The opening sequence establishes tone through the use of lighting. We see this throughout where the lighting is very dim with a cold, blue tint. This implies that the film will be quite cold and dark.
Not much of the opening sequence tells a story. It merely establishes the setting and characters. I thought this was quite effective because it leaves you wondering what the film is about and makes you want to watch on to see why everything is the way it is.
It starts off with the 20th Century Fox and Regency animations, then followed by titles of the two companies and the directors name. Then we see the first shot where the wife is lying on her husband. This tells me that in my opening to consider putting the institutions before the first shot of the opening.
AMELIE (2001)
The opening sequence of Amelie creates interest for the viewer by having a montage of various, quirky things that kids do (such as eating strawberries off fingers and peeling glue off her finger). Through the use of this montage, we see what the character is like and what she will be like throughout the film. This sets the film up in a light-hearted and innocent way.
There isn't a narrative going on in this sequence, it's simply a young girl going about her day like any kid would. For the audience, this makes them feel somewhat relaxed as it eases them into the film before the main story actually starts.
The background in this scene is quite dim and dull. This suggest that the film may have a dark tone to it, which is in contrast to the innocent girl having fun. Also, in every shot, it looks as though the shadow is circling her. This may suggest she is trapped or has something she wants to escape from.
The opening sequence of Zombieland creates interest for the viewer by having the narrator list a set of steps to survive a zombie apocalypse. This engages the viewer as they are being taught something that they know is possible, but don't know how to handle. Perhaps some might watch it wanting work on these survival tips to become better prepared for an apocalypse, which increases the immersion and interest value of the opening.
We don't particularly see much of a narrative. The narrator sets the scene by describing the America we all know as 'the United States of Zombieland'. This gives the audience context as to what has happened before and now they know what threat the healthy minority (not infected citizens) have to fight against to survive.
We see a montage of clips of people running away from zombies. Even though the scenario would be terrifying for anyone in the audience in that situation, but the contrapuntal music and the facial expressions of the people are quite amusing.
In a sense, the opening sequence has a dark humour to it (shown with a zombie burping after eating a human), this tells the audience that the film they are watching will be in the same light, joking about in a dangerous situation.
UNFRIENDED (2014)
The opening sequence to this film shows a person on the website 'Live Leak', watching a video on the suicide of 'Laura Barns' (in which Laura shoots herself in a courtyard). The title of the video has a link to a video that 'forced her to kill herself'. The video shows Laura blindly drunk being harassed and filmed by a group of teenagers at a party. The video is then interrupted by a skype call from 'Mitch'.
Interest is created in the viewers because after seeing the two videos, we want to see why Laura was disliked so much and we want to find out more about why the person on the computer is watching something this distressing (perhaps the person is linked to Laura in some way). It also creates interest as we are seeing the film from a very different perspective, as the pc screen. The audience can now place themselves in the shoes of the character in front of the computer and as a result feel more immersed in the scene. Presumably, most of the audience has watched a video on the internet before, so this further engages the viewer.
Similar to the other opening sequences I've studied, not a lot of the narrative happens in the initial scene, this makes the audience want to find out the who, what, when, where, why and how's of Laura's suicide.
The distribution company Universal Pictures (owned by NBCUniversal) title animation comes on before the first scene. However, it was edited to suggest that someone or something was hacking into it (the screen starts to glitch and appear pixelated). This not only sets the tone for the film as mysterious and enigmatic, but also show the audience that not even the big companies can escape from the 'hacker'. This makes the characters in the film chances of stopping them almost impossible.
NOW YOU SEE ME (2014)
In this opening sequence, we are introduced to four magicians. The first who performs a card trick, the second performs hypnosis, the third slight-of-hand and the fourth escapology. This establishes the main characters for the movie and we get to see each of the characters specialties. This could create interest in the viewer because they can see how manipulative they are and how they can misdirect someone to into believing on thing but not focusing on the main thing (this is similar with the third characters scene where the man doesn't realise his wallet is gone until it's too late). Also, the audience might consider magic to be an impressive spectacle, this opening scene shows tricks that could potentially get better as the film goes on, which would excite the viewer.
The opening sequence sets the tone and atmosphere for the film as comedic and mysterious. This is done through lines like 'Every time you see, or even think of Janet, you're going to picture me naked' and 'The closer you look, the less you see'. These lines tell the audience that not only the film, but the characters will be funny and enigmatic. I like the idea presented here and will look to put it into my opening sequence.
AMELIE (2001)
The opening sequence of Amelie creates interest for the viewer by having a montage of various, quirky things that kids do (such as eating strawberries off fingers and peeling glue off her finger). Through the use of this montage, we see what the character is like and what she will be like throughout the film. This sets the film up in a light-hearted and innocent way.
There isn't a narrative going on in this sequence, it's simply a young girl going about her day like any kid would. For the audience, this makes them feel somewhat relaxed as it eases them into the film before the main story actually starts.
The background in this scene is quite dim and dull. This suggest that the film may have a dark tone to it, which is in contrast to the innocent girl having fun. Also, in every shot, it looks as though the shadow is circling her. This may suggest she is trapped or has something she wants to escape from.
ZOMBIELAND (2009)
The opening sequence of Zombieland creates interest for the viewer by having the narrator list a set of steps to survive a zombie apocalypse. This engages the viewer as they are being taught something that they know is possible, but don't know how to handle. Perhaps some might watch it wanting work on these survival tips to become better prepared for an apocalypse, which increases the immersion and interest value of the opening.
We don't particularly see much of a narrative. The narrator sets the scene by describing the America we all know as 'the United States of Zombieland'. This gives the audience context as to what has happened before and now they know what threat the healthy minority (not infected citizens) have to fight against to survive.
We see a montage of clips of people running away from zombies. Even though the scenario would be terrifying for anyone in the audience in that situation, but the contrapuntal music and the facial expressions of the people are quite amusing.
In a sense, the opening sequence has a dark humour to it (shown with a zombie burping after eating a human), this tells the audience that the film they are watching will be in the same light, joking about in a dangerous situation.
UNFRIENDED (2014)
The opening sequence to this film shows a person on the website 'Live Leak', watching a video on the suicide of 'Laura Barns' (in which Laura shoots herself in a courtyard). The title of the video has a link to a video that 'forced her to kill herself'. The video shows Laura blindly drunk being harassed and filmed by a group of teenagers at a party. The video is then interrupted by a skype call from 'Mitch'.
Interest is created in the viewers because after seeing the two videos, we want to see why Laura was disliked so much and we want to find out more about why the person on the computer is watching something this distressing (perhaps the person is linked to Laura in some way). It also creates interest as we are seeing the film from a very different perspective, as the pc screen. The audience can now place themselves in the shoes of the character in front of the computer and as a result feel more immersed in the scene. Presumably, most of the audience has watched a video on the internet before, so this further engages the viewer.
Similar to the other opening sequences I've studied, not a lot of the narrative happens in the initial scene, this makes the audience want to find out the who, what, when, where, why and how's of Laura's suicide.
The distribution company Universal Pictures (owned by NBCUniversal) title animation comes on before the first scene. However, it was edited to suggest that someone or something was hacking into it (the screen starts to glitch and appear pixelated). This not only sets the tone for the film as mysterious and enigmatic, but also show the audience that not even the big companies can escape from the 'hacker'. This makes the characters in the film chances of stopping them almost impossible.
NOW YOU SEE ME (2014)
In this opening sequence, we are introduced to four magicians. The first who performs a card trick, the second performs hypnosis, the third slight-of-hand and the fourth escapology. This establishes the main characters for the movie and we get to see each of the characters specialties. This could create interest in the viewer because they can see how manipulative they are and how they can misdirect someone to into believing on thing but not focusing on the main thing (this is similar with the third characters scene where the man doesn't realise his wallet is gone until it's too late). Also, the audience might consider magic to be an impressive spectacle, this opening scene shows tricks that could potentially get better as the film goes on, which would excite the viewer.
The opening sequence sets the tone and atmosphere for the film as comedic and mysterious. This is done through lines like 'Every time you see, or even think of Janet, you're going to picture me naked' and 'The closer you look, the less you see'. These lines tell the audience that not only the film, but the characters will be funny and enigmatic. I like the idea presented here and will look to put it into my opening sequence.
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