Shutter Island Opening Credit Sequence Analysis

The credits of a scene begin with a slow fade into a dimly lit corridor, complimented with a dark , suspenseful and marked non-diegetic score which begins to create tension, this is coupled with the blood red, Gothic stylized font. The text in itself is used to convey the genre to the audience, the mix of the unsettling, stereotypical font colour and the red tinge the letters have immediately imply the film is a thriller/horror movie. The prominence of the text is instantly displayed due the dim lighting the audience's attention is drawn to it immediately drawn to it.

Then there is a quick fade to a 360 degree pan of a spiral staircase, the pan is at a fast speed. This adds an element of illusion and confusion for the audience, whilst also disorientating them as they almost feel as they are being hypnotized. There is also, again the use of small lighting which adds to the enigma that the movie attempts to induce the audience into, not allowing much to be revealed to the audience. The spinning aspect to the camera movement gives the sense of disorientation and further enforces the idea the film will deal with psychological effects.

 A quick fade is used again and fades to a close up shot of a   hand struggling to move a tile. The identity of the person   remains hidden, and the tension that the hand has to the tile alludes some sort of a physical struggle, allowing for a sense of desperation to be created. It is also interesting to note that the credit in this shot, is white rather than red. This may be because they are trying to convey the motifs of "good vs. bad." This is due to the contrast between the connotations of red and white which has connotations of purity and innocence. It is also placed more centrally on the screen, suggesting it has more importance than the

other credits.

The final shot is the title shown in big, bold red letters, it is animated to seem as it is veering toward the audience which adds to the visual tension. The fact that the title zooms to take up the majority of the screen, reinforces the importance of the title and places it's importance above all of the other credits. It is also a convention of most film title sequences for the title to take up the whole/majority of the screen. The use of the colouring of black and red foreshadows the possible violence to come as the connotations of red, mixed with the connotations of the colour black (death and darkness). 

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Preliminary Task

In our groups we were required to create a short film that was under 60 seconds. Our group, of four people, two actors and two cameramen, decided to film a short, slick and fast paced scene to intrigue but also to allow experimentation with cinematography. 

The task requirement were to include examples of:

• Shot-reverse-shot
• Match-on-action

And to make sure we stuck to the 180 degree rule.

Successful aspects:

• All shots that were required in the brief were used to a good standard
• A variety of different camera shots were used
• The editing that was done was done too a really good standard and was continuous 
• The shot-reverse-shot and match-on-action were timed well 

Points for improvement:

• Pay closer to the mise-en-scene
• Be careful with background noise
• Use a higher quality camera

Codes and Conventions of Film Openings: Key Shot Timeline

I also looked at the four openings and drew a timeline of the events and symbols I felt were significant in the opening

AMELIE OPENING:

• The first film's opening that I viewed, Amelie, had it's genre hinted subtly throughout, the use of the colour red and the setting, Paris, have connotations of love and romance.  It conforms to the conventions commonly found in romantic films with narration giving exposition to the audience it also uses flashback, commonly used throughout film openings, they also allow exposition to be delivered visually. The use of close ups, which are deliberately unstable, implies the film will have a more natural tone.  

RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE OPENING:

• Though its shares the use of the colour red with Amelie, the connotations it presents are completely different to those of Amelie. The use of the colour red is used the convey the danger and death that's going to be a key aspect of the film; hinting at the film coming from the Zombie genre. Umbrellas are a key prop used throughout the scene, it is later revealed the company behind the zombie outbreak is called, "The Umbrella Cooperation."

             

JURASSIC PARK OPENING:

• Thirdly, I looked at the opening from Jurassic Park and noted that all the elements in the film are used to create suspense. Colours were also used throughout this opening, the use of cold, bland colours, such as grey, created an uneasy mood and suggested a more serious sinister tone. The shot reverse shot used between the raptor and the leader of the site implies the two characters will have a connection later in the film and is used to convey the power of the raptor as the man appears afraid 

THE HURT LOCKER OPENING:

• Finally I looked at the opening from The Hurt Locker. I noticed that the main way tension was built was through the camera shots that were used, only ever using close ups and long distanced shots. The use of this contrast gave a sense of unease.  

 Adam Cutler. 

Codes and Conventions of Film Openings: Prominence Graphs

In class, we were given the task of watching various film openings of different genres to compare the prominence of different aspects of the scene; elements. In the graphs, time is represented on the 'x' axis and level of prominence is on the 'y' axis. On each graph, there are three lines:

                                                     - Blue represents Genre
                                                     - Red represents Tension
                                                     - Green represents Sound

Amelie Opening: 

•  Attention of the audience is gained through the lack of change in prominence in any of the elements chosen, subverts from conventional openings and is intriguing. Though genre is not made apparent within this opening, the use of the colour red which has connotations of love and the fact that it is set in Pairs could indicate the romantic genre of the film.

 

Resident Evil: Afterlife Opening:

•  Tension is gradually built throughout the scene, sound fluctuates used to supplement tension and suspense and genre spikes suddenly at the climax of tension when the genre is revealed. Audience is caught by the slow build o.f tension; conforms to the conventional openings as sound is prominent. 

Jurassic Park Opening:

•  Sound and Tension are quite prominent through out as each act as a compliment to the other, genre isn't revealed until the end which acts as a method of intriguing the audience. Obeys traditional conventions for film openings    

The Hurt Locker Opening:

• Genre is made apparent from the beginning of the scene - war. Tension is complimented by the genre as wars are often tense. There's a distinct lack of non-diegetic music, the film creates a verisimilitude by using diegetic noises as its primary sound source.  

Some general codes and convention observed were:

- Sound is generally prominent
- Tension must be present, and increases throughout the opening
- Narrative voice-over is extremely common
- Genre greatly affects the amount of action and tension in the scene




(this was completed by me on my own - I've allowed the group to use my graphs as reference)