Storyboard for Opening Sequence

Casting of Characters

Casting for Opening Sequence

We wanted our protagonist, Emily, to have a sort of typical teenage girl look. We wanted her to look kind of innocent so that the audience would be more likely to give her sympathy, but we also didn't want her to look too young and vulnerable. Therefore we preferenced a girl with blonde hair to portray that innocence, but she shouldn't have a 'baby-face' look so that it is clear she is a young adult. The costume of our character will have more influence on how she will be portrayed because we plan to dress her in darker colours not bright colours, so that it is clear that the movie will be dark, which will help to show the genre to the audience.

Our choice was our friend Lauren. She was also in our preliminary task, is in our class so she was a very convenient choice. She was also available to film when we planned to, and said that she wouldn't mind being in our opening sequence. However, the main reason that we chose her is because she has the look that we're going for; she has blonde hair and owns the clothes for the costume that we want to use, and she is also 17, so she looks like a young adult. Our choice in casting was effective, because she is in our class and she also studies drama, so we were able to explain to her exactly what we wanted her to do so she is able to play the part perfectly.

For the character of 'Abby', who plays 'Emily's' friend, whom she calls, she wouldn't be seen in the sequence, so we wanted a character with a 'teenage' voice, who could voice act well. We decided to go with our friend Monique for this character, as she also studies drama, so she will be able to accurately do the phone call scene. She is also a convenient choice because she is also in our class as well.

The final character choice was the masked character. For this option, we preferably wanted someone who studied drama as well, and someone who was able to have a kind of creepy/messy look. However, we asked around, and no one else was available for when we wanted to film. Therefore, we decided to go with Tinika, who is in our group. This was an effective choice, because she also studies drama, and also knows exactly what we want this character to do/look like. She also has long, puffy hair, which we can make look very wild, so that the audience is shocked by her look. She would also need to be present when we filmed because she is part of our group, so overall she was a good choice. However, because she will be co-directing but also a part of the production, we may be delayed whilst filming so we can both watch back the footage and make sure it is accurate.

DRAFT - Opening Sequence

This is the first draft of our opening sequence. It is not final because it is based on one of our film ideas (idea number one), that we wanted to test out. Our idents aren't completed yet, so we have inserted some draft names of what they will be. We have also decided that this genre (horror) isn't what we want to go with for our final piece. This is partly because we want to make it more thriller based, but also we had a lot of difficulty whilst filming it was dark outside because our camera couldn't focus and we ended up filming with my iPhone instead. This made our production look less professional because we couldn't use a tripod and I had to make sure I held my phone as still as possible to get a good effect. However, we don't want the final production to be steadycam. Overall, this draft ended up not looking how we wanted it do and so we must pick a new film date.

PSYCHO - Analysis

Psycho (1960)

• The story is based on the 1959 novel by Robert Bloch.
• STARRING - Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam, John McIntire, Janet Leigh.
• PRODUCED BY - Alfred Hitchcock
• STUDIO - Shamley Productions
• DISTRIBUTED BY - Paramount Pictures
• RELEASE - 16 June 1960 (US), 4 August 1960 (UK)
• BUDGET - $806,947
• BOX OFFICE - $50,000,000

One of the main elements of this opening sequence is the sound that is used. The non-diegetic, asynchronous sound begins straight away and is very dramatic. This may create tension in the audience and make them wonder what the film has to offer and what will come next. The sound also suits the genre of the film as a psychological thriller because it is very startling. 

Most of the opening sequence is taken up by the titles of the film. However, they still have an effect because there is a continuous pattern of lines throughout. This may present a 'harsh' effect because of this pattern. As well as this, the opening is in black and white, and although all films would be in black and white at this time, there is no soft grey tones, only black and white. As well as this, the titles in the opening sequence single out the important people involved in production. For example, the main female role's name comes up in bigger writing than other characters.

When the title sequence ends, the music automatically softens and the establishing shot is a big city, shown in a long shot, which pans around so the audience is able to see. The town looks quite big, and the music is softer, which contrasts the soundtrack in the beginning. This could confuse the audience and make them curious as to what will happen in the film and why the music was so dramatic before.

Editing is fast-paced and creates this along with the cinematography of the camera getting closer to a window at the end of the opening sequence creates an effect of the audience being intrusive about what is going on inside of the room.

SHUTTER ISLAND - Analysis

Shutter Island (2010)

• This thriller is based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane.
• STARRING - Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Patricia Clarkson, Max von Sydow.
• PRODUCED BY - Mike Medavoy, Arnold W. Messer, Bradley J. Fischer, Martin Scorsese.
• STUDIO - Paramount Pictures, Phoenix Pictures, Sikelia Productions, Appian Way
• DISTRIBUTED BY - Paramount Pictures
• RELEASE - 19 February 2010 (US), 12 March 2010 (UK)
• BUDGET - $80 million
• BOX OFFICE - $294,804,195

The opening sequence of this film does not include any titles, apart from the production companies ident then the film title. It then goes straight into the establishing shot, which is a long shot view of the sea. There is visible fog in the setting, however it fades and a boat is seen in the shot. The first character introduced is the protagonist, played by Leonardo DiCaprio. The diegetic, asynchronous sound of him retching is heard before he is seen in the film. We can see that he is in the boat and can assume that he has sea sickness as he ways to himself "pull yourself together, Teddy...it's just water".

We know that the film is set in a different time, because there is text shown that says 'Boston Harbour Islands 1954'. However, this is also evident by the costumes of the characters. The first two characters seen are both in suits with top hats and long trench coats, which aren't clothes that are worn in the modern world.

Once the two first characters leave arrive at Shutter Island, there is dramatic non-diegetic asynchronous music that starts to play, which gets louder. This clearly suggests that they are entering a dangerous place and that there is a situation that the audience don't know about yet.

The police officers on Shutter Island are all armed and look unsettled. The police officer gives the main protagonist directions and finishes his dialogue off with "is that understood?" which suggests that the protagonist doesn't have much control over himself and he does not have much power in the film. This is evident by the fact that he was ill in the very beginning so he may be fragile, and he clearly follows the orders given to him by others.

These elements of the sequence compliment the film's genre as a mystery/thriller because the audience is unaware of what the problem is and why there are so many police officers at Shutter Island and why they're so on edge.

In relation to editing, the opening uses continuity editing but an interesting element to it is that it is quite slow in the very beginning. However, as the characters reach Shutter Island, the speed picks up in order to create tension in the audience.

The BBFC Certificate of Our Film

The BBFC certificate is a key aspect of making a film. It will determine who is restricted from watching the film and therefore it has a big effect on the audience. An example is a film aimed at children that is given a 15 rating. This would mean that the target audience wouldn't be able to view the film.

As our film is aimed at young adults, it would be ideal for us to maintain a 15 rating because it would allow our target audience to view the film in cinemas as well as purchase it to be viewed at home.

According to the BBFC website, our film can include a "strong threat and horror as long as there is no sustained focus on sadistic or sexualised threat". Our opening sequence doesn't have a string threat to horror, but there are elements that make it evident that the genre isn't suitable for children. The BBFC website says that "a work which has a very dark or unsettling tone which could disturb the audience" is less likely to be passed at a 12/12A rating. Our film would be viewed as unsettling and maybe could disturb a younger audience, so a 15 rating rather than a 12/12A option is a good choice for our sequence.

The audience could see strong violence or hear strong language, but none of this is included in our actual sequence, so it could most likely be classed as a 15 rating. If we did plan to include violence or strong language, we could potentially use a great deal. However, our sequence doesn't tackle a lot of the 15 specification, so we shouldn't have to struggle with any particular elements.

Alfred Hitchcock - Suspense and Thriller

Suspense and Thriller - Alfred Hitchcock

Hitchcock was a very famous director and producer, who was nicknamed "The Master of Suspense". He had a very successful career and developed a fashion of directing which made him more recognisable; he involved trademarks such as camera movement resembling a persons gaze to maximise anxiety and fear. This helped audiences to become familiar with his work.Many of his films have twisted storylines, which involve themes from psychoanalysis.Three of his most popular films were Psycho, Rear Window and Vertigo.  I have looked at the film openings of these three films and have used them to help me plan for when I create my own thriller film opening.