 |
These pictures were chosen because they suited our target audience and what their interests are, what they do in their free time etc.. the best. The Facebook and Twitter logos were chosen due to our target audience using the internet a lot in their free time. There are also instruments like a guitar and music notes around the mood board due to our target audience taking an interest in music and musical instruments. Books are there because are target audience like to read and are still taking part in an education. All of the images on the mood board are representative of what our target audience are like and gives us more of an overview of what kind of people we are aiming our film opening at. To help gather these images we used a focus group and an interview to allow us to know more about the demographics. |
 |
| Alfred Hitchcock |
 |
Over time, psychological thrillers have become much more
At the start of this opening we are gradually, slowly moving towards a pair of bright white curtains in a very dark, low key room, this builds up the enigma due to us thinking something will be behind the curtains, we ask ourselves questions like, why are we being shown this? As we get closer to the curtains the non-diegetic ticking noise gets louder and more rapid, then the camera gets so close to the curtains and fades out to edit to another scene, it feels as if we have gone through the curtains ourselves. There is a bunch of people all covered in red stuff, we have no idea what it is and why people are being the way that they are, we have no idea what is going on. There is the sound of screaming and shouts but they are very blurred and everything is very slow, almost like a dream state. When the woman wakes up, she knocks some pills on the floor, see them with a close up shot connoting their importance, what are they for? Then she goes outside and there is red stuff like the very beginning of the film, all over her house, why? Has she done something wrong? Is she not liked? Does she not live in a nice neighbourhood? There is then a straight cut to a new house where it is almost as if we are walking towards the little girl, this is handheld camera movement, when we get to the girl we see that she is wearing an eye patch, why? what happened? But whilst we are going towards the girl it seems as if something is going to happen or jump out due to the eeriness, quietness and sneakiness and the only sound that can be heard is the girl singing, when she turns around we have no idea who it is that she is looking at, we want to know. 
Everything from camera movements and edits are slow, especially at the very beginning which creates a dream like state and creates enigma and connotes that it is trying to show us something and that it is important. Also, the slowness could be due to us needing to familiarize ourselves with these characters and need to absorb whatever we can about them. The woman, who seems to be somewhat unstable, has the most slow edits and movements connoting that she hasn't got much to live for and just takes everything slowly and as it comes.
There are shots of a park, boy on a swing and his mother,which would fade in and out to reveal the opening credits. The music throughout this part is very soft and sweet and gives off the impression of relaxation and peace and gives no impression that this is going to be a psychological thriller. But, on the other hand, when we get a shot of the mother the music darkens and deepens connoting that the mother isn't all she seems, but she gives a different impression when with her son. The music goes back to normal not long after. These fade ins and outs keep us on the edge of our seats because we are expecting something to happen because it is building tension. There are a few long shots which makes the viewer feel as if they are watching them we are also hardly ever up close to the mother and son creating the feeling of us watching them, then there was a medium shot of a man in a black jumper in the bushes watching the mother and son, why? He keeps checking his watch, why? We end up asking ourselves questions like why is someone after a mother and son, they look completely harmless, especially a child. when the mother gets murdered we once again ask, why? Why kill her? She has a son! Why do it in front of him?! She seems lovely and innocent and loves her son. Also the man in the bushes stands and watches this event happen, why doesn't he help?! We find out why after the titles are finished with.
We get introduced to the mother and son and a masked murderer, we also get introduced to the man in the bushes who turns out to be the hero, he has special abilities where he can sort of go back in time, witness a crime and then help the police solve the case. After the titles, we learn this with the help of seeing him hooked up in a bath to a bunch of wires and is being helped by a woman but we do not know their relationship status with one another, but we learn her name because she says it aloud in a condescending, mimicking tone to him. We are introduced to all these characters but can't fully make any links as of yet. 
After the credits have finished we are welcomed with a black screen and then introduced to a woman walking down into the cellar (a stock setting of this genre) there is then a huge contrast when she walks back upstairs to a romantic,cozy, living room (binary opposite) When the couple go upstairs into the bedroom, the phone is buzzing because it has been disconnected and has fell on the floor and the window has been smashed, why?? The slow movement of a shadow and the woman's little scream and the slow paced camera movements when the man is walking to see who is in the bathroom builds up enigma and tension due to us wanting to know who is in there and we are curious as to why someone has broken into their house. The music throughout then starts to get a little louder and much more faster. When the young man shoots the male protagonist everything is silent and then the gun shot is very loud in comparison, we are then looking down on the characters and are shown that the man is in fact wounded and everything slows down, this creates enigma because we do not know if he is going to live or die because it fades out to a black screen and the music gets much louder.
The characters are introduced very well in this opening sequence, due to us finding out a lot of information about the characters and their relationships. We learn that the protagonist (the man) works in child psychology via his award (showing that he is good at what he does) and the young man in his bathroom, we also find out a lot about the young man in the bathroom even though he isn't a major character, but by having him tell us about himself we get an idea as to what the protagonist's job is and also what he is like as a character, he seems empathetic and wants to help, we are shown this by his speech and how there is a close up on his face and we see his emotions towards the situation. The young man also helps to build up the plot of the story due to shooting the protagonist because it creates a huge plot twist at the end of the film. 'The Next Fall' we learn that the protagonist is indeed alive and we are also straight away introduced to a young boy and learn a lot about him without actually meeting him or hear him speak, due to the close up on the psychology report, also because we know the protagonist is a therapist/councillor, and he has a psychology report on the young boy, we learn that this young boy is a little out sorts and needs some sort of help. 
Everything from camera shots, movement and editing is very slow paced creating tension and building up the unknown, even when the frantic and dangerous situation is happening everything still seems slow paced due to wanting to create enigma and tension. Even the credits at the beginning are slow paced. When the young man shoots himself in the head we get a slow pan across the wall and do not see his death but know he shoots himself because of the bullet sound and putting the gun to his head, this acts as if there is no rush and that nothing bad has just happened and even when the young woman runs to the bed it gets slowed down. 
The shooting at the start of is the most major plot set up of the film, even though you don't really realise until the end of the film, if your clever and observant enough you may notice it earlier.If this shooting did not happen, we would not have gotten the information that we did and the plot and ending would have had to have changed and wouldn't have been what it is. Seeing the little boy and psychologists report also sets up the plot because we then know that the film is going to revolve around this little boy and his cognitive issues and the male protagonist is going to help because we learnt earlier on that he is a child psychologist.
The credits are the first things to appear on the screen and from this we get a sense of mystery and suspense because we have no idea what is going to occur after these credits, what we are going to see and who we are going to be introduced to. The music was very subtle to start off with but would get a bit louder, pitchier or chilling when intense events were happening like when the protagonist was trying to talk to the young man also when the young man was talking and got angry. At the start in the living room there is some slow jazz music creating a relaxing vibe and romantic vibe, the lighting is high key connoting that they feel safe and love one another. Whereas in the bedroom, the lighting is quite low key creating a scary intense atmosphere. When realisation occured and when the young man was talking about himself, the music got faster and louder, and we start to sympathise with him, music cuts off so when we hear the bullets they have more effect and sound much louder and we notice them more.
There is the use of very slow camera movements at first and we are shown some rooms in someone's apartment, it is like we are walking through it ourselves. We are wondering who's apartment it is. When we get introduced to the owner there is a voice over and he starts talking about himself and very intricate details about himself, also some very pointless information, we once again begin to question, why is he telling us all this information? There isn't much enigma created in this opening sequence apart from just leaving us with a bunch of questions and wanting to know what will happen next after he has taken his 'mask' off. 
We learn a lot about the one character we get introduced to, a young male, whom seems to be the protagonist of the film. We are introduced to him by a voice over and him going to the toilet and seeing his reflection in a painting, by zooming in slowly. Even though we only learn small, minute details which seem pointless we get to know a lot about him and how he does seem quite unusual. We find out his name, age, where he lives and on what floor, and then what he does to look after himself and his routine. We see that he is a very clean person and is very tidy, for instance, when we have the over the shoulder shot and see into his cabinet, everything is in a tidy, arranged order also all his rooms are white and pristine, connoting that he does care about himself, his looks and how he lives etc.When he is putting and taking off his 'mask', this is the first time we get a proper close up on his face and see what he looks like, this connotes that he seems to be something that he isn't, everything is just a cherade. 
Everything is very slow paced and very calm, the non-diegetic classical music in the background is quite loud and overpowering, even till the end the camera shots and movements are are slow paced and the use of the straight cuts creates verisimilitude. The only thing that really changes is the non-diegetic soundtrack which changes from piano music to a slower and colder soundtrack connoting that not all is as it seems and builds up the tension and enigma and makes us want to know what is going to happen next. The pace is slow just like his routine, and the rhythm doesn't change either, everything is stable until the end, connoting that this man is not as he seems. The voice over speed and rhythm is the same throughout this opening also and is quite slow and can hear every word he is saying and take notice of what it is that he is saying, but as the music slows down his tone also changes and not the same as it was before connoting that he lives two lives symbolised by the removing of the mask. 
