Aparition Thriller Opening Sequence Test Shoot

Initial Idea : Apparition

Apparition focuses on the death of an elderly woman who dies in a car crash before the time period in which the film is set.

An unknown person laying flowers on to the old woman's grave sets the scene The film continues with a teenage boy aged 17 walking through a back gate, opening and then closing it. The boy then goes to unlock the door goes to open it, walks through the door into the conservatory then closing the door behind him. He walks into the kitchen and hears noises upstairs. Flashing images of graves and the old woman can be seen. He goes upstairs and nothing can be seen.

Thriller idea - Rebecca Gibson

A man is sitting on a chair in a kitchen, staring vacantly into the distance. This one shoot is inter-cut with shots of different people's faces, family photographs, and news paper headlines.
People seem to appear behind the man in the chair and reach out to touch him (they would be slightly opaque).

Another man walks into the room behind the man in the chair and touches his shoulder - as he walks past, the "ghosts" disappear. The man in the chair continues to stare vacantly until the other man, slams his coffee cup onto the kitchen counter - the sharp noise "wakes him up".
POV shot of man sitting in chair looking forward at the other man, standing up and leaning against the counter. The man standing up asks "You okay?".

Production logo ideas

Addam's Idea (Hexic Cinema)


Rebecca's Idea (25 Films)

Will's production idea (Melting Time Studios)

Craig's idea 25 productions

Case 342 Sound Analysis

Case 342 uses non diegetic (however diegetic when in the police station) sound through a sound bridge (between the beginning scene in which they are in a police station and the scene where he is in the house) The non diegetic narration is contrapuntal to the visual aspect.

Case 342 also has ambient sound as it's background soundtrack to build tension and suspense. There is no music and is instead replaced with this ambient sound to build the atmosphere. The ambient sound stops when the door is answered at the end of the clip.

The diegetic sound can be heard aswell but is quieter than the narration. This is more apparent when ambient track finishes and the door knocking can be heard.

The Adjustment Buearu - Opening Sequence Analysis

In the opening sequence of The Adjustment Burearu, the Universal logo is shown telling us that it is a Universal production. The Media Rights Capital logo is shown also, telling the viewer that they had involvement in the film as well. The Adjustment Bureau is written on a black background which tells us the title of the film. After these opening logos, the main protagonist of the film is shown with non-diegetic sound in the background, giving us information as to who the character is (a senator). There are various shots of the main character, David Norris, in New York. (This is is also apparent that he's in New York by the diegetic sound. These shots suggest that he is an important character. It also gives the viewer the impression that he has a successful life.

These opening shots are unconventional of a thriller as there isn't much of an apparent construction of enigmas. However, there is a close-up shot of a man (with a contrasting facial expression to the people around him, making him seem mysterious). The next shot is of a newspaper article reading 'David Norris' exposed. This makes us, the viewer interested and want to know more, thus creating an enigma. The sound changes after this scene from rock music to a mysterious ambient soundtrack and the man shown in the previous scene answering a phone without mentioning anything specific (as though he is talking in the middle of a conversation). This also makes us want to know more and creates another enigma, increasing the mystery around this character. The room in which he is in, is dark and there is nothing recognisable about the location that he is in, creating another mysterious element to the character.

The pace of the cuts from scene to scene also changes at this point. Before the scene with the man in the dark room answering the phone, the pace of the cuts was fairly fast paced giving the impression that David had become successful in a short amount of time. (Establishing a character that we can sympathise with when we find out his career may be in danger, and then later on in the film when the real peril is established) to a much slower pace with the introduction of the non-diegetic ambient music in the background when the newpaper article about David Norris. This changes the atmosphere of the film from fairly relaxed and optimistic to that of suspenseful and serious.

The clothes that David is wearing in the opening sequence are typical of his job (senator). He wears a suit and a formal looking coat. The mysterious character wears a suit also, giving the impression that he is an important character and maybe has high status. However, the mysterious character also wears a flat cap, not usually associated with someone of this high status and seems somewhat unfitting of his suit, raising questions.

When David is in his apartment watching the television the non-diegetic music in the background is suspenseful and creates the impression that David is waiting for something. (This is because there is nothing that seems obviously suspenseful so the viewer makes assumptions as to what the character is doing.)

David is watching a news report on the television about a photo of him that was found pulling a prank when he was at college (this is what the newspaper was about in a previous scene). There is an element of mystery created by this as we are not shown what the photo is of.

The next scene contains four men all dressed similarly (in formal looking coats, with suits and formal looking hats). The mysterious looking character that was in the previous scenes is in this scene also. He is carrying the book that he had in the previous scene and because of this, gives us the suggestion that the book is important, and makes us want to know what it is for. The men are watching something from a rooftop, but what they are looking at is not shown, creating yet another enigma.

The camera angles used in the opening sequence show a lot of high angle establishing shots showing the location in a way that the audience would associate with stereotypical New York. The filming style at the beginning is similar to how a new programme may film a political piece (it still has clear cinematic filming conventions however). This changes when the newspaper article is shown to a much more typically cinematic style. Helping to change the pace and help enhance the enigmas being created within the opening sequence.

In conclusion, the opening sequence isn't entirely conventional of the thriller genre. It constructs various enigmas and mysteries throughout, but it does not give an insight to the main enigma of the film that is revealed later on. The music is conventional of the thriller genre, helping to add suspense as well as the filming style, with the main subjects in each shot being well lit (as opposed to an example of another genre, such as horror in which there would be various close-up shots of character's expressions). The introduction of characters is however conventional of the thriller genre, creating something that the main antagonist must overcome in the film.

Thriller Opening Sequence - No Country for Old Men by Addam Morley

The information in the opening sequence is conveyed mainly through a characters monologue. You know that he became sheriff at 25, there is also a killer who had killed a 14 year old girl. Images in the background also set the scene in this opening sequence which is somewhere in the United states.

Main secrets which are in this opening sequence are: Why did this man kill this girl, what does the sheriff do. These may unfold why this killing happened and why the title suggest that there is no country for old men.

Through sound they was the diegetic monologue of the main character explaining some of the story and how he became a sheriff (Protagonist possibly. The atmosphere made it seem that it was an alright place to be in as he did not talk about the crime to much but it seemed a calm opening to a film.

Mise en scene helped set the scene by the arid landscapes in the background setting the film in a more sandy desert area of the USA and also the sheriffs car was of typical nature by having the lights and the paint work of what would be expected for a police in this area. Also uniform where you can see the sheriff which shows authority o he may be the main character and also the dominance in his body language as he is taking a citizen into the car.

Throughout the opening sequence the editing was very basic by using ordinary cuts to set the location of where this production is set. There were no inappropriate editing which made it lose its feeling of a thriller.

Again cinematography was very basic in the sense that there was mainly establishing shots to set the scene and aslo the long shot as the two characters walk away and you think where exactly is this set and what has that man done to be taken away.

No graphics were used in this opening sequence.