Se7en opening credits

The opening credits to Se7en have the film studio, producers name and the directors name as the first 3 credits followed by the main cast and then the title of the film before the minor cast is introduced and the sountrack composer, costume designer and editor all towards the end, finishing again with the directors name. this seems to be the conventional way of applying the credits to a film with the production company and studio being credited first and the director last.

The credits for Se7en are fitting for the film as they are in a scratchy font that jump off the screen, fitting the thriller genre. The scenes behind the credits are also fitting as they add to the creepy, moody tension of the film and add to the tension it creates further telling the audience what type of film this will be within the first few minutes.

opening sequence

The Lie to me opening here starts with a woman at a crying in a toilet cubicle and dropping a used syringe on the floor, this leads the audience to believe that the woman, who now stumbles out of the bathroom bumping into people, is struggling with drugs abuse. We then see the woman on the phone to someone in some sort of distress before cutting to a girl, who we believe to be her daughter, waking up and calling out for her mum and not being able to find her. The sound used in this opening sequence creates tension and a good sense of atmosphere telling the audience exactly where the woman is with the music and talking/ laughing being played in the background and the spanish radio station coupled witht he sound of cars in the background tells me that the girl is in a Mexican motel by the side of a busy road. It is helpful to the audience that they can make their own conclusions about where the characters are or what is happening in the sequence purely from sound as it can help add to the enigma of the sequence which is what a detective/crime drama tries to create.

For my groups main sequence I want to try and keep some of the original background sound to give the audience the feel that they are in the heart of a busy community and that it is bustling with life, however this may backfire if the sound isnt of the right quality or someone talks over it.

opening of detective films and series

The opening of a detective film or series usually follows the same basic pattern of the audience being shown the crime being committed (usually a murder), where you cant see who's done it, then someone turning up to find the dead body and then the main detectives turning up on the scene to examine the body with the forensics team.

the opening 5 minutes of this episode of Law and Order: UK shows an innocent father and daughter finding a burning house with people trying to get out through the windows which are bared. This is the innocent bystander stumbling upon the body. The enigma within the audience is to weather the fire had been started by a criminal or if it was simply an accident. The scene then changes to the fireman team and the forensics team on the scene as the main detectives turn up to look at the body and the burned house before the credits.

I will try to use this pattern in my opening sequence by following the same rules with the audience seeing someone being attacked and asking why. Then the scene will change to the main detective turning up and casing the scene whilst working with the forensics team.

Opening sequences - 2

This an extract from the opening of Trial and retribution which shows how a woman returns home and is murdered. When the woman returns home she goes upstairs and hears a noise in one of the rooms, she walks into the room and smiles, as she seems to know who it is. The scene then shifts to the house with flashes of a scuffle going on between the woman and the person she encountered in the room. She is then pushed down the stairs and there is a sound of smashing before the scene changes to her parents coming home and finding her dead.
I liked the split shots that were used at 0:53 to show the family returning in their car from 2 points of view, I feel this better established the scene to the audience. I also liked how the credits were presented at the sides of the main picture and in between. This didn't quite fit the mood of the sequence but it still seemed to work in a simple way.
The sequence creates a lot of enigma for the audience, especially when the cyclist passes by at 0:10. the enigma is created as it seems to be late at night, you can't see the cyclists face and he looks directly at the house that the woman is in.

Opening sequences

The music used in this sequence adds to the tension in the air as it starts of very light and happy sounding as the couple are talking and then changes around 0:45 to a more dramatic sad sound as the body is dicovered.

This is an extract from the opening of an episode of Lewis which is a crime drama series on ITV. The exctract shows a male and female characterwalking down a street late at night alone. It is all shot from a wide angle which further exagerates the fact that the street is empty and the two main characters are alone. There is then some dialogue and the camera changes to a mid shot to focus on what the characters are saying and when the male character notices the dead body the camera pans down to show a part of the body, then drops down from above to show focus on the face of the body
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What I liked about this extract is how it used different angles to show the dead body and how the empty streets were shown in the wide angles. I also like how the music changes to a darker tune when the main character sees the body in the pond, it adds to the atmosphere of the scene.

Deconstructing an opening sequence - Saturday night fever

The soundtrack to saturday night fever, by the Bee Gee's is instantly recognisable even today and was a big hit in the late 70's and reflects the disco scene at the time. The soundtrack also has a good pace for the opening scenes of Travolta strutting down the street in Chicago.
The main character played by John Travolta is instantly recognisable and fits the scene with platform shoes, flared disco trousers, a low cut brightly coloured shirt, a leather jacket and a gold medalion. when strutting down the pavement the audience can instantly tell that Travolta's character has an air of confidence around him which is summed up by his multiple glances at women as they pass him.
The camera starts off at Travolta's feet and slowly pans up to his face as the red-neon credits are shown (this again is in line with the 70's disco scene). This pan gives the audience a clear idea of the character from what they can see he is wearing and his general body language.
There is also an enigma within the opening sequence, when watching Travolta strut around Chicago, the audience is drawn to ask what the can of paint is for and why he is carrying it, the setting may also provide an enigma for the audience as it seems like Travolta's character is well known around the city and the audience may wonder what he does to be so well known.

Phantom of the opera opening

Phantom of the opera

Scene	Sound and visuals	Colour and lighting	Effect
1	In the first scene there is a picture and the sound of children playing and as the camera pans in you see that the picture is moving and you enter the picture of the children playing by a big grand looking opera house. The sound is mainly diegetic sound such as the car horn and children’s laughter.	The scene is in black and white whereas the credits are in colour so this must have been done for a reason	The first scene gives the effect that this happened a long time ago.
2	The second scene shows an elderly man getting out of a car and being put into an old wheelchair and being wheeled inside this grand opera house by a nurse, there are again mainly diegetic sounds here as it is a quiet scene.	The colour is still black and white	As you can hear a whistle blowing in the background this signifies that this this be an industrial area. You can also only see parts of the man in the wheelchair so this leads the audience to wonder who he is and why they aren’t showing all of him.
3	This scene shows the inside of the grand opera house where an auction is happening. You also see the mans face as he looks at a woman that he seems to know as they both vie to buy a music box that seems to mesmerize them as it plays.. The auctioneers voice echo’s in the vast opera house and just adds to the feeling of how big and important the opera house is. The sound is still on-screen diegetic with the auctioneers voice and some birds flapping.	The colour is still black and white. The light being let into the gloomy opera house shows how dusty and old it is.	This scene will cause the audience to wonder how the old man in the wheelchair knows the woman and why they are both trying to win the music box. The dust in the air and the gloomy look to the opera house also adds to the feel that this is a flashback or happened a long time ago.
4	This scene see’s the next lot in the auction to be an enormous chandelier which is unveiled from a dusty cloth and is somehow connected to the ‘legend of the phantom of the opera’ as it is hoisted to the ceiling there is an explosion of sound as the church organ of the soundtrack to the phantom of the opera (written by Andrew Lloyd Webber) kicks in. this is in stark contrast to the near silence of the scenes before.	As the chandelier ascends and the music kicks in there is also an explosion of colour as the whole opera house is seemingly revived as the colour washes over it, brightening the whole scene up.	This may shock some of the audience as it goes from steady near silence to a flurry of music and colour, completely changing the pace of the film and its feel.
5	The scene then cuts to the outside of the opera house where a black carriage pulls up outside and two elegantly dressed men get out. The first man to get out seems to be a younger version of the man in the wheelchair. As the other man comes up alongside the other man they have a look of wonder on their face. All throughout this scene the phantom of the opera soundtrack is still playing.	The scenes are now in colour and it seems to be that the present day is set in black and white and the past is in colour. This may be because the man in the wheelchair is old and grey while in his youth he was a vibrant young man and he wants to re-live those glorious days in all its colour.	The effect of this scene may see the audience wonder how important this man is and what the opera means to him.
6	This scene show sthe bustling and busy backstage to the opera with people getting ready with extravagant costumes and doing last minute preparation, going through lines and sequences. The soundtrack is still playing in the background and just ads to the sensory overload of the whole scene.	The whole mise-en-scene is so overpowering, as there is so much to look at and so much colours.	The effect of this scene is that it shows the importance of the opera house and how much it was used to put on grand operas night after night.

Max Payne opening analysis

The beginning to Max Payne starts off with the very familiar 20^th Century Fox motif, which is instantly recognisable, and after its big trumpet ending cuts to a black screen. Whilst this black screen is in view you can hear some non-diegetic wind and then max Payne (Mark Wahlberg)’s off-screen diegetic monologue. At the end of this monologue Max Payne bursts onto the screen drowning in cold, partly frozen water. With this scene you can hear Payne’s frantic on screen diegetic breathing and splashing which is in stark contrast to the previous scenes cool and calm monologue. The next scene shows Payne sinking and is again in contrast with its sound as all you can hear is silence and quiet diegetic bubbles. There is another monologue as the scene shifts to the picture of a door with an ominous golden light behind it. You can still hear the bubbles that tell the audience that this is a flashback and that Payne is still underwater; this is accompanied by off screen diegetic sound of a baby crying. You can also hear the sound of wind chimes in the background, which add to the mystery of the scene and build tension to what is behind the door. The scene once again cuts back to Payne who is now close to drowning as the last few bubbles of air leave his body and there is another monologue. The scene then shifts to Payne entering the golden door and the light enveloping him to a ‘phased’ soundbridge to reveal the dead body of a woman on a bed. There is also the sound of a clock ticking which grows increasingly louder throughout the last few scenes, this adds atmosphere to the scenes as it gives the sense of something getting closer. There is then a shot of the source of the wind chimes which is a baby’s mobile which then stop and make you ask, what happened to the sound of the baby’s crying?

The scene then shows Payne, by way of another non-diegetic ‘phased’ soundbridge, still sinking and almost at the bottom of the river; you can then hear another monologue as the screen cuts to black. The screen then fades out of the black to show a skyscraper with the words ‘one week earlier’ on it and the off-screen diegetic sound of a police siren in the background and the sound of a bustling high street giving you the idea that this is a big busy city and in stark contrast to the scenes depicted before.

The whole opening scene is more than enough to have the audience on the edge of their seat on sound alone with the rollercoaster of clever silent monologues and puzzling, disorientating flashbacks with baby’s crying, a clock ticking, frantic splashing, quiet bubbles and eerie wind chimes all the accumulation of one week in the life of Max Payne.