CdL; Examples of Film Openings

Let The Right One In (Alfredson, 2008)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adCGapsqUNM

• Use of bad weather, desolate location and a bleak landscape- in this case snow at night- to create a dark atmosphere where the characters and audience do not feel certain of what will happen.
• No soundtrack or non-diagetic sound, which creates a realistic feel and makes the child's dialogue, as the first thing the audience hears, more stark and creepy-could be used in our film to place the audience within the narrative rather than distracting them with sound
• The titles appear in white on the black half of the screen while the snowflakes fall on the other side, and the heavy shadows, emphasises the fact that this is set at night, which is a convention of horror films because it allows for so much to be hidden and used to build tension
• The protagonist, and first character seen on screen, is a pale child, another convention of horror films, and later he is shown reflected in a window against the night sky. Use of reflective surfaces can be disorientating for an audience and create a sense of a different perspective- useful if you want to imply that you have a hidden antagonist (monster, killer) in the scene somewhere

Insidious (Wan, 2010)

• Again, the clip does not use a soundtrack, and diagetic sound is turned up in the sound mix. However, it does use a high pitched, discordant sound as the camera pans around and zooms in on the old woman.
• Set in a family home and showing the mother in her night clothes, suggesting a domestic, everyday scenario at odds with the previous CU of the creepy old woman
• Titles at first shown in a bright circle which turns out to be part of the set design, then in jagged red writing with a mirror image which fades into smoke, creates idea of mystery, spookiness and the use of the colour red connotes blood and gore

Scream (Craven, 1996)

• The protagonist is a vulnerable young blonde woman alone in a house at night, the antagonist is an anonymous male villain threatening her down the phone
• The phone is the main prop as it links her with her stalker and shows her vulnerability as it becomes clear that he is closer than he seems
• Night sky visible through the large windows, reinforces the idea she has nowhere to hide, also many horror films are set at night because the characters and audience cannot see what is lurking in it
• Title flashes red on black and then zooms and flickers out, suggesting sudden unexpected events will follow
• Cuts to a MCU of the phone, indicating its importance in the plot