The next genre we could choose from to recreate the film openings was horror. We were given the following choices:
- Halloween
- The Strangers
- Se7en
Our final decision was The Strangers. Here is my evaluation of each opening and the reasons why we chose this opening and not the others (using narrative, characters, themes, atmosphere, setting, sound and titles).
Halloween (1978)
The open narrative is linear though there is nearly no movement to the opening except for a slow zoom towards the lit pumpkin. Unlike most openings, there are no characters to build suspense and encourage the audience to ask questions about the rest of the film. Only the prop of a pumpkin is used denoting halloween and connoting horror or death associated with halloween stories. This simplistic approach along with the non-diegetic, high pitched soundtrack in the background creates suspense, fear and an eery atmosphere. The theme of halloween is assumed through the signifier of the pumpkin and the title itself, as well as 'trick-or-treating' - or from a horror perspective - 'trick-or-treating' gone wrong. The credits are in the colour orange fading to red, matching the pumpkin and connoting danger, death and blood. The font is juxtaposing of the horror music in order to create uncertainty in the audience and suspense.
Halloween has very simplistic opening credits and there is only one camera shot with several titles. As a group we thought of many creative ideas but in the end decided that it was not challenging enough to test our ability to produce film.
The Strangers (2008)
In this opening, the open narrative begins linear before turning fragmented, shifting through time in order for the audience to piece together what is happening in the opening and what the film is about. The audience is not directly introduced to any main characters but a narrator is heard through non-diegetic dialogue to set the scene. A young boy is also heard on the phone introducing the main characters of the 'strangers' but the audience does not hear or see them. This creates suspense amongst the audience making them ask questions about who or what they are. The themes of death, blood and pain are connoted through the signifiers of a car with a smashed window, a knife covered in blood and a gun which are common in the horror genre. The non-deigetic narration at the start of the opening is low and serious, creating tension and suspense. Also, the non-degetic conversation between the boy and the police officer builds fear in the audience through social realism and the non-diegetic soundtrack is low and slow, generating tension. Along with the mysterious characters and themes, the atmosphere is eerie and tense. The setting of America is shown through the opening titles and the 'violent events' appear to take place in an abandoned house of a rural location, a stereotypical horror setting. The film title is not shown until the end of the opening, approximate 2 to 3 minutes in and it appears in orange capital letters making it stand out against the black background. Apart from this, there are only credits at the start of the opening to state the institution's name and narration being spoken. This minimalistic approach adds emphasis on what happens on the screen and the importance of this opening, as well as making the audience ask questions about the film.
As a group, we decided on Strangers because of the mixture of camera angles and titles. It will enable to create the desired effect and keep the suspensive atmosphere. It also contrasts Juno which is animated based and visually busy.
Se7en (1995)
The open narrative of this opening uses the enigma code to drip feed bits of information to the audience about the characters and clues to what the film may be about, without revealing the story. The short cuts and close ups also does not reveal much about the plot and displayed the editing style that will be used. Though the main character is not seen, we get an insight into their personality and nature through the actions of the opening, such as the peeling of the skin and writing. This encourages the audience feel suspense, to ask questions and wonder what the relevance of their actions are to the rest of the film. Murder is a theme suggested from the opening, signified by the pictures of dead people though it is not obvious, building suspense. There is no iconography and no signifiers to establish where the film is set to make the audience ask questions about the film and interest them more. The non-diegetic, techno soundtrack also causes the audience to question the opening, possibly connoting similarities between a mindless robot and the main character considering the genre of thriller. The font of the titles is in the style of scruffy, handwriting reflecting the character, genre and eerie atmosphere created. As with most openings, the title is seen at the beginning after the institution and names of the main actors in the film.
Though, in my opinion, this was the most interesting opening to remake due to the titles and editing style, it would have been the most time consuming to create along with the other two openings. In order to keep organised and stick to our deadline we needed a variety of lengths and difficulties to ensure we tested our skills and organisation.
