Sound

For our soundtrack, the copyright holders of the soundtrack to 'Shifty' have given us the rights to use it in our opening. We really like the atmosphere it creates as it is not hyperbolic nor too dramatised, but still builds suspense and tension.

Track one: 'Shifty'
For the opening section when we follow the girl home, we wanted to use the track from the opening to Shifty as it's very simple and understated.

Track Two: soundbite

This would play during the golden hour flashback and fade in from track one- it would be very prominent as there is no diegetic sound in this scene. It seems nostalgic and melancholic, but also makes it seem like there's something wrong. 

Track Three: 'Tough Call'

This would be used after she comes in the house and feels compelled to make the phonecall. The music builds to a climax, which is when the second flashback would be revealed while the phone is dialling. It is powerful and tense but doesn't completely distract from what's on screen. 

Style and Tone, and our influences

Our thriller will be in a social realist style, so none of the situations are glamorised- we want to portray a harsh reality which heightens verisimilitude. Some of our influences include Shifty, a social realist film about a lower-class drug dealer and the relationships he has with friends, family and clients, and Fishtank, another social realist film that follows the life of a young girl. We hope to achieve this tone with a combination of mise-en-scene to define the characters and their backgrounds, and non-diegetic and diegetic sound that will be stronger and quieter in certain places to create tension but also empathy for the characters.

For the first flashback, shot in the golden hour in the café with the two characters, there will be no non-diegetic sound which will make it very melancholic and nostalgic, but also like there's something wrong with this memory.

Our inspiration will  be taken from many places such as Shutter Island and The Virgin Suicides. The golden hour scenes in both of these are the sort of lighting states we hope to re-create, but Shutter Island shows a particularly strong contrast between the golden, ethereal past and the bleak, dark present.

For our second flashback scene in red, we love the use of red semiotics in the film We Need To Talk About Kevin. The colour red may also be used in our locations in the house, but this is yet to be confirmed, however we definitely want to use it for the flashback to give it a stylised tone, and connote danger, blood and death.

Certification

After researching the classification for both 12 and 15 rating films, we decided that the film opening will be a 15. This is because an easily accessible weapon is briefly shown (a knife/blade) in the opening, and this will be shown in further length and detail throughout the film. Even though there will be no bad language in the opening, as the film unfolds and the tension begins to heighten, strong language will be used to show emotions running high. Threat and violence are central themes of the film as it revolves around a crime - even in the opening, a suggestion of bloody violence is briefly seen.

Official Film Opening Pitch and Narrative

Pitch

Meg and I will be creating a social-realist crime thriller, set in contemporary South East London. Our ideas are based around memory loss and human relationships, creating both enigma and suspense to keep the audience questioning.

To briefly summarise the plot in the opening, we find out through a series of flashbacks that the female protagonist has killed her friend, but can't remember exactly what she's done or why she's done it.

Narrative

The Final Narrative

• The opening shot will be a wide shot of our female protagonist across the road at night. She begins to walk home to her house (unclear whether it is hers or her parents') that is just off the main road.

• Next door to her house is a cafe, and as she looks up at the hanging sign it triggers a flashback to during the day in the golden hour: she's sitting in the cafe with a man, there is no diegetic sound, only the soundtrack. They're laughing together and smiling, it is ambiguous as to whether they are friends or more than that.

• We cross-cut back to the present, we see the protagonist's hands shaking as she puts the keys in the front door. She walks through the hallway to the kitchen, and feels compelled to call someone, so picks up an old 'brick' phone/ flip up.

• As she does this, she looks over to see a set of kitchen knives, and this triggers another flashback, this time seen in red, and we hear shouts and see the knife and potentially catch the face of the man, but its still ambiguous and vague.

• We hear the sound of the cal going through to voicemail, and as we hear a beep we cut to a black screen and the film title appears

How my ideas have changed since working with Meg

Even though we had separate ideas for our film opening pitches, we wanted to collaborate as we had similar ideas, themes and styles that we both wanted to use. We decided to make a social realist thriller because we both really liked how you can relate to and empathise with characters that could be people you may know in real life. We thought it would be best to simplify our original pitches so we have a couple of flashbacks and one plot to follow, not two people in different locations. As we both liked the idea of shooting a scene in the golden hour we decided to keep that as a flashback, and as we also both liked to shoot in a block colour, so we decided to use Meg's idea of red semiotics in a flashback.



How our ideas have changed since audience research

• As very few people liked having a romance within a thriller, so we decided to make it uncertain as to whether she is in a relationship with the man in the flashback or not.
• We thought that if the opening ended with the sounds of the answer machine, it would seem anticlimactic but also suspenseful, something that was highlighted in the survey, making the audience want to keep watching.
• As the people in both the Survey Monkey and the Vox Pops both really liked the social realist genre, so we want really bring this forward with the mise-en-scene.
• In our second flashback, we want to make it very vague and not rely on gore to make it dramatic, and aspect highlighted in our Vox Pops.

Overall we are really pleased with our concept, and are looking forward to developing our ideas more.

Audience Research- Vox Pops

In addition to our Survey Monkey, we interviewed three of our friends about their favourite films and went had qualitative information about what they enjoy about the social realism and the thriller genre.  Here is the video that we made, interviewing Jonah (16), Calypso (14) and Eliza (17). 

Audience research

My friend Meg and I have decided to collaborate together to produce an opening to a thriller for our coursework. We had some rough ideas of what we wanted to make and how we could compromise using parts from each of our original film proposals, but beforehand wanted to do research about what interests young, contemporary audiences in our target demographic, 15-25 years-old.

To do this we first created a Survey Monkey online survey which we sent to friends on Facebook for them to fill out. We included questions about favourite films and genres, and then more specific questions surrounding social realism and the thriller genre, as these are elements we planned to include in our film.

You can view our Survey Monkey online survey here:
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/9WK7FVQ


Here are the results that we received:









Three favourite films, and why:



Least favourite film, and why:

What makes a good thriller film?

Thriller Film Opening idea

As we are starting to bring together research of openings to thrillers, I have been making a proposal to a film opening that I could use as part of my coursework.

Brief Plot Summary

• A woman with amnesia is arrested on suspicion of murder, and she is allowed to make one call in jail, so she calls a man whom she hasn't seen in three years.
• Crime/psychological thriller set in contemporary London 

Audience

• I imagine this to be rated at about 15- there would be frequent swearing in the rest of the film (not likely in the opening itself) and some violence (again, not in the opening)

Narrative

• The male protagonist will be walking along the streets of London, he has been here a long time ago with our female protagonist
• As he looks out onto the River Thames, we see a flashback in the golden hour of three years ago when our male protagonist is with the female protagonist, talking about their potential futures and how they will miss each other once they leave school. We find out later in the film this is the last time they saw each other.
• We cross-cut to an interrogation room, present day, where an interrogator is talking to our female protagonist who we just saw in the flashback. They discuss how she has been arrested under suspicion of murder, but has amnesia so can't remember who she's killed and why she's killed them. It is unclear at the moment why she has amnesia.
• She requests to make a call to someone (as it is typical you are allowed one call to someone having been arrested). She dials a number, and we cross-cut back to the male protagonist who picks up the phone. 

Key Influences for plot

The themes on amnesia and solving a murder are ideas developed from Memento and The Bourne Identity. However, the idea of developing relationships from years ago is from Thirteen, a BBC series from last summer based on the Madeline McCann case, about a girl who escaped her kidnapper after 13 years of abduction and still thinks she has the same friendships as she did 13 years ago. All her friends have moved on with their lives over the years, but she still has the same attachment as she did as a teenager. I was very interested in using this concept, and I think it would add a feeling of mystery to the story, and make the audience feel some sympathy towards her. 

Influences for Location

During the title sequence with our male protagonist, I loved the idea of using locations by the river. In Collateral there is a great opening shot where the camera picks out Tom Cruz in a crowd, which I think would work well with the above location. 

When he imagines flashback, I picture him to be at this location by the side of the river. This location is just one road away from the first location near City Hall, and looks incredibly cinematic, but is usually much more quiet. I imagine him to be look out to the river and seeing the flashback further down the road. 

For the interrogation room I would like to film it in our theatre at school so I can use a completely blue lighting state, and  would be filmed on the stage with the curtains closed. I think this dark blue lighting state would look incredibly eery and mysterious.

Style and Tone

In the opening to Shutter Island,  I loved the look of the stark contrast between the flashbacks and the present day. I hope the look of the cold present day and the golden hour flashbacks is something that I could achieve in my opening.

The Virgin Suicides also has a great flashback scene, and I love this very dreamy, etherial look that it gives the girls. Again, I would use this as an influence for the opening. 

Sound

The sound in the first scene should be parallel to the action. Diegetic sound would be hyperbolic when the male protagonist walks down the path by City Hall (see first location picture), but when he gets to the second location where he imagines the flashbacks, diegetic external sounds of the river and people walking past would be minimal, with complete focus on the dialogue and the soundtrack. In the interrogation scene, the soundtrack would change tone to sound more menacing, but remaining in the same style. I would particularly look at Sofia Coppola's soundtracks as inspiration. 

Vertigo Opening

This is the first scene from Hitchcock's 1958 classic thriller.

Camerawork

• The opening shot fades in from black and we see what seems to be a pole, and then two hands grab onto it. The camera moves out to reveal the pole is part of a ladder on the side of the building, so the man climbs up it and then runs past camera. Behind him, two men, one in a police officer's uniform and the other in civilian clothes, also climb up the ladder one after the other.
• Next is a wide shot used to show the rooftops of the city at night, and the camera pans and follows the rooftop chase, with the policeman occasionally firing a shot from his gun.
• After this is a mid-shot of the first man jumping over something and clinging onto another rooftop, and subsequently climbing over it. The police man follows him, but the third man fails to cling on, and a closer in mid-shot shows him falling, and another of him catching the drain pipe. A close-up shows his realisation that he is stuck.
• A close-up shows the policeman going to help the man who fell, and we cut back to a close-up to see that man looking down at the ground. The next shot is a long who looking down at the ground, and the camera zooms out so it looks like the distance is getting bigger and bigger. This imagery helps us to understand the vertigo that he's experiencing.
• We cut to and from a close-up of the man looking down in terror, and then at the ground beneath him. The policeman turns back to try and rescue him, and the camera looks up towards him on the the roof, so this could be the man's POV. In one shot the camera looks down at the man hanging off the drain, with the open framing and the ground beneath him, and the hand of the policeman reaching out to him.
•  Subsequently the policeman falls off the roof, and in two shots we see him slip down in a mid-shot showing the roof and the man hanging, and then fall past the man in a close-up. The policeman falls to his death, and the camera looks down to the ground in the same wide angle as before, again this being the man's POV. Here we can see what he sees, and we are more empathetic towards the shock he is experiencing.
• We cut to a close-up of the man looking down at the ground. The the same wide angle of the ground, the man sprawled on the floor with people running towards him.

Lighting and Colour

• The lighting is very low-key throughout as it is set at night, so there are lots shadows cast across faces and dark areas of the city behind them, or parts of the streets beneath them that are unlit. This creates a sense of mystery, we question what could be hiding in the shadows, makes the chase much more dangerous as it is set at night.
• On the rooftop from which the policeman falls, warm lights shine onto the roof, lighting the men from behind. When we see the close-up of the man dangling from the drain he is warmly lit from above. This casts strong shadows across his face. 
• The colour in the scene is mainly quite cold, and this is due to the clear, deep blue night sky behind them. However, lights used in the scene are slightly warm, but this imitates the colours of street lamps at night. 

Editing

• Other than the fade at the beginning, there are only straight cuts and continuity editing. 
• At the beginning the editing is very slow-paced, but when the man begins to slip off the roof the scene jumps back and forth between shots to help build to the climax.
• At the end after the policeman falls there is low-speed editing, which is really dramatic as we watch the man look down in fear, and then see his POV of people rushing ti the policeman dead on the road.

Sound

 

• The non-diegetic soundtrack is orchestral, with lots of stings and brassy instruments. The piece really helps to drive the scene on and keep tension high.
• There is sound of the men climbing across the roof, and the gun shots in that first wide shot that stretches across the rooftops of the city, but they are much quieter in comparison to the soundtrack. 
• In the music there are high, brassy notes when we look down at the ground before the policeman falls, which helps to show the fear that he feels when he looks at the ground too.
• The music settles after the policeman falls, so after the climax of the scene the music is deep and dramatic.  

Mise-en-scene

• It is clear that the first man in the scene must be a criminal as we see the policeman chasing after him, but it is unclear way the man in the civilian clothing is involved in the the chase too as of yet. 
• The policeman turns to help the man hanging from the drain, which shows where his priorities lie, and that he must be quite kind to offer to help instead of catching the criminal.
• All of the camerawork, sound, lighting and editing really help to emphasise that this is a moment that has really shaken the man, and this is enough for him to realise that he definitely suffers from vertigo. 

Silence of the Lambs Opening

Camerawork

• The opening shot in the clip is a close-up on Clarice Starling, and then a mid-shot of her running through a forest while the camera follows her. This already creates quite a sinister mood, the classic thriller shot of an innocent woman running through the woods, the audience right behind.
• We see her approach a large net made of rope that you can climb up, move to the other side of at the top and then climb down the opposite way, much like an obstacle course. The camera pans round and tracks her movement across the equipment. The ease of her movement and the steadiness of the camera seems very comfortable, like she's done this many times before. the camera stays still and we watch her run into the distance.
• All in the same shot, someone shouts her name off camera, but addresses her as 'Starling', and as the man who called her name runs into shot and towards her, the camera also moves in. As Clarice leaves, the man turns to camera, and the close-up on him reveals he is a member or the FBI, labeled on his cap.
• The next shot it a close-up of a tree, and the camera tips down to reveal an FBI mantra that must be taught in training- 'Hurt, Agony, Pain, Love--It'. This shows the sort of message that Clarice has been exposed to throughout her career, and what part of her character must be like. As the camera stops to tilt, Clarice runs closer to the camera and around towards the FBI offices. She is surrounded by late groups of people in training.
• A wide shot next shows a glass bridge between two buildings, and the camera zooms in so we just catch Clarice running through the bridge. 
• The camera follows Clarice through sets of corridors and her walking through a workshop, showing her in her normal, working environment. 
• One of the final shots in the first two minutes shows Clarice walking along another corridor into a lift full of men dressed in red. I think that the fact that she seems so comfortable in this setting says a lot about the environment she's used to.

Editing

• The editing is very simple, and uses straight cuts and continuity editing throughout the opening.
• It's quite low-speed editing, so nothing is too intense, and we can fully take in the setting of the story.
• The titles in the opening sequence are very bold and outlandish. I have to say that these nearly overpowered each shot, as you couldn't always see the action going on behind it. This may also be why they used slow-paced editing, so we had a chance to see what's going behind the titles.

Lighting and Colour

• The colours are quite dull throughout the opening scene. the forest, the buildings, the corridors, even her clothing is very monochrome. It makes the her training at the moment seem to not be very exciting, and so her new assignment would be an interesting change for her. 
• Outside the lighting is very natural, but inside there is harsh strip lighting, which further emphasises the dull feeling of her training thus far. 

Sound

• One of the first things I noticed about the opening is the bold orchestral soundtrack. At the very beginning it is in a minor key, which send very dramatic at first, but after she the FBI base comes into frame the music suddenly becomes major, and much more uplifted. This contrast between the sinister minor strings and the happier major key shows that she finds comfort surrounded by her work, and people similar to her. Essentially, alone, she is more susceptible to danger. 

Mise-en-scene

• We learn a lot about Clarice from this opening. The camerawork is cleverly ordered so we gradually see that she is part of the FBI. As she isn't with anyone else, she must be doing this training course in her spare time, which shows she works diligently. She climbs the apparatus with ease, so clearly she has done this many times before.When she enters the FBI buildings, she is recognised by a couple of people, so she must be liked amongst her colleagues. 
• At the end of the opening she walks into a lift surrounded by men significantly taller than her, and her grey jumper standing out from their red uniforms. She doesn't look uncomfortable in this situation, so clearly she is accustomed to an environment lead by men. This will probably give her an advantage in her work, as she is one of very few women in her workplace. 

Rear Window Opening

Camerawork

• The opening shot is framed by a window, and then the camera moves forward to look outside the window. We can see a courtyard surrounded by apartments, and windows looking through into each one.
• The next shot looks down on a neighbourhood cat, and then tilts up to look at the blocks of apartments. The camera moves very slowly and tilts and pans over and across the apartments, and finally pans so the camera goes back through a window to close-up up on a man lying back, with sweat dripping down his forehead. This long wide shot establishes the setting of the story, of what is seemingly a very normal area. 
• It cuts to a close-up of a thermometer to show the temperature, and then pans across and changes focus to see a man getting shaving in his apartment in the distance. The fact that we can see through completely into his apartment shows how easily neighbours must be able to as well. 
  
• We then see a couple waking up on the balcony of their apartment, again another long shot. When we see the neighbours we never see a close-up, we only look at them from a distance, but when we see the man sweating in the chair we see a close-up, so he must be important. 
• In the same shot, the camera tilts and pans to another building, an a young woman is getting changed by the window. As the camera pans away, it takes the same route as before- panning across the buildings and then into the apartment of the man in the chair, but this time the route taken by the camera is closer in. 
• In the same shot, the camera tilts down the man in the apartment, so we can see that he has broken his leg, and then pans to a broken camera, and then to a photo of a racing car on his wall. Much like how a montage would work, this long shot looks around the room as you would if you had just walked into it, and leaves the audience to piece together the evidence, you could say. We later discover he is a photographer who broke his leg in a racetrack accident.

Editing

• The editing is very simplistic, Hitchcock uses straight cuts, but low-speed editing so the audience can fully take in the setting.

Lighting and Colour

• The lighting is also very simple and natural. It is high key, with lots of light filling the court outside the rear window, so we can fully see into each apartment. Again, his simplicity makes highlights the seemingly normal set up. 
• The colour is all uniform throughout the opening, so there is nothing out of the ordinary or dramatic that particularly draws our attention.

Sound

• At the beginning, to me the music is contrapuntal because it is so orchestral, brassy, with lots of percussion, which seem too exaggerated for slow-paced sequence. However, as this soundtrack continues, there is more of a sense of mystery to the music. 
• When we see the man shaving in the window, the music stops and then a radio advert is heard from his apartment. He changes the channels to some music that plays underneath the rest of the opening. This music is sounds a bit more cheeky and inquisitive, which reflects the fact that we are literally spying on the neighbours. 
• The alarm clock from the neighbours sleeping on their balcony is very loud, which mirrors the idea that the each person's business has the capability of being everyone's business.

Mise-en-scene

• From this opening we get a clear sense that everyone can see into what your are up to, so there is very little privacy, and yet the neighbours don't seem to notice this, one woman is even getting into her bra in front of the window. 
• The man in the wheelchair is clearly a main character, who must be quite a daredevil if he has broken a camera in such a drastic way. Confined to the wheelchair, the view out of his rear window must be something to keep him occupied during the day. 
• Hitchcock was great at creating a very normal scene for an opening. Even though it's a bit strange that you can easily look into each other windows, the scene looks like an everyday situation on a hot summer's day. Using this as an opening, Hitchcock could use a slow-build of intensity, and gradually introduce odd or intriguing elements into the storyline. 

Shutter Island Opening

Camerawork

• The scene opens with a wide shot of the boat emerging from the mist by the sea. The wide helps the reveal of the boat to be really dramatic and ghostly.
• We cut to a mid shot of Teddy being sit in a toilet. We can't see his face, but we see his figure in the bathroom. The camera tilts up and down very slightly to create the effect of a boat on the sea, causing Teddy to feel very seasick.
• The next shot is a over the shoulder close-up of Teddy looking at himself in the mirror, insisting he must 'pull [him]self together'. As we see two of Teddy in one shot it implies split personality.
• When Teddy looks out of the mirror, the closed framing of the close-up really helps us to empathise with his claustrophobia in the boat. 
• Teddy washes his hands in the camera looks down at his hands, and then quickly tilts up to a close-up of his face. The fast tilt mirrors the feeling of being seasick as the boat is rocking back and forth. Teddy breaks the fourth wall here, and we feel like he is addressing us, almost acknowledging his fictionality, as you may do in a play. This is a clue into the reveal at the end of the film about our perception of the reality.
• There is a wide shot of Teddy walking through the sheltered level of the boat, and large claw-like equipment is hanging from the ceiling. The camera changes focus between this equipment and Teddy, and these being in close proximity to Teddy, swinging as the boat sways, makes us feel quite uncomfortable.
• We are first introduced to Chuck, Teddy's colleague, by a mid shot looking through a metal cage, ceasing a feeling of separation between the Teddy and Chuck, perhaps showing he's difficult to read or get through to. It also reflects the hidden reason for Chuck being here, and what he keeps from Teddy.
• Dialogue between Teddy and Chuck is shown through mid shots, most with the open framing and the sea going on 'forever' behind them. It shows further how they're just surrounded with water- Teddy's worst nightmare.
• When Chuck asks whether Teddy has 'a girl', is it accompanied by a close-up, with Chuck in frame but the full focus on Teddy. Through this we see how uncomfortable he is when discussing his wife.
• cross-cut to a flashback of Teddy's wife; first we see Teddy's wife and then the camera pans as we see Teddy doing up his shirt. There's a closeup of his wife's bare feet standing by Teddy, which shows how close they must have been. 
• Close-up on Teddy when he simply adds, 'she died'. We see how upset but also how in control he is of his emotions from this shot. He dismisses any sympathy by simply saying, 'don't worry about it,' which is a bold contrast to his attitude to his wife's death later on in the film.

Editing

• The editing style is quite simplistic, with straight cuts and continuity, but not in the flashbacks.
• When we cross-cut to the flashback, we see a record playing, then quickly cut to a zoom on Dolores (his wife) and then cuts to a still close-up of Dolores. The high-speed editing and awkward cuts reflect the warped nature of Teddy's flashbacks.
• It cross-cuts to a frame of the water rushing by near the boat, and then to a freeze frame back to his wife. This make it seem awkward and slightly creepy that it's a still image, and as the sound of the waves continues underneath still image it links the two together. This is the first reference to Dolores and her connection later on in the film with water. 

Sound 

• There's a sound bridge that opens the first scene, so we hear the sound of the sea before the mist of the sea appears. 
• The diegetic sound dominates until the flashback, there is a very quiet orchestral score that goes underneath the whole scene, but it's barely there. Therefore the main focus is on the dialogue and what's going on in the frame. All we hear are waves, fog horns, the equipment swinging on the ceiling of the boat and Teddy being sick.
• During the flashback, non-diegetic sound of what could be a women's voice but very warped. It adds to the nostalgic but melancholic feeling on the flashback.

Lighting and Colour

• The colour of the scene is very cold until the flashback. It emphasises how uncomfortable Teddy is in this setting. In the flashback scene the colours are very warm, which show that this is a happy memory for Teddy. It is a great contrast between the flashback and reality, and really helps to distinguish between the two throughout the whole film. 
• The lighting in the first section inside the boat is very important- the only light source in the bathroom is from outside, so it casts shadows over Teddy's face so one side is lit and the other isn't this further highlights the idea of split personality, or an element of Teddy that is being hidden from us. 
• In the flashback the lighting is warm and natural, and there is also a light shining behind them, particularly catching on the edges of Dolores' hair, making her look angelic and etherial.

Mise-en-scene

• It is clear from the close-ups of Teddy that he is very uncomfortable around the water. He constantly looks distressed and sweaty, throwing up as he looks out on the never-ending sea. His fear or sickness when he looks at the water is of course a reference to the end of the film, which foreshadows the link to Dolores and water. 
• Dolores is dressed in a light, airy dress, her toe-nails a painted pink and her hair is up in curls- clearly the first memory of her is in her best light, and Teddy immediately recalls the best things about her. 
• The men's costumes epitomise the style of the 50s, and as they are suits it shows they are going to a formal working atmosphere. 

Brighton Rock Opening

Camerawork

• The opening shot moves in towards a telephone, ringing, and no one is answering it. This in turn creates tension and suspense.
• It cuts to a close-up of a man called Kite dialling someone on the phone in a telephone box. We know that he must be an important character in this scene.
• By using a wide angle shot next, it allows us to see the long walkway, the telephone box and the mist surrounding it, from which two silhouetted men emerge.
• When we cut back to the first location, there is a close-up on a character answering the phone, but no one is there to answer it.
• When we cut back to the other location, there is a very long shot of the two silhouetted men chasing Kite, and kite gets closer to the camera.
• We cut to a close-up of Kite stopping in his tracks, so we see his reaction and him talking to himself, knowing he is in danger.
• In the next few shots two new gang members appear to join the original two, one along the walkway and one at the top of a set of stairs. The gang member at the top of the stairs the camera looks up to, which shows his power in the situation. 
• When one member reveals a knife for the first time, we see a close-up of it, which creates drama and emphasises the sense of danger in the situation.
• When Kite reveals his knife, the camera also looks up to him, showing how the knife makes him that much more powerful.
• When a the fifth gang member approaches (Fred Hale) he is in the light unlike all the others, and we get a proper close-up on him so we know he will also be important in the scene. 
• As the men fight, a knife is dropped to the floor which is shown by a close-up of it falling, and then Fred Hale picks it up (match on action) and uses it to stab Kite. 
• Fred's power is heightened by an initial close up looking slightly upwards at him stabbing Kite, but after cutting away we see another close-up looking upwards at a steeper angle. This shows his growing power over Kite over time. 
• A new character is introduced, Pinkie Brown, by a close-up of him running towards the attack. When he arrives at the scene, there are a couple of shot reverse-shots of Pinkie and Fred, looking at each other in shock, at which point Fred runs into the distance of the open frame in fear.

Lighting

• The first location where the telephone is ringing has much warmer lighting than the other location, but is still quite low-key because the scene is set during the night. As it is warmer is shows that it's safer than the other place, but it's low-key and lit by a single spotlight, which implies the person who lives there is involved in criminal activity like the Kite.
• There is a single light in the telephone box to help make the box stand out in the wide shots.
• At the location in the centre of town, the lighting is very cold and moody, and the light shines through from outside the sheltered area. This means that identities can easily be hidden as when gang members emerge from the shadows, they're backlit so we can't see their faces.
• Knives are always lit when they are taken out by the gang members to really draw our attention to them and to stand out in the dark lighting. 

Sound

• During the first shot the only sound (other than beats in music) is the diegetic sound of the telephone ringing. Coupled with the camera moving in towards the camera, it builds anticipation and makes us question why it's not being answered.
• After cross-cutting to the other location, the diegetic sound of Kite speaking sounds like him but as you would hear him down the phone, so slightly muffled and distant. This even continues when he talks to himself having hung up the phone. 
• The soundtrack begins with beats in the music, and as the scene continues there are more percussive instruments added to really build up the intensity of the fight. After Kite begins to die, the musics becomes more orchestral, with many more strings instruments to increase the drama and empathy towards Kite.

Editing

• Only straight cuts are used throughout the opening scene, and other than cross-cutting between each location there is continuity editing throughout. 
• The editing is particularly fast-paced during the fight, cutting back and forth between the gang members and the knives. This makes it more frantic and and dangerous and builds intensity.

Mise-en-scene

• The lighting and set really helps to make the scene feel dramatic and dangerous. The lighting is very eery and ghostly, and as it is set at night and they are alone in a sheltered area, it makes the encounter seem much more dodgy and similar to a place where a gang would meet. 
• The costumes are similar to what a gang member would where in the 1960s, so it really yeps to epitomise the time in which it's set. This is also helped by the use of knives instead of guns, which they would've done if it was set more recently. 
• We can see from the expression of Fred's face that he seems quite unsure of himself: he fumbles around, he can't find his knife, he is terrified when Pinkie finds him.
• Pinkie must be very close to Kite because he runs to help Kite and looks in terror and sadness at Fred when he finds him. 

Inception Opening Shotlist

The duration of each shot says a lot about the pace of the scene and how the director wanted to build tension at certain points in the scene. At the beginning of the scene the editing is very slow-paced with lots of long shots, which builds anticipation: we can feel comfortable as the scene doesn't dart back and forth between different shots, but as an audience member we question this when watching thriller because when things seem to be going well, or very little is going on, we expect something bad to happen next.

When a character says something impotant or significant to the plot, for example when Saito questions whether they are in a dream, or when Mol discusses pain being in the mind, the shots are longer.
0:13 - 1:37

                                        

Memento Opening

Memento is Christopher Nolan's first full length feature film starring Guy Pearce, about a man who has anterograde amnesia (the inability to form new memories), so in an attempt to find the people who attacked and killed his wife he has to take photographs and have tattoos to recall his recent actions.

Camerawork

• When we see the title of 'Memento' on screen, the opening shot of a close-up of a polaroid is shown. It shows what could be a figure of someone and a wall with blood splattered all over it behind them. This is a very effective and dramatic opening shot as it shows something very graphic and gruesome in just a polaroid, and the audience also questions who took the photo, why they took it and who is currently holding it.
• The next shot is a close-up on the person holding the polaroid, and as it is edited backwards it looks as if he is putting the picture back in the camera and taking a photo, all in reverse. His movements are well choreographed so his actions are very fluid.
• After he takes the photo, Guy Pearce's character (Leonard Shelby) is revealed, and the shot finishes close-up on his face. We know he will be a central character as this close-up builds intimacy.
• He puts the camera in his pocket, close-up with shallow-depth of field, but as it is in reverse it looks like he's hiding something. It cuts back to the close-up of his face.
• We then cut to a close-up of blood running along the floor. This could be seen as the victim's POV, especially as it filmed sideways and the camera is so close to the ground. 
• Then we see a close-up of a part that has fallen from the gun, and then a close-up of the victim's glasses, splattered in blood and finally a close-up of the back of the victim's head, also covered in blood. The camera looks down on him, emphasising his vulnerability. These three shots make us feel very uncomfortable as we see this brutal aftermath, and the lack of sound and stillness in the closed shots also makes it difficult to watch.
• The camera looks up at Guy Pearce's character, showing his overriding power in the situation, and in reverse he picks up the gun, and the camera tilts down as we watch him aim the gun at the victim. The objects shown previously begin to move back towards the victim, and before the scene cross-cuts away we quickly see the victim turn to camera with the glasses back on his head and shout in distress. 

Editing

• The editing is very slow-paced at the beginning as the opening shot of the polaroid fades in and lasts for 1 min 15 secs. 
• This entirety of the opening is edited in reverse, so we see the consequences first and the action of the murder last. As the first shot shows a polaroid fading away in reverse, it reflects the nature of Leonard's amnesia, and how his memories quickly fade away like in this first shot. 
• The director chose to use straight cuts and continuity editing, and faded in the opening shot to also mirror the idea of fading memories.
• The editing remains slow-paced until the last few seconds when we quickly cut between the gun and the man being shot, making the action seem desperate and impulsive. 

Colour and Lighting

• Lighting in the opening is very low-key, and there is only one main 'natural' light source from outside through the only window in the room. This means it only strong light source falls onto one side of Leonard's face, implying that he is two-sided or needs to hide big parts of himself. 
• The dark lighting allows large, atmospheric shadows to be cast over the objects on the floor in the scene.
• The colours are very grey and muted, which allows the blood to stand out. 
• The blue titles are a bold contrast between the blood in the photo and the muted colours.

Sound

• The non-diegetic soundtrack is eulogistic in style: at first it seems melancholic, reflecting and looking back on a death of someone, but as this shot continues it feels more contrapuntal to what is on screen as the sound is sad but the image is brutal and gruesome.  
• There are diegetic sounds of the camera and the flash that are in reverse like the other editing, and after this the music fades away, which allows us to focus on Leonard's actions. This silence can also make us feel very uncomfortable as we are unsure of what ay happen next. 
• At the end of the opening, we hear the reverse sound of the objects moving backwards, and as this happens non-diegetic sound is added, like a build and crescendo, to lead to the moment of Leonard shooting him. 
• The sound of the gunshot and the victim shouting in distress before he's shot are the loudest parts of the film so far, which again emphasises violence of the murder.

Mise-en-scene

• The attack happens in what looks like a room of an abandoned building, which shows the rawness of the situation. It seems like this is going on behind closed doors, like it's a dodgy encounter. We also question how they possibly could've ended up in this room.
• Leonard has cuts on his face, which implies he has been in a fight before. He also doesn't even flinch when he shoots the victim, which shows a sense of normality to the action, that he has done it before. This is also shown through his costume- he carries a polaroid camera in his belt, which shows that he is using it to record other events that could be similar to this.