BFI Thriller opening sequence researchBY RHYDIAN CRABB

Opening sequence focus on genre and characters being introduced

In the first stage of our day at the BFI, we were in the MediaTech, and we were given the opportunity to watch opening sequences from movies and comment on the techniques used in the clips. We wrote these notes in a booklet given to us on the day. For example, we wrote about conventions, sound, image, characters, how the clips grabbed our attention, how suggestive the film is, what questions we are left asking and how the opening sequence leaves us thinking what happened during the rest of the film.

The first vide we were tasked with watching was ‘peeping tom’, and the notes I made contained; Camera introduced makes it enigmatic, point of view shot Questions I was left after watching the clip was- Does she know she is being filmed by the anonymous

man at the start. Which left me thinking that a lot of filming will happen through out the film. Conventions- low-key lighting, theme music (non-diegetic) Woman’s central composition Eerie music and characters eye is displayed for identity

Public reviews & Library research Later in the day, our group were set the task of going and asking random people

what they thought of our concept for our opening sequence and also our full movie treatment. We managed to get eight people in total to listen to our idea and give their opinion, and the overall feedback was very positive - everyone we told showed interest and liked our ideas while also giving ideas for improvements.

After getting the publics opinions on our movie treatment, we were set the task of going to the library to research ideas for our thrillers in the books there. After going to the thriller section of the library, I found a that explained how you have to include different types of suspense, for example keeping the audience waiting and building suspense using music.