HELK Productions

Opening Sequence: Initial Ideas

The opening sequence The opening sequence can be the most crucial aspect of any film, whether it be a long or short film. The key purposes of an opening sequence can be essential when introducing the film to the audience. These purposes of an opening sequence to a film consists of establishing key locations that are relevant to the film, introducing main characters, such as the protagonists and setting the theme of a film as the audience will have a clear image of what genre the film will be. This is what we would like to achieve in our opening sequence.

Establishing Locations It is important that main locations/locations that are relevant to the short film are introduced at the beginning of the film in the opening sequence, as the audience may be familiarised with the location and may be able to work out or relate a certain genre with the location. For example, in a film with a romance genre, the first setting may be a restaurant/park as this may be seen as fitting to the genre of romance, as the audience may relate the restaurant to being a romantic setting. We can consider this to our film as in the opening sequence, we plan to film on the moors. Also, to represent further that the character of Eve is not normal, we will film on the moors as that is not a usual location for a girl to be sat at night. This can relate to the genre of a psychological thriller as it represents isolation and detachment from society, which a spirit/ghost(Eves character) may experience. We will then film in the car, using the go pro. We will do this because our film relies mostly on dialogue to get the story across. We will also be filming transition shots such as cross cuts of the van driving past, to break up the usage of go pro footage.

Introducing the ProtagonistsIntroducing the protagonists/main characters in a film is a crucial step for film producers, as the audience is then clear who the main people are and what character type they are, for example the innocent character is normally made the protagonist and are seen at the very beginning of the film. This shows a story through the protagonists perspective, which relates to our film as the story is seen through one of our protagonist Richard’s perspective as he finds Eve. We will introduce Richard first and then in order of appearance on screen. Meaning after Richard, Eve will be introduced as she is the other main character as the narrative are built up around them. We will introduce Richards character as a happy Yorkshire man, who is content with his life and who is caring. To portray Richards characteristics, we will have him singing along to a happy song very loud in his car before he notices Eve. Eve will the be introduced as very pale, unwell, unhappy and cold and scared. We would also like to portray that she may have a spiritual/ghostly sense about her, to leave some suspicion to the audience about who she really is.

Setting the Genre/themeSetting the genre of the film may be difficult as there are many themes for film and sometimes they can get confused with similar themes. Our narrative becomes more of a psychological thriller towards the end of the film as Richard realises Eve has been dead for four years. We will however, we will film in the evening, as this is usually the theme to psychological dramas to create a sense of darkness and scariness to the film, to accentuate there might not be something quite right with Richards journey. Also, Mise en Scene is used in our film, as placing a young girl on a white dress at night doesn’t fit the norm, which represents the psychological thriller as it is not what the audience would feel comfortable with. She will be wearing a white dress, connoting innocence from Eve’s character. We would like to create a world where everything is okay and a nice state of equilibrium. However as the film goes on, the disequilibrium gets more powerful and clear. This fits the codes and conventions of a psychological thriller theme.

Our Opening Sequence For our short film, we would like to have the beginning shot of Richard driving across the moors in his campervan late at night in his campervan. We want him to be singing to loud old music that fits his characteristics, this will represent that he is a happy and joyful, aged man who has no worries and is seen to be living a happy retired life. We will then cut to a shot of Eve (protagonist) who will be sat on a rock on the moors and wearing a thin white dress. This will connote innocence and purity towards Eve. Her bod posture should be hunched up as if she is cold and scared. This will also signify that Eve could be seen as very vulnerable, instantly making the audience feel empathy for her. As Richard drives past and notices her, he turns his music down and pulls in. We can use transition shots and transitions when editing to make these shots more interesting and to break the film down to make it of a slower pace. Eve will appear as timid and scared when she walks over to the car and keeps herself to her self during the start. However, she becomes more revealing towards the end of the film, leading to audience suspicion.