Abigail Faponle

Previous students film openings

Review: ‘The List’

After briefly going through a range of different film openings from previous students the ‘The List’ was the only one that stood out by far and automatically grabbed my attention. Although the opening was traditional and followed all the conventions of an average film opening, it still kept me on the edge of my seat with all different questions wandering through my mind.

Aspects of the film that kept me suspicious and intrigued were definitely the props and use of the camera. In the beginning there was a close-up of a character putting on the stove.

Fire represents all things destructible and dangerous. This could foreshadow some destruction later on in the film or happened. The close-up of the fire starting could mean that danger is fairly close.

Another scene that was very disturbing was the cutting of the red onion and pounding of the red meat with blood splattering. The colour red is used a lot throughout this thriller opening which symbolises danger and warning. There was a good use of props and colours for representation. The character was acting very violent and aggressive with each action including the battering of the meat, the chopping of the onions and it showed her vigorously eating the meat like some of animal.

I would say my favourite scene is when the character pours some sort of red substance/liquid that looked like blood into a wine glass of water. The action was slowed down which clearly showed the water being diluted which was very effective.

Through-out the thriller opening there was a range of close-ups at different angles, which was good because us as the audience could recognise the mise en scene and every prop.

There were short sound clips of diagetic sound such as the sizzling of the butter on the pan, the fire starting at the beginning and the sharpening of the knives. Other than that, it there was a non-diagetic instrumental that created suspense and gave a tense atmosphere.

The mise en scene during the opening was carefully laid out, it was clear that the scene was in a kitchen. The shadows of the

Abigail Faponle

sharpening of the knives contributed to the purpose of the film and made the scene look even scarier. The lighting was dim, at some points it seemed the only source of light was from the fire which was very effective.

The editing of the titles was very rough and looked scary which contributed to the atmosphere and affect it gave on us as the audience.

Altogether I think this thriller opening done everything it was supposed to do and kept me wanting more, if this was extended into a film I would definitely pay money to go and watch it!