2. Timeline of an opening

TASK 1: Conventions

a) Present the conventions of a film opening, what do you expect to see in most film opening scenes.

• Film institutions (Studio/Production Company logo)
• Establishing shots
• Location
• Opening credits
• Non-diegetic music
• A voiceover
• Enigma
• Flashback

b) Think about the genre of film that you are going to make. What are the specific conventions of a film opening in this genre?

Horror-

• Cinematography - Motivated lighting and shadows
• Location - Isolated
• Sound - Non-diegetic
• Camera angles/movement - Close up/Tilted angle/low angle/zoom
• Editing - Fast paced
• Mise-en-scene - Setting is dark and clothing is usually casual.
• Narrative structure - Nonlinear  

TASK 2: Timeline of a Film Opening

I have selected to look at the opening of the film 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I watched the opening sequence of the film 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991) and made a note of all the 23 titles that appeared in the space of 5 minutes. Additionally, I also produced two timelines, one which displayed the video and the second displaying the non-diegetic soundtrack. Both were annotated in depth, in order to illustrate what happened in-between the times. As displayed, the first timeline for the video shows that the title sequence lasted for 5 minutes exactly, however we were also introduced to a scene where a woman was appeared to be jogging in the woods starting at 1:11, this ended at 3:46. The scene then changed to the same woman, but at 3:46 she had appeared to be in what looked like a police building. Finally, at 4:59 the same woman entered an office and the final title of the sequence ended at 5:00. Moreover, the second timeline for the soundtrack displays how the non-diegetic sound increases and decreases throughout the sequence, this is how the tension is measured within the scene. The more the non-diegetic sound increase, the bigger the tension and the more the non-diegetic sound decreases, the less tension there is. However, the non-diegetic sound fades out at 3:45, yet the title sequence continues until 5:00.

This form of research has given me a much better insight on how exactly the title sequence is structured and roughly how long is lasts. Recording every single individual time for each title enables me to see the timing structure much better, therefore when it comes to planning the opening of my own film, I can approximately work out when each title is to be shown. As presented, the title sequence shows a specific order of titles, all which are displayed in order of importance. The very first title in the sequence is always the film institutions (studio/production company logo) and usually the last being who the film was directed by. Creating both a timeline for the video and the soundtrack has helped me to see what exactly I should include in my own opening of my film, especially on such aspects as music, as this will allow me to see what sort of music I should be including and which scenes the music should increase or decrease depending on the situation.