when a stranger calls opening sequence

The opening sequence of 'When a stranger calls' starts off with a blank screen. This creates a sense of mystery and also conforms to the genre of the film, thriller. We hear the diegetic sound of a phone conversation. It's between a man and a Teenage girl, we hear the voices but we can't see the characters. This is significant because it creates enigma. This makes the audience want to keep watching to find out what is going on. The man seems quite mysterious and dangerous. The audience expectation after seeing the first few shots is that there is going to be a chase to catch the 'killer' or the 'caller' and we expect for there to be a few killings.

Typically like any other opening sequence the credits appear to show case the industry. In this case it is ' A Davis entertainment production'. The colour of the font is white and it fades in and out of the shot. This is very ghostly and mirrors the tone of the film; it also indicates the genre very clearly.

There is an establishing shot of a house and the camera slowly pulls away to a fair ground nearby. Through the use of a montage we see various shots of families, children playing, lights and we hear laughing and people having a good time. Although this is taking place we still hear the sound of a teenager getting mysterious phone calls. This introduces the story line of what the film will probably be about. The montage is also probably used to speed up time here and also to frighten the audience. An example is when the camera shows a shot of some silver spoons dangling down and blowing in the wind, it quickly changes with the sound of someone screaming back to the fair ground.

There is a non-diegetic soundtrack that sounds very eerie as though something bad is about to happen. At one point the camera goes into a point of view shot of a character. This character appears to be the 'killer', he watches the woman carefully and we hear heavy breathing. This really mirrors the genre of a thriller. It’s generic to have a 'killer' spying on their victim before they kill them.

    

I Am Legend opening Sequence

I Am Legend is a Thriller and its opening sequence establishes this very well. At the beginning we are presented with a black screen and we hear a narrator (The Survivor). This creates enigma because the audience are curious and want to know what is going on. 

The non-diegetic soundtrack is parallel to the footage being played because it’s very slow and quite ominous. The diegetic sound during the first few shots is calm and can be seen as positive because we hear birds tweeting. However this may also represent death in this immense emptiness of this city. 

The introduction of Will Smith's character mirrors that the film will be a thriller or an action of some sorts. This is because he represents a typically fit, handsome protagonist. He is also shown with a gun. The gun is symbolic as it portrays the genre of this film and also may symbolise that there is a sense of danger, there is a threat after the people of New York. This idea is reinforced further when the camera moves to a broken down bill board that says ‘God still loves us’ this portrays something sinister, something bad is going to happen.     

 

Legally Blonde opening sequence

The opening of Legally Blonde is introduced to us through the use of a montage. A montage is different images assembled to build up an impression. In this case it’s used to compress time, so that we see events that would take place within a day in just a few minutes. An example of this is when we see 'Elle' getting ready; she's done within a few seconds. This is used to retain the audience's attention; we are shown enough to keep us interested. Another thing that grabs our attention is that we don’t see the main character’s face but only what she is doing. This creates enigma, leaving us curious as to who this 'homecoming queen' is. The use of the colour pink connotes the femininity of the main character (Reese Witherspoon) and the other girls at the campus. It also sets the genre of the film which is a romantic comedy. The credits are in a swirly girlish white writing which again reiterates the film as being a romcom. The non - diegetic soundtrack of the pop song 'Perfect day' suggests that 'Elle', perhaps has a 'perfect' life as there is various clues that she does. For example, the homecoming queen banner, the fact that she seems popular, because all the girls at the sorority are signing her birthday card. The track could also imply that everything is 'perfect' at that moment in time but there will be something that will come along to ruin the day.

The opening sequence of 'Legally Blonde' is very stereotypical. In the first few shots we assume that Elle is a 'typical dumb blonde'. She brushes her hair, paints her nails and shaves her legs. This portrays her as really feminine and as a stereotypical blonde. There is continuity editing which is invisible and you do not actually realise that the scenes are changing as it is so smooth. 

 

Preliminary Sequence 'Feed The Fish'

Our preliminary Sequence of 'Feed the Fish' had its difficulties but I also really enjoyed filming and editing it. I had to work in a group of four with Asante Duhar, Billie Cobb & Shaq. This was difficult to begin with because we all seemed to have different timetables. In the end we had to make sure that the filming was done as quickly and promptly as possible during lesson time. However this posed as another problem because it meant that our group was under immense pressure to film and complete out sequence on time along with the other groups.

The plot of our sequence was to have a 'boss' who was violent and very aggressive towards his 'worker'. The worker had to 'Feed the Fish' and we played with this idea connoting it to be something to do with a murder, or something deviate with the intensions of a criminal act. Having created this idea, we then had to think about planning, location, mise en scene, and actors. Finding a location proved to be very problematic for our group because we all had different timetables; therefore shooting somewhere far away from school would have been difficult. Instead we decided to shoot on school grounds. Although this isn’t where we initially wanted to film we had to work with what we had. Shooting went well and I played the role of the 'Director'. This included me making sure Billie was getting all the right shots, the actors (Asante & Shaq) knew what to do and how to behave. I really enjoyed this role as it meant I had the power to overlook everything before it was done and I was in charge of planning etc. I also enjoyed this role because it meant that I became more independent as an individual and had to take responsibility for others in my group.

After shooting, Billie & I took on the role of Editors. I particularly enjoyed this task the most because I enjoyed seeing how everything worked for example being able to cut shots, change lighting and add different soundtracks. Being able to edit helped me understand why it is so important to take lots of shots of the same thing but in different angles. For example we were able to cut footage very easily and still have it look clean and fluent. An example of this is when Asante opens the door then we cut and she enters inside. It looked clean and professional.

As a group I felt we could have improved on our planning. This is because we were unsure of filming days and we didn’t really know what location we wanted to use etc.

Overall I think we worked really hard as a group. I felt very proud of our finished sequence. I really enjoyed directing and filming too and I realised that I could be really independent and take charge if I wanted to.