Rear Window Opening Analysis

Title: Rear Window

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Year Produced: 1954

Budget: $1m

Gross: $30m

Rear Window begins with Universal and Paramount Pictures idents.

This overlaps into the opening credits. The text is in capitals in a yellow/brown to white gradiented, serif font. The text is quite large and takes up most of the screen. Behind the text there are three windows with blinds down. The blinds then slowly raise up one at a time as the credits play. Through the windows you can see a neighbourhood. The fire escapes on the sides of the building signify that it is set in America. Non-diagetic orchestral music plays through the credits and first few takes of the film. All three blinds finish going up, the credits end and the camera zooms in closer to the window.

It then cuts to a high angle extreme long shot of a cat walking up some outdoor stone stairs. The camera pans across and tilts up and down to follow the cat and show more of the neighborhood. There are people standing on a balcony, people in the apartments and people walking through the neighbourhood. The camera eventually comes back into the window to show a close up of a middle aged mans face sweating. The man is sitting down and looks relaxed.

It then cuts to an extreme close up of a thermometer which is at just over 90°F which shows how hot it is. The camera tracks across to show a man in another window shaving. And a radio from inside his house starts playing.

Then it cuts to an extreme long shot of a man and woman waking up on a baclony and again the camera moves, this time showing another woman in her house, someone putting washing out of their window and again the camera comes back in through the window to show the man sitting down. This time the camera keeps moving past his face and shows him in a wheelchair with a cast on his leg. On it is written 'Here lie the broken bones og L.B. Jefferies'. The camera then moves around the room to show photographs of a car crash, then it shows a camera, then it shows a photo of a woman and then some Paris Fashions booklets with the same woman on the cover. All of this provides a bit of exposition. The camera probably belongs to the man and the Paris Fashions booklets would suggest that he might be a fashion photographer, however there is still some narrative enigma with the photographs of the car crash. The mise-en-scene also signifies that it is set in the 50s. The shot fades to black.

There are only four takes in the opening so each one is quite long. I think that as this is an old film it would of worked well when it was released, but I find it too slow and a bit repetitive and I would have prefered more takes and faster editing.

The opening is 3 minutes 52 seconds.

Rabid Opening Analysis

Title: Rabid
Director: David Cronenburg
Year Produced: 1977
Budget: C$530k

Rabid begins with a New World Pictures ident.

The ident fades out and it cuts to an extreme long shot looking behind a brown haired woman wearing leather biking clothes, standing by a motorbike. There is a road running across the screen in front of the woman, an old barn on the opposite side of the road and a country scene in the background. There are no leaves on the trees, the sun isnt out and there might be a bit of snow on the ground in the background which signifies that it is autumn/winter. The main colour in the shot is brown which adds to the feeling that although it is daytime in the countryside, its not a very picturesque shot. The camera begins to move around the woman with use of a steadicam as credits begin to play. The credits are in a yellow, sans-serif font with a shadow and they come on in different positions in the shot which fits in with the camera movement and makes the viewer see more in the shot. It is quite a long, slow take and ends with showing a man walk out of a small building behind her.

The music which starts from the first shot is quite slow and uses long, high-pitched notes which isnt what you’d usually associate with a slasher film. This might however be used through the film to make the audience think that everything is fine before a scare or a killing.

It then cuts to a medium close up of the man walking out the building. He has black, 70s style hair and is also wearing biking leathers which signifies that hes probably with the woman. The building is mainly dull brown in colour. This all connotes that the film is set in the 70s.

The man looks up and it cuts back to the extreme long shot of the woman from behind, which makes it similar to a point of view shot.

It then cuts to a close up of the woman from the front who is rubbing her hands together to warm them up. This also signifies that it is cold and probably autumn/winter. I quite like the composition of this shot and I think that it fits in well with the music and overall feel of the opening to this point, but I dont think that it would work very well in our opening as so far it doesnt feel like a slasher film.

It then cuts back to a close up of the man who is still looking at the woman in an admiring way. This signifies that they have quite a close relationship.

The music fades down and it cuts to an extreme long shot of the two people on the motorbike driving down the road. There is just the diagetic sound of the motorbike and then music similar to before begins playing. The camera is in front of the bike and moving at roughly the same speed as it, so the bike stays pretty much in the same place in the shot throughout the take. The title Rabid comes on in capitals in a distressed, yellow font with a black shadow and a thick line above and below the text (also in yellow with a black shadow) at the bottom, centre of the screen. The title goes off and the take continues, showing some more credits. It is a long take and I quite like how it cuts from the very slow, peaceful start to the fast paced take of the bike.

It then cuts to a close up of one of the bikers brown leather boots and the wheel as well as some of the road as they are driving. This is also quite a long take. It cuts back to the extreme long shot from before which is also quite a long take. Next it cuts to an extreme long shot from beside the road. The bike drives past the camera and it pans across to follow the bike, ending with the bike riding off into the distance.

The credits play through all of this which I think could run for a bit less time as it is quite slow, but the quick motorbike does add a bit of pace to the credits.

The music fades out and it cuts to a long shot of a sign that says Keloid Clinic Inc. In the background there is the outside of a building with a grassy area and a path which leads to two men wearing white standing and talking. This all helps to connote the setting. The noise of the motorbike fades in as the camera pans, tilts and zooms to show some windows next to each other on the building. A voice of a man begins to play which creates an audio bridge to the next take.

It cuts to a medium close up shot of a middle aged man sitting in a chair, smoking a cigar and talking. I think it works well how the previous shot shows you that the man is in the building by zooming into a window and using an audio bridge. The camera zooms out as the man provides exposition by talking about plastic surgery.

Then it cuts to a medium long shot of another man sitting behind a desk. He is also middle aged and appears to work at the clinic by what he says and the mise-en-scene with the desk and his shirt, tie and waistcoat.

It then cuts to a long two shot of the man smoking and a brown haired woman sitting in a long white dress and high heels on another chair. On the wall there are diagrams of the human body and there are big books on a shelf.

It then cuts between a medium close up of the smoking man, a medium close up of the woman and a medium long shot of the other man depending on whos speaking at the time. They talk about experimental plastic surgery.

It then cuts to an extreme long shot of a road and the same music begins playing again. The bike rides down the road past the camera. It cuts to a close up of the two peoples feet as they drive along. Next it cuts to a point of view over the shoulder shot from the passengers viewpoint which might make the audience feel like they are there on the bike. I then cuts to another extreme long shot from off the road and pans across as the bike goes past. All of these are long takes and very similar to the first driving scene which I think works quite well.

The opening is 2 minutes 59 seconds.

Idle Hands Opening Analysis

Title: Idle Hands
Director: Rodman Flender
Year Produced: 1999
Budget: $20m
Gross: $4m USA

Idle Hands begins with a Columbia Pictures ident which fades in from black after 6 seconds. The ident is visually the same as normal however the music for it has been changed to sound more eerie. The ident fades out.

There is an audio bridge as the credits start. The words 'Columbia Pictures Presents' come on. All of the credits are in a very light blue/off-white, capitals, slightly distressed sans-serif font. The text flickers, moves, changes sizes and blurs in the credits which I think looks really good.

There is a montage of shots playing in the background as the credits run. These use quick cutting which makes the opening instantly feel fast paced and tense. There is a lot of shot variation in these as it includes plain black backrounds; the on-screen text in a different coloured, lower opacity and larger font which quickly moves around the screen; abstract images which combine a veriety of textures; and actual footage such as a flowing thick red liquid which signifies death and blood and theres a flame which connotes destruction and could possible foreshadow a fire later in the film.

The main colours used in the credits are black, red and blue which give the sense of darkness, coldness and violence. Also multiple layering is used throughout the credits which adds depth and makes it much more engaging.

These credits go on until 1:36 and I think that it works really well as it visually looks good and is quick paced. I dont think its something we should directly immitate in our opening but I do think that we could take inspiration from the text animation if we add a few name credits at the start of our opening.

The credits distort and lower in opacity to reveal a shot of a pumkin on a wall with a house in the background. This immediately provides exposition of the time of year being halloween. It is a crane shot and the camera begins to move up over the wall. It moves past an outdoor house light on the wall and through the garden. The camera changes focus throughout to change the viewers attention and make sure they see everthing important.

I think the mise-en-scene is very good as it looks like a real familys house who like to celebrate halloween. For example there are plastic ghosts in the ground and two scarecrow-like bodies with pumpkin heads in the window of the house. The house itself is large and detached. This connotes that the family living there a quite wealthy.

The only colours that are really visible in the garden are green/yellow, orange and blue. The rest of the shot is dark as it is night time. I think that the green/yellow and orange lighting work well as they are colours that people associate with halloween and they also have quite a mysterious feel to them. I dont think that the blue lighting works very well though because it detracts from the otherwise eerie feel of the shot. Also as the camera gets closer to the blue lighting you see that it is a model deer which seems more relevant to christmas than halloween.

My favourite part of the take however is when the camera goes past the deer. Although I dont think that the deer itself is very good, I think the shot engages the audience as it feels almost like you are there and it is a POV shot. If they had changed the deer to something such as a witch then I think the shot would be even more effective.

The take ends with the camera tilting and zooming into a window on the first floor. The window frame is wooden, there are crosshatching wires behind the window and the main colour inside is a dull green/blue.

It is a long take at just under a minute but I think with the music it works well as it provides quite a bit of exposition.

I like how the same music plays from the start of the first ident right through the rest of the opening. I also like how it uses both high keyboard notes and medium pitched notes on other instruments, as well as noises that almost sound like other things such as screaming. The music is fairly fast paced which works well with the fast paced credits and also works well in contrast to the slow, long first take.

The opening is 2 minutes 32 seconds.

Night of the Living Dead (30th Aniversary Edition) Opening Analysis

Title: Night of the Living Dead
Director: George A. Romero
Year Produced: 1968
Budget: $144k
Gross: $30m USA

Night of the Living Dead '30th Aniversary Edition' doesnt begin with any idents but instead starts with the credits. All of the text is in a white, capital sans-serif font on black. The credits play until 57 seconds into the film. I think that the credits run for too long at the start and they would be better just having a few names at the start of the film and the rest at the end. But I do think that the music works well in the opening as it uses both long slow notes with faster piano notes which makes the opening instantly feel more tense.

The music ends, the last name credited fades out and the black screen cuts to the first scene. There is an extreme long shot of a large factory-like building. It is quite a long take and the camera stays still through it.

It then cuts to another extreme long shot of the side/back of the building with a pick up truck parked in the foreground. You then hear a diagetic American male voice as a man opens a wire gate. Another two men then walk out of the gate and carry a coffin to the truck. They struggled to carry the coffin and when they get to the pick up truck they hold their backs to signify that the coffin is heavy which I think works quite well, but then one of the men says that the coffin is necessary which I think takes away from the scene instantly as it is unnecessary exposition. The two men then lift the coffin onto the back of the truck. All three men then start talking and the shot cuts to an over the shoulder medium long shot as they continue to talk. As they speak they provide exposition which I think is way too blunt as they say things that no one would say in real life, just to get the exposition across. During the talking the shot cuts between the two shot types twice, and all of the takes are quite long. The two men then get into the truck and rev it up.

It then cuts to an extreme long shot of the building which is a similar shot to the one at the start. I think that they should of shown the truck actually driving away in the previous shot before cutting to this scene. The pick up truck drives along past the side of the building and non-diagetic music begins to play. At the same time there is diagetic sound of one of the men in the car talking, however it sounds like a voice over as it stays on the same shot and the voice is a lot louder than the car. I think that to make this work they would of needed to cut to a medium two shot of the men from inside the car as they talk, otherwise it sounds completely out of place with the shot.

Then it cuts to an extreme long shot of the truck driving down an empty country road. I like the composition of this shot however they continue with the diagetic talking which sounds out of place. The talking is also still to blunt and unnatural. The camera pans a little as the truck goes past to follow it.

Next it cuts to another extreme long shot from inside a graveyard looking across to a road. The pick up truck drives across and the camera pans with it as the truck pulls into the graveyard. The graveyard could foreshadow death in the film.

It then cuts to another extreme long shot from inside the cemetary as the truck drives through it. The camera again pans across as the truck goes past to follow it.

There is then another extreme long shot of the truck driving through the graveyard. The camera tracks across to show the backs of three people. A man and a woman who both have a spade, and a vicar.

It cuts to a long three shot of the three people. The vicar is bald, holds a bible, wears black vicar clothes and is looking down. This signifies that he is serious about this burial and is there to do his job. He comes across as very wierd through the rest of the opening although I dont think this is intentional. The other man is quite a fat middle aged person who wears a checked shirt tucked into his trousers. He starts shouting at the men in the truck to park there. The character is meant to be represented as a serious man but he comes across as a bit stupid and melodramatic due to the bad acting. The woman wears a floral dress over a long sleeved top. She is also middle aged and has her arms folded which signifies that she is also quite angry at the man in the coffin. The truck finally parks. I think that the driving scene is too long, there is not enough shot variation and the dialogue between the two men in the truck is too blunt and artificial.

It cuts to a medium long shot of the driver getting out of the truck and the passenger getting out in the background. The camera pans to show the driver walk around to the back of the truck. It then cuts again to a medium shot at the back of the truck and the passenger walks into shot with the driver. The clumsy talking continues which gives you more exposition about the different characters. The man in the coffin was executed in an electric chair for raping and strangling the middle aged man and womans young daughter; the two men from the start think that the man should be cremated instead of having him buried and the vicar and church dont believe in cremation.

The two men lift the coffin off the back of the truck. There are then two low angle medium close ups of the mother and father of the girl who was killed. The two men take the lid off the coffin as requested, the father spits on the 'dead' man and then the mother and father walk away after the vicar says hes going to say a prayer, because they dont think he deserves a prayer. The other two men then walk off to smoke. It then cross cuts between a low angle medium close up of the vicar saying his prayer and a medium long two shot of the men smoking. This connotes that the vicar will be safe because it presents him as a good man due to the low angle and him saying a prayer, whereas the other two men might not be safe because they are smoking.

The vicar finishes his prayer and walks away and the other two men go to put the lid back on. One of the men says that the dead body moves, the other one says that dead bodys twitch all the time, and then both men see the dead man open his eyes. When his eyes open a single low piano note plays which I think is quite effective. The two men then freak out and run to the truck and drive away as the dead man gets out of his coffin and tries to go after. I think that the bad acting makes this very unbelievable and almost comical.

It cuts to a medium long shot of the passanger leaning out of the window looking backwards. The car keeps driving as the camera pans to follow it and the shot ends with an extreme long shot from behind the truck of it driving away. I think that quicker editing is needed here to add suspense.

The entire opening is in black and white and uses long takes throughout. Also this opening was not in the original film but was part of the newly-shot scenes for the 30th anniversary edition.

I don't like this opening because I think that there isnt enough shot variation; the exposition could be provided by mise-en-scene effectively without it being difficult to film but instead they provide all exposition through direct, unnatural talking; I think that most of the acting is pretty terrible and I also think that the takes are too long which makes the film seem slow and unexciting.

I think that the music in the opening is very good though, and its something that we might be able to use as inspiration for the music in our opening.

The opening is 7 minutes 17 seconds.

The Crow Opening Analysis

Title: The Crow
Director: Alex Proyas
Year Produced: 1994
Budget: $15m
Gross: $94m

The Crow doesn't have an ident at the start but instead begins with a black screen. A tamborine starts playing and the name of the main actor in the film, Brandon Lee (Bruce Lee's son), quickly fades in. It then fades out and the title of the film, The Crow, fades in and out. Both use a white, sans-serif capital font against a black background. After the title has faded out you hear sirens.

The next scene fades in from the black. It shows an establishing, aerial extreme long shot of a city smoke and fire coming from it. The buildings are almost black and the fire and smoke is orange, which are the two main colours in the shot. The words 'October 30th - Devils Night' fade in at the bottom of the screen in a white font. This provides the viewer with exposition as to the time of year and also signifies that the film might be set in Detroit, as Devils Night was commonly associated with arson and vandolism in Detroit at the time.

It then cuts to an extreme long shot from a helicopter of a building on fire. The helicopter moves forwards going over and between the buildings and is it does this at first there are some sounds of police radios and then the voice of a female child plays and she talks about crows significance when bad things happen. The take ends with a shot through a smashed round window of police investigating inside a large vandalised room. The room lit in red.

It then cuts to a birds-eye view extreme long shot shot of a couple of people on lying on stretchers and some other people standing around them. There is also a hearse and a police car and barriers in the shot. The scene is quite dark but there is lighting from the left side of the screen which highlights the main focus of the image and there are also police lights flashing. I like the use of lighting in this shot and I think that we should try to use the ideas of the lighting in our opening when the main character is outside in the flashback.

Next it cuts to a close up of one of the officers in the room smoking. Then it cuts to a medium shot from behind him as begins to turn around.

There is then a medium close up of a forensic photographers camera flashing as there is the diagetic noise of the shutter closing. This is a very short take which I think helps to add to the disquieted feeling of the opening. It cuts to an extreme close up of an office going into a box to get out and put on some latex gloves. The photographers flash goes off a couple of times while this happens. This all creates anchorage to show that some people have been killed in the building and the police have just got there to investigate as the victim/s bodies are taken to a mortuary.

It then cuts back to the medium shot of the officer. There is then a high angle shot that pans to show a woman bleeding from her chest and face lying on the ground and paramedics giving her an oxygen mask and treating her.

There are then a few shots that give the audience a bit of insight as to how its happened. There is a close up shot of an officer dusting a glass vase, the officer who was smoking picks up a couple of photographs of people, he looks at a photo on some paper on the wall of a group of people. This cuts between a woman and a man on the picture. This signifies that maybe the man attacked the woman who is lying on the floor. The officer then picks up an invitation to a wedding of Mr. Eric Draven and Ms. Shelly Webster. I think that all of this works well as it subtly provides information about what might of happened but still manages to keep the film in polysemy.

The first diagetic speaking doesn't come into the film until 1:48, where the police officer starts talking with the other officer, who is looking at the wedding dress, about the invitation. There is cross cutting between them talking and the woman lying on the ground being treated. One of the paramedics then tells an officer that the woman needs to be taken to hospital. He agrees and they begin strapping her to a stretcher.

One of the officers asks what the count is so far and the other officer replies saying theres been 143 fires with 3 hours to go. This provides the audience with exposition of the number of fires and also the time of day.

The woman is wheeled out of the room and then it cuts to a close up of a wooden beam outside. A crow flies in and lands on the beam. This, with what the voice over at the start said, foreshadows what will happen.

It then cuts to shots of the main officer coming out of the building and talking to a detective. It also cuts to a close up of the womans face.

Next it cuts to a close up of someones feet who is wearing black boots and riding a skateboard. It then cuts to a medium shot of the person who is a young girl pushing her way through the crowds. There is cross cutting between the girl, the police and there is also a close up of the crow. The girl gets to the woman on the stretcher and calls her Shelly. Shelly then asks where Eric is and the officer tells her not to worry about him. She then asks the officer to tell her to take care of Sarah. Shelly is then put into an ambulance and the office asks the young girl if she's Sarah, to whihch she replies that she is. All of this provides exposition about the names of some of the characters which tells the audience that the woman being taken away is getting married the next day and she was probably with her fiance that night.

The officer tells Sarah that her sisters going to be OK. Sarah then replies by saying that Shellys not her sister but her friend who takes care of her and then she tells the officer that he lied to Shelly about Eric and to her about Shelly. She says 'shes going to die isnt she' and then starts crying and the officer comforts her.

The girl is the same person that was doing the voice over at the start which suggests that the opening is a flashback as what she said seems to foreshadow what will happen in the rest of the film, which suggests that its already happened when she does the voice over.

It cuts to an extreme long shot and the camera zooms out which shows the officer comfortic Sarah in the center of the shot with other people standing in the dark street which is lit by the fires, police lights and street lights. The end of the take goes into slow motion and the shot fades out to black. I think this is an effective way to end the opening as it leads into the rest of the film and also signifies that it was all a flashback.

The opening is 4 minutes 3 seconds.

Trick or Treat Opening Analysis

Title: Trick or Treat
Director: Charles Martin
Year Produced: 1986

Trick or Treat begins with a DEG ident.

A male voice over begins reading lines from Doctor Faustus as the title and credits play. The title Trick or Treat is on a black background and is in a font similar in style to fonts used by quite a few 1980s rock and heavy metal bands logos. This signifies that hard rock/heavy metal music might have in important role in the film. There are then credits in an off-white, capitals serif font on a black background which play until 48 seconds into the film. The last two names to be credited are Gene Simmons and Ozzy Osbourne which provides further anchorage that hard rock/heavy metal music will be influential to the film.

The credits quickly fade out to black and it cuts to an image of a metal musician against a black background. A hard rock song begins to play and the camera zooms out to show the image to be a poster in a bedroom wall. The camera then moves through the room to show books on rock, a calender with a band as the picture, a black leather belt with studs, a skull etc. Everthing signifies that the person whos room it is is really into that kind of genre of music and likes to try and dress like his idols.

The shot then overlaps into a similar type of shot showing more posters of bands such as Anthrax and Ozzy Osbourne which signifies the time period to be in the mid to late 80s. The camera then continues to move around the room showing more memorabilia and overlapping into another shot which does the same. The camera eventually reaches a long shot of a boy, with long black hair and dark clothing, lying on his bed writing a letter. The music gets quieter and a voice over comes on. He is saying what he is writing. He begins by saying 'its me again, Ragman' which signifies that he writes to this person quite often and it also tells the audience what the character calls himself. He then goes on to say 'its them against us. I cant believe the cancelled your halloween concert' which signifies that he sees the person that he is writing to as similar to himself, and that the person hes writing to is likely to be a fairly successful performer. It then cuts to a long shot of the poster which was shown at the start, the focus then changes to be on the boy. This signifies that the person he is writing to is the man on the poster and someone that the boy idolises.

The voice over and music continue playing and there is an audio bridge as the scene overlaps to a medium long shot of teenagers walking up some stairs indoors carrying some books. This signifies that it is in a school setting. The camera then pans across to show the boy sitting under the stair with his arms crossed.

Next it cuts to a medium close up of the boy stood reading a magazine, with a picture of Motley Crue on the back, in a corridor. This is the first time you get to properly see the boy in a good light. He is wearing headphones around his neck and is wearing a denim jacket with a skull pin and guitar pin on it. This provides more anchorage of the boys personality and style.

It then cuts to a long shot of a girl walking down the corridor who he likes, she waves, it cuts back to the medium close up of the boy who waves back thinking that she's waving at him, and it then cuts back to a medium shot of the girl and the camera pans as it follows her walking past the boy to her friend. It ends on an over the shoulder medium close up of the boy, showing the girl and her friend starting talking and the boy looking awkward. The voice over then stops for a short while. It then cuts to a two shot of him eating his lunch with a geek who is represented in this way by wearing large glasses, a shirt and his hair. The main character then drinks his milk but it goes over him as someone has put a hole in the carton. It cuts to show the people who did it laughing at him. All of this signifies that he isn't liked and people bully him.

It then cuts to a medium close up of him walking down the coridor, it cuts to a point of view shot and the same people who put a hole in his milk mess up his hair. This allows you to see the people better and they are represented as jocks by them wearing jeans and a varsity jacket or a jacket with its collar up and trainers. It then cuts back to the medium close up of the main character with his messed up hair and him looking annoyed.

Next it cuts to show shower tiles and the camera tilts down to show the boy in the shower (at school). It cuts to show him walking through the changing rooms with just a towel round his waist and when he gets to his locker the jocks are looking at his stuff and taunting him with it. He then gets pushed through a door as another jock takes his towel off him. It cuts to an extreme long shot of some girls playing volleyball in a sports hall and they turn around to look at him. So hes naked in a sports hall with loads of girls looking at him and he tries to get back through the door but it has been locked/held shut by the jocks.

It cuts to a medium close up of one of the girls and she looks like she has an idea. She runs to get a camera and as the other girls laugh at him, she takes pictures. He looks gutted and then it cuts to a medium long shot of one of the girls and as the camera zooms in on her she goes from laughing to looking sorry for him. The voice over begins again as he drops against the door.

There is then an overlap to a shot of his room again, with the poster of his idol in the center of the screen. This adds importance to the man in the poster. The camera tilts down to show the boy still writing his letter. This allows the audience to realise that what they had seen was a flashback of what the boy was writing about. It then cuts to another shot of the poster and the camera zooms in as the voice over says 'the one things that holds me together is you'. This anchors that the boy is writing to him. He then says 'you did it man. You went to this fucking school and you rose above it. Now youre on top, and you can just look down at the anthill and smile'. This provides the audience with exposition of why the main character idolises him, because he can relate to him. The boy finishes off his letter and tears of the page.

It cuts to a close up of the boys hands holding an envolope addressed to Sammi Curr. This is the first time that the audience actually finds out the idols name. I think that they manage to do this well as the audience already knows who the letter is to with use of mise-en-scene and shot variation, and by telling the characters name through it saying it on a letter is quite subtle and it just adds a name to a face for the audience instead of the film just providing obvious exposition about the character which wouldn't of been as effective.

The music fades out and the opening ends.

The opening is 5 minutes 34 seconds.

Leprechaun Opening Analysis

Title: Leprechaun
Director: Mark Jones
Year Produced: 1993
Budget: $900k

Leprechaun begins with a Trimark Pictures ident.

It then fades into a dark scene with steps leading down to a rocky underground. This uses blue lighting to add a sense of coldness and mystery to the scene. A leprechaun then slowly begins to walk down the stairs. Non-diagetic music is played with long, slow notes that help add to the strangeness of the scene.

The leprechaun then does a pointing backwards action with his hands, a 'magic' noise is made and the scene fades out to black.

It then fades into a medium shot of the leprechaun sitting on the stairs with a pot of gold laughing and feeling the money. This then cuts to a long shot which has a light coming diagonally from the top right of the shot onto the leprechaun. This lets you see some moss on the wall which makes things seem more mysterious. The leprechaun then says a short poem as it cuts back to a close up of the gold.

It then cuts to a black screen with the words 'Trimark Pictures Presents' on it in a stereotypical Irish font.

Next it cuts to two low angle dutch tilt shots of a black car driving along the road at night. Then it cuts to a high angle long shot of the car driving along a dirt road. The words 'A Mark Jones Film' fade in and out in the same font as before. You see the car to be a short limo which would signify that the person inside it is quite wealthy. There is then a long shot of the limo driving towards the camera.

The screen then cuts to black and the title Leprechaun transitions onto the screen.

There is then another medium long shot of the car driving past and the camera pans across to follow the limo. It then cuts to a medium close up of the front of the car from the side driving across the shot and coming to a quick stop.

There is then a medium shot of a mans legs as he steps out of the car which tilts up to show a middle aged man finishing a bottle of whisky which he then throws onto the ground. There is a close up of the bottle rolling across the ground.

It then cuts back to the man and there is a long shot from behind as he walks towards a rural house. His walk signifies that he is drunk. A woman is standing on the porch looking shocked.

They then begin talking and it provides quite obvious exposition as she calls him by his name and speaks in an Irish accent. The woman asks about why he's in a limo, the man replies by talking about how they are rich and going to start living a more luxurious lifestyle, the woman thinks hes just saying it because hes drunk, the man produces a bag of gold saying that he got it from a leprechaun and she doesnt believe him. I don't think that this works well as firstly, the man isnt very good at acting drunk, and also it is too blatent and to the point. I think that they could have made it much better by having less talking and using mise-en-scene more effectively to show what was happening. Something that I thought was good in this scene was the lighting flashes which in this case was used to get them to go inside and shut up, but in our opening we might be able to incorporate to forshadow something bad happening.

The music throughout has long slow bass notes with high pitched Irish music elements.

The opening is 4 minutes 4 seconds.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) Opening Analysis

Title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Director: Tobe Hooper
Year Produced: 1974
Budget: $83.5k

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre begins with a black screen and the words 'a vortex/henkel/hooper production' fade in then out, then the words 'a film by tobe hooper' fade in and out. The font is yellow and serif which connotes that the film is not going to be a light, easy to watch film.

Text then scrolls up the screen in the same font and there is a male voice over reading it. The narrator sounds serious as he provides exposition of what the audience can expect to see in the film. The date August 18th 1973 the fades in and out in the same font.

All of this takes just over a minute and although I think it works well for this film I think we would have to provide exposition more subtly with use of mise-en-scene for it to be more effective.

There is then diagetic sound with a black screen. This makes the audience imagine what might be happening and because it sounds like cracking bones, human sounds, spade shovelling or anything else that the audience can think they hear, it is likely to make them think of bad things. I think this is something we should use in the first 5 or 10 seconds of our opening.

Along with these noises there then begins some camera flashes and exagerated camera noises. These show close ups of a rotting dead body but only for a short time each. I think that this is good because it helps the audience to add to the picture that theyve already got in their mind and make them think of even worse things that could be happening. There are also some jump cuts that help to imprint the images in the viewers mind.

These noises go on until about 2:06 into the film and the sound of a radio fades in over the noises. This provides the audience with further exposition and doesn't allow them to relax. The black then fades into a close up of the dead persons face against a rural backdrop. This zooms out and shows a second dead body in front of it. There are a few crash sounds and deep guitar notes playing in the background. The take ends on a long shot of the two bodies which finally allows the audience to see the full picture and, along with the radio, understand a bit more about whats happening. It holds on this long shot for quite a long time until the radio ends. I think that this works quite well because the previous shots had all been very quick and dark so this adds shot variation.

This then cuts to the credits which are shown over a red and black backgroud. The credits are in the same font as at the start. The background is nothing recognisable but the red moves unevenely through the black which could connote blood. The radio continues to play through the opening but it is difficult to hear what is being said as there are loud, non-diagetic sounds played. It ends with a crash as an image of a sun/bright yellow circle on black.

The opening is 4 minutes 34 seconds.

Peeping Tom Opening Analysis

Title: Peeping Tom
Director: Michael Powell
Year Produced: 1960
Budget: $135k

Peeping Tom begins with Anglo Amalgamated and Michael Powell Production idents.

The idents fade out and it cuts to an extreme close up of a mans closed eye as non diagetic music begins playing. The mans eye opens and the scene cuts to an establishing extreme long shot of a slightly unclean street at night with a woman standing on the pavement looking through a window. There is an audio bridge between these shots. You then see a man from behind, who is wearing a brown coat and brown trousers, walking down the street whistling.

It then cuts to a close up of a video camera being hidden or secured in a brown coat and switched on. This is a big indication of the time period as the camera is very old fashioned. It also denotes that the character who walked along whistling is likely to be an important character. The man walks towards the camera making the shot go out of focus. It then cuts to the next shot which I think works quite well and could be something that we could use in our opening in the flashback scene.

The next shot is a POV of the character looking through the camera lens as he walks towards the woman who was standing on the street. You can then properly see how shes dressed. Her black high heals and fur clothing connotes that she might be a prostitute. She's also wearing a red skirt which might signify that she's sexually active (which is another signifier of her being a prostitute) and also it could foreshadow that shes going to be killed. She's also blonde which would suggest that she will be killed. There is then further anchorage of the woman being a prositute when the woman says 'It'll be two quid'. The accent of the woman also connotes that the opening is probably set in London or somewhere in England. 

The woman leads the man down an alley and into a building (probably a brothel). This is all still in the same take. There is a cut between shots when she opens the door and he puts something in a bin, however both shots are the same POV shots and it cuts out a few seconds inbetween him looking in the bin and looking up at her. I think it would of been better to have it without the cut inbetween however it might not of been possible because it was such a long take.

The non diagetic music continues to play from the start through most of the opening but gets quieter and eventually stops about 1:40 into the opening. It is a piano continuosly playing a couple of notes at a medium/quick pace.

As the man is walking up the stairs another woman is walking down. She is wearing smarter clothing and is a more mature looking woman which would signify that she owns the brothel.

When they get to the room the prostitute begins to get the room ready and take her clothes off. There is an exagerated noise of a clock ticking however it is going quite quickly. This adds suspense to the scene and makes it seem more fast paced.

The mans arm then reaches across the shot and he pulls something out of his coat. Although you cant see what it is, there is diagetic sound of metal or a similar material being pulled from his coat. This would signify that he pulled out a knife or something similar, however there is then a torch light that points to the woman. This makes the audience unsure of exactly what he's doing and creates polysemy as to what and why hes doing it. The man begins moving towards the woman and she begins to looks more scared and begins screaming. Just before he gets close enough to her to stab her it cuts to the next scene of a close up of a film projector rolling. I think that this works well and is something that we might be able to incorparate into our opening however I think that it cuts too early as there isnt enough build up to the killing.

After the shot of the projector there is a long shot of the man sitting in a chair from behind watching what he had filmed of the prostitute on a projector screen. This signifies that the man had only gone to the prostitute and killed her because he wanted to use it as a short film.

All of the opening uses long takes but the POV shot uses a very long take. I think that this works well in this film as the whole film is based around the killer, but I dont think that its really something we could use well in our opening otherwise there wouldnt be enough shot variation and also it would be much harder to build suspense.

Something which I think we could use from this film in our opening is that the killers face is never shown. I think that this is effective because not knowing something about the killer creates polysemy and allows the audience to make there own interpretations of the character.

Saw 2 Opening Analysis

Title: Saw II
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman
Year Produced: 2005
Budget: $4m
Gross: $87m USA

Saw 2 begins with the Lions Gate Films and Twisted Pictures Idents.

It then goes into a POV type shot  which begins with a close up of a hanging lightbulb that changes in brightness. Also the focus on the lightbulb changes between in and out of focus which I think works well as it connotes that the character is just regaining consciousness/waking up. He then looks around the room at different things in it such as a vent on the wall, the tv and finally his trap that hes in. There is a mirror on his trap which he uses to look at himself. I think that the POV type shot ending up looking in a mirror would be the best way to introduce the victim in our opening. The camera then zooms out and around the room showing the victim in his trap.

Then theres quick paced close up and long shots of the victim calling for help and getting out of his chair.

Next it shows the tv coming on with the puppet talking to the victim. The shots cut between a close up of the tv and a medium close up of the victim. This lets the viewer know what is happening and it also shows how the victim is responding to it.

It then goes to the victim starting his task and doing it. This uses quick varying shots and uses exagerated sound of the timer ticking and camera zooms to create tension and show that he hasnt got much time which I think we would use in our opening.

It ends with the time running out, the trap shutting on his face and the sound suddenly stops as he dies. There is a close up of his face with blood running from it.

The opening is 4 minutes 24.