The Spiderwick Chronicles (Waters, 2008, US)

Action /Advernture (Spiderwick) Thriller and Romcom (Bridget Jones)

The way the pacing is presented is different in Spiderwick to Bridget Jones, as the Spiderwick is more slow to convey mystery then swaps suddenly to quick to show a sense of ergency. Whereas Bridget Jones uses more of a naturlistic pace. Romcom's also don't pose as many questions compared to a Thriller or Action/Adventure and they also don't wish to hide the identity of characters. HOWEVER Action/Adventure and thrillers like to hide the charcters identity as this poses more questions for the audience to ask, whilst being easy to follow. Also they have near enough the same orchestral score whereas as a romcom uses more popular music.

Bridget Jones's Diary (Maguire, 2000, UK, Ireland, France)

The target audience is different for a romcom as women are more interested than men are. The music used is also different as you wouldn't have sounds that create a chilling atmosphere to show someones feelings. The pace of the edits are different and it is more common for thriller opening sequences to hide the characters faces to create a mystery, whereas in a romcom there is not much to hide and so they normal introduce the main character to the audience straight away. However similarities between a romcom and a thriller is that the directors have used some shots to get the audience to ask questions.

Wallander (Firewall, 7/12/08, BBC1)

 The opening sequence starts with a blank (black) screen. The music used is quite orchestral to create a chilling setting, as this then prepares the audience for something thrilling to happen. The music has an increasing drum roll to build the tension. The camera than pan's upwards.

There is an extreme long/ master shot of the coast line. This then gives the location a very empty and isolated feeling. The music is intensified and creates a ghostly aura and makes the audience feel on edge. A helicopter shot is used to show the full setting.

We notice to small figures walking away from a white 4 by 4. The colour white is used to stand out from the dull setting and can connote to purity, which then suggests to the audience that for whatever reason, these two characters have done something they wish to leave behind. From the extreme long shot, we see the car is off road, this then seems suspicious and the car door has been left open, why is it open? Music has been edited to go in time with the shot transitions, the sound used mimics the harshness of the wind as its being sliced with a knife.

The camera has been placed to create a feeling that 

something is behind them, possibly someone they left behind? We learn just from this behind mid-shot that they are both female. However due to the different choice in hair styles it is unknown to the audience wether these two characters know one another. The one on the right looks to be more of  a 'rebel' as she has a more out going choice in style than the girl on the right who is seen to just have her hair up. There is no dialogue just diegetic sound, fro

m this it creates a  feeling of panic for the audience as the producers want you to focus on the pace of their breath and the speed of to which they are walking at ( made known by the sound of their footsteps).

From this shocking discovery, the audience now know that these two girls have either killed or seriously injured this taxi driver. We know that the person in the blood stained vehicle is a taxi driver due to his card shown in the shot. The cinematography shows the camera inside the car looking out to the front of the screen, from this you see the two girls very out of focus and still walking away from this injured person. A radio has been left on in the background to convince the audience that the two girls left in a hurry.

Finally we see the two girls in a mid-shot. You notice they both have blood, most likely from the taxi driver, on their faces confirming they have done something negative. But up to this point the audience are still unaware of how badly injured/damaged this man could be. Is he dead? Is he still breathing?

This extreme close up of the taxi drivers face, clarifies to the audience he is still alive, however he is seriously injured. From the facial injuries this man has suffered you wonder what he did to deserve it? As the clip progresses the man's eye begins to twitch confirming he is alive. From the extreme close up, you can not fully see this mans face.

There is still no dialogue between the two girls and so we still do not know much about them, such as: Who are they? Are they related? why did brutally beat up the taxi driver? Questions like these then subconsciously make the audience want to watch on. You hear the girls breathing become more intense, heavy and slower, this could suggests a struggle between them and the taxi driver.

The close up shot of the taxi drivers key ring, shows him to be a family man, and as he is seen to have a son (based on the image) shows he is responsible and probably wouldn't do anything to hurt anyone. the blood splatter on the image suggests that maybe something more happened to him.

In this final shot we learn that the girl to the right has inflicted the most pain upon the taxi driver, as she is the one to be holding a blood covered knife. From the way she is holding the knife all clenched in her fist, shows the anger she is feeling even after stabbing someone, or the tightness of her grip could represent the fear she is feeling.

The Sixth Sense (Shayamalan, 1999, US)

Brick (Johnson, 2005, US)

Memento (Nolan, 2000, US)

Within the first few frames of Memento, the music played is very orchestral creating an eerie feel which seems to be quite dramatic for the first two to five seconds, and by this point the music has already created an atmosphere  of suspense and mystery. The music also has a  sadness to it as the orchestral sound is fairly slow and depressing. We notice the titles at the start fade in and out of the frame, which then creates and naturalistic flow for the audience. The colour used for the titles are blue, which commonly connotes to sadness, this then relates back to the music being played in the background. Stereotypically the colour blue resembles the male gender, which then hints to the audience that the main character is a man.

The frame then goes into an extreme close up of this horrific image showing the audience an image of a man dead,  lying of the floor. Already this has the audience asking questions, such as, Who is that man? Is he defiantly dead? If he is dead, then how was he killed and why? you notice the image is held by a male character and which then generates a new question, Is he the main character? You also notice a small tattoo on the man's wrist which could suggest he has had many experiences in his life. He then shakes this image and you watch this picture slowly becoming distorted. As the image is quite shocking and violent, by the man shaking the picture to get rid of the image suggests to the audience he either wants to get rid of the photographic evidence of wishes to forget. The only information you know about this person is that he's male and because you can not see his face yet, it forms the question, Why does he not want to show his face? or Is he hiding something?

The man places the blank picture back into his camera. Just from this information alone you figure out that this whole scene is shot in reverse and the camera being used is a polaroid camera. It takes 2 minutes and 3 seconds until you see the mans face properly, this is long build up suggests this man really wanted to remain anonymous. An extreme close up of the polaroid camera, has been used to still cover his face, you now start to wonder,  is he an investigator? The camera then tracks upwards to his face (still an extreme close up) and you then discover more about his character. You discover blood and sweat on his face. For the audience, their response would be half shock (discovering that he is not an investigator) and half a reassurance )this man could indeed be the murderer).

After this point the shots begin to speed up, building the suspense for a new discovery. the camera shots cut from a close up of  blood flowing back into the body, and then to a bullet. As the shots are moving from one to the other at a fast pace, this suggests to the audience that this murder was quick and easy. As the shots are in reverse, the further into the clip you watch, the more that is reveled. The shot continues to an extreme close up of blood stained glasses, this then confirms to the audience that the person on the floor is dead. The music at this point has stopped as the gun reverses and is then used to re-shoot. From there, the screen goes white, hiding the reason to why he was shot. Because of continuity editing, it gives the audience lot's of little clues which then prompts the audience to fill in the blanks.

Coursework Brief

Trailer Vs Opening Sequence

http://bucketfullofsoz.tumblr.com/post/13930387875

Nicole Benyon Matthew Moore Nathan Wyatt 10 Shot Story

Jamie Watts, Nicole Benyon, Grace Potton - Preliminary Task