Opening Title Sequences.

In class we watched opening sequences of some films. One was a horror/thriller. The other was a documentary.

The first one was Shrooms.
Shrooms is a horror.

Camera shots/angles/composition.
The main camera angle was a side view. There were no head on shots of the character. The whole opening title sequence was in medium shot. There was also an establishing shot of the castle.

Sound Fx/Music.
The sequence begins with heavy breathing, this starts before the scene. The music is sinister. You hear drums, this could symbolize the heartbeat ? Screaming can also be heard.

Editing.
The sequence is grainy. Some parts are in black and white, this makes the whole thing creepier. Parts of it are misty/ clouded. This gives the impression that this is all our character can see.

Characters.
The main character is a blonde female. American. In the opening title sequence there isnt a full view of her.

Credits/position/font.
The text is white, bold, on a black background. It is also centered, its big enough that you cant miss it.


Mise En Scene.
Sense of urgency/panic. We see a knife, then the blood. Dead birds. A child with a sack over his head. All these things are very significant.

Other.
 The opening sequence was very fast paced. It flickered to other clips of the film, which were all significant parts.

 Enigma.
We see the castle.


Another Opening Title Sequence we watched was 127 Hours.

Mise En Scene.
We see our character's swiss army knife. Climbing harness. His orange and drink he takes with him and the cafe's he passes.

Editing.
The screen is split into three parts, in each part there is a continuous stream of people. From that, it was like saying when he needed people they were no-where to be found. But when he isn't in need, there they are. When we first see our character, he is in silhouette. This gives it a sense of mystery because we dont see his face properly until he is in the car, driving.

Sound fx/ Music.
There is uplifting music in the background of this particular opening sequence. This creates a sense of energy and pace. It is also very vibrant. It goes with the rush of people.

Camera shots/angles/composition.
There are a few close ups, and extreme close ups. For example, when he is arranging his climbing harness, when he turns on the tap to fill up his water bottle. When he got the orange and the drink. The shots from inside the cupboards are clever. There is a shot from underneath the bottle, where everything is distorted. When he is in the car, driving, there is a POV shot, there is also a camera filming a camera, We see what our character is filming. There are multiple high angles from the dashboard when he is driving. When we see our character filming himself with his handheld camera, is it really shaky and unsteady. This gives a great sense of unbalance. The mirror shot of the bicyclists is done well. There is a birds eye view shot and lastly there is an establishing shot of where our character is.

Enigma.
We see our character getting his climbing harness ready. This is obviously very significant. Because he's going to go on a climbing weekend. He reaches up into the cupboard for his swiss army knife, but he cant reach it. He only misses it by inches. This is the most important part of the opening title sequence. If he had his swiss army knife, it would have helped him a lot in the situation he found himself in. He takes an orange and a drink with him, but on the way to his destination he passes multiple restaurants and cafe's where he could have purchased food and drink. Also he misses a call from his mother, because of this she isn't aware of where he is.

Characters.
Our character is obviously a climber. This is shown to us by the harnesses we see him preparing. An adrenaline junkie. He appears to like the high energy activities. He seems to be independent and like being slone. We can see this because he's went away for a weekend by himself. He may be single, he has to work to have the money to go away. He could be too busy for a relationship ?

Credits.
The credits are in white, bold, they're just thrown in, they aren't very noticeable. There was so much hype surrounding the film, the director's name wasn't really noticeable.

Other.
We see the hustle and bustle of everyday life, as the opening sequence goes on, he's driving peacefully to his destination. Away out of civilization.