The Production Company

The production company we have decided to use is New Line Cinema because as we were researching, we noticed that this production company was starting to be used frequently as psychological thrillers were being released a lot more.

It fits in well with the genre because of the way the logo looks as the colours are blue, black and white which are dark and create a mysterious mood. As soon as the logo is shown, the whistling will start which will create an uncomfortable atmosphere.

This is what the logo will look like at the start of the film:

Sounds Being Used In The Opening Sequence

In our opening sequence, we will be using a variety of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds. We have decided to use both rather than just music playing in the background or all noises from when we were filming because this will create a creepy atmosphere which fits in well with our genre.

The sounds we will be using is a recording of a man whistling to 'Oranges and Lemons'. This is a nursery rhyme which is associated with children which automatically makes the audience feel weird as our film is a psychological thriller about dolls.

As well as this, we will also be using sounds from when we were filming so traffic going past the garage, sudden shuffling and footsteps. We want to include these sounds because this will make the opening sequence look more natural and also create an uncomfortable mood.

'Psycho' Opening Sequence Analysis

In order to get some ideas for our opening sequence, I researched by looking at some psychological thrillers opening sequences like Psycho.

The introduction to the film does not show any characters but just shows all the credits which have been made in quite an eerie way. I think this has been done to make the audience feel uncomfortable as soon as they start watching the film because the background sound is creepy. I think they may have not shown any characters as well to set the scene and to make the audience pay more attention to the roles they play as the film begins to start.

Throughout the whole of the opening credits, they have only used colours (black and white) as these are dark and if they did use any bright colours as such, then they would ruin the mood.

The font is also all in capitals which creates a more serious atmosphere then if there was childish writing because now the audience know this is a thriller.

The style in which the names of the people involved in the film also come together from opposite sides of the screen which also creates a serious effect.

Camera Angles For Opening Sequence

In my opening sequence, I will be using medium shots, close ups and extreme close ups. I will be using the medium shots to show some detail in the actions, whilst using close ups/extreme close ups to show specific details of mise-en-scene and emphasis on a certain thing. Low angle shots will be used at times to suggest that the character has power over the other characters, a situation, or even the audience. 


Medium Shots

This is a medium shot from the film Scream 2. The actresses facial expression and clothes are able to be seen using this shot and we can sense innocence because of the use of the colour white. Her blonde hair, pale skin and creme top are all similar and white is usually associated with innocence or purity. 

This is a medium-shot from the film, Psycho, and shows how all we can see is a silhouette but we can still see what the character is doing as well as the light that is shining behind them.

This is the same effect I want to create with the use of mid-shots because the characters clothing, some of the surroundings, and his actions will able to be seen. 

Close Ups

This is a close up from silence of the lambs. The mask he has on his face is usually associated with animals, which gives the impression that he is insane whilst the straight jacket he is wearing, which we can only see part of obviously lets an audience know what he is mad. It also has many other connotations such as murder, death, and mystery. This angle lets us see the mans penetrating eyes that look red and sore in this picture. 

The use of this shot shows a lot of emotion and emphasis on something in particular which is what I want to include in my opening sequence. 

Extreme Close-ups

Extreme close-ups of a face, for example, show only the mouth or eye in this example, of someone without any background detail at all. This kind of shot can be used to dramatic effect and means that when filming, you have to be careful with the camera and lighting as one slight movement can be seen easily in this type of shot. In this title, the title is shown on an extreme close up of someones eye.

I want to use extreme close ups to show detail of certain aspects of mise en scene and to create more emphasis and unease from from objects that usually wouldn't be seen in a negative way.

Research done by Tasnim Khanum.

Background Sound - 'Oranges and Lemons'

For the background sound of our opening sequence, we had initially planned to use the humming of a nursery rhyme. This however, didn't sound as effective and 'creepy' as whistling. Therefore, we have decided to use whistling of the nursery rhyme 'Oranges And Lemons', only having having the following lyrics being said in a serious tone at the end to finish the sequence off:

"Here comes a Candle to light you to Bed

Here comes a Chopper to Chop off your Head

Chip chop chip chop - the Last Man's Dead."

These words have an eery meaning behind them for a nursery rhyme, which is a contrast that suits our genre of film. Nursery rhymes are also conventionally used within psychological thrillers. 

 

 

Props

• Dolls
• Scissors, Scalper, Hammer, Screwdriver, Knives (Other Tools)
• Wooden Jewellery Box
• Chalk
• Fake Hair (Extensions)
• Desk
• Wooden Chair
• Ladder

Background Sounds

We looked at many different 'songs' which we could hum or whistle to for our opening sequence as this would have a creepier effect. We thought that if we used a nursery rhyme instead of a random song then this would have more significance especially for the genre of our film as our film is based on dolls, a nursery rhyme would fit in really well.

We looked at 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' and even attempted whistling to it and it did sound creepy however we didn't think it went well with our film and the song itself has been overused.

We also looked at 'Ring Around The Rosie' because the meaning of the nursery rhyme itself is quite eerie. We researched this and found that the words to the nursery rhyme were to do with the Great Plague of London in 1665 (Black Death). The symptoms of the plague included a rosy red rash in the shape of a ring. People also used to carry sweet smelling herbs (posies) in their pockets because it was said that the disease was transmitted by bad smells. Just by knowing this we thought that the nursery rhyme would be very effective however, we tried this as well but it didn't fit in with our film either so we decided not to use it.

We then thought that we could just get Titas to hum or whistle along to a random tune that we could come up with but we still thought that if we have a song that the audience would recognise, especially a nursery rhyme, then a eerier atmosphere would be created.