Analysis of my

opening sequence:

‘THE CASE’
 • In this slide show I will be analysing some
screenshots from the opening sequence we
had created.
• I will be looking at the type of shot used, the
effects on the audience and going into more
detail with some other areas.
 The opening sequence starts off with a phone call between the two main
characters of the film. The main character (Richard Porter) has just had his
wife abducted by the main villain (Nikolai Kasparov) and tells the main
character to bring something to him or he will never see his wife again. This
scenario immediately shows the viewers that this film is a serious thriller as
from the get go of the opening sequence it contains suspense and mystery.
While the phone conversation is going on there is a pitch black background
and the main point of this is to create mystery and tension for the audience.
People fear what they do not understand so we have tried to imply this by
making it pitch black and denying the audience views of the characters
speaking. The dark black colour could represent evil and terror so we feel
this is a good effect we want to create for the audience. During this part of
the opening sequence there is no non-diegetic sound just the diegetic
sound of the characters speaking. This allows the audience to focus on the
conversation as this is an important aspect of the opening sequence and will
help the audience to understand the rest of the opening sequence. Also as
there is no non-diegetic sound in the opening this causes moments of
silence in the opening sequence so this helps to create tension for the
audience.

After the phone call conversation between the two main characters of the
film it then quickly goes in to the title of the film which is ‘THE CASE’. We
chose this title of the film as we thought it was simple but effective. The word
’case’ has different meanings and we have included these in our opening
sequence. We have a criminal case as a mans wife has been abducted but we
also have a briefcase to store something inside. These are one of the reasons
that we chose this title. The ‘American Typewriter’ font we had chosen to
write the title in had given it a simple and serious look. We didn’t want a very
complicated and magnificent font for the title of our opening sequence as
this could take away the serious atmosphere we wanted to have throughout
the opening sequence. When we had conducted are research on thrillers we
had found that blue was the most used colour for thrillers so we felt this
would help us convey to the audience that the genre of our opening
sequence is a thriller.
 The first visual part of the opening sequence the audience sees is of
London Bridge. The location is a very important part of our opening
sequence and we wanted to make sure that it was obvious to the audience
that it was in London and starting off with a shot of London Bridge does
this perfectly. We had chosen the location for numerous reasons. Firstly,
London is a multicultural city with many different kinds of people such as
wealth, race and religion. Because of these differences in people I feel this
creates unpredictability and this helps to create unease and mystery for
the audience. Furthermore, there are obviously very magnificent buildings
and locations in the city of London and allows us to get some really good
establishing shots. The history of the city and some of the buildings mixed
with the modern day buildings gives a nice contrast to the shots and helps
emphasize the location the audience. The lighting in this shot is quite dark
and the dark and gloomy skyline helps represent the mood of the main
character (Richard Porter) and the mood of what would be a film.

We had included some shots of the streets of London as we wanted to show a

contrast between the magnificent high- priced business buildings to the
middle class streets and this emphasizes the differences in class and the
importance of money to the audience. As you can see we have establishing
shots of average pedestrians and middle class cars and to show the middle
class environment. We also have a bus stop to the right of the screen, this is
also used to represent the middle class environment. We had also liked to
show that this particular day or time was no different and this was an
ordinary day. We have also included the directors name in the shot. The white
colour makes the writing easily visible to the audience and goes well with the
light surrounding buildings and the dark road. The main point of this
establishing shot was to show the audience different shots of London which
could emphasize the location to the audience. As we move into this shot the
diegetic sound of music will have started and will be playing through this shot.
The music has a low tempo and contains a lot of piano sounds to give a dark
and emotional feel for the audience. This music could also represent the
mood of the main character (Richard Porter) as his wife has just been
abducted so he would be feeling very sad.
A mid shot of the famous ‘Gherkin’ was also used to again emphasize the
London location to the audience and contrast the middle class side to the
rich side of London. The dark colours of the ‘Gherkin’ and the
surrounding buildings help convey the dark and gloomy mood of the
main character and the overall mood of the film to the audience. The
interesting and complex architecture of the ’Gherkin’ could give the
viewers the thought that the film may be a very complex and thought
provoking story so this may draw the audience in. The music will go well
with this shot as the music is very mysterious and dark as is the buildings
in this shot. Some people don’t know what happens in the ‘Gherkin’ so
this could create more mystery for our opening sequence. As you can see
in this shot the fairly old and run down buildings are very close to the
modern ‘Gherkin’ so this could show how close and compact the
different classes are.

We had included another establishing shot to again highlight

how the middle class is compact with the upper class because as
you can see there is the modern business buildings on the side
and the working class pedestrians and cars in the centre. We
have included another title in this shot and as you can see it is
easily visible again. This shot shows the audience how this is a
normal day similar to the other shots of the streets of London.
This will help show who the main character is when he comes
into the opening sequence.
 This establishing shot is important as it tells the audience how the
main character (Richard Porter) gets to London and tells the
audience that this location will be very important in the future. This
is ‘Canary Wharf Station’ and has a very interesting abstract arc
design for the entrance to the station. In my opinion I feel this design
fits in with the mysterious atmosphere we tried to create through
our opening sequence. We also see some more ordinary people
coming to and from the station which gives the impression that this
is just like any ordinary day in London and also tells the audience
that London is a highly populated city. This can beg the question for
the main character and the audience ‘Who can you trust’?

In this part of the opening sequence a pan shot was used to show the
surrounding environment where the main character (Richard Porter)
arrives. This location is also Canary Wharf. The modern buildings in the
shot give the opening sequence an classy and expensive feel. If we had
done our filming in a very local area to where we lived this may make
the opening sequence look very amateur and average. Sky scraper
buildings are usually associated with money and business. In this part of
the opening sequence we have started to show the more expensive side
of London by using the big and tall buildings in the background. There is
also a sculpture to the right of the shot which can also help emphasize
this. By adding these shots of business buildings and expensive
locations this will show the audience that the main character (Richard
Porter) is here for business and can also give a hint as to why the main
characters wife was captured as this location could symbolise ‘money’.
As we are introduced to the main character we see him coming out
of Canary Wharf station. We had used a mid shot to do this as it
would allow the viewers to see not only the main character but also
the station where he is coming out from. The audience will notice
him using an escalator to come out of the station, this could give
the impression that he is a careful man who isn’t trying to rush to
get to his destination. Another aspect of this is the way he walks,
most people in a suit are usually always in a hurry because they
may have business to attend to but the main character (Richard
porter) is walking very slowly and cautious which implies that he
doesn’t want to be involved in this particular business (and of
course we know that he doesn’t).The title in this shot is very clear
like the others titles throughout the opening sequence. The grey
background allows the white title to been seen easily.

The mise-en-scene in our opening sequence was mainly a briefcase.

I feel that a briefcase is a very good prop to use as it not only
creates mystery and unease for the audience but it also suits our
opening sequence as we wanted to make the audience unaware of
what the villain wanted from the main character and a briefcase
does this perfectly. To highlight the box we have used a close-up
shot of the case and of the main character (Richard Porter) putting
the briefcase down onto the ground. By using a close-up this
enables the audience to know what is the main point of focus in the
shot as there is not much else to get the audience distracted. One
other point which highlights the briefcase is the colour of it. As you
can see it is a dark blue colour which as I said previously in the
presentation is the most used colour for thrillers so it matches the
theme very well. Also the colour of the briefcase is different so the
audience is able to see the briefcase very easily.
 Another aspect of mise-en-scene is the costume. As you can
see the main character is wearing a business suit which tells the
audience that he is here for business not pleasure. The suit is
dark to represent the mood of the character (Richard Porter)
and the mood of the opening sequence. The lined tie could give
an indication into the main characters personality. The lines
could show that this person is a very direct and solid and does
not take shortcuts in life it could also that this person has drive
and the will to succeed in whatever he does. Although this man
is dressed smartly there are some features of his costume
which can show that he is in distress. Firstly, his shirt is not
tucked properly into the suit, the suit is creased and the tie is
not done up properly which could suggest that this man is in a
rush. As we look at the face we can see that he is looking
around suspiciously and is also never smiling so this could
imply that he is either up to know good or looking for someone
who is up to no good. The height of the camera is on his level
to make the character appear neither strong nor weak.

In this mid-shot of the main character we see the character

look at his watch. This immediately makes the audience
aware that he is waiting for someone. The looking from left
to right also helps show that the character is looking for
someone. The watch could be considered as mise-en-scene
and this creates an element of time which we wanted to
have for our opening sequence. The watch could be used to
symbolise the main character (Richard Porter) waiting on
someone but it could also symbolise the time running out
for his wife so this mid shot of him looking at his watch is
very powerful to the audiences.
 THE END

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