Research: Opening Shots

     Research: Opening Shots

Why do opening shots matter? I've never realized that the opening shots is what grabs the viewers' attention and if the first couple of shots aren't engaging then the viewer will just click off the screen in a heartbeat. So how do we create the opening shot? Well first of all, the opening shot of a film is one of the most important parts of a movie as it establishes the tone and the background/setting that the film will take place in. there are many different ways to start off an opening scene such as Introducing different types of conflict such as: 

• Character vs self
• Character vs character
• Character vs nature
• Character vs supernatural
• Character vs technology
• Character vs Society

These notes will help me to create a very meaningful 2-minute opening film as I will be establishing the tone and will be developing purpose within the 2-minute limit. My overall decision in choosing to research opening shots/films is to get a strong idea of how to implement some of these techniques in my own opening film. Developing characters by using mise-en-scene costum designs and interactions with the character to other people will help to develop who we are trying to represent in the opening film. 

"The Conjuring" is a horror film that uses a variety of techniques to establish a suspenseful tone. Some major takeaways I got out from the film was the impactful sound choices which has moments where the music gradually gets louder and deeper to present a jump scare or a moment of horror. Another takeaway I learned from this film was the character development, in the first 2 minutes we see the interaction about the doll between the daughter and her mom and we automatically understand who the characters are and their personality. Throughout the film, there is many moments of foreshadowing such as the evil spirit moments before it reveals itself. In my opening film, I will be introducing the characters in a similar way of "The Conjuring. "Also, me and my group will be using sound techniques to really bring our content to life and try to engage the audience in the beginning. This film will be used as inspiration for my portfolio project. My choice of using this film as an example, was that I have watched it many times with family and friends, and I feel that I can take inspiration from this film and apply it to parts of my project to create a meaningful opening shot.