Blog :
The research on the candidate's blog is of a decent quality and ensures the candidate has a clear grasp of the conventions of a thriller opening. The evaluations of various openings are somewhat detailed and clearly fuel inspiration for the final product produced by the student. The research addresses camera,editing,sound and mise-en-scene were effectively utilised in the planning of the opening, this is explicit in the final product.
Though the research is evident it could be much more thorough and address even more aspects of opening and their effects. The audience research seen on the blog is detailed and efficiently discovers which aspects of thriller films people would like to see utilised in the end product however more detail and questions would have been useful.
Video :
This is the final thriller opening scene produced by the candidate which opens with titles illustrating the production company information and logos before fading to black. A fade up from black shows the establishing close-up shot of a dirty boot and leg which is the focal point of the shot. Over the top of this ambient, bird song and heavy breathing are used to depict the outside setting and desolate location.
An insert of another production company is placed between the establishing shot and the first close-up of the protagonist. The shots all utilise a fade to and from black transition and the ambient sounds to illustrate that the ambiguous location has not changed. The ambient sounds are effective as they increase the tension of the film and compliment the ambiguous shots,one area that could improve is the transitions between scenes as there are many fades to black that do not hold the attention of the audience well.
The close-up shot of the protagonist reveals to the audience that the character is confused and does not understand their predicament. A reverse zoom is utilised to show the costume of the protagonist and the location they are in much more clearly. The audio of the bird song and heavy breathing are still heard alongside occasional crackles mirroring the sound of television static, this with straight cuts is used as a transition utilising the ambiguous conventions of thriller film openings.The use of ambiguity is extremely effective and utilises the narrative well however the edits are somewhat clumsy and boring.
A short fade to black introduces a point of view shot that clearly depicts the protagonist attempting to find their way out of the woods they have awoken in. This shot utilises the abandoned location and sound effect of heavy breathing to illustrated the anxiety of the character who is still ambiguous for the audience. A series of cutaways are used to create the effect of the character walking through the woodland before a handheld shot follows the protagonist further through the location.
The dreary lighting and empty location show the eery and cold atmosphere of the plot hinting at the unknown narrative. A close-up of the character then introduces the first piece of dialogue which is layered over the ambient sounds already found in the scene. 'Who's there ?' being the only dialogue found in the scene and still unanswered creates a large amount of tension and ambiguity thus grabbing the attention of the audience.The use of handheld camera and various shot types does make the sequence more interesting but decreases the overall quality which also effects the audience's attention slightly.
Straight cuts then lead to an over-the-shoulder shot of an unknown character who appears to be watching the protagonist in the scene. As the shot ends with the assumed antagonist exiting the scene a fade to black is utilised to create a backdrop for the main titles of the film. The titles of the film appear in a white font that is similar to that used in 'Se7en', the juxtaposing title is mysterious and continues to create tension with the use of elongated percussive music.
'Extinct' being the title of the thriller supplies the audience with no information regarding the narrative thus increasing anxiety and interest. The juxtaposed titles are very interesting and create good amounts of tension but the music could be more intense.
The music leads into a series of shots depicting various aspects of the film location. The shots are edited in a fast pace which mirrors the increase in the music's tempo. Various inserts are used to create a jumping effect in the film between the close-ups of parts of the location.
More titles are seen over,these shots in the same font, utilising a blood red colour hinting at deeper narrative. The music increases in tempo slightly and utilises percussion and bell-like sounds to build the tension of the scenes. As the shots are ambiguous they create an intense notion to delve deeper into the narrative in order to find out how the protagonist got to the unknown location. The ending shot is a zoom of an unknown object, the audience cannot clearly make out what the object is as the editing is extremely fast paced however it is evident that the focal point is sinister.
The ambiguity of the scenes increases tension throughout and captures the attention of the audience well. The location is depicted well in the sequence as there are various aspects of the location utilised in the sequence but there could be faster paced editing to create even more tension in the scene.
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