Analyzing Opening Scenes

 Finding The Right One

As my partner Jake and I are doing our research on many openings of the two genres, we are both considering them as our official opening. We both agreed to break it down into two individual openings of Thriller and Horror that really stood out to us in terms of inspiration and eye-catching. After constructing some ideas for an opening following will be the openings that stuck out to us, and I will be explaining why they stood out to me in the sense that this could have some inspiration on our opening. 

Fear (1996) 

Fear is a psychological thriller film that is based on a wealthy family known as the Walkers, who have a daughter named Nicole. Nicole begins to date a boy her age by the name of David McCall; however, he is not who they think he is. The character of David is meant to be a charming, good-looking teenage boy, but he is really a violent, manipulative sociopath. However, within the opening scene, it establishes the background and introduces the two main characters. Here is the opening.

  

After reviewing the opening scene and analyzing it, I noticed techniques that I would like to integrate into my own opening, but there was one thing that I did not like, and I will talk about why later. In the opening, the credits were placed at the beginning on a black screen, which I believe to be boring and a waste of seconds that could be used to actually have towards the scene itself. Nevertheless, a little later in the scene, the producer did incorporate the credits into the scene, which is what I would prefer to do with my own. Following the credits, the scene begins with what looks to be an overview drone shot of the city and the forest where the Walkers live. I really like this idea because it builds the character's background and where they live. I also find this smart because an idea my partner Jake and I are considering is to potentially build off of a dark forest setting. Now, for the one thing I didn't like within the opening scene. Throughout the scene, it just shows the characters of the daughter in the shower and the father running, which the father running could develop his character or even been foreshadowing of a time he might need to be running from danger, but there is no scene of danger or anxiety within the opening. Within my opening, I would like it to be sorta thrilling from the start. I want it to be nerve-racking in a way that draws people in due to their curiosity about what could happen next or throughout the rest of the film. 

Friday the 13th (1980)

Friday the 13th is about a camp in 1958 where an unidentified killer stalks within the premises; however, the campers and counselors are completely oblivious. Two counselors sneak away to make love when the stalker finds them and, unaware that this stalker is a killer, they begin to attempt to explain themselves before the killer takes both of their lives. Fast forward, there is a group of teen counselors awaiting incoming campers after being warned about the camp's past, they do not listen, and the murders continue. Here is the opening. 

Within the opening scene, I saw a lot of techniques I really liked, and I felt they really made an impact on the development of the film. To begin with, the setting being nighttime really developed that dangerous feeling or that sense/initial thought that bad things always happen at night. Then the scene cuts to a point of view shot of a figure who is seen to be walking into a cabin where the camp childern sleeping. This not only builds suspense, but the use of the point of view shot allows the audience to understand that this is a stalker or someone the camp is unaware of. Then, following the scene, the stalker is creeping up on the two counselors who snuck off into a barn, and the point of view of the figure is still used. Then the murder occurs, and I find the first murders occurring in the opening very valuable to the film as a whole because it establishes the plot while also building curiosity about the next murders. These are all great techniques and ways I would like to include in my own film opening.