My Film Opening Project - Mystery/Detective

Maddie Hopkins

Lily Rosenblum

Erin Watson 

Josh Young

Film Opening Research #2 - Murder on the Orient Express

how many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film? There is one title prior to the actual footage in the opening scene. It is a black screen with blue type written ink spelling out "Murder on the Orient Express". The black screen then slowly fades into what looks to be a sunrise which is an example of parallelism. The next title is during the establishing shot when the camera is panning the city then focuses in on the people and the wall and says "The Waiting Wall, Jerusalem, 1934". The date in this scene can really help the audience understand the time frame of the film.

what images are prioritized in the opening sequence? Some images that are prioritized in the opening sequence are the panning of the city, which is symbolic of the timeframe, and a little boy running through the peaceful town where everyone seems to be praying at the Waiting Wall. The scene of the boy is very significant because the suspenseful music makes it seem like someone is chasing the boy for whatever he is holding in his hands, yet the reason he is running is simply to delivery eggs on time 

what connotations do the images carry? The images carry importance to the main aspects of the film, the boy, and the time frame.

how is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset? detective/mystery is not really shown yet this early in the clip. I believe it starts to get more mysterious as the plot continues. 

how does the film establish an enigma from the outset? The film establishes an enigma by using the little boy as such as an important character in the opening scene. The little boy runs back and forth over town just to get new eggs for someone who looks to be of high power. This gets the audience wondering if the little boy is a chef or if his father is a chef. 

what strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience? Honestly, murder on the orient express does not really evoke any sense of mystery/detective at all. It just seems like an older film that may be a war movie.

how has technology been used effectively? technology has been used effectively by using symbolism in the editing at the beginning when the title turned into a sunrise. 

Film Opening Research #1 - A Quiet Place

how many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?

 Two titles are displayed during the opening scene. The first title is "Day 89" and the second title is a little later into the film opening which reads "A Quiet Place"

what images are prioritized in the opening sequence? The images that are prioritized in the opening scene are the ones that look the most abandoned. The opening scene shows an empty storefront, abandoned cars, and a quiet city.

what connotations do the images carry? The connotations that these images carry is loneliness and abandoned. The empty cars and stores show that everyone has left in a hurry or has been killed. This is important for the viewer to understand that these people are the only ones in this town.

genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset? The genre is reinforced through symbolic and technical codes by showing a black screen with white words spelling out "Day 89" to start the scene. This type of title has become very well known to represent some type of apocalypse or hideout, which lets us know that the characters have been hiding for 89 days from some creature. 

how does the film establish an enigma from the outset? The film establishes an enigma from the outset by having the characters stay silent. The audience, including myself, can be very confused as to why the family does not speak and tries to not make any noise at all. 

what strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?

The strategies that are used to ensure that the film appears to its target audience is the thematic content and type of shots, and editing techniques. In the outset, it is obvious that this is a suspense/horror movie just by the slow movements of the characters, the setting, noises that are present from the daughter Renee's perspective who is deaf, and the build-up of one the main characters deaths. The establishing shot is also very important because it shows the "Day 89" followed by the abandoned town which lets the audience know that this is going to be along the lines of an apocalypse film.

how has technology been used effectively? Technology has been used effectively in the opening scene in two ways that stood out the most. When the audience realizes that Renee is deaf, by hearing a low pitched hum when the view is from her perspective, and when the monster/creature is coming for the child and we only see flashes of his body before he attacks. 

Genre Research #2 - PowerPoint