RESEARCH INTO CONVENTIONS/SIMILAR PRODUCTS

 Research into Conventions/Similar Products.

Our A1 opening title sequence fits into the thriller genre, more specifically as a crime-thriller. In order to research what conventions/artistic decisions we would have within our opening, we looked into specific media products that matched our piece's genre:

THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (Jonathan Demme, 1991)

The film follows Clarice Starling, a high-achieving student at the FBI's training academy. She is made to interview Hannibal Lecter who is a psychiatrist, now a violent psychopath as he is deemed to have insight into a case that Starling can draw him out into, acting as bait (involving a character called 'Buffalo Bill' who wears overweight women as a suit). Our sequence/narrative, similar to the film, involves a serial killer who has a rather specific method of killing people and has an convention of mystery/crime as he is being investigated throughout the plot. Though not as straightforward, a motif of props within The Silence of the Lambs is the covering of the mouth (similar to the funnel being duct taped to the woman's lips); Hannibal Lecter has a 'muzzle' and Clarice has a moth on hers, used as the film poster. This gives the film a more metaphorical/psychological tone, acting as a thought-provoking stimulus to the audience. In regard to what is not similar to our sequence, our location/general costume is not the same as they are rather general elements. 

In terms of the font/aesthetics of the opening scene, similar to ours, it uses a rather stylised font of black, bold text with white outlines. This is in order to signify the psychological tone to the audience. This is accompanied by shots of non action-based things such as the woods with dim lighting, a sombre colour palette and slow paced transitions to give it more of an appearance of that of a title sequence rather than something narrative based. It uses an intense non-diegetic soundtrack to support this, again, acting as conventions of the crime-thiller genre. All of the above are elements in which we will include in our opening sequence. 

The main character, Clarice, is introduced first as doing some form of physical training, almost running away from something due to the frantic handheld shots that follow her. Like our sequence, our main character, though not the protagonist, is introduced almost immediately and is shown as doing something that is linked to the narrative but does not directly reveal the context of the scene (making a mixture of berries). This crafts a form of 'shock factor' in thrillers, catching the audience of guard thus encouraging them to continue watching as they prepare for more surprises. 

However, beyond this point there are not many parallels between this opening sequence and ours. The setting of the FBI training academy is shown through the stone walls, well kept gardens, uniformed positioning of jogging characters, ropes and the simple sports costumes of either uniforms or grey long-sleeved tops and sweatpants. When Clarice enters the building, this changes to suits. The lack of similarity is understandable as factors such as costume and location are what give media products individuality and differentiate them from one another as they create an immersive fictional world for different audiences with specific likes and dislikes.

THE OPENING SEQUENCE:

AND THEN THERE WERE NONE (Craig Viveiros, 2015)

And Then There Were None is a television program following 10 strangers who are invited to an island by a mysterious host, and get killed off one by one. Similar to The Silence of the Lambs, our sequence too has conventions of mystery/crime due to our genre, crime-thriller, involving a serial killer character murdering many victims and the investigation of the individual. Again, the differences involve different costumes/setting (primarily due to the difference in time period), and though still rather isolated, as And Then There Were None is set on an island and our sequence in a storage cupboard). 

And Then There Were None's opening sequence is a pure title sequence, not involving any characters or action shots. It shows falling abstract shapes of pages from books (most likely Agatha Christie's novel) in a green tinted, sombre colour palette with slow transitions and an orchestral non-diegetic soundtrack in a minor key which acts as conventions of the thriller genre. The text, though minimal in font, is still bold and has attention drawn to it due to its positioning within the frame. All of the elements mentioned combined once again is rather thought-provoking and psychological; it lures the audience into questioning what is to come, and sets a darker, thriller tone for the rest of the series. Due to how much is left to be interpreted, the audience themselves become 'detectives', immersing them wholly into the mystery element of the crime-thriller genre. On a more general note, it is a title sequence and focuses on more cinematic shots, similar to that of our opening sequence but is an extreme example as it opens a television series, required to be more simplistic and memorable as it is frequently repeated for each episode.

Unfortunately, within the opening sequence, as mentioned before, no characters are revealed so costume is not established. However, the falling abstract shapes shown earlier do come to form the island that the piece is set on and looks sinister/isolating due to the darker colours. For our sequence, we intend on using green cloth against the boarded windows which will have the same effect as the colour scheme to this.

The costumes in the series are typical of that of the time period 1939, where characters are seen in suits, longer and more conservative dresses with short, neat hairstyles indicating that they are wealthier than average. This is extremely different to our piece where the characters are wearing costumes of casual clothing from today's society; the man could arguably be considered as dressing 'wealthier' (which he is) as he is wearing a sleek black turtleneck with smart dress shoes, but this is up to interpretation. 

THE OPENING SEQUENCE:

LINE OF DUTY (Gareth Bryn, 2012)

"Line of Duty follows Detective Seargent Steven 'Steve' Arnott (Martin Compston), a former authorized firearms officer who led an operation to catch an Islamic terrorist intending to detonate a bomb, but the strike team mistakenly entered the wrong apartment and shot dead an unarmed innocent man" (Quoted from IMDB.com). Similar to all the media products mentioned and ours, the plot is a convention of the thriller genre as it follows protagonists investigating antagonists who deliberately cause harm to others. The amount of action in it gives a more tense atmosphere,  which is also another convention of the genre. This media product is more difficult to compare to ours as it is a television series set in urban England, and has a more action based focus upon the scenes.

However, regarding the dim, sombre colour palette of the sequence with focus on blues, the ambient non-diegetic soundtrack of tense music, and more cinematic shots, our sequence is rather similar. There are also breaks in between the different scenes, interrupting them with a black screen with the credits in a bold font, but transitioned by a yellowed fade. These simple design choices draw attention to the possible psychological/metaphorical interpretations of the piece, and give it an element of a title sequence rather than that of a narrative-based one. The scenes are still action heavy, but are primarily of close ups and still place emphasis on the credits, similar to ours. All of this combined acts as conventions of the thriller genre, encouraging the audience to continue watching due to the tense, mysterious atmosphere it creates.

The costume and setting heavily differ to ours; characters are shown dressed in police uniforms, and offices, guns, walkie-talkies, flashing police lights are present. There is a heavier focus on that of the protagonists whereas ours is on the antagonist, thus causing the narratives to extremely contrast one another. Again, it is also made clear that Line of Duty is set in urban duty to the high amount of characters and technology shown, whereas ours is in an isolated, rural house in the middle of nowhere. 

Regarding the characters themselves, it is not clear as to who is the main character to a new audience solely due to the amount that is going on. However, the camera does return frequently to the man shown on the left. He is given more isolated screen time, and can be assumed to be an officer as he is holding a walkie talkie and is in uniform, dealing with the situation at hand, which indicates that he is a clear protagonist and will be an important part of the narrative. These clearly distinguished statuses of characters acts as a convention of the thriller genre.

THE OPENING SEQUENCE:

WOULD YOU RATHER (David Guy Levy, 2012)

"Desperate to help her ailing brother, a young woman unknowingly agrees to compete in a deadly game of 'would you rather', hosted by a sadistic aristocrat." (Quoted from IMDB.com) Out of all of the media products mentioned, this one is the least similar to ours. This is because it has more of a focus on gore/horror, which is a convention of thrillers, but not one that we will play into within our opening sequence. However, antagonists and protagonists are clearly distinguished from one another, and the plot follows an individual who inflicts pain upon others. However, the way in which the sequence is carried out matches that of a title sequence rather than something narrative based, which correlates to the intention of our product.

There is a heavy focus on the titles, as they are presented in a bold, white font, taking up the majority of the frame whilst the scenes behind them are in a red tinted montage of the characters. The titles, at one point, is even accompanied by a pentagram and split frame of the different characters, indicating the darker and psychological tones of the narrative and the people affected by the antagonist. This all plays with the non-diegetic song of Numb by Linkin Park, though more intense and prominent than the other musical choices for thriller media products, still intense and darker in its lyrics which fit in with the genre. The transitions between the different scenes are quicker paced, but that can be expected of a more montage-styled opening. 

There are also many cinematic close ups used of inanimate objects which crafts the idea of a title sequence, which is something that we will do for our product. Though many characters are shown, the balance of screen time doesn't reveal much about them as individuals but spreads a general sense of fear and vulnerability amongst them. This is similar to the woman in our sequence as she has no dialogue, and the only thing that is truly revealed about her is that she is in great fear despite her complex and detailed relationship with the man. This encourages the audience to continue watching as they can unravel more about the characters and learn more about the narrative. 

The costumes are mainly more formal (cocktail dresses and suits), and it seems to be set in a dinner party style environment due to the long table that is set and the amount of people who are dressed in the same manner present. Though the creative choices do not match that of our narrative, the plot does as there is a focus on wealthy characters, such as our main antagonist. 

THE OPENING SEQUENCE: 

To conclude, in general, the opening sequences of the media products researched all share the same cinematic camera techniques, slower transitions, non-diegetic sound accompaniment, and sombre/dim colour palette and are all title sequences rather than narrative based which is what we will consider when editing and filming our sequence as they are all artistic choices and conventions of the thriller genre. I believe that the crime-thriller genre use this format for film openings as it doesn't reveal too much as that would spoil the mysterious narrative, but still establishes the tone of the plot and the nature of the characters. This hooks the audience into the narrative as it encourages them to want to watch more as it adds an element of suspense and tension. This appeals to most mature audiences, which is suitable for our piece as we have age rated it as a 15. The main differences within the different media products are individual characters, props, costume and location as those are what distinguish the plots from one another and provide them with individuality, though 2 of them follow wealthy characters like ours.

Apart from what has been mentioned, if we do not film enough still shots, I think that similar to Line of Duty, we can use black breaks in between the different shots with credits to lengthen our sequence and to give it more of an aesthetic purpose rather than narrative (as what we intend on filming first is all narrative based and we may run out of time). However, this would have to be more experimented with as we are opening to a film, not a television program.