Our Production Company Logo

This is our logo for our production company, which we named 'Spotlight Productions'. I made this in Photoshop and used a graphics tablet to draw it. I drew using the paintbrush tool and did skinny, creepy looking lettering. I also added a little drawing of a spotlight to give the logo an associated symbol. Symbols and images on logos make the names of companies more memorable.

Our Film Logo

This is the title screen and logo I made for our thriller opening sequence. To make this, I used Photoshop and drew with a graphics tablet which allowed me to easily draw straight into the computer. I used a white pencil tool on a black background. I chose to use the thin pencil tool because it looked creepier and more hand-drawn.

Making Logos

This is a logo experiment we did. We were given a range of random images and a title in different fonts to create examples of production company logos with. We managed to make 5 different logos with the pieces.

Our Film Titles

These are the titles we are using for our thriller opening. I chose to use the font 'Metallic Avacado' to make it look old fashion and similar to an old, creepy film.

Abstract Thriller Opening

This is our abstract thriller opening. We made it using practice shots we filmed following our shot list of ideas.

Things We Liked:

• the montage style, gives it a quicker pase 
• the use of textures, tints and filters
• overlaying titles onto the footage
• overlaying footage on top of each other and making them transparent, gives a distorted, ghostly feel
• confusing, creepy, disorientating style and overall look

Things To Change:

• add more film content

Moodboard for our Storyline

This is a moodboard we created to lay out all of our ideas for our film opening. We used images and drawings that we were inspired by (religious symbols, the young strange girl and a collection of shots from the opening of 'Se7en' of which we were greatly inspired by). We also included the font were are going to use for our credits - Metallic Avocado.

Locations We Plan To Use

This is a staircase in the Town Hall in Wem. We plan to use this location to film in because it has unusual natural lighting due to the small window above the doors which create shadows up the stairs, too. It gives a dark, enigmatic feel. The thin room has the whirring sound of a boiler and the room also echoes a lot. We may be able to use these sounds as sound effects or add to the background music, because they sound ominous and creepy.

Synopsis for Our Thriller

A young girl in a quiet village is suddenly missing and an investigation is soon carried out in search for her. Vague clues are discovered along the way, each one implying an even worse fate than death. A court case follows as the mystery is picked apart in attempt to uncover who, or what, has taken her.

Ideas for Our Thriller Opening

My Own Ideas:

• Quick shots of silhouettes
• Young girl as main character/ghost
• Wide shots of dark scenes with young girl in the middle
• Shots of young girl with back to camera
• Cutaway shots to person screaming
• Slow motion shots, wind blowing
• Edit cuts between shots with the beat of the background music

Group Ideas:

• create a montage sequence inspired by 'Se7en'
• similar quickly edited extreme close-ups
• religious theme, drawings of crosses
• title idea: 'Unhallowed'
• show credits in order of: production company, 'in association with', actors, director of photography, sound design, editing, costume design, director
• disturbing head movements
• print off a passage from the Bible and tea stain and scrawl over the top of it

Storyline:

• Young girl is uncontrollably possessed by the devil

Props and costumes:

• Teddy bear
• Young girl: dress
• Paper and pencil (scrawled crosses and religious references)

Locations:

• Church
• Graveyard
• Staircase

'Two Eyes Staring' Opening Sequence

Two Eyes Staring - 2010 - Elbert van Strien

(IMDb) (Opening Sequence)

• The opening to this film is made up of slow moving shots that are reminiscent to looking to a kaleidoscope. Random shapes, similar to those used in Rorschach tests, float and expand in the centre of the screen and contain moving images. Things like two little girls in a field and pictures of eyes in a book are shown.

'The Blue Horse' Opening Sequence

The Blue Horse - 2009 - Roald van der Laan
(IMDb) (Opening Sequence)

• The opening to this film is made up of lots of extreme close-ups of a blue crayon drawing lines on a white sheet of paper, eventually revealing that they are drawing a scrawled frontward-facing blue horse.

Features I liked:

• the use of close-ups showing the lines being drawn because it makes it look abstract and artistic
• the use of one handwritten blue letter in each name in the credits, keeps the credits in with the theme of the opening

• the fact that the film begins with an enigma, it is not explained what the significance of the blue horse is
• the part when the hand slips on the paper as it is drawing with the blue crayon and leaves a messy blue mark on the paper, gives an unstable sense to the film or to the main character

'Coraline' Opening Sequence

Coraline - 2009 - Tim Burton
(Opening Sequence)

• The opening sequence to this film shows a doll being taken apart and re-used to make a new doll by a strange pair of thin, metallic hands

• I like the background music in this opening, it gives the effect of disturbing juxtaposition in between the childish, light-hearted music and the odd, uncomfortable images onscreen

• The content of the onscreen action is uncomfortable to watch, it is creepy and introduces the dark style of the film. This is effective because it is memorable and despite it being strange and slightly distressing it still intrigues the viewer.

'Delicatessen' Opening Sequence

Delicatessen - 1991 - Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet
(Opening Sequence)

• The opening sequence to this film is a one shot camera movement around a room tracking over various items and artefacts that show the credits on them.

• I like the idea of writing some of the credits on items that correspond with the person's job. For example, the director of photography is written on a camera. It makes the opening sequence more interesting and entertaining by giving pairing text with the item in frame.

• I also like the fact that the entire sequence is kept within one colour scheme: a golden/brown/sepia/shadowy colour giving an old, worn, dusty feel to the film

Creating a Soundtrack

This is a screenshot of our soundtrack in GarageBand. We recorded sound using everyday objects and edited the recording to make it sound creepy and atmospheric. To do this, we changed the pitch and the reverb. We then added other sounds to the soundtrack, drums and bass, to give the soundtrack a backing beat and make it sound darker and threatening. We were inspired by the opening sequence to 'Se7en'.

20 Thriller Films

1. The Dark Knight (2008)

"When Batman, Gordon and Harvey Dent launch an assault on the mob, they let the clown out of the box, the Joker, bent on turning Gotham on itself and bringing any heroes down to his level." (IMDb)

2. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

"A young FBI cadet must confide in an incarcerated and manipulative killer to receive his help on catching another serial killer who skins his victims." (IMDb)

3. Psycho (1960)

"A young woman steals $40,000 from her employer's client, and subsequently encounters a young motel proprietor too long under the domination of his mother." (IMDb)

4. Aliens (1986)

"The planet from 'Alien' has been colonized, but contact is lost. This time, the rescue team has impressive firepower, but will it be enough?" (IMDb)

5. The Prestige (2006)

"The rivalry between two magicians is exacerbated when one of them performs the ultimate illusion." (IMDb)

6. Die Hard (1988)

"John McClane, officer of the NYPD, tries to save wife Holly Gennaro and several others, taken hostage by German terrorist Hans Gruber during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles." (IMDb)

7. Blade Runner (1982)

"Deckard, a blade runner, has to track down and terminate 4 replicants who hijacked a ship in space and have returned to earth seeking their maker." (IMDb)

8. Taken (2008)

"A retired CIA agent travels across Europe and relies on his old skills to save his estranged daughter, who was kidnapped on a trip to Paris to be sold into prostitution." (IMDb)

9. Strangers on a Train (1951)

"A psychotic socialite confronts a pro tennis star with a theory on how two complete strangers can get away with murder...a theory that he plans to implement." (IMDb)

10. Looper (2012)

"In 2072, when the mob wants to get rid of someone, the target is sent 30 years into the past, where a hired gun awaits. Someone like Joe, who one day learns the mob wants to 'close the loop' by transporting back Joe's future self." (IMDb)

11. The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992)

"After her humiliated husband kills himself, an embittered pregnant widow loses her child, and embarks on a mission of vengeance against a woman and her family." (IMDb)

12. The 39 Steps (1935)

"A man in London tries to help a counterespionage agent. But when the agent is killed and he stands accused, he must go on the run to both save himself and also stop a spy ring trying to steal top secret information." (IMDb)

13. Shutter Island (2010)

"Drama set in 1954, U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels is investigating the disappearance of a murderess who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane and is presumed to be hiding nearby." (IMDb)

14. Fight Club (1999)

"An insomniac office worker and a devil-may-care soap maker form an underground fight club that transforms into a violent revolution." (IMDb)

15. Dial M for Murder (1954)

"An ex-tennis pro carries out a plot to murder his wife. When things go wrong, he improvises a brilliant plan B." (IMDb)

16. Black Swan (2010)

"A ballet dancer wins the lead in "Swan Lake" and is perfect for the role of the delicate White Swan - Princess Odette - but slowly loses her mind as she becomes more and more like Odile, the Black Swan." (IMDb)

17. Fatal Attraction (1987)

"A married man's one night stand comes back to haunt him when that lover begins to stalk him and his family." (IMDb)

18. Angels & Demons (2009)

"Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon works to solve a murder and prevent a terrorist act against the Vatican." (IMDb)

19. Pulp Fiction (1994)

"The lives of two mob hit men, a boxer, a gangster's wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption." (IMDb)

20. The Departed (2006)

"Two men from opposite sides of the law are undercover within the Massachusetts State Police and the Irish mafia, but violence and bloodshed boil when discoveries are made, and the moles are dispatched to find out their enemy's identities." (IMDb)

'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' Opening Sequence

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - 2009 - Niels Arden Oplev

• Close ups, dark, shadows, minimally lit 
• Uncomfortable ripping, sharp objects, harsh sounds 
• Wide shot 
• Photograph, enigma 
• Back of a person, enigma 
• Face close up, hidden by hair, enigma 
• Dramatic, looming feel, sadness, something had happened 
• The framed flowers and the man crying at them gives us the impression that they have something to do with the story 
• Tension as there is a room full of silent people, like a court room 
• News reporter, implies that the news story is relevant to the film story

'The Red Violin' Opening Sequence

The Red Violin - 1998 - Francois Girard

(Video is of whole movie, we analysed the first 6 minutes)

Mise en Scene

• Close up shot, dirty, dark, confusing, only colour is the red blood 
• Police stations, telephones 
• Close ups, shadows 
• Shaking camera 
• Dull colours, switch from busy to quiet scenes 
• Dramatic, bustling, hectic, busy 
• Begins with an enigma 
• Begins with a sense of drama, sadness, action
• Unexplained
• Uncomfortable feeling
• Funeral, sad feel, melancholy
• Scenes are cramp views, awkward close-ups, uncomfortable following, mysterious darkness 

Narrative

• Introduced characters and settings, police and police stations 
• Implies that the main theme of the film is crime
• Story told slightly out of order, funeral scene and hospital scenes, film grammar suggests the two scenes are linked

'Serpico' Opening Sequence

Serpico - 1973 - Sidney Lumet

• Close up shot, dirty, dark, confusing, only colour is the red blood 
• Police stations, telephones 
• Close ups, shadows 
• Shaking camera 
• Dull colours, switch from busy to quiet scenes 
• Dramatic, bustling, hectic, busy 
• Begins with an enigma 
• Begins with a sense of drama, sadness, action 
• Unexplained 
• Uncomfortable feeling 
• Funeral, sad feel, melancholy 
• Scenes are cramp views, awkward close-ups, uncomfortable following, mysterious darkness
• Introduced characters and settings, police and police stations 
• Implies that the main theme of the film is crime 
• Story told slightly out of order, funeral scene and hospital scenes, film grammar suggests the two scenes are linked

'The Bourne Supremacy' Opening Sequence

The Bourne Supremacy - 2004 - Paul Greengrass

• Begins with an extreme close up of a woman's face, half a mouth and a small portion of a nose, part of the cheek face is off centre with only show behind it 
• Music is creepy and plink-plonk-like, harp, strings 
• Lighting brightened up, revealing part of the face in more detail, like a interview light/spot light 
• Camera pans across to reframe her face in the centre, showing almost only her mouth, her lips have a small smirk 
• Music reaches a crescendo as the camera zooms in tighter on her lips, first credit appears 
• Order of credits: main actors, title of film 
• Camera pans up to her eyes, big dark shadows, looks scared and tearful, very dilated pupils because she is in the dark, makes her eyes look very dark, she looks around, second credit 
• Crescendo as each credit appears 
• Further into the extreme close-up onto one eye, pupil is now very small, third credit, camera zooms slowly into her eye, red tint appears, eyes open wide as if she is in shock 
• Crescendo as the title zooms in from small in the centre of her eye to big across the centre of the screen, uncomfortable and vague title 
• Spiral spins out from her pupil, hypnotic, as the spiral gets closer and fills the screen the woman's face fades out to a black background, spins off screen
• Another spiral zooms from the centre, credits run along side the continuous spirals, hypnotic, uncomfortable feeling of infinite enigma

'Vertigo' Opening Sequence

Vertigo - 1958 - Alfred Hitchcock

• Begins with an extreme close up of a woman's face, half a mouth and a small portion of a nose, part of the cheek face is off centre with only show behind it 
• Music is creepy and plink-plonk-like, harp, strings 
• Lighting brightened up, revealing part of the face in more detail, like a interview light/spot light 
• Camera pans across to reframe her face in the centre, showing almost only her mouth, her lips have a small smirk 
• Music reaches a crescendo as the camera zooms in tighter on her lips, first credit appears 
• Order of credits: main actors, title of film 
• Camera pans up to her eyes, big dark shadows, looks scared and tearful, very dilated pupils because she is in the dark, makes her eyes look very dark, she looks around, second credit 
• Crescendo as each credit appears 
• Further into the extreme close-up onto one eye, pupil is now very small, third credit, camera zooms slowly into her eye, red tint appears, eyes open wide as if she is in shock 
• Crescendo as the title zooms in from small in the centre of her eye to big across the centre of the screen, uncomfortable and vague title 
• Spiral spins out from her pupil, hypnotic, as the spiral gets closer and fills the screen the woman's face fades out to a black background, spins off screen 
• Another spiral zooms from the centre, credits run along side the continuous spirals, hypnotic, uncomfortable feeling of infinite enigma

'North By Northwest' Opening Sequence

North by Northwest - 1959 - Alfred Hitchcock

• Green colour background, connotations signify jealousy/guilt/envy or nature/life 
• Growing diagonal parallel off centre, uneven, look like slices/cuts, linear representation, uneasy 
• Cross-hatching, becoming a grid, coming from different directions, criss crosses cover the screen, slightly converging into a corner, trapped feeling 
• Orchestral music builds up into a crescendo, dramatic, expectant, quick and constantly changing, like the movements on the screen, scurrying 
• Credits follow lines up and down into the centre of the frame 
• Order of credits: production company, main actors, title of the film (in a decorated font with arrows like hands on a compass to match the title itself), co-star actors, lesser stars, writer, musical composer, director of photography and film stock, production design, art directors set decorators, special effects, title designer, film editor, colour consultant, recording supervisor, hair stylist, make-up artist, small print confirming that all characters and events in the film are fictional, associate producer, director (large writing) 
• Blocks of white go across the screen before each credit, unsettling, sending the focus of your eyes all over the screen 
• After title is shown, green cross-hatched background fades out and matches windows on a sky scraper, distorted reflections and possible height of building give a feeling of discomfort, rotoscoping, credits still stay in line with the line of the windows 
• Don't know where you are, enigma 
• Skyscraper comes into focus, reflections are seen easier, show yellow taxis on the roads below, shows us that it is in New York City 
• After last credit the words drop down off screen and background dissolves into a crowded room, current clothing (at the time of filming), cut to lots of people walking out of large hotel-like doors, possibly the same skyscraper 
• At this point, the music is continuing to be loud and dramatic, reminiscent of car horns like the taxis in the busy roads of NYC 
• High angle shot of people walking into a subway, lots of businessmen, Rushmore, very crowded adds to the feeling of entrapment, shot shows people walking in a way similar to whirl pooling 
• Continued shots of people pouring in and out of buildings, insect-like swarms 
• Two women argue over a taxi, dehumanising them, gives an animalistic sense of the city folk