When analyzing opening sequences, it has become conclusive that the conventions that are used in opening sequences strongly connote and become much clearer to the audience, the genre of the film. I chose to analyse horror/thriller opening sequence from the film 'dark skies'.
When watching the opening sequence of 'dark skies' the audience find themselves reading a quote which states "Two possibilities exist... Either we are alone in the universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying" - Arthur C. Clarke. The reason this has been done is to make the audience start thinking about the quote given and so that they are instantly aware of a possible hint of mystery. This successfully helps create a strong narrative enigma connoting that the audience will be on the blind side, wondering what the significance of this quote is. The opening sequence purposely makes its audience want to watch more so that they are able to unravel the hidden connotations that lye beneath the quote. Example screenshots of the quote are shown below.
The title that is shown in the opening sequence connotes again the mystery within the genre, the title has been dramatically faded into the dark background to create an enigmatic style through editing so that the audience can start to think even more about what is going on. The audience is also able to see in the last sentence where it says " Both are equally terrifying" it is in the colour of a dark red which could be a strong connotation for blood and danger, even death. Although we never get a see into the credits and characters straight away, we can assume that they are the ones who created this quote.
However, despite the uses of genre conventions through the font, colour and text in the opening sequence, the music is also a considerably important factor used in the sequence. At the start the audience hears a quiet muffle and scratching sound which builds up and up showing variation in volume, this creates an eerie and tense situation for the audience as they are unaware of what is to come, thus again creating a mysterious vibe possibly not for the light-hearted.
Finally, as the audience can see how this film may connote cliche conventions from this genre. soon enough the audience can see that the film does not only connote stereotypical conventions of this genre but also challenges these typical conventions. The way in which this has been done is shown at 01:10 of the opening sequence where the audience is able to see a more happier environment showing the credits and names of the actors. immediately we question the genre of the film as the audience knows that happy sceneries don't come under the conventions of said genre and so they await to see how the movie will turn out with such a happy start.
The film 'Dark skies' have produced a successful opening sequence which used convention from the horror/thriller genre to create narrative enigma, e.g The quote along with the red colour of of the last sentence of the quote also with the speed of the music. Also the film included the challenging conventions of the film to make a unique copy of the genre. When producing my own opening sequence i would also like to use typical conventions but also challenge them so the audience is entertained.
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