Today I was focusing on researching examples film openings for the genre of suspense and mystery. I am looking to make my project about a crime occurring leaving the audience with little to no details of why or how this is happening. I want to emphasize fear of the unknown throughout the film which will be highly reliant on sound and music production. A film opening that is very similar to what I want to establish is from the movie Goodfellas (1990) directed by Martin Scorsese. ( https://youtu.be/WphqOW0E-2A?si=43-h3_Cg9NNpMMqa ). The film begins with a crime being committed followed by a narration from the main character explaining how and why he got there. That's what I would want my introduction to show. Another example is Baby Driver (2017) directed by Edgar wright. ( https://youtu.be/6XMuUVw7TOM?si=01cLFkEoJ_KY95X2 ). It came to my attention that these suspenseful films begin with characters in the middle of an important event and the explanation becomes unraveled as the film progresses.
As my film will focus on a group of girls playing around and a murder occurring I like the idea of playing around with color. Most horror and suspenseful films are dark and show little color. For example, the film Midsommar (2019) directed by Ari Aster is a horror film but contains a lot of bright colors and constant daylight. I feel like the mix of bright colors and suspenseful music and sounds makes the movie uncomfortable for the audience as it shows the evil hiding in plain daylight in comparison to what is usual.
The two movie opening examples I just gave are highly produced and include a lot of action which are things that as a student I can not develop for a film opening. However, another suspenseful example of a more calm film opening is from the series Dexter (2006) directed by Michael Cuesta. (https://youtu.be/ej8-Rqo-VT4?si=tEnrqHC1rISE3I54 ). The opening shows little of the characters and mainly hands preparing something dangerous. There are various examples of horror movies with openings like that one such as A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) directed by Wes Craven also focuses on mainly close ups of hands preparing something.
For my film opening I am looking to create a combination of both ideas. I will have the group of girls repairing something sinister but the use of bright colors and their laughs in the background will make the scene uncomfortable. The preparation would be interrupted by an important event like the arrival of a new friend that results in more of the unknown leading the audience to remain intrigued and want to know more by the end of the two minutes.
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