Analysing Film Openings

Sweeney Todd

The film opening of Sweeney Todd begins with the music sound like an organ playing high pitched notes. The music starts off quiet and fast paced as the camera pans across to the barbers. More instruments are added which shows the audience are coming to a mysterious place. A high pitch sound is added to the music, as blood comes streaming down a frame. When the music gradually fades to silence for a few seconds, the volume builds up again, but this time at a low sound. It sounds very creepy and mysterious. The music is accompanied with the sounds of blood dripping and machinery being turned, which makes it effective. When the title is arranged onto the screen, the music is very loud and powerful.

The title is written in red letters, which can symbolise blood and murder from a gruesome man named 'Sweeney Todd'. The white writing is all in capital letters signifies the boldness and can perhaps represent ghosts and ghouls. The dark lighting and running blood are icons of horror. The running paint of the profile shots shows how the room is abandoned and this creates an eerie sense adding to the feel of horror.The use of sudden movement of closing doors, shocks the audience and creates tension of being scared and 'edge of seat' whilst watching. 

Se7en

The opening sequence for Se7en is very well thought out and pictured. The whole sequence is a montage of clips and pictures from what i can gather is about a murderer, or it could also be about detectives.The constant beat throughout the opening, builds tension as it makes the audience feel unsettled. The tempo increases throughout the video; adding to the tense mood created. The entire sound clip is also built on a crescendo which sends out a warning to the audience that something is about to happen. The credits appear occasionally in time with the beats and occasionally at irregular intervals; this makes the audience feel uneasy.

From the opening, you know something unusual is unfolding in front of you. The credits are shot with flashing images, going in out of focus or fading away. The black and white images, with the dark background can symbolise death, horror, anything horrible that can be thought of. This film is a crime thriller. The conventions of this film are: policemen as protagonists, a murderer as a villain, gory, complicated murders and lots of mysteries to solve; than unravel a mystery in the end. 

I thought the camera work was really effective in keeping the vital points of the film a mystery- making. The audience are more likely to want to know more. I also thought that it helped convey the genre of thriller as thrillers are usually quite mysterious and interesting to what will happen next. The extreme close ups focus on facial expressions or when someone is reading something important. This can help the identity of certain characters to not to be given away, so that the audience becomes intrigued as to who it is and instantly wants to watch on. 

The Silence of the Lambs

During the opening, there is an establishing shot of the lake through the trees, with a spooky mist lingering around it. The camera then slowly moves into a tracking shot, and follows a young woman running along what appears to be a footpath through the woods. At first, it appears that she is running away from someone/something, but as the camera shot continues to follow her, it sweeps around and shows her jumping over an obstacle. This then indicates that she is doing an assault course. As the music builds, and gains in speed, the woman appears to be running faster, jumping more and more obstacles, and breathing heavier. The music fades, when the woman stops to talk to the man, at the start, so we are able to hear the dialogue clearly. There is a use of diegetic-sound as as: heavy breathing, gun shots, running through leaves, bird songs and helicopters.

The titles in the opening sequence are big, bold, and white text. The letters are slightly jagged in shape, which makes it look normal, but also shows that there is a twist as well. This could represent that the film may have a twist in it, pieces to a puzzle. The letters look slightly distorted, and fade on/off the screen according to the music.