AICE Media Studies Year: Film Openings

IMPORTANCE OF FILM OPENINGS-

Film openings are essential to build the tone of the story for the film. They immediately engage the audience and establish the world setting tone. It hooks onto the theme and the audience to merge together into a vast entertainment for the key characters and the viewers. Communicating the mood, genre, and the overall piece helps manage the expectations for the audience more clearly. For the our genre: Mystery, it creates suspense and a strong opening that resonated and creates a sense of wanting to find out more about the plot since it creates "mystery" within the opening.

FILMS-

Missing (2023)-

-The film "Missing" consist of psychological horror and mystery together, developing unexpected plot sequences that include engaging with the audience and the use of technology to combine those factors together. The film is based on a girl named June, as she searches for answers about her mother's disappearance while she was on vacation in Columbia. It grips the audience from beginning to end, offering a worthy resolution as June undertakes her own online investigation, tracking down her mother every step of the way.

-The search reveals that the new boyfriend of June's mother is holding her mother hostage. It holds cinematic twists and turns as June turns into a digital detective who taps into the online atmosphere and uses tech to her advantage. The use of tech allowed her to rescue her mom who disappeared three thousand miles away from her vacation. Not only does tech help her but also the help of her trusted "sidekick," a man she meets online helps her investigate the missing case of her mother's unexpected disappearance.

-The way the movie is set up makes it purely told through filming and record setup with a computer camera, or her face only shown with the face time app, or even as she scrolls through her internet. It gives the film a merge of suspense thriller and mystery, giving the audience something to truly process and think about the plot of it all.

-The film "Missing" was inspired by the film "Searching," which held a close similarity between the two consisting in a mysterious and unexpected search through the digital sphere. It reinforces the breathless rampage, sights and sounds that put the audience on edge from the very start while June looks for her mother. The overall editing and style of this film inspires me to somehow translate the style to my own portfolio project for our 2 minute film. The glitches sometimes portrayed or past memories experienced from the character are shown and i want to include a bit of mysterious flare into my project with this style.

Shutter Island (2010)-

-The film "Shutter Island" is a psychological mystery thriller which is set in 1954 on Boston Harbor island. Which is where there is an island housing the Ashcliffe Hospital for the criminally insane. Shutter island is considered a film noir as it holds dark aspects and paranoia with being in a hospital for the insane. It is deeply influenced by the Cold War anxieties, holding many aspects of symbolism, for example, the lighthouse acts as a symbol of fear and hidden truth as the environment is set to represent and mirror the protagonist's mental insanity.

-The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as U.S Marshal Teddy Daniels (protagonist). It is based on the novel which is written by Dennis Lehane (2003). The atmosphere that surround this film consists of a deep tension which is driven throughout the complexity of the character, alongside an unpredictable storyline. It crosses the border of reality and delusion while still maintaining balance in the way the narrative is told. With the help of compelling acting performances and visual and auditory design, this film turns into a suspenseful timeline which draws the audience into a spiral of plot twists.

-The protagonist, Teddy Daniels and his companion Chuck Aule, decide to take a trip to shutter island itself. As they uncover the mysterious disappearance of Rachel Solando which was a patient who was reported to have vanished from her cell without leaving behind any evidence. The investigation turns into a spiral of plot twists and uncovering secrets about various patients and even about Teddy himself. This leads him to doubt his own sanity and identity.

-Mind twists are used to perform this film as it is set over reality and Teddy's journey as he discovered things both twisting and disturbing. The film is meant to have the audience question themselves over there own reality and what unbearable truths hide beneath. Consisting of imagery and symbolic meaning only intensifies the films theme from Teddy's point of view (with his own mental distraught and guilt).

The Fugitive (1993)-

- The film "The Fugitive" was inspired by the 1950s real life case of Dr. Sam Sheppard, who was accused of killing his own wife. The film uses this inspiration and develops a film of action-based thriller and mystery which stars Harrison Ford as Dr. Richard Kimble (the protagonist). Kimble is thrown into prison being wrongly accused of murdering his wife as clues lead him t look guilty yet he is completely innocent.

-The tone felt throughout the film consists of being manipulative yet present to the viewer. showing production techniques that supports the context of the movie which help it be pulled into a level that exceeds the expectations of the audience. The perfect combination of thriller and action is used to combine momentary scenes that have the audience hooked from start to finish. The police think of Kimble guilty since his purpose for murdering his wife was to have gain from his wife's money, yet this was not true.

-Throughout the film, ford is always one step ahead from the investigators and devotes himself to solve thee mystery they can't seem to solve. The pacing of the film is in perfect sync, as the movie captures a great visual for the audiences eye. The films purpose was to establish a film that was fast paced yet with much details so the audience would stay intact and enjoy the ongoing situation of mystery and action going along a mysterious murder with the tension and tedious production going onscreen.

-The pacing of the film along with tight editing and a strong performance clause helps create the suspenseful atmosphere throughout the film. The film is held in high accounts as it is held on a realistic scenario which focuses on the intelligence rather than just the violence.The efficient storytelling told is an essential part in this film as it establishes the entire backstory and the notable sequences that include tension and edgy feeling.

LINKS-

Film Openings Importance (1)

Film Openings Importance (2)